"So, let me see if I understand..." Erytheia began, raising a hand to her temple as if she needed to steady herself mentally. "Did you go to Athens on your own? And once there, did you decide that the best thing, the brightest thing, the masterstroke of the century, would be to look for mortals who would want to worship you as their new God? Even though it is already the territory of the Great Goddess Athena, one of the most powerful goddesses on Olympus?"
I just nodded with feigned calm, trying not to laugh or start crying.
"Yes, that's... basically what happened, as I was saying."
"Ah..." she said, raising an eyebrow as she took a deep breath. "All right, let me ask you something..."
Ery narrowed her eyes and, with the voice of someone who had just seen someone set fire to a temple to warm their feet, she shouted:
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!!?"
The shout was so loud that even the birds in the garden fell silent for a second. Aegle took a step back, stifling her laughter as she chewed on a grape. Hesperia, from her corner, put down her book and muttered, "Gods, can't you shout like drunken mortals in a square?"
But Ery wasn't finished.
"Are you out of your mind?! Do you know how many things could have gone wrong for you? Do you realize that you could have ended up as a decorative toad in Athena's trophy room?! What part of 'DON'T GO TO CLAIMED TERRITORY' didn't they teach you at your academy of makeshift gods?!!"
He raised his arms to the sky as if he were invoking Hera to give him patience.
"And on top of that you came back as if nothing had happened, all smiles, as if you had been out to buy bread and not to give the goddess of Wisdom and Strategy an ulcer!"
"Don't forget Justice and Craftsmanship technically," I replied, raising a finger, "And besides, I did go out to look for bread. I gave one to a mortal child before making it rain coins."
Ery glared at me.
"BREAD? COINS? AND THEN YOU CRIED OUT YOUR NAME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SQUARE? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE? A MARKET BARD? YOU'RE CRAZY!!"
I shrugged. "Athena didn't turn me into a statue. That counts as a win, doesn't it?"
"Only because she had the decency not to want to get her hands dirty in public in her city." Ery muttered, her hands on her hips, red with fury (or frustration, you never knew with her).
Finally, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and spoke more quietly:
"Also, why didn't you say that you finally wanted to start making a name for yourself among the Gods? You know that as Hesperides, our duty apart from taking care of the sacred Garden of the Goddess Hera is to help novices like you to grow."
"Hey, I did ask you for advice, or at least one of you. Ae said I would need to have presence."
Almost automatically, anger returned to Ery, although this time it seemed directed at someone else, as she turned with a terrifying expression to look at her sister.
"Were you the one who told her that?"
Aegle, who was a few steps away, eating another piece of fruit, raised her hands in a gesture of innocence, but she had that lopsided smile she always used when she knew she had done exactly what she was accused of doing.
"I just said I needed to have presence. To inspire. When did I say 'make it rain coins and declare yourself a demigod in the middle of Athens' central square?"
"Oh, please!" exclaimed Ery, with a mixture of exasperation and despair. 'You know how it is! Telling Akhon something like 'have presence' is like telling a cyclops to be subtle."
"Hey," I interrupted, raising an eyebrow. 'Present here, huh? And the cyclops I once knew was quite elegant, he wore a robe with gold trim."
"Shut up, you.' Ery muttered without looking at me, still staring at Aegle.
Aegle shrugged. "Look, don't blame me for motivating him a little. The guy was wandering around the garden philosophizing alone and wondering how to win over believers. What did you expect me to do? Ignore him?"
"Yes! Or at least redirect him to Hesperia, who would have read him a poem about the misery of being an ignored god and that would have stopped him in his tracks!"
"I'm right here," Hesperia's monotone voice was heard from the other side of the tree, without even looking up from his book. 'And it wouldn't have worked. I like him when he causes trouble."
"Thanks, Hes." I said with a little smile.
"You're welcome. The world needs more chaos."
Ery let out a long sigh, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and then looked at us all like an exhausted mother surrounded by impossible children.
"You know what? It doesn't matter. What's done is done. But from now on, you're not going to do anything without telling us. Do you understand, Akhon?"
"Define 'anything'?"
"Do you want to sleep in the treetop tonight with Hera's crows? Because I can arrange it."
"Understood, understood," I raised my hands. "No clandestine getaways to cities under the jurisdiction of Titan gods. I'm clear on that."
"Good."
There was a brief silence. Then Aegle, as always, was the first to soften the atmosphere.
"Well... at least you got your first believers. That's more than other newbies can say. And if Athena didn't kill you, she might even have liked you."
"I doubt it," I said with a laugh. "But at least I learned a couple of rules... and that going into claimed territory without permission is like jumping headfirst into a pool full of snakes."
"Oh!" Aegle clicked her fingers. "That's lesson number one. Never do anything in a claimed area without negotiating first."
Ery rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Ae. Excellent timing."
"Always!"
After what happened, I kept a low profile for a week. No adventures, no magic coins flying around, no speeches to crowds. I just stayed in the Garden of the Hesperides, sleeping more than was healthy — or necessary for a god — and avoiding anything that smacked of Olympic conflict.
Fortunately for me, the Hesperides did not insist too much. Aegle kept bringing me fruit with a mocking smile, Erytheia sent me warning glances as if she had an eye on me twenty-four hours a day, and Hesperia... well, she kept reading poetry while leaning against the branches like a melancholy cat.
The system, meanwhile, had also entered a temporary coma. Not a notification, not a warning, not a word. Until, without warning, on one of those peaceful midday afternoons while I was lying against the trunk of Hera's tree, feeling the warmth of the sun and the golden breeze... it appeared:
---------------------------------------------------
🟡 [New Heroic Quest: Mark of Dominion] – COMPLETED
✅ You have managed to organize the construction of an altar in your honor.
🎁 Reward obtained: +3 Authority / Access to Divine Territory
📜 "Every god needs a tangible symbol. Leave your mark on the earth."
---------------------------------------------------
My eyes flew open.
"Uh... what?" I muttered, rubbing my face.
I sat up slowly and checked the interface. There was no mistake. The mission was marked as completed. The skill was unlocked. And the system confirmed it with its usual neutral tone as if this were any old Tuesday.
But it wasn't any old Tuesday.
Athena had forcibly removed me from Athens. And from the way she had done it, I had assumed that the few believers I had managed to gather would not last an afternoon after she had made my glorious divine presentation disappear. But... apparently, that was not the case.
I consulted the event history. I read it carefully.
"Your initial believers have maintained their devotion. To preserve the integrity of their faith, they have moved the meeting point to an area without active divine domination."
I blinked, surprised.
"They left?" I said in a low voice. "They moved the service?"
I lay back against the tree, processing the information. It was more than I had expected. Not only had they not forgotten me, but they had taken the initiative. They had left Athens. They had taken a risk. All to continue worshipping someone they had only known for a few minutes.
Now THAT was devotion. Or madness. Or both.
I looked at my statistics. My Authority level had increased. And a new option had appeared in the system:
[Divine Territory] - Inactive (still unclaimed)
It was official. Now I had the right to claim my own domain. My own piece of divine land. Something that would belong to me and make me less conspicuous.
"I guess that means I'm... a real god, right?" I muttered, half-laughing.
"Are you laughing at yourself?" asked a familiar voice a few meters away.
I turned my head and saw Aegle approaching with her basket of fruit, watching me with that sly smile she liked to use so much on me.
"What did you do now, cult-boy?"
"Nothing important," I replied, shrugging my shoulders as the notification floated in front of me, visible only to me. The system confirmed that the altar mission had been completed. I was still speculating on how, but clearly my followers had moved heaven and earth single-handedly.
"Are you sure? You have the face of someone who has just won something the lottery." She insisted, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's just say that... something went better than expected." I said without going into much detail. Technically, I wasn't lying.
Aegle threw me a round fruit, which I caught in the air.
"Are you going to celebrate or are you just going to stand there like a statue?"
"When I find a place to plant my Divine Territory, maybe." I took a bite of the fruit as she watched me closely.
"Can you claim one yet? Really?"
I nodded without much ceremony.
"Yes. I'm officially allowed."
"Pfft. Look at you. From newbie god to territorial overlord in less than two weeks. That was quick."
"My believers worked fast, obviously." I replied with a half smile.
"Well, now you have what it takes to stop playing god and start acting like one," said Aegle, patting me on the shoulder before continuing on her way. Don't let it go to your head, "Oh great lord Akhon." She said mockingly.
I followed her with my gaze as she walked away among the shiny leaves of the garden. Mission accomplished, altar built, territory available.
Time to decide my next step.
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