My Servant System

Anput PoV

"There should be a few more hordes roaming around, however this is also the nesting of the Coal Serpents, so be careful."

Looking back towards the ashen Vampire, I then turned my gaze towards the large wine red two headed dog that trotted by her side.

"Leone, what happened to Janus? Wasn't he grey or something?"

She chuckled, laying a hand on one of Janus' giant heads, the dog letting out a low rumble as he pressed his head deeper into her hand.

"Well, after I started channeling mana into him, he became like this. He used to have just pure mana inside of him, but since I had fire mana..."

Riffling his floppy ears, Leone smiled gently at the large Orthrus, before returning her orange eyes towards the opening of this obsidian valley.

Pursing my lips, I looked around as well, briefly wondering how in the hells Zhu'Rong Caverns was this gigantic, but quickly shook my head.

Yeah, thats too much thinking for me...

The valley opened up into yet another large black, ashy plains, stalagmites scattered around the ground sparsely.

Gathered around those stalagmites were Lava Goblins, creating mini encampments to ward off the Ash Ghouls and long, sleek black serpents that slithered around.

"I believe that this is called the Plains of Yama, named after a strong adventurer who used to live down here. Weird guy, that Yama."

"How did he LIVE down here? No sun, no people..."

Leone shrugged, pointing towards the Coal Serpents.

"Maybe he ate them? No idea, really weird tale from centuries ago. To be honest, most believe he died down here, and that you can find his spirit roaming the plains, hence the name."

I shrugged as well, turning back to the roaming hordes of Ash Ghouls.

"So, are we going Ghoul hunting again?"

Jahi nodded, glancing at the stumbling grey Ghouls.

"So far, they seem the most valuable things here. Lava Goblins are boring, and the Serpents are too few..."

Glancing back towards the plains, I nodded, not seeing more than five of those sleek black serpents.

"Alright, just like the last horde, Anput and I up front, Leone in the middle, Kat protecting her from behind. Ready?"

We all nodded, Kat clenching her dagger while Leone continued stroking Janus.

Gently laying my sword over my shoulders, I grinned at Jahi, saying "Hey, wanna make a bet? Whoever kills more Ash Ghouls can tell the other to do anything."

Jahi returned my grin, her eyes flickering gold as she asked "Are you sure about that?"

Gulping, I narrowed my eyes at her, nodding.

"Very well. Leone, are you able to keep track of the kills?"

"Yes, I should be able to tally them up."

"Good. Well then, let's start~!"

Twirling her blade, Jahi shot forwards, instantly appearing in the midst of the horde.

Clicking my tongue, I followed behind her, easily catching up.

From afar the Ghouls looked... well, ghoulish, what with their grey, flaky skin and thin appearance, but it was worse unclose.

Their skin was drawn tight over their bones, sometimes split apart to reveal their ripcord like muscles or black bones, and they stank something fierce, the cloying scent of smoke wafting off their bodies.

What was worse was whenever you cut into them, puffs of ash would spew out, making it harder to breathe.

So, I danced between them, never remaining in one spot long enough to have to breathe in the ash.

Their weak bodies were easy to slice through, as I sliced my sword through ones chest, cutting it in half.

'Feeling' one clumsily swing towards me, I ducked under its arm and lanced my sword through its skull, shattering it.

Pulling the blade out, I kicked the Ghoul towards the others, making them fall to the ground.

Getting some space, I peeked over my shoulder, gritting my teeth slightly as I watched the tall blue Demoness wade through the horde, her blade rising and falling like a scythe, cutting through the Ash Ghouls with ease.

Damnit, I won't lose this!

Channeling my mana inside my body, I coated my body in earth mana, raising my defenses, before sliding my fingers over the basic metal blade, setting it alight with my flames.

Taking a deep breath, I poured a little more mana into the blade, causing the flames to flare.

With a shout I cleaved the blade towards the thickest section of the horde, the fire leaping from my blade and raining over the Ghouls, setting them ablaze.

They groaned in pain before dropping to the ground, lifeless, as the flames dried up their bodies.

I resumed my slaughter of the Ghouls, remaining slightly unharmed as I avoided most of the Ghouls slow strikes, however some did land, slapping my arms or side.

I could feel some bruises forming, but the pain was familiar, if not lighter than I was used to.

My parents had both been hearty handed in training, believing that feeling the pain and finding ways to avoid it was a better motivator than kind words.

So, whenever one of these Ghouls landed a blow, I shrugged it off and retaliated with a swift strike to their chest or skull, killing them quickly.

However, as I was matching Jahi in kills, I froze as I felt an almost solid pressure wash over me.

Looking around, my eyes went wide as a Ghoul stood up completely, looming over me.

It barely had any muscles on its body, looking more like a walking skeleton.

Long, chipped claws protruded from each finger, a back liquid dripping rhythmically from them.

Opening its jaw, two rows of sharp, jagged fangs filling its mouth as it roared.

Turning its pitch black eyes towards me, the Ghoul King hunched over, dragging its claws over the black sand floor, leaving trails.

Each step resulted in a thud, and it eventually grinned at me, before charging at me.

It was faster than most things I've fought before, surprising me slightly.

Rolling away from its swipe, I raised my blade and block the next strike, grunting under the forceful blow.

Pushing back at it, I struck next as the Ghoul King staggered backwards, scoring a shallow cut across its chest, revealing its black ribs.

Growling at me, it swiped again, only to grunt as it was flung to the side.

"Anput, are you okay!?"

Jahi stood in front of me, her exquisite blade shining brightly in her hands.

Panting, I nodded, saying "Yeah, it didn't hit me."

"Good..."

The horde tried to close around us, but Leone and Kat flung spell after spell towards the encroaching horde, providing us an opening to retreat.

"Come on!"

Taking my hand, Jahi pulled me from the horde, regrouping with the other two.

"Leone, weakness' of that thing?"

"Uhm... same as a ghoul. But be careful of its magic!"

As she said that a large crescent blade of wind hurtled towards us, only to slam into the dome of water Kat erected around us.

Nodding, Jahi said "Give me a few moments..."

The Demoness sat down, laying her blade across her knees as she started rapidly inscribing runes in the air in front of her.

Kat kept the dome around us as more blades collided with her water, making the Dogkin grunt.

Moving to stand beside her, Leone took a deep breath and raised her hands, a crimson circle appearing before her.

Enveloping the water was a sea of flames, burning the Ghouls as they got closer.

Seeing Jahi still inscribing, I knelt behind her, gently laying my hands on her back as I pressed a ritual circle of my own onto her.

My head spun as I pushed my mana onto her body, coating her in a thin layer of earth mana.

Stabbing my blade into the ground, I steadied myself, watching as Jahi concluded her inscriptions.

The runes swirled around her blade, forming three separate circles, each larger than the last.

Clasping her blade in two hands, Jahi pointed it towards the horde, muttering "Radiis Solis"

Each circle started spinning, rotating faster and faster as they grew in both size and brightness.

From each circle, a ray of pure light lanced out, flying towards the horde.

As they landed among the Ghouls they erupted, the light flaring before...

Disintegrating the Ghouls completely, the almost sun like rays evaporating the bodies of the monsters.

Gritting her teeth, Jahi kept her blade raised, even as her hands trembled.

The earth mana I had poured into her body moved to her arms, steadying them, allowing her to continue the spell.

However, the drain on her mana was too much, making her drop the blade, the circles disappearing instantly.

The horde was gone, the only thing remaining being the hunched, charred figure of the Ghoul King, its body riddled with holes.

Dropping the domes, the two other women sent a lance of fire and wind towards the creature, finishing it off.

The plains were silent, the Goblins and Serpents moving away from the area, while the Ghouls ignored the light.

Looking down at the drenched Demoness, I sat beside her, chuckling as I said "Well, I guess you win..."

She grinned at me, her face slightly pale.

"Damn right."

~~~

Kat PoV

I looked over the panting figures of Anput and Jahi, the two women chuckling as they stared over the dust covered plains around us.

[Ghoul King Killed (Assist)! 8,432 Xp]

My level slowly rose, and even after such an interesting finish to a fight, I was still...

Unsatisfied...

I wanted more...

Why couldn't they have bled?

Gritting my teeth, I stepped forwards, trying to cast that thought from my mind as I laid a hand on the two women, healing them and cleaning them off.