A few days later, Ares received news from Hephaestus that his reward had been forged.
So, as usual, Ares brought two pots of divine wine, drank a few cups with the God of Fire, and took his reward back with him.
Since Ares already possessed the Flame Sword, the Blazing Shield, and a spear, Hephaestus forged him a robe made of Python skin, a longbow made from Python bones, and two daggers crafted from its venomous fangs.
Because Python was highly venomous, wearing the Python skin robe would grant strong resistance to poisons, while the two daggers made from its fangs would infect enemies with Python's potent venom.
As for the large bow, since it was crafted from the bones and sinews of a giant Python, only those with strength surpassing that of a giant Python could draw it. This bow might not have the precision of those wielded by skilled archers like Artemis or Apollo, but its power far exceeded theirs.
However, upon receiving the three weapons, Ares did not appear particularly pleased. He returned to the God of War Palace, carefully stored the three weapons, then lay on his divine throne, gazed at the ceiling of the palace, and sighed:
"The purity is too low."
He clenched his fist, and the divine power within him flowed like a mighty river. This power, in later eras, would be enough to instantly kill even ordinary Heroic Spirits, let alone Magic users, with a single slap.
But what was the use? Ares knew very well that his current strength was not his true strength, but rather a result of the favorable environment of Earth at the time.
Ares believed that only power that could be wielded without hindrance in the Age of Dharma Decline, when the Greater Magic was severely diminished, or even in the Age of Steel Earth, when magic was completely exhausted—only such power, in those desperate circumstances, could truly be considered his own.
And whether it was to find such power in this world or to further uncover the secrets of the black crystal in his hand, Ares felt that he absolutely had to learn the power of magic.
And not the magic of this era, but magic of a level that would still be called magic even in the future Age of Dharma Decline.
He had already done a great favor for the Meteor Goddess Asteria. If he were to ask Hecate to teach him magic now, he believed that the Goddess of Magic would not refuse. The unfortunate thing was, judging from Zeus's previous probing of him, the God King had already begun to secretly be wary of each of his children. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. If Ares were to seek Hecate to learn magic now, the God King might think he harbored ulterior motives.
It should be known that Goddess Hecate was an existence even Zeus was wary of. She did not take any side in the War between the Titans and the Gods, but after the war, Zeus stripped so many old gods of their authority, yet he never dared to touch Hecate's share. In the post-Gods era, Hecate's domain spanned the heavens, the earth, and the seas, almost every domain of the Twelve Gods of Olympus had a share of hers.
According to Zeus's temperament, this was almost impossible. The only explanation was that the mysteries Goddess Hecate controlled were something even Zeus had to revere.
If Ares dared to suggest to Zeus that he wanted to learn magic from this goddess, he would likely be deemed a rebel and cast into Tartarus the very next day.
So when Zeus was about to bestow praise upon Ares, he instinctively and logically wanted to make this request, but he held back. To do such a thing, he needed a target that could attract Zeus's attention more than he could. Fortunately, it wouldn't be long before this dear target would be born.
Athena, the archenemy of Ares, the God of War, a woman who, upon her birth, took away Ares's War Strategy and God of Victory divine authorities, took away Prometheus's God of Wisdom divine authority, and various other major and minor divine authorities.
She was undoubtedly the most famous of Zeus's children, the most powerful, the most beloved by Zeus, and of course, she was also the one Zeus feared the most.
Once this daughter of Zeus and Metis emerged from Zeus's head, the vast majority of Zeus's attention would be drawn to her. At that time, Ares would also be able to naturally use the persona of this goddess and the God of War to do some "unconventional" things.
Recently, Zeus's head had begun to experience intermittent severe pain. When he could no longer endure this suffering and invited Hephaestus to perform craniotomy on him, that would be the time of Goddess Athena's birth.
Only then would it be the opportune moment for Ares to fully exert himself and begin to vigorously advance his plans.
Therefore, he now repeatedly reminded himself to proceed cautiously and not to be impatient. Afterwards, in order to train himself to be capable enough to deal with Athena, Ares also repeatedly left Olympus during this period to go to the lower realms and fight against the powerful monsters living on the earth at that time, honing his skills.
During this period, the children of Zeus and Goddess Leto, Artemis and Apollo, also came of age successfully and were brought back to Olympus. Artemis took over the position of chief god left by Oceanus, and Apollo replaced Helios, becoming one of the new Twelve Gods.
After another period of time passed, finally, one day, as Ares was returning to Olympus, he saw Hephaestus, carrying craniotomy tools, hurrying towards the God King's Hall.
Seeing this, Ares also quickly followed. Arriving outside the God King's Hall, he found that the current chief gods of Olympus were all gathered there. However, except for Hephaestus, Zeus refused entry to other gods. Even Heavenly Queen Hera was stopped outside, looking into the God King's Hall with worried eyes.
Therefore, Ares and the others did not witness the craniotomy itself. After Hephaestus entered, they only heard Zeus's somewhat painful groans emanating from the God King's Hall. Afterwards, a powerful new divine power suddenly surged from within the hall, sweeping across the entire Olympus.
It must be said that Athena truly lived up to her reputation as the most powerful fourth-generation god in mythology. Because she had already fully matured within Zeus's mind, her divine power reaction upon birth was already comparable to that of adult fourth-generation chief gods like Ares and Hephaestus. In any case, after sensing this divine power reaction, the faces of the other gods showed expressions of awe, while Ares's mother, Hera, had a face full of jealousy.
Feeling the immense power of this divine power, Ares was also very happy in his heart. In his opinion, such rootless divine power, no matter how strong, was useless. On the contrary, the stronger Athena was, the more she would attract Zeus's hatred, and the easier it would be for him to act.
However, on the surface, he still had to cooperate with his mother and show a look of disgust on his face.
After the divine power reaction completely disappeared, the gates of the God King's Hall opened wide, and Zeus called in the chief gods who were waiting outside. The gods entered the God King's Hall and found that inside, besides Zeus, who looked relieved, and the somewhat dazed God of Fire carrying craniotomy tools, there stood a graceful, armored, and beautiful goddess. She possessed a pair of eyes brighter than any god on Olympus, appearing radiant and poised.
"This is my daughter, she is called Athena," Zeus announced, rubbing his forehead. "From today onwards, she will succeed Prometheus and become the Goddess of Wisdom of Olympus."