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



"Well it seems nobody has any other questions," said Thyme as they scanned the crowd carefully. "Perhaps you'll have some after I explain the first task in detail. As I've already explained, the task in question will revolve around making your way through glowing rings as fast as possible. 

"These rings will, for the most part, be in sequence and lower down as you go. Missing a ring will incur a thirty second time penalty for you. Considering I expect that each round will only be a few minutes at absolute most, this is a significant amount of time. One should strive to hit every ring if possible. 

"For your final time, I will take the sum total of each of your jumps, add them together with penalties included, and then you will be ranked accordingly. The fastest time will get their two points, and the runner up will get one. I'm sure that's entirely as expected. Now for how things are going to be mixed up. 

"Every contestant in this round will be provided a pair of gloves. They take in mana, and output a large burst of air. Each glove works independently of each other, and I have intentionally made horribly inefficient. Each use of the gloves will drastically cut into your mana reserves. For some people here, it might even be half your mana pool per use. 

"Unlike in previous contests, I will NOT be restoring your mana between rounds. You will all draw lots at the beginning of the round to determine your order and it will stay that way for the entire duration of this challenge. It will be up to you to ensure that you pace yourself sufficiently. 

"If you pass out due to mana loss I will NOT be healing you or restoring your mana. If you are unconscious when it is your turn to jump and start the ring course, I will simply throw you from the platform and score you based on how well your falling body does. Obviously, I'll ensure nobody comes to permanent harm, but it will effect your score at the end. Additionally, as should be obvious, you can't use normal magic for this round, just the gloves.

"That 'no spells' thing includes during and between rounds, there will be no attacking each other at all. If I see contestants making a nuisance of themselves the contestants in question will be placed in a black box, with no sound going in or out. That means they'll miss the preview of the next set of rings, and that will likely interfere with your ability to score highly. Still, perhaps you think it will be worth interrupting someone else's meditation. I've told you the rule, take it as you will. 

"Ah, one final thing. The last ring in the sequence will be quite obvious. It will look like it's made of wood and held up by balloons much like the platform you're all on now. It is not actually made from balloons, it's just an illusion. So Kat won't be able to see it, but she can't participate so it doesn't really matter. Now are there any questions?" 

Marigold was instantly raising her hand. Thyme looked at Marigold's face. Then her hand… then deliberately turned away to Romilda who also had her hand raised and said, "Go ahead Romilda, what's your question?" Marigold just rolled her eyes at the childish display, knowing it was probably a minor punishment for yelling out earlier when she challenged Kat and March to a fight. Lily as well, but she didn't realise that yet. 

"Do you have to wear those gloves on your hands?" asked the dwarf. 

Thyme shrugged and said, "Well they're gloves, and they're designed to resize to fit hands. If you want to try putting them on your feet or whatever then be prepared to for a few broken bones. I made sure the enchanting on these is pretty bad so that they'd drain more mana then they should, if it was all done well. So… if the resizing freaks out because it's not on a hand? Well… no healing until after the event is over unless it's life threatening. So… use at your own risk?" Romilda accepted the answer, and Thyme turned to Marigold, "Marigold what's your question?" 

"How… 'in the circle' do you need to be for it to count as passing through the ring?" asked Marigold. 

Thyme nodded in understanding, "A good question. You need to have at least fifty percent of your body within the ring's circumference. Body parts that are within the glow of the light will count. I suppose I'll also mention that the rings will pulse slightly before disappearing to show they've been successfully claimed. Not that I suggest you look backwards to confirm as much, but it's useful for those watching," 

It was Asteodia who raised a hand next and Thyme pointed a finger at her that extended far enough to give Asteodia a light tap on the nose. She got the picture and asked, "Is there any additional penalty for missing the final ring?" 

Thyme nodded and said, "Yes actually, now that you mention it. Technically your 'fall' isn't over until you've claimed the last ring. It's about three times the size of a normal ring, and it should be rather hard to miss unless you're intentionally aiming for something like that… but technically speaking, as I said before, your 'fall' isn't over till you've been through the ring because that's what triggers the stop on the timer,"

Thyme paused to scratch at their chin for a few moments before continuing, "Hmm… that leaves the question of what I should be doing if the contestants passes the ring and can't get back up. I suppose technically the blast from the gloves… might be able to do it? No I don't think it quite has the power to make it to the ring at the end of every course. Two of them… probably, but definitely not for the third. Right, if you touch the water, I'll teleport you back to the start of the course. So… don't miss the final ring. It's massive, and really hard to miss but if you do, that's probably your chance at winning gone," 

*That seems fair to me. If the ring is really as large as Thyme claims then missing it sounds like it would be your fault, not Thyme's.* 

[Yeah it does sound like that. Even if the second-to-last ring is off to the side, the final ring seems large enough that it won't matter.]

Bonas had a question, and Thyme called them out on it.  "I'm wondering, you said that the gloves are independent of each other, but can you trigger them at the same time?" 

Thyme made a 'so-so' gesture and explained, "The enchantment doesn't have anything that would stop you from activating them both at the same time… but unlike a lot of glove sets it also doesn't have anything to help line the activations up either. So activating them at the same time will be an entirely manual process. So… can you? Yes. Do I expect it to be easy? No," 

Blue's hand shot up and Thyme motioned for her to go on, "Does that mean you can't use the mana priming trick?" 

Thyme nodded and said, "Yes. I did say these enchantments were intentionally poorly designed. Any hint of pushing your mana towards the gloves and they will suck the mana right out of you. They'll act more like a Funnel Beetle then a proper enchantment. It is messy, and perhaps slightly uncomfortable. I have checked them to ensure no damage to your mana pathways will occur… but that's the best I'm offering. Part of the appeal of the challenge is just how hard these gloves are going to be to work with. 

"You can get all the rings by slowing down, spreading your arms out, and gliding around… for the most part. Some in the final round might be a bit trick. Alternatively… you can go full speed and use the gloves to push you there. It's not meant to be easy, it's meant to be a risk you can take. Hopefully it adds to the experience overall," 

After hearing Thyme's… expressive explanation about the gloves, Nixilei raised her hand and when given permission, asked, "Are these gloves likely to explode? I know you said the enchantment was bad… but how likely are they to just take off a contestants hands?" 

Thyme waved the question away and said, "Not very likely at all. They are poorly enchanted, yes, but they aren't unstable. Think of it like… hmm… ah I know. Think of it like a poorly made plumbing system that loops around the house multiple times. Mana has to travel around that awkward pathway, loosing bits and pieces as it tries to go from one side to the other. That is instead of the pathways intersecting and letting the mana ram into each other and explode. Does that make sense? Well, even if it doesn't I can promise you no explosions are likely… unless the contestants damage the gloves, but that's the same with most enchantments really."

"Wait… broken enchantments explode?" Kat whispered to Green, mostly because Green was the closest. 

"Ah… not if you don't actually use them?" Green whispered back. "Thyme is making it seem easier to do then it is. And it's not a large explosion… it's just… right on your body a lot of the time which is where the problems come in. You'd probably be fine anyway," 

*That's not exactly what I wanted to hear… but I suppose it's like a faulty battery? Maybe? I'm just guessing here really.*