My Servant System

"You think that there might actually be a second person working alongside this Saturna Vera? That there's some Space Mage that hid themselves for however long and just agreed to do something this crazy because... why not?"

Jahi just shrugged at that as she took the plate from my hands, the Demoness making it clear she was more worried about her stomach for right now then the points she had brought up on a few moments before, and that seemed to be a trend amongst the others as well.

"I mean, even if that is the case, that only solves a portion of this mystery, and I would argue its the less pressing matter of the two; how are these rewards being given out to us and why are they working? How are we able to actually get a larger Core or enhanced mana?"

It took a few moments before someone answered, and surprisingly to me it was the black skinned Demoness who floated the first theory, though that was likely because of how unbelievable and out there it was, allowing her to contribute to the conversation with a wild herring.

"There is the possibility that this is a gift from the Gods? That they have chosen these trials or provided something or other that Saturna Vera made use of to create these trials. If that was the case, it would explain how fascinatingly simplistic yet fine tuned these trials are, would it not?"

I didn't need a mirror to know I was giving her a deadpan expression as I asked "The Gods? That's your idea behind this?", making the Demoness grin back at me as she shrugged and replied "That is my current idea, yes. I know that nowadays you youngsters don't really believe this, but the Gods do in fact exist, so..."

"They might exist, Lilith, but that doesn't mean that the one and only location that proves their existence is right here. That just wouldn't make sense; an unpopulated and harsh place like this is the only place they can exert their influence?"

I knew I was being a tad prickly about this considering who had given me this second chance, but at the same time the idea that it was just the Gods who had created these trials and done nothing else just came across as so... wrong, in so many ways as well.

"It's unpopulated now, yes, but what if it wasn't always empty, hm~?"

Something I noticed in the back of my mind was that we had developed a habit of sorts that involved scarfing down our meals as quickly as possible, so Leone was able to practically lick her plate clean and contribute right as I got started eating.

"You're suggesting that the people we have been fighting against within the trials are, in fact, the previous inhabitants of this city, or this region? That there might have been an entire host of civilizations here that worked for the Gods, did something that might have insulted them or earned their ire, and were promptly thrown into these... cells?"

"Something like that, yes~!"

"Well, debate it as you please but I agree with Draka on this. The how and why don't really matter right now; what does matter is the end result, and that result is something that benefits us immensely. Now, let's ponder over it and discuss it, sure, but let's also focus on completing more of these as efficiently as we can. The materials alone are already making this trip so damn valuable..."

I would never outright state that Anput was greedy - since when it came to money and the usual focuses and purposes of traditional greed she never really fit that bill - but I definitely saw a bright, gleaming light in her eyes that was unmistakably greed, since she was currently looking at the carriage with a grin.

She wasn't wrong though, what with all of the materials being incredibly valuable and quite nice for someone like her, who wanted to turn them into new things as soon as possible just because she was more than capable of doing so.

Already I could see the gears in her mind grinding away as she thought up dozens upon dozens of various weapons and armor pieces she could make with the materials we had acquired already, and due to their extremely high quality whatever she made would be very impressive indeed.

Soon enough the discussion railed itself onto that, with most of the conversation centering around the trials we knew about and what they were asking of us, bringing up the question of team composition, level of importance and many other factors.

During that time though I found myself mulling over what Lilith had said, my very limited yet incredibly real evidence of the Gods existence, and it also proved that they were capable of doing something like the trials without any issue whatsoever.

They could give rewards like that, and they could definitely do it with ease since Reincantra had given me something so broken that I could go from a normal woman to a powerful, extremely talented once in a generation caliber person just by being born.

All I needed was a little bit of time, caution, and some wits and I could make my way to the same level of power as the Empress, and I could probably do it in less time depending on how serious I took everything and how devoted I was to the grind; that was the promise of this System, and the promise of her powers.

These trials were all similar, in a way... like those Quests I had once been so focused on, just instead of giving me the very broad reward of leveling up they now gave more focused rewards that mattered a whole lot more.

So maybe Lilith wasn't entirely crazy for suggesting it, and maybe I really needed to think about it a little more, especially since there was another reminder of the Gods powers hanging around my neck like it was just a common pendant...

There was more to this than I could think, but for now I needed to eat, sleep, and get myself prepared for another trial that would bring me to even greater heights then I am at right now.