My Servant System

"Do you understand now, you two? Can you see the difference between their neutral postures a few minutes ago to their postures now? Can you feel the difference in the mana that oozes off of them?"

Belian was alternating his gaze between Jahi and Satanya, who were looking around at the various Demons standing around us waiting for the announcement that we were heading out, each of them taking each and every second they were offered to recuperate as much mana and energy as they could.

"Yes, though it's not that different..."

"Well, the thing you should be looking for specifically is their breathing rate and body language; deeper breaths with a longer breadth of time between them as well as the slumped, unmoving posture will be your key indicators of how ready they are. Quicker breathing and unmoving means they're in need of rest soon; one or the other means a rest would be advised but not necessary, and depending on the severity of any wounds or damages done to gear, rest might be advised anyways. Those are the things you're looking for with parties as large as this. Remember, retreating with small groups - upwards of five people - is far easier than taking a dozen and a half and retreating."

We all nodded, before the Demon gestured around us as he added "This is one of your first times leading a group this large, Satanya, as well as you, Jahi, so I'm not surprised that you aren't the most adept at doing so. Just remember, don't overwork people, don't doubt yourself, but be open to others ideas and always take a second look at things, either to assure yourself of your decision or to just reevaluate things. If you have someone appointed to take that look at the bigger picture, that makes things easier and smoother for everyone, but remember; you are the leader, not them, so the decision falls to you. Unity and confidence in one another is another important thing to consider."

Anput approached us and asked "Are we just waiting around for an invitation to fall into our laps, or..? Time's a wasting, y'know?"

I glared at my mate before sighing as Belian just chuckled, the older Demon remaining silent besides that single expression of amusement as he stared pointedly at the three of us, leaving the decision to us.

Jahi looked towards me first, while Satanya frowned and looked over the others, which I did as well as I took in the general mood that had fallen over our party, judging their current energy levels and willingness to push forwards as best I could and coming to a decision after just a few seconds.

If these were warriors from any other race, I might have had a bit more trouble deciding what to do, but Demons were rather open and honest with their feelings, and so was their mana; nothing was truly hidden with them unless they were going into the efforts to conceal it, so looking over the various Beliali Demons and the few Cimeriesa's, I eventually turned back to give Jahi a nod.

"Let's get going then. We have... six entrances to check out, and one of them has to lead into a new grotto; we just have to find it."

Seeing the smile tugging at Belian's lips, I frowned and tilted my head as I tried to figure out what I had missed, before he simply asked "Do we need to check all six ourselves, or do we have ways to check them without wasting much time and energy?"

For a few seconds that seemed to drag on forever, we all looked at one another and tried to decipher his words; what did we have that would let us check all six openings without us heading into them ourselves?

But, as I recalled what we were tracking - the Nua Fiend - I snorted and shook my head, feeling rather dull as I asked "Cali, are you there?"

The others all blinked at that, only to look towards the pink skinned woman that appeared behind me, her silky and cheerful voice sounding out as she replied "I'm always~ nearby, my love~! Just ask, and I'll rush right on over to your side~!"

Draping her arms over my shoulders, the Arch Fiend flashed me a smile, only to nod as I asked "Are any of those six openings ones that lead to either a new grotto or have a stronger aura of Decay? If so, which ones?"

"Hehe~! I was wondering when you'd ask me to just guide you there... That one there heads out into a new grotto, and that one there has a lot~ of Decay around it. The other four all stop in a hundred feet or so. Whether or not they have any goodies in them is another question that you~ need to find out on your own~!"

"Make use of whatever you can, whenever you can, to learn about anything you possibly can. 'Information is power'. It's a saying for a reason, and it's one that I took to heart. You'd be surprised how easy it is to acquire information of any kind at all. And you'd be surprised how any morsel of information can be used in either a battle or in other everyday activities. If you ever start a business, being able to acquire and utilize information could take you from earning a normal profit to something egregious - in either direction. So make use of it, and learn how to get it from a source that's trusted. Now, do we want to go find the Fiend, or do we want some materials?"

With two separate options open to us, we were left standing there for a moment, still taking in the nuggets of knowledge that the older Demon was tossing our way whilst also determining the best solution to the problem in front of us, which was made simpler as Jahi asked "Do we want some more preparation for this fight, or to just go fight it right away? I think we should do a bit more preparation."

Satanya nodded, while Anput shrugged as the Jackalkin said "The preparation is just me smithing, so yeah, that's fine. Maybe we'll get some better metals, maybe some crystals... or maybe we'll get some herbs for some potions?"

"Preparation it is then."

Giving us all a small smile, Belian gestured towards the first entrance that Cali had pointed out, and as soon as he did so both Jahi and Satanya got everyone ready to move out, informing them of the decision we had come to.