Chapter 6
"And you're absolutely sure that we won't suffer from our hereditary disease anymore?"
"For the last freaking time, the answer is yes! If you don't believe me then any one of you can volunteer as tribute, I mean, as the control group and go without the Spring of Life for a couple of decades and see how that goes!"
Killing the giant dark-purple tentacle sludge monster known as the 'Swamp King' plaguing the town of Veltane was the easy part. Convincing all the townspeople that I had also successfully healed them with the AOE effect of my [Staff of Asclepius] so that they wouldn't need to stay near the Spring of Life, which the Swamp King had attached itself to, in order to live past 30 years old was an entirely different ballgame.
They were still resistant even with the sole local goddess Bheara testifying to the truth of my words. To be completely fair, it was understandable for them to be stuck in a state of disbelief when I just dealt with the monster and its corruption of the land in a matter of minutes like it was nothing.
Their ancestors have taught that they had a chronic hereditary disease that shortened their life spans and that they couldn't live without the spring of life, whose waters could heal wounds, restore resistances and heal diseases, allowing them to fight off the disease. When the Swamp King invaded the place and latched on to the magic spring, they couldn't leave their home lest they died young and they were too weak to defeat the monster, especially when it could regenerate using the Spring of Life's power.
Their only solution was the ritual offered by the goddess Bheara that consisted of crossing the blood of multiple races to create a sacrifice forcing it into a decades-long slumber, such a ritual was repeated for centuries, and then came along I, Dio, who eliminated the source of all their problems in one fell swoop!
If they had been arrogant cultivators from Xianxia novels then they would have started saying things like 'Im-Impossible!" or "This cannot be!" like a broken record.
Uskari, the Captain of the Bheara Familia, placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a small smile, "It's alright. Everyone will come around eventually. You've done enough and they'll be grateful in due time."
One of the few saving graces besides the presence of Airi and Artemis was the very calm and reasonable Elf in front of me. He may not be fatty but I'm going to designate him as my new best male friend.
"Dio… Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sorry Uskari, I was just measuring your body to figure out the best mix of spirit energy pills to feed you."
"While I appreciate your generous spirit please don't talk about distributing drugs so casually!"
Blasphemy! Who could ever reject free Cultivation boosting pills given to them by the MC?
If this were a Cultivation world then you would have been making me your sworn brother after I gave you a better Cultivation technique and some free pills because of the sheer scarcity of generosity in those types of worlds.
"Okay fine. But can you help me out in testing my new Elven physique specific, Body Tempering Art? I call it the Nine Steps Ljósálfar Body." I ask my green-haired elf friend of a favor that is far beneath the value of freeing Veltane with an earnest expression.
"Ah, that sounds a lot safer, that won't be a problem." Uskari's expression was getting increasingly troubled, hmm, that means I can still ask for more!
"One more thing, let's take this opportunity to exchange pointers so that we may gain some enlightenment and become more profound in the way of battle."
"Excuse me?"
"I want to spar with you, learn from how you fight, and see what kind of magic you use so that I can copy it."
"Haa…? Fine, I suppose that's alright. It's not as if it will make much difference to your strength." Uskari agreed to my request quite readily, looks like asking for a fight actually relieved him more than exasperating him.
I guess I can see why that's the case. It's much easier to deal with a miracle worker that asks for a couple of minor favors in return instead of one that came barging in and expected nothing as a reward.
"That being said, Veltane's blades are tempered in the harshest mountains and poisons, do you still wish for me to enlighten you on the ways of violence?"
"Come at me with everything you have!"
"Fine then! Become a sword, devoted hearth of steel!"
A blade of wind was materialized as he completed the chant for his personal spell Uska Nori, I allowed his blade to strike me with enough force to send me flying, I calmly focused on his movements as he followed up with more attacks, pushing me out into the mountains surrounding the town.
"I see, so that's it…" I copied his spell and wordlessly manifested a blade of wind to match his own, "Your spell is a manifestation of your devotion to duty, to Veltane, how long have you been fighting for the sake of your people?"
"I had a blade in my hand since I was a six-year-old child, so I'll say nearly 80 years."
He didn't hesitate to slip his blade past mine to strike my eyes, his attack was still utterly ineffective as the blade couldn't penetrate my eyes, but his sheer combat experience was apparent. It was a vicious style of combat that targeted an enemy's most vulnerable spots, one that suited the harsh environments created by the Swamp King and his spawn, given that they were basically sludge monsters with eyeballs, tentacles, and claws.
"Tuvalo!"
The blade of wind expanded suddenly and exploded, I wasn't surprised, as I could see the process of the spell as it happened. The power of the explosion was still far below my base stats as Uskari was only Level 4, the equivalent of a peak mid-class devil back in my world.
"That wasn't part of the original spell. I see, so wresting control over your personal spell's power lets you expand its functions, it's something I've seen before when observing other mages of this world."
I swiped my hand and blew away the chunks of earth he flung at me to obscure my vision, then created a blade of wind behind my neck to block his silent sneak attack, when he used the short distraction created by both actions to maneuver behind me when my sight was blocked for the briefest of moments.
"For your information, I'm still using the same spell, but instead of using a chant to control the magic power flow and form the spell, I'm directly controlling my flow of magic to match the magical frequency of your spell."
Uskari stopped his attacks and gave me a pensive look, "You use some unfamiliar terms, but from what I'm hearing, you're saying that every spell has a pattern and that you can directly manipulate the flow of your magic to form that pattern, thereby casting any spell you want."
I grinned widely, pleased that my fellow (future) Daoist has gained some form of enlightenment in our brief battle, "You understand the heart of the matter. And I'm sure you also understand what I'm offering now…"
"... Yes, you made your point. Now that Veltane is free and that the poisonous mists have been cleared, our 'nation' would now be open to other countries, which means we'll have to defend ourselves."
"And while your Familia certainly is strong by the standards of other countries you have a disadvantage of numbers. You won't be able to protect the Spring of Life if some other country decides to claim it from you. Even if you do not need it anymore, it still is an important part of your people's history and culture."
"You forget that some still do not believe that we are free from the disease, but for what it's worth, I believe you and agree with what must be done."
"Call a meeting with all your Familia members tomorrow. I'll teach everyone of you how to directly manipulate magic, discover your personal spells much like activating a blank Grimoire and then give you some spells to learn in your own time."
"You sure do a throughout job… but I can't say I'm not grateful."
I went for several drinks with my new male elf best friend afterward before returning to the lodgings provided by the Bheara Familia, where Airi and Artemis had been resting after helping out in clearing the Swamp King's minions.
The two of them had already changed into their nightwear and looked somewhat grumpy as they silently played on the portable video game consoles I had prepared for them.
Spoiler: Artemis nightgown
"Let me guess, Bheara?"
Artemis grumpily hugged the pillow I made just for her, turned to her side while heading to the save point in her game, with how distracted she looked it was obvious that she was still ruminating on some matter.
"I forgot how maliciously honest she was. Tch…"
I looked at Airi, who looked like she wanted to punch something, "That weirdo said some things that… we kinda knew about, but in a bad way…"
Turns out that the local goddess didn't mince words when it came to Artemis' still remaining manhater ways and Airi's inferiority complex to her other siblings when they went about speaking with her despite my warnings on the goddess.
Bheara honestly provided good advice despite her harsh words. I appreciated that the two managed to learn something without me involved in it so that they wouldn't grow too dependent on me. It would be a shame if they failed to any progress without me being there.
Knowing that they had meaningful interactions without me involved is like having off-screen character development that would only be covered in side-stories. Not the best thing in the world, but it's still better than character regression or stagnancy.
That said…as helpful as her words may turn out, I should still get back at her one way or another for offending my wives. I may not care about 'face' here but I still need to do something for honor's sake.
Eh, I'll just teleport a whoopie cushion just before she seats down. That should be enough.
No need to beat up her Familia members or anything.
A week later…
"Okay, the Loga clan have been sorted out."
"That was quick!"
Airi exclaimed as she was just about to get started on the pack of marshmallows after starting up a campfire.
I finished the 'escape item' and Sacred Gear insertion procedures for the entire clan in a matter of minutes. My homeworld may be utter shit in terms of soul damaging or removal methods but they were pretty good when it comes to sealing things within souls. Naturally, I had developed both ways of manipulating the soul to even greater heights.
"As I said, it wouldn't be a lengthy process. Handling the aftermath is always the time-consuming part. I'm sure your parents had shared some stories of their first year as devils. All they did was fight and kick ass while all the adults handled the lengthy clean-up."
With a childlike, innocent tone, Artemis started asking all sorts of questions about Airi's background. Airi could only provide a second-hand account, but thanks to my ability to view our world's past, I had the perfect excuse as to why I could provide better detail into her parent's school days and shenanigans.
Using my altered World Crossing spell to show events in a timeline through a magical viewing screen just made the experience better.
"My mother was turned into a man!?" Airi screamed at the sight of Asia Argento turning into a guy when Issei was hospitalized by the common Devil Flu.
"Azazel's Gender-Swap Raygun truly was the most powerful invention of the former Governor-General… I truly looked up to the mad evil scientist. May his soul rest in peace."
"Uncle Azazel isn't dead! Don't write him off like that!"
"His smile may be friendly but I can't help but feel revulsion by just looking at him…" Artemis's instincts were spot on, while the man was truly working towards peace and was great to hang out with, it didn't change the fact he was an utter pervert and a mad scientist with enough horrible experiments that made human war criminals look like kids in comparison.
"It's alright to trust your instincts, just so long as you keep in mind that what you're feeling isn't just a result of their gender. If anything, I fully believe in your judgment on this one."
"Why do you admire him then?"
"He still made some pretty nifty stuff. Mhmm, the genderswap gun is still the best…"
"Hawawa! Is that Uncle Yuuto?!"
"For the record, your father was definitely attracted to 'Yumi Kiba' at that time."
Airi started blabbering about how her father was definitely not spending time with Vali and Yuuto in 'that way' despite me not saying a word about it.
Artemis tapped her fist into her hand and went "Oh!"
"Hmm?"
The goddess looked straight at me with an understanding expression, "I can see why you were avoiding your father-in-law now until then."
Artemis is oddly innocent about such matters, I guess it's a result of merging with her much mellow 'residue', but it's pretty charming.
Even so, I'll take this opportunity and play along.
I made a troubled expression and said, "It has been said that Issei Hyoudou had a 'rival harem', as I had my heart set on my wife, I did everything I could to avoid being drawn into his harem gravity field."
Airi's mortified expression made me want to laugh as her imagination went wild.
"Hey, that's a lie." Artemis pointed out and poked my cheek in response.
"Yeah, I really just didn't want to get beat up or have him separate Airi and I."
"You… you… Dioooooooooooo!"
Airi launched a tickle assault at me! Not wanting to be outdone, I retaliated and also dragged Artemis into the battle!
We had to run away a few minutes later because we kind of ignored the Loga clan that was still nearby until they picked up on our presence and started to chase after us.
A few months later…
It took a while to make slavery unprofitable after discreetly freeing all the slaves and settling them within a hidden realm right in the middle of the Kaios Desert region. Sorry, Kaios Rainforest region, I kinda terraformed the entire land after replacing most of the sand with conjured earth and minerals expected from a rainforest. I had also made sure to place some environmental spells that would keep the region stable for at least a thousand years.
After performing my duty as a modern OP protagonist, I went on to transform the peninsula where the country of Telskyura and the amazons were located into a tropical rainforest zone. The culture was too entrenched at this point to use pure economic means to eliminate slavery, I was tempted to set a country-wide Rating Game-based spell that would prevent fatal attacks but figured that it wouldn't really deter the Amazons from killing each other.
It would probably be better to delegate the duty of civilizing that particular part of the continent to someone else. Although to be fully honest, the real reason why I didn't get more deeply involved is that both Airi and Artemis disapproved of me accidentally attracting Amazons and making them fall in love with me.
A side project of mine was the modification of Hyazning, a forest island located in a giant lake in the remote frontiers of the continent. Previously there were two kingdoms, one of White Elves and the other of Dark Elves, which constantly fought between them until they mutually destroyed. I had effectively sealed the area off with special boundary field spells that made other mortals and monsters ignore the place, fixed up the land surrounding the giant lake, and created some artificial leylines using my tremendous power.
The project was largely done as a place to dump any large number of people I would save in the next couple of years so that they can live and create a new life in a relatively peaceful world.
One of my last big projects outside of Orario was to visit Altena, a country famed for it's magic, and deliver my 'revolutionary' method of mastering magical energy instead of trying to master individual spells. I basically barged into a big debate with all those old looking wizards, denounced their 'outdated' ways, showed off my magic, and then taught my method to a couple of volunteers.
The local gods that updated my temporary apprentices status were shocked to discover a new Skill denoting their magic mastery and that their already acquired spells being labeled 'redundant' since they could just cast them without the chants now that they've mastered the utilization of mastering magic.
Of course, teaching the method to others themselves were a bit more difficult, since I had practically cheated with some artifacts that made it easier for them to sense magical energy when I was teaching them. I left some magical artifacts and spells with them that would teach them everything essential and leave them to develop in their own ways afterward.
"I am not looking forward to going back to school." Airi remarked as she completed her sixth package that she would have me send to her family. With how long we were staying in this world, we were pretty much updating them on our adventurers every couple of hours.
"You know, you could try out some academies in the Education District."
"Nooooooooo~! School sucks! Let's just test out or something…"
Airi has finally understood the appeal of ditching school and going on adventures.
I'm so proud of her! *Sniff*
"Is school truly that bad?" Artemis has yet to know the horrors of being surrounded by teenagers and being placed in the Japanese Education system.
"It's good if you're a normal human… er, it kinda depends even then. But for someone overpowered like me and for Airi that has a taste of adventure…"
"Then there's no true appeal in being restrained by an institution, especially when you have learned things beyond what could be taught in a small room."
"Right on the mark Artemis. Say, now that we're back in Orario, is there anyone you want to meet up with?"
"Not reall- haa… I suppose meeting up with Demeter wouldn't be too bad."
Artemis is becoming more sociable!
"That sounds wonderful. You should be quick though, the Goddess Festival will be held in a few days, so I expect her to be quite busy with preparations."
The Goddess Festival was a festival that lasted for three days every year. Its purpose is to honor the goddesses of harvest, there were five of them in Orario. Freya, Demeter, Ishtar, Hathor, and Damia.
The streets would be lined up with the current year's fall harvest crops. As long as they had a Guild purchased badge (for a cheap price of 1000 Valis) anyone could take any food they wanted for free. There were even shops mixed in with food stalls that would bake bread out of the wheat they took and cooked other types of food for them as long as they had all the ingredients they need.
I was honestly excited about the festival since it'll be a great opportunity to take Airi and Artemis out on a date.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll be heading out now then."
"Alright, wait, do you have your enchanted suit and escape items with you?"
"Hehe, of course. You're such a worrywart, Dio." Artemis kissed me goodbye, "But I love that side of you too."
After waving Artemis goodbye, I turned around and asked Airi, "Airi, do you want to head out anywhere?"
"You go on ahead. I'm just going to finish this month's video."
I'll take that as permission to go out and Cultivate then!
Before I did so, I decided to visit a restaurant frequented by Adventurers, just to keep up with the latest gossip. For some reason, however, a lot of customers were leaving the restaurant with a disgruntled look.
"Huh, what's up?"
"Fucking occupied that's what! The crazy bastard from the Zeus Familia took over the kitchen so no one's orders are coming anytime soon."
Oh? Now, this is interesting...
I entered the nearly deserted restaurant and found that the kitchen was occupied by a single man. I could tell that he was powerful and could keep up with me using only Touki from a glance.
"Hmm, no, needs more anti-toxin… a bit too sour, some sugar will be needed…"
Is he cooking monster meat? The only time a monster would leave behind its body is if it were born in the wild from monsters that escaped the dungeon. This guy… is an innovator.
No, wait, what is this?! His cooking technique, his precise seasoning, and masterful control of heat… it's like staring at a master… no, it's more than that! If my cooking were to be ranked as a 5-Star Mortal Chef Realm then this man was in the middle stage of the Immortal Chef Realm!
I feel like I have just gained some pointers to break through the bottlenecks in my cooking technique!
"Finally! Some good fucking food!"
He dug into his own meal with enthusiasm and savored the taste. I see, so he was unsatisfied with the meals offered and decided to cook his own, his taste buds must be comparable to the 'God's Tongue' from Shokugeki no Soma!
"Excuse me…"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think you can do anything with this?"
I took out the corpse of an Indigo Scaled Sea Dragonoid from my interspatial ring and tossed it onto the ground.
"What the…!"
"A magical artifact of mine, we can discuss that later. What do you think you can do with this?"
"I have never seen this kind of monster before… hmm, you are an interesting one."
"I may answer your questions if you cook me a worthy meal."
"Challenge accepted. Wait, who are you?"
"Dio Dorana. And you?"
"Zald, an Executive of the Zeus Familia."
"Yes, well, get cooking."
He stared at me for a moment like a predator looking at his next meal, I snorted and pointed at the kitchen. The man that could eat the flesh of monsters and man alike in order to gain power smirked at my response, then took the corpse to the kitchen as I wished.
I never seriously thought about branching out to cooking the mutated monsters in my pocket dimensions anytime soon, but with how good Zald made the meal without losing much of its spiritually rich content, I may just change my mind and refocus my attention towards cooking.
"Uuuuuoooooh! Delicious!!!!"
"I concur. I haven't tasted such a fine meal in ages."
"It's not just that! My body is brimming with power, my Skill had never granted me such a large boost with cooked meals before, that corpse you brought is something special."
"Heh. Naturally. Well, you'll find out more in due time, after the harvest festival."
"And what if I want my answers now?"
I challenged him to an arm-wrestling contest and beat him by combining both Touki and magic reinforcement. He acknowledged my strength and let me go without any trouble after that.
Straightforward warrior fellows were the best to deal with sometimes.
After getting sidetracked, I decided to put off my Cultivation for a bit and scout out an abandoned church for future roleplay sex with my wife Airi.
There were, oddly enough, already two people inside of the usually empty church.
"Ahahaha! Stop it, I can't, I'm laughing too hard!"
"That just means my Lady Hera act is that brilliant!"
There was a cute silver-haired, green-eyed girl happily spending time with a black-haired, red-eyed man that looked a bit like a ruffian. I could tell that the two of them were in love instantly.
"Hello there!" The two of them almost screamed at my entrance as I jumped through the open doors of the church. "I see the two of you are on time, now then, let's get this wedding ceremony on the road!"
"W-w-wedding!?" "Oh my! Is this why you called me out here…" "N-no, I wasn't going to-" "Huh? You weren't…?" "Wait, you want to…"
The confident-looking jokester was a bit less sure of her feelings for him than I thought he was.
"You two make a lovely couple."
They blushed in response. Ah, young love… wait, now I'm sounding like an old man…
"I, well, thanks but… I don't think we can get married…"
"Mostly for the sake of his continued wellbeing."
"My wellbeing? You don't have to worry about me, I'm the master at running away! It's your health that everyone's concerned about if Lady Hera and your sister found out then-"
"Oh? So you have a sickness of some sort?"
Turns out the girl had a congenital disease that made her weak and tired almost all the time, to the point that she was not even able to leave her room at times.
I took out my [Staff of Asclepius] and healed her instantly. She felt the surge of energy and lack of weakness instantly, the girl grabbed her companions and dragged him along in a dance that she always wanted to try out.
I left a note about the specifics of my healing and that they can check out her condition with a doctor if they wanted confirmation. I also included my name and address in case there were any unexpected complications and that I would treat her further if required.
It was natural that I would help out members of the Hera and Zeus Familia, or more specifically, Bell Cranel's parents.
Ah, first day back at Orario and I'm already setting up for future events involving the Zeus and Hera Familia, all without any planning whatsoever.
As expected, my protagonist luck is the cheat ability among cheats!
The payout came earlier than expected, however, when the acquaintances I met that day came knocking on my door the night before the Goddess Festival began.
Spoiler: Alfia
Along with someone that looked extremely similar to the girl I healed that day.
Only instead of looking extremely cute like the previous girl, Alfia was beautiful to the point that of making me question my preference for blonde-haired pretty girls, just for a moment.
"Huh, guess you were the same person." Zald seemed pleasantly surprised. Bell Cranel's would-be father had naturally informed his superiors of the miracle that had occurred since Meteria had been healed.
"Were you the one that healed Meteria?" Alfia straight out asked for confirmation of my identity.
Meteria, the girl that looked as cute as a bunny, pouted and pinched her older twin sister's cheek, "Sister… don't be so rude!"
The Monster of Talent, Level 7 Executive of the Hera Familia, was instantly defeated by her Level 1 sister.
I can see where Bell Cranel got his cuteness from. Such cuteness is truly a dangerous weapon!
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Jan 20, 2021Report
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