The Unavowed 2

The Unavowed
Chapter 2

-VB-

The next time I woke up, I was in a better condition and head space to finally act as I have been raised to be.

“Thank you,” I quickly said when the cat woman came back with a meal.

She paused after closing the door and nodded. “You’re welcome. I guess you’re in better shape today,” she remarked as she set a bowl of stew down on the table next to my bed.

“I am,” I nodded with a smile. “May I ask who it was that saved me? My name is Alan Marris…” I trailed off.

[Host.Powers], my Shard quickly interjected in my head. [Arcanist. Artificer. Archmage. WardMaster.]

“... A mage.”

She looked surprised before she narrowed her eyes. “A mage without a staff, huh?”

[Instruction!]

Ow. That hurts… but thank you.

I raised my hand and took a deep breath in.

Archmage Arcanist allowed me to use several systems of magic or even make a system of my own. One of these systems looked very familiar to me (and raised a small concern).

“Power Word: Fortitude.”

Her eyes widened as she found herself immersed in a brief golden glow. She also reacted immediately. A knife came out of somewhere and she held it against my neck before I even finished saying fortitude.

I did mind it, but I knew that whatever that could be done on me was ultimately meaningless, since one of the powers within me was [Deadpool].

“Lesser Heal,” I continued.

She lit up with brief golden hue.

Her wide eyes stared at me not in malicious but mere surprise. Slowly, she drew her knife back.

“... That was not smart.”

That phrase hell of a meaning. It wasn’t smart of me to show my hand so freely. It wasn’t smart of me to affect someone to recklessly. It wasn’t smart of me to act without knowing who I was facing.

But she didn’t know what I knew about myself.

I was an Archamge arcanist, artificer, and ward master. In time, I could match the likes of Jaina Proudmoore and Lich King. On top of that, I was a functional immortal capable of biokinesis and bio-tinerking, not that those two words held any meaning to her. I could teleport across dimensions thanks to Raven and Homecoming.

Someone like me who truly understood my limits had nothing to fear.

My Shard made sure I knew my limits, because it bloody crammed the information into my brain without a fucking warning!

[Apologies!]

“It isn’t if I am weak,” I replied before glancing out of the window of the room. I saw Orario on the other side of it. “So this is Orario, huh?”

“It is, and my name’s Aki Autumn, and I’m part of the Loki Familia.”

I turned back and looked at her, and my surprise must have been on my face because she grinned mischievously at me.

“Huh.”

“Say, do you want to join the Loki Familia? We’re always looking for talented people.”

Umm.

Huh.

“Besides, you owe us for saving your ass~!” she grinned.

Well, shit.

-VB-

To my surprise, I recognized Loki the moment I met her.

With how fast I recovered, I was up and running after I talked with Aki, and she took me to talk with one of the Loki Familia’s executives.

I did not expect to meet Riveria Llos Alf, the Crown Princess of high elves and executive of the Loki Familia, nor did I expect that Loki, the namesake goddess of the familia, would be there to greet me.

The petite red-haired goddess peered at me before turning to Aki.

“Are you sure this thin as a straw guy’s a mage?” she asked petulantly with a pout, but her eyes side-glanced at Aki as if to look at something Aki had, which she did, but Loki couldn’t discern right off the bat. “He doesn’t have any magic on him or look like a nerd-”

Loki was as abrasive as the light novel, anime, and manga depicted her.

Riviera merely observed me.

Aki stood to the side with an uncertain grin on her face at Loki’s friendly accusation.

I raised an eyebrow at the cunning goddess’s attempt at riling me up. Maybe she really didn’t sense magic in me, but she didn’t have to add small insults every five words.

I cleared my throat, catching their attention, and asked the Light for help, and the Light bathed me with Devotion Aura.

Aki wasn’t sure what happened, but she saw the light works and grinned in vindication. Riviera looked surprised and confused.

And Loki?

She looked fascinated.

“What is that?” she asked me with wide eyes.

Flexing my mind and magic, I laired Devotion Aura, a passive defense increasing Holy aura, with Power Word: Fortitude, a passive stamina increasing Discipline buff, with another golden light and brief and ethereal cross above my head.

Loki looked stupefied now but the fascination had grown even deeper and now on the verge of fanaticism.

I didn’t expect the last part.

“Does this suffice?” I asked her with a smile. “All is not what it seems at the first glance.”

Loki’s fascination broke for a moment as she felt herself chastised lightly by my words before she quickly composed herself. She put a hand on her waist, closed her eyes, a fist to her lips, and swallowed. Then she cleared her throat before opening her eyes to deal with me more seriously.

“You are fascinating. Join my familia.”

I laughed.

Well, if she wanted to be so forward…

“What’s the medical plan like?”

My words threw her off. “W-What?”

“You know, medical plan? Insurance for physical, mental, and spiritual health? How is your dental plan, too? Do you have a familia dentist?” I asked half-seriously.

Aki looked like she was about to laugh at Loki’s baffled look before she realized that my questions applied to her as well. She stared at me for a moment before frowning. “Wait, what do dentists do?”

I stared at her.

I looked at the rest.

“Who takes care of your teeth?”

“The barber.”

I … may have been extremely horrified.