Chapter 11: Honesty and a Promise

(This chapter was uploaded Sunday 28/May/2023 5:30 PM, time zone GMT+3)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the notes at the end of the chapter.

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"..." small moment of silence

"Talking"

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Thinking or mental conversations'

[Abilities' names, chanting and spells' names]

{System}

<System Panels>

Don't shy from commenting on a typo or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

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From the previous chapter:

"As you wish" Ottar signaled one of his fellow familia members to take his place as the guardian until he returned. He was going to tail their tracks and come back. It was easier than tracking monsters on the ever-shifting sand of the dungeon floors.

...

After a few minutes of silence, Ottar returned. "I have found their hiding place. Should I lead the way?"

"Please do" Nephelont replied in confirmation.

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"Lia, I must come clean" Nephelont confessed. He wanted to hide it, but that may have hurt Eucleia's feelings later.

"What.. do you mean, Kounéli? You have been honest your whole life" Eucleia was confused. She was involuntarily using her lie detector all her life. Nephelont's words were always truthful to her.

"I think I know where your thoughts went. You were thinking "How was he dishonest while telling the truth?", right? Well, about that, I was talking in half truths. I told you that me knowing that language "may have been due to that dream", and that I "may have forgotten it". Those're only maybes and mayhaps. I remember the dream, but it was not the reason I knew the language. If you didn't remember it by now, it means that you already started forgetting my memories. It was a language from a game. I'll remind you of it later"

"Umm. Thank you" Eucleia smiled. It was all it took for Nephelont to be embarrassed.

As they walked, Nephelont's hand reached for Eucleia's. They held hands whilst walking in blissful silence.

'System, tell me all changes made by Akatosh'

{To begin with, Akatosh added a new part to master's soul. The newly added part will completely fuse with master's soul over time. The new soul is a dov's soul. The way master's abilities and magic work, excluding the divine ones, was also altered. The ones that already exist did not experience change themselves, but the ones master acquires later will require a chant using words of power. Words master gad heard the meaning of will work. But otherwise, master needs to ponder upon them, upon their meaning. Lastly, there are two messages left by him. Akatosh said, "Qe laan mal"}

'"Lightning asks little", huh? Does that mean that my lightning related abilities and magic got cost reduction now?'

{Correct}

'Though, why was my [Unrelenting Force] shout so weak?'

{Master's shouts are the same with a nord's. The more familiar master is with his [Voice], the more powerful master's shouts are going to be}

'Then that's a problem. The most powerful of the nords were called tongues. They couldn't dare open their mouths without incurring a natural disaster. But preparations are in order. How may I possibly increase the power of my shouts?'

{Akatosh's second message says, "Lovaas lovaas se Dohvakiin fah suleyk"}

'"Music/Song/Sing/Voice Music/Song/Sing/Voice of Dragonborn for power". Having two "lovaas"s would only make sense if the first one was a verb, "sing", and singing's for a song. Then that makes it "Sing (the) song of (the) Dragonborn for power". "suleyk", the power to act, the power to fuel my dragon shouts. I might make a note of repeating it every morning. The repercussions aren't much of an issue if I utilize my divine charges to form a speaking spell that doesn't involve the use of my [voice]?'

{Correct}

"Why the long face?" Eucleia tugged his hand to get his attention. It was not often that Nephelont's expression changed outside of conversations, not to mention that it became a negative one.

"I'll tell you later, when we're alone" Nephelont's face reverted back to one that resembled his mother's.

"We have arrived" Ottar stopped. They reached a wooden door. "They are hiding here"

"We'll go alone" Nephelont said. "Come, Lia" He then kept holding Eucleia's hand and knocked on the door.

"We know you're here. Open the door" Nephelont expected them to try ignoring the door. They may think that that will drive their pursuers away. They thought wrong.

"Why did you follow us?" One of them talked from behind the door, their voice muffled.

"We want to continue our little chat, can we?"

The door opened slowly. It was only slightly opened.

"What do you want?" The eldest kid's face peeked from behind the door. He was talking in an unfriendly and wary manner.

"Can we talk inside?"

"And why should I let dangerous strangers in?" The kid asked back.

"I guess there's no reason to"

"Exactly"

'Irksome brat!' Nephelont had the sudden urge to slap the kid. 'Bad, Nephelont. This one's still a kid'

"Well, the Ganesha familia took that woman away, that you can feel assured of. Now, I want to ask you again, if you were given the chance to live in better, favorable conditions in comparison to your current ones, would you be willing to change?"

The kid's eyes looked unsure for a moment.

"Give us some time"

"I'll be waiting"

The door closed. The kid was going to discuss the proposal with the other two.

After waiting for about an hour or so, the door opened again. Again, it only opened slightly.

"We will meet you at the fountain in the plaza, tomorrow evening"

"Fine by me" Nephelont shrugged his shoulders. It would not make much difference, really. "Let's go, Lia" And then both left, going on a little outing.

The three kids were not completely trusting in the weird kid that appeared in their life so abruptly. They trusted a stranger before, see where that got them.

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(With the three kids)

"Thomas, who was on the door?" Asked one of the two who stayed inside.

"It was the same weird kid with magic. He said that the bitch that tormented us has been arrested by the guards" Thomas said. "And guess what, Fred?" Then he asked as he walked into a room.

"What? Did he become the new threat?" The one now known as Fred was doubtful of the weird kid's motive. They might need to change locations now. Since the previous abuser was taken by the guards, they may have a chance at being undetected for a little while.

"No, Fred. He insisted on the question he asked us. Would we choose a better life, given the chance? He also gave up the chance to pressure us into answering him immediately. He agreed to meet at the fountain in the city's plaza, tomorrow at that" Thomas had a bit of hope in his eyes. This person seemed reasonable. He did not try to rob their freedom from them or threaten them.

"Are you sure, Thomas?"

"Yes, Fred. There's no mistake this time. We can stick to high traffic areas, drag the time we have to its limits, try to escape or even try to take the other kid hostage. There are ways for us to be safe" Thomas was sure of it. This one could be negotiated with, to some extent. The one thing he could do wrong is trying to touch Eucleia. Only few know what would befall him. "What about you, Angelika?" Thomas turned to the silent kid. She was apparently a girl named Angelika.

As Angelika was not able to talk, she was already thinking of an answer to this question. She was used to being left out of the conversation, until it was time for decisions. She nodded her head. 'It might be our last chance. The other abusers might catch us if we delay it any further than tomorrow' She thought. Although they did not know what that chance might be, she nodded her head.

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(Back with Nephelont)

"So, Lia?"

"Yes?" She remembered his words. He said he will tell her "later". That "later" became now.

"The shout I used there was the same language as the one I used this morning. It came from a game developed be Bethesda Game Studios in my old world. It was called "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim", if you recall it. The thing that had me display a long face was that I need to increase the power of the shouts for them to make a difference later down the line. As a result of that, as my understanding of the words of powers used for my shouts, and as my attunement with the voice becomes deeper, I'll become unable to dare open my mouth to talk. My mere whisper may shake the world and generate a natural disaster. I can work around it by making another one of my absurd spells"

"Oh! It is good that you could work around that setback!" She made a smile that charmed him a little further. He somehow concealed it. "By the way, Kounéli, why did you not take back the wallet? You normally fly into a fit of rage and madness when anyone touches your things without permission" Eucleia saw it for the first time today. Someone, not a family member, took one of his things and he was calm.

"I was aiming for it to be taken. That, and I prepared a few spare wallets, just in case I wanted to buy anything after the first was stolen" He came prepared. It was not always that he tried thinking about the possibilities of everything around him. But when he planned for something, he does something either goofy, or unexpectedly calculated.

"Just how many replacements are there? Are there three of them?" Eucleia wondered.

"More" He smiled.

"Four?"

"More" His smile widened.

"Five?!"

"Even more" Even more.

"Come on! Just tell me already!" Eucleia pouted. She did not love the guessing game, especially with him. He always won that game. He did not accept being the one to guess either.

"You're very cute, my Lia. Hahahaha-ouch" Nephelont's side was pinched playfully. He reached the allowed limit for teasing her.

"Alright, I'll tell you. You can release my side now.... please?" Eucleia released his side. "I've prepared around... How many again?" He looked at his inventory to check how many are there. "Yeah, I have about twenty-three spares to replace the first one" He raised his right hand in a victory sign, with a complacent smile to match.

"You... went overboard. You know that, right?" Eucleia criticized him. She was speechless. Nephelont normally went either of two ways. He either went deep into something while lax, negligent, inattentive, thoughtless or forgetful, or he just went all in and was overly meticulous to the point it was either concerning or nauseating. That latter was only if he was both interested in the subject AND felt like being involved. He still makes mistakes both ways, sadly.

"I know. I need to do it like this if I wanted to spoil you without a hitch" Nephelont's normally downwards smile curved a little, still downwards, showing just how smug he is.

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After what would normally be identified as a date between Nephelont and Eucleia, from shopping for cute clothes for Eucleia to buying her favorite food and drinks, the next day came.

The two of them woke up, went to training and then we can see them by the fountain. Nephelont bought them crepes. Eucleia preferred strawberry with chocolate while he preferred ones with only chocolate.

While eating, some of the cream got on Eucleia's cheek. Nephelont thoughtlessly swept the stray cream with his finger and ate it. He then went out of his way to take a bite of Eucleia's crepe, where she took a bite just then. "I should switch to adding strawberries soon. That tasted delish" He then nonchalantly continued eating in peace, not noticing how self-conscious Eucleia has become during the rest of their little snacking. She barely finished her crepe.

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"Lia, wake up" Nephelont was trying to wake Eucleia up. She ended up sleeping when the day's training caught up to her. Seeing her not waking up, he executed a devilish plan. He blew air in her ear.

"Mmmm. A little bit more sleep, please" She wriggled lightly then wrapped her arms around him and snuggled further into his chest.

"Ah... um... eh... How do I say this?" Nephelont felt awkward with two of the three kids looking at them blankly.

"Just be done with it. What was that chance you spook of?" Fred was getting fed up with this lovey-dovey little couple in front of him.

If there was only one person enjoying this, it would be Angelika. She sported a face bubbling with amusement looking at them. She took a side-glance at Fred but looked away just as quickly.

Nephelont took a breath to try and recollect himself. He succeeded for the most part. "The chance I want to offer you is to join a familia. Upon joining, you will be promised the freedom of choice. Meaning, you could choose to remain with them or leave after becoming level two. By the way, the final say still has to do with how the deity of that familia judges you. Will you try?"

"We already resolved ourselves to grab at a number of things. Joining a familia's one of them. What familia is it?" Thomas represented their collective opinion.

"The Hestia familia, of which I'm a member of" Nephelont told them.

"Would we be indebted to you?" Fred's features became their sharpest. He was not going to agree if they are owing something.

"No. The one you will be indebted to would be Hestia, who doesn't really demand any of her children to pay any kind of debt back to her. Rather, I'd be surprised if she thinks any of us is indebted to her" Nephelont tried his best to explain the situation to them.

"So long I'm not indebted to anyone anymore, I'm fine joining your familia" Fred still had a rigid expression plastered on his face.

"Both of us also agree to it" Thomas spook for himself and for Angelika, who was smiling softly.

'Wawawawawawawawawa?! What is this situation?! Why am I hugging Kounéli?! Why is it in public?! Should I continue acting asleep?! Yes, I will do just that! It will be over once they know that I am awake! I must remain "asleep"! yes!' Eucleia's thoughts went haywire. She just did not know what to do in this situation. Her brain opted to continue acting asleep.

'Heh? Trying to act asleep on me? I'll play with your maidenly heart a little. You're gonna get carried home, princess carry style' Nephelont hatched his new evil plan. He was going to have her be dead-embarrassed by carrying her supposedly sleeping form like that in public.

He put her in his lap. Then, he slung her braid over her shoulder, draping on her front. After that, he changed where her arms were. He wrapped them around his neck. He lifted her gently, such that if she was really sleeping, she would be comfortable.

"Should we go?" He had his most mischievous smile yet as he was standing up.

His smile unsettled the three kids a little. 'Are we safe with this weird person?' was their consensus.

'...' Eucleia's mind came to a screeching halt. Her face displayed her bashfulness.

'So, you couldn't control your face, huh? My angel's just too cute' ... Ignore him. He may have become hopeless without anyone knowing.

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After laying Eucleia in his bed, Nephelont went to join Hestia and the trio in a room to talk.

"So you want them to join?" Hestia was internally excited but she did not let it show on her face.

"Yes, Hestia. I want them to join our familia"

"I will have individual interviews with them, starting from the eldest" Hestia took Thomas into a separate room to interview.

The room where the other children remained was downed with an awkward silence. Fred was next, the same silence was there with Thomas and Angelika. When it was Angelika's turn, Thomas went with her. He was going to speak for her if Hestia could not understand her.

"Sooo, why are you trying to penetrate me with that glare?" Nephelont asked Fred.

"You didn't even introduce yourself yet. Why should I trust you?" Fred bluntly answered. He was being vigilant. Although the Hestia familia's reputation was clean, it does not mean every member is good.

"Oh! My bad, I forgot. Sorry about that" Nephelont at least had the decency to feel sheepish. He was scratching the back of his head while looking around awkwardly.

'Why does he look like a rabbit?' Fred thought without realizing. 'Wait! I should put up my guard around him' He was more guarded. His eyes kept sight of Nephelont like a hawk's.

"My name's Nephelont Cranel. What's yours?" Nephelont finally introduced himself to Fred.

"My name's Frederick. I have a question for you. Why do you talk casually with everyone? Even the goddess was not any different" Fred did not have a family name.

"I dislike formalities where they're not required" Nephelont answered him frankly.

Another bout of silence descended on the room. Both Nephelont and Frederick were not the type to open the talk themselves unless it is of their interest.

After some time, Hestia entered, followed by Thomas and Angelika.

"So? What's the result, Hestia?"

"They all have my blessing already"

Nephelont facepalmed, hard.

"What?" Hestia wanted to know what made him do that.

"You forgot the theory of how the falna may hinder a body's progress?" Nephelont sighed that entire sentence.

"It doesn't, though?"

He facepalmed with the other hand too.

"What's it this time?!" Hestia almost snapped. Why would he have to be mean to her?

"You should've told me earlier than this. Now, Eucleia has been wasting growth in what I thought of as saving growth" Nephelont fell into a big crisis.

That ended well, for the most part. That day, the Hestia familia gained three new members.

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(That night)

We can see Nephelont laying in his bed, with Eucleia using him as her hugging pillow as usual.

"Kounéli? Are you still awake?"

"What's it, Lia?"

"What would have you done if the guards were not there in time?"

"She has more experience than I do. If I gave her a chance, I... any of us could have died. In the case where the guards were late" Nephelont's expression became cold, "I would have killed her, even though it makes me hate myself. Your safety is of my utmost importance" His voice was grim.

"Is there no other option?"

"No. Her skills, or if she had magic, could have been an unknown danger, one that I cannot deal with. Even crushing her limbs and throat would leave room for a skill or two to activate" He would rather die before letting his enemy retaliate.

"That... unsettles me, Kounéli, the thought of you killing someone" She hid her face in his chest, gripping tightly at his shirt.

"Lia, things like that one are already not among the ranks of the living. The vile thing deserves at least a lifetime of mental torture, if not death"

"Promise me" Eucleia's voice started shaking, "that you will not kill on a whim. Promise me that you will kill only when it is an absolute necessity. Can you promise me that?" She did not favor Nephelont becoming a person who could easily kill another person or vouch for their death.

Nephelont kept silent for a short moment, thinking if he should promise her that or not. "I can only promise to do my best. I can't guarantee results" His features and voice both softened.

"Umm" Eucleia put a new goal in her sights. She will try to prevent Nephelont from reaching the point of killing someone if she could. And if he reached that point, she was going to stop any further killing by his hand.

"On a bright note, Hestia said that falna wouldn't hinder your growth if you have it this early in your life" 'Now that I think about it, didn't mommy get falna at eight years old? I'm a dummy. I should've remembered that fact'

They went to sleep that night with Eucleia feeling uneasy. There was some relief mixed in as he promised to try his best. She promised herself to have an unwavering character later, so she could stand in his face if the circumstances called for it.

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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. (At least it is morning when I was righting this)

I have almost nothing to write in this note today, weirdly enough. But I need to tell you that the other story may get a delay of a day or two more, for a total of 9 days of now on the maximum. I changed the stat growth methods for some characters and had to go all the way to chapter one to change some of the events, dialogues, fighting scenes, the weapons used by MC and some other things. Couple that with chapter 9 being incomplete.

By the by, the fact that Nephelont has Skyrim's dragon shouts was not actually planned into this fic until I heard the Song of the Dragonborn for the first time in a few years and focused on the song and nothing else. So... Yeah, it was abrupt. Before someone burns me on a stick, calm down. The shouts are too cool to pass on for a dragon-powered character. That is one reason to add them in.

Pruzah wundunne, muz. (You will see this for the rest of this volume at least. Get used to it)

Ps. This is a quick edit, just in case anyone actually reached here. I only now realised, after a month from last chapter and after uploading this one, that I never actually described the three kids, beside their gender and name. Do not worry, I will deal with that in the next chapter. Pruzah wundunne, muz. (Yes, I wrote it for a second time. I know)