Bell knelt on the floor, arms folded over his thighs. Any injuries he might have had, like a bruised eye or bumps on his forehead, were already healed, a fact that made nearly all the women surrounding him secretly clench their teeth.
Alfia sat in a chair to his left, her gaze drifting between his eyes and the top of his head. She opened her palm and thrust the heel of it forward a couple of inches, as if testing a strike.
Watching her movement, Bell felt his nose throb, vividly reminded of the unpleasantness from earlier.
Astraea sat on a sofa directly in front of him, running her fingers over Crimson Order's blade with deliberate care.
Bell might have believed her serene act if she hadn't nearly bashed his head in with that same sword's hilt.
Hestia had settled herself beside Astraea, tear streaks still visible on her cheeks. Those tears would have been more convincing if she hadn't been cheering from the back to hit harder when Astraea and Alfia had flanked him.
Artemis was in a rocking chair to his right, humming a light tune while keeping her eyes locked on him.
She looked so gentle right now. Yet, she hadn't uttered a single word of protest when he was being double-teamed from both sides, merely watching without a change in expression while humming that exact same tune.
In the kitchen, Haruhime stood with Rethusa and Lante. All three were gazing at the scene from a distance, looking exactly like people watching a missile detonate from kilometers away.
"Ori—ahem... Bell, want me to straighten your ruffled hair? It looks quite messy after earlier." Artemis asked. She halted her rocking chair and leaned forward, a slight curve forming at the corner of her lips.
Three intense gazes landed on him from different directions in the exact same instant.
He rolled his eyes at Artemis. What is this? Trying to throw me under the bus again? Unlucky for you, I know exactly how to deal with a naughty Goddess like you.
"Goddess Artemis, please keep some distance between us. I don't want to be caught in your feminine wiles again. I'm an innocent man, and I won't be manipulated by you a second time," Bell declared, puffing out his chest and arching his neck back.
Those gazes shifted from him to Artemis, boring into her.
Artemis's smile twitched. A moment later, her eyes narrowed into crescents, and her smile somehow grew even gentler.
"What are you talking about, Bell? Feminine wiles? I'm a virgin Goddess; I have no feminine wiles. You can't blame me for losing control of yourself when in close proximity to me."
Her words made those three eyes snap back to him, sharper than before.
"But you were the one who initiated it." he tried to reason, pointing a single finger at her lips.
Artemis tilted her head. "You could have stopped a fragile woman like me, right? But you didn't... That means you enjoyed it as much as I did."
She discreetly licked her lips as she spoke, a gesture only visible to him.
Bell's eyes went wide, his mouth falling open in an 'O' shape. Damn! Are all Greeks the same after getting a taste of the forbidden fruit? There's really no in-between for a virgin Goddess—either she's a zero or she jumps straight to a hundred.
A crack echoed across the room. He looked in that direction and sucked in a sharp breath.
Crimson Order was buried tip-first in the floor beside Astraea, who was just pulling her fingers back from its hilt after using the ground as a makeshift sheath.
She turned her face toward him and beckoned him over with a single finger. "Come here, Bell."
Artemis's eyes lost all their previous gentleness, darting between Bell and Astraea with a narrowed gaze.
Alfia locked eyes with him, then dipped her chin toward her own knuckles in a silent warning of consequences.
Hestia rubbed her hand on the couch's space beside her, secretly motioning that it was free for him to take.
Not you too, my simple-headed Goddess. If you start competing, who will take the fall for me?
Bell's shoulders sagged. He rose to his feet, walked over to Astraea, and lowered his back against the couch, settling between her legs.
The entire room went very quiet in a way that preceded very, very bad things.
Alfia's legs tensed, preparing to rise from her chair.
"Freya."
They all froze at that name.
Astraea's fingers, previously on their way to his scalp, dropped to his shoulders, digging into his skin with sudden force.
"What do you mean, Bell?" she asked. A piercing chill spread outward from her, dropping the surrounding temperature by several degrees.
"Explain yourself, Orion." Artemis demanded, folding her arms beneath her chest, her nails digging into her own forearms.
Alfia did not speak, but she kept her eyes locked on his face, waiting for him to continue.
Clunk
Only you have my back in times of need, bro.
"I mean my losing control. It might have been because of Freya." Bell bullshitted with a perfectly straight face, recalling a personal mantra he had created for getting out of trouble.
Whenever something bad happens, blame Evilus. If you can't, blame Freya. If neither works, drop Hermes' name.
"How is Freya related to any of that?" Hestia asked, shaking her head with furrowed brows.
"During the Denatus, I noticed Freya trying to use her Charm on me continuously. I didn't get completely affected, but my adaptation takes time, so it might have weakened my inhibitions a little." he lied without an ounce of shame.
Not a single Goddess noticed, thanks to his recent adaptation to their innate lie detectors.
I have to save my hide somehow. Besides, you make a really good scapegoat, Freya.
"Should I unseal my Sword of Judgment to deal with her? Or perhaps my Scales of Eternity?" A cold chill raced down Bell's spine as Astraea's whisper reached him.
"A single, full-powered arrow should take her out before she can react." Artemis mumbled to herself, tapping her forehead in thought.
Alfia had already risen, taking a step toward the door leading outside.
"Aunt, where are you going?" Bell asked, though he already had a guess.
"Freya Familia." she replied without looking back.
"Wai—Wait! I mean, we have more important things to do right now." he blurted out, trying to rise, but Astraea's legs wrapped around him, gently holding him in place.
"Like?" Alfia asked, gazing back with a single eye, her temple throbbing at the sight.
"Like getting my Falna updated first of all, then going to keep our promise of meeting after three hours."
Alfia stopped at those words and turned to face them.
"Then get it updated right now." Her command was immediately followed by Astraea's fingers sliding down to grab his tunic.
"Wait... Goddess!? In front of everyone?"
They all ignored his protest.
"Why are you acting shy? It's just your bare torso." Alfia said, walking over to wrap her fingers around his ankle. She pulled him forward just as Astraea yanked his tunic backward.
"Fine, have it your way."
Bell finally gave in, letting them strip that garment off him.
...
He was sitting cross-legged on the floor now. Astraea knelt behind him, a pin in one hand. Hestia was beside her, holding her own pin between two fingers.
Alfia sat on the floor to his right. Artemis was to his left, extending a hand to trace the outline of his abs.
A hand swatted Artemis's fingers away before she could make contact. It was Hestia's.
"Artemis, you're not touching my child," Hestia said with a glare, putting her hands on her waist, flashing her teeth at the Goddess of Hunt.
"But we're good friends, Hestia. Didn't we promise to share everything we had amongst friends?" Artemis asked.
Hestia's lips twitched. "That was then, this is now. My child is off-limits. No touching."
Her words were admirable, but her own fingers were already sneaking toward Bell's abs to cop a feel.
However, four fingers clamped around her wrist, halting her hand mid-motion. Hestia followed the grip to its owner and found Astraea staring back at her.
"Astraea, why?" she asked, her restrained hand clenching into a fist.
"Focus, Hestia. We need to update his Falna, not waste our time on these things," Astraea replied, her eyes sharp and expression composed.
Yet, even as she spoke, her free hand was snaking around Bell's side, stopping just an inch from his abdomen before it was suddenly yanked back. Alfia was now gripping Astraea's arm, her gaze flat.
"Keep your hands off my nephew."
Bell felt a migraine coming on just from watching their antics.
"Can we get my update done first?"
His words earned him a collective glare from all four of them.
"..."
After a few seconds of silent glaring, Astraea finally sighed and conceded. "Alright."
She freed her arm from Alfia's hold and pricked her finger with the pin. A drop of golden blood fell onto his back, dissolving straight into a single scale. Hestia pricked her thumb similarly and swiped a trail of her divine blood down his spine.
The moment that second drop touched his back, those flames slumbering inside the twin scales of his Falna stirred awake, twisting and animating along his spine like living paintings.
Cracks began to creep across the depiction of his wheel above those flames. Then, it shattered into countless ancient glyphs, reforming into a status sheet that stretched from just below his neck to the inward curve of his spine.
"How did this change so much?" Astraea wondered aloud as the glyphs assembled into the divine language in mere moments.
"Is this how Orion's Falna works? It's very different from normal." Artemis noted.
Alfia said nothing, but a single eyebrow of hers rose in quiet intrigue.
All three Goddesses soon turned their eyes to his status sheet as it updated in real time.
[Name: Bell Cranel
Level - 3 (↑)
[Attributes (1/2)] -
Strength: 999 [S]
Endurance: 999 [S]
Dexterity: 999 [S]
Agility: 999 [S]
Magic: 999 [S]
[Attributes (2/2)] -
Strength: 999 [S]
Endurance: 999 [S]
Dexterity: 999 [S]
Agility: 999 [S]
Magic: 999 [S]
Magic:
[Gresde] (↑) - Demonic flames of purification.
[Astra—Vesta—Calibur] - Eternal flame envelop. Vitality stabilise. Justice judge. Exempt are not even the Divine.
Skills:
[Eight Handled Wheel] - Adaptation to ************.
[Ittou Shura/Rasetsu] - Ignite my vitality. Ignite my will. Ignite my emotions. Ignite it all.
[Instinct] - All I see is Victory. All I hear is Victory. All I can ever be is... Victory.
[Super Regeneration] - Between immortality and mortality. Between limbo and nothingness. Between infinity and eternity.
[Asura Soul Reaping] - Monster created ***.
[Revenant Epoch] - Past will not sleep. Dead will never forget. I pull beyond time. What once was... shall be again.
Development Skills:
[Adaptability] [G] - Affinity + 10%
[Luck] [H] - Fortune + 5%]
"[Revenant Epoch]... is this your new skill? The one that allows you to pull the dead back to life." Astraea murmured, tracing her fingers over its skill description. Her voice was deeply conflicted.
Hestia glanced between that description and Alfia, the pieces finally clicking into place.
"999 across all stats... It just goes to show how special my Orion is." Artemis suppressed her shock and tried to act unbothered, nodding her head as if it were a matter of fact.
Alfia heard Artemis's words and gave a small, approving nod of her own.
As expected.
Her shoulders relaxed by a fraction.
You surpass me at the same level.
For the first time in a very long while, her breath stuttered.
Our sacrifices were not in vain.
... You can reach it.
No, you will reach it.
I won't let you die until you do.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
And we're finally updating the Falna. Honestly, it took too much time, and to solve this problem permanently, I'm thinking about finding a way to give Bell access to update his own Falna, then we can update it in real time and do some interesting things with the status sheet itself.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!