Snitches get stitches!
Despite that, Kilii was still clearly uncomfortable. This was a pretty big deal: most of the old Tested didn't even know about this, and the ones who did know hung out with Them and probably wouldn't tell anyone anyways. Sure, Joe claimed he'd keep the secret a secret, but could she really trust him? They had just met, after all. Kilii was pretty decent on getting a grasp on people with a glance, but she couldn't help but doubt Joe.
Still, even if he lied and spread it around, it couldn't possibly do that much harm, right? It wasn't a particularly evil purpose, nor could it really change the flow of the Competition...
"Very well. The purpose of the Competition..." she began, presumably pausing for dramatic emphasis.
"...to create more of Us. And not through people winning the Competition...in fact, the people who strive to win the Competition - usually even the winners - tend to be the kind of people We don't want among Us. You see, one of Our rules is to refrain from messing with inferior beings, so when Opine brought up the Competition, there was a lot of conflict. Even with her Request, no one wanted it. The only reason Everyone finally allowed it was because Opine decided to make her game into something that would improve the lives of those who lived in it, something that would enhance souls and make the Traits shine through." she explained.
"Going by that, the first Competition was a disaster; I wasn't alive back then, but I've heard nothing good about it. It ended in tragedy and the winner terrifies us all...and although the person the winner forcibly Promoted is a valuable member to Our community, there's a reason that there was a 15,000 year gap between that Competition and the last one." Kilii continued.
"But the second Competition...by Opine's standards, it was brilliant. Two people were Promoted right off the bat, at least two people respectfully declined Promotion offers, a significant number of the Competitors are already worthy of Promotions, and - most importantly - We just love them to death! âĨ It really represented the purpose of the Competition; We're not trying to make gods, We're trying to make fantastic souls. Then Opine decided to make a third one...and, although the purpose of raising more of Us is still the point, no one's quite sure if she made it because she wanted to see another second Competition, or if it was because the second one wasn't good enough for her." she finished, looking a bit calmer than she did at the beginning of her speech.
"But, there you have it. The Competition exists to essentially grow 'perfect' souls."
dayum