Aurora sipped her warm tea with graceful movements as she waited for Kenta to organize his thoughts. Back when she first saw him during his introduction in the classroom, she had sensed a subtle trace of divinity emanating from him. Because of this, she suspected he had also gained the blessing of a god.
Naturally, she was curious about the identity of the god that had given him his blessings which was why she had invited him here. Her beautiful silver eyes shone like that of pearls as her lips curved slightly in interest. Meanwhile, Kenta was frowning as he thought about the information, he knew about the ice goddess.
'From what I have read the ice goddess was one of the most troublesome goddesses among the goddesses that existed in this world. Arrogant, cruel and haughty, her very existence seems too resonant with the concept of coldness.' In a way, she was very similar to the god of death who viewed all others as beneath him.
Why did the god of death and the ice goddess had a bad relationship? No matter how much he pondered, Kenta couldn't find an answer. 'But the fact that she gave them her blessings meant that there must have been something about the ice queen that got her interest.' He thought with a puzzled frown.
[I remember back when I was still bonded with the previous flame goddess, the ice goddess was among the strongest goddesses of that time. Her name was Marzanna... She and my previous master never gotten along.] Agni explained.
'Ah, right you were once the divinity of the flame goddess in the past. Can you tell me more about the blessings of gods? Like how exactly, does it work?' Kenta inquired; curiosity laced in his voice.
[Each god or goddess can grant their blessings or rather, divine protection onto mortals whom they have chosen. The blessings itself is nothing more than a small increase in strength. For example, if the god of death had given his blessings onto another being they would be able to influence the aura of death to a certain extent. I remember all his undead also received his blessings in the past.]
Hearing this Kenta raised an eyebrow, back when he first summoned the soul eater sword, he wasn't able to control the aura of death at all. It was only after he had comprehended the law of death to five percent did, he became aware of the existence of the aura of death. And once he had reach eleven percent did, he finally gain the ability to manipulate this unknown energy.
As his comprehension was still very low his understanding of the aura of death was also very limited. But what he does know is that this energy was one of the most corrupted energies that existed, it was extremely weak to divinities on the scale of light, energies such as light and life are its nemesis.
Similarly, death aura and nature energies are incompatible with the other. Because of this, the goddess of nature and Hendrix could not get along well either.
But those who could influence the aura of death could easily decide who lives and who dies. The aura of death was an energy that drained all forms of life until there is nothing. 'The fact that he could bestow such an ability onto another is quite frightening.' Kenta thought with a frown.
There weren't that many who could use divinities of light, so far only the goddess of light and the goddess of life could face Hendrix in a direct confrontation.
[Indeed, some of the gods of the higher world believes the goddess of life and the god of death came into existence at the same time to preserve the balance between life and death.] Agni added.
However, Kenta's eyes twitched when he heard the mention of the goddess of life. 'Eh, did you just say goddess of life? Are you saying there is also a goddess of life as well?'
[Of course, there is. If a god of death exists what's so strange of there also being a goddess of life?] Agni asked, confused.
Seeing how nonchalant Agni was being about this Kenta had to put a lot of effort in maintaining his expressionless face. He could already guess what relationship Hendrix had with the goddess of life just from his stirred emotions.
While the book he had received from Lize did give him a lot of information about the gods, there were some who weren't mentioned. That was to be expected, Lize was a powerful goddess, in terms of both power and status she was greatly inferior to Isis who was the goddess of life without Isis's permission she couldn't give him information regarding her.
Lize herself also did not want Kenta to learn of her existence for the time being as he was still rather weak currently.
"Have you cleared your thoughts enough to continue yet?" Aurora played with a strand of her long snow-white hair as she asked.
"... Indeed, I admit showing me those tattoos had naturally caught me off guard. But I'm curious, how did you know?" From what he knew only gods could sense divinities. So how did the ice princess find out about his? This question naturally left him clueless.
"Are you curious about how I found out?" She asked as her lips spread into a smile. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. But I'm guessing it has something to do with the ice goddess." Kenta responded.
"Naturally those who have received the blessings of a god can sense traces of divinity, my tattoo reacted to the energy being emanating from you."
Hearing this Kenta fell silent as he sunk into the sea of thought. Back when he had first saw her his divinity was still asleep, it was only when the goddess Lize had killed him did his divinity was forced to awakened.
[She must've been blessed with extraordinary senses to be able to sense a subtle trace of divinity.] Agni responded, his childish voice was laced with surprised.
Kenta discreetly glanced behind him; Leo was also listening to their conversation. There were also a large number of girls who are with Aurora around the terrace, Kenta gaze at the faces of those present strangely. They were talking about the god rather openly, and as though she could already guess his thoughts Aurora spoke up. "No need to worry, everyone here is already aware."
"Is that so? Come to think of it... I remember those who held special position within the temple of power all received the war goddess blessings." He said, recalling the words, Jessica had said to him before.
"Correct, you are aware of the seven swords, right?" Aurora inquired.
"Yes, I'm aware... They are said to be one of the strongest swordsmen of the temple of power."
"Each one of them have already received the war goddess blessing, those who are a member of the temple of power all aspired to receive her recognition."
"That's right! My dad had also received her blessings as well." Leo who had been listening to them converse spoke up.
"Your dad, I believe he was called flash master due to his overwhelming speed, right?" Aurora placed her hand beneath her chin as she pondered. Her beautiful silver eyes narrowed as she shifted her gazed down at her steaming tea and took a sip.
"Thats right, he is the strongest lightning user of the temple of power." Leo added, there was a proud smile adorning his face. However, Kenta's eyes widened slightly. The lightning element was one of the rarest elemental attributes.
"The flash master is said to be capable of controlling two different types of lightning, black for its raw destructive capabilities and blue for its overwhelming speed. His blessings only increase his swordsmanship." Aurora added.
Those who received the war goddesses' blessings are said to be the most capable swordmen and are well renowned around the world.
Everyone wanted strength, it was a natural instinct. Those who are a member of the temple of power naturally desire strength. Kenta could easily understand this as someone who also craves strength.
"... But I'm curious, is there a temple for the ice goddess as well?" He remembered the gods all built their own temples to keep an eye on humanity.
The blessings of the ice goddess could potentially turn an inexperience ice mage into a formidable magic user. The ice queen was able to freeze cities once she received her blessings, Kenta was certain the blessings of the other gods were also outrageous as well.
'I wonder, would the undead I created also received the blessings of the death god as well?' He couldn't help but ponder such a possibility.
He was still unaware of Julia's abilities, but he knew she was a powerful mage. Back when she had served the royal family of the kingdom of Oura, she had received the best teachings. Similarly, Azazel was the commander of the royal knight, his swordsmanship was top-notch.
The undead and the reaper were also beings who are associated with the aura of death, they could potentially use it to an even greater degree compared with his other followers. As undead existences they were also very weak to magic that associated with the light attributes. His brow furrowed slightly in concern. 'Perhaps there is something I can do about that.'
He also thought of the witches who had the highest magical talent of his servants, 'If they could use the aura of death, their battle prowess should reach an even higher level.' He thought secretly to himself.
{Julia, we will investigate this later.} He said, telepathically.
{Fufufu... Yes! Master!} Julia's cheerful voice resounded inside his head. Even though he couldn't see her, he could easily picture how delightful her beautiful expression was.
Naturally, she was also very excited about receiving her master's blessings, not just because of the increased in strength, but also because she wanted to feel more connected to him.
{Hmmm...} Although Azazel remained silent, his crimson pupils shone for a moment; he was curious how much stronger he would be once he received his lord's blessings.
Feeling their excitement, Kenta smiled in satisfaction as well.
After all, the stronger his soldiers became, the more he can benefit from it. They were bound to make many enemies in the future, and he was certain once the gods learn of his existence his days won't be so peaceful. His bright ocean blue, eyes shone as he contemplated his situation.
"Currently there isn't. I heard there was in the distant past. Many of the temples were destroyed by conflict with different temples. The temple of darkness who worships the god of darkness, are in constant conflict with the temple of light, who worships the goddess of light." She explained.
Back when the gods still interacted with humanity, there was peace and stability with all the temples. However, this peace didn't last long as the gods eventually lost interest in humanity and stop interacting with them directly, like they did in the past. Since then, the temple has been in the management of humans. It was natural some conflicts had occurred in the past due to their differences in opinions and values.
Those who follows the goddess of light views the teachings of the god of darkness as evil and sees the members of the temple of darkness as their natural enemies. It was the same with the ice temple and flame temple. Over the years many of the temples were destroyed due to their wars.
Of course, there were still many temples that had survived to this day, and there are some who doesn't get too deeply involved in worldly affairs. There are even some that has been quiet and stood unchanging over the many years. However, many of them were in conflicts and can no longer exist harmoniously like in the distant past.
'If that's the case then... There most likely isn't a temple for the god of death either, right?' Given Hendrix's reputation, he was certain his temple no longer stands, it wouldn't be surprising if all the other temples decided to band together. Kenta furrowed his brow as he was filled with complicated emotions.
In this world, it was taboo to trample over the deceased. Hendrix, the god of death was the sovereign of the dead. If he wanted, he could raise the dead with a single thought, turning them into undead and other variations.
However, for humans such an ability was atrocious and morally unacceptable. The dead had to be respected. 'It probably isn't a good idea to reveal my control over the dead either.' Kenta secretly thought. It would be bothersome if he was hunted down by humanity due to his manipulation over the dead, he already has the gods to worry about, making more enemies now would be foolish. Fortunately, now that he had some levels of control over the aura of death, he didn't need to worry as long as he doesn't encounter a goddess or God who specializes in the light or nature concepts.
Although Kenta was listening intensely to Aurora, he didn't seem to be focused on her, those bright blue eyes of his seem to be looking further ahead.
"Currently, there are only a few temples that still exists in this era. So far, the neighbouring kingdoms seems to be restless after the temple of shadows joined hands with the temple of darkness and many of the weaker temples has also been requesting the assistance of the temple of power." Aurora explained further.
...
Meanwhile, as Kenta was conversing with Aurora. In the long hallway of the temple of power, three young youths were following behind the older brother of Hans. The red-haired youth, Able clenched his fist as his brow furrowed into a sullen frown. 'The murderer of my younger brother is here, and yet I.' He was greatly frustrated.
He wanted to get revenge on his little brother who was killed by Kenta, but the rules of the temple of power prevented him from taking action. His heart was filled with nothing more than contempt and viciousness towards Kenta for taking his brother's life. Behind him, the three youths wore a tense expression on their faces as they felt his killing intent.
Able's temperament wasn't very good to begin with, they knew any wrong word could potentially result in their deaths.
"... If only there was a way for me to kill him unnoticed." He grumbled bitterly.
In order to prevent in-fighting between the members of the temple of power, there were several observation magic formations set in place around the temple. If one were to break the rules, they would be punish depending on how severe the crime is.
For the crime of killing another member of the temple of power, the punishment would be execution. Able was from a clan of powerful warriors, however, it was questionable whether or not his clan would be willing to oppose the temple of power for his sake.
Bang!
Out of irritation, Able's fist struck the wall of the temple of power. However, despite that, there wasn't a single dent on the hallway walls. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" His fists continue to pummel the wall one after another.
"Perhaps there is a way." Unable to continue watching, one of the youths endowed with blonde hair spoke up from behind, "What do you mean?" Able asked, his interest piqued.
"There is no rule that said you can't kill him outside, right? Why don't we lead him outside away from prying eyes and kill him? We could also hide his body in the sea." The youth explained further. Able pondered slightly, "We could make contact with him, telling him that we are here to show him around as his seniors."
There are times when the senior member of the temple would take the role of showing the new members around the temple of power. Kenta was still new to the temple and didn't know all the inner workings, he was certain they could use that to their advantage.
Once they were away from the strict security killing him would be easy, considering Able's background even if he was found suspicious, it was doubtful whether anyone would want to dig too deeply into this matter. Perhaps it would be treated as nothing but an unfortunate accident.
"Hmm... Perhaps we could during the late hours. Those times are when the securities are the lowest."
"Even with his abilities to manipulate lightning, we could easily take him out with your magic sword."
"Yes, your flames cannot be extinguished by mere lightning after all."
"Killing that brat should be simple for us."
They all jeered, Able's lips spread into a grin as they started plotting the early stages of their plans.
Meanwhile, a pair of crimson eyes opened up from his shadows. The vampire Arianna specialized in assassination, the hallway was dark and surrounded by shadows. It was the perfect environment for her to strike. And yet, she hesitated.
"Should I dispose of them now? Or perhaps, I should report back to master." Arianna mumbled to herself rather indecisively. Her crimson eyes flickered with a cold light as she glances at Able's back.
Naturally, she was filled with contempt towards the ones who wishes to do harm to her master.
She was confident she could eliminate them all here and no one would know, while at the same time, she had a feeling this was information she should report to her master. Kenta had already told her to take them out if they were to plan anything suspicious. But upon hearing the content of their plans she decided it was best to explain the situation to Kenta.
"... I should make my report to the young master before I take any sudden action." She decided. Using her connection to Kenta, she quickly sent him a telepathic message.