"Great Prometheus, God of Wisdom, and Hebe, Goddess of Life—we thank you for the gift of existence and soul. The new generation of humanity shall forever remember your benevolence."
From among the newly created race emerged a handsome young man named Voultsos. He was the first to awaken among his kin, and the rest instinctively looked to him as their leader.
Thanks to the blessings of Hebe and Prometheus, the first generation of New Humans entered the world with the robust physiques of adults and a basic grasp of language. However, they lacked common survival skills and craftsmanship. Prometheus had purposefully refrained from imprinting this knowledge directly into their minds.
He understood the divine order perfectly. Humanity could be brilliant, but they must not be born omniscient. If they possessed every skill necessary for survival from the moment of their birth, they would lose their reverence for the world—and for the gods. A race without piety, unable to provide faith to the heavens, would meet only a tragic end. Thus, the role of Athena was not merely to teach, but to establish the foundation of worship.
"Voultsos, you are the first to awaken; you are a born King," Prometheus said. "Now, you must lead your people to find a land suitable for survival. The Temple of Delphi is not a place for mortals to dwell."
"But..." Voultsos looked troubled. Though he was sharper than his peers, the task of finding a homeland in a vast, unknown world left him blind and uncertain. "Great Prometheus, I implore you: guide us, for we are weak and without anchor."
Prometheus, however, remained silent. This was the first trial for the new race. He did not wish for them to become overly dependent on divine intervention, lest they lose their agency. Adversity would forge their wills into iron.
Seeing Prometheus's silence, Voultsos turned his pleading gaze toward his other creator, Hebe. Seeing the confusion and desperation in the eyes of the New Humans, Hebe looked at Prometheus, hesitated for a moment, and sighed.
"Young warriors of humanity, a dodder flower clinging to a Great Tree can never stand tall. How can an eagle soar if it never braves the storm? This is a trial of fate that we cannot directly override. But fear not; the gods shall watch over you."
The golden-haired goddess reached out and snapped a branch from a nearby oak tree. She infused it with gold-green divine power, causing the leaves to emit a holy, shimmering radiance. She handed the Oak Branch to Voultsos.
"Young Hero, take this. It shall point the way toward your future."
"My thanks to you, merciful and noble Goddess!" Voultsos cried, his heart overflowing with gratitude. He accepted the branch with trembling hands, cradling it against his chest as if it were the most precious treasure in existence.
Under Voultsos's leadership, the New Humans bid farewell to their creators and began their long migration.
"I appreciate your concern, Lady Hebe," Prometheus said with a gentle smile as he watched the procession fade into the distance.
"I only hope you do not find me meddlesome, My Lord," Hebe replied. She knew Prometheus intended to test them; the power she had imbued in the branch was limited, offering guidance rather than absolute protection.
"You say you will not interfere, yet I doubt you could bear to look away entirely," Hebe added, clapping her hands. A divine chariot drawn by two Pegasi descended from the sky. She invited Prometheus to join her. "Shall we observe their journey?"
"It seems you have learned much about me over these ten years," Prometheus laughed, boarding the chariot. The winged horses beat their pinions, carrying the two deities into the clouds to overlook the earth.
The New Humans had not yet tamed horses; their migration was a slow, agonizing crawl on foot. Furthermore, the land was still dotted with the domains of Typhon's monstrous offspring. A single wrong turn into a monster's lair would be catastrophic.
"Leader, there is another fork in the path. Which way?" the young tribesmen asked.
Voultsos gripped the Oak Branch, closed his eyes, and prayed with absolute sincerity. A nameless force descended, tugging at the branch.
"To the right!" he commanded. His heart swelled with renewed gratitude for the Goddess of Life. Throughout the treacherous terrain and past hidden dens of beasts, the Oak Branch had navigated them through every peril.
"Leader, we found a new type of fruit. Is it safe?"
Unlike gods, humans needed sustenance. While Hebe had granted them youth and immunity to disease, hunger and poison were still very real threats.
Voultsos held the Oak Branch near the green fruit. When the leaves emitted a soft golden glow, he sighed in relief. "It is untainted. We can eat."
This was another gift of the branch. Early in the migration, several humans had perished after consuming toxic plants. Voultsos had discovered that the branch glowed a sickly dark green near poison and a gentle gold near safe food.
"Adonis, record the appearance of this fruit as you did with the others," Voultsos instructed a young man nearby. These intelligent humans were already beginning to categorize their experiences—the precursor to the birth of knowledge.
"Yes, Leader." Adonis, the youth with the keenest memory in the tribe, burned the fruit's image into his mind.
Several years later, the human tribe reached the southwest of the Aegean Sea. There, they found a fertile land with abundant water and no monster activity for a thousand miles. They decided to settle.
"They have finally found peace," Hebe noted from her chariot, watching the humans build their first camp. "The soil is rich, and Voultsos has proven himself an exceptional leader."
"It wouldn't have been nearly so smooth without your 'cheating' branch," Prometheus teased, though he was clearly satisfied. The New Humans had been tempered by the wilderness, their character strengthened without suffering massive casualties.
"You speak as though you're displeased, yet you never asked me to take the branch back," Hebe countered. Over their decade of collaboration, the two had developed a close bond—part mentorship, part friendship.
As they spoke, another deity approached in a chariot from the horizon. Clad in armor with eyes as bright as stars—it was Athena.
"Good day, Lady Hebe, Lord Prometheus," she greeted them. "The New Humans have found their home. As agreed, I shall now teach them the arts of survival and spread the faith of the gods."
"I have been expecting you," Prometheus smiled.
"You are a God of Wisdom far older than I, and the creator of this race," Athena said with practiced respect. "Would you honor me by joining me below to offer your guidance?"
Prometheus's eyes flickered, but he maintained his calm smile. "It would be my pleasure, My Lady."
The heroic Goddess of Wisdom then turned her gaze to Hebe. No one called her the "Goddess of Youth" anymore. The news of her ascension to the first tier through the mastery of the Godhood of Life had swept through Olympus. Even Athena was stunned by the speed of her progress.
"Will you join us, Lady Hebe?" Athena asked warmly.
"I thank you for the invitation, but craftsmanship is not my forte," Hebe declined with a polite smile. She knew when to withdraw. She had already gained immense benefits from the creation; to interfere in the teaching of crafts and faith would be overstepping. "Besides, I must report to my father. I shall return to the mountain."
"Then we shall descend. May the glory of the gods be with you," Athena said, visibly relieved. Her younger sister was wise enough to know when to yield the stage.
Upon her return to Olympus, Hebe reported the success of the project to Zeus. The King of Gods granted her immense honors, officially commissioning a new Temple of Life near Hera's sanctuary. This was both a reward for Hebe and a diplomatic gesture toward his wife, who was still fuming over the Hermes affair.
Furthermore, Zeus commanded Hephaestus to refine Hebe's birthright artifact. Using the Chalice of Youth as a foundation, the God of Forge crafted a new masterpiece: The Scepter of Life.
The scepter featured a staff of gold-inlaid jade (Hephaestus remembered his sister preferred jade over gold), entwined with living, dark-green vines. The top, where the Chalice once sat, had been transformed into a magnificent ornate mount that retained the Chalice's divine essence while taking on a more regal form. It was studded with gems as bright as stars and etched with intricate divine runes. This artifact didn't just store power; it amplified Hebe's life-based divine arts by more than double.
While Hebe was being celebrated on the mountain, Athena and Prometheus worked in the mortal realm. Athena performed miracles to establish her authority before teaching the humans weaving, construction, and agriculture. She lived and worked alongside them like a mortal, earning a deep, enduring respect.
The humans began building temples. Those dedicated to Prometheus and Hebe, their creators, were the most numerous, followed by those of Athena. Under Voultsos's lead, the humans built a massive sanctuary for Hebe that rivaled the King's own temple. In their hearts, the Goddess of Life who gave them breath and the guiding branch was far more important than the distant King of the Sky.
As Hebe meditated in her new temple, she suddenly felt a strange, tidal pull on her divine essence. A nameless, invisible force flooded her body, and her Godhood began to grow at a visible rate.
"The Power of Faith?"
Hebe's violet eyes glowed with golden light—the Eye of the God—as she looked into the void. Pale gold ethereal beings, resembling both butterflies and birds, swirled in the air. They sang with a holy, wordless melody as they converged into a torrent, pouring into her divine form.
The speed of the growth was intoxicating. For the pleasure-seeking gods, there was no faster way to gain power. Hebe could already see the future wars the gods would wage over human worship.
"I cannot simply cut it off, but I will not absorb it directly," Hebe decided. She summoned the Scepter of Life and guided the golden "faith-birds" into the jade staff.
The scepter shimmered as it drank in the surging tide. Hebe did not trust a power that came so easily; she suspected there was a hidden price for such rapid growth.
Resolving to store the faith for later use, the "Cultivation Maniac" Hebe entered a deep trance once more. Drawing on her observations of Prometheus shaping souls, she began to temper her own spirit. Once her soul reached a certain density, she would finally be able to implement her secret grand design.