Several Revelations

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Ferthur?!"

"Yeah, that's just bullshit! Do you have some kind of bone to pick with this child or something?"

"Explain yourself. Why do you assert such things?"

Some of the deities sympathizing with Isaac's situation reacted with anger at their fellow god's statements, while some others aimed to investigate the reason behind his clearly hate-filled words. There was one thing that they had in common, however - they all waited for the others to finish first before speaking up themselves.

During their regular assemblies, their Denati, such exemplary behaviour was exceedingly hard to come by, and everyone would talk whenever they wanted, interrupting others at many opportunities, et cetera. It was a far more casual and unruly atmosphere, but there was a reason for it. Every Denatus could last for up to multiple days, and the godly community had never actually put a time limit on them. Therefore, they could waste as many hours as they wanted with banter and poor etiquette.

In sharp contrast to that was this emergency assembly, which left them with only a couple of hours to decide upon how a specific issue should be handled. Efficiency was key.

Snorting glumly at his outburst having been received lukewarmly at best, Ferthur carefully mentally drafted his response before putting it into words, his expression a pitiful one.

"The reason that I had to speak up, and also the reason as to why I'm so incensed, is that I have personally fallen victim to the Blackshaw brat's wickedness in the past. We encountered each other only once, shortly after I had descended to the Lower World a few weeks ago. That time, I admit that I chose my words rather poorly when addressing him and his entourage, but that shouldn't have been grounds for him to heavily injure me! I would have lost this mortal vessel of mine, if not for the Guild's timely assistance and healing. Watch out, my brethren! This young man is really not as he appears!"

By the time that his small speech had come to a close, tears glistened in the corners of Ferthur's eyes. Even just recalling that horrendous incident that would have cut off his bloodline had he been a regular mortal almost overwhelmed him with indignation, fear, shame and shades of pain. He didn't need to lie or to put up a front. He truly felt like he had been mistreated to an entirely unreasonable extent!

Some of his fellow deities began to waver in their opinion on the matter due to his sincerity. Had there truly been such an incident? Did they perhaps only have a very shallow understanding of the situation?

"A load of crap, that's what this is. Can't you see that he's only trying to lash out to get some payback for the perceived humiliation that he received? I'm certain that there is something that he isn't telling us - the man that has slain Petbe and protected our city wouldn't have simply attacked him out of nowhere. Also, who is to say that what he claims even happened in the first place? He could very well be lying."

His white-ish blue eyes glowing with annoyance, a certain god with fiery red hair refuted the miserable Ferthur's words. It was Ishum, the man who had paid a visit to Isaac's people right before coming here, and also one of the earliest supporters of the protest.

Amongst the deities, there were some who had been more heavily affected by their Divinities, and Ishum could be argued to be one of them. His personality had been shaped to be like fire itself. At times, it would be warm, caring, gentle and protective, but on other occasions, it might just turn into a blaze of irrepressible wrath that scorched the earth. At the moment, he was still very much in control, but to those a little bit more perceptive, it felt like there were sparks in the air, and the gentle flame was about to turn into an inferno.

Of course, Ferthur was very much aware of this. While he hadn't had too much contact with Ishum before, he at least had enough awareness to somewhat read the room. Still, because this concerned his vengeance, he couldn't just back down without trying.

"Why would I have the need to lie? I'm certain that the Guild has recorded the details of my injuries, as well as the nature of the incident. I think it would be best to present these as evidence, wouldn't you agree, Ouranos? After all, this concerns the moral character of the Blackshaw brat and we should avoid making any overly hasty and flawed decisions."

Glancing at the smugly smirking wind god that had involved him in the discussion, Ouranos nodded slightly.

"Very well. I anticipated the possibility of this event being brought up today, which is why I had my children provide Set with the memory crystal that has recorded the incident that you spoke of. It happened here inside of Babel, and most of the tower is under constant surveillance. Now, please play the recording, Set."

Not really picking up on how weird it was for Ouranos to be aware of his encounter with Isaac but the young man never having been brought to justice despite all of that, Ferthur stared straight at the bare-chested Set with joy and hope sparkling in his eyes. He hadn't known that there would even be a recording of that day! While that would expose how shamefully he had been treated, it might also garner him some more sympathy, which would definitely further his goals.

Because the duty of injecting a bit of mana into a memory crystal wasn't anything noteworthy or bothersome, Set didn't complain about it and simply took out the second and last crystal that had been handed to him earlier. Without standing on ceremony, he replayed the events for everyone to see.

It began about five minutes before the 'fated encounter' and showed Ferthur trying - and failing - to recruit someone to his familia, as well as unsuccessfully attempting to convince a few breathtakingly stunning women to become his concubines. His choice of words already made nearly all of the deities present - especially those that had been in the Lower World for a good while - frown, but they didn't comment on it. They understood that some of their brethren were indeed this high and mighty when they descended for the first time, and that they desperately needed a reality check. Living in Heaven and under the suffocating, considerably mind-altering influence of their Divinities was anything but mentally healthy, and after spending up to hundreds of millions of years in such an environment, a massive ego was a common byproduct.

Things didn't get any better when that agonizingly rude and embarrassing prelude was finally over, though. This wasn't helped by the fact that Ferthur had chosen even more ridiculous words to address the next target of his affection. To the shock and abject disbelief of the majority of the assembled deities, his new prey was their idol, Ais Wallenstein!

"What a divine appearance for a lowly mortal! You are qualified to warm my bed. What do you say, do you accept such an honourable position?"

Puffing out his chest in pride and seeing nothing wrong with these words that the recording had just replayed, Ferthur nodded to himself. Everything was going according to plan! He had clearly observed that some other, primarily male, deities had shown infatuated expressions when that girl had appeared, so they should be on his side now, right? Wait, was it just his imagination or were they glowering at him?

Even Loki, who hadn't bothered to do more than listen along so far sat up straight, her usually perpetually closed eyes opening a tiny bit. Those who knew her well were aware that this state of hers screamed danger. Had they been in Heaven, then she would have already charged at her poor opponent with overwhelming power without any hesitation. In the event that she couldn't handle them personally, she would have begun to hatch a long and contrived plan to bring them down. Although she had often attempted to molest Ais, she truly did care about her a lot, even in a motherly way - to witness her treasured girl be the subject of such sexual harassment, especially when she wasn't the cause of it, was simply asking for a painful death.

Luckily for the pompous wind god, the next scenes absolved him from the majority of the punishment that would have befallen him otherwise.

Ais' swift and impeccably controlled slap earned her the respect of nearly a thousand deities in one go, and the polite way in which Isaac had asked for her permission to have a go at disciplining the impudent scoundrel who had dared to disrespect his beloved like that only made him appear like more of a hero in the hearts of the gods.

Well, as soon as the recording arrived at his terrifyingly benevolent smile and the accompanying ruthless obliteration of Ferthur's private parts, that appreciation was considerably marred by a cold shiver that ran down their spines. Many couldn't help but shield their crotches subconsciously and audibly gulped. Even some of those who had been angry with Ferthur before now sent short glances of pity his way.

By the time that the recording was over, most of the accumulated rage of those who were a part of the Sword Princess Fan Club had somewhat abated - but it most definitely hadn't disappeared completely.

"Hmph, he got what he deserved."

"If I had been in the Sword Princess' shoes, then I would have burned his genitals to a crisp."

Not only the gods, but also some goddesses indignantly remarked on what they had seen. Ais Wallenstein was somewhat of a sacred existence to them. Not only was she holding the record for the mortal who had advanced in Level the most rapidly in the last few hundred years, but she also had a divine grace to her that they truly admired. Amongst a world of mortals who had mostly stopped advancing their weapon proficiencies and combat skill in favour of focusing on pure stats, she was a shining star reminiscent of an age that had long since passed.

Their reactions only served to confuse Ferthur. Why had things not turned out as he had expected? Wasn't it only natural for him to want to make such an outstanding woman his own? Yes, he had failed. And yes, he could have definitely chosen his words more carefully. But was any of that grounds to antagonize him like that? Dazed, he uttered his questions.

"What's wrong? I didn't say anything false, did I? That brat overreacted, and even that wench did. However, due to her outstanding beauty, coupled with my rather suboptimal phrasing as well as the fact that she was careful to not harm me too severely, I chose to forgive her. Wait, why are you all staring at me like that?"

Some of those who had only just entered the Lower World at the same time as this ignorant wind god sent him gazes full of condolence, while nearly everyone else appeared to want to devour him alive.

'Ah, he's truly a fool… even I know about the legendary Sword Princess. While many harbour raunchy thoughts about her, they keep them to themselves. She is adored by many, and to choose to refer to her as a 'wench'... is Gravedigging perhaps one of your minor Divinities?'

Sighing at the misfortune that was sure to follow his fellow wind deity's path from here on out, Aparctias smiled wryly. Back when he and his brother had borne witness to the incident that had sparked Ferthur's desire for revenge, they had been just as ignorant of the Lower World as him - but definitely not as excessively condescending. To see him have to pay for his sins weeks after the fact felt equal parts satisfying and terrifying. What if they had made a mistake like that as well and just hadn't found out about it yet?

"I see, so that's why Ouranos never did anything about what had happened - he tacitly agreed with Ferthur's punishment. He would have left it at that, because he felt like that fool had already paid sufficiently, but some people are just too blind to their own faults and misdeeds…"

Murmuring softly to himself, Kaikias nodded. As a generally observant deity, he had long since speculated that this might be the case, but today's events served to confirm it.

"You're lucky that we have more pressing matters to attend to, else I'd challenge you to a duel to the death right about now."

"To disgrace the Sword Princess and call her a lowly prostitute… you have balls, I'll give you that. Mind if I rip them off and shove them down your throat? I promise I'll be gentle."

The sort of dense, arrogant god became the target of ever-increasing animosity and hostile remarks. At some point, even Loki chimed in.

"After today is over, you better leave Orario for good. Else, if I ever see you here again, I'll send you right back up to Heaven myself."

By now, Ferthur was beginning to feel legitimately nervous and a bit afraid. Even he had heard about the might of the Loki Familia over these past few weeks, and while he could ignore nearly everyone else, the tomboy-ish red haired goddess that had just uttered this most recent threat could truly make his time down here an absolute nightmare. He couldn't forget that he hadn't only come here to seek vengeance on the Blackshaw brat, but he also wanted to locate the newly ascended wind deity and take their power for himself…

'Deep breaths, Ferthur. Priorities… get your priorities straight. Growing stronger is more important. Just bear with the humiliation for now, you can pay it back manifold in the future as long as you continue on your path…'

Pacifying himself mentally, the wind deity balled his hands into fists and forced out a few words between his painfully clenched teeth.

"... fine. I'll be out of your sight by tomorrow."

Right as the situation was calming down and the conversation was about to get back on track again, a particularly keen-eyed goddess suddenly interjected.

"Hold on a moment. This second recording, how long ago was it made?"

Not attempting to hide anything, Ouranos replied.

"Twelve days."

Furrowing her brows slightly, a bit of anticipation bubbling underneath the surface, the goddess continued her line of questioning.

"And the first recording?"

"Eleven days."

Beaming brightly due to her suspicions having just been confirmed, the goddess presented her findings to the rest of the crowd, some of which - like her - had also figured out the same thing.

"During the first recording, Isaac Blackshaw portrayed the strength of an average Level 3 adventurer, but during the second recording, he was suddenly as strong as a moderately experienced Level 4 adventurer. Did he grow that fast in just one day?! That's… just simply unbelievable! What do the Guild's records have to say about this?"

Despite being questioned repeatedly, Ouranos didn't lose any of his calm. Even the - by now - quite stirred expressions of a fair portion of the assembled deities didn't faze him.

"47 days ago, Isaac Blackshaw registered with the Guild as a Level 1 adventurer from the Loki Familia. 35 days ago, he reported that he had ranked up to Level 2 a day earlier, which means that it was 36 days ago. According to his next most recent report, he ranked up to Level 3 twelve days ago. Keep in mind, however, that between these two rank ups, he spent 18 days as a supporter on an expedition of the Loki Familia, where he couldn't have made any progress."

By the end of Ouranos' matter of factly statements, there was pin-drop silence. Not only those who saw themselves as supporters of Isaac, but even those who had held some animosity for him were absolutely flabbergasted. An advancement speed like that… wasn't it entirely unheard of? It had to be stated that Ais, who had taken about a year to rank up for every Level until she had hit Level 4 was regarded as the most outstanding prodigy of the Lower World in recent years. And now, there was a young man who could rank up two times in about a month!?

"This… Loki, did you use your Divine Energy to help him advance artificially?! Didn't we all agree not to meddle with the mortals' lives to such an extent? How could you!"

With undisguised disgust and rage in her eyes, Ishtar sent a death stare in the direction of the trickster goddess. Even she, who liked to skirt the rules at times, would never sink so low as to break the agreement that they had all sworn to uphold. Artificially advancing a mortal in Level was also fraught with danger and would ultimately cut off their path to further advancement - and any Divinity. In a way, it could be considered a crime that could prevent some of their potential future brethren from ever achieving ascension!

Clearly annoyed by the allegation, and the many hostile looks that she was now garnering, Loki snorted and shook her head.

"Who do you take me for? Of course I didn't do that! I had originally assumed that I would only have to expose his astonishing growth speed during the Denatus, but then the whole Petbe business came up unexpectedly… luckily, I prepared early."

Scrutinizing her carefully, Ishtar frowned.

"What do you mean? Do you suggest that you have proof at hand that can exonerate you?"

Shrugging languidly, truly not in the mood for all of this, Loki sighed.

"If I hadn't been reminded of my coming doom recently, then I would have enjoyed this moment a lot more… but there is no helping it now. Here you go. Have a good look, then get on your knees, kowtow five times and apologize."

Her movements listless, the normally mischievous goddess pulled out a sealed envelope from one of her pockets. Upon laying her eyes upon the insignia and feeling the slight but nonetheless palpable Divine Energy that was radiating off of it, the Queen of the Entertainment District's face turned multiple shades darker, but also somewhat conflicted. She knew that symbol, the 'calm well'...

Unceremoniously, Loki handed the envelope over to Set, the one who had been put in charge of these various menial matters today. Just as surprised as many of the others to see an item like this appear at this junction, and down here in the Lower World to boot, the white-haired god carefully opened the envelope and took out a sheet that was emitting a very pure Divine Energy from within. After clearing his throat, he read the gracefully penned words aloud.

"I have been commissioned by Loki to ascertain whether or not her following statement is the truth: 'Outside of granting him a Falna, I have not assisted Isaac Blackshaw with my divine powers.' The result: It is the truth. Signed: Veritas"

Once more, many deities almost couldn't believe their ears. It wasn't so bad for those who had only recently descended and weren't acclimated to the current state of the Lower World's inhabitants yet - but those who were aware of the details knew just how monstrous of an existence Isaac had to be for him to achieve such growth without divine assistance.

As for why everyone had stopped doubting the trickster goddess' words? That was because the one who was vouching for her was the renowned Veritas, one of the very few deities whose Divinity was 'Truth' itself. Many had tried to dabble in it on the side over the eons, but the drawbacks were simply too severe, so they had discarded it - they would be entirely unable to lie or speak falsehoods in any way, shape or form. Maybe it would be different here in the Lower World, but up in Heaven, they would be completely incapable of ever lying to anyone. It was well-known that Veritas, and the other deities whose main Divinity was Truth, had never left Heaven, so her words had to be genuine. This letter even carried her Divine Energy signature, so it couldn't be fake.

More importantly, Veritas couldn't only tell what she herself perceived to be the truth, but she could even ask the world itself for guidance - although only to a very rudimentary degree. By expending a lot of effort, she could ask the world a question, and it would return one of two results: 'true' or 'false'. Resulting evidence simply couldn't get any more reliable than that.

But if it was so effective, why wasn't this method used all the time? That was because of how extraordinarily costly it was. For one, Veritas - and the handful of truth deities that could also communicate with the world in the way that she could - couldn't perform this act too often. Many decades of rest were necessary after every attempt. What made most deities even more reluctant to rely on these services was that they would have to pay a huge price to secure such help. Of course, Veritas and those like her wouldn't just work for free or out of the goodness of their hearts. Everyone had aspirations, and they weren't any different. Loki had to have made a huge sacrifice, which was admirable.

Smirking slightly at their reactions, the red-haired goddess looked at her brethren one by one.

"Those expressions of yours are simply a treat, and one that I'll make sure to savour. It was totally worth it to ask for Veritas' help. Even though I'm not in the mood to ridicule you too much right now, I'll remember this."

With her 'ominous threat' out in the open, the faces of those that usually clashed heads with her at every opportunity, and that had shown her displeasure as well as traces of animosity after the goddess of beauty had jumped to a conclusion, grew more solemn. Once the whole Angrboda situation was tided through yet again, they would surely find a goddess knocking on their doors, her sole goal being to make a mockery of them...

"Fine, I apologize for my rash accusation. But you can forget about the kowtowing, do I make myself clear?"

Despite how unrepentant she sounded, Ishtar truly felt a bit guilty about what she had said earlier. At the same time, she was relieved - thankfully, nobody had broken that promise, else the Lower World would have devolved into absolute chaos in a short time - after all, where there was one, there would be many. Inwardly, she also felt conflicted about Isaac: On the one hand, she was impressed by his spectacular performance, but on the other hand, she felt like he might very well turn out to be a thorn in her side. Oh well, no mortal could resist her charm, so she was really just overthinking things.

"Alright, alright. Let's get back on topic, then. You all surely wonder how my Isaac could advance this quickly, and there is no need to keep it a secret. His combat skill is simply many times superior to anyone else. Recall the times before our descent about a thousand years ago. Whenever the mortals don't have a Falna, many still find ways to advance themselves, and the chosen path is often to advance their skills in combat as well as in handling their weapons. Some of us here have even ascended due to achieving godhood by pursuing that path during the past millions of years. Now, if such a person with supreme expertise in combat was to obtain a Falna, how fast would he advance through the ranks? Look no further, my Isaac is the prime example."

After she had forced herself to explain all of that, Loki deflated again, clearly disinterested in talking any further. Her words had already had the desired impact, because many of those present recalled the glorious past, or their own achievements. Their eyes glittered in excitement coupled with tinges of regret.

"Doesn't that mean that he could have already achieved a far higher Level if he hadn't been imprisoned? What a shame…"

"He might actually become one of us in the future. It would be a good idea to foster friendly relations while we still have the chance."

"I wonder what his main Divinity will be?"

Finally, amongst the enthusiastic chatter, another question arose.

"Wait, but why did he seem like a Level 3 adventurer when he was supposed to be at Level 2, and like a Level 4 adventurer when he was allegedly still at Level 3?"

Quickly, however, Ishum brought up some potential explanations in an effort to dispel the remaining doubts and puzzlement.

"It's most likely the result of a rare Skill, but it could also be that he has managed to amass more stats than others before ranking up. After all, the only reason as to why the children believe there to be a 'stat limit' at S-999 is that their combat proficiency is wholly inadequate. Maybe, there's even a combination of both of these factors at play."

For a while, the thousand plus deities got distracted by theorizing about this potential future comrade's exact circumstances, but after about ten minutes or so, the sound of Ouranos clearing his throat - accompanied by a bit of his Divine Energy - reminded them of why they had actually been assembled.