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

Chapter 1345 Chapter 1345 Treasure Hunting Rules

?--- Kat ---

In the end Lily decided against having a bath with Kat, that was best saved for after the final event where she could properly relax and enjoy the process. Instead, Lily took a quick shower while Kat looked around the room for something to potentially carry treasures in. In the best she could manage was a sack, but it was something. Once Lily had showered and changed the pair headed off to meeting point.

Kat and Lily were a bit surprised to find that the 'seating' this time was a set of hot-tubs all angled slightly so that you could see Thyme waiting for them all. Thyme had chosen an impressive way to do it too. They were dressed in a green wetsuit with vine decals on it and a large boxy set of goggles covered their face. A snorkel was hanging off to the side of their face to complete the look.

Behind Thyme was a big swirling portal of what looked like water, but taking into account the slight green tinge to it, Kat assumed it was just a fancy effect instead of a portal made of water in truth. Perhaps there was water on the other side and a green film was holding it back? It wasn't particularly important, but the effect was spectacular. Especially when a few sparkles of light were caught up in the current.

Kat looked over the provided hot-tub seating with an odd look on her face. Kress and Stan had grabbed one off to the side, clearly separating themselves from the group. Marigold's team had squeezed into one, but Marigold had Vanya on her lap. For space reasons, obviously. Nell and her team were split across two adjacent hot-tubs, while it seemed like Nixilei had convinced Green and Gareth to grab a spot near Romilda's team. With a shrug Kat and Lily hopped into one of the ones near them and waited.

Shortly after Kat and Lily sat down March and her team rocked up. The team split in two, with boys claiming one hot-tub and the girls claiming the other. Thyme looked back at the clock that showed everyone still had five minutes before shrugging and starting to speak. "Technically you've still got some before the round starts but with everyone here I'll begin explaining the rules now unless someone has a complaint?"

Thyme waited for a few moments and when no complaints were forthcoming continued with their speech. "Through this portal behind me is a large netted area that will be the arena for the next round. The netting will do nothing to stop you from going in or out, but if you leave the netted area I will treat it as if you'd been knocked out.

"Following on from that. Everything is allowed in this final round. Feel free to attack each other with anything you want. If someone is knocked out, unable to move for five minutes, or yells 'Medic Evac' I will summon you to the medic bay, where you will be healed, and then offered the chance to re-enter the contest after thirty minutes have passed since being plucked from the arena.

"Now, the arena itself is quite large and you will have three hours to find as many treasures as you can… but the rules around it might get a bit complicated so pay attention. First the arena. For the initial two hours the netting will not move, but at the two hour mark it will slowly start to close in, making the arena smaller and smaller forcing the contestants towards each other. The arena will not shrink evenly, it will close in on the centre point between all contestants.

"This means, that if there is a gathering of contestants you need not worry as much about the net. Conversely. If you are hiding away on the other side of the enclosure from a group the netting might speed up considerably as it closes in on the distant centre-point. Once again, leaving the netted area will send you to the medical bay, so be careful not to allow yourself to be pushed out of bounds. Hopefully that's all clear.

"Now, as for the other half of this challenge. The treasures. You'll need to be careful with them in more ways then one. Firstly, all treasure will be initially found in a treasure chest, and all treasure chests contain treasures. Anything I put in a treasure chest is considered a treasure for the purpose of this challenge, but no getting cheeky. Anything stuck to the box like cushions for example, are considered part of the treasure chest, not the treasure. Though you could find a pillow that is a treasure.

"Now, to complicate things a bit. Not all treasure chests can be found immediately, and not all treasure chests can be opened just by lifting the lid. Some require keys you'll find hidden nearby, or challenges that are clearly marked. If it is neither of those, then the chest likely requires a certain amount of time to pass before it can be opened. So consider it carefully if you want to wait around. I will say this. All time based chests will be unlocked before the net starts to shrink. So if you find a chest that you can't open after that? It's not going to be a time based lock.

"Now onto the treasures themselves. In terms of scoring, every treasure is initially worth one point. It doesn't matter what it is, or how valuable the item is in truth. Every treasure, be it a normal looking rock, or a legendary sword is worth one point in this game. That being said… every treasure that gets damage is worth only half a point, and anything that is completely broken is worth nothing.

"And no, if I can fix it with my time magic then it still counts as broken. The broken label is if the item in question 'can no longer perform its primary function' upon reaching me. This includes things like vases and other show pieces that might end up in pieces. They just that. Display items. If I can't display them properly they are considered broken unless you fix them before you present them to me at the end of the task.

"Now, while that might all sound like an issue, there is something to consider. You have free use of any treasure you find. Once again, it doesn't matter what it is, I'm perfectly happy for you to use it during this challenge… but if it gets damaged or broken then you lose those points of course. Every item will have a piece of paper hidden inside the treasure chest that gives you the name of the item.

"Perhaps that will be enough for you to figure out how to use the item, or what purpose it serves… or perhaps not. I didn't name the items after all and I make no promises that the items in question will always be useful. In fact, many of them are decidedly NOT useful for this challenge, so it's up to you if you want to risk taking them. Of course, broken items are worth nothing, but they aren't worth negative points so perhaps the risk is worth it.

"The final bit of information I have for you all before I let you ask questions," Thyme paused to pull out a silvery collar. "This here, is an enchanted collar I'll be handing to everyone so that you can breath underwater. It should work with transformations even if it's not still on the body, but if it doesn't, let me know and I'll provide extra. That doesn't just go for the beastkin in the crowd by the way. I'll spoil things a little bit and say that some of the treasures you find down there will transform you temporarily. If the collars fail for whatever reason, that's on me, so please speak up as best you can, or head to the surface so you can speak properly.

"Ah right the surface. No special rules for it. You can go up there whenever you want, and there are no special rules except for the fact that leaving the netted area will still cause you to be removed for thirty minutes, so don't go swimming over the top and claiming you didn't realise. It won't help you,"

*Well Lily. How does this all sound to you?*

[Honestly? It sounds pretty interesting. The shrinking arena really doesn't favour me, but depending on how much its going to shrink it might not actually be a problem. I'm pretty tiny and I can see myself finding a nice place to hide out for the last hour of the challenge if it comes to that. Though I do worry a bit about getting thrown out the arena for the same reason. My wings might help? I haven't really used them underwater much so I can only hope for the best. I'm going to try and push myself a bit. Not to Gareth's extent, but enough to prove I have a chance at winning. And if I do manage the win? Well that's all the better.]

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