Saintess Summons Skeletons

“Well, uh, you know… Mazes aren’t so bad… Unrelated to that, say, how about you stay in the rest area for like… huh… Ten hours or so? Ya got me?”

“Sure… Anything else?”

“I mean… Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be asking questions now?”

“I have plenty of questions, always. But everything gets censored always, so what’s the point in even trying? It’s not like I actually need more knowledge now. Unless you’re up to tell me more about what the Sunless are and how you can afford to throw thousands of drones at my face for hours like they’re disposable wooden toy soldiers?”

Sofia heard Everelle grumble, then say something that came out all scrambled.

“Fuck. Yeah, can’t say shit, sorry. Hmm… Actually…”

“You think you can bypass it somehow?”

“I mean, scribe’s in my head, so it’s not like I can sidestep the censoring, but there are holes in the protected subjects sometimes, you just gotta find the right angle of approach and-”

Sofia interrupted her mid sentence, “Wait, what was that about scribes? I’m interested in that also. Hum, sorry for cutting you.”

“Don’t mind, I’ve dealt with less polite challengers ya know. Of course the topic of scribes itself is pretty well protected too, but I do know more than your average gal.”

After a good while of trial and error and getting censored left and right, Everelle eventually said something that Sofia could actually ear.

“You get a tier zero scribe when you’re born.”

Sofia immediately perked up. “That wasn’t censored!”

“Really? Then the scribe hierarchy is fine? What about —-------- — —----- —”

“Ah, no, I couldn’t understand this one at all,” Sofia answered.

“Too bad, well, doesn’t really matter. Are you happy with your own scribe?” Everelle asked.

“I love my scribe, he’s great.”

“He? I see… Well, anyway, yeah, that’s what’s most important. Since the hierarchy is all I’m allowed to explain then let’s get through that. Most of this stuff I got to learn when I picked up this job so I didn’t think I could share but heh. So, as I said, ya get your tier zero scribe when you’re born, basic stuff.”

“Alright.”

“Then, the scribe gets upgraded to tier 1 when you start getting high-level classless skills, using magic, or at the latest when you level up from a kill for the first time.”

“Mine must have been upgraded pretty early then, I had a pretty high level [Shenanigans] skill as a kid. Can you explain the difference in tiers?”

“Whatever you imagine is probably correct. Basically, they get better at what they do and get allocated more resources. I’m afraid I can’t explain in more detail.”

Get better at what they do and get allocated more resources. I wonder which one it is that you need, Mr Scribe. ”What about tier 2?” Sofia asked to keep the conversation flowing.

“Usually you get your tier 2 upgrade at the end of this trial because a tier 1 scribe can’t really keep up with all the bullshit that comes with having a mana heart. But you can also get it early if your class has particularly tricky skills or ya get a specialization.”

“I got mine early because of an issue with my skills so that tracks. What about you? You’re at tier 2 also?”

Everelle was silent for a second, then her voice came again. “Sorry, was checking something. And no, mine is tier 3. Tier 3 scribes are only for system employees and for the nutcases who make it to level 500, basically. They’re entirely irrelevant for basically anyone else,” she explained in a lighthearted tone.

“Irrelevant? Can you tell any more?”

“Imagine having a mithril blade and using it to chop onions, it’s kinda like that.”

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“Overqualified for the task, got it.” Let’s not mention that I cut my food with an Admin’s divine essence dagger… “Any other way to get that tier 3 upgrade anyway?” Sofia asked as innocently as she could.

“That sounds unlikely unless you manage to get the high scribes to accept that request somehow. You can forget about it, girl. Even for an outlier like you it’d be hard to contact them, let alone get them to help.”

“They helped before,” Sofia interjected, and Everelle made a surprised sound. “When I used a scroll of assisted inspiration,” Sofia added, “You know about those?”

“Oh, right. Yeah. That’s a way to get to them, maybe. If your request is outlandish enough they might have to step in.”

“I’m guessing the high scribes are tier four, by the way?”

“Nope, that would be tier five. Tier four and tier five scribes aren’t managing anyone, they manage the system itself. Ah, that’s probably censored…”

“No, no, I heard everything there,” Sofia confirmed.

“That’s surprising. Let’s see how far I can push it. So, tier four scribes are between the Angels and the Archangels in the corporate ladder, they — — — —---- —---- –.”

Sofia shook her head. “The end was cut out, I did not hear anything after the ladder.”

“I thought that would have been alright to say considering the rest… Huh. So that’s it for tier 4 I guess, as I said, Archangels are above that, on par with the trial overseers like my boss Kyle. Finally ya got the big three, the three tier 5 ‘high scribes’, they-”

Everelle suddenly stopped speaking.

So Kyle and Sen are on a similar power level with the Archangels? Maybe that’s just in terms of authority within the system…

“Everelle?”

“Ah… Blanked out. I think that’s all I can say for real this time. I don’t really know a lot more about the high scribes anyway so you’re not missing out on much.”

The discussion about scribes ended there and after a while, Everelle showed up in person, bringing comfortable armchairs for everyone, and they sat around in the rest area having a nice chat, in complete disregard of the time and place.

Since there had been a lot of Sofia asking questions until then, Everelle started asking Sofia about herself and about ‘news from the outside world’. It seemed the Sunless girl was well-informed when it came to the system and the trial itself, but she talked about Veliadren like she had never gone there. That much would not have been that surprising if one assumed Everelle had been born around her current level and on Cerberus beta, but from what Sofia could glimpse of her, it seemed she had a life somewhere else prior to her ‘employment’.

The cogs started turning in Sofia’s head, and after a while, during a lull in the conversation after Sofia explained her familial situation. She went on the offensive, practicing her best non-skill-based [Poker face].

“What about your own family? Is Tarren your brother or lover or something like that?”

“Tarren? No way! I mean… He’s a fine dude, but we’re just work colleagues, you know. My family, huh… Haven’t seen them… In a long time…” She said in a melancholic tone, almost sighing, the pendant-eye thing on her chest drooping a little.

“Ah, bad topic? Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s okay. I’m…” Everelle suddenly stopped there, her pitch-black body limping slightly before she regained her composure.

Did she just get blanking-out censored? When reminiscing about her family?

That’s some suspicious shit right there. Why would that ever get censored?

Everelle then changed the subject as if nothing happened. “By the way, how’s the glove? I see you gave it to the little skelly.”

Bookie had been completely silent all this while, just minding his own business, but when the subject of his glove came up, he answered before Sofia, “It’s super great!” he said, raising both his hands in the air.

Everelle turned to Sofia, stunned. “It can speak?!”

“I know, right? I was shocked to learn that too.”

“Of course I can! I’m a smart skeleton!” Bookie added from his seat.

“I-... Damn, I wish my underlings could speak too. It gets a bit lonely on this frickin’ moon,” Everelle complained before slouching in her seat.

“Lady dungeon master, is the other part of the set also in a mimic?” Bookie asked.

Everelle fixed her posture and turned toward Bookie. “Sorry, little guy. The left glove was in the middle level y’all just skipped…”

Bookie’s jaw hung low from the sudden shocking revelation. His bones detached and he became nothing but a messy pile of bones rolling off the armchair, clanking on the floor.

Sofia could tell he was perfectly fine but Everelle jumped out of her seat, panicked.

“Ah- I- Little guy?”

Sofia was comfortably sitting in her chair, “I think you hurt his feelings,” she explained without an ounce of emotion. She was trying really hard not to burst out laughing.

“Wah- I- No, I mean!” Everelle started. After a few intense seconds of internal debate, she managed to get her act together, “I’ll give it to you if you beat the dungeon!”

Bookie’s bones came back together on the spot, and he started jumping all around the rest area, throwing his hands up in celebration and chanting, “Miss dungeon is the best!”

Who knew that a little Bookie’s feelings was all it takes to move her. System employee or not, Sunless or not, a woman’s a woman after all.

That’s right! My bookie is the cutest skeleton kid!