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

---- Gareth ----

Gareth groaned as he stood up and walked over to the edge. The temptation to sit on it like Willow was strong, but he simply didn't have that kind of confidence. Especially not when he couldn't tell where exactly the edge was. Gareth personally suspected slight tricky or Thyme's part. 

Looking over the edge, Gareth could see that this second jump was going to be nothing at all like the first. Where the first had a truly ridiculous amount of rings all stacked together, this second jump seemed to have only a few scattered rings. The problem was obviously just how far away they all were. 

The first ring was quite a ways… North? Gareth couldn't tell where North was so high up in the sky. Especially not when the sun seemed to be missing now he was looking for it. More Thyme shenanigans probably. For now though, 'Forward' was North, backwards was South, with East to the right and West to the left. 

The first ring wasn't too far below the platform, but he was going to really need to jump for it if he wanted to make it. Even then, Gareth wasn't entirely sure he could get all the way there without relying on those damned gloves. *Which is not a great place to be in because I've only recovered around ten percent of my mana. Maybe a touch more, it's a bit hard to tell. That leaves me pretty well high and dry because I can see how spread out these rings are, and I'm not sure how to deal with this.* 

Gareth licked his lips as he studied the layout further trying to determine exactly how the rings were laid out. It was a little hard to tell further down. For example, in the North East corner there was definitely one ring, but perhaps it was actually two? Then there were the rings all clumped up around the South West. Gareth genuinely couldn't tell how many rings were down there. There was one much higher then the others, probably the second ring right after the first… but how many rings were underneath it? Gareth couldn't say. At least one, perhaps more. 

I'm really not sure how I'm going to manage this one. As far as I can see the order is 'North, South-West, West…' then it gets a little fuzzy. There are at least two over in the East, then one more very very far to the North-West, way outside of the normal zone, and some more down under that one in the South-West but I can't tell how many from up here, or what the order is properly. 

At least there is plenty of space between the earlier rings. At least, as far as I can tell. I should be able to get a good grip on where I need to go as I'm falling. The big question is if I can get from the first ring all the way down to the second without using the gloves. I'm really not sure if I can. Then the mess below that… yeah I've got no idea how this is supposed to go. 

"Hey Thyme, can you tell me where all the rings are? Or what order they're in?" asked Gareth.

Thyme shook their head, "I'm afraid not. Going first really is a major bane in this particular contest it seems. Perhaps I should've randomised things between rounds as well, but it would've taken up extra time I didn't want to waste, not after yesterday," 

Gareth sighed, "You could've done it as a mirror. First to fifth, then fifth to first before first to fifth again," 

Thyme shrugged, "Perhaps I should've but the rules can't be changed now, so… hop to it," 

"Righto then…" Gareth looked behind him and saw that everyone was sort of crowding around the edge. "Can you all back up or move to the sides? I'm going to need a running start for this one," 

Gareth, in his exasperation for Thyme and worry over making it through the rings didn't even notice that much of his fear for the jump itself had already vanished. It's a wonder what a second exposure to a fear in such quick succession can do to a person. Gareth still wasn't completely calm, but his breathing didn't need careful managing anymore. 

When everyone had shuffled out of the way, Gareth took a few careful steps back while keeping an eye on where the edge was. He'd felt it out a little bit and was just about ready… when he paused. Gareth looked down at his shoes. Stepping forward again Gareth go to the edge and started to untie them. 

"What the heck are you doing?" asked Mauve. 

"Giving you all a good idea," retorted Gareth. Soon his plan became clear. Gareth placed both boots sideways right on the edge of the platform and then walked back again. Everyone had a pretty clear idea of what Gareth was doing now. He walked back quite ways, needing the runup to really get his speed going. 

Once ready, he took in a deep breath, he bent his knees and let out a long breath, he was ready. Gareth sprinted forward, pushing his legs to the limit for the short distance he had. Right at the edge, Gareth kicked off hard and he flew! It wasn't enough to get over the ring all by itself, but Gareth had more than enough forward momentum to keep him moving until he was there. 

Gareth kept himself flattened, trying to get as much 'space' as possible to work with. As soon as the ring was 'taken' he angled himself and tried to move 'South West' towards the next ring… and found it to be rather hard. Dammit. I wish I had some proper way of moving. I better fucking not need these damned gloves I don't have the mana for this shit. 

Gareth was making his way over… but it was clear he was going to miss it. Gritting his teeth, Gareth activated the glove once more, losing a huge chunk of mana in the process, to no surprise. He'd overshot the ring though. Gareth wanted to curse, but held it in as he managed to just barely angle himself and grab the second ring. 

Keeping his current form and moving North he managed to, relatively slowly, make his way over to the next ring. As he was going, Gareth scanned the sky below him and tried to work out what he was going to do. There was… three? He was pretty sure it was three rings over in the East… and he just didn't have the mana to go and get them. Not if he wanted to come all the way back to the West side to finish the round up, and certainly not if he wanted any mana left in the tank for the final round. 

*I can't risk it. I'm going to have to stick on this side I think. I'm losing out on three rings… it's still a bit hard to make out from here, but they do seem to be two separate rings close together and the one 'next' in line. Of course the big 'final ring' at the bottom is more than large enough for me to target it regardless of what side I'm on… but there are at least two rings on this side, probably three so I'm going to stick with it.* 

With the decision made it wasn't hard at all to get over the 'next' ring, at least the next one Gareth was intending to go for. Gareth did keep his gaze on that fourth ring as it passed. Even if he had determined it wasn't worth it… it did feel like missing a large opportunity. Gareth sighed, but turned to face the ring in front of him, getting ready to head back South. 

The ring glowed, and it was time. Gareth looked over at the two rings he was giving up, and the temptation to just… use his gloves to get over there was strong. He stamped that down though. It wasn't worth it. He'd need both gloves to make it, and that would drain him far too much. 

That was when Gareth's eyes widened. Down at the bottom, the final rings he was going through were in fact THREE rings all bunched up together. It looked more like two rings for quite a long time, but it was actually two rings that were basically touching, and then a third a good distance below that, with the final ring not much lower down. 

Gareth grinned. The gamble had paid off. It was no issue falling through the last four rings, and when he landed, despite the fact he mana had dropped and he'd missed a whole three rings… Gareth couldn't help but feel like he'd made the correct decision. 

"Gareth has finished the course in a rather clean three minutes and thirty-six seconds," said Thyme with a bow, "Of course he did miss three rings along the way, which is a whopping one minute and thirty second penalty, which brings his total for this round up to five minutes and six seconds," 

*That might sound somewhat bad… but I honestly think it was the right call.*