Saintess Summons Skeletons

Why does the system exist? I’ve already thought about that a bunch, so…

“To help the people worthy of it to get stronger. Perhaps to prepare us to fight off something or someone, like the Phageid. For one reason or another, it wants to create an elite of strong people. So like...”

Though it doesn’t really explain the summonings, but the fact that the Angel went out of his way to fight the Alphageid in the trial makes me think that. And it can’t be that the system is altruistic in trying to help people live better, or it wouldn’t work as it does. Since it was created by a group of sentients, for lack of a better description of the admins, they must have had a goal in mind, one that requires more high-level people to exist. Also, he said that thing about Alith...

"Mana? The system wants more strong people for mana?"

If Alith's existence goes against the core principles of the system... And this is what they want to fix... He said the mana sharing would stop when she evolves. I think that makes sense. Would explain a lot. But then why more mana? Was the world in a drought of mana before the system? Zerei never mentioned anything like this.

“Sixth question : Where do you want to stop leveling?”

I understand why he doesn’t react. The goal here is to test me, not to give away the intentions of the system… But it’s still frustrating that I don’t even get to know if my answer is close to the truth or not.

“My logic says that I will be satisfied once I have completed my quest and found Saria’s... But honestly… Given the opportunity, I do not plan to stop. I do not believe there to be a goal in life. Even the Gods themselves seem to simply exist, so I will be content to make up my own goal. Reaching the limits of the system sounds nice, doesn’t it? I have always been a bit too ambitious for my own good.”

Sofia could swear she saw Sen smirk at the last bit, but it was so brief it felt like a trick of her own mind. He kept spewing out the questions one after the other, barely giving her any time to breathe in between them.

Not much time left; I need to answer faster…

“In order : Try to circumvent the issue one way or another, seek help, try anyway, give up if I cannot afford the losses from trying.”

“Eighth question : What will you do with your newly acquired power if you pass this trial?”

“My objectives haven’t changed. Complete the quest, Saria, make more skeletons, and find the limits of the system. Also, I want to explore more of the world, and being stronger helps with that. My primary goal was freedom, but I think I'm about there already, or as close as I can for now at least.”

“Ninth question : What one rule would you add, delete or change if you could modify the system?”

“I would add a rule to punish harming children.”

There were only a few seconds left.

“Last question : If the System asked you to join its ranks, giving up on your mortal life and attachments, would you accept?”

“Not unless that was my only option to survive.”

Sen clapped once, “And this interview is over! Thanks for participating, you failed.”

Sofia was about to have a heart attack.

“At being humble! The limits of the system, uh? Well, I’ll wait. Go on, try; I’ll be happy for you if you make it! Quite the guts to say that to my face! You’re pushing all kinds of limits already!”

[Objective completed, beginning phase 2 in a moment]

“You!” Sofia had to stop herself from throwing insults she might regret. She noticed Pareth’s stance was no longer the passive one he had been in until now. He was ready to fight.

“Young people these days. Can’t take a joke… Hmm. Before we go, Miss Aphenoreth. When you answered question nine, why would you have a rule that punishes rather than prevents?”

“... I value freedom first and foremost. Told you, my morals are selfish and hypocritical. Besides, it feels more in line with the system’s current way of doing things.”

“I see. You might be interested in knowing that there is, in fact, such a rule.”

“There is?”

“I cannot say more, but it exists.”

“I sure hope Scripture qualifies for a beating, then.”

Sen gave her a wide smile, showing his white teeth.

“Isn’t that your quest, Miss Aphenoreth?”

It is… A quest approved by the system…

I see.

Sofia appeared on a couch in a large, brightly lit room. There were snacks and drinks on the low table in front of her. The armored knight from before was sleeping at the other end of the couch. Alith and Astelia were playing some kind of board game on another table, and the other Saintess was polishing a sword in a corner.

Didn’t Sen say everyone made it? Did the mage leave already?

Sofia stood up, grabbing a pastry to munch on and going to speak to everyone. She realized quite fast that the censoring about the trial was already in place, as no one could say anything about the trial they had just gone through. Frustrating. But at least they’re all still in good shape. She also learned that the mage had fallen asleep as soon as he arrived in the room, looking like a disheveled zombie, and had been teleported out.

What you get for picking the white orb. Still, he made it despite that, impressive in a way.

Sofia spent some time getting to know the other Saintess. Despite how she had claimed she was here to best her, she was actually quite friendly and seemed to not care much about competition. She stated again that her name was Mornn and seemed to really love swords and sleeping in the sunlight. Sofia made the mistake of showing her the [Spine of the Black Sun]. The elf spent the rest of the time before Sen showed up raving about how incredible it was and begging Sofia to teach her the spell.

Some thirty minutes after Sofia arrived, Sen made his presence known once again, appearing in the center of the room and beginning to explain how the second phase would play out.

“This is what is going to happen. Everyone here will duel everyone. These won’t be regular duels, but quick jousts. There is no real winner or loser. Remember that this is only for the trial to know what floor to start you on next. Whether you start from floor one, five, or thirty, it will be decided depending on your performance here.”

Everyone looked around with a renewed interest in each other’s capabilities. Quick bouts? Okay. That’s ten fights total.

“A few more things to keep in mind. Don’t go easy on your opponent; you would only penalize the both of you. You cannot die here, so give it your all. And the most important detail: you may only use one passive and one active skill per joust, and you cannot use them again after that. The skills you don’t choose will be locked out or deactivated. For instance, Miss Sofia’s wings, if not selected, would lose their ability to fly.”

What about specializations?

Sen could hear her thoughts; he answered her silent question, “As for things like special, classless, and racial skills, they will always be on, but as a rule of thumb, try not to rely on them more than once if you do not want your score to be impacted. Specializations count as a skill for their original category. You’ll have to select them to use them if they aren’t classless. Also, you will be healed between fights. Any more questions?”

It was Mornn who broke the silence, “Who starts?”

Sen chipped in again, “First come, first serve, challenge someone.”

“Then I shall challenge this lady first,” the old knight stated, looking at the nearest person in the room.

Me?

I mean… Alright, come at me. Do I look like the easiest pick out of everyone here? Maybe he chose me first because I finished last. Or because of some prejudice against Saints?

The order doesn’t matter much anyway.

“Good! You can start thinking about what skill to pick right now, you will be teleported to the arena, and you will have ten seconds to pick, then five seconds to prepare. The fight itself lasts for up to ten seconds if there is no clear winner.”

Not exactly fair to people who fight through attrition or with long channelings.

Sofia was teleported to a small and dim room. The ground was covered with a thin layer of sand.

For this one… I want [Bone dominus] for the blessed shield and [Graveyard of the righteous]. There’s a five-second preparation time to pre-cast channeled skills; better use that to my advantage. Graveyard is a six-second cast. The shield can surely buy me one second, no matter how small the arena.

[The skills : ‘Graveyard of the righteous’ and ‘Bone dominus’ have been selected]

[Every other class skill has been temporarily disabled]

A big glowing blue ‘5’ appeared on the room’s large door. Sofia took out the blessed shield and started casting. While doing that, she also took out her Mithril dagger and sliced off her wings. No need for this dead weight. She left one behind but picked up the largest bone of the other, holding it like a mace in her right hand.

The number on the door changed to ‘0’, and Sofia was teleported into the battlegrounds, a brightly lit circular arena about a hundred meters wide. There were a few stone pillars near the edges, leaving plenty of space to fight in the middle. The ground was covered in a thin layer of sand, like the waiting room. The knight was in a similar position on the opposite side. He was sprinting in a straight line. He’ll reach me before the cast ends.

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