Once more, weeks begin to pass by without hardly any incidents, until Freya familia finished their purchased turn to fight Balor. After the spectacle they'd made upon going down there, the city had been expecting at least one of their members to have leveled up. However, it became clear after a couple weeks passed with no notices from the guild, and the fact whenever one of the adventurers were seen the expression said it all… They'd wasted the chance to level up.
Freya laid on her specialty made couch, drinking the slightly cheaper variety of wine- a small but helpful gesture for her familia- a heavy sigh released from her lips. "So, no one was able to earn the right to level up?"
"It is unfortunate. But the money we earned from Balor's drop item, and all the rest-"
"No, money isn't the problem. I'm not drinking the cheaper stuff just because we can't handle the cost." Her eyes began to tell the rest of the story.
"My apologies, Goddess. May I go train?"
"Fine, leave me."
Ottar left the room and headed back to the Folkvangr. Freya was left there, staring at the world through a now empty wine glass.
"Did we really rise to prominence? Zeus & Hera never had this much trouble with Evilus." She wondered allowed. "I guess we never really were at the top of the city. Even if Ottar is level 6, he's no match for that boy, Moon Pup… Maybe I should help Hathor get him a new title? She said she wanted one but what should I recommend? Oh, I'll think about it for a while. Maybe just adding my pressure to the mix would be enough?" … "I need another level 6. But, everyone just reached level 5. How could they possibly reach their peak status in just a year? Not even Ottar could pull that off. If they waste that potential, they'd struggle just to reach the power of Zeus or Hera familias… Hera, this deal you made me… It's just to make me suffer isn't it?"
…
Elsewhere in the world, an interesting family played together, Zald, the warrior giving a young Bell some extremely early, yet easy lessons to help build him up. Alfia, and Meteria taught Meda everything they knew about magic… Resulting in Meda's improvement, she'd gained a spell… One that seemed to border on the extreme end of reason, and the early end of absurdity.
A man wearing a feathered hat appeared in the village with a woman, wearing her hair in a pony tail hung over her shoulder. They also seemed to be carrying a load of fresh goods or something like that.
"Hey there. How's life treating you all the way out here?"
"Hermes, you ask me that every time you arrive. And I say the same thing. So long as Freya, and Loki are suffering for what they did, I'm fine." Hera said, with a glare that said Hermes was beneath her.
"I get it, on that note, her children all failed to level up recently. And that was after they'd opened up a huge debt with Hathor. It's really quite pitiful."
"Well, that's neither good nor bad. I never expected them to rise to the challenge anyway. Everyone knows we weren't truly driven away. We just needed a break to rest, and mourn our fallen children, and the likely fate of this world- Oh, uh I mean…"
"Don't worry about it Lady Hera, I've been informed of the situation myself. It makes me wonder more… What exactly is Evilus doing then? If it's pointless anyway, then they'd be better off staying hidden."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because Moon Pup is immensely powerful. If he really wanted to, he could remove the threat of Evilus completely."
"I don't think so." Hera replied, sipping her drink.
"He's strong but without a really good reason, ridding this world of Evilus is not possible." Zeus laughed. "I do wish there was a better way. But I don't see one. I wonder if that mastermind behind Evilus realized their fate yet or not?"
Hermes sighed. "You know putting this weight on him is not going to end well. He'll lose something incredibly precious. It happens all the time."
Alfia came out of her room, and simply looked at the now second pervy god. "Zeus, you better not forget your promise. If my little brother suffers from this, we're moving back to the city."
"I know."
"Oh, I actually have a letter for you, Miss Alfia." The other beautiful woman in the room rummaged through the letters. "Ah here it is, To my dearest big sisters! So cute. He wrote one to everyone."
A little bit later the family was enjoying a warm dinner while everyone talked about their day, and occasionally getting tidbits of information about how Orario was doing.
Zald smirked. "So that boy's grown a bit since we left. He might be as strong as I am now." He laughed. "Though I do owe a sizable portion of my growth to his intervention…"
"Pfft, here it says he's found himself a little girlfriend."
"I wonder who he ended up choosing?" Meda asked. "He sent me some money, and my favorite teas, and a grimoire? What's that?"
"Wow! He really went all out for you. That'll help you learn a magic spell instantly with no troubling waits in between."
"Really! That's so cool! I love my big brother! Awoo!"
"The guild was practically forced to pay that out to him after what happened… Fact is, I'm shocked he held back at all." Hermes chuckled, and then told the story.
"Oh my, Hathor must have been using a small amount of arcanum to hold him back, right?"
"Dunno know… Though if she was, no one sensed it. Not even Ouranos."
"Alright, let's get back to him having a girlfriend now… How many do you think he's gonna have?" Zeus said, then…
"Gospel"
"Worth it…"
"I think he'll stay with her as his one and only. Something huge would have to happen for him to even consider anything else."
Zeus climbing back up to the table, laughed. "Alright, in that case it's got to be none other than little Ardee, right?"
"Yep, those two have grown way closer as of late. She's even training at Hathor familia now. I suspect the only reason she's still Ganesha's child is purely due to her elder sister being the familia captain."
"Indeed, we'll see how things work out. I'm glad to see everyone's doing alright here too."
…