Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 17– Onto The Next Quest!

My days passed in a blur of activity. Normally I would've left the camp long ago to explore the world and throw my newly Increased weight around, but things were a little more complicated in my life.

Zeus met me two more times in the next few months, and repeatedly warned me to become as strong as I can before my 13th birthday. Why? Because the gods would start hunting me then.

Typical.

A large part of my time was also spent in researching the golden fleece but the thing was lost a long long time ago.

The only clue I had was the disappearance of satyrs who follow a trail of strong healing magic in search for pan. But if I wanted to leave for this quest, it meant I'll have to cross the sea of monsters, the domain of Poseidon. Naturally, I was quite averse to this idea.

Another noticeable thing that happened after summer ended was Anna leaving for her home like many of the other demigods.

"I truly am sorry for leaving you alone, dear leader. In such trying times too! I have been a very bad right-hand, will you punish me for that?" Anna teased as we walked down the half-blood hill.

I snorted at the foolish girl. "You know what, Anna? Maybe I will. You have been a very bad girl for the last few weeks."

She gasped. "My, the leader's grown claws now! They sure grow up so fast..."

"Yeah, you'll know all about growing up wouldn't you Anna?" I replied with a smirk, looking her up and down.

I felt a little embarrassed as my eyes fell upon her chest though, which was just ridiculous. I've teased her about it quite a few times.

The girl reacted worse than me, and actually blushed before pushing me aside. Well, trying too push me aside but failing. "You are no longer cute, my dear leader."

It was true though, the now 17 year old girl had indeed grown even more... voluptuous.

"You are coming back for the next summer though, aren't you?" I asked.

She hesitated, and that was all I needed to realize that this might be the last time I'll see her.

"I...don't know, kael." She replied uncertainly, confirming my fears. "I would love to spend my time here but my parents are scared. As are many other demigod's parents. This was supposed to be a summer camp, a safe haven for us to train and grow. Getting trapped for more than a year while fighting for your life wasn't part of the plan."

I sighed. Another friend lost in less than a year.

She must've heard it cause her hand came to rest down on my shoulder. "Don't worry, my valiant leader. I'll come back for a few days at least, only to visit you if I must."

Suddenly she stopped walking, turning to me with a frown. "Why don't you join my school, kael? You can't keep fighting monsters for the rest of your life, you know? I also have a little sister your age. You can try and have a normal life and do stuff that a nine year old should."

"Isn't that what you've been trying to make me do for the past year?" I asked shooting a knowing smile at her, and enjoying the surprise on her face.

Indeed, Anna has been looking out for me since the beginning. I just never realized it cause I've been so caught up in my own messed up life. Her teasing and bantering, her insistence to play silly games with me, and do stupid things to make me relax.

The girl was trying her best to make me enjoy my life like a nine year old should, probably so I can cope with being in such a stressful situation. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't a nine year old, so her attempts had fallen flat and just irritated me.

I once even thought that she was just trying to make my life harder so she can show everyone I wasn't capable of being a leader. Of course that wasn't the case, but I didn't have the wisdom to understand what the girl was trying to do. Now I did, and I appreciated her presence even more.

"You are too smart for your own good, my cute little leader." She said, mussing up my silken blonde hair. "And you should get a haircut soon, or people would start thinking you're a girl."

"With a physique like this?" I asked, knocking on my chest.

I hadn't grown any true muscles yet but my body was tall and strong, and looked the part of it. Being an angel has its perks I guess.

"A broad shouldered girl then." Anna stubbornly insisted. "You are pretty enough that people will overlook the figure."

"I couldn't care less about the opinions of anyone checking out a nine year old's figure." I replied, before smirking up at her. "Unless it's you, of course. You are free to bask in my divine presence."

I dodged her half-hearted swat easily, before glancing down the farm road. "Are they yours?" I asked, pointing towards a parked family car.

"Yeah." She responded quietly, her smile dying down.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

She didn't reply for a few seconds before turning towards me and bending down to my height.

"I'm going to miss you." She said, her hands enveloping me in a tight hug.

Startled, my hands closed around her neck automatically. "You, the camp, and everything we've gone through in the last year..."

I felt her impressive bust pressing on my chest softly and had to kick myself in my mind to focus. Now wasn't the time to enjoy that, I could think about it when I'm alone.

What!? No! I meant, it wasn't appropriate thinking about my friend like that. Yeah...friend. what the hell was wrong with me seriously?

I cleared my throat before speaking. "I could come visit you sometimes if you give me your...ah.. address?"

"I'd like that." She replied, shooting me a watery smile.

Then She didn't just give me her address, but also her number, her school address, the address of the college she was going to be admitted in, and the address of two other houses in two different cities. Both of which her family owned cause they were hella rich. Great.

I absently walked back up the hill alone, watching Anna hug her stepmom as the rest of her family surrounded her. I felt a secondhand happiness for my friend. It seemed nice, getting surrounded by family, knowing they care for you enough to come pick you up from a camp that was surrounded by an army of monsters not long ago. It reminded me of Gabriel, but of course she was much better than any family could hope to be.

I saw Anastasia looking back towards me and wave, while her family was squinting to see where I was. Suddenly I felt conscious about what I was wearing (self-made clothes) before I realized they actually can't see me at all.

I waved back to Anna, and marveled upon the fact on how bad a mortal's eye sight is. With a last wave, I turned around completely and made for the camp, flying closely to the ground.

I wondered why I was suddenly feeling so...awkward. Did puberty hit me extra early because of my parent's genes? I hoped not. I didn't like being anything less than the most confident person in the room. I especially did not like the idea of behaving like a hormonal teen, stuttering and blushing in front of every girl. Just the thought left me feeling such utter shame and disgust that I felt something steering in me.

I am son of Zeus, the king of Olympus. I have the blood and power of a fucking god and an angel, I've lived two lives, and in this life I was born to lead and dominate! And I will not act like a puberty stuck mortal!

"I Will Not." I refused petulantly before realising what just happened.

'Oops, didn't mean to do that. Guess I got a little too passionate. But how does this skill even work? I haven't been able to perform this skill even once after that first time, no matter how hard I tried.'

[Skill Leveled Up: Divine Authority] Lvl 2

...Never mind. I totally meant to do that.

Things quietened a lot after July hit, with so many demigods leaving, the camp's population was cut down by half, with barely above 30 demigods still hanging around.

The life returned to normal; we were no longer fighting for our lives, satyrs were bringing in some new blood, the Delphi strawberry services were active once again, and the demigods didn't spend their time thinking how to survive. Everything was just fine.

Except for Luke.

That boy seemed to have lost the spark he used to have. He was no longer the fun, sarcastic, and sometimes goofy little teen that I'd spent more than an year with. He was now an edgy, irritable and snappy kid who had trouble sleeping and seemed to be interested in only two things; Swordsmanship and Titan's history.

Our relationship was slowly but surely starting to wilt. Especially when I showed off my newly increased skill with sword.

Luke was still a step ahead of me, at master lvl 3-4 if I had to guess, but it just wasn't enough to give me a big challenge. Even when I used absolutely no active skills, my simple blend of strategy, physical capabilities, and lvl 2 master class Swordsmanship was enough to keep him at bay.

When I first defeated him in our usual sword practice bout, he had not shared my happiness, not one bit.

Instead, a fire seemed to have lit under his butt. A fire of jealousy and resentment. He had thrown himself into sword training, spending around 14 hours a day practicing with his blade.

This was the reason I never told him about my divine weapon. We were still friends, good ones too actually (he didn't have anyone else) but there were too many secrets and differences between us now.

I actually started spending some time with Annabeth instead, at Chiron's insistence no less. Apparently i was becoming too much like Luke with my own training (Nonsense), and should try to lay off.

That's how I got myself playing a game of chess against Michelle, who had recovered from the gruesome injuries she received in the monsters war.

And I lost. Not horribly, but still lost. And that was just bullshit. I had almost twice her mental stat and was an expert strategist...how in the nine hells could I ever lose in something like chess? And that to a 15 year old girl? No way.

Thankfully, my sweet, generous, and loving Gamer system came to help and created for me the ultimate, 'Chess' skill. With my prodigious level intellect and good strategic mind, chess quickly became my fastest growing skill. By the end of August, a mere month after I started playing, I was already on advanced lvl 1. By the end of October, I was an expert chess player, beating even Annabeth who was frighteningly good at the game.

Chess really didn't give me anything, not even a level in strategy, but it still became an enjoyable way to pass time

Luke's birthday had been on 24th October, and I gave him a self-made scabbard to try and heal our damaged friendship.

Using the demonic power, I melted down the useless Minotaur horn (even Hephaestus didn't want it) and changed it into a magical scabbard. I used my own sword's changing nature to imagine a clear image of a shifting scabbard, something that will change to accommodate the sword's size.

This idea had been in my mind for quite some time, for my own sword actually. But considering I got a cool white glove as a weapon, I decided to gift this to Luke.

I also got a level in object creation for my trouble. Which was great considering it was one of the slowest skills to level up.

[Skill Leveled Up: Object Creation] Lvl 7

Luke had been happy with the gift, and for a few days I got my friend back. Then, as if some magical switch was pressed, he went back to grim and snappy.

I gave up hope on him then. What a waste of time.

Two weeks after his birthday, came my own one on 5th of November. It was a quite day, as aside from Thalia, I've never revealed my birthday to anyone. Not even Luke or Anna, though I was regretting it now. A couple of gifts would've made the day special.

Whatever, not like I cared. I had my faithful system to keep me company.

[Happy Birthday: You are now 10 years old]

Well...it could have been a little more enthusiastic but that's fine. At least it remembered. Though I was less happy about its follow up message.

[Puberty Stage Activated: Physical Growth Enhanced]

As happy as I was to be able to gain muscles now, it was shadowed by the fact that I'd be a hormonal kid, especially considering who my parents were; a fallen angel/devil and the biggest horny god in the world.

Things were about to get complicated.

That soon came true when Luke requested my help.

Luke

Luke sat alone on one of the dining benches, waiting for his friend to arrive.

No one else tried to join him, even from his own cabin. Not anymore. Not after the beating he had delivered to one of the newest campers who'd dared ignore his warnings and breached his privacy.

Not that Luke cared. He was becoming accustomed to this new loneliness anyway.

'Its what you deserve.' A harsh voice suddenly whispered. 'You should suffer. You killed her, so it's only fair that you suffer.'

With a jerk he sat upstraight, looking around to see if anyone else heard the voice.

No one did. Of course they didn't. It was just in his head, the lack of sleep simply making it seem more...real.

"I'm going crazy." He muttered under his breath with sigh. Though he couldn't really be blamed for it.

The last few months have been... difficult for Luke.

Thalia's death had hit him stronger than anything ever could. It had flamed the fires of hatred in his heart, and not just for Hades or Poseidon, but for the whole bunch of Olympians who couldn't care less for their children.

An entire year of killing and suffering...and for what exactly? Because three petty gods couldn't solve their issues like civilized adults?

What had the demigods been fighting for exactly? Survival? But why? Why must they fight for their survival? Because they were born to a life they didn't choose?

'Because of the Gods.' The answer came unbidden, by the same voice that he'd been hearing ever since he met him.

But this time he didn't shy away from it. He was just so at his wit's end that he simply didn't care anymore.

How much must they beg? How much must they cry? When will he, and children like him, actually get the absolution for a crime they didn't commit? When will they get justice?

'Never.' The answer was harsh but true. But then the voice continued, it's tone sly and knowing. 'Afterall, who can punish the gods?'

No one can, that much was clear in Luke's mind. The gods were too powerful, sitting at the very top of foodchain. Only beings at their own level could hope to contend with them.

'Beings like...Titans.'

Yes, that option was still available to him. Afterall, he had assured him of it.

Luke didn't get more time to think though, as he was soon joined by Mikael.

"Luke." The younger boy greeted with a nod, taking a seat like a king upon his throne.

Mikael...he didn't know what to think about the boy anymore either. They used to be good friends once upon a time. Luke still considered him a friend, but doubted they would be as close as they once were.

He knew it was his own fault of course. Luke had been unwittingly pushing everyone away, but especially Mikael. Why? Simply because a part of him still placed a sliver of blame for Thalia's death on the boy.

It was unfair to expect Mikael to save everyone, Luke understood that, but he a part of him couldn't help but blame him anyway. It was better than wallowing in guilt alone.

And as they started their conversation, Luke felt himself becoming more and more... irritated. The younger boy just looked so...free. Free and unconcerned, as if Thalia wasn't dead at all. As if their existence wasn't actually a joke. As if they weren't just dancing on the strings of fate...

It was shocking, really. He'd had thought the boy was similar to him, considering how hard he himself pushed for improvement.

For the last few months, Luke had devoted himself completely to Swordsmanship, in the vain hope of closing the distance between a god with sheer skill. And the results showed visibly. There were barely any demigods in the camp that could go toe to toe with him for more than 10 seconds anymore. Some even called him the greatest swordsman since Achilles himself.

But if Luke was a genius...Mikael was a monster. He trained even harder than Luke. The younger boy might think he was fooling everyone but Luke knew where the boy flew off to in the dead of the night; Monster hunting.

Here Luke was, queasy at even the thought of facing another monster, and then there was Mikael, actively leaving camp to seek them out.

If there was one person with a thirst for power greater than his own, it would be Mikael.

And yet, for all his strength and power, the boy didn't seem to understand the truth. Not one bit.

He didn't seem to understand Luke's own thirst, he didn't seem to understand the gods faults, he didn't seem to understand how fucked up this world was...he understood nothing. He simply wanted power for himself.

And that was not something Luke could respect.

"Are you sure about this?" The boy asked with a frown, after he was done relaying the mission's information, and Luke's temper finally frayed to its limit.

"Don't be a coward!" He snapped. "If you don't want to join me then just say so."

Perhaps approaching Mikael was a mistake. Perhaps the boy already thought of Luke as some burden– too weak to do anything, too incompetent to fight alongside. Perhaps their relationship was even more broken than Luke had believed.

Mikael's eyebrows scrunched up at his words, lightning flashing around his glove, and suddenly Luke's instincts warned him to back off.

"Careful now." The boy warned with a cold frown and Luke had to suppress a shudder.

Another thing about Mikael was that he never responded well to disrespect. Something Luke was sure he inherited from his father.

"I meant to ask, are you sure you want me along? Your quest will get a new level of difficulty with me besides you." Mikael finally responded, staring at him carefully.

Luke sighed. He had misjudged his friend again. Of course he wasn't questioning his decision regarding the quest. Predicting the boy never did anyone good, and he should really learn not to try it.

Now he was feeling guilty about thinking so harshly of him...

"Yes." Luke finally managed to reply. "Yes, I want you with me."

"Very well." The boy nodded. "I'll be ready tomorrow."

"Great. Thanks." Luke muttered before quickly taking his leave.

Talking to the boy nowadays gave him migraine. Though not as much as when he went to sleep.

Lord Kronos...gods why was he thinking about the Titan so respectfully? Kronos! It was Kronos, not lord Kronos. The being was manipulating him, plain and simple. Luke knew this, knew the stories about the Titan, knew how dangerous the being was...and yet, he still did not reject his presence.

The Titan had a point afterall.

The Gods managed to overthrow the Titans and rule the world. Yet, were they truly better? At least the Titans left mortals alone, instead of raping and killing whoever they wanted like the Gods did. The Gods were simply lesser evils, not some benevolent saviors.

And the world needed to know this.

But Luke wasn't sure he should support the Titans either. What if Kronos was lying? What if all the things he promised were just a part of his manipulation? Can he live with the fact that he doomed the world just for his grudge against the gods? Luke wasn't sure.

But the old argument repeated itself in his mind.

Kronos wanted a second chance, promising to be a much better ruler than before. And why shouldn't he get another chance? The Titans were the first true rulers of this planet and they made mistakes due to being young and inexperienced.

Gods came later and simply avoided repeating the mistakes that their failed predecessors made, instead of actually being better than them.

Now the Titans knew what to expect, had a much better perspective of mortals and this world, were more wiser than they once were, after spending millions of years in Tartarus...so why shouldn't they be given a chance?

Clutching his head, Luke let out a groan of annoyance. He shouldn't be thinking about this now. He had a quest to go on.

But honestly? His heart wasn't in the quest.

Luke just wanted to give his father a chance, thinking maybe if he completed a quest and showed his father his worth, then Hermes would finally tell him about his fate.

Instead, the god gave him the same blasted quest that Hercules had! Same quest that every single incompetent hero went on! Same freaking quest! Why can't he have a proper chance to show his worth? Why must he follow on the footsteps of the old heroes? Luke wasn't asking much, just a simple original quest that would give him a chance to earn some glory and prove himself capable.

But even that was denied to him.

Whatever. He'll just complete this quest and ask for his fate one last time.

If Hermes cared even a little, then the god will tell him what he needed to know.

If not? Well...Kronos was always available.

After a council meeting with all the cabin counselors, Luke and I left for our quest.

Luke had already visited the Oracle but wasn't willing to divulge the info (which distressed Chiron but he didn't press), not even to Annabeth. Poor girl had almost cried when she heard about us going on a quest without her again.

We received multiple gifts and had our shrouds made for us, as was customary. The shrouds were supposed to be burnt when the questers returned alive, or be treated as burial shrouds to wrap around the dead. My shroud was created by Apollo and Aphrodite cabin together cause I didn't have cabin members of my own. It was a pretty thing, with a lightning bolts wrapped around four white wings.

We left the camp in the evening, Argus driving us to the Manhattan terminal. The journey was supposed to take multiple days, and so Luke had packed quite a few things for himself. I had a different idea.

"So, you have any plan?" I asked Luke as he absently stared outside the window.

He didn't seem excited, hell he didn't even seem interested in the quest. Why was he forcing himself into this journey was a mystery to me. Perhaps his jealousy has reached a limit and now he wanted to show everyone he's as good as me? But he wouldn't have invited me then.

Whatever his reason, the boy seemed to have some more bigger concerns in his mind. Not like I truly cared though, cause the main reason I was coming with him was because of my own quest.

[Quest Received: Keep Luke safe]–

Bring Luke back to the camp alive

Rewards: 20 Levels.

Twenty whole levels for a single quest? I'd be willing to wrestle the Nemean lion barehanded for that.

To put it in perspective of how much the twenty levels meant to me; In the last 7-8 months since the battle of monsters, I've only gained fifteen levels in total.

Not for the lack of trying mind you, I actually left the camp each night to hunt down monsters for the last half a year. And yet, fifteen fucking levels. Just fifteen. Though I was sure I was close to get another level, but still, it was incredibly slow.

At this rate I wouldn't be able to reach lvl 600, or 7th tier, before my 13th birthday, and probably become that bitch Hera's new victim. Hopefully I could get more of these quests, cause monster slaying was not a good way to level up.

But with these 20 Levels, I would finally enter the 6th tier. And that made this quest too important for me to fail.

"Yes." My thoughts were broken by Luke's answer. "We go to the gardens of Hesperides, you keep the dragon off of my back and I steal the apples."

"A fantastic plan. It really is." I said, nodding my head sarcastically. "But I was asking about the plan to actually get there. The gardens are in Mount Tamalpais remember? Do you actually want to travel for days in some cramped bus or something?"

He frowned, probably thinking about it for the first time since getting the quest.

"What do you suggest then?"

"Oh, I've got a much better idea."

"I hate you so much kael!" Luke's screams were music to my ears.

We were flying through the skies, higher than any building, at an insane speed of 1800 miles per hour, having already burst through the sound barrier in the first few seconds of our flight.

I could've definitely gone much more faster but I didn't want to injure Luke. My wings were flared, flapping against the wind as I clutched one of Luke's hand with my own for assurance while dragging him alone with threads of air.

Yes, I was more than confident in dragging someone at around 2000 miles per hour through the skies. I had complete trust in my Lvl 9 Air and Wind Manipulation afterall.

Luke screamed again, cursing my ancestry, and I had to zap him with a quick shock of electricity. "Oh shut up, you whiny brat. We'll reach San Francisco in couple of hours at most. A journey that would've taken multiple days, in less than two hours! How could you complain about that?!"

"I could complain because I'm freezing my butt off! We need to take breaks, Kael!"

"You are joking, we aren't even that high!"

"Its December, you dunce! Sorry that my body works normally unlike you! Now let's take a break! Or do you want to crash an airplane or something!?"

"Yeah, you're right. You mortals really are too squishy, aren't you?"

In the end however, I relented. Wrapping us both in demonic concealment magic, i flew us down towards a row of houses, and behind a dark alley.

We both walked out like nothing was wrong before resting on an open bench. After a few minutes of investigation, I found we were in St. Louis. Our speed of travelling was fine, considering we left the manhatten terminal barely half an hour ago.

But we still had a long way to go, and our presence was attracting too many monsters if we stayed in one place. So after a short 15 minutes break, we were back in the air. This time, I crafted a pair of thick woolen coat and a hat for Luke. I wanted to directly reach San Francisco.

We travelled for another 30 minutes through the air, before stopping at Denver, Colorado for a quick evening snack as the sun started going down. Plus some monster slaying helped me through these boring travel time.

My demonic skills came to a huge help here and we didn't need to spend money on food. Was I morally troubled at using my hypnosis magic like this? Not a single fucking bit.

I mean I already did that when mother left me in New York alone. It was actually a bit concerning how callous I was in this situation, especially because I can create a dollar bill easily with my object creation, I just needed a single look at a note.

But I didn't pay it too much mind and we went back to travelling at around 5:30-6:00 pm.

I maintained our speed, going around 1500 miles per hour still. We took another break after two hours, this time in Sacramento, a city in California.

"Why did we stop here again?" Luke asked as we sat under the shed of a burger stand.

"Me? To rest, eat again, and recharge myself back to the peak before reaching San Francisco. You? To plan for what we should do next."

And I did as I said. I ate a delicious meal of quarter pounder cheese burger, with fries and cola at the side.

"There is nothing to plan. We'll fight the monster guarding the tree and steal an apple. Simple."

"I was talking about today, stupid. We should start looking for a hotel already. What if we weren't able to find one in San Francisco?" I asked as we sat upon an empty bench outside the McDonald's drive through.

"...Can you get us directly to San Francisco?"

"Of course I can. We are in Sacramento, barely a few minutes flight from San Francisco at my speed."

"How do you even know that? How are you keeping us in a straight path through the air anyway?" Luke asked with a frown.

"I...have perfect bearings in the sky." I replied after a moment of hesitation. "I know exactly where we are at all times."

I'd never noticed it before. Oh sure I knew my senses were supernatural in the air knowing my own speed at all times, but knowing which city I was in exactly? And what time it was, and how much time we'll need to go somewhere? Nope.

This seriously made me upset cause it meant there might be more things that I'd inherited as the son of Zeus but just haven't discovered yet. I was so focused on leveling up my existing skills and game-given things that I completely forgot about exploring my powers. I'll have to focus on that after this journey is over.

"Well that's handy for sure. Come on, let's get this quest over with."

"Very well. Off we go to San Francisco then. Though for this last 85 miles, I'm going to fly at my fastest. Which is a lot, so you'll need... some extra protection in the air."

AN: Chapter 17 has ended, as has another year.

So Happy New Year! I hope 2022 brings all of you a ton of happiness and success!

I'm sure all of you have some New year resolution, and I hope you can all stick to them firmly. As it happens, I have a resolution as well. And it's pretty simple: To be consistent in whatever I do. Starting with my writing.

And so I've created a schedule for my updates that I intend to stick with closely.

1 chapter each 4 days. And I'll be updating each of my stories (except Lamb to emperor) one by one. So first Mortal God, then Strange World, and at last Mystique Soldier. So the next chapter, which will be of Strange world, will arrive on 5th of Jan without any delays.

Till then Peace, and here's to hoping we all have a wonderful 2022!