Time was a few minutes past seven when William got home. Apart from Gilde's silent but worried reaction, no one else cared he came home that late. Athena was nowhere to be found.
William freshened up before he ate his dinner. After he was done, he went to check on his father's health but as usual, Selene didn't let him near Viscount Maxton.
Of course, William argued a bit but seeing how Selene never responded, he was infuriated. However, he didn't want to attract the wrath of a goddess once again so he just went out to the greenhouse to cool his head.
He ordered Nova to override the values of speed and agility of the goblins and then he trained like this till he got the hang of infusing ki either into his legs or his hands, but never both at the same time.
Infusing ki into any part of the limbs makes them feel lighter which increases the speed and makes the bones stronger which allows the muscles to contract further and release more power.
William trained like this till 9 o'clock, when the goblins had become way too fast for him to keep up. And plus, he was exhausted following the events of the day.
He laid down shirtless on the grassy field, staring at the crescent moon and enjoying the cool night winds.
"Nova, show me my current stats." He said.
「Yes, master.」
+
-Personal Information-
Name(s): William Maxton, Timothy McJane
HP: 97/100
Race: Human
Age: 10(+45)
Sex: Male
Grade: 1
Nationality: Maenian
-Attributes-
◆ Body:–
Strength: 6(+31↑) | Speed: 10(+28↑)
Stamina: 18↑ | Endurance: 19↑
Dexterity: 5 | Agility: 9(+10↑)
Healing: 10(+100)
◆ Mind:–
Intelligence: 13(+20) | Fortitude: 100
Perception: 8 | Charm: 8↑
-Abilities-
◇ Ki Enhancement: Ki infused in the limbs provides an enhancement to surpass physical limits
-Perks-
◇ Celestial Physique: Flawless body giving great hearing and eyesight
◇ Will of Destruction
◇ Third Fragment of The Crown, The 'Brain': Otherwise known as, NOVA is a sentient artificial intelligence created to correlate, analyze, copy, and organize data.
◇ {Unknown Element}: Was previously thought to be 「Water of Life」 and has provided surplus raw energy, in other words, Ki.
◇ Selene's Curse
◇ Blessing of Athena: The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena's Blessing gives +20 intelligence.
+
Compared to the last time William saw his stats, his grade had gone from 'empty' to 1 and he had attained his first ability –「Ki Enhancement」, which greatly boosted his strength, speed, and agility. His stamina, endurance, and charm had also increased by a few points because of his training.
Nova had updated her information according to Athena's speculations on the "Water of Life" William was fed and renamed it to "Unknown Element". However, this remains temporary until new information is attained.
William let out a long sigh and hopped on his feet. "I haven't seen Athena since I returned. I wonder if Goblo and Gobun are still around."
William went back into the manor and headed for the empty underground storage where Athena summoned otherworldly creatures.
Upon getting there, he met Athena busy writing down some mysterious symbols on paper and murmuring to herself.
There was a small circular wooden table and a chair which she sat on in the corner opposite the door. She was in the usual black and white maid outfit.
"Is this where you've been all day?" William asked as he walked closer to where she sat. "What are you doing?"
Athena nonchalantly replied, "What does it look like?"
William didn't really care about what she was doing and just asked for formalities, so he just shrugged and said, "Meh, anyways, you wouldn't believe how rough my day has been. I got into a fight so I got suspended, later tailed my teacher – Miss Bethany, as we spoke about yesterday, and got caught by some dude named V – a captain from M21…
William sighed heavily and continued, "...Long story short, he found out about me and my father's assassination attempt and also the masked man Berne told me about. Oh, also he said I shouldn't tell anyone we met."
Athena was still murmuring and scribbling down when she asked, "Did you tell him about the Temple's involvement?"
"Yes."
She nodded, "Then that's most likely why. M21 is a division under the Pentagogue of Maen. They deal with supernatural occurrences and heretics[1], but they also regulate and prevent the churches from crossing their boundaries."
"Oh, so that's why." William understood, so he moved on to the main reason he sought out Athena, "Did you find anything today?"
William was inquiring about Athena's investigation of the basilica and Berne, but her reply was short, "I'm still on the case. I was busy with something else."
Feeling somewhat pissed, William asked with a frown, "Busy with what?"
"This." Athena threw a silver ring with a green ruby in the middle to William.
He frantically caught it, "W-Woah! What's this for?"
Athena was still in her seat, not ever facing William as she replied, "It's used to activate the summoning circle to summon the hobgoblins."
"What's the need when you're here?" William wondered.
"I'll be very busy for the next few days and you still need to train. Also, I used the money in your savings box to buy a few things I needed."
A vein popped on William's forehead, "What?! That's stealing!"
"...And done!" Athena shouted as she raised the paper to the air with a smile on her face. She quickly stood up and turned to William, "Now kneel so I can infuse some divine energy in your brain."
"Hey! Don't think you can just–"
Boom!
A force pushed William down to his knees and he couldn't resist in any way. He didn't dare speak. These goddesses have been known to act on impulse and the last thing William wanted was for Athena to curse him to be dumb forever.
Athena had a sadistic smile on her face as she placed her hand on William's head and said, "I've been working on this for hours now, I can't wait to see the results…"
Her eyes suddenly turned blue and with it, followed William's ear-wrenching scream!
…
[1] See M21 as a mixture of so-called 'adventurers' in regular isekai that clear dungeons and 'heresy inquisitors' that burn witches and stuff.