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nRatatoskr, the Heroic Goddess of the Squirrel-kin beast-people had tried to send an oracle to Ervas and Veronica, but due to Veronica's Abyssal Soul effect and her strong soul connection with Ervas, the oracle was bounced off and their consciousness was then sent back into Ratatoskr's Divine Realm, surprising the Goddess, who showed herself as a little squirrel due to her weakened state after fighting against many gods in a small battle one hundred years ago.

nAfter receiving her thanks and also the ones in regard of Ophelia, the Moon Rabbit Goddess of the Rabbit-kin, and Daeva, the Heroic Goddess of the Raccoon-kin, they were about to receive Ratatoskr's blessing as a gift for their accomplishments and also as a boost to grow stronger.

nHowever, instead of the blessing working, as usual, it dissipated, and it was never granted.

n

"What's going on?! How can my blessing not work?

" asked Ratatoskr, a bit frustrated.

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"We have no clue,

" said Ervas.

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"Me neither…

" muttered Veronica.

nAlthough none of the three persons in this small space had a clue on why this happened, it was a simple answer that could be quickly deduced by just glancing at the difference between Ervas and Veronica with Ratatoskr.

nA small squirrel cannot bless two mountains, nor grant them their divine protections, their soul density, vastness, and power seemed to at least be vastly superior to hers.

nBut how could that be? How could two mortals have souls stronger than a goddess?

nIt wasn't that they were stronger than her they were weaker than Ratatoskr at her peak, but because she was both weakened and also overwhelmed by Ervas and Veronica's aberrant souls, she wasn't capable of blessing them nor giving her divine protection.

nErvas and Veronica's souls were oddities amongst oddities, split by a divine force made by the God of Light and Righteousness of the Original Kritias by channeling the power of the Fragment of Anir on him, their souls were split in two and then reincarnated.

nAfter evolving and developing their souls, the soul's wounds seemingly 'healed' but the wounds themselves seemed to end up creating strange mutations and aberrations in the split souls, making them grow disproportionally, similarly to Demon Gods.

nIt was as if the limiter they had in their souls to grow that any mortal that has not raised into a god has was destroyed by Bestellen's attack. And now, they had unlimited growth potential, even if they were fairly weaker than an S-Rank Adventurer, their souls were vastly superior to one and could develop even further.

nMeanwhile, a conventional S-Rank Adventurer would have a strong soul after changing many Jobs and getting many skills at a high level, but they would ultimately need the intervention of a god to let them break through their soul 'limiter' and finally ascend to a higher existence.

nBut in Ervas and Veronica's case, such a limiter did not exist from the beginning, and their growth could continue endlessly.

nHowever, there was also another factor in their souls that they did not realize… the blessings of two mysterious gods.

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"I can't explain it… but let me see things in detail… huh?

" said Ratatoskr, as she glanced at Ervas and Veronica's souls, only to find a vast white space with a void that led to an even stranger space in Ervas case and an endless sea of abyssal darkness on Veronica's case.

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"T-This is… your souls look like… those of Demon Gods… anyways, there is something in both of your souls aside from the great oddities, you two have been already blessed by two greater gods than me! Were you blessed by the Dark Gods by any chance?

" asked Ratatoskr.

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"We were? Not that I remember…

" said Ervas.

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"No… I was just born in a dungeon

" said Veronica.

nThen both of them decided to use Appraisal in themselves to try and reveal what was hidden deep within their existences… And there they were, two lumps of Divine Power in each of the two.

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"These are? They're really blessings of very strong gods…

" said Ervas.

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"Let me check them even more,

" said Veronica.

nAnd then, at last, they discovered what they truly had, something that they did not even know of until Ratatoskr, a goddess, pointed it out.

nIn both Ervas and Veronica's status, two new skills appeared below the category of 'Unique Skills'.

nThe Lamus' Divine Protection and Vedon's Divine Protection Skills have been discovered!

n

"Lamus and Vedon? Wait, aren't those…

" muttered Ervas.

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"The Dark Gods…

" said Veronica.

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"So, you are blessed by two big shots! Did they ever tell it to you two? I've heard that those Dark Gods are slumbering… this is quite strange

" said Ratatoskr.

nLamus, the God of Space and Otherworldly Knowledge, and Vedon, the God of Inventions, Alchemy, and Magic were the gods that blessed Veronica and Ervas' souls before being reincarnated in Mirror Kritias as their last gifts, it could be said that due to their blessings, they had grown quite fast and had acquired many new and powerful Jobs and evolutions.

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"This might explain our quick growth,

" said Ervas.

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"Yes… but… well, it seems that we cannot discuss this here,

" said Veronica, telepathically saying those last words to Ervas.

nErvas and Veronica did not want to reveal to the goddess that they had come from some kind of dystopic Kritias where the gods of the Dark Faction were being defeated, as it would make Ratatoskr fall unconscious, most likely.

nAt least for now, they wanted to keep it a secret. Even to the people in the village, they had only briefly told them about being having lived two lives, the first in another world, and the second as a demon queen, who had their soul split by a god.

nOnly Jason and their closest friends and family know the details, so through prayers or whatnot, Ratatoskr, Ophelia, and Daeva could not figure out everything.

nThe three at least heard about them being reincarnated somehow, but not that they came from a dystopian Kritias… knowing such details would certainly make them worried, so for now Ervas and Veronica decided to play as if they didn't have any clue about the Divine Protections… even when they already had one, as they quickly figured out the truth about the possibility of Lamus and Vedon being those 'unauthorized entities' that mingled around the Samsara System at the time of their death as Anastacia.

n'It is possible that they blessed us for a purpose…' said Ervas telepathically, without Ratatoskr being able to hear his thought, unlike vice versa.

n'Perhaps they want us to save them? To go back there?' asked Veronica telepathically.

n'I don't have any clue how we could do that' said Ervas.

n'Maybe… by asking those two gods in this 'Mirror Kritias'…?' asked Veronica.

n'…You might have a good idea there,' said Ervas.

nRatatoskr was glancing at them without finding any clue in their faces, so she dropped the issue.

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"Any clues?

" she asked.

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"No… but we would want to one day speak with those two and ask them personally…

" said Ervas.

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"I think so too,

" said Veronica.

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"I see… Then… I guess I won't bless you?

" said Ratatoskr.

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"You could bless our allies instead. Such as Ismene, Amelia, Acathea, and Anna, you could also ask Ophelia to bless Pekorina and her family, and other rabbit-kin, and Daeva the Raccoon-kin such as the two chiefs,

" said Veronica.

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"Ah… now that I think about it. You are right! I have not blessed children in a while, so I suppose I should, I will also tell Ophelia and Daeva about the idea. The children seem fairly talented below your tutelage, so please keep taking good care of them for me

" said Ratatoskr.

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"We'll do, now please go rest, for now, goddess-sama,

" said Ervas.

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"Ah, I will… I feel very sleepy… Well then, I wish the best of luck for you too!

" said Ratatoskr, closing her connection with Ervas and Veronica as the two consciousness were drawn back to the Human Continent where their physical bodies were.

nBoth of them woke up from their beds, as they were sleeping in the same building but different rooms, and met with each other in the living room of the 'castle' alone.

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"It seems that the gods from our previous life were the ones that blessed us,

" said Ervas.

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"Yeah, I think the same thing. They are most likely also fixed the errors we got in the system… amongst many other things

" said Veronica.

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"Could their help and divine protections gave us the potential to grow as exponentially faster as we have done until now?

" asked Ervas.

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"That's… quite possible! We are growing at an even faster pace than when we were Anastacia… I guess being blessed by two True Gods is better than one

" said Veronica.

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"I wonder… if their changes in our system made it so we are no longer connected with the creator of the Samsara System… that entity that called us to that white space when we first died

" said Ervas.

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"We can't really tell, but I hope so. I don't want to be bound to that guy or our previous coworkers anymore…

" said Veronica.

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"Me neither… To be honest, as long as they do not try to mess with us, I don't feel that revenge is a necessity after what they did to us when we were Anastacia

" said Ervas.

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"I think so too. But if the blessings from Lamus and Vedon are related with the task of saving them… then a confrontation against those guys might be inevitable in the future

" said Veronica.

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"They had massive cheats… can we even stand a chance?

" asked Ervas.

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"I am not sure… but let's try to grow stronger, for now, there are many things we must do in here before even moving to another world,

" said Veronica.

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"You're right,

" said Ervas.

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