Argo,
This is the most famous ship in Greek mythology.
And surrounding it, as well as the heroes aboard the Argo, unfolds the story that remains the most renowned even in all of Greek mythology.
The journey for the Golden Fleece!
The story of the Golden Fleece comes from ancient Greek myths and legends.
A youth named Phrixus was saved by a golden-fleeced ram granted by the god Hermes. Afterward, to express gratitude to the gods, he sacrificed the ram to the king of the gods, Zeus, and handed the Golden Fleece to King Aeëtes, who had taken him in.
King Aeëtes then, in the end, dedicated it to the war god Ares.
Ares was very pleased with this and promised that as long as the Golden Fleece remained, the king could preserve his throne and life.
Therefore, the king... who is now Jason's brother-in-law, Medea's father, hid it in an ancient forest and assigned a dragon to guard it.
And that dragon was no ordinary creature.
It was a dragon that never needed rest, and at the same time, it was akin to the hellhound Cerberus and the nine-headed serpent Hydra.
Born from the blood of the ancestor of all monsters, Typhon, by the half-human half-snake monster woman Echidna!
As for the original myth of the Golden Fleece, there is no need to recount it here.
Because due to a certain "butterfly" flapping its wings, the new journey for the Golden Fleece is destined to differ from the mythological story.
After all, the youth named Jason now bears the additional identity of the white-clothed Heracles, renowned across the Greek continent.
Moreover, the current Argo is no longer crafted jointly by the assembled heroes.
It was forged by the combined efforts of the goddess of craftsmen Hephaestus, the goddess of roads Hecate, and the goddess of wisdom Athena!
When Hera, having left Mount Olympus, returned here.
Nearly a week had passed since her last departure.
At the same time, nearly fifteen days had passed since Hephaestus, Hecate, and the other gods appeared and began modifications and construction according to the blueprint Jason provided.
Hera arrived here once more, looking at the area shrouded in thick mist conjured by Hecate's magic.
She took a deep breath, about to enter, when.
"Hera, wait!"
A beautiful goddess with long brown hair, the eldest sister among the gods, the goddess of hearth Hestia, appeared as if she had been waiting for her for a long time and suddenly called out to her.
Then, facing Hera's puzzled gaze, Hestia approached her side with a gentle smile and said, "Do not go... Moreover, you cannot enter now. That area has been sealed."
"Sealed?"
Hera was stunned for a moment.
"Argo... That is the name of the ship they are building.
And now, it has reached the stage of formal construction. To avoid disturbances, Hephaestus, Hecate, and the others have jointly sealed this region with their divine power."
"To disgust me, my daughter is truly willing to put in the effort." Hera was silent for a while, then said faintly.
Evidently, Hera had misunderstood.
In response, Hestia, who hesitated for a moment while looking at her, ultimately sighed lightly and chose not to explain.
After all, she did not know how to explain it well.
"What about that Jason?"
"That child... He has also left." Hestia paused slightly, recalling Athena's instructions to her, and did not conceal it, "The construction of the ship is handled by them, but the crew still needs that child to find himself.
Therefore, he has now gone back... back to his original place.
To the centaur sage Chiron."
...
In the Arcadia region,
Inside the cave of the centaur sage Chiron.
At this moment, it happened to be the second day since Jason returned here accompanied by the golden-horned deer.
This morning, in the ancient forest.
One could see Chiron, whose lower body was that of a horse and upper body that of a rather handsome man, holding a longbow and sharp arrows as he dashed swiftly through the woods.
And ahead of him was Jason, clad in black clothes emblazoned with the underworld butterfly.
Chiron's speed was very fast, the distance between him and Jason shrinking visibly to the naked eye... Speed was truly not Jason's strong suit.
And the instant Jason entered hunting range, Chiron immediately drew his longbow to full crescent.
In a flash, the sharp arrow shot out with a sound piercing the air.
It threaded through the various plants that suddenly grew along the path, carrying the momentum to pierce Jason, hurtling toward him rapidly!
And just as the arrow was about to reach Jason.
One saw Jason suddenly turn back to look at Chiron, yet he did not choose to dodge.
Instead, between the shadows of the tree canopy, with a soft pop, he transformed into a swarm of underworld butterflies filling the sky.
Chiron was momentarily stunned upon seeing this when he suddenly felt a change in the wind to his left hand side. His body twisted instinctively, dodging the caduceus that Jason smashed down viciously.
The caduceus smashed heavily into the ground, instantly forming a large crater.
Even Chiron, seeing this, could not help but twitch his eyelid.
If it had hit, though he would not die, he might have to lie down for two days.
Then, as Chiron steadied himself and prepared to counterattack, he saw weeds suddenly sprouting from the ground, blocking his view.
When he leaped out, Jason's figure was already gone from sight.
Standing on the ground, vigilantly observing the surroundings for a while and listening intently to no avail, a trace of helplessness appeared on Chiron's face.
"Come out... I surrender."
This child's fighting style, is it becoming more and more...
For a moment, Chiron did not know what words to use to describe it.
Actually, one word sufficed: sneaky...
Though he had already become a great hero, evidently someone was still straying further and further from the path of heroism.
And just after Chiron's words fell,
"Teacher, you surrendered so quickly. Not fun."
Chiron followed the sound and looked down, only to see Jason crawling out from the ground, from his own shadow...
Chiron's eyelid twitched.
"Who taught you these techniques?"
"Teacher Hecate." Jason, who crawled out and straightened his clothes, said to Chiron not only without shame but with pride, "Teacher Chiron, look, I finally have a bit of a mage's demeanor now!
This is a transfer magic and shadow magic that I learned with great difficulty!"
As Jason spoke, he waved the magic staff in his hand and said, "Teacher Hecate always says I am unteachable, her worst student, but come on, she only has three students in total, and I am the only human!
So what if I cannot learn it? I refuse to believe that after I become a god and spend hundreds or thousands of years, I still cannot become a mage!"
If Hecate were here, who knows if she would feel gratified.
So, you still know that you apprenticed to me to learn magic...