My days passed in a blur of activity. Normally I would've left the camp long ago to explore the world and throw my newly Increased weight around, but things were a little more complicated in my life.
Zeus met me two more times in the next few months, and repeatedly warned me to become as strong as I can before my 13th birthday. Why? Because the gods would start hunting me then.
Typical.
A large part of my time was also spent in researching the golden fleece but the thing was lost a long long time ago.
The only clue I had was the disappearance of satyrs who follow a trail of strong healing magic in search for pan. But if I wanted to leave for this quest, it meant I'll have to cross the sea of monsters, the domain of posieden. Naturally, I was quite averse to this idea.
Another noticable thing that happened after summer ended was Anna leaving for her home like many of the other demigods.
"I truly am sorry for leaving you alone, dear leader. In such trying times too! I have been a very bad right-hand, will you punish me for that?" Anna teased as we walked down the half-blood hill.
I snorted at the foolish girl. "You know what, Anna? Maybe I will. You have been a very bad girl for the last few weeks."
She gasped. "My, the leader's grown claws now! They sure grow up so fast..."
"Yeah, you'll know all about growing up wouldn't you Anna?" I replied with a smirk, looking her up and down.
I felt a little embarrassed as my eyes fell upon her chest though, which was just ridiculous. I've teased her about it quite a few times.
The girl reacted worse than me, and actually blushed before pushing me aside. Well, trying too push me aside but failing. "You are no longer cute, my dear leader."
It was true though, the now 17 year old girl had indeed grown even more... voluptuous.
"You are coming back for the next summer though, aren't you?" I asked.
She hesitated, and that was all I needed to realise that this might be the last time I'll see her.
"I...don't know, kael." She replied uncertainly, confirming my fears. "I would love to spend my time here but my parents are scared. As are many other demigod's parents. This was supposed to be a summer camp, a safe haven for us to train and grow. Getting trapped for more than a year while fighting for your life wasn't part of the plan."
I sighed. Another friend lost in less than a year.
She must've heard it cause her hand came to rest down on my shoulder. "Don't worry, my valiant leader. I'll come back for a few days atleast, only to visit you if I must."
Suddenly she stopped walking, turning to me with a frown. "Why don't you join my school, kael? You can't keep fighting monsters for the rest of your life, you know? I also have a little sister your age. You can try and have a normal life and do stuff that a nine year old should."
"Isn't that what you've been trying to make me do for the past year?" I asked shooting a knowing smile at her, and enjoying the surprise on her face.
Indeed, Anna has been looking out for me since the beginning. I just never realised it cause I've been so caught up in my own messed up life. Her teasing and bantering, her insistence to play silly games with me, and do stupid things to make me relax.
The girl was trying her best to make me enjoy my life like a nine year old should, probably so I can cope with being in such a stressful situation. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't a nine year old, so her attempts had fallen flat and just irritated me.
I once even thought that she was just trying to make my life harder so she can show everyone I wasn't capable of being a leader. Of course that wasn't the case, but I didn't have the wisdom to understand what the girl was trying to do. Now I did, and I appreciated her presence even more.
"You are too smart for your own good, my cute little leader." She said, mussing up my silken blonde hair. "And you should get a haircut soon, or people would start thinking you're a girl."
"With a physique like this?" I asked, knocking on my chest.
I hadn't grown any true muscles yet but my body was tall and strong, and looked the part of it. Being an angel has its perks I guess.
"A broad shouldered girl then." Anna stubbornly insisted. "You are pretty enough that people will overlook the figure."
"I couldn't care less about the opinions of anyone checking out a nine year old's figure." I replied, before smirking up at her. "Unless it's you, of course. You are free to bask in my divine presence."
I dodged her half-hearted swat easily, before glancing down the farm road. "Are they yours?" I asked, pointing towards a parked family car.
"Yeah." She responded quietly, her smile dying down.
"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
She didn't reply for a few seconds before turning towards me and bending down to my height.
"I'm going to miss you." She said, her hands enveloping me in a tight hug.
Startled, my hands closed around her neck automatically. "You, the camp, and everything we've gone through in the last year..."
I felt her impressive bust pressing on my chest softly and had to kick myself in my mind to focus. Now wasn't the time to enjoy that, I could think about it when I'm alone.
What!? No! I meant, it wasn't appropriate thinking about my friend like that. Yeah...friend. what the hell was wrong with me seriously?
I cleared my throat before speaking. "I could come visit you sometimes if you give me your...ah.. address?"
"I'd like that." She replied, shooting me a watery smile.
Then She didn't just give me her address, but also her number, her school address, the address of the college she was going to be admitted in, and the address of two other houses in two different cities. Both of which her family owned cause they were hella rich. Great.
I absently walked back up the hill alone, watching Anna hug her stepmom as the rest of her family surrounded her. I felt a secondhand happiness for my friend. It seemed nice, getting surrounded by family, knowing they care for you enough to come pick you up from a camp that was surrounded by an army of monsters not long ago. It reminded me of Gabriel, but of course she was much better than any family could hope to be.
I saw Anastasia looking back towards me and wave, while her family was squinting to see where I was. Suddenly I felt conscious about what I was wearing (self-made clothes) before I realised they actually can't see me at all.
I waved back to Anna, and marvelled upon the fact on how bad a mortal's eye sight is. With a last wave, I turned around completely and made for the camp, flying closely to the ground.
I wondered why I was suddenly feeling so...awkward. Did puberty hit me extra early because of my parent's genes? I hoped not. I didn't like being anything less than the most confident person in the room. I especially did not like the idea of behaving like a hormonal teen, stuttering and blushing in front of every girl. Just the thought left me feeling such utter shame and disgust that I felt something steering in me.
I am son of Zeus, the king of Olympus. I have the blood and power of a fucking god and an angel, I've lived two lives, and in this life I was born to lead and dominate! And I will not act like a puberty stuck mortal!
"I Will Not." I refused petulantly before realising what just happened.
'Oops, didn't mean to do that. Guess I got a little too passionate. But how does this skill even work? I haven't been able to perform this skill even once after that first time, no matter how hard I tried.'
[Skill Leveled Up: Divine Authority] Lvl 2
...Never mind. I totally meant to do that.
---------------------------
Things quietened a lot after July hit, with so many demigods leaving, the camp's population was cut down by half, with barely above 30 demigods still hanging around.
The life returned to normal; we were no longer fighting for our lives, satyrs were bringing in some new blood, the delphi strawberry services were active once again, and the demigods didn't spend their time thinking how to survive. Everything was just fine.
Except for Luke.
That boy seemed to have lost the spark he used to have. He was no longer the fun, sarcastic, and sometimes goofy little teen that I'd spent more than an year with. He was now an edgy, irritable and snappy kid who had trouble sleeping and seemed to be interested in only two things; Swordsmanship and Titan's history.
Our relationship was slowly but surely starting to wilt. Especially when I showed off my newly increased skill with sword.
Luke was still a step ahead of me, at master lvl 3-4 if I had to guess, but it just wasn't enough to give me a big challenge. Even when I used absolutely no active skills, my simple blend of strategy, physical capabilities, and lvl 2 master class Swordsmanship was enough to keep him at bay.
When I first defeated him in our usual sword practice bout, he had not shared my happiness, not one bit.
Instead, a fire seemed to have lit under his butt. A fire of jealousy and resentment. He had thrown himself into sword training, spending around 14 hours a day practicing with his blade.
This was the reason I never told him about my divine weapon. We were still friends, good ones too actually (he didn't have anyone else) but there were too many secrets and differences between us now.
I actually started spending some time with Annabeth instead, at Chiron's insistence no less. Apparently i was becoming too much like luke with my own training (Nonsense), and should try to lay off.
That's how I got myself playing a game of chess against Michelle, who had recovered from the gruesome injuries she recieved in the monsters war.
And I lost. Not horribly, but still lost. And that was just bullshit. I had almost twice her mental stat and was an expert strategist...how in the nine hells could I ever lose in something like chess? And that to a 15 year old girl? No way.
Thankfully, my sweet, generous, and loving Gamer system came to help and created for me the ultimate, 'Chess' skill. With my prodigious level intellect and good strategic mind, chess quickly became my fastest growing skill. By the end of August, a mere month after I started playing, I was already on advanced lvl 1. By the end of October, I was an expert chess player, beating even Annabeth who was frighteningly good at the game.
Chess really didn't give me anything, not even a level in strategy, but it still became an enjoyable way to pass time
Luke's birthday had been on 24th october, and I gave him a self-made scabbard to try and heal our damaged frendship.
Using the demonic power, I melted down the useless Minotaur horn (even Hephaestus didn't want it) and changed it into a magical scabbard. I used my own sword's changing nature to imagine a clear image of a shifting scabbard, something that will change to accomodate the sword's size.
This idea had been in my mind for quite some time, for my own sword actually. But considering I got a cool white glove as a weapon, I decided to gift this to Luke.
I also got a level in object creation for my trouble. Which was great considering it was one of the slowest skills to level up.
[Skill Leveled Up: Object Creation] Lvl 7
Luke had been happy with the gift, and for a few days I got my friend back. Then, as if some magical switch was pressed, he went back to grim and snappy.
I gave up hope on him then. What a waste of time.
Two weeks after his birthday, came my own one on 5th of November. It was a quite day, as aside from Thalia, I've never revealed my birthday to anyone. Not even Luke or Anna, though I was regretting it now. A couple of gifts would've made the day special.
Whatever, not like I cared. I had my faithful system to keep me company.
[Happy Birthday: You are now 10 years old]
Well...it could have been a little more enthusiastic but that's fine. Atleast it remembered. Though I was less happy about its follow up message.
[Puberty Stage Activated: Physical Growth Enhanced]
As happy as I was to be able to gain muscles now, it was shadowed by the fact that I'd be a hormonal kid, especially considering who my parents were; a fallen angel/devil and the biggest horny god in the world.
Things were about to get complicated.
That soon came true when Luke requested my help.