Meanwhile, deep within his own consciousness—
As the epicenter of the entire phenomenon, August obviously felt everything that was happening to him.
When Hestia was struck by the shockwave, August tried to rise, only for an unseen force to drag him into a deep sleep. It felt as though he had been pulled straight into his own mindscape, where he stood alone in an endless sea of consciousness.
A massive door towered before him.
It was the two-way portal he possessed, the gateway that allowed him to travel between worlds.
By light novel standards, a portal was a rather old-fashioned cheat ability. But at that moment, the door was radiating violent, erratic energy, sending shockwaves rippling through his mental realm.
In his mind's eye, he could clearly see Hestia's single drop of divine blood trying to force the door open.
"Ah, I almost forgot," August muttered to himself, sifting through his memories as the situation finally clicked. "A Divine contract is meant to unlock the latent possibilities of a mortal body."
"To put it in modern novel terms—my genetic limiters are currently being shattered."
"But the Falna isn't just unlocking my personal physical potential. It's also trying to force open the potential of this portal... something that didn't even belong to this world to begin with."
"Except..."
The portal was very powerful. A gateway capable of piercing through dimensions was never going to be some low-tier ability.
Since the door was intrinsically bound to him, and he hadn't actively resisted the Falna's activation, the Divine contract was going all-in, relentlessly attempting to tear through the portal's hidden potential.
"Now I get it." August watched the chaotic clash of energies in awe. "This Divine contract is actively trying to upgrade my Cheat into something even more broken. That is honestly terrifying."
August could do nothing but watch it unfold.
As if finally responding to the divine pressure, the portal stirred. Brilliant light spilled from the edges of the heavy door.
Then a new, specialized ability manifested before him.
[Spatial Backpack]
"This ability..." August froze in disbelief. After all that effort and energy, all it gave him was an inventory?
"Well, it's better than nothing. Besides, back in my world, the tactical applications for a spatial inventory have been theory-crafted to death."
It seemed like a simple skill, but it perfectly matched the spatial qualities of a dimensional portal, effectively creating a pocket dimension for storage. At first glance, it appeared mundane. To melee fighters, it was just an easy way to carry additional gear or hide throwing weapons.
But for a modern human? The destructive potential of a spatial inventory was horrifying.
Picture it: opening a pocket dimension to instantly unleash a barrage from a million warships. Or opening the inventory mid-air to release endless swarms of drones and fighter jets for point-blank, carpet-bombing fire support.
Looked at from that angle, this ability was absurdly overpowered. It was the ultimate cure for anyone suffering from 'insufficient firepower syndrome.'
But the evolution wasn't over. Two more abilities suddenly floated into his vision.
[Spatial Resistance]
[Temporal Resistance]
"Resistances?" August blinked. He hadn't expected the portal to grant him defensive passives.
Those were three latent gifts directly born from the dimensional portal itself.
Meanwhile, Hestia's Divine Blood—the raw catalyst of the contract—finally broke through the threshold, transforming into a surge of energy that rushed directly into his mindscape.
[Charm/Flame Resistance]
[Magic: Healing Fire]
Back in the real world.
The blinding pillar of light gradually faded from the room.
"It's gone," Hestia whispered breathlessly, watching as her glowing Divine Blood finally settled into August's back.
The Falna officially activated. But what appeared on his skin was entirely different from the standard adventurer status boards of this world.
An unprecedented layout formed.
There were no basic stats. No strength, agility, or magic values. The entire status board was built purely around abilities.
[Level 1]
[Magic: Healing Fire]
[Skills: Charm/Flame Resistance; Temporal Resistance; Spatial Resistance]
His base attributes were unknown, but his passive abilities were already maxed out from the very start.
"This..." Hestia stared at the status board, her eyes practically sparkling with ecstatic madness.
"WE HIT THE JACKPOT!!" Hestia shrieked, jumping up and down in excitement.
They didn't look like direct combat abilities on the surface, but their growth potential was downright terrifying.
[Temporal Resistance] and [Spatial Resistance]. That undoubtedly meant if he ever faced an enemy capable of manipulating time or space, he could just flat-out ignore a massive portion of their attacks and effects.
That kind of scaling was insane.
As for the [Charm/Flame Resistance]—that was almost certainly a hard counter meant to prevent him from being seduced and poached by those shameless Goddesses of Beauty roaming the city.
That skill couldn't have been more perfectly timed.
And then there was his Magic—[Healing Fire]
"Allows the user to convert their mana into restorative flames, capable of healing or even regenerating body parts..." Hestia read aloud, dumbfounded.
"Hiss..." Hephaestus sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes widening.
Healing or regenerating body parts? The most absurd part was that this magic could likely be cast on others, scaling entirely with his mana output.
'Holy shit. Was this guy even human?'
"Hestia. Give this child to me." Hephaestus's voice was deadly serious. "I don't even care about that destined hero anymore."
Hephaestus realized that this kid's abilities were already game-breaking.
At that moment, envy consumed her. "To hell with some hero I haven't even met. I just want this kid."
"SCREW OFF, GET OUT OF HERE!" Hestia barked, snapping out of her daze.
She had forgotten that Hephaestus was standing right there. And as a goddess, of course she could read the status board as well. What did she mean by saying she "wanted this kid"?
"No way! This child is mine!" Hestia immediately threw her arms wide, going into hyper-defensive mode to guard her prize.
She was determined not to let such an incredible kid slip away. Even if he wasn't her ideal romantic match, giving up a talent like this would feel a thousand times worse than dying.
"Ugh..."
Before their bickering could escalate any further, August let out a heavy groan, showing signs of waking up.
"Is he awake?" Both Goddesses immediately noticed him stirring.
Panic flashed across their faces. His sudden awakening at this moment was terrible timing.
Because outside, a ravenous horde of Gods was rapidly closing in on their location.
"What's wrong?" August mumbled, having caught the tail end of their argument as he rubbed his eyes. "What are you two yelling about now? Didn't we already settle this?"
If his memory served him right, they had literally just agreed that he was choosing Hestia over Hephaestus.
"Did you hear that?? August still chooses me!" Hestia practically glowed.
She broke into a wildly ecstatic smile, hugging August's head and rubbing her cheek against his affectionately, practically wanting to fuse with him on the spot.
There was no sentence sweeter than that.
Seeing August instantly reaffirm his choice the moment he woke up made Hephaestus's heart twist with intense jealousy.
But she had to admit—the fact that he firmly chose Hestia even after such a chaotic awakening proved that his loyalty to her was absurdly high.
However, this was definitely not the time to be jealous.
"Hestia. What's our next move?" Hephaestus asked grimly, folding her arms. "Just giving him a Falna triggered a city-wide anomaly. The vultures outside aren't exactly known for their restraint."
Hephaestus knew the situation was extremely dire. The Gods outside were already circling like hungry sharks.
They might actually storm the building to kidnap him. Never underestimate a God's complete lack of morals or boundaries when they sense something worth pursuing.
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