My Servant System-Chapter 1327 - 1326: Onslaught (1)

Finding myself in the middle of a red sand desert, I groaned and glared hatefully up at the crystalline blue sky, despising my luck; as I growled "Why does everything always have to be so damn sandy and hot?!" the ground around me rumbled a little, and I prepared myself for a fight instantly.

With the heat from the sun beating down on my shoulders, I raked my gaze over the sands and searched for the threat, wondering what was causing the earth to shake like this, only to have my question answered as a single golden brazier rose from the sands.

It was just a few feet away, and the moment it was completely free from the sands below the ornate golden brazier pulsed with mana, sending out a wave of it that marked out a zone around itself; a circular zone that was probably thirty feet in diameter spread out across the sands, and immediately I understood what was happening.

When the empty space atop the brazier suddenly caught flame, I wasn't at all surprised to feel the earth shake again, but this time a dozen skeletal arms popped out of the ground, clawing at the sand and seeking purchase as they tried to pull themselves free.

While they emerged, I studied the brazier a little more to get an idea for the Trial, letting them come out since it would help me establish a baseline for this challenge; if they were weak then it was a typical wave based defense oriented challenge that would get more difficult over time, and if they weren't...

Then it was a true gauntlet that would push for my limits immediately, and it would be far more difficult than I was hoping for.

Since they were slow to emerge, I was able to see that the brazier - about three feet in diameter with three stout legs - had a dozen rods extending up from its circumference, each one topped with a divot that looked like it was made to hold some kind of... either stone or orb.

With the weak flame burning in the middle from nothing, and the otherwise ornate engravings on the brazier's body showing nothing special, I could only assume that these rods were to symbolize the waves I needed to survive, and likely they were tied to my tier of reward.

Hearing the first skeleton clack its jaw together, I turned and faced it with a curious gaze, studying the pearlescent white that shone brilliantly beneath the sun, its bone polished completely and hiding the thin layer of mana it had thanks to its reflectiveness.

A simple sword was clasped in its bony fingers, and it otherwise just looked like a humanoid skeleton that had been raised to fight; it stumbled forwards and raised its arm like it was some kind of puppet, while its empty eye sockets 'stared' at me as it prepared to swing.

Mana gathered around the blade and cut through the air as it swung downwards, the attack coming out far smoother and quicker than it had moved before, but it wasn't too fast nor too skilled for me.

Stepping out of its way, I took count of the other skeletons and swung the War Pick at this one's temple, shattering its skull and killing it easily; the moment its skull was broken into hundreds of shards a wisp of mana flew out of its cranium, flying for the brazier and causing the flame to flare up a little.

Since it had died so quickly, and it had attacked so simply, I was more than happy to see that I had likely been right, that this was a challenge that would have escalating difficulty revolving around me killing waves of enemies.

Specifically within the radius of this brazier, which needed to be fed the mana of the things I killed; perhaps I had a dozen waves of enemies with each wave getting far more challenging, and each wave I completed completely in the circle awarded me with something amazing!

Only way to find out was to kill the rest of the skeletons, and as I looked around again I realized they were all rather spaced out, with a few of them stumbling in from outside of the circle; they had emerged from everywhere, so I needed to take that into consideration as well, since killing them outside would likely not be the best idea.

Readying my weapon again, I waited another second before dashing over to the closest one, swinging it hard and causing its skull to explode as I relied on just raw power and nothing else; after so many Trials of having to walk around before I could get into a fight, this was beyond euphoric to me.

To be able to just attack without thinking, to kill something and know that I am progressing forwards... it was so nice, but it was missing that extra spice that made everything perfect; it was missing that satisfyingly wet sound of flesh being torn while that glorious red liquid was spilt everywhere to paint whatever it touched a beautiful color.

I wanted the bloodshed, not just the violence, but for now I needed to settle for the latter since these were monsters without any vitae; so I swung my War Pick again and sent a skull flying upwards, all of its pieces sailing through the sky as the uppercut I delivered proved to be rather deadly for the monster.

Seeing the pieces going flying was fun, and hearing the flame behind me whoosh to life as another glob of mana flew into it was satisfying too, especially since each time I killed something I could hear that a second later.

That alongside the chime from the System was giving me the dopamine I needed to keep going, adding another layer to the thing I was already enjoying so much; I was being rewarded for simply doing what I would have been doing anyways, and that was always a nice feeling.

A grin soon spread across my face as I dashed straight into the last skeleton, weaving around its stab and grabbing it by the ribcage as I lifted it up before slamming it down over my knee, doing something silly for the final kill.

Its spine cracked in half as I did that, and the mana slipped free from between its jaws as it crumpled to the ground in pieces, the mana that had been holding it together now fueling the crimson flames in the golden brazier nearby and giving me another hit of dopamine for doing something so simple...