The Rise Of A Porter

Arnold didn't want to attract unnecessary attention and hence wanted to do things as quietly as possible. He wasn't aware of it but his actions on earth had already got him a different kind of attention altogether. Not from humans, nope. But from the gods themselves.

Till now the gods were enjoying their little game. Even the lesser gods were excited as it was the first time in millions of years they were being allowed to participate in it. However, they were now worried about their wellbeing, and it was all because of one insignificant mortal who happened to be the Vassal of the Immortal one.

It was no surprise that the lesser gods concerned. However, they were not worried about the safety of Earth. Their concern was far from it. After all, the higher gods could rebuild the planet from scratch even if something were to happen to it. Rather they were scared for their own well being. 

Unlike his fellow Vassals and Paladins, Arnold had shown exponential growth. Something that none of them had witnessed during any of the games held on the other planets. They could always predict how much someone will grow with the help of their borrowed powers, but in the case of Arnold, they did not know a thing. In their eyes, the more time Arnold spent on the Earth, the stronger he became. If it kept happening without some sort of a leash, it wouldn't take him much longer to challenge the authority of the lesser gods.

After all, Arnold had already managed to even kill a Demigod. A feat no other Vassal from the other worlds could even dare to dream about, let alone executing it. If they did not do something about him now, they would be the next on his assassination list.

When they looked at Arnold, they saw a threat. A threat that would gobble them up if they didn't stop it in time. If Arnold was allowed to grow as he was, nothing would be able to stop him from going against them. Thus he had to be handled immediately or it would have been too late. More than that, they did not want another Shiva to rise from a mortal realm. One was enough. they did not want Arnold to gain unparalleled powers like Shiva, which seemed inevitable at this point.

However, if they wanted to stop Arnold, they had to plan it all carefully. If the higher gods or worse, if Shiva got a wind of what they were planning to do, no one would be able to save them from his legendary rage.

On the other hand, most of the higher gods were pleased with Arnold's sheer ruthlessness. He had turned into something they didn't know they needed. That is a source of entertainment. For the first time in millions of years, a mortal vassal had managed to intrigue the higher gods.

They were so into his adventures that they had started placing bets against each other. For obvious reasons, these bets weren't ordinary bets either. They put entire civilizations, planets and galaxies on the table as rewards. The Greek Gods were the ones who indulged in this practice the most as most of the Vassals and Paladins were formed under their blessings. This meant they had the most worlds to spend on such ridiculously hopeless bets. 

It was safe to assume, that whatever Arnold did or did not do, defined the destinies of these civilisations who weren't even aware that their fate rested on someone who had no knowledge of their existence, whatsoever. For all they know, if Arnold ended up killing or forgiving someone, their world would end up blowing into a gazillion pieces. Because that was the way most of the higher gods gained strength.

There were other things the gods could do with the planets to harness powers from them. But these methods were time-consuming and required a lot of patience. Which most of the gods did not have, so they end up destroying the planets and galaxies to get stronger quickly.

Arnold was the only one to have such an effect on them during this round of the games and they fancied more entertainment from him. It didn't matter to the Gods if they had to destroy half of the universe for the sake of their entertainment. That is if the Immortal one allowed them to cause such havoc.

But now, they were getting bored. They wanted to test Arnold's limits. Just like the time they sent Tiamut after him. But sadly, there was nothing on earth that could challenge him anymore and they weren't going to unnecessarily harass the Immortal one's Vassal.

They wanted more entertainment. But the way Arnold handled a supposedly 'strong' human from his home planet, it was clear that no one on the planet posed a challenge to him anymore. Also, if Arnold kept on defeating his foes effortlessly, they'll lose their interest in him and his adventures and it was something they didn't want to.

While Arnold was handling his business in China, Gods of the Greek pantheon were busy counting their profits and losses from the recent bet they had placed on him. The greek gods lived on Mount Olympus, their domain, which also happened to be one of the most serene and beautiful places in the entire universe. From lavish gardens to exotic waterfalls, they had everything to live a peaceful life. And right now, a few of the gods had assembled in the middle of the Olympus Gardens.

"Hermes, Hermes, Hermes..." Apollo mocked his brother while he destroyed the world he had just won from him, "Why don't you settle your differences with the mortal? You keep betting against him and lose in the end."

The God of the Sun had skin as bright as the entity he was the God of. If Apollo liked anything, he liked to look as good as possible, no matter the time or place. He usually wore a white robe that barely covered his masculine upper body, while a long piece of angelic fabric was wrapped around his waist to cover his lower body. All in all, he looked like a playb*y, however, his nature was completely opposite of his appearance.

"I'm not in the mood Apollo," Hermes replied before making himself comfortable in his winged shoes, "You know I hate that human. He's just so... arrogant. And all he has is his borrowed power from the Immortal One. Yet he acts as if he owns his homeworld."

Like his brother, Hermes too had a charming personality. However, unlike his siblings, he had a go-getter attitude. He always wore his signature beret on his head and had his winged staff in his hands. He looked more like a wannabe warlord than a messenger of gods. He also had a cunning mind. A quality that made him one of Zeus' favourite children.

Since Zeus appreciated his mind, Hermes was also the one Zeus often came seeking advice. Thus it was no surprise that Hermes knew what Zeus had been planning to do for quite a while. It was also the reason why Hermes was intentionally losing the bets even after knowing he would.

Before Arnold's appearance, Hermes rarely lost any bets and even when he did, it was to get rid of a few rotten worlds. In other words, he was undefeated when it came to gambling.

Even Zeus had to learn his lesson the hard way when h almost lost Mount Olympus to Hermes in a bet and stopped placing his bets against the God of thieves. But it was also a thing that made Zeus trust Hermes' capabilities even more. The only one who seemed to win against Hermes was, Tyche, the Goddess of Luck and Fortune.

However, now Hermes was intentionally giving away a few of the planets from his collection while he waited patiently to recover all of his losses when Arnold would inevitably face off against Hercules. Because till then, everyone would get used to Arnold winning and would bet for his win as usual. However, this time Zeus and he would ensure that Arnold not only loses his fight but his life as well.

"Eh? How else are the Vassals supposed to get their powers from then?" Apollo asked his 'loser' brother.

"Does it even matter? Either way, let's go, father has called for the council."

"Right. Race to the hall?" Apollo laughed as he got on the chariot.

"Oh, you're on!"