Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Since the flood destroyed the world and the human world was devastated, how many years have passed on the earth.

For gods, this is not a very long time, but for humans, it is already a period of time that cannot be ignored. It is enough for newborns to grow up, enough for them to migrate across mountains and seas, and enough for mortals to establish new systems in the process.

However, this time, there is no Prometheus to guide them, and the gods did not interfere in this process. Except for the believers of the goddess of the hearth who brought the knowledge of the old era under the will of God, the new generation of humans is completely in a state of free growth.

They learned that there are gods in this world, and they also saw the terrible beasts from the west retreating in front of the holy fire; they sighed at the greatness of nature and worshiped the sun, moon and rivers. Although the gods never appeared directly in front of them, there are still many mortals who believe in and worship them.

However, this era is not only about warmth, but also about primitive disputes and killings. Migrating eastward, the humans who had originally gathered together gradually separated, and when they met again, they were often greeted with not friendly exchanges, but brutal fights.

When the granaries are full, people know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. However, without the care of the God of Foresight and a place suitable for development to settle down, the new generation of humans often live in precarious days. They will fight each other for food, and will also fight with the human teams that discovered it together after discovering a plain suitable for living. In this process, a special class appeared among humans.

That was the knowledge that Cohen once passed down among humans. It was a way to increase strength by tempering the body, refining blood, and increasing strength. It was brought to humans by Hestia's believers along with the knowledge of the old times, and it also sparked unprecedented sparks in different human tribes during the entire migration.

In Cohen's hands, it was just a summary of the Golden Man King's path to becoming stronger, but although he was the founder of the system, he actually did not explore it in depth. Because even Cohen himself was not very clear about how he made the progress in the fields below the extraordinary (fifth level).

Or more precisely, as the first golden human, his natural endowment made him ignore various difficulties. He was unstoppable when he was not paying attention. When Cohen looked back and wanted to understand, he was already standing too high and it was difficult to experience the feeling of ordinary humans making progress step by step.

Except for Cohen, in the hands of bronze humans, it was also just an optional ability. In the past, on the Aurora Plain, humans did not fight each other. This method of strengthening themselves could only be used on wild beasts. However, humans at that time did not have the need to open up to the outside world. Compared with fighting, they were more keen on avoiding experience. Therefore, in just over a decade, this extraordinary road has not brought any real development. It is still rough and basic. If there is no Cohen, it is even more like a joke.

But now it is different. In the fourth generation of humans, facing the threat of migration, facing the war with the same kind, in the environment of survival of the fittest, the survival instinct of humans as life is stimulated, and friction and collision produce different sparks of wisdom. Many of them died in the process, and most of the rest had only a few achievements, but there were some gifted people who made different achievements. They walked out of their own direction on the original extraordinary road belonging to mankind.

And these people, because of their strength, gained support and became leaders of different human teams. And after finding a suitable place to live, with the support of everyone, they completed the transformation of their identity - from leader to king.

However, in this era, whether it is a king or a person in a high position, responsibility is greater than power. Although they have a status far higher than ordinary people, they must also have abilities far superior to others. Even their descendants often need to use force and achievements to win status, rather than being born extraordinary.

So as the years passed, the traces of human beings gradually spread to the distance. Step by step, they spread the existence of human beings all over the east of the earth.

Of course, at the same time, the huge city built with the help of the goddess of the magic net also stood up in the southeast of the earth, and a migrating team heading north finally stopped, and even under the earth, new species began to be born.

However, at this time, they had no contact or communication with each other. Perhaps when everything starts, it needs to wait for another opportunity to appear.

This opportunity can be called Typhon, the establishment of Athens, or the birth of Mycenae. But in short, it will not be far away.

······

East China Sea, Lemnos Island.

The waves are rolling on the sea, but they become quiet when approaching the island. This is not a normal phenomenon, but it is not surprising to those who see it, because since more than ten years ago, this island with changeable ocean currents and unpredictable climate has become smooth.

On its surface, the east is a large plain, the west is a rugged rocky land, and there is a towering mountain in the center, with billowing smoke. Such islands are not uncommon in the sea, but in recent years, there have been traces of human activities here.

They sowed there, built cities there, and even had their own objects of worship and belief, which made this originally ordinary island more civilized.

"Ding——"

"Ding——"

"Bang————"

Sparks flew, and the forging hammer and iron material collided with each other, making a loud noise. In an open space, an ugly and short forger demonstrated his skills, and near him, there were hundreds of humans surrounding him.

Unlike those gods, or even the nymphs who served the gods, these humans did not laugh at or despise the forger's appearance. On the contrary, they all showed reverence and excitement, learning the forging technology shown to them by the people in front of them.

This is the ocean. Unlike the land, the humans living here have never experienced migration and do not need to face the threat of other lives. Sea beasts do not like land, and the masters of the sea do not want those low-intelligence lives to harm the humans who have just reproduced. Therefore, large islands are often enjoyed by humans alone, who build cities on them, fish or farm.

Of course, while avoiding the threat of other lives, these humans also have to face a more changeable natural climate. Whether it was a storm or a tsunami, it was enough to destroy their homes in an instant, and what was even more terrifying was the volcano standing on the island.

Etna, in some myths, had suppressed Typhon's volcano. Although it might not have this honor in the real mythological world, its horror was still beyond doubt for mortals.

Just ten years ago, the people on Lemnos personally witnessed the gushing magma and the torrent that almost destroyed everything. It was also on that day that this short and ugly man first demonstrated his divine power.

He let the magma flow back, the smoke and dust disappear, and then told mortals his name: Hephaestus, who controls volcanoes and lava. In order to thank this god for his help, the people on Lemnos named their city Hephaestia and built a temple for this god, praying that he could always appease the volcano that brought hot springs and minerals to the island so that it would never erupt again.

From then on, Hephaestus, who was raised by Nereus' daughter, the sea nymph Thetis, often came to the city named after him. Here, he could feel the respect and love of people, which was a completely different attitude from the sea gods and nymphs. The respect of mortals also comforted his twisted heart under the mocking and contemptuous eyes.

"Ding——"

"Bang——"

"Let's stop here today. You go back and think about it. I have guests to receive."

After knocking down the last hammer, Hephaestus looked at the dagger in the fire with some disappointment.

He ignored the high temperature and threw the red-hot dagger aside. This is a failed work, and naturally there is no point in further processing.

Forging is not his natural divine duty, but it is indeed his hobby, and he does it very well. Perhaps it is because of the changes in Hera when she was pregnant with Hephaestus, or perhaps it is for some other reasons. In short, this certainly gave him an ugly appearance, but also gave him some abilities that are very different from those of the gods.

Like the Cyclops, Hephaestus also has a natural talent for casting. However, compared to his skills, he found that his creativity was really limited.

This is also the reason why he teaches humans. Hephaestus found that many of the opinions put forward by humans may be difficult for them to realize, but they are precious inspirations for him.

"Yes, Your Highness, may you live forever."

In the crowd, a person with a higher status stood up and saluted. He took the lead, and the rest of the people quickly left after saluting.

After a while, only Hephaestus was left in the field. He clapped his hands and finally looked at the shade of the tree on the side.

There was nothing there, but Hephaestus seemed to be looking at someone, and said in a flat tone:

"Come out, although I don't know who you are and what you are here for, but you can come out now. I have lived on Lemnos for more than ten years, and your tricks can't be hidden from me."

After the voice fell, no one responded to him for a while. Just when Hephaestus was getting impatient, the shadows flickered under the shade of the tree, and a strange figure emerged.

The visitor looked a little embarrassed, as if he didn't expect his peeping behavior to be discovered. He manipulated the light to cover his figure, and came to the island where the gods were said to exist, but saw the casting process of Hephaestus.

The young god was fascinated for a while, but he didn't expect that he had already been discovered by the other party, which made him somewhat embarrassed.

At the same time, after he appeared, Hephaestus's face also became not very good.

It was a handsome young man with blond hair, tall, confident and full of fighting spirit, and Hephaestus was simply two extremes. One was born to be in the light, and the other was abandoned at birth. Although he didn't know the other party, it didn't prevent him from feeling bored at the moment.

This is why he prefers to stay with humans. In any case, Hephaestus is a god, and he can turn a blind eye to the handsomeness and strength of humans, after all, the other will always grow old. But now, the one in front of him was also a god, which made him subconsciously repel a little.

"...I am really sorry, sir, but I did not mean to spy. It's just that your skills are so superb that I forgot to show my body."

Apologize sincerely, Apollo means what he says. He noticed the change in the other person's expression, but the young god thought it was because of his own rudeness, so he felt even more embarrassed.

"Actually, I came here to inquire about something."

"Your behavior is not worthy of your appearance. Strange gods, please stop making excuses. We have nothing to say."

Interrupting in a cold voice, Hephaestus rejected the other party's apology without even thinking about it.

Facing this scene, Apollo frowned slightly, but thinking about the purpose of this trip, he still managed to be patient.

"I apologize for my behavior again, but Your Highness Hephaestus, I also hope you can understand my feelings and listen to me tell me about the injustice I have suffered."

"Before I was born, my Mother Goddess and I were persecuted by the Queen of Heaven. She prevented me from coming to the world just so that her children could come to the world before me. Her conspiracy was shattered, and I finally came to the human world. But this made her even more angry. A giant python with infinite strength was sent by Hera to guard the land, leaving my mother who had lost her power to wander in the sea to raise me. Now, I want to find her. That giant python proves to the world that the Queen’s dignity is inviolable, but the same is true of Apollo!”

With a solemn look on his face, Apollo was prepared to be rejected again, but if that was the case, he would have no choice but to look for other people who might know what was there.

However, unexpectedly, after listening to Apollo's story, Hephaestus's attitude suddenly changed. He glanced at this strange god and couldn't help but confirm:

"You are saying that you have been persecuted by the Queen of Heaven, and now you want to seek justice?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Nodding, Apollo didn't know why the other party's attitude changed. Maybe he was moved by his words, or maybe it was for other reasons. The reason why he chose Hephaestus as the target of his inquiry was because although he was the adopted son of the daughter of Poseidon, it was rumored that his relationship with the Poseidons was not very good.

He did not want the other gods of Olympus to know about his grudge against the Queen in advance, so there were not many people Apollo could ask. As for her mother goddess Leto, she actually knew where Delphi was, but the goddess asked her son to find the oldest temple on his own.

"This is a test given to you by your father." She told Apollo. Although the young god did not want any test, he still agreed.

"Going to trouble the Queen of Heaven...it's interesting, but Apollo, I'm afraid you're not qualified yet."

Looking up and down, Hephaestus quickly judged that this was a god younger than himself. It is impossible to measure whether his priesthood is powerful, but how could such a weak divine power be able to fight against Hera. Even if the Queen of Heaven is not as powerful as the King of Gods, after sharing part of Zeus's power, she is still a goddess with extraordinary military power.

"So I came here to seek a piece of news, Your Highness Hephaestus. I want to know the location of Delphi. There, there is not only the whereabouts of the giant python, but also a way for me to gain power."

Leto told Apollo that the giant python that had kept them away from the earth now lived on the plains of Delphi, and there were treasures left by his father there. Apollo had doubts about the father he had never met, but he still believed the words of the mother goddess.

"Sounds interesting. And since you are going to cause trouble for the Queen of Heaven...then I can help you, but in return, you must agree to a condition."

Noncommittal, but to Hephaestus, it didn't matter whether Apollo succeeded or not, as long as he could cause some trouble for the woman. Ever since he came here, the Queen seemed to have forgotten him. Compared with the contempt of other creatures, this made him feel even more unacceptable.

Faced with his request, although Apollo didn't know what grudges the gods in front of him had with the Queen of Heaven, he looked happy and solemnly agreed.

"Of course, if you can answer my confusion today, I will definitely fulfill my promise when you need it in the future. This is the promise Apollo made to you, and I will definitely fulfill it truthfully."