Some people and some habits never change, no matter how much time passes.
For example, Jason's extremely cautious style.
No... to be precise, in the eyes of Chiron and the others, his approach has actually become even more extreme!
In truth, Jason has not grown more extreme. As he has matured and learned more, he has simply gained more methods.
Thus, after knocking people out, erasing their bodies, yet mercifully leaving their souls to report to the Underworld, Jason looked at his speechless senior brother and then at the sword hanging at his waist, the one bestowed by the God of Light Apollo.
Asclepius had just called Apollo "that guy" while addressing Athena with full respect. This showed he was not someone who disrespected the gods.
He was a demigod, and his father was none other than the God of Light Apollo!
In the future, he would bear the resounding title of [God of Medicine].
Asclepius would eventually die by Zeus's thunderbolt because he used the blood of the Gorgon given to him by Athena, combined with divine power on the level of Athena and Artemis, to create a medicine capable of resurrecting the dead.
This severely disrupted the order of the world.
From the way he referred to Apollo, it was clear he held no fondness for his father. The reason was simple: Apollo had personally killed his mother.
Asclepius had been raised by Chiron from childhood.
Back then, knowing Asclepius would one day create divine medicine, he had been the senior brother Jason fawned over the most, second only to Heracles.
Even now, when Jason practically treated the Underworld as his backyard, the fact that he was Apollo's son was more than enough reason to stay on his good side.
Moreover, Jason had never abandoned his goal of being a social butterfly. In this dangerous world, one more good senior brother was always better than one more enemy!
"Alright, let's head back."
Having obtained the herbs he wanted, Asclepius stored them satisfactorily and left the medicinal field with Jason.
Before leaving, Jason activated the concealment array engraved in his staff to seal the field.
"Frankly, this kind of protection is a bit too crude."
Asclepius could not help commenting. After all, he knew exactly how many precious and rare divine herbs were inside!
"It's fine." Jason, however, seemed completely unconcerned. "If someone really finds and destroys it, I'll just open another one elsewhere."
With Demeter as his godmother and the golden wheat ear given by Persephone, Jason truly did not care about a single medicinal field.
Besides this one, he had two more inside Mount Pelion cave and three whole fields in the surrounding forests!
The two soon returned to the cave. Although Asclepius had no intention of reporting what happened to Chiron, the perceptive Chiron noticed his hesitation and asked.
Upon learning what had taken place, Chiron dragged Jason over with a dark expression and began scolding him.
"Teacher Chiron, I don't think I did anything wrong."
Jason looked at Chiron with an innocent expression and eloquently argued, "Look, magic is a power I earned through studying diligently under Teacher Hecate. It is strength I obtained through hard work and serious effort.
So what is wrong with me using the power I worked hard to gain and being a little cautious and careful when dealing with my enemies?"
Chiron was momentarily rendered speechless.
Asclepius, watching from the side, could not help yawning.
He had seen this scene countless times. At first, the disciples found it novel and amusing to watch Teacher Chiron be stumped.
But after seeing it so often, it no longer felt strange.
"Come here..."
"Teacher Chiron, I'm not a little kid anymore."
Jason sighed helplessly but still obediently walked over. After Chiron thoroughly ruffled his hair to vent his frustration, he finally let Jason go.
After all, Chiron really could not fault him much on this point.
Jason possessed overwhelming power against those centaur bandits. He could have crushed them outright.
But could anyone say Jason was wrong?
Sneak up while invisible, blind them with flash bombs, knock them all out as quickly as possible, then erase their bodies so their souls could report to the Underworld. Was any of that wrong?
Actually, no.
They were bandits. They were enemies!
The only thing one could say was that it was not very heroic.
And that was precisely the part Chiron did not know how to address, because he knew Jason would one hundred percent reply: "Not heroic? That's perfect for me, because I have absolutely no intention of ever becoming a hero!"
...Sigh, my heart is tired.
"Jason, how long has it been since you formally left Demeter's temple and began training under me?"
"Hmm... a little over three years, I think."
Jason thought for a moment and answered.
"Three years..." Chiron said helplessly, "Jason, it is time for you to go out into the world."
As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
For the first time, the gentle and refined Chiron felt the urge to kick someone out!
"Go out? No way!" Jason refused outright.
"You need to leave." Chiron said helplessly, "In these three years, you have trained almost without sleep. You have already completed your transformation.
In today's world, ordinary beasts and monsters can no longer threaten you. It is time for you to descend the mountain."
"No way, Teacher Chiron. I'm still young. I'm only sixteen!"
"You just said you weren't a little kid... Then when exactly do you plan to leave? You know that no matter how much I teach you now, your progress has become negligible. You have reached a bottleneck."
Chiron clutched his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Negligible progress is still progress." Jason grinned at Chiron. "I have complete faith in you, Teacher Chiron. As for when I'll leave... hmm, how about when I can defeat Senior Brother Heracles or Senior Brother Theseus?"
"Defeat those two..." Chiron's face was covered in black lines.
Even Asclepius off to the side rolled his eyes.
Heracles' strength needed no explanation. He was the son of God-King Zeus, one of Greece's greatest heroes, and almost universally recognized as the strongest.
As for Theseus, he was currently Chiron's strongest student in terms of martial prowess besides Heracles.
Achilles had not been born yet.
Theseus, the future King of Athens, would one day be most famous for solving the labyrinth of Minos and defeating the Minotaur.
He even nearly abducted Queen Persephone from the Underworld!
Although there were many versions of who his true parents were, one of those versions claimed he was a son of Sea God Poseidon.
After three years of relentless training, combined with his already top-tier talent, invulnerable body, and other advantages, Jason was now practically unbeatable among Chiron's disciples except for Heracles and Theseus!
Oh, by the way, both of them had already left the mountain a year ago.
At this point, Jason was essentially Chiron's strongest current student.
Given three years of nonstop training, innate genius, and an invulnerable body, it was not surprising he had reached this level.
In the end, Chiron looked at Jason, who was grinning cheekily at him, clutched his aching head, turned around, sighed, and walked away.
"One day you are going to give Teacher a heart attack."
Asclepius looked speechlessly at Jason.
"No way." Jason replied casually, "Our teacher is a god. And... we have you, Senior Brother. What illness can't you cure? Your medical skills are even better than Teacher's!"
"That is only because I carry that guy's blood." Asclepius replied indifferently, "And there is one illness I truly cannot cure... an illness of the heart."
With that, Asclepius left.
Jason stared speechlessly at his retreating back and muttered, "What's that supposed to mean? Like I'm Teacher Chiron's heart disease or something!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Asclepius, who had walked a few steps, suddenly turned back. Naturally too lazy to bicker with Jason, he simply extended his hand and said, "Oh, right. I'm out of the sleeplessness potion. Give me a few dozen more bottles."
"A few dozen... Senior Brother Asclepius, take it easy."
Jason handed over several bottles of sleeplessness potion and warned, "You're different from me. My soul has been tempered by inextinguishable flames and reinforced by Lord Hades' divine power, so it is nearly impossible to damage or affect. That's why I can keep taking it.
If you go beyond half a month, it will harm your soul!"
"I know."
Asclepius waved impatiently and left.
Jason watched him go, glanced at the sky, decided it was getting late, and headed to the stable inside the cave.
"Brother Horse, did you miss me? How was this week?"
Pegasus, who had been leisurely swishing its tail, instantly shuddered the moment it saw Jason's beaming face. It let out a terrified whinny, scrambled to its feet, and backed away warily.
As Jason's potion-making skills advanced, he had progressed from using Pegasus as a test subject to outright plucking its feathers and collecting its blood and tears.
Pegasus now had slight psychological trauma around Jason.
If not for Poseidon's command, it would have flown away long ago!
In the end, Jason still successfully obtained what he wanted from Pegasus.
As he walked out of the stable, satisfied with the vial of Pegasus blood and the feathers in his hand, Jason looked up at the sky once more.
Though it was not fully dark yet, the moon's shadow had already appeared in the twilight.
Thus, Jason stepped into a patch of shadow and took out his staff again.
He lightly tapped the ground with it. The magic circle Hecate had engraved within activated beneath his feet. Surrounded by underworld butterflies that flew out from the circle, Jason vanished from the mortal world and skillfully entered the Underworld.