Although Stheno and Euryale's words were filled with doubt, their expressions betrayed that they were already half-convinced.
After all, every visitor who had ever come to this island, no matter their skill or status, had fallen to their youngest sister, Medusa.
None had ever returned alive.
Yet this mage before them had subdued Medusa after only a brief battle. Even though Medusa had unleashed her Mystic Eyes, she still suffered a crushing defeat.
The sisters knew better than anyone how terrifying Medusa's petrifying eyes were. Without their help, Medusa would long ago have been consumed by her own power.
Even now, though she retained some trace of her will, it was only a matter of time before the Mystic Eyes devoured her completely.
As long as there were mortals who came to "slay the monster" and as long as she had to use those eyes again and again, the day would come when she would truly become a monster rather than the half-formed goddess she once was.
Faced with their questioning, Alaric merely smiled, a smile so gentle that it momentarily stunned the sisters.
"Ladies, you misunderstand me," he said lightly.
"Though I've captured Miss Medusa, I had no other choice.
When someone attacks you on sight without a word, what else can you do? Don't worry, I only restrained her. I didn't harm her."
He stepped aside so they could see for themselves.
Medusa stood there like a statue, unable to move, but unharmed. Only then did her sisters relax somewhat, their eyes toward Alaric softening.
"As for my identity as the Envoy of the Goddess of the Weave…"
At that very moment, a familiar divinity emanated from Alaric's body.
The sisters instantly recognized it, the aura of the Goddess of Magic.
If Alaric were summoned into the Holy Grail War as a Heroic Spirit, his status window would display this skill:
Blessing of the Goddess of Magic.
Though such blessings could exist in multiple forms, only this man possessed one so pure that every mage in the world would envy him.
Under this divine favor, all mana obeyed his command. As long as the Weave existed, his magic would never be exhausted.
And that wasn't all. His spirit would also bear these two extraordinary skills:
Love of the Goddess of Love and Beauty.
For a mortal, what greater fortune could there be? To have won the affection of the very goddess who embodies devotion and beauty.
This divine love granted him the highest possible charm a human could attain and made him invincible in matters of romance, almost to the point of being cursed.
Favor of the Moon Goddess.
He bore the full affection of Artemis, blessed by the moon itself. This divine grace gave him supernatural talent in archery and the hunt, recognized by nature as one of its own. Under moonlight, his strength would never fade. The price, however, was that he had become a target, someone's chosen prey.
Indeed, love with a goddess was nothing like love with mortals, it brought tangible power.
In the world of Toril from Dungeons & Dragons, the famed wizard Elminster had once shared a night with the Goddess of Magic herself, and his powers had grown immeasurably because of it.
To be blessed by a god was to be favored by that god's entire domain.
Alaric sometimes mused that if he could "court" every goddess on Mount Olympus, perhaps even a mortal like him could rise to rival the legends themselves.
Usually, he kept these divine blessings concealed, especially to avoid drawing the attention (or jealousy) of Artemis.
But now, to win over the two, or rather, the three, goddesses before him, he reluctantly revealed them.
Truth be told, showing off his romantic past to women he had just met was a first for Alaric.
Embarrassing as it was, the situation had its own peculiar thrill.
While Alaric was still savoring that strange sensation, Stheno and Euryale were utterly dumbfounded.
They knew the nature of divine blessings, even if they hadn't experienced them personally.
And knowing that only made what they were sensing even more unbelievable.
As daughters of the former sea god and once members of the pantheon, before retreating to this island, they had known the gossip among the gods well.
Affairs between gods and mortals were nothing new, Zeus himself descended to the mortal realm every few days for such escapades.
Poseidon and his sons followed suit, and that was how so many demigods came to be.
Among those "fortunate" mortals who caught a god's eye, some received special divine favor, true blessings that contained a fragment of divinity itself.
Such blessings required a god to sacrifice part of their power, a gift reserved only for their truest beloved.
Especially blessings ranked EX, that was the level of a god's eternal love.
And yet this man possessed three such blessings.
Who was this man? A master of divine romance? A professional seducer of goddesses?
Unlike mortals, gods were constant and absolute. They might be powerful, but they were also stubbornly sincere.
No mortal could ever deceive a god into granting such blessings through tricks or bargains.
Which meant… this man had truly earned the love of three goddesses by his own strength.
They didn't know much about the reclusive Goddess of Magic, but the other two were world-famous paragons of chastity and devotion.
And this man had not only survived such encounters, he was standing here alive and well!
If that was true… then he was indeed a master, one bold enough to charm goddesses and live to tell the tale.
But wait… weren't they goddesses too?
Would he turn his attention to them next?
The thought made their hearts race, excitement… or was it fear?
And if he did… would they really reject him?
A man loved by so many goddesses… wasn't he, perhaps, the true core of the divine magic pantheon?
If they refused him, would he be angered? Would he make their future in the magical pantheon difficult?
And honestly, if it were him… did they even want to refuse?
Curiosity stirred within them.
What kind of man could captivate so many goddesses?
In the end, the blessings Alaric revealed left the two sisters completely torn between awe, fear, and a strange, reluctant fascination.