Well, at least if he died he could be revived, right?
The sensation of death had always been a mystery throughout the ages. It seemed he now had a chance to solve this eternal riddle personally.
Since things had come to this, Jason could only pinch his nose and accept it!
At the same time, after Hecate agreed to his request and formally accepted him as her disciple under Chiron's witness, Jason actually felt a huge weight lift from his heart.
This meant he now had a god as his backer!
Gods all represented trouble, and Jason naturally did not want to provoke a single one.
Yet the transmigrated boy was fully aware that, as Jason, he would be unable to avoid them no matter how much he tried.
In that case, he might as well be direct and find a god to rely on.
And Hecate clearly possessed the strength to shield him from the wind and rain.
"Student Jason pays his respects to Teacher Lady Hecate!"
"What a messy way to address me." Hecate, having already accepted the bow of master and disciple from the boy before her, said, "Just call me Teacher."
"Then I'll take him away." Hecate turned to Chiron.
"Lady Hecate, won't you rest for a while?" Chiron asked.
"No time. Next, I still need to throw him into the Styx for a dip."
Jason's whole body shivered lightly. He widened his eyes and stared at Hecate, who had spoken so casually.
"Throw him into the Styx?" Chiron was also stunned.
"He's too weak. If I don't reinforce him somehow, how will he keep up with me? Dying is fine, but going to Hades every time would still be troublesome."
At this moment, the little joy Jason had just felt instantly vanished.
Compared to this, Teacher Chiron was practically an angel!
Good heavens, the moment he became her disciple she was already planning to toss him into the Styx without even giving him any transition or mental preparation!
"Um… Lady Hecate, this… might not be appropriate."
Chiron, who also felt a cold sweat, had not finished speaking.
"You're fine now, right? Good, then we're leaving."
After confirming everything was settled, Hecate spoke. Underworld butterflies emitting faint blue light immediately began appearing from all around.
Once they surrounded Jason and Hecate, the butterflies burst apart with a pop, and the two vanished from Chiron's sight.
Chiron looked at the now-empty plain, fell silent for a short while, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Now that I think about it, since Jason knows his own fate, he must also know that girl is with Lady Hecate."
Chiron pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Mm, Jason is very clever. He must have his own plans."
With a smile, Chiron left the area.
"Jason, I look forward… to your graduation!"
After a brief sense of disorientation, when Jason opened his eyes wide, he found himself in a dim world.
Faint blue lights dotted the darkness. Beneath his feet lay the path of no return, covered in blooming white spider lilies, black poplars, and fruitless coconut trees.
In short, the road to the underworld.
"Teacher Hecate, this place is…"
"The underworld."
Hecate answered simply. "Let's go. I'll take you along the path of no return. After crossing the Styx, I'll be able to teleport you directly to the underworld in the future."
"Um… Teacher Hecate, do we really have to come to the underworld?" Jason's mouth twitched.
"My divine temple is in the underworld. You didn't know?" Hecate looked at Jason. Jason shook his head.
"Well, now you do."
With that, Hecate started walking.
Looking at the desolate surroundings, Jason lightly shivered and hurriedly followed.
Not long after following Hecate, Jason noticed more and more wandering souls around them, and most of them were staring at him.
Because Jason was a living person. If Hecate were not by his side, they would have long since swarmed him and torn him apart.
Soon the two arrived at the gates of the underworld.
There, Jason naturally saw the guardian of the gates, the hellhound Cerberus.
Under the dim light, what appeared before Jason was a mountain-like, three-headed Cerberus.
Its mouths were open, revealing rows of sharp fangs.
Just as Jason stared at it in shock, Cerberus noticed Hecate and, right before Jason's eyes, shrank down to the size of a small dog.
It trotted over to Hecate and wagged its tail furiously.
Yep… all the shock was instantly gone.
"Lady Hecate, you're back."
"Mm, I'm back… Did you see him?" Hecate pointed at Jason and said to Cerberus, "Go on, remember his scent. If you ever see his soul after he dies, protect it for me."
"Lady Hecate, he is…"
"My new student."
Once Hecate finished speaking, the originally fierce and doubtful gaze Cerberus had directed at Jason instantly became much friendlier.
"So this is the new little master I'll be looking after from now on."
Cerberus stepped forward, sniffed Jason's scent, then nodded. "Got it, Cerberus has memorized it!"
Thus, Hecate led Jason through the gates of the underworld and arrived at the surging black river, the Styx—the River of Pain.
A small boat waited in front of the Styx, and on it stood a skeletal boatman whose eyes burned with blue flames. He was Charon, the ferryman of the Styx.
"Lady Hecate, why have you come?"
As he spoke, Charon naturally noticed Jason as well and realized he was a living person. Curious, he asked, "And this child, he is…"
"My student, Jason."
"So he is your student, Lady Hecate." Though clearly surprised, Charon accepted it and said, "Then you brought him here to cross the river. Understood."
With that, Charon prepared to untie the rope mooring the boat.
"Wait a moment." Hecate turned to Jason, extended her hand, and a beautiful underworld butterfly appeared in her pale palm.
The butterfly then flew up and danced gracefully around Jason.
The underworld light sprinkled from its wings merged into Jason's body.
After a short while, the butterfly returned to Hecate's hand and vanished. Hecate looked at Jason for a moment, nodded, and said, "Go down."
Jason looked at Hecate, then at the raging black river before him. He hesitated briefly, clenched his teeth lightly, and leaped into the Styx.
"This child… is really something."
Charon, who had watched the entire scene, could not help but comment.
"Mm." Hecate nodded as well.
Jason, who had jumped into the Styx, had already prepared himself to endure the pain of the river washing over his body.
Yet as time passed, he felt no pain at all.
In truth, it was supposed to be excruciating, for the Styx naturally possessed corrosive and erosive properties.
Such agony was something almost no human could withstand. Hecate had simply spared Jason that pain directly.
Soon Jason noticed a faint blue underworld glow protecting his body. It was the dust sprinkled by the butterfly earlier.
Jason glanced at Hecate, hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sank deeper, fully immersing himself in the waters of the Styx.
He allowed the river to wash over him.
One minute, two minutes… several minutes passed. Just as Jason was about to run out of breath, Hecate reached out and fished him from the Styx.
"Mm… not bad."
Having pulled him ashore, Hecate looked at the soaking wet Jason and nodded in satisfaction. "Now you're finally a bit sturdier."
"Um… so do I have an immortal body now?"
Jason asked without much real feeling.
"Immortal body? …Well, ordinary swords and blades certainly won't be able to harm you anymore. But against your current body, any random god could break through it with divine power."
If simply bathing in the Styx truly granted an immortal body that not even gods could shatter, every god would have come to take a dip long ago.
The so-called immortal body was only immortal with respect to humans.
Jason thought about it and agreed it made more sense this way.
Still, he felt secretly delighted. He had done nothing yet obtained the legendary immortal body.
Thus he gratefully said to Hecate, "Thank you, Teacher Hecate!"
"No problem." Hecate waved her hand. "Just be a bit more reliable so I won't accidentally kill you so easily."
With those words, the gratitude in Jason's heart instantly faded.
Charon, who had been listening nearby, was also rendered speechless inside.
Yet he had actually guessed long ago why Hecate had taken a disciple.
Basically every god who knew Hecate was aware that she was a research maniac with zero interest in divine seats or authority.
Therefore, this Jason was obviously Hecate's new experimental subject.
But even as an experimental subject, a being personally forged by Hecate's hands would inevitably become a monster!
"Let's go." Having roughly achieved her goal, Hecate said, "Things might hurt a bit from now on. Try not to die so easily."
"A bit of pain?" Jason was stunned.
There's more?
"The River of Pain can only cleanse your body; it cannot temper your soul," Hecate explained. "Since you are going to learn magic from me, your soul needs to reach the level where it can withstand Divine Words.
Next, I will take you to the River of Fire—Phlegethon.
The undying flames of the underworld will burn and forge your soul!"