Early in the morning,
inside the temple of Hephaestus,
Thaumas carefully observed this magnificent temple built upon a volcano.
The high heat here made it a bit difficult for him to endure, though fortunately Athena had given him some ointment in advance to help him last a month.
As for a month later, if he still could not persuade this God of Fire, it seemed he would first be turned into a "acquaintance" by the high temperature.
However,
he had to admit,
although Hephaestus, the god of fire and craftsmanship, was often squeezed out by the gods and surrounded by controversy in the divine circle, with many main gods looking down upon her,
and even though her reputation among mortals was not necessarily very good,
rumors were always just rumors.
In Thaumas's inherent impression, Hephaestus was a formidable deity.
Not only had she relied on her profound divine technology and knowledge to build numerous magnificent temples for the gods,
even the gathering place for the gods above Mount Olympus was personally designed and forged by her.
What was even more astonishing was that, in Ancient Greece legends, she had forged many renowned divine artifacts.
Be it Zeus's Thunderbolt of the King of Gods, Poseidon's Trident of the Sea God, Hades's Helm of Darkness,
or the Sun Chariot of the sun god Helios, the Night Chariot of the goddess of night Nyx, or even the two golden and silver arrows of little Cupid that could influence even gods.
In addition, the hardest shield in the world, the Shield of Peerless, Aegis in Athena's hands, was also crafted by her.
There were still far too many divine artifacts that came from the hands of this deity.
Yet if this weren't the Nasuverse, he really would have thought she was a male god.
And yet why would such a goddess agree to Hera to marry the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite?
In the original mythology,
once while forging alone, Hephaestus accidentally met Aphrodite, the beautiful goddess of love and beauty.
Aphrodite was the most beautiful goddess among all deities, possessing an intoxicating appearance and captivating charm.
Hephaestus was instantly moved, deeply admiring Aphrodite's beauty and kindness, while she also marveled at the God of Fire's skill and intelligence.
They began to exchange craftsmanship and knowledge, spending many warm moments before the sparks-flying forging furnace.
However, Aphrodite's beauty also attracted the eyes of other gods.
Among them, the god who pursued her most ardently was the handsome and dashing god of war, Ares.
Ares poured out his passion to Aphrodite, hoping to receive her response.
Afterward came the melodramatic love triangle, and eventually Hera stepped forward, using the oracle of the King of Gods to betroth Aphrodite to Hephaestus.
And ever since, Hephaestus had constantly been cuckolded...
Though, thinking about it carefully, although this was the Nasuverse, given the fine traditions of Ancient Greece,
among the gods, let alone promiscuity, things like incest, yuri, rainbows, and so on were commonplace...
After all, the Queen of Heaven Hera, who was in charge of marriage, could not even guard her own marriage. Starting with her and Zeus,
this kind of "chaotic" concept had influenced many gods and humans.
Therefore, marriage in Ancient Greece was, conceptually, already chaotic.
Deities in charge of Authorities could not even manage their own lives, which was sometimes quite laughable.
Take Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home, for instance. Her greatest wish was simply for her family to live together happily.
Yet Hestia, as the eldest sister, could not stop Zeus's suspicion, and the family was divided by things called "power" and "status."
So you see,
it seemed the great gods were just like that, after all?
They were not much different from humans, either.
Thinking thus, Thaumas walked out of the room.
The God of Fire's little maid had specially instructed him yesterday that he must go to greet Hephaestus every morning.
The moment he opened the door,
the doll maid was already waiting outside his room.
"Why are you only waking up now? Hurry up, master Hephaestus is about to wake up," she said anxiously.
And with that, the maid pulled the chain tied to his wrist and dragged him toward Hephaestus's room.
Hey—could she not treat him so crudely!
Show him some respect at least!
Thaumas did not voice any protest; the past two days had made him understand one thing.
And that was—gods were simply this unreasonable!
And this little maid along with them, nothing more than a running dog of the God of Fire! One day he would severely punish her!
At this time,
Hephaestus was already seated in her wheelchair.
Today she was not wearing her usual white dress, but had changed into a fiery-red cloak.
This was a special mantle of hers, which could help her better wield her Authority.
However, she wore nothing on her legs, leaving even her bare feet exposed, which left Thaumas frozen in place.
Just a single glance made Thaumas daze. His pure, azure eyes gazed at this goddess.
She really looked just like the goddess Hera!
The same blonde hair, the same divine eyes, and even her inadvertent demeanor was very similar.
It was just that Hera was very gentle toward him, whereas Hephaestus was fierce...
Noticing Thaumas's gaze, Hephaestus glared fiercely back. Then she spoke:
"Don't compare me to her! This is the last time. Besides, you're coming to the forging room with me today!"
Hiss~ This is bad!
Without the golden bracelet given by Hera, it was really hard for him, prone as he was to wild trains of thought, to manage!
"Don't just stand there like a fool, keep up! Or else I'm afraid you'll be burned to death by the volcano's core fire!" The maid pushed Hephaestus's wheelchair, already heading toward the forging room, but did not forget to remind Thaumas.
Thaumas hurried to keep up, not daring to slack off. In this massive temple, if he lost focus even a little, he could easily get lost.
He was still not very familiar with the layout here, and if he took a wrong turn, getting scolded would count as a reward.
Passing through a long bronze corridor,
along the way, Thaumas saw many novel objects, such as a vase that could "take care" of itself?
It was presumably also the work of this goddess Hephaestus. After all, it was hard to imagine a vase that could water and fertilize itself, and even know how to prune, fully automated and integrated.
The little maid said that this was a decorative item made casually in the past when building a temple for Demeter, the goddess of agriculture.
It was just that Demeter didn't like it; this agricultural goddess preferred to do things herself, so this batch of vases was left here.
After walking for a long time,
Thaumas finally saw a huge bronze door engraved with numerous flame patterns, looking grand and majestic.
Hephaestus raised her hand and waved it lightly, and the bronze gates opened immediately.
The moment they opened, a scorching wave of heat rushed toward them, the blistering airflow making it uncomfortable for Thaumas.
He quickly took out the ointment he carried with him and smeared some on his body, barely enduring this violent heat wave.
Inside was the God of Fire's forging room, connecting directly to the interior of this volcano of unknown age.
"Eat this, otherwise ointment alone won't hold back the pure fires of the earth's veins. This is a fire where magic and divine power intertwine, and mortals cannot endure it."
Hephaestus suddenly said to him, signaling the little maid to deliver the pill in her hand into Thaumas's grasp.
Taking it, Thaumas swallowed it without the slightest hesitation.
Ah—so bitter! Were the gods' medicines this bitter too?
"Thank you, Lady Goddess."
After swallowing it, a coolness rose from his belly and spread throughout his body, and he suddenly felt that the heat wave had subsided.
No, to be precise, for him, the heat wave had become "warm."
It took effect really quickly, worthy of being a divine medicine.
Actually, Hephaestus was still quite gentle after all! Saying one thing and meaning another, tsundere was already out of style!
"Hey hey—ah!"
Before he could entertain more disrespectful thoughts, Hephaestus had already reached out and summoned the chain on his wrist, then pulled him over in one violent jerk.
Caught by surprise, Thaumas fell heavily to the ground.
"First, you are to call me Master Hephaestus.
Second, even in your mind, presumptuously discussing your master is highly disrespectful," Hephaestus said calmly.
"R-Right! Lady Goddess!"
Looking at the stubborn Thaumas, Hephaestus did not get angry; after all, taming a wild, spirited horse was much more fulfilling.
"Since Athena asked me to forge that divine artifact for you, you should also understand your position."
As she spoke, she pulled the bellows, and scorching magma roared within the furnace, with unimaginable magic power gathering toward this side.
"The thing you want, I won't give you right now. Athena wants you to gain the power of the gods, but that was a joke right from the start."
The patterns on her face were glowing; she was utilizing her Authority at this moment.
"Those gods all harbor their own agendas. If they were of one mind, we wouldn't have lost our True Bodies during the Second God War."
"Therefore, you must prove it to me, prove it to the God of Fire, whether you have the ability to make all the gods dote on you! This is for Athena's sake, otherwise your devotion to Hera alone would be enough to get you killed."
This cold God of Fire had spoken more words to Thaumas than ever before.
With that, she picked up the forging hammer, upon which her divine power and Authority were attached.
And just like that, right before Thaumas's eyes, she placed a piece of bronze that had long been quenched into the furnace, and ignoring the scalding magma, she hammered it strike by strike.
"Watch every single one of my steps, and I will teach you how to forge an object worthy of being called a 'weapon'."
"These tools of mine can help you forge divine objects, but even as a mortal, if you cannot forge a decent item within this month, you won't need to leave either."
To make a human individual known as a hero learn the forging arts of the gods.
This was the trial of the God of Fire!
The test to win her favor!
If he couldn't even manage this single step, then Athena's attempt to make him gather the favor and Authority of all the gods to fight the enemy was undoubtedly an idle dream.
Just as she had said, prove it to her using the way gods loved most!
Before you continue