After Asterios returned to Pelion Cave, everyone’s life remained the same, nothing special.
Everyone was already very accustomed to life here.
The half-side of a pig that Atalanta had sent was still hanging there, and Asterios had wanted to slice it up and eat it many times.
It was his fellow disciples who stopped him, all saying that this was a gift from Atalanta; it was fine just hanging there to look at, why eat it?
Asterios, however, felt there was absolutely no need for that.
If someone sends food and you don’t eat it, when Atalanta sees it later, she might think he looks down on her.
Food, after all, is meant to be eaten to be worthwhile.
When he went hunting in the forest, he would still occasionally run into Atalanta.
The current Atalanta was completely different from the past.
Their interactions with each other had become increasingly familiar, and the two of them could now truly be said to have started slowly dating.
Although Atalanta had begun to slowly accept their relationship, she was still quite cautious about this matter.
It was probably due to childhood trauma; she wanted to truly see Asterios clearly before considering future matters.
As for the hardest hurdle, her vow—heh, after Asterios had acted so confident that night, Atalanta was already quite looking forward to seeing him make a fool of himself.
This guy doesn’t even draft his boasts.
When the time comes and he can’t solve this matter, she would just pray to Lady Artemis and apologize.
This was a peaceful and quiet time, one could even say it was a blissful existence.
Until today, when Chiron brought that child before them.
A child standing two and a half meters tall, with a robust build, powerful and muscular, his body as magnificent as a god-made statue, a child who made people feel fear just by taking a single step.
The group of disciples had already been scared into hiding behind Asterios; there was no help for it, it was truly terrifying.
The person Chiron brought back before them—his intense divine aura seemed to have materialized and burst forth, and the surrounding ground seemed to be trembling because of this aura.
Asterios had never seen such an intense divine aura emanating from a human, let alone his fellow disciples.
However, Father Zeus started at three meters tall, so his son being two and a half meters, well, that didn’t seem to be a problem.
“Come, let me introduce everyone.
This is the son of Alcmene, of the bloodline of Perseus, the noble son of the gods, Heracles.” Chiron introduced him to everyone, while Heracles, standing beside him, said nothing.
He simply looked down at this group of things that would become his senior fellow disciples, calmly scrutinizing each and every one of them.
A golden aura ignited on Asterios’s body, his radiance shielding every one of his junior fellow disciples.
The tyrannical aura emanating from Heracles was extinguished by him right then and there.
Heracles’s momentum immediately became even more tyrannical; this was the competitive spirit rising within his heart.
That intense pressure of divine aura rushed toward them, and Asterios’s eyes also became sharp; he was already somewhat displeased in his heart.
The tense, sword-drawn atmosphere between the two sides became increasingly terrifying, and Chiron smiled and retreated to the side.
The rest of the disciples also began to step back; it seemed this was a matter they shouldn’t interfere in.
Asterios closed his eyes.
In Heracles’s eyes, this was undoubtedly a slight against him.
How could a warrior close his crucial eyes when facing an opponent?
Or was it that in Asterios’s eyes, he didn’t even count as an opponent?
He strode forward, charging with a straight punch aimed at Asterios’s head.
In Heracles’s mind, since he was a disciple of Chiron and the senior brother of the Heroes of Pelion, Asterios shouldn’t be easily knocked down by this straight punch, right?
And this punch of his struck an invisible wall and could not advance an inch.
The powerful impact spread out from the point of collision between the fist and the wall, even causing the hair of those around them to flutter.
“What powerful strength.” Peleus, who had the nickname of being infinitely strong, couldn’t help but exclaim as he watched this scene.
An expert knows the ropes; he admitted to himself that he was afraid he couldn’t unleash such powerful strength.
This was truly too terrifying.
But that invisible wall stood right between Heracles and Asterios, and Heracles’s first punch simply couldn’t shake this invisible wall.
So he immediately withdrew his arm, channeled all his strength from his arm into his fist, and unleashed an even stronger and fiercer second punch.
He absolutely did not believe this invisible wall could block his full-force second punch; this was his all-out attack!
But it was meaningless.
The wall just stood there, and no matter how hard Heracles tried, he couldn’t break through this invisible wall.
So Heracles’s feet began to move.
He ran quickly, maneuvering to the side to punch at Asterios.
Heracles was confident in his speed; before Asterios could change his defensive stance, he would surely be able to land a punch squarely on this guy’s body.
“So fast.” Pollux, who was agile and the fastest among all the fellow disciples, couldn’t help but say this.
Could this brother, who also flowed with the blood of Zeus like them, actually possess such speed?
For such a huge body, this was truly incredible.
But Asterios, who had by now sat down cross-legged, simply calmly inhaled and then exhaled.
This time, it wasn’t an invisible wall, but a protective shield.
The protective shield enveloping Asterios appeared abruptly, and Heracles’s third punch was blocked just like that.
This was enough to explain everything.
“I, I lost.” Heracles withdrew his hand at this moment, and that intense divine aura had already vanished completely due to his low spirits.
Asterios and Chiron understood then; this child could not yet control the power within his body well.
He still needed more tempering.
So Asterios also smiled slightly.
He floated into the air, stood upright again, and placed his hand on Heracles’s shoulder.
“Don’t be too nervous, and don’t be so resistant to everyone.
You are a very good person, and I believe you will get along well with everyone here.
Come, let me introduce you to everyone.
Everyone here is very good; they are all friendly and gentle people, and you will definitely like them.” He withdrew his hand from Heracles’s shoulder, then grabbed Heracles’s large hand, and led him to meet one by one those who would become his senior fellow disciples.
At first, Heracles didn’t think much of it, but then, when he learned that there were sons of Apollo, descendants of Zeus, children adopted by Athena here…
hmm, it seemed his situation really didn’t count for much among such a group of people.
Chiron watched from the side as Asterios led Heracles into their circle, nodding with satisfaction.
As the senior brother, his son’s care for this group of junior disciples was sincere and genuine, with no falsehood.
In the future, this batch of Heroes of Pelion would definitely be loving and united, and would surely be able to accomplish great things.
Maybe it’s not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”