Mulling over Jenkins's words, Briny sighed internally. She couldn't bring herself to be angry with him, not really. After all, he had risked his life to save them tonight, and she understood just how much their love ant to him. In light of that, his secrecy seed trivial.
She had always thought of herself as soone level-headed when it ca to love, but now, what could she do? Briny knew her deepest desires. Here, in this ho, sitting with her lovers, this was the best outco she could have hoped for.
The thought brought a sense of comfort, and she decided to set aside the complexities of her feelings for the mont. Instead, she asked:
“So, about tonight... and the supernatural world, the Church...”
She had so many more questions, but she knew she would have plenty of ti to learn everything from Jenkins later.
“Tonight was complicated,” Jenkins began. “Knowledge carries its own weight, and there are so things I can't tell you.”
Briny's expression remained neutral; she accepted his explanation.
“As for the study of the supernatural, it dates back to the most ancient of tis. I can't explain it all now, or we'd be here all week without any rest. We can talk about it gradually. I think we'll have plenty of ti.”
Jenkins offered an apologetic smile. His sentint echoed the blonde's own thoughts, so Briny readily agreed. Nearby, Hathaway watched the two of them, marveling at how perfectly Jenkins understood Briny's feelings. It made her wonder if his past awkwardness had all been an act.
“No, that's impossible,” she thought.
The red-haired girl answered her own silent question. “He's a genuine fool when it cos to matters of the heart.”
“Then I just have one more question,” Briny said, her attention still on Jenkins. “How powerful are you, exactly?”
The conversation continued.
“Well...”
Jenkins hesitated. In his understanding, the power hierarchy of this world could be roughly divided as follows: the Masters Who Control the World, greater than the Righteous Gods who symbolize the months, greater than the Pseudo-Gods who add days to the calendar, greater than Angels, greater than Saints, greater than mortal Demigods, greater than Level 7 Enchanters. The strength of ordinary Enchanters could be estimated by their level, but the power scaling for Calamity Beasts, Cursed Items, and other malevolent entities was still unclear to him.
This classification was obviously imprecise. For instance, everything from Saint upwards were higher-dinsional beings whose very presence could affect the world. Below the rank of Saint, however, were essentially mortals. No matter how powerful, they were still mortal creatures. If expressed in numbers, the power levels of the upper echelons would be high-order infinities, while the lower tiers would be decimals less than one.
He himself could be considered a Pseudo-God, a Saint, and a Level 7 Enchanter. In his Pseudo-God state, wielding divinity and disregarding the consequences of burning it, he could even use lies to make the entire material world recognize his cat, Chocolate, as a great king.
As a Saint, he couldn't interfere with the world on a conceptual level, but destroying a kingdom would be a simple matter. He had never done it, but that didn't an he couldn't.
And as for a Level 7 Enchanter.....
“I can catch a bullet with my bare hands and shatter a wall with a single punch.”
For a supposed practitioner of the mystic arts, this sounded rather crude, lacking the mystery and intrigue one might expect. Seeing Briny raise an eyebrow, he added:
“With just a na and a lock of hair, I can curse my enemies. I can enter the dreams of others with ease, rewriting or even shattering their pleasant fantasies. I can break down most substances in the world. I can make people subconsciously like . I can observe the world from a spiritual perspective, gain wisdom under the starry sky, and relieve the suffering of the injured with a touch. I can also use dark incantations to make the dead crawl from their graves, receive enlightennt from ancient souls, and contend with ancient evils in desolate manors...”
He listed his abilities slowly, and seeing Briny's serene smile, he picked up his teacup and said brightly:
“Watch this!”
He dipped his finger directly into the tea. As he lifted it, his imnse spiritual power controlled the droplets of water, making them follow his finger while his [Ice Solidification] ability began to shape them.
His finger danced in the air, and soon, a crystal-clear rose made of ice materialized in his hand.
“For you.”
He offered the rose to the blonde girl listening to his stories from the comfort of his embrace. She shot him a look of feigned dissatisfaction but took the flower anyway. In truth, she was delighted but didn't want him to know it.
Nearby, Hathaway pouted. She was genuinely displeased. She knew Jenkins could do tricks like this, but she hadn't expected him to use one to woo Briny right in front of her.
The blonde girl, now smiling sweetly, also knew she couldn't be too hard on Jenkins. She was, in fact, very pleased with him, and the joy in her heart had long since pushed aside any anger she felt about his secrecy.
She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, the corners of her rosy lips curving upward. Her left hand unconsciously twirled the stem of the crystal ice flower. She was about to say sothing nice to ease the pressure on Jenkins when she rembered they weren't the only ones in the room, besides Jenkins and his cat.
Her face flushed red, and she quickly pulled away from his embrace, turning to see Hathaway watching her with a wide grin. Just as she was about to speak, she realized sothing:
“Why are you only explaining this to ?”
Holding the flower, Briny looked at Jenkins suspiciously. Seeing that her tone was normal and she didn't seem angry, Jenkins's expression froze for a mont, but he didn't panic.
“I'll go get your rooms ready,” he announced. “To be honest, the guest rooms have never been used.”
Without giving the girls a chance to object, he scooped up the cat—who was enjoying the drama far too much—and hurried toward the stairs. Briny knew Jenkins was exhausted from the night's events; she couldn't add to his stress, nor did she want to corner this man who was often more like a child than an adult.
So, she let Jenkins go and turned her gaze to Hathaway, whose smile was slowly turning awkward.
“Hathaway, what do you know?”
As she asked, Briny got up and sat beside Hathaway, taking her hand. This gesture, however, wasn't one of affection, but to prevent her from escaping as Jenkins had.
“Jenkins is part of the Legacy Sage Church, I understand that. He gains power from the gods through his faith and the Church. And tonight proved he's a dependable man, worthy of... besides, we've known each other for less than a year. Maybe he wasn't ready to tell everything. But... what about you? Hathaway, we've known each other since we were children. Our relationship...”
Even though she knew Jenkins could likely hear them, Briny lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“Our relationship is also... extraordinary. So, what are you? And what do you know?”
The red-haired girl's smile was stiff. She thought about trying Jenkins's trick—pulling Briny into an embrace and whispering sweet nothings—but she knew Briny wouldn't fall for the sa routine twice, especially not within five minutes.
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