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After surfing back to the mainland, Alex and Athena decided to rest in Amphipolis for a bit.

They made their way to a local restaurant to have lunch, and so Athena could recover from the earlier fight.

After eating way more seafood than one was supposed to eat, they sluggishly left the restaurant and Athena said, "I have recovered enough Faith Energy. Let\'s move."

She then transferred some of her Faith Energy to him, which he thanked her for, and they readied themselves for the journey.

Navigating through the forests, mountains, and cities, it was a fast and silent \'jog\' home, and after climbing up the rough hills and peaks of Olympus, they were back at Athena\'s tower.

Before entering the tower, Alex noticed Athena was frozen in place and glaring in a specific direction.

Following her sight, he perceived Zeus\' golden palace, shining in the distance.

\'Why is she staring at the palace like that?\' Alex thought to himself.

The conversation that followed next was nothing short of astonishing.

"Alex, I have made a decision." She stated.

Alex listened carefully.

"I want to become Queen of Olympus." She dropped the bomb.

"WHAT." Alex exclaimed, dumbfounded at this very unexpected declaration.

Zeus was extremely strong and fearsome from what he\'s seen, and as his daughter, she should be well aware of it.

"I don\'t want to vanquish Father as the prophecy said, but I will find a way, to take that throne." Athena had some reservations but her clenched fists and frowning eyebrows exhibited her determination.

"Zeus is very strong, and why do you want to take the throne anyway?" Alex asked her in confusion.

Athena seemed to be awaiting this very moment, as she listed out all of her reasonings.

"Father is too partial, and lets his feelings, and most importantly, his lust take control of his decisions."

"His style of rule had shaped Olympus into a very loose and lawless congregation of gods. That needs to be changed."

"For many important decisions, I have been the one to counsel Father, so why don\'t I just take the throne?"

"All of these years, I have been told to lessen my ambitions...because I am \'wise\' and \'calm\' but I don\'t feel like doing that anymore, and I know I will rule this place better."

Alex didn\'t know the context for many of her opinions and couldn\'t comment or approve.

However, he trusted his dear friend Athena, and even though he knew very well how hard this would be, he was going to support her the best he could, as she supported him and has been here for him at every dumb inquiry or question he\'s ever had.

"Are you sure? You\'re going to be fighting Zeus...and speak of it, Poseidon too." Alex didn\'t want her to make a rash decision.

"Who said I don\'t appreciate a challenge? Athens wasn\'t built in a day, I will prepare very carefully before I make my move." Athena seemed very charismatic at the moment and fully convinced Alex.

\'It\'s not like Athena is weak or could die anyway.\' Alex was at least relieved that he knew no harm could befall her, and knowing her, failure wouldn\'t be an option since Athena would only make a move when she was almost sure she\'d have a degree of success in her plans.

"You know what? This is exciting, Athena. I\'m supporting you every step of the way." Alex expressed his support for her plans.

Athena nodded and thanked him, then said, "Speaking of support, I have something for you."

She took out a glass gourd and passed it to him. As he held the gourd in his hand, a line of text appeared on his retina.

_______________________________________________________

(Essence of Athena)

Quality: Divine

State: Great

Additional Information: An invaluable elixir refined from Athena\'s blood.

________________________________________________________

"No way..." Alex couldn\'t accept this, but the allure of partially gaining the strength of Athena was enticing, to say the least.

"Just take it, as a reward for accompanying me to Poseidon. I\'m looking forward to how you will be able to mix up my powers and those of Ares." She smiled.

"Thank you. Very much." Alex thanked her honestly.

"Take it now if you wish, so we can train together and see the results." Athena advised him.

Alex didn\'t refuse, and opened up the gourd, catching a whiff of the familiar metallic smell he\'s grown to associate with power-ups.

Taking down the Essence in one gulp, he felt the pain starting. Yet, as if his pain tolerance increased once again, he was now able to maintain his footing and somewhat manage the pain.

Athena helped him walk, and they climbed her tower until they reached the floor with her training equipment. The pain had now subsided, and Alex analyzed his body.

He didn\'t feel much of a change, but when he concentrated on Athena, he could see after shadows of her.

More accurately, they were \'foreshadows\' as these silhouettes of Athena reflected the movements she would do in the following seconds.

\'Is this...precognition?\' It felt incredible, as he could observe the very near future with minimal effort.

"Ready?" Athena was equipped with her shield and passed him her spear.

Alex nodded, and the latter suddenly charged at him.

Unlike the previous times, however, he knew where she was headed before she made her move and with his speed, was able to avoid every attack successfully.

He was aware that if she were to land an attack on him, he would lose, but right now, she wasn\'t able to catch up to him, so they were stuck in a stalemate.

Alex had a sudden thought.

He wanted to try landing an attack on her, and his strategy was fairly simple.

He would use his sleep-inducing specialty(from Hermes) on her, and although its effectiveness was limited on gods, making her drowsy and slow for a second or so was his true goal.

He would then predict her movements with precognition, detect any openings, and use his remaining Faith Energy to attack her at lightning speed.

Even his train of thought seemed to accelerate from absorbing Essence, as he brainstormed this attack in a very small amount of time.

Suddenly, one of Athena\'s moves was stiff and it was the perfect moment for him to realize his plans.

Casting the sleep effect on her, she was confused at her sudden disorientation and moved a bit sluggish, showing a gap in the area of protection from the Shield of Aegis.

Then, diverting his Faith Energy to his speed, he bolted at her and attacked the specific weak spot he had discerned.

Just as his spear was a few millimeters away from her body, however, her shield abruptly grew much larger and his spear only hit the shield, making a ringing noise that reverberated throughout the entire room.

Also, Athena had fully recovered from her drowsiness and he was now cornered, as her shield pushed him and he was cast to the wall.

His plan failed.

Nevertheless, Athena praised him, "I\'ll consider that a draw. That was an excellent use of your various specialties, though you did end up using some Faith Energy."

Alex shrugged, as a battle with Athena ending in a draw was a satisfactory result.

"Alex, isn\'t it time for you to start your cult of followers?" Athena asked him.

"I don\'t have any attributes that would help me with that." Alex informed her.

"You do, and if you want to start using your own Faith Energy, you\'ll need a group of devouts who will supplement your power."

She then continued, "And you can cast blessings, and with the multitude of specialties you have, you\'ll gain a lot of followers just from occasionally blessing warriors, merchants, scholars, and couples, according to your own specialties."

"I\'ve...never tried." The only time Alex ever saw a blessing was on his trip to Abdera, where he delivered Aphrodite\'s blessings to the newlywed king.

He would take her advice.

After all, right now, he was but an unknown \'demi-god\', and to become a true member of Olympus, he first needed support from mortals, like all of his other deity friends.

Putting that aside, he remembered he had a certain task to complete.

Back when he was in Elysium, he met the titan Prometheus, who tasked him with speaking to Hephaestus about his state and well-being.

He needed to talk to Hephaestus anyways, as he was, according to Hermes, the only one who could repair his link to Earth.

He didn\'t want to go back to Earth anymore, but he really wished to see his family again.

"Athena, I\'m visiting Hephaestus, goodbye." Alex bid his goodbyes to her.

She looked a bit surprised and told him, "If you\'re trying to even get that man out of his shelter, you need me to come with you."

"Wait here a second." Athena stated as she left the training floor.