It was a young, strangely effeminate male servant who looked entirely out of place in this dreary setting. He was dressed in luxurious robes that betrayed his fairly high status.
He noticed Adam's approach far too late, as before he could react, Adam appeared in front of him.
"You. . .who do you think you are? Do you know who I am? Get out of my way immediately before I-" He begun to say. . .
"Shut up. Neither of us has the time for your bullshit. I'm giving you only one chance to buy what is in my hands. Answer quickly before I lose my patience. "
Without waiting for a response, Adam threw object in his hands at the young servant who reflexively caught it. He could tell that the young spirit was definitely close to one of the twelve Olympians, it showed in his sheltered demeanor. He would be the perfect first step on his ladder.
After catching the strange object, the young servant was at first merely curious, but as he took a careful, deliberate look at it, his eyes constricted in wonder.
"What marvelous beauty. . .what finese!!"
A gem! A true gem!
His amazement was palpable as his eyes traced the contours of the exquisite neclace: Pure gold, woven like threads around glittering gemstone.
Moments later and he was still in awe. But Adam did not have the patience to indulge him.
"I give you only five breaths to satisfy me with your price. If you are unable, I will walk away and you will never see me again. Only five breaths. Not a single moment more!"
Adam clearly had all the power here,so he did not need to be polite.
"1."
"50,000 drachma!"
Adam immediately swallowed his words. A momentary flash of shock passed his face ace before he abruptly hid it. 50,000 drachma was a sum most Spirits would never see their entire lives, it seems he'd underestimated the status of the spirit before him.
As for the price, well, the jewel he was holding was singular and unique throughout the entire realm. Its true value was nearly incalculable. But it was all well and good. After all his goal this time around was 'influence' not 'wealth'.
"Very well!"
The deal was made, and so there was no need to waste any more words. The young spirit sighed with relief. In actual fact he was on an errand to procure something for his goddess, which was why he had so much money on him.
But he was entirely certain that his goddess would be more than pleased with the choice he made.
Infact, it was highly likely that after delivering the necklace to her, she would be ecstatic with joy and reward him greatly.
He quickly handed Adam a magic pouch containing a little over 50,000 drachma and introduced himself. "My name is Ioanis. I serve the goddess Aphrodite. I hope I can find you here again?"
"If fate wills it so." Adam gave an ambiguous answer before turning his back and exiting the market place.
In just one night he had made more money than most Spirits would see their entire lives. But he wasn't nearly as excited as others in his place would have been. This was just the prelude after all .. .
"Great, you've returned. How did your trip go?"
Basil and Dionis asked as they saw him make his way back.
"Quite fruitful, If I do say so myself. And since we are good brothers how can I not share my good fortune with you."
Adam said as the three of them returned to their chamber. Both Dionis and Basil turned to him, pleasantly surprised. They watched as Adam pulled an ornate pouch out of his robes: The kind they only saw on the bodies of the highest ranking servants.
They watched in awe as he tossed each of them a bag containing more golden drachma than they had seen their entire lives. They each caught the bags stiffly, seemingly falling into a trance as the slowly appraised the sheer number of coins within the bag.
"Rich. . Rich....We are RICH!"
Their hands holdings the bag trembled unceasingly as their wooden stares alternated between the bags they had been given and Adam who had handed them over.
Then they turned to facing each other whiles laughing uproariously and embraced passionately.
"We are set for the next hundred years!"
As previously stated, the average servant made around ten drachma every year, and now they had five thousand each.
They would be able to live comfortably without working for a full hundred years.
They had hit the jackpot!
It was already quite late, so Adam left the two dolts while they were dancing around like monkeys and went to bed.
————————————–———–——
Dawn soon reared its head as the sun rose into the sky once more. Adam's eyes fluttered open and he stretched contentedly. This was his first time sleeping uninterrupted since coming to this world.
His old body had no need for sleep, but ever since he was struck by the Riorta Nanites, Adam had found out that the more mundane needs of his body had returned; sleep, for example.
But Adam couldn't stay in bed for too long, there was simply too much to do. He first traveled to the market place, which as he predicted, was now filled with commotion as several spirits scurried about.
By now, Aphrodite had recieved the necklace and word of its beauty had reached the other gods. So their servants were all running around like maniacs, trying to find the one who had sold it to her servant last night.
But Adam did not linger or make himself known, instead, he turned right back and walked away in the direction of his quarters.
"Lena, there is something I find puzzling. You said previously, that once Eris became fully realised, she became even more powerful than her father Zeus, yes?"
"Yes?"
"But what allowed that? Was it simply because her mother Nyx was more powerful. In that case, is a gods power decided by the bloodline of their stronger parent or. . ."
Adam had been thinking about this for a long while: the mechanism of divine power; how God's became as powerful as they were.
"You have yet to mention the most important factor, my lord."
Lena stated emotionlessly.
Adam furrowed his brows. "Which is?"
"To be fully realised as a god as to embody a primal concept. That is, to govern an aspect of reality!
Space, time, light, darkness, day, night, these are all aspects. The more primal and powerful the aspect, the more powerful the god.
Zeus may be the lord of the sky and ruler of the gods, but Eris is goddess of Chaos and strife!
Her breadth of her domain far surpasses her father's and approaches her mothers.
But perhaps you are right in saying that the inherited divinity in her blood is what allowed her to reach this height in the first place."
————
After receiving his answer, Adam did not bother Lena anymore. He simply accompanied Basil and Dionis as they all tended to their duties.
Nothing particularly noteworthy happend for the rest day, maybe apart from overhearing some female spirits gossiping about the approaching summer solstice. Apparently some grand meeting between the gods was going to take place as it did every hundred years.
In time, Adam finished all of his assigned task and when he looked up at the sky the sun was already sinking over the horizon. After returning to his quarters, Adam found a dark cloak that covered his face and strode out of his quarters back toward the direction of the inner palace.
After walking between shadows for a while he finally reached Eris's divine palace. By then the crescent moon had already risen in the sky.
As per his request, she had dismissed all the gaurds in front of her gate. Adam entered without any resistance and after reaching her tower, began to climb the long stairwell that led up to her private chamber.
As he entered, he found her sitting on her bed while rolling the dark pearl he'd stolen from her servant between her fingers. Adam belatedly realised that he had no memory of returning it to her.
Her eyes were furrowed as she regarded it, like the pearl had wronged her in some way. But then she put placed on a bench as she sensed Adam's approach.
"You came."
She said emotionlessly. As If she was entirely indifferent to the fact.
"Of course I came. But are you ready for me?"
Adam teased while stepping closer to her.
"Stop the nonsense and do what you promised."
The tiniest bit of impatience was evident in her voice, showing that she definitely wasn't as indifferent as she looked. And how could she be?
After he had promised to put an end to her millenia of suffering. If he'd given her a false promise. . .
A slight smile appeared on Adam's lips as slowly reached out towards Eris's head with his left hand— the hand he wore Lena's ring on.