Chapter 65: Ch 65: Resonance

To test Lumi’s abilities, Goddess Apophis led them to a clearing a little outside the village. Once there, she placed a barrier around the space before she pushed Aiden inside.

"G-Goddess Lumi, may I know why you are pushing me like this? Have I done something to offend you?"

Aiden asked in a nervous voice. Somehow, he did not like the look in either his goddess’s or Lumi’s eyes.

His goddess quickly got off him and sat on a tree branch not too far away.

"Well, my dear Apostle, since you are my last line of defense, I would like to see how much you have progressed as well. So why don’t you have a showdown with Lumi?"

"I...don’t think that’s necessary. I am not a fighter-"

"But you will fight for me, right?"

His goddess asked, and Aiden had no choice but to give her what she had asked for.

"Well, it seems like there is no way for me to avoid this fight. Please go easy on me, Priestess Lumi-"

Aiden had not even finished speaking when he felt something soft pressing against his cheek. He looked to his side, only to see a jellyfish-looking thing.

But his instincts told him that it was not a jellyfish.

[Magical construct detected. Nature - bomb. Please do your best to avoid its 5-meter bomb radius.]

[It will self-destruct in 20 seconds]

Aiden quickly stepped back to avoid the bomb, but he barely made it in time. Unluckily, that was not the only bomb that went off.

The smoke was making it hard for Aiden to be able to see, but he could make out Lumi standing not too far away with her hands stretched out in front of her. Her face had a maniacal grin on it, almost as if she was enjoying this.

"Priest Aiden, you are fine, right? I am sure you can take more of this."

Lumi declared without even asking him if he was fine or not, which left him feeling like this was unfair. Could he only dodge in such a situation?

He tried to look at his goddess, but she was not helping him. Instead, she was just looking at him with a pair of judgmental eyes.

’Darn it! It seems like I am truly on my own. But I really do not want to shoot Lumi either since she is a devoted follower of my goddess. What should I do?’

Luckily for Aiden, his system was the solution to all his problems, and this time was no different.

[User is connected to Goddess Apophis. As such, transfer of power and abilities is permitted to a certain degree. Would you like to resonate with her?]

[A fair warning: there is a huge difference between a divine body and a human one. User has still not formed a divine body. Only a fraction of skills and power will be transferred.]

[Note: A Divine body can even be formed by a human, but it has only been recorded once. More information is restricted]

Aiden noted this information while focusing on the first part of it.

He was not sure how much longer he could avoid Lumi’s attacks, so this was the right time to try resonance.

[Resonance has been achieved. 0.5% of skills and authority will be transferred over.]

0.5% sounded like nothing, but the sudden burst of power that slammed into Aiden threatened to tear him apart. But it was a given since the difference between a human and a god was immeasurable.

The smoke cleared, and Aiden’s unhurt form appeared in front of Lumi. She looked taken aback by his sudden power-up, and she tried to muster her power, but it wouldn’t work.

Her instincts told her that she was not facing Aiden, but a hurdle she could not overcome.

"I-"

Aiden walked toward her, and Lumi immediately surrendered.

"I surrender. I don’t think I can beat you anymore."

Lumi knew her limits well, and while she did want to try and cross them, now was not the time. She looked up at Aiden, but he turned his gaze away from her and toward his Goddess.

Her approval was the only thing that mattered to him.

...

Goddess Apophis watched Aiden and Lumi fighting, and she slightly increased Lumi’s abilities during her fight.

With her temperament, one would expect her to not like the fact that her Aiden was fighting another woman and concentrating on her. But Lumi had permitted this fight, and there was only one reason behind it.

It was to teach Aiden that everyone in this world except her was dangerous, especially women.

Besides that, this fight was a good way to see how much power Lumi was able to handle. She was going to become the protector of this village once Goddess Apophis monopolized Aiden, so her development was important.

However, she had no intention of letting Aiden get hurt. Her plan was to stop this fight the second Aiden looked like he could no longer handle it. And then, she was going to nurse him back...

But then she suddenly felt someone tapping into her power. It was barely there, so it was hard to notice at first.

And then she noticed Aiden moving differently. She could feel her power in his veins, telling her that he was filled with her essence.

In this moment, Aiden was more hers than anyone else, and he was far too overwhelming for the human.

It made her feel excited.

Her first and only Apostle was exuding her energy in a way that could never be undone. There was no mistaking whom he belonged to.

It was so magnificent that she even forgot all about Lumi and could only focus on Aiden, who was walking toward her.

"Goddess Apophis, is this a sufficient display of my abilities?"

Aiden asked, and the goddess felt a smile tugging at her snake face. She wanted to transform into a human and hold this person who was completely owned by her at this moment.

But just as she made up her mind, her power faded from Aiden’s body, and his legs buckled. It seemed like his body could not handle anymore, and that made her decision for her.

For the first time, Goddess Apophis took her human form in front of someone who was not Aiden.