Chapter 113: Frozen in Thyme

Kat let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. *That was actually somewhat tense. I guess I somehow expected Kress to win, but I guess he really wasn't suited to this kind of event. Actually how are these events scored anyway? I assume we are winning considering we've got three wins, but by how much? Does this last round coming up even matter?*

Kat's thoughts were interrupted by Thyme "Let's just clean up a little first" Thyme waved their hands across the stage and as the hands passed over the various bits and pieces sunk back into the ground leaving the quiz contestants standing in an open field once again.

Everyone had been reverted to their previous outfit except Kress, who immediately had something to say about it "Why the hell am I the only one still in a dress?"

"Well, everyone else will find it in the spacial bag they were provided, you however, will be keeping that on a bit longer as punishment for being rude" said Thyme

Kress tried to object but Thyme spoke up once again "I understand you might not be happy with me here, but please understand, the lack of respect you have shown me, while something I don't particularly care about, will be an issue in the future if you keep this up. I think this is a memorable and relatively light punishment considering the formal setting and the amount of power I wield. Do you understand?"

Kress sighed and nodded. Despite his anger at Thyme, the tree was right. This was supposed to be an extremely formal gathering with a long and respected tradition. His anger was unbecoming of him, if not entirely unjustified.

"Well, now that we've addressed that, we have one final event" said Thyme, who then paused and raised a hand into the air, several magic circles burst forth into being surrounding Thyme. They numbered in the tens, and was more than Kat had ever seen in one place, and was also the first time Kat had actually seen the dryad use sigils so obviously "Just a moment"

And the world stopped. Everyone froze in place and nobody moved an inch, they even seemed to have stopped breathing. Except for two, Kat and Thyme. *What's going on? Why is everyone frozen, and why am I still fine? Is this one of my demon powers?*

Before Kat could worry too much though Thyme spoke up. "Don't be too alarmed, I've just suspended their perception of time. I originally had a plan for the final round, but I realised that I failed to account for your true sight. Can you give me a moment to work a few more spells?"

"Sure?" said Kat somewhat confused.

Thyme just nodded and got to work, summoning a three new sigils that spun around Thyme in a lazy circle before stopping. The sigils disappeared and a thin mist seeped out of the space they once were. Snaking around each of the contestants standing around, it enveloped them all before fading into the background. To Kat's eyes they still had a sort of misty tinge around them but it wasn't like she couldn't see them at all.

So… "What exactly was that supposed to do?" asked Kat

Thyme sighed. "It seems like it probably didn't work then. I suspected as much. See I had planned to turn everyone into more indistinct mist creatures and host a battle royal free for all. You could team up with a few people to try and get a mcguffin in the centre. The whole idea was how you wouldn't know who was who, and I thought it would be quite interesting. Of course the problem is you can still see everyone"

"Um, right, but I think the harder thing would have actually been hiding me from everyone else" said Kat

"Oh, what do you mean?" asked Thyme suddenly very curious.

"Well, I keep getting told it's really hard to hide my demonic features, so I take it that while you could do it, it'd be really hard" said Kat

"Hmm, well, do you mind? This is rather interesting to me" asked Thyme with a smile on their face.

"Sure go for it" said Kat

First Thyme summoned a basic sigil for disguise and tried to cast it on Kat. As the seconds ticked by Thyme's smile got slightly more strained, until 10 seconds in they stopped that sigil and summoned three more in its place. These sigils all glowed with power and Kat could almost feel the mana pouring off of them as they directed themselves towards Kat, only to see Thyme frown.

*Oh dear.* Thyme split into three and dismissed the sigils again. Now each of the three Thyme's summoned five more sigils and poured a veritable tsunami through them. Kat felt the moment the spell activated, as the mana washed over her like crashing waves. The mana was so thick in the air that were the others not frozen in time even unaided they could see the faint shimmer of mana directed at Kat.

The Thyme's grit their teeth as the sigils began to rotate around themselves. Seconds passed and the mana didn't let up, constantly pouring itself towards Kat. She could feel it pressing against her skin, like a warm blanket. Her wings and tail felt compressed, like someone was trying to squash them down, but her horns were by far the worst. They felt like they were being painfully constricted.

The worst part was though, some primal part of her demonic heritage was screaming out against this. Kat felt her arms start to twitch. The desire to attack the thing generating those sigils pressed against her mind but she kept her arms down. *It's fine. I'm fine. There is no reason to attack.*

Still straining against her instincts to fight back and unleash her own demonic power, suddenly everything clicked. The sigils disappeared, Kat felt the mana wash past her and stop and two of the three Thymes collapsed onto the floor with the third barely standing.

Thyme took in a shuddering breath and pulled in some of the nearby mana. A few moments passed and the central Thyme looked fine once again, though there was an uneasiness to their demeanour. "That was… truly excessive. I've managed to cast an illusion around your demonic features, but you are right, that took more mana than it would take to construct that maze again, and without cheating this time

"And the worst part is, it doesn't even work on you, so you can't tell because you have true sight" said Thyme, calming down a bit "Though thank you, this was a rather interesting experience, and it's shown me that perhaps my illusions need more work than I'd thought"

*How much mana even was that? I've never felt anything like that pressure. Even Thyme said it was excessive. Surely there is a better way right? System?*

User Kat is somewhat correct. Demons are able to more easily influence their own appearances, and those with close bloodline ties. Using an energy type that is not Demonic Energy, will result in the spell being prohibitively expensive.

*So, I can change my own appearance more easily?* "Well Thyme I'm glad you… I'm not sure enjoyed yourself is the right word? So what is your plan now" asked Kat

"Well, my current plan is to regenerate the mana I just used on you. The next step is figuring out what to do for the final games now that it's clear I couldn't keep an illusion around you for the duration of the event while keeping my other spells I'd need active. That and of course the true sight" said Thyme "Do you perhaps have any suggestions?"

"Well, um, what were you going for?" asked Kat

"Well, I want this to be still a show of teamwork, but of trust and betrayal and uneasy alliances. I planned to have a separate prize for the final five, and then the final winner would of course get points for their team" said Thyme

*Hmm.* Kat spend her thoughts up so she could think it through. *What other options do we have? Actually pretty simply, why not just run the game without the identity hiding stuff.*

"Why not just keep the rules the same and remove the whole, you can't see who is who thing? If everyone starts in a random spot and you can have a few people make it to the end maybe you'd still get what you are looking for" said Kat

"Hmm, well perhaps, but I feel like people would be too inclined to meet up with their team. I know the God Crushers and Boring will certainly attempt it, and I suspect they can manage it in almost no time with a few abilities" said Thyme

"Well, why not make it so the final five, uh, make it four, all have to be from different teams?" asked Kat.

Thyme thought for a moment before nodding "That might just be crazy enough to work"