Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

Four Gods having the same High Priestess didn't sound like a good thing.

"Didn't this happen with Rix?" I looked at Justia, then had an idea. "What about ours?"

Trent held up his hand where the original yellow seal was still fully intact. A quick wave of magic revealed that mine was too.

"It didn't change when I added Rix because I knew what I was doing." Trent sighed and pulled up Ether's stat sheet on his CB. "I guess no one thought to check on your stats after Klix botched adding her daughter and granddaughter to it?"

"I've looked at my stats a few times since then." Ether pulled up the menu to show her stats.

"Without the Seal's effect?" Trent held out his CB so that we could see the difference.

"I see Klix went ahead and added her own flair to the seal as well. It's going to take me a month to figure out what all she changed." The old man groaned. "It also seems that the two of you made some vows while I was out." His frown turned into a smirk. "You didn't tell me the two of you decided to get married."

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"I didn't...!" I tried to think back to our first conversation with Klix. There had been a lot happening at the time, but I remembered what Ether had told her grandmother.

"You told her that you were the Prime." I couldn't help but chuckle. "And Aelin told your mother that I gave you that ring." I nodded to the green ring on her finger.

"Yes, but that was after she connected me to the anchor." Ether began twisting the simple green band.

"I dunno then." I looked at my father. "Is this official, or do we still need like a ceremony or something?"

Everyone stared at me for too many awkward moments strung together.

"What did I say?"

"You're acting like this isn't something big." Ether's words were quiet, like she was dazed.

"How?" I was confused. "I mean, you having a new class is pretty awesome, but you're acting like that's not what you meant."

Justia slapped me in the chest with the back of her hand. "She means the marriage thing, dummy."

"Oh." Now I was more confused. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Ether glared at me. "Do you not understand how big this is?"

I took her hands and looked into her red eyes. "Don't think about all of that for a moment."

"But…"

"Just run with me on this." I cut her off. "Don't think about any of that. When you agreed to take that seal, knowing that it would bind the two of us together for the rest of your life, did you plan on spending that with me?" I remembered just how upset she'd been right afterwards too, but hoped she would focus on that part.

"Yes." A lone tear rolled down her left cheek.

I reached up and wiped it away with my thumb, then kissed her forehead. When I looked at her again, she was smiling.

"See?" I smiled. "Then it doesn't matter what else you want to call it. You're by my side now. We're a team. So if you want to say we're married, then we are. If you want to have a ceremony, then we can. The reason why I'm not reacting to your name is that it doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you, just how other people will see you. So do what makes you feel happy, and I'll keep loving you like I have, and we'll figure the rest out."

Justia rolled her eyes when Ether laughed and hugged me. "What does this mean about me?"

"I've never heard of a Priest being shared by two Gods. I have a feeling that Klix did that to try to get the four of you to resonate faster." Trent sighed. "There's still the matter of Pixie's siblings." The old man leaned back in his chair. "There are three of them: a Tank, a Shooter, and a Buffer. I'm not sure how this is going to work with seven of you and two duplicated classes."

"How do you know that?" I struggled to breathe with how strong Ether was squeezing me. "I think you're holding me a little tight."

"It'll take you a few days to get acclimated to your stat change. This is almost like you Tiered up. I'm sure you noticed you were a little off when you went in the Dungeon yesterday?" Trent shook his head. "As for how I know about the other three, Klix tried to convince me to take them on as transfers to my class."

"You can't...!"

The ivory man held up his hand. "Did you not hear me say tried?" He shook his head. "Transferring a single student between Wards is doable, but can draw a lot of attention, especially if I win by a landslide in next year's Adventurer Games." He chuckled. "Could you imagine what having a team of Godsired would do to other teams?" He shook his head. "We'd have an accident on the way back to the Cathedral. One where there are no survivors. No, much better to keep them out of the spotlight."

"Then how will we resonate if half of us are here and the other half are in a different Ward?" I sat on the edge of the table, and Ether hopped up next to me.

Justia leaned on the other end and folded her arms over her chest. "You're not getting a third team, are you?"

"No, my dear." Trent pinched his brow as he sighed. "The Nobles have been pushing for us to expand our classes for decades, so implementing that was just about getting a few holdouts to change sides. Pushing for a third team to be added during all the chaos would be nearly impossible."

"Then what are we going to do?" I rubbed Ether's arm as she snuggled against me.

"That's for me to worry about, my boy." Trent looked at me. "Right now, you've got something more important to worry about."

"Tomorrow?" I had a feeling my guess was wrong.

My father waved his hand. "Jenne will handle that. No." He nodded at Ether. "How long do you think her class change is going to stay a secret?"

I didn't follow. "What do you mean? The only people who matter have the seal already."

Trent nodded. "And how fast do you think the Scarlets are going to proposition you when they learn that you can awaken their divine lineage?"