Chapter 113: Steady Growth In Numbers
After a polite nod, Isaac responded to the hardworking goddess. He wasn't surprised by her statement at all. Even though he hadn't known just how close the Loki and Hephaestus Familias were, he had been aware that the two deities were relatively close-knit. They were probably not best friends, but regular friends or very close acquaintances would be appropriate terms. Because of this, back when he had informed Loki about parts of his plan to get himself incarcerated, he had assumed that she would try to convince Hephaestus, who would also be attending the meeting, to go along with it. Of course, this meant that the blacksmithing goddess in front of him knew very well that all of it had been a ruse to confuse the public and a hidden enemy. Considering that Freya had also been clued in to a certain degree, that meant that three out of the eight deities deciding his fate had been 'paid actors'. Everything would have had to go horribly wrong for him to ever not get his wish with this solid of a number of votes already in his pocket.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hephaestus. I hope Loki didn't speak too badly of me."
Looking at his respectful smile and his courteous bearing, the red haired goddess couldn't help but roll her eyes. His behaviour reminded her of her old friend Loki, who sometimes chose to show such a side of her to others as well - needless to say, it was all fake, or at the least overexaggerated. Still, at the very least he wasn't being a jerk.
"Cut it out with those pleasantries, they make me uncomfortable. Anyway, I assume that you're here for a reason?"
Realizing that she probably was in a relative hurry and wanted to finish whatever she had been working on before they had arrived, Isaac didn't beat around the bush. He also chose to respect her wishes, so his demeanour turned a lot more casual and relaxed.
"You're correct. I happen to need some new protective clothing, to be worn underneath pieces of armour that I've commissioned somewhere else. Here is a sketch, if you want to look at it. Aside from that, I heard that you're also a capable bowyer, right? I desperately need a new bow and many thousands of arrows. All of this equipment should be made to Level 7 standard at the very least, and I'll provide most of the materials myself."
Many people weren't aware of this, but Hephaestus wasn't only known for her blacksmithing abilities. In fact, her main Divinity was Craftsmanship, with a few not really developed ones thrown into the mix. Craftsmanship encompassed various fields, some of which reinforced each other, such as blacksmithing, metalworking, metallurgy and technology in general. There was also carpentry, bow making, leatherworking, artistry itself, as well as stone masonry and sculpting. As for her two minor Divinities that looked a little bit out of place at first glance, they were Fire, as well as Volcanoes. Of course, those were just the things that Isaac recalled about his old world's Hephaestus. It was very likely that this woman in front of him surpassed what he had assumed, or had a slightly different skillset. Still, from what Ais had told him, the goddess had indeed been commissioned to make bows and clothing before.
The more of his requests that she heard, the more surprised Hephaestus became. Isaac's sketches of the armour that he would be getting soon helped her a lot with designing the protective clothing that would be worn underneath, so they were highly appreciated. As for that last claim of his… could he really live up to these words?
She didn't have to wait for long to find out, because Isaac told her that he had the materials with him at the moment, but he would need an appropriate space to take them out. He didn't want to ruin this comfortable room with heavy monster parts that weren't entirely without an unpleasant stench. After the goddess led them to an empty room with a resilient floor and good ventilation, he took out various Drop Items from the Glacier Territory's monsters again. He was basically overflowing with them, so he didn't need to hold back on using them. Also, as he had stowed away Baihu's complete corpse, he wouldn't run out of its fur anytime soon.
Just like Goibniu a little earlier, Hephaestus grew excited when she saw the prime materials that she would soon have the opportunity of working with again, and just like the old man, she also didn't inquire about how he had gotten his hands on them. Admittedly, she had her own theories, but she knew that asking for more information would be crossing a line, so she abstained from doing so.
She took some measurements and asked for his specific requirements, then she stated a price: 70 million valis. As she was currently already occupied with another commission, she would only be able to start working on his requests tomorrow, and it would take her another two days to finish everything. A chuckle almost escaped Isaac's lips when he heard this - didn't this mean that all of his equipment would be completed on the same day? It was amusing how things worked out sometimes, and this was a very pleasing development indeed.
After all was said and done, Ais and Isaac bade farewell to Hephaestus and strolled back to the Twilight Manor, taking in the scenery of the city in peace.
Originally, Isaac had debated over whether or not he should ask for a growing weapon from Goibniu, but he had ultimately discarded the idea. In this world, for now, it was an entirely new concept, after all, but that was not what had caused him to make this decision.
While he had known about growing weapons due to the DanMachi novels, and while those would indeed be able to accompany him all the way to the Level cap, they would syphon some of the excelia that he gained to strengthen themselves. This would result in his progress being a bit slower - not by much, mind you, but it would still have an impact.
Waiting for new equipment to be ready before challenging higher difficulty thematic zones or Monster Rexes would also force him to come to a stop for a while every now and then, but overall, there shouldn't be much of a difference between the two scenarios. Aside from that, he would have time to focus on other matters in between, instead of charging straight to the finish line in one go. With how many things that he had to take care of, the occasional breather was highly welcome.
By the time they returned, it was already 4 p.m., so there were only three hours left for Isaac to give pointers to his students and subordinates. Considering that there were still two other matters regarding this group that had to be dealt with before that, he probably wouldn't be able to help them much today - oh well, there were still many days to come, and a little help was better than none at all.
Because there were quite a few people that shouldn't be aware of the fact that he wasn't actually in his cell, even here in the Twilight Manor, Ais went to gather the kids herself, before leading them to the training courtyard that Isaac was already waiting in.
"Wakey-wakey! My subordinates and students are almost here, and it's time for introductions."
While he and Ais had been gone, Titania had used that time to catch up on some much-needed rest. Only after her master shook her a little did she slowly open her eyes, yawn and stretch herself.
Thankfully, she managed to rub the sleep out of her eyes before everyone arrived, or she would have presented herself as more adorable than she would be comfortable with.
Aselina's, Averin's, Jakk's, Kalin's, Lefiya's, Mina's and Quinn's eyes collectively widened in surprise when they saw the massive monster half of Titania's body, but they didn't recoil in fear. Although this situation had been unexpected, they had been confronted with far more mind-boggling sights during the time that they had followed Isaac.
As quite so often, the first one to snap out of it was Mina, who soon wagged her tail happily and charged into her lord's arms, earning herself a few head pats. Even while beaming as if the whole world was an extremely beautiful place and basking in this momentary joy, she still managed to look at Titania with interest and fascination in her eyes.
"Milord, who is that cute plant lady over there?"
Titania almost had a coughing fit when hearing her innocent words and looked at the lovable Chienthrope girl with a flabbergasted expression.
''Cute'? Since when do I look cute!?'
As her thoughts were so painfully apparent, Isaac chuckled to himself before replying.
"She is my newest subordinate, Titania. She is a Demi Spirit, which is basically a mixture of a monster and a spirit. We had originally been enemies, but…"
While he was recounting the heartwarming tale full of totally-not-bullying that led up to gaining his new premium-quality sofa in about as much detail as they all needed to hear, and cautioning them to keep this a secret, he noticed that Aselina was creeping closer, her ears twitching from time to time. Although her expression was about as icy as usual, it was obvious what she wanted.
A sigh escaped Isaac's lips and he smirked slightly, then he raised his other hand and motioned for her to come closer. In a flash, he found himself patting the heads of not only his faithful dog, but also the raccoon that he had stumbled across a little more recently.
'Why do I feel like this is turning into a petting zoo?'
During the time that Isaac's mind was occupied with thoughts like these, Jakk recoiled in surprise at this new development. Aselina had always been a reliable pillar of the group, so to see her behave just like the Isaac-mad Mina - albeit in a different, more expressionless and harder to read way - left him completely astonished. Soon, however, a knowing and somewhat dirty smile appeared on his lips, and he muttered to himself.
"I see, I see. No wonder she said that she 'belongs to him'..."
Next to him, Kalin only shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was already used to the barely-hidden degeneracy of his comrade in arms, and he knew that there would be no point in trying to tell him what was actually going on. The amount of effort that it would take to rescue him from his youthful delusions… it just wasn't worth it.
After Isaac's retelling of events had ended, he let go of the two unwilling animal girls who had been enjoying the head pats for a good while. Then, he collected the books that Aselina, Jakk, Kalin, Lefiya, Mina and Quinn had bought and explained this 'homework' to the new addition, Titania. While she, just like Averin, would be exempt from this for the time being, she would need to perform this duty in the not-too-far off future as well. Currently, however, none of the subordinates was able to roam around freely, due to the presence of the various Blades that were still in the city. Because this matter was out of their hands, he wouldn't blame them for it and collectively excused them from their homework until they could walk the streets again.
"As it has been a while since I last updated your Status, please have a seat, everyone! Let's take a look at how much you've grown."
Pointing in the direction of his obedient new servant, Isaac got everyone to climb on Titania's back, before hastily interrupting them before they could even attempt to take any of their clothes off. Not only would it be embarrassing for them to do such things in front of others, but it also was entirely unnecessary now. After all, there was something that he wanted to attempt.
"Hold on! Please, keep your clothes on, everyone. I'll try something new this time, so just sit down and stay still."
Confusion could be seen in all of their gazes, and this only intensified when Isaac closed his eyes. Moments later, he had a few drops of blood emerge from his pores, before manipulating mana to transport them safely towards the backs of everyone but Ais, Jakk, Lefiya and Titania.
The corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly, partially because he was relieved that he could still perfectly control his Ichor from a distance, just as he had assumed, but also because almost everyone was staring at him with their mouths wide open. Never before had they seen a god use their blood in such a manner! Was he trying to update multiple Status at once, and from afar!? Why 'almost everyone', though? Ais simply wasn't surprised and Aselina was generally not very expressive - as for Titania, she didn't even have any idea about what was going on, or even about what Ichor was or signified.
With even finer control, he had the drops of blood permeate through their clothing without any loss, before directly touching and unlocking their Falnas. He could use two methods to 'see' exactly what he was doing. The first one was to feel the Falnas themselves via his Ichor, and the second one made use of his Eyes of Hermes to directly look at everyone's bare backs.
Yes, this meant that he could technically spy at people's naked bodies as long as they were in range, whenever he wished. Usually, he avoided doing so, however, as he wasn't interested. Only when he suspected there to be danger or for someone to be an enemy of some kind did he behave rudely and scan them in their entirety. Seeing how 'powerful' this ability was, one could only imagine what would happen to Hermes should Asfi ever get wind of the scenery that her god had been able to see each and every day…
'They've been working hard!'
Pleased by what he was observing, Isaac raised his eyebrows. He didn't let himself get distracted for too long, though, and refocused on his current task quickly. Not long after, Aselina, Averin, Kalin, Mina and Quinn felt varying amounts of new strength well up inside of them. The cat boy was the most surprised and needed to heavily focus to withstand the massive increase that he had just experienced.
[ Name: Aselina Sceaga ]
[ Familia: Loki Familia ]
[ Affiliation: Isaac Blackshaw's Subordinate (Retainer) ]
[ Race: Raccoon People ]
[ Level: 2 ]
[ Age: 18 ]
[ Loyalty: 80 -> 95/100 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: S-909 -> S-924 (3,282) ]
[ Endurance: S-905 -> S-922 (3,275) ]
[ Dexterity: C-652 -> A-887 (2,806) ]
[ Agility: C-610 -> A-891 (2,772) ]
[ Magic: I-0 (0) ]
[ Magic ]
[ None ]
[ Skills ]
[ None ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Abnormal Resistance: I ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Swordsman ]
[ Name: Averin ]
[ Familia: Isaac Familia ]
[ Affiliation: Isaac Blackshaw's Subordinate (Retainer, Familia) ]
[ Race: Jack Bird Variant ]
[ Level: 2 ]
[ Age: 38 -> 42 days ]
[ Loyalty: 85 -> 99/100 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: H-135 -> E-482 (1,396) ]
[ Endurance: H-148 -> D-510 (1,404) ]
[ Dexterity: G-201 -> E-493 (1,559) ]
[ Agility: I-11 -> H-175 (2,600) ]
[ Magic: I-0 -> I-24 (51) ]
[ Magic ]
[ None ]
[ Skills ]
[ Atalantan Accelerate ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Beak Fighter: I -> H ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Abnormal Resistance, Chain Attack ]
[ Name: Kalin Myre ]
[ Familia: Isaac Familia ]
[ Affiliation: Isaac Blackshaw's Subordinate (Familia) ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Age: 15 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: B-759 -> B-751 -> SSS-1,254 ]
[ Endurance: D-506 -> E-498 -> SS-1,059 ]
[ Dexterity: A-870 -> A-862 -> SSS-1,295 ]
[ Agility: A-808 -> A-800 -> SSS-1,203 ]
[ Magic: I-68 -> I-60 -> D-521 ]
[ Magic ]
[ None ]
[ Skills ]
[ None ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Abnormal Resistance, Spearman ]
[ Name: Mina Teagle ]
[ Familia: Isaac Familia ]
[ Affiliation: Isaac Blackshaw's Subordinate (Retainer, Familia) ]
[ Race: Chienthrope ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Age: 16 ]
[ Loyalty: 100/100 ]
[ Devotion: 24 -> 30/100 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: B-739 -> SS-1,083 (+ 67,601 x 0.003) ]
[ Endurance: C-646 -> S-947 (+ 67,601 x 0.003) ]
[ Dexterity: A-829 -> SSS-1,190 (+ 67,601 x 0.003) ]
[ Agility: B-701 -> SS-1,019 (+ 67,601 x 0.003) ]
[ Magic: G-270 -> C-677 (+ 67,601 x 0.003) ]
[ Magic ]
[ None ]
[ Skills ]
[ Reverential Resonance ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Abnormal Resistance, Swordsman ]
[ Name: Quinn Graham ]
[ Familia: Isaac Familia ]
[ Affiliation: Isaac Blackshaw's Subordinate (Retainer, Familia) ]
[ Race: Cat People ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Age: 14 ]
[ Loyalty: 75 -> 85/100 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: H-152 -> C-637 ]
[ Endurance: H-144 -> C-629 ]
[ Dexterity: H-163 -> C-649 ]
[ Agility: H-148 -> C-632 ]
[ Magic: I-74 -> B-776 ]
[ Magic ]
[ None ]
[ Skills ]
[ Berserker ]
[ Development Abilities ]
[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Swordsman ]
Although Aselina's Status had seen noticeable improvement, it really wasn't much. Because she had been babysitting Kalin and Mina together with Averin, in floors where she could barely earn any stats, the amount of excelia that she had gained was already incredible. Luckily, from what could be seen from everyone else's Status, she would soon get a chance to truly grow.
Averin was much in the same boat as Aselina, but as he had only excelled in one stat before - Agility. He had used this time to hone his other stats thoroughly. Still, because he hadn't really encountered many challenges that actually provided him with excelia, his Agility had barely risen. Somehow, however, he had managed to upgrade the grade of his Development Ability, which usually was almost impossible for most people to do. He had to have been fighting tooth, or rather, beak and nail for that to happen.
Like before, Kalin had lost a few points in every stat - eight this time - to the unassuming stone ring on his necklace. Still, he had come extremely close to the stat limit, breaking through the 'limit' that regular adventurers deluded themselves into accepting with ease. Isaac's training definitely had been effective, else he never would have been capable of fighting opponents that were that far stronger than himself. He was still a few small steps away from ranking up, but it wouldn't be much longer now.
As for Mina, although she had experienced about the same growth curve as Kalin, she had an OP boon that he wasn't blessed with - the Skill 'Reverential Resonance'. Due to Isaac's vastly improved stats and her higher Devotion stat, she now got an additional 203 points added to all five main stats' totals, enabling her to barely surpass her spear-wielding companion.
Lastly, there was Quinn. His improvement was absolutely massive, although it didn't look as impressive at first glance. Still, from what Isaac had been told, Quinn could now somewhat control his 'Berserker' Skill up to a multiplier of 2.2 without losing the last bits of his rationale. He was usually quiet and restrained, and some people barely even took note of him - and yet, he had been working the hardest. Keeping a cool head while being consumed by rage and being capable of making sound decisions in such a state was incredibly hard for most people, yet he had somehow managed to do it for many hours on end. While in his 'buffed' state, he now actually surpassed both Kalin and Mina in stats. He had made it all the way to the tenth floor before this update, while the other two had arrived on the 17th floor some time ago. After helping him rush through the next few floors, the group would finally be able to advance together!
What Isaac had taken note of as well was that almost everyone's Magic stats had increased. For most of them, this was likely a sign that they had thought and strategized a lot - they had most definitely picked that up from him. As for Quinn, his growth in this stat surpassed them all yet again. The mental effort needed to stay rational in his Berserker-sate was indubitably nigh unfathomable, and overcoming these difficulties had brought him this far. Out of all of his subordinates, Quinn probably had the strongest motive for growth, so Isaac wasn't taken aback by the boy towering over the rest.
When he was finished, Isaac opened his eyes and quickly wrote down a stat sheet for everyone. He gave them some advice and quelled their worries, until everyone was content and had recovered from the major changes that their bodies had just gone through. Before the training began, he told the group to help Quinn with clearing the last few floors that still separated him from the rest, so that they could move in one unit afterwards.
Anyway, before he could begin, there was one last thing. With an approving smile, Isaac walked up to his ex-roommate and patted his shoulder.
"By the way, Jakk. Congrats on ranking up to Level 3!"
A smirk played across the Hume Bunny youth's lips and he shrugged slightly, as if telling himself that the current situation couldn't be helped. Seeming as if he had been wronged, he sighed heavily.
"I originally wanted to surprise you while sparring, but you already saw through me now. What a shame..."
Isaac only shook his head and turned around, before making his way to the center of the courtyard and clapping his hands.
"Alright, let's begin!"
-----
At around 8 p.m., after everyone had eaten a sumptuous dinner, the various Executives and above, plus Isaac and Lefiya, slowly began to congregate in Loki's study, to discuss everything that had happened one more time and in more detail. Last time, Isaac hadn't been here, and they hadn't had the time to calmly consider everything, so even though this meeting most likely wouldn't be very impactful, it was still a necessary procedure.
"By the way, I didn't see you two at all today. Where did you go?"
A bit confused, Tiona tilted her head and looked at Ais and Isaac, who sat right next to her. Remembering the happy date that they had enjoyed, the golden haired beauty smiled widely and didn't bother hiding anything.
"We went out to commission new equipment for Isaac. Our first stop was the Goibniu Familia… Why are you looking at me like that?"
Confused by her friend's uncharacteristically grumpy and angry look, Ais interrupted herself, unsure of what was going on. Tiona only rolled her eyes and harrumphed coldly, not meeting her gaze. Still, it was obvious that despite all of this, she wasn't really mad - she just wanted to make Ais realize that she had messed up.
"Hmph! I told you that I need to fix my Urga. I also told you that I wanted to come along when you two visit Lord Goibniu, and you agreed. But of course, you forgot…"
With an overly dramatic pained smile, Tiona shook and subsequently lowered her head, before stealthily glancing at Ais from the corner of her eye.
For a moment, Ais was stumped, then a slight bit of guilt appeared in her eyes and she furrowed her brows.
"... oh."
On the couch next to them, Riveria quietly listened to the two's playful banter with a slight but amused smile.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shiro_the_Hero
Shiro_the_Hero If you happen to be one of the few people that don't enjoy reading Status windows, you'll probably skip quite a huge chunk of this chapter. Anyway, I hope you still enjoyed it! \o/
I love writing about the subordinates and students~
-----
Check out my novel series "Reincarnation Cycle's Unfortunate Bug" on Amazon:
-> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYHGRR8M/ <-
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sh1ro
-----
Shameless self-promotion aside, I hope you have a wonderful, fantastic day!! o/
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone