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Side Story 15: A Proud Dragon, a Worried Goddess, and an Ambitious Inferno. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2020-06-06 16:39:10 +0000 UTCI received a ton of feedback on this chapter, which honestly made me agree that it had quite a few problems. Besides for grammer and style, I've also eddited the first scene of the chapter, giving it more details and also making the characters fit a bit more with a previous one.
Hope you guys enjoy it!
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As Hestia was about to have her first meeting with Peolyncian humans, another meeting was being held up above the skies, in one of the realms of the gods.
In this realm, the ground you walk on is made from soft clouds surrounded by unending light sources that illuminated this place every second, banishing every shadow the moment it appeared.
In a specific area within this white world, extravagant furniture was placed for the sole occupant of this place. So refined was the furniture that most would believe that its owner was either wealthy or influential.
This was the world of the Goddess of Light, Aurena, and it was currently hosting a tea party.
“Problems and more problems, and I can’t intervene as they are not breaking any taboos,” a somber black dragon spoke out, stress contorting his face in a deep frown.
“That is, after all, our roles as gods. We observe and maintain the balance of our world, while our followers change the status quo,” a beautiful, youthful woman responded to her titanic tea partner, fluttering her light blonde hair and pure white feathered wings as she gave out a teasing laugh. “Hie hie, 2000 years and it seems you still cannot adapt to your new role.”
"His duty is the most taxing I believe, although I cannot sympathize as I have never been pushed this far due to a lack of genuine worshipers," a sharp-eared man said in defense of the giant dragon, documenting every word spoken by this meeting's participants on his right arm. "Magic and the pursuit of knowledge will never die out as long as this world possess mana, which means my source of power is infinite as the depths of the unknown."
As light-hearted as the atmosphere was in this radiant home of the Goddess of Light, the talk itself was far from it, as the giant dragon continues to mull over the recent events that have occurred under his command.
“My first attempt failed disastrously because I underestimated the girl for being a newborn, while fate decided the outcome of the second. Now, the girl has escaped, and her escort party was injured during the ambush,” the black dragon, Kargryxmor, retold the occurrences that he witnessed through the eyes of Astalos, the Boltreaving wyvern. "I don't understand, why did that girl flee? Shouldn't she seek me for protection? Her instincts as a newborn should compel her to do so."
“Kargryxmor, did you not mention that the girl’s name was ‘Hestia Atsuko’? Please, use it as it would make my job far easier, don’t you agree, Goddess Aurena?” the elven man suggested to the dragon god, not raising his head from his arm as he kept writing.
“Oh, yes I do, Istari. She is our champion, after all. As young and inexperienced she might be, we must show her respect as we were the ones to appoint her to this duty,” Aurena replied, shifting her white wings as she turned to address the dragon. “So, Kargryxmor, where is she now? Do you know?”
The great dragon let out a small sigh before materializing a blue globe of the world and resuming his report, “The attack from the grimgarians, God Marsven’s descendants, took place in the southeast part of the Belzac forest. From what little that I could see, Hestia should have entered a cave in the direction of a human kingdom. Mhmm, this one, here. You are the God of Knowledge and Magic, Istari, enlighten us.”
On request, the elven man observed where the great dragon pointed at and then tore the skin off his arm, unwrapping it like a bandage until it transformed into parchment, “…From the most recent information, this land is currently called the Kingdom of Artorias. This piece of knowledge was given to me about 1 second and 23 milliseconds ago, by a human male with the [Peddler] Job. I must give my thanks to the God of Mercantilism, the next time I meet him for sharing this, he he he.”
The god of dragonkins observed this, silently mumbling, “Use the damn administrative window, you idiot” as he watched the high elven god wrap the skin back onto his arm, leaving no signs of it ever being anything else but fair elven skin.
Ignoring the eccentric elf, the dragon turned his head back to the goddess of light, "Goddess Aurena, I still cannot form a connection with Hestia and she will likely evolve before I can tell her anything. I apologize, but it would seem like I will have to delay our meeting with her.”
Kargryxmor was vexed at his current predicament. Never had he thought that a single mortal would give him this much trouble. Not only has Hestia killed three wyverns with relative ease, but she was able to flee from three B rank wyverns, who were significantly stronger than her pure stat-wise.
In fact, if Hestia hadn’t had her companions help her in the fight against the first [Drifting Snow Wyvern], or if it had gone all-out right at the start with a death-match mentality, the dragoness would have never stood chance, even if she had gotten [Lightning Magic] during the battle. The mobility and experience differences between the two combatants were too huge, it was just the dragoness’ luck that the wyverns were ordered to not kill.
The God of Dragon was also the God of Oaths, considering any promise or duties bound by a mutual contract to be extremely important, worthy to risk his life to fulfill. He was dissatisfied with himself, unsure if he had overlooked a more efficient option.
Kargryxmor has always been a person who considered performing the task himself was the only way to ensure it is done right. He was headstrong and wished to jump back to the mortal plane to speak with Hestia directly, as having to rely on somebody else to fulfill this important task was causing him unrest.
However, he couldn’t, for he was bound to the rules of being a god.
While it wasn’t common for gods to mingle among mortals, the origin gods dissuaded them from doing it too often. Sometimes they would come down due to their work, but it wasn’t uncommon to see a god simply finding the god realm too boring and wishing to spend some leisure time with Peolyncian natives. They could still work with their administrative window from down there.
It was just unfortunate that Kargryxmor’s duties relied on him to be in the god realm. There is also the fact that gods are forbidden to interfere with anything that would influence the world. Mortal politics belonged to mortals. Gods may judge but they shall never contribute anything to it.
The only time that they were allowed to execute their powers is when a taboo is broken, but that will always be scrutinized under the eyes of the head goddess Plesia.
Aurena listened to Kargryxmor’s report with a gentle smile which grew into a teasing one after taking a sip from her tea, “…You say that, but aren’t you also proud? Compared to our last meeting, you seem far less stressed out. You haven’t burst into anger despite how much I have joked around.”
Kargryxmor instantly fell quiet, jaw agape, hesitating to respond back. He was assessing if Aurena’s words were another of her plentiful jokes or if they were genuine, looking inside himself to analyze the many different feelings that were circulating in his head.
“Why should I be proud?”, he thought for a second, but that was when he remembered everything he saw through his worshipper, the female lizardman Apsala. Due to her prayers during her time in Belzac forest, he knew everything that went on around her. That meant that he witnessed all of Hestia’s feats that Apsala witnessed or any that Caszcur told her about.
He could keep track of Hestia’s status window and her growth through the blessing that he gave her, but never was he able to see all the trials and tribulation the young girl had to go through.
Aside from her fight with the three C rank wyverns, Kargryxmor was never able to observe her first month or her fight with the orcs and the garm matriarch. He was astounded when he saw how valiantly she fought against the ice wyvern, displaying the culmination of her life in the Belzac forest.
However, what made the black dragon even more elated was Hestia’s creed. Nothing was more exciting for this old dragon to see than knowing that his choice for a champion was correct. After all, how can one be a god’s champion if they cannot be considered a paragon of that god’s dogma.
Hestia’s fervent belief that promises had to be upheld fitted his mentality perfectly. It made his heart race that one of his direct descendants was acting exactly how he envisioned for his race to act after he ascended to godhood: a guardian for the world.
As a dragon, he took pride in the fact that a dragon whelp from his bloodline was able to grow strong enough to defend herself from most threats. As a god, he felt satisfaction that his plan to create a champion has worked so well, despite all the hardships to get her to actually speak with him.
There were a few things that concerned him though. Why did she suddenly talk about making the lizardmen her followers? How did she retain her memories despite her rebirth? Why was another [Otherworldly Reincarnator] with her and how did she get into this world?
There was also the fact that he was able to confirm that Aurena had placed her blessing on Hestia and that she was able to use [The Light]’s spells. He had a feeling it was true and the fight with the three C rank wyverns gave him the evidence to be fully convinced, but witnessing it all in action against the [Drifting Snow Wyvern] was certainly something else.
…But those issues can be dealt with later.
“Ahhhhhhh, YES! I AM!” the dragon god roared with euphoria, shaking Aurena’s realm. “Gahahahahaha, she’s just perfect! That girl should only be seven months old now, but she’s showing so much promise, I can’t hold back but roar. YEEEEEEEEEEEEES!”
Kargryxmor was infamous for being the emperor of the skies during his mortal life, his mere presence was enough to quieten even the most cantankerous of beasts. He was known as an SSS rank monster, a monster of unreachable heights for a mere human.
This very tyrant was now wagging his tail like an excited dog who’s waiting for his owner to open the door after being away for a whole day. He was creating a maelstrom with his beating wings, moving them around like an overly excited bird.
Kargryxmor, the God of Dragonkins and Oaths, was acting like an excited grandfather.
“There were complications during her birth, the main cause of her being born as a G rank dragon whelp. Her parents, those incompetent fools, even lost her egg in that gigantic forest! But she survived it all, and she’s about to reach rank B!” Kargryxmor’s unnatural excitement was quaking everything. If there were any angels around, they most likely would have fallen unconscious from the sheer pressure. “If only she hadn’t inherited so much of my blood. She wouldn’t have gotten her current weakness when I gave her my blessing. Still, she might be the first of my direct descendants that has made me…proud of being her ancestor, in a long time. Ahhh, I only wished getting her to me wasn’t so difficult.”
“Hmmm, this meeting has certainly proven to be more interesting than I have thought,” said Istari. “I was already excited to be around my ‘Apocrypha’, Goddess Aurena. But this might be the first time that anybody has witnessed the almighty SSS rank dragon, Kargryxmor, behave like this in public. This meeting has been too fruitful, heh heh heh heh.”
“Hie hie, oh my, Kargryxmor your behavior is certainly adorable. You have waited too long for a worthy spawn, I see,” Aurena remarked with a mischievous laugh. “Then, I can confidently tell you that our little dragoness has made it to the human kingdom Artorias. In fact, she has already made contact with some of my worshippers. It should reassure you to hear that she has also reached level 30, ready for her evolution.”
“Agh, she has? There will be little chance for her to take my [Young Black-Wrath Dragon], then. She still has a bad impression of me…,” Kargryxmor said with a frown, all his excitement gone. “There is also the issue with those B rank wyverns. I cannot send them a divine message. They are not spiritually connected to me like the wyvern priestesses, so I am unable to stop them from entering human territory.”
Kargryxmor was worried that Astalos and the two ice wyverns would venture into the kingdom of Artorias. He knew that Astalos took his oath to him very seriously, uncaring of the fact that it would bring him to human territory to fulfill it.
Kargryxmor gave him a holy quest with a reward that was too enticing to give up. Astalos wanted to level up so he could evolve, and this was his best chance to achieve that. Callous of human life, this lightning wyvern wouldn’t relent until he captured Hestia and bring her to Avitor Peaks.
“That is unfortunate, but you cannot interfere here, Kargryxmor. You may try by informing your priestesses, but they will simply send more wyverns into the kingdom of Artorias,” Aurena sternly warned the dragon god, informing him of the repercussion of any future decisions. “This also isn’t enough to warrant divine intervention. You must let it past, observe as a god, and deal with the consequences later on. Hestia and my followers will have to weather the storm, despite how much I want to prevent it.”
Aurena’s carefree expression quickly turned into a scowl. She was the human race's patron goddess, so having to stand on the side while there was a chance that a huge amount of her followers would die was enough for her smile to break apart.
She has watched countless of lives die for infinite amounts of reasons, tempering her through her 2000 years of being in Peolynca, but nothing brought her more anger than another god’s mistake bringing destruction towards her followers.
Aurena’s mischievous attitude towards Kargryxmor was always a foil for her to show her annoyance towards his failures without resorting to bursting out in anger. She found it inelegant, especially when the other party knew this fact.
“That is our roles as gods,” Aurena said with a deep sigh. “Anyway, I thank you Kargryxmor for keeping me updated. Also, you too, Istari. Keeping our words documented will be useful for the future.”
With that said, the god of dragons and the god of knowledge dispersed into thin air, disappearing from this light-filled world, leaving only Aurena behind. Once she was sure that she was alone, Aurena gave a long sigh.
“…I should have told him,” Aurena said in a serious tone, letting her teacup down. “As one of the two subordinates gods I could rely on, I shouldn’t have kept this to myself. As his goddess, I should have informed him that I had contacted our champion. What is this attitude of mine? Childish!”
What Aurena was mentioning was the time she managed to send a system message to Hestia, despite how weak their connection was. She was elated to learn that she could finally communicate to her champion, but quickly realized anything longer than what she sent would have caused grievous repercussions on the still young soul.
It was already plenty enough, thanks to Hestia owning two divine blessings. One from a weakening subordinate god, and one from the second most influential origin god. She was fine with the results but wished for more.
“I know it wouldn’t have helped the situation, it isn’t Kargryxmor’s fault that his worshippers are stepping out of line,” Aurena mumbled. “The only way that would have prevented all of this was if our connection hadn’t been severed for some reason. I still question how Hestia was able to do this in the first place.”
If Aurena had made contact with Hestia before Kargryxmor sent out his wyverns, everything would have smoothly resolved itself. Hestia would have made it to the elves and Aurena could have made contact with her. It should have been that easy.
“Well…it’s still fine. After that display, I ought to keep Hestia away from Kargryxmor before I can have a talk with her alone. That big oaf is distressed that his faith is waning due to his descendants, so instead of looking at the bigger picture, he will most likely get Hestia to resolve his issue first. However, those demonkins must be dealt with first for the safety of Peolynca. Sigh…if only that race wasn’t considered a Peolyncian native, I would have already done everything by myself.”
Aurena suddenly let out another deep sigh, placing a hand on her cheek, “Sigh…I never would have thought that she would go to the kingdom of Artorias. This is…tch,” With a small movement of her hand, a blue, translucent screen appeared before her. “…The information my angels have compiled for me isn’t reassuring at all. I honestly am not willing to plunge Hestia into that land, especially with what Kargryxmor has reported.”
Argh, my desires are too akin to his. I wish to appear before Hestia and tell her everything over a cup of tea…tch, Elder Plesia would not be pleased if I did that, Aurena mulled over her options with exasperation.
“Sigh…I think it might be time to visit father to ask him for some of his wisdom. I haven’t met him in a while, he must feel lonely,” Aurena said with a cheerful smile. “I apologize in advance, Hestia. I do hope the conflict that you will find there won’t be too much for you. Politically and militarily...however, this might be a chance for you to develop your [The Light] and gain a few followers, no?”
Aurena let out a repressed laugh and then continued looking through the footage that she got from Lorena and Colwyn, two humans that Hestia just met, “At least, I can keep an eye on you until we meet. Do make haste, Hestia. The more you become ‘famous’, the more eyes will look at you. You can’t stay unknown forever. No, you don’t want to stay unknown forever, right?”
Dematerializing both her administrative window, Aurena stood up from her chair, “May the light’s fortune be with you and guide your path with hope, banishing any shadow that wills to consume you, my champion. Hie hie, good luck, Hestia~”
And with that, the Goddess of Light turned into a stream of light particles and vanished from her realm.
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“…Sis will be so angry if I did it though,” a person with the appearance of a great menacing inferno spoke, moving his searing hot arms to navigate through his administrative window.
This was Danterno, the God of Fire, one of the six origin gods and also the brother of the head goddess, Plesia. Despite how different their governing element was, the two share a strong bond of siblings, ignoring the duality of water and fire.
“But…I need her. Everybody else has a proper form but I still can’t materialize myself, forcing me to stay in this outdated form. I need somebody worthy to champion my cause!” Danterno mumbled as he anxiously tapped his window in his divine realm of fire. “What my faith currently needs is somebody to rally everybody to a single cause. Conflict from within my religion and also the fluctuation of believers due to their recklessness. Why are all my worshippers so hot-headed, ahhhhhhhh!”
And the fire that was his head grew in size, erupting like an active volcano.
Once he cooled down, Danterno then looked at his list of gods, “There is also the issue with my subordinate gods. Greedy…all of them only think about their own growth while neglecting the whole picture. How can anyone grow in strength when I, their leading god, cannot even reach the power of the fifth spot, Zephira!”
Danterno was considered the weakest of the six origin gods without any debate. The gulf in power between Danterno and the fifth rank, Zephira, the Goddess of Wind, was massive. Danterno’s lack of talent as a leader and for management has caused a terrible blockage in his growth as a god of Peolynca.
Due to his divided faith, none of his followers were able to conclude on a form for Danterno, each praying to a different image of their inferno god. This has twisted Danterno’s divine form, creating a creature that wasn’t even close to the serene form of his sister, nor the other three goddesses, Zephira, Crustacia, or Aurena.
Even Marsven, the God of Darkness, was able to create a form that resembled a race of Peolynca. The God of Shadows was close to his worshippers…but that wasn’t the case for Danterno.
“No, I can’t let this go! I, a being of fire, cannot accept being the weakest! I am destruction and power, carnage and purification. I can accept being number six, but I will never accept my current position!” Danterno roared. “I must close the gap, any way possible! This isn’t even outlawed by Sis. Aurena will be annoyed but I am not planning to fully take her over, I only need a spot in her soul.”
Danterno then navigated to a footage that he received from a goblin shaman, one of the warriors of the great demi-human army of the ogre king. He observed and analyzed the footage to find the young dragoness Hestia and where she was fleeing.
He then conjured up a globe of the world, trying his best to pinpoint where Hestia should currently be. Usually, this would be a job for his angels and aids, but the god of fire was ambitious and determined. He wanted to find the girl as soon as possible. He couldn’t wait any longer.
“…One of my worshippers in the vicinity. Trash. Do your only good deed and serve as a sacrifice to create my champion,” Danterno said with conviction. “I can’t destroy his soul, otherwise, Sis would kill me, but I can influence it enough. Once she is in sight, I will grant her my blessing.”
With a one-track mind, the god of fire went back to his work. Fiercely resolute to do anything to have his faith grow.
“Fire consumes fire.”
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