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

1374  Chapter 1374 The Lily Spiral

--- Lily --- Lily had finished up with the boat and left the area with her wings. If she'd bothered testing, she would've realised that the boat had a treasure tracker and operated underwater… but after shrinking it she'd put it in her bag and moved on. Lily did find something a bit weird though. When she transformed back to her Memphis form there was a moment of delay. It felt almost like two metaphysical gears grinding against each other in her soul.

It wasn't exactly painful, but during that brief moment Lily found she couldn't move at all and it was very uncomfortable. Like having sandpaper taped to your body. Not painful in itself, but it had the promise of pain if you moved around too much or did something stupid. Lily couldn't say she liked the feeling… but things needed testing at that point.

Lily transformed again and found the sensation remained the same. A few more tests back and forth and Lily was certain it was a new issue, and that the boat was the most probably cause. *So what's going on here? Why is the boat causing issues? I suppose I should test just to be sure…* So Lily did. She took the boat out of her bag and put it to the side and transformed with no issues. Grumbling as she grabbed the boat again Lily wasn't sure what to do about it.

*What does this mean? I think I can see two possible causes. The first is that there's something funky going on with this boat specifically. I could test that… but I'm just not willing to waste the time necessary to figure that out. The other thing it could be… is that I'm approaching some sort of limit with my change. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case if I'm being honest. My transformation isn't meant to be a way to hide a bunch of stuff. The fact that my clothes stick around is really nice, and more of a sign that my bodies, though connected, are in fact separate. It's not that my body shifts between forms, but that my mind switches to the one that's 'real' at the time. The boat, for one reason or another, might be rubbing up against that limit. It could be a weight issue, assuming that the full size of the boat is what matters. It could also be a complexity thing. The boat seems to be more heavily enchanted compared to everything else I have. It could just be the canary in the coal mine. The herald for further issues if things aren't dealt with now. So what does that mean? Am I maxed out on treasure? I'd sort of expected that I could keep adding shit to my expanding bag until it was filled but I might be coming up against my own limitations rather than the bag's. So what does that mean exactly? Am I just a treasure or two short of a real issue? Would it be dangerous to push said limit? What about if I tried to put stuff on the boat and THEN shrink it down. Would that make it better because it'd be taking up less space, or perhaps worse because more stuff has been shrunk? Would it mean there's more magic working?

Hmm… could it be a complexity thing? I'm not really sure how things work for my human body when I'm not in it. I assumed it went into a little pocket dimension or something… but perhaps it's more like quantum physics?*

While Lily was taking this all into consideration, she was exploring the area. She'd tackled all of the pillars and was now looking across the ground the raceway was situated on top of. She hadn't found anything yet, but she was making progress. *Perhaps I'm wasting my time here? But I still don't have any answers for what's really going on with that weird sensation when I transform so I suppose I'll keep going with it. Perhaps finding another treasure will help put things to rest. Though… the real problem is that I'm lacking in details. I wasn't paying as much attention as perhaps I should've been when it was all detailed back at the hospital. It's definitely something to ask. Normally I'd try and see if D.E.M.O.N.S knows but of course, Stan is still close enough to cause issues with that. So… I can only guess unless I'm willing to risk my safety… but I'm not sure I want to risk pulling a muscle in my soul or something. That's a thing that can happen right? Pretty sure it has to be. Kat was still in really bad shape after having her heart destroyed twice during that cultivator thing. Unless that was an issue with her demonic energy channels… which… wait are they part of the soul? Or are they sort of a bridge between the body and the soul? These questions are why I STUDY things. It's exceptionally interesting… but I've been to distracted with perfecting me paper magic. There's so many interesting things in that book and I've made great strides with it… but I'm starting to realise that I'm now quite ignorant about basic facts of my 'biology' for lack of a better word. I probably should've been learning about those limitations. Nothing too complicated… or maybe not? I should probably know if I have any extra organs. Considering I have extra limbs I… probably have some don't I? It's just… not something I thought about until now. Dammit. I'll need to look into this all as soon as we're done here. Or, as soon as D.E.M.O.N.S will let me. Will it allow me to ask it questions once the tournament is over? Stan will still be around but technically speaking the contract should be over as well.*

Lily's spiral of worries had to end, temporarily at least, because she managed to find a rather conspicuous X in the sand in her explorations. Lily pushed her problems to the side for the moment and started digging. Her first instinct was to go at it with her limbs, but quickly discarded the idea in favour of using her shadow to scoop out large amounts of sand. It only took three scoops to reveal a treasure chest and Lily had no trouble pulling it from the sand once it was revealed.

Popping it open showed… a mouthguard? Lily looked at the 'treasure' with a sceptical gaze. *Do I even want to put this in my mouth? Sure it's a treasure and probably has some sort of special ability… but at the same time I don't really know that I want this in my mouth. I don't know where it's been, I can only wash it off in salt water… and if anything that makes me even less interested but… it could have a good ability.* Resigning herself to the salty taste that would probably cling to the mouth guard unless she wanted to stick her head into the chest to put the mouthguard on Lily let out a sigh and reached down. From there it wasn't hard to put the mouthguard in. At least, in theory. See the issue was that it didn't fit Lily's teeth at all. It didn't seem capable of adjusting for her oversized canine teeth.

Lily spat the thing out and shoved it in her bag. *Dammit! I know they're meant to go in your mouth but that was still pretty gross. I can't believe that it didn't even work! Everything else seems to resize itself to fit! Were canines just not in the design of them? Do most beastkin not have weird teeth? Actually… they might not? Unless… wait is this just a copy of someone specific's teeth? What would be the point of that?* Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Lily continued to mentally grumble as she finished up her search of the area. There was nothing to note, at least, not anything likely connecting to treasure. She did find a few interesting looking pieces of coral, but poking around the area didn't reveal any hidden buttons or treasure chests. Perhaps there was something she missed, but Lily didn't consider it all too likely. Which meant, it was time to decide where she should go.

*Which is actually a good question. I think the net should be closing in soon, if it hasn't started already. The problem is… I still haven't seen the net! So I've got not idea which way I'd need to head to avoid being caught out by it. I don't imagine it's all that fast, but I'd still prefer not to be caught all that close to it. Everyone will be watching that direction for stragglers, I know I would be.

So… does that mean I should take to the surface and check? I'm not the happiest with that idea but I think I might have to do that anyway. It's too much of a risk to start heading the wrong direction, especially with Romilda potentially still so close.*