Chapter 72 – Might as Well
The moment they opened a gate to Lyse’s temple, the mauthet magically appeared on Eirene’s shoulder.
Well, technically not magic. Inherent ability; completely different category, Orestis thought as he watched Eirene gently take the cat and place it on the floor.
She tried, thrice, to get it to stay. Even going so far as to create a shadow ball. That did distract it for a bit, but the moment she took a step towards the gate, it once again popped up on her shoulder.
“Looks like Nuri’s coming with us,” Eirene said, resigned.
She should stop smiling if she really thought it was a problem. Orestis decided not to comment on it and walked through the gate. Eirene followed while scratching its head.
Maxim was waiting in the courtyard. He raised an eyebrow upon noticing the mauthet.
“You’re bringing a pet to a spar?” he asked, looking amused.
“We couldn’t get her to stay back,” Eirene said. “I think she’s still feeling clingy since she bonded with me just yesterday.”
“She?” Maxim said, giving her a dubious look. “You didn’t name her Nyx, did you?”
Eirene frowned. “Why does everyone keep saying that? What’s wrong with that name?”
“The name? Nothing. However, the goddess Nyx is well known for her dislike of cats being named after her,” Maxim explained. “She didn’t care initially, but after the millionth one, she apparently decided that was enough. Now, she curses anyone who uses her name for any feline.
“It’s nothing too serious, mind you—she’s not that cruel. But you will find yourself suddenly stubbing your toes a lot. Or falling down flights of stairs. Maybe breaking a bone or two.”
“Huh,” Eirene said thoughtfully, then glanced at Orestis.
He raised an eyebrow.
What? She hadn’t named it Nyx, had she? It didn’t matter if he hadn’t elaborated.
Then Eirene asked, “Is there a similar reason not to use the name Kali?”
Maxim gave her a wry look. “Really? I mean, I doubt she cares. But imagine shouting the name of a death goddess every time you need to call your pet for dinner.”
Eirene seemed to concede the point and nodded. “Her name is Nuri.”
“That’s a cute name,” Maxim said as he reached toward the cat, palm down, fingers relaxed.
But Orestis pushed his hand away.
Maxim and Eirene both looked at him. Orestis didn’t bother to give an explanation.
The cat probably doesn’t want to be petted by him anyway.
***
The moment they stepped through the gate and set foot in the wilderness, Eleuthera materialised beside them. But this time, the goddess was not alone. For some inexplicable reason, Lyse had also decided to join her friend.
Maxim immediately bowed. “My Goddess.”
As Lyse inclined her head in acknowledgement, Orestis asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I invited her,” Eleuthera said brightly as she extended her hand to the mauthet. It sniffed, then allowed the petting.
Before he could ask why, Lyse gently said, “You did declare this a public event.”
I really need to stop saying things. No, wait. I’m not the problem here! They need to stop taking my sarcasm so literally.
Orestis decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. Besides, it didn’t really matter if she joined or not. The goal was always to get some of Maxim’s life force.
As for the formation, he was confident enough in his skills to know that neither of the goddesses would be able to detect it. Well, not unless they were actively looking for it—which they had no reason to.
“Anyway, let’s warm up,” Orestis said.
The first thing he and Eirene cast was the perception enhancement spells—an absolute necessity since they would be facing a goddess and an Exemplar. But even if that wasn’t the case, it was still part of their standard preparation suite. Which meant everything from sensory buffs to reflexive shields.
That was something he had drilled into her from the very start: to always prepare to the absolute limit, and to never assume anything.
Always the full treatment, regardless of the opponent.
Lyse observed the process for a few seconds before she turned to Eleuthera and said, “Why haven’t you given Eirene a protection blessing?”
“She never asked. And it’s not like she needs it,” Eleuthera replied. Then, she pointed at him and added, “Besides, you haven’t given one to Orestis either.”
That was true. Apart from her main Blessing, all he had received from Lyse was the communication link, and a soul tether. Basically, her version of a Chosen starter package.
Though, that soul tether was probably more for analytical purposes. Which he didn’t mind; he would ask her for her full analyses and inferences later.
An extra perspective will always be welcome. Maybe she’ll see something we missed. Unlikely; but not impossible.
“He doesn’t want it,” Lyse said to her friend.
“Actually, I do want a protection blessing,” Orestis corrected. “But not for me. I’d like you to give that to my parents.”
Everyone turned to look at him—each one with a different expression. Only Eirene appeared unsurprised. The others all had varying shades of the same expression; surprise coloured by something else. Thoughtfulness in Maxim’s case, warmth in Eleuthera’s, and quiet happiness in Lyse’s.
“I’m very pleased. That request alone has earned you an advancement in rank,” Lyse said.
Right. That was in line with her tenets. Not why I asked though.
And then the goddess added, “Although, you still need to go up one more rank to clear the deficit.”
Of course I do, Orestis thought, rolling his eyes.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied. “Also, I’ll need more power than what you’ve allocated if I’m to spar with Eirene properly.”
She would understand that he was not asking for more from her. Rather, he was telling her that he would need to draw from other gods.
Lyse made a face, but she nodded. “I’ll allow it this time since it’s an extenuating circumstance.”
He nodded. She can be surprisingly reasonable sometimes.
Then he glanced at Eleuthera, who was practically vibrating with eagerness, her attention aimed squarely at him instead of Eirene.
Unlike someone else I can name.
Just as he’d guessed way back when, the only reason she wanted to join was to play around and annoy him. Well, two could play at that game.
Orestis said, “Since this is about Eirene gaining experience, it would be better for her to go one-on-one with each of you. Starting with Maxim.”
That immediately had Eleuthera pouting—though, to her credit, she didn’t protest. Lyse looked amused by her friend’s disappointment. Maxim, because he could see the reason behind the course of action, nodded.
Eirene picked up the cat and held her toward Orestis. Before he could even reach out, though, it pulled on the shadows around Eirene’s hands, wrapped them around itself, then vanished.
And popped out on top of his head. Again.
Orestis frowned. Should I change the colour of my hair?
Maxim snickered. “It really does suit you.”
Orestis chose to ignore that.
“Before you start. Rules.” He looked at Maxim. “You, nothing lethal against her.”
“Don’t worry,” Maxim replied. “Unlike you, I know how to hold back.”
Orestis could think of several choice words for the idiot, but unfortunately, most fell into the category of complaints.
So, he simply turned to Eirene and said, “You, try to kill him.”
Maxim smiled, but didn’t comment. The instruction was self-evident for someone with his experience. Eirene, however, put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a look of mild disapproval. “Orestis.”
Orestis raised an eyebrow and said, “What? I’m not being petty; he literally cannot die. Besides, it’s not like you’d even be able to touch him.”
As he had expected, she did not like the idea of being unable to so much as touch her opponent. Eirene narrowed her eyes at Maxim.
Maxim also did his part to motivate her by raising his arms in a helpless shrug, his expression practically saying, What can I do? He’s right.
Her expression sharpened into one of pure focus. She was about to try very hard to prove them wrong.
Good. That is the mindset she needs for this.
Going at it like she was taking pointers from a senior was not going to be productive. Well, perhaps somewhat—but she would gain so much more if she went at it while giving her all.
Orestis and the two goddesses moved back to a reasonable distance, and the spar began.
Eirene made the first move; she shattered the ground, raising walls and pillars of stone to break line of sight. It was a solid strategy against any fighter that could launch projectiles.
Against Maxim, however, it lasted about two seconds. He did not draw a weapon or use his blessings. He only used a very small measure of aura to coat his body. But against a person on Eirene’s level, it was still overkill.
The moment Eirene cast her spell, Maxim charged straight towards her location, smashing through the barriers like it was made of paper, and appearing in front of her.
Eirene’s eyes widened, but she did not freeze. She immediately teleported, repositioning behind new cover. At the same time, she also left a gravity pulse behind. Maxim side-stepped the spell, even as the ground cratered under the pressure.
Then he charged towards her location, guessing her location based on his experience—which ended up being accurate.
Meanwhile, on Orestis’s head, the kitten had gone rigid the moment Maxim first charged at Eirene. Guessing what it was about to do, he drew a thread of divine power and grabbed onto it, weaving a small spell to prevent it from phasing.
It was just in time, too, as its paws had already sunk partway into the shadows before being forcibly ejected. The mauthet’s instincts were sharp, however; it wasn’t shocked or confused at being blocked, and immediately launched itself physically from his head towards Eirene with an indignant yowl.
Orestis quickly reached out and grabbed the kitten in mid-air. But even then, while squirming furiously in his grasp, it ripped out jagged spikes of shadow from the surroundings and launched them towards Maxim—which he dodged without looking.
Feisty little thing, Orestis thought with a smile. He was half tempted to let it continue pelting the idiot with shadow spikes.
But no. Perhaps another day. This was supposed to be a one-on-one match. It was still struggling, though, which was a problem. He would either have to restrain it magically or convince it to calm down somehow.
On a whim, Orestis tried using a soul skill to see if he could send a ‘message’ to the kitten. Not words, obviously. Something like a concept or impression on the soul-level, trying to convey the idea of a ‘play fight’—something a feline would understand.
It froze immediately and looked up at him. For a moment, the little thing seemed surprised that he had managed to communicate with it at all.
Well, what do you know? It worked.
Nuri glanced back towards Eirene—who had been forced onto the defensive—then returned her attention to him. Then, her gaze shifted slightly higher, settling on his hair. She looked down at his eyes, then back up again.
She seemed to be trying to tell him something. Or perhaps communicate in return. Not that it was hard to guess what she wanted.
He tried sending another conceptual message: Hair?
Nuri slowly blinked.
I’ll take that as a yes, he thought as he put Nuri back on his head. I should teach Eirene how to do this. She would like that.
The only issue was that Eirene did not have any soul affinity. Which meant that he would have to craft a spell for it. Another item for the ever-growing list.
Although, let’s make this one a priority.
As for the person in question, she was unfortunately getting driven into a corner. Of course, Maxim was keeping his movements and attacks at a level that Eirene would be able to react to, but he was not allowing any of her spells to hit him.
In an effort to get a hit in, she even tried to use the lightning-rain spell Orestis sometimes cast during their spars. Eirene had taken a liking to that spell and had asked him to teach it to her. Her concentration was more than high enough to handle the calculations needed for the spell, and it wasn’t like she was the type to go around casting it randomly. So Orestis hadn’t seen any problems teaching it to her.
The moment she activated the spell, though, Maxim had turned to give Orestis a thoroughly unimpressed look. Which was understandable; the idiot had suffered through the full-powered version several times, after all.
Naturally, Maxim easily dodged these lightning bolts.
Of course, Eirene was also adapting mid-fight. After a while, Maxim could no longer predict where she was teleporting to; she had learned to mask her intent and incorporate feints into her teleports. She was also able to eventually graze him with some of her spells.
Not that it mattered in the end. A few minutes later, Maxim decided to bring the spar to a close. He slipped past her defences and appeared directly in front of her, an aura-clad finger hovering a finger’s width from her forehead.
“You learn quickly,” he said, lowering his hand.
Eirene also relaxed, letting out a deep breath. She nodded, accepting the praise. Orestis and the goddesses walked over to them.
As they got closer, Nuri immediately disappeared from his head and emerged from Eirene’s shadow. She circled Eirene’s body, popping in and out of shadows around her shoulders and arms, mewling softly, checking her over, making sure Eirene was unharmed.
Eirene picked up Nuri with a smile, tenderly reassuring the little thing that she was fine. Nuri seemed to accept it after a moment, snuggling up into her shoulders.
“What do you think went wrong?” Orestis asked Eirene.
He wasn’t asking why she lost—that was inevitable. He was asking about the flow of the battle.
“I lost initiative from the beginning,” Eirene replied. “And he would not let me get it back.”
Maxim nodded. “You did have a few good moments. But yes. It’s never easy to regain initiative once it’s lost. Ideally, you should choose the battlefield in advance and have your preparations in place before the fight even begins.”
He jerked a thumb towards Orestis. “That’s what I always did with him. Once the battlefield was ready, I’d send a letter telling him to walk into the trap.”
Orestis nodded thoughtfully. Yes, he did do that for the last battle, didn’t he? I remember being quite pleased by his efficiency.
… Wait. ‘Always’?
Orestis chose not to pursue that line of thought. For now. He would get back to it next week when he was able to complain.
Losing the wager is bad enough; I don’t want to look like I can’t even keep my mouth shut for a measly seven days.
“Right, let’s have Eleuthera go next,” Orestis said, waving his hand to motion her forward.
He collected Nuri, and everyone moved back leaving only Eleuthera and Eirene on the field. The goddess smiled carelessly at her Chosen and said, “You make the first move.”
Eirene attacked. She opened with a series of focused strikes. Which was the wrong decision against Eleuthera.
The attacks themselves were well executed, of course; she incorporated feints, varied her timing, and even placed some spells to approach from blind angles.
But none of that mattered. Not against this particular goddess.
Every single spell either missed or inexplicably broke down mid-flight.
This was why fighting Eleuthera was such a hassle. Her domain rejected constraints. If she decided that a spell was interfering with her freedom of movement, the world would begin bending over backwards to agree with her. Trajectories would shift, mana would destabilise, coincidences would accumulate.
Consequently, any strategy that relied on a targeted spell actually reaching the goddess was doomed from the start.
Eirene also quickly understood what was happening. After her first volley failed, she switched to wide-area spells. The problem was that nothing was preventing Eleuthera from simply dodging or teleporting away. And trying to hold her in place was obviously impossible.
In the interest of making it resemble an actual spar, Eleuthera occasionally tossed a few half-hearted spells Eirene’s way. It was painfully clear that she had no idea how to teach properly. Nevertheless, she was making an effort.
After a few minutes, Eirene stopped, signalling the end of their ‘spar’. Eleuthera emerged from the entire exchange without so much as a scratch. Not that this was a surprise; Eirene simply was not yet at a level where she could face a goddess.
Seeing her Chosen’s disgruntled appearance, Eleuthera smiled and said, “Freedom is hard to pin down.”
Eirene put on a thoughtful look at that. “Since I have your Blessing, would I also be able to do what you did?”
Rather than answer directly, Eleuthera smiled wider and asked, “What do you think?”
Which was also an answer in itself.
Orestis had been hoping Eirene would not figure this out. Eleuthera’s style of fighting was simply too reckless for Eirene to use at her current level. Especially that particular aspect of the Blessing. It may look overpowered—and granted; it was—but depending on it was dangerous.
I suppose I’ll have to show her the drawbacks before she decides to imitate it.
Orestis turned to Lyse. “Since you’re here, why don’t you participate as well?”
The goddess simply turned to him with her eyebrows raised. The fight would be even more hopeless against this goddess. However—
“Eirene would benefit from seeing how different gods approach combat,” he clarified.
Lyse nodded and stepped forward. “I’ll only defend,” she said to Eirene. “Show me what you have.”
The goddess erected only a single shield around herself. It looked thin, but as Eirene soon discovered, that impression was highly misleading. No matter what spell Eirene tried—whether they were direct attacks, binding magic, or area effects—none of them penetrated the barrier.
As the Goddess of Proper Passage, Lyse’s domain also encompassed thresholds. And that meant authority over what passed through them. Because a barrier was fundamentally a threshold, Lyse could simply deny passage—to anything; material or otherwise.
The end result was simple: if Lyse did not want something passing through her barrier, it did not pass through. End of discussion.
After several minutes, Eirene stepped back. “I can’t get through.”
Eleuthera immediately teleported next to her friend and proudly declared. “That’s right. Isn’t she impressive?”
“Indeed. My Goddess is without equal,” Maxim replied as he walked over.
Lyse accepted the praise with her usual grace.
“Right,” Orestis said. “Now that everyone has had a turn—”
“Wait, what about you?” Eleuthera interrupted.
“Eirene has sparred with me before.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean.” Eleuthera waved a hand dismissively. “You’re supposed to set an example. Isn’t this the moment you step up to show her how it’s done?”
“Your motives are still painfully obvious,” he said, giving her a dry look.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Eleuthera replied cheerfully. “But I volunteer to go first!”
Before he could refuse, Eirene said, “I’m curious to see how you would fare.”
“As her instructor, you should lead by example,” Maxim added. “Show her a few tips.”
Even Lyse joined in. “It is only fair that you demonstrate your capabilities to your student.”
This was ridiculous. He had nothing to prove.
Although, if he really thought about it… Eirene could use a demonstration as to why she should avoid emulating Eleuthera. And going one-on-one against Maxim would make it much easier to damage him and siphon his life force. Orestis could also use some genuine combat practice; he might be getting a bit rusty after all these years.
Really, there’s actually quite a few benefits in accepting.
“Fine,” Orestis said, picking up Nuri from his head and handing her back to Eirene.
Might as well.
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