I got up slowly, brushing dirt and grass from my skin. No injuries just the sting of the fall lingering in my bones.
I climbed out of the crater and made my way through the thick greenery of the forest. My clothes, once smeared with dirt, were clean again probably thanks to the divine energy in me. The blue shirt, the baggy pants, the jacket… they were all formed from that same energy, born of my existence itself. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed when they first appeared.
I stopped for a moment and looked at my palm. Energy stirred there, swirling under my skin. I focused, shaping my will into something solid.
CREATE Weapon: Saber
Material: Tempered Steel
Blade Length: 90 cm
Blade Type: Single-edged Saber
Blade Profile: Straight with slight curve near tip
Edge Sharpness: High
Edge Durability: Enhanced via Divine Infusion
Hilt Core: Steel
Hilt Grip: Black Leather Wrap
Hilt Length: 20 cm
Guard Shape: Cross
Guard Material: Steel
Pommel Type: Rounded
Pommel Purpose: Balance Stabilizer
In a flash of cold light, the weapon formed in my hand, humming with purpose. A saber—simple, sharp.
I swung the saber around, testing its weight and balance, trying to feel it.
Divine energy really was what I thought a malleable force, like clay in my hands, able to create or reshape anything.
I went deeper into the forest after crafting a sheath for the sword. All around me, I saw fruits and plants more edible than I expected. Hell, this whole island was packed with diverse vegetation ready to feed anyone who knew how to find it.
I looked up and gathered divine energy into my eyes. Suddenly, I saw it a dome of energy surrounding the island, shimmering like a hidden barrier. It was crafted from divine energy itself.
Even the plants here seemed to feed on it. The air was thick with it.
I whispered to myself, "Who lives here?"
I kept walking for a while until I realized I wasn't getting anywhere. The forest stretched endlessly, like it was looping or leading me in circles.
So, I did what anyone made of divine energy would do.
I gathered power into my body, coiling it tight like a spring, and then released it all at once in a wave. A 360-degree pulse, a bubble of energy that rippled out in every direction.
Wherever the energy touched, it bounced back to me, feedback, echoes. The radius? As wide as the whole damn island.
I stood still for several minutes, waiting, listening through the energy. Then it hit something.
Something that wasn't just divine energy it was drenched in it. Saturated. Alive.
Something or someone was here.
I turned in the direction of the energy and started walking, steady and focused. As I moved, I sent out another pulse, this one more directed, aimed toward where I'd first sensed that presence.
The echo came back quickly. Closer than before.
They felt me.
Whoever or whatever it was, they'd noticed me.
Five minutes passed in tense silence, leaves crunching under my steps, the divine air thick like syrup. Then I saw them.
A woman.
She stood calmly among the trees like she belonged to the forest itself. Her skin was pale, almost glowing white. She wore pants and a flowing dress layered over them. Her hair was braided and brown, falling like vines over her shoulders, and her eyes, deep red like smoldering embers, watched me without blinking.
She looked young, maybe 19 or 20 if she were human. But if she was divine, I had no way to tell.
"Hello there!" she said with a wide smile, waving both hands like an excited kid seeing a long-lost friend.
I just nodded my head.
Didn't say a word.
Her smile didn't falter, but her eyes narrowed just a little, like she was trying to read me. Figure out what I was. Who I was.
"Not much of a talker, huh?" she said, tilting her head.
Still, I said nothing. I just kept watching her, trying to figure out what kind of divine being acts like a child but carries power thick enough to soak an entire island.
She put her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks like I was the one being difficult.
"Well, fine, Mr. Mysterious," she huffed, "you found me. Now what?"
I shrugged and turned away from her.
Talking wasn't my thing. Never had been. Not in this life, not in the last. Especially not to girls, I never knew what to say, how to say it, or when to shut up. So, instead of fumbling my way through some awkward conversation, I just turned and started walking.
I needed to find a place.
Somewhere quiet. Somewhere, I could build a home and stay far, far away from the drama that came with Olympus. I'd read the stories. All of them. The betrayals, the pettiness, the endless cycles of revenge and ego, and war. No thanks. That chaos could stay right where it belonged in the myths.
This island had divine energy, sure, but it also had peace. And right now? That's all I wanted.
A small house. A calm forest. A place where I didn't have to be a pawn in someone else's story.
"Oh, my name is Calypso," the girl said.
I paused.
Just for a second.
Because I knew that name.
Calypso, the daughter of Atlas, the nymph trapped on this island. The same Calypso who kept Odysseus for years in The Odyssey. The one cursed to fall in love with mortals who would always leave her.
Which meant this island… It was Ogygia.
And if I stayed? No gods would come. No monsters. No Olympian drama. Nothing would disturb this place until the day Odysseus washed ashore… and that was still several hundred years away.
Yeah.
That sounded like a good deal to me.
A quiet life, at least for now.
I kept walking until I reached a flat stretch where nothing but grass covered the land. I turned to the girl who'd been quietly following me and pointed at the area.
"Can I use that?"
"Um… sure, I guess?" she said, a little unsure. "Not sure what you want it for. It's just grass."
I turned away from her again, dropped to one knee, and placed my palm on the earth.
I focused on channeling my mother's authority over the ground.
The soil trembled. The grass responded to my will, lying down and clearing out as the earth beneath shifted and flattened.
I dug several feet deep, carving out the shape of the house I had in mind. The extra soil I pulled out, I didn't waste it. I compressed it, hardened it,and formed it into bricks.
Then I concentrated harder.
Wood burst up from the ground like a natural spring, thick, tall, and already smooth. I bent it with my will, shaping it into beams and frames.
The bricks I'd made, I set them into a pathway that led to the house's front, then fused them together with my control over the earth, locking everything in place like a puzzle made by nature itself.
I kept at it for another thirty minutes, shaping, fusing, refining until the house stood complete. Not flashy, but solid. Earth-born and crafted by hand. My hand.
"Oh, that's impressive," the girl said, clapping softly with a small smile.
I glanced at her, then shrugged.
"I could've just conjured up a house with divine power," I admitted. "But… I'm still not sure how that power works. Don't know if it'd even last."
And honestly, something about building it this way, brick by brick, piece by piecejust felt right.
"Oh, you are new, aren't you?" she said with a gentle laugh. "I could teach you, if you want."
I looked at her for a second, then gave a small nod. "Okay. Thank you."
She smiled. "Sure. I've got nothing better to do anyway."