Chapter Nine: Merits of Progress

Author Note: Please inform me if you see any grammatical errors down below, it will greatly assist me.

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Main Character POV:

It's been a couple of weeks since the day we left the Main Base Area and left on our training trip, so far there has been lots of progress made but not enough to be overconfident. I kept helping both Hera and Demeter with their training and even had several spars with them to help them get used to battle. They surprisingly adapted very quickly and took everything I explained like a sponge, including the ideas I gave on how they could improve their Domains.

I watched as I saw them meditate under the waterfall, their bodies surrounded by a transparent thin barrier made out of Ethereal Energy to prevent them from getting wet. 

It seems that over the course of these weeks, they had gotten quite used to my presence. During these past few weeks, we did share many stories and speak a lot, so I suppose it only makes sense why they are quite comfortable around me now. I came to know a lot about them during these past few weeks too, and I am not just talking about their personalities but also their abilities.

When it comes to helping them efficiently use their Domains for Battle and critical situations, Demeter seemingly learned quite a lot, heck she even surpassed all my expectations as she was able to do things that were really impressive. 

She was able to view all the past, present and even the future events of all things associated with Vegetation and Nature, it turns out that the term 'Nature' doesn't just refer to Plants but all aspects of Nature, such as rivers, clouds, mountains, volcanoes, seas, lakes, landscaping and even living organisms.

She was also extremely proficient now when it comes to hand-to-hand combat which my Combat and Instincts Domain helped a lot with.

Hera on the other hand was able to utilize a specific type of power known as Heavenly Energy thanks to her Heaven Domain, what caught my attention the most is that this Domain rather focused more on the offensive aspect of Creation itself.

Her Domain also extends to Heavenly Realms, Dimensions, Planar Energy and Quintessence. Which means that she can bend planes and dimensions to her will.

Then there is me, during these couple past weeks I myself have made a lot of progress and was far stronger than I was previously. With Demeter and Hera not too behind in terms of Raw Power Levels.

We were slowly getting more attuned with our Domains; we have been allowing them to envelop our very being and essence and through meditation we were able to communicate and visualize them as tangible forms made out of Conceptual Energy Constructs that personified the Concepts of our Domains and were embedded into our very essence and Divine Core. 

I couldn't help but feel proud about what we had managed to achieve so far. I personally used my enhanced Apotheosis Intelligence and current divine thought processing abilities to my advantages and tried to visualize Goku and Vegeta and use them as inspirations for new moves and techniques, however I can tell that compared to them and their control I was a mere baby by comparison.

I wondered what it would be like to meet and train under these two. They will definitely be able to teach me how to perfectly utilize this Saiyan Body and adapt just like Zamasu did with Goku's body.

I put these thoughts aside as I sighed and looked back at my two Companions, even now I still can't seem to get over how beautiful and gorgeous those two are.

I mean, it does make sense after all. They put every single human from my previous world to shame with their appearance.

"Good job you two, you have come a long way since we began our training a couple weeks ago. You also have been very good training partners for me, I was able to benefit a ton from this thanks to you two. I wouldn't have made this much progress if I was training alone." I thanked them, making them snap their eyes open, effectively stopping their focus and meditation as they looked at me, they vanished in a blur of speed and appeared outside of the waterfall and lake right in front of me.

They had gotten quite skilful in using their abilities and moving efficiently without any wasted movement.

"It's all thanks to you Nocyr, this was mostly due to your help. You were the one who did most of the hard work planning all of this. We just followed your lead and thanks to you we feel a lot stronger already, it's unbelievable how much we were able to improve. Especially considering that neither I nor Hera knew anything regarding battling and combat until you taught us." Demeter spoke with a bit of seriousness to affirm her points and words. However, her gaze seemed a bit gentler as she looked at me.

"She's right you know. It's very impressive how you were able to place all of this together, your explanations, suggestions and ideas were something we would not have thought of without your help. Not to mention the amount of dedication you showcased; you didn't even take a single day off from the day we started our training." Hera added with her arms crossed as she gazed at me intently with her usual expression, however she had a small smile on her lips.

"You guys are giving me all the credit, all I did was share some pointers and give you different ways which you can improve your abilities and feel more attune with your Conceptual Aspect Domains. The rest was all a result of your hard work, I am glad you two were really intent on following it through and took this training seriously. I am proud of you two, you definitely exceeded my expectations." I said with a warm smile directed towards the two of them as I complimented their hard work and progress.

I flashed them my best smile to prove that I really do mean those words, they worked really hard and managed to get so far so quickly. This is something to be proud of. 

I however noticed something wrong as they both seemed to have a tint of redness on their cheeks which did leave me a bit confused.

"O-Of course we took it seriously, you idiot. What would be the point of coming along if we didn't give it our hardest and tried our best?" Hera retorted back with a bit of stuttering in the beginning she looked away, making her face not visible to me.

"Yes, what she said! Besides, who would have known that training would have been so fulfilling?" Demeter quickly replied in agreement with her sister before smiling with a hand on her cheek, her expression looked somewhat happy.

Hera glanced at her sister neutrally before giving a small shake of her head and a nod.

"It does grant you a certain bit of satisfaction as you improve, doesn't it? I can see why you are so passionate about training and improving your skills and abilities, Nocyr." Hera spoke as she glanced at me and then closed her eyes and crossed her arms with a small smile.

"Yes, but for me it's more than that. I feel adrenaline and the desire to grow stronger so I can test myself to the edge of my limits, that is what drives me." I added with a chuckle of my own. These Saiyan Cells really got me good, I can't seem to think about anything else but improving my current abilities and try my hardest to grow stronger.

No fucking wonder Goku and Vegeta trained so much, with those kinds of instincts and a hard-wired brain programmed for training and battle. It's really hard not to, Saiyan Cells work in quite mysterious ways.

"My, you certainly do have quite the one-track mind. I do also agree with my sister on that one. After all this training and hard work, I sort of understand why you feel this way. Who knew battling would have been so thrilling? Not to forget to mention the sense of satisfaction you gain from achieving something." Demeter added with a thoughtful expression.

"I am glad you both began to understand me a bit more, I certainly feel like I understand you two a bit more now that we spent all this time together." I chuckled at how optimistic they were about this.

"That's also true, seems like joining you in this training proved to be far more beneficial than I had initially hoped. I definitely will come out of this a much better Goddess than I already am, much stronger too." Hera spoke a bit pridefully as her eyes shone with excitement thinking about how much she could improve, breaking her usual cold and aloof demeanour and attitude.

Demeter rolled her eyes at her sister's behaviour and settled for a nod towards my question before going back to her thoughts.

 "However, we mustn't forget that despite the potential you all have as Gods, all three of us have yet to reach the state of True Ascension yet, which is the literal 'True Divine Form' of the Gods, without it we can't call ourselves proper gods. However, to be able to do that we must perfectly be in sync with all of our Conceptual Aspects and completely attuned with our Domains, which allows us to manifest and embody our Conceptual Aspect Domains via a Divine Avatar." I quickly reminded them, making them both change their expressions completely into serious ones as they nodded.

There was no point in growing stronger if we couldn't do something such as using the Divine Form of the Gods, which is something essential for every God. The key towards getting a Divine Form is not through having many Domains or getting stronger and evolving your tiers and increasing your Power Level.

But rather, it is to completely understand the Conceptual Aspects of your Domains and to fully embody and manifest as the very physical manifestation of these Domains, from what I know or have heard. Divine Forms of True Ascensions are basically Divine Avatars, a unique ability of the gods that allows them to unleash the very essence of their Divine Core in its fullest extent.

The troublesome part is that you need to understand, fathom, comprehend these Domains and when I say Domains, I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE you have in your possession to truly be able to manifest a Divine Avatar of True Ascension. The thing is that despite that, there hasn't been a single God who hasn't been able to achieve the True Ascension State, it is literally an essential component necessary to being a full-fledged God and Divine Being after all.

"Okay now that we got that across, we need to continue where we left off. Our main goal from this is not only to increase our power level but also sync with our domains and embody them in order to Manifest our True Divine Ascension States." I continued, to which they nodded with determined looks.

That day was spent trying to sync and be perfectly attuned and aligned with our Conceptual Aspect Domains.

~ Time Skip~

My eyebrows twitched in complete frustration as I was completely unsatisfied with this turn of development. It had been roughly 8 months since we left the Main Base area and ventured on a trip across the whole of the island for our training, a lot have happened during this period of time. I have both good news and some Bad ones...

Let's start with the good news, through these last couple of months not only have I increased my Power Level tremendously, but I was also able to strengthen my synchronization with most of my Domains and become very attuned with them, however the bad news is that whilst I managed to master the use of those Domains. There were a couple Domains that I still haven't fully grasped yet due to how complex they were.

Those Domains were my Energy Domain, Null Domain, Nothingness Domain and Especially my Great Beyond Domain. It's funny how the Domains giving me the most trouble is also some of my Major Domains. But considering how powerful they were, I suppose it does make sense why it would be so difficult.

We all managed to reach peak of the Middle Rank God Barrier a week ago, Hera and Demeter also following me in that achievement. 

Which means that we went from barely being in Initial Beginning of the Supreme Tier: God Class to reaching the High Rank of that tier and even managed to achieve the summit of the Tier itself.

We were not yet High Ranked Gods of the Ascendant Tier: Heavenly Class unfortunately. Heck the reason why we had such growth to begin with is due to the constant improvement and refinement with our Divine Domain Manipulation, Authorities and training with our Conceptual Aspects.

I still managed to not achieve True Ascension after all this time, which is even more unfortunate.

Unlike me however, Demeter and Hera had managed to successfully sync and become one with their Domains and fully embody their Conceptual Aspects as the Conceptual Energy and essence and will of the Domains had completely aligned and merged with their respective Divine Core.

Hera was able to achieve it about a month ago, Demeter on the other hand finished yesterday which makes sense considering that she had more Domains than Hera so it would be slower by comparison.

They have yet to attempt to use the True Ascension Authority yet, however. Hera said she would rather do it when all of us are able to do it so we can continue to grow together.

I tried to convince her otherwise, but she was quite firm on her decision. Demeter also adopted this suggestion from her sister and followed through it, to my chagrin. However, with much insistence I had finally managed to convince them to go on and use their True Divine Ascension Authority today.

During these eight months I had gotten quite close to them considering how much they seem to be in a very good mood when we spend more time together when we take small breaks, and they would sometimes behave rather awkwardly weird around me. 

I don't understand much about all this honestly. I mean, I did spend most of my previous life alone, so I guess the fault is not entirely on me?

I mentally shrugged at that thought and turned my attention towards my two companions who were in front of me.

I opened my mouth and spoke to them.

"Okay, are you both ready now?" I asked them.

They nodded at me with serious expressions.

"Alright then, focus and align yourselves with the conceptual aspects that are now completely in full sync with your Divine Cores and tap into your 'True Ascension Forms' Authority, I have been wondering on how they would feel and look like for a while." I told them, as far as I know 'True Ascension' or 'True Divine Form' is a special state which allows the god to become the very physical manifestation and representation of the conceptual aspect domains given form, it's something that the God's can all achieve and use, as a Divine Form is proof of their divine status. 

Any Mortal that gazes into the Divine Form without any sort of divine blessing or protection will be incinerated in an instant, similarly to the divine forms in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians universe.

The reason why mortals explode the instant they witness it is due to the form being highly complex in origin and properties as it is basically the physical manifestation of certain conceptual aspects of reality and existence itself and is obviously far beyond mortal human comprehension. 

The purest and most divine of the divine authorities, it grants absolute control over all your authorities without limitations and massively increases your power level, and in some rare cases can even increase your tier when in use.

That's how powerful True Ascension truly is, there is a reason why God's who are easily nigh-absolute beings in this world take a while before fully mastering this Authority. The sheer advantages this Authority of the Gods grant is simply otherworldly and cannot be compared to most mundane authorities.

Whilst using that form 'Words of Power' also known as the 'Divine Tongue' becomes a default ability which means that every word will be uttered with Divine Authority, which is why this is so dangerous to use in the Mortal Realms.

To make an example, imagine making a joke about turning all cats to have blue fur, the 'Words of Power' will bend the world and all logic to meet the expectations of those words and turn all cats into Blue Cats, which is really frightening as it really takes the phrase 'Never doubt a God's words' to the absolute extreme. The Authorities of the Gods are simply too strong for these lower planes.

I can only wonder how frightening chief gods and supreme class gods will be, I guess I will have a chance to figure that out during the battle war Kronos and Atlas.

As I tossed those thoughts aside, I turned my attention back at the two women in front of me. Despite the long monologue I had in my mind, barely a second passed out here.

I watched them as they began to create distance between the three of us to begin their demonstration and attempt their True Divine Ascension.

"I believe this is enough distance, correct?" Hera asked me as she was 50 meters away in front of me, same as Demeter who was 50 behind me.

"Yes, I think this will be enough." I nodded in agreement making them nod before closing their eyes and furrow their eyebrows in concentration.

I watched in bated breath as the air suddenly shifted, the atmosphere tensed and darkened as their Conceptual Energie began to pour out of their powers in waves, covering their entire beings, their whole bodies were enveloped in light.

I noticed how the light seemingly expanded in increased in size tens of times over as the atmosphere trembled and the earth below shook in trepidation at the two consecutive transformations happening, I was glad we decided to create distance, this transformation was quite flashy and covered a large area.

However, what happened after shocked me. Their energies were reaching immense magnitudes, far surpassing my current base power by dozens of folds. Before the transformation, the two were a bit behind me in power, but far stronger than I was when I first came here and fought Zeus by leagues.

But seeing this transformation, I noticed that they not only bridged the gap in power but completely broke through the ceiling and left me in the dust!

'Holy fuck, this power is incredible!' I couldn't help but inwardly shout in my mind, their power kept rising and I felt their essence and very being shift as their energy became more ancient and potent in quality. 

My eyes widened even more upon realizing a fact.

THEY FUCKING ENTERED THE ASCENDANT TIER: HEAVENLY CLASS! 

ITS REALLY TRUE! Despite being only at the peak of Supreme Tier: God Class, which makes them Middle Ranked Gods, in their True Divine Forms they were able to touch and break through the ceiling that enters them into the Ascendant Tier, with this further improvement into the Ascendant is much easier due to breaking through that bottleneck.

It was really amazing to see, I am completely impressed, and the transformation isn't even over yet!

Eventually the aftereffects of the transformations ended as the light stopped expanding after reaching a certain size and the atmosphere and environment around us stopped trembling and froze, as if taking a breath to watch this spectacle.

Eventually the light began to fade away and revealed their true forms, the winds and dust calming down to allow me to take a closer look.

Immediately my eyes widened like saucers. 

'WHAT THE FUCK?' I inwardly yelled at what I was seeing, it was just too obvious and clear. It was hard to even describe.

If before this transformation they both were otherworldly beauties that carried ethereal grace and unnaturally supernatural flawless features. Then now their appearances completely left that in the dust.

They still had the same features, Hera's beautiful, silky and smooth silverish white hair, scarlet red eyes and sharp features were only enhanced and her whole body was glowing from the sheer beauty and grace she emanated. She wore a beautiful dark purple dress with the texture of space and the cosmos, with stars and galaxies on her dress alongside a massive avatar of what seems like pure heavenly aura behind her. She also had armour pieces that mixed extremely well with her outfit, ALMOST TOO WELL.

Her appearance was just THAT incomprehensibly beautiful.

The same was Demeter, she too had the similar features she did before, however she now had the full Terminal Look from Fate, with the massive altar behind her and her Fate Type Moon Demeter Lost belt caster clothes. The only thing missing was her magic divine staff.

I couldn't help but open my mouth in complete and utter shock at what I was seeing.

Someone spoke out in a Divine Voice breaking me out of my stupor.

"My, look at the expression he is making sister! He looks absolutely smitten by our current appearance." Demeter teased me as she glanced at her sister who was looking at my reaction amused.

"I can see that; he seems quite speechless. I guess our True Ascension Forms are quite lethal against men." Hera mused, with a wide smile and glint in her eyes as she looked at me.

Hearing their provocative words, I shook my head to push all these thoughts flowing through my head aside as I attempted to go back to my usual expression, which was successful.

I sighed and gazed at them; they were very big. Around 35 meters in height making them look at me from all the way up. Their bodies emitting an utterly divine aura filled with conceptual aspect energy which is manifested through their sync and embodiment of their Domains. They also emitted an ethereal light to highlight their utterly flawless and gorgeous features.

"I won't lie, I was completely taken aback." I sighed as I admitted the truth.

"That's quite an understatement you made; don't you think? You were practically gaping!" Demeter replied with a teasing smile and amused look.

I couldn't help but feel the blush rising up in my face.

"That's not true!" I tried to defend myself in vain.

"Oh, but it is. Even your jaw almost dropped. Are we that stunning?" Demeter continued the teasing.

I felt my blush getting deeper as I couldn't find an excuse.

"Enough sister, anymore and the poor guy would faint. Let's give him a break." Hera spoke to her sister in my behalf, in a more serious tone but her face showed nothing but amusement as she looked at her sister.

This made me send a grateful look to her which made her lips twitch with a glint in her eyes.

"Okay, fine! I had my fun. However, I must admit that even I am shocked by the extreme changes of this transformation. I can feel it, newfound and unfathomable potent power flowing through my veins and body. It's really something else." Demeter began with a not so sorry tone and then adopted a serious expression as she observed her current body.

" Agreed, I knew that 'True Ascension' would be powerful considering its the very signature staple authority of the Gods amongst the authority of Divine Domain Manipulation, but this completely exceeds all my expectations, I must admit. I never expected us to break through the Supreme Tier this soon, we managed to achieve the Ascendant Tier even if it's only through our Divine Form." Hera also looked at her body with clear amazement as her eyes seemingly admired her new outfit and appearance.

"Yes, you two did break through the barrier between the Supreme Tier and Ascendant Tier, however even in your current state you barely qualify and enter that realm of power. Which is all the more reason for us to work on improving those powers of yours." I spoke in a serious and thoughtful tone, thinking about different ways to improve from this point forward and possibly help them achieve complete mastery over this Transformation.

"Always the wise planner, aren't you Nocyr?" Demeter mused with a smirk, before adopting a more serious expression.

"Yes, you are right. Although this newfound power is incredible, I can already tell that we barely scratched the surface of the potential of what this could possibly bring. Not to mention, that even with our current power we still are quite lacking compared to Kronos." Demeter analytically concluded.

"Yes, this is why we should increase the difficulty and the level of training, our current progress whilst great it isn't enough to face Kronos and his army, we must at least reach the Ascendant Tier independent of our Divine True Forms. I will also start training with you guys in your Divine Form." I nodded in agreement with Demeter's words and explained to them my plan.

"What? You wish to train with us in our 'True Ascension' state? Isn't that extremely dangerous, especially considering that you have yet to achieve your own Divine Form, which is to my understanding is due to how complicated some of your Domains are. It just seems too risky; I also don't want to hurt you." Hera began with a concerned tone despite her neutral expression. However, I could see a glint of worry in her eyes. 

Demeter also seemed to be concerned at that if her gaze was anything to go by.

"It's fine, I thrive under combat and stressful overwhelming pressure. If anything, being overwhelmed in combat will only make me stronger." I tried to assure them, but they seemed unconvinced.

"That does not ease us, we have seen how much of a glutton for pain you can be. You never really took it easy during the intense training sessions. You don't really seem to care about your wellbeing, which in my opinion gives more reason for us to be worried. I know that you are more powerful than us in your normal form, and that you have other forms that help increase your power. But couldn't you at least wait until you achieve your 'True Ascension' Form?" Demeter questioned, seemingly quite serious regarding this topic.

She must be talking about my Ikari and recent Super Saiyan and its grades. I had managed to obtain Super Saiyan in these past months by mimicking what Cabba, Kale and Caulifla did with a mixture of rage.

I was successful and recently obtained it and showed it to them, they liked the transformation when they first saw it, and even wanted to know more about it which I did, giving them more explanations about Saiyan Biology and transformations. 

I sighed.

"Whilst it's true that your current state is far exceeding my current expectations and possibly very difficult for me fight without my own 'True Ascension', especially considering your seemingly bottomless pit of Conceptual Energy that is emanating from your statures. However, I am confident that I can handle it. Trust in me, I promise to never go too far besides its just training." I tried to assure them, which eased them a bit.

"Fine, you win. However, I will stop if I deem that it is escalating too far." Hera sighed as she rubbed her forehead and gave in.

I looked at Demeter who also sighed and nodded.

"I know that you won't give up on the idea, so I can accept this but like Hera said. If it ends up being too much for you, we will stop and take it a bit slower. Neither Hera nor I wish to see you end up hurt." Demeter seriously spoke with a straight face.

I nodded and grinned.

"Okay then, lets resume training! We still have four months left, let's make use of it and train our hardest. Let's not forget that the war with the Titans is sure to be even more dangerous than this training. We need to be vigilant and reach our milestones and goalposts in this training during these first months, which include reaching the Ascendant Tier independent of the True Ascension." I concluded to which they nodded with determined expressions.

"You do make a valid point, the war with the titans is bound to be fraught with extreme dangers. I hate to say this but maybe we do need the extra intense training." Hera spoke in a low voice as she seemed to be in a contemplative state.

"Yeah, even more so considering that I have yet to completely sync with certain Conceptual Aspect Domains. Which is why I need to train harder; I don't want to see you two hurt either, I consider you two to be great friends of mine." I replied to her.

My words seemingly caught their attention making them smile after hearing that I didn't want to hurt them, but after they heard the later part, they seemingly frowned a bit.

Only a bit before their expressions went back to normal.

"Great Friends, hmmm? Is that really all you think of us?" Demeter muttered in a low voice, her tone somewhat disappointed and annoyed.

Hera seemed to be in a similar mood but merely glanced away, not looking at me in the eyes.

"What?" I asked not understanding what she means, were we not Friends? Or did they not want to be friends with me? I don't get it.

I don't really know anything about women.

Demeter groaned before speaking.

"Fine, it doesn't matter anyway! Let's start training, I need to let off some steam." Demeter spoke, as she eyed me with a dangerous glint.

I couldn't help but gulp as I felt that somehow, I made this training session even harder.

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The End.

Author Note: Yeah, I hope you all liked the chapter. I tried to be realistic with the MC's behaviour, especially towards women. I mean this is a guy who spent most of his life alone, he didn't really ever fall in love or had any close ties with any particular women. So, this was only realistic behaviour of someone in his place. That's why I made him a bit dense, Demeter and Hera began to show more interest in him after spending time together and seeing how hard working, dedicated and all his unique quirks and mannerisms.

Make sure to add to the Poll, I also have a clearer idea of what I want to do regarding the romance aspect of this story. I will probably make it a small Harem of 3 - 6 at most, but that's all your getting. I am giving it a realistic number, especially considering that if this story heads the way I want it. Especially when you consider the fact that he will live a REALLY LONG TIME and is bound to eventually come across several interesting individuals, and we are currently in 4.5 billion BCE time period.

So far, I have two slots filled. Demeter and Hera, two Greek Goddesses. Which means no more Greek Goddesses.

EXTRA NOTICE: VOTE AT THE POLL!

Interestingly enough, Scathach has the most votes. 

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Here a fun question:

What is your favourite Mythology / Pantheon?