Teaching Demigods of Camp Half-Blood Part 2
Percy looked at the gathered demigods. Everyone already awakes, even though it is the ungodly hour of eight in the morning. The reason for it is simple. They are too excited to learn about Celestial energy.
-Flashback-
"Who told you about Celestial energy?" the son of Poseidon asked, his mind already thinking about the three possible culprits, his eyes already on them, making them shiver.
As he asked the question, the two members of the group of his first students pointed to the only child of Big Three. The said child looked at the other two with a betrayed look on her face. He's going to have a 'word' with the daughter of Zeus. For now, he should tell them a part of it.
"Celestial energy is an energy that in every single thing, from the air surrounding us, to plants and rocks, to humans and even gods. Every being had some of it. And they all had the ability to harness its power if they could sense it.
For example, I'm able to travel 50 mph for 2 hours straight without any rest, using Celestial energy to stop me from getting tired. I can also become stronger, and faster when I use it. There are other ways to use it but that will be for tomorrow. Now, you should get some rest," After he finished, he created Hydro Tendril and grabbed Thalia, the other two already performing prayer for their soon to be a dead member.
-Flashback ended-
The campers looked at him, excitement on their faces. He wondered whether it will remain or gone when they learn what they need to do be even able to sense it. As everyone slowly looked at him, he decided it was the best time to begin his lecture.
"Celestial energy, like I tell you yesterday, is energy that inside and around every single being, it can be harnessed and used, though you had to sense it first before thinking about controlling it. I'm going to show you what Celestial energy, in the hand of an expert, can do."
Percy started the motion that will be used by every beginner learning the technique, his hands moved in the opposite direction to each other, his left hand moved upward and slowly to the right while the right hand is the opposite.
While the demigods don't understand the significance of the action at the beginning, they slowly realise it when they saw the air glowed and flickered before Percy shouted, "Celestial Energy Technique: Wall" and pushed both his hands forward, the energy moved until it stopped, forming a transparent wall.
Thalia then showed how strong the wall actually is by throwing a powerful lightning bolt at the wall, the lightning stopped by the wall and exploded as it hit the wall, the wall showed no sign of damage besides a mere flicker before stabilizing in its transparent state.
"What I did earlier is gathering Celestial energy. Some powerful techniques require a huge amount of Celestial energy, some don't need that much, by concentrating on gathering it can make the Celestial energy to move the way you wanted to," he demonstrated by lifting a fist, CE gathered around it, before punching the ground, creating a crater in the process.
"Besides your body, you can use Celestial energy on your weapon or to strengthen your power," he walked backwards, both Thalia and Luke moved to his former spot. Thalia raised her hand, a dagger made of wind slowly formed, the tell-tale sign of CE shown while Luke did the same, just with a Celestial Bronze sword with the same sign of Thalia.
After they showed the transformation their weapons undergo, they started to clash blades, wind against metal. The others couldn't believe their eyes. Somehow, a non-solid object can hold against Celestial bronze, the only metal that can kill monsters.
The spar continued for a few minutes before they both stop and put down their weapon. After that, they walked to the back while Percy came forward. "That's what Celestial energy can do to your power, it can make it stronger, the same with weapons.
Celestial energy can also be used in other ways," he ushered to Luke, who came forward. Luke raised his sword and made a slashing motion, which made the others dumbfounded before the boulder in front of him (where did that come from?) split into two, which turned the dumbfounded looks into shock ones.
"That's what Celestial energy can do I you can control it. Unfortunately, the way to control it is the thing as how to unlock and use your godly power. You need to concentrate and not let your mind wander when you started. But, after you become used to it, you can control it in many ways. I won't show you yet. Pass the first step first before you can take the next one,"
The demigods had become excited when Percy explained about CE. That excitement turned to dismay when they learned they had to increase their concentration which mean that they have to meditate. Truly a horrible world they have to live in.
They looked at him, before looking at the things behind him. Lo and behold, the 'three sticks from Hades' (patented by the campers) stood behind him, ready to be unleashed upon the demigods.
"You should know what you need to do. Find a spot and start meditating. If you do something wrong, the 'sticks' will come after you. You should get yourself ready in 5 minutes," at the end of his speech, the campers rushed to find the best spot, while some grabbed a yoga mat to cushion them.
In 5 minutes, the demigods all sit down and start to meditate, calming themselves while focusing on the spiritual and mental levels. He watched them before silently, moved his hand and moved the CE to the campers.
While it wouldn't make them able to use CE immediately, it will help them condition themselves and allowed them to sense it early. The earlier they can sense the mystical energy, the faster is it for them to start to control it.
He focused on their CE, sensing several started to subconsciously attract it to their vicinity, the counsellors the ones that attract the most, which show how terrifying their potentials are when they learned to control CE.
It will take them a long time, maybe weeks, even months before they can control it, much less the level the trio is currently at. The process will be slow, but rewards will be worth it for them. He swore that in one month, they will be able to use their innate power and CE.
The campers currently resting, the sun already on its way to set. After the unbearable meditation session, which all of them admitted will likely make them go crazy, well, crazier, before they could even learn more from their teacher.
Their teacher had told them to take a lunch break, most doing that, with some going to the cabin to have a breakdown or just nap. The fact that they had to remain still for nearly a few hours is more than enough for some to take a frankly justified sleep.
The counsellors currently sat with each other at Poseidon Table, along with the trio and the only son of Poseidon himself. The demigod had held them back and told them to sit with him, saying they should discuss some things. Not wanting to anger him, and it might be helpful, they all agree.
While sitting at the other cabin's table is not allowed, it seemed Chiron allowed it, or Percy just don't care that much about the rule. 50/50 on that one. Currently, they are eating, with their teacher consume foods at an amount that should be impossible of someone his age and size.
Considering that they already finished their meal, they seemed out of place, looking like a bunch of idiots watching a kid eating his food. Deciding the awkwardness started to become unbearable, Matt asked his little sister about CE, hoping to remove the awkward atmosphere in the process.
"Annabeth, do you have any idea how to use Celestial energy with our mother's domain?" thankfully, the question removed the awkwardness, though it was answered by Luke.
"Yup, she had ideas and was able to use some of them, but you shouldn't think about learning about that yet. You are not even in the first step of learning how to control Celestial energy. Don't run before you can walk yet."
While Matt felt like he was being looked down on, he knew that Luke is right. They just learned about its existence yesterday, and just start learning how to sense it, not use it, today. Trying to learn about the advanced techniques could be disastrous, but only if he tried it, something he will not do now! He was just curious about what he could possibly do, that's all.
Annabeth seemed to know what he was thinking, replying to Luke's words on the behalf of his half-brother, "Luke, my older brother just asked out of curiosity. He's not stupid to actually do what he just learned,"
Luke just nodded. Arguing with Annabeth is not a battle he will win. Besides, she had a point, what kind of idiot used the power they learned and tried to use it in the real battle without any training.
(Percy fought the urge to sneeze. He couldn't help but think about his own experience when he learned about his power over water and how he used it when he didn't even train with it yet. And when he learned he could control the earth. And wind. And lightning. And when he gets the blessings from Hestia, Pan and Khione.
It's a good thing he thought them the basics because there is bound to be a couple of idiots that will try to do the most powerful techniques. Either out of curiosity or pride, either way, it will be a stupid thing to do.)
Annabeth answered her brother's question properly this time. "Our mom is a war goddess, so they kind the same with Ares in the way to use that domain. Our mom is also the goddess of crafting, so we can use that. Of course, the wisdom part of our mom. I still not sure what I can do yet but it will be great,"
Matt shook his head at the little girl's excitement, he patted her head and said, "That's what we here for right? To learn from your scary and very powerful teacher that I believe is a god," a 'I'm not a god' was heard from behind the pile of food, but was ignored.
"Yup, but I think Percy make all of us sit at one table so we could talk with each other," a surprisingly insightful comment from the youngest person at the table. The others at the table looked at each other, was that the reason their teacher gathered them here?
"Make sense, Percy never liked giving straight answers. He wanted us to think outside the box, so we could learn to think more clearly without his guidance and created our own techniques and use our abilities in more creative ways." Thalia gave her two cents about the reason.
"So, he wanted all of us to talk with each other?" asked the very confused Billy. The others had the same look on his face. It was Luke who helped to make them see the reasons.
"It's because outside of you asking us about how to use your power and Celestial energy, we don't really talk to each other. He probably wanted us to share our thoughts, opinions and our way of becoming stronger so everyone will get some benefits." The counsellors could see what Luke was talking about and it showed how smart he actually is.
"He wanted us, counsellors, to be here because we are the leaders of our cabin. Our siblings looked at us for guidance and learned from us. By having the counsellors gather and discussed what we learned, we could take each other inputs and teach everything we got, from the Percy and the discussions, and teach them to our siblings."
Matt's explanation almost made them subconsciously gulp. If what Matt said is what their teacher wanted them to do, it doesn't just talk about how smart Matt is, that is a given considering his godly parent. It also talks about how terrifyingly smart their teacher is.
Percy, while being more powerful than the entire camp saved for Mr D himself, is still a child, a nine-year-old child to be more precise. To think, he actually thought about it, it seems unbelievable, but they couldn't help but believe it, even if it's a small part.
Percy should be called a genius, someone who discovered the energy around them and gives it a name. He then learned how to manipulate the energy to the point they believe he could fight an entire monster army and win without a scratch by just using it.
That's not talking about his other feats. His mastery over many weapons can make him be considered a prodigy. Especially the swords. His skills in dual-wielding are beyond even the best combatant in the camp, as shown when he trounced everyone in the capture the flag.
Not to mention his greatest power, his ability to control seven different elements. At the capture-the-flag, he merely used his geokinesis, cryokinesis, phytokinesis, and hydrokinesis. And that was sparing. What if he had used his full power, how strong would he actually be?!
Before they could walk deeper into that landmine, they hear a clap from the pile of plates. They looked to see their teacher smiling from behind the towers of plates.
"Looks like you guys understand why I made you sit at the same table. Yes, I want you to talk with each other, get ideas from other people and so on. You can't just depend on me. Having others to talk to will help you evolve your ideas and ways to use both your powers and Celestial energy, that's the reason for this,"
The counsellors were dumbfounded. They had assumed their teacher planned this little change of seating to educate them but to hear he actually plan it; they shared a similar thought but were too afraid to say it. Except for a single person.
"So, are you actually a god that likes to train demigods so they can survive," James, who clearly had zero self-preservation asked. A loud shout of "I'm not a god" was heard even at the other side of the camp.
The others at the table looked at him, unconvinced of the son of Poseidon's words. They decided to let it go, even though they still believe him to be a god of some kind. They ignored his annoyed expression, better not let him be angry or their lives will be Hades.
Percy looked at them before sighing in frustration, before ushering the counsellors to stand in front of him. He said, "Get the rest of your siblings ready by 3. At that time, I want everyone to be in front of the forest. Don't be late or you will have a special appointment with 'Huge Stick'"
As he mentioned the biggest and scariest of the 'Sticks Trio', the counsellors shivered before they vanish, no, they just run so fast that he almost missed them. Look like mentioning the sticks will make things go faster. He took note of that, it will certainly help in the future.
By 3 in the afternoon, the campers all gathered in front of the forest, unsure of the training for today. Nonetheless, they knew they shouldn't underestimate the training the son of Poseidon had in mind. Soon, Percy emerges from the forest.
When their teacher walked in front of them, they stopped chattering among themselves and paid attention to what the demigod in front of them was about to say. He looked at them, seemingly scanning everyone before nodding, hopefully in approval.
"Yesterday, we had a reflex training. Today, we will focus on endurance. I already set a trail for you to follow. But you must run, or at least jog. The trail also had some obstacles I made, along with traps help make you aware of your surroundings.
There will be times that I will attack you, mostly blasting you with Hydro Bullet or using my other elements to make you fall. Of course, to make sure that you actually not walk, I prepare a little thing to chase you," as he said 'little thing', a massive shadow emerged from the forest, its height at least a little shorter compared to the Big House.
The being, a creature look-like a combination of cat, elephant, and yak, made out of a weird combination of earth, water and plant, growled at the gathered demigods, causing some to actually fainted, while most paled as their eyes landed on the being's body.
Percy casually pets the thing's cat-like head, causing it to lean at the hand, clearly enjoying the attention. "This is Goliath. He will move at his own pace, faster than a human's walking speed, but not enough to outrun a running person. So, you can easily run past him as long you actually running,"
The demigods actually felt relief at their teacher's admission. As long they keep their pacing, they can avoid the being. Alas, it's Percy, so their relief didn't last too long when he continued, "If he caught you, this will happen," he casually took a training dummy, most likely from the arena, before throwing it to the weird amalgamation of a being.
What happened to the dummy is so horrible that some demigods fainted, some fainted for the second time, to the fate the dummy forced too. What relief they had is currently replaced by fear and terror, their eyes shifting between the being? and teacher, not sure on which one is more terrifying.
"Also, you have to use the trail I made, or I will throw you to Goliath, he will appreciate a snack if you are generous enough," never mind, their teacher is clearly the more terrifying of the two, he is the one who most likely created the horrifying abomination in front of them, the abomination is actually innocent!
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. If someone pushed somebody and made them fall, I will make sure the culprit will get a 'special sparring session' with me. Understand?" he said it with a smile that promised a horrible end for anybody foolish enough to do it.
The campers, very and rightfully scared, nodded quickly, already putting on the top of the list of the thing they should not do. Seeing them answering him quickly made him let out a genuine smile. "Alright, now go to the starting position and get some space, I don't want anyone to shove anybody else, if you want space, try to find it first, now go,"
At his command, the demigods walked into the forest, following their teacher. Unbeknown to them, Percy smiled at the action, at least they were not stupid enough to waste their energy before the exercise actually started. He wondered who will be at the top of the training today.
At the start of the challenge, most of the campers tried to run at their top speed, with a minority actually pacing themselves, some of the braver ones actually stopped moving before jogging back after assessing the speed of the creature.
In 10 minutes, some of the campers that ran at their top speed slowly loses their steam, slowing down to the point if not for the threat of what will happen to them if the monster caught up to them, they will stop and faint.
Alas, they couldn't keep running after expending their energy during the first few minutes. By the 20 minutes mark, someone dropped to the ground, followed by the monster grabbing them with a tendril of water, before throwing them inside its mouth.
Witnessing someone actually get 'eaten', though everyone knew that the fate of the people inside is much worse, caused some that started to slow down to look like they have extra energy. They slowly distance themselves from the monster, who started to move to the demigods.
Meanwhile, for the eaten demigods, they had to suffer a fate almost as bad as death itself. At least, in their opinion. They were stuck inside a small room, cramped with the others. Someone's legs are on somebody else rib while a head was stuck between two rear ends.
They also, besides the very awkward positions, had to suffer bouncing inside the beast's belly. Some almost puked, if not for the fact that puking on children of Aphrodite will result in a very horrible thing happening to them.
As times when on, more people were thrown into the monster's belly, stuck inside the thing that was almost as bad as the Field of Punishment, at least there they can move somewhat. The people inside sincerely hope that the exercise will end soon.
The current survivors, which is about 20 demigods, they currently outrunning the monsters, though they could swear it got bigger. Maybe because of the demigods it 'eaten'. Thankfully, it also meant that it is much slower too, so they can jog slower.
Still, the situation is not ideal, they currently fatigue and slowly slow down to a speed that the monsters can catch up to them. Discussing plans is nearly impossible while they were running, but their teacher strived for the impossible so they should too.
"So, what should we do? I don't think we can keep running any longer." James asked between his breaths, moving beside Matt, who is in the same spot as he is.
"Not sure besides running for our damn lives," said Jessica bitterly, her stamina is much better compared to the counsellors of the war gods' cabin. Considering her father it made sense, though they which she at least gave an idea.
"I'm not sure if I'm correct but I had an idea," Billy, who unsurprisingly still not out of breath, exclaimed. Being the son of the god of traveller sure has its perks.
"As long as it had a chance of working, lay it down for us," Kerry, who for sometimes created a bunch of plants to tangle with Percy's abomination, shouted. The fatigue is getting that bad if the normally calm daughter of Demeter actually yelled.
"What if we attack the monster?" the incredulous looks he head show how stupid the idea really is.
"Actually, it might work," the looks turned to the last possible person that should say that. Matt ignored the look in preference of actually explaining it.
"Think about it, we running from a monster, something that demigods rarely do, we usually run towards them, except when we are greatly overwhelmed or fighting a very strong one," the other actually think about it before they decided some questions need to be asked.
"But aren't we being overwhelmed by it?" an excellent question, which he thankfully had an answer for.
"If we fight it alone or in a small group, yes. But if in a group of 100 demigods, we might stand a chance." The others nodded, agreeing with his assessment.
"But we don't have any weapon, so how do we defeat it?" another important question was asked by the person that suggest they fight the monster, causing Billy to get weird looks thrown at him.
"I have my knife," James said, showing the weapon to the others, "it won't beat it, but we can cut through it and release the others to help take the monster down. Besides, I don't teacher will allow us to defeat him"
Seeing others giving him inquisitive looks, he sighed before carefully explaining, "This supposed to be an endurance exercise, so defeating it will not do much except getting our siblings out. Of course, the chances of some kind of twist are possible but don't get your hope too high,"
The other nodded in agreement, it's not like they don't want to answer him verbally, it's just they already tired and speaking seems to be more tiring. They have no idea how they could actually talk clearly while running a marathon.
They glanced behind them quickly, only to see 5 more getting put inside the creature's mouth. No more running for! Now, it's time to fight!
The guys at the back looked at the group in front of them, seeing they actually had some kind of conversation, judging by how some nodded, or at least they think it's a nod. Then, somebody from the front ran towards the scary towering mass of whatever their teacher threw in there.
They wanted to stop the suicidal idiot before another person, then another jumped at the near eldritch abomination. Before they could collect their thought, somebody yelled at them, "Get your butt here and help release the others," the voice disappears, with a hand suspiciously waving furiously from near the monster's mouth.
They looked at each other before they jumped at the monster, both ADHD and heroic instinct are culprits for their actions, or so they like to think. Some carried knives while others tried to drag the monster down.
Percy shook his head at the stupid action. What on Gaia are they thinking?! How could a group of 15 demigods bring down a house-sized monster with only their own weight?! At least some actually thinks things through and already stabbed his monster's gut, slowly opening a hole, hands, legs and heads coming out of it like some kind of horror movie.
The demigods near the stomach dragged themselves out. Some tried to orient themselves, shaking their heads in an attempt to dispel the queasiness. Others looks alright before they turned green and ran toward the nearest bush, letting out whatever they had for lunch before.
As more demigods came out of the stomachs, the rescuers looked at the monster, ready to bolt when it come for them. Instead, it lay down, the 'wound' suspiciously grow, letting more demigods escape its belly.
Percy suddenly appeared beside the monster, patting its head. "Oh no, the monster is badly injured, it will go hide and heal its wound. After it done healing, it will come for you, so better take the time to rest before it chases all of you,"
As he said that, the monster walked somewhere, before vanishing behind the treeline. The campers looked at the direction it went to, before after making sure it will not come back, slumped themselves in relief.
Percy looked at them before his eyes stopped at the counsellors, the one responsible for leading the charge against the monster, even if the remaining demigods didn't know of it.
"You have 20 minutes or so to rest. After that, Goliath will come after you. In the meantime, I wanted to congratulate the one that attack and free the others from Goliath's belly. Now, I wanted to make sure you understand that this is an endurance exercise so attacking the monster would usually make me punish you in some way.
However, the monster is not actually needed. I can just chase after you, or just grabbed someone that fall or collapse. The monster is to show what it's like if a monster chasing you. If it's not dangerous you can fight it. But if you meet a more powerful or many monsters, running away is the most likely option you can take.
But, running away can be dangerous, if you show your back to the one coming after you. If the monsters had weapons they can throw, like spears or rocks, or monsters that can move faster than you can actually run.
Fighting at that time might be the safest option you had. While I don't plan to put the hidden test yet, with most of you already inside Goliath, it is actually the smartest thing you can do. So, for everyone, that attack first will get 10 points, while the rest that follows will get 5 points,"
"What's the point for?" a son of Athena asked, something Percy eager to answer, "Think about it like a currency, if you have a certain number of points, you can ask for something that worth that much point,"
"So, it's kind of like drachma or money?" the same person asked, receiving a nod from Percy, "Yes, but it is mostly worthless when taken outside, but inside the camp, you can get many things, mostly from me. If you have enough points, you can even ask me for a favour,"
At his words, the campers looked at him in interest, "Of course, the number of points for that will be a lot, but we can discuss everything later when I finish making the point system with Chiron," his statement is true, he had discussed with the centaur about the point system and the old trainer, while sceptical, agreed with his suggestion.
He looked at the chain watch he has before told his cute students a 'wonderful' new, "Looks like your rest time is up. Goliath, sic' em!" the monster quickly got into a walking stance. The campers, realising their predicament, quickly and dignifiedly run away.
It will be another 40 minutes before the last student was caught. To both the surprise and delight of the campers, Goliath didn't let the demigods stay inside its stomach, it will release them from its back after a bit of spinning inside, throwing them for Percy to catch, who then dropped them into the pool. It might be zero degrees in there, but at least better than being stuck inside a washing machine in a loop cycle.
In the end, he got his answer. The last person to drop is Billy, the head counsellor of Hermes Cabin. He congratulated him, before telling them they can rest and the night activity will be light. At his word, the demigods vanished from his view. He couldn't care less. After all, they still have a long time before he finished with them.
(The campers shivered at something like they were in for a long time of misery)