New Chapter 11: Artemis is not as Innocent as I thought
"Artemis, is it a curse or more of a deformity?" I probably should have asked this question before purchasing Mahito's Idle Transfiguration, but whatever, I was feeling pretty confident.
"Uh, more like both because it's a deformity curse. That's all I know anyway—she knows way better than me, and I'm sure others know more than me! But do you really have something to help her?! If so, the things I can do are endless!" Artemis was feeling excited. So excited, in fact, she hugged me and "crushed" my body into hers. Here I thought she was on the innocent side, not really wanting to exploit people's weaknesses for her benefit!
Well, this case is different, as both parties benefit if everything goes smoothly; however, I'm sure it will if Artemis backs me up. I just need to show the small (compared to me) blue-haired goddess that I can actually help!
"I do. I can show you, but I haven't really had much practice with the technique, so I think what we should do is practice on injured Familia members or even hold a recruitment to achieve what we talked about on the carriage and get what we want from Hephaestus." A little bit winded, but I doubt she won't understand! It's better to practice first and see the limits before talking big.
"You're right! How about in two days—no, that will be too sudden... a week! Yeah, let's do the recruitment in a week, and we can camouflage you as a healer; that way, in war games, people will be more focused on you, thinking that's all you can do! Never mind, we can't do that as you definitely wouldn't hide yourself, so the best we can do is say you have some healing magic but are more of a fighter. Awww, I wanted to hide your abilities as a fighter, but that will hold you back and I know you won't like that!"
Artemis spat her thoughts out while thinking about them at the same time. Her words were intriguing and held some merit, so I'll help her out.
"How about I not reveal the abilities you've already seen?" Artemis raised her head that was resting on my chest, more specifically the area containing the sternum, but that was irrelevant. She surprisingly didn't feel any embarrassment about our closeness, so I didn't comment, but I also didn't feel anything as, again, it might not even be her genuine feelings.
"You mean the wind magic and fire magic?"
"Y-yeah! I can figure something else out instead. I am a genius of innovation!" I lied out of my ass, which she clearly saw.
"Why are you lying? You don't have to, you know." Artemis stared me down once again, but not for long as I cleared her doubts!
"No, no. I'm not lying. I can really figure something else out, but maybe the 'Genius of Innovation' was a little exaggerated."
Artemis' eyes shined and she nodded her head. That's when she finally realized a very important piece of information flooding her brain. She was hugging me so tightly! Her face became apple-red and she froze in place. She didn't speak or make a sound.
"Hahaha~!" I couldn't hold back my laughter and let it all out. Artemis, still apple-colored in the face, pouted, and her cheeks puffed out. The amount of cuteness radiating from her was near-infinite, but what was more surprising was that she could continuously change the color of her face! I know she isn't used to interacting with men, okay maybe more being next to one for so long as she used to run an all-female Familia until I came along.
Seriously though, she has to get better at long interactions between herself and the opposite sex, so I guess I'll help! I get to see this cute side, after all, but I must remember to tread carefully. Until I find out the specifics of the "Connection" and if this isn't all a means to keep me near her so she can use me.
'I might just be overthinking this, to be honest, but I ain't taking no chances. Love or liking isn't worthless, but it ain't worth my life either.'
Thinking to myself, it brought me to another potential problem. When I obtained all of Sukuna's skills, I in turn received all of his memories in the development of that path; however, when I bought one skill from Satoru and one from Toji, I only received the knowledge of those individual skills. So is it that once a branch is fully opened, I receive the information of their lives in full, but if only one is bought, I only obtain the information related to that skill? If so, then I will never touch Mahito's domain. That bastard is sick! I'd rather Sukuna override my soul than even have a hint of a habit or trait of that sick Mahito bastard.
'Oops, a little too off topic!' Thinking back, my theory seems to hold true, and I've been misunderstanding what I've been receiving. I thought I got the "whole" experience when obtaining a skill, but it's really not. The essence isn't there—the will is more accurate actually—but experiencing a whole branch opening instead of testing the waters was definitely where this misunderstanding came from. This means that I can technically choose whose traits and will I want to merge with.
Off the top of my mind, Satoru, Toji, Aoi Todo, and Hakari are a few I wouldn't mind. Oh, Yuta! Then, there is Shoko and Utahime! Damn, even Maki!
"E! N! K! I! D! U!"
"H-huh?" Artemis dragged me from losing myself in my thoughts; I even let out a little stutter, but let's forget about that! Her face no longer red as an apple but just flushed pink as she still kept her hug on me. I forgot about her existence for a second there! The mind is truly an enigma, no wonder many people label it as the strongest natural weapon of intelligent life, with instinct being considered tied with it.