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 smelled of smoke, warm bread and old stone.
Athens was not a silent place, not even for a second. From the moment I set foot on its streets, the bustle enveloped me 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 me twice. Perfect.
I walked aimlessly, letting the environment speak to me. 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 remembered what Aegle had told me:
"You have to give them something. Something they can't ignore. A cause, a story, a symbol. Sometimes it's enough just to be in the right place at the right time."
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 mean something. To someone.
My gaze stopped on a scene that seemed to be taken from any day in any city... but this time 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 something light up in my chest.
What if I were that exact moment? I thought. What if what they needed wasn't another distant god, but someone who was willing to do something 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 seemed 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 crime. Nobody said anything. Nobody did anything.
The scene quickly reminded me of a very similar one from a movie I had seen in my other life. That's when the light came 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 me. '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 me 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 me. And let him get up."
The soldier frowned, but did not argue. Perhaps he thought it wasn't worth it, or maybe something in my voice made him hesitate. He just turned around and walked away.
The boy looked at me from the ground, confused. I held out my hand.
"What's your name?"
"...Eirenaios."
"So Eirenaios... now you owe me," 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, metallic jingle.
Then another dozen.
And another.
In seconds, the sound of coins falling made everyone turn around. Some approached cautiously, others threw themselves directly to the ground, pushing each other to grab what they could. The square was transformed into a contained chaos: greed, surprise, need... all mixed up in an instant.
I saw eyes fixed on me. Glances that had previously ignored me were now following me.
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 movement 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 metallic 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 me with wide eyes, with a mixture of respect, distrust and wonder. Some began to point at me, 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 seemed 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 me.
"ONE OF THE NEW GODS OF OLYMPUS."
A collective sigh spread like a wave. Some crossed themselves. Others frowned. But no one left.
"I AM LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT YET WORSHIP A GOD, SO THAT THEY JOIN ME AND BECOME PART OF MY CULT."
I turned slowly, making sure to look directly into the eyes of several of them. That they saw me, safe. Present.
"WHOEVER WANTS TO DO SO, AND MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS, COME 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 something new.
The boy next to me, Eirenaios, didn't move, he just looked at me. I looked back at him, but said nothing.
Before long, several people had come forward and bowed before me. The old man I had seen before, now kneeling with his head bowed, finally raised it to look me straight in the eye.
"We are at your service, oh my great lord. My name is Themistios... let me 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 formed. 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 me.
"All right," I said, and this time my voice carried something different. Something stronger. More... firm. "Get up. We have work to do."
They were standing in front of me, 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 mentally 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 time. '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. Some 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 me, as if witnessing something 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 me, with arms crossed, an unmistakable figure dressed on a battle armor awaited me.
Athena.
Her grey, sharp eyes scanned me 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 punishment I was about to receive.
I just looked at her... and in my mind, automatically, a dry and direct thought emerged:
"Oh, shit."
[IMAGE]