Chapter 77: Ch 77: Gaining a Kid - Part 2

"Aiden, I have decided to take Sasha under my wing even if she is not ready to accept me as her master yet. There is no need to glare at her like that."

Goddess Apophis’s words were not an order, but they might as well be. Aiden let out a sigh at those words and forcefully calmed himself down.

"Honestly, I don’t feel too good about the fact that you have not accepted Goddess Apophis as your god. But since this is her request, I will overlook it this time."

Sasha did not seem to care whether Aiden was overlooking her actions or not. She simply lay down on the mattress he had laid out and her body relaxed instantly.

"Hey, what kind of bedding is this? It is so soft and comfortable. I almost want to fall asleep right now. It’s weird. I don’t think I have felt this comfortable in my life before. And that food we ate as well. What was in it? It might have been better than the grand feast of the Phoenix clan. And also-"

Sasha looked fascinated by every new thing she saw in Aiden’s room and every new experience she had. She was just like a kid who was experiencing something new.

’Like a kid...no, she is a kid. I guess I can see what Goddess Apophis was thinking.’

Aiden’s goddess was truly a kind soul, so it was not hard to see why she had decided to take a kid like Sasha under her wing. It did make Aiden a little jealous...

But since he was special to his Goddess, he could let it go.

His goddess had also retreated back to her snake form not long after she came back, and she was currently resting to catch up on the sleep she missed.

It left Aiden alone with Sasha in the room, and she forced herself to sit back up.

"Hey, where is the other person who was with you? You know, that pink-haired guy that became the champion. He did not even come here to eat."

"That’s because I delivered his food to his room. He’s currently in the middle of controlling his powers, so it is for the best if we leave him alone until he wants to interact with us."

Aiden pointed out, which made Sasha sigh and nod.

The kid was all but falling asleep, which made Aiden tuck her into his bed. And since it was big enough, he also fell asleep on the bed as well.

By the time morning came, not only did Aiden have a kid clinging to him, but his goddess had also changed her form and decided to sleep beside him.

It was one of the best and also the weirdest experiences of him waking up in the morning.

...

"I will do my best to ensure our victory. I will not let your name be tarnished."

Caelion promised with his back held straight. He looked at Aiden with fire in his eyes, and Aiden let out a sigh.

"You are fighting for Goddess Apophis and not for me. Please do your best to remember this."

Aiden reminded the ex-slave, who nodded. But his eyes held the same light that told Aiden he was hearing his words through one ear and out the other.

In the end, Aiden just sighed and placed his hand on Caelion’s shoulder.

"Just do what you can here."

He told the ex-slave, who nodded. But right before he headed for the preparation arena, Goddess Apophis, who was resting on Aiden’s shoulder, spoke up.

"Caelion, since you have decided to fight in Aiden’s name, defeat is not accepted. You can take as much of my power as you need. But make sure you don’t damage your body beyond repair either. Find a way to win with what you have."

Goddess Apophis was laying out some contradictory conditions for Caelion. She was asking him to win by using any means necessary, but also to not overdo things.

Most people would have complained about such an order, but Caelion was not most people.

He gave Goddess Apophis a small bow to show that he understood what she was telling him.

"Please don’t worry, Lady Apophis. I will make sure I do not tarnish the name of my master who has given me a second life. I will win this championship for him."

With that, Caelion was off to the fighting arena, and Aiden decided to take a seat in the watcher’s stand along with Sasha.

The first thing he did was take note of the other fights to assess their power levels.

Unlike last time, where the only ones who stood out were Caelion and Sasha, there was quite a different mix of people here. Some of them were even stronger than Caelion, but not by much.

"It seems like the talent pool here is not that different in strength from each other. Luckily, Caelion is also on a similar level, so he has a fair chance."

This was why Aiden had chosen a smaller venue for Caelion to attend. If there were too many people, then it would be harder for Caelion to win.

"However, the reward for such a small tournament will not be too grand either. It will take a long time before Caelion will be able to gather enough strength to go against other powerhouses."

Sasha tried to make an observation, only for Aiden to sigh at her.

"That’ll only happen if Caelion relies on these tournaments as his only source of power. But Goddess Apophis is continuously evolving, and as a result, Caelion will evolve as well. Don’t underestimate our faction."

Aiden told Sasha, who still looked conflicted. But by the end of the tournament, even she had to admit that she had underestimated Caelion.

He ended up winning the whole thing easily and dedicated his victory to Aiden, which was a shame.

’Aiden should have used this time to spread Goddess Apophis’s name.’

But since his goddess was happy, Aiden had no room to complain either.