Saintess Summons Skeletons

See, I knew [Poker face] wasn’t such a terrible skill.

Goodbye ‘master’’. Won’t miss your strangulations but thanks for the advice and the fast pass.

Sofia was still recovering from the chokehold; she was now in another small room, or something more akin to a white cube? I better get rid of this white uniform and get dressed.

[Ranking Spire Phase 1 : Floor 7/10]

Sofia made quick work of floors seven and eight. They both had the same principle. She had to choose three teammates from a large group of level 199 ‘allies’ and work with them to defeat a threat. The threat was known in advance. On floor 7, it was a huge pack of level 199 direwolves. On floor 8, it was a duo of a level 249 knight and mage.

Sofia only picked supporters each time and tasked them with buffing Pareth. She didn’t have to fight, only summoning the group of skeleton paladins on floor eight to hold off the knight and give Pareth an easier time chasing the mage. She watched the scenery change as she got teleported to the ninth floor.

It was another ‘empty white cube’ room, but a much larger one, about fifty meters on each side and twice as tall. The only details that stood out from the omnipresent white were a few small black holes the size of a head in the walls and the ceiling and a checkered tile floor.

[Ranking Spire Phase 1 : Floor 9/10]

[Objective : Pick 300 points worth of malus, then survive the incoming attacks for three minutes.]

I need to pick things again? First, I have to make my own skills now. I need to make my own trials? Why is it always me doing all the work?

After a quick mental complaint, Sofia read through the malus list.

200 Blindness : No sight.

100 Loneliness (Summoner only) : No summon help.

100 Skill-less : No using active skills.

150 low Stress : Start with one health point.

300 No Stress : Start with one health point, no healing.

050 Bench Press : No jumping.

150 Duress : Die if your hands aren’t above your head.

200 Friendliness : Summons a slime at your effigy; you will take any damage it takes.

200 Laziness : No dodging.

250 Tiredness : Start with one stamina point.

050 Brainless : No hearing your thoughts.

100 Floorless : No floor.

100 Plateless : No wearing armor.

100 Handless : No using your hands.

The list went on and on, and there were a bunch more that were crossed out, things like ‘Regen-less (Healer only) : No restoring health.’

They could have ordered these at least a little…

Sofia picked two maluses for three hundred points :

100 Breathless : Air is toxic.

200 Laziness : No dodging.

The first one is free points. I don't need air. And no dodging… Well, since I didn’t take ‘No summon help’, it means my summons can help me. And if they can help, I can cheat. Assuming my idea works, I could have picked almost anything anyway. Even the one Health one.

Sofia timed her [Graveyard of the Righteous] channeling with the start of the trial. As it commenced, she saw a rain of arrows and fireballs coming from every direction. She sank into the ground, helped by her skeletons.

It’s only 100 mana per second. I can last much longer than three minutes.

She couldn’t quite see what was happening above, but it sure made a lot of noise. Explosions, fire, thunder… Water?

Just before the end of the three minutes, Sofia popped out of the ground. A few magic bolts managed to find their way to her, only to be absorbed by her staff's weak projectile protection function. The previously white room was charred and littered with arrows, glass, stone, and debris of all kinds, even a few pools of magma lazily spreading around. Some anvils had also found their way into the ground. Anvils? They throw anvils?

“Well, that’s that. This trial isn’t too bad so far. It clearly wasn’t designed with my absurd skills in mind.”

[Objective completed, teleporting to floor 10]

Let’s see what the final test is.

[Ranking Spire Phase 1 : Floor 10/10]

[Preparation time : 30s ; Please, take a seat.]

No objective?

The place Sofia had been teleported to was yet another white cube; or a white plane? I don’t see any walls. There was nothing around except for two empty chairs on either side of a small desk.

Sofia walked to the nearest chair and sat down. Pareth was waiting behind her, his hands resting on the pommel of his giant sword of light.

Feels like being told to go wait at the orphanage director’s desk because you caused trouble.

Not that I have any experience in that, of course. Erhm.

I can never be told again…

Someone was sitting on the other chair. “Well, if that isn’t a happy way to celebrate almost being through the filter…”

Sofia looked up at the person talking, “Sen…”

“It’s me.”

“You’re my last hurdle?”

“You can say that. Let me lay down the rules: I will ask questions. You must give an answer. Try to explain your answer in detail when you feel that it is necessary. You will have five minutes to answer as many questions as possible. There is a predefined total number of questions. I will not read your thoughts during this.”

“That’s it? It feels strange that the instructions are so… Disparate.”

“This isn’t any different from the other floors. You aren’t meant to know more, either. Just focus on giving answers you are happy with, alright? The others have gone through already.”

“Everyone?”

“Indeed. Exceptional batch this one. If you make it out, that’ll be a full clear. I can assure you this hasn’t happened often.”

So Alith and Astelia both managed. That’s a relief. Let’s go!

“Great to hear. I had my reasons to be late…”

“I saw that. Quite the reason. Try not to kill yourself with your new toy; you created something dangerous.”

“When have I not been in danger?”

“You know what… Yeah, that is fair. Anyway, let us get started. From now on, anything you say will be scrutinized and used to judge your aptitude to keep the right to level up.”

“I’m ready.”

It’s interesting that he mentioned he wouldn’t read my thoughts. Is it to say that I can lie? He never asked that I answer truthfully. Maybe as long as you do not lie, you pass? Can it be that easy?

“First question : What is your favorite dish?”

Uh? Well, I must give an answer. I‘ll stick to the idea of being truthful. No need to make this harder by overthinking it…

“Anything made by my sister.”

Sen didn’t react or show any emotion; he only continued with a neutral expression, “Second question : How do you think you performed in this trial up until now?”

“If you overlook the time I spent learning [Angel’s bolt], I believe I should have been one of the fastest and most efficient people to take on the trial as a whole until now.”

“Third question : What is your stance on killing sentient beings? When is it justified, if ever?”

This…

“I believe… It can never be fair. It should be judged case by case. But if it needs to be done to protect myself or those I care for, or for the greater good, then I will. Yet I would be indignant if someone used the same logic to justify killing me or my loved ones. It’s selfish and hypocritical. In the end, If the killing can be avoided without bad consequences, then I want to try to avoid it. And children are absolutely off-limits.”

What a tough question… And that’s without even considering where sentience starts and ends. Is a pet considered sentient? The Stone Ogres? What about the Phageids? Anyway, I feel like my answer was decent…

Sofia observed Sen for any reactions, but she could bet he probably had a maxed [Poker face] skill because she could not read anything from his face or intonation.

“Fourth question : What do you know of the system?”

“It was created 3211 years ago, supposedly by three 'admins' that have since gone missing or are at least unavailable. It gives every sentient being on the planet a clear-cut path toward power progression through killing. For some reason, it helps Gods kidnap people from other worlds and censors most things they say relating to the other worlds. System-affiliated entities include Angels, Archangels, Seraphs and Scribes. There are other details like the scribe-only mode, sub-systems, the Saints V.I.P. privileges, and much more, but that would be it for the general knowledge.”

“Fifth question : Why do you think the system exists?”

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