Chapter 194: Second Guardian Initiation
While there were still a few more days left before we needed to head to the Mortal God summit, today was the day when our three new members would officially join us as my new Guardians.
I didn’t even know about this but they had apparently made a room specifically for me to welcome new Guardians which confused me a little because it’s almost like they were expecting me to have even more Guardians than this.
A quick reminder that there’s a limit to the number of Guardians a Mortal God can effectively maintain and I don’t even know what my limit is yet.
For all we know, I might only be able to take in one more person and the room would end up being useless.
...
...
It’s in the event someone dies and we need replacements, isn’t it?
Right... I guess I was operating on the belief that I would not be letting any of my Guardians die... But it’s actually not as rare as one might think.
Putting that aside, the room was actually pretty elaborate with a number of decorations and even a chair that was pretty much an actual throne that was placed on top of a platform that was obviously meant for me to sit on.
The room had a glass window behind the throne that overlooked the city which could be made opaque at a push of a button if we wanted to but it was already designed to be a one way glass anyway.
My Guardians were arranged around me around the platform that the throne sat on, making it look like a scene out of some period drama where the king was supposed to be meeting his subjects or something white his retainers flanked him on both sides.
I had brought up the point that this room might be a little too excessive but surprisingly, all my Guardians disagreed.
They said that I had to maintain my dignity of being a Mortal God and this was actually the bare minimum standard.
Seeing that all of them were actually of the same opinion for this matter, I decided not to push it and just accepted it.
It’s not like I would be using this room that often anyway...
I sat on the ’throne’, shifting a little uncomfortably on top of it while I waited for my three new Guardians to be brought here.
I thought I would be waiting for them at the pier and was told, in Olivia’s words, "Whoever heard of a Mortal God waiting to receive their Guardians like that?".
I wanted to point out that I was also waiting right here but apparently this was different somehow.
Seeing that I don’t know anything about these kinds of things, I just left the details to her and followed along without complaining.
After what felt like hours, which was in reality just five minutes or so, the door opened and four figures stepped inside the room.
The one leading the way was Maylene, the bunny girl hopping merrily towards us while three people followed behind her.
From my right, it was Dan, Valletta and finally Liliac.
Everyone here was dressed in their normal combat attire which made me feel a little underdressed since I was quite literally just wearing a simple collared shirt and long pants.
Then again... This would also be how I dress when I fight Anomalies now since the leather armour I used to wear basically offered less protection than my own body does.
Maybe if I switched to kevlar? But I think it wouldn’t make much difference anyway...
Looking at the three people walking towards me, I couldn’t help but notice how different each of them were.
Dan was basically just like always. Even though he was wearing that plate armour of his and in this unfamiliar place, he still had that small grin on his face and was walking towards me like he was just coming to visit my house or something.
In the middle of the three was the vampire Valletta. She was dressed completely in black and was wearing a very exquisite gothic outfit with gloves that reached up to her shoulders, a voluminous and ruffle layered dress skirt with two slits that exposed her legs, and a tight fitting corset that highlighted her hourglass shape that left the top of her boobs exposed.
As she walked, her legs pushed through the slits in the dress to show off her black, patterned tights that ended in a pair of high heeled stilettos which increased her already towering height and making her two companions look short in comparison.
If I had doubts about her being a queen before, all of those doubts had been completely dispelled as she moved with the grace and poise of royalty. Her back was ramrod straight and her head was held high with confidence as her stilettos clacked against the marble floor.
In contrast, Liliac was still dressed in her brown robes that covered her entire body but at least her hood was thrown back to reveal her face this time.
Her race as a dark elf was on full display here and she looked like the opposite of our resident elf sage as well.
She was petite and a little on the shorter side though I suppose she was basically just the same height as an average human, just that she looked short when placed beside Valletta.
She had a head of dark sapphire blue hair that cascaded past her shoulders and hid parts of her face where she kept lowered the entire time.
I’m pretty sure she was keeping her gaze locked to the bottom of the platform or around the area that was at my feet, not willing to look any higher than that.
If that was not enough to show that she was nervous, the way that she was walking hesitantly towards us was a pretty big indicator of that.
I had a moment to wonder just how we managed to get these three as my new Guardians when they stopped in front of the platform.
Olivia stepped forward, acting like some kind of herald as she turned to face me to introduce them to me, despite the fact I already knew who they were.
"My Lord. May I present to you the three newest Guardians who will join your ranks to serve you. On the right is Daniel Jin, who specialises in defense and fighting on the frontlines. In the middle is Valletta Incotassia, former queen of the Obsidian Kingdom and a master of Metallokinesis. Last but not least, we have Partanarulia Liliac from the world of Eisenweld, an expert of Chloromancy."
As though they had rehearsed this ahead of time, all three of them sank to kneel on a knee and bow their heads.
Somehow, Valletta made that action look regal as well despite the fact that she was lowering her head to someone else.
I understood this was where I had to step in and I got off from my throne to approach the three new Guardians that were kneeling on the ground.
Just like with my Guardians before, I stretched out my hand towards them and allowed them to kiss it on the back.
Ironically... Dan had already done this before so technically he was actually my Guardian for a while now.
When Valletta kissed my hand, I could feel my essence flowing into her and her regal stature almost broke when she shuddered from that feeling.
I caught her glancing up at me with eyes filled with hunger, though it looked like the ’I want to push you down and ride you’ kind of hunger and not the ’I want to kill and eat you’ kind of hunger.
I would know because I’ve seen those eyes on Ava before.
I quickly moved towards Liliac and offered my hand as well, but unlike the other two who had immediately took it to place their lips at the back of my hand, she stared at it and remained unmoving for a good few seconds.
I almost thought she had second thoughts about being my Guardian when Olivia cleared her throat which seemed to snap her out of her trance.
The dark elf quickly took my hand in hers and I could feel her trembling fingers as she pulled herself up to kiss the back of my hand.
I felt my essence flow into her as well, officially marking her as one of my Guardians as well before I took a step back from them.
All of them remained kneeling and only raised their heads when I returned to sit on my throne, the silence dragging on until I finally sat down and Olivia told them to rise.
With this, I have officially gained three new Guardians to my fold.
Now we just need to let them settle in and hope they don’t fight amongst themselves...
I hope this Guardian initiation thing isn’t something that happens often...
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