Familia

It was a nice day out. Hecate was at one of the orphanages she regularly visited and helped. Her primary duties entailed providing the children with education, as well as giving them an idea about prospects in life. Things they could do when they grew up, careers they could choose, and paths they could follow. It brought her great joy when one of the people she helped managed to thrive.

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Among people, there were many who wished to join her familia, especially children, elves, and anyone else who thought as the goddess of magic she could spontaneously grant people magic out of thin air. 

The children she helped raise, she always turned them down gently. The others? Especially the forceful ones? Not so much. 

She was uninterested in starting a familia. Making one would undoubtedly embroil her into the politics and rivalries of Orario, one of the things she was eager to escape in Tenkai. As one of the most powerful deities, she was always dragged into conflicts, but down here? Where divine powers were restrained and familia standing was what mattered, she was mostly left alone.

Mostly, it was her goal of descending that stopped her from forming one. She was the goddess of magic, meaning she knew everything there was to know about divine and higher magic. This was where her despair stemmed from. As much as she sought to guide others on their path, she too wished to have a path to follow.

But the life of a god is stagnant and unchanging, she could not find a path to follow because she was already at the end of a path ever since her birth at the beginning of time. Thus came the ever-lasting cycle of boredom and dormancy.

But, hope came in the form of Gekai, the mortal world. The lower world had not reached the end of its path, so the gods who descended could also accompany them along it. If Hecate did not have a path to follow, then she could simply create it. 

It took her far too long before all her affairs were taken care of before she could descend. But she finally did decades ago and finally decided what path she would tread. One of creation. The creation of a new magic system. One that overcame the impracticality of ancient elven magic and the limitations of Falna magic.

However, just as the mortal world was full of possibilities, it was also full of hardships. The biggest wrench in her plan was the mortal bodies they were confined to. Sealed Arcanum meant Arcanum-based magic was inaccessible. Meaning she had to do with Mind-based magic. But the mortal body she had was limited. Even as the goddess of magic, her body's mind reserves were limited to a particularly talented elf's. Much better than other gods' nonexistent reserves, but insufficient for her plans.

She scoured the mortal world for anything related to magic, starting with elven forests, and ending with the School District, but the most she could find was about elven magic, which while useful to most, was uninteresting to her.

After all, she did not want to have to recite an entire poem just to light a matchstick.

Falna magic was too limiting with its maximum 3 slots. It is why Lefiya was so desirable for Hecate and why not getting to her in time was one of her biggest regrets. For her, she would not mind forming a familia.

She could perform limited magic by directly manipulating Mind, but that was not possible for anyone else, thus irrelevant to her desire for a new magic system.

The progress was extremely slow. Her unfamiliarity with Mind combined with her lack of comprehension of mortal limitations, stemming from their natural inability to freely interact with the energy, making the starting point nearly impossible to get off of.

But today would be the turning point for that. A moment she will cherish for the rest of her existence.

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Hecate had finished her last lesson and making her way back home when she saw two individuals, elves to be specific, decently ahead of her.

She immediately felt herself freeze at their sight. Both were radiating a powerful magical energy and yet try as she might she could not feel Falna on them, something she along with other magic gods could easily feel due to their part in its conception. Their presence was like a beacon, calling out to her.

So much magical potential, but that was not what blew her away. It was their souls. Souls were one of her primary domains, and so she could see the souls of other people just as Freya could.

The younger one's soul was a stunning sky-blue-colored one, but it was thrumming with so much power and potential that it nearly blinded her for a second. Any god would count their lucky stars if they managed to recruit him.

But it was the older one that left her awe-struck. It was a bright emerald green color, shining with blinding light, but that was only the outer shell. As soon as she locked eyes with him, she felt a sensation of being pulled into somewhere and what she saw took her breath away. She found herself standing in an ethereal, otherworldly landscape.

Inside his soul, Hecate glimpsed an entire galaxy-like world, a vast expanse of stars and cosmic phenomena swirling in a mesmerizing dance up above. Below her flowed an endless sea of cosmos, each wave and ripple flashing as if containing countless stars.

At the center of it, all stood an island rife with purple grass and a magnificent tree, its colossal branches stretching out into the cosmos, illuminated by a brilliant array of colors that shimmered and danced like the aurora, each one feeling like they led to someplace far, far away. The tree pulsed with life, its bark appearing to be woven from stardust and nebulae, glowing with an inner light that seemed to breathe with the rhythm of the universe.

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The sight was both shocking and awe-inspiring. Hecate had never seen anything like this in her countless years of existence and that says something since she's worked with more souls than she can count as a goddess of Souls.

A moment later the connection was broken and she was back to the outside world, her delve into that fascinating soul only lasting for the briefest of moments, even if it seemed hours.

This… Hecate had no words for what she had seen just now. But words were not needed here. She knew then and there that this was it. The turning point in her life. Her destiny and fate were intertwined with them, the elven boy looking back at her with a stunned look, having felt the same thing as her, only confirmed it.

Hecate strode up to them with purposeful steps and upon reaching the two, she asked the question that would change all three of their lives. Send them down a new and unknown path.

"Will you join my familia?"

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The three were now back at the inn, getting ready to finally receive a falna. The brothers were surprised at the abrupt question from the goddess, but while Nico was confused about the randomness, Cassian merely smiled and accepted the goddess' invitation. After all, he also felt that soul-deep connection that was formed at that moment.

On the way here, they talked more and got to know each other better, each of them being curious.

"Ahh, I can't believe I'm getting my first familia members!" Hecate jumped around excitedly, clearly happy about this all.

"Weren't you the one who didn't want a familia because of 'Annoying politics' as you put it?" Asked Cassian with an amused smirk. His new goddess, and boy that felt strange to say, was quite intriguing.

"Yes, but this is different! I didn't want to waste my time with familias before, but with you two it will definitely be worth it!" She was like a young sheltered girl experiencing something new and bursting with boundless energy.

"Am I the only one still confused about what the hell happened?..." Nico muttered quietly. He's been barely able to make sense of the situation. Hecate randomly asked them to join her familia out of nowhere, even though they had been brainstorming about how to have her accept them, then getting to know each other, and now finally moving on to the crucial part.

"Now, boys let's stop wasting time and start the falna process so that I can welcome you as my children." She said now in a warm and motherly tone, completely different from her bubbly attitude from before, throwing the two of them for a loop.

But Cassian shrugged it off and took off his shirt, laying down on the couch to receive the Falna. He was quite eager for it.

"You can start lady Hecate."

"None of that. Call me Hecate directly, no formality is needed in the familia." She declared as she got on top of Cassian's back. Pricking her finger with a small knife and letting the drop land on his back.

Cassian felt a rippling sensation across his back sending shivers throughout his body, before a Falna manifested on his back. The symbol was the Strophalos of Hecate stretching across his upper center back and below it were his stats, that the goddess was currently going over.

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"Well I knew you were special, but if that wasn't enough, this is definitely confirmation enough." Awe clear in her voice. Skills and magic were rare, and here was her first child rocking several of them as soon as he got a Falna. 

Hecate quickly jutted down the status on a paper and presented it to Cassian to read through, Nico joining as his curiosity won out.

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Cassian Suncrest

Strength ~ I-0

Endurance ~ I-0

Dexterity ~ I-0

Agility ~ I-0

Magic ~ I-0

Development Abilities:

Skills:

Witcher Physiology ~ The body of someone who underwent the Trial of the Grasses, a Witcher. The hard limit of basic abilities increased.

Mentor ~ Students taught have an accelerated growth rate (Stats, Skills, DEs). The accelerated growth rate slows down once the student reaches half your level and completely stops at one level below you.

Magic:

Witcher Signs ~ The Magic performed by Witchers. Lacking potency compared to other magic, but excelling in cast speed.

Of the Elder Blood ~ Descendant of Larra Dorren, the Elder Blood flows through one's veins. (Dormant)

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'Hmm, so my abilities were reflected in the Falna. I was wondering about 'Mentor' and Elder Blood, it seems I needed to get a Falna before I could access the former. Makes sense, since it's a Falna skill. But Elder Blood being dormant is troublesome. I wonder what I need to awaken it…' While Cassian was musing, Hecate was back to her exuberant self.

"What's that?! Witcher Signs? I've never heard of any magic like that! What does it do?!" She couldn't hold back her giddiness that burst forth like a tsunami. After all, she was a magic nerd, exploring and developing new magic was her greatest goal. So this felt like the juiciest piece of meat tantalizingly being dangled in front of her.

Fortunately for her, she found a kindred spirit in being a magic nerd. 

"Oh, I've been spending hours analyzing his magic, they're amazing! The Witcher Signs are a magic branch that specializes in simplicity and ease of casting. Because of that, they can be cast even purely with concentration and a gesture or name of the spell!" Nico responded with infectious enthusiasm.

"With a gesture?! I've heard of chantless magic, but not needing to vocalize anything is unheard of! And you say it's an entire branch, meaning it has multitudes of spells?!" And so Hecate and Nico descended into a frantic magic discussion. To Cassian it looked like excitement was bouncing between them.

'Sigh, I need to rein them in.' While the discussion was interesting, it was getting late, and he was planning on making tomorrow a productive day from early morning. So he interrupted by clearing his throat.

"While I hate to interrupt you like this, we should get this over with and go to sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow, registering with the guild and then heading down into the dungeon for the first time." The two deflated a bit but quickly continued the blessing process with Nico.

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Nikolaos Suncrest

Strength ~ I-0

Endurance ~ I-0

Dexterity ~ I-0

Agility ~ I-0

Magic ~ I-0

Development Abilities:

Skills:

Guardian Child ~ Patron Deity becomes surrounded by a skin-tight invisible barrier that makes them invulnerable to any harm. Have a two-way telepathic communication channel. Can't be forced back to Tenkai.

Source ~ Enhanced natural talent and affinity with magic. Basic ability Magic can go beyond the standard limit.

Magic:

Arcane Magic ~ The Magic System of Arcane Nature. Grants access to various branches of magic with different affinities.

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Nico's skill 'Guardian Child' was baffling. Becoming practically invulnerable was great enough, but not being able to be forced back into Tenkai, even if she broke the rules, was huge! Hecate was marveling at it before she reigned herself in.

Cassian and Nico had already discussed this ability and told what they knew about it to Hecate.

After a heavy talk, there was one thing all of them agreed on, this aspect of the skill must remain an absolute secret. Even if the Guardian Child made Hecate immune to being sent back, if she abused this ability by using her Arcanum, the other gods would immediately know. And then Hecate would have every single god teamed up against her.

It was not a pleasant thought…

"Now that we're done, let's go to sleep, we'll talk more later about our abilities. Hecate you can sleep in the second bedroom, Nico will sleep on the couch." His statement was, expectedly, met with indignation.

"What, why?!"

"It's already night, are you going to send our goddess off at this time?"

"No… But why my room and not yours?!"

"Because I'm the older. Plus it's my sword that paid for this place remember?" The smug smile he wore annoyed Nico beyond reason, but there was little he could do…

"Aagh fine whatever! I'll sleep on the couch."

Hecate watched with a warm smile at her new children. Maybe having a familia wouldn't be so bad after all.