My Servant System

"Wait wait wait... let me get this straight. Some... being, some weird entity that looked mortal but was definitely not what we are accustomed to seeing just... appeared in front of you, inside of a Gate, said these things about some sort of 'Stairway' and then just... left?"

Draka was trying her hardest to understand what we were telling her, and honestly I couldn't blame her at all for struggling just a little with this; as someone who hadn't experienced Gates, hadn't really been exposed to other crazy things related to Gates or been teleported around the world, and hadn't been around Fiends as long as we had...

It made sense why she was struggling to comprehend that there might be a plane of existence above ours, that there was someplace where stronger people resided who could do things that we just couldn't fathom as being 'normal' and commonplace.

I mean, even I was struggling a little with it, and I was the one who had the most 'experience' in this topic thanks to my previous life; as for the others, they had just taken it at face value and begun to appraise said face instead of questioning where it had come from.

"That is pretty much the gist of it, yes. Again, we don't know for certain if that is what the being meant by all of this, but I am very certain of it since that makes the most... logical sense out of everything so far.

If I have understood it correctly, my more pressing question becomes what should we do if we reach the actual 'Stairway'? This place is the location of the 'Stairway', but what happens when we actually find it? When we can actually ascend? Do we? Should we? Obviously we need to head back to the Empire, inform everyone of this discovery and then return, but after that..."

I looked around the campfire and idly tapped my fork against the plate, pondering my own question briefly before turning towards Draka as the Dragonkin let out a confused snort while shaking her head.

"Whatever the hell you all want to do, go right on ahead and do it. As for me, I can say with full confidence and complete assurance that I would NEVER leave this world behind. I mean, I've only been alive for a couple years yet I have a family and relative stability. When this is all over I can just head home, manage my own city and live in peace and quiet. That's what I want."

Despite not understanding it completely she still managed to give a perfectly acceptable and understandable reason for not wanting to ascend, and honestly... as I looked around, it felt like the reason was one that we all seemed to share.

Even Lady Fenyras seemed hesitant at the idea of new horizons with new, vastly stronger challenges, the Demon Wolf chewing on the last piece of her dinner while staring into the flames, not giving an answer just yet.

The only ones who seemed intrigued about the idea where Lilith, Leone and then Jahi, with the first two being more fascinated with the mystery of what resided in this new place and what they could learn while the remaining one just seemed to find it interesting and curious about how she could get stronger.

I was iffy about it just like Anput was, though she was the one to ground us all relatively quickly as she said "Well, don't even ask the question because like you said, we're heading back to the Empire before we even consider this... ascension. And that means leaving this place sometime in the near future, which could mean that the window of opportunity for us to do this ascension thing closes completely."

"And if that happens and there's no way to open it back up, then... well, we're down here for good. Isn't that... interesting. Could be worse."

"I'd argue that is the 'worse' scenario. Pressured into making a decision like that, one that changes your entire life completely from the ground up..? That's terrifying, even for someone as old as me. Hells, I bet you feel the same, Lilith."

Lady Fenyras didn't take that any further than that, but what was left unspoken rang loud and clear for us all as we looked towards the other Demoness, who just smiled at the Demon Wolf before replying "I do, yes. My ancient bones are quivering with both excitement at chasing the unknown but also from the fear of what might be found."

She was clearly poking fun at the silver eyed Wolfkin, but Lady Fenyras just took it in stride as she added "Literally though, the things we might find in that new world... We stand near the top here, but to ascend you would need to be at our level. Which means that anyone who did ascend is our level... and they are the new 'peasants' of that world. The weakest."

Lilith's smile faded at that, the older woman nodding slowly while staring into the flames, thinking about it just as much as Lady Fenyras now was; I couldn't imagine how terrifying that reset would feel for someone actually living it.

Going from being on the top to being at the bottom again... in a game that was fun; it was a fresh reset that presented new challenges and a purpose again, but in real life that had to be absolutely horrifying to go through, since it meant you were no longer as safe as you once were.

And if we could ascend too... what kind of terrors would we be facing if we went with them?

How much could we rely on them to defend us if they themselves were being challenged so deeply just to survive?

"Well, like Anput said, if the decision has to be made right away then the decision is no. There's no need to commit suicide like that when we could just do it here in the comfort of our homes, right? But if it can wait... if we have time to make a decision..?"

Jahi looked towards me, and I just pursed my lips and shrugged since I had no answer to give her... the argument could be made for both sides if we could wait, and that was a discussion we needed to have later.

For now we needed to focus on just... finishing these Trials - the ones we had marked off after scouting everything out - and getting the loot that was promised to us before heading back home.

Appearance of this 'Stairway Imperata' be damned, we needed to get home to see Mother, Mother Ria, and our adorable and charming little sisters Alessandra and Lakshmi, alongside all of the others in our rather large family.