My Servant System

"Yeah, this just seals the Gods damned deal for me... this place can piss off and be wiped off the map for all I care! I don't want to be here any longer than I have to and I want to start building my dream home in the middle of a pretty forest where I can walk to civilization maybe half an hour to an hour away!"

My own voice was helping to guide me through the forest as I walked in a straight line, the noise it made catching on the trees around me and helping me discover something very, very important.

Something that Draka and I missed thanks to our terrified silence during the initial foray into the forest; there were definitely a LOT of trees - I mean, it was a forest after all - but some of them were definitely... not just trees.

Maybe it had to do with me being on my own at the moment, but some of them were just not staying where I had last seen them, and they were definitely not catching my voice like the others were.

That was a nifty thing I did when I got a little scared and sent a blast of mana at one of them using my voice, hoping to catch something off guard and help end this ruse far faster than 'they' had hoped, but that didn't happen.

I did learn something however, and that something was that the mana infused sound tended to bounce back at me when it struck something, like a typical sound wave might do - at least I thought it might do what with my remembrance of how they worked... kind of, I think - but what I did notice had me a bit more confident and less irrationally scared.

My mana infused voice actually went through one of the trees, meaning it wasn't there; a glance at it with the special vision magic thing that Lilith showed me revealed it was just a construct of mana that looked practically identical to a normal tree... until it was disturbed.

That was enough to give me hope that I could emerge from this victorious and leave here far quicker than I had initially expected, but until I actually caught whatever was doing these things to the trees I was left wandering around talking to myself.

Not the worst thing in the world but definitely not what I wanted to be doing, though it was certainly a good 'training' session in controlling the mana in my voice for long periods of time without actually casting a spell!

"Like that's any damn good... Probably would want a house a bit closer to make getting necessities and food a bit easier... that and I can only imagine that Anput and Jahi will want to have someplace local to drink at without worry... hmm..."

To make sure no one caught on that I was thinking something else, I kept stumbling down that train of thought and 'discussed' the pros and cons of where we might eventually end up living, which... admittedly made me look and sound crazy, but in the middle of an evergreen forest no one could hear me talking to myself~!

So no one knew that this was happening besides me myself and I, which was great~!

~~~

Jahi PoV

"I'm gonna miss this place so badly..."

The low growl that came from Lady Fenyras was barely heard over the sound of her tearing a wolf monster apart with her bare hands, but I did in fact hear it and I actually felt somewhat similar, though as I dodged past a leaping monster and caught the next I also knew I wasn't going to really miss this that much...

Snapping the poor canine's neck and tossing it aside, I said "Yeah, it's not that bad, but these aren't the most testing Trials ever. Makes me think they might be tuned to potential and talent instead of actual strength when entering.", making the Demon Wolf growl again in agreement.

"That is quite the theory, but the problem with it is who you're currently with. Maybe we all have the same potential and talent or whatnot, but what has been realized already by us versus what you have yet to achieve is rather extreme, no?"

"Most likely, but that's why it's just a theory."

"A slightly terrible theory... but hey, who cares. Anyways, I was thinking - and don't you say anything you snotty brat-"

Lady Fenyras kicked a wolf in the skull and showed off her impressive strength as the poor thing just exploded against her boot, caking her leg in gore and leaving her even more red than before.

I just ignored her and continued to deal with everything around myself, allowing her to get back to whatever it was that she was going to say while she also stabbed and kicked all sorts of animalistic monsters that continued to swarm us.

"So I was thinking that this might be the perfect place to get the rest of the Knights back into shape! Send 'em out in premade squads, let them run rampant for a few days and then test 'em over and over again to iron everything out!"

Immediately I looked to Lilith, who just smiled and shook her head like Mother used to when I asked for extra sweets when I was a child; it was amusing to say the least, but I was the one who was going to have to tell the Demon Wolf 'no'.

"Probably shouldn't do that... It'll make everyone stronger, yes, and it can make the Empire safer, but these sorts of rewards are a bit... extreme..? Imagine them undergoing this bloodline purification thing and coming out of it-"

"Then I would beat them down and remind them that they are lesser than me." The M|V|LE&MPYR team worked hard on this chapter.

The immediate interruption after I suggested she might want to not do that was a bit annoying, but I could also understand why she was for the idea still; it was a good training grounds, and we could definitely use even stronger Knights, but...

"Well, if they grouped up against you with newfound powers that were unknown to you, they might be able to deal some considerable damage. That or they would just flee to the other side of the continent and rob us of a very capable warrior.

Like she had interrupted me I made sure to speak quick enough to cut through to her, causing the Demon Wolf to pause as she considered that terrible possibility that no amount of combat ability could prevent from happening.