Legend has it that in the region of Thessaly and Arcadia, between Mount Pindus in central-eastern Greece and the Aegean Sea, lies the gathering place of the centaurs.
It is here that Chiron, the centaur sage and mentor to numerous Greek heroes, resides.
It is said that he is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, swordsmanship, wrestling, and nearly every matter of heaven and earth.
Any student of his, even if they master only one of his skills, can become famous throughout the land and a hero admired by all!
Among his many students is a youth clad in pure white robes, white as snow.
Even among Chiron's outstanding disciples, this young man stands out as exceptionally unique.
He has short golden hair, saintly cyan eyes, and a handsome appearance that rivals even the great God of Light, Lord Apollo.
And he is none other than Jason!
Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
To the gods who possess eternal time, three years are but the flick of a finger.
Yet for a growing boy, three years are enough to transform him into a striking, dashing young man who turns heads wherever he goes.
And Jason, who has been quietly developing for three years, watched by the gods, whose life is destined to intersect with divinity and walk an extraordinary path, is finally, on this day three years later, about to set out on his journey once more.
His road is destined to be fraught with hardship.
As he walks it, he may ultimately be unable to escape his fate and embark on the quest for the Golden Fleece.
He may wed the beautiful princess Medea in a foreign land, only to be toyed with by fate and die old and alone aboard the glorious Argo.
Yet he may also break free from that fate and step onto the miracles his other teacher, Hecate, foresaw upon him.
One path leads to weariness, where he eventually abandons everything and dies alone.
One path leads to splendor, where he is beloved by countless gods and becomes their favored child.
One path leads to slaughter, where he can no longer endure the gods' games and becomes a demon of murder.
Or perhaps he will walk beyond "fate" and even beyond "miracles," carving a path that not even the gods have foreseen.
Regardless, from these legends we can already discern one truth: his life is destined to be the focus of attention.
On his journey, the gods are fated to walk beside him!
...
...
Three years later.
On a sunny afternoon.
Deep within the dense forest, sixteen-year-old Jason was currently accompanying his senior disciple brother to gather herbs from the medicinal field he had personally cultivated.
Just then, Jason's ears twitched slightly, and a helpless expression appeared on his face.
"Senior Brother Asclepius, have you collected all the herbs you need?"
"Yes." The white-haired, green-eyed senior brother replied faintly. He glanced at Jason, who was looking toward the distance, and lightly furrowed his brow. "Someone is coming?"
"My medicinal field is quite valuable, after all... Though I personally don't mind, it seems quite a few people have their eyes on it."
Jason smiled at Asclepius, then took out a golden ear of wheat from the silver pouch Athena had given him.
He gently shook it over the herbs Asclepius had harvested. Faint golden particles fell from the wheat, and the withered plants instantly regained vitality. In just one more week, they would be ready for harvesting again.
"Well then, Senior Brother, I'll go take care of things."
Asclepius nodded lightly. Yet he watched as his white-clad junior brother pulled out the staff that the Goddess of Roads, Hecate, had given him... supposedly only after he clung to her leg for days, pestering her until she grew annoyed and reluctantly handed it over.
It was, after all, a magic staff, something normally bestowed only upon graduation, so this one was merely a substitute.
The main reason Jason had clung so desperately to it, even resorting to acting cute and clinging to her leg, was to have Hecate inscribe magic upon it.
One of those spells, obtained after endless pleading and sweet-talking calls of "Big Sister Persephone," was an invisibility enchantment Hecate had replicated after studying the Helm of Invisibility belonging to Hades, Lord of the Underworld.
Because it was copied from the Helm of the Underworld King and personally engraved by the Goddess of Magic Hecate herself, while it could not completely fool even the God-King, it was more than sufficient to evade the sight of ordinary gods!
At this moment, Jason activated that very spell on the staff, concealed his presence, and vanished.
Soon after, Asclepius saw a flash of white light in the distance, accompanied by several cries of "Ah, my eyes! My eyes!"
Using the enhancement magic on the staff, Jason knocked out each spying centaur bandit with a single blow and dragged them out.
"...Tell me, Junior Brother Jason."
Although Asclepius had witnessed this scene before, he still found it absurd.
Even someone as aloof as he was now looked speechlessly at Jason, who had dispelled the magic, and said helplessly, "Is this really necessary...?
Your body has been tempered by the waters of the River Styx and the inextinguishable flames of the Underworld. You are invulnerable to weapons. You wear the holy garment bestowed by the Goddess of Wisdom Athena and can wield inextinguishable fire.
After three years of training, your martial prowess is now comparable to most of our fellow disciples.
Most importantly, it is daytime. All you need to do is pray to that guy Apollo, and the golden sword on you will turn into a beam of deadly light to slay your enemies.
Do you really need to..."
Before Asclepius could finish, he watched Jason, who had just knocked out the centaur bandits, take out a small vial from the silver pouch. It contained diluted inextinguishable underworld flame potion.
Jason carefully dripped one tiny drop at a time onto the unconscious centaurs.
Instantly, the inextinguishable flames burned their bodies to nothing, leaving not a single trace.
Because it had been specially researched and diluted, this version of the underworld flame only destroyed the body and did not harm the soul.
"Hmm? Did you say something just now, Asclepius?"
Having finished, Jason finally turned to his senior brother with a puzzled tilt of his head.
"...Nothing." Asclepius's mouth twitched slightly. He eventually turned away and replied indifferently.
Should I report this to Teacher...? Teacher did instruct us to guide our junior brother and help him become more like a hero.
But... never mind. I'll pretend I didn't see anything.
After all, this isn't the first time. I don't want to waste my time.