My Servant System

"See~! Trust the process Kat, trust the process... Though, this is a big ol bastard isn't it? Hey, do you think Wyrm meat tastes good? Wyrm's are just lizards or something, right?"

Jahi was grinning from ear to ear as she stared up at the orange and black scaled monster that rose from the depths of the magma lake, its body dripping that viscous dark orange liquid as it continued to rise up, its reptilian body glistening in the light.

"Close enough, but it should be somewhat close to chicken in flavor, albeit a bit finer and likely more gamey. It is NOT going in a seafood boil though."

"Well, obviously it isn't. Maybe a meat pie though? You make some fine dough Kat... always so flaky and buttery..."

Seeing the Demoness almost salivating over the idea of yet another meal before we could even make use of the things that we had already harvested, which was... about par for the course with her, though it was still exasperating to witness once again, especially when the damn thing was still very much alive and still very much a threat.

It was just on the cusp of that 'level' between being not a threat and being a threat, and since it was rather large and hissing with anger, it was likely considered a 'Boss' level monster anyways, so who knows what it was capable of, hence why Leone and I had already begun to erect defenses and buff up everyone as we stood on the shore of the lake.

The Demoness hoisted her great sword and coated the entire blade in golden light, before swiftly tracing out a handful of runes that sent her Light Mana coursing through her arms, empowering her even more; beside her, Anput had shifted her spear tip into something heavier and thicker, meant to penetrate scales as thick as a Wyrm's, all whilst her flames and stone began to coat her arms in separate buffs, mimicking Jahi somewhat.

"Ooh, and we could have some rolls to mop up the creamy filling of the pies... or maybe we could get some grilled Wyrm and put it on some flatbreads?!"

Hissing at us again, the giant Wyrm raised its flattened, reptilian head and bared its many sharp, needle like fangs as well as its forked tongue, which it showed us for a few seconds as the back of its throat began to glow red.

Erecting a dome of water, I watched the Wyrm breathe out the flames before cursing softly as it splashed against the shield, the flaming liquid burrowing its way into my water and chewing through the mana at a rapid pace.

A compressed bolt of flame smacked against its head and briefly turned it away from us, but the Wyrm just hissed and continued to bathe the sphere in liquid flame, all whilst its taloned hands reached into the magma below.

"Leone... my love, it's a monster that lives in magma; I don't think..."

"I-I know..! It's just habit alright?!"

The Vampire hissed at Jahi just like the Wyrm did, making the Demoness snicker as she continued to stand at the front, all relaxed and unbothered as she looked up at the scaled monster, who had just yanked out a chunk of the earth below to use as a weapon.

"Focus on buffs and defense then Leone, unless you want to practice your Blood or Moon Magic right now? Do you even still remember how to-"

"I DO!"

Now she turned to glare at me, before she looked away again as her cheeks reddened when I raised a brow, her little outburst only amusing us all the more and making her feel embarrassed...

"Well pick, quickly. Not that I think we'll be here long..."

My gaze landed on the Demoness, who was still clearly sizing the Wyrm up, before switching to the Jackalkin who was crouching down and doing the same, preparing herself to land a single, decisive strike.

"Defense then. It makes more sense..."

Pouting, the Vampire took a step back and instantly cast a few separate spells, the runes simply appearing in front of her as she raised her hands to display her magical prowess, almost as a way to redeem herself for her 'blunder'.

Letting her dome of translucent flames replace mine, I reshaped the water sphere into a lance and hurled it forwards, only to watch as it was redirected to the side as the Wyrm used its stone blade, leaving it unharmed.

But, it was an opening that it provided, the movement causing it to stop spewing the liquid flame and placing its stubby, scaled arm to the side, opening its other side and allowing Anput to shoot forwards and stab her spear into its torso.

The heavy weapon penetrated the scales easily, and the Jackalkin used her momentum to lodge the spear even deeper before swinging around its body and grabbing onto its back, surprising the monster.

Roaring in pain and to bolster itself, the monster reached for the Jackalkin only to have another lance of water slam into its arm, piercing the thinner scales and distracting the monster for just a single moment, which was all Jahi needed to join Anput up in the air, the golden mana that sparkled around her legs leaving trails in the air as she hurtled towards the Wyrm's head.

A single cleave was all it took to shatter the scales around the monster's neck and reveal the angry red flesh beneath, and a spray of its blood and flames creating a glorious mist around its head, which was snapped back as Jahi kicked off of the monster's jaw to head back to the ground.

Anput yanked her spear out on the way down and gave the monster another wound, but by now it was clawing at its neck trying to stop the flow of its blood, only dealing more damage to the wound and sending more of that crimson liquid flying into the air, where it began to 'loosen' and enter that state between liquid and gas.

A haze of red filled the air, following the Wyrm as it crashed down to the shore and thickening as it tried to make use of the magma to clot the wound, but it was too little, too late... which only made me annoyed as I saw that its body had gone limp and the scales were beginning to flake.

"That's disappointing."

"You're telling me... maybe it was just an overgrown fledgling? It did just kinda... rush straight at us."

Flicking the blood from her sword, Jahi frowned as she walked behind us towards the corpse, joining in on dismembering its body for parts and joining in on the cloud of dissatisfaction that hung over us.

"I feel like I just got edged. Such a decent looking opponent that fell to the first strike? Blegh... So annoying..."

"Well... like I said, it can't be helped. We've learned to fight by going for lethal hits first and foremost; it's efficient and makes the most sense, after all. And with there being four of us... and only one of these Wyrms, well... what can we do?"

"Still..."

Complaining about the unfairness of such a boring fight, Jahi wrenched a scale off and worked begrudgingly, before she paused for a moment as she idly muttered "Maybe I should go piss off Lady Fenryas for a good fight...", instantly making us all freeze as we looked at her in shock.

"Go right ahead, but make sure you do it on your own..."

"I think I should go practice my alchemy and my two other magics instead."

"I need to forge all our gear, remember? Go right ahead..."

All three of us instantly shook our heads and made our opinion as clear as crystal, which made Jahi chuckle wryly as she said "It sounds crazy but it's probably what I need... instead of being blue balled like this with monsters that look strong, but are weak..."

"Take that ring off before you go and get yourself killed multiple times for the hell of it; don't waste it for training purposes. And actually... I have been in need of some healing practice, so..."

I gave Jahi a small smile, the memories of what was said earlier coming back to me as I did so, and she instantly sensed that something was off as she shuddered, not liking that suggestion one bit...

But I could always count on my mate to be rather 'simple' and straightforwards, and she managed to distract Jahi by asking "Aren't your balls always blue though? How would this be any different than normal?"

"Anput... you know full well what I mean. Stop taking things literally..."

"If you have blue balls, I could certainly help you whenever~ you want, Jahi... Hey, there's a small cave over there..."

Rolling my eyes, I glanced at Leone and shared an exasperated smile with her when we heard Jahi growl "Then get this thing butchered and get your ass over there, Anput... little minx."

It would seem that some things would never change, even if we did grow stronger and outgrew these places; the people we were remained the same so far, and that was a relief, even if that meant standing guard by a cave because one of us was being a bit too adventurous...

And for once, it wasn't me being the one asking to try new things for the hell of it... especially things that sounded like it would leave me with a limp for a couple of hours, if the pathetic mewling and pleading was anything to go by...