Folkvangr, the home of Freya familia, was currently a buzz with a more internal competition for their goddess' love. The reason? Well, aside from them not really needing one in the first place, they were undergoing a baptism with everyone versus each other.
The brutality on display somehow managed to bring a surprisingly warm smile to Freya's lips. She may be a goddess of love, but she was also a god of war. Thus seeing Ottar and the others get back into the fray with a more eager mindset made her giddy, and temporarily forget about the job she had working as Syr.
Next to Freya was Loki, and for the first time in a long time the two goddesses spoke, as well as the first time Loki's children joined in the baptism.
Swirling her wine with a relaxed swish of her wrist, Freya spoke… "Loki dear, your children must have been quite upset about what happened the other day."
"Oh shut it, I could say the same to you…" Loki grumbled, drinking her own wine. "I think most of them just wanted to grow stronger than before, something about seeing those two really screwed with them… Oh thanks for healing Finn. He might have died otherwise."
"Hmm, you're welcome. My Heith is a wonderful child, isn't she?"
"Humph! Yes, I suppose she is, but my children are good too."
"By the way, Loki, how was Riveria, and the elves for that matter?"
"See for yourself, she's still emotionally challenged now." Loki clicked her tongue. "Damn it, Hera and Zeus went too far with those two."
"Perhaps that's what was required?" Freya said, taking an elegant sip of her wine, shifting her weight ever so slightly, and deliberately like she was controlling her familia began fighting harder. "Hedin was out for hours afterwards, when he woke up he told me what he did. I almost feel bad for him." She giggled.
"What did he do? Use his lightning magic against Ceraunius? Or something like that?"
"Not something like it. He did it."
Loki's expression shifted to shock. "Damn, you're lucky he's still alive. That's practically suicide. He might even be able to ban him from using magic altogether."
"Yeah, Ceraunius is much more lenient than Zeus."
"Zeus would have killed all of them for that, without a doubt."
"So would your brother… And Odin, and pretty much anyone else we both know… I certainly wouldn't, not something like that, imagine trying to charm me with a spell."
"Pfft… Yeah, that might turn Orario into a scene straight outta the great feud…" Loki paused thinking about something. "Why didn't those two come as well?"
"I have an idea, but I don't want to believe it." Freya winced at the idea. "I'm sure Astraea and Hermes know about it."
"Ha! Good luck getting either of them to answer." Loki downed her drink. "Know what I think?"
"It was a test for our familias, and Orario as a whole."
"Yeah… And those two didn't need it. They've got the same spark Zeus and Hera's children had. If they'd come to attack, there wouldn't have been a chance to make it believable for us to win."
"I wonder what they were talking about with Astraea for so long?"
"Say, did I just see your Hogni give my Riveria the lovey dovey eyes?" Loki asked blocking in disbelief.
"Probably seeking comfort in a relationship, with someone in a shared experience. He is a high elf too… Hogni, do you want to start talks of marriage with Riveria?"
""HOGNI, YOU TRAITOR""
""HOGNI, YOU WANT OUR PRINCESS!!!???""
"What…?"
And so began a new reason for the battle baptism to begin anew.
"Talks like that won't be easy for you, Freya. I'm not letting go of Riveria so easily. She's my familias mama."
"Then Hogni can make her a real mama." Freya smiled, noticing Riveria blushed.
"LADY FREYA, MY GODDESS! I BRING A REPORT!!!!!"
"Well what is it my darling? Good information gets a lap pillow and headpats."
"Astraea familia's Scarlett Harnell, Yamato Rindou, Gale Wind, and others have all leveled up! They've reached level 5."
"Excellent news, I look forward to the next Denatus."
"Hmm, that's really fast for leveling up. They were level 4s and that usually takes a bit of time. It's been 2 years since the feud, and their last level up." Loki wondered.
However, Finn approached with a curious look. "Has their member, Lyra, leveled up as well?" he asked through the obviously terrible condition he was in.
"Uh, I think so, but I can't confirm it. Seeing new first class rankups is a bit surprising."
"We can check in on it later." Finn said and returned to the endless brawl.
Elsewhere in the city, the Stardust Garden, Astraea was shocked by the increases in her children's statuses. It shook the foundation of what she knew about the falna.
"To think it only took you two years to level up this time, it seems you all worked really hard this time. Oh my, darlings, you make me so proud!!!!" Astraea swooned in place, wrapping her closest child in her ultimate attack, a warm hug.
Alise was standing to the side, doing a few practice movements. She wanted to test everything that Ceraunius and Gamelia had relayed to them. She confirmed it… Then she looked at the others who were also making similar tests.
"I'd say that's enough to confirm it for sure." Neze said with a confident nod leaning up against the wall.
"Yeah… A single level boost… It's possible to match it with roughly 300 points in every stat. I don't see how it could be more, nor much less if any." Kaguya explained.
"This means grinding out our status is just as important, if not more so. But why did we have a hard time realizing this before?"
"No idea, but we should have understood it naturally. There has to be a substantial gap, but not impossible to overcome. And what's the rating for the dungeon floors?" Alise rhetorically asked, causing everyone to realize it right away.
"Zeus and Hera familias were teaching us everything all along, it was everyone else who were too blind to see it." Ryana said being the first to mention it.
"Yeah, they sure did."
…