D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1361 Chapter 1361 A Dash of Currents

?--- Lily ---

Lily let out a long sigh as she wondered the border, wondering when she'd find a new biome. She'd been running along the centre of the two forests for quite some time. It felt like she was letting treasure slip through her fingers by choosing to do things this way… but really there was no way of knowing WHERE the treasure chests were unless it was extremely obvious.

*It makes me wonder what the best strategy for this actually is? If you had some way to locate treasure chests magically then I guess you'd go with that… but I don't think anyone does. So… what does that mean? Everyone just needs to run around doing their best to find chests? Blue is probably doing the best because she can move the quickest underwater. Presumably.

Does that mean March is actually the likeliest to come second? She can move around quickly as well… assuming she can use her steam more like underwater jets. I'm not sure how much mana that would take though… and I'm not sure if March is flexible enough to use the best swimming techniques. Sure she's very flexible for how much muscle she has, but that can only do so much when you're 90% muscle like March.

So what does that mean? I'm at best in third place? Not sure if I'm ahead of Marigold but I think I should be ahead of Romilda… wait no… she can move around with her metal. Shit am I in fourth place? I might have to step up… but how do I do that exactly? I'm making what I think are optimal decisions… but I might be playing it too safe? No wait, I don't think I could win any of the fights I avoided, and bartering with that crab got me two treasures for the price of one.*

Suddenly, Lily spotted something. Pushing herself a bit, she wound her way around a rock formation and spotted what looked… almost like a racing track? There was a number of large rocks with holes through the centre and an obviously strong current that went around in a ring. It was set in bowl, slightly below the rest of the area. Oh, and there was a giant checkered flag attached to the side of one of the pillars.

Lily made her way over to the flag, and as she got closer so saw there was Thyme relaxing against it while wearing a latex suit. Not a proper racing suit, or a wetsuit, but what looked to latex. Lily had no idea how to take that particular wardrobe choice came about but she decided not to ask. "Howdy there partner," the words. They came from Thyme's mouth, and they felt like ice picks to the soul. "Do you want to take a gander at running this here race,"

Lily opened her mouth to speak before closing it after a few moments of silence. *I… I almost want to say no just to get away from whatever horrors this Thyme will release by speaking like that. Why does Thyme even HAVE a country accent. What the heck is this planets equivalent of country accents? I… I don't even know what preconceptions this is meant to line up with. Also, why this accent while in latex? And while at a racing track! It's not like Thyme has a helmet on. Fuck it whatever. I was just talking about doing my best so I guess I'll have to go along with it.*

"Sure, I'll sign up to the race," said Lily as she transformed.

"Excellent. It's a timed challenge, and you can earn up to three treasures for you speed. If you're too slow though… you risk losing a treasure you have on your person. So, which are you going to bet?" asked Thyme in a much more normal voice. Lily was guessing that Thyme didn't want any of the rules to be misconstrued.

"Wait… on my person?" asked Lily "Could I swap over to Memphis form and then not?have to pay?"

Thyme shook their head, "No not at all. You're not allowed to start the race until you hand over a treasure you're willing to lose. Oh, and just to note the race is only the one lap. So don't expect it to be anymore,"

Lily let out a long sigh as she fiddled with one the bracelets on her wrists. Considering she had two of them, it seemed like the least risky thing to offer Thyme. "Fine here you go," said Lily as she held the bracelet out.

Thyme nodded and picked it up. Once in Thyme's hand, a glass case formed around it and Thyme set that down into a little cubby that had opened up in the rock behind him. "Excellent," said Thyme as they turned back towards Lily. "Please line up at the flag. You should see a metal pole there you can grab onto to remain in place. The race officially starts when the pole is vanished. Time will end when you cross over the starting line again. The pole will disappear after approximately ten seconds of holding it with both hands, so be ready for that,"

Lily shrugged and considered transforming immediately… but quickly realised that she wouldn't be able to hold on properly with paws instead of hands. As soon as Lily swam into the current it started trying to pull her away, rather forcefully at that. Grimacing, Lily held onto the nearby rocks as she edged downwards and wrapped her legs around the metal beam. Lily could feel herself being pulled away, even as she repositioned herself to grab hold of it.

*Damn. How is this even a race? It'll just be a matter of going along with the current. I guess I'll try and transform as quickly as possible and do my best but I'm not really sure how I'm meant to gain time here.*

Lily was in place a few moments later. Even as she fought down the reflex to fidget with her hands a bit. Before she could properly defeat the urge, or even get comfortable the bar vanished. Lily had a moment of panic as she was pulled down but didn't let it stop her from transforming. Facing forward Lily was pulled quickly through the nearest rockface and was soon approaching the first corner.

As her speed increased, Lily could feel it, something was wrong. There was something she needed to do here… but for a few moments Lily couldn't work out WHAT that was. Then the corner came up properly, and she felt herself being pulled away from the current. Her forward momentum too much. Lily angled herself into the current and spread her wings as wide as possible and felt herself curing around.

She was nearly thrown from the current but her last second movements had allowed her to stay in… barely. She was swinging back into the current but she was still moving a bit off course. Doubly concern when she was about to run into some rocks. Lily panicked a second time before beating her wings hard to settle into the centre of the current once again. *I need to do something more. If this keeps up I'm not going to make good time. Shit… um… what can I do? I need… I need to stay in the current so… more surface area perhaps?*

Lily stretched her wings to their limit, but knew that wasn't going to be enough to keep her in place. Lily felt her mind flashing back to yesterday as what she needed to do became clear. Lily stretched her shadow upwards and across her wings before letting it expand, adding a tonne of area for the current to catch. Suddenly, like someone had just slammed on the gas, Lily found herself rocketing forward at nearly twice the speed.

From there it was a blur of movement. The current seemed to speed up. Perhaps it was the larger coverage, perhaps she'd just crossed a threshold into a faster section of the track. Whatever it was, Lily didn't have proper time to react to it. The current had a tight grip on her and it was guiding her handedly through the obstacles in her way. Keeping her held tightly around corners and letting her swim through the centre of any holes in the rocks, keeping Lily far from danger.

The speed was something else though, and Lily could barely tell what was going on as she forced most of her concentration to stay with her wings. Before long she found herself barrelling through the finish line, completely unaware she'd already completed her lap. If Thyme hadn't reached out and snatched her from the current, Lily was certain she would've just kept doing laps until it finally occurred to her the race might be over.

As it was, she hung limply in Thyme's hand as it reeled back. All of the energy and focusing draining from her as she relaxed.

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