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When we arrived back in camp, the reception wasn't as I expected.
Oh the demigods still threw looks of pity and regret towards us, and all that false sorry they felt for us.
No, what was unexpected were the occasional look of anger and resentment. Apparently, due to Luke's failure, Chiron had stopped giving out anymore quests. Naturally, some of the demigods blamed Luke for that. Few blamed me too but they didn't have balls to say anything to me.
But the main thing that troubled me was that Chiron wasn't willing to give me a quest either. My first thought after that was; 'Fuck the camp, I'll do my own quests.' Unfortunately, the System only produces quests when other people (or NPCs) give me a a task, so I just can't create quests by myself.
And just like that, there went all of my plans for leveling up.
I entered my cabin tired, irritated and utterly unsatisfied. Removing all of my clothes save my gloves and my shorts, I threw myself on my bed.
"What an unsatisfying way to end the day." I muttered with sigh, before remembering my bonus quest reward.
Suddenly feeling giddy, I quickly removed the Golden Apple from my inventory.
[Golden Apple] (Consumable Item)
Rewards: Immortality, 20 Levels, Unlock Minor Divine Form (50 Levels)
'Ohoho. What a fabulous prize.' I felt a smile curve up on my face.
Did I even need to grind levels if I eat this? Instant 70 levels plus immortality? Now that was amazing. An actual god sent gift.
'I'm so gonna savor every bite of this majestic fruit, and experience the Increase in power slowly.'
I knew even the lightest of bites was going to be the most satisfying bite I'll ever take. Why the hell did Hera never ate this? What does protecting it like some trophy even do? Shows how ridiculously dumb she is. Clearly the tree was in the need of a new owner.
And I was willing to gladly take on that role.
Just when I decided to take a bite though, I felt a presence suddenly looming behind me.
"I hope you can refrain from doing that for now."
Startled, I almost dropped the apple as I recognized the voice.
"Father." I greeted the god as he slowly approached me, quickly equipping my self-made clothes.
Zeus came to stand beside my bed in his usual business suit, looking at me with a small smile.
"No need to rise." He said, waving me down. "The bed will suffice."
He took a seat beside me, his eyes smiling down at me. "First, congratulations are in order. You succeeded where Hercules failed. You should be proud, to fight a being such as Ladon is not a small feat. To fight a being of its caliber for prolonged period and survive is another thing all together. You promised me that you will grow, and you have kept your promise. Well done."
I could hear the pride in his words. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing I heard. "Thanks, dad. But you look worried."
"I am worried." The god admitted with a grimace. "Though we shall discuss that later. I'm more curious about why you decided not to give the apple to your friend and complete his quest? Why hide it?"
That was a question I'd asked myself when I was still in the sky. And I already had an answer: Because I was a selfish bastard. Luke ultimately didn't matter in my quest to power, so why the fuck would I give my hard-earned Apple to him?
Though I didn't want my father to know that. So, let's bullshit our way out...
"Luke has...changed." I found myself speaking with a 'concerned' grimace. "I don't know how precisely, but something tells me he's made an important decision. And not for the good of this camp."
The god gave me an indescribable look, staring in my eyes for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "You are as wise as you look, and wiser than your age suggests."
He stood up then, walking towards his statue. "Now, the reason why I stopped you from eating the apple is a little... selfish. I simply urge you to let me explain fully."
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and I nodded back. "Eating the apple will certainly give you immortality, and you shall coalesce your own divine form someday, I have no doubt. But you must keep this is in mind, Mikael. Becoming an immortal has consequences."
He started at me with such gravity that I found myself subconsciously sitting straighter.
"You will be bound with the same rules that limits the rest of us. You have read the book I gave you yes? Then you know what I speak of. You will be restricted from entering another's domain and interfering with mortal lives. Right now, you are unique in your position; A demigod slowly but surely approaching the power of a god. An event that has never occurred before. Even your divine authority...at the rate it grows, I will not be surprised should your authority match with my Olympian children one day."
Zeus approached me again, slowly taking the seat he just left. "You must understand the value of your position Mikael. I will not stop you if immortality is what you seek. But remember, a war is coming. Your position makes you a very powerful weapon. Especially for me. I say this upfront because there will be many tasks I may request you to do, should you accept my preposition. Do this favor for me and I will make sure to reward you suitably."
I'd already put my apple back in the inventory.
"Honestly? You should've just said about the restrictions part and I'd have agreed to it already. But this also means I have to find some other way of stopping a god from smiting me by simply revealing their true form or something."
My father frowned. "I do not think that will be necessary. The mortal part in you is too small to die from a god's divine form. Your divinity is enough to protect you from death. But you will certainly be affected by it should you look at it with naked eyes. Perhaps we can test this."
He abruptly stood up, his expression serious as he stared at me. "prepare yourself."
He gave no other warning as a part of his hand started glowing golden.
A light brighter and more powerful than any twinkled upon my vision. The gentle twinkle told me that this was just a small part of his divine might. But my eyes still teared a little, like I was cutting an Onion with my nose and eyes buried deep inside it.
[Resistance Created: Celestial Radiance]
Instantly, even that tiny bit of irritation was immediately soothed, and I stared at the golden glow with unflinching eyes.
"...Perhaps a little more?" The King of gods mused.
Suddenly the glow started getting brighter. It was a slow and precise process, which was why I gained another level in resistance instead of my eyes starting to water.
By the time Zeus revealed his full divine form, I was already at lvl 3 in resisting this new 'celestial radiance' thing.
"Remarkable. You seem utterly unaffected, truly surprising. Even minor gods flinches at the full might of me or my brothers. You seem to have a particular knack for resisting anything that may harm you. I noticed this when you were affected by Ladon's poison as well, which was why I decided not to interfere. This is an invaluable skill to have, Mikael. And you would do well to cultivate it fully. Perhaps you may become the god of resistance one day."
He said the last with a small smirk, humour growing on his face as his form shifted back to mortal.
I snorted, shaking my head. "I'd rather be the god of Adaptability...or Invincibility...yeah, Invincibility sound's great. Anyway, now tell me about this war."
The Father of gods grimaced slightly. "Remember the piece of information you gave to Chiron? I had my children investigate the case. What we've found is troubling. An unknown organization is working to release the beings of Tartarus back in the mortal world. The organisation does not operate as a Greek entity. Any being able to ignore the ancient laws and interfere with another pantheon is not to be taken lightly."
I nodded slowly. This confirmed my suspicions about Luke too. He'd been a little too interested with 'Titans' lately. "What about Gaia's champion?"
"Gaia...stirs from her sleep. So does Kronos. I have no doubt the attack on your camp was instigated by one of them." The god looked troubled as he said this, small dark clouds literally forming on his head to signify his worries.
My mind however, was stuck on something else. "Wait really? My dear uncles don't have anything to do with this?"
All my plans of vengeance would go down the drain if that happened. 'C'mon dad, throw me a bone here.'
He winced slightly at my question, hesitance growing in his eyes. "Well...not Poseidon, no. Hades on the other hand...let us just say that I was not a good brother and did some...things.. that I'm ashamed of. He is simply taking the anger on you."
"I see."
Well, that's atleast something. Hades was still on my hit-list! Poseidon though...
"Do not hold them responsible for my faults, son. But should you seek revenge, you must first learn patience and restraint."
"Of course." I replied, nodding.
I had no intention of voluntarily going after any gods. Not until I maxed out my... everything, really– Levels, skills, resistances...and so much more. Only then will I go after these powerful entities and wreck havoc.
My father stood, releasing a tired sigh. "Well, I must go back to Olympus now. But remember, Mikael. Should you ever wish to achieve immortality, you may proceed with your plan. Considering how close you are to being an Immortal anyway, a bite or two should be enough."
I nodded. "Of course."
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Time-Skip (3 Years)
Time passed for me like water slipping through my fingers. There was no holding back it's flow, and all I could do was prepare for my eventual fight with the gods.
My next few months passed in creating an accurate list of all my physical capabilities. Did I expect myself to lift more than 2000 US tons? Yes. But was I still surprised? Definitely.
Like I've always believed, theory and practical were two different things. The difference between them was similar to knowledge and experience.
Both lends credit to wisdom, and yet, both are fundamentally different than each other. I can't just write my strength on a paper, based on my calculations, and say that I knew the limits of my strength. But now that I've personally experienced it, actively lifting over 1,900,000 kgs without the increase from my wings, I could definitely say I knew exactly how strong I was.
I also started creating new skills and devices to help me fight and level up.
One such skill was the combination of my Holy Power and Lightning to create Holy Lightning. It was a much more powerful version of normal lightning, with drastically increased damage, especially against monsters.
A weak little discharge of Holy Lightning in the form of a spark could rip apart a tier 4 monster, while seriously injuring a tier 5 one.
With this same idea, I also added Holy Power to my Divine Lightning Bolt, though it wasn't as easy as I thought.
The Lightning Bolt was given the 'Divine' title because it gained Divinity directly from my father's domain. So when it falls from the sky, it already contains divinity, having collected it on the way down.
To add Holy Power to something I won't be touching, or be near physically, had been a pain in the ass.
I had to max out the level of my skill: Holy Power Manipulation. At lvl 10, it finally gave me the ability to manipulate Holy Power from far away.
So just when the Lvl 9 Divine Lightning Bolt fell from the sky; in that one second of timeframe, I forced Holy energy to combine with the Divinity. It took quite a few tries, but in the end I succeeded.
[Skill Created: Holy Celestial Lightning Bolt] Lvl 1
And thus was created, The Holy Celestial Lightning Bolt. And it's power was massive.
Massive with the capital M and bold letters. It instantly became one of my most destructive and powerful skill, right alongside Divine Lightning Storm.
Aside from Holy Power Manipulation, I eventually also managed to max out the skill, Lightning Manipulation. At Lvl 10, it granted me, what I felt at that time, The most coolest ability.
[Skill Created: Lightning Travel] Lvl 1
I'd thought that with this skill, I might just have become utterly invincible.
'Like seriously, imagine becoming Lightning itself, and zap behind your enemy to finish them in a single strike. Holy fuck if that wasn't impressive.'
Unfortunately, it was much more limiting than I'd believed it to be. At least at Lvl 1. It didn't let me disperse in Lightning and travel anywhere I want to, no. It only worked if I was beside a lightning conducting object, and I was only able to move inside that conductor.
The first time I successfully performed the skill was when I used it beside the internet room in the big house. I was able to become a spark of lightning and travel along an already forced path i.e the electricity connection that powered the room.
It was only a few meters of travel, but I knew exact what I needed to do to level it up.
So for the entire following year, I transformed into lightning and travelled from houses to houses of the mortal neighborhood in long Island.
After the skill reached Lvl 3, I was able to travel inside electrical poles... Unfortunately, I shortcircuited the entire electric connection of long Island as s result.
That didn't stop me of course. Eventually, after some practice, I was able to instantaneously travel anywhere in the city, as long as the said city's electricity was active.
After from skills, I also had other projects going. When the summer of the next year struck the horizon, the new device that I'd been working on was finally finished. It was a device that let me locate demigods in the wild by tracking their pitiful divinity and aura. Though a lot of gratitude should go to Hephaestus cabin, without whom I would probably still be fumbling around in dark.
As soon as the device was created though, my main problem was quickly solved.
After a bit of requests, bargaining, and threatening, Dionysus finally granted me permission to be an honorary satyr and go out in different cities to find demigods.
While I was a little miffed that the Idea didn't come to me originally, it was exactly what I needed. A formal permission from Dionysus, which my system instantly took as a quest, just like I'd predicted it would.
Gods were easiest to get a quest from. Any requests from gods just automatically transformed into a quest, and I finally had a method to abuse it.
[Quest Received: Heroes Collector]–
-Find 20 Demigod Children in the wild and bring them to safety. (0/20).
Reward: 10 Levels
1 whole level for rescuing two demigods? I absolutely loved my generous system.
It was an unfortunate thing, though quite fortunate for me, that how many demigods were in the wild, not being cared for by their parents.
I was a selfish and callous bastard, I'd be the first to admit. But even my heart clenched up when I met demigods sleeping under bridges, 10 year olds begging for scraps on the streets, little boys and girls in abusive parenthood, being blamed for things they had no control over.
I was a selfish asshole...but I wasn't a freaking monster. I took them, all of them, back with me. Anyone I met, I picked them up. Some weren't demigods, and for them I used permanent Hypnosis (Unlocked at Lvl 5) on the adults who've hurt them, twisting their memories and emotions to make them slaves of the children they've hurt.
It was amoral of me, of course it was. And I did it with a smile on my face. Sadly, that was all I could do for mortals really; I couldn't take them with me, they'll die in the world of supernatural; I couldn't kill those bastard parents, the kids will be all alone; Neither could I personally take care of them, cause while I may have a soft spot for kids, I sure as hell didn't want liabilities down my throat either. So I broke the minds of adults who were supposed to look after them, and just...made them do their job properly.
Sweet and simple, eh?
For the following two years, I filled up the camp half-blood to even more than its original size. By the end of the third year, just a month after my 13th birthday, all the cabins were close to full, especially Hermes that were almost bursting.
So I called up father dearest and demanded he do something about the space. And of course he did. He was a god.
Now, the cabins were doubled in size and there was one extra cabin where all the undetermined kids could go. The new cabin count was now an actually respectable size instead of the pitiful thing it had been a couple years back.
Zeus- 1
Poseidon- 0
Hera- 0
Demeter- 20
Athena- 32
Aphrodite- 30
Ares- 29
Hephaestus- 15
Apollo- 26
Artemis- 0
Hermes- 24
Dionysus- 2
Common Cabin- 30
Total Demigods– 209
There had never been this many kids in the camp, especially with so many of them being full-time campers, cause I picked them up from streets and such. It was now their one and only home.
Though it did sadden me a little to realize that no matter how much I do for these cute little kiddies, there will always be dozens of them dying out there, especially cause I only had permission to search inside the borders of Dakotas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Apparently I once mistakenly rescued a non-greek demigod which made other gods force father to restrict my area by half.
I was genuinely pissed at that. Why the fuck does it matter if I rescued a Roman or Norse Demigod? They were all suffering the same as Greeks for fuck's sake.
Unfortunately I had to abide by these shitty rules. The gods did absolutely nothing for the kids, and even stopped others from doing what they can't.
They truly were horny bastards, popping out kids like no one's business, and if their kid wasn't to their liking, they'll get no protection, no help, nothing.
For the first time in my life; I felt just a flicker of respect for Hades and Poseidon. All the history that I've read said that they truly cared for each and every single one of their children. Sure, some may anger them and get cursed or such, but they cared enough to bring them to the camp.
I was starting to dislike gods in general though, especially that horny slut, Athena.
'Ooh I'm a maiden goddess, look at me!'
Bitch stop popping out kids from your head then. It'd be better if the mental slut could just get laid or something, atleast then she'll go through labour and such, and not pop out kids in that time. What a callous bitch.
Her children had my most pity out of all, cause I found most of them dead in early childhood; By poisonous spiders or by being thrown from their house by parents who never wanted the kid but Athena forced it on them anyway, or even by parents who were fine with the kid...until spiders started attacking the family. Then boom, out you go kid. Don't disturb our perfectly normal family.
Stupid bitch of a goddess. Why make enemies when you can't handle them? Of course she doesn't care though, her enemies targets her children afterall.