Promise, Do You... Want It?

In the afternoon,

In the heart of the kingdom of Aegina, bathed in bright sunlight, within the high tower where the river goddess Aegina resided.

This goddess, who once caught the attention of Zeus due to her beauty and innocent nature, and was ultimately taken by him in the form of an eagle, now sat by the tower window.

Not only was she wearing her favorite, beautiful dress, but she had also spent nearly half a day with the nymphs of the kingdom, having them groom her blue curls and tidy her attire.

She presented herself in the most elegant and beautiful manner before Promise.

And Promise, who was sitting not far from her, was intently observing Aegina and capturing her most beautiful moment... on the canvas before him!

Yes, after waking up and witnessing the city's original prosperity and grandeur the next day, he had picked up his paintbrush and canvas, following the oracle left by Athena when she departed, to depict the river goddess Aegina before him.

Although Promise was curious about how the paintbrush and canvas, which had been thrown into the sacrificial altar for Queen Hera, ended up in Athena's hands, he was nonetheless happy to reclaim them... after all, if Hera asked about it, he could just blame Athena!

But why did Athena leave such an oracle?

That's because the next stage belongs to her, of course.

Athena's initial oracle set the stage for this entire event.

Then, the goddess of justice Themis, the river goddess Aegina, and the finally arrived Queen Hera joined Promise on this stage, delivering an excellent performance of 'development' and 'climax.'

During these phases, Athena indeed played the role of a spectator, quietly observing with her golden eyes and not participating directly.

But she never intended to remain a mere spectator; she always reserved her entrance for the stage, which is as crucial as the climax... the conclusion!

A good ending can make a story memorable and deeply impactful.

Moreover, she is the mother of heroes.

Athena is called the mother of heroes not because she enjoys watching heroes' adventures, but because she actively shapes heroes.

So, she is far from being a mere spectator; she has always been involved in various legends, personally guiding heroes and witnessing their lives.

And she made a vow to Promise in her name as the goddess of wisdom.

Under the painting that he dedicated to her.

Athena's vow was that she would witness Promise becoming one of the brightest stars of this era.

And in the end, she would grant him a finale that would astonish the world!

It's important to know that for a deity, a vow made in their name is absolute!

"Promise, you seem to be in a good mood?"

The river goddess Aegina wore a beautiful smile, her expression gentle as she looked at the boy with black hair and clear green eyes before her.

"Ah, can you tell, Goddess Aegina?" Promise, lightly waving his paintbrush, looked at Aegina in surprise.

"Yes." The latter smiled, her smile growing even warmer, and said softly, "After all, you were even humming a tune just now."

"Ah, sorry, Goddess Aegina..."

"No, it's alright." Aegina quickly shook her head and said to him, "I'm just very happy. Seeing you so happy makes me really glad... So, child, can you tell me why you are so happy?"

"Well... because I feel like I've done something very meaningful." Promise thought for a moment and replied.

It wasn't entirely a lie, but...

Heroic Spirit Quality C, C!

This journey had just begun, and he had already raised his quality significantly, jumping directly from E rank to C!

Although it was C-, it was still a significant leap!

And how long had it been, even including the half-month he was asleep, it had only been at most two months since he parted from Jason.

Just two months!

With such a rapid improvement, Promise instantly felt that his future was bright.

Moreover, this was the first time his Heroic Spirit Class Card, this golden finger, was molding a heroic spirit.

If the first time he could reach A rank... no, directly reach S rank or even the Grand rank.

What kind of future would that be? Promise couldn't even imagine!

What a bright future it would be!

Ah, praise the goddess of justice, Themis!

Thinking about this, the smile on hos face became even more pronounced.

If his hands weren't occupied with painting, he would have certainly taken out his lyre to play a tune or two...

Promise could play the lyre.

(Do you remember when Jason found Promise at the foot of the mountain?)

At that time, he was playing the lyre, performing a sorrowful melody.

And he had learned his lyre skills from Orpheus.

Orpheus, the son of Apollo, the god of light, and a future crew member of the Argo.

His most famous story is about entering the underworld for his wife, using his music to move Hades and Persephone, and gaining permission to bring his wife back to the mortal world.

The condition was that Orpheus was not allowed to look back on the way back from the underworld.

But in the end, Orpheus broke this condition, and just as they were about to reach the mortal world, his wife's cries and anger made him turn back to comfort her.

Ultimately, this led to their eternal separation, unable to meet again.

Yes, Promise was indeed the last in Chiron's class, with Jason being the second last.

But Promise's last place was very different from Jason's.

After all, unlike Jason, who didn't want to learn anything, felt a headache at the mention of studying, and always told Chiron, "Don't teach me, I won't learn even if you do," Promise was quite enthusiastic and willing to learn everything.

And the reason was simple. His true self wasn't here, so life and death didn't matter to him.

In fact, his greatest goal and wish was to die and ascend to the Throne of Heroes.

So, while studying on Chiron's mountain, he had nothing else to do and could only learn more to see if he could achieve legendary feats.

It's like entering a game and seeing something light up, making you want to click on it to see if you can unlock an achievement.

With Promise's boundless energy... as in, whenever he had nothing to do, he wanted to go down the mountain seeking death.

And since he couldn't subject the fragile Promise, who seemed like he could be blown into the underworld by a gust of wind, to excessive training,

Chiron naturally put in a lot of effort in other areas.

So, besides surpassing Chiron and even receiving graduation rewards for his painting skills,

Promise also learned music from Orpheus, medicine from Asclepius, the god of healing who could revive the dead in the future, hunting skills from Meleager, who would lead the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, and so on.

Not to mention learning swordsmanship from Theseus and archery from Heracles.

And because of this, Promise got along well with everyone, well enough that every time they went down the mountain, they had to grab Promise by the neck and bring him to Chiron's doorstep, making sure he was taken care of before they could leave with peace of mind.

Otherwise, where do you think Promise's little book of grudges came from?

In the end, only Jason was easy to fool, taking him down the mountain!

And this was also why Chiron secretly followed them down the mountain and left a protective charm only on Promise.

While he believed in teaching without discrimination, having a student who was willing to learn anything and listen to everything was a delight for any teacher!

If Promise wasn't so intent on seeking death, he'd be perfect in Chiron's eyes!

...

At this moment, the river goddess Aegina's gaze softened even more at Promise's response.

In fact, if it weren't for the gently swaying scales of judgment beside Promise and the uncertainty of when Athena and the others might return,

She might have already...

Just as Aegina had this thought, the scales of judgment beside Promise swayed more violently, scaring the goddess into halting her thoughts.

She lowered her head and dutifully posed as a model, allowing Promise to capture her on the canvas.

Promise was painting very seriously.

After all, he remembered that one of his legendary achievements was the painting dedicated to Athena.

He needed to create portraits for all the gods of Olympus!

Unfortunately, right now, they were all empty folders waiting to be filled.

Promise also remained keenly aware of the almost enlightening experience he had when he painted Athena.

So, faced with a goddess willing to model for him, Promise was giving his utmost effort, hoping to recapture that feeling.

In the end, Promise realized he was overthinking it.

Inspiration, it seemed, was not something that could be forced!

Three days and nights later,

On that evening.

As the blue sky was tinged with the hues of dusk by the setting sun.

After discarding numerous sketches, Promise finally produced a relatively satisfactory portrait and presented it to Aegina.

To be honest, Aegina couldn't see much difference between them.

She felt heartbroken seeing Promise discard so many beautiful drawings, each capturing her image perfectly.

Each portrait was of her, after all.

When Promise finally completed the painting, besides feeling happy, Aegina also felt a bit regretful.

After all, during those three days, watching him engrossed in his painting was mesmerizing, especially since, during those three days, his eyes were only on her...

Thinking this, Aegina couldn't help but glance again at the swaying scales of judgment beside him and then lowered her head in disappointment.

"Um, Goddess Aegina, is my painting not good enough?"

Seeing her reaction, Promise asked in confusion and a bit of anxiety.

Before the flustered river goddess Aegina could respond,

"It's not that your painting isn't good enough, but that someone has let their most hideous desires surface from deep within..."

That familiar and elegant voice reached Promise's ears.

As he turned his head, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he saw the beautiful goddess of wisdom, Athena, with her silver hair cascading to her waist, and the meticulous goddess of justice, Themis, wearing a white robe and a white cloth over her eyes, with only a beauty mark near her lips adding a touch of allure, return together.

Upon their return, Aegina immediately lowered her head in fright.

Athena glanced at her briefly before ignoring her.

Aegina did not have the standing to be mocked by Athena.

Even though she had dressed herself in her most beautiful attire, standing beside Athena, she didn't even qualify as a mere green leaf.

Then Athena smiled slightly and approached Promise.

"Are you alright? No physical issues?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, Goddess Athena..." Promise began to say, but his words were cut off as something was shoved into his mouth...

Athena had skillfully placed a golden apple into his mouth, hoping he wouldn't be blown into the underworld by a gust of wind.

After watching Promise take a couple of bites of the golden apple, Athena finally felt at ease.

She then picked up the painting from Aegina's hands, glanced at it, and then turned around, saying,

"Come with us."

As soon as she spoke, Themis collected the scales of judgment, gently patted Promise's head, and led him out of the room.

As the trio of goddesses and Promise stepped out of the high tower, Promise felt a brief flicker in his vision and found himself standing by a small river not far from the kingdom.

Standing by the river, under a sky adorned with the hues of dusk, Athena, holding the painting in her hand, turned to him and asked, "Promise, do you think that your ordinary canvas and paintbrush are truly worthy of capturing the image of a God?"

Promise was momentarily taken aback by her question.

He had never considered this issue.

Until now, he had only painted two deities: Athena and the river goddess Aegina.

"In fact, when you paint our images on canvas, we are aware of it... The more accurate your depiction, the stronger our perception of it becomes."

"To us, it feels as if you are praying while painting, making your presence very clear."

Athena had appeared beside Promise back in Jason's hometown because she sensed him drawing her and became interested.

"Let me tell you something else, Promise. Every depiction you've created of the gods so far has been far from ordinary."

With these words, and under Promise's puzzled gaze, Athena smiled and tossed the painting of Aegina into the air.

"Because, whether it was my painting or Aegina's, you had our permission and recognition before you painted them.

Therefore, what you've been painting all along are not mere pictures, but... true representations of the gods!"

As she spoke, the painting that had been tossed into the air began to disappear, turning into faint starlight that scattered.

"Your canvas can capture our images because we want you to. It represents our gaze upon you.

When you truly need it, you can use it to connect with the gods, and we will naturally respond to you through the painting, bestowing... our blessings!"

As Athena's words ended, the painting floating in the sky completely dissipated, turning into a faint starlight and scattering.

"Therefore, your canvas can capture us because we want you to. It represents our gaze upon you.

When you truly need it, you can use it to connect with the gods, and we will naturally respond to you through the painting, bestowing our blessings!"

As she finished speaking, the painting in the sky had completely vanished.

At the same time, Promise felt a mysterious power.

Under the influence of that power, he instinctively looked towards the nearby river.

In the next moment, the river water, responding to his thoughts, formed a column and rose into the air.

The river goddess Aegina, standing nearby, smiled as she watched... Yes, this was her divine power.

This was also why Athena had not dared to tell Hera that the painting she had shown to all the gods was actually drawn by Promise.

After all, such a painting was a gift from the gods.

Through it, you could not only request blessings from the gods, but in necessary moments, the gods could even descend directly beside you through it.

This was a gift only given to a child truly loved by the gods.

So if Hera knew that the painting was done by Promise, she would instantly realize something else: that Athena had ulterior motives regarding Promise!

But is this the main point?

Of course not.

When Athena explained all this to Promise, and he felt Aegina's divine power, he instantly understood one thing.

This was undoubtedly the Noble Phantasm he had been searching for!

A special Noble Phantasm that belonged only to him!

And at the moment Promise realized this, his breath nearly stopped.

"But losing a beautiful painting with each use is too extravagant. Moreover, because your canvas is too ordinary, even if we infuse it with divine power, the painting will gradually fade over time.

Therefore..."

Athena turned her head and blinked at the dazed Promise.

The corners of her mouth curled into a smile that looked like that of a devil... no, it was the most beautiful, graceful smile of a goddess.

With the most melodious voice, she said to Promise, "Do you want it?

Do you want a canvas that can permanently preserve the divine images of us gods, and a paintbrush that can perfectly depict us on that canvas?"

"My dear little Promise, do you... want it?"