I Don't Own Percy Jackson

"Are you sure this is a good idea Nick?" I gave a comforting smile to the small child who I was currently in charge of, as I said.

"Yes" He frowned.

"Are you really sure?" I gave a much less comforting smile, and said.

"Yes" They didn't argue anymore, just holding their hand out and with that I cut open the small child's palm, just a bit, and watched as his blood blood dripped onto a bar of Stygian Iron that I had made for some... experiments.

"W-why can't you just do this?" I just hummed.

"What kind of experiment has a sample size of one?" I didn't say it's because my blood was very basic, I already did this and knew what to expect. While this was a child of Demeter and as such, his blood was... plant-y. After a long moment, I moved his hand away, and just poked it, he winced but then his hand glowed golden as the cut healed itself over.

"Woah! I didn't know you could heal!"

"I'm very talented"

"Cool!" That's the good thing about living in a camp full of half-gods, I can do everything from stab to maim children and as long as I don't kill them, no one, even the kid I'm totally abusing, blinks an eye, as long as I give a good enough reason. Hell, I didn't even really give a reason here and it still worked. "So... Why did you need my blood?" Now he asks.

"Got bored, so I'm trying to bypass the limited mana and magic system that I am forced to play into by a very annoying understanding of Godly Domains" He just blinked.

"Wha?"

"Just... if I do this and someone doesn't like it, there is a chance I will be smited, but... that's like, a fifty-fifty chance of everything I do, so it's probably fine" The kid blinked before shrugging.

"Alright! Do you need anything else?" I nodded, and pulled out a second Stygian Iron bar, and said.

"Yep, could you use that cool plant growth power you have and bleed on this one at the same time?" He blinked before shrugging.

"Sure!" I just smiled, this camp is the best.

Search was an interesting skill, it was also a skill that I had a bunch of levels in. Though the way it worked was kind of weird, even with a higher level, it normally doesn't give more information than it would have at a lower level for somethings, but for others it does a lot more. Like, Search at it's current level told me exactly what number cycle my Norse communications ring was made on, but I only ever get the same information for people, name, level, heritage, etc.

But it also gave me information on other things... like power and essence stealing metals for example...

[Standard Stygian Iron Ingot-
A ingot of Stygian Iron, this metal is known for it's ability to only be truly wielded most effective by a being linked to the Greek Underworld, with the ability to steal and seal the essence of whatever it comes in contact with, it is an incredible metal that makes even more incredible weapons capable of killing just about anything with a good enough blow

Rank: C]

That was a normal bar that I had moving about in my bag, I had a collection of them in there, because... why the hell wouldn't I have a massive collection of anything and everything I could possibly ever need? I still have, like, ten Celestial Bronze knives in there somewhere. It was also because of my ideas on what I can use this metal for, one of which I was currently grinning ear to ear about.

This was the result of my little experiment with the metal bar that I had the Demeter kid bleed onto.

[Minor Infused Stygian Iron Ingot-
A ingot of Stygian Iron that has come in contact with a single type of essence, Mana, and as sealed it into the ingot, as no other essence of any kind as been infused into this metal, the Mana is undiluted

Mana: 15

Rank: C]

See that! Stygian Iron traps the power of whatever it comes in contact with, and us demigods literally had the blood of the gods in our veins, well, maybe not internally, but our blood was infused with divine mana which was close enough in my opinion, so when it comes into contact with the stuff, it takes it in, and traps it within the metal. And if it's not messed with or no other conflicting type of mana is pushed into this, like Spirit, or a soul, or even mana form a different demigod, then it doesn't combine and become unusable.

Notice how I said unusable? I know that because I have a sword that I've used to kill a number of monsters at this point, and when I use Search on it, it tells me that my Control is way to low, nearly a thousand points to low, to be able to separate and use just one of the types of essences trapped within the blade, and multiple together makes it to unstable to do anything with because my Control isn't in the literal thousands.

So what does that mean? It means that I can use the stuff that Stygian Iron traps in someway, I just don't know how to yet. And sure, it's not like this is going to be the biggest game changer right now, after all, what's a mere fifteen extra points of Mana going to do for me? But... what if it wasn't just fifteen points of Mana?

Nico will in his time kill hundreds of monsters, all with the same sword, made out of the same material I'm using now, and it was never mentioned once that the sword was ever worse off for it. In fact, one could make the argument it made it more deadly in the hands of the Ghost King.

So what if it wasn't just fifteen points of mana, what if it was fifteen thousand? What if I can make these bars of Iron into battery packs? Sure, that would take ages, a demigod bled onto that bar for nearly half a minute and it only got fifteen points.

But what about what happened when the same demigod bled onto another bar, while using his powers, not just any power, but a very specific branch of that power? To grow plants around him slightly faster? What would that result be?

This, this is the result.

[Minor Infused Stygian Iron Ingot-
A ingot of Stygian Iron that has come in contact with a single type of essence, Divine Mana, and as sealed it into the ingot, as no other essence of any kind as been infused into this metal, the Mana is undiluted into the power in which it was using when sealed
Skill: [Plant Growth Acceleration]
Available Mana for skill: 65

Rank: C+]

Yeah, see that right there, that's the skill the kid was using when his mana was taken from his blood, just there, and it even gave the bar more mana from it being an active use when it came into contact with the iron. This means a lot of things, but the primary one is, I can use other demigod's skills and mana through the use of Stygian Iron. It's like... skill cards, a one off way to use another person's ability based on what skill they are using at the time, and how much mana they put into it to be adsorbed.

There are a few problems with this however, because of course there has to be. It takes a lot of conditions to be met for me to be able to actually get a bit of Stygian Iron with another demigod power in it with enough mana to use in the first place since I have to find a person with a power I want, who is strong enough to make use of that power, and convince them to use it while I cut open their arm to bath a piece of metal in their own blood.

That sounded hard enough as is, the second thing... I have absolutely no idea how to bring this power out, it's trapped and sealed into the metal, and I have no clue in the slightest how to bring it out, much less how to control it and be able to use it in the way I want the power to be used.

Thirdly, I can't use them as Mana batteries for my skills, it just doesn't work that way, the Divine Mana from Demeter's blood is not the same as the Divine Mana I had in my body, from Nike and Styx, meaning I can't use Demeter's Mana to use any magic ability I have from Nike and Styx's Domains. Like trying to use the oil from a train to run a gas powered car, they just don't mix like that. They don't mix like that, and it's why any more than one type of power will make another unusable when they mix within the Stygian Iron.

And fourthly... I can't put my own blood into the metal. It just doesn't work because of what I said before, Styx and Nike's domains don't mix, they mix in me, but they end up ruining each other in the metal itself, outside of me, since the metal isn't the son of Nike who was given the willing Legacy of Styx. The Spiritual stuff might also mess it up, but that stuff wasn't in my blood per say according to the voice in my head.

Basically, I was built too awesome for the metal to be able to contain my awesomeness.

So that made this way of being able to just bleed myself dry over and over day after day to have a hundred bars filled with thousands of my own mana points wasn't going to work. Which is probably a good thing, everyone here still thinks I'm a masochist for some reason, so if I start actively cutting myself, they might start getting the wrong idea about what I'm trying to do.

In the end, it's basically worthless right now as a whole, since I have no idea on just how to use the power stored in the metal, but it's something to keep in mind for the future and to workshop around whenever I have time. And guess who has a lot of time on his hands currently? It's me! Surprise surprise, I'm sure.

It's just something to work on for the time being in between my regularly scheduled hanging out with friends and the camp stuff I actually had to do at the moment, I have... ideas on how to access it of course, most of which probably aren't good ideas, but I'll figure it out as it goes.

Things usually works for me when I do that, or at least it hasn't gotten me killed yet. And that track record is good enough for me!

But for right now I'm going to go find Silena, I wanna hang out and stuff... And maybe also learn more about her Charm Speaking, because that seems like a very handy power to have on occasion.

Sue me ok? I'm a bit of a workaholic...

Or an obsessive hype focused personality.

Wild right? It's almost like I have ADHD or something.

The next month passed on by easily enough, August bled into September, I was busy for most of it, apparently there is a lot of stuff you have to do as cabin head, but I managed them with grace and dignity... And by that, Silena had to drag me to at least half the weekly meetings, and I whined loudly every time I had to do anything that wasn't either fun or involving trying to grow plants with a black colored iron brick.

But the perks of being real smart is that I could just power through everything that was put in front of me when I had to, which is what I did for most of my responsibilities...

Though, being honest, I nearly ran away again when I learned that Chiron did home schooling for the year rounders so they could feel like they had something of a normal life and education. He was actually even pretty good at it, which makes sense, he's been a teacher for a few thousand years at this point after all. But thankfully, I managed to just test out of his stuff by proving myself awesome.

Literally, he had placement tests ready to go to judge what grade level a new camper was at and then teach from there during the school year. I managed to skip around that last year since he wasn't here when I arrived, and then I left before the school year started, but it wouldn't have mattered apparently.

Here's a fun fact, while I have no idea who I was in my last life, I do know now that I completed my formal education since I tested past a twelfth grade level. I knew all the stuff already, which Chiron was surprised about, but I made a comment about knowledge is power and in my early days I spent time in libraries to learn about stuff. None of it was a lie... though I did forgo the mention of the fact that the library I have visited ended in arson, but I figured that wasn't important.

That didn't mean I got out of it though, just meant that just because I was to smart for him to teach anything new, I had to, for some reason, help teach the others that weren't like me. Which sucked! But I just dealt with it for the most part and tried to not get annoyed when I was forced to take over the teaching for my cabin, the cabin that had the most campers I might add since we still held onto the unclaimed, which was just freaking rude!

Like, I had things to do alright!

It was whatever for the most part to be honest, I didn't actually mind that much, though I wasn't a very good teacher, it was clear Chiron needed the help and I'm not that much of an asshole. Wasn't my favorite thing to do to look at books that I already knew all about, but had never read or seen before in my life. Though it was an experience to be reintroduced to math, like, I knew all of it already, but I didn't know I knew it until I saw it, and realized I knew what to do.

That was pretty cool, but it only lasted a few minutes, and then I... sort of got competitive with myself to see how fast I can answer the questions and one thing lead to another and... Let's say the big house needs a more pencils on hand... and a new window.

But that's besides the point. I've made progress on the thing! Sort of, I can't naturally just pry the skill and mana out of the iron... but it can be pulled out, and quick quickly in fact, when it is pressed against Stygian Ice, well, not just normal Ice, Stygian Ice that has mana being pushed into it. The mana in the ice acts sort of like a magnet, so when pressed up against the metal, it pulls any mana out of the metal.

Just... it happens to come out in a small pushing force and I can't do anything with it, even if there is a skill in the thing, the skill just triggers and uses itself up in every direction around it without my input being involved at all, meaning it's practically worthless in combat since I'll be smacked around by the pressure of the Mana being released and have no way of controlling the effects when they come out.

So that's cool, and by cool I mean infuriating.

It just released everything into the air in all directions and from what I can tell there just isn't a way to focus or control it at all. If I was Hecate, the Goddess of Magic's son, then it might be possible, since then I could direct every kind of Mana... Probably, but I wasn't so that was a dead end.

It all seemed like a dead end, by itself, these two tools were basically useless unless I wanted to... I don't know, use them as concussion grenades, but the amount of mana needed to be put in them wouldn't be worth it, and even with a really strong skill or power in it, I wouldn't be able to predict just how it would be released, it's to unpredictable.

As it stands right now, it might just be a dead end in general, a cool idea for sure, but no real way to make it work, which fucking blows!

"What are you doing?" I blinked as the water in front of me fell back into the lake, as I turned to look at Silena, I just shrugged and said.

"Practicing mostly, I have to find some way of showing up Percy next time I see him. I'm trying to figure out if I can learn to freeze the water into ice, since there is a whole part of the River Styx that's all iced up, I figured I could probably do it and learn a new skill, but... I have no idea what I need to do that so..."

"So you got bored and just started messing with the water instead to make it make weird shapes that you found funny?"

"I mean, when you put it like that it sounds silly"

"That is because it is Nick"

"Don't be silly Silena, I am nothing but serious!"

"For someone who can't lie, you sure do like saying wrong things"

"I can't lie, that implies I'm tricking you, rhetoricals and jokes are sort of a grey zone" They were, those kinds of things weren't really lies because I wasn't saying them to trick anyone, they were for the humor of it. For some reason which made Silena quirk a smile as she said.

"So you admit you were lying, and therefore never serious" I pouted.

"I never said such a thing! Putting words in my mouth, poor on you woman!" She just laughed before dropping down next to me.

"Seriously though, what's up? You're normally around bugging everyone or asking them to bleed on stuff, which you never really explained by the way" I shrugged, this was where I would have to lie. But that doesn't mean I was going to actually have that conversation easily, as I went onto the first thing I could think about to talk about.

"Nothing, just a side project that isn't working out at the moment. No one in this place has any ambitious items for cool stuff. I mean, sure, no one else can really use the things they are bleeding on besides me, since it would, like, drain their souls or whatever, but that's besides the point really"

"That's because you're the only one alive who is so insane you treat the Underworld as a second home, act like the gods aren't actual gods, and have a new insane idea every other week. You think of stuff no one alive is crazy enough to actually try" I mean, she's right, that's kind of the reason why it's so easy, I'm the first guy out there going around collecting Blessings like their a stamp ticket to get a free breakfast.

Sure, one or two people try to get a blessing from a god, but that's boring and single minded, when I could just get one from basically every god! I have plans after all, and so far I'm pretty proud of myself, I've gotten a blessing from every god I've interacted with bar Poseidon himself, and that's because I didn't need it at the time when I was talking to him.

"People are just cowards who are scared of being vaporized for speaking out of turn" She just sighed.

"That's not being a coward, that's having common sense"

"I don't see how those things are different?"

"You're insane"

"I prefer mentally inclined to greatness"

"I prefer when you don't make a game within your cabin to see which kid can steal the most stuff from other cabins"

"Why not? They're the kids of the God of Thieves, plus half of them suck at it anyways! It's why they need the practice"

"They can't slip in and out of shadows like you can, that's not the same as being bad, and you have like... superman senses, you literally are impossible to sneak up on"

"I'd hope so, I got beat up by a big wolf woman for ten months to get that skill"

"You're hopeless" I just smiled at the fond but exasperated tone of her voice.

It made me feel a bit better about all this. But it didn't make it easier either... I knew who the traitor was now, it's why I was out here, I was thinking about just what I was going to do with this information. It was... more challenging than I thought it was going to be.

After all, how do I tell my best friend, that one of her siblings is a traitor?

And even with knowing who it is, how long am I going to hold onto this information, how many am I willing to let possibly die, to let the traitor keep spilling secrets to the Titans, just to get what I want...

The answer was uncomfortable for me.

Because it was as many as it took, and then I'd look at Silena, and wonder what she would do, and how she'll react in the end, to the deaths and misery, wondering who is to blame, and I'll know it's all on me.

I didn't really mind letting people die to further my own goals, I didn't feel a thing when dozens died on that plane just because I was on board of it. But I didn't like the idea of upsetting my best friend by letting people die either.

It was weird, and it wasn't really empathy, I still didn't care about the greater good, that was just something I said to further my plans, but Silena wasn't the greater good, she was my friend and I didn't want her to be hurt, emotionally or not. I also didn't really want any of the other campers to get hurt to be honest, I'd probably even be sad about it, I know I'd be sad about it...

So I continued to think, and plan, and wait for a moment to do something, on the end of the lake, as Silena eventually stood up after a while and walked away. My mind swirling with thoughts and ideas for a long... long time, before I eventually gave up and went back to making the water do funny shapes, it made me feel better, and I thought think more about just where my morals should lay later.

I had a check list started, it just all comes down to how many pros and cons end up on the list based on just what was going to be happening in the future.

The next month passed by with a lot of thinking, the Stoll brothers coming back and my position being handed away, and in the end... Nothing changed, I put a lot of thought into it, played out the variables in my head. Silena was going to be the head of her cabin sometime in the next year, the current head was on the way out and shit. But beyond that, it didn't matter, the traitor didn't matter. I knew every move the enemy was going to make, and I knew how to counter them.

The end result of this war already wasn't going to be the same, so any of that knowledge being passed on was pointless to Luke and Chronos.

The traitor staying here wouldn't help of course, but it would hurt as much as someone would think.

But at the same time, Silena wouldn't like that choice, she's really kind and way to nice at times to be honest, but that also means she's a good person to base my moral compass off of, at least when I needed one. So... in the end, the decision was easy enough.

"What the hell! G-get off me psycho!" I just ignored her whines and trying to tell me what to do, as I dragged Drew out of the Aphrodite cabin by her annoyingly perfectly straight hair. I was humming lightly to myself as I moved to the big house, a number of campers looking at me, but the place was hardly filled up during the school year, as I moved up, onto the porch, before pushing the door in.

"Mr. D~! I have a proposal for you~!" Ok, so maybe my morals weren't perfect, and purely because of Silena, but I'm not perfect ok! Plus, how wasn't I suppose to take advantage of this situation?

The form of the god sort of just flickered into place as he stared at me with a raised eyebrow, before his eyes turned to look at the sight of my smiling form with a pissed Drew Tanaka's head gripped in my hand. She was surprisingly weak, and has tried to charm speak me, like, four times now according to my notices. Adriel called her a noisy peacock.

"What Nicole?" He still called me that, I hated it, but that's probably why he did it. I ignored it for the time being and said.

"So what would you give me for rooting out a traitor in the camp that has been feeding information to a certain other traitor and Titan?" Mr. D glanced to Drew, who froze and went pale before instantly trying to squawk and fight from my grip, only to freeze in place and try to scream. Which probably had something to do with the fact that her entire mouth sort of just vanished. Huh, that was actually pretty cool!

"I assume she is the traitor?" I smiled and nodded.

"Yep! I knew there had to be one in camp, and I figured I should probably do something about it. Took a bit, but spotting lies is kind of my thing... One of my things" He just flickered his eyes back and forth before sighing.

"And I assume you expect a reward for doing something any other would do for nothing?" I gave a slight shrug and said.

"I mean, I do have a collection going if you're willing to help the cause" He just sighed, but there was a gleam in his eyes as he said.

"Do you know why I like you Nicole?" I blinked, thrown by the question, because... honestly, no idea, but that didn't stop my answer.

"I assume it's because you like making my life hell at games" He smirked, just a bit before the expression faded as he stared into my eyes, as he spoke.

"No, while that is a nice benefit, it is because you show the strengths of reaches of my domain that my children aren't as often blessed with. I am the God of Madness, and you, Nicole, are mad and contrary in every sense of the word. In every action you do, riling up or back talking gods without fear, of throwing yourself into death sentences one after the other for nothing more but the desire to have fun and to get what you want. It's quite entertaining, everything you do breaks the norm of the boring simply processes of life, frankly put, you inspire chaos and it amuses me... Plus, I'm the patron of your brand of strange, transgender as I believe it's called in this day"

Huh, I had no idea about that last one, but for the rest... Yeah, that sounds about right.

"Cool, so...?" Dionysus sighed before rolling his eyes before snapping his fingers as Drew, who had been trying to escape, vanished from my grip as he said.

"Don't disappoint me. Or anyone else, a lot of eyes are on you and your actions. You're not as slick as you assume yourself to be mortal. Trying to circumvent the the Fates often leads to a quite painful end, more so when you carry so many Gods' names with your actions" I smirked before saying.

"I'll do what I so, and if they want me dead, then they can come and try" The sky cracks with a blistering loud bang of thunder, as Dionysus just huffed, a half smile pulling on his face for just a second, before he reached out and flicked his hand in my direction as he said.

"Madness indeed" And then he vanished in a burst of light that made me have to look away, as I blinked spots out of my vision before grinning. He hadn't seen anything yet, but that warning was quite handy to know. I knew I wasn't exactly subtle for stealthily about what I'm attempting, but it was good to know the grander scope of the situation.

Then I was once more overwhelmed with notice messages.

[Notice: Perk [Dionysus' Blessing] has been granted to user!]

[Notice: Dionysus' Blessing has increased all stats by 3!]

[Dionysus' Blessing]
You've become something of a favorite camper of Dionysus mostly because you're crazy literally all of the time, and he finds it amusing and wonders just how long you'll last before crashing and burning. But for the time being, he's helping you out.
+150% faster leveling in all harvest, fertility and theatrically inclined skills.
-Special Ability [Madness Manipulation] has been gained by [Dionysus Blessing], this ability will now upgrade [Odikinesis]
-You now gain per level forty-five mana instead of thirty-five (This will update to match total level)
-You now gain per level seventy-five Stamina instead of sixty-five(This will update to match total level)

[Notice: Stat [Physical: Strength] has gained more than 100 points! Congratulations! Perk [Herculean Strength] has been unlocked!]

Wait! Pause, stop the clock!

[Adriel: Done? What's up?]

I blinked, forgetting I could actually have that happen for a second before shaking away from the thought as I blinked again... Adreil? Put some points into Dexterity and Constitution until both hit one hundred points exactly?

[Adriel: Uh? Ok? Here]

[Notice: Stat [Physical: Dexterity] has gained more than 100 points! Congratulations! Perk [Swift Foot of Achilles] has been unlocked!]

[Notice: Stat [Physical: Constitution] has gained more than 100 points! Congratulations! Perk [Endurance of Atlas] has been unlocked!]

Holy...

Are you fucking kidding me! I've been on the edge of a whole wave of power ups for months now and I didn't fucking know about it! Are you actually shitting me! What the fuck universe!

I mean, it could be on me for never actually, you know, using any of my stat points in the last year, which isn't exactly what they were for but... NO! Fuck that, and fuck everyone else for my own mistakes!

No wonder I'm so underpowered for my level that Percy can beat me around still even though he's nearly ten levels lower and our skills have to be around the same level at this point! I knew the stat thing was big, but I didn't think it was that big! I would have done that ages ago if I knew about this shit! I have well over a hundred points just sitting around doing nothing!

Did Adriel know?

[Adriel: Yeah? I can see the locked stuff here, well, I see the locks, don't know what's behind them, but I figured you knew and this was just part of one of your weird plans or whatever. It's kind of seems impossible some times to think you don't actually know everything that passes through that terrifying mind of yours. FYI, you'll get another perk for each stat when they hit five hundred]

Five hundred? What the fuck? This is... kind of bullshit and kind of awesome? I don't know how to feel at the moment... At least I know now, so that's something.

Right, whatever, I'm just gonna be happy for the cool power up. Show me what I just got alright Adriel?

[Herculean Strength]
Your strength is near damn legendary, to get this strong just means you've reached another level of power from the average demigod.
-The base modifier that makes your stat Strength, is increased by 25%.
Once per day, at the cost of 5,000 Stamina and 4,500 Mana you can increase this bonus to 50% for 1 minute.

[Swift Foot of Achilles]
Your agility and skill over your body's actions is beyond incredible reaching past anything a demigod should be possible of for your age.
-You are now 25% faster and 50% more flexible.
Once per day, at the cost of 5,000 Stamina and 4,500 Mana you can double both the mentioned numbers for 1 minute.

[Endurance of Atlas]
You're built tough, like, incredibly tough, reaching the point past the limit of your human body.
-You take 20% less damage when hurt in some way.
-You now gain an additional twenty Stamina per level.
Once per day, at the cost of 5,000 Stamina and 4,500 Mana you can increase this bonus to 40% for 1 minute.

Huh... That's... insane, literally just insane. Like, twice as crazy as I am.

My strength is literally just twenty-five percent better, like, the points are literally just worth more now. My Strength says it's at one hundred and one, but from a technical stand point, it's more accurate to say it's at one hundred and twenty-six... without a single one of my bonuses... All bonuses applied, that would be about... two hundred. literally double my current strength, and that's without the once per day boost, which by the way is crazy by itself, since with that one minute bonus it becomes about... two-fifty?

Fucking hell, sure it basically uses everything I have but damn.

Next, my Dexterity perk, it's not as insane really, but it's still fucking great, my entire body feels like, super limber now, I'm pretty sure I could do the splits before, but now I think I could do a pretty confident contortionist act. The flat increase to my already sometimes insane speed was great, thought I doubt out of the three, I'll be spending the power points to use that one minute boost, it could still come in handy for sure.

And finally there is Constitution, and... holy hell, from a normal stand point, you'd think it isn't that crazy, but that's a flat twenty percent reduction to everything that would hurt me. That means, I'll be breaking so many less bones from now on! That's so fucking great, and I can boost that to what is basically halving all damage I'm taking, which added onto just how much pain and damage I can take and still going normally, I'm basically twice as annoying to kill now.

Not to mention the incredible boost it gives to my Stamina, it's not that insane, but any amount it really freaking good and I'll take without hesitation, but the clear best part is the damage reduction.

But now the question becomes do I burn through the rest of my points to get as many perks as possible? Adriel?

[Adriel: You have 6 stats left, to get them all to one hundred each would take 153 points, you have 122 currently]

Hmm... Decisions, decisions...

Ok, assuming I don't care about Luck and Perception, since one is good enough, and the other gets like, sixteen points every ten levels from me just being me, how many points do I need for the rest?

[Adriel: 94, you'll be left with 28]

That isn't really a lot, if I need a boost to my physical stats during a fight, if, I genuinely need that boost, then I don't think that twenty-eight points would manage it... Hmm... Fuck it. Put as much in as needed for Power and Control. I genuinely don't really need more stuff in my Mental stats, and Wisdom is only for Spirit which I don't really need much of on any day really, I have enough to do what I need for the most part.

[Adriel: Cool, you got 72 points left over, I'mma skip the notices and just show the perks]

[Magical Prowess of Graeae]
Your blood wasn't meant to hold the strength of super powerful magic strength, skill and winning is what you were made for, but you don't care about that, and gained power in magic baffling for your standing all the same.
-You now gain an additional 25 Mana per Power stat point.
Once per day, at the cost of 5,000 Stamina and 4,500 Mana, all skills that use Mana gain fifteen levels for 1 minute.

[Skillful Control of Circe]
The skill and control in which you use your magic is outstanding, for a child of Nike, you're natural abilities are closer to that of a child of Hecate.
-All skills that use some form of supernatural power now cost 15% less to use
Once per day, at the cost of 5,000 Stamina and 4,500 Mana you can increase this bonus to 30% for 1 minute.

Oh my fuck... My... Holy shit... I... Well, in simple terms, I am full! Like, a double stuffed Oreo of power.

Look at this shit!

Mana Points: 7,845/7,845

That number just basically doubled, it used to be barely four thousand, but the amount I got per mana point shot up to almost double what it had been before, and that's where most of my points come from.

Basically, I just gained over three thousand points in Mana... And I still have less than half of Percy Jackson's Mana and a third of his Stamina, but I was also a fuckton stronger than I just was so... I felt pretty damn good about myself if I must say so!

All in all, I felt pretty great. So of course it's then that I remembered that I now had to tell Silena I just sentenced her sibling to basically certain death under the council of Olympus's judgement...

I could just not tell her? No, then she'd get all angry and stuff for me not telling her and I don't really want to deal with that... Whelp, my good mood has vanished!

Fuck!

I really didn't think this through!

"You- You! You bastard!" I probably deserved the punch across the face, as I felt my head snap to the side, as I blinked away the faint spots and looked back at Silena, who already had tears trialing down her eyes, as she moved forwards, pushing harshly against my chest that would send full grown men flying, forcing me back a step, as she slammed her hands against my chest and kept screaming.

"Why! Why!" I opened my mouth to say something, before stopping, as she hit my chest against, the hatred pooling from her, the hate, sadness, betrayal, and distraught pain I felt from her words, literally felt through my powers. I didn't... get it, not really, I don't think I was capable of really understanding just what she was feeling from the view of a normal person. But I still could feel her emotions, from Styx's Blessing, allowing me to feel a person's emotions through their words, it distant and unconnected to me, but it was real and she probably needed to go through them.

So I let her, as she yelled and wailed, and screamed at me, there was a scene around us, the few people in camp, looking and whispering to each other, as I took the hits, before just reaching forwards, as she began to run out of steam, and placed two hands on her shoulders as she froze as I said simply.

"I'm sorry" She blinked, eyes still coated in tears, as she looked at me, stared into my eyes, before with a look of almost disgust said.

"No you aren't, not for doing it" I... couldn't lie, so I just said.

"Yeah, I'm not" She scoffed, wiping angrily at her eyes before saying with an icy tone.

"She's dead, you know that right, you killed her, she could have just stopped! We could have talked to her, done something!" That was a point, but...

"Probably, but this was the fastest most viable option, the gods would have learned at some point anyways, and then we would be held in contempt as well. They don't forgive and forget Silena, the second word was out, she would die anyways" I did actually put thought into this, I knew the gods, I probably knew the gods the best out of any mortal alive. I knew what they would do when they learned of her actions, and I had no desire to put Silena or anyone else at risk for just one life.

Silena didn't understand that, as she pushed hard into my chest again, as I winced, she was kind of pounding on the binder where I was already kind of sore.

"What? So because it was the most optimal plan you did it? Without telling me! Telling anyone?! Is that what we are to you? Just... just people to move around to get the most pleasing result?" I frowned, before sighing, looking away for a moment, I was trying to keep calm, but I wasn't the best with tempering my own emotions, and she didn't get it. Finally I looked back and said simply

"Do you honestly want me to answer that?" She looked like I had slapped her, as she took a step back, looking at me like she was seeing someone completely different, it did nothing to help with the anger starting to spark in my chest as she said.

"Yes, I think I do... If... If I've been friends with some pyscho who likes acting like a clown, I'd like to know" I scoffed at that, rolling my eyes, though I couldn't act like the comment didn't hurt a bit, the audacity of it was what really hit me, and it pissed me the hell off. As I felt my face contort into something ugly as every single conversation around us fell in an instant, as I could practically see the faint terror tracing over them all as I said sharply, in a tone I had never used before.

"You wanna know what I think? I think I'm the only damn person in this entire camp that gives a shit! I think we've been at war for months, and I'm the only damn person here who cares and gives enough of a shit to understand it's not fun and games! I gave up months of my life to get stronger, I've talked and taken quests from multiple Gods for just an extra scrap of power, I have traveled countries, been to hell, and got the shit beaten out of me daily for months! And then I come back here, and no one is any stronger, no one is training like their lives depend on it, like they give a shit. I don't see anyone scrambling to be better, to be prepared, I don't see anything but a bunch of people who are so far up their asses that they would rather die than give up a day of arts and crafts to get another sword lesson in. And I get it! I'm not serious, I hate being it, I'm weird and goofy, but I thought I made it damn clear I will do whatever the hell it takes to make sure as many people in this camp can live as possible!"

Silena had backed up, I didn't follow, as I took a deep breath, running out of air, before just sighing, pushing a hand through my annoying hair, and said quietly.

"I hate my body, I hate that my friends could die at any time, I hate a few gods, I hate a lot of stuff, so fucking sue me if I like to act like I'm not constantly thinking about this shit, of making these damn choices, that I try to get comfort in not being serious. So fucking sorry I'm a fucking psycho" I spat the word before marching away, feeling a bit like shit, as the crowd parted away from me as I moved away.

Minutes later, I found myself sitting by the lake, glaring out at the water, for a long, hateful moment, before taking a deep breath before calming my nerves down forcefully.

It wasn't their fault, any of them, they just... pissed me off some times. And Silena didn't help, and sure, I could have handled that better, but fuck that, I'm not here to be tactful and charismatic. I'm here to enjoy as much of life as I can in between when I'm fighting for my life. It's what the campers were doing, but they didn't seem to understand that to be able to have a longer life then they needed to fight for that as well, not just having fun all the damn time.

It's like they just gave up on trying in a way, like, not all of them, but it seemed like they all were already resigned to die before they turned twenty. It was the normal lifespan for a demigod anyways right? So why bother fighting it?

That pissed me the hell off even more to be honest.

I had a cool System and shit sure, but none of the people here were weak. They all were superhumans with so much untapped potential, so many ways that they could be stronger, if they just took the initiative, of going out into the world with a plan and an idea. I was the son of a minor god, I got so much of a disadvantage from that alone, but I was stronger than nearly every camper here because I put my nose to the grind and fucking worked my ass off.

Because I refused on so many levels to be some loser who was resigned to the hand that Fate dealt them. Being resigned was fucking stupid, and if I'm honest with myself, I kind of resent this camp some times for it.

It's just the type of person I am, I can't understand the idea that a person wouldn't want to be the best, to do the most they can in the time they have it. Or how somehow the idea that having fun and training to be stronger or better in some way were somehow just incompatible. I did it all the damn time! I'm stubborn and if I have a goal then I'll finish it until the ends of the Earth, but it's hardly like I'm some super serious buzzkill! I love having fun, of having experiences and meeting people or doing things.

I want to lead the best damn life I can possibly have, and I want to be the damn best person I can be when I'm doing it.

I just... don't get why no one see's this stuff the same way I do.

Whatever, it doesn't matter, plus I told her, Silena can do whatever the hell she wants with that information, the perks of free will and all that. For now... I am going to see just how much cool shit I can do with my new pool of Mana and cost reduction for my skills.

Holding out my hand towards the water, I focused just a bit, and watched as, with more easy than it ever had before, and with much less strain, the water rose into the air, spinning about in a tendril of liquid, moving and curving about, like one long line, twisting and looping around itself at my command, until, after a long moment, it became to much to focus on all at once, and the connection snapped as the few dozen gallons of water dropped back into the lake with a splash.

Right then... How about... Focusing against, this time a large blob of shapeless water rose up, before with a grunt of effort, I watched as the liquid began to move, shaping and twisting itself around, compressing and focusing itself until the end result was a long pointed spike, almost like the many Percy had summoned with half a thought during our little match. It wasn't as... perfect or strong though.

So I focused and watched as it continued to condense and tighten into an almost perfect replica of the spike, before I gasped a bit as it became to much to hold in shape as the water once more crashed to the ground as I leaned back, a bit tired from the drain, as I stared up at the tree above me, waiting a moment for my Mana to slowly begin to regen enough to try another big thing, thoughts moving in and out of my mind, when something struck me.

If Dionysus was the Patron God of Trans people... then why the hell does he actively misgender and call me what could be my dead name?

Huh, he's just a massive fucking asshole isn't he?

The following week was weird, and tense, no one actively seemed to want to talk to me, which I guess I had coming, Silena was avoiding me, and I got forcefully removed from the Aphrodite cabin's front lawn when I tried to hang about to see her, by her siblings. So that wasn't fun.

It was honestly kind of annoying and a bit insulting actually, but whatever.

Dionysus was gone for a while, but showed up by the end of the week, didn't say anything, even when asked, but it clear what happened in the end. The camp was quiet after that for the next week, no one really waned to talk about it, and it was the only thing to talk about, so no one talked about anything.

I stopped trying after that, wasn't worth it, and public opinion of me has tanked like a brick. Fuck them I guess, last time I'll be the nice and moral person that's for sure.

Currently, since it was clear I wasn't wanted, I was planning out my next trip. Hades has already taken his kids out of the casino, they were enrolled into that military school at the moment, and when winter comes, the third book will start... It means I have two months where I don't have to be here, taking this shit. I had wanted to be here, and I would like to stay, but I wasn't some damn social pariah.

I said my opinion, my thoughts on the stuff that's been happening, and if they want to punish me for my own thoughts, for doing the best thing when I didn't have to, then they all can go fuck themselves, I don't need to be here until December, and better yet, I suddenly didn't want to be here until December.

Dionysus sort of just let me do whatever the hell I wanted, so getting permission from him was easy.

I didn't bother with a goodbye to anyone, didn't see the point, not like I had anyone to say goodbye to at the moment anyways. So I just packed my bag with somethings and headed off. I didn't need much to get by, never have, but I liked collecting, even if I'd never probably use them, I liked having things, it's why I have so many knives even if I'm sadly more a sword person these days, as horrid as it was to admit to myself, I was sadly cursed with the body of a small girl, and therefore I didn't exactly have a long reach to make the daggers work as much as I would like them to, and the sword compensated against that disadvantage the best.

Anyways, I have a little less than two months, that's plenty of time to get everything set up for my next and most recent plan.

After all, since I had so much free time, I've put more thought into the Stygian Iron thing I've been messing around with, and I had an idea on just how I can make use of the metal to it's fullest. Or at least the fullest it can be until my Control gets five times greater, and I'd be able to control the released the Mana coming from the stored metal.

Let's just say my idea for using the metal bars for grenades isn't that bad, just not... focused enough on what it could be.

But as it stands, I have no where near the amount of skill to be able to pull the build off, and since I don't thinking living children of Hephaestus can work with Stygian Iron without slowly dying from holding it, it's time to head on back to the Underworld for a bit. Plus, I had a few conversations I wanted to have with some of the people down there, so it's all good.

Plus, I wanna say hi to my Grandmother.

Ok, fun chapter right? I was actually planning on keeping the Stat Perks for later power ups, but then I accidently gave Nick to many points, and his Strength breached the threshold I assigned, and changing it to 150 didn't make sense, so here we are. Past that, Nick doesn't really understand the emotions thing all the time, in fact he's kind of clueless about them when it isn't coming from a manipulative standpoint, which is fun. Past that, Dionysus actually is the Patron of Trans and intersex people, I was looking into his stuff to find a cool fact or whatever to link him to Nick to show the reasons why they sorta kind of, maybe get along on a good day. And I stumbled across that on the Percy Jackson wiki, and then researched the story behind it in more depths, it's pretty interesting, but to condense it, Dionysus had to hid his own gender and cross-dressed when he was a child for his own safety, when he was still just a lowly demigod who hadn't ascended yet, and as such, that position sort of just fell onto him in this canon. Pretty neat right? I thought so. Past that, Silena, she's a fourteen year old girl going through an insanely stressful time in her life, while in a war, and just learned her best friend just basically gave her sister a death sentence without her even being talked to.

She has every right to be pissed, it's just Nick also has his own shit going on, and the two don't really... communicate healthily, or at least Nick avoiding actually talking about his feelings and what he's thinking about like the plague if he can help it. Doesn't change the fact that Nick is clearly in the wrong, he just killed a child basically, thinking somehow it was the more moral of the two options, because he doesn't really have proper morals, and like Silena said, sorta sees people as things to move around to get the best result. He basically sees the most moral option as the one that saves the most people, he thinks morality is more a numbers game than a state of mind. It's kind of fucked up, but then again, he's kind of fucked up, and I've done nothing to discourage that image. Anyways, the rant is over, I'll talk more about the Stygian Iron thing next chapter when it's resolved cause this whole end note is taking way to much space up as it stands. See ya.