Chapter 30: Hope

[3rd POV]

"That's smart."

After seeing this, Ares let out a sigh of admiration, "Prometheus is truly smart."

"Why do you say that?"

Hecate glanced at him.

"Athena gave the gods' concepts to Epimetheus, but she didn't know Epimetheus very well. However, Prometheus and Epimetheus are brothers who have lived together for ages. How could Prometheus not know his brother's careless personality? I refuse to believe he didn't foresee what would happen if Athena entrusted Epimetheus with those concepts." 

Ares explained, "But he did it anyway, which means he wanted this to happen. What he was truly after was the concept Athena gave this time."

"Ohhh—" 

Hecate drew out the sound, "You're quite sharp, my apprentice."

"I'm too lazy to pretend in front of you anymore, teacher."

Ares said, shrugging. "We have no conflict of interest, and I even left my real body here so you can strike me with lightning as you want. There's no way we'd harm each other, right?"

Hecate smiled at Ares and said, "Heh, you do have a point."

The two continued watching, and sure enough, as soon as Athena spoke, Prometheus immediately showed an excited expression.

"You're really willing to give it?"

"Creation is a duty assigned to me by Zeus. If your creations fail because of my carelessness, I would be the one to bear this blame." 

Athena replied as she stepped toward the clay figures. 

"Now, I shall grant your creation the most blessing—the wisdom of Goddess Athena."

Athena pursed her soft, rosy lips as she finished speaking, slightly parted her mouth, and gently blew a breath toward the clay figures.

This breath, infused with divine power and the concept of wisdom, transformed into a hazy, ethereal glow as it left her lips.

The radiant mist touched the lifeless clay figures, and as the light enveloped them, they began to radiate a newfound vitality.

Seeing this, Prometheus quickly infused them with his divine power, and instantly, the clay figures started growing rapidly, transforming into beings that resembled the gods themselves.

The future humanity, the race that would replace the gods and become the new rulers of Earth—humanity has finally been born.

After seeing this moment, Ares widened his eyes in astonishment, trying his best to understand how Prometheus and Athena created mankind.

"Teacher, did you see that clearly?"

"Hmm, more or less as I expected." 

Hecate nodded, "The earth is Gaia's body, and the river water is Gaia's blood. When these two combine, they become the offspring formed from Gaia's own flesh and blood."

As she spoke, Hecate manipulated the earth beneath her feet and the river water that flowed in from an unknown source, mixing them to shape a clay figure out of thin air.

"By bestowing it with divine power and using that power to activate the life force inside, it can be transformed into a real human."

Hecate flicked her tiny hand, and purple divine energy flowed into the clay.

Suddenly, the clay figure turned into a living, breathing male body, strong and handsome without any hair.

"By the way, this body is mainly made of carbon and water with various trace elements inside."

Ares' observed the newly created body with keen interest, carefully recalling how Hecate had created human.

Meanwhile, the avatar focused on the group of humans who had come to life on the ground, and he asked in a loud, rough voice, "Prometheus, are these your creations? What are they called?"

"Humans" 

Prometheus answered with a gentle, almost parent-like smile, "They are called humans."

He looked up at the sky as if sharing a prophecy with someone and said: "They will become the smartest, most lively, and most powerful race since the beginning of the world. They will be the most loyal followers of the gods."

Then, Prometheus turned to Athena behind him and said, "Athena, thank you for granting my creations the most precious wisdom. As a reward, I will give you a prophecy. Come, follow me."

After speaking, Prometheus made sure the newly created humans stayed in place, then turned and walked back to his cave.

Upon hearing his words, the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, revealed a look of excitement, but she quickly composed herself. She nodded to Ares and then followed Prometheus back into the cave.

Watching their retreating figures, Ares' real body turned to Hecate and asked, "Teacher, should we go and take a look as well?"

"No need," 

Hecate replied, "I can probably guess what Athena is going to ask."

"What?" 

Ares looked surprised at Hecate, "Does studying magic make you omniscient and all-powerful?"

"Why do you always think about such strange things?" 

Hecate rolled her eyes, "I know because Athena asked me about it earlier, right before you and she left."

"What did she ask? Can you tell me?" 

Ares asked sincerely.

"I can tell you, but only if you swear not to reveal that I was the one who told you." 

Hecate said after a brief pause.

"Alright, alright." 

Ares quickly nodded in agreement.

After Ares swore an oath bound by a magical contract, Hecate didn't keep him waiting. She cleared her throat and began speaking, "What Athena is searching for is called 'hope.'"

"Oh?" 

Ares thought for a moment. He remembered the story involving Athena, Epimetheus, and the legendary witch Pandora. 

In that story, the most precious thing Athena bestowed upon humanity, sealed at the very bottom of Pandora's box, was "hope."

After meeting Athena and even fighting against her, Ares didn't think that Athena herself could bestow such a powerful force.

If she had the ability to do so, Olympus would have already changed rulers by now.

From Hecate's words, it was clear that Athena's "hope" was something she found somewhere else.

"Do you know why Zeus swallowed Metis in the first place?" 

Hecate continued, "It was because she discovered this 'hope,' and it made Zeus feel threatened and even scared. But even I don't know exactly what 'hope' is. I only figured out its exact location by retracing Metis' movements before she disappeared. Athena came to ask me about its location of that thing earlier."

"Then, teacher," 

Ares thought for a moment and asked, "Can you tell me where it is?"

To be continued...

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300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter

A/N: Every 300 power stone, I'll drop bonus chapter...