Hades smiled at the sleeping Hestia. She had fainted after the... sixth nine round? Or another one. Frankly, he was in the moment, so he didn't notice, though a part of him noticed how she had stopped moaning. Idly playing with her red hair, he checked the time, not with a clock or anything like that, but using his connection to the Underworld.
The amount of information he could get with just a simple thought was actually impressive. He could say correctly how many human souls were present in the underworld, in all sections of it. How many Daemons existed, including the ones yet to be born. He knew he made the right call with the enchanted fertility.
Male and female Daemons are more fertile than normal humans, with single copulation being enough for them to get pregnant, with the gestation period being of two months. Though he had plans to reduce it, it would need more research on the improvement of their biology. He doesn't want his army to have a sudden drop in quality after all.
His aim is for them to achieve a balance between quality and quantity. Having a billion powerful army is one thing, another is having a billion powerful army that fights like veterans.
Hestia stirred in her sleep, and her eyes opened with visible tiredness through when she saw him. "Good morning, my love," she said, her voice full of adoration. He answered with a hungry kiss, which caused her to moan in his mouth before they broke apart.
"Can you handle another round with me, dear sister?"
"I think I can, but you have duties to attend, don't you?"
"Not really. I made so the Underworld can somewhat organize itself without me. It would take something drastic to make me interfere," Hades explained. Really, he didn't want to waste his immortal life judging a never ending strew of souls or never ending complaints, so he made so that both could handle each other.
The Balance was a streamlined method of judging. Fast and efficient, it would take tens of millions dying daily for it to suffer strain, which since humanity was barely in their hundreds of thousands as of now, it wasn't a legitimate concern. And the clans could deal with any member of their clan as they saw fit unless ordered by yours truly.
"So that means I have you all by myself~?"
"Correction, you have me for four days, remember Hecate?"
"Oh yeah," she said sheeply, feeling bad that she had forgotten about the Goddess of Magic, Sorcery, among other things. "Also, when you are going to talk with the Furies?"
"Why would I talk with the Furies?"
She looked at him with a gaze that held immense annoyance. "Are you really that blind?"
"Of course I am not," Hades said, and he really wasn't. He suspected that they were into him, but Hestia's words made it seem that it was more obvious than he expected. Oh well, at least he wasn't as dense as an anime protagonist. "And yes, I will 'talk' with them. But before that, are you really okay with me having multiple women?"
"Well now, considering that I will definitively need help to handle you, yes, I am," She said with a bit of mirth in her voice, before she looked at him with loving eyes "Also I told you I want a big family"
"Now that we are done with that," She started stroking his cock, "Shall we begin again. I need you inside me"
Hades showed a little smirked. "Very well then. Hope you don't faint this time"
Hestia gave a cry of embarrassment that was soon replaced by moans.
****
Four days later, Hades teleported himself out of the Underworld with little fanfare, only saying goodbye to Hestia for now (since she lived in the Underworld now), and talking with the furies for them to meet in his office after he returned. Yeah, he built an office mainly for the feel of having one instead of actually using. They were confused, but obeyed his orders.
It didn't take long for him to find Hecate's home. Standing in front of of the entrance, he waited a little before magical runes that composed the 'door' opened signaling that he could enter.
Once more he meets the Goddess of Witchcraft, who looked the same as she did the last time, not that he expected her to change her attire or appearance, anyway. After all, he was only here to study magic, not take her to a date.
"So you returned after all," Hecate said, looking directly at him.
"I said I would, didn't I" Hades said back, it seems that those five days were simply a test to see if he would or wouldn't come back, it was a good thing he was dead-set on learning magic or whatever the godly equivalent of it was.
"Yes, you did. Now let us begin your training," She said, standing her hand. "Sit with me"
Hades did just that, sitting on the hard but not uncomfortable ground.
"First, we must start with the basics. One you must understand is that magic itself is harmless. It is how you use it that matters, whether it is for destruction or healing," Hecate explained. "Two magic is everywhere. It can't be seen with the eyes of someone that only focuses on the material world but on those who learned to see more, and that is what I am going to teach you today"
Hades nodded, feeling that the information was enlightening in its own way. And it explained a few things, such as how magicians their stuff. Sorcerers, it seemed, used magical artifacts or items to display their power, wizards on the other hand used the power that was already there.
"Close eyes, and focus. There is something there beyond the physical that you can't see or touch but it is there but you have to see it," Hecate said, watching as Hades closed his eyes and tried to awaken his Witchsight.
She knew he wouldn't take long. Those that possessed divinity within themselves were naturally attuned to magic, even if they never knew that all parts of them had a bit of magic in them, minuscule as it was.
Even then, he will probably take a few minutes to-
"Done"
Hecate blinked. "Huh, three seconds, it was faster than I expected"
Hades stared at her, both with his physical and metaphysical eyes, and he found himself awed by what he was staring at. Hecate wasn't simply the goddess of magic, she was magic. A vortex of magical power that was constantly spewing and absorbing magic all around her.
A snap brought him out of his musings.
"It isn't good to stare," Hecate said to him, and if Hades wasn't still trying to get his bearings by what he saw, he might have noticed the light blush upon Hecate's face.
Hecate coughed on her first before looking at him again. "Okay, now that you can see magic, it is time you learn how to use it, again let's start with the basics. I am teaching you elemental magic. 'Grasp' the magic and try to mould it using your imagination into one of the four basic elements"
Hades once more looked at the magical lines and rivers around him and tried to do that. 'Grasping' the magic and through his mind trying to mould it into the shape that he wanted it. It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it.
Soon, a small ball of fire was floating in his hand. He didn't know why, but he felt it differed from the flames that he could use. It brought to mind the hellfire that was common in the underworld.
"Different, isn't it?" Hecate asked, bringing him out of his daze. "That is magic for you, because different from the flames wielded even by gods, those flames are more like more the concept of fire"
"More like?" He asked her.
"Yes, it is connected to the concept of fire better than most, but it's not it, not truly the Parliament would be so confused if it was"
Hades raised an eyebrow, which Hecate noticed, and waved her hand. "I will explain to you the order of things later, for now focus on manifesting the other elements"
Hades was still a bit confused, though a part of him felt a sense of déjà vu, but he didn't understand why, so he simply focused on manifesting the other elements.
Yeah, I am not dead, and yes I will continue to update this (I hope) but I can only promise a single chapter per week, maybe more if my mood of writing is great at the time.