For people in many worlds, the existence of gods is both familiar and unfamiliar.
Familiar, because when many people mention gods, they can describe numerous divine traits, such as being above all, possessing eternal life, and being omnipotent.
Unfamiliar, because most people across most worlds have never seen a god with their own eyes, and the various descriptions are widely believed to be products of human imagination.
Before today, Oliver and Thea's understanding of gods was no different from the norm: gods were powerful, omnipotent, immortal beings, but they didn't actually exist.
Yet now, someone stood before them, claiming to be a god. And that person was none other than the one standing right in front of them. How could they possibly believe that?
Oliver felt he had already seen his fair share of strange and bizarre things. He hadn't been too surprised when Ethan said he could use magic, since he'd encountered such things before.
But a god...
"I've never heard of a god named Ethan."
Ethan spread his hands. He didn't care if someone doubted his identity. Unlike gods who relied on faith, his strength and lifeform level were earned. His status as a god wouldn't change just because someone questioned it.
However, he still explained to Oliver what a "god" actually was, because he didn't like being mistaken for someone who liked to boast.
After Ethan's brief explanation, Oliver finally understood that there was a huge gap between what he previously thought a god was and what they truly were.
In addition to gaining power through the faith of mortals, one could also continuously enhance their strength and lifeform level, break through their limits again and again, and eventually ascend into a higher-level being to become a god.
Ethan had taken that path. Though unknown to the secular world, in terms of lifeform classification, he truly belonged to the divine race.
"That's incredible."
The shock was too much. Could gods, whom they had always thought existed only in legends and stories, actually be real? Even if this person came from another universe, it was still astonishing.
Because this revealed one thing: perhaps the gods spoken of across all worlds were real. Maybe they had simply left this world, which is why ordinary people couldn't see them.
"It's not impossible."
As his own strength continued to grow, Ethan no longer saw planar travel as something only he could do. In this very world, there would soon appear someone like Cisco, who could freely travel across parallel universes.
Although Cisco could only travel within the countless parallel worlds of the Arrowverse, his level of ability development wasn't high. (In the storyline of The Flash, each member of the team seemed to be competing to see who could waste their potential more, with none truly maximizing their powers.)
If Cisco's abilities were properly developed, Ethan wasn't sure if he would eventually break through the "outer barrier" of the Arrowverse and reach other universes.
"Wait..."
Oliver suddenly thought of something.
"Since you're part of the divine race... how old are you exactly?"
Previously, he'd only thought that Ethan and Ada's relationship seemed a bit strange, but that was their own business. As long as Ethan didn't make a move on his sister, it didn't concern him.
Now, he suddenly realized something. Since Ethan was a legendary being, his age couldn't possibly be what it appeared to be on the surface.
Gods in legends were usually immortal, always maintaining a youthful and beautiful appearance. Moreover, many gods in myths could freely change their form. Who could say whether the appearance Ethan had now was his real one?
Furthermore, according to Ethan's explanation just now, he wasn't a naturally born divine being. He had reached his current level through relentless training and breakthroughs.
Even with many fortuitous encounters, breaking through lifeform limits again and again must have taken a considerable amount of time, right?
Think about himself—it took Oliver five full years just to go from an ordinary person to a somewhat capable fighter. And those five years were filled with hardships, with barely any time to rest, just to reach his current state.
So how much time had Ethan spent to reach this level?
"My age, huh..."
He stroked his smooth chin. Even during the oldest period of his physical state, he had never grown a beard.
At most, there were some faint traces of facial hair. Then he developed a new potion to optimize his body, and after that, he became the typical "pretty boy" without a single whisker.
"I don't remember."
Mainly because he often jumped between different worlds, staying in one for a few months and another for a year. It was scattered and impossible to calculate.
If he only used the timeline of the "main world" as a reference, that wouldn't be accurate either. He was now staying longer and longer in each world. For example, he had recently spent nearly ten years in that racing world with Diana.
Ten years was enough for a young man to grow into a mature adult.
And Oliver had taken just five years to transform from a pampered rich kid into the Green Arrow he was today.
Hearing Ethan's answer, Oliver showed an "I knew it" expression, while Thea stood there blankly, staring at Ethan with her mouth agape.
He couldn't even remember his own age. Just how old was he?
"Then when were you born? Isn't there any way to calculate it?"
Ethan smiled and waved his hand. "I've been running around different worlds all this time. It's hard to find a consistent standard for calculating time."
Thea nodded. In that case, it really was hard to measure. Unless he kept detailed records... but what would be the point of that for someone nearly immortal?
"So, your current appearance... did you change it on purpose?"
"No. After I became a true divine being, my body underwent a restructuring. A large amount of useless impurities were removed, and the newly formed body became stronger and purer. The price was that my physical appearance and age returned to childhood, and it requires a lot of time or immense energy to grow again."
As Ethan explained this, Oliver finally understood why Ethan looked like a child.
At that moment, Thea suddenly thought of something else.
"So, the Pegasus Meteor Fist you showed before... it really is a technique that can harm gods?"
"Of course."
"The goddess served by the warrior who uses that technique... is she someone you know?"
Since Ethan knew the move used by that person, there had to be some connection, right? Thea wasn't worried about whether Ethan had some romantic entanglement with another goddess. What she was concerned about was whether learning this technique would offend another goddess.
"No."
"..."
Tony hadn't said anything since revealing Ethan's identity. Instead, he'd been inspecting Oliver's equipment.
In his eyes, Oliver's gear was pretty basic, with only some simple cold weapons. However, they were all crafted by Oliver himself, and Tony had a higher opinion of people with such practical skills.
Considering that Oliver's base had only just been set up, Tony figured that given time and resources, his equipment would be upgraded repeatedly, eventually leading to the development of more advanced gear with higher technological content.
It was only now that he casually asked, "Which goddess are you talking about?"
"What?"
"The warrior you mentioned who serves a goddess. Which goddess is it?"
"Oh, Athena."
Tony put down the dagger in his hand, then picked up Oliver's bow and pulled it a few times. With his current strength, this kind of bow wasn't difficult for him at all.
"Athena... she's Diana's sister, right? Then doesn't that make her your... sister-in-law?"
Ethan froze. He had truly never thought of it that way.
"If you hadn't brought it up, I never would have made that connection."
The ancient gods in Diana's world were basically all gone. The last one, Ares, was killed by Diana herself, and she was the only surviving descendant of the Old Gods.
Because of this ingrained impression, he had never thought of this relationship. Only when Tony mentioned it did he realize that the Olympian gods might actually be related to him.
Oliver and Thea were both stunned and speechless. Although they didn't know who this Diana was, they could infer her identity from those two sentences. She was from the Olympian divine race, the sister of Athena, which meant she was a daughter of the famous King of the Gods, Zeus.
This goddess also had an unusual relationship with the man in front of them. Oliver didn't even bother thinking about what Ada's relationship with Ethan was anymore. The Olympian divine race was already a complete mess in that regard.
Ethan's reaction made Oliver feel that he had a very close connection to the Olympians, which could very well be one of the reasons he became a god.
He suddenly thought of something else.
"Are you teaching Thea that kind of boxing technique because you want her to become your subordinate... or the warrior of that Diana you mentioned?"
Ethan paused. That hadn't occurred to him at all. "Diana herself is an extremely powerful warrior. She doesn't need anyone to protect her... but your suggestion is quite interesting."
Since Athena could create the eighty-eight constellations of Saints to serve her, then why couldn't Diana, as Athena's sister, have her own followers?
Even if Diana was powerful enough not to need bodyguards, who said that subordinates existed only to fight?
Even if they couldn't fight, having them around made things look much more impressive.
(To be continued.)