Chapter 527: Chapter 524: Certainty

Jadis was really starting to regret not taking the Pregnancy Sense spell that had been offered to her.

Not that she didn’t still have the option. She had gained a level in her Progenitor class, the same class that had made that spell available to her some unremembered number of levels previous. Since Jadis had reached level twenty-one, she could choose to take the spell that very moment and thus immediately use it to confirm the suspicion that they held regarding Eir’s current status. The only thought that stayed her metaphorical hand from selecting the spell was the fact that the new level had been her twenty-first level in her tertiary class, which meant that the two new options she had available to her were likely powerful and potentially class altering in their significance.

Really, Jadis needed to take a look at those two options to make a judgement call, but she hadn’t yet. She was just a bit distracted. Reasonably so, in her opinion.

“You’re pregnant? Are you sure?”

“Who got a level? You did? Both of you?”

“Does that mean Eir unlocked her tertiary class?”

“Oh, my gods, Eir is finally pregnant!? Eir! Congratulations!”

The commotion Kerr had made had done the job Jay had been so careful to avoid doing, at least leading up to her passionate moment with Eir. Everyone was awake and talking at once, addressing their questions to one or another of Jadis’ selves or each amongst each other. Despite all the questions and excited exclamations, the volume in the room was muted. Not because of the early hour, but in response to Eir’s silent, almost solemn countenance.

In the commotion of everyone waking, Jay had moved to a sitting position. While she had pulled her length out of Eir, they hadn’t had a chance to clean up at all. In at least a small attempt at decency, Jay had pulled a blanket over Eir’s waist so that everyone wasn’t distracted by the fact, yet Jadis was beginning to wonder if that had been a pointless effort. All attention was on Eir, who was sitting with her eyes closed and her hands on her stomach, her mouth moving in a silent prayer. The fact that they had just had sex was a distant, utterly ignored consideration for everyone at that moment.

“Eir? Are you alright?”

Aila spoke softly as she knelt on the ground next to Jay and the elf sitting in her lap. Her concern was obvious, and was directed at Eir for the most part, though her eyes kept wandering to Jay’s stunned face as well. Putting a caring hand on the oracle’s forearm, Aila tried again.

“Eir? Please, talk to me. Are you okay?”

Slowly opening her eyes, Eir’s head turned, and her purple gaze met Aila’s blue. The solemn expression that looked so out of place on the normally cheery priestess slowly transformed into a look of restrained joy. A light like no other shone in her eyes, though it was clear that Eir was struggling to keep her reaction tamped down.

“I am well,” Eir answered, her voice catching slightly. “I… I believe I am pregnant. I am as certain as I can be, without priestess Bertha’s spell to confirm.”

“That’s wonderful,” Aila smiled brilliantly, though she also followed Eir’s suit and controlled her reaction. “What has you so certain?”

“You mean other than the fact that she and the big lug got a level from fucking?” Kerr commented from where she had moved to lean against Syd’s back with a happy, knowing smile on her face. “Jadis’ baby-making class got a level. That’s all the proof I need.”

“While I agree that Jadis’ level does point to that conclusion, I think it’s best that we’re as certain as we can be and consider all of the evidence.”

Which was to say, Aila was doing her best to not get over excited, thus raising Eir’s hopes, only to have them dashed later if it turned out to be a false assumption. It was a kind gesture, one that put Eir’s state of mind to the fore, which was one of many reasons that Jadis loved her intellectual redhead so much.

“I have reached CLR sixty,” Eir explained her reasoning. “While I can’t prove that I gained a level in Lustful Oracle of D because I have been—because of what I suspect, I do believe that one of the three classes that I was offered confirms my hope. The description is… telling.”

“Telling?” Aila asked as she tilted her head in curiosity.

Eir nodded, a laugh trembling on her lips as she read the description out loud for all to hear.

“Okay, that’s about as direct a system message can be without flashing a notification that says ‘Congratulations! You’re pregnant!’ or something like that,” Kerr commented, her whole aspect growing visibly excited. “Brood Mother? Begun within you? Merde, I’m freaking out here!”

“Eir,” Aila’s voice was choked with emotion. “I’m so happy for you.”

As the redhead hugged the elf and tenderly kissed her cheek, the rest of the room’s occupants began to crowd around Eir and Jay, offering their congratulations and going in for their own hugs. It turned into a press of naked, or nearly naked, bodies that under any other circumstances would have had Jadis’ motor going. In fact, some part of her mind was distracted enough to appreciate the sight of her lovers piled together in such an alluring way. Still, the greater part of Jadis was still just processing the fact that her Eir was pregnant, and that for the eighth time in very little time at all, she was a parent again.

“You know, it’s funny…” Jadis’ Dia self mumbled aloud without finishing the thought.

“What is?” Sorcha asked, as she was the closest to Dia and had heard the quiet words.

“I was just thinking,” Dia grinned to herself. “This is the second time I’ve found out about becoming a parent via a system notification. Kind of weird that it’s happened twice.”

“Jadis, there are currently two more of you in this room than there usually are, and that’s not even double the number of you that is usually around. One of the people in this room is a loving and caring Demon, I currently have a giant dick, and we all arrived in this city in a flying wagon. System notifications about getting pregnant aren’t even in the top five of weird shit that goes on around you.”

There wasn’t really anything Dia could say to that, since Sorcha was right. Their lives really were bizarre, and that was mostly due to Jadis. She supposed she just had to thank her lucky stars, or D if that was appropriate, that she had found such wonderful women who were willing to put up with all of the weirdness to be with her.

After some minutes, the furor around Eir died down a bit. Many of her lovers were still clinging close to Jay and the elf in her lap, but some space was made. Everyone was wide awake, no doubt a product of both the unexpected excitement as well as the unnaturally good night’s rest they had all experienced thanks to Sleep of the D. As such, a few conversations started up, mostly centering on the timing of Eir’s happy news.

“Do you think your new aura has something to do with it?” Severina asked Dia. She was standing with her arms crossed next to the Nephilim, utterly unbothered by her nudity, which was probably a result of distraction considering her normally prudish attitude towards bare skin. “Could it really effect fertility that quickly?”

“I doubt it,” Dia shook her head. “The skill description says that the effect becomes stronger the longer someone stays within range. I can’t imagine it’d have its full effect already. It hasn’t even been a full day.”

“I suppose chance plays heavily into these things,” the Seraphim murmured.

“We can use you as a benchmark.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re not pregnant yet,” Dia smirked at the winged woman. “And avatars are supposed to take longer to breed. We’ll just have to count the number of days until that’s you sitting in my lap.”

Severina blushed deeply as she looked over at Jay and Eir. Then, she said something so unexpected that it nearly made Jadis laugh.

“I can sit in your lap now, should I so choose to.”

Wisely, Dia did not laugh, but instead smiled alluringly at her Seraphim lover.

“Yes, yes you can.”

“So, I have a question,” Jay spoke up, her arms wrapped around a happy and preening Eir. “Are you going to take that mother class for your tertiary? You could be the matriarch of my ‘brood’ or whatever.”

“Brood mother…” Bridget laughed at the title as she sat next to Syd and leaned against her. “I guess you could call the small army of babies we’re all going to have a brood.”

“Are you kidding?” Kerr scoffed. “Eir’s going to have a dozen kids all on her own. She won’t stop popping them out even when she’s as old as the emperor.”

That descriptive image drew both laughter and shudders from the others, though Eir followed up her giggle with a shake of her head.

“No, I will not. As tempting as the class may be, I do not believe that I need skills dedicated to having more children, especially since Jadis’ tertiary class seems to be filling that role so well already.”

“Then that means you’ve got a better option in mind,” Jay stated the obvious. “Is it even a debate? Or have you already got the class picked out?”

Eir shook her head again.

“I have made my choice. However, if you like, I can tell you what the other rejected class description says.”

“Ah, hold on,” Aila cried out as she dove for her pack where her journal had been stowed for the night.

A few seconds later and the naked arcanist was sitting with her pen in hand, ready to write.

“Go ahead.”

“I believe this is a class that some of you would have appreciated,” Eir grinned to herself before reading the description out loud.

“Sex healing sounds really fun…” Kerr moaned with disappointment. “Are you sure you don’t want to take that class?”

“I am certain,” Eir confirmed without hesitation. “My third offering is best, not just for me, but for all of us, I believe. I also think you will not be disappointed with what the class has to offer, either, Kerr.”

As Kerr leaned in eagerly to hear what Eir’s chosen tertiary class was, everyone else unconsciously shifted forward as well. Jadis knew in her heart that Eir had to have been offered a bonded class, no question, but the exact nature of the mysterious class was something she could only imagine. Helping others had to be involved in some way, though that didn’t necessarily have to be through healing, as Eir’s oracle class proved. Jadis didn’t have to wait long for her answer, though when it came, she found that she still wasn’t sure what to make of the class.

“If I had any capacity left within me to be surprised, I would probably be crying right now.”

Dia looked down at the angel sitting in her lap, concern on her face.

“Why? Eir’s new class sounds great! Not only is it a bonded class, but she’s also getting access to greater rituals! Isn’t that super rare?”

“Such is my point,” Severina answered as she tilted her head back to rest on Dia’s sternum. “Classes that grant greater rituals are exceedingly rare, to the point that the empire would consider itself lucky to have one citizen possessing such a class every hundred years. We have two such individuals in our party. One will have access to Arcane rituals, the other Divine. The power gathering around you is… it is significant, Jadis. You need to keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t hard for Jadis to read between the lines of what Severina was saying. She and her lovers had already garnered the attention of commanding and influential people, from disgraced generals all the way up to the emperor himself. The addition of two more rare and powerful classes was only going to make them an even bigger target.

“I won’t tell you not to worry, but I promise I’m keeping it in mind.”

While Severina and Dia had been talking, the rest of the group had focused on other aspects of Eir’s new class. It was once again fortunate that Jadis could hold more than one conversation at once, because the info being provided elsewhere in the room certainly had her attention.

“I wouldn’t have thought Eir meets the system requirements for a Saint class,” Aila was saying as she continued to write in her journal, completely engrossed with the fascinating new data she had been provided with. “I’m certainly glad that she does, though. Beyond the obvious, the chance to study and perhaps even combine her greater Divine rituals with my greater Arcane rituals is a fantastic opportunity. If nothing else, I believe I’ll have a wealth of material for a scholarly paper.”

“What’s obvious about a Saint class?” Jay asked the moment Aila gave her the opportunity to squeak a question in. “Also, why wouldn’t she meet the requirements for being a Saint? I mean, she’s always been a saint to me.”

Aila blinked for a moment, the gears in her head visibly changing speeds as she recognized what Jadis was asking her.

“Sorry, sometimes I forget that you don’t have the… background knowledge that the rest of us do.”

“It, ah, it’s because Eir has t—two different gods, yes?”

Thea’s tentative answer to one part of Jadis’ question was met with a smile and a nod from the redhead.

“That’s right. From what I’ve read, a uniformity in the god-related classes of the Saint is a consistent factor.”

“You mean, because Eir is a cleric of Lyssandria and an oracle of D, that means she shouldn’t be able to be a saint?”

“Yes,” Aila agreed. “Though, I’m not sure that even matters, since she is apparently your saint, whatever that means.”

“Devotion…”

Multiple sets of eyes turned to look at Alex, whose expression indicated that she felt her words to be both obvious and self-evident. When Jay motioned for her to further explain, Alex complied with a few more words of clarity.

“I am… A Paladin of Jadis… Eir is… A Saint of Jadis… We are… Devoted…”

“Does that make sense to you?” Kerr whispered into Syd’s ear. Though the question was directed at Jadis, it was Eir who answered.

“I believe you are right,” the elf said with a firm nod. “With all my heart, I know it is true. A Saint is one who is devoted to their god, committed to performing their works upon Oros above all else. I feel no differently when it comes to Jadis.”

“Uh…”

Eir giggled and shook her head, then turned to place a reassuring kiss on Jay’s arm, since that was easiest for her to reach.

“I am not saying that I worship you as a deity, my love. I mean that I am dedicated to you, with absolute commitment. I believe the gods have recognized my devotion to you, thus they have gifted me with the title of Saint. I will be offering prayers to Lyssandria and Destarious for their kindness and generosity.”

“A Saint is supposed to gain all of their power from the Divine grace of the god that they are devoted to,” Aila spoke up after a few seconds. “Perhaps that helps explain why you are deserving as well.”

“And that is…?”

“Jadis, you are empowering Eir directly with your ritual. Most of her Divine power comes from you.”

A good point that Jadis had almost forgotten about. Eir was an amazing healer, one who could save more lives in a day than an Earthly doctor could save in their whole career. However, a major factor in that ability was the ritual Jadis had performed with the elf, massively increasing her Divine attribute. Jadis wasn’t sure if that counted or not, but it made some sense to her. She was sure this was going to stir endless debates amongst the High Priests of the capital, but that wasn’t something she was interested in worrying about.

“Alright, she’s a Saint,” Syd commented, drawing everyone’s attention to herself. “I get that it’s weird that Eir got the class, and rare and powerful and all of that. But what exactly does a saint do?”

“Just as the class description says,” Aila answered. “Healing and protection. Just on a grand scale. I know that the Hero of the last cycle had a companion who was a saint. She was able to perform wondrous feats of powerful protection. She could cure entire cities of their ailments.”

“Wow,” Syd’s eyebrows rose high at the claim. “That’s some intense healing. Is that something you can do?”

The last was directed to Eir, who had yet to reveal what her tertiary class had given her for her first skill slot. The idea that her lover would be able to heal entire city’s worth of people was a crazy thought, but with how strong Eir’s Divine power was becoming, it didn’t sound completely farfetched.

“An entire city is still beyond me,” Eir smiled and shook her head. “However, I believe I have taken one step closer to that pinnacle.”

As everyone in the room absorbed the implications of Eir’s first Saint spell, the smiling elf asked a single question.

“Would anyone object to a change of venue?”

Agdistis

Patch Notes:

I have edited Eir's new Bonded Saint’s Lustful Restorative Sacramentritual description to better clarify its effects.

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