My Servant System

My Falcata and War Pick were definitely beginning to grow on me the longer I utilized them, especially when they were used in their proper, designated areas and in ways that actually accentuated my style instead of just felt tacked on.

They worked with me now as I used the slashing weapon with my speed to lacerate whatever got close, and in order to open up the defenses of whatever I was attacking I just swung the War Pick at the defended area, wrenching their guard open and allowing my Falcata to slip through.

Who knew that using weapons in the way they were designed to be used helped make them far more lethal compared to when you just swung them around like toys?

It just proved to me that I wasn't taking everything as seriously as I should since I was just blindly relying on the skills granted to me thanks to the System and not the skills that I had honed on my own.

Another etch on the baton I was using to beat myself with, I suppose, but the more I decorated that baton the more incentivized I was to go ahead and change, as dumb as that sounded; the more I found myself to be teetering on the brink of idiocy the harder I wanted to work just to maintain my pride.

Perhaps this is what drove Mom and all of the other Knights on whenever they needed to improve, or perhaps I was a tad more vain then I gave myself credit for, which wouldn't be too out of the ordinary... I suppose...

Anyways, as the next Golem stumbled forwards into the area directly in front of me I twisted myself as I swung that War Pick straight into the monster's crossed arms, shattering the hardened clay and even managing to chip away some of its breastplate, which revealed the glimmering Core that acted as its heart.

Before it could react my Falcata lunged through the air and pierced the crystalline organ, shattering it too and causing the Golem to crumple to the ground in a lifeless pile, no longer a threat and adding to my very long kill tally for the day.

Behind me, Mom was relishing her half of the wave as much as she could, making use of her shiny new cerulean flames that wreathed her Claymore, washing across her enemies with every swing she took with that massive blade.

The raw strength she had was more than enough to make these monsters look even more like chaff, but with the added benefits of that new fire she was cutting down a dozen of them at a time, allowing her to rely only on her raw strength as she forewent technique completely.

There was a sort of euphoria to be found in being able to fight like that, the simplicity scratching an itch that you weren't even aware you had, though at the same time the enjoyment that I got from methodically putting all of my enemies down with currently scratched a similar itch.

While there might not be any blood to make this actually fun for me, there was still something to be learned and enjoyment to be had by going through all of these enemies this quickly, and that was enough for me as we made our way through this second wave with ease.

The numbers were not a problem whatsoever, and soon enough the second rod adorning the rim of the brazier was hoisting up a brilliant Mana Crystal, signifying the end of this wave and entering us into the break period between the waves.

During that break the papers appeared again, showing us our reward and drawing out a wry chuckle from me when I saw that it was just another suite of materials, though that was to be expected from such a simple Trial.

Honestly, during this time I found myself thinking about the logistics of our return more than anything else, though considering the journey here we might be able to make it work now that we were getting stronger and had the potential to unlock crazy items at a moments notice.

If there was a whole world above us that was filled with these really strong people who lived a very different quality of life compared to us then maybe there were those nifty little storage accessories that could help us move everything!

I was only hoping, of course, but after learning that there really was a world 'above' ours I wasn't quick to dismiss the idea, so there was a bit of hope in my heart that we would find such an item sometime soon.

Otherwise we were just left to accept the rewards and begin the next wave of fighting before it could take our inaction as us being done, causing the sands to rumble once more as a new suite of monsters emerged to challenge us.

~~~

Jahi PoV

Ducking beneath the gray fist that threatened to leave me knocked out cold on the grass I found myself moving before I could even think, my instincts taking over for me as I tucked my head in and lunged forwards, into the body of my opponent.

It was a bit of a desperate attack, but it was the best I could muster right now, and with my weight, position and the suddenness of it the hope was that she would be caught off guard and I could knock her down instead, but instead I just found her arms waiting for me as she wrapped me up and made use of that momentum to slam me into the grass.

Now we were both on the ground, and while I might have weighed just a bit more than her the difference didn't really matter when technique was more pivotal anyways, so Lady Fenyras was able to easily wrap herself around me and clench her arm around my neck as she ended this spar of ours just as suddenly as it had started.

"If you are gonna keep glowering at me about what's already happened, at least put up more of a fight~! But hey, good attempt, though you might want to hit the weights a little more~!"

Her laugh as she released me was irritating, but it was a reminder again that she really was stronger than me, something that mattered a little in my more simplistic brain, though it just helped reinforce the goal I had.

To get stronger than her and be able to protect what was mine, no matter what.

Right now that goal was a bit out of reach, and Lady Fenyras had no issue at all reminding me of that as she leaned closer and said "You have more potential than your Mom, but somehow she has a bit more muscle between her ears then you do. Might want to work on that first, whelp..."

Leaving me with that for now, the Demon Wolf sauntered back to the campfire and plopped down atop a mound of furs as she took a rest for the first time in hours, forgetting about me now that we were done with the spar.

Anger mixed with acceptance as I got up, dusted myself off and walked over towards the tent that I shared with my lovers, the dark, quiet confines giving me the space to think about what we needed to do and about what we had learned.

The blood that was still rushing through my veins helped me focus far more than I was expecting, especially since the shame of losing helped sharpen it as I went over every single last detail we had, ruminating on everything and creating a list of what we needed to do and what I wanted us to do.