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

--- Kat ---

*Lily? Any preferences?*

[I'm sure I could learn a lot from all the other stuff… but just get me the notes. I don't care enough about anything else and I certainly don't want to risk what might be in them. Heck, if this guy was crazy enough to mess with the corpse worms who knows what else they were into. There could be diseases or something else horrible in one of the cupboards. So just get the notes and burn the rest.]

"Well, Lily is on board with 'Get the notes and burn the rest' how does that sound to you?" suggested Kat.

"I would recommend opening all the cupboards quickly and without breathing, then grabbing what we want before backing up and allowing me to burn the rest of the room out," said Hunter.

"Right. Best to be safe. Um… should I just do that then? My regeneration can probably stand up to whatever gets thrown at me," suggested Kat.

"No," stated Hunter firmly. "As a demon I am also likely to immune to many of the potential issues. What we really do not want is for something that happens to be inside to spread into the surroundings. We might be fine but the wildlife around? An unlucky member of the town? Not so much.

I suggest opening the cupboards swiftly, grabbing what you want, and then burning the rest. I will likely cover us with my fire as I do so… in fact I will summon up some to cover the doorway before we start just to be safe. I'll do the lower cupboards and you do the top set?"

"Yeah that sounds good," agreed Kat as she hopped up onto the bench, ignoring the broken glass and stains. Hunter glared at Kat's back for a second but didn't actually say anything in response.

Instead she slithered over to the bottom cupboards and summoned up her fire, 'blocking' the doorway. "Give me the signal to start when you are ready," said Hunter.

Kat didn't waste any time. "GO!" and then the cupboard doors were flung open. Kat was happy enough to take them two at a time, using both hands to keep things going. The first set of cupboards had food and water inside and Kat slammed the doors back shut a moment after recognising this. She then pulled open the next two just as easily.

Inside was what looked to be dried remains of something, but whatever it was, wasn't notes so she shut those as well.

The next set of cupboards held a stack of books in one, and a table that looked to be a chalkboard, it had a few things on it but it was mostly clean so Kat opted to ignore it. Grabbing the books in one arm, Kat was about to shift them around to be more easily carried… and then she remembered that she had a storage ring for this contract and deposited them inside instead.

Kat then opened the next set, and instantly closed them. They were to remain closed until they were cleansed in fire and she wanted nothing to do with anything else in these cupboards… but checked the next ones anyway. As soon as she opened that one, the three large jugs of… something started bubbling and Kat slammed that one shut as well.

Knowing that she was at risk of running out of time Kat got her tail involved and threw open three of the six cupboards left.

Inside was nothing of note, in fact one of them was completely empty. Kat didn't question it simply moved on to the final six. Inside she found a whole bunch of stray notes, which was great. In another one she found a whole bunch of dead worms. Not so great. And in the final one Kat saw that it was… empty again.

Quickly shifting the papers into her storage ring Kat ducked away from the cupboards and was about to leave when Hunter said, "Grab the crystal!"

Kat was confused for a second but the crystal in question was still in sight. It was the large crystal belonging to the ant. Kat dashed over towards it and then ran out of the room with it clutched in her hand. As soon as Kat was through the wall of fire Hunter started pouring the flames into the room.

Things inside started to sputter and steam, even as they were burnt down the sound of things popping and squealing could be heard before all of a sudden, a big BANG went off and a section of the cupboards were blasted to pieces. Hunter didn't seem phased and simply kept pouring fire into the room until all of the sounds stopped… and then kept it up for a further ten seconds just to be sure.

When Kat looked into the room after the flames died down and there was nothing but ash. There was no sign of the cupboard or bench at all, the chair had been rendered down to nothing and the stains on the floor were no more. Of course, so was a good inch of the stone floor itself, but that was fine. Kat gulped slightly, at the sight. *Well… I could probably do something like that? Maybe?

Can I destroy stone like that?*

Kat shook her head and as she did so, her attention was pulled two the crystal still in her hand. "So… why did you want me to grab this?" asked Kat as she waved it about.

"Two main reasons. The first is that it is somewhat valuable, either for barter here or for barter and trade back at the hub. My clan at least would be interested in it for a number of things," stated Hunter. Kat nodded along for that all makes sense. "Of course, the second reason is that it was liable to explode and potentially bring the whole cave system down on our heads if you didn't grab it,"

Kat paused in her nodding to look down at the crystal in her hand. It was decently chunky, and took up most of her palm… but it didn't seem super explosive? "Wha?" intoned Kat radiating confusion.

"It is not a certainty, I would need more time or information to determine its explosive yield… but I would give it a greater then fifty percent chance of explosive results," stated Hunter matter-of-factly.

"Right… but WHY?" asked Kat.

"That I do not know. It is likely something to do with the way the ants form the crystals in the first place. Not all crystalised mana explodes, and technically speaking that crystal isn't even that. It's… strange in many ways. One of the reasons my clan wants to study it. Those organically grown crystals hide some fascinating details, or so I am told.

I do not understand any of the specifics myself. I just remember an acquaintance's mother, one of those 'knowledge hunters' I know, finding out I have one and then just… grabbing it and running away,"

"Ok… I feel like I have more questions, but let's start heading back while you talk about… that," said Kat. "Oh, though before you start… is it safe to put the crystal in the storage ring?"

"Oh, yes, completely," said Hunter seriously. Kat really wanted to be sceptical about that answer, especially after hearing about how explosive it might be… but decided it was better for it to explode inside the ring then outside anyway and watched as it vanished from her hand.

"So… I guess my two big questions are, why call them an acquaintance and is that sort of… I hesitate to say 'theft' but it IS technically. Um… yeah is that sort of thing normal?" asked Kat.

"The second question is easier to answer. No it is not normal, and her wife came in and offered me payment for the crystal as soon as she found out. As for why I call them an acquaintance? Their name is Hunter 24ZB272 and I had a number of classes with them growing up.

They were one of the few clan members the same age as myself… but I quickly eclipsed them in my learnings and they are rather jealous of my success.

"I still keep up with them, her parents are lovely people and much more involved in 24ZB272's life then is standard for our clan… but yes 24ZB272 is a rather jealous individual.

It makes it hard for me to spend significant time with her, and perhaps at a few points in time I wouldn't have even called her an acquaintance… but we've known each other for almost as long as we've both been alive and I suppose it's just… nice to know someone my age that understands me somewhat more than average.

Sadly she disagrees with me on many things including how the clan operates, but nothing too egregious so we can still talk without issues," explained Hunter.

"Huh… so I didn't want to ask before, because it might've been a touchy question but you've given me an opening so… what about your own parents?" asked Kat.