"Hyup!"
With a swing of a crude stone axe, the tree came crashing down.
Burly men hoisted the heavy trunks onto their shoulders and strode off with ease, not showing the slightest sign of strain.
Honestly, Eros had underestimated the humans of the Silver Age.
Their physiques far surpassed those of later generations, each one was like a living template for a school athlete, strong and energetic without ever needing to train.
Ever since he'd ignited the flames of wisdom and desire in them, their lives had transformed dramatically in just half a month.
They chopped wood and built shelters, captured wild beasts for domestication, and began cultivating farmland.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, they had leapt from the era of primitive savagery into the Stone Age.
They weren't lazy. They weren't even particularly stupid.
They had simply grown too used to a comfortable, unchanging world, one that lacked comparison or ambition. With no need, there was no motivation.
But under Eros's guidance, the spark returned.
After tasting the dishes Eros prepared, they could no longer stomach the fatty, gamey animal guts they once found acceptable.
After sleeping on proper beds stuffed with reeds, they refused to go back to using the earth as mattress and sky as blanket.
And once one person did it, others began to compete.
They wanted better food, better homes, better everything.
Desire bred ambition, and ambition bred momentum.
Eros didn't need to teach them anymore. They were now moving forward on their own.
Thanks to their tireless efforts, Eros finally earned a reward from the system:
[Pioneer]:
[You are the guiding light of human civilization, the torchbearer of progress.
Effect: Your persuasive power is significantly increased. You can now forcibly conscript humans into service.]
When he saw the description, Eros nearly burst out laughing.
The Light of Liberty™ from the West? Hilarious.
Still, joke or not, the effect was insanely useful.
These primitive folks already treated him like a living god. With this added bonus, he basically had full authority.
Too bad this wasn't modern Earth. Otherwise, he'd be tempted to kick off a real-life Civilization VI campaign.
No need to invest in democracy or republics, I am Rome!
Let the conquest begin!
…Okay, that was just a fantasy.
He didn't actually have the brainpower to unlock that many tech trees. Just teaching them the basics of survival had taken him years to master.
Realistically speaking, it was still easier to find a powerful goddess and cling to her thigh.
Artemis, for example, seemed like a solid choice.
Over the past few days, Eros had sneakily pumped Apollo for information about the famed goddess of the hunt.
"You're that interested in my sister?" Apollo asked, setting her lyre aside with a faint edge of annoyance.
Here she was, right in front of him, and instead of getting to know her, he was off digging for details on another goddess.
Even if that other goddess was her sister, it still stung a little.
"Haha, just admiration, pure admiration," Eros replied, chuckling awkwardly.
There was no way he'd dare go too deep into conversation with Apollo. He could already feel her… enthusiasm toward him, and they weren't even that close yet.
If things went further, she might never let go.
Apollo had many legends, but one trait connected them all, obsessive devotion.
She once wept endlessly over the death of her male lover, nurturing a hyacinth flower from his spilled blood.
She had also chased after a woman who didn't love her, so fiercely that even after the woman turned into a laurel tree, Apollo remained infatuated.
Eros respected that kind of dedication.
Flirtatious ≠ Disloyal!
He figured he could actually learn a thing or two from Apollo… assuming she wasn't trying to seduce him.
Because honestly? He was scared.
Apollo had long gotten used to Eros's slightly guarded attitude and didn't push it further. She simply lowered her head with a sigh.
"Let's drop it. You're having them build boats now?"
Both turned their attention toward the beach, where a massive tree trunk was being hollowed out.
"Yeah, just a basic canoe," Eros said casually.
He wasn't a shipwright by any means, but a dugout canoe was relatively simple as long as you had big enough trees.
And with the Pioneer achievement, he easily conscripted most of the village into helping him build it.
Not having to lift a finger himself?
Delightful.
So this is what it feels like to be the beacon of civilization... he thought smugly.
Apollo watched the boat slowly take shape, her golden lashes fluttering thoughtfully.
"You're planning to sail out?"
Eros had filled the villagers' heads with all sorts of nonsense, exploration, understanding the world, becoming Pirate King, complete gibberish.
But Apollo could see through it.
That canoe was built for him.
"Let me warn you, don't think sailing out to sea will let you escape the coming upheaval."
"The tides connect sky and land. When the world ends, they'll swallow everything."
Her words painted a grim vision of the end of the Silver Age.
This time, unlike the Golden Age's peaceful fade into slumber, the curtain would fall in violent, thunderous chaos.
The next King of the Gods would announce their rule not with diplomacy, but with raw, devastating power.
In a way, it was a warning to the second-generation Titans and their offspring:
Zeus didn't defeat Cronus through tricks alone. He was, truly, the Almighty.
Olympus had already witnessed two generations of god-kings rise by killing their fathers.
Now its divine bloodlines were tangled like a soap opera.
Take the sea, for example.
Gaia, the primal earth goddess, had given birth to Pontus, the first god of the sea.
Sounds impressive, sure. But he probably didn't even get the chance to take office before getting smashed to bits.
The one who smashed him?
Oceanus, the Titan son of Gaia and Uranus, the river god who would become the true sea power.
In Homer's epics, Oceanus and his wife, Tethys, were creation deities in their own right.
They believed the universe was a river circling back on itself, and from that river, they birthed an entire oceanic pantheon.
Eventually, Gaia subdued them and merged them into the Olympian structure, but their influence remained vast.
Pontus? Just the sacrificial stepping stone.
Now, Zeus had divided dominion of the world: Poseidon ruled the sea, Hades ruled the Underworld.
That meant facing off against Oceanus and Nyx, the goddess of night and Hades' ancient in-laws.
Yeah… war was coming.
But honestly, that was way above Eros's pay grade.
He wasn't Hera. Why stress about it?
"Well," he said, "even if sailing won't save me… aren't there still a lot of gods out at sea?"
Eros turned to the nearly finished canoe with a satisfied grin.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!