After having a lengthy discussion with Hermes, the sun had moved westwards and cast the shadow of the distant mountains over them.

"Hermes, I'm going to visit Athena." Alex stated.

"Go on." Hermes seemed to be enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and laid down on his chair.

Before leaving the mansion, there was one thing he needed to do.

Earlier, before Ares had left, he gave him a glass gourd containing one of the objects he wanted as compensation for traveling to the Underworld.

As he rubbed the glass gourd, an interface appeared on his retina.

_____________________________

(Essence of Ares)

Quality: Divine

State: Great

Notes: An invaluable elixir derived from the god of war, Ares.

______________________________

He wasn't going to let this chance pass. Every time he consumed Essence, he received interesting powers and a well-appreciated boost in strength.

Taking off the lid from the gourd, a metallic smell immediately enveloped the room.

Peeking inside, he could see that the single drop of the liquid inside had the characteristic golden-brown color of Essence and was thick like honey.

Alex proceeded to put the gourd to his mouth and sipped the drop of Essence.

A head-shattering pain abruptly spread from his head to the rest of his body and rendered any kind of movement obsolete.

He was ready for the pain this time, however, as he laid down and cleared his mind, waiting patiently for either the pain or his consciousness to drift off.

Fortunately, the pain went by fast and he didn't feel it anymore.

His body felt a bit lighter but to discern any changes, Alex took out a hand mirror from his bedside cabinet.

As he held the mirror in his hand, he suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking.

Looking down, there were countless fragments of the mirror on the ground and even the steel frame was bent and out of shape.

'??????' Alex was dumbfounded.

'What happened?' Usually, he could control his strength pretty well but the mirror broke as soon as he applied a bit of pressure to it.

To test it out, Alex threw a fist into the air.

*Whoosh*

As his fist passed through the air, it looked not only, extremely fast but also deadly strong.

He wasn't surprised he had gotten stronger, but the degree to which his strength skyrocketed was astonishing.

There was a full-body mirror in the bathhouse, thus he made his way there to verify the changes.

"Whaaat!" Alex exclaimed as he looked at his own reflection.

His previously skinny, albeit muscular body was now buff and toned.

His eyes now had a glint of red in addition to the purple and light blue that formerly occupied his grey irises.

Opening up the system's interface, he analyzed his own information.

_________________________________________

(Alex)

State of Existence: Immortal Deity

Specialties: -Attunement to swiftness, diplomacy, scheming, dream and soul guiding and shepherding.(*1)

-Attunement to beauty, love, aestheticism, and fertility.(*1)

-Attunement to warfare, martial arts, military strength, and weapon mastery.(*1)

___________________________________________

Under the two lines listing the specialties he gained from Hermes and Aphrodite respectively, there was now an additional third one that encompassed the powers of Ares.

They all seemed quite straightforward and explained his earlier mishap, though he'd have to run more tests to concretely understand his gains.

His powers were now a melting pot of traits he had gained from a diverse array of deities.

Putting that aside, he needed to pay a visit to Athena.

Leaving his mansion, Alex looked to the distance.

It was very faint, but on the horizon, Alex perceived a golden palace that glowed brightly from the rays of the sun.

That place was the home of the most elusive and exalted man in Olympus, the King of Gods, Zeus.

No matter how strong he got, that god still remained a subject of mystery and the distant pillar of Olympus, enigmatic and powerful.

'Whatever, we'll have to interact one day or another.' Alex shrugged and promised himself he would try his hardest to avoid any trouble with that powerhouse.

After a few seconds of disorientation, he finally remembered where Athena's tower was and followed his internal GPS.

Soon enough, the blue tower with the architecture that always made him marvel was in sight.

As usual, the doors were open.

He entered the tower and asked some of the anxious dwarf attendants about her location.

She was on the 6th floor, where the historical library was situated.

'That's unusual...' Alex thought to himself, as she was almost never in that specific library.

He shrugged and climbed up the spiral staircase until he was on the 6th floor.

And there she was, studying a scroll attentively.

Athena was dressed in the usual navy blue scholarly robe and had all of her attention on her scroll.

As she detected his presence, she raised her pupils and said, "Welcome back."

"Thank you, Athena." Alex replied.

However, Alex noticed something weird.

A single drop of sweat was running down Athena's forehead and some of her veins were showing.

Her hand on the scroll was lightly clenched and her pupils were twitching.

'Athena? Anxious?' This was extremely strange, what could make the usually pragmatic and calm Athena so fidgety and anxious.

"Athena, what's wrong?"

As soon as he told her that, like a drop of water reverberating in a silent place, she tore down the scroll.

She then raised her head up to Alex and sighed, "It's that visible?"

Alex nodded and she continued, "I'll tell you later, please."

Alex respected her wishes and dropped the subject. On a lighter note, he's never been to this library and started perusing through the collection of scrolls and books in here.

One title stood out, however.

'Tales of Lust and Love'

'That sound like a....smut book.' Alex was pretty sure he had an idea about her taste in books, and this wasn't a part of it.

He chuckled and asked her, "Athena, what is this book?"

She was doing better than earlier and came by him to see what he was talking about.

When she saw the book in question, she frowned and told him, "Oh, that...just...read it."

Now, he was really curious.

Grabbing the book, the two sat on the table and he opened it to the first page.

'Preface:

Aphrodite was a goddess born out of humanity's most primordial desires, lust, and love.

Before discussing any issues on her morality and fundamentals, one must recognize the influence and immense power she wields over mortals, being the most universally worshipped deity in Hellenia, far surpassing even Zeus and Hades.'

'Oh...this is a book about Aphrodite? That title makes sense then.' Alex reflected and continued reading.

'First Chapter: Birth

When Earth was ruled by the omnipotent titans, to escape the tyranny of his father, Ouranos, the titan Cronus severed the former's body with the help of Gaia.

After hundreds of years, the seafoam formed by Ouranous' severed body parts gave birth to the goddess Aphrodite, who landed on the ordinary island of Kythera.'

This was interesting, providing him a backstory on Aphrodite that he wasn't aware of.

The next few pages, however, were just a boring parenthesis on the history of the island of Kythera. It got interesting again in the second chapter.

'Second Chapter: Rise

Aphrodite was a compassionate goddess that saw beauty in everything and everyone.

She established Kythera as her first base and traveled around the islands of the Aegean, forming her first wave of devouts through her generous and selfless acts.'

Alex was puzzled, was this book describing the same Aphrodite he knew?

When he asked Athena about her, she dropped an unexpected bomb.

"Aphrodite wasn't always the way she is now, when I met her for the first time, she still had a fair bit of compassion in her, but that was very short..." As she spoke, she turned her head around and looked to be avoidant.

Alex didn't ask any further but fell into thought on what he has just heard.

'Aphrodite wasn't always this way? Then, what changed her?' Alex felt like he was onto something, and as time grew and his enmity with Aphrodite would increase, this mystery would only get greater.

'Third Chapter; Metamorphosis

Aphrodite's first interaction with Olympus was her meeting with Ares after the latter's military campaign in the Aegean. Following that, she became romantically acquainted with the god and gained prominence in Sparta as a brutal goddess of warfare.

The reasons for her change in personality are unclear.'

Now, this was interesting.

'Aphrodite and Ares were a couple? They don't seem to fit each other.'

Alex felt like he gained a lot of insights on Aphrodite, who always seemed to be a one-dimensional villain in his mind, but turned out to be a mysterious heroine-turned-villain.

The book was a few hundred pages long, and the rest was just about the Aphrodite he already knew and the wars she caused, the conflicts she participated in, and other various anecdotes.

Alex closed the book and put it back in its place.

He suddenly had a realization and exclaimed, "Athena, the eclipse is tomorrow?!"

Athena surprisingly smiled and nodded.

If the eclipse was tomorrow, that meant Crista was also coming. Alex clenched his hand on his chest and inhaled.

He looked to Athena, and she was tearing up the scroll from earlier. He knew that for Athena to feel this way, there had to be a very big reason, but he had to respect her and the fact that she didn't want to disclose why she felt this way yet.

"Umm, Athena, can we train together?"

The latter looked a bit surprised by his sudden demand but nodded and the two went to her training ring.

She passed him a spear.

Holding the weapon in his hand, even though he has never wielded it in his life, it felt like an extension of his own limbs, and he knew he could show incredible prowess through the weapon.

Athena took out her robe and had her golden armor on, and in her hand, was the incredibly beautiful and powerful Shield of Aegis.

"Come at me." She taunted him.

Alex charged at her and maneuvered the spear to hit an opening in her armor.

*BAM*

Just like that, Alex felt like a ragdoll as he was thrown into the wall.

He didn't even see her movements but he knew that shield instantly parried his attack and caused his loss.

Alex realized, that, to even land an attack on Athena, was going to take much more than some speed and Ares' Essence...