I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself. I sighed and looked down, closing my eyes. Aphrodite walked into my room and noticed me standing in front of the mirror then rubbed my shoulder.
"You seem stressed, is everything alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, just tired. You know the usual." I said and looked at Aphrodite. "Will you be busy after I get home?"
"Probably, I do have a meeting with the other Goddesses. We are talking about the possibility of new enemies reaching our Solar System. Unlike the other Combat Gods, the Goddesses actually like you. A human...becoming a Divine Figure. I am still thinking about the moment from five years ago..~" Aphrodite said and smiled at me. She stood behind me and kissed my cheek. "Be safe today..~"
I nodded and watched her use her warp magic to teleport away. I finished getting ready for my classes and walked out my room then met up with Hilda downstairs.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Yep!" Hilda nodded and smiled.
I nodded then we left the house and headed to my car. We got in and I started it then drove to our campus. I don't have many classes to take since I am an Advanced Student. I took my major college courses in Highschool and already have my degrees. I'm currently going for my Master's Degree in the Science Field. I was always a fan of different energies and stars, so it would be great if I could actually finish my classes. Because of my role, I had to miss classes and had to drop out to help save Earth from Alpha the first time we battled.
"You know, it's kinda nice to be able to go to classes again. And on top of things, we are heroes to everyone on campus. We even have guardians on campus." Hilda said and smiled at me.
"True, even then...I just don't want to deal with anything today so hopefully they take a hint and just let us have a normal day today." I said.
"Hopefully, it would be nice to just...be like how we once were before you were chosen to be a God." Hilda said and looked out the window.
After that small exchange, it was silent in the car as we drove to school. We made it to the campus and I parked my car. We got out and headed straight to the courtyard. Once we made it to the courtyard, we noticed a crowd forming around the stage area of the courtyard. There was a band playing.
"Look, it's one of Chloe's cousins." Hilda pointed.
The woman she pointed to was Rue. She's one of Chloe's cousins, hailing from the same clan as her but from a different branch. She's just as strong as Chloe, maybe even stronger albeit. Her dream is to make it big in music with her band. Her favorite genre to play is Nu Metal. Her inspiration for even making a band was Deftones, specifically the song Digital Bath. She loves that band with a burning passion and even got me into it. I haven't gotten around to making her one of my retainers, mainly because it's a process for getting her.
The song ended and the crowd cheered for her. Rue looked at the crowd and nodded. She was pleased by her flawless performance.
"We love your music Rue! We love you Divine Theory!"
"I can't wait for your next concert!"
"Please release your next album!"
Rue looked at her bandmates and smiled at them. They smiled back at her then she looked at the crowd once again then noticed me and Hilda. I was texting Floe on my phone while Hilda was waving at Rue. Rue packed up her guitar and headed off the stage. The crowd soon dispersed and split up with their own friend groups.
"Hey you two." Rue said and placed a hand on her hip.
I looked up and faced Rue. "Hey, we made it last minute to your performance."
"Yeah, but what we heard sounded amazing! Was that a new song?" Hilda asked.
Rue nodded and smiled. "It's a song called Closer To Fate. I wrote it during the time we were in war against those Lesser Gods. I wrote it as a final note because I thought we wouldn't have survived that onslaught."
"It was really scary...but Shida pulled through and showed them the power of a Divine Figure!~" Hilda said and held my arm.
I looked at Hilda and smiled at her. I looked back at Rue. "Shall we head to the clubroom?"
"Yeah, I'm sure the others are already there as well." Rue said.
We headed toward the club building and walked inside, heading to our clubroom. We walked inside the room and I noticed my other allies in the room.
"Hello everyone!~" Hilda greeted.
They looked at us and greeted us back. We headed to the table and sat down at the table. Hilda and Rue spoke to the members while I sat at my desk and began to check my emails and other messages.
"Shida, it's been known that you've been slacking on your training." One of the guardians said.
"Yeah? What about it?" I asked as I typed on my keyboard.
"Well...I just wanna make sure you're still in top shape. I mean you are our protector." He said and pushed up his glasses.
"I'm in top shape. You shouldn't worry about me too much. Besides I'm focusing on the five years worth of work I missed. I do want to get my Master's Degree." I said.
"I get that but-"
Rue snapped her fingers and shot a piercing glare at him. "You heard him."
He looked at Rue and instantly got quiet. He was intimidated by Rue.
"It's alright Rue. I get where he's coming from, but honestly this is still more to take on than I can handle. There's just so much more to being a Higher God than being the strongest. I need the IQ and Battle IQ to operate as well. I also need to keep up my health as well. Unless you're gonna help me train, allow me to focus on my day to day." I said.
"I'll help you train, Big Brother! Besides it's been a while since we've trained together~" Hilda said and stood up.
I looked at Hilda and closed my eyes. "Not...that training."
Hilda sat back down.
"What other training are you doing?" Rue asked.
I looked at Rue then gestured her to come to my desk. She stood up and walked over to my desk. She leaned toward me and I whispered in her ear. Her face became red and she looked at me.
"S-Seriously? That's how you maintain your stamina and power?" Rue asked.
"Well that's how I grow stronger in basic terms. Every Combat God has a different way of becoming more empowered and gaining Retainers. The more Retainers one has, and they have full faith and shares a complete bond with them, the stronger the Combat God. Each Combat God starts off with six retainers, randomly chosen and a Goddess based off your deepest desires." I said.
"And you happen to get Aphrodite. The Goddess and Embodiment of Love, Lust, Desire, Sex, and Pleasure. The Weakest Goddess of the Twelve." Rue said.
"Come on." I said.
"It's true! Like yeah she's the most beautiful Goddess of all time, of existence even. No one compares to her beauty, not even the Higher Ups, and her sexual stamina is so great that even one round with her will kill a human, so it's a wonder how you survived five years with her, but..." Rue said.
"She isn't weak in the slightest. She's helped me in battles I wouldn't have normally won. It's because of me she's so powerful now." I said.
"That's why my brother is pretty powerful right now. Though he holds none of the powers Aphrodite has, the power he gains through the power of sex, love, desire, pleasure, and lust is immense. He gets stronger via the bond he shares with us and Aphrodite!" Hilda said.
"Even then, the only one I've ever done it with is Aphrodite and that was to truly awaken my powers. It's been five years since I last had sex." I said and sat back in my chair. "Not that I mind at all, I can live without it."
Rue had a hint of jealousy, but I was already expecting it since she did have a crush on me already. "I see. Well if you need actual training, I know this old Combat God of Earth that can help. He goes by the name of Aeon."
"Aeon?" I asked and sat up.
"Yes, Aeon. The Old Combat God who used to protect Earth. He had a different Goddess, and she's still here with us. The only way to see him is through her." Rue said.
"What's her name?" Hilda asked.
"Her name is Hecate. The one of the Goddesses of Destruction. She's only been seen in areas that has Death Aura present." Rue said. "Plus she only appears at night."
"Anyone who forms a contract with her gains a destructive power and the ability to destroy planets at the lowest level. Hecate is capable of destroying single galaxies at the lowest and a supercluster at the highest." One of the guardians said.
"She's that powerful?" I asked.
"Amongst the strongest. She falls under Driella who's capable of destroying Domains and Dimensions." Rue said. "Her recorded power level is within the Tier S category."
"There's still a lot I have to learn..." I said.
The bell rang and we decided to end our conversation there. We gathered our belongings and headed to our classes.
....
Classes went on as normal and surprisingly we went the entire school day without a single conflict. It would seem that today is one of those calm and lazy days that I've been wishing I had for the longest time.
I sat outside in the courtyard and just looked at the sky. I wondered what my parents were doing since I haven't seen them in forever. As I was spacing out, thinking, I felt a pat on my back. I snapped out of my trance and looked back to see Rue standing beside me.
"Heya. Do you want to hang out today?" Rue asked.
"Yeah sure. Wait, where's Hilda?" I asked.
"She took your car and went home. She said something along the lines of, 'I'm hungry and hot, I hate the summer time. Tell Shida that I love him'. Word for word." Rue said.
"At this point...I'm just gonna buy another car so she can stop stealing my car." I said then stood up. I let out a little sigh and stretched. "Ready to go?"
"Mhm." Rue said. "There's a few stores I wanted to go to and I wanted you to come with me."
"Lead the way." I said.
Rue and I left the campus and headed to her car then got in. She started the car and drove off. She let down the windows and began to drive towards the city.
"You know...Fighting along side you over the years and spending time with you made me realize how much I like you." Rue said.
I looked at Rue and let out a soft chuckle. "You too? You want to be in my harem of women as well?"
"Well...do you have room for more?" Rue asked.
"I mean my parents were millionaires so there's more than enough room in my house. There's like maybe five stories in the house. I can make more room for you." I said.
"Do you want me as a retainer?" She asked.
The question made my cheeks slightly rosy. I looked out the window once again and closed my eyes. "I do, but now you know the process of how I have to make you one of my retainers."
"I'm willing. I'm not experienced at all, so I probably won't give the same amount of pleasure as Aphrodite did on your first time." Rue responded.
"Well if you're willing, I will make you one of my retainers. Just...give me time to prepare." I said. "We have to do it at my house since I will be transferring energy to your body during it and only my house can withstand said energy."
"What do you mean?" Rue asked and took a quick glance at me.
"It's the same process when I became a God. Aphro gave me her Divine Aura and unlocked the seals within me. For me to make you a retainer, I have to bond your aura with mine which will cause our energies to clash due to the immense pleasure of the process...or ritual as Aphrodite calls it. It's called the Godly Transfer. There are different ways of performing the Godly Transfer...I just have the Sex Variant of it." I said.
"How many variants are there?" Rue asked.
"Well there's the Sex Variant, the Chant Variant, the Battle Variant, the Death Variant...that's probably all I know off the top of my head honestly." I answered.
"I see, well I'll be ready when you are." Rue said.
"Thank you for understanding." I said.
Rue nodded and we continued our drive to the city.