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"The main topic?

" asked Pekorina.

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"Yeah, Pekorina. About Ratatoskr message,

" said Ervas.

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"Oh right!

" said Pekorina, who was a bit airheaded.

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"So why did she wanted to leave an oracle, to begin with, my son? I do not really want these gods to order you and Veronica around… I… I do not want you to get involved in any war until you are old, you are just a little toddler now! We should go look for your mother for now…

" said Jason, worried that his son would end up getting in between a conflict between gods and sent to a war he wouldn't come back from.

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"Don't worry… we are not planning on getting involved… yet

" said Ervas.

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"At some point, we will have to, Jason. After all, what we discovered with Ratatoskr might mean our destiny

" said Veronica.

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"Your… destiny?

" asked Jason.

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"Yes. Ratatoskr contacted us because she wanted to thank us on behalf of Ophelia, Daeva, and herself for helping their children, the Squirrel-kin, Rabbit-kin, and Raccoon-kin… well, all of you,

" said Ervas.

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"Yeah, but there was not much to thank us for, we were doing it because it came out from within our hearts… we usually don't help people expecting some type of compensation. Especially those that we want to protect like all of you

" said Veronica.

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"I-I see… Sniff, sniff… Lord Ervas and Lady Veronica are such benevolent masters!

" cried Lilith while cleaning her tears with a handkerchief.

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"Well, Ervas and auntie Veronica are probably the best people I've ever met,

" said Pekorina.

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"Yeah, it is quite baffling how good people they are,

" said Ismene.

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"Being thanked by the gods themselves already shows how amazing they are… we are truly blessed to have such nice masters!

" said Goliath setting aside the table due to his size.

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"A-Anyways… aside from that, Ratatoskr tried to grant her divine protection to us, but failed due to unforeseeable reasons, which ended in her discovering that we already had two very strong divine protections,

" said Veronica.

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"From whom?

" asked Jason.

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"Well… it seems that two big shots blessed us while we didn't even know about it. It is Lamus and Vedon, two of the Dark Gods, the original gods of this world

" said Ervas.

nAlthough receiving the divine protection of a goddess such as Ratatoskr already was an incredible feat, when the whole group heard about the blessings both Ervas and Veronica possessed, it was as if they had become frozen in time.

nThe 'Original Gods' or often called 'Great Gods' were incredibly important figures in the entire world of Kritias, more than any other god, as they were the first gods to have existed and also the gods that maintain the attributes of the world so it doesn't collapse, they're the pillars of the world of Kritias, the most worshiped of figures in the existence of this world.

nPossessing the divine protection of two of them was… an incredible thing. No, even more than incredible, it was extraordinary, outstanding, impressive, and unbelievable.

nIt meant that those two, Ervas and Veronica, were given the favors of the original gods and the children of Anir and Kelsus.

nTheir destinies were those of legendary figures that would change the fate of the entire Kritias…

nThe weight of such divine protections seemed more overwhelming to Ervas and Veronica's family than themselves, as both of them had long ago decided to save the demons and beastmen from annihilation, which mean that for that, they would have to change the course of history and quite possibly clash against gods at some point, as the whole intent of the Bright Gods was to get ridden of these 'impure' races.

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"That's pretty awesome! Congrats!

" celebrated Pekorina.

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"Yeah, isn't that incredible?!

" said Amelia.

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"Indeed! I couldn't expect less from Ervas and auntie Veronica anyways, they're completely deserving of receiving such divine protections!

" said Acathea.

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"Who's Lamus and Vedon, gubo?

" asked Aqua in confusion, she had already forgotten Veronica's explanation about the gods of the world of Kritias.

n

"Indeed! I could not expect less from our lords! …wait, who are those?

" asked Goliath, he was also a fighter and quite clueless about gods as his memories from his previous life was fragmented due to the erosion of being a dead spirit for many years.

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"Ah, you dummy! They are… err… like the strongest gods! The first ones ever!

" said Pekorina.

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"Oh! I see!

" laughed Goliath.

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"Fufufu~! It was obvious that our lord and our lady would one day receive the honor of acquiring the divine protection of the Great Gods themselves! …No! The Great Gods have the honor of granting their divine protections to them instead!

" said Lilith with a devilish smile and a fascinated expression in her eyes.

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"This is… overwhelming!

" said Riaan.

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"Yeah… doesn't it mean that Ervas and Veronica will become… incredibly famous figures of the world one day?

" asked Mysticia.

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"More than that! They are the champions of those two gods at this point…!

" said Ismene.

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"I also mean that they will have to get involved at the end in the war between gods! No! I don't want my little boy to get into a war!

" roared Jason, angered by the god's selfishness.

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"Calm down all of you… it is not as bad. We still have a lot of time until that point; I am sure of it. So for now let's grind our way slowly to that point… I will be counting in all of you,

" said Veronica.

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"Indeed. I do not plan on doing anything like that until I met mother… well, killing Oggoth is a little event that we will go through, but nothing too serious

" said Ervas.

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"Okay, if you put it in that way… Wait, fighting Oggoth?!

" asked Jason.

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"Dad we already discussed this…

" muttered Ervas.

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"Okay, leave it to us, masters!

" said Goliath.

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"We'll train a lot as well in the dungeons, we will not slack off, right girls?

" asked Lilith to her sisters.

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"Right!

" they said at the same time.

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"Well… this is abrupt. But the boy and Veronica had done way too much for us. The least we can do is repay the favor and help them… after all, we are all family by this point, right?

" said Ismene with a humble smile.

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"I am not going anywhere, so count me on, boy, Veronica,

" said Anna.

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"Yeah! Yeah! I will become the strongest wizard!

" said Amelia.

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"Count me on as well,

" said Acathea.

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"With this divine protection given by Ophelia-sama and this revelation about our future… I cannot help but feel exhilaration about what challenges await us! I shall not falter, my lords! I will protect everyone!

" said Pekoran.

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"…I will help too, it's the least I can do,

" said Gaius, who had been staying in silence while having breakfast with everyone, talking at last.

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"Even uncle Gaius is in!

" celebrated Acathea.

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"I suppose I will have to train this rusty body!

" said Riaan.

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"Fufufu, you can count with my magic and curses, my lords,

" laughed Mysticia.

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"Sigh… Always getting in so much trouble… give me a break, will you? …But anyway, you do not even have to ask, my son. I am all the way in. I will make sure to grow stronger and met your expectations!

" said Jason.

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"Will we battle strong enemies? Then I am in, gubo!

" said Aqua.

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"There isn't any need to ask me about this either… Veronica, I will always be with you! And I will do everything that I can to help you,

" said Shade with fervent passion, unlikely for a spirit such as himself.

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"Me too, Ervas!

" said Gaia.

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"Thanks, everyone… this is a bit embarrassing,

" said Ervas, he was embarrassed but his expressionless and doll-like face did not show any of such thing.

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"Although it still fairly too soon for anything of the sorts that you all imagine to happen, it is reassuring to know that all of you are willing to help us… we will also make sure to protect your backs

" said Veronica.

nAfter the discussions reached their end, the large 'family' that Ervas and Veronica had gathered since their reencounter a bit more than two months ago, kept chatting about more relaxed topics, such as the expansion of the paved streets and also of the buildings.

nErvas and Veronica were also discussing the possibility of creating Golem Factories, where golems would work similarly to machines on earth, doing repetitive tasks in conjunction to produce certain items that can be mass-produced, even good and sauces such as ketchup and mayonnaise were being included in such plans.

nAfter breakfast, Ervas and Veronica went their respective ways as both had quite busy days.

nVeronica went to spend more time with Anna, practicing blacksmithing and then ax technique until late in the day.

nThrough her little interactions with Anna, she made Shade quite jelly, but he had been slowly accepting that Veronica might end up having what's called a 'harem' in the future, so he will have to settle with Anna for the time being… and it wasn't as if Anna was a bad woman either, he was being rather mindlessly jelly for some reason. Perhaps, he was slowly growing as a person.

nAnd Ervas went with Jason, Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu, the Lilith sisters, Goliath, Gaius, and many of his plant-type monsters and Veronica's monsters towards the nearby dungeons, grinding for Experience Points (mostly for Lilith) and hunting a lot of meat for dinner.

nEveryone gathered at night once again to have a 'family dinner' that Ervas and Veronica always liked to have, as in their previous life as Anastacia, they never experienced such things.

nVeronica was slowly approaching the Blacksmithing skill acquisition and also the Axe Technique.

nHer goal was to learn every weapon technique at some point, she was quite ambitious.

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