55) Tithonus is dangerous for Altena
…
{3rd POV}
After Tithonus, whose real name to no one's knowledge was Ember became Athena’s bro, or rather after Athena decided that she had become his bro, his position within Altena changed so rapidly that it left many people completely baffled.
Almost overnight, Ember found himself participating in high-level meetings of Altena, openly giving suggestions and opinions on matters of importance.
These were positions and privileges that many officials had spent their entire lifetimes striving to achieve, only to never even come close.
And yet, Ember had stepped into that sphere effortlessly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Even Athena’s core members began witnessing something they had never seen before.
Their Goddess’s “bro side.”
They all knew Athena well enough to understand that she was a virgin Goddess.
While she wasn’t as extreme a man-hater as the infamous Goddess Artemis who had descended not too many years ago it was still notoriously difficult for any man to get close to her emotionally.
In fact, it was far easier for a woman to earn Athena’s trust or comfort than it was for any male.
And yet, Tithonus had appeared out of nowhere.
He answered just two questions, questions that had stumped scholars and geniuses for generations and instantly captured Athena’s attention.
Not just her curiosity, but her genuine interest.
Honestly, if they hadn’t known Athena’s personality so well if they didn’t know that there was absolutely no place for romantic love in her heart they might have assumed that she had fallen in love with him on the spot.
Which raised an unsettling question among those watching from the sidelines.
What happens when a virgin Goddess likes a man… but not romantically?
What happens when she’s genuinely impressed, emotionally comfortable, and intellectually stimulated by him?
The answer was now painfully clear.
She makes him a bro.
And that was exactly what they were witnessing now.
They saw their Goddess openly discussing matters with Tithonus as if he were her equal.
She complained to him freely, without restraint, ranting about how everyone around her were “monkeys” who took ages to understand even the simplest concepts.
She vented about how it took people an absurd amount of time just to grasp the difference between heat and temperature and how, even after explaining it repeatedly, they still managed to confuse the two so badly that she had nearly pulled out all her hair in frustration.
Yes, she was openly ranting.
Ranting about all the little and big things in the Genkai that constantly drove her insane.
And Tithonus? He listened.
He didn’t interrupt unnecessarily.
He didn’t bow, didn’t flatter, didn’t pretend to understand things he didn’t.
He just listened like a proper bro, occasionally responding, occasionally giving simple advice mostly telling her to calm down, breathe, and accept that most people weren’t built to think the way she did.
In short, Tithonus had become the bro who listens.
The bro who hears complaints and understands you.
The bro who tells you to chill before you lose your mind.
From a certain perspective, it was a beautiful scene but for many of the officials watching from a distance, it was also deeply unsettling.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to work.
Goddesses didn’t rant like this before.
Athena was NOT supposed to behave like this.
And no one was supposed to stand on equal footing with her so casually.
Naturally, concern began to spread among the officials.
Quiet whispers followed, brows furrowed, and unease settled in their chests.
Something unprecedented was happening right in front of them and no one knew whether it was a blessing… or the beginning of a very complicated problem.
“So, we have gathered here today to discuss the new threat that has risen silently suddenly, powerfully, abstractly, out of nowhere, and in a most threateningly threatening manner...”
Just as Dumbledore, ahem...Gandalf was about to continue his long-winded commentary, a sharp smack echoed through the room as Merina hit him on the head without hesitation.
“Stop your yapping and get to the point!” Merina shouted, her elven ears twitching violently with irritation.
Gandalf froze mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
Somewhere, in a galaxy very far, far away, an author screamed in pure despair.
(A/N: No!! My word count!!!! How dare you do this, Merina?!)
Gandalf clutched his head dramatically, his face scrunching up as if he had suffered a grievous wound.
“Damn you, Elf!” he cried out, his voice cracking.
“Can you not let me build even a little suspense?!”
He pointed accusingly at Merina, tears threatening to pour down his eyes like a scolded child.
“Do you have any idea how long it takes to set the mood properly? The atmosphere? The tension?!”
Merina crossed her arms, completely unimpressed.
“Yes,” she replied flatly.
“And we would all die of old age before you finished.”
The room fell silent for a second.
Then someone coughed.
Gandalf sniffed loudly, turned away, and muttered under his breath, “No one appreciates fine narration anymore…”
“Seriously, Sir Gandalf, stop crying like a child,” Arcesius said with a tired sigh.
He waved his hand dismissively before adding, “Please remember that we are here to discuss a very important matter, one that could decide whether our kingdom survives past tomorrow.”
As he spoke, his elven ears twitched in visible frustration.
Gandalf glanced around the room, his lips tightening.
Except for Autolycus, every single person present was a damn elf.
Bastard elves at that.
Racist, smug, pointy-eared, completely insufferable elves.
He was in hell.
“Ah...yes, of course,” Gandalf muttered.
However, the sharp glare Merina shot in his direction instantly shut down his internal rant.
Clearing his throat, he straightened his posture and finally got to the point.
“We are gathered here to discuss the man known as Tithonus,” Gandalf said gravely.
“A man who has somehow, inexplicably, gotten dangerously close to our Goddess… and has made her extremely smitten by him.”
His eyes narrowed as dread crept into his expression.
“This is a disaster!” he shouted suddenly.
“I saw it with my own eyes! She was sitting on his lap while they giggled together like children!”
Grabbing his long white beard, Gandalf tugged at it so hard it looked like he was about to rip it out strand by strand.
“No! It can-cannot be!” Autolycus exclaimed, his voice filled with genuine disbelief.
Gasps rippled through the room.
Even Merina normally composed and unshakable froze completely.
Her mouth fell open so wide that an coc-ahem apple, yes apple could have comfortably fit inside it.
The atmosphere turned heavy, thick with shock, disbelief, and the horrifying realization that something truly unprecedented was happening right under their noses.
“This is worse than I initially thought,” Amphithea sighed, rubbing her temples before looking around at everyone present.
“Gandalf is right. As much as it pains me to admit it, we must address this situation properly.”
She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in.
“A sudden closeness with an unknown individual someone who does not belong to our kingdom and shares no established loyalty toward our Ruler and Goddess is extremely dangerous,” Arcesius said next, his expression tight with worry.
“We have already seen signs of this. The Goddess has begun taking suggestions from him and discussing important matters with him before she even brings them to us.”
His voice grew heavier as he continued.
“That already should alarm all of you.”
The room fell silent.
Yes, their ruler becoming so dependent on an outsider was no small issue.
It wasn’t merely a matter of personal attachment, it was a political and strategic threat.
This man could influence decisions that shaped the future of the nation.
He could propose ideas, redirect policies, and even make demands that the council might be forced to fulfill, simply because of how close his position now was to Athena’s.
And none of them were naïve enough to believe that such power wouldn’t affect a person.
After all, power corrupts.
Just look at them.
They were already cursed with knowledge, burdened with authority, and slowly shaped by corruption themselves.
To assume that an outsider no matter how brilliant would remain untouched by such influence was dangerously optimistic.
Ahem.
The unease in the room only deepened as the implications became clearer.
“So what do you think we should do?” Autolycus asked, looking around the room with a questioning gaze.
“Any suggestions? Anyone?”
The silence that followed made it painfully clear just how serious the situation was.
They genuinely needed to think this through.
“Well…” Gandalf began hesitantly, stroking his beard.
“How about we try to break up their relationship? Maybe we could make the Goddess realize that he isn’t as smart as she thinks he is?”
Merina immediately rolled her eyes, not even bothering to hide her irritation.
“Brilliant. Absolutely genius,” she said sarcastically.
“And how exactly do you plan to do that? Even if he isn’t as smart as she thinks, he’s still smarter than all of us anyway. How are we supposed to prove he’s dumb when we’re clearly dumber?”
Her words hit the room like a hammer.
Uncomfortable, but true.
Tithonus was smart.
Not just smart, he was terrifyingly smart.
Concepts that took them days of discussion, debate, and study to fully understand?
He grasped them in minutes.
Sometimes even faster.
It was as if he had dealt with these ideas long before, like they weren’t new knowledge at all, but something familiar and nostalgic.
As though he had lived with these concepts before he was even born.
And most importantly, he understood their Goddess.
He understood her words, her explanations, and her thought process especially when she talked about things that completely broke their minds.
Concepts like “spaceships,”“parallel worlds,” and “timelines.”
Each of those ideas alone was enough to make their heads spin endlessly, to the point where they needed hours sometimes days just to stabilize their thoughts afterward.
Yet Ember understood them perfectly.
Not only that, he commented on them.
They could swear on their lives that they had literally seen their Goddess’s heart go doki doki the very moment he calmly shared his own theories, expanding on hers instead of getting lost in confusion like everyone else.
That single moment had burned itself into their memories.
And that was when they realized something terrifying.
They couldn’t match him.
They could not compete with his analytical mind and the more they thought about it, the more terrifying he seemed.
They didn’t fear simply corrupt individuals.
They didn’t fear simply greedy people chasing power or wealth.
Those kinds of enemies were predictable, manageable, and ultimately controllable.
What they feared… was a truly intelligent person.
As members of Athena’s camp, they knew the truth better than anyone else.
The world belongs to the one who possesses the greatest knowledge.
Such a person doesn’t need force.
They don’t need threats.
They can control you, your actions, your decisions, even your entire life without you ever realizing it.
Worse still, you would be happy while being controlled, convinced that every choice you made was your own.
It was a dark theory their Goddess herself had once mentioned casually, merely as a lesson on why knowledge should be respected.
Who would have thought that these so-called “dumbos” would take that lesson so seriously that they now found themselves absolutely terrified of Ember?
In their imagination, they couldn’t help but picture Ember as an evil mastermind someone slowly and subtly corrupting their Goddess.
A man who would influence her little by little, shaping her thoughts until she couldn’t function without him.
And then, when the time was right, he would quietly take control of all of Altena without anyone even realizing it had happened.
As Amphithea reminded them again of that dark theory, a visible chill ran through the room.
No one laughed or dismissed it.
The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Their minds spiraled, feeding on the worst possible outcomes, each thought building upon the last.
“We need to do something,” Arcesius said, his face more serious than it had ever been in his entire life.
His voice carried weight, and for once, there was no hesitation or uncertainty in it.
“Yes,” Amphithea nodded, her body shivering slightly.
“We must do something.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes narrowing.
If Ember had been present and heard them talking like this, he would have immediately understood why Athena was so smitten by him.
Because even her own core members...were just absolute water.
...
Ember was sitting no, more accurately, lounging comfortably on a soft bed while reading a thick book filled with recipes for Magic Tools.
His eyes moved carefully across each page, absorbing every detail without rushing.
This book represented an enormous achievement.
Yes, he had spent a long time thinking about how to gain access to the recipes of Magic Tools that Athena herself had catalogued items created by the Mystery users within her familia.
These were not things just anyone could read.
They were tightly controlled, highly valuable, and considered strategic assets of Altena.
To obtain this book, Ember had gone to considerable lengths.
Since Athena was already deeply impressed by his intellect, he decided to lean into it.
He humored her curiosity, worked harder than necessary, and even deliberately spent extra time with her, making sure she stayed engaged, excited, and most importantly giddy.
He didn’t rush things and played it smart.
He had essentially breezed through the entirety of his previous life’s tenth-standard syllabus, revisiting concepts he hadn’t thought about in years.
On top of that, he drew heavily from knowledge he had accumulated through movies, shows, anime, manga, and light novels.
Every time Athena brought up an abstract idea or half-baked theory, he expanded on it just enough to keep her hooked without overshadowing her.
It worked perfectly.
Athena stayed fascinated, constantly dragging him into discussions, debates, and brainstorming sessions.
Ember made sure not to push his luck too early.
Only after he was absolutely certain that he had firmly cemented himself in her good graces did he finally gather the courage to ask her about his real goal.
He wanted to become a Magic Tools craftsman.
Technically, he already fulfilled the requirements.
He had the Mage development ability and also possessed Mystery.
On paper, he was more than qualified.
The problem was that others couldn’t know.
His abilities and the extent of them had to remain concealed.
After all, he was the only person in the entire world who could choose two Development Abilities per level-up and there was absolutely no way he could expose that, right?
Because knowing Athena...no, Athy if his position in her eyes grew even bigger, she might genuinely start worshipping him.
And that was not an exaggeration.
That Goddess was starved for affection, validation, and most importantly understanding.
In her own words, everyone around her was nothing more than “monkeys with the IQ of a toddler.”
That was how isolated she felt intellectually, even while ruling an entire city.
Which was exactly why Ember had to be careful.
He couldn’t let this information leak.
Because if word ever got out, he was certain that the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia would take notice immediately.
And he had zero interest in ever dealing with those two familias.
Those super-powerful familias in Orario were so accustomed to overwhelming strength that they treated it like a license.
They literally stole from others under the guise of “War Games,” using tradition and power as excuses.
Shameless didn’t even begin to describe them.
Yeah.
That shameless.
So, staying as far away from their radar as possible was non-negotiable.
Anyway back to the point.
After carefully building up courage and timing it perfectly, Ember finally asked...no, requested Athy for books on Magic Tools.
He framed it innocently, saying that he wanted to become a Magic Tool Craftsman as well, specifically one with Mystery-based Development Skills.
He fully expected her to hand him a beginner’s guide.
Maybe a single introductory book.
Something basic.
The result?
She dumped her entire recorded catalogue into his hands.
Everything she had ever documented on Magic Tools.
Ember stared at the stack of knowledge in disbelief, fully aware that he had just received something that most people would never gain access to even after dedicating their entire lives.
And Athena had given it to him without hesitation.
Just like that.
He had also been given the recipe to craft grimoires.
Yes....grimoires.
Technically speaking, he could start attempting to craft them right now, since there were no strict level requirements involved.
The only prerequisites were possessing both Mage and Mystery, along with having sufficient mastery in both Development Abilities.
And Ember met all of those conditions already.
That was insane but it didn’t stop there.
There was far more far, far more.
The catalogue contained countless advanced designs, rare artifacts, experimental constructs, and even things that bordered on outright legend.
Among them was something so absurd that Ember had to reread the page multiple times just to be sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
A Philosopher’s Stone recipe.
Yes.
That Philosopher’s Stone.
He had nearly lost his mind when Athy casually handed over what were essentially state-level secret treasure catalogue, treating them like ordinary books.
She had done it with such a bright, carefree smile that it almost made Ember feel like he was tricking a child into giving away candy.
Which was deeply ironic, considering she was probably millions of years older than him.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that what he now held was enough to overturn economies, destabilize nations, and rewrite the balance of power in the world, like literally due to single recipe of Philosopher's stone coupled with other rare recipes.
And she had entrusted it all to him without a single moment of doubt.
Now that he had access to every recipe, Ember decided to carefully go through each one and prioritize which were truly important.
He planned to memorize the crucial designs especially those that could not afford to be written down or leaked in any form.
That was exactly what he had been doing for the past half hour.
He lay there on the bed, fully focused, eyes scanning line after line, committing diagrams, formulas, and processes to memory.
The world outside might as well not have existed.
Then—
Bang!
The gate suddenly slammed open with force, the loud noise echoing through the room and instantly almost breaking his concentration if not for hearing the familiar voice.
“Tet! Let’s build a mech model! Wait you don’t even know what a mecha is! Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything!”
Yes, it was none other than the ruler of the entire city of Altena. One of the twelve major Olympian Goddesses.
One of the strongest virgin goddesses in all of the Heavens, standing alongside Hestia and Artemis.
The very Goddess who was capable of restraining an embodiment of love like Freya through sheer will, purity and authority alone.
And right now?
She was in her usual mood bursting with energy, excitement, and an uncontrollable desire to talk about new ideas with Ember, whom she knew as Tithonus and casually called by his nickname, Tet.
However, Ember had just obtained something far more important than indulging her latest obsession.
He didn’t even glance at her.
“No,” he said calmly, eyes still glued to the book in his hands.
“I’m busy.”
Athena froze.
That was it.
He had rejected her.
For the first time since they had met, he had flat-out rejected her request.
She stared at him in disbelief, then at the books he was reading the very books she had personally handed over to him earlier.
The literal state treasury.
The complete catalogue of Magic Tools.
Recipes that included Magic Grimoires, artifacts of national importance, and knowledge that could destabilize entire regions if leaked.
And yet here he was, ignoring her.
Her lips slowly puffed out into a pout, frustration clearly written all over her face.
Without another word, she marched closer and suddenly grabbed his leg, shaking it back and forth.
“C’mon, Tet!” she complained loudly.
“It’ll be fun! Let’s build a mech, man!”
Still no response.
Her irritation spiked immediately.
Annoyed at being ignored, Athena climbed up further and plopped herself right onto his legs, shamelessly moving forward until she was sitting directly on his crotch.
She crossed her arms, cheeks puffed, clearly prepared to escalate this into a full-blown tantrum if necessary.
At this point, the ruler of Altena looked less like a majestic Goddess and more like an overgrown child who had just been told no for the first time in her life.
Ember felt completely speechless.
He stared at her with a deadpan expression and said bluntly, his voice sharp and unfiltered, “Do you want to make my wood rise?”
An evil smirk immediately spread across Athena’s face.
“Of course,” she replied without even a hint of shame.
“Since you don’t have a partner, you must be frustrated to no end! And I won’t stop until you follow me!”
And then she actually started rubbing her crotch against him.
Watching a virgin goddess who was millions of years old act with absolutely no restraint left Ember stunned for a brief moment.
She was seriously trying to stimulate him.
He let out a long sigh, realizing that reasoning with her in this state was pointless.
Without hesitation, Ember raised his hand and slapped her butt with enough force that the sound echoed clearly throughout the entire room.
“~Ahhh!” Athena cried out, yelping as she tumbled off his lap and fell back onto the bed.
Tears immediately welled up in the corners of her eyes as she stared at him in shock.
Then, without any surprise, the tears began to roll down her cheeks.
She started crying.
It wasn’t because of the pain, honestly, she didn’t even seem to care that Ember had gone physical with her.
That wasn’t what hurt her at all.
What truly hurt was the rejection.
Being told no, being pushed away, and being denied what she wanted that was what finally broke her composure.
“Goddess, you are playing dirty,” Ember stated bluntly.
He didn’t bother to soften his tone, because he knew exactly what she was trying to do.
“I know!” Athena cried out immediately, her voice cracking.
“But I can’t help it! I only have you, and then you rejected talking with me!” She sounded completely like a sulking child as she spoke.
While complaining, she bit down on her fingernail out of habit, then instantly spat, leaving a thin trail of saliva hanging briefly from her mouth before it dropped.
Hearing her words and seeing that familiar habit, Ember froze for a moment.
He had noticed it before during the time he spent with her whenever she was genuinely upset or anxious, she would bite her nails without realizing it.
That realization made it clear to him that she was truly hurt, not just pretending or acting spoiled.
He let out a tired sigh, finally setting the book aside on the bed.
“Come here,” he said quietly.
The effect was immediate.
Like a child who had just been given back her favorite toy, Athena instantly darted toward him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“Bro, you can’t do this to Athy!” she complained, her voice muffled as she pressed closer.
“Athy considers you her best friend, you know!” As she spoke, she rubbed her cheek affectionately against his face, clearly seeking comfort.
Ember didn’t push her away.
Instead, he casually pulled her onto his lap and began patting her head in a slow, steady rhythm, his hand moving through her hair in a calming motion.
At that exact moment, Merina entered the room.
She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the scene before her with wide eyes.
Athena was sitting on Ember’s lap, rubbing her cheek against his affectionately, while he calmly patted her head as if soothing her.
At a glance, it looked like a parent comforting a child.
But they weren’t children.
To anyone else walking in, the scene looked far more like an intimate moment between husband and wife.
'Damn it! To think he had controlled her this much!' Merina thought, her gaze fixed on Athena’s tear-stained cheeks.
Her shock quickly twisted into anger.
'He has even started bullying her!', The idea alone horrified her.
Technically speaking, Merina knew she could beat Ember down if she wanted to. In terms of raw capability, it wouldn’t be difficult.
However, the current situation made her hesitate. If she so much as touched Ember the wrong way, Athena herself might punish her for it.
That was the most terrifying part of all.
'I cannot let this continue,' Merina thought grimly.
'I will save this million-year-old idiot virgin goddess!'
The irony of that thought was not lost on her Athena was literally the Goddess of Wisdom, yet here she was acting like this.
Merina had already discussed the situation with the others, and together they had come up with a plan.
Their goal was clear: separate Athena from Ember and not subtly either, the approach would be direct and confrontational.
She would question Ember openly, asking whether he was willing to take part in the governance of Altena.
Through careful wording and deliberate phrasing, she planned to expose his intentions right in front of Athena.
If Ember truly had ulterior motives, then surely the Goddess would notice them.
Even if Athena had been manipulated, Merina believed that, as a Goddess, Athena would eventually catch on to Ember’s ill intent.
And if she didn’t…then Merina would have to escalate things, drastically.
Killing Ember outright was an option one she didn’t want to take but it was still on the table.
She knew full well that such an action would incur Athena’s wrath.
Anyone else who tried it would almost certainly be executed by the Goddess herself.
Unless…
'Unless it’s me,' Merina thought, her eyes hardening as resolve settled in.
He entered the room and spoke up, his tone formal and measured.
“Sir Tithonus, although I understand this may not be the most pleasant moment to raise such a topic, we have been discussing the possibility of assigning you an official role within Altena’s governance.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Athena who was still sitting comfortably on Ember’s lap lit up.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she gave Merina a big thumbs-up, a gesture so enthusiastic that it made Merina’s eyebrow twitch in irritation.
Before anyone else could react, Ember answered bluntly, without hesitation.
“Hell no. I don’t want any official role. I hate paperwork, and I absolutely refuse to chain myself by becoming a government official.”
“Huh?”
The reaction was instant.
Not only Athena, but even Merina herself was caught completely off guard.
This response was nowhere near what she had expected.
It didn’t match the script she had prepared in her head at all.
“B-But you could gain immense power within Altena,” Merina said quickly, trying to recover.
“You would practically become a noble, and we could even assign you your own territory to govern.”
“My own territory?” Ember repeated, his eyes widening in genuine shock.
“Hell no!” he shouted, he didn't escape Royal Elf's Forest just to be caged somewhere else!
“B-But Merina is right!” Athena jumped in, speaking quickly as she tried to salvage the situation.
“Tet, you would have so much authority and influence!”
Instead of being tempted, Ember calmly lifted Athena off his lap and set her aside, standing up as his expression turned serious.
He faced Merina directly and spoke with firm clarity.
“Miss Merina, although your offer is… admittedly intriguing,” he said, pausing briefly, “I refuse.”
“Why?” both Merina and Athena asked at the exact same time, their voices overlapping.
Ember exhaled slowly before answering, as if he had already thought this through countless times.
“Think about it carefully,” he began, his tone calm but firm.
“Becoming a noble means taking on endless responsibility. I would be buried under paperwork all day, forced to maintain a strict attitude toward everyone, and constantly work for the so-called betterment of the people.”
He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, then continued.
“And no matter what you do, you lose. If I ever take advantage of that power, even once, people will curse me for being corrupt. If I dedicate myself to serving them honestly, they will still curse me for not doing enough. It’s a thankless position. So why should I bother taking a role where I gain nothing but resentment?”
His blunt reasoning left both of them stunned into silence.
“Not to mention,” Ember added, shrugging slightly, “I prefer just being bros with Athy. I want the freedom to hunt whenever I want, and we can always play cough discuss science whenever we feel like it. I also want to keep learning and become a proper Magic Tool craftsman. That kind of life suits me far better.”
As he spoke politely but decisively, Merina felt her doubts grow stronger.
Everything she had assumed about Ember began to crumble.
Slowly, she turned her gaze toward Athena to see her reaction.
What she saw made her freeze.
Athena was staring at Ember with tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes shining with emotion as a single thought echoed loudly in her mind.
'He’s just like me! For real! For real!'
And just like that, Merina realized it.
Her carefully constructed plan to separate Athena from Ember had failed completely.
Not only had it failed it had backfired spectacularly.
Instead of creating distance, she had only given Athena even more reason to like Ember.
To be continued…