My Servant System

Jahi PoV

The long sigh I let out caught the attention of the Demon Wolf that was prowling around in front of me, causing that single silver eye to focus on me as she waited for me to speak, knowing that I couldn't really take the silence for this long.

It was another Trial that caught our attention thanks to its requirements on having Demon Blood, although it also had the maximum amount of participants set to three, leaving this to be taken by three out of the four Demon blooded individuals in the party.

I was willing to forgo it entirely because it would mean I had more time to just pamper whomever stayed back at the camp - and by pamper I meant bestow a large amount of 'love' that would leave us unable to walk - but instead it seemed that Mom wanted to sit one out and just think about things, so here I was.

And I had to admit that the concept of yet another hunt was making me contemplate far more than I had hoped to do, hence why I sighed; the issue was I was teamed up with someone who was extremely above me in terms of intelligence and someone who legitimately believed you could solve any problem with only violence.

Yes I tended to think the same way, but where I was willing to compromise because logic existed and using words or your brain made things easier Lady Fenyras was someone who just thought you could hit everything over and over again to solve the issue.

The worst part was she was so damn strong that it worked, so... y'know, that was kind of an issue when it came to discussing things with her since the answer in her mind was just... copious amounts of violence.

"I'm starting to wonder if the creators of this place wanted soldiers over talented individuals. The amount of puzzle Trials and Trials that require a display of skill in a certain field are just... extremely rare. Everything has been 'kill this' or 'hunt that'... it's kind of bland and boring."

The Demon Wolf scoffed but didn't say a word while the older Demoness just gave me that slightly infuriating half smile that suggested she had worked out this 'problem' eons ago and that we were about to head down a rabbit hole of her being completely uncooperative for everything I asked.

"The requirements are asinine, the rewards sort of waive off any real issue with this but the inconsistencies remain. Combat is a large piece of this sort of life, yes, and to have survived in this area you definitely need to know how to fight, but is there nowhere in that upper realm or whatever that knows peace?"

"Peace is a cowards concept. It doesn't exist, and even when it has the audacity to claim it does it breaks with merely a whimper. There is no such thing as peace; everything in life is done in the pursuit of something that will never exist. Everything we know comes from someone discovering a new method and effect of killing someone or a way to keep them from dying."

"Again, large piece of life, but that still doesn't answer the question. If the world above is truly one at constant war, why are there no Trials for alchemy? For enchanting? Blacksmithing and healing? Soldiers are only as valuable as the armor they don, the weapons in their hands and the length of time you can put them on the field for. Otherwise it's just a wasted effort."

Lady Fenyras looked like she wanted to dispute that claim but instead she just glanced at Lilith, who finally chipped in as she said "The reason we aren't finding that many Trials with those sorts of requirements is two fold. Firstly we just aren't really looking that hard. Most likely this place was more... organized and 'friendly' to people and less chaotic.

The second is that there have been doors that describe those sorts of things, but they were already completed. I imagine the people above looked for those specialists first because - like you described - they were the ones capable of keeping everything going."

"That and the fact that this place has been abandoned for so long means that any chance of a refresh has long since passed. What's left is what's left; take the scraps and turn it into a feast or just look somewhere else. Maybe the time we live in now is one where this upper realm is in one of those useless periods of peace."

She seemed disgusted at the idea, and although I ignored the vitriol in her voice and some of what she said I was somewhat surprised to notice that she added quite a lot to the conversation, keeping me distracted from my slight boredom.

"But if it is in a period of peace wouldn't they have come down here to refresh these Trials, clean the place up a bit and take stock of the situation?"

Immediately the Demon Wolf scoffed and walked away, making me roll my eyes as I just began to walk behind her as we began this Trial in earnest, the conversation done and the possibility of learning something new or challenging our thinking processes tossed aside.

I really was beginning to see why Kat was so adamant about ending this trip off early and heading on home...

Knowing that we were kind of stuck here with just each other and no possibility of being truly apart from each other was sort of draining, even with the various 'breaks' we could take back at the camp.

It was also that reason there that made me want to head on home; being able to walk around in a space that was truly my own and do as I pleased was just something I craved right about now, but at the same time as we got closer to a giant encampment of mortal warriors I couldn't help but enjoy the thrill that came from combat either.

Something I would always crave no matter what, and when given the chance to go on a hunt with someone like Lady Fenyras I wasn't really that keen on letting go of that opportunity because there was just so much to learn about her unrestrained brutality that managed to leave a sea of bodies in her wake.