We started a match up and at first she struggled with commanding her people but once she got the hang of it we really got going. I had a bit of a headstart on her as I had no problem commanding my people. My strategy was a mix of passive and aggressive as I split my people into two groups with one focusing on training while the other snatched the outer edges of her territory. Her approach however proved incredibly risky but aggressive as she fed her own people to a single person to rapidly level that single person up until only they remained on her side as a level eight.-
She never moved to stop me from taking her territory while she did this so I had the majority under my control by now. On my side I had almost all of my people at a minimum of level four with my own champion at level six by sacrificing some of my people to them. The game looked to be overwhelmingly in my favor until it suddenly wasn't as she launched her counter attack. The game proved to be uncomfortably close as my forces performed human wave tactics against her one piece until it finally fell with me only having three people left on my side.-
"Almost got me there." I said as I removed my hand from the orb controlling the board resetting it.
"It seems I miscalculated the value of a single supremely powerful person." she said not looking upset at her loss at all.
"Quality is good as you could clearly see but quantity has a quality all it's own too." I said with a grin.
"So a mix of quality and quantity is best then, I will remember that." she said seriously.
"I have this sneaking suspicious we are talking about two very different things." I said pointedly.
"Why I have no idea what you mean? Still this "war board" of yours is an incredible object. I can't even begin to understand how it works." she said with a smile as she admired the thing.
"Oh it was certainly a tricky thing to make. First I had to figure out how to give the sands form and rules which was actually done with the box they are in, see?" I said using my hand to sweep the sands apart to reveal the many small cursed stones dotting the inside of the box below the sand.
"Oh how clever! Hiding the important parts under the most attention grabbing part so no one would think to check there since they'd need to move or remove the sands to find it." she said impressed.
"Hadn't thought of that honestly but I see your point. The truth was that I had to have the sands touching the stones in order for the magic to stick right. It's why none of the people ever performed acrobatic maneuvers as they'd stop touching the stones and thus lose their magic." I explained frankly.
"How did you manage to allow commanding the "people" then?" she asked curiously.
"You see these orbs here? Well I used the fact that peoples mind is connected to their energies and had these orbs read your directed thoughts through those energies before implementing them with the people." I explained proudly.
"Oh? That's an incredibly high level piece of knowledge to use on a mere game." she said surprised.
I shrugged "Maybe but it worked so I see no problem with that." I said.
"I suppose you have a point, ready to eat?" she asked and I nodded.
I waved over the server waiting nearby and looked over the menu before choosing an adventurer sized portion of peppered steak tartar while Freya went with a duck dish. It didn't take long at all for us to get our food along with a couple glasses of Soma wine. While the alcohol did nothing to me the flavor of the wine was amazing so it was still a good drink.-
"Why tartar of all things?" Freya asked once we were done eating and she wiped her mouth.
"Personal preference." I said with a shrug.
That was true to as I had noticed that the more like a cursed spirit I became the more I started to enjoy my meat uncooked or very lightly cooked. My meat intake had also gone up quite considerably as well. I still ate vegetables without issue but meat was now my go to for food. Not that I planned to tell Freya this as that was not exactly a conversation I wanted to have. -
"What comes next?" she asked since dinner was over.
"Now, I walk you back to the hostess before calling it a day." I said honestly.
"So no fun afterwards?" she asked with a disappointed look.
"I don't put out on the first date, you'll need to try harder than that." I said with a grin.
She nodded though "Eventually I'll get what I want, I always do." she said predatorily.
I wished her luck with that and meant it as she had quite the competition with Hephaestus always waiting to claim me for herself. That didn't even begin to mention all the mortal women who were all looking to add a good few inches to their life as well.-
As I said I walked her back to the hostess where she stole a cheeky kiss before going in. I didn't rush back to the manor though as I rarely was active past the sun setting so this was a rare opportunity to take in the city under the moonlight. I of course had also given the war board to Freya since it was a gift for her to begin with. She so rarely exercised her domain in warfare so the board will let her scratch that itch and hopefully relax her. Plus it would be interesting to see if Ottar who would most likely get dragged into playing with her handles a war game like scenario like that.-
On my way back to the manor I come across a scene that makes me pause slightly. Three people, adventurers from the looks of them, were kicking a prone figure on the ground. What interested me however was the figures soul that was much larger and brighter than most peoples I've seen. Not near Bell or my own initial level but greater than Haruhime's though not as vibrant.