Nightmarish News

Without giving Isaac's eyes any chance to rest, even more system notifications appeared. This time, however, they were accompanied by a strange feeling. While previously, he had always sensed a link between everyone else that was a part of the system and himself, just now, between Mina and him, yet another kind of connection had bloomed.

Compared to the stale and emotionless one courtesy of the system, this one seemed like a vigorous river that continuously provided both of them with a strange yet familiar kind of energy. The origin of this energy was both of them. Mina sent some of it Isaac's way, while another portion of it was sent her way with him as the source. Neither of them lost any of their strength, but both were able to provide a very small amount of energy for each other. It might only be barely noticeable, but it was still there. If it hadn't been for Isaac's exceptional senses, he never would have detected it.

[ The host and Mina Teagle have obtained the Skill 'Reverential Resonance'. ]

[ Reverential Resonance: Users of this Skill can be classified as either the benefactor or one of the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries will resonate with the benefactor and provide them with a certain amount of power, while in return, a percentage of the benefactor's power will be added to their own. It is a permanent, passive effect. The exact numbers are determined depending on the beneficiaries' Devotion stat.

The benefactor will get an X% buff to all of their stats.

The beneficiaries will get buffed with Y% of the benefactor's stats.

(X = total Devotion of all beneficiaries x 0.01)

(Y = personal Devotion x 0.01)

Benefactor: Isaac Blackshaw

Beneficiaries: Mina Teagle ]

Once he had taken a closer look at this unexpected new Skill, Isaac showed a content smile. While, for now, no world-shaking changes would take place, if he chose to proceed on this path of making more and more of his subordinates develop the Devotion stat, he would eventually be provided with an ungodly amount of stats. The maximum of the Devotion stat was 100 for a single subordinate, so they could only provide him with 1 percent of additional stats each, at the maximum. But as there was no upper limit to the stats that could be provided by this Skill, it wasn't underwhelming at all!

Even for Mina, the maximum of 1% of his stats that she could receive as a buff was anything but a small amount. While currently, it would only amount to a bit more than 50 for each stat, as his own growth would only speed up and not slow down in the slightest, this could translate to unimaginable benefits for his loyal dog girl. Because he had quite a bit of experience with these passive stat buffs by now, he could tell that the laws of this world also wouldn't take this Skill into account when calculating excelia gains and rank-up qualifications.

Was this broken? Yes. Would this make her path easier than others'? Yes. Was it unfair? Yes. But that didn't really matter. As his subordinate, she would eventually outclass the masses anyway. It would have been weird if she wouldn't have gotten any benefits from being such a loyal follower of his. Even if others would want to emulate her, they wouldn't be able to just up and change their feelings regarding him. Maybe because of her Chienthrope heritage, it had been a little bit easier for her to arrive at this point. In any case, Isaac was sure that it would take everyone else a long time to catch up to her, and it wasn't even guaranteed that they ever would.

It had to be stated that this new Skill was quite similar to the way that deities increased their strength in a few of the fictional worlds that Isaac knew about. Their devout followers provided them with the power of faith, so in return, those followers would get blessed by their gods. The only real difference between this Skill and those deities' arrangements was that the latter rarely ever openly shared their power with their believers. Even if they did, it usually came with a heavy price beyond just the faith energy that they were already being provided with. It was simply exploitation, or another form of slavery. Some even more self-centered deities wouldn't even provide any miracles, powers or blessings in return for their followers' faith. Had there been a god in Isaac's old world, that being would have fallen into this latter category.

All of this wasn't to say that all of these fictional deities could be categorized as such, no. There were indeed some fair and just ones who didn't skimp out on the benefits that they provided to their believers. Still, in all of the works of fiction that Isaac had consumed, those were a terrifyingly tiny minority.

Loyalty and devotion - it was quite hard to pinpoint what exactly they were. Even Isaac couldn't give an all-encompassing definition for either. However, he could use his own definitions, which he most likely had used during the creation of the system.

Someone absolutely loyal to another would never betray them or their trust, no matter the circumstances. Still, that didn't mean that they would offer up their entire life and being without a second thought. That latter part was the job of devotion. One would pledge their entire being, or increasingly larger parts of it, to a person or a cause.

Of course, these two traits weren't mutually exclusive, which was why someone loyal was also quite often devoted to the person they had pledged themselves to. But still, devotion wasn't and never would be an inherent part of loyalty. Some called a mixture of loyalty and devotion 'true loyalty', but at least for now, the system didn't use this term.

Because loyalty and devotion weren't one and the same, Isaac was extremely glad that Mina had been bestowed with it. Or rather, with the ability for it to be displayed and some additional effects. After glancing at her Devotion stat, he was sure that she had already accumulated quite a bit of it before the stat had been made visible to him. It currently sat at 24, which seemed somewhat low, but as even a 1 would have been a good start already, this was truly outstanding. Isaac was already looking forward to what would happen if she ever reached the maximum, although that was sure to still take a long time.

After patting Mina's head for a few more minutes, Isaac stared at a specific empty spot in the room and sighed.

"Please show yourself already. There is no need to hide."

It took a few seconds, but suddenly, a head of somewhat messy, shoulder-length grey hair appeared out of nowhere, with a cloaked body following shortly after. On her sickly but beautiful face, Hel sported an unhappy pout, clearly annoyed at having to show herself in front of people that weren't just Isaac.

A hint of surprise flashed past Ais' eyes, then she nodded as if she had just comprehended something.

"Oh, it's you. Nice to see you again, Hel."

Even though they hadn't met in a long time, Ais wasn't a stranger to this girl. Or rather, this goddess. Still, in the past, they didn't have too close of a relationship. Her own heart had been far more guarded towards others, so Hel had only felt like an older cousin that she didn't interact with much. If they had met again before she had encountered Isaac, she wouldn't have shown much of a reaction, but after seeing so much of his life and accumulating experience, now a slight and gentle smile played across her lips. She knew that Hel was an ally, a pitiful one at that, as she also had to suffer under Loki's wayward hands. Because she had been the goddess that was the second closest to her in her life, Ais felt joyful at seeing her again.

An embarrassed blush crept up Hel's cheeks, looking a bit more blue than the expected red. She felt slightly guilty for having left the formerly young Ais in Loki's clutches, which was exactly why she hadn't wanted to show her face initially. But she knew how close of a relationship Ais and Isaac had, so it was inevitable that they would have to meet one day. If she intended to stay around him, that is. Thankfully, everything seemed to have gone far more swimmingly than she had feared.

"Same here…"

After mumbling these words under her breath, Hel sat down on the sofa directly opposite of the one the three others were lounging on. She then proceeded to stare at Isaac, waiting for him to break the somewhat awkward silence, which he did, with a wry smile on his face.

"It's been quite a while. I'm glad to see that you're still doing okay. I hope Loki hasn't given you any troubles?"

With a relieved smirk, Hel nodded.

"Yeah, she has been unable to catch me so far."

A bit of small talk later, Isaac finally found a chance to say what he had been meaning to this entire time. Ever since he had seen Hel outside of the base, he already knew what she had been doing.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on them, really."

An awkward but slightly happy smile played across Hel's lips, which was quickly replaced by a worried expression. She glanced at the sleeping Mina for a while, then she turned back to Isaac with a steadfast look on her face.

"There were a few things that happened while you were gone…"

It took almost an hour for Hel to recount everything she had seen during these past few weeks. She had watched over his people without having been asked to, simply because she felt the need to prove that she had some value. That way, he would feel more obligated to protect her. Well, those might have been her initial thoughts, but she couldn't deny that she had grown quite fond of a certain dog girl over that period of time…

In the end, no matter man or god, almost all people could appreciate cute things.

Once they had finished chatting, Hel bade her farewell and went to her secret hiding spot to rest. If she had returned to her old room, then Loki would have undoubtedly found her already. The stalker goddess had also mentioned that she wanted to accompany Isaac when he went to visit Loki tomorrow, as their goals somewhat aligned.

Now that the young goddess was dealt with, Isaac gently carried Mina to her room and tucked her in, then he and Ais left the base and returned to the main manor, casually strolling there while holding hands during this moonlit night. It was already close to 11 p.m. when they parted.

Tonight, Isaac didn't plan to do anything but get a fulfilling four hours of sleep. With that, he would be able to avoid having to sleep tomorrow. During the time that he had been accompanying the expedition party, he had honestly really missed the times where he could afford to only sleep once every two days.

The handful of drops of mana that his new Skill provided him with were almost instantly added to the circulating flow, so he spent the last few hours before going to sleep training his Eyes of Hermes. In the end, he decided to test something and chose to survey the entirety of his subordinates' base. He dozed off while attempting to continue to do so, which initially still worked out. But when his consciousness fell into a deep sleep, he finally lost control of his mana and the surveillance ended. This first attempt was a failure. Admittedly, while he had been able to see the base when he was only sleeping lightly, he hadn't been capable of paying any attention to what was happening.

-----

At around 6 a.m. the next morning, Ais, Aselina, Hel, Isaac and Lefiya had dragged Loki to her study shortly after she had awoken. Or rather, shortly after they had forcefully woken her up by continually knocking loudly on the door to her room. Right now, the usually energetic goddess was still somewhat drowsy and trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She clearly hadn't gone to bed early yesterday.

"So, what do you all want?"

Her Top Executives had already informed her all about what had happened during the expedition. Finn had also said that they would be able to do a few more secretive missions and expeditions in the future, but when she had asked him about how they were going to do that, or what exactly would be happening, he had said that those things would have to remain a secret for a while, as he wasn't at liberty to say anything. Knowing that her familia's Captain would never betray her and that he wouldn't keep an outsider's secret from her, she had been able to guess that it had something to do with Isaac and hadn't inquired about it any longer.

Was the reason that Isaac had decided to visit her today connected to that? Then why did her lovely Hel come along as well?

The expression on the young man's face was resolute and firm, so he clearly wasn't here to joke around.

"I've come to inform you that Aselina has sworn her absolute loyalty to me and become my subordinate."

His words instantly woke up the yawning goddess completely. A member of her familia pledging their allegiance to another person besides her was indeed huge news.

"What do you mean by that?"

Loki's slightly opened eyes were glaring at Isaac, causing him to release a helpless sigh.

"It's like this…"

A lengthy explanation followed, revealing how exactly this situation had come to be. In the end, Isaac also tried to clarify what it meant for someone to swear their absolute loyalty to him.

"Once I have offered someone an opportunity to do so and they pledge themselves to me, this agreement can never be broken, not even by dying and reincarnating. It's an eternally binding contract. Aselina will, of course, still be a part of the familia, just like me, but she has now become one of my people and there is really nothing that can be done about it. Still, you shouldn't worry about this, as I treat my people very well. The familia will undoubtedly welcome yet another rising star very soon. My faction can be considered either a sub-faction or a basically eternal ally to the familia, so all in all, the familia won't take any losses."

To take in all of what he had just said took Loki quite a while. In the process of doing so, she continually rubbed her forehead, frowning nearly constantly. In the end, she released a defeated sigh and looked at Aselina with a helpless smile.

"I understand. Alright, I'll accept it. It's not like I have a choice anyway…"

Even the dense raccoon girl understood what she was getting at this time and showed an awkward, guilty expression. She really should have only gone ahead with all of this loyalty business after informing her goddess.

"Anything else?"

Loki was quite certain that there had to be more than just this piece of news. After all, why else would Hel have come along? Ais and even Lefiya accompanying Isaac wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but Hel? It was certainly rare to see her, to say the least.

This time, different from what the trickster goddess had expected, it was Ais who spoke up.

"I want to share a room with Isaac from now on."

Although she had been preparing herself for words like these for a couple of weeks now, Loki still had to clutch her chest and double over, clearly in gut-wrenching pain. When Riveria had told her that Ais and Isaac had been sleeping in the same tent for almost the entirety of the expedition, she had already been aware that this day wouldn't be far off, but still, to be asked such a question… her heart wasn't ready!!

With slightly teary eyes, Loki glanced at the two lovebirds, who weren't even embarrassed about holding hands, all the while seemingly ignoring her plight. She also turned to face the blushing Hel and Lefiya for a time, then she closed her eyes and leaned backwards, fully relaxing on her sofa. She felt like she had just grown a couple of decades older… which didn't mean anything, considering how ancient she was.

"Fine. I'll allow it. Isaac, you can stay in Ais' room starting today. There is more than enough room for a second bed in there."

If he hadn't been a part of her own familia, and if she hadn't been painfully aware that this day would inevitably come from the moment that she had decided to accept him as one of her children, then Loki would have never permitted this. Still, Ais was already an adult and no matter how she behaved, Loki truly only wanted the best for her children…

A grateful smile appeared on Ais' face, figuratively lighting up the whole room. When Loki gazed upon this ethereal beauty, the heavy clouds over her heart were instantly dispelled and a slight smile played across her lips.

'I hope you'll be happy, Ais…'

While his goddess was basking in the glow of Ais' breathtaking smile, Isaac used this chance to drop yet another bombshell. Even he felt bad for forcing her to accept so many clearly unwelcome news today, but there was no other choice as he had already given his word. Now that she was in a good mood again, it was the perfect chance to use this to lighten the heavy blow his words would deal. One had to strike while the iron - or in this case, the goddess - was hot... well, that sounded a little more inappropriate than intended.

"I can update my own Status, and also the Status of anyone in the Loki Familia. I mentioned this when I informed Aselina about my various abilities, and she, Ais and Lefiya asked me to be the one updating their Status from now on."

An expression of abject shock and horror spread on Loki's face and she opened her eyes widely, clearly in disbelief.

"Why? Why would the three of you want that!? Tell me this isn't true!!"

Even though their goddess was staring at them with pleading puppy eyes, all three girls had already steeled their hearts and looked back at her with single-minded, unmoving countenances.

"You always sexually harass us and we're not okay with that. Isaac is far more trustworthy in that regard."

Both Ais and Aselina nodded along with Lefiya's harsh words, and even Hel showed her agreement. Seeing all of her girls turn against her, Loki could only accusingly glare at Isaac. She didn't even care to think about the fact that he had basically just told her that her workload could be reduced by half.

"This is all your fault!!"

Helplessly, but with just as resolute of an expression as the rest, Isaac shook his head.

"We both know that isn't true. You're the only one to blame for this. If you had treated them more respectfully and hadn't tried to take advantage of them time and time again, they wouldn't have chosen the first alternative that came their way."

Loki wasn't an idiot - of course she knew that he spoke the truth! Still, she enjoyed teasing the girls far too much. Who could blame her for attempting to cop a few feels when she was close to beautiful girls? Actually, quite a lot of people could and would, but of course, she wouldn't acknowledge this.

Shivering from sadness and a hefty chunk of rage, Loki clenched her fists tightly and lowered her gaze to stare at the table, refusing to look at any of the people around her. She appeared similar to a little girl who had been scolded quite heavily for her pranks. A little girl who was unrepentant.

"While we're on the topic, please don't sexually harass me anymore, Loki. You're my family and I love you, but I really don't like it when you do that. I want to live with you again and openly spend time with you. So why do you always have to drive me away?"

Hel's words only served to worsen Loki's trembling, even a few tears could now be seen in the corners of her eyes. She had always been a sex offender - it felt natural to her to take advantage of others. She didn't really hurt them, she only made them feel profoundly uncomfortable. At least that was how she had always justified her actions to herself. This hadn't only been going on for just a millennium or two - it had been millions of times longer than that! While there were indeed some reasons for it that she couldn't control, which made her more inclined to performing such prank-like misdeeds, the main reason that it had become a part of her very being by now was the simply endless amount of times that she had performed such acts of deviancy. Having such an integral part of herself criticized so heavily and openly… it hurt.

"Loki."

All of a sudden, Isaac's voice interrupted her slightly hateful, annoyed thoughts. With tears in her eyes, she raised her head to look up at the young man who was now standing right in front of her.

"I'm sure that there are a few people amongst the members of the familia who would be perfectly fine with you groping them or… doing even more than that. If you asked them beforehand, that is. So don't give up all hope, okay?"

Indeed, he wasn't wrong. Considering the air of otherworldly beauty around the gods and goddesses, surely a few of the women of the familia - and quite a few of the men - would be more than happy to allow Loki to touch them in inappropriate places. But there was a huge difference between suddenly ambushing someone... and asking them for permission before doing the same thing. Even someone who would be open to a physical relationship would oftentimes be appalled if such acts were forced upon them without their consent.

Loki knew this, of course, so she only slightly nodded her head. Then, she was surprised to see Isaac put a hand on her shoulder and look directly into her eyes.

For a moment, she subconsciously released a bit of her Divine Aura, intending to make him back off because she was really annoyed right now, but of course, that action had entirely no effect on him. He didn't even need to rely on his own Divine Aura to cancel out hers.

"Remember, Loki. You brought this upon yourself. There is nobody to blame but you. You can be better than this. I don't mean to tell you that you have to treat absolutely everyone in a more respectful manner, but at least control yourself better when you're around your children, okay?"

His voice was oddly calming and rhythmical, while his eyes seemed unfathomably deep. Even Loki, who had originally planned to protest loudly, somehow got lost in them for a few moments, giving the group that had just visited her enough time to exit the study, leaving behind a conflicted, distracted and sad goddess.

Now that she was all alone, the habitual trickster curled up on the sofa and wordlessly stared at the ceiling. Only after close to half an hour had passed did she finally release a heavy sigh. She couldn't do anything about these girls who had chosen to avoid her 'love and care' for the time being. It was their right to refuse her and she didn't want to force them into following her clearly selfish wishes now that they had another option.

With her gaze growing more and more decisive, Loki sat up again and clenched her fists, having made some kind of decision.

'I can't let the damage spread. I'll keep the other girls from getting to know about what just happened!'

Little did she know that no matter how hard she tried, this alternative to their goddess' sexual harassment would quickly spread via word of mouth.