As soon as Athena activated her skill soul vision, the surroundings around her started to change, she looked at Rio and all she could see were some glimpses of emotions running across his mind. Frustration, anger, betrayal and loss - every emotion looked as evident as different colors in her eyes. Athena tried to probe further but that was all she could see. It made her confused as according to her mastery of skill and Rio's lack of power, it should allow her a pretty good knowledge about everything, and yet all she could witness were normal stuff she could notice from anyone's expressions normally.

When she looked at Rio's eyes, having the panicked look, her curiosity got the better of her, she wanted to understand the reason why her powers didn't work naturally or what was different about him. Psyche's voice in her head telling him "she thought so too" further made her determined. So she closed her eyes and used her main skill, soul eyes on him.

When she opened them again as if a whole world of thoughts and emotions passed in front of her eyes in that single moment. The world around her seemed to fade away, replaced by a blank canvas devoid of any color and form. Her vision narrowed down to Rio, and she directed her gaze towards his soul, a flicker of flame floating within him. (Souls are basically balls of energy near our heart, at least that's what I think.)

'System do something about it, or we're both gonna die pretty soon.' Rio said in his mind in a hurry, he knew meeting Athena was a risk, but it wasn't something he could ignore. He had gotten something which could hinder her basic probing skills but he never thought she'd use her main skill so early on him without any reason. He just hoped the system would have some kind of function to help him this time, otherwise if Athena figured out he wasn't Rio, he didn't know how he would end up.

[Does the host wish to access the security mode.]

[According to the rules to protect system and host's secrets… ]

'Do whatever you want, just stop her damn skill.' Rio said in a hurry he had no time to waste reading some notifications while she was staring dead into his eyes.

[It would cost you.] System informed him of the final warning and continued its work

[Permission granted.]

[Soul secrecy allowed. Opting to use the privacy function.]

[Security mode enabled.]

[Resisting the skill directed at the host.]

Athena, who was now looking at the layers of what his soul looked like, At first, she observed the surface of his soul, like ripples on a tranquil pond. She saw hints of his character and the emotions that colored his existence. It all manifested like ethereal wisps, swirling and intertwining in front of her eyes but her curiosity pushed her further, delving beyond the initial impressions. It was then that she sensed a familiar resistance, causing a slight ache in her head. This wasn't entirely unexpected, as it always happened when she looked at those who possessed unique blessings or were chosen by higher gods, but what happened next made her more confused.

She watched as a misty fog started to surround his soul and she found her gaze getting pushed back. No matter how she tried or focused she couldn't look past that fog. This realization struck her with a mixture of surprise and confusion, for her abilities had rarely failed her in the past.Athena's brow furrowed in frustration, her powers thwarted again by this unforeseen hindrance. She pondered the meaning of this resistance. Was it a natural defense mechanism of his soul, or was it a consequence of some blessing he received.

-

As the system engaged the protection function or whatever, though uncertain of its efficiency, Rio clung to the hope that this defense would be sufficient to hide his secret from Athena's probing gaze.magic

[Resistance successful]

Rio read the notification and breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally stop worrying a little now. Even though everything only lasted for a few seconds, they were the most intense moments for him ever since he came to Arcadia. He wasn't even this tense when he lied to Artemis's face.

Athena's eyes studied him carefully, her intuition guiding her as she tried to unravel the veil of mystery before her. Even though her powers as a Soul Seer seemed momentarily thwarted, leaving her perplexed and intrigued, her expression was filled with a mixture of curiosity and concern, cause even though it was only for a moment she had sensed a depth within his soul, a complexity that shouldn't be possible for someone so young.

She observed the sudden change in Rio's expression as he swiftly averted his eyes and calmed down. His face carried clear signs of relief now, a clear indication that he noticed something.

'Did she see something.' Rio asked in his mind as he closed his eyes, trying to relax his speed running heart.

[Safety of host's secrets determined.]

[You have nothing to worry about.]

System's reply finally made him drop his guard as he truly calmed down now. He breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that his secret remained hidden.

He turned his attention back to Athena, their gazes locking once again. The system had said that he was safe, but the underlying fear of exposure still gnawed at him. There was no way he could trust the words of a system who always used the excuse of being level 0 at every turn.

As their gazes remained locked, both Rio and Athena felt a sense of mutual confusion. Rio, nervous about the protection of his secrets and doubtful of the system's capabilities. Athena, on the other hand, was wondering what was wrong with her powers, or what the actual fuck was going on with her nephew.

'Kids, you don't see them for a year and they've already changed so much.' She thought as she withdrew her skill, and the world around her returned to the vibrant colors of its reality once again.

As their gazes finally broke, Rio felt a sense of relief wash over him. Watching her now he could guess that the system saved him this time, but he didn't want to depend on it for the next time if something happened. It was his mistake overlooking Psyche's involvement or thinking that Athena wouldn't use her main skill on him without any reason, and he nearly got found out because of that.

He promised himself to be more careful next time. Otherwise if someday system couldn't function or went offline for some reasons, like in those novels he read back on earth, then he would be fucked.

And for that he would need to remain vigilant at every turn, it would begin with starting from finding a way to save himself from Athena's soul-piercing abilities without the system's help.

'Remind me to get something to get past Athena's ability.' Rio made a note in his mind, telling system about the next thing on his mind.

Athena who just blinked and turned off her skill, found someone tapping her shoulder, despite turning back she could guess who it was and it made her scared to even look back. In a hurry and curiosity she had used her skill, forgetting about her surroundings, and now there was a problem tapping her shoulder.

Unable to come up with any suitable solutions, she did what every other wise woman does, ignore the problem.

She took a step further, walking towards Rebecca and Amelia who were still engrossed in talking with each other, but sadly her problems caught up to her faster, as she felt a hand wrapped around her neck, as whisper of a voice rang out in her ears -"I thought I told you not to use your skill on my son."

Athena felt her heart sink in the shadows as she heard that. The voice belonged to none other than Artemis, her sister and Rio's mother, who had caught her red-handed.

Athena smiled nervously as she waved her hands, "ohh sister, didn't see you there. Wel_ welcome to Haven." Her voice stammered as she felt the hand tighten a little.

"Don't try to change the topic." Artemis said as she looked into her eyes. Athena, knowing there was no way to get out of it, tried to come up with another solution. Even though her sister asked her help before, but later she called her and told her not to do anything and leave the kids be, but Athena couldn't control herself when she heard Psyche's words in her head and took a peek, which later turned into her main skill.

"I-I can explain." Athena said, as she tried to scan her surroundings hoping to find a support lifeline or a distraction. Her eyes landed on Rio who was standing beside them. As she looked at him, she noticed the well hidden smirk plastered on his face, his eyes clearly trying to hold back his amusement.

Thinking this little guy won't help her, she looked around but sadly the hall they were in was empty now. All the people present had left them alone some time ago, her daughter was busy catching up with her friend so she didn't even look at her mother.

Knowing there was no other option, she looked back at Rio and signaled him with her eyes, hoping he'd distract his mother.

To her surprise, Rio's expression softened, and he reached out to hold her hand. "Aunt Athena," he began, his voice laced with an innocence of a kid, "why don't we go now? We've been standing here for quite some time."

Though surprised, Athena seized the opportunity and nodded eagerly, "Ye- yes, you're right. We should hurry. The cars are waiting outside," she replied, as she got away from Artemis's grasp and pulled Rio with her as she started walking out in a hurry.

Artemis, witnessing the interaction between her son and Athena, and watching their departing backs sighed as she followed them behind along with Rebecca and Amelia, as they made their way towards the exit.

Walking forward, as Rio entered the car, he calmly said -"You owe me a favor now aunt, remember that."

Athena smiled softly, hearing his words, as she thought -'What an interesting kid indeed.'

####

A/N - Finished it now. Let's celebrate some birthday.