Odysseus was looking at me clearly confused, it was not an everyday thing to go on a scouting mission and come back with an unconscious man, let alone one that looked more like a corpse then everything else.
"Listen to my report before judging."
I went on and on recounting everything that we had witnessed, from the lack of wildlife to the lotus eater getting eaten.
"Well, if that man got back to his senses before getting feasted on, he clearly wasn't a lotus eater. Let's see what's up with this one."
Without waiting for the man to gain back his consciousness, Odysseus removed the lotus from his mouth while I casted the [garden of illusory flowers] to possibly heal whatever was wrong with the man.
The screams of pure pain and panic I had heard before were still sounding in my mind and I was sure I didn't want the kids to experience it.
But those screams were not caused by physical pain.
The moment the now perfectly healthy man woke up, shrieks of agony engulfed the area.
Pain, fear, panic.
The man was on the brink of mental collapse.
Odysseus hastily build up a sound barrier while I thought of what to do.
Should I paralyse him? No, the inability to scream might only make him worsen his condition.
"Should I just slap some sense into him?"
Odysseus looked at me with worry and confusion, but at the end he too decided it was the best course of action.
"Just try not to kill him, even if I doubt that's possible with those healing flowers."
"Well, here I go."
SLAP!!!
That was all it took.
A single slap and the man went silent.
"He lost consciousness again Dimitris."
Fuck.
"This is embarrassing, this man is not awakened, if it wasn't for your flowers he would have really died."
Oh fuck.
"Maybe I should do the slapping?"
"By all means."
I stepped away and focused on healing the slap out of his body leaving future interrogation to Odysseus.
Have I gotten so strong my slaps now kill regular humans?
Status.
[Name: Dimitris Damocles
Affiliation: Itaca, Avalon
Constellation: -
Trait: Key of Solomon, Demigod
Variable stats:
• Strength - 46,2
• Constitution - 44,1
• Agility - 43.7
• Dexterity - 48.8
• Intelligence - 49.1
• Archana - 48
Invariable stats
• Luck - 5
• Willpower - 9.5
Divine blood: The Lightning Bringer
Magic circles:
1st circle of Nature, the Dryad
2nd circle of Nature, the Salamander
3rd circle of Nature, the Long
4th circle of Nature, the Nemean Lion
Cultivation: the Blood of the GodKing
Arts: Dance of Damocles
Skills:
•Negative answer (E-, growing, active)
•Intermediate spearmanship (C, growing, passive)
•Draconic Astrolabe (B, passive)
•Hands of the trickster (E-, growing, active)
Spells:
•Thorny path
•Minor blessing of growth
•Flowery disperse
•Garden of illusory flowers
•Fire lilies of destruction
•Crown of Avalon
•Rain of Abundance
•Swamps of Creation
•Jade hydrangea
•Rain of ashen blooms
•Lotus trapper
•Shattering vines
•Ruby Rouge Rose]
Oh, I'm nearing C rank.
While I was distracted looking at my long forgotten status, Odysseus had already begun the slapping sense into a senseless person session.
It was easy to forget the Akashik Records, after all, it didn't really act like those webnovels I used to read in deathbed.
Well, except for when it acted like someone was behind it.
While once again distracted by a spiral of thoughts, I noticed silence was now raining supreme.
Has that weakling lost consciousness again?!
"Are you ready to speak now?"
"YES! PLEASE CONSTELLATIONS, STOP SLAPPING ME."
I guess he succeeded.
I took a step forward and looked at the man in the eyes.
"So? What's up with you?"
I asked only to receive a silent treatment. The man was clearly scared of me and Odysseus confirmed my doubts.
He still remembered almost dying after I slapped him.
Coff coff!
"I didn't really mean to kill you, I'd had left you with those man eating sheep if I wanted to."
"Of course my Lord…"
The fuck?
While I was staring at the trembling twig speechless, Odysseus was laughing his ass off.
"Leaving this useless bullshit aside, care to explain exactly what is going on this island?"
"Of course my Lord…"
He then proceeded to explain everything he knew.
The merging of two islands, the kidnapping, the forced lotuses, Polyphemus and even the strange mage presence.
Of course there was much he didn't know, such as motives and objectives, but it was enough to know that we should have left the island as fast as possible.
"My Lord, that mage has put up a barrier locking the space in the island with a strange artefact. Everyone can enter, but nobody can leave."
Well, fuck me sideways.
"Also, my Lord… we remember everything that happens even if we are under the influence of the Lotus… please…"
Oh, hell no. Shut up.
"Save us."
"Fuck."
Odysseus looked at me with pity, he knew very well what vow I had made for my sting of fate. I couldn't refuse, but I didn't accept being a pushover.
"What's in it for me and my men. There's 20 of use including the kids."
"My lord. We can be useful servants! Laundry, cooking, cleaning! You name it, we can do it! I'm sure everyone would also swear to the Styx and become your sl-"
"Shut the fuck up. I got it, servants. Good."
Was this bastard about to become my slave? Fuck no.
"You said your mind has been tortured yes? Let's pay them in kind."
_______________________
-Polyphemus farm-
From deep within the forest, a deep rumbling sound echoed and instantly, a shower of golden arrows fell from the sky.
Countless arrows brought destruction upon the farm.
The ground destroyed.
The building in crumbles.
Polyphemus' wide eyes staring at the effects of an unknown attack with confusion.
The arrows in itself didn't provide any damage to him. But it was all so sudden that he hadn't had the time to interject and protect it.
From the room of the now almost destroyed farm, the young mage stood under his shield; confused but unperturbed.
If this was the level of threat, it wasn't really something to care about.
"I guess some ants have infiltrated, let's let them play hehehehe!"
After a few hours the herd returned, this time, only the scheduled insect had been eaten.
"All is good."
That night however, the low rumbling sound echoed again, and again the rain of golden arrows followed.
Polyphemus was quick to take action.
Swinging his 5 meters long club he was able to destroy each and every arrow without breaking a sweat.
"Umph, this is just a prank by the constellation, it is useful as a workout I guess."
"Your highness…"
One of the insects part of his court was kneeling before him.
"Speak you insect."
"Your highness, on the tip of your club, you killed one of the sheeps accidentally."
Rage started to visibly build inside him. The arrows were weak, desperately so, but he forgot his own strength.
"Let's build a cave to protect the herd so that such awful accidents never happen again. AND BRING ME MY FOOD AND WINE YOU USELESS INSECT!"
"At once your highness."
That night, Polyphemus ate the tender meat of the sheep he himself had slaughtered.
"Mhhhhh, this meat is delicious, be sure to beat the meat like this everytime."
"As you wish your highness."
_____________________
The following day, the rumbling sound echoed only once, but this time the arrows fell on the pasturing herd.
The mage noticing the fact, just scoffed.
"Those arrows can't even pierce the sheep's wool, I guess I need to go find more humans however."
With a snap of his fingers the mage disappeared, unaware of what was bound to happen during his absence.
_____________________
The following days were a repeat of the first two. With only slight differences.
The insects were no more. And the sheeps had started to reduce in numbers.
Polyphemus was growing restless of the continuous alarms and with it his hunger.
Things were starting to get troublesome. Without his court serving him lotus wine, Polyphemus was slowly but surely regaining his reason and getting affected by the sound of distress.
2 alarms, 1 alarm, 2 alarms, 1 alarm.
This routine continued for eight days when the mage finally returned with a fresh batch of humans to enslave with lotus. But what awaited him was nothing he could imagine.
The repeated, annoying and weak attacks were building up a damage he wasn't expecting. A damage to the psyche.
As soon as the mage appeared, the sound echoed once more.
"IT'S THE THIRD TIME!!!!!!!! FUCKING CONSTELLATIONS I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!"
Polyphemus, enraged and completely blinded by fury, didn't even notice that the arrows didn't appear and simply started to swing his club at the first moving target he saw: the mage.
"HOW DARE YOU?! YOU DISGUSTING MONSTER! [DARK SWORD]!"
A completely black sword made entirely of mana appeared in his hand and cleanly cut down the club coming his way.
"AFTER ALL I DID FOR YOU? YOU DARE ATTACK ME POLYOHEMUS?!"
For a second, the giant cyclops, was brought back to reality and even trembled in fear, that black sword was truly dangerous.
WAIT A SECOND! ME? FEAR?!?!?!
"I'M YOUR FUCKING KING! I SHALL DO AS I PLEASE."
The cyclops and the mage soon enough were brought to face each other, both of them, unaware that the 3 new men brought in by the mage had already been safely extracted.
___________________
-previously-
"Odysseus, to what level can you manipulate sound? Let's say a low rumble?"
"I'm sure I can make a low rumble be heard within a kilometre or so, why do you ask though?"
"There are plenty of ways to break the psyche of the strong. Just think of mosquitoes, what can they do to us? And yet, we hate them with a passion and wish for nothing more than their extinction?"
"Of course, they are annoying. That sound is worse than the screams from hell."
"Don't forget their bite! We don't feel anything at the moment, but afterwards it itches like crazy."
"I mean… we are immune since we awakened…"
"That's not the point Odysseus. You are the warlord. I gave you the hint. Don't make me spell it out."
He stood silently watching me with a mix of confusion and intrigue, until finally enlightenment hit him.
"You are a genius!!!"
I didn't even realise when his tongue had invaded my mouth, but I was glad it did and only after we were satiated I was able to clear the air.
"It's not my idea of course, it's just the exact opposite of how to train dogs."
"What?"
"Well, back home, to train dogs we usually make them associate a sound with a prize or an action."
"Babe, you're so hot."
"Odysseus, it's not the right moment now is it? Save it for later."
He didn't argue with the promise I had made and got down to business, organising our men and action flawlessly like the war champion he was.
Who was tasked with the extraction, who needed to cover our presence, how to wake up the mind shattered lotus eaters and his and mine action to take.
He with his sound manipulation and I with my jade bow incantation.
The correct timing, the places to attack.
This bastard thinks I'm hot when he is a whole ass volcano.
Everything was set in motion in the blink of an eye.
No delay between order and action.
Operation: sound of distress, was underway.