Chapter 175 - Nothingness

Although he should have realized only at this moment that Riveria was actually acting in that way of her own free will, it didn't surprise Ethan as much as he himself had expected, and this made him realize all the time they were talking, he already knew the truth.

Like Riveria, Ethan also wondered what would change now, how their relationship would evolve, and what would come out of it. This was because he had just finished specifying to Lili and Hestia that he would take a sort of pause to focus on fortifying his current relationship with Ais and Lefiya, but even if it was his will, he didn't want and couldn't leave Riveria, although it seemed pretty unfair to them.

With the two of them pondering the fateful question about their relationship in their minds, the silence quickly made its way into the chamber, and before Ethan even knew it, the two had completely stopped talking. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing in fact the atmosphere surrounding them was stabilizing.

Eventually though, Riveria broke the atmosphere that had been created to add

"Since this is your decision, I'll respect it, even if I don't think it's the right one."

Feeling that her voice was calmer and deeper than before, Ethan didn't let himself be fooled by it, because listening well to her words, he could still see as kindness enveloped her words naturally.

"What you say is certainly true, and at the same time it's wrong. But I'm not here to criticize your thoughts, on the other hand I myself would be worried about someone weaker than me.."

Having a moment of calm again, however, Ethan realized that actually, the feeling he felt before seemed to have subsided, or rather, satisfied. He still had no idea what that feeling could mean to him, but in the same way, he felt that he had understood very important things in a few minutes, and even though he now had no idea about what to do with Riveria, Ethan sighed as she, now with the same silence as before, didn't let it stay a second longer

"I can't help but worry about you, and I'm sure this won't be the last time."

With her eyes narrowing warmly for the second time, she uttered these words while Ethan added nothing about it before finally drifting away from Riveria, so that he could finally give her personal space, which he had thought she would actually prefer over staying in the current situation for a long period of time.

As he slowly moved away from her, Riveria still had her face completely red caused by the feelings Ethan made her feel, and in fact she preferred that the two could remain in this embrace until her feelings could finally calm down, even if it meant talking for hours.

What she didn't expect, however, was that Ethan, without the slightest hesitation, left his hands wrapping his neck in the embrace that was also protecting her from letting him see the way she was actually embarrassed.

Even though she tried to stop him, Riveria didn't want to look like the person who was looking for more physical contact, and so either stop him or let him see her embarrassment, Riveria decided not to create any weirder situations than what had already happened within minutes.

Now a little distant from her, barely enough to look her in the eye, Ethan saw that Riveria had shifted her head to the right, and it didn't seem to have any intention of going back to look at him.

But before he could try to get his attention, he noticed the tip of her ears were red and, understanding the situation immediately, Ethan smiled instinctively as if that answer was only obvious

"I guess I should go now..."

By saying these simple words, Ethan refrained from trying to make any more physical contact, but besides the fact Riveria wouldn't let him do so in the first place, he would have preferred to continue speaking at another time since his time to understand more of the domain was running down now, but now that his heart could be reassured, and that even if the next time they would speak it would be strange at the beginning, Ethan believed they would be able to work over it...

Realizing what he was implying by his words, Riveria nodded and as frustration filled her heart, having intuited that Ethan had known now that she was embarrassed.

"I understand.. you might as well avoid making it look so obvious..."

To Riveria's words, Ethan was tempted to answer to them, but he avoided saying something as he felt, from the narrowing of her eyes that he wouldn't be able to not tease her for it. Barely managing to restrain himself, Ethan didn't exactly respond to her words in the end, but he quickly wondered why now, instead of the strange feeling he felt before, watching Riveria act in this way made him so happy, and this said and uncontainable happiness, he felt like he was admiring a tree blossoming its flowers for the first time.

And even though he didn't know why all this was wrapping him up all the way to his very heart, Ethan was already distant from Riveria, ready to head to the second floor, but before he did that, he turned a second time before screaming with all the air his lungs allowed him to use in a single moment.

"I'm happy"

He didn't know how to express his feelings any more than he had done previously, but even if that was true, Ethan at that moment felt it didn't necessarily take long speeches, turns of words, ways to try to express himself better and in more detail. He had just realized, that it was enough just to shout what he felt with all his might, to the point that even a single and simple sentence was enough.

At these words she clearly heard, Riveria turned around and saw Ethan having a smile on his lips even wider than before, causing Riveria's face to wear a smile, much gentler than the one she usually wore as she nodded at his words before looking down. From the moment Ethan let her think rationally about what had happened, Riveria had no words to describe what had happened, but even if that was true, she somehow understood Ethan was going to clarify at a later time, even though he hadn't mentioned anything like that, so she was assiduously looking for an answer, but everything seemed uncertain, and she couldn't be sure what to answer.

It was just as these doubts clouding his head that Ethan made his appearance once again, like a mighty wind able to carry away all the thoughts she was having, and only with a single sentence..

From his words, however, Riveria had also understood perhaps it wasn't necessary to research so much, and that maybe things would naturally be defined with time alone...

But being still sceptical of the idea, Riveria decided to think about it later and, seeing Ethan laughing at the way she had really reacted to his words, Riveria's smile surprisingly expanded further.

'Maybe it won't be as hard as I thought...'

Thinking this, Riveria saw Ethan slightly shaking his hand at the height of his c.h.e.s.t, which Riveria replied in the same way before the two of them lost eye contact with each other, but this time, both of their minds were free...

---

Now in his room, Ethan stared at an unspecified spot in his room before releasing all the air he had held while heading to his room.

'Riveria..I've never really seen her embarrassed, that was cute..'

Remembering the elf that was embarrassed so much that the tip of her ears was red, Ethan initially wanted to tease her for it, but now that he was also thinking rationally, it was his face to be red. But after he promised in his mind that he would surely find a way to revisit that expression and kindness, Ethan decided to stop now to think about Riveria, as not only did he not seem appropriate, but now he had to focus on understanding his domain, he chose to sit on the centre of his bed in a cross-legged position.

'This time I have to put my heart into it.. but at the same time I don't have to think about anything.. is such a thing possible?'

Closing his eyes, Ethan tried to fill his mind with total emptiness, and this was something he was accustomed to, but other than that, he just didn't know how to...

Now with his eyes closed, his classic thoughts about how it didn't seem to work disappeared from his mind one after the other, it was a strange feeling, around him he could still feel to be in his room, and yet more and more things continued to be slowly transformed into nothing, but instead of simply disappearing, it was as if that same nothingness contained something, something that exceed Ethan's comprehension.

At first the feeling was almost imperceptible, but not even a few seconds later, Ethan could feel that the speed with which everything 'disappeared' had increased exponentially, and even though he was beginning to have doubts, he still continued to not open his eyes and instead, to focus on the 'invisible' aura that was slowly wrapping him, almost like a kind of great cloak, only that it covered his whole body.

Now unable to even identify the object he was sitting on as his bed, Ethan was baffled by the fact that although he felt nothing under him, something was actually keeping him in the air, But his discovery didn't long remain the focus of his thoughts, as from the moment Ethan assimilated a new concept, it was devoured by nothingness.

Without even realizing it though, this was also beginning to envelop the inside. His body, his memories, the nothingness was beginning to flow into his very existence and soul, making it equal to nothing more total, and obviously it was normal for Ethan not to notice it, This was because what he had sought to open was by no means the ordinary Dominion of an inferior God, but the divinity of something generated by the most powerful goddess in the whole league of universes, and by the daughter of the latter.

With Ethan slowly losing everything unconsciously, he continued to focus on having no thoughts, and that was really the key to preventing his divinity from taking complete control of his thoughts, devouring only those that Ethan occasionally did, thereby also slowing down the entire process, and although Ethan was not 100% following the advice he was given to think nothing, Ethan in just a few seconds before his existence would truly be erased, was recognized as fit to possess his divinity, and as if all that had happened appeared before his eyes, Ethan quickly opened his eyes and, with his gasping breath, sweat now covering his entire body, Ethan could feel that his hands were shaking violently...

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(Sorry for the cliff, I will explain further and better what happened in the next chapter)

(Alternate Titles: "Void, a scary and troublesome existence..." , " Riveria & Ethan? New couple? New Mother? You will have to wait for that now though!!", "Grasp of Divinity, First Step")