Dylan King and His New Roommate Called Goddess Athena [1st Book]

CHAPTER 18

POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN

Sunday, October 23, 2028, around 10.30 A.M

Athena and Hera smiled in joy every time they put the piece of chocolate Cinnamon Roll on their tongue. Even though they shared the food, it was already their third portion. Earlier they also had consumed four slices of Crepe and two Chocolate Dark Fountain. Additionally, a chocolate and strawberry milkshake had been accompanying their brunch ever since the first menu was served. Every time the waiter brought food to the table, he would always give a weird look to them. If only Athena was not distracted by the tastiness of the pastry, she might be throwing an annoyed stare at the waiter.

Back when they had not yet found Hera, Athena was instantly attracted by this cake shop when they had just entered the building. While Dylan was asking the waiter whether they had seen a strange fellow in a strange outfit wandering aimlessly, she seemed to be awestruck by sculptures of various cakes filling the wall. Each sculpture was made resembling the real cake, and the details could show the great dedication the shop owner had. The strawberry model with its achenes, the chocolate sprinkles, the effect of the syrup on a pancake, and many other decorations that had certainly undergone a painstaking carving process. Knowing her also acting as the goddess of handicraft, Dylan could understand her reaction without having to ask her personally.

"All the cakes here are so great," Athena said with satisfaction when she finished the last bite of the Cinnamon Roll. She then looked to Hera and they spoke in Ancient Greek Language, before her eyes trailed over to Dylan again. "Hera also agreed with it."

"Does it remind you of the feast on Olympus?"

"It does," Athena said. "However, even foods with Ambrosia could not beat the tastiness of everything we just ate."

"Is Ambrosia tasty? I've read that it was some sort of plant that the gods always consumed. A few sources even stated that if the gods did not consume them, their power and strength would be weakened."

"Ambrosia is indeed what we always consume. But for the weakened part, it was not quite right. Without having to eat Ambrosia or drink Nectar, our power and strength remained the same. If we ate or drank it, still, our power and strength remained the same. What made it different was our willpower. Because Ambrosia and Nectar were so tasty in my time, every time the gods ate and drank it, great satisfaction would be delivered to them. With such satisfaction, everyone would always be in high spirits. I guess the same thing applies to the human world too, right?"

Dylan nodded. "My spirits will surely be lifted up every time I eat something I really like."

"I guess all creatures with thinking ability were created with that as one of their basic traits."

"I'm really curious about Ambrosia or Nectar now. Is it true they only grew in Mount Olympus?"

"Mount Olympus did not have them," Athena corrected. "But the gardens at the palace of Realm Olympus had plenty of them. We all purposely kept them inaccessible to the human world."

"So I could not taste it?"

"If I ever get the chance to return there, I will surely allow you to taste it."

"I greatly appreciate it," Dylan said. "Now I am dying to taste them."

Athena chuckled. "If you know the origin of the plants, I think you might change your opinion."

"Hmm ... what's the origin then?"

"You are sure you want to know?"

"I am now," Dylan nodded. "Better to know the origin now rather than knowing it after eating it."

"Well ... you ask for it," Athena said. "Ambrosia and Nectar grew from the blood and sweat of the Titans."

Dylan was instantly stunned, but he said nothing.

"During The Titanomachy, which was The First Great War between The Race of Titans and The First Generation of Olympian gods, the blood and sweat of Titans filled the land of Realm Olympus. After the gods won the war, somehow the blood and sweat grew into Ambrosia and Nectar. What's stranger was that after they were plucked, the new one would soon grow and replace the plucked one."

"I think I've gotten so used to the life of the gods that I am no longer wondering about how such a thing happened. But I have to say that it is indeed disgusting, and now I am doubtful that I will want to try it."

"See ... I'm right, am I?" Athena chuckled again. "Well ... I still suggest you try it though. There is actually one more benefit of consuming Ambrosia and Nectar. It is to quickly heal your wound and strength whenever you feel tired or fatigue. You also can skip sleep if you consume a certain amount of them."

"I counted them as two benefits," Dylan said. "But well ... ," he paused. "Because it's really beneficial, I will try it a bit."

"I'm pretty sure you will end up loving them."

Suddenly, Hera placed her hand on Athena's shoulder. They talked, and soon Athena revealed that Hera had had enough of enjoying the surroundings, that she wanted to move on to the other places. Because it was still two hours before Dylan's shift started, he agreed. After settling the payment, they all left.

Like when Dylan took Athena out for the first time, this time he also did not make any plan on visiting a specific place. Every time Hera seemed interested in something, she would just convey it to Athena, which then the three of them would simply head there to check. The amazement expressed by Hera was just similar to Athena when she first explored the town. Even though she was having a memory problem, it clearly did not stop her from admiring the things she certainly never saw in the time before Kolaseos.

After approximately walking around for almost an hour and half, Dylan said to Athena, "There's a computer store nearby. I would like to visit there to see the technician."

"Does your computer need to be fixed?"

"No," Dylan shook his head. "Two days ago I brought my boss' laptop to be fixed there. Too bad the technician said that he was pretty occupied. Because now we happened to be nearby, I just wanted to check the status."

"Okay, we'll head there then."

Arriving at the computer store, Dylan promptly walked to the cashier. Showing the clerk the invoice on his phone, he asked, "What is the status of my laptop?"

"Ah, let me call Harry first," the clerk said. "He's still fixing someone else's computer in the workshop," she continued as she grabbed her phone and typed a message.

"He will come down to see you," the clerk said a little while later.

"Thank you for the help," Dylan responded. Before long, from the door at the right side of the cashier came out a bearded 7 feet-tall man. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Dylan."

"It's o – " Dylan did not finish his sentence as he was suddenly made aware of the sudden change on Harry's face. He was stunned, and his eyes were fixed on anyone behind Dylan. As such an expression was unlikely thrown at the cashier, then the only one left were Athena and Hera. Immediately looking over his shoulder, Dylan realized that Athena was also stunned.

"It is ... Impossible.. ," Harry muttered.

"Impossible?" Dylan looked back at Harry. "What is happening here?"

Athena approached Dylan. "What is happening here is the man in front of you might not expect that there are other Olympian gods who managed to get out from Kolaseos."

"What do you mean by that?" Dylan's eyes trailed over to Athena.

"Dylan ... ," Athena called as her eyes were fixed on Harry. "Meet Hephaestus, The god of Blacksmith and Craft."