A/N
If you have any suggestions for abilities you would like to see Percy receive in the story, feel free to leave it in the reviews!
I own nothing, Percy Jackson is owned by Rick Riordan!
Chapter 3
Percy woke up in the morning to the sounds of Grover snoring away in his bed and a notification waiting for his attention.
Ping!
For sleeping in a bed, HP and MP have both been restored to 100%! All negative status effects and physical ailments have been cured.
That's a nice bonus just for sleeping, it heals him completely if he just sleeps in a bed? Percy filed that information down for later, and looked at his bedside clock to find out he was up at 5:30 AM. He was pretty sure he never had gotten up this early before, yet he felt like he slept in and was fully rested. Another great perk to the system, Percy supposed.
Taking advantage of his early rise, Percy decided to get up and start his training for the day. He figured today he would do a lot more physical training, as well as seeing how far he could push his mental training and increase his stats, also wanting to see if it was possible to start learning another language as easy as learning English had become.
Percy put on his clothes for the day and rushed out of the room, casting a final look at Grover to make sure he hadn't woke him up yet. Percy decided he should go ahead and head down to the cafeteria even though he wasn't hungry, as he knew if he didn't he would just forget to later in the day anyway.
As he walked to the cafeteria, Percy noticed that no one else was up and about at this time in the morning, a fact that was compacted when he walked into an empty cafeteria with the only sounds coming from the chef cooking in the kitchen. Luckily for Percy, food was already prepared and waiting for him, a menagerie of breakfast pancakes and burritos ripe for the picking.
Percy walked over to the food station to look at his options, he noticed little screens hanging around each of the items of food as he looked at each one. Curious, Percy approached and studied the screens.
Breakfast Burrito
Provides +10 to HP and +.5 to HP regeneration for 10 seconds
Pancakes
Provides +5 to HP and +.8 to HP regeneration for 10 seconds
Milk
Provides +5 to MP and +.5 to MP regeneration for 10 seconds
Juice
Provides +10 to MP and +.3 to MP regeneration for 10 seconds
Woah, having some of these on handy would become useful! He could plop down and eat a couple burritos to regain his health? Percy figured that even if he didn't need to eat food anymore, having it would still be pretty useful to him. He only wished there was an easy way to take the food with him, it isn't very useful if he doesn't have access to it easily enough.
Percy picked up a breakfast burrito, and as soon as he did a notification box popped into existence right in front of him.
Ping!
Want to take items with you for later use and have a place to store your loot? You're in luck, inventory unlocked! Press the INV tab on main screen to access.
Inventory, isn't that something he could use to place items in? Percy pulled up his character screen and sure enough, a second tab was now present up top labeled INV. Pressing the tab, a grey screen opened up with multiple sets of partitioned boxes.
How was he supposed to use this, place the burrito in his pocket and it would be transported into the box? Does that mean he can't carry larger items with him, he was pretty sure that he can't fit his textbooks into his pockets. Perhaps he needed to interact with it like he does with his character screen?
Deciding to try that, Percy lifted the burrito to the inventory screen, and as soon as the burrito touched the screen it disappeared from his hand. Looking at his hand and then to the screen, he noticed a new icon sitting within one of the boxes in his inventory that looked suspiciously like the burrito. Amazing! Percy reached back to the screen and touched the box with the burrito, and suddenly it was back in his hands, still hot and ready to be eaten.
Wanting to test the limits of his inventory, he took multiple burritos and started to pack them into his inventory, noticing that the amount he placed in didn't matter as the burritos still only took up one space in the box, now having a small number under them to denote how many were present.
Before he knew it, suddenly he was grasping at thin air. Percy looked down and noticed that all the food on the trays was now gone, disappeared into his inventory. The chef would not be pleased at this, and as he heard the chef coming back to the serving area, Percy decided to book it unless he wanted to be yelled at.
Deciding his next course of action should be to go to the library for a while, Percy walked in and prepared to start to level up his English skill some more. Wait, didn't Mr. Brunner give class homework that was due tomorrow? Crap, well he figured that he might as well go ahead and get it done with so that he could spend the rest of the day focusing on training.
Percy walked into the library and walked over to the history section, picking up a copy of the Odyssey, now with pictures! What, he figured that even though he could somewhat comprehend English now didn't mean he had to bore himself out all the time.
He plopped down at the nearest desk and started reading about the adventures of Odysseus and his band of merry men, making sure to answer the questions Mr. Brunner had wanted so he wouldn't waste any of his training time today. As he was studying a picture of Odysseus and a bunch of weird letters, the letters started moving on their own and formed words that he could understand!
Ping!
New skill discovered!
Language
Ancient Greek
Level MAX
Wait hold on that couldn't be right. Did the system just tell him that he was max level at Ancient Greek? How was that even possible, he hadn't even seen Modern Greek and he was pretty sure his mother never read to him in Greek as a baby, nor was she Greek!
The gears started turning in his head, shaking off the metaphorical cobwebs as he started using it for once in his life. He knew that he shouldn't be able to know how to read Greek, yet here he was with a complete and full understanding of a supposedly dead language. How was this even possible?
Recalling his only active quest at the moment, Percy wondered if this had to do with who his father was. After all he seems to be able to do some really unnatural stuff, first that huge buff he gets when he touches water, then being able to BREATHE underwater, now he knows Ancient Greek as if he had been speaking it his whole life? Things have started getting stranger and stranger, and he started to believe that maybe his race being unknown on the system wasn't a mistake. How else could he explain how he could do these things that normal people should not be able to do.
Ping!
Gamers Mind activated!
Percy calmed down and was able to think clearly again. Even with the new information this clue provides, he is still no closer to the truth on who his father is, but it could at least thin out the possibilities. Filing the information away for later, Percy decided to spend the next couple of hours reading books to level his English skill.
As Percy finished up his tenth book, he decided that he probably had done enough training for the day. He pulled up the notification screen he had been steadily ignoring and was a little surprised at what he saw.
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill!
Language:
Modern English
Level 8 (1%): You are currently able to read any form of English at a Seventh grade level (-55% to understanding of English, +5% for every level gained)
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill!
Language:
Modern English
Level 9 (0%): You are currently able to read any form of English at an Eighth grade level (-50% to understanding of English, +5% for every level gained)
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill!
Language:
Modern English
Level 10 (42%): You are currently able to read any form of English at a Ninth grade level (-45% to understanding of English, +5% for every level gained)
Ping!
For reading books and leveling your English skill to LVL 10, you have gained +3 INT.
Percy had expected a lot more levels than just three, after all he had read more books than he had read yesterday. Then again, he should have expected that the more he progressed in level, the harder it became to level up that skill, so as the early levels could be progressed quickly, the later levels will be slower to be earned. It made sense, he figured, after all he probably shouldn't be able to level up at the ease he was going forever. Percy decided to start digging into some math books, next. Even though he was getting better at English and could read a little bit more, he was still abysmal at math and he didn't want to take any chances in earning a detention with Mrs. Dodds.
"Look who it is, the loser without his wimpy boyfriend, where is he anyway, running from his own shadow? Why are you even reading in the library, aren't you still seeing the words fly off the page, loser?" A very unwelcome presence made itself known in the form of Nancy Bobofit, a nasty sneer spread across her face as she taunted Percy.
Great this is exactly what he needed now. He stared up at Nancy from his book and studied her. She was wearing her usual affair, typical low cut top that probably was against school policy with a pair of ripped up jeans that he was pretty sure were done on purpose, and an infuriating smirk on her freckled face as she stared down at him.
Ping!
For observing those around you, you have gained a new skill!
Observe
LVL 1 (0%): By focusing on someone, you are able to discover some of their stats, their level, and a brief bio about that person!
That's certainly new, and probably very useful now that he thinks about it. Deciding to test out his new skill, he focuses on Nancy once again and a small information screen pops up.
Nancy Bobofit
Race: Human
HP: 500/500
MP: N/A
Nancy is a troubled child with inattentive parents. She is largely neglected at home and so acts out by wearing obscene clothes and bullying others in an attempt to garner any sort of attention from those around her, which unfortunately leaves her with no real friends. She has a crush on Percy Jackson, but doesn't know how to express it due to her family life.
Wow really, is that true? Now he feels bad, he thought she was just a cruel girl but she really is just neglected, how was he supposed to know! Wait she has a crush on him too? He guessed that explained why she always seemed to be fixated on him.
"What are you staring at loser, don't you ignore me!" Nancy yelled.
And now he had been staring at her for probably a solid minute, great. Percy mulled over her situation. On one hand, she had been bullying him and Grover ever since he started at Yancy and he had sustained a dislike for her, but on the other hand, he now knows that it is all a false front and she really is just acting out for attention. Should he be nicer to her to try to help her out, even though he still really didn't like her? Making up his mind and realizing that he hasn't responded for a full minute now, he decides to respond.
"Oh hey Nancy, no Grover is back in the dorm. I decided even though I have dyslexia, I might as well try to learn. Would you like to join me?" Percy replied, flashing her a smile. He had to choke out those words they were so foreign to him, but he figured that being nice to her could go a long way toward getting her off his back. Plus he honestly felt bad about what he just read in her bio, and wanted to at least help her out and maybe try to be her first friend.
Ping!
A new skill has been discovered!
Charm
LVL 1 (45%): You're dashing good looks and captivating smile can make anyone weak in their knees! (You can make women flustered with your charm, and are able to get more information and cooperation out of them if successful.)
A red blush suddenly sprouted around her face, and she looked completely out of her element. "Wh-what? Why would I want to, to, uh, s-sure I guess?" Nancy squeaked out as she suddenly sat down, looking down at the table as her blush grew.
"So Nancy, how is school going? Do anything fun lately?
"Uh, it's going, uh, good. No not really, just been hanging around I guess." Noticing the book in my hand, "You're reading a math book, aren't you terrible at math, loser?" She covered her mouth in shock, looking like she was berating herself. "Um, sorry for calling you that. And for all of the bullying, I'm not a very good people person."
Poor girl, she was way out of her element. Deciding to allay her fears, he responded "Don't sweat it, it is alright. Breaking habits and all, right? Either way you are still on the right track. Yeah I figured even if I suck at math right now, it doesn't have to stay that way, y'know?"
"Would you, um, like some help? I'm pretty good at math, I can give you some pointers if you'd like?" Nancy nervously asked.
"Yeah that would be great, thanks Nancy!" Percy wasn't expecting her to offer t help him out so quickly, but he figured that was what the charm was for. Of course it probably didn't hurt that she also had a crush on him.
"Great, I mean, um, cool! Yeah! I can totally help you out, let's start out with long division." Nancy exclaimed, setting to work on explaining the intricacies of Algebra to Percy.
After an hour or so, Percy actually started to feel pretty good about Algebra. Nancy was freaking smart, he guessed he just never noticed with all the bullying but she was amazing at math. Percy figured that he would probably even be able to survive one of Mrs. Dodd's pop quizzes now!
"Thanks a lot Nancy, you've been a great help. We should do this more often!" Percy said, smiling at Nancy.
Nancy blushed and smiled back, "No problem, we should do this again sometime. See you around, Percy!" She then left him at his table in the library, a skip in her step. That's good, hopefully he is helping her out a bit. She really is sweet once you get past the bully persona she created, she just did the only thing that seemed to get her attention, even if it was negative.
Percy decided to check his notification screen, and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill!
Language:
Modern English
Level 11 (13%): You are currently able to read any form of English at a Tenth grade level (-40% to understanding of English, +5% for every level gained)
Ping!
For reading books and making a wise decision in befriending your bully, you have earned +3 WIS, +2 INT and +3 CHA.
Deciding that was enough mental workout for today, Percy knew he needed to get a lot more physical training in as his physical stats were becoming unbalanced compared to his mental ones. Jogging back to his room and putting on some gym clothes, Percy ran out to the school's track to run some laps. Percy wanted to bring his attributes up so that he at least had 10 points in each, figuring it would do him well to be as balanced as possible so that he wouldn't have any exploitable weaknesses.
Ping!
Quest Added!
Reach level 10 in all attributes (not including buffs)
Requirements:
-Level 10 in STR (not completed)
-Level 10 in VIT (not completed)
-Level 10 in WIS (completed)
-Level 10 in INT (completed)
-Level 10 in DEX (not completed)
-Level 10 in CHA (not completed)
-Level 10 in LUC (not completed)
Time Limit Rewards
2 Weeks:
+1000 EXP
+2 attribute points
+1 Skill LVL Scrolls
+$500
+D20
1 Week:
+2500 EXP
+5 attribute points
+2 Skill LVL Scrolls
+$2000
+D50
Failure-
Stay Weak, Death
Accept/Decline
This one was a no brainer since he was going to do it anyways, and the rewards were pretty sweet even with the worrisome fail conditions. He had yet to see a quest with time limits, however, though the rewards were definitely great for completing the quest in 1 week. He luckily had already completed INT and WIS, so he figured he should focus on leveling up STR, DEX, and VIT during the day if he was going to stand a chance at completing the quest in the time limit. Clicking accept, Percy started to run laps around the track.
Percy was still getting pretty tired from running around, which he assumed was attributed to his poor running skill and VIT stat, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. The system sure did help when it came to training, just by sleeping in his bed he was right as rain, none of the cooldown needed between workout days. Deciding to stop for a drink, Percy grabbed the bottle of water he brought with him and almost drained it, pouring the rest onto his head to cool off.
You have come into contact with water, and due to your heritage receive a boost in your attributes! You are now able to breathe underwater!
HP and MP have been restored completely, all status effects are negated, and your body has been healed completely!
+3000 HP
+3000 MP
+20 STR
+20 DEX
+20 VIT
Wait, what? How was that possible, he thought he would only get that boost if he jumped into the pool like the first time, did he get it with ANY water source? He felt absolutely revitalized, this was incredible! He could get a boost of health and completely revitalized himself just by dumping water from a bottle onto his head! If that was true he needed to absolutely load up his inventory with water bottles!
Ping!
For figuring out a clever way to use your powers to your advantage, you have gained +1 WIS.
Sweet, so it was true that he could just keep dumping water on himself? He needed to figure out a way to test this out later, but since he felt absolutely bursting with energy and was rearing to keep running, he took off sprinting down the track to run more laps.
After a straight hour of exercise, Percy was finally tired again and hobbling over to his stuff. He grabbed the water bottle and poured the rest of the contents over his head hoping for a quick pick me up to continue training, but nothing happened. No satisfying ping signifying his skill activating, no incredible rush of power and energy, he was just now slightly wet and a little bit cooler. Percy thought hard, perhaps it only activated once either per water source or per a certain cooldown timer? He really hoped it was by water source, if he could just dump water bottles on his head all day he would be set.
Running over to a nearby vending machine, percy bought another bottle of water to test his theory out. Grabbing the new, cold bottle of water and draining it on himself, he suddenly felt completely revitalized again!
You have come into contact with water, and due to your heritage receive a boost in your attributes! You are now able to breathe underwater!
HP and MP have been restored completely, all status effects are negated, and your body has been healed completely!
+3000 HP
+3000 MP
+20 STR
+20 DEX
+20 VIT
Sweet, so he was right, it had to be separate sources of water! Either that or he had a 1 hour cooldown time, but either way he could work with it. Deciding to gather up his stuff and head to the school gym's weight room, Percy checked his notifications to see his progress in training his vitality up.
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill through continuous use!
Running:
Level 4 (6%): You are currently able to run at a speed of 8.6 mph (+.2 per level)
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill through continuous use!
Running:
Level 5 (79%): You are currently able to run at a speed of 8.8 mph (+.2 per level)
Ping!
Due to continuous anaerobic exercise, you have gained +3 VIT and +2 DEX.
Smiling, he walked into the gym ready to do some strength training, after all he was still physically weak even if he could run faster now. Going up to the 45 lb dumbbell, Percy picked it up, or rather attempted to. He could move it, but he definitely wasn't going to get a good workout with it. Putting down the dumbbell, he moved to the 10 lb weight. Might as well start small, right?
Grabbing the weights, Percy sat down and started curling 5 reps of 15, by the end of which his muscles were absolutely straining. This was going to take a while, but with the promise of sweet rewards for finishing the quest to train his stats in 1 week, he shelved his pain and soldiered on. There were some other students in the gym with him as well, and he decided to use his observe skill on them while he was lifting to keep his mind off how his muscles were screaming at him.
Several hours later, a thoroughly exhausted Percy walked out of the gym. He had been strength training like crazy, and got so tired he had to get creative in his water sources to rejuvenate himself. Water fountains, showers, even other lifters bottles when they weren't looking, he thought he had revitalized himself at least 5 times. The pain was absolutely worth it though, when he checked his notifications.
Ping!
Due to continuous lifting exercise, you have gained +3 STR.
Ping!
You have leveled up a skill through continuous use!
Observe
LVL 3 (18%): By focusing on someone, you are able to discover their stats, their level, brief bio about that person, and what their current opinion of you is!
Ping!
Due to haggling over gym equipment, you have gained +1 CHA.
Percy hadn't really thought about leveling his observe skill, but quickly found out how useful it was once he leveled it to see what people's opinion of him was. He was able to read the room pretty well now, at least when it came to him, and was successfully able to talk a jock out of using some equipment he wanted to use, which in turn leveled his CHA.
Humming to himself, Percy decided to rest a little bit and have some lunch outside. Sitting down under the shade of a tree near a rocky outcropping, he pulled out a breakfast burrito and started eating, being sure to use observe on anybody that came near him in hopes of leveling it to get even cooler perks with the skill.
As he was using observe, his gaze wandered over to the outcropping and picked up on a little ! symbol hovering over it. Deciding to check it out, he curiously walked up to it until a new screen showed up in his vision.
Ping!
You have discovered an entrance to a dungeon!
Labyrinth – Level 5
Would you like to enter?
Yes/No
Ping!
Quest Added!
Clear your first dungeon.
Rewards:
500 EXP
1x LVL Skill Scroll
3 attribute points
$1000
Accept/Decline
Whoah, a dungeon? If there is one thing that Percy had learned about dungeons while watching Mike play his games was that they were a great way to level up by defeating enemies and gaining EXP. However, dungeons also mean loot, and loot means cool stuff he gets to own for defeating it! He could find some valuable stuff in here, and after mulling it over, decided that entering the dungeon was as good an idea as any right now since he didn't have anything else to do.
Checking his stock of burritos and water bottles, Percy clicked yes to both boxes and saw a glowing blue triangle appear on the rocks before they gave way to create an opening. Steeling his resolve, Percy jumped into the darkness, ready for anything.
A/N:I will start posting Percy's current stats at the end of each chapter so that everyone can keep track of his progress as the story goes on.
Perseus "Percy" Jackson
Son of ? and Sally Jackson
Perseus is the son of Sally Jackson and ?. His ADHD and Dyslexia provide him ? and ? due to his existence as a ?. Due to his heritage, he has an ingrained affinity to ? and is able to control ? and ?. Due to being a ? you permanently receive +5 to STR, VIT, and DEX.
Title: ?
Race: ?
Level: 5
EXP: 100/150
HP: 150/150
MP: 100/100
STR: 8 (+5)
VIT: 8 (+5)
WIS: 11
INT: 10
DEX: 8 (+5)
CHA: 8
LUC: 1
Attribute Points: 0
Money: $23/D0
Status: None
Skills
Physical:
Swimming (LVL - MAX)
Running (LVL 5 – 79%)
Powers:
Observe (LVL 3 - 18%)
Charm (LVL 1 - 45%):
Language:
Modern English (LVL 11 – 13%)
Ancient Greek (Level – MAX)
Passive:
Gamer's Mind (LVL - MAX)