Arpious of the Planes

[Day 44]

I need to alert Aito that I have 2 more children since they should be mostly grown by my 47th day in this world… which is when the academy starts. I've also noticed that Hades has stopped growing exponentially and he still looks like a young teenager, about 5'6 in height.

His speech has grown into that of a fully educated teen and he's been continuously asking me to teach him how to fight. Even during breakfast…

"Please, mom. I want to learn how to fight so I can have a headstart in school," Hades nags while scarfing down something similar to a pancake.

I would've already taught him how to fight, but the problem is with Aika. She only wants him to learn how to fight during his time at the academy. Maybe she's scared that Hades will get hurt while fighting me… but I can control my skills insanely well. I don't know…

"Arpious isn't going to teach you how to fight until you learn how to fight with a longsword," Aika says.

Oh, is that why. She wants him to learn a weapon before applying his actual skills… interesting?

Hades made a bored face as if he didn't care.

"Alright, I'll teach you hand to hand combat and how to apply your skills to your fighting style…"

"REALLY!" Hades shouts.

"Brother stop yelling, it hurts my ears," Freya says, giggling slightly.

"... But! Only if you learn how to use a longsword first," I say, trying to ignore the angry Aika.

"Why?! It's so boring and easy!" Hades complains.

"Really… is it easy? Okay. Let's have one more spar and if you win I'll let you practice with Arpious, but if you lose, you have to practice from day to night with the longsword… with me," Aika says with a smirk.

Seems she hasn't been going all out…

…

"Mommy why does Brother have to be so petty?" Luna asks who was sitting on Kumo's shoulder.

"Because he hasn't seen real power yet…" I say.

We were currently spectating the training area from a higher floor. Aika picked up a weighted longsword while Hades picked up a longsword that seemed to be adjusted to his size. Asking Aiso to make a smaller longsword is pretty dumb so a maid must've picked it up from the blacksmith.

There are aspiring longsword users in my kingdom, so it's a no-brainer that they would have weapons of all sizes.

"Are you ready?" Aika asks.

"Let's just get this over with," Hades replies.

A maid was serving as ref and when she said "Start," they would start.

Aika took a more relaxed stance while Hades had a textbook, stiff stance that clearly showed the difference in skill. Aika's eyes grew colder while Hades looked around, feeling a strange sensation envelop him.

"Ready… START!" The maid says, before taking a few steps back.

Hades decided to ignore the strange feeling and looked back at where Aika was standing… but she was gone and had appeared right beside him.

For an appetizer, Aika started with a slow and light swing which Hades was barely able to block. Hades smiled slightly at his achievement, but as he went for a swing after parrying her strike, he was knocked clean out with the hilt of Aika's sword.

"Hehehe. Brother deserved that," Freya says while sitting on top of Homura's head.

"Auntie is strong," Luna says with a huge smile.

"That's right but she isn't as strong as me!" Kumo says, puffing out her chest.

"Are you sure about that?" Aika says, appearing next to Kumo with Hades slung over her shoulder.

"You could've gone faster," I say.

"I know but I wanted him to be able to see the difference in our power. If he wasn't able to even see my attack, this lesson would've been useless. Also, I want you to talk to Hades when he wakes up so I'm placing him in your current bed," Aika says, while walking away.

"Alright,"

…

"Mommy, can we practice fighting?" Luna asks with Freya nodding her head up and down.

I was currently laying on my bed with Hades who hasn't woken up yet. Freya and Luna were standing next to where I was lying down and they were extremely happy for some reason.

"Sorry, maybe in a few more days,"

"But we want to learn how to fight now…" Freya says, pouting and crossing her arms.

Sassy little-

*sigh*

"Not now. If you ask again I won't ever teach you anything and I'll tell your mothers to not teach you anything as well," I say sternly.

"NO! NO! I won't ask again!" Freya shouts with slightly teary eyes.

"I won't ask again as well!" Luna shouts.

"Good girls… Now please go back to your mom's I need to have a conversation with this brat right here," I say, turning my head to Hades who had woken up from Freya and Lunas shouts.

"Okay!" They both say in unison and walking out the door.

A maid helped guide them so I was able to relax.

"Mom is too good with the sword," Hades says with a sad expression.

"That's because she put in a lot of hard work. You on the other hand didn't even try to improve and were comfortable with what you currently had. That's a no-go… don't ever get to contempt cause you can always grow stronger…"

I feel like I've been giving a lot of therapy lately. First was Lucy and Sophia, and now Hades…

"So if I work hard I can reach that level?" Hades asks.

"Of course… but I want you to know that your mom was barely using half of her current power,"

"W-what! Really?! She is so strong… I want to be like that," Hades says, still lingering with sadness.

"... How about this, when you come to my room at night, I'll teach you how to use your skills and we can even start right now since it seems… you haven't learned to deactivate your wings or tail," I say, peeking over his shoulder.

"M-mom, I've been wanting to say this but… I'm not a kid anymore and I think I can sleep in my own room now," Hades says, avoiding my gaze.

NO WAY! I CANT SNUGGLE WITH MY CUTE LITTLE CHILD ANYMORE!

"*sniff* It's alright…" I say, wiping away a non-existent tear to tease Hades.

"I-I'll still come to see you!"

"You better," I say while sitting up from my pillow and flicking his forehead.

I first activate both [Great Wings of the Cursed and Blessed Lamassu] and [Incinerating Tail of the Cursed and Blessed Lamassu].

"Ouch, what was that for- Wow… those are your wings? They are huge and what are those flames at the end of your tail?" Hades asks.

"My race is called the Lammasu of Ancient Fires. I used to have both ancient fires but I stupidly sacrificed them for seeds that would help my kingdom. I could've also used one of the ancient fires to help regrow my limbs back… so I just have to wait until it grows and then I could eat, allowing me to get the skills back," I explain.

"Why would you eat it?"

"Your mom hasn't told you about my special skill yet?"

Hades just tilts his head in confusion so I was forced to explain the entire thing.

"... I see... Mom, that's really good! How can I get that skill?" Hades asks.

"I honestly don't know. I've had it since I was born but let's stop with this boring stuff and first teach you how to deactivate your wings and tail. Since they are body modifications, it's obvious that you should be able to deactivate them… I hope,"

Hades closes his eyes and then starts shaking…

What the fuck is he doing?

"Mom, how do I do it?" Hades asks, after relaxing and opening his eyes.

"Just try by opening your status first,"

"Status? What's status- AH!" Hades shouts.

I was able to see his status panel in front of me just like with my servants and subordinates so this made it go smoother.

"That's your status. A gift from this plane… I guess? Look towards the bottom and you should be able to see a section called 'Body Modifications'..."

"I see it, so do I touch it or think about it?"

"Just think of pressing it since pressing the actual panel doesn't work,"

Suddenly, the deathly white wings on Hades's back disappeared in an instant. He jumped slightly but then did it again with his tail… he now looked like a normal human with unique colored eyes and hair.

"Good job! Now think about pressing them again,"

He does it again and his tail and wings appear on his back.

"Great job!"

Hades pumps his fist in the air so I let him celebrate this very minor achievement for a second, before moving on.

"Alright, now you know the feeling of activating and deactivating a body modification/skill, so close your status by just thinking of it disappearing. Then try to reactivate both your wings and tail,"

I see his status disappear and then he closes his eyes. A few seconds later and both his tail and wings appear again.

Before we could celebrate, Aika walks in the door crossing her arms with a stern face. It seems she wanted an apology for her son's arrogant actions from before so he quickly apologized and hugged me tightly before leaving.

Seems she didn't notice our practice session…