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

--- Gareth --- (Following right on from 1243)

Gareth looked over the edge at the final jump. The first thing that came into his mind was. Well this is a mess. Things didn't exactly get better from there. The first jump, had been a straight shot with an optional objective. The second jump had been a series of rings with a few surprises, but nothing too crazy. Looking down at the rings below him… Gareth couldn't even work out how many rings there were even supposed to be. 

It was at least double the number of rings from the previous round, but instead of nice, neat little bunches that had minimal overlap. There was overlap basically everywhere. The straight down angle really didn't help things. Especially not when some of the rings were quite close together. 

If taken with the same 'North, Sout, East, West' framework as before. The closest ring was definitely in the South. It was in fact, so far South that it was actually behind Gareth even as he stood on the edge. So that would be fun. The next ring… that was harder to say. Just off to the East and West from the centre of the ring formations were two sets of three rings… but it was a honestly quite hard to tell which of those came first. They were bunched closely together and Gareth was certain that you'd need to boost across to pick up both sets. Which set was higher up? That was the question wasn't it. 

Then after that the rings split, going out to the North-East and South-West. It was a little easier to tell which one came first. That was likely the one to the south. The one in the North seemed to be smaller. But that might've just been the fact the Southern one was closer to where Gareth was standing right now, simply because the platform he was standing on was 'in the South'. 

Below that… things really did get harder to judge. There was quite a number of rings underneath all of that, but how big they were, what order you'd need to go through them in, and exactly which ones could be skipped and what couldn't… well… that was a lot harder to guess at. Gareth could see that there were some more rings in the centre, some off to the South under the very first ring, some to the East and West that didn't quite line up with the first set, and some really far off in the North-West corner. Those rings stood alone… but it was unclear if it was just the one ring or not really. Gareth was pretty sure there was at least two up there, but it was just so hard to tell. 

*Well this is going to be a major issue isn't it? I can't even tell exactly where all the rings are in relation to each other so how the heck am I supposed to plan my route? It's not like I've got enough mana to get all the rings. I'm… maybe forty-five percent full? That gives me one use of the gloves, and then a second use that will get me to pass out in the process. So if I have to use them a second time I need to make sure it's towards the end. The question is though… where should I use my one or two boosts?*

Gareth looked over the rings he could see again and frowned. I might need to use one to get both sets of three that are together in the centre near the top. They are awfully close together. If that's the case… one has to be used there. I think. Three rings for one boost is a good deal, and I'm probably not going to get a better one. The problem then is… can I use the second charge? Do I need to? Where exactly can I skip out on things?

Gareth let out a long breath as he looked down at the rings. So far he'd only pathed out from the first ring, to the sixth. That was a pathetically small amount of the total rings on display but he just didn't know where to go from there. It was hard to tell how much space he had to work with. 

*How about I just play it safe? Get those three rings, as well as the one 'below' me and then head for the North-East to get the next set of two then try to get as many of the rings near the middle as I can? Hmm… I feel like that might not be the best idea but I just can't see things properly so I have no idea if it's going to be better to do something else. Damn. I guess I'll just have to go for it and hope for the best.*

Gareth sighed once again and got ready. He sucked in a deep breath and stepped off the platform, letting his foot and body fall down forward. He kept leaning until he momentum swept his other foot off the platform and he started to plummet down. The first ring was decently far away, but he had plenty of time to get it. Just a nice fall down through the first ring… and done. Easy. Wish it would be like that the whole way. 

Gareth turned his body and started to head for the next set of rings. From this angle it was… still rather hard to tell what rings he needed to aim for. This was made worse by the fact that he could see that both sets of rings were in order, from South, to North, but they looked about the same size…

Gareth narrowed his eyes. Wait a fucking second. That's the trick with this round. Thyme didn't make the blasted rings the same size! That little shit! I can't tell which set of rings is higher because whichever one is lower down is smaller then the one above it! Well unless you can only pick one set… but that doesn't seem like something Thyme would do. Shit. Let's just move over there and hope I can figure out something. The one on the East is a little closer to me… so should I be aiming for that one? Or the one further away. 

Gareth chewed on his lip as he flew towards the rings, trying desperately to spot something that would let him figure out which answer was the correct one. He looked, from left to right and back again. Then, just as he was about to give up, he noticed something. The rings. The rings from the East ALL looked the same size, well roughly speaking. While the ones to the West looked to be further down, and further North. 

Well let's hope that's right. Gareth made his choice and moved over to the rings. Just managing to line himself up in time to get through them. As he looked over at the other set, it was abundantly clear he'd chosen correctly. They were noticeably lower down then the first three. "Hahahaha" Gareth let out a pleased bout of laughter. It had just been a guess, but he'd nailed it. Shame that everyone else would know because they could copy him, but that was just how it was. 

Gareth cleared the first three, then used an almost painful amount of his remaining mana, setting him down to less then one use on his gauntlets. The pain in his arms barely registering, that was just the norm for the damned device now. Still, that was six rings down and Gareth was pleased with that. 

Gareth started his move to the North-West. Those rings were quite far away, and sur he'd need to give up a set of three to get to them, but they were higher then quite a few other rings he could now see as well. So it just seemed like the best idea. As Gareth made his way over though, he examined the field still before him. 

*Right so there's three sets of two 'in the middle' of the field so to speak. One off to either side, and one right in the middle. Then there's that final(?) ring right in the centre. Gareth new he could claim all of them without too much issue. No, the real issue was the ring, or rings down in the South and slightly West as well as the North-West set. 

That could be a lot of rings I'm giving up… but well. I just don't think I have the mana to get them all. Heck I don't think I have the mana to get any of them. So… centre it is. Though… 

Gareth looked over the three sets and squinted a bit. Hmm, depending on if Thyme is using any further trickery then I think the order is middle, East, West, but going all the way from East to West would take another charge of my gloves. So… shit I might miss that last ring… and I don't know if it's just the one ring either or another set of close ones. Shit. Shit.*