(A/N: Damn... 300 chapters already. It's been almost a year since I published this story. I never thought I'd make it this far!)
Whenever Loki dropped her smirking face, it usually meant she had encountered something pretty serious.
When she handed him his status sheet, Judas didn't know what to expect.
'What the hell is this?'
Looking at the "Err" symbols cluttering his stats and level section, Judas had no words to describe what he was seeing.
"What is going on with my falna?"
He questioned, lowering the paper in his hands and looking toward Loki.
In response, the trickster goddess shrugged.
"Told ya, I don't know… during your status update… the word 'Err' just randomly appeared when your numbers hit 1999. When I tried to level ya up, it wouldn't let me."
"Maybe this happened because you killed that terrifying monster, Antares and overloaded your falna, or something else… we don't know for sure."
Loki said, folding her arms with a frown.
Then she looked at Judas, her head moving up and down as if inspecting him.
"Well? Do ya feel any different? Are you about to unlock a new hidden power like a shounen protagonist or something?"
She asked curiously.
Judas inspected his body, turning his head side to side before closing his eyes to sense any changes within himself.
He did feel that he had gotten stronger, so he practiced a few jabs in the air.
'Hmm… I can definitely feel that I had just gained thousands of status points…'
But he felt no dissonance between his mind and body…
'I was able to max out my stats, but I didn't level up?'
he thought, noting that although he had gotten stronger, it seemed the usual feeling whenever he ranked up was absent.
He turned toward Loki and explained.
After a minute, Loki rubbed her chin with a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm… I don't know what to make of this. This has never happened before, As a trickster goddess, I am ashamed to say that I am completely clueless."
"And except for the ones you unlocked during previous rank-ups, all the new development abilities showed up as 'Err' too."
"So I just picked [Magic Resistance] for you, since you said that'd be your choice if no new ones showed up. Didn't want to risk giving you an unknown ability."
She explained, to which Judas nodded in understanding.
Setting the glitching falna aside, he noticed he had gained a new skill, and all his existing development abilities had ranked up.
"[Blessing of the Moon]? Looks like I finally got a new skill."
Judas muttered as he read the skill's description.
"It is basically somewhat similar to Bete's beastification…"
Loki commented.
"Hmm… well, at least something good came out of this."
Judas remarked before folding the paper and putting it into his pocket.
"Heh… you are so calm about this situation… but it doesn't seem like this error stuff has any negative effects on your falna… at least for now."
"If you don't mind, I'll tell Finn and the others about this and have them gather information from the Guild. They can take a look at the status sheet records of past adventurers."
"Who knows… the Guild has existed for a thousand years. Maybe someone in the past had the exact same problem as you."
"Anyway, if you have any issues, just report them to us."
Loki said as she rummaged under her bed before grabbing an expensive bottle of wine.
Just as she was about to open it… she suddenly remembered something and grabbed the letter on her bed.
"I almost forgot… I know the timing isn't appropriate, but Apollo is hosting a God's banquet tonight, and we're allowed to bring one of our children with us. Want to come?"
Loki asked as she handed him the invitation letter.
Normally, Judas would have refused.
It wasn't that he hated going to social events, but as an introvert, if he had the choice between going and not going… he would choose the latter.
However, this time, it was different…
'Apollo's banquet?'
He thought as he read the invitation letter.
'Is the Apollo Arc about to happen? Well, judging by the timeline, I guess this is about the right time for it.'
He recalled the events that had unfolded in the original anime.
Apollo had orchestrated the entire incident so he could challenge Hestia to a War Game and force Bell to join his Familia.
Unfortunately for Apollo, he and his Familia ended up losing the War Game and were banished from Orario forever.
In the end, it was the Hestia Familia that emerged victorious, even claiming Apollo's home as their prize, which would later be renamed the Hearth Mansion.
However, compared to the original story he remembered, the current world was no longer the same.
Alfia was still alive.
Lili had joined the Hestia Familia much earlier than in the original timeline.
Not to mention that Belle was now a girl and far stronger than her original counterpart.
There was also the fact that Freya hadn't taken an interest in this version of Belle.
As a result, Syr never staged that little scheme... pretending to drop a magic stone just to strike up a conversation.
Which meant Belle never got the chance to build a relationship with Ryuu, or even interact with her regularly.
Because of that, there was a very real possibility that she wouldn't come to the Hestia Familia's aid this time around.
Taking all these changes into account, Judas had no idea how the upcoming events would play out.
"Sure, I'll go."
Since he was curious, he might as well see it for himself.
'Better yet, I might be able to help Belle, Lili, and Hestia... well, with Alfia around, I don't think they would need it.'
Remembering his so-called 'Master,' Judas didn't think the Hestia Familia would be in much danger.
The threat Apollo posed might as well be nonexistent.
As for the matter of his glitching status?
While Loki was stumped, he had a pretty good hunch.
'It appeared the moment I received Maxwell's memories… it can't be a coincidence.'
As far as he knew, the falna was tied directly to one's soul.
When Maxwell's memories merged into him, the falna likely failed to process the sudden shift in his soul's nature and glitched out.
This was why Loki had no idea what was going on, as she couldn't see souls like Freya could.
'Well, that is my guess anyway.'
Judas thought.
While he was fairly confident in his guess, there was still a chance he was wrong.
For now, he could only wait and see if any further changes occurred.
Hearing his acceptance, Loki grinned.
"Good! Now, do you have anything to wear for the party? We can't exactly go there in our casual clothes, ya know?"
"Uhm…"
Judas blinked, suddenly realizing his predicament.
"I can manifest one with a magic spell."
Judas said, scratching his ear.
If anyone looked inside his wardrobe, they would find his clothing collection tragically sparse.
Aside from his combat gear and a couple of casual outfits, he owned almost nothing to his name despite being ridiculously wealthy.
Heck, there was even a spiderweb in the corner that he had forgotten to clean.
Hearing his words, Loki's lips couldn't help but twitch.
"Listen here, magic clothes are not allowed."
Loki said as she crossed her arms into an X-shape.
"This is a banquet attended by gods and possibly many influential figures… imagine how embarrassing it would be if the rising star of the Loki Familia, who has been making waves around the world, doesn't even own a single decent piece of clothing."
"I'll just buy something then."
Loki looked at him skeptically.
"Do you actually know how to pick formal clothes? Or where to buy them?"
"..."
Judas's silence was answer enough.
Loki covered her face with one hand.
"I knew it."
"Come with me."
She sighed as she put down the bottle of wine in her hands and hopped off her bed.
"Thankfully, we have someone here who knows a thing or two about this kind of thing."
Loki grinned as the two walked through the hallway, trying to find a certain green-haired elf.
"Riveria."
The High Elf turned her head after hearing Loki call out to her.
"What is it?"
Riveria asked as Loki pointed her thumb at Judas, who stood behind her.
"Help the kid out and make him look like a million bucks… we are about to go to a party."
"It's about time for him to attend his first social event so we can show him off to everyone."
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