In a remote garden located on Mount Olympus, home to most of the world's gods, there was someone at that moment who contrasted enormously with the surroundings, this was Akhon or as he had been called in another life Ethan.
If you paid attention, it looked like he was exercising, something rare for the Gods since due to their immortal and omnipotent state compared to mortals, they saw no need to do so, but Akhon was not your average God.
"195...196...197"
Up and down, up and down, that's how the God was and he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping until finally:
"Ungh... 200." He said as he collapsed to the ground.
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Ding! 🔔 You have completed the mission "Warming up (Part 5)"!
🎁 Rewards:
+ Strength +5
+ Divine EXP +750
+ 50 Sacred Coins
📈 Statistics update:
⚔️ Strength: 80 → 85
🛡️ Endurance: 87 → 93
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[POV AKHON]
With a simple thought, I dismissed the notification as I sat up on the floor, feeling the physical effort in my muscles. However, soon after, they eased and my body returned to normal, the sweat and muscle pain had disappeared.
"Hmph, the body of a god is much more convenient for training. If I had had a body like that in my world I would never have missed Physical Education," I thought as a smile escaped me unconsciously when I remembered my other life.
Once I sat up and stood up, I went to the small lake in front of me to see my reflection, in it I could see the image of a young man with short brown hair and somewhat disheveled, my physique although not comparable to that of most Gods, was undoubtedly better than that of the average human, resembling that of a professional swimmer, due to my Slim structure.
As I looked at the water, I could see how my eyes, which in my other life had been brown, were now an intense blue, sometimes verging on purple. My concentration was interrupted by the sound of a notification, so I went to check the statistics system.
"[Open]" I muttered to myself, at which point a kind of holographic message opened up before me, showing me what I wanted to see.
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📩 NEW QUEST AVAILABLE
🟡 [Heroic Quest: Voice of Power]
"The Divine longs to be heard. Spread your name and awaken belief."
Objective: Convert 10 believers
🎁 Rewards:
+5 🧱 Authority
Unlock Skill: [📣 Command]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🟢 [ACCEPT] 🔴 [DECLINE]
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Looking at the mission, I held back from jumping for joy. At last, the physical and training quests were over and finally the day had come to start gathering followers, from now on the path to earning XP and progressing would be faster. I had been waiting for it since I had arrived in this world and the first notification from the system informed me how it worked.
So without thinking about it too much, I muttered to myself:
'[ACCEPT]'
And the notification was automatically dismissed, so I opened the main panel to see how it looked now:
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🌌[DIVINE ASCENSION SYSTEM]🌌
🧿 Divine Name: Akhon
📜 Class: F – Newly Ascended
💠 Domain: Power (Dormant — 2%)
👑 Title: None
❤️🔥 DIVINE VITALS
🩸 HP: 4,500 / 4,500
🔥 Energy: 1,000/ 1,000
🌟 Divine EXP: 2,750 / 10,000
🧱 Authority: 0
📊 STATS
🧬 Attribute Value
⚔️ Strength 85
💨 Speed 77
🛡️ Endurance 93
🧠 Willpower 65
🎯 Accuracy 71
Click here to see list of [Active Skills]
-Current Number of [Active Skills]: 1
Click here to see list of [Pasive Skills]
-Current Number of [Pasive Skills]: 3
🗺️ ACTIVE QUESTS
📘 Heroic:
🟡 "Voice of Power"
↳ Convert 10 believers
🎁 Reward: +5 Authority, Ability [📣 Command]
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"Hmph, I wonder what the Command skill is? Oh well, I'll find out when I manage to unlock it. Now all I have to do is find the Hesperides, if I ask them they probably know how to get started," I thought as I got up and started walking through the garden.
With every step I took, the garden unfolded before me like a canvas vibrant with color. Flowers of every hue dotted the landscape; deep blues and bright yellows contrasted with the lush green of the grass. The sweet scent of golden apples wafted through the air, a constant reminder of the protection that Aegle and her sisters afforded the tree.
"Aegle, where are you?" I muttered to myself as I made my way through the bushes. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating dancing patterns on the ground. Every time I stepped on a dry branch, a creak resonated, as if nature itself was trying to guide me towards it.
The murmur of a nearby fountain caught my attention. I followed the sound, crossing a path lined with white flowers that seemed to glow with their own light. When I reached the fountain, I found a small pond where the waters reflected the clear blue sky. But Aegle was not there.
I sighed, frustrated but determined. This garden was huge, and my attempts to find her felt increasingly futile. However, I knew that she could help me to attract mortals to me. Her advice was valuable; I had heard stories about how she managed to enchant those who came to the garden.
I continued my search, passing a series of fruit trees whose branches were laden with bright, juicy fruit. Birds chirped happily in the treetops, as if they too were enjoying the day's spectacle.
"Ae." I called again, my voice echoing in the warm air. A pair of yellow butterflies fluttered around me, as if playing hide and seek with me. "Where have you got to?"
Curiosity led me deeper into the heart of the garden. Wild flowers crowded around me as I passed, and their heady fragrance filled my lungs as I stepped into the cool shade of a large old oak tree.
Suddenly, I saw a figure among the branches; it was Aegle. Her golden hair shone in the sunlight and her eyes sparkled with a playful sparkle. My heart skipped a beat; I knew I had found what I was looking for.
"Ae?" I exclaimed with some hesitation as I approached her, the excitement in my voice barely contained.
As I approached the figure I thought was Aegle, the sunlight illuminated her golden hair. But something didn't feel quite right. Her posture was rigid, as if she wasn't breathing. I stopped, frowning as I analyzed what was in front of me.
"Ae, is that you?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly between anticipation and confusion.
No answer. I moved a little closer, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and doubt. I raised a hand towards her and as I touched her I realized that her skin was made of cloth. It was a doll, a life-size one dressed in a light robe adorned with flowers from the garden. Her glass eyes sparkled in the sunlight, but there was no life in them.
"Is this a joke?" I muttered, trying to contain my laughter as I realized the absurdity of the situation.
At that moment, a movement behind me made me turn around. A soft laugh echoed in the air and before I could react, Aegle jumped on my back with playful energy.
"Who am I?" she asked in a melodious tone, imitating a dramatic accent that made me laugh involuntarily.
"Ae!" I shouted, feeling her light weight as I struggled to keep my balance. "Here you are."
I turned quickly to face her, and there she was: radiant and full of life. Her golden hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Don't be scared," she said as she laughed, letting go to land nimbly in front of me. "I thought you might need some fun."
"I can't believe it," I replied with a mixture of disbelief and relief. 'You made me talk to a doll."
"But it was so realistic!' she exclaimed with a laugh, pointing to the doll behind me as if it were a masterpiece.
"Touché, I don't know whether to get angry or applaud you for the work you've put into this." I said as I folded my arms, although I couldn't help but smile at her contagious enthusiasm.
"You should definitely applaud the great and greatest of the Hesperides sisters." Aegle said as she gave a joke bow, making me laugh out loud. To which she soon joined in.
Once the laughter died down, we started talking about our day. Apparently, according to her, I had spent most of the day making the doll, dressing it in one of her dresses and placing it in front of the shadow of a tree. I didn't know whether to be proud or scared by her dedication. So I waited until the right moment had finally arrived to tell her.
"…so anyway, that was my day, how was yours? Anything new?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I had a question for you, in fact."
"Oooohhh, and what question would a new god like yourself have for little old me?" she asked in the typical teasing tone she used when she was joking, which made me smile slightly. "You're not thinking of asking me out, are you? After all, what would everyone on Olympus think if one of the great and legendary Hesperides went out with one of the Gods?" She said jokingly, but I still raised an eyebrow at her presumption.
"Okay, first of all, great? I'm pretty sure you're 5'3" and as far as I know there's little difference between you and a pygmy and secondly, legendary maybe, but come on, your job is to look after a tree, I could do it with my eyes closed if I wanted to."
Aegle put her hand to her chest as if her words had mortally wounded her, with a theatricality worthy of a muse of the theater.
"Oh, how cruel of you, Akhon! Is that how you talk to a lady? To the lady who embroidered a doll's dress with her own hands just to make fun of you in style?"
I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh as I shook my head.
"Making fun of me in style seems to be your true divine calling."
She smiled smugly, knowing she was right.
"Anyway, what did you want to ask me?" she finally said, lowering her tone, with some genuine interest.
I looked to one side, as if searching for the right words, trying to sound casual.
"You know... what makes someone believe in a god? I mean, beyond the obvious. Why does someone decide to worship one in particular?"
Aegle looked at me with an arched eyebrow.
"Is that what you wanted to ask me?"
"Yes."
"Was the talk about the altars last week that profound for you?"
"I'm just... thinking. Curious, I guess."
She didn't reply immediately. She folded her arms and looked out into the garden.
"I guess it depends. Sometimes it's fear, other times hope. Some need guidance, others just want someone to listen when they talk to heaven."
Then she looked at me with a little more attention.
"But if what you're asking is how to win someone over... then it's a different matter. You have to be visible, have a presence. Inspire. Or intimidate. Or both. Mortals don't pray to what they don't know."
I nodded slowly. The answer made sense to me, although it left me thinking.
"What if you're not the kind of person who goes around performing miracles all the time?"
"Then you have to give them something. Something they can't ignore. A cause, a story, a symbol. Sometimes it's enough to be in the right place at the right time."
"Hmm."
She looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"Why so interested all of a sudden? Don't tell me you're about to start your own cult."
I chuckled.
"What if I were?"
"Well, I'd help you design the official robe. But first I'd have to become your first believer, and that's... not so easy."
"No? What would you need for that?" I asked, half joking, half curious.
"For you to convince me. For you to look me in the eye and make me feel that you are saying something greater than yourself. Something worth believing in."
I stared at her in silence for a few seconds. Her expression was calm, but there was a hint of sincerity that she didn't usually show so often. That threw me a little... Aegle was joking, yes, but what she had just said she had meant.
"Something bigger than me, eh..." I repeated, looking down for a moment. "I don't know if I have anything like that yet."
"Then you won't have believers," she replied without hesitation. "Because faith isn't built on empty promises, at least not if you wanna be like the head honcho of Olympus. It's built on conviction. If you don't believe first, no one else will."
I was silent. Part of me knew he was right, and another part... I just didn't know where to start.
"You always speak with such confidence..." I said, folding my arms. "As if everything came naturally to you."
"Confidence?' she laughed softly. "Nah, that's just practice. Years of pretending I know everything until the others start to believe it. And eventually, you will too."
She smiled at me with a certain complicity. I liked that unexpected honesty, the way she let it be known that, although she played at being untouchable, she let me knew she also had doubts, just like me.
I looked at her for a moment longer and asked, not entirely concealing my curiosity:
"And if you know so much about all this... why don't you have your own believers? Haven't you ever thought of forming your own cult or something like that?"
She stood still for just a second, with a lopsided smile.
"Once. But it wasn't the right time."
"And now?"
"Now I'm not sure if I want followers... or someone to play along with."
"And am I part of that game?" I asked, as we began to walk slowly through the garden, the magical blooming flowers opening up as we passed, as if they were listening.
"That depends," she said, turning slightly to look at me with those eyes that always seemed to know more than they said. "Are you going to convince me that you're worth it... or are you just testing the water without knowing what you're looking for?"
"I don't know yet," I said, trying to sound carefree while at the same time struggling to keep the system out of my thoughts. 'It's like... a nagging feeling. Like I have to do something important. But I also don't want to end up being another one of those arrogant idiots that swarm around Olympus.' I mixed a little truth with a little lie, hoping she wouldn't notice the difference.
She nodded slowly, with that look of hers that seemed to see beyond words.
"Then try. You don't know what kind of god you can become if you don't. And about becoming an asshole with a superiority complex..." she said with a small smile, "I — and the others — are going to take it upon ourselves to remind you of who you are."
I couldn't help but smile. A real one, one of those that feel strange and warm at the same time. Not even in my other life had I had someone who cared for me like that.
"Thanks, Ae. Seriously. You're... amazing."
"I know." she replied with a teasing smile, as if she couldn't resist making the joke.
After a while, we continued walking among the trees, our voices fading into fragments of low conversation, some soft laughter, and words that probably neither of us would remember completely the next day... but that, in some way, were marking something, at least for me, I felt it was the beginning of the real me in this world.
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