After finishing the conversation with Aegle, I said my temporary goodbyes as I descended to the mortal world. Once I got down, I just ended up in a random city. But when I saw the statues at the entrance to the city, I knew where I was.
Athens. The city slled of smoke, warm bread and old stone.
Athens was not a silent place, not even for a second. From the mont I set foot on its streets, the bustle enveloped like a current: voices crossing, hurried footsteps, philosophical discussions floating in the air like incense. Everything was life, noise, rhythm... and I, in the middle of it all, trying not to stand out.
My tunic was ordinary. My face, just another in the crowd. Nobody looked at twice. Perfect.
I walked aimlessly, letting the environnt speak to . I couldn't just appear as another god with delusions of grandeur. There were already too many of those. Here, every stone had a divine owner, every street had an altar, every daily act was a dance between the human and the sacred.
How do you win over a believer? I asked myself, as I passed a small procession. A statue of Dionysus adorned with garlands advanced among chants and spilled wine. Everyone knew what to do. Everything had form. Everything was in order.
And then I rembered what Aegle had told :
"You have to give them sothing. Sothing they can't ignore. A cause, a story, a symbol. Sotis it's enough just to be in the right place at the right ti."
I felt those words anchor themselves in my mind, repeating themselves with an echo. She was right. It wasn't enough to exist. Power wasn't enough. It had to an sothing. To soone.
My gaze stopped on a scene that seed to be taken from any day in any city... but this ti I couldn't ignore it. A young man, barely a child, was being pushed to the ground by a soldier after trying to steal a piece of bread. The boy wasn't crying, but his eyes spoke of hunger and pride. The people... just walked by. A woman looked away. An old man clicked his tongue. Nobody said anything.
And I...
I felt sothing light up in my chest.
What if I were that exact mont? I thought. What if what they needed wasn't another distant god, but soone who was willing to do sothing now?
I wasn't going to win believers because of who I am. I was going to win them because of what I do.
And this... this seed like a good way to start.
The boy was still on the ground. The soldier had thrown him away like rubbish and now looked at him with contempt, as if hunger were a cri. Nobody said anything. Nobody did anything.
The scene quickly reminded of a very similar one from a movie I had seen in my other life. That's when the light ca on.
So I approached him now that I had a plan.
"What happened?" I asked, as if I didn't know.
The soldier didn't even look at . 'He tried to steal. I saw it with my own eyes."
The boy clenched his fists. His face was dirty and one of his knees was scraped. He didn't say a word.
"For a piece of bread?' I said, without raising my voice.
The soldier gave a quick look. "The law is the law. If nobody punishes the thieves, everyone will want to steal."
I took a small bronze coin from the folds of my tunic and dropped it into the boy's hand.
"Then charge it to . And let him get up."
The soldier frowned, but did not argue. Perhaps he thought it wasn't worth it, or maybe sothing in my voice made him hesitate. He just turned around and walked away.
The boy looked at from the ground, confused. I held out my hand.
"What's your na?"
"...Eirenaios."
"So Eirenaios... now you owe ," I said with a half smile.
I winked at him, and as I helped him to his feet, I raised my hand slightly, as if to swat a fly.
'[Activate skill 'Creation' ]' I said in my mind.
And effortlessly, I felt my ability manifest as I thought about what to create. Suddenly, a dozen coins identical to the one I had given to the boy appeared out of thin air, spinning slowly before falling to the ground with a clear, tallic jingle.
Then another dozen.
And another.
In seconds, the sound of coins falling made everyone turn around. So approached cautiously, others threw themselves directly to the ground, pushing each other to grab what they could. The square was transford into a contained chaos: greed, surprise, need... all mixed up in an instant.
I saw eyes fixed on . Glances that had previously ignored were now following .
The boy was still by my side, completely still, not understanding what had just happened.
"Relax, it's just a trick to get attention."
I said to the boy without taking my eyes off the rest of them. As I spoke, I continued to create coins with a simple movent of my hand. I didn't need to concentrate, it was already natural. The coins appeared in the air, spinning as if an invisible puppet master were playing with them before dropping them with a tallic click that was repeated over and over again. The floor began to be covered with the sheen of newly-born bronze.
The crowd was no longer just curious. Those who weren't throwing themselves on the floor for the coins looked at with wide eyes, with a mixture of respect, distrust and wonder. So began to point at , others murmured among themselves. I heard single words:
"Is he a wizard?"
"An emissary?"
"No... a god?"
"Well, I'll answer quickly."
I cleared my throat, took a step forward, and with a firm, raised voice — a voice that seed to have more strength than I had planned for myself — I spoke:
"PEOPLE OF ATHENS! I AM AKHON!"
The murmuring stopped. The sound of coins continued to fall, but no one spoke. Everyone was listening to .
"ONE OF THE NEW GODS OF OLYMPUS."
A collective sigh spread like a wave. So crossed themselves. Others frowned. But no one left.
"I AM LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT YET WORSHIP A GOD, SO THAT THEY JOIN AND BECO PART OF MY CULT."
I turned slowly, making sure to look directly into the eyes of several of them. That they saw , safe. Present.
"WHOEVER WANTS TO DO SO, AND ETS THE REQUIRENTS, CO FORWARD AND THEIR LIVES WILL BE FILLED WITH BLISS AND GOOD LUCK."
The silence was tense, full of expectation.
The coins kept falling.
A woman took a step forward.
Then an old man.
Then two young boys, the kind who still don't know what they want from life but are ready to take a chance on sothing new.
The boy next to , Eirenaios, didn't move, he just looked at . I looked back at him, but said nothing.
Before long, several people had co forward and bowed before . The old man I had seen before, now kneeling with his head bowed, finally raised it to look straight in the eye.
"We are at your service, oh my great lord. My na is Themistios... let be the one in charge of creating this cult in your honor."
His voice was firm, but full of a devotion I had never heard in my previous life. It wasn't false. It wasn't forced. It was real.
I looked at him for a few seconds, trying to read him, and then I nodded once.
He returned the gesture, as if he had been waiting for that permission all his life.
It was then that I felt a subtle vibration inside my mind. A system notification, I just opened it with my mind.
--------------------------------------------
🔔 DING!
🟡 [Heroic Quest: Voice of Power] – COMPLETED
✅ Convert 10 followers
🎁 Reward obtained:
5 Authority
🔓 Unlocked Skill: [📣 Command]
"Your voice echoes with the strength of your faith. Now, when you speak with conviction, hearts tremble and the weak obey."
--------------------------------------------
I made no gesture, but inside, a smile ford. I had done it. The first step, complete.
And more importantly... I was no longer alone.
Command, eh... Let's see how useful that is. But first, I had a cult to start molding.
I looked at the group in front of .
"All right," I said, and this ti my voice carried sothing different. Sothing stronger. More... firm. "Get up. We have work to do."
They were standing in front of , attentive, waiting for my words. The devotion on their faces was new, but solid. They were already mine, in a way I could not deny.
Then, without warning:
--------------------------------------------
🔔 DING!
🟡 [New Heroic Quest: Mark of Dominion]
🔸 Objective: Order the construction of an altar in your honor.
🎁 Reward: 3 Authority / Access to Divine Territory
"Every god needs a tangible mark. Leave your symbol upon the earth."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🟢 [ACCEPT] 🔴 [DECLINE]
--------------------------------------------
I looked at the notification for a few seconds, surprised by how quickly it had appeared and how convenient it was, and ntally pressed accept.
I turned back to look at Themistios and the rest of the group once the notification had disappeared.
"The next thing is simple," I said, letting my voice resonate a little louder this ti. 'I want an altar. Here. Today. Let the people of Athens know that Akhon has arrived."
Themistios bowed again. 'It will be done, great lord."
The others were already starting to move. So ran to find materials, others pointed out possible places, discussed sizes, shapes. The spark of fervor ignited faster than I expected. Eirenaios stood by my side, his gaze fixed on , as if witnessing sothing he could barely comprehend.
And then I felt it.
A pressure in my chest.
As if the air changed density. As if the world decided that I no longer belonged to it.
The noises faded, the ground beneath my feet ceased to feel real.
I didn't fall. I didn't move. I simply... disappeared.
The feeling of weight returned suddenly, but the place was different. The air was heavier, more solemn. The sky, more distant. The silence, absolute.
And in front of , with arms crossed, an unmistakable figure dressed on a battle armor awaited .
Athena.
Her grey, sharp eyes scanned as if they could see through to my soul. The tone of her voice was serene, but one could feel a kind of palpable irritation behind it.
"Did you have fun?" She said in a sarcastic tone.
I said nothing. I couldn't. I could feel my mind starting to work at full speed thinking of an excuse so that with luck I could avoid the punishnt I was about to receive.
I just looked at her... and in my mind, automatically, a dry and direct thought erged:
"Oh, shit."
[IMAGE]
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