War God Mountain.
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
Lorne, who had been fully devoted to diligent governance, finally finished handling the mountain of accumulated documents.
After handing over some follow-up work to Medusa, who could now handle matters independently, he descended from War God Mountain, took a roundabout route, and arrived at Athens Academy.
Several youthful and inexperienced students walked past Lorne in a group, lowering their voices to discuss.
"Hey, have you heard? Giants have appeared in Thessaly, and quite a few people have died."
"Not only that, Arcadia is also suffering from a beast disaster, and the priests called upon the gods, but received no response."
"I have news from my side too. Near the coast of Troezen City, it seems sea monsters are active. Many ships that set out to sea never returned."
"The end-of-year promotion exams are approaching, yet so many disasters are happening. These troubles have come at a really bad time."
Hearing this complaint, one of the students shook his head and seriously refuted.
"You cannot say that. We are learning knowledge and skills here not just for exams, but to use them to eliminate disasters for our fellow countrymen and bring benefits to our own city-states!"
Hearing the words, Lorne subconsciously glanced over.
He found that he seemed to have some impression of the student who had spoken those words.
This young man was named Meleager.
He was the prince of the Kingdom of Calydon, quite chivalrous, and very much appreciated by Chiron.
"Well said!"
At this time, another student excitedly echoed, his eyes flickering before he spoke in a deep voice.
"Those city-states that have suffered disasters are currently recruiting warriors to quell the chaos.
The school is also about to go on holiday. I plan to go take a look and hope to use what I have learned to help those who need help!"
"Good idea, count me in!"
"I will go too. Do not leave without me when you depart."
They were all at a hot-blooded age, all youths eager to achieve great deeds.
The students quickly reached a consensus and agreed to respond to the recruitment together to act as heroes and uphold justice.
The few young people acted immediately.
They rushed back to the dormitory to pack their bags and set off.
Among them, although there were some divine descendants, most were ordinary practitioners who had mastered magic and some combat techniques.
Even the divine descendants were just one among the countless ants compared to the gods, ordinary and insignificant.
There are no heroes who descend from the sky in this world.
Most are just ordinary people showing a moment of courage.
Lorne smiled with emotion, his eyes showing gratification.
It seemed Chiron and the others had taught these students well.
"Teacher? Why have you come?"
The surprised voice beside his ear drew Lorne's attention as he looked up to saw a certain female hunter with cat-like ears and a tail, wearing a fitted outfit, with a packed bag slung over her shoulder.
His gaze swept over the bag and the full quiver at the female hunter's waist, his eyes showing doubt.
"Atalanta, what is this?"
"Cough, the school is on holiday. I plan to go back to Arcadia to take a look."
Atalanta gave a slight dry cough and unconsciously shifted her gaze, looking behind her.
Seeing this, Lorne understood in his heart. "Is it because of the beast disaster?"
"How did you know?"
Having her true purpose exposed on the spot, Atalanta showed a look of astonishment on her face.
Lorne looked at his beloved disciple's ears that had perked up due to nervousness and could not help shaking his head with a light smile.
"From childhood to now, when have you ever been able to hide a lie from me?"
Hearing this, Atalanta immediately felt somewhat embarrassed as she lowered her head and honestly confessed the facts.
"I heard that my hometown has suffered a disaster and is recruiting hunters to exterminate the rampaging demonic beasts in the mountains, so
I wanted to go back and see if I could help in any way."
Lorne nodded to show his understanding, then looked past Atalanta toward a certain figure who was also carrying a bag, quietly turning around and shrinking toward the shade of the trees.
"What about you? Medea?"
Hearing the faint inquiry from behind, the princess of the Kingdom of Colchis, who wanted to slip away, could not help but stiffen.
She awkwardly turned around and, under Lorne's half-smiling gaze, restlessly rubbed her small hands.
"I, I also want to go take a look and hope to help Big Sister."
"Big Sister?" Lorne looked at Atalanta beside him in surprise.
The female hunter's cheeks could not help but flush slightly.
After glaring at her good best friend, she explained rather shamefully,
"It is them who insisted on calling me that."
Lorne looked her up and down and teasingly echoed.
"Not bad, Big Sister."
It had to be said that because of being abandoned, Atalanta had been very independent since childhood.
Coupled with her capable and straightforward personality, and how she took good care of her companions, she appeared very reliable.
It was not surprising that she had this title.
But while it was fine for the junior students and juniors whom she treated as younger siblings to call her that, having her own teacher personally call her that still seriously exceeded Atalanta's psychological threshold.
"Teacher!"
The female hunter protested sternly, her pretty face almost turning into a piece of red cloth.
Seeing the little kitten before him showing signs of exploding in anger, Lorne quickly turned the spearhead toward Medea, who was once again trying to secretly slip away.
"Why are you running? I did not say
I disagreed."
"Senior Brother, you agreed?"
Medea stopped in her tracks upon hearing this and turned back.
Her small face overflowed with excitement.
Honestly, due to the awe from seeing Lorne tidy up Teacher Circe right upon their first meeting, Medea always felt a bit intimidated whenever she saw this senior brother.
But as long as she could slip out of Athens and go on adventures with Atalanta, she could still overcome this small psychological barrier.
"You can leave." Lorne spoke leisurely, then paused and changed his tone. "However, you must take me along."
"Ah? You also want to go?" Atalanta and Medea were both stunned and looked at the main god before them whose combat power was off the charts.
It was just quelling a beast disaster.
Was it worth making such a big fuss?
Moreover, if he left like this, the gods of the entire War God Mountain might all follow along.
At that time, it would be unclear whether they were quelling a beast disaster or launching a conquest to destroy a country.
"Rest assured, my main body still cannot leave Athens. I can only travel with you in the form of an avatar."
Lorne proactively spoke to dispel their doubts, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
Now that Athena had gone to
Troezen City, the Goddess of Memory had returned to Mount Helicon, and Themis and Hestia had fallen into slumber again, if he also left his post without authorization, the defensive strength of all of Athens would inevitably become somewhat empty.
If during this period someone wanted to make a move against Hecate and come to probe again, there would inevitably be oversights, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
So for safety, he needed to seal his main body in the Sanctuary, watch over his own Grandmaster, and prepare for any contingencies.
He would honestly listen to advice and walk outside in the form of an avatar, gathering the heroes who possessed destiny under his command.
Hearing Lorne's explanation,
Atalanta and Medea looked at each other, feeling quite tempted.
To be honest, due to the heavy affairs on War God Mountain, they had not been close to this elder who was like a father and brother for a long time.
Now, being able to travel together to Arcadia to quell the beast disaster might be a good opportunity to strengthen their relationship.
Then, with excitement and anticipation appearing on their faces, the two nodded and agreed to the newcomer's joining.
Afterward, under the curious gazes of the two, Lorne led them to the lakeside of Athens Academy, took out the golden Holy Grail, and poured the accumulated divine liquid within it onto the lake.
"Hereby pledge an oath and imprint a mark, my incarnation!"
Accompanied by a deep chant,
Lorne opened his arms and walked step by step into the lake water.
Even as the water completely submerged him, he did not turn back, as if completing a baptism of transformation.
Moments later, a figure with black hair and brown pupils leaped out of the water with a splash and stepped onto the shore.
Looking at the face in the reflection that seemed familiar yet completely different, Lorne nodded in satisfaction.
To avoid the gaze of the Three Fates and hide his identity, he had incorporated some facial contours from his previous life into this incarnated body.
Even if Athena stood before him now, it would be very difficult for her to recognize him easily.
Of course, if this was added, the identity would become easy to identify.
Lorne snapped his fingers as a mercury-like luster flowed and covered his body, transforming into the former Altar Cloth.
This thing had been hidden away by him before, but now that the gods had withdrawn and he needed to recruit heroes who possessed destiny to fill the vacancies in the eighty-eight Cloths, bringing along this Altar Cloth that commanded the eighty-eight constellations would allow him to handle recruitment procedures on the spot for suitable targets.
It was the most convenient.
Additionally, Teacher Horse and the God of Medicine's cabin seemed to be nearby?
Thinking of this, Lorne unceremoniously led Medea and Atalanta to break into the empty house and took quite a few magic potions suitable for targets at the demigod level and below.
After everything was fully prepared, he left a message for Medusa who was guarding the house, put away the Cloth, changed back into casual clothes, laughed heartily, and waved his hand. "Let's go. We can set off now."
"Wait, I have a question."
Medea, holding the tin staff, tilted her head and examined her senior brother whose appearance had changed greatly before frowning and asking.
"If we want to hide your identity, should we give you a new name?"
Hearing this, Lorne looked at his black-haired, brown-pupiled appearance on the lake surface.
The corner of his mouth curved up, and an expression full of mischievous interest appeared on his face.
"Call me Seiya."
Using starlight as arrows to pierce strong enemies?
What a good name!
Atalanta interpreted the literal meaning and could not help plucking the bowstring, nodding gently.
Then, the three of them set off together out of Athens City, heading toward Arcadia.
(End of this chapter)