Chapter 1165 – A Successful Diplomatic Mission

Having taken some time to gather his thoughts, Jake reckoned there were a few things he had to get done. Seeing as Artemis had left to talk with Yggdrasil and Nature’s Attendant about things getting official, Jake reckoned he should also inform his Patron of it.

And, no, it had nothing to do with Jake wanting to at least brag a little to his scaled friend.

When Artemis had returned and covered the palace in barriers, Villy had also been cut off as he already had a difficult time spying inside the territory of the Pantheon of Life, but now he was back to looking again, which also made it easier for Jake to mentally reach out.

It didn’t take long before he got a response, either.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Villy said in an amused tone. “You look a little tired there, buddy. Been a long day, eh?”

“Actually, it turns out that time flies when you’re having fun,” Jake shot back. “And am I to assume you’ve just been sitting around waiting for me to reach back out so you can hear all the gossip?”

“Saying I’m just sitting around feels a bit hurtful, considering this avatar’s primary function is to communicate with you,” Villy responded. “But your curtness can be forgiven in exchange for a little gossip abou-“

“Sounds like I’m gonna remain unforgiven, then, as I’m not gonna share any details,” Jake shut the notion down.

“Jake, what do you take me for?” the Viper began, acting all offended. “Would I love to hear all the juicy details? Yes. Of course I would. Do I expect to? No, definitely not. Rather, I would like to know what happened afterwards, as I know something did happen.”

“And why are you so certain about that?” Jake asked curiously.

“You’re my Chosen. Our karma is linked. I felt a powerful shift in yours and a slight strengthening between my own and Artemis, and just now, also between myself, Yggdrasil, and Nature’s Attendant.”

“We did have a discussion,” Jake confessed. “A serious one.”

“So my guess was correct. Things have been made official?” Villy asked, though he clearly already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “Though I hope you can respect that I’ll keep the details of the discussion between me and her.”

“Fair enough, and totally what I expected,” the Primordial said, not even trying to pry. “I guess congratulations are in order?”

“Thanks?” Jake responded, a bit unsure.

“Are you happy with it? It’s not a small commitment, but something you have to actually take seriously. It’s also more than simply something between two people, but representative of the relationship between two factions. I guess what I’m saying is that you need to be as serious and dedicated to this as I believe Artemis is, or cut things short before it develops into something problematic,” the Malefic Viper said, far more serious than Jake expected him to be.

He had thought this talk would be the Viper teasing Jake about getting a girlfriend, but the fact that even his snake god buddy took this so seriously really made it hit home that this wasn’t a small commitment.

It was good that he had taken a few moments before gathering his feelings, allowing Jake to respond with an answer he was confident in.

“I’m serious, too,” Jake said.

“Do you love her?”

“I… think I do? Maybe?” Jake said, having needed a second to answer that one. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’ve ever been in love before, so I couldn’t tell you definitively. I also know that my emotions aren’t exactly normal compared to other people, primarily on account of my Bloodline. But I do know for sure that I like her.”

“I guess that’s good enough for now,” the Viper said, returning to his usual jolly tone. “In that case, I shall indeed congratulate you on bagging a hot wood elf Godqueen girlfriend! Quite the achievement, if I say so myself, especially for a C-grade. Damn proud of ya!”

Jake smiled at Villy being back to his usual self. “Yeah, I caught a good one.”

“And you won me a bet!”

“… why am I not surprised you had a bet about that?” Jake sighed. “So, how much did Duskleaf lose?”

“Duskleaf? I didn’t bet with him!” the Viper said in a happy tone. “No, I won one against Aeon this time around, so vastly superior haul as that guy can cough up a way better prize.”

“Did you seriously bet with another Primordial on whether I would get into a relationship? Also, why the hell would he even agree to that bet? How did it even come up?” Jake asked, having many questions indeed.

“The bet was whether you or that swordsman would manage to get into anything official with a god first. Not gonna lie, I thought I was going to lose, as your competition is frighteningly competent in that area, but luckily for me, he’s been too busy fighting,” the Viper explained.

“You still didn’t tell me why Aeon would agree to a bet in that vein,” Jake pointed out, still having a very hard time seeing why a god of time would even bother betting about something like that, especially when the person in question only had a Divine Blessing.

“Boredom?” Villy said, as if it wasn’t obvious. “Didn’t even take any convincing. He was on board right away, thinking it sounded interesting. Eternity is a long time, mate, something I’m sure any serious conversation with Artemis will have also touched upon.”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded as he considered whether he should share the next part, but ultimately decided to. “And she kind of proposed an open relationship… and while I don’t have the statistics available, I’m pretty sure those tended to end up in disaster in my old world.”

“Can’t really give you any advice on that front, besides repeating that eternity is a long time. I’m gonna be honest, I also feel like it’s her trying to show some concern towards you. You’re still just a C-grade and early on in your journey, and you’re bound to experience a lot of things as you grow, but most importantly, you haven’t lived for very long.”

“Maybe it was her way of showing concern…” Jake wondered out loud.

“You know how it feels like time passed a lot slower when you were a kid compared to now? That level of neural adaption will only increase, making time feel like it’s truly flying by. To you, any event happening still fills a meaningful part of your life’s story, while Artemis has experienced millions. It’s likely she doesn’t want to take anything away from you and limit your freedom in any way,” the Viper said, once more giving some serious advice.

“Say, in the multiverse, is it considered common to have open relationships?” Jake asked after thinking a bit.

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“If you put me on the spot, I would say yes? Granted, it depends a lot on many factors, including race and culture. Some races don’t even understand relationships, but see it purely as a way to reproduce, while others are strictly monogamous. In other instances, people are brought together for political reasons, and in these situations, it’s very common for both to have lovers on the side.”