"Please keep in mind that I can't tell you everything, for now."
Hestia nodded, "I'm fine with that."
"Ehem... Well then, you might have already suspected this, but the place we came from is beyond the Lower World and is not within Heaven's influence in any way."
Artemis's eyes widened in surprise, but on the contrary, Hestia kept her serious face since as Kisuke said, she already expected this was the case, but couldn't really believe her guess without his confirmation. Because of this, Artemis was even more shocked at her nonchalant reaction, and since Hestia didn't say anything, she did not speak out.
"And since it isn't connected to the Higher World in any way, you're not aware of that place. Hence why you probably felt that we're very foreign. This also makes it so the Deities couldn't possibly have any information about its citizens and their capabilities."
It was then that Kisuke dropped the 'bomb', "When I said that it's just a God, I said it because I knew full well the capabilities of one. And believe it or not, I have a few ways to deal with one."
Like Artemis, Hestia furrowed her brows, "If you're basing that on Artemis' Arcanum from before, then you're sorely wrong. A God's capabilities, if Arcanum was activated, is way beyond that."
But Kisuke just smiled, "However, I'm not just basing it on that. One of the unique things about our place are people who achieved Godhood by themselves."
It was finally something Hestia wasn't expecting, "A-achieved Godhood!?"
"Yep~ A non-Divine generating their own Divinity and were able to accept worship."
"H-how is that possible!?" asked Artemis. Out of everything she'd heard today, this is the most unbelievable. Although it's indeed possible in theory, no one has ever achieved this despite the help of the Deities.
Aside from those born into Godhood, no God has ever come from a mortal. Over time, the Deities thought that it was impossible in the first place and no one tried to nurture one anymore. There might be some Gods who are still trying, but the closest who came to Godhood were Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon's children, but even then, they were still quite far.
Kisuke, meanwhile, thought that Artemis' Arcanum was really the reason for how he was able to estimate the power level of the Gods in this world, and he estimated it was around the same level of the Gods from the other side.
Although fundamentally different, their source of power was the same, which was 'Faith'.
However, even for Kisuke, the concept of 'Faith' is still a bit blurry since he also discovered that the 'Faith' the Gods needed doesn't merely come from those who believe in them. After all, even those nondescript and unknown Gods still retained their Divinities, even if they were mostly forgotten. Though it's indeed true that their strength correlates to the amount of trust and belief people have in them.
It's a complicated topic that Kisuke wanted to study, not just for himself, but also for Medusa.
With Artemis's question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know how that was possible since I'm not a God myself. Only those who attained Godhood could possibly describe the experience. The point is, multiple Gods walk the Earth without the weird restrictions you have. So it's only normal to have some means of defense against one in case they attacked. Though it's not like they would attack, it's just that we have to prepare if it were to happen."
Both Artemis and Hestia were silenced as they tried to comprehend his words. As much as they wanted to believe Kisuke's claims, it was too hard for them. After all, they never knew that there's another realm that Heaven couldn't reach, and on top of that a mortal turned God.
Seeing their difficulties, Kisuke grinned, "However, Hestia-sama, I do have to remind you of my words the first time we met."
Hestia thought for a moment and sighed, "It's just ramblings of a mad man, huh?"
"Correct~!"
Silence then ensued throughout the whole room, but a few minutes later, Hestia just gave a defeated sighed, "Whatever. So I take it that you have a way to defend yourselves even if Freya came after you, right?"
"H-Hestia!?" Artemis was shocked that Hestia just disregarded the things he just said.
Ignoring Artemis, however, Hestia continued and forcibly moved the topic, "What about that Dragon?"
"As you can probably tell, it's neither a monster nor a God. It's a being entirely different, but it's a Dragon for sure," replied Kisuke.
Hestia waited for a few moments after Kisuke stopped before speaking, "Is that all?"
Kisuke nodded, "That's all I know about it."
"How about it being your 'ride'?"
For that question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "It's something that does what it wants and I don't really have any idea what's on his mind. Since he offered his assistance, I can't really disagree. For the most part, I think it just wanted to roam around since it was probably feeling bored."
Hestia sighed yet again, "Fine, but is it going to come back?"
"I don't know, but probably not."
"That's good. I don't want to imagine what kind of chaos it would bring for it to go back," Hestia smiled in satisfaction before changing the topic yet again, "Now let's move to our next agenda. I assume they don't have Falna yet, right? And it's about time I update everyone's status."
Artemis was utterly shocked at how Hestia just shrugged off the things she'd heard. She wanted to interject, but she had a feeling that Hestia wanted to end it here, not because she gave up, but because she had already heard enough and accepted it as it is.
Kisuke gladly clapped his hands and was thankful for Hestia's thoughtfulness, "Of course~!"
"Alright! Line up! We'll do it here!"
Artemis couldn't keep up with them and almost couldn't understand her best friend, Hestia. However, she went through it again and thought, 'In hindsight, maybe that's how Hestia would really do it... For her Familia... For her family.'
Artemis could only smile wryly after some contemplation and watched them update their status, 'I'm really no match to her.'
After everyone got their status update, they all directly went up to Level 3. But they didn't level up without giving Hestia a good scare.
Sona Sitri
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1105
VIT: SSS-1326
DEX: SSS-1113
AGI: SSS-1101
Extra Abilities:
DEM-POW: EX-1500+
Aika Kiryuu
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1445
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: SSS-1446
AGI: SSS-1357
MANA: SSS-1216
Extra Abilities:
REI-KI: EX-1500
DRACONIC AURA: EX-1500+
Shirone Toujou
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: EX-1500
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: SSS-1418
AGI: SSS-1354
MANA: SSS-1112
KI: EX-1500
Kuroka Toujou
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: EX-1500
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: EX-1500
AGI: SSS-1480
MANA: SSS-1323
KI: EX-1500+
Medusa
Level 2
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1309
VIT: SSS-1212
DEX: EX-1500
AGI: EX-1500+
MANA: EX-1500+