Chương 60: Chapter 60 - Recruitment: Thor's Crew Increases!
Here's the new chapter!
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Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
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Pov. Thor.
Staying in Greece, although not my main objective, proved to be quite opportune...
Arachne served well as a new goddess.
After Baldr approved, I placed a rune on Arachne's body so the northern cold wouldn't bother her, and sent her straight to the Aeolites to have Igris take care of her.
According to Igris' most recent message, the Aeolites worshiped her. Mainly due to the fact that a weaver and artisan goddess was quite useful due to the cold climate of the north.
I met with Medusa once every seven days for information or if she was successful with the Telkhines.
I was right...or at least 'half right'.
The Telkhines hear the prayers of mortals.
Unfortunately, it seems they only respond if it's about advice, not requests.
This, on the other hand, did not shake or discourage me, after all, it was the closest contact I had with the Telkhines in all the years I stayed in Greece.
Speaking of Greece...
Things have changed more than I thought.
For starters, I ended up partying a little in a moment of weakness, though not enough to get completely drunk.
This was due to the fact that I found party mates!
They were triplets daughters of Zeus, they called themselves 'the Charites'.
Aglaea.
Euphrosyne.
Thaleia.
I must say... They knew how to make excellent parties and feasts.
However, I liked one of them better...
Aglaea, the youngest and most radiant of the three.
I got a good impression of her and soon introduced her to Hera and Hephaestus. This resulted in a hypnotized forge god midway through the dialogue, something I noticed immediately, and soon walked away along with Hera, who had noticed Hephaestus' behavior.
It ended with me and Hera just watching our son have his first crush...
While I was happy that Hephaestus might have found someone who wants to spend the rest of his life with him, I was apprehensive at the same time... I thought about things like 'what if she's not good', 'what if she breaks my son's heart', and 'if Hephaestus is not really happy after a few years'...
Lots of 'what ifs'... Lots of possibilities.
So I just decided to let Hephaestus live his life, whether, in happiness or sadness, I should trust him more and support him only when extremely necessary.
...Although if she ended up breaking my son's heart, I would possibly end up breaking her...
Hera, on the other hand, grabbed my robe and she cried uncontrollably, I just patted her back comfortingly until she calmed down.
Another thing was Aphrodite's behavior over the last few centuries.
The goddess of love would appear out of nowhere in front of me and would end up offering me ambrosia, along with a seductive smile. Hera, who was often around, would just pull me away from Aphrodite without any explanation.
It was kind of obvious that Aphrodite had something to do with me, but what she want I had no idea, after all, the first time I interacted with her was during a banquet, and at that same banquet she already treated me differently...
So I didn't know her reasons for the behavior, so I ended up choosing the most sensible choice...
Stay away from her.
It wasn't an irrational decision, after all, from what I remember from the Greek mythology of my previous life, Aphrodite could be described as a temperamental, cunning, flirtatious woman, free as the wind, disloyal and, above all, crazy for attention.
Obviously, she could be different, after all, this was a different universe.
But would I risk it?... Hell no.
I was happy as I was.
Back to my goal, Medusa's constant information has brought me to an island...
The island of Lemnos.
I came here years ago, but what I only found was the same thing I found years later.
Hundreds of women.
However, my suspicions turned out to be true when I went down to the island...
A cave system, with a combination of runes and magic circles, basically blocked my view of the Viljestyrke – Archer, making me believe that the island only housed hundreds of women.
When I found myself in the main cave I had finally found them...
The Telkhines.
All of them were the same, but they had distinct and unique names, although each of them was an expert in a certain art of forge and dark magic.
Male Telkhines were called:
Demonax, Lycus, Antaeus, Megalesius, Hormenius, Damnameneus, Skelmis, Mylas, Atabyrius, Mimon, Nicon, Argyron, Chalcon, and Chryson.
The female Telkhines, on the other hand, were fewer in number and were called:
Dexithea, Halia, Makelo, and Lysagora.
There was no fucking way for me to know who was who, after all, they were all the same in appearance...
Hell, even the male and female genders were hard to tell, how the hell would I know the names?
Anyway, I offered them up to be taken in by the Norse pantheon, even if they chose to stay in secret in the lands of Midgard.
They refused.
When I asked why the answer was somewhat understandable...
The last time they helped someone and allied themselves with this being, a war of catastrophic proportions took place in the heart of Greece, and they didn't want history to repeat itself...
They just wanted to live and forge simple things, no longer fight or work for war.
This was something I could to some extent accept, however, I wouldn't want to go back empty-handed, so I further explained my proposal and how beneficial it was to them...
I tried everything, anonymity, and security, rare materials, a secret place for them to live with dignity and independence from the Asgardian government.
With much insistence, I ended up convincing them to come with me.
I then created several underwater caves that would serve as homes on the main island where the Aeolite settlement lived.
Speaking of Aeolite...
The armor designs intended for the city's militia were being forged and distributed to the Aeolite men real fast...
Too fucking fast...
Although I wanted to investigate this further, I didn't stay on the island long and soon returned to Greece.
And so, years later I witnessed Hephaestus marry Aglaea.
And here I was, in the midst of a celebratory feast.
The feast was primarily sponsored by Zeus, due to the King of Olympus determining that Hephaestus deserved a grand celebration after numerous services to the Olympians, I obviously kept an eye on the 'charity' of the god who was famous for sleeping with married women.
Fortunately, Zeus didn't make a single attempt.
Although, in the midst of the feast full of deities, Greek supernatural beings, and even humans, something happened.
A golden apple fell into the middle of the table, and that apple bore a simple inscription:
'Destined for the most attractive one of all time'.
"... That's... Vague," I said, looking at the apple with an odd look.
Hera who was sitting next to me just looked at the apple with stars in her eyes.
"Oh! An apple like that must be juicy! I will be sure to thank the one who gave me such a gift," said Hera, licking her lips and reaching for the golden apple.
The action was soon copied by two more beings.
Athena and Aphrodite.
The three goddesses had their hands holding the single apple... and both were frowning at each other.
"It's mine!" said the three goddesses firmly.
When they noticed that they said the same thing at the same time, the frown seemed to increase.
That doesn't say it's going to end well...
"The apple has an inscription that it is destined for the most beautiful, so it's me!" said Aphrodite.
Athena and Hera soon scoffed.
"The apple does not have its name Aphrodite, if it did I would be silent. The apple only exposes that it is for the fairest, I am described as the fairest, even among mortals, my hair is said to be the fairest of all deities, so the apple is for me" said Athena, crossing her arms.
"Now wait a minute! I am the most beautiful since before you even existed! So obviously it's for me! Since the inscription says 'of all time,' that includes before you were even born!" said Hera, with a pout.
I honestly found the argument amusing, and soon went back to drinking some ambrosia as I watched the fight unfold. In the meantime, I noticed a beautiful woman with purple hair, who was sitting next to me, laughing at the exchange of words between the three goddesses.
"... Having fun?" I asked to woman with long purple hair.
The woman stopped laughing and looked in my direction as she answered.
"What's a good party without a little discord?" said the woman, with a smile on her face.
I just raised an eyebrow.
"…Are you the blame for this?" I asked, pointing to the trio of Greek goddesses, now standing and arguing heatedly.
The woman just shrugged.
"It's just an innocent joke... Hera and Aphrodite have been arguing about who was the most beautiful goddess on Olympus for a while now, although this is the first time I've seen Athena get involved, I just made the argument resurface again with a little push" said the woman, still smiling.
Well... I'm sure this woman would be the female version of Uncle Loki...
"I'm Thor, I'm just passing through Olympus for a while... Who exactly are you?" I asked, introducing myself to the strange woman as she held out her hand.
The woman only glanced briefly at my hand until she shook it with a smile.
"Greetings Asgardian... I'm Eris" said the woman, now called Eris, while winking at me.
Oh? And to think that Nyx's daughter was on my side...
"... Where is your mother?" I asked.
Eris just raised an eyebrow and then dropped my hand.
"Don't tell me you're another one who wants to sleep with my mother... This is getting too intrusive," said Eris, arms crossed.
... What?
"Honestly, having your mother in my bed wasn't something I considered…" I said.
This seemed to interest Eris.
"Oh? So why the interest?" asked Eris.
How to say that without being too obvious?... Well, fuck it.
"I heard that your birth was special, after all, you, in addition to several of your brothers and sisters were born from Nyx 'alone', this is something that took my interest a little bit as you have a little different domain from each other, I can only assume that your mother, to some degree, is connected to the—" I said, before being interrupted.
"Stop! Please stop! Ughh... Keep it simple, you don't need to dictate a text bigger than Zeus' ego" said Eris.
... I don't see how to explain what I wanted in fewer words.
"Never mind," I said, sweating a little.
Pov. Third-person.
As soon as Thor concluded the conversation with Eris... He was soon interrupted by someone who quickly approached the Norse god of thunder.
"Thor!" shouted a voice rushing towards Thor quickly.
When Thor looked to the source of the voice he saw Hera, who quickly grabbed Thor's hand and tried to pull the thunder god out of his chair.
Thor found Hera's action amusing, but he was also intrigued by the reason for such an action by the goddess, who was known as a goddess of composed behavior. The thunder god briefly said goodbye to Eris, who was looking strangely with a smile at the pair of deities, and soon got up and started following Hera.
It was then that Hera brought Thor closer to Aphrodite and Athena.
Aphrodite had a look of approval, while Athena had a look of apprehension that bordered to fear.
"...I nominate you," said Hera, pointing at Thor.
Thor just blinked back an apathetic look and then faced Hera.
"... Me?... For what exactly?" asked Thor.
Aphrodite soon replied.
"I approve," Aphrodite said quickly.
Thor frowned as he realized he was blatantly ignored. But luckily, Athena sensed Thor's mood, and to avoid any misunderstanding of the goddess she responded quickly.
"We are competing to see who is the fairest, we took some mortal who was part of the family of the cupbearer and my father's lover, but it seems that the mortal preferred Aphrodite when the goddess promised to give the mortal the power to hypnotize the fairest beautiful woman that he finds and makes her his lover," said Athena.
Thor only raised an eyebrow.
"…And what do I have to do with it?" asked Thor, confused.
For Thor, the 'competition' was over and there was no more need to contest, as it basically just showed that Athena and Hera didn't know how to lose...
"Well, I brought up that the mortal would only be interested in the gifts and not our beauty itself, basically we would be competing for the prize of whoever gives the best gift, not the most beautiful goddess. It was then that I had another idea..." said Athena.
In the meantime, Hera and Aphrodite began to guide Thor to an isolated part, while Athena followed closely behind.
"... What idea?" asked Thor suspiciously.
It was then that Thor ended up sitting on a rock and the three goddesses stood in front of him, all smiling.
"With a mortal, this method wouldn't work for the simple fact that the three of us would enchant them. This method, however, works on other deities, and Hera argued that you would be the fairest judge due to you not being from Olympus and therefore not prone to seeking favors or bribery," Athena said.
The answer that Athena gave to Thor did not calm the Norse god in the least and only served to increase suspicions even more...
It was then that Thor's eyes widened briefly as the three goddesses undressed at the same time and were left completely naked.
A few seconds passed and then Aphrodite held out the golden apple she had in her hand, due to having managed to get elected by the mortal's vote earlier, to Thor and asked a question with a seductive smile.
"And then... Who among us is the most attractive?" asked Aphrodite.
Thor looked at the apple and then at the three goddesses, who began striking poses in an attempt to attract Thor's attention.
Thor, however, remained apathetic.
It was then that Thor surprised everyone when he took a small, shiny gold-colored pill from the storage necklace.
"…No way can I do this soberly. Also, it's a great time to test the effectiveness of the soldier's pill..." said Thor, looking at the pill.
Without hesitation, Thor then popped the pill into his mouth.
"...Soldier's Pill... Motley version of mead and ambrosia," said Thor, whispering the last part.
It was then that Thor swallowed the pill.
Two seconds later, two things happened...
Thor's face flushed a little.
"... *Hic*"
And the god started to have a fit of hiccups at random while displaying a happy smile, which showed tranquility.
Thor then looked at the apple and at the naked goddesses, who were looking at Thor strangely.
"Do you want to know who is the most attractive? *Hic*... Alright then, here's my answer! *Hic*" said Thor.
The Norse god then did something unthinkable...
(N/A: For the reference/meme click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gEzmL1DXr8)
He undressed shamelessly and began striking poses while flexing his muscles, which drew the looks of shock on the part of the goddesses and interest on the part of the nymphs who were watching from afar.
"*Hic*… IT'S ME!" said Thor brazenly.
Thor then proceeded to devour the golden apple in front of the three goddesses, who awoke from shock when they saw that Thor was shamelessly eating the reason for the competition.
"NOOO!!!" shouted the three goddesses.
Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena then soon launched themselves toward Thor and tried to take the apple from Thor's hand, needless to say, the attempt was in vain.
The Nymphs, who witnessed the actions of the four deities naked, ran in search of more supernatural beings for a simple reason...
The Nymphs liked to gossip.
The years that followed were somewhat troubled, due to the fact that the mortal who received Aphrodite's favor ended up craving the love of a married woman.
Married to the king of one of the most important city-states of the Achaeans, and brother to the king of the city of Mycenae, a city founded by the hero Perseus himself.
When such an action was done by the mortal, Olympus ended up being divided, as sons and daughters, or at the very least descendants, of several gods were involved.
The split ended up happening, while some were displeased by the choice of the mortal favored by Aphrodite, others supported the choice of the mortal due to being fair, moreover, in their eyes, it was just another stolen mortal woman.
The problem is that just one moon later, the most important war in all of Greek history would take place in such a chaotic way.
Thor, at that moment, was not present for a simple reason...
Shiva had contacted Thor seeking a favor.
The god of destruction asked Thor to welcome a young demigod son of Surya, a sun god.
The reason for such a request was that Shiva saw that the young demigod, although he was allied with the enemies of Vishnu's chosen hero, life that the demigod had was not fair at all...
Shiva had felt pity for the young demigod...
The young demigod was Karna.
And his story was full of twists...
He meets his birth mother, who had abandoned him in a basket on the river Ganges, and then discovers that he is the older half-brother of those he is fighting, named Arjuna.
Young Karna ended up becoming a symbol of someone who is rejected by those who were supposed to love him, but it didn't happen due to extenuating circumstances...
But even so, he still grows up to be a man of exceptional abilities, willing to give his love and life as a loyal friend.
Although Vishnu found Karna's life a tragedy, for the preserver it was something necessary.
Shiva disagreed, and although he could not act directly, he asked a favor of someone he considered a close friend...
It was there that Thor entered and resurrected Karna, bringing the young warrior to the Aeolite city, where he would be welcomed by the people with open arms.
That day, Karna ended up crying for the reciprocal love he received.
When Thor returned from Midgard again, he found the Greek pantheon in the midst of an indirect civil war...
Indirect by the fact that the Olympians only chose the champions and sides of the war, being the Achaean and Trojan sides, and only bet on who would win.
In the midst of this confusion, Thor had discovered that the youngest son of Thetis, a demigod, was participating and winning titles of best-born warrior left and right by both armies.
Apollo, who had chosen the Trojan side, didn't like the son of Thetis at all since the demigod had desecrated the temple of the Greek god of light, which turned out to be the most important temple of Apollo.
Zeus had remained neutral for two simple reasons...
The first was that he was indebted to Troy when he kidnapped one of the city's princes in the past named Ganymede and made him his personal cupbearer... and lover in his spare time.
The other reason was that Zeus' most prized son, Alcides, or as Zeus liked to call him, Heracles, named after his sister in a futile attempt to get Hera's attention, had already sacked Troy in the past as well.
For these two reasons, Zeus assumed he should remain neutral.
Hades also demonstrated neutrality, for the god of the underworld doesn't care if the Achaeans or Trojans won... Souls would have abundance in the underworld.
At this moment, Thor was somewhere in what would come to be called Turkey, sitting in a chair eating and drinking some...
As he watched a bloody battle unfolded right in front of him.
A curious fact, all the Greek city-states had the same amount of soldiers, about 10 thousand men, while the city of Troy had a much smaller amount of soldiers than the hometown of the mortal who caused this war for a woman had an advantage...
The structure of the city.
"...So they had a moat just in front of the wall, to make it look bigger and avoid siege weapons... Fascinating," said Thor, as he watched the onslaught of soldiers.
While Thor was unhappy with how this war came about, he assumed this war would happen sooner or later.
After all, it was a fact that the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon, was a man with desires for conquest and glory, this was proven when he sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia in a ritual, so Thor knew it was only a matter of time before the war happens...
As such, Thor chose not to interfere directly, nor would he choose sides...
But even so, Thor had his eye on three people who had caught his attention.
The first was the chosen champion of Athens, a king subordinate to Agamemnon and extremely gifted with intelligence and battle strategy in the way he led the army.
The second was the son of Thetis, who went around killing Trojan soldiers left and right, without any difficulty, and displaying an almost divine speed in the eyes of mortals.
The third... It was a mortal, without any divine blood in his veins, who wound up wounding Ares in the middle of the confrontation, with a little help from Athena who guided the spear through the confusion.
"...Odysseus, Achilles and Diomedes... Which one should I recruit?" asked Thor, lost in thought.
Thor quickly discarded Athena's champion, but the other two? Thor knew that Achilles would die, moreover, Thor was friends with Thetis, and during Thor's stay he witnessed Thetis' marriage to a mortal named Peleus; while Diomedes no deity would miss a mere mortal, so the Norse god knew the choice would be between these two...
Achilles, the champion of the Achaeans.
Diomedes, the mortal who wounded a god.
Thinking about who would be the best option, as well as the easiest to recruit, Thor soon made the decision...
"...Well, I'm sure if he had the opportunity, he could also hurt a god," said Thor, getting up from his chair, which soon disappeared.
The Norse god then began to walk away from the battlefield; but somewhere in the midst of the confusion, there was a young man with green, almost blond hair, with golden eyes, who enjoyed himself while swiveling his spear and stabbing or cutting whoever approach him.
The youth roared for some opponent, as he mercilessly mowed down any enemy within reach of his spear, and fought with a speed never seen before.
This young man was a demigod, son of Thetis, holder of a name that is still spoken even in modern times, though it is proverbially referred to as weakness...
Considered the greatest warrior ever born.
Achilles.
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Well that's all folks!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, peasants!
Vol.1 is pretty close to ending, and although this chapter was quick, it was on purpose to end this Arc soon.
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