### Chapter 1: Awakening

### Chapter 1: Awakening

In the autumn of Athens City, Greece, the sky is vast and clear, with clouds flowing endlessly.

On an ordinary street in the workshop district, dozens of people were gathered outside a gray-and-white house, craning their necks to look inside.

They looked at the unconscious boy on the ground with sympathy.

The gleaming curved knife had been withdrawn from the boy’s neck, leaving a thin line of blood that slowly trickled down before it could even touch the ground, already congealed.

"I just wanted to scare him; I didn’t use any force, just grazed his skin... He can’t be dead, can he..." The man holding the knife muttered to himself, holding his breath as he turned to look at the brown-haired man beside him, fear spreading in his eyes.

A scar resembling a centipede lay across the left cheek of the brown-haired man, crawling from the corner of his mouth to below his eye. He let out a cold snort, and the scar seemed to come alive, wriggling slightly.

Suddenly, the boy’s hands twitched lightly.

"This bastard seems to be moving..." the man with the knife said hurriedly.

Suye was having a long dream.

Suye dreamed that he lived on a planet called Blue Star, where he had always been ordinary, and studying was the only focus of his childhood.

If he worked hard, his grades would improve, but if he slacked off, they would drop immediately.

Until a family crisis struck, Suye in the dream couldn’t bear it, becoming lost and helpless, losing interest in studies, and eventually graduating in a daze, working aimlessly, as if walking through a fog.

But deep inside, the flame of defiance never died.

On the day his father fell critically ill and Suye couldn’t even come up with a few thousand yuan, he finally woke up.

The mist cleared.

Suye began an unprecedented effort, even more diligent than during his student days.

Fortunately, it was an era of explosive knowledge growth, with vast amounts of information readily available. After self-studying, the unsatisfied Suye joined the wave of paid knowledge, becoming a highly anxious consumer of knowledge.

With a clear goal, Suye advanced steadily through continuous learning, growing stronger, becoming more mature, more proactive, and thinking more clearly. His performance improved, leading to promotions year after year, and he even won a trip to Greece as a lucky draw prize at the company’s annual meeting.

Upon arriving in Greece, Suye stood on a cruise ship, admiring the beautiful scenery while fantasizing about getting promoted, becoming a general manager, CEO, and reaching the pinnacle of life...

A tsunami struck, engulfing everything.

Suye vaguely saw himself being swept into an ancient underwater site, then plunged into darkness, just as he was about to give up, the dream world suddenly changed.

Suye dreamed again, this time as a young boy living in Athens City during the age of Ancient Greece.

The two dream worlds were entirely different. The new Suye had no memory of the previous world, but both shared the same name.

The new Suye also grew up in confusion.

His parents were bakers, very busy, and Suye, without much supervision, often wandered around Athens City, frequently visiting its largest port, Lion Harbor.

Last year, when Suye turned fifteen, his parents spent all their savings to buy him a spot at Plato’s Academy to study magic.

Suye remained confused, performing poorly academically.

The first year at Plato’s Academy mainly focused on natural history, linguistics, and physical and artistic subjects, with magic lessons starting in the second year. Thus, Suye still couldn’t cast a single spell.

However, influenced by Plato’s Academy, he did grow somewhat, surviving the year as a struggling student and entering summer break.

As summer break neared its end, Suye prepared for his second year at Plato’s Academy, only to receive terrible news.

Seven days ago, his parents and servants were attacked by bandits, leaving no trace behind.

Six days ago, the notorious "Centipede" Lawrence appeared, showing Suye his parents’ promissory note, and searched the house for items to settle the debt, finding only one golden eagle coin, forty silver peacock coins, and over two hundred bronze owl coins.

It turned out that Suye’s parents had sold their old shop and mortgaged their house worth three hundred golden eagle coins to borrow one hundred golden eagle coins to expand their business. Unfortunately, before they could purchase a new shop, tragedy struck.

Lawrence told Suye that he must either abandon the house or die.

Today, Lawrence returned, bringing someone who should have been dead.

Suye’s servant, Koror.

No matter what Suye said, Koror countered with his knowledge of the family, leaving Suye with no choice but to give up the house.

Suye said angrily, "You ungrateful wretch! You were once a slave, sick and dying, and my parents bought you, freed you, and made you a free citizen! Yet, you repay us by harming me! Why were my parents and your fellow servants killed, but you escaped unharmed?"

"This is a long story. Just listen obediently to Master Lawrence and give up the house. If Master Lawrence is pleased, he might even reward you with a few golden eagles." Old Koror laughed, his face looking even more honest.

"You... You know we are foreigners. Without the house, I can’t study at Plato’s Academy! Besides, my parents are gone. What will I do without the house?"

Koror’s face remained honest, but his eyes flashed with intense malice. Showing his chipped yellow teeth, he slowly smiled and said, "You can sell yourself into slavery!"

Lawrence suddenly said, "Old Koror, not retaliating even when insulted. It seems you still remember their kindness."

Koror froze, then rushed forward, punching and kicking Suye, laughing and cursing, "I’ve wanted to teach you this little bastard a lesson for a long time!"

Suye instinctively resisted, but Koror pulled out a curved knife from a large man and slashed at him.

Suye was terrified, quickly retreating, losing balance and falling, hitting his head hard on the ground.

Koror immediately placed the knife against Suye’s neck. When the blade cut his skin, he realized Suye had fainted.

Suye’s head throbbed intensely as the two dream worlds began to merge, revealing more differences between them.

This was an ancient world with gods.

Not only Greek and Roman gods, but also Egyptian, Northern European, and Persian deities.

At this moment.

The shadow of the Titans looms over Greece.

The Dragon of Destruction, Apophis, covets the Sun Boat.

Evil gods lurk in the two rivers.

The Serpent of Doom and the Wolf of Dusk are about to awaken.

At this moment.

Hercules has already become renowned in Greece and Rome.

Gilgamesh and Darius share Persia.

Beowulf has succeeded as the Lord of the North Sea.

The pharaohs of Egypt resurrect collectively every few decades, competing for the true king. The current pharaoh is Ramses II. On the day he sat on the throne for the third time, his sister in this life returned to Thebes; she was a Hero King, known as Cleopatra...

"Sophist" Socrates, not only a great philosopher, but also the only Great Mage on the path to demigod.

"Idealist" Plato ascended to the legendary rank after Socrates' death, founded Plato's Academy, and remained quiet for many years, seemingly neither aspiring to become a hero nor aiming for the higher rank of demigod.

"Recorder" Thucydides serves as the deputy head of Plato's Academy.

"Geometric King" Pythagoras, after ascending to the legendary rank, has been perfecting magical geometry.

"Water King" Thales, after befriending the Master of Water Elements, once defeated a heroic warrior with his legendary status, and it is rumored that he possesses the strength of a Hero King.

"Great Seer" Homer appears and disappears, while the equally famous "God Gazer" Hesiod lives in seclusion in the mountains.

At this moment.

Aristotle is gaining some fame.

Euclid is troubled by his quest to ascend to the Saint Domain.

Archimedes, lacking interest in cultivation, indulges in distractions.

Alexander is diligently training, for if he does not, he will have to return home as an heir to the throne...

Suye never expected that heroes and celebrities from different historical periods would appear in the same era.

In the world of the gods, there were originally only deities, and later came humans.

And modern humans know only their own era, but the "God Gazer" Hesiod revealed a discovery to the world.

It turns out that the gods created different human races sequentially: first the Golden Age humans, then the Silver Age humans, followed by the Bronze Age humans.

Each generation of humans is inferior to the previous one, and modern humans, according to Hesiod, are called "Iron Age humans," the worst generation.

However, some individuals are born different from ordinary people.

They carry the bloodline of the gods.

They are the descendants of the gods.

From birth, they possess divine powers, though very weak. As they cultivate, these powers grow stronger, and they may even ascend to become true gods with divine strength.

As humans multiplied, the number of divine descendants increased, but the divine bloodline became increasingly diluted, eventually making it impossible for newborns to directly possess divine powers.

However, humans continued to progress, and with the help of the Great Seer Homer and the God Gazer Hesiod, they created methods to cultivate divine powers, allowing them to gradually refine and enhance their strength.

Hesiod believed that enhancing one's strength equates to tracing back to past eras, so he named the lowest warrior rank "Iron Warrior" and continued to trace back through the ages, naming the ranks Bronze Warrior, Silver Warrior, and Gold Warrior...

Suye's dream changes grew faster.

"Cough... cough..."

Suye coughed violently and abruptly woke up, opening his eyes to see the azure sky and Koror and Lawrence in his peripheral vision.

Suye struggled to breathe, instinctively rising, supporting himself on the ground with both hands, taking deep breaths. After a while, he slowly stood up and surveyed the area.

Closest to him was Koror, wielding a curved sword.

Behind Koror, the grim-faced Lawrence looked at him coldly.

Behind Lawrence, four men, each taller than Suye by two heads, stood in a line, arms crossed, chins raised high, their eyes filled with menace.

These men blocked Suye's view, preventing him from seeing who was outside.

Suye frowned slightly as many memories flooded his mind.

In the next instant, Suye's right thumb and index finger tapped lightly twice. He straightened his body, stretched his shoulders back, opened his arms wide, raised his chest and head, and took a deep breath.

The others looked puzzled, and Lawrence's originally icy gaze became exceptionally sharp. He noticed that after Suye stood straight, his eyes, which had been hazy, suddenly cleared, shining brightly like torches in the night.

At that moment, Suye seemed to be a different person.

...

Important Note:

After much consideration, to avoid reading obstacles caused by Western names and terms, I will try to shorten names to no more than four characters.

Some terms, such as "drachma," will be simplified for easier recall.

For example, the Greek god of craftsmen and fire, Hephaestus, has a long name, so I shortened it to "Vulcan." Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus, and in this world, the gods of Rome and Greece are one family (the Roman pantheon is derived directly from the Greek), making this name appropriate.

Like the character "忒," change it to the more familiar "特."

Names like "Hermaphroditus" are a headache to read, so shorten it to "Hermaphro."

For well-known figures like Aristotle and Pythagoras, there's no way around using their names.

Ancient Greeks typically had single names that were generally long, and Ancient Rome was even more complex, with common names often consisting of twenty or more characters. So I won't deliberately use names from that era; simplicity comes first (conscientious author, giving up on padding the word count).

Moreover, translations of different books vary greatly, which can be very confusing, so I have to choose one approach.

The common knowledge of Ancient Greece doesn't apply to the world of the gods. For example, the original Athens City was actually quite small, and there were no professional soldiers or law enforcement at the time. But this book won't follow those details.

Similar discrepancies will not be explained one by one.

Compared to recreating the world of Ancient Greece, I prefer to make the novel easy for readers to enjoy.

...

Finally, welcome to the world of the gods.