"ODYSSEUS!"
As I opened my eyes, the fear that my captain was suffering while I was asleep invaded every inch of my being and started frenetically looking around.
Blood was pooling below me, Merlin with a shocked face was looking at me incredulously and Odysseus was still unconscious on the bed where I've been tending to him the last 2 days.
"How the fuck are you already awake?! You lost consciousness just 3 hours ago!"
"Fuck, how is he? Did you get everything needed? Why isn't he awake?"
"Dimitris for fuck sake. Stop and let me check your body, there's no way you are okay after all you went through!"
"Merlin, I'm goo-"
I was interrupted by a scared master that had already stripped me and started to check on my body with his magic. He then noticed my crest pulsing and tried injecting magic only to get pushed away.
"That is not a normal birthmark is it?"
"It never really was even in my old world, how would you explain the creation of a birthmark after birth?"
"So what is it?"
"A stigma. But I'm not sure what it does…"
"Well it's healing you at incredible speed, check your notifications, maybe there's an explanation."
I did as instructed, and there it was, only… it seemed the system recognised me as the patriarch…
I informed Merlin and explained how one of the pillars of my household is that death from training is bullshit, a Damocles always know when to stop. Right before falling.
"Well what spirit formula have you given him? And why is he not awake?"
Sighing softly Merlin brought me to Odysseus side and ordered me to lay down.
"I gave him the Aurae spirit formula, his body is mutating just like yours does every time. Aurae are extremely specialised in sound and tempest attribute. I thought it was the perfect start."
"That's actually kinda sick. Now care to explain the aura in his body?"
"Stay down, it's going to be a long story."
______________________
A couple of days had passed since the incident with Odysseus, he still wasn't awake, but Merlin and I would tend to him in shifts.
I had to step in as the Second Commander and revealed everything that happened to my men and Hali. At first everyone was shocked, but after a good beating, Hali included, nobody had any more qualms about the situation and everything proceeded smoothly.
I got to experience how much work Odysseus put in behind the scenes, and I wasn't thrilled in the slightest.
On the morning of the 3rd day, Polites announced land on sight.
The timing was impeccable. Our meat reserves were dangerously low and I couldn't have my men go on with only veggies and fruits, especially considering how gruesome our training was.
"Friends! Assembly!"
My men came rushing to my voice, even Hali had started to warm up to them and that brought me a great deal of satisfaction.
A warrior should always recognise another warrior.
"Soon we'll approach land. I want a team with those who still have difficulty with stealth techniques to go on a scouting mission. NO CONTACT, ONLY SCOUTING."
Murmuring started to raise within my men as to why I'd sent the weakest men on such a mission, was I trying to get them killed?
"I'm sending them because training in a safe space is clearly not enough and they need to see how important it is to be able to hide. I will also not send them alone. I'm not a cold blooded murderer."
Hali raised her eyebrow remembering my actions in the time fissure, but didn't utter a word.
"EURYLOCHUS!"
He came before me and was about to kneel when I stopped him.
"You are not my knight Eurylochus. This is also a mission for you."
Sparkles started to appear on my friend's eye but he stayed put and waited my instructions.
"You are to accompany, advise, admonish and if worse comes to worse, save them all."
I approached him and took his hand.
"Eurylochus, watch the kids. I trust you."
At my words I could feel Eurylochus' resolve steeling even further than it already was.
Hali interrupted my touching moment with my future brother and that got her a bunch of hateful stares.
"What about me?"
Looking at her doubtfully I was uncertain on what to make of her.
She was strong of course, not as strong as Eurylochus and other of my strongest men, but a Demi-god nonetheless.
"I'm not sure Hali, you are not under my command. Outside of the ship, you are free to do whatever you want. Just, please be sure to not bring problems here or for my men during the mission."
"You won't leave when I'm gone, will you?"
"Sure and risk your father drowning us all, don't worry, if you're not back in 3 days I'll send someone to look for you?"
"Why don't you come yourself?"
"Don't push it girl. If push comes to shove, your father will issue a command."
They all left to get ready for landing and plan the missions ahead. I also went with them, it was still morning training time.
My Archana's electric attribute had developed extremely for all the time I had cultivated the blood of the GodKing, but I wasn't satisfied, my control was too poor and my trusted celestial spear was starting to melt because of the pressure. So I had been focusing on creating the wooden spear through wood manipulation.
It took a full day, but I was finally able to create a more or less acceptable result. Only to have the new wooden spear explode as soon as it came into contact with my Archana.
Thank goodness I didn't use the world tree branch.
My training continued and soon we arrived near land.
I sent off my men and Hali took off in another direction.
With my daily duties completed I carried myself to nurse Odysseus and wait for my men to come back while keeping up my training in wood manipulation.
It just didn't make sense to me, fire and wind were volatile elements, it was easy for me to imagine infinite possibilities with them. Water was shapeless, it made sense in my mind to be able to manipulate it, but wood was just that. Wood. A secure fortress, ever growing but unchanging.
"Dimitris I think I understand why you have difficulties bending wood to your will."
"Enlighten me."
Merlin took a branch and threw it at me.
"Make me a wooden spoon"
The image was clear in my mind, I had used wooden spoons to cook multiple times and before I could even think of changing the branch, it was already a spoon.
"What the fuck?"
"Ahhh. It's not that you lack understanding of the element, you just can't bring yourself to imagine it. It simply doesn't make sense to you."
"Of course it doesn't, what do you expect me to do? Just make a sharp knife made of wood? It doesn't make sense, wood can't possibly be that sharp and durable."
"Ok. Sometimes I forget you are just starting to get used to magic existing. But you really are stupid."
"The fuck was that for?"
"Dimitris, it's not just wood for fuck sake, it's magic. M a g i c."
"Oh."
"You don't say."
The pure facts slapping my stupid ass face hit me harder then I thought. Why couldn't wood be as sharp as a blade? I was the one making that call. I was unconsciously denying my own magic.
"Fuck I'm so brain dead I almost want to puke at myself."
"You are. Now that you understood the heavenly demon wooden secret arts and reached enlightenment get to work you muscle head."
"Did you start reading novels from my timeline?"
"I did, nothing much to do until your man wakes up."
"Oh, hell no Merlin. You can't go on planting flags like this. Fuck."
"Oh I did. Oh well, your problem now."
That throat never looked lonelier.
I coated my hands with Archana and reached to strangle Merlin when a bad feeling fell on me. Leaving everything behind I yelled at Merlin to protect Odysseus and left hurriedly.
As soon as I reached the deck I could see Eurylochus running to the beach from a distance with one of my men held like a sack of potatoes and the other following closely. And then I heard it, a roar as violent as threatening.
Eurylochus and the others were just about to enter the water when a huge lion tried to jump on them.
"AS IF I'D LET YOU!"
Flowery disperse.
I appeared in front of the lion ready to kill my men and with a fist completely covered with lightning I struck a jab at its maws.
The beast momentarily stunned easily got back up, but its former prey was nowhere to be seen, I had already teleported them on the ship.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE LOOKING? I'M YOUR ENEMY!"
Archana was flowing smoothly and with newfound rage I engaged the lion with my bare hands.
For every punch I threw he tried to retaliate with his talons only to slash through petals.
The fight was dragging and I couldn't believe a simple lion was about to make me use my spear, but then I thought how the wooden spear exploded on contact with my Archana and a plan was already formed.
I blinked to a nearby tree and taking a branch I immediately willed it into a spear to directly throw at my enemy with all my might, just as it was about to make contact I blinked and got hold of the spear and plunged it deep into the beast's eye to then infuse my Archana.
CRACK
Lightning was diffusing from my body to the now exploding spear and directly into the lion's brain.
What the fuck is wrong with this lion?
The now dead beast laid on the beach but not a scratch could be seen on its hide.
Damn, we should make some armor with this.
I lifted the beast and brought it back to the ship.
"Butcher the meat, but give the hide to Merlin if he asks anything say it's hide is extremely durable"
Some men took the beast and I made my way to Eurylochus still holding one of my men.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes second commander… he just got heavily injured… I failed you…"
"Eurylochus, shut the fuck up."
Garden of illusory flowers.
The garden covered the entire deck.
Spells barely noticeably stronger my ass, I can't even properly control this shit.
"I hear you, you bastard. And I would be right, but you cultivated the blood of the GodKing for 2 days straight, of course your control is poor."
Faking a coughing I then talked to my men in awe of my garden.
"I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time controlling my spells since that day…"
The injured man was all healed up, and everyone was silently waiting for me to make any kind of decision.
"Eurylochus-"
"I'M SORRY SECOND COMMANDER I SHOULD HAVE BEEN FASTER, PLEASE DON'T THROW ME AWAY."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Let me finish."
"YES SIR."
"Now, thanks for bringing back my men all alive. You did a great job."
Tears welled in Eurylochus' eye and he thanked me profusely, to my astonishment he really thought my perfectionist ass would abandon him for letting a man get injured.
"Now that everything is clear, can you give me a full report?"
Eurylochus went on to explain how the exploration was going well until they found a pack of lions. Bigger then ever seen before and at the center of the pack was a golden lion, the biggest one. It was him that noticed them and roared in their direction to expose my men.
Could it be the nemean lion?
"Second commander what are we going to do? That girl is still missing."
"If she's in danger we'll know somehow, don't worry too much. Let's focus on what to do next."
"What is there to do other then hunt them down?!"
"Of course we'll hunt them down, we can make good armor with their hides. I was thinking of how."
[The Lightning Bringer offers you a quest.]
[hunt and defeat the Nemean Lion barehanded alone. Fire lilies of destruction and thorny path are also forbidden.]
[reward: a real spear.]
"Well that settles it, Father wants me to prove myself."
"What do you mean Second Commander?"
"I will hunt down that golden lion alone, but let's create a strategy for you all to kill his pack. We need their meat and hide."
"YES SIR, SECOND COMMANDER SIR."