44 Bearer of the flame

{Maccillian's POV}

Maybe I was too hard on Bell before. The kid was naive, but he wasn't dense, just a teenager. Though one considering fighting monsters to get a harem, and also be a hero. At Least he was willing to learn, and that's all that mattered.

I was maybe 5 minutes into giving Bell 'advice' when the laughing stopped. We both turned to the church, and Bell looked at me. I shrugged, and opened the door. "They're done, so let's go. The first step to being an adventurer and eventual hero is getting your falna." Bell nodded with the excitement only a child, or Shizuka, could display. It was kind of endearing.

Walking in, I could pick up Hestia's labored breathing, from being tickled by Shizuka for 5 whole minutes, and Shizuka's happy humming. Bell and I met up with them after a bit, and both women perked up. "Silver!" I smiled, then walked over to take a spot by Shizuka, and sat in-between her and Hestia, much to the little goddesses delight. "We're going to do the thingy now right?" I snorted at that, but looked to Hestia to check.

It looked like Hestia had forgotten about it for a moment, since it looked like she needed a second to realize what exactly the 'thingy' was. But when she did, she bolted right off the couch, and started going to a desk. "YES! Ok, where did I put that knife? Somewhere... Somewhere... AHA!" She brought out a normal looking knife, and then started going somewhere else. "Now where's the paper?" The three of us on the couch shared a look, and I shrugged.

"Shouldn't we help our goddess?" I shrugged again, and looked back at Hestia. She was still looking for paper, but she looked like she had it.

"Eh, give her a minute. If she doesn't find any, I'll go he...-" Hestia's shout cut me off.

"AHA! Paper acquired! Bell! You're up first!" I felt the barest hints of annoyance at being cut off, but I let it slide. I was nice like that.

Bell himself blinked in surprise, and then looked at me and Shizuka. "But, what about Mr. Maccillian? Or Ms. Shizuka?" Aww. I ruffled his hair for that, and he squawked in surprise. Didn't stop me though.

"You're a good kid. Shizuka and I don't mind waiting." I looked over to Shizuka. "Right mo grá?" Shizuka shook her head, and kept the smile on her face. I turned back to Bell, and gave him a smirk. "See, now go take that first step. It'll make this the start of your harem dream easier, little man." He blushed at me openly saying that part of why he wanted to be an adventurer, but nodded at me.

After Bell got up, Hestia looked at him, brow raised at the reason, but just shrugged her shoulders. "...Now take off your shirt and lay down over there..." The way Bell stammered, and blushed again was hilarious.

"It's like I'm looking at Saya, just the Bell version." Shizuka giggled at the comparison.

"We should introduce them to the rest of the girls. Saya would love them." Hm, that got me thinking.

(Bell looks like a rabbit... Saeko likes to eat rabbits... I'm smelling some quality content here. Rika... She'll do something. I have no idea what she'll do or say to them, probably an innuendo frame 1 or something. Then there's Saya. The twin tails might be the way in for her and Hestia. Though I'm not sure what she'll think of Bell. That'll come eventually.) With a nod, I finished those thoughts. "We'll just have to see later." Shizuka hummed at that, and started playing with my tail.

Hestia was on Bell's back at this point, but she was listening in on the conversation. "Who's Saya?" Bell seemed interested too, so I decided to tell them.

"Saya's another one of your people." Hestia just blinked at me, confused. "She wears her hair in twin tails." Hestia went 'oh' and looked excited at the idea of meeting Saya. Then she went back to giving Bell the falna. Though I had an idea about fucking with them, but had to wait for just the right moment. I didn't want to fuck up him getting his falna.

It was after Hestia was done, when she got off of him and was about to hand Bell his sheet, I struck. "She's also another one of my girlfriends." Hestia WHIPPED her head towards me, and it looked like she was a deer in headlights. The way her face burned and adopted the best embarrassed look I'd ever seen was way too amusing.

"W-wh-WHAT?!" It didn't help that Bell had turned into a tomato and was seemingly going through the same motions as Hestia was. The both of them turned into stuttering messes, and I just laughed. Shizuka giggled by my side, and looked like she wanted in on this.

She hummed the mischievous tune, and I saw her grin. "Saya REALLY likes to use whips. And Silver, I forgot to remind you to get us a whip." That wombo combo hit Bell and Hestia like a freight train, and I saw Bell pass out again with a nosebleed this time. Hestia looked like she'd join him, but somehow managed not to pass out this time.

Though I sighed at the latter half of that. "Saya and I make you whips all the time. Why haven't you just asked for one of us to just make you a permanent one?" Shizuka tapped her lips and hummed, then just shrugged.

"Real whips feel better." I raised a finger and tried to say something, but then I just stopped and sighed.

"I'll drop this on Saya." Shizuka shrugged, and then we turned back to Hestia. She looked like she was dizzy, and entirely zoned out of our conversation. Shizuka and I shared a look, then she got up.

Hestia didn't seem to notice the incoming tickle demon, and was caught unawares as Shizuka's tail brushed against her side. She zoned back in, but it was too late. "AHH! NOT AGA...-" Shizuka laughed, and tickled the little goddess for a minute, then set her free. Hestia had to catch her breath, but when she did, she pointed a shaky finger at Shizuka. "Y-you're EVIL! Evil I tell you!" Shizuka just giggled as she came back over to me. Which then prompted Hestia to point at me. "And YOOOU! I see what you're doing! You're BOTH evil!" I laughed at that, and decided to fuck with her some more.

I got up, took off my sweater, which got a choked squawk from Hestia, and a grin from me. "I have no idea what you mean Tiny." Hestia just kept pointing and staring, but broke out of it at Shizuka's giggle.

"A-ANYWAY! On the table!" I laughed, but went over anyway. After I was down, I felt Hestia on my back, and was SO tempted to make another joke here. But I decided to wait. New power first, teasing the little goddess after. "Alright! Here we go. Just don't think bad thoughts. You're better than this Hestia." I snorted, but didn't say anything.

I waited for the process to start, and when it did, something surprising happened.

[Status]

Foreign influence detected. Repel?

[Y/N]

I selected no, but kept in mind that I would be notified if someone tried something with me. Then I felt the falna start appearing on my back, and ANOTHER interesting thing happened.

[Status]

Shard of divinity detected.

Pseudo system detected.

Overlapping purposes, optimal course of action, integration.

Integrating foreign system... Commencing...

"Wh-What the?!"Hestia's surprise mirrored my own, and I was too focused on what was going on to say anything. I knew I would change and develop new things, but I didn't expect the same would apply to my status… System, thing… Whatever it was now. I had no idea this was going to happen.

[Status]

Integration complete.

Title added.

'Level' system added.

Falna system and 'status' merge complete.

New system - Ἱερὰ Ὁδός, Hierá Hodós.

As the host grows, so shall the system.

[Status]

Name - Maccillian Silver Zaka

Title - The Silver King of Wolves

Level - 1

Age - 20(2,821)

Strength : I - 0(200 Restricted)

Endurance : I - 0

Vitality : 150,000

Dexterity/Agility : I - 0(150 Restricted)

Intelligence/Magic : I - 0(280)

Wisdom : 500

Charisma : 1,250

Luck : 150

Unique Skills - Wolf Form, Werewolf Form, Werewolf Physiology, Werewolf Senses, Wolf King's Aura, Wolf King's Wisdom, Wolf King's Wrath, The One True Wolf, Fenrir, Sword of Damocles.

Development Abilities

"Huh... I'll be damned... Kinda looks like a mess now though… Wonder how else I can fuck with it?" I blinked again at my status? And didn't pay attention to the absolutely still goddess on my back. Though she made herself known when she got off.

"What ARE you?" I stood up, and looked down at the stunned goddess. I gave her a smirk, let my fangs show, and decided to be a little extra with this. I made an aura throne, a replica of my own as my time as Muzaka, and sat on it. And after copying Gilgamesh's posture, I answered.

"I am the last true king of Werewolves. The one and only Silver king. Maccillian Silver Zaka. At your service Hestia." Hestia just kept staring at me, and the silence was only broken when Shizuka started clapping and cheering.

"Silver's also the best boy! Can't forget that!" I rolled my eyes at that, but got up and de-spawned my throne. Shizuka patted the open seat by her side, and I went over to sit by her, though I kept my sweater off for now.

Hestia seemed to break out of her stupor, and instead of just staring at me, she just kept looking at me AND Shizuka. Though the latter seemed to want the little goddess to talk, so she 'threatened' her." Tickle?" That did it, Hestia reflexively jumped back, and hit her head on one of the shelves in the way.

"Ow..." Hestia rubbed her head, then shook off the bump she just got from that, and looked at us. She looked conflicted, but I was pretty sure we both saw the wonder in her eyes as she looked at me. The wonder started taking a backseat to her conflict, and she eventually got the guts to say what was on her mind. "Why me?" That was all she said, but Shizuka and I could hear the subtle doubt in it.

Shizuka and I shared a look at her question, had a quick silent conversation, then turned back to Hestia with matching smiles, smirk in my case. "Because we chose you. That's all that matters, and what you should choose to care about. We chose YOU, and you will be the only goddess we choose." Shizuka nodded at that.

"You reminded me of me and my bestfriend. I felt alone, lost... Then Rika came and she gave me the world. A home, a bestfriend." She looked at me, and held my hand. "The love of my life." I made my tail curl around her waist. "And Silver gave me everything else I could've ever wanted." Then she turned back to Hestia. "And now it's my turn. Silver brought you up before. But when I saw you, I decided to choose you. I was given the world, now it's my turn to pass on the world for others." I gave her a quick kiss for that little speech, and she ate it up.

Then I turned to Hestia, saw the goddess in tears again, and smirked. "Don't let the waterworks out yet Tiny, you still got a falna to give." That made Hestia's eyes widen, and she wiped her eyes. I turned to Shizuka, and gestured for her to go. She gave me a smile, and took off her top.

It said something that Hestia was far too emotional to care about the sudden nudity, and just walked over to Shizuka when she had finished laying on the table. I watched as Hestia started giving Shizuka the falna, and smiled as Shizuka started giggling. "That tickles." It probably did, but I didn't notice it.

When they were done, Hestia got off, and just crashed into Shizuka as she enveloped her in a hug. She set the paper on the table, and I couldn't help but peek at it. Sure I knew she was emotional, but this seemed a little different.

And as soon as I saw what was on the sheet, I understood why her emotions spiked.

Shizuka Marikawa - Level 1

Power : I - 0

Endurance : I - 0

Dexterity : I - 0

Agility : I - 0

Magic : I - 0

Unique Skills/Semblance

Φωτιά του Storge - Bearer of the Hearth Flame - Fire is more than destruction. Love and passion flows through you. Let it flow through those you care for as well. When activated, those in the vicinity of the caster will experience increased healing. Those the caster loves gain doubled Endurance, Healing and Magic. If those under the casters protection are close to death, they will gain a one time use shield that will protect them from death.

Development Abilities

The stats were normal, but it was the skill that caught my eye, other than the fact it was the only thing there. 'Bearer of the Hearth Flame' was probably what set Hestia off. Then there was the rest of it. "The...- Wait a minute... SEMBLANCE!?" Shizuka hummed, and looked at the sheet. She recognized that yes, it did say semblance, then she blinked at me.

(Did her Semblance merge with the Falna? I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense... But Fenrir still shows up... I can't tell if that's because of my former status or not... Ugh, I'll just bring this up with Saya.) The foolproof plan of 'leave it to Saya' set, I zoned back in with Shizuka and Hestia.

"Neat." I snorted at that, then paused as I felt myself get stronger. I looked at Shizuka, and saw she was subtly glowing with a golden light. Hestia had an even more golden variant shining around her, but I assumed it was because it was HER flame. Shizuka had a hand out, and pointed it at me. I watched as a small flame was coming towards me, and landed on my chest. Then my aura flared, not enough to summon my Sword of Damocles, but enough to see the golden sheen my aura was gaining. "This is pretty." I snorted again, and decided to focus on Shizuka and Hestia.

The little goddess was still crying into Shizuka, so I decided to go put my hand on her head again. She didn't move, but I was pretty sure that both of us heard her repeat 'thank you' over and over again."You're welcome Tiny." She sniffled at the nickname, but didn't do much else. Shizuka just kept her close, and decided to let Hestia get it all out.

"I'm gonna grab the kid and wait till you're done. Don't want him to pass out again if he wakes up and the first thing he sees are your bare tits." Shizuka nodded, and I grabbed my sweater, and the still passed out Bell. I didn't put it back on, considering Orario had some nice summer weather, and a fur sweater was going to make me sweat. Not to mention the fact the hood felt weird with my new ears.

With Bell and I outside, I just kept him on my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He would wake up eventually, but I didn't know when. "Though... What do I do now?" I didn't know.

Thankfully, the universe sent me a sign. A pink little wolf appeared, and I recognized it as one of Saya's. We couldn't use our scrolls, so we didn't have an instantaneous way to check in on the other. But a messenger wolf would just have to do.

I crouched down to the little wolf, it was a foot tall at best, and picked up the note it had on its collar. "Let's see what we got here."

~ Dear mutt. ~ I snorted.

~I joined the Athena familia, the most obvious choice for me, and she's decided we're going to 'The Hostess of Fertility' later to celebrate. I'm letting you know now so we can meet up there later. I'll send another messenger to let you know when.

I don't have word from Saeko or Rika yet, but let's just assume they'll be there later.

P.S - The goddess is adorable and I'm keeping her. I don't care what you say.

P.P.S - I understand why you all tease me, it's fun and I love it.

P.P.P.S - Kobolds are an abomination, and I will be committing kobold genocide as soon as we go to the dungeon.

Sincerely, the smartest bitch in the pack.~

I chuckled at Saya's message, and watched as the little wolf that gave it to me de-spawned. "But Athena huh? That makes way too much sense."

I heard a groan from my shoulder, and looked to see Bell waking up. "Sense? What... Sense?" When he opened his eyes, I saw him look at the ground, then me, then back at the ground. "Can you let me down please?" I shrugged, and let him down. I gave him his shirt, and after putting that back on, he turned to me. "What do we do now?" That was a good question.

"Well now... Not sure. I know what we'll be doing later though, so want to hear that?" He nodded, clearly curious, and I showed him the note from Saya. He read it, well, he tried too since I just noticed it was in japanese, and handed it back to me. "I'll just tell you what it says." And I did. He blinked at me, processed what I just said, then blinked again.

"What's genocide?" Ah.

"You know flies?" He nodded. "Imagine killing every single one of them in the world." He went 'ah' then just stared.

"Wouldn't that be impossible? The dungeon should just keep making them... Right?" He was right, and I just nodded. "So how is she going to kill every single kobold?" I shrugged.

"I dunno. She'll either figure it out, or put it on a list of things to find out how to do later." He just slowly nodded at that, and we went back to the silence.

Then I remembered what I was GOING to do, and slapped myself on the head. "Son of a bitch." Bell just looked at me, clearly surprised and confused, but I didn't mind. I turned back to the church, opened the door, then stuck my head through it. "Hey Hestia! Where's the Takemikazuchi familia?" Hestia sniffled again, and I waited a few seconds for her to stop crying, and sniffling.

"W-Why?"

"I'm trying to set up a meeting for another one of my girls. Take seemed like the right fit for her." Hestia sniffled again, but I heard her starting to move, and then the ruffling of clothes. (Shizuka getting dressed? Probably.)

"I-I can show you wh-where he is. Yeah... YEAH! You know what?! I'll do even better! Let's go see everyone else! I've got the best kids now, it's time to show you all off!" I blinked for a second or two, then just nodded.

(I'll take it.) I looked back to Bell, who was just looking confused, and I shrugged. "Well, guess we're going to...- Wait a sec." I stuck my head back into the church. "By the way, do you know Athena?! One of my girls joined her familia."

A squeal of joy answered that. So I guessed they were friends. "REALLY!? Athy finally got a child? We need to party!" Hestia came up, eyes still a little bit puffy, but with a smile shining brightly on her face. Shizuka trailed after her, clothed, and with that smile of her own.

With them with us, we were ready to go. So after making six fully grown aura wolves, letting them guard our luggage from the guys watching us, then closing the door, we started walking. Hestia was practically bouncing along as she led the way, and it was fun to watch the happy little goddess. Shizuka and Bell were by my sides, and Hestia was in front of me. "Today's turning out amazing! Oh oh oh! Maccillian! Who else are you uh... You know." I smirked at the little goddess. She slowed down to talk, and now was pretty much directly in front of me.

"Oh? I don't know. What is it Tiny?" Hestia blushed, but kept the smile on her face as she looked at me. I wrapped my sweater around my waist, so she got a face full of chest which made her blush some more.

"You KNOW! Who else... Is uh... In your... Gods I'm really going to say it. Who else is in your harem?" Bell seemed to short circuit at that, but Shizuka kept him from falling. I put my arms behind my head, and started whistling as I walked ahead.

"Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now would we? Though you should meet them some time later today. Athena wants to bring Saya to the hostess to celebrate, and Saya's probably let the other girls know by now." I heard Hestia hum, and Shizuka joined her.

Though Bell seemed to still be short circuiting. Oh well.

We kept on walking, and then I heard Hestia trip. When I turned to see why, I just blinked and noticed she lost one of her shoes. "Ugh! Now I need to buy another pair..." I hummed at that, and saw Hestia try to stand, but she almost fell again. "Whyyy? The day's been awesome so far!" It looked like she SOMEHOW hurt herself. I had no idea how, but she did. It was anime logic at its finest.

"Goddess!" Bell was by her side right away, and Shizuka had a small frown on her face as she crouched down and looked at Hestia's ankle. Then glowed golden again as she started to channel her semblance, and we watched as Hestia gained the golden glow as well. "Whoa. Is that a skill Ms. Shizuka?" She nodded, then stood up when she was done. She helped Hestia stand up too, and we watched Hestia test her ankle.

"Good as new! That's so awesome Shizuka!" The happy hum that came from Shizuka was enough to show her joy at helping her, and the compliment. "Sucks that I need a new shoe now." I hummed at that.

(I could just make a new one... BUT!) I walked over to Hestia, grabbed her by the waist, ignoring the surprised squeak, and put her on my shoulders again. She stopped the shouting, and just blinked as she looked down to me. We held the gaze for a second or two, I smirked at the blush she had, then she started looking around.

"You know what? I'll take it. On we go my child! Bragging rights await!" I smirked at that, and started walking towards wherever Hestia pointed. Shizuka and Bell followed along, and it was a nice moment.

A few minutes after that, we were getting close to wherever Take and his familia were, when Hestia tapped my head. I looked up at her, brow raised, and pointed at my earring, which DID move to my wolf ears. "Hey Maccillian. What IS that?" I hummed, and wasn't EXACTLY sure how to answer that. Usually, I'd go the show route, but I couldn't. If I did, then I'd not only get Hestia in trouble, since materializing a giant fucking sword in the city would probably give her some backlash, but also because I had no idea how some other gods or goddesses might take it.

I liked to fight, I knew that. But I wasn't stupid, and by showing off, I'd paint a pretty massive target on Hestia. (Now that I think about it, I pretty much guaranteed Hestia FAR more grief then Bell ever gave her... Whoops... Eh, I'll deal with whatever comes our way. Though I guess I'll just have to keep the answer vague for now... Though the reveal is going to be awesome.) Finished with those thoughts, I just hummed. "A sign of my authority. That's the most you'll get right now though Tiny."

Hestia huffed at me, and started looking away. "I'm NOT Tiny! Right now, I'm the tallest one here!"

"Oh really? You're still on my shoulders, Tiny."

"So? They're my shoulders now! As your goddess, I lay claim to your shoulders." I snorted.

"I think that's abuse of authority right there."

"Nope."

"Yep."

"Nuh uh."

"Yessire."

"Not reallyyy." Hestia and I went back and forth for a while, and only stopped at the giggling from Shizuka and Bell.

The little goddess and I shared a look, turned to both of them, then back to each other. I shrugged, which made Hestia grab my head at the sudden motion, and moved on. "Warn me the next time you do that! I almost fell!" I rolled my eyes at her this time.

"You'd live. Besides, I would've caught you." Hestia grumbled at me, but I took it in stride. "By the way, is that it?" Hestia stopped grumbling, and looked at the building I pointed at. It was a decently sized building, with the words 'ORPHANAGE' on it. I thought I saw one of the people from that 'pass parade' part, at the front, but I didn't know if she was one of them or I was just wrong.

She had a kimono with the red strap, typical Takemikazuchi familia, but I didn't recognize her. She looked like a hentai protagonist, but female. She was playing with a pair of kids, (probably orphans considering the literal fucking orphanage), and didn't notice us.

"It is! HEY CHIGUSA! HEEEY!" Said Chigusa looked up from the children, paused when she saw Hestia on my shoulders, me, and presumably Shizuka and Bell.

Then the children ran from her, to us. The way they swarmed Shizuka was both amusing and adorable. I kept my eye on them, but paid attention to Hestia as she kept on waving at Chigusa. "Is Take in?" Chigusa blinked, I had no clue if she did because her hair was covering her eyes, and started moving.

"U-Uh yes... Lord Takemikazuchi shou-should be in the re-reading hall Lady Hestia." Hestia nodded, and pointed towards the orphanage.

"You heard her Maccillian! Off to show my children we go!" She was far too enthusiastic.

I looked up at Hestia, and decided to rain on her parade. "You do realize you'll have to get off my shoulders for us to get in, right?" That got her, and Hestia just looked at me, the door towards the orphanage, and back to me again.

Hestia visibly deflated, and I just watched it happen. "Nooo... My height advantage..." I snorted, and was tempted to make her say 'The high ground' but that could wait for another time. I grabbed Hestia again, ignoring the embarrassed squeak she made, and set her down in front of me.

The pout Hestia gave me could be considered a weapon, but I just shrugged. I had a wolf girl Shizuka who knew how to use the puppy dog eyes to maximum effect. Speaking of Shizuka, I turned to her, saw she was still playing with kids, along with Bell, and hummed. "I might as well." Hestia might've tried to say something, but cut herself off when I gently flared my aura and made aura wolf puppies.

The pups needed a second to do their thing, but when they did, they launched themselves, with all the force a puppy can, at the group of four, and started doing puppy things. "Yes! Thanks Silver!" I nodded at Shizuka, and turned back to Hestia. She was just blinking at the puppies, and just looked at me.

"Can I get one?" I just hummed, and made another one. This one was the size of a teddy bear, and Hestia squealed the moment she held it. I could make the little guys act like pups, but again, that was it.

"If you're done with that, don't you wanna go brag about us or something?" Hestia blinked, looked at me, then groaned.

"Ugh. I should've just stayed home and let you spoil me with puppies." I snorted, and just started to push her towards the door. Much to her protest. "Ughhh. Fineee." She opened the door to the orphanage, after stuffing my aura pup between her breasts because why not, and walked in. Before I followed her, I turned back to Shizuka and Bell, saw that they were staying outside to play with the kids, then turned back to Hestia.

I followed her in, and hummed as we started walking around.

The place looked like a basic orphanage, no 'it's bigger on the inside' shit, or anything that would tell you a god of war lived here. It was interesting. "By the way." I turned to Hestia. "You don't feel this do you?" She was petting the pup between her breasts, and got a lick from it.

"Nope. Still trying to figure that out." She did the 'stare' sound, booped the pup on the nose, and watched me for any reaction. When there wasn't one, aside from me giving her an amused grin, she nodded.

"Good." I rolled my eyes at that.

"Hestia. I have four women. If I wanted to cop a feel, all I'd need to do is literally ask." She almost tripped at the reminder of my girlfriends, and I laughed as I caught her. She gave me an embarrassed 'uhuh' and kept walking. Though I knew an opportunity when I saw one. "Unless you'd WANT me to feel it?" Hestia. Exe has stopped working.

The way she froze was hilarious. I decided to add some fuel to the fire, and walked ahead of her, hands behind my head, and just let her look. Teasing her/fucking with people were the best things in life. Seeing Hestia just stare at me, mostly my chest since she was the tiny goddess that she was, then reach police siren red was so worth it.

Hestia fully rebooted, and instead of fainting, she did something different. "AHHH!" Hestia screamed as she ran ahead of me, and I laughed as I followed. We passed some other people I was sure were in Take's familia, and eventually made it to the man himself.

He was in a room full of kids, sitting in the middle of a circle, and reading them some kind of book.

Though that was BEFORE a blushing Hestia came barreling through the door, arms flailing as she did. "TAKE! HELP! MY CHILD IS EVIL!" I laughed even harder at that. The god himself just looked at Hestia, who ran over to and hid behind him, and then turned to me. The kids did too, but since I had a cheat, I just made more aura puppies and sicced them on the children...

(That sounds horrible out of context.) Shaking that aside, the god just looked at me again, now that the children were distracted, and I could tell he had no idea what the fuck was going on.

So he turned to Hestia first. "Hestia-dono, what?" Said little goddess was still blushing, but managed to point a finger at me.

"I got my first children today, and I wanted to show them off. But Maccillian and Shizuka are EVIL! He teases me because he can, and Shizuka is a tickle demon! My only good child is Bell!" I raised a brow at that.

"Oh really?" I made a pair of aura wolves, but shaped as and in the size of a husky. "Sic her boys!" My aura wolves barked in response, and Hestia immediately started running.

"AHHH! I TAKE IT BACK! I TA...- NOOO...- AHAHAH!" She didn't last a second. The aura pup betrayed her, and now Hestia was being dog-piled by two aura huskies, and an aura wolf pup.

I nodded at my handiwork, and looked at Takemikazuchi. The man looked even more confused, and just turned to me. "Explain please? I am assuming you are one of Hestia-dono's children, but I would just like to be sure." I nodded, and made an aura chair, nothing fancy, to sit on.

"Yep. Maccillian Silver Zaka." He nodded, and I held out my hand.

The god looked at it for a second, then shook it. "Takemikazuchi. It is a pleasure to meet you, Maccillian-dono." He had a good grip, and I nodded after we were done.

"So, I've got a prospect to join your familia, wanna hear me out, or wait to meet her yourself?" He looked surprised at that, because who wouldn't, and started thinking.

"Hm, I believe I would like to meet whoever you wish to introduce to me. Is that acceptable Maccillian-dono?" I nodded, and we turned towards the still dog-piled Hestia.

"So... What should we do now?" Take hummed, looked around at the rest of the children playing with aura puppies of their own, and then back to me.

"How long can you keep this up for Maccillian-dono?" I thought about it, felt my reserves, which were hardly moving, and shrugged.

"For as long as you want really. Unless we suddenly get into combat, these guys can stay." Take hummed again, then nodded.

"Do you think we could make this a daily or at the very least, weekly occurrence? The children would love this."

"Sure. Want me to just drop by randomly, or do we set a day for it?" He hummed, then went over to one of the desks. He rummaged around it for a bit, then found whatever he was looking for.

With... Paper? In hand, he wrote down something, then came back. "These are the dates my children are planning to go to the dungeon. Would you be so kind as to come the days before and after their dives?" Hm?

I looked at the days, one of them was three days from now, while the other was at the start of next week. "I can do that, but why?" He looked at the kids, and Hestia, and smiled.

"The dungeon can be harrowing, and not just for the children of my familia. If you are here, and provide the same... Familiars? That you do today, it will do wonders in helping both parties relax and unwind." Ah, that made sense, and it was a good thing. Then I blinked.

(The fuck? He just takes a few looks at my wolves, then comes up with a way to make them support animals? How the fuck did he even GET to that idea?) I looked at the god of war in front of me, and he just smiled at me. Didn't say anything else, just smiled. I sighed at that, then just put the paper in one of my pockets. "Got it. I'll let her know to drop by tomorrow. Oh, by the way." He looked interested now. "You know swordsmanship right?" He just gave me the blankest stare I've ever gotten in my life, any of 'em.

"Yes Maccillian-dono, I know how to use a blade." I ignored the dry way he said that, and nodded.

"Alright. Don't be surprised if you get challenged to a duel or something. She's just crazy that way." A raised brow was all I got for that. "What?"

"You speak fondly of this woman. Any relation?"

"Yup. One of my mates." He blinked. "Yes, you heard that right." Then he nodded.

"I will not presume to know or judge Werewolf culture." Eh.

"It was less cultural... And more spontaneous? To be honest, a part of me still has no idea how the fuck that happened." Take glared at me for a moment, and I had no idea why.

"Language please, there are children around." I blinked, looked around the room, and nodded when I saw some of the kids look our way.

I shrugged. "My bad." He nodded, and went back to watching the kids.

I didn't really know what to say now, since I didn't know much about him from the anime, and I was too lazy to ask about him. So we were in this weird stage of awkward silence, between us that is, the kids and Hestia were having a great time.

Though the silence ended when Shizuka and Bell came in, followed by Chigusa, the kids from the front, Mikoto? I had no clue, she wasn't really on my radar when I watched the anime, and one of the guys in Take's familia. They all looked at the scene of the kids playing with puppies, Hestia being dog handled, and Shizuka was the first to respond. "Tickle attack!"

Hestia heard her, and the way her eyes widened was hilarious. "NOOO! TAKE HE...-" That's as far as she got. Shizuka jumped at her with the grace of a leopard, and suddenly, Hestia was back being 'tortured' by Shizuka.

Everyone else just looked at the scene, and I just shrugged. "Welp. There's always later." I made more aura wolves, for Take's kids, and sat down. We'd go see Hephaestus and Loki tomorrow. I wasn't sure if we needed to see Miach since Saya had joined Athena's familia, but that was something we'd figure out later.

Now, now was the time to just let everyone know the joys of aura wolves/puppies.

[OH NO SHE'S HOT! Athena's general POV as she met Saya]

As the main, only, librarian, I had seen a multitude of people enter my library.

But the beautiful pink haired Werewolf in a qipao had topped the chart. I had seen and known of Werewolves, Loki made sure we all knew that Bete existed, and was one of her best every time she did so.

I normally didn't pay much mind to the bragging Loki would do whenever the topic of children came up. Sure Hestia and I hadn't taken any yet, me because of the criteria I had set, and Hestia because she was Hestia, but I didn't mind it. I was content with watching my library, and letting those that wanted knowledge come to read.

But after meeting her, observing the pure respectful tone she spoke to me in, without any hints of worship, and then hearing her requests about what books she wanted, I grew interested in her. I could tell she was strong, she knew what she wanted and how to ask for it, and she was respectful. She was already meeting my criteria, and after she said she had no familia?

I knew I had to act.

A child with the strength of a fresh level 3, met my criteria, and had no familia? I refused to let the chance slip by me.

So I asked to interview her. It was more me stating my reasons of why I believed she should join me, and then her agreeing, but it was enough.

She was even fine with being given my falna the same day! She was definitely a perfect candidate to join my familia. So I took the chance to get her, and ran with it.

We went to one of the private rooms of my library, and I prepared to give her my falna. But I had underestimated something.

SHE WAS HOT!

I was one of the 'Virgin Goddesses' back in Tenkai. A title I loathed. But it was not wrong. I did not accept the gods courting attempts, and let them fail.

Not because I didn't like all of them, no. There WERE some good men among the gods. That was not the issue.

The issue was that I did not like men in general. I, as Loki put it, 'swung for the other team' and I knew it. Loki knew it. I debated on whether Hestia knew, but I was sure Artemis did.

So when Saya had removed her Qipao, my brain took in the sight of her breasts, bigger than both goddesses of beauty in Orario. The muscles and way her abs moved as she breathed. Even how nice her nipples looked.

Then she TEASED me.

And I passed out.

When I awoke, it was to see Saya redressed, reading the bestiary I had pointed out to her. A not so small part of my mind was saddened she had put on her Qipao, but it was appeased when she repeated her earlier action and stripped it off again.

After I gave her my falna, I was ecstatic at the sheer potential she had. It was beyond rare for children to have unique skills the moment they were given a falna. But Saya had TWO. And they were perfect together! With that, I couldn't keep myself from expressing my joy at her potential.

Then I realized our position. I had been on her lap, pressing our breasts together, and inches away from her face. I reacted and moved away, landing on the table and passing my chair.

And then she did it again.

She teased me, and the image my mind came up with was too much for me to handle.

I passed out again, and in those fleeting moments, I came to the conclusion that I was in for more teasing now that she was my child.

I also came to the conclusion that I was looking forward to it.