"Thank Lady Parvati..." Aadityapal collapsed on the ground and sighed.

Ashoka turned to Alex, "Brother, what is this about?"

Alex didn't respond directly and instead asked another question, "Ashoka, do you know of any methods a mortal could use to manipulate others through their mannerisms, and even vocal tone?"

Ashoka seemed rather stricken-aback by this unexpected question and pondered a bit over it.

He then gave Alex a rather conclusive reply, "Usually, I would doubt it to be divine aid, but no god under the jurisdiction of Lady Parvati would dare use their powers for these intents, so I believe it to be a spell of an Asura family."

'Asuras?' Alex was unfamiliar with the meaning of it, but the word seemed to roughly mean 'Demigod'.

"Why would an Asura grant such powers to a mortal?" Alex was still a bit puzzled.

Ashoka seemed to have reasoning of his own and stood up.

He leaned on the trunk of a large tree behind him and cleared his throat.

"I do not have any knowledge of western lands, but here, whether mortal or divine, any creature's soul holds extreme importance and value, since we are all composed of Brahma."

Aadityapal stood up and approached Alex, staying by his side. The latter was listening attentively to Ashoka's explanation.

"Asuras are the bridge between mortals and us gods, yet they are not immortal. When they deal with humans, it is oftentimes for the intent of capturing their souls to extend their own lives."

Alex understood and interjected, "I believe I've met a similar creature in the past, who used her powers to inspire fear and reverence in mortals and then use them for her own benefit."

He took out Prometheus and pointed at the ruby.

"Though, she only exists in the form of this ruby now."

Since Ashoka was willing to share information with him, Alex did the same.

"I am aware that many such creatures roam the land, in the case of Asuras, they aren't always malevolent, but I tend to be skeptical of their intentions," Ashoka added his own feelings on the matter.

However, it seemed he wished to get back to his meditation, so they bid goodbyes and parted ways again as swiftly as they met.

'It is going to be a problem during the competition if Ayush just orders Aadit to give up, and the latter listens to him due to that power of his,' Alex's head circled with many possible scenarios.

But no matter which one, it seemed there was only one possible solution.

'Training mental fortitude is an extremely lengthy process and there is absolutely no way it could be done in 4 days.....'

Alex realized that Ranya and Aarush probably had preparations for such predicaments through the training of the gods, but Aadityapal wouldn't be able to get that in such a short amount of time.

"Aadit?"

They were walking down a wide corridor, and Alex halted and turned to the prince.

The latter also stopped in his tracks and awaited his words.

"Would you be fine with slightly cheating in the competition?" Alex had a plan in mind.

Aadityapal seemed reluctant, and he rubbed his own head.

"It's just a temporary blessing, to enhance your mental fortitude," If the prince wasn't willing, he would accept that, but it would be extremely inconvenient for him to compete if his willpower stayed as fickle as it was when Ayush visited them.

"Yes!"

Alex nodded and placed his hand on the prince's head.

His appearance changed and took on some of Athena's traits.

Then, he slowly circulated his Faith Energy into Aadityapal's body with the intent of blessing him.

The blessing was successful, and the prince would also now enjoy increases cognitive abilities for a while.

"Let's go eat," It was time for lunch, and in the afternoon, and to compensate for the remaining time before the contest, the physical training would be far tougher than before.

The two ate a nutritious and hearty meal and went to their courtyard.

"Attack me with Prometheus," Alex wished to see how much of a gap a divine weapon could even cover.

Aadityapal obliged and bolted at him, with the silver longsword in his hand.

*Whoosh*

The longsword was swift and deadly, and through the sounds swinging it produced, it looked like it even cut the air.

Alex pretended not to dodge and let the prince land an attack.

Surprisingly, the sword somewhat dug into his skin, and a small amount of blood spilled out.

Aadityapal seemed stunned and threw the sword into the air.

"I apologize, Master!" Alex found it funny that he thought that an attack of this level heavily hurt him.

The slashing wound immediately healed up, and only a slight bloodstain even indicated that it was there.

'Perhaps, Prometheus will grant him an unfair advantage, after all?'

But then, he shrugged and recalled a line that he, himself had told him.

'Ranya is probably going to use the Vajra that Indra granted her,'

Prometheus was still an unknown weapon despite being quite strong, but through reading some historical documents in the library, he discovered that the Vajra was an unreasonably overpowered and unbreakable weapon that gave its wielder control over weather and lightning bolts.

'If that is allowed, then Prometheus should also be allowed,' Alex grimaced.

Unexpectedly, Hermes appeared in the courtyard.

He approached Alex, but Aadityapal recognized him and bowed down.

"Hello, future emperor~~" Hermes supported Alex's training of the prince.

Aadityapal was flattered by this remark and bowed even deeper.

Alex chuckled and greeted Hermes, "You didn't get scammed again, did you?"

Hermes shook his head and whispered, "No, I scammed the city of their foreign currency reserves, so we'll be rich when we get to the Qin, I have so many copper coins(1) now!"

"You didn't do something unethical, right?"

Hermes coughed repeatedly and averted his eyes, "I pretended to be a foreign divination expert...."

Alex facepalmed and was about to scold Hermes again but the latter changed the subject, "Ah, forget that! I'm here to help you train the prince!"

'What' Alex was suspicious of his intentions since Hermes didn't usually do anything troublesome for free.

But he then realized what he wanted.

"You want to use Prometheus?" Alex asked pinpointedly.

Hermes nodded and turned back to Aadityapal, "You are too slow, there are many simple ways to increase your speed..."

Thus, the strangest situation occurred.

A desperate prince was being trained by two foreign gods, all to succeed the throne of an Empire halfway around the world from where the gods came from...