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

Kat couldn't have made any guesses as to what the next person to walk into the tent would look like. She did have a reasonable suspicion the crazy hats would continue, but beyond that she was at a loss. So when a dwarf in green robes walked in behind everyone, the biggest surprise was that she could see him behind his much taller companions.

Having three wizards in the party was certainly notable, but what everyone was focused on was the next strange hat. This one depicted a 'large' mountain that was nearly as tall as the dwarf wearing it was. The mountainside had a tiny miniature train with matching tracks that ran up the mountain, occasionally dipping into tunnels that were lit by tiny dots of yellow light. The train even had it's own light that while small was large for its size. Kat was actually a little impressed when it flicked on the first time it entered the tunnel. The train looked to be about the same size as her fingernail and looked a bit like a determined ant making its way up a hill.

The dwarf's beard was… actually a little disappointing. It was rather singed and only came up to about the height of his shoulders… and considering the fact his neck was nearly non-existent so was his beard. The slight charring at the ends was really the only thing indicating this might not be preference… but with hats like those perhaps burning the ends of his beard was just how he rolled. Kat certainly wasn't going to ask, though some of the other dwarves were certainly tempted.

Instead of what Kat was now thinking of as 'the usual staff' healers other than Nixilei tended to use he had a wooden club with a gemstone set into it where it was at its widest. Kat wasn't sure it made for the most structurally sound choice, but it looked nice at least. The club was sized appropriately for the dwarf's hands and rested on his back. He also had a book with a blank leather cover strapped to his side. It was rather scuffed and might have had more on it once upon a time but whatever it was previously has been worn away.

Finally, in came the last member of their team. It was an elven man with what could only be described as a snow globe on his head. Before getting to that though, Kat took in the plain looking spear he carried in hand. It was made out of a pure white wood with a black metal tip. He held it loosely pointing mostly upwards as he walked, flexing a considerable amount with each step. Something Kat was fairly sure you didn't want in a spear. His clothing was rather similar to Kress' attire. Simple but sturdy leather covering the entire body with thick boots that might have been steel toed. That part was somewhat unclear.

The hat he wore was actually Kat's favourite. It was a snow globe with a constant supply of fresh snow depicting a town straight out of a winter wonderland. It had little houses all over the place in a somewhat slapdash manner, a town square with a water fountain that looked to be frozen, not a fake plastic model but real frozen water, or something that looked close enough Kat couldn't tell the difference. Each house had a few lights on display, though they weren't currently turned on. There was a variety of 'effort' on display for each house and even the now somewhat common 'ditto' sign next to a particularly impressive display.

Inside the town was also a number of people, though unlike the rest of the hats these were obviously fake. If the visible joints weren't obvious enough for most to see, though they were to Kat, the large metal rod connecting each figure to the tracks that propelled them around the village certainly would. The figures moved around town, met up with each other, and eventually returned to their homes. Still no lights though. Kat wondered if they'd actually change when night came.

Before the group could properly settle themselves in or give introductions, a moderately loud bang sounded. Everyone turned to face the source of the noise to find 'Ted' had returned though currently he was twice the size. "Welcome everyone, currently I am speaking to you as Thyme, the judge for this round of the tournament. Now that everyone is here I can go over things in more detail."

"Excuse me," said the crocodile beastkin in a surprisingly smooth voice that sounded more like Morgan Freeman that it had any right to. "How can that be when there are only four teams here? Did the fifth team arrive and depart without our knowledge?"

Thyme shook their head sadly. "I am afraid the fifth team were experts in explosives. Apparently that didn't mean they had any common sense. They threw no less than TWELVE sticks of dynamite at the first enemy they encountered. The fact that not a single one of them thought using so much explosives underground could possibly be a bad idea baffles me and is one of the reasons they were removed from this round.

"The other is that their 'Ted' technically was killed in the falling rubble and I had to save them on top of that. Perhaps if just one or two at most had thrown those dynamite sticks I would have been a bit more forgiving and deducted a large amount of points for requiring my personal intervention… but considering it was a situation they caused themselves endangering their own lives, and potentially the other teams if I hadn't taken steps to limit the damage… I simply could not in good conscience leave them in.

"I had a few issues in the previous round with their tactics truth be told… but while it did cause a number of injuries they did not every number amongst them leading me to believe they actually knew what they were doing… now I'm not sure what was going on. It was the same five, so unless they were cursed they either got really lucky or all the gunpowder they work with went to their heads."

Croc dude just stared open mouthed at time as if he couldn't believe what he'd just been told. As he looked around the room for confirmation he wasn't the only one hearing it he noticed everyone wearing similar faces except for Lily and the dwarves. Lily wasn't in his line of site, and the dwarves looked like they were ready to start a crusade. Finally Dwarf 1 spoke up and unleashed a number of dwarvish swear words that will not be translated to maintain a teen rating on this story.

Once that was over, Dwarf 2 took up the charge, adding in another layer. Kat was wishing for worse ears, though that likely wouldn't have helped, or perhaps a way to forget things. Kat considered dwarvish swearing of this level to be a special kind of mental attack. When Dwarf 3 looked to pick up the torch and continue their work, Thyme stepped in. "Yes thank you. I understand as dwarves you feel strongly about this but I think that's enough.

The rest of the dwarves sniffed at the insinuation it could possibly have been enough but didn't argue with the extremely powerful tree person. "Now that we've all calmed down, I will tell you about the plan for this round of the tournament. It even has a lovely theme. Teamwork."

Kat raised a confused eyebrow. *Isn't that the whole point?* Looking around most shared her confusion but Nixilei, and Dwarf 4 seemed to have an idea about what was going to happen. Thyme gave the moment a few more seconds to breathe before saying, "Seems two of you caught it. This won't just be teamwork amongst yourselves, but the other teams as well. You will work with each other team at least once. If things are tied up you may be required to perform additional tasks together to break that tie. I won't be revealing the exact nature of the tasks just yet, but I wanted to let you all know this will be a test of skill and co-operation. Special measures will be put in place to ensure this. Good luck, and happy chatting!"

With a light pop Thyme vanished from sight leaving the four teams stunned. *Well… this is… interesting I suppose. I have no idea what Thyme could have meant when he said 'special measures will be taken'. Does that mean we'll be limited in some way? Myself specifically? Or perhaps whatever task we are undertaking will scale to the power of its combatants? Maybe it's not a combat test at all… can intellect scale? I doubt it… but I guess it could happen? I wonder if the fact I can speed up my mind would count against my alongside my increased strength. What about Lily? Now that I'm here… I'm not quite sure if I'll be taking her along or what… I need to figure out a way to carry her as well… hmm… this has gotten more complicated.*