Asclepius’s arrival was like a beginning; subsequently, more students came to study under Chiron.
Even Asterios couldn’t help but marvel that his Adoptive Father was truly renowned for thousands of miles across this land, as people came one after another to seek knowledge.
“Is it because of the arrival of the Age of Heroes?
I feel like this is a truly prosperous and bustling time~” When the day’s studies ended, Chiron began smilingly assigning homework to everyone.
Seeing the thick stacks of parchment exam papers, all the students’ faces filled with bitterness.
It seemed tonight would be another sleepless night, as Chiron would be checking them tomorrow morning.
“Hahaha~ Everyone must work hard.
Many of you have been with me for some time now.
Based on the talents you’ve shown before, the training for each of you is gradually being directed toward specific paths.
I’m looking forward to everyone’s future performance~” Chiron smiled and comforted these still relatively young children.
Most of the students’ responses at this time were somewhat listless.
It couldn’t be helped; under long-term study, their energy was starting to flag.
But in fact, once they got through this most difficult period, things would slowly improve.
Chiron’s education was like this: at the beginning, it was generalized to find the students’ specialties; in the middle, it was an intensive push on those talents; and in the later stages, there was less and less to teach, and it would depend on the students’ own efforts to forge ahead.
For instance, the current Asterios no longer studied with the others.
Because it was meaningless, Chiron preferred to let him experience the mysteries of the world on his own.
Chiron felt as though he had nothing left to teach Asterios; as a teacher, his path seemed to end here.
But as a father, there were still many life experiences he could impart to Asterios.
Today, Asterios sat quietly on the grass as usual.
At that moment, someone spoke to him.
[Asterios, Asterios.
You sit here experiencing the beauty of the world; so, what is your view of this world?] This voice had first spoken to Asterios a year ago.
That year, Asterios was ten years old, and he had realized a new sensation.
Following that sensation, he heard this person’s voice and felt his presence.
“I do not know, O person as calm and easygoing as the growth of plants.
Right now, I am only sensing the world, yet I have not fully entered it.
I am within it, yet I have not established more connections with it.
I cannot express a view on this world just like that; it would be too biased.” Asterios gave such a reply very calmly, and the voice fell silent for a moment.
This brief quiet was him organizing his words, thinking about how he should speak to this young child.
“This is correct, Asterios.
If a person does not have sufficient experience, then they appear too blank.
If there is no dust on the bright mirror stand, then what is the principle behind it?
Mirrors will gather dust, and the human heart will change.
Only after experiencing everything and that stage has ended can you define the world and yourself.” The person spoke to Asterios again in such a steady voice.
It contained his hopes for Asterios; he hoped the child would enter the world, gain sufficient experience, and ultimately attain his own perception of the world.
“But, ultimately, humans are always bound by their own perceptions.
This is the limitation of being human.
If one is not an omniscient and omnipotent god, how can one obtain a complete understanding of the world?” At this moment, Asterios sighed with his own realization.
His current perception of the world was beautiful because his life was happy.
But where there is happiness, there is also misfortune.
Since he was happy, there must be people who were unhappy.
Perhaps one day in the future, that same unhappy life might fall upon him.
At that time, would he still be able to maintain his current peaceful and stable state of mind?
Asterios did not know, because it had not yet descended upon him.
[Omniscience and omnipotence are also not things a human body should obtain, O Asterios.
If you crave that realm, that realm will depart from you.
I too am human; though I am in your future, I can see the you of the past.
But even as such a person, I am by no means omniscient or omnipotent.
Asterios, we only need to be ourselves.] He saw Asterios’s distress and felt his worry.
Asterios was worried about the immense power he already possessed; he was only eleven years old now, yet he already possessed such terrifying strength.
The current Asterios was worried about whether his future self could walk the righteous path.
If he were to walk an evil path, his power would bring fear, darkness, and death to the living beings of this land.
The person from the distant future felt pleased that Asterios could have such a mindset at this time.
This precisely demonstrated the kind-hearted nature of Asterios’s soul.
He was currently like a child carrying a precious treasure; if he took one wrong step, it could trigger an infinite crisis.
[Asterios, the various sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death in the world, and the various temptations of food, beauty, and sex—asceticism is not the path to liberation.
All humans will eventually become The Awakened One.
Whether good or evil, sentient or insentient, all are merely parts of the process.
Asterios, you too will reach this end, but before that, you must experience life.] The person’s words entered Asterios’s ears once more.
His meaning was clear.
Before reaching that realm, Asterios needed to live through his long life.
And at the end of everything, he would truly see the version of himself that was communicating with him.
Asterios fell silent, which meant he agreed that the person he was communicating with was right.
No matter what his life or his future was like, the prerequisite for him to judge those things was that he must accept and experience them, rather than stagnating here.
“Asterios~ What are you doing here~?” At that moment, a voice as clear as a silver bell, yet containing majesty and grandeur, suddenly rang out from behind Asterios.
Seeing that someone had come looking for Asterios, the person temporarily cut off the connection with him.
And Asterios also stood up and turned to look at the person who had come looking for him…
or rather, a god.
It was a goddess with golden hair tied in a bun, with a pair of bright eyes behind glasses, making her appearance seem dignified and beautiful.
Her skin was fair, her figure slender, and she wore an exquisite embroidered dress she had woven herself, draped in a masterfully crafted Aegis.
An owl circled above her head.
Everything was just right, as if she could rush onto the battlefield at any moment or receive the sacrifices of others in a temple.
This was absolutely a lofty and magnificent deity, an esteemed one to whom Asterios also had to show respect and love.
“Lady Athena, I was talking to a friend of mine from the future.
It was a bit of a discussion about the future; after all, I am still young and have a very long life path ahead of me.” Asterios truthfully told Athena what had just happened.
Athena shook her head helplessly.
In her perception, there had been nothing here just now.
She had sensed no person, nor any presence whatsoever.