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

--- Kat ---

Turns out it was not such a simple thing. Lily's suggestion sparked off more than a few arguments but eventually everyone had calmed down and Lily even had a new idea for some spells based around paper-mâché. The final decision was to create a large bowl around the spiderwebs that would hopefully catch the debris. If a bit was missed that wasn't too bad.

It took Lily a lot of mana, and two breaks to get the paper setup and Kat couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it. Of course the fact that the spiderwebs covered too much area to sneak past meant that something had to be done, but the fact Lily had to take breaks meant that perhaps 'this' wasn't the answer.

In the end though? A course was decided and it was worth testing for the first web at the very least. When everything was set up Kat brought out one of the larger rocks and hefted it. Getting everyone to back up a bit before hurling it right at the centre of the web, hoping it would break the entire thing.

Kat was not ready for what happened next. At the beginning things seemed to be going well, the stone impacted the middle of the spiderweb and while it did flex backwards somewhat large cracks seemed to cover the entire structure. Kat was grinning… for about half a second. The cracks healed somehow and the rock was launched back towards Kat.

She leaned to the side, easily able to let it sail past… only to remember she was standing in front of the group. Not having time to check where everyone was Kat reached out and tried to catch the rock. Hand raised and ready the rock exploded on contact with Kat's palm sending dust and debris everywhere. Kat sneezed, getting rid of a lot of the dust that had ended up in her nose and grumbling.

"Well that didn't work,"

"Indeed. It is also worse then it seems," said Hunter. "You may not have seen from that angle but the rock had deep gauges sliced into it. If the web was a bit stronger, or perhaps had slightly less give, it would have sliced your projectile to pieces,"

Kat grimaced. "Right… you want to shoot it?"

Hunter nodded, "That does seem like a prudent next course of action. Though I would like for everyone to move off to the side somewhat to ensure that if the bullet rebounds like the stone nobody is to be injured." Hunter paused for a moment and then glared at Kat. "That includes you. I shall abuse my biology to fall backwards and away from any potential rebounds,"

Kat sighed but did as asked. It was a little awkward to head off to the side, and somewhat of a worry should the glass shatter but Kat ensured she would be between the others and the webs. Hunter got ready, lined up the shot and loosened her back muscles before firing.

Hunter let the recoil force her backwards falling down to ground level quickly, not even waiting to see if she was successful in her shot. Sadly, she wasn't. The bullet simply split on the web and kept going past it. "Wow…" mumbled Kat and Kamiko. Bower remained silent.

A few moments later Hunter raised herself back up and looked at the undamaged webs. "Something seriously strange is going on here. Those bullets were much harder then the stone, and while they were also much smaller and contained a greater deal of force in a smaller area… I do not believe that the webs could survive without some sort of enhancing them,"

"What do we do about it?" asked Kat.

"I am… unsure. Very unsure. Perhaps a few more tests? Dangerous though they may be. Perhaps it is best I untie myself from the group and try a few more shots against the web? We both struck at the centre hoping that it would collapse the entire thing at once but clearly it is not to be," stated Hunter.

"Right well… good luck," said Kat. The group quickly got ready for this new experiment. There was a lot of worry but nobody had any better ideas. So they backtrack enough to find a corner, and then waited for the noise.

Hunter shouted back down the hall, "I am running more than a single test. Please wait until I either call you all back or you hear me screaming in pain,"

Kat was hoping the second option wouldn't be needed… but it was technically a reasonable thing to say. So she sat there and listened. The first shot went off and sounded much like the first. Then the second shot went off and was accompanied by a second large crack. Then the third shot went off and it sounded a bit like nails on a chalkboard for a few moments.

"I appear to have a solution!" shouted Hunter. "Please come and observe my work,"

Kat and co slowly made their way back to the room and saw the damage. One glass silk line had been shattered and another was… just sort of floating there? Hunter began her explanation once the others could properly see the damage. "Allow me to explain. The floating line I was able to knock off the wall. It didn't break so much as the wall let it go and it floated backwards a bit.

The second one, I took out a significant chunk of the glass wall along with it.

"You can actually still see the bullet from my final shot in the wall. I am not sure how best to proceed. The main reason for this, is if I damage the wall too much the tunnel may collapse… but if I do not damage the wall and instead simply shoot off the webs it may fall to the ground and leave a large web that simply blocks the path along the ground instead of shattering.

"Crossing it would be difficult, but possible for everyone except potentially myself. I do not know how easily nor safely I could bounce off the glass to move across the web so I would likely need Kat to carry me across in this case. Which do you take to be the least risky option?"

"One moment," said Bower as he stepped forward, going as close to the webs as possible without touching them and held out a hand. He held it there for a few moments before moving on to the one on the right side of the room and doing the same thing. "Hmm… based on airflow the left path is correct. So we need only break that one…

"I would recommend being thorough in your destruction. If we must turn back, so be it. We would likely need to accept going left or right along the cliff and finding an exit that's off our intended course, but if that's the case? So be it. I would rather not take any chances with the glass here,"

Hunter nodded along, everyone else backed up once again, and then the shooting started. It took time, and the noise was not pleasant on anyone's ears but eventually the last section fell and you could hear it shatter. There was also a rumbling that seemed to accompany the falling glass… but it sounded distant. Very distant. "Hunter everything ok?" asked Kat.

"It seems so. The pathway is mostly clear, the paper seems to have caught all of the glass. I do not know what the noise signalled but all appears to be fine," explained Hunter.

The group gathered once again and Kat made her way up to Hunter. The spiderweb was gone… along with a good chunk of the nearby walls. It had clear scars from Hunter's shots but seemed stable. No sign of what that falling noise was. Everything looked clear as far as Kat could see. The paper managed to hold the broken glass well enough.

Carefully sliding forward Kat grabbed the edge of the large paper bowl and started to drag it out of the way. She could hear the shards of glass scraping against the floor but Kat was careful. She watched the paper structure carefully. Nothing seemed to be spilling out of the other side and it remained in mostly good shape.

So carefully, ever so carefully she moved pulled it backwards far enough to squeeze around the edge with only a few cuts before she got behind and pushed it up against the other spider web. It had to be done this way to avoid the second web tearing her wings to pieces from simply backing up and Kat certainly wasn't going to drag the paper bowl down past everyone else.

Kat glared a bit at the space she'd made. It would be cutting things a bit close to squeeze everyone past but there wasn't really enough space to lift people over the bowl either. Though the ceiling didn't look sharp. Perhaps it was an option? Then again if Kat just changed how she was carrying people there might be a way.