"What did you do!?" Freya demanded with a shocked expression when she arrived.
"What? Oh you mean the whole coffin right? Just got a bit of leveling sickness is all. Should clear up in a day or two at most." I said with a shrug.
"Not that, your soul! It's almost like a spirits but still mortal at the same time." she said with a horribly confused expression.
"Huh? Neat. I assume it's a side effect of my most recent level up. It was not a normal one, even for me. Shouldn't cause me any problems though." I said casually.
"A side effect? I'd say this qualifies as more than a mere side effect. Spirits were immortal in nature because we gods made them using our divine essence as a balancing force on this world. Your soul reminds me an uncomfortable amount of a spirits yet you are not immortal as they are." she said seriously.
"I knew the spirits were unaging but I am pretty sure they could still die." I pointed out and she scoffed.
"Spirits dying is like gods dying, the body may perish but the essence is immortal and merely returns to the divine realm. If we gods could use our power freely in the mortal realm the spirits would never have been made and sent here to counter the dungeons monsters. The reality was what it was however so we settled for the next best thing, well the other gods did as I myself didn't bother creating a spirit." she said with a huff.
"Whatever the case you'd have to ask my goddess if you want to know more about the origin of my souls change. It's not my call to share it, not that I would even if it was. Too much of a fucking hassle to deal with the aftermath." I said lazily.
Her eyes narrow at me for a moment before sighing and changing the topic.
"What about this invisible barrier surrounding your familias estate? I wasn't aware you were even capable of making something of this nature, all of your creations are isolated, small really." she said curiously.
"I mean what's to explain here, it's a big barrier protecting our land from outside attacks. After what Ares pulled I wanted a bit more security, hence the only way in is through the gate. Speaking of I do need to strengthen that in case someone tries to force their way in." I said with getting a little side tracked at the end.
"I want that for Folkvangr, my familia's base. What do you want for it? Power? money? or perhaps, me?" she asked with a coquettish lilt.
"You know if there was anyone else here they'd probably have an aneurism at how casually you tried that." I said with a chuckle totally unaffected by her half hearted seduction attempt.
"Hmph! They just aren't worthy of my affections like you are." she said with a dainty snort.
"Flattery will get you nowhere. Besides have you met Ptah, that guys a ray of sunshine in everyone's life. If anyone is worthy of your affection it's definitely him." I joked.
"Maybe if he wasn't already married to his art." she played along with a small smile.
"Truly a loss to romantics everywhere." I said with a chuckle.
"Seriously though I want a barrier like this for my familia as well." she said getting back on topic.
"No can do I'm afraid. I needed five intact monster rex stones, a lot of luck and like a month of prep work just to get this one barrier set up. Too much of a hassle to do it again. Besides I don't want to get flooded with other gods wanting the same shit just because you got one." I said honestly.
"How strong IS this barrier with resources like that needed to make it?" she asked surprised.
"Not a hundred percent sure but if I had to say I'd guess nothing below a level eight attack had any chance of even damaging it. Ottar could probably go ham on it and get repelled like a flea." I said with a shrug.
She just looked at me speechlessly at that as I had casually just said that her trump card was effectively useless against the barrier. There was something deeply satisfying about watching the gears turn in her head about how to go about getting a similar barrier for herself only for her expression to drop as she failed to find one. Threats? She knew better. Money? I was practically swimming in it. Seduction? If she couldn't get that to work with genuine effort theres no chance in hell it would work here. All roads were closed to her and she frowned as she realized it.-
"You can be quite vexing sometimes you know?" she finally said with a sigh.
"So I've been told. Oh right tell Ottar I want that spar he promised me, I think I can at least keep up now." I said with a grin as she paused and her face shifted as she processed what I said.
"Where?" she asked seriously.
"Outside Orario in a few days. I have no reason to hide my power anymore since all of Orario will be buzzing about it soon enough. Might as well have some fun before things explode." I said with a grin.
She left after that to no doubt either go bother Hestia about what gave me such confidence or to let Ottar in on the good news. Well good for him anyways as I knew he was looking forward to having someone he could truly go all out against. I on the other hand knew that I couldn't go all out against him as he'd lose, instantly. Neither my flames or ice would do him in but if I unleashed my domain on him he'd be dismantled in no time flat.-
'That reminds me but I still need to consult Hephaestus about my domain to get some ideas on improving it.' I thought with a shrug.
I ended up taking another day for my leveling sickness to go away during which time Freya had gotten Ottar hyped up for our spar. Hephaestus and a few others also showed up and chatted for a bit about various things though the barrier was sort of the big buzz in Orario right now with everyone wanting to know what was up with it.