The dragon's harem

Chapter 1848: Jack’s Powerup

When Jack returned to his home, he walked through the front door, headed to the washroom to wash his face, and then took a seat in the living room. Lydia should still be asleep in their room, but he didn’t feel like going up the stairs.

The powers that Arad gave him were essentially sent to him by Amaterasu, and as much as he wanted to trust her, he couldn’t. For some reason, she rubbed him the wrong way.

Jack was certain that Amaterasu fought for the good of the universe, but he wasn’t sure if she fought for the good of the people. Out of all the gods, she is the only one who doesn’t need mortals to pray to her.

While other gods, such as Sylph, the elvish goddess, for example, rule over the elves. If they all died, she would lose all of her power and eventually die from divine starvation. The gods are forced to protect and care for their believers if they want to grow stronger and remain as gods, but Amaterasu doesn’t have that constraint.

In fact, all of Amaterasu’s worshipers and believers were a liability to her. They needlessly consumed her divine magic, gave her too much work to deal with, and provided very little achievement in battle compared to what Amaterasu herself would be able to achieve with the same resources.

This is why Jack couldn’t understand Amaterasu’s motives. Why would she care about the people? What would drive her to help them? The answer was nothing; she doesn’t have to, which is why she is so suspicious.

What is even more worrying is that she had killed her two younger brothers, Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. Even if she had reasons and was justified, dealing with a kin-killer is always a bad idea. Most sane people would choose to apprehend or capture their blood alive, no matter how heinous their crime is, and even if they killed them, they wouldn’t be just handing their power to a random rogue like himself.

Now, Jack had to figure out and understand Amaterasu’s motivations and goals to be able to work around her plan, and at least assure his and Lydia’s survival. Arad is powerful enough to take care of himself, so Jack didn’t have to worry too much about that part.

How could he, a mere human born without much magic, outsmart a divine goddess with more knowledge, skill, and time to prepare?

If Jack had any edge, it was that he was born a high-human, albeit a defective one. While regular high-humans are physically sick and weak while having a lot of magic power, like Gojo and Merlin, Jack was a bit special.

Jack’s body wasn’t sick; it was honestly average in all aspects. He wasn’t too tall, too strong, nor too dexterous. But what he got from his defective high-human blood was his brain, the mind that should’ve been dedicated to controlling a vast amount of magic.

There are only two paths forward for him now. The first path is to take the power and keep walking in Amaterasu’s palm, pushing her plan forward, yet gaining power and authority that might allow him to gather more information about her plan. But the second path is rejecting the power, remaining as a weak mortal, away from Amaterasu’s grand plan, yet losing the chance to understand and get the power to gather information on her.

No, what if Amaterasu’s plan was not that? What if she didn’t want him to use the power, only to hold on to it, maybe for Arad to use in the future.

Probably, taking the power is the safest course of action, but Jack can’t just abuse it. He has to carefully plan for everything and make sure his entire existence is a deadly trap that could even stop Amaterasu’s grand plan if she is to let the people die.

“Arad didn’t come in with you?” Lydia walked down the stairs, threw a glance at him, then lifted an eyebrow. “And, why is there a divine portfolio inside you?” Since Arad already gave Mira a portfolio, it wasn’t that surprising for him to give another.

But when Lydia looked closer, her eyes widened. “That is… Susanoo divine magic, Amaterasu’s younger brother.”

Jack leaned back on the couch. “Spot on. Amaterasu had Arad dig out of the man’s grave. She is also the one who told him to give it to me, hoping I’ll take it and become a divine being.” He threw a glance at Lydia. “Probably, she thinks I’m a liability on you, an archon.”

Lydia closed her eyes, thought about it for a second, and then sighed. “Most likely, she knows that I won’t leave you and head to the frontlines, so by making you a god, she is hoping you’ll be drafted, and for me to follow.”

“That is also a possibility.” Jack stood and stretched his arms. “Do you have anything on Susanoo’s power and history? I’m sure Amaterasu’s scriptures had a few things on him.”

“You want to accept that power?” She stared at him as he walked to her side, and Jack smiled. “Power is always a good thing in this world, but don’t worry. Amaterasu would find it really, really hard to control me.”

“Fine, I’ll tell all that I know about him.”

Three hours later… Lydia walked into a vast, open plain inside Merlin’s labyrinth. She wore her full armor, carried her sword and shield, and looked a bit worried.

“You really went on and did it.” She sighed and slowly turned to look back at Jack, who was a bit taller than before, looked fuller, and had fully regenerated his lost arm and leg.

“I’ve got three rules for myself. One, no taking believers. Two, No following orders from any other god. Three, I must optimize my power as best as I can and never waste it.” He lifted three fingers, looked at Lydia with a smile, and then took a stance.

“So, how about we test things out?”

She sighed and shook her head. “You just attuned to that portfolio. It was surprising that it went so quietly and without any massive disturbance, but it should take you days or weeks to master it.” She pulled her sword out.

“Eris even now can’t fully keep her murderous impulses in check, and Mira couldn’t even fully understand her portfolio.” She looked at Jack. “Right now, you only have the body of a demigod, not powers.”

Jack smiled. “Well, and it’s a sexy body indeed. But, if I’m right, the only thing standing between me and fully controlling Susanoo’s power is understanding and learning the rules of his portfolio.” He took a deep breath.

While Susanoo was known as the God of storms, which didn’t refer to regular storms, it referred to the galactic storms and superwind generated by spinning galaxies and stars. What Jack understood from Lydia’s explanation and sensing the portfolio was that the space between worlds has winds as well, powerful winds of gases that can reach horrifying speeds, carry meteors and dust all over the universe.

Jack can’t hope to fully control that power, but he is still able to try it, and even mix it with the serpent’s powers, which were much easier to understand.

Lydia smiled. “Well, I would much rather drag you to bed now. But fighting is fine as well.”

Jack opened his palm, extending his fingers toward her, “Then sorry in advance.”

At that moment, Lydia’s body suddenly felt a powerful pull, and before she could even reach, she had been violently pulled toward Jack in the blink of an eye.

The mortal world’s planet is spinning around itself, and it is also spinning around the sun, which is also spinning, and then the entire world is flying through the universe, all pulled by the great currents of galactic winds. Jack can’t control all of that now, but if it is just Lydia, he can command the wind to stop pulling on her.

Jack’s fist slapped right into her torso, and he could feel his knuckles almost cracking. ^Damn it! That was just…^

Lydia was caught by surprise, but such an attack didn’t even hurt her. But she was genuinely happy that Jack could pull off such a move. Her sword arm moved, and her blade drew near his arm to slash it, and it did. Lydia’s blade cut his arm like butter, and when blood splashed, she could only hear a gulp.

Jack grabbed her arm with his one remaining arm and swung the severed one at her face. Before the punch could even hit, his arm had fully healed due to the serpent’s powerful regeneration, and he managed to land a direct hit.

But it was then that he found himself on the ground, with Lydia sitting beside him. “You’re finally awake?”

“What?” He gasped, and she looked away. “Sorry, you punched me in the face. I got a bit excited and tried to push you away with my shield. It seems I’ve used a bit too much strength and knocked you out.”