~ Chapter 35: The power of a Blessing ~

[Leonidas' point of view]

 This was going to be a historical day for me and my little sister!

For the first time in our lives, we would witness someone using the active power of their Blessing, and with a bit of luck find out how to do it ourselves.

With a smile to show her overwhelming confidence, aunty Eliza took a stance and began to focus on an enemy only she could see. It was the so-called shadow boxing training technique, only here it was better to call it shadow sword fighting.

The Blessing she was planning to use against this invisible enemy was the [Blessing of Combat] offered by Kreatull the God of War.

We couldn't wait to witness this moment. Our eyes sparkled in anticipation, but if I were to guess, my little sister was far more excited about this than I was. After all, the one performing this deed was none other than the Emperor Rank adventurer Eliza, her idol.

“Then, I will begin!” aunty declared and closed her eyes.

In that very moment, a powerful red aura enveloped her body and an overwhelming killing intent was set loose upon her surroundings. It frightened me so much that I nearly fell on my bottom. Sister, on the other hand, was clenching her little fists and holding her ground against this sudden wave of energy. It was clear which one of us was the strongest in this unusual competition.

And to think there are even more powerful individual than aunty out there. I thought and then gulped.

The red aura around aunty Eliza began to cover her sword, and once it settled, her eyes turned to fiery red. She was quite frightening, and I knew in that very instant that she had all the power she needed in order to finish both of us in a split second.

I gulped again and clenched my fists as well, trying to resist the overwhelming pressure pitied against us.

“Amazing...” sister murmured.

Indeed, she was.

“Huuu~! Haaa~!” aunty inhaled and exhaled deeply.

She pulled her sword back a little and then, without hesitation, she stepped forward and slashed the invisible enemy before her. A burst of wind followed and the ground under her feet cracked.

This was just the beginning.

Aunty dashed forward with her sword on the right, blade aimed at her foe and cutting the air with each step she took forward. Her eyes were locked onto the invisible shadow enemies only she could see, watching their every move, trying to find the flaw in their defense or spot the moment of their attack.

I had no idea who she was imagining fighting against with such intensity that made us forget to breathe, but the one thing I was sure of was the fact that this opponent of hers was striking back. I saw aunty launching furious attacks at invisible shadow, slashing the air and cutting the ground, then she was dodging, parrying, attacking again and even back somersaulting. She was using everything she taught us but at a level that far surpassed our skills. Each slash and cut through the air was perfect, and I could clearly see the difference in speed and power from when she was training us.

We could barely keep our eyes on her, let alone try to anticipate her next move. For a normal villager, she would have appeared as a blur. At this speed, one would normally think she was going to make a mistake, stumble, and cut herself, but there was no such thing. Aunty's attacks were perfect, and she made them look like they were a piece of cake for her. Each slash, cut, and jab was aimed at a weak point or vital point, never a random strike just for the sake of damage. Every move she made and every step she took was powerful and precise.

“I can't match that...” said Cassandra surprised.

“Neither can I...” I confirmed with a nod.

It made me doubt that anyone without a similar Blessing could stand a fair chance in combat against her. If they did, it could only be through some trick of some sort, otherwise, aunty Eliza was unbeatable.

At the very least that was how she appeared before us, but in that moment of awe and shock, the two of us completely forgot the fact that she was only at the Emperor Rank. Above her were the Godlike and Supreme Ranks, but to be fair... who would dare pick a fight with someone ranked as such? If the names were any indication at all, then picking a fight with them was clearly suicidal.

When the battle with the shadow enemies was over, aunty Eliza took a normal stance and sheathed her sword. The aura around her vanished, and the overwhelming pressure we felt until then was gone. As for the two of us, we were still staring at her with big eyes. We had no idea what we should say or ask.

Seeing us in this bewildered state, aunty giggled and patted us on the head.

“Everyone who has a Blessing can sooner or later activate it. The resulting effect depends on its type and how good they are at controlling it. You know what they say, children, the gods gave us blessings, but they aren't the ones who make us use them. That depends solely on us.” she told us in a calm tone of voice, which actually sounded like that of a respected teacher.

“Is it difficult to activate it? Does it need a chant?” I asked as I looked up at her with big curious eyes.

“Blessings don't use chants or feel the same way as magic does. It's kind of hard to put it in words, but once you are able to activate a Blessing, something clicks inside of you and from then on, you can do it as easy as breathing.” she was scratching her head while she explained this to us.

“So, you are telling me Blessings use another type of energy?” I asked.

“Hm, I don't know about that. I do feel my Magic Energy and stamina draining while using it, but I don't feel anything else out of the ordinary. Although, some people just believe it's the energy of the gods at play, while others think it's only another way of using Magic Energy. What I can confirm is that the more you use it, the more you'll get used to it. You can think of it like a muscle if you want to. Train it hard and it will never fail you. Train it poorly and it will fail you when you most need it. Train it wisely and you can perform wonders with it.” she said with a big grin on her face as she rustled our hair.

“So, everyone can do it, even me?” I asked her with a gleam in my eyes.

Aunty's smile changed into a sad one.

“Leonidas, I don't know if it would be wise for you to try and activate yours. I'm not going to stop you from trying, but I don't want you to get your hopes up and see that nothing happens. Blessings are a bit weird that way. In order for you to be able to properly activate it, you need to know what your Blessing does and from what god it comes. Sometimes, praying to this god helps you activate it faster or achieve a certain understanding of it. Unfortunately, from what I was told, yours is a bit strange in this sense as it doesn't reveal the god from which it came or what type it is. Even High Priest Caladeveren gave up on it after trying for almost two years to get to the bottom of it.” she told me.

Two years? Well... I'm impressed he didn't give up on the first try, but even if he did find a way to translate Romanian into the Lukrentian Language, he would still reach a dead end. After all, I had the Blessing of 118 Gods. What the names of all those 118 were, I had no idea. I know only one, Sapherya aka S.A.R.G.E. I thought as I was looking down.

Hearing the requirements to activate it put me in a rather downhearted state. From the way I saw things, it would mean that no matter how hard I struggled, there was a chance I would never learn to activate it. However, I sort of doubted the gods didn't put some sort of fail-safe system in this Blessing system in order to allow me to activate it without those requirements. After all, mine was a combination of 118 different Blessings, not one belonging to a single god.

“But mine are also strange! Shouldn't it be the same for me?” my little sister asked, jumping to my defense.

I had to appreciate her good intention, but if her Blessings were strange, then mine was cryptic.

“Cassandra, in your case, we at least know the names of the gods who offered you those Blessings. By going to their temples and praying, you will receive a hint or two in regard to how to activate them, but his... we don't know the god who gave him this weird blessing. For all we know, it could be a perverted god with a strange craving for raw meat.” aunty replied and shrugged at the end.

I could already tell that Sapherya was probably crying somewhere up in the sky for being described like that.

In the end, what aunty Eliza wanted to say was that it didn't matter how powerful one was with magic, how strong they were physically, or how smart they proved to be. In this world, having a Blessing was akin to having a powerful influential individual vouching for you or leveling you up. It was a connection which commoners hoped to gain and nobles considered to be a basic requirement for someone of their standing.

Back on Earth, it didn't matter how powerful of an individual you were but how many people you could move or had your back no matter what.

However, if I read this right, then even if one had the most powerful Blessings in the world, as long as they didn't give their all to stand up to the expectations of those gods, they could end up being far more useless than someone with a single common one.

Still, in my case this meant that I had not only the most powerful Blessing in the world, but I also had to shoulder the highest expectations of them all.

Well, it's not like they are actually expecting me to do anything with it. They clearly stated that they won't ask of me to go around saving the world or whatnot. While this doesn't mean that my influence won't be great, this Blessing of mine grants me the potential to achieve an impressive performance akin to that of a Hero. So, in the end, it's up to me to do what I want and play in this world as I desire... I thought and then let out a sigh.

The gods, at the very least, kept their word about not granting me overpowered status on the first go. I could achieve it, but not without hard work and experiencing life as it was. No doubt if I asked Sapherya to unlock my full potential, she would do it, but then... the fun I would have while growing up would vanish.

Yeah, I don't mind all of these puzzles. I like them actually! This is awesome! Not only can I achieve greatness, but I will do so with my own hard work! I thought an then smiled.

“I think Leonidas is feeling better now. You are a good little sister for thinking of your big brother like that.” aunty Eliza said after she let out a sigh of relief and patted the little girl on the head.

If Cassandra made 'kyun! kyun!' sounds, then in that moment she would have become the embodiment of absolute cuteness!

Well, I wasn't aware of it, but the air around me turned rather gloomy after I went silent and thought about those things. Most likely they thought I was really disheartened after hearing about how it was unwise for me to try to activate it. A normal child would have been, but I didn't really had a reason to be like that. It wasn't like I had no idea who gave me the Blessing, I just didn't know their names.

“Hehe!” Cassandra giggled and smiled cutely in return.

“So, how exactly do we train in order to activate our Blessings?” I asked so as to change the mood.

“Hm. Well, for starters, you must focus on the feeling you get while praying to the gods. Get used to the feeling of praying and the energy that's offered to them. It can be even something as simple as an emotion. Once you are used to this feeling, you need to try and give it off while you are focusing on your Blessing. As I said, the process is a bit complicated, but once you are able to do it once, it becomes as natural as breathing!” she told us with a smile.

“So, in essence, it's similar to the exercise of Magic Energy Control?” Cassandra asked.

“Oh? So that was why you were being strict with us when we were learning it?” I asked surprised.

“No. I was just trying to prevent you two from blowing yourselves up because you have a lot of Magic Energy and if you don't know how to control it properly, your spells could end up backfiring. However, yes, I can say that it's similar to that. Just think of your Blessing and the god who offered it. See if it stirs anything inside you. If it does, try to grab hold of that 'something' and pull it out, manifest it.” she explained while scratching the back of her head.

We could tell that even she had no idea how to properly explain this to us. Since the process itself wasn't clearly understood, she could only give us an idea from what she already knew. Of this, I was aware. At the same time, I understood that for me there might be a few more conditions to add to this process.

Maybe once I'm able to do it I can find a better teaching method? I thought to myself, but becoming a teacher wasn't exactly my 'dream come true'.

“I think I understand what to do...” I said and slightly tilted my head to the left.

“I didn't, but I still want to try! I want to become as strong and beautiful as aunty Eliza!” declared my little sister with a bright smile on her face.

“Hahaha! That's the spirit!” said aunty.

Hearing them, I let out a sigh and shook my head.

Please spare me of such a future, Cassandra! If you turn tall and brawny, my eyes will bleed! I cried on the inside.

In all of this time, I made an absolute 'zero' progress with 'correcting' my sister's vision of what 'beautiful' actually meant. Mother completely gave up on it, and father... father's opinion didn't count.