And so that is what Kat did practice. Though to use the word practice implies there was some consistencies to Kat's attempts. Kat's little piece of fire was clearly not willing to listen to her commands.
Of course Kat managed to try a few other things. Increasing the size of her flame? Check, it even was willing to shrink as long as it wasn't touching anything. Throwing it out in a line like a flamethrower, super easy, just keep the energy going as long as you wanted. Summoning the flame from different areas of Kat's body? Some minor success, but success, nonetheless.
What she couldn't do, was control a single small bit of flame. Her slight orders to move one way or another quickly became flames shooting off into the distance, only stopped by the walls.
Which held up remarkably well in Kat's estimations. Even with all her failed attempts they had nary a mark upon them. The temperature in the room may have dropped a little, but that was harder to measure. If it did change, it was hardly enough for Kat to even recognise.
The most Kat was able to manage after a few hours was to keep the flame hovering around the edge of her finger and leading it around. This might not sound impressive, but after failing to even get her flame to do the simplest of tasks this was something Kat considered a grand achievement.
She could even manage to let it trail behind with some effort desyncing the flame and her hands. *I bet that will be pretty useful once I learn how to use my fans. I can have my fire come in and attack along the same path after I've attacked once. If I can mix up the timing it would be pretty hard to react to, I think.*
Kat was munching on some… salad? Maybe? She wasn't really sure what it was that the Timmy's had brought in sometime while she was practicing. It looked like a steak at first glance with various fruits for garnish. But the steak tasted a bit like plums. Whether it was actually meat or not would be up for debate
*I suppose it depends on where it comes from. I mean, it could just be a funny looking fruit, or it could be a funny tasting steak. I'm really not sure which is better. Kat ate her food absentmindedly still trying to figure out where she was going wrong.*
*D.E.M.O.N.S advice?*
Perhaps User Kat is simply unable to properly control the flame at Rank 1. User Kat has far surpassed the average Rank 1 in other ways because of User Kat's unique features like True Sight, and flight. Additionally User Kat's regeneration is unusually potent for one of such low rank
*So are you telling me I shouldn't be practicing this?*
D.E.M.O.N.S cannot advise User Kat on this matter.
*And why not? Pretty sure you've advised me plenty in the past*
D.E.M.O.N.S is unsure the best path for User Kat's development. When User Kat asks for advice that almost all demons would already know the answer is easy. Now User Kat asks for highly specific advice for a training regiment with no precedent while already a unique case because of the awakening process.
*Oh, seems the almighty system has something it can't do then?*
D.E.M.O.N.S could dedicate further energy to figuring out the answer. However the diversion of such a large amount of resources to answer the question would require one of User Kat's favour tokens.
This stopped Kat. *Hmm, those things are kind of important.* Kat summoned a bit of flame on her hand and watched it. *Then again it's not like I've considered using them until now… but wait wasn't there something that might let Lily and Sylvie use magic?*
Kat tried to recall, but her practice with her flame seemed to have drained her more than she realised and when trying to look back, her mind was a little foggy. *Wait a minute…* Focusing her mind further she found that it wasn't just that she was tired. She had plenty of energy left.
Scouring her memories of the last few days she found them all in perfect clarity. Going back further she found they continued to keep their crystal focus, and simply shifting through them required some, but minimal effort.
However the further back she went the more the details seemed to be lost. The memories seemed like they were coated in a thick layer of dust she couldn't quite get rid of. A few seemingly random memories stood out in contrast though
The letter she received from Lily for one, that time she spoke with Sylvie shortly after turning into a demon and a few others... *System what's going on? What's happening to my memories?*
User Kat please explain in further detail.
Kat thought about what was just going on, trying to keep it in simple words and direct her thoughts to the system. It was a little weird since if it could read her mind why it didn't know what she meant was a little confusing.
D.E.M.O.N.S finds this confusing. There is nothing unusual with User Kat's descriptions.
Kat spluttered. *What do you mean nothing unusual my memories are fading!*
All mortal creatures are affected by a degrading memory. User Kat is a demon, which slows this process but does not stop it. User Kat is simply able to more easily exam the memories dissipating and use Demonic Energy to reinforce some if necessary.
*Huh.* Kat hadn't really thought of it like that, but the description made sense. Even if her memory was better and gave her crystal clarity for recent events surely it would run out of room eventually. *So how long do my memories stay clear?*
D.E.M.O.N.S is unsure. Memories from before User Kat awakened suffer from degradation already. Some demons have better memories then others. User Kat should study this.
Kat quickly double checked her memories and found that the system was right. Everything since become a demon was in that crystal clear almost perfect memory form she had come to expect. Even some of the others from just before her awakening were the same. It was only memories older than that, that had degraded at all.
Kat let out a deep breath. *Ok, I'll admit that freaked me out a little. Sure jumping the gun a bit, but I mean, the difference was just so clear.* Kat let out a deep breath. It was an unsettling feeling to actually see your memories decaying in real time. Despite it being natural, what slips away from you often goes unnoticed.
Kat decided to quickly change gears and return to practice with her flame. Things didn't change much. The flame still failed to obey or shot off uncontrollably. Kat felt she was doing a little better but after another few hours of still limited success Kat picked up some more soup and headed to the lounge room to eat it.
There she found Grace and Skye, and they could not have looked more different. Grace looked serene, her empty plate void of anything except the faint traces of water that would seem to indicate she had just finished a salad. She had a light smile on her face and a relaxed posture.
Skye was the opposite; she had a mostly uneaten plate of something. Whatever it was, it had been spat out and now Skye was writhing in pain with her left arm gripper just below her throat.
"Ah… Skye you okay?" asked Kat somewhat unconcerned. Skye would have saved her if it was serious.
Skye struggled to look over at Kat and did her best to shoot a venomous look in her direction. It didn't work that well, as tears leaked from Skye's eyes and she looked to be rather occupied.
"Grace, um suggestions please?" asked Kat
Grace cracked open an eye and looked at Skye's present state before shutting it again "She ate the poison herself. I told her it wasn't something she could handle, but she decided to try and perfect her antidote spell
"I'm sure you can quite clearly tell how well that went. Not really sure what to do either. I know what she ate was poisonous, but not what it actually does" said Grace before closing her eyes once again.
Kat shrugged and pushed her calming aura onto Skye, just lightly as she didn't want to risk knocking Skye out and getting disqualified. As Kat did so she watched the healer's eyes come into slight focus.
"More" croaked Skye
Shrugging again Kat leaned harder on her aura on Skye. Kat was surprised at the ease of control she felt. Despite practicing with her flame she could clearly feel the boundaries of her aura and how much force she was applying to Skye.
Just as Kat started to let her mind consider the possibilities of her newfound control Skye took in a shuddering breath before giving one huge hacking cough.