Divinity and gaining followers
Last time:
{Congratulations, the skill [Power sharing(X rank)] has evolved into [Blessing] skill name can be changed at any time.}
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'I guess I can manually evolve my skills to a higher level, I'll use that later.'
"Hmm, all of you line up in front of me," Akio spoke in a commanding tone he decided he would use this as a chance to make loyal followers.
"Y-yes sir", Cam paled at the sudden commanding tone of Akio but did as he say. All the other Haulia soon followed and stood in line.
Akio then proceeded to place his hand on top of Cam's head and used his skill [Blessing]. Instantly, Cam experienced the same feeling as his daughter, except this time the feeling of omnipotence was replaced with a desire to submit. Akio noticed this change when he saw Cam's look at him change from slight fear and unease to full-blown respect and admiration.
'I see so my feelings during the process of giving a blessing impact what the blessing will do the person, ...this kind of feels like brainwashing.'
(Fufu, don't worry the people to who you try to give your blessing will have a subconscious understanding of the cost. They can deny it if they choose to.)
'Oh, that makes me feel like less of an asshole thanks.'
Akio continued giving out his blessing and as he kept doing it he felt a small light growing around his soul and flowing through his body.
'Is this divinity?'
(Fufu, you are quick to recognize it. Yes, it is divinity however it is too small of an amount to do anything with it. If you want to get more of it gain more followers.)
Akio continued his blessing and when he had finished he had gained a tiny bit more divinity. Along with getting more of it, he got an instinctual knowledge of what divinity is related to, that being protection. His feelings were not affected by this divinity but he understood that he was gaining a divinity suited for protecting his followers.
Currently, his followers numbered around 20 but he was sure that would spread. Suddenly an interesting thought had entered his mind.
'Ava, can I have multiple divinities?'
(I can more or less understand what your trying to do, and the answer to your question is yes. However, I recommend strengthening your soul before you go about trying to gain multiple divinities, you may not be affected by a single divinity but multiple at the same time may change you.)
Akio could understand what Ava was saying, after all, multiple divinities all with the beliefs of his followers trying to impact him all at once would be chaotic, to say the least. He also couldn't just let Ava's blessing deny all access to his soul as that would deny the divinity from reaching him in the first place. Akio put his plan on hold until he could strengthen his soul and instead focused on building his followers in his current world.
(A/N: To understand this better just think of it like this. Divinity comes from an individual's followers. Along with that divinity comes the thoughts of the followers on what their leader/God/ whoever their following. Example: If u thought your God to be a fearless protector and that thought was held by many of the same people then a divinity would be created and sent to that God or create that God in a way that he was a fearless protector. This means that the divinity and thoughts of the people who made it are the same meaning Akio can't just use Ava's blessing to not allow the aspect of the divinity that changes his personality to not affect him, therefore he must strengthen his soul to a degree where he won't be affected. Sorry for the long author note just needed to clarify.)
When he was done giving his blessing he made all of the Haulia gather around him as he floated in the air.
"I have given you the power to fix your lives and live independent from the rest of the beastmen. Your current strength should allow you to take down even the army of a country. Live in peace and prosperity, and know that I will be watching over you." Akio gave a speech he deemed fit for a leader.
Immediately all of the Haulia bowed eternally grateful for the words of their savior. "Thank you, my Lord." All the Haulia spoke in conjunction awe could be heard evident in their voices.
"M-my lord, we wish to follow you" Cam with his head still lowered spoke the wish of all the Haulia. 'Damn, I thought I could avoid this.' *Sigh* "Unfortunately, you are all too weak to have any purpose in our group, I'm sorry but that is just the hard truth." Akio spoke and immediately noticed all the downcast looks on the Haulia's faces. *Sigh, "I will spend another three days in these woods before we continue with our plans, in that time I and my lovers will personally train you until you are strong enough to have some worth in our plans." Akio opted for the route Hajime took although he would be less brutal, the Haulia along with their increased strength had increased willpower that should allow them to take the life of something hostile if it was required. This was amplified even further with their desire to be of use to their Lord.
"Thank you for allowing our selfishness my Lord," Cam spoke the thoughts of the Haulia as they all still bowed to Akio.
"Don't mind it for now take two hours settling into your current environment after that your training will begin." With those words, Akio dismissed the Haulia and then walked over to his lovers and Shea. Shea was in tears hugging Yue knowing that her people were finally safe. When she spotted Akio she let go of Yue and ran over to Akio before throwing herself into his stomach and sobbing. "Thank you, Thank you," Shea kept saying her thanks while hugging him tightly.
Akio patted her head before using his magic to clear out a space to talk to his girls while comforting Shea.
Akio noticed that the blessing he gave Shea compared to the one he gave the rest of the Haulia was way stronger. 'Wow, this [Blessing] can see through my true feelings better than I can.' Akio was reminded of the power of an Ex ranked skill.
It seems that the blessing he gave Shea was one that not only massively increased her strength but also made her something of his direct apostle. She had a stronger connection to Akio compared to the other Haulia and she now had an affinity for all elements of magic. Overall her current strength without training was higher than the entire hero party put together. Eventually, Shea stopped crying and fell asleep in Akio's lap.
"So, you gonna tell us what that whole display was," Kaori spoke representing the thoughts of the rest of the girls. "You all remember what my overall goal is in life correct?" To his question, everyone nodded their head knowing about his desire to reach Ava at the pinnacle of existence. "With that means, I need to become something of a 'True God'." Akio then explained what Ava told him about how he can become a 'True God', and about divinity. He also told them about his blessing and when he asked if they wanted to receive it their answers surprised him.
"No, thank you", all 5 answered immediately. The reason seemed to be that ultimately a blessing establishes a relationship between follower and leader. The girl's main goal is to stand beside their man as his woman and not as just another follower. They would accept small power-ups that allowed them to break their limits but they would gather most of their strength by themselves.
When Akio heard this he couldn't hold back his happiness and forgetting Shea in his lap he jumped and dog piled the girls enveloping them all in a hug, something they were more than happy to get. Shea on the other hand was pouting at the mistreatment from Akio.
By the time Akio was done explaining everything two hours had passed and it was now time to fulfill his promise to the Haulia. "Ah right, girls can you help me out. Sorry, but I did promise to train them." Akio spoke with an apologetic look on his face, remembering that he volunteered his lovers to train his new followers without their permission. "We don't mind, it's not too much of a detour just make sure you tell Miledi," Aurora spoke for the group to which Akio said his thanks. With that, they set out to start the hard training of the Haulia.
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(A/N: Well I did say chapters were shorter now, sorry hope you enjoyed it.)