Several days later.
In the morning, inside a primeval jungle not far from the cave on Mount Pelion.
Clear stream water gurgled as it flowed. Two vigorous wild deer were happily drinking from the stream, bathed in the cool spring breeze, their expressions content.
Suddenly, the figures of two people flashed through the distant bushes.
One of them was none other than the blond, blue-eyed Jason!
The other was a senior disciple several years older than Jason, also studying kit under Chiron in the cave on Mount Pelion—Heracles!
Heracles, the god of strength, the illegitimate son of Zeus, king of the Greek gods. In the future, his fame would spread even more widely than Jason's.
He would be one of the greatest heroes, second to none!
Even among all the heroes of the Greek Age of Gods, Heracles could absolutely rank in the top three!
At this moment, Heracles' eyes were locked firmly on the distant wild deer.
The hunting bow he slowly raised was drawn into a full moon!
Two sharp arrows were nocked on the bowstring.
Just as the two deer finished drinking and were about to bolt into the forest.
Whoosh!
The only sound was the arrows slicing through the air. Both wild deer collapsed on the spot.
"As expected of you, Senior Brother Heracles!"
Seeing this, Jason stepped out from the shadows and praised the boy beside him—who was several years older, not yet sixteen, yet already over two meters tall.
"Those two deer were clearly in completely different directions, yet you killed them both with a single arrow at the same time... Looks like we can have venison tonight!"
Heracles scratched his head, clearly not very used to praise from others, then replied seriously to Jason, "It's nothing. And if you're willing to learn, I'm sure you can do it too!
Even Teacher Chiron said you have great potential. As long as you're willing, you'll definitely become a great hero in the future!"
"No thanks. I'm not interested in being a great hero." Jason waved his hand and smiled at Heracles. "I think things are pretty good right now... And we agreed, right? When you become a great hero in the future, you'll protect me!"
"...Don't worry. When I become a hero in the future, I will definitely protect you!" Heracles answered earnestly, though his expression when looking at Jason was filled with helplessness.
Because the task Chiron had given him was to lead Jason onto the "right path."
Yet after spending these past few days together, Heracles clearly understood... this task was hard!
Soon after, Chiron came forward to help. After loading both deer carcasses onto Heracles, the two headed back.
After some time, they returned to the cave on Mount Pelion.
"Jason, you're back."
A handsome man quickly approached them. His name was Meleager, also a student of Chiron.
In the future, he too would be one of the Greek heroes—the organizer of the Calydonian Boar Hunt, and the one who, despite opposition, gave the boar hide to Atalanta.
After greeting Jason with a smile, Meleager looked at Heracles and hesitated for a moment.
Then, with slight caution, he took one of the wild deer from Heracles' body and slung it over his own shoulder.
"Thank you." Heracles said.
"It's nothing." Meleager shook his head.
Jason watched the stiff interaction between the two and was about to speak when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the centaur Chiron sitting under the shade of a nearby tree.
His whole body stiffened slightly. Immediately after, he pretended he had seen nothing and tried to slip away quietly.
"Jason, come here... I have something to say to you."
But Chiron saw right through him and called out directly.
Jason's face turned bitter, but he could only walk over to Chiron and say with a smile, "So Teacher Chiron is here too. Good morning!"
"Good morning." Chiron smiled at Jason. Although he had noticed the boy's little movements, he did not point them out; he only found it somewhat amusing inside.
"I just came to confirm one more time. Are you sure you only want to learn supplementary knowledge like music, go, calligraphy, and painting?"
"Yes. I hope Teacher will grant my wish!" Looking at Jason nodding seriously in front of him, Chiron felt very helpless but could only nod in agreement.
He was clearly a piece of unpolished jade. With just a little carving from him, it could radiate dazzling light. Because of that, Chiron had even felt boundless motivation.
But what Chiron never expected was that no matter how he tried to persuade Jason during this period, the boy refused to change his mind.
The only thing that made him feel a little better was that Jason, who not long ago had been shouting about leaving, suddenly changed his mind and decided to stay.
Although he still refused to learn any martial arts, he was willing to accept instruction in other areas.
Hmm... Speaking of which, when exactly did he decide to change his mind?
As Chiron thought this, he watched Jason leave with a sigh of relief. Naturally, his gaze then fell on Heracles and Meleager.
And then he remembered.
It was right after he had taken Jason to meet Heracles and the others that Jason suddenly changed his idea and stayed.
That's right. At first, Jason really did want to leave, thinking of staying far away from this land of trouble.
But after discovering that, at this point in time, people like Heracles, Meleager, Theseus, Peleus, and others were all here, Jason no longer wanted to go.
Holy crap, these are all thick, sturdy thighs!
Although Jason had no intention of becoming a hero... no, he absolutely would not become a hero... he still had to live in this world.
In this Greece where gods still existed and danger lurked everywhere, he had to survive.
So if he gave up on personal strength, connections naturally became something he had to consider.
And right now, these future dazzling great heroes had not yet grown up. They were all just a bunch of naive kids who hadn't been beaten by society—extremely easy to deceive.
If he built good relationships with them now, then in the future when he was in trouble, he could just throw up his hands, shout at the top of his lungs, and yell "Senior Brother! Junior Brother! Save me!"
Then a huge group of great heroes would come to his rescue... Even some gods would probably have to back off!
Thinking of this, Jason instantly felt delighted deep inside.
In simple terms, Jason decided to become a social butterfly—the greatest social butterfly among all the Greek heroes in this world!
Although Chiron could not figure out what Jason was really planning... mainly because Jason only looked twelve years old right now, and even if you beat Chiron to death he would never imagine that this kid actually had such calculations!
But when he saw his students—who usually trained separately in their own fields and rarely gathered together—now coming together under Jason's influence,
and even Heracles, who was privately called a "monster" by many, gradually starting to interact with everyone, and the cave on Mount Pelion gradually becoming lively, Chiron naturally tacitly approved of the situation in the end.