Suspicions

"The reason that the holoprojector test was long is because Yubis and Ryuji were doing a variation of the familiar taming spell." Horus reported. Horus described the whole process injecting some of his insights. as he explained the filter process through the papyrus as it was demonstrated. Hades listened attentively but there was no change in his facial expression.

"He tried to filter some of the spell's effects. He removed the familiar's life bound to the spell and the eternal servitude." Yubis finally spoke. Yubis is the current stand in for the knowledge aspect but he had reviewed all possible spells that were archived through the temples and only saw one taming spell throughout. "It looked like an employment contract to be honest." Yubis replied.

"Is that why Swift delivered some papyrus?" Sefie asked as she was placing teacups for each god present.

"Yes. But I did not feel any divine power through the holoprojector." Yubis replied.

"That's another effect then or since it is very faint, that's probably the reason why Swift did feel it and you did not." Sefie replied as she sat beside Hades.

"Hmmmm… this narrows the probability of the aspects then." Hades said as he evaluated with the information that he has just heard. With the seal reported, he felt that Ryuji might be someone of higher power. But what was the seal for? It would be better to have it from Heaven instead so they could properly check for traces and see who is Ryuji then?

"Most likely Magic or Knowledge." Hades muttered in deep thought. Yubis and Horus looked at him and then started to contemplate with the information.

"However, gods of magic and knowledge are few and there are cases that offspring of gods can have a different aspect. Like Athena and Loki." Sefie mumbled. It was indeed possible that it might be the case for Ryuji. Some gods are born out not following the aspects of their parents. It was a common thing happening during the ancient Era. Like Zeus, has a strong aspect of thunder but he made Athena which then became the goddess of war and wisdom. Loki was also born out of a giant that eventually became a demigod after the ascension of Loki to godhood. These are things to be considered but more importantly Hades needs to know if Ryuji has aligned with another divine faction. The Cosmos which they are affiliated, the nomad and the Outer. It is best not to have the two latter factions enter Zariya at all costs. If they enter Zariya, it will become a skirmish world for gods but for any other living being in a skirmish world it will be equivalent to an apocalyptic scale.

"Indeed, that is correct." Yubis replied in agreement. "But the best course of action right now is to investigate any leads that we have. As of the moment we don't know anything that will happen, and it is better to have at least miniscule of information for us." He added. Living for several millennia, Yubis, Horus, Sefie and Hades knew that he needed to have any information soon so that they could anticipate any event.

A knock broke their discussion and a voice asked. "Hades-sama, this is Charon."

"Come in." Sefie instinctively called out.

"Greetings Hades-sama, Sefie-sama." Charon bowed as he entered the room and then continued to inform the other animal headed gods. "Yubis-sama, Horus-sama, I have put your materials to Yubis sama's office."

Hades broke his silence and seemed to have made up his mind. He then ordered.

"Charon, please go to the heavenly realm and check for any gods that have any connections with magic and knowledge aspects. Request that thing from Bishamonten." As of now, they needed to have the seal as it may have some clues that could shed some light with Ryuji's true identity.

"Yes Hades-sama" Charon bowed respectfully.

"Yubis continue monitoring Ryuji." Hades again spoke. "Keep an eye on him. Any new magic that he may come up, report it."

"Ok." Yubis curtly replied.

"Horus, upgrade the system. I will arrange remote learning for your next seminars in the heavenly realm. If Ryuji has new magic, have the system set up the machine learning for it. We might increase our database in Elysian." Hades ordered. Horus just recently occupied the technology aspect for Zariya. While the world seemed to have some medieval fantasy on it, Tartarus houses the world system since they are the de facto gods of Zariya. The databases were relocated to the Elysian fields while the souls inhabiting there moved to a bigger realm called Paradise which is located at the Heavenly Realm.

"I'll upgrade the data banks then." Horus nodded with confidence. It would also allow him to transition to a working god and also, he can update the internal cyber system of Tartarus while he is at it.

"Any information that comes up relay it to us." Hades emphasized with his statement. If he finds Ryuji has a different alignment, it might be disastrous to have him sent to Zariya in the first place.

All of the gods present in the room agreed. They had some small chat about Horus' seminar and what he will be doing with the world voice system. Then after a few minutes, Horus and Yubis left with Charon.

Sefie gave a sigh and then asked. "Hubby, do you think Ryuji will destroy us?"

"We dont know several details yet. That is why it is better for us to prepare for any scenario." Hades replied to ease Sefie's worry.

"I know it's just that our son has been with him for a long time before his reincarnation and with their memories intact, maybe-" Sefie paused. They formally picked up Takehiko before and it was his wish to have him reunited with his brother. After all they spent roughly two decades living together as a family and she understands why Takehiko is longing for his brother.

" I know. We don't know that yet so do not worry too much about it." Hades assured his wife and embraced her. He could only comfort his only love to ease her worries.

"If you say don't worry then I will not worry then." Sefie smiled and gave a peck to her hubby. She saw a cold man smiling back to her with warmth and sincerity. She could not get used to this smile even after several millennia. It was a smile that made her heart skip a beat every time.

***

Back in Zariya, Ryuji was fixing the supplies that they have. He had gotten used to Pyun-Pyun as a living storage for his items. They had some bear meat left which they ate as brunch since it's already almost lunch time. He had some small talk with the wolves and what powers they are able to use. Raiji is more of a wolf with strength, speed, and agility. While Fuji has magic capabilities as indicated with too much mana. Fuji reported to him that he has just a little about a thousand mana which is quite high. Though he currently has no spells in his arsenal except for which allows him to feel the mana through individuals. Ryuji might need to train him along with Pyun-Pyun for magic that they know.

Ryuji also asked about the attributes of the two wolves. Raiji seems to have some earth level 1 while Fuji has wind level 3. They also gained a title after being blessed earlier.

Ryuji instructed Pyun-Pyun to lead them to the slime colony or whatever it is called. The slime just jiggled in response. Ryuji was doubtful since he learned that the intelligence gained might be an effect of the tamer, but he can only hope that the blob remembers the place.

After they had fixed everything, they followed Pyun-Pyun to cross the other side of the river and then to a forest with a smaller stream. Ryuji and the wolves noticed that there is some mist in the area despite being bright and sunny. As they continued to follow the stream away from their camp site, the mist became pronounced, and their view got a bit hazier. Nevertheless, slime continued moving eastward following the stream.

After an hour, Ryuji realized the silence. The wolves were following the slime and just kept mum. They could hear their own breathing and the gentle sound of the flowing water. He begins to doubt Pyun-Pyun at the back of his mind at this point. Fuji on the other hand felt something suspicious with the foggy view. He could feel a faint mana in the air and started to sniff.

"Did you find something Fuji?" Ryuji broke his silence . He could hear Fuji's sniffing noise.

"The fog seemed to have mana, master. But it is a very faint feeling." Fuji replied and continuously sniffed the air as they moved following the slime in front. The fog was getting thicker as it now covered the sunlight, and the area was dim and grey.

Before Fuji could say any further details, Raiji spoke "That's odd. Where are the creatures?"