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

Trent clapped his hands.

I felt my ears pop as even more magic enveloped the RV. "Is it really a good idea to keep doing high Tier magic?"

"If Mive is here, then I've done what Tres asked me to. Besides, he owes Tres a favor that I can spend if he's upset. If he's been bound somehow, then he'll know someone is here and considering that I've been fixing everything that I've broken…"

"He'll know you're looking for him." I finished.

Trent nodded as he walked up to Oz and Ether. His finger turned blue as approached them. "I don't have enough time right now to put a full seal on you right now, but I can put a mark on you." He touched both of them above the heart with his finger. The faint blue outline shone through their shirts. "I'll fill it in the next time we have time."

"What don't I know?" Ether swallowed. "And is it okay for him to know without a mark?"

"He won't say anything." Trent paused and looked at me, then Rix. "Your team."

I swallowed. "You know that the seals that Rix and I have are there to hide our stats and statuses." I looked at the symbol on Astrid. "But it's not just Sugaru that it can hide."

"UMUHUM!?!" Whisper looked at me even though he couldn't see me.

"It can also hide Gibborim, Nephilim, and Godlings." I nodded at Astrid. "In order to blend in, most Gods will mark not only their kids but also that kid's team." I took a deep breath. "Which means that there's a chance that she's been planted in the Harlax family and is really a child of a God."

I could see the shock on their faces. Even Fray and Gesai were surprised. Whisper, on the other hand, was bobbing his head in a way that told me that he was rolling his eyes.

"Not really." Rix corrected me. "The PK tag clears that, so her class is Shooter."

"Right." I'd forgotten about that. "So she's just someone close to them, and it could be like Rals or Zel." I nodded at Trent to continue.

"Wait." Ether's voice was wavering. "Those are children of Gods?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yes. Gibborim is when a God has a child with a Mundane. A Nephilim is when they have a child with an Adventurer…" I looked at Trent. "Are Godlings always when they have a child with another God?"

"Any child of a God can be a Godling or a normal class, but yes, when two Gods have a child, it will always be a Godling." Trent knelt down by Astrid.

"Do all Gods start off as Godlings?" Gesai looked very confused. I didn't blame her. From an early age, we were told that Gods just came into being, which I guessed was kind of true. When they took a Mantle and claimed a city, they kind of would just appear on the scene.

"Yes." I assumed it would be safe to give them this information. "Tres started out as a Tank with Trent and Mavery, then he claimed the city that now holds his name."

"That's a lot of information…" Ether's voice trailed off, and I saw the wheels turning. "But if you're fighting Gods, that's not information we'd need to know later unless…"

I saw the light go off when she put it all together. The look she gave me was one of horror.

"Ether…" I reached for her and she pulled away, putting Oz in between us.

"No." She shook her head as she backed up. "No-no-no. NO!"

"What?" Oz hadn't followed the thought trail all the way.

"There's only one reason why we would 'need to know everything eventually'." Ether was trying to pace in that small space. "If you and Rix are fighting Gods, then this might never come up, unless you're going to be hunting kids."

"What? No!" I shook my head. I was glad that was what she had been freaking out about.

"Or if you're actually a Godling." Her red eyes bored into me. When I didn't deny it as quickly as I had the last statement, she knew. "By the Gods…" She covered her mouth with her hands.

"You're a WHAT?" Oz looked at me, then turned to try to console Ether.

Gesai was just shaking her head. I had a feeling that she'd been starting to piece it together. Especially given the magnitude of the seal that'd been put on her and just how far she had been willing to go to protect my secret. She might not have thought it was this big, but she knew it was bigger than what she'd been told.

Fray was hugging her knees in the corner of the booth. She was always a nervous mess, and this didn't look like it'd helped any.

Oz was the only one of the four of them that wasn't having any reaction at all.

"No." Ether pushed Oz away and ran into the bathroom.

"Ether…" I moved to go after her, but Oz stepped in front of me.

"It's a lot, and you know how she feels about trust." Oz nodded at the bathroom. "But you know she loves you, so once she's had time to process this, she'll come around." She nodded at Astrid. "Let me know what you figure out. I kinda like her." She turned and followed Ether into the bathroom.

It tore at my heart to hear her crying when Oz opened the door.