At night, Luo En lay on the bed, covered in wounds, groaning weakly with eyes full of sorrow and anger.
"What do you mean, 'it's for your own good'?"
Bullshit! That woman clearly just wanted to find a legitimate reason to beat him up!
Straining to twist his head back slightly and looking at the row of blood spots on his buttocks like stamps, Luo En felt even more depressed, grinding his teeth with regret.
Initially, Athena had shown some mercy, wrapping divine power around the thorny branch in her hand, with the thorns serving merely for show.
But he had subconsciously fought back, accidentally using the skill that burst forth from Artemis during the last divine oracle of gold.
—Rapid Shooting of Silver.
As the Goddess of the Hunt, the bow and arrow were Artemis's signature, making her also the Goddess of Archery and the Female Archer God.
In Homer's hymns of praise, it was mentioned that Artemis possessed a golden bow and arrows that could instantly shoot millions of arrows at the enemy, creating an overwhelming barrage, and for this reason, she had another alias—"Iokheira" (She who covers the sky with arrows).
Similarly, this skill had also been displayed in the hands of the great hero Hercules.
According to records of Greek mythology, one of Hercules's labors was to slay the trouble-making Hydra of Lerna.
However, as a top-notch divine creature with immortality, Hydra's heads would grow back even after being severed. It could even go so far as—chopping off one head, two would grow back.
To truly kill this beast, one would need to eliminate all of its heads at the same time.
In the end, Hercules used his bow and arrows to shoot out hundreds of arrows at once, completely killing the Hydra of Lerna.
And perhaps because he had been on particularly good terms with the Goddess of the Hunt, their compatibility was excellent.
So, in this random draw, Luo En directly landed on Artemis, gaining the Group Archery skill of the Goddess of the Hunt.
However, limited by the levels of Divine Power and Divinity, and his proficiency, he could currently only split his arrows into three to seven identical ones. Not to mention comparing it with Artemis's one arrow that could turn into thousands, it was even somewhat short of Hercules's one arrow turning into hundreds.
Of course, after all, it was a newly acquired ability, which required time for practice and coordination.
As a Divine Artifact imbued with chance, those dice were never more than a tool to pry open the doors of fate for him, unable to let him skip the accumulation process and level up the so-called skills to max immediately.
But this wasn't entirely a bad thing either. What's easily gained is also easily lost.
And the cyclical, gradual learning allowed him to transform that sliver of opportunity granted by the dice into a force he could genuinely grasp, into the true steps leading to divinity.
"Athena has gone too far!"
Hestia, sitting at the table, had an indignant expression as she began to list her niece's faults.
"Even if you have a good relationship with Artemis, she shouldn't have struck so hard, right? It's simply lawless!"
"..."
Luo En looked at the Goddess of the Hearth skeptically, and although he didn't speak, the disdain in his eyes was more than clear.
Why didn't you step in when Athena was here?
Now that she's back in her own room and I've been beaten up, you come out to complain on my behalf?
Are you here to save the day or to lick my wounds?
And you only mention Artemis, huh?
Leaking secrets, betraying teammates, deserting in the face of battle, not saving me from death...Don't you think you should explain your own actions first?
Under the victim's penetrating gaze, Hestia, already not made of the sternest stuff and feeling guilty, blushed and gave an awkward smile, hastily changing the subject with her usual tricks.
"Come on, eat first, the food is getting cold."
Luo En looked at his own half-paralyzed body, then at the table a dozen steps away, and couldn't help but feel even more speechless.
"Can't move? No problem! I'll feed you!"
Realizing her oversight, Hestia hurriedly tried to make amends. She immediately took on an appeasing smile, served several hot dishes into a bowl, and attentively brought it over to the bed, helping Luo En sit up.
"Hoo~ Hoo, ah, open your mouth, careful it's hot."
Seeing the spoonful of meat congee brought to his lips, along with the caring smile on her face, Luo En rolled his eyes but eventually obediently opened his mouth.
Forget it, why should the external brain give the symbiote a hard time, after all, he still needed her to attract fire later on.
Seeing the victim showing signs of reconciliation, Hestia, who had been somewhat uneasy, finally relaxed. She redoubled her efforts to attend to the patient on the bed, eager to make up for her mistakes, and didn't forget to make empty promises.
"Don't worry, if she dares to do this to you again, I'll make sure to kick her butt!"
"Yaay!"
However, the sudden opening and closing of the room door immediately deflated the fierce determination of the domestic Goddess as if floodgates had opened, changing her expression and causing her hand to tremble, nearly shoving a full spoonful of meat congee into Luo En's nostril.