Chapter 53 : New Bonds

Goddess Gaia tells Embra of everything that happened so far including the reason why they are here. Together with Embra, every goddess listens to Goddess Gaia without interrupting her.

Goddess Gaia tells Embra of how she followed her niece who flew out of her realm in a hurry. She tells them of how she found out her niece's concerns and tried stopping Embra from going to the trial but, failed. Lastly, Goddess Gaia tells them of how she decided to watch Embra's trial together with her niece after finding out that she could no longer stop the trial.

"... That's all that happened so far. ... Sky Embra, I am grateful to Thee for passing the trial as an aunt of Keinnayi. This child is the child of my dear Sister's. I lost my dear sister long ago and I was not there at her death. My failure to my dear sister, I decided to repay her by taking care of her daughter, Keinnayi. So, Embra, I am grateful to thee for not breaking her heart.

I don't know what I would have done if I saw the sight of my dear niece heartbreaking. Thou have done a great work of coming back. It seems this child has really fallen in love with you." (Gaia)

"Great Aunt!!! Why would you tell it..." (Keinnayi)

"Fufufu..." (Gaia)

"*smile warmly*" (Everyone)

After the recounting of the events that happened so far, Goddess Gaia opens up her niece's secret herself. Keinnayi pouts towards Goddess Gaia, who then pet her head while smiling warmly. Keinnayi's earlier sadness when Goddess Gaia mentioned the death of her mother disappears and she is now all red from feeling embarrassment. All the goddesses listening to Goddess Gaia smiles warmly seeing the state Keinnayi is in.

"Nyahah. You have changed much, my dear friend. I see, so, Love changed you, huh? Embra, how could you do to my dear friend? Please give me back my friend who always play around with me." (Algadore)

"HahaHa. I did nothing of the sort, Goddess Algadore. Maybe she changed because she has fallen for me. Alis. I was thinking about confessing to her when I became a god though. What should I do now? My plan is ruined." (Embra)

"Embra!!" (Keinnayi)

"Ooops. Please don't be angry. I was telling the truth. Right, Sethar, my dear sis?"(Embra)

Teasing and having fun of making Keinnayi more embarrass, Embra turn the conversation to a little serious because Keinnayi looks like she feels a little uncomfortable. So, he drags Sethar who will no doubt reply seriously. And, Sethar did not betray Embra's expectations.

"... I have no qualm if you become strong enough to take sister Dewei." (Sethar)

"Nyahaha. she also agreed. That only leave you my friend. You should admit your feelings..." (Algadore)

Keinnayi face becomes redder that it looks like steams are going to explode from her head. She hurriedly turns her head away from the prying eyes and hides. Everyone laughs at the embarrassing figure of Keinnayi. Goddess Gaia put a stop on teasing Keinnayi now that Keinnayi is no longer sad. Goddess Gaia turns the conversation back to Embra.

"Well, putting aside the matters of my embarrassed niece, as of right now, I think congratulate gifts are in order. It is no small feat for a mortal to pass 'the trial of true-self' without preparations." (Gaia)

"True. Much less, mortals, even gods would have gone crazy during the trial if he is not given at least an explanation prior. That was an impressive feat, Embra. I myself would have failed if I was suddenly thrown into the trial like you." (Goddess Lashili)

"Yep. If you are in heaven, you would be famous right now, Embra. Even a dragon myself born with superior mental capability would not be able to pass the trial if I were in the same situation as you." (Algadore)

"Hmm. Impressive feat. I will try to learn from you." (Sethar)

"You are all overestimating me. ... That was what I would like to say but, thinking back to the corruption of four sins, that was really dangerous. My mind was almost corrupted." (Embra)

Goddesses looks at each other when Embra mentioned about the corruption of his mind. As the audiences, they could not see the process of Embra's mind but, they at least know what it means for the mind to be corrupted. Among them, an impatient goddess ask Embra,

"Embra..., wh-what happened there? Your mind was almost corrupted?" (Keinnayi)

"Yes. In numbers, I would say, my mind was corrupted to about 70%. Only because the remaining 30% of my mind called out to me that I am sitting here." (Embra)

"What called out to you?" (Keinnayi)

Super curious Keinnayi leans forward as he wants to know Embra's answer. A part of her mind is anticipating a particular answer. Normally, she would have already read Embra's mind to know the answer but, she can't do that now because she can no longer read Embra's mind.

'It is frustrating. Now, I can't read his mind anymore. *sob* I want to know what he is thinking... *sigh*' (Keinnayi's thought)

Embra raises an eyebrow at Keinnayi who is looking at him with anticipating eyes. Seeing his confused gaze, Goddess Gaia explains to her before laughing elegantly by covering her mouth.

"Thou have a unique ... personality. Thou always expect that thy mind will be read. That is kind of unique. Normally, one would be cautious and guarded his mind using every way one can think of but, thou is always prepared to let your mind be read. Why is that?" (Gaia)

It is true. As Goddess Gaia has mentioned, Embra's mindset is unique because he is always expecting his mind to be read. Well, he cannot be blamed for that because all of his mind and the entirety of his memories are read by Keinnayi in their first meeting. So, Embra, as unique as he is, always prepared for his mind to be read by a god. Before the trial, he controls his minds with willpower not to let his thoughts out too much but, now that he has passed the trial of true-self, he has complete control over his thoughts.

Moreover, he has passed the trial hold by the creator of the trial, God Brahma himself. The difficulty is cut above others' trials but, the reward is also extraordinary. That's why Keinnayi who only passed the normal trial of true-self could not read Embra's mind who has passed the special trial. Goddess Gaia explained the matters to Embra but, she leaves out the part where Embra's trial is special. She means nothing bad by that. It is just,

'I want to see what he will become. He passed the trial without knowing anything. So, what will he become if he is not given any knowledge about him having the potential to become a creator god?' (Gaia's thought)

Goddess Gaia does not mean anything bad to Embra. Now that she knows Embra is the man her niece chose for her life partner, Goddess Gaia would not let her niece be sad by meaning bad to Embra. It was just her selfish wish of wanting to see an unseen future. The other goddesses have already talked about this before Embra wakes up and they are also in agreement with Goddess Gaia. They want to see how much higher will Embra climb from a mortal.

"I see. So, that's why she can't read my mind, huh?" (Embra)

'But, it seems like Goddess Gaia can read mine though. Although it is a hunch, I think she answered my confusion by reading my mind. Not by my expression. Although I have no clue how she could still see with her eyes covered, I am sure she is a more powerful goddess than Keinnayi seeing she is her aunt. Well, let's just let it be as it is.' (Embra's thought)

Goddess Gaia and Goddess Lashili, the two creator goddesses smile hearing Embra's thought. They can hear his thoughts simply because they are powerful and way higher ranked than Embra. However, they contain their smiles quickly not to be seen by Embra. Algadore, Sethar, and Keinnayi, the three were ignorant of a few hidden meanings between Embra and the two creator goddesses.

"Embra, please continue your previous conversation about how you get out of your mind corruption." (Sethar)

"Yep. Yep. I am curious right now, 30% of your mind called out to you? What is it?" (Algadore)

"What called out to you?" (Keinnayi)

Embra smiles seeing the innocent behavior of Keinnayi. She is looking so adorable in his eyes but, feeling the gazes of other people, he does not delay anymore and answers,

"It is the voice of my own heart that called out to me. My love for Keinnayi call out to me saying not to enjoy those fake dreams and go back to your embrace." (Embra)

"*stream goes off* *poof*" (Keinnayi)

No longer having the courage to continue looking at Embra's eyes, Keinnayi hides inside the purple cloud, which earned a laugh of everyone besides her. After laughing for a good amount of time and teasing Keinnayi, who has completely changed from her previous strong self into a love-struck teenage shy girl, Goddess Gaia claps her hands to get the attention of everyone.

"Alright. Let's get back to the topic of rewards, now. We as the audience or rather witnesses of thou trial, would like to congratulate thee. What do thee need, Embra?" (Gaia)

Embra smiles hearing the wording of Goddess Gaia. But, it might true to use the word 'need' because he no longer has greed for things. That's why Goddess Gaia used the word 'need', which means that she wants Embra to ask of things that will be needed for him to reach Godhood.

It did not take long for Embra to think of the things he needs. His thought process is now incomparably faster compared to before. So, after a few seconds, he answers goddess Gaia,