"Is that so… So you already know."
Inside the small wooden house of the centaur sage Chiron, Chiron looked at Jason, whose eyes were filled with guilt, yet his own gaze remained very gentle.
I want to change my future fate! …When Chiron heard Jason say those words, all the doubts in his heart were naturally resolved.
In fact, Chiron had already suspected as much.
After all, knowing one's future fate was truly not something rare in this era where gods still existed.
For example, Cú Chulainn from Ireland, or Achilles who would shine brilliantly in the Trojan War—they had both known their destinies from early on.
The fact that he had such suspicions could be seen from the moment Chiron decided to keep Jason.
With Chiron's personality, if Jason had truly given up on his studies, Chiron would feel regret and pity, but he would absolutely respect Jason's choice.
Yes, although Jason kept shouting about wanting to drop out, deep down he had actually been hesitating.
As a transmigrator, after learning his name and his future fate, Jason naturally felt fear and resistance.
Jason truly had no desire to become a hero; to him, it was simply far too exhausting.
But this was Greece—the Greece of the Age of Gods! Jason clearly understood that to survive in this world, to live well, he needed power—power sufficient to let him live!
The problem was that the stronger he became, the more attention he would attract from the gods, precisely because he was Jason, the legendary hero Jason!
He was destined to become entangled with gods and heroes.
Thus, the situation Jason faced was actually very delicate. If he grew stronger, the fact that he was Jason would only draw even more attention from the gods.
But if he did not grow stronger, even surviving would become a huge problem!
At the same time, there was one more thing Jason had to accomplish: he was, after all, the son of Aeson, king of Iolcus.
Although he had transmigrated at the exact time when the original Jason left home to study under Chiron, he was not familiar with Jason's parents, yet those memories still existed in his mind.
Therefore, as the current Jason, he needed to reclaim the throne that had belonged to Aeson.
Under all these circumstances, the opportunity Jason currently saw to change everything was…
The Goddess of Crossroads, Hecate!
"Lady Hecate is the Goddess of Crossroads and also a goddess who wields mysterious witchcraft… Becoming her disciple is indeed a good choice."
After quickly understanding the situation, Chiron smiled and gave Jason his affirmation.
"…I'm sorry, Teacher Chiron."
"It's fine."
Chiron gently shook his head and said, "The fact that you can choose your own path actually makes this master very happy. However… let's not mention dropping out anymore."
Chiron smiled at Jason and continued, "Given Lady Hecate's personality, she will not mind such a small matter… This master hopes that when you return, you will have grown in a different way.
And when that time comes Corte, you had better prepare yourself mentally. If you cannot satisfy this master, I will not let you graduate."
Chiron… truly lived up to his title as the wisest mentor in Greece!
Even though they had only known each other for less than a month or two, he genuinely cared for his students, for Jason.
At this moment, far from being angry, he was sincerely happy for Jason from the bottom of his heart.
Thus, that very night, accompanied by Chiron, Jason came to a quiet grassy field.
Looking at the bright moon hanging in the night sky, Jason took out the black feather that glowed with underworld light.
After softly calling Hecate's name, it did not take long before the light on the feather grew brighter and brighter. Finally, under that dazzling radiance, Hecate used the feather as a medium and manifested before Jason.
"You decided so quickly? …Oh, why are you here too."
Wearing a long dress dark as the night itself, her silky black hair cascading down her back, Hecate soon noticed the centaur Chiron standing not far away.
"Honored Lady Hecate, good evening."
Chiron bowed to Hecate and spoke respectfully.
"Dispense with the formalities. You know I'm not fond of such things, and given your own status, there is no need to be so restrained with me."
Hecate waved her hand at Chiron, then turned to Jason and said, "Now speak your wish."
"Yes, Lady Hecate… Lady Hecate, I hope that from this day forward, I may become your student!"
Looking at Jason who took a deep breath and spoke to her with utmost seriousness, Hecate froze slightly. "Become… my student?"
Clearly, such a wish was outside her expectations!
Hecate frowned, looked at Jason for a while, then turned her gaze to Chiron.
"Please, Lady Hecate." Jason bowed to Hecate once more.
"Chiron, you should know I hate trouble," Hecate said bluntly.
"Jason is a very clever child. I swear to you by my father Cronus and my mother Philyra that he will absolutely not bring you any trouble!"
After Chiron spoke earnestly, Hecate could not help but stare deeply at him.
A guarantee like this was no different from an oath…
"But I have no interest," Hecate said. "Moreover, he does not possess the corresponding bloodline. He cannot learn magic at all… Wait."
At this point, Hecate suddenly paused and looked at Jason.
She examined him carefully for a few moments.
"Now that I think about it… he might actually make a rather good experimental subject! After all, I have always wanted to know whether my magic truly possesses universality!"
Hecate's eyes lit up.
If one looked through all of Greek mythology, it was clear that whether it was most heroes or most gods, they primarily developed the divine power granted by their bloodlines, training their bodies and practicing combat skills such as archery and swordsmanship.
But Hecate was truly an outlier. What she researched had always been magic… or more precisely, spells that could exert extraordinary power without relying on divine energy!
And in fact, the direction of Hecate's research was clearly correct; otherwise she would not sit in her current position, one that made even the other gods unwilling to provoke her lightly.
Although Hecate had two disciples, those two were different.
Circe was actually the daughter of the sun god Helios and Perseis, one of the Oceanids known as the burning nymph.
And Medea called Circe "aunt."
That was the power of bloodline.
"Very well. I will accept this disciple."
Hecate agreed readily. At the same time, the way she looked at Jason was filled with favor. She felt this child really knew how to please her—he had a bright future!
Yet now Jason was regretting it, because the way Hecate was examining him felt no different from how one looked at a laboratory mouse…
"Teacher Chiron…"
Can I take it back?
Seeing the pitiful look Jason cast his way, Chiron could not help but smile and say, "Don't worry. Lady Hecate is a merciful goddess. She will not let anything happen to you… probably."
Yes, Chiron had never once taken Jason's constant talk of dropping out seriously.
"Don't worry, it will be fine," Hecate added with a smile. "At most you'll just die a few times. I'll go ask Hades to revive you."
"…" Jason was speechless.