The other gods who'd been waiting their turn to be seen, took a few moments to collect themselves again. Boreas, the god that gave Shurry his permission to pull up the roots of evil from within his familia, took a deep breath. Vidar, the god of Bete's current familia also took in a slow, deep breath, only he put a hand to his stomach, and a fist to his lips as if he was going to vomit. Miach, the third god in the area, chuckled nervously.
"Seems we have an interesting mix of gods coming by. Boreas, Vidar, and Miach." Hathor smiled, and gave a good nod and smile.
The children of Hathor familia provided a glass of good, party tier booze, and a full course meal for the three gods, and the children who'd accompanied them. Though, they were not allowed inside the manor as of now, since the party had long since reached the point where a few would end up carrying a child of their own within the year. The gods and their children nervously took a bite, and then, a sip…
"Oh wow, you went all out for us? This stuff costs quite a bit-" Boreas started, a little surprised by how good everything was.
"I treat my guests as well as I can. Normally I would invite you inside, however tonight we're celebrating my son's level up, so the party is a bit… Wild."
"I see, I don't mind the wild though." Vidar said, wildly eating his food, almost like the stomach ache earlier was a thing of the distant past. "I admit I feel a little weird being here…"
Shurry smirked…
"Then why did you come?" Miach asked, casually placing a bite of the rare meat delicacy in his mouth, nearly shivering with anticipation of the next.
"Well, I'll let Selenia explain." He spoke, and then continued to eat.
"Oh, uh… Hero- Champion- Can I just call you Origin Wolf, or maybe moon pup!"
"Origin Wolf is fine, what is it that you want with me? Surely it wasn't just a free meal with floor 28 delicacies."
"No, I was wondering, could you take us down on an expedition?"
"When?"
"In a week?"
"No, I have plans to be further down in the dungeon, than is safe for your current abilities."
"In that case, would it be too much to ask, how did you get so strong? You and your familia?"
"We trained."
"So are we, but I don't see ourselves reaching what you've done, and certainly not within the same time frame."
"Are you training like your life depends on it? Or is it just for fun?"
Selenia shut up, unable to answer that question with either option. She thought about it.
"I wouldn't say it's either, but maybe if there was one real answer, I'd say it's been aimless."
Shurry smiled, and put his niece and nephew down. He held out his palms up to the sky, fingers spread as far apart as they would go, while also being relaxed. He formed a small ball of energy over the tips of each finger.
"These represent your efforts, the focus of your time, into each, and every moment. Though, I can only show it on a small scale, it should get the point across…"
"I see, so this is a demonstration of mindset?"
"In a way, yes. I will now show by example… My left hand will be the unfocused effort towards building strength. And my right will show the results of focused efforts."
Shurry moved the balls of light 1 finger segment closer to the center of his right palm, while leaving the left alone. Each ball grew in size, and brightness.
Selenia, and the other children from other familias watched on with a curious expression. Even the one off in the distance, sent to keep an eye on Hathor familia, Lidith gulped. This… This is surely too simple to be the whole thing? Right? I'll have to try it out myself and soon… I wonder if I can get him in my bed, perhaps join him for a night or two? No, I shouldn't try to get something I can't reach. Just hot damn those muscles are fantastic!
"So this is the idea? Growth is larger, and more intense the more focused it becomes?"
"Yes. You can already see the improvement as is. Unfortunately, the majority of adventurers are stuck before this level, and it's largely their own mind holding them back. Now look at what happens next."
The ball of light over the thumb moved to the center of the palm, and the other four moved one more segment closer. Larger, and brighter than before… And then they moved again, the ball of light formed patterns and gave off a feeling incomparable to that of the left hand.
"Wow… That's a beautiful light. It shines so bright…"
"This is what I'd call hero tier growth. I'm not even sure if I fit in this category, I feel more like the one just before this."
"And your familia? There's a range from the first example, to the third."
"I really want to believe this… Lord Vidar, is this all true?"
"Hmm? With proof before you, why do you need my word?"
Boreas and Miach let out a sigh.
"Shurry, this information-"
"What about it?"
"Nothing, since it came from you, I guess it's alright for us to confirm it."
"Awesome, now, what brings you two here?"
"I wanted to come by to thank you properly, Shurry. If there's anything I, Boreas can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."
"Kill the One Eyed Black Dragon?"
"Ehh?"
"Why so surprised? It's just a joke, I know good and well you're not going to win against it. Even Erebus at the end of that fight wouldn't win. Besides, he's my prey."
"There wasn't any other meaning in your "joke" was there?"
"Who knows, perhaps there was, and perhaps there wasn't?" Shurry smirked. "Now you Lord Miach."
"I came because I had a question-"
"The answer to your question… Hmm, you wish to know why Fenrir did what he did, right?"
"It's dwelled on me for a while now."
"First, thanks for doing what you could to help… Second, this isn't the first time Fenrir's pups were killed by the actions of a deranged god."
"I see, so in his fury, he went into a blind rage… I wonder who it was that did that?"
"I don't remember, whoever it was, the memory of what happened is long since gone."
"Then how do you-"
"Because I can feel it deep within my soul, this is not the first loss. Now then, is that all? If so, I need to return to my room. I've got a lot to do."
Shurry turned, not waiting for a response, an indication that his words were meant to show that he was attempting to let them down gently… But the wolf needed to play.
"He's so much different up close like this."
"Hathor, what do you say to accept me under your wing?" Boreas suggested.
"Pfft, you just want to see more of my son, don't you? Well… I'm not exactly opposed to it. Maybe after I'm done with some other things I'll consider it. I am building a reverse harem."
She swirled her wine, and then looked away.
…