How-not to be an Olympian God!

Hermes read through the second testament very carefully.

He didn't understand the contents very much, but this was likely due to a lack of context.

'We probably have to find the rest of the tablets to piece together the full story,' Hermes hummed to himself.

However, one strange aspect of the tablets still instilled his curiosity.

Embedded into the thick clay plates, metal protrusion was clearly visible.

The same metal was in the two other tablets that Alex possessed, hence, this probably had significance.

Though, he had to leave these inquiries for the time they found the rest of the crypts, so he stuffed it into a crease-like pocket in his toga.

"Thanks, Amaruq."

"It is my pleasure to serve the one who has solved our strenuous nutritional situation."

Amaruq bowed to him.

Hermes then recalled a matter he should probably discuss with the leader of the tribe.

"There is a volcano that allows the livelihood of the tribe, is there not?" Hermes asked the man.

Amaruq raised his head, and nodded, "Yes, Lord, a few inactive volcano mounts are present near the tribe."

"This is just a baseless premonition of mine, but I feel like it might turn out to be quite dangerous for the tribe in the future."

Amaruq frowned, and he replied, "I don't truly know whether we can move from here or not."

He kept his attention on the other's reaction, and when he saw that Hermes kept a calm face, he exhaled in relief and continued.

"Our ancestors speak of a direction that eventually leads to lusher lands, but a gigantic stretch between our fertile, volcanic land, and this lush land is a huge expanse of barren and snowy wasteland."

"I see."

Hermes stood up and left the hut.

The itch he felt in his nose was not due to cold, and he had to further investigate this matter.

The tribespeople was going to prove very useful for a plan of his, so he couldn't afford to let them die.

Amaruq ran out of the hut, thinking he had angered the god.

"Which direction are the main volcanic mounts in?" Hermes stared confusingly at the terrified tribesman.

Amaruq pointed towards woodlands and a hilly area in the distance.

"Are you not mad, Lord Wolf-Mask?"

"I'm not, I just need to probe."

"In any case, be ready for an emergency evacuation."

Amaruq rubbed his head and was puzzled by this, but Hermes already flew away.

The latter's sense of intuition was one that developed from being the foster parent of Apollo, god of prophecy, and his time with Hecate.

When he felt an omen as strong as this, he wouldn't be able to stay still.

The air was as chilly as usual, yet the god once again impressed the tribespeople as he faced the strong, cold winds on his flight.

____

It didn't take too long for Hermes to reach the rupture of the mouth of the volcano.

Over the crater, noxious and heavy gasses coalesced into an ominous smoke.

Hermes flew high enough to be at a safe distance.

From his angle of sight, he saw that while most of the volcano was inactive, the small slit from which poured out the smoke revealed the high internal pressure inside of the magma chamber.

"If only Hephaestus or Alexei-boy were here," He raised his eyebrows in annoyance.

He didn't know anything about volcanism, yet he-

*BOOM*

Hermes stared at the source of the explosive noise.

The small slit from earlier was now a relatively big gap inside the crater.

From this gap, chunks of runny, orange lava spilled out.

"That's not a good sign, is it?" Hermes rubbed his forehead.

Larger clouds of gray smoke accompanied this small eruption.

Additionally, the lava increased in volume, and the speed at which it poured out of the crater augmented exponentially.

"Well, I suppose I should tell them about it."

Hermes disappeared from his position in a flash, and at a breakneck speed, he returned to the settlement.

Amaruq obeyed his earlier advice, and the entire tribe was alert.

He landed in the center of the habitations, and a crowd instantly formed around him.

"I have some bad news."

A bead of sweat fell down Amaruq's face.

Beside him, Akna, the fisherwoman, also listened very attentively to what he was going to say.

"The seismic activity near the sea might have triggered a chain reaction and caused an erupt-

*BAM*

All of the tribespeople heard this loud thud.

Volcanic eruptions were the loudest events in nature, and from the short distance to the site of the event, the cacophony of death was very audible.

Amaruq turned to his tribe, and reluctantly said, "Let's move."

"Before that," Hermes placed his hand on Amaruq's left shoulder.

His faith energy channeled towards the man, and a temporary blessing descended on the latter.

His movement speed was now much greater than before, and he immediately took notice of this.

"Lord?"

"This is a blessing that increases speed akin to that of a wolf."

Hermes played very well into his current persona of 'Wolf-mask'.

Amaruq's amazement towards this direct feat of divine interference made his reverence for this god increase.

Then, Hermes did the unimaginable and performed the very same blessing on the combined population of the tribe, one hundred forty-seven people.

"Are there any other tribes around here that we can alert?" Hermes stretched his body.

Akna replied in the tribe leader's stead, "The only factor that allows for our livelihood here is the lack of competition, we are the only tribe in the entire volcanic region."

'Not that there is much to compete for here,' Hermes kept this remark to himself, and chuckled, incomprehensively so to the tribe leaders.

"Now then, Amaruq, where is this fated direction towards the lush land?"

Amaruq pointed in the opposite direction to the volcano mounts.

The horizon was completely clear from the lack of humidity and fog in the air.

This unobstructed vision unraveled only endless snow in every direction.

However, to escape calamity, the tribe unhesitantly moved with their new leader.

And thus, 'The Wolf-Mask Society' was born.

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