Snap!
By a small stream in the forest, Jason stared at his reflection in the clear water.
After a brief silence, a crisp sound startled the heavenly horse nearby. Jason suddenly slapped himself hard across the face.
"What are you doing, Jason?"
About ten minutes had already passed since he fired the arrow that effortlessly shattered an entire mountain range.
Jason, who had fled from the site of the Calydonian Boar, now stood before this stream, questioning himself.
Jason was not reckless. On the contrary, he had always been extremely cautious and careful in everything he did.
Therefore, once he calmed down, he immediately understood.
The arrow of the Moon Goddess could not be returned... In fact, he could not even mention it!
Not only that, starting from today, there were still eleven, or even more, tributes to be offered to the gods awaiting him!
"It's all right, Brother Horse... I'm fine."
Taking a deep breath, Jason smiled lightly at the worried heavenly horse looking at him and said, "But Brother Horse, could you leave for a little while? I want to take a bath.
I can't meet Goddess Hephaestus completely unprepared, can I?"
Hearing Jason's words and seeing the clarity in his eyes, the heavenly horse hesitated for a moment before nodding and turning to leave.
After the heavenly horse departed, Jason removed his white robes and stepped into the stream.
"So cold... but that's actually perfect right now."
Muttering thus, Jason took a deep breath and submerged his entire body in the water.
He closed his eyes and began to think seriously.
The arrow of the Moon Goddess could not be returned... At least not now, because it was a gift Artemis had bestowed upon him in front of all the gods.
Trouble... This was clearly trouble, but at the same time, it was also an opportunity!
Because this was absolute power!
Thinking this, Jason, now completely calm, opened his eyes underwater.
At this moment, Jason clearly realized what kind of trouble he had stirred up... A person's life could never be completely smooth sailing. Even though Jason had been very careful, he had evidently overlooked the most important point.
He was not originally from this world.
His underlying perspective and values were considerably different from those of this world, which had led to the current situation.
However, although Jason avoided trouble, that never meant he feared it!
Possessing such terrifying power was indeed troublesome, but Jason instantly realized that the gain far outweighed the trouble.
After all, this fearsome power was now under his control!
But how should he minimize the risk of wielding such immense power... In simple terms, how should he reduce the attention the gods paid to him to the lowest possible level?
While pondering, Jason quickly arrived at an answer.
The laws of survival... needed to be updated further.
Thus, Jason emerged from the stream.
After dressing, he faced the full moon in the sky, solemnly bowed to it, and expressed gratitude for the gift bestowed upon him.
The former Jason had undoubtedly adopted the strategy of avoiding the gods as much as possible, and dealing with them differently when avoidance was impossible.
Now, Jason decided to begin actively catering to the gods.
He would strive to become someone the gods cherished... At least on the surface, he had to appear that way.
Because if he could not defeat them, he would choose to join them.
Jason understood that only by continuing to pretend to be the obedient child in their eyes could he obtain limitless growth!
"Clearly just a mortal, yet possessing the desire to control everything in his hands"... This was a comment Hecate had once made about Jason.
And clearly, that comment was correct.
"Brother Horse, let's go."
After solemnly expressing his gratitude to Moon Goddess Artemis, Jason, with his wet short hair, called the heavenly horse back.
The heavenly horse approached, chirped twice, and looked at Jason in puzzlement.
"I'm fine." Jason smiled and said, "I'm all right now... Oh, right, Atalanta's bow is still with me."
Saying that, Jason took out the Bow of the Heavens with its black grip and golden inlaid patterns, thought for a moment while looking in Atalanta's direction.
"Never mind, I'll return it the next time we meet. It just so happens I don't have a suitable bow on hand, so it'll be useful for drawing arrows."
Shaking his head, Jason calmly put away the Bow of the Heavens, mounted the heavenly horse, and resumed his journey.
This time, Jason's goal became even clearer.
That was to spare no effort in pleasing the gods with the remaining tributes, thereby obtaining absolute power!
"When I think about it this way, I'm not sure whether to thank Goddess Athena or..."
Jason shook his head and muttered to himself, "But Goddess Athena probably didn't expect things to turn out like this either, otherwise she wouldn't have hurriedly sent Lord Hermes to bring me information about Goddess Hephaestus."
"Even so, after dealing with Goddess Hephaestus, I still need to meet the foreknowing god Prometheus first."
Thus, Jason rode the heavenly horse, holding the guide Athena had given him, and flew through the night toward the residence of Hephaestus, God of Craftsmanship.
He absolutely had to arrive by sunset tomorrow.
At this moment, back at the hunting expedition led by Meleager, after a brief panic, almost everyone knelt in gratitude toward Artemis.
Clearly, the arrow that had directly obliterated the mountain range was regarded by them as a miracle performed by Moon Goddess Artemis herself.
Even Heracles and Meleager thought the same... except for one person.
Excluding Atalanta, whose bow had been "borrowed" by Jason.
While still shocked by the arrow Jason had fired, Atalanta was naturally very puzzled as to why Jason had not returned yet...
It obviously never crossed Atalanta's mind that Jason would take her bow and simply run away with it.
...
...
"That child should be arriving soon, Hephaestus."
Inside the temple, Athena, dressed in a pure white long gown, said with a beaming smile to the burly figure before her.
"Yes, I know."
Seated in a wheelchair of her own making, the heavily muscled man, Hephaestus, replied indifferently to Athena.
"Um... are you really planning to meet the child looking like that?"
Hephaestus did not answer, only silently staring at Athena.
"Staring at me won't help. I'm not the one who let it slip. Go talk to Hermes."
"...I still haven't promised to forge a weapon for him."
"But you have a good impression of that child, don't you, Hephaestus?" Athena added with a smile, "Because that child... refused Hera, after all!"