CH. 208: Falna

Astraea arrived at the door with her usual gentle smile. "You all seem to be doing a bit too well from what I heard. Slaying Amphisbaena on your own."

That trickster goddess leaked our achievement to Astraea. She was right about making Astraea her accomplice in my secret.

"Well, we were just bored," Rika said and wrapped her arm around Saeko's shoulder, nuzzling her cheeks against her. "And this fella wanted to test her sword durability against a dragon."

"...People usually don't do that with a Monster Rex."

Nao smiled wryly. "Forgive them for not having enough common sense. As you know we are from another world, so please take care of us."

Nao finished with a short bow. Astraea waved her hand.

"Please, don't. Any Familia will welcome strong adventurers like you. Especially your demigod husband. Thanks to you Alise was able to repair her sword."

Alise's sword?

"How?"

"You don't know? I thought Loki explained it when you gave her Amphisbaena's magic stone. Alise's sword was damaged during the battle with remnants of Hera Familia. Hephaestus wanted a fire-type monster stone. Amphisbaena made a perfect compatibility for her sword."

"Glad I could help."

Someone benefitted from our dungeon expedition.

"Now, should we start the process of giving Falna?" Astraea said and looked at me. "Do you also want to receive Falna?"

Well, it might be a good way to test the limits of Falna. If it worked nicely, I'll go on a solo dungeon raid. With girls around, I can't go near-death state to activate the bonus Excelia. They will treat me or beat the shit out of the monsters. Everyone in the family was overprotective of me and others.

"Try it on me first."

Astraea crouched in front of the bed and pulled out a small wooden box up. She opened it and picked a steel needle.

"Okay. Please lie down there. I need to draw my crest on your back."

Would that even work on me?

(Nope, it will break. But the gods imbues their aura to carve a crest. So it should be alright.)

'Using their rules, isn't that against the rules?'

(The gods are permitted to use their aura to convert mortals into their Familia.)

I nodded and took off my shirt, earning a tiny gasp from the brunette goddess. She tore her gaze away and started talking to Nao, telling her about the effects of Falna on one's body.

Nao's eyes blazed with fire at the chance of growing stronger. Saeko and Aimi weren't any less enthusiastic.

I lied facing the tatami mat and got into a comfortable position.

"There. Do your magic."

I offered myself to the goddess. She crouched beside me, and her warm hand brushed my back.

"Hard…"

Yes, I am!

Then, the process started. I only felt as if a gentle finger trailed across my back. Klyscha's nails hurt more than that.

(...I can't help it when you go wild.)

About half an hour later.

"Done."

[—You learned the skill 'God's Blessing']

[—God's Blessing (Special): The hieroglyphs engraved on the user's back absorbs the 'Excelia'.]

So it happened. I could somehow sense Astraea sitting near me even with eyes closed. It was the same as other girls with Solomon King's powers.

"Astraea?" I tried calling her to no avail.

When I turned to girls for help, Nao and Shiori shook their heads. Saeko gave a soft smile while Rika pressed a hand on her mouth and chuckled. Aimi, well, she just stared back calmly.

I sat up and turned to Astraea and tilted my head a bit. She had her hand pressed on her chest and stared at me with hollow eyes as if her soul wasn't in her body. I reached out to shake her shoulder but a sudden familiar chime stopped me.

*Ding!*

[—Astraea: Affection +25]

Why did pop up all of a sudden?

Was forming a connection with me that big of a deal?

(I didn't want my love to miss this big increase.)

I shook her shoulder. "Astraea."

Only after several calls, did she regain the light in her eyes. "Hmm… what just happened?"

"I should be asking you that. Are you okay now?"

She clutched her chest and shook her head. "I don't know. My heart is beating fast right now, and my head is in a mess. It could be a fever."

It can't be…

Astraea continued with a bitter smile, "Unlike you, us gods can fall prey to most mortal diseases."

I didn't bother correcting her. She was a grown-up goddess, so she should've understood if it was love. Not every woman is dense like Gabriel.

"You possess numerous skills and magic, you are truly an otherworldly being. Why do you have charm as a development ability?"

"...Can you show me?"

I was curious how this world assessed my stats and skills.

Astraea went out to grab a paper to copy my status. Shiori jumped the opportunity to look at my status.

"As expected of my stupid husband, his charm is over the roof."

"No wonder I always had the urge to eat Aa-chan up," Rika said. "I should be rewarded for enduring it for so long, don't you think?"

"Shotacon women only get one reward," Shiori said and drew lines with her hand. "Punishment."

"Aa-chan, punish me!"

"..."

Astraea's return diffused the lively atmosphere and copied my status on a blank page.

Asahi Marikawa

Level One

Strength: I-0

Endurance: I-0

Dexterity: I-0

Agility: I-0

Magic: I-0

Development Abilities

Charm: EX

Dreamwalker: A

Stealth: A

Instinct: A

Divine Body: S

Magic

(Spirit King Authority)

Thought transfer Magic

(Elemental King)

Instantly cast Fire, Water, Life, and Darkness Magic

Skills

(Klyscha's Blessing)

Rapid Growth

World Destruction

(Calming Hands)

Activates automatically when touching a person

(God's Language)

Proficient in every language

(God's Will)

Materializes stream of thoughts physically

(The Falna can assess some skills since some people are born with them in the world. Since the basic abilities like Strength and other parameters are gained by Excelia, it shows them as zero.)

No wonder she was shocked. This only showed less than half of my skills. Even then it recognized Leme's authority as a telepathic skill. Headpats became Calming hands, Telekinesis became God's Will, and Flawless Physique became Divine Body.

(It can't recognize my love's greatness. I could've changed it, but I chose not to.)

'I don't even wanna see Astraea's reaction to Eromancer and Loli Lover… good job, Klyscha.'

(Hehe, anytime.)

Rika flashed a mirror at me. I turned around and looked over my shoulder.

The tattoo on my back was about a sword wrapped by four pairs of wings.

Sword of Justice, huh.

"Should I be worried about the World Destruction skill?"

I took her hand and gazed into her eyes with my utmost sincerity. "Do I look like a guy who will destroy this world?"

[—Astraea: Affection +4]

She lightly shook her head. "...You don't, but the other gods might see you as a threat."

"You don't need to worry about them," I said with a smile. "Thanks for your work."

Astraea's lips curled in another gentle smile. "Now you're part of my family. You may use this courtyard as your residence until we build a new one."

Saeko bowed before Astraea. "We will be in your care."

"Then, why don't you girls get your Falna and move the stuff here? I'll hop into the dungeon for a bit."

Nao frowned. "Without us?"

"Please."

"Don't do anything reckless."

"Have some confidence in me. I can always escape."

She gave a nod, and her cheeks swelled a bit. I chuckled at her pouting face and quickly pecked her cheeks.

"Don't be angry now."

She pushed me away and rubbed her cheeks. "Please, not before Astraea-sama."

Astraea returned a bitter smile as if she was fed up with us. It was to be expected from a single goddess.

"I'm sorry for showing that."

"You don't look apologetic…" she muttered, shaking her head. "Since you have made up your mind, try to return soon. I'll be waiting to introduce you to others."

"I will."

I teleported under Astraea's eyes.

***

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