After saying what I want to say to her. I feel a little light as I step forward. My foot, instead of going straight, goes to the left, and due to it, I fall down.
Hestia quickly ran to me, lifted my shoulder, and supported me. "What happened? Why do you fall?"
I quickly stand up and look at her, "I don't know, just my body is not moving like I want."
Hestia tilted her head "Uncontrollable body movement? This is the first time I've seen a case like yours."
I took a flesh wall support and sat down.
*Grooowwl"
A loud growling sound comes from my stomach, and my face becomes red in embarrassment.
Hestia quickly creates a basket full of apples and hands it to me. "Take this, and calm your hunger. Maybe energy is depleted in your body. Take rest and recover your energy."
I lean forward and pick an apple from the basket, but suddenly my claw forced a little too hard and crushed the apple into mush.
Hestia's eyes widened, her mouth wide, her face little down "Does this apple not suit your liking? Or…have I done something wrong that may hurt you?"
"No, no, you done nothing wrong nor I dislike apple. I just am not able to control my strength. My body still has not adapted to this new power."
"Phew", she exhales, "If that's the case, then let me help you."
She comes close, picks an apple, and slices it into pieces. And pick one of the slices, take it near to my mouth "say Aaaa"
I follow her order, if I again refuse or something, she again makes down faces and blames himself.
To satisfy my hunger, I lay on the fleshy wall. And think about the message Lady Nyx has given. " Wait, for the third to trick Cronus…increase your power…and build the kingdom."
"Hmm…that means trying to escape is just a waste of time; instead, use that time to increase my power. And when I escape instead of attacking Cronus, I have to escape stealthily. And built the kingdom means to take control of the king's domain."
He takes support of a flesh wall and tries to stand up, but he falls down again.
"I have to start from the basics and physical training."
I start from crawling, then walking on my arms and legs, then walking slowly, slowly, and running little by little. Just like a newborn baby, I began to adapt, I no longer fall down or crush the apple.
Then I recreate the training regimen from my previous life memories.
I am doing 100 pushups, 100 situps, and jogging for 10 km daily. Due to it, now my body flows smoothly.
As my physical training reaches a certain level, I think about my divinity powers. So I summon a dark orb in my hands.
I try to move and levitate in the air, but my control is quite crude and rough. I shot at the wall.
Dark orb crashed on the fleshy wall but was only able to burn a little. Then I try to create a bigger dark orb, but something restrains me.
"This cage restrains our power. Let's first deal with my physical training and divinity control."
I added a meditation and internal focus schedule to my training regimen.
----
After several days of physical training, meditation and internal focus following my ascension, the divine energies within me began to settle no longer clashing or surging uncontrollably, but flowing in harmony, like rivers converging into a single, deep ocean.
I have done a few experiments with them by enhancing and fusing my divinities with my body and organs. Due to it, there are some changes in my body.
I had grown into the appearance of a tall, athletic young man, around sixteen in mortal years. My physique now reflected my strength lean, powerful, and balanced, forged.
My once-short black hair had become dense and wild, cascading all the way down to my waist, thick and flowing like the bushy tail of a wolf, carrying with it a quiet menace.
My hands and feet were now sheathed in black from the fingertips and toes up to the forearms and shins, as if dipped in darkness itself, a living armour granted by the domain of Darkness.
Most strikingly, my eyes had changed.
The white sclera was gone replaced by pure black, void-like and endless.
My iris, once a simple dark shade, now gleamed with a vivid, almost glowing amethyst purple, like the last light of dusk trapped inside obsidian.
Finally, the two horns had grown longer and more defined, obsidian black and curving slightly backwards just above the ears. They were sharp yet elegant, a clear mark of the demonic divinity I had.
Now, as I looked at my reflection in a pool of divine essence, even I could tell
I no longer looked like a simple god.
I looked like a Demon God, a ruler born of darkness, shaped by survival.
As the days passed, I refused to grow complacent. Power alone, no matter how vast, was nothing without control.
So I began a strict routine.
At dawn, I trained my physical body, pushing it beyond its limits with relentless push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and shadow sparring.
Each movement forged muscle, sharpened reflexes, and anchored my growing strength in form.
When my body ached, I turned to spiritual discipline through long meditation sessions, breathing in divine energy and refining my control over it.
My aura, once wild and uncontrolled, gradually became focused, precise, like a blade.
---
Then, one day, amidst the quiet hum of progress, a sudden splash broke the silence of the acidic pool that had long tormented us.
Hestia and I turned at the same time.
A small girl floated helplessly in the corrosive bile, barely protected by a flickering divine barrier. Without hesitation, I leapt into the acid, wings shielding my body, and swiftly pulled her to safety.
She was young, maybe only five or six in appearance.
Blonde hair, now clinging wet to her skin, and bright green eyes filled with confusion and fear.
She trembled in Hestia's arms, glancing at me, and immediately, I saw it and felt it.
The fear, disgust and rejection towards me, she sees me as some type of monster.
Her tiny hands clutched Hestia's robes, hiding behind her like a frightened animal. Her eyes never met mine for long. My presence, my aura, my appearance everything about me terrified her.
I couldn't blame her. I wasn't like the others.
My demonic horns, blackened limbs, void-like eyes, and the thick aura of death, darkness, demonic and sin. No matter how thick our blood, I still look like a humanoid monster in a child's eyes.
Hestia gently comforted her, whispering that everything was alright, that I was her brother, not a threat. But even her calming voice could not erase the instinctive revulsion that Demeter felt.
Yes, Demeter our little sister. The goddess of harvest and growth, whose very essence rejected all that my domains represented.
I stood there silently. Neither angry nor sad. Just… silent.
Because in her reaction, I was reminded of a harsh truth.
'The world might never see me as anything other than a demon, a monster or an evil god.'
I leave them alone and walk to the corner and do my training, cu. Currently, this is important to me.
---
During one of my intense physical training sessions, sweat dripping from my brow, muscles straining under divine weight I felt it.
My current body, though enhanced by divinity, had reached its limit under the training conditions I had created.
No matter how many push-ups or sit-ups I performed, the growth was diminishing. I was maintaining, not evolving.
But I already knew the answer.
My gaze shifted toward the acidic pond the same hellish substance that had once tried to erase my existence.
That pool wasn't just destructive.
It has a unique property: it suppresses divine energy and restricts physical movement, forcing the body and soul to fight harder, adapt more rapidly, and evolve under extreme conditions.
In short, it was the perfect crucible for training.
But before I could enter, I needed to speak with Hestia.
When I approached her, she was tending to Demeter, gently weaving warmth into her divine aura to comfort the frightened child. As I explained my plan, her face immediately hardened.
Her voice trembled, though she hid it behind calm words.
"You're… leaving. Is it because of Demeter?"
It caught me off guard.
She misunderstood.
To her, I was the one constant here her protector, her companion in this timeless prison. And now, with Demeter here, the fear of abandonment crept into her heart.
I tried to explain again and again.
"No, sister. I'm not leaving you… I'm preparing myself."
I told her of the acid's potential as a training ground. Of how I would only be a short distance away. Of how, if I didn't push myself further, I would become stagnant unworthy of the throne that waited.
Her eyes softened, just a little. She looked at Demeter, then at me.
Finally, with a long sigh and a whisper.
"Alright… But promise me… you'll come back often. Promise you won't lose yourself in that darkness."
I stepped forward and placed a hand gently over hers.
"I swear it. I'll return.
She nodded slowly, and I gave her a small bow as a greeting or farewell.
Then I turned, spreading my black wings, and walked toward the very pool that had once tried to kill me.