At the sight of Freya, I expected to undergo something, a surge of heat, an unexplained attraction but nothing. What I felt on the other hand is that my falna started to tingle, a sign that he was acting. Next to Freya was not Ottar but Heith, her chief healer in the cannon.
[Warning! Launch of the second activation part of the field of relationships! Charm resistance granted by a virgin goddess deactivated! Mission resisted the charm of the most powerful goddess of beauty! ]
Immediately a huge wave of heat, love, passions invades me. Freya's vision became the only thing I desired. I had to say something to this woman, make her mine, I had to make her smile, I had to... NO! I must serve her, I want to see her smile I want her to smile at me... NO! OUT OF MY HEAD! Why resist, she will ease your pain...
Pov Freya:
The first thing Freya did when Tank entered the room was to activate her vision of souls, she saw a calm soul with a light but fierce white blue. She shone with a beautiful intensity but nothing as unique as the soul of her Odr. She found there a certain beauty and a certain potential, Astrea has always been able to find good people, her captain Alise and this elf Ryu are also magnificent souls for Freya. If she had wanted to join her famillia, she would have immediately accepted them. But she was part of the Astrea famillia, one of those rare people that Freya could call 'friend' because Astrea representing purity naturally resists its passive charm, and offers this protection to these members. The famillia Astrea is therefore one of the few people that Freya appreciates because she can be herself without problems. At least until now.
Some second after his arrival in the room, the young man's soul began to react to her presence. It is a vision that Freya immediately recognized, her charm applied to him seducing his soul, offering her a soft constriction almost impossible to break especially for a male. And yet this soul reacts differently, the waves of pleasure and love encounter resistance, the soul itself resists, it attacks itself to try to break influence. The vision for Freya was both beautiful because it was new and horrible because she saw a soul being mutilated because of her. A soul of a person dear to her friend was suffering through her fault. Freya has no trouble imposing her love but for those she loves or appreciates, she does not like to see them suffer unnecessarily and there this soul felt the worst possible suffering.
Tank POV:
MAKE IT STOP! COME OUT OF MY HEAD! MY FREEDOM BELONGS TO ME ! I TRUST MY CHOICES AND REFUSE YOU! BITCH!
Me: STORMBOLT!
The room froze, Heith feeling the mana immediately placed herself in front of her goddess, Astrea was shocked by Tank's reaction, by his mental suffering and was paralyzed when she heard him cast his spell.
The flash from Tank's right hand, aiming directly... at his own torso. He felt a great pain, his muscles contracted inconrolably with the electric current. A huge burning sensation gripped his stomach. His brain was literally flooded with pain instantly. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
[Ding! Congratulations user, you have successfully completed this quest! Restore protection against the charms of the Falna. Reward: Resistance to mind-altering effects, understanding how the passive divine charm works. ]
Go fuck yourself system! Hmmph! It hurts like hell!
Astrea shocked, furious: Tank! What did you do!
Astrea grabbed me and carried me into my room, the pain in my muscles and chest was immense but the voices disappeared. Then Astrea returned furiously to Freya.
Astrea: Freya... Tell me that you didn't charm my child in front of me !
Freya shocked: No... no I assure you Astrea I didn't do anything with him. I just observed his soul but I promise you I did not activate my charm, only the passive effect was present.
Astrea: What did you see?
Freya: Well, he has a beautiful soul, a good potential, when he arrived nothing happened like with your other daughters, but the next moment all the barriers have disappeared and the charm effect applied and his soul resisted, she tackles herself to not succumb. It only lasted a few seconds and when the effect intensified...
Astrea: He used his magic.
Freya: Astrea, believe me. I'm sorry.
Astrea carefully observed Freya, even though this woman is manipulative she is not a liar. Especially with these friends.
Astrea: Do you want to take him?
Freya: No Astrea, he has a beautiful soul but he is part of your famillia. Your friendship is precious to me and I don't want to lose it. That won't excuse me but I would like Heith to take care of him if you are willing.
Astrea: Yes, I would appreciate it. Freya I am sorry, I know that you do not completely control this power. I also care about your friendship, I just... I care about my children.
Freya smiles: I know, I care about it too. Heith if you can.
Heith: Right now Freya-sama.
Tank Room:
Me: Mhh, worst idea but it worked...
Heith: What worked?
Me: I didn't succumb to the charms...
Heith: Impressive, many cannot support the effect of my goddess.
Me: I understand why... Can I help you, mmh?
Heith: No, it's the opposite, my goddess asked me to take care of you, don't move. Zeo Gullveig!
I felt a warm energy running through me, fatigue and pain disappearing, my burn was replaced by new skin. No more pain, no more fatigue, a magnificent magic.
Me: Thank you... you must be an angel in your famillia.
Hetih: I am, but they rarely say thank you. They think that this care is acquired.
Me: Muscular butts with nothing in their heads that don't understand mind down.
Heith: Exactly. Many don't have magic and don't understand what it feels like in those moments.
Me: Yes, I've experienced it only twice, I don't imagine what it must be like to be like that all day, so thank you again for the care. Is the goddess Freya still there?
Hetih: Of course, in general we don't leave before sunset. Your goddess is one of the few people to cancel her charm effect and treat her as an equal like a friend.
Me: I see, you think I can go back there I would like to apologize.
Hetih: If you want, but you are not afraid of having to...
Me: No, I was surprised, I felt my falna react and I wanted to block it leaving me defenseless.
Heith: I see, then follow me. My goddess.
Me: Goddess Freya, I want to apologize for my behavior, I hope I didn't offend you.
Freya took the time to observe him before responding, she observed her soul which this time does not react at all to his presence.
Smiling Freya: There's nothing to excuse, this ability is a curse sometimes. Don't you feel oppressed by my presence anymore?
Me: No, I was more surprised than anything else. Thank you for your mercy.
After that, I went back to read my books on magic and strangely, Heith quickly joins me. We didn't really talk, she just sat on the bed and watched me for a few minutes, before falling asleep from exhaustion. Normally it would have been annoying for me if a stranger occupied my personal space, but I know what Heith is going through at Folkvangr. She is responsible for the care of everyone, constantly at the edge of mind down. Even an adventurer of her level needs less rest, she still needs a minimum that she only very rarely has at home, so I let her rest here.
My books brought me knowledge this time about the magic stones from the Donjon, showing how magic is stored inside, how it is altered compared to 'classic' magic and how devices exploit this power to produce light, etc. Finally, the two works talk about magic stones emptied of their magic. Taking on a whitish color instead of the usual black purple. These stones for these authors would be magical objects since they can contain them even if in very small quantities. What is very interesting for me, these stones could then be used for...
Heith waking up: Mmh...
Me: Slept well?
Heith: I slept... for how long?
Me: Hmm, a good hour you sat down and 5 minutes later you collapse into bed. I took the liberty of moving in.
Hetih blushes: You didn't do anything...
Me: No, I didn't do anything to you Heith, I'm not that kind. I just lay you down so you can rest.
Heith: Thank you... what are you doing?
Me: Magical reading, I try to improve and prepare for my level up.
Heith: You are planning far. Weird title, but if it helps you.
Alise in the distance: We're back! And we have guests!
Me: Oh interesting, you're coming, let's join them.