"That's... great?"
Shizu's confused tone mirrored Riku's as his curiosity about this new form of power interaction between the gods was something he wanted to know. Every once of information was useful in the right situation, after all, and who knew if it might come in handy in some situation or another?
"It's something that the God Father came up with back when He... was with us," Nyx explained, her tone taking on a hint of sorrow. "He said it was to stop us from arguing about whose was whose, which was probably a smart decision seeing as some of my brothers and sisters love forgetting who owned which in terms of personal effects."
The former assassin didn't know how to respond to such a revelation. On one hand, it was an ingenious way of essentially labeling one's stuff to avoid theft. And the other, it was kind of humanizing to think of these thirteen gods kept squabbling with their siblings about random items that they kept swiping off each other like children enough that their father had to label their stuff to stop it from happening.
"That sounds... kind of cute," Shizu couldn't help but gush, a soft giggle escaping her lips. "Almost like you're all humans like us."
"Just because we're gods doesn't mean we're holier than thou and all that," Nyx scoffed. "Well, some of us are, but even that's kind of a stretch."
"You're all still arrogant though," Riku pointed out, making Nyx sputter on her own saliva. "And judging by your reaction, I'd say I'm correct."
"I-I won't deny that, but what else are we supposed to be when we're practically in charge of keep the universe- Stop."
At the sudden change in tone, Riku and Shizu both immediately went on high alert as they waited for Nyx to tell them what she was seeing. Was it another lion pack? Some kind of obstacle that they had to negotiate?
"We have to move," Nyx told them as she turned around and briskly walked to the direction they've just been. "Follow me."
Wordlessly, the Champions followed the goddess's instructions. Of course, Riku was already doing his best to see what exactly got his patron deity so spooked. This wasn't like any of the other dangers Nyx told them about. Some random lion pack would faze her this much even if it was bigger than normal. No, this was something serious...
"Are we looking at another Champion heading our way?" he asked her.
"Worse, two of them," Nyx stated, her voice taking on her more serious tone as her competence rose to the occasion. "They're fighting nearby, and we risk getting caught if we don't get a move on."
As if to further implicate what she was saying, two consecutive explosions went off in the distance, their respective shockwaves strong enough to reach them. It almost sounded like a large glacier being destroyed before being followed by an explosion of rubble and earth. That was... This was a close call if he ever saw one.
"That felt near..." Shizu worriedly stated.
"Around less than a kilometer away," Riku estimated with a click of his tongue. "Anybody with that kind of firepower will not be someone that we want to fight."
The three of them shared a knowing look before the two Champions let Nyx guide them away from the battle. It might be seen as cowardly for some, but Riku knew where his strengths lie. He refused to take a fight he had no hope in winning, especially right now being so early on in the game. His power allowed him to grow stronger twith every encounter on top of giving him a new power once he hit a certain number of Depths, and with them currently being barely reaching the double digits, it was clear that he was sorely underpowered to even try and standing up against obvious powerhouses.
In fact, he was weak enough that even Shizu could probably beat him if she knew what she was doing. Not that he'd ever say that to her. Still...
"We can't do this forever," Riku grumbled more to himself. "There will come a time where we'll have to fight, whether it be on our terms or theirs."
"Yeah, but if we can avoid it, we should," Shizu fearfully insisted. "You're the one that told me that."
"That's the smart way of doing things, yes," he agreed. "But sometimes, the enemy can be just as smart, or even smarter than us. Some might just be strong enough to stop us from moving outright. We have to prepare for that as well."
There was no saying that they would be the one trying to win the game. There might be someone that actually specialized on planning and had the firepower to back it up. That would be a nightmare to fight. Or even worse... someone illogical and unpredictable might force the issue on them.
"I can tell you two right now that my brothers and sister probably gave their Champions a small taste of what their Aspect can do," Nyx told them, her eyes still narrowed as she seemingly looked far beyond what normal human eyesight could allow. "And trust me, they're probably far more powerful than I could ever be."
"...So you're saying that I'm just screw then," Riku blandly pointed out.
"Oh, not at all. The Aspects are all equal in power. Mine is just... unpredictable," Nyx carefully stated. "You know well enough how it works."
"Oh yeah, you didn't tell me what you can do, now that I thought about it," Shizu stared at him. "Maybe you can-"
"Not now," Riku quickly cut her off. "We're still in danger until Nyx clears us."
Shizu quickly gave way at his words, to which he actually inwardly sighed at having managed to dodge the question. He really didn't want anyone to know what he could do, especially now with how clear it was that he was weak compared to the rest of the other Champions. Still, Shizu was an ally, and if he wanted her to trust him, he should probably at least share what he is and what he could do.