On the grass at the foot of Mount Pindus, a blonde youth sat peacefully.
He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and hands clasped together, quietly experiencing the sounds of the world.
He could hear the wind, the breathing of the grass, and feel the flow of moisture in the air; it seemed there would be a heavy rain late tonight.
The youth gently sensed the earth, the sky, and the world around him.
These things calmed his mind and made him ponder what he needed to do, or perhaps, what it meant to do nothing at all.
Humans are always curious, so the youth was curious about the abilities he possessed.
Sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch—he had already fully grasped these five senses.
By utilizing them, he could already sense countless things in this world.
Last year, he had even sensed a Sixth Sense within himself.
Once he became familiar with this sensation and developed it, he gradually mastered a series of abilities: manipulating elements, crushing and controlling atoms, flight, tunneling, Psychokinesis, mind reading, illusions, mental control, and intuition.
These were abilities originating from his mind, his spirit, and his soul.
He had gradually come to understand and master them all.
Yet, even after experiencing so many superpowers, he continued to push forward, seeking to experience the ultimate sensation.
Above this Sixth Sense, there was surely an even higher sensation.
It was a seventh sense that he could not yet fully comprehend but vaguely perceived; currently, for the mere joy of life, he was exploring and sensing it.
But sometimes, the youth also felt strange about himself.
So far, he felt that he was the only one who had developed this power; even his wise Adoptive Father, Chiron, had never grasped it.
At least, the youth had never sensed anything similar from his Adoptive Father.
Occasionally, the youth would worry about this.
Did it mean he was a freak?
He was different from others, yet he looked just like the shepherds—one head, two arms, and two legs—not much difference at all.
On the contrary, his Adoptive Father was even stranger, possessing the lower body of a horse.
Asterios often rode on his back, and Chiron was more than happy to carry him around for fun, conversing pleasantly with the shepherds and passing travelers.
Of course, after every pleasant outing came the assignments set by his Adoptive Father.
He would earnestly impart various kinds of knowledge, fighting techniques, and the phenomena between the stars and the sea.
However, his Adoptive Father didn’t teach him much about mystery, magecraft, or magic.
Fortunately, he had no interest in such things himself, so he didn’t care at all.
Relatively speaking, he preferred the knowledge his Adoptive Father taught and the heroic tales he told; they were far more interesting than boring occult or magecraft knowledge.
“Asterios, so you’re here.
Are you sitting quietly again today?
Don’t you find it boring?” The sound of Chiron’s footsteps came from behind, and Asterios stood up.
He turned around to see his Adoptive Father walking toward him, a gentle smile on his face.
“I don’t feel bored at all, Father.
This world changes every day; today is different from yesterday, and tomorrow will be different from today.
Living in such a world, how could I ever feel bored?” Looking into Asterios’s deep blue eyes, Chiron sighed slowly.
Asterios wasn’t just speaking in riddles to brush the matter aside; he truly thought that way, which was why he answered as he did.
But this made Chiron feel inexplicably strange.
Other children his age should be out expressing their lively nature.
Yet, whenever Asterios had nothing to do, he would sit here quietly.
Chiron didn’t know what he was doing; how should he describe this eerie feeling…
Regardless, Chiron found it quite subtle and couldn’t help but worry about Asterios.
Was this child truly happy?
Didn’t he find it boring?
After all, he himself had lived for countless ages, while the child before him was only six years old.
This was simply too strange.
“Never mind.
Since you’re fine with it, then do as you wish.
Come, get on.
We have a guest today, and you’re getting a junior fellow disciple.” Chiron reached out his hand, and Asterios took it.
With a gentle pull, Chiron brought the young Asterios onto his back.
Then, he set off on his four hooves toward the cave.
From a distance, Asterios saw a white-haired youth standing at the cave entrance.
He had a somewhat gloomy expression and didn’t look very spirited.
Asterios felt that there was some sadness entwined in the boy’s brow; he could imagine that this youth must have had a sorrowful past.
As for that sheep floating in the air, Asterios wanted to turn around and leave the moment he saw it.
To be honest, he didn’t much like this sheep that was overly affectionate toward him.
Especially knowing that it was an incarnation of the god Apollo, he liked it even less.
“Yo, Chiron!
Long time no see.
I have something to trouble you with again.” Apollo spoke.
His flippant tone made Asterios feel a bit helpless, but Chiron was used to it, so he didn’t mind.
“Is this the son you told me about?” Chiron asked as he looked at the child, and Apollo confirmed it.
This was his son with Coronis.
Because he didn’t have time to raise and look after the boy himself, he could only leave him in Chiron’s care.
Chiron knew full well that this was just Apollo’s excuse.
He loved his son, but because he felt guilty toward Coronis, and coupled with Apollo’s own personality issues, he was indeed unfit to raise a child.
Thus, he could only entrust him to Chiron.
“Have you given him a name?” Chiron asked, and Apollo immediately replied that he had; the child’s name was Asclepius.
Chiron nodded and walked up to Asclepius, greeting him with a smile and saying they would be living together from now on.
Asclepius bowed respectfully to show his regard, but he still didn’t speak.
Chiron decided in his heart to teach this child well and see where his talents lay.
Meanwhile, Apollo had already floated over to Asterios’s side, striking up a conversation in a praising and slightly fawning tone.
“Oh my, how cute!
Asterios, this golden hair, these deep blue eyes, this delicate face…
Asterios is just too cute, so wonderful!” Apollo approached as he spoke, but Asterios had already reached out and grabbed him.
Then, he jumped down from Chiron’s back, walked a few steps, and lightly tossed Apollo into the air.
Finally, he raised his leg and kicked Apollo far into the distance.
Even as he was being kicked away, Apollo was still saying that this side of Asterios was also very cute and wonderful…
Asterios took a slow breath, deciding to ignore the sheep’s nonsense.
He didn’t hate Apollo; he just felt a bit uncomfortable with Apollo’s attitude.
Then he turned and walked to Asclepius, saying, “Welcome, Asclepius.
I hope we can get along well in our future life together.
I think we should be able to get along quite pleasantly.”