Life with Hephaestus was extremely relaxed for Asterios, with the robots crafted by Hephaestus assisting him in his daily life.
This lifestyle was unexpectedly carefree, with fine wine and roasted meat; he had whatever he wanted.
“Lord Asterios, is there anything you need us to do?” Robot No.
7 saw Asterios wandering around and asked him in a gentle female voice if there was anything they could do for him.
Asterios waved his hand dismissively; he was just out for a stroll and didn’t need anything done.
This Mount Etna was truly quite dreary; there were no birds singing or flowers blooming, no green hills or clear waters—only flowing lava and flames.
Asterios could now understand why Aphrodite did not like this place.
After a few days, he also felt that this place was quite dull, which made him sigh with emotion.
However, it did provide him with a different experience.
Life at Mount Pindus was very peaceful, while here it was quite intense.
Over the past few days, he had been learning how to craft equipment with Hephaestus, pouring much passion into it and gaining a lot of knowledge he hadn’t known before.
Now, he wasn’t just limited to repairing carriage frames anymore.
If he were really asked to forge an incredible sword or a remarkable suit of armor, Asterios could do it.
He still remembered the day they both got heavily drunk, and Hephaestus became more and more spirited as he drank.
Later, he even insisted on performing a demonstration of sword-forging with his iron hands right there and then, wanting to show Asterios his unique skills.
Asterios was also a bit tipsy at the time, and while watching Hephaestus forging a longsword, he couldn’t help but ask: “Can I try?” Hephaestus looked at his hands and arms, and subconsciously displaying the pride of a God of the Forge, mocked him: “I suspect those delicate, tender hands of yours probably couldn’t forge anything worthwhile~” How could the heavily drunk Asterios take that kind of insult?
A powerful force from his spirit directly enveloped his hands.
He reached straight into the forge, lifted the sword Hephaestus was currently forging, and began to forge it in the same manner as Hephaestus.
Hephaestus watched his actions; although he was surprised at first, he soon became excited.
When Asterios molded the sword into the shape he wanted and handed it to Hephaestus, Hephaestus took it with a loud laugh and began to inspect it.
“Not good enough~ completely not good enough~ You’ve only learned the basics; you don’t know anything about the internal structures of weapons at all~ This won’t do.
Fine~ just stay here with me; don’t go anywhere for this period.
I will teach you properly how to forge weapons~!” Asterios laughed along with him; he loved to learn and enjoyed gaining new knowledge.
Since Hephaestus was willing to teach him new knowledge, he was naturally willing to stay here and study for a while.
“Oh, right~ have you named this energy you use?
I see it is different from magic; it is not merely power bursting forth from your physical body.” Hephaestus brought this up, which actually sobered up the drunk Asterios a bit.
After a moment of contemplation, he gave his answer: “Cosmo.
This is the power that bursts forth from the heart, spirit, soul, life, and capacity of one’s existence—my Cosmo.” This is the unknown power hidden within a person, the root that unleashes infinite power after being tempered and explored time and time again.
However, Asterios actually had another meaning in mind.
Everyone’s spirit and soul are infinite; what exists within their hearts is this Cosmo that belongs to everyone.
Happiness, dreams, longing, love, and hope—these beautiful emotions are the energy that sustains the operation of this Cosmo.
After that, Asterios stayed by Hephaestus’s side, learning the skills and knowledge of forging with him.
It was a grueling process, but Asterios was very happy about it.
While Asterios was learning with Hephaestus, in the clearing in front of the Pelion Cave, Chiron’s disciples were still engaged in their daily training.
Pollux was currently wrestling with Peleus.
Pollux’s advantage was her agility, while Peleus’s advantage was his innate supernatural strength.
The two were competing with their techniques to their hearts’ content within the circle—one trying to use speed to outmaneuver the other, the other trying to use strength to suppress the opponent, enjoying the competition immensely.
The other disciples were cheering for them from the sidelines; even Jason was cheering for the two of them at this moment, marveling at their techniques.
Of course, he himself couldn’t possibly get in there to play; if Pollux gave him two solid punches, both his eyes would turn black.
He had suffered that fate before, and it was still better than Peleus just throwing him to the ground.
But Orpheus, who was sensitive to sound, turned around at this moment; he had heard rather heavy footsteps.
When he turned his head, he saw the young girl whom their senior brother was so obsessed with walking over, carrying half a side of cured pork.
Meleager saw him turn his head and followed suit.
Their turning caused more people to turn, and now they all saw the young girl, carrying half a side of pork, head held high, marching forward bravely.
When she reached the group, she stopped and asked the disciples of Chiron: “Where is your senior brother?
Where is he?” “Senior brother went out; he went to the God of the Forge, Hephaestus, to study.
This is what the teacher said, though we don’t know if it’s true or not.” Castor stepped forward to explain the situation.
Atalanta nodded, walked a few more steps, and then handed the half side of pork on her shoulder into Castor’s arms.
Castor looked at the object and wanted to laugh for a moment, but then he thought it was a bit of a pity.
If only their senior brother were here; that would be perfect, and he could handle it himself.
“This is a thank-you gift for what happened last time.
Please thank your senior brother properly on my behalf.
I am not the type of person to just brush off a favor; that is something I cannot do.” Being clear about gratitude and grudges had always been Atalanta’s life motto.
Last time, because they hadn’t really communicated well, many things were left unsaid and many issues weren’t resolved.
Atalanta had come this time specifically to clear things up with that guy.
The disciples were all trying hard to hold back their laughter.
Although the emotions in their eyes were different, they all agreed without exception that their senior brother was truly lucky.
This was the standard sign that they both had mutual feelings and could slowly move forward, right?
“We will tell our senior brother; as soon as he returns, he will know about this immediately.” Pollux took the lead in saying this, and then Atalanta immediately turned and sprinted away.
Before the others could react, she had already run far off.
It was this cute action that made Chiron’s disciples, Asterios’s juniors, laugh even more happily.
It seems their senior brother has found a candidate for a wife; Teacher Chiron won’t have to worry about this matter anymore~ This laughter even reached Atalanta’s ears, making her face turn even redder and hotter.