A/N
Poll on my profile for the third pairing in this story is still up and running, so if you are interested drop by and vote. I will close the poll when the quest arrives in St Louis, so get your votes in before the end of the lightning thief arc. For those of y'all who like Hestia, rejoice! She just got a massive bump in the polls, counting comments too. Current vote count is as follows:
Hestia: 44
Aphrodite: 26
Zoe: 12
Athena: 11
Calypso: 7
Thalia: 5
Persephone: 4
Rhea: 4
Last Comment Counted: BigBrownPanda
I own nothing, Percy Jackson is owned by Rick Riordan!
Chapter 8
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.
Percy woke up the next day before the sun had risen past the horizon, cracking his eyes open to see soft blues in the sky. He stretched in his sleeping bag, it was surprisingly comfortable and he was able to get a good nights rest in it, however it didn't compare to a bed. Did these poor kids sit here all the time and sleep in bags on the ground? Yawning, he got up and stumbled his way out of the cabin and to the communal showers, being sure not to wake any of the still sleeping campers.
After having a nice morning shower, Percy pulled a pair of clothes out of his inventory to change. Checking his watch, he saw that it was only 6:30, so he had plenty of time before Clarisse wanted him in the Arena. Jogging over to the dining pavilion, he noticed he was the only person currently there. Luckily for him, food was already prepped, so he grabbed a plate of bacon and eggs with a few slices of toast and sat down at the Hermes table. He grabbed a goblet and wished for blue orange juice, watching in satisfaction as it filled up his glass.
He was about to dig in before he stopped, remembering what had happened during dinner last night. Figuring he should probably make a habit of doing it if he wanted to stay alive, Percy grabbed his plate and walked up to the brazier. He grabbed a few strips of bacon and sacrificed them to his father and Hermes, then scraped off some eggs for Dionysus. Percy then remembered he had some pancakes in his inventory from Yancy, so he pulled them out and tossed them in the fire for Hestia. She was super nice last night, and he wanted to give her thanks for everything she said. Plus he doubted she received many sacrifices due to her invisibility to most demigods. He smelled smoke, but more akin to a cozy fireplace, as well as a plethora of home cooked meals that had his mouth watering, ready to dig in to his meal.
Finishing his meal, he placed his plate and goblet at the table from last night and walked out of the pavilion. He still had plenty of time, so decided a bit of physical training would do him some good before he met with Clarisse. Percy set out for a jog around camp, running laps around the perimeter of the strawberry fields and along the beach. As he was jogging along the beach he stopped and he took in the sights, watching as birds swooped down into the water to catch early rising fishes, seeing small ghost crabs and blue crabs scurry away and dance around each other, and the sun peaking up over the horizon to bathe the morning sky with orange and yellows.
Perking his ears, he heard the sound of footfalls getting close behind him and turned to see who else was up this early. Clarisse jogged up to him, surprised that he was out so early. "Hmm, I wasn't expecting you to be up this early, newbie. And from what it looks like, exercising too! Taking in the sights?"
She turned out to the ocean and watched the sun for a minute before turning back to him, "Well, no time like the present to start your training if you are taking the initiative. Come on, newbie, try to keep up!" Clarisse took off down the sand, jogging away from Percy, who looked on in confusion, before snapping out of it and taking off after her. It was probably better if he did so, didn't want to make her mad.
After an hour, Clarisse and Percy came to a stop in the middle of the arena. Clarisse was sweating a bit but otherwise fine as she said, "Whew, that was good for a warm-up! We will have to do that before each of our training sessions from now on, don't you think?" She asked as she turned to him. Unfortunately for Percy, he hadn't fared as well as Clarisse had during the run, barely being able to keep up with her pace. Percy was on his back breathing heavily; trying to catch his breath from the new and unusual routine he just put his body through.
Ping!
Due to continuous use, a skill has leveled up!
Running:
Level 10 (21%): You are currently able to run at a speed of 9.8 mph (+.2 per level)
"Uh, right, maybe not as long as we did it today but we can work up to it! Now, on your feet newbie, I'm not wasting my time training a weakling!" Clarisse declared. Percy glared up at her, "Give me, 'huff', a damn, 'huff', second!" Taking a moment to get his breathing under control, he stood up. "Ugh, okay, I'm good. So what are we starting with first? And my name is Percy!"
Clarisse looked him up and down, "First we need to decide a fighting style for you to focus on; it won't be any good if you practice one that doesn't fit you, as you will not be using it to its full potential. Judging by how you fought me and my siblings yesterday, Judo would probably be a pretty good fit for you. You relied on using your opponents momentum against them, trying to redirect punches and perform grab throws, correct?" Percy nodded.
She grinned, "Well then lucky for you, I am a Judo practitioner, as you no doubt felt yesterday. You did well for not knowing any moves or having any discipline in our fighting style, but when I'm done with you, you will be able to take on the best! Now that we know the style, we need to work on the forms and your balance. It will be no good to teach you how to throw a punch if your body isn't ready! You won't be duking it out with me or anyone else until you get the katas down by reflex, so lets begin!"
Clarisse demonstrated the katas of Judo to Percy, before having him practice each and every single form. She would stop him mid movement, kicking his feet into proper position and shifting his body, and having him run through it again. Once he had completed a kata adequately once, she would have him run through the same kata a couple hundred times until his muscles were aching. Once she thought he had it down well enough, she demonstrated the next kata and the process started all over again.
As the morning wore on, some of the Ares campers started trickling in, and Clarisse started to split her attention between instructing Percy and instructing them. It seemed that they were all sparring with each other, either with weapons or unarmed. Clarisse snapped at him to focus, and he focused back onto working on the new kata. By the time the sun had risen to a significantly higher point in the sky, he had ran through quite a few katas.
Ping!
A new sub skill of unarmed combat has been learned through continuous practice!
Judo LVL 2 (45%) – Prioritizes counterattacks and using an opponents momentum against them through redirection, grappling, and throws (Proficiency: Amateur)
Ping!
A new skill has been discovered!
Unarmed Combat
LVL 2 (95%): Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee! When all else fails, use you fists to strike you opponents and to deflect your opponent's blows! (30 DMG/strike)
Ping!
For partaking in extreme physical activity, you have gained +2 VIT and +2 STR!
Clarisse looked down at him, "That should be enough for today. I'm impressed, Percy. You managed to get through quite a few katas today." He smiled at his progress. "Too bad you have, like, 90% of the katas left to go over before you are even proficient enough to start using them in actual spars." He frowned at his progress. Clarisse clapped his shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it. You don't pick these things up immediately; just keep working at it. Speaking of, I expect you to be up at 7:00 from now on so we can complete some morning warm-ups."
Percy watched as she walked away to help her siblings, and he turned to head back to the Hermes cabin. As he walked up, he noticed Annabeth and Luke talking with each other, "I'm telling you Luke, if we want to win we need to minimize the size of our parties and increase the number of them! We would be extending their lines and have a greater chance of slipping a group past to get the flag!"
Luke rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know, Annie. Aren't those groups more susceptible to attack? Greater group sizes allow us to be sure we can take on any resistance in the field."
"Yeah but-" Annabeth started before Luke noticed Percy. "Oh Percy, there you are! Where have you been, you weren't at breakfast?"
"Oh, I got up pretty early and already had breakfast. What're you two discussing." He asked.
"Oh, that? Annie here wanted to go over battle plans for capture the flag tomorrow, and we were discussing group sizes we would be sending out to capture the flag. Tell me Percy, what do you think? Should we send out larger groups in smaller numbers, or smaller groups in larger numbers?" Luke asked. Annabeth and Luke looked at him expectantly.
Huh? "Uh, I would have to agree with Annabeth. Smaller group sizes would allow for more maneuvering, and would allow for better tactics than if we had a couple of large groups, as it is possible they could easily slip people past us with larger groups." Luke frowned and Annabeth smiled, before she turned to Luke, "See? He agrees with me!" Luke shook his head, "Fine, we will do it your way Annie."
+5 reputation gained with Annabeth, Athena cabin councilor!
-3 reputation gained with Luke, Hermes cabin councilor!
Wait, he lost reputation with Luke for that! Percy suddenly realized that they had presented him a choice, and choosing one would increase reputation with one and decrease it with the other. That was stupid, Luke was stupid! It was obviously a better plan, why is he getting pissy with him for being right!
"Anyways, since you weren't here in the morning you missed your schedule for the day, Percy. I have you signed up for a few slots, and you will be taking care of cleaning out the stables today. Newbie tradition, sorry. Any time slot that isn't filled is free time to do whatever you want, so have at it. Oh, Chiron told me you were banned form the archery range, sorry." He handed Percy a piece of paper.
Percy snatched it out of his hand and read through it. It seemed that he had signed him up for an afternoon swordsmanship class, and had him on the climbing wall after. Wait he had to clean out a bunch of horse crap by himself, and he was banned from the range! What the hell Chiron! "Why am I banned from the range!"
"Uh, Chiron said something about peeling too many arrows out of his butt, and he didn't want to risk the safety of others, whatever that meant. He said you can only use it when no one else is there." Luke looked at him apologetically.
Great, well at least he wasn't completely banned. Sighing, he bid Luke and Annabeth farewell and trudged away to the stables. He figured he should go ahead and get it out of the way since he has to do it either way. Walking up to the stables, he heard a bunch of people talking inside and complaining about hay quality. Maybe he could get them to help.
Pushing open the stable doors and entering, he noticed that the voices hushed. He couldn't see anyone there, just a bunch of horses staring at him, so he called out to see if they were around back or something. "Hello?"
Percy was in the shock for his life when one of the horses looked at another one and asked, "What is this dolt doing, is he an idiot or something?" The horse turned his head back to Percy, "Hey kid, can you get us some better hay, this stuff sucks! And those demigods don't give us enough time out of the stalls! We don't like sitting here all day, y'know! Oh who am I kidding, you can't hear me." The horse whinnied.
Ping!
A new language skill has been learned!
Equish LVL MAX – You can speak to horses as if you were born speaking it, because you were!
What the fuck! He can talk to horses! And they were dicks! "Hey buddy, don't call me an idiot! Keep it up and I'll make sure that that hay is all you ever get!" The horse whipped it's head around, staring at Percy with wide eyes.
"Wait, you can hear me! Like full on hear me? Oh, tell me what I say next to prove you can! Uh, I love carrots but hate the stem!" The horse whinnied. All the other horses perked up to stare at Percy, curiosity piqued.
"Uh, ok? You like carrots but not the stem. Which is fair, I only like the actual carrot portion too, but don't horses also graze on grass? Shouldn't it make no difference in taste for you?" He asked the horse. He must have looked like a lunatic to anyone else. Here he was holding a one sided conversation to a bunch of horses that were probably only whinnying back to other peoples ears.
"I just think that part tastes yucky! But never mind that, you can actually hear us! Which means you must be a son of my lord! My lord, I am sorry for my crass words earlier, but these campers don't really take what we want into account!" My lord, why was he being called that? It seemed that the exclamation from the horse sent the others in a tizzy, as they all stated chanting on how their lord is here.
"Calm down, calm down! What's got you all so worked up, why are you calling me your lord?" Percy was confused, was being able to speak to them automatically granting him lordship or something?
"My lord, you are a son of our lord, Poseidon! You are able to understand us, which means you are his kin, therefore you are our lord as well! I have never been graced with a member of the royal family before, are you staying in this demigod camp?" The horse neighed.
"Wait a second, my dad is your lord? And how did you know he was my father! To my knowledge I am not a member of any royal family, buddy."
"Of course, my lord, he created us! And it was easy to figure out you were his descendant if you can talk to us. All of his direct descendants are automatically members of the Atlantean royal family. Don't you know this?"
Percy shook his head; he didn't have time to argue semantics with a damn horse. He would have to look into this whole Atlantean royal family thing, maybe it was something to ask his father whenever he finally claimed him. "Whatever. Look, I'm here to clean out the stables today, so I'm going to let you all out in the pasture for a while. I'll try to make sure the campers take better care of you, and will talk to Chiron about getting better hay."
He marched over to each of the stalls and unlatched them, letting the horses out to stretch. "Alright, lets move it. Out into the pasture, unless you want to stay here the whole day." They didn't need any other encouragement, galloping out into the pasture while whinnying there thanks to him over their shoulder. Percy surveyed the stables. They were pretty dirty, definitely begging to be cleaned, and he knew he would have to change out their hay and water as well. No time like the present, Percy got to work.
He commanded the water in the troughs out and used it to basically power wash the stalls and floors. Once they were sparkling clean, he used the water to clean the walls and windows, before commanding it into the drain. He was left with a virtually spotless stable, and it barely took him any time at all. Percy then summoned water from the spigot to replace the water from the troughs. He walked over to the haystacks and spread it around each of the stalls, leaving a block of hay for each horse. He surveyed his work, and was happy it barely took him any time at all; maybe he should request this chore more often. It seemed that people really hated doing it, but if it was this quick and easy for him he could probably deal out al of his other chores. Walking out into the pasture he called the horses over, and they galloped up to him to see what their lord wanted.
"Alright guys, your water and hay are restocked. I know you don't like the current hay, but you're gonna have to tough it out until I talk to Chiron about getting better stuff. You all are free to roam around for the day, I'll be sure to come back to put you back in your stalls at the end of the day." He explained. Hearing whinnies of thanks, he walked away from the stables as the horses played in the fields.
Looking at his watch, he still had some time before he had to be at his swordsmanship lesson, so he decided to take a walk to while the time away. Walking past the cabins, the only place he had yet to explore was the forest, so he decided to start there. Walking over to the forest, he made sure his weapon was in his pocket and ready to use before going in. He had to admit that the forest was quite picturesque, framed by large oaks and poplars and with a wide running stream cutting through the area. He could hear the birds chirping in the distance, and see animals such as deer and rabbits scurrying around deeper into the forest. He was passing a group of boulders when he heard a call behind him.
"Perce! You won't believe it man, it's a miracle! I mean he usually doesn't do things like this, but just, wow!" Percy turned around to see Grover running up to him with his girlfriend Juniper trailing behind him. Grover looked absolutely ecstatic, and Percy could figure the reason as to why. Looks like Dionysus delivered on his favor.
He smiled in greeting at Grover and Juniper, "G-man, what's up?"
Grover positively beamed, "My searchers license, that's what's up! You won't believe it! You know how I was talking to you last night about the Council of Cloven Elders decision to bar me from my searchers license? Well, today Lord Dionysus showed up and told me he had reversed their decision to deny me my searchers license! I'm a searcher now, can you believe it! They tell me I can start going out in 3 months time!" Juniper came up and hugged Grover as Grover put his arm around her.
Percy smiled at his friend, "That's amazing dude! So you can go out and follow your dreams now, right? I'm happy to hear that Mr. D was willing to overturn that unfair ruling, do you have any plans until you start?"
Grover rubbed his small goatee, "Yep, I can finally follow my dream! I don't really have plans to be honest, but I think I'm going to just spend times with friends and family, and my lovely girlfriend here. Searchers assignments are 6 months on, 3 months off, so I will have time to come back and see everyone periodically."
Juniper kissed Grover on the cheek, "Grover, baby, go on ahead and tell your family, I'll catch up. I want to talk to Percy here for a moment." Grover looked at her confused for a moment before shrugging and bidding them goodbye, running off deeper into the forest.
Juniper turned to Percy, a knowing smile on her face, "So, what did you do?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh come on, you had to have done something! Lord Dionysus doesn't usually get involved in satyr affairs, and even when he does he is there from the outset. This time, he came in and overturned the council's decision after the fact, and he never does that! I think someone asked him to overturn it." She put her hand on her hip, "He wouldn't overturn it at the behest of a satyr as he would see that as internal political maneuvering, so it had to be someone from the outside. Grover only told two people outside of satyrs and nymphs about the council's decision. Chiron, who wouldn't do anything, and you, his best friend and the new kid at camp. So what did you do?"
Dang, this chick was smart. He was hoping to keep things on the down low about his involvement, as he didn't want Grover thinking it was out of pity or anything. He also didn't want Grover thinking he had to repay him, and Percy just knew that he would be falling over himself to repay him if he found out. He sighed, "Yes, I did something. Look, you can't tell him it was me who asked Mr. D to overturn the decision; I don't want him trying to repay me for this. I did it because he is my friend, not because I want something from him."
Juniper smirked triumphantly, "I knew it was you, something in my gut was just telling me! So how did you get Lord Dionysus to overturn his decision?" She then looked confused, "And shouldn't you want to tell Grover it was you?"
He shook his head in the negative, "No, absolutely not, if I told him he would immediately know what I had to give up to influence the decision. When I got here, I won a favor from Mr. D, and I used that favor last night to overturn the decision."
Her eyes bugged out of her skull as she looked at him in disbelief, "Wait, wait, wait, you had a favor with Lord Dionysus, and you used it for Grover! Oh my gods, that's got to be the nicest thing anyone has ever done! A favor from a god is huge, especially from our lord!"
Percy put his hands up trying to placate her excitement, "Exactly, that is why he can't know! So don't tell him, as far as anyone else knows Mr. D reversed their decision on his own volition and that is good enough!"
She looked at him funny, and then shook her head and smiled, "You really are a different type of person, huh? Grover told me that you were a good person, but I doubt that even he knows the extent you would go to for a friend." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Thanks for being such a good friend for my Grover."
+10 reputation gained with Forest Nymphs and Satyrs!
Ping!
For increasing reputation with Forest nymphs and Satyrs, you receive +2 CHA and +1 LUC. These creatures will be more helpful to you!
"Uh, no problem at all. Just don't tell him, that's all I ask." She smiled and then bid him farewell, chasing after Grover. Percy watched her go and turned in preparation to leave before something caught his eye. The group of boulders had an information box next to them with a "!" above it. Curious, Percy went up to the rocks and investigated. Suddenly, and information box popped up and Percy could see a glowing triangle inside a crevice in the large boulder.
Ping!
You have discovered an entrance to a dungeon!
Labyrinth – Level 25
Would you like to enter?
Yes/No
Ping!
You have discovered two entrances to the Labyrinth! Fast travel system is unlocked!
Fast Travel – You may use the labyrinth to travel between points in North America in no time! Discover entrances to the Labyrinth to unlock more fast travel locations!
Would you like to fast travel?
Yes/No
Huh, neat, so there is another one of these Labyrinth entrances here? That would certainly come in handy in the future, but for now he probably shouldn't be leaving camp, especially with Hades still on his case. He didn't have time to do the dungeon now, as his swordsmanship lesson was due to start soon, but he would have to come out here and complete the dungeon at some point though. Probably when he was a higher level, now that he thought about it.
Clicking no on both options, he jogged back to the training arena to get to his class on time. Arriving, he saw most of the Hermes cabin already there and pairing off. Each one already had their swords out, and Percy reached into his pocket to pull out Anaklusmos before he stopped. Perhaps he shouldn't reveal he had a secret sword that was hidden as a pen. It would be the ultimate trump card if an enemy thought he was defenseless. He palmed the pen in his pocket, before leaving it there and removing his hand.
He noticed a table that had a bunch of swords on it off to the side, and he walked up to inspect them. Picking a few up to immediately put them down due to how terribly weighted they were, he finally found a sword that was at least serviceable and walked over to the group.
"Percy, just in time! I see you got a sword from the table, just remember to return it after the lesson. You may also want to head over to the Hephaestus cabin to purchase a sword if you got a bit of money on you; Annabeth told me about how you cleaned out Mr. D." He turned to the rest of the class, "Alright, lets go ahead and get started since everyone is ready. I will be your instructor, and will hopefully be teaching you some moves that may save your life in the future. Today we will be learning proper stance and a disarming maneuver that should come in handy in the future, and then we will break up for spars."
Luke then proceeded to lead them all through proper stance technique, adjusting people's stance here and there to balance them better. After he was satisfied with their stances, he proceeded to have them shift in and out of stance until they could get in the proper stance at a moments notice. Due to his level in swordsmanship, Percy wasn't having too much trouble with the stances, only picking up on minor corrections in his stance that he had to make. He didn't want to follow the stance that everyone had, however, as he thought he could improve it in some areas.
After Luke was satisfied with their progress, he called everyone back into the huddle. "Ok guys, good work. Stances are looking better but a few of you still need to work on it. Since we have it down well enough, let us begin with the disarming technique, and for that I will need another person for the demonstration." Luke looked over to Percy, "Percy, can you come up here and help me out?"
Percy got up and walked a couple feet in front of Luke. Luke turned to the assembled class, "Ok pay attention, this move uses your opponents wrist against them and forces them to drop their sword. You're wrist has a limited range of motion and cannot turn past 180 degrees naturally, so when you perform this move your opponent is forced to drop the word they are holding." Luke turned to Percy, and got into a ready position, "Ok, Percy. Try and hold onto your sword."
Luke seemed relaxed and completely open to attack, but as Percy looked closer he could see his muscles contracted and ready to strike at a moments notice. Luke lashed out with his sword, and Percy could barely keep up to meet his blade. Luke slid his sword along the flat of his blade and to his guard, and then twisted the sword quickly in a counterclockwise motion. Percy tried his best to hold onto the blade, but he was forced to drop it when his wrist couldn't turn anymore. He couldn't help it, Luke was just so much faster and stronger than him.
Luke smiled and turned to the class, "See, he put up a good fight but he was forced to drop his sword. Let's pair off into groups and practice the move, alright? Percy, how about you practice with me?" Percy nodded and paired off with Luke, with them both getting into a ready position. He knew Luke would be trying to get him with the move again, so Percy devised a plan he hoped would prevent him from losing his sword. As Luke lunged forward and started with the disarming move, Percy twisted his sword downwards and pivoted on his foot, entering Luke's guard. Luke quickly aborted the move and attempted to bring his sword to bear to push Percy out of his guard, but Percy was expecting that.
Quick as a flash, Percy swung his sword into Luke's and performed the disarming technique Luke had shown him, forcing Luke to step back and drop his sword. "Not bad Percy, creative attempt at circumventing the disarming attack and turning it on your opponent. However, make sure when you step into your opponents guard to watch out for a physical strike, as it would be much easier for an opponent to sweep your leg out when you move in if you are not ready for it. Again." They then set up again, working on duels for the next hour and a half.
After the time had elapsed, Luke called an end to the duels. "Alright everyone, I think that is enough for today. You all have shown some pretty good progress, so keep up the practice in your free time and I will see you guys later."
Ping!
Due to continuous use, a skill has leveled up!
Sword Mastery
LVL 6 (5%): En Garde! You are skilled with a blade, and can use one to deal damage more effectively. (30% more damage with swords)
Ping!
Due to continuous use, a skill has leveled up!
Sword Mastery
LVL 7 (18%): En Garde! You are skilled with a blade, and can use one to deal damage more effectively. (35% more damage with swords)
Ping!
Due to strenuous work in swordsmanship practice, you have earned +2 DEX and +1 STR.
Percy wiped the sweat off of his brow and sat down to rest. After that one victory he had against Luke the older boy decided to take his spar a little more seriously, and Percy had not won another bout. Luke was a seriously good swordsman, and if Percy wanted to catch up he needed to start grinding. Looking at his schedule, the only other activity on it for the day was the climbing wall, something Percy was excited to try out.
Putting his sword on the table and jogging over to the climbing wall, Percy watched as kids attempted to surmount the summit before being unceremoniously thrown off by something or another. Excited to try, he looked for the head counselor in charge of the wall, and soon found a large teen standing and watching as kids kept falling off.
"Uh, excuse me? My schedule says I got the climbing wall now, so, how do I go about starting? Do I just run up to it and go at it, or do you need to give me a rule rundown or what?" Percy asked.
The older boy turned and looked down at him, "Oh, you're that new camper, right? Percy? Names Charles, Charles Beckendorf, and I am the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. You were right to come up to me, I do in fact need to give you a bit of a rundown. So basically, no fighting on the wall, be courteous to others, try not to damage the thing, no harnesses necessary, etc, etc, you get the deal. You can start whenever, and there really isn't a queue. This is kind of like a free time, so you can stay and attempt to reach the top as long as you want." He explained. Seemed simple enough, and he didn't have to worry about being injured or falling because of those wind spirits.
Percy nodded and was about to turn away, but he stopped when he remembered what Luke said. "Hey Charles, you are the head councilor for the Hephaestus cabin, right?"
Charles turned to Percy and nodded his head. "Well, Luke said you guys take commissions on swords, so I wanted to see about having a sword made for me." Percy explained.
Charles perked up at that, "Oh, really? Finally, something to do! We sure do take commissions, what type of sword are you looking for?"
"Hmm, could I get a Xiphos? What types of metals can you use, and what will the handle be made of?" Charles by now had completely stopped paying attention to the tower and was going full blacksmith, pulling out a pen and paper.
"That can certainly be done, Xiphos is the most common type of sword we use hear after all. Most people don't ask for different metals, but we can certainly use different types. You will have to have celestial bronze in there if you want to kill monsters, but I can also throw in steel to defend yourself from mortals. If you have the money, I could even get the Hermes cabin to get me a bar of silver just in case you find yourself facing off against werewolves or anything like that. I can use any type of wood, but the more exotic the harder to get. What is your budget looking like? A sword would usually run you somewhere around $600."
Percy thought on that, he had like 80k in the bank and probably wasn't going to be needing it any time soon, so it would behoove him to splurge. Don't want to be caught out, just in case. "Definitely toss in the silver and steel with the bronze, money shouldn't be an issue. Can you use holly in the handle, with a black string wrap?"
"Tall order, but I can have it ready for you before the capture the flag match tomorrow. Sword will run you around $2k since you want the silver in it. You got that kind of money?" Percy pulled out $2.5k from his inventory by reaching into his pocket, handing it to Charles who looked at the wad of cash, surprised. "Here, plus a little extra for the 'artists' fee."
$: 87,670 – 2,500 = 85,170
Charles smiled and pocketed the cash, "Thanks! Finally, someone that appreciates our cabins skills! I'll get with the Hermes kids, I bet they already have a bar of silver, and I'll have my cabin working on this ASAP." He called over another camper that also looked to be from the Hephaestus cabin, telling them to take over his post as he went back to the main area.
+5 reputation gained with Charles, Hephaestus cabin councilor!
+5 reputation gained with Hephaestus cabin!
Satisfied that he could get a sword to keep Anaklusmos as a secret weapon, he turned his sights to the climbing wall. Grabbing ahold of the footholds, he started climbing, avoiding falling debris from up top. As he was getting to the 15-ft mark, he suddenly slipped off of the handhold and felt the weightlessness of falling.
Acrobatics check failed!
He started to scream, but before he got far he felt like he landed on a cloud. Turns out it was literal, because an actual cloud caught him and started to lower him to the ground. These must be the wind spirits that patrol the tower. Thanking the cloud once it set him down, he decided to stay and grind his acrobatics stat until it was at a good enough level to where he could reliably get up to the 40-foot mark. Setting to work, he figured he would become very well acquainted with the rush of falling, shortly.
And become well acquainted he did. He worked on the climbing wall until the sun got low in the sky, constantly scaling the wall until he got to his desired height on a relatively frequent basis. His muscles were screaming at him, but he felt it was well worth it once he looked at his acrobatics stat.
Ping!
Due to continuous use, a skill has leveled up!
Acrobatics
LVL 7 (36%): Ole! Climb, jump, and do other physical maneuvers using the natural grace and strength of your body! ((STR/2) + 45% Chance of success)
Ping!
Due to continuous physical activity, you have gained +2 DEX, +1 VIT and +2 STR!
He panted in relief, and looked at his watch. Seemed it was time for dinner, so he trudged his way over to the dining pavilion. Walking in, he could see campers were already trickling in and getting their dinner. Deciding to follow suit, he grabbed a plate and piled it high with food. He walked over to the brazier and began his sacrifices, dropping in food for Poseidon, Hestia, and Dionysus. Remembering how Chiron said he was banned from practicing archery when anyone else was around, he decided he really needed to overcome his handicap to make it so he would be allowed on the range again. After all, he didn't want to make a habit of only training at night. With that in mind, he dumped off a portion each for the twin gods of archery, Apollo and Artemis. Hopefully they would look upon him with favor and he could improve in his skills rapidly.
Walking over to his table, he sat down and started to eat. Tonight, he needed to practice his archery skills. First, though, he promised Hestia he would talk to her regularly, so he would need to stop by before heading to the range. He liked the kind goddess, and he just had a feeling that he didn't want to disappoint her. Scarfing down the rest of his meal, he put his plate up and set out to find the goddess.
Finding her at the camp hearth once again, he sat down beside her. She turned to him with a smile, "Greetings Percy Jackson, I must admit I wasn't quite expecting to see you here again."
He huffed, "I said I would be coming around more often, didn't I? I keep my promises, y'know." He informed her. She smiled at that, "Yes, I do indeed. I should have never doubted the sincerity of your words, but unfortunately the years do get to me and I just expect to be left to my devices again."
He turned to her, "Well, that isn't going to be how it is with me. I consider you a friend, or at least a close acquaintance, and I like hanging out with my friends. Frankly, it was really nice spending time with you the other day. It wasn't just someone talking to me about training, or demigod problems like monsters, we just talked. I feel like I can be a normal kid around you, and I hope I can be a friend to you, too."
"Thanks, Percy, I would like that. It has been a while since I've actually had a friend to talk to. Everyone just comes to me with their problems and to vent, and they always expect me to figure out their issues for them. Of course that is only when they remember I exist, and once I solve their problems it is back to usual." She sighed, and Percy listened to her intently. Sounds like most of the gods treated her as the unpaid therapist of Olympus. Perhaps he should reign back on any of his venting or problems around her, didn't want her to think he was treating her like that, too.
He came out of his mind when he heard her talking again, "You know, I can't even remember the last time someone has come to simply say hello to me. The only ones that come around on a semi-regular basis are Artemis and Athena, but Artemis only comes around to tell me about issues the hunt is facing, and Athena just complains about whatever fascination of the day or how Poseidon is annoying. That is part of the reason I started to come down to camp a lot, so I am not always freely available." She then put a hand on her mouth and blushed, "Oh! I'm sorry, I don't mean to rant, it has just been a while since I have been able to have a non-one sided conversation. And look at me, I'm doing to you exactly what I am complaining about!"
Percy was quick to assuage her fears, "Hey, no worries! That is what friends are for, right? We can tell each other about our problems, hang out, or just talk. I don't mind if you vent, I imagine you don't get much of a chance to."
She smiled at him, and leaned over and gave him a hug, "Thanks, that means a lot to me. I'm happy to have you as my first friend in a while." Percy was surprised by the hug and was about to reciprocate before he stood as still as possible. What was he doing, this was a goddess! He can't just hug her, didn't Chiron say something about respect, and weren't gods known for smiting mortals if they offended them? But didn't she initiate, it should be fine, right? Deciding to take the chance, he closed his eyes and hesitantly reciprocated the hug.
He had to admit, hugging her was a nice feeling. She just exuded warmth and a feeling of ease, like he just returned home after a long time. She sighed, and soon enough the hug was broken as they went back to staring at the fire. He looked over at her, she seemed to be much more relaxed than before, like a weight was taken off her shoulders, which was a weird sight to see on an elementary schooler.
+10 reputation with Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth!
Speaking of, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask, why is it that you look like a kid, aren't you the eldest of the children of Kronos?"
She looked up at him, "Oh, that? I choose this form to assume because of … things that happened in my past." He looked at her, concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She mulled it over, "Why not? Do you know what my sacred animal is?"
"Can't say that I do, sorry."
"No worries, my sacred animal is the donkey. After we defeated my father, we held a large victory celebration. I have never been one for large public gatherings, so a rowdy party wasn't really for me and I decided to take an early night. I left the party and found a nice secluded spot in a grove and decided to sleep there, resting against a tree. Well, a minor god named Priapus found me in my rest, and decided that he wanted me, so he attempted to rape me."
Percy gasped at that, how could some one try to do that, that was all kinds of messed up!
"Yes, he almost succeeded if not for a donkey that brayed in warning to me. I woke up and fought off Priapus, running back to my family for help. They tried to hunt Priapus down, but he had already fled. Later, my form had both Apollo and Poseidon fighting for my hand in marriage. I am a maiden goddess, so my adult form was causing me a lot more trouble than it was worth, so I started appearing in this form. I'm left well enough alone now, so I at least have that."
Jeez, his dad wanted to get with his sister? What the hell is wrong with this family? "I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" he started, before being interrupted by her. "Don't worry, it's fine. Its all in the past now. So, what do you plan to do for the rest of the day? You still have a couple of hours until the harpies start flying overhead."
"Hmm, I was thinking of practicing some archery. Unfortunately, Chiron has banned me from the range unless no one else is there, something about camper safety."
She giggled at that, "Really? You must be terrible at archery for him to do that!"
Percy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, I managed to send quite a few arrows in the opposite direction of where I was aiming, so I can kind of understand where he is coming from. Doesn't change that I want to practice to get better, though."
"Oh my, I didn't think it was that bad! You may need more help than just practicing all alone! Perhaps I could call in a favor to get you a teacher? Tell you what, I'll see about getting you a teacher for archery for tomorrow, how does that sound? I can only promise one day of classes, but I should be able to, err, acquire their services."
Percy perked up at that, that would be amazing! But he can't accept this, he didn't want her to think she had to do stuff for him! "Hestia, that really isn't necessary! Don't waste a favor on me! I can practice on my own, I am sure I will be able to get it, eventually at least."
He tried dissuading her but she was adamant, "No Percy, it is nothing, really. You need a proper teacher if you ever want to be good at it. If you teach yourself then you may compound bad habits or issues if a proper teacher is not there to help you! I won't be taking no for an answer, young man!"
Jeez, he felt like his mom was scolding him. Not wanting to upset her, he acceded to the teacher. He hoped this won't cost her too much brownie points with whoever she is calling in a favor with, but he was certainly glad she was willing to do it for him.
Hestia nodded, satisfied. "Good, now I will go ahead and call in the favor, so I expect you to be ready for your lesson at 6 PM sharp, and be as professional as possible! Trust me, being late or slacking will not go over well, and I'd rather not lose my new friend so quickly. Now I have to go, I will be seeing you later, Percy!"
She waved by to him and he waved back, before she blinked out of existence in a column of fire. What exactly did she mean by lose him? Deciding those questions may be better left unanswered, he decided to start walking back to his cabin. Entering, he saw that he was the only one currently in the cabin. Makes sense, they were all either at dinner or they were about to go to campfire. Percy was exhausted, however, and wanted to rest his tired muscles and mind, so he was going to turn in early.
Sitting down in his sleeping bag, he decided to go through his stats and see his current progress.
STR: 19
VIT: 18
WIS: 22
INT: 18
DEX: 24
CHA: 22
LUC: 11
Hmm, seemed that STR, INT and VIT were real close to reaching level 20 and earning that bonus, so he might as well splurge 5 points to bring them all up.
STR: 19 + 1 = 20
Ping!
You have reached an attribute rating of 20 in WIS! You receive +1 Skill LVL scroll and a boost!
STR Boost: +100 HP
VIT: 18 + 2 = 20
Ping!
You have reached an attribute rating of 20 in WIS! You receive +1 Skill LVL scroll and a boost!
VIT Boost: +10% HP Regen. (Current Regen.: 25 HP/min)
INT: 18 + 2 = 20
Ping!
You have reached an attribute rating of 20 in WIS! You receive +1 Skill LVL scroll and a boost!
INT Boost: + 100 MP
Attribute Points: 22 – 5 = 17
Nice, so INT and WIS affected MP and STR and VIT affected HP, good to know. Plus, he receives a leveling scroll for each one, which was a nice added bonus. Speaking of, he really needed to go through his inventory and see what type of leveling items he has. He remembered the wine that Dionysus had given him, and since it was a permanent boost he decided it probably would be prudent to go ahead and use it.
Looking through his inventory, he was surprised just how much stuff he had accumulated. In total, he had 8 skill LVL scrolls now, as well as a random skill scroll? What does that do? Looking through his inventory more, he also noticed his spoils of war he had gotten from the Minotaur. He never really checked them, did he?
Axe of the Minotaur
The Axe gifted to the Minotaur by it's mother, Pasiphae. It is a double bladed heavy axe that is incredibly powerful. It is made of a mix of mortal iron and celestial bronze. Requires 50 STR to use.
DMG: 500 | Special Effect: + 50 DMG to monsters, gods, titans, and mortals | +100 DMG to demigods
Horn of the Minotaur
The horn of the Minotaur. Imbued with the energy of the labyrinth due to it's time in the maze, it is incredibly sharp and sturdy.
The Axe was real powerful, too bad he probably wouldn't be able to use it any time soon. Not quite sure what use the horn is, but maybe he could find a use for it down the line? Come to think of it, he did receive a claw from Alecto, too. Maybe he received trophies from special enemies?
Tossing the spoils back into his inventory, he found what he was looking for in Dionysus' special wine. Bringing it out and the skill books, he placed them in front of him. Deciding to thumb through the skill LVL books first, he grabbed one and opened it.
Ping!
You have opened a skill LVL book! Consume to increase the level of a skill by 1!
This could definitely be useful for him, but he would have to play it smart. He didn't want to use these things on easy to level skills, after all. Thinking on it, it would probably be best if he used 1 skill book for each Ice Control, Blood Control, and Shadow Manipulation since those were his toughest skills. He could use some on archery, but decided it would probably be best to wait until whatever teacher Hestia sends comes along.
He decided to use 1 more skill book on critical strike, as it was also tough to level that skill up unless he actually gets one. Deciding to save the rest for later, he applies the books to the skills.
Ping!
Due to use of a skill book, a skill has been leveled up!
Ice Control
LVL 3 (50%): Take a chill pill! Take control of individual water molecules and the Van der Waals forces between them, forcing the molecules to stop all movement and drastically reduce its temperature to create and control ice! (Cost: 190 MP/min, -5 MP per level)
Ping!
Due to use of a skill book, a skill has been leveled up!
Blood Control
LVL 3 (97%): Bloodbender! Take control of the blood of your enemies and use it against them as per your will! (Cost: 190 MP/min, -5 MP per level)
Ping!
Due to use of a skill book, a skill has been leveled up!
Shadow Manipulation
LVL 4 (90%): Agent of the shadows! Bend shadows to your will and use them to create constructs or to meld into them. Melding into shadows provides a + 50% boost to sneaking, and provides other abilities. (Cost: 96 MP/min)
Ping!
Due to use of a skill book, a skill has leveled up!
Critical Strike
LVL 4 (60%): A hole the size of a womp rat! You can deal massive damage by hitting critical areas. (8% chance of success, +500% damage if successful)
Nice, it seemed that using the skill books returned him to the exact same progress as he had before, so he wouldn't have to worry about using them only on skills that just leveled up to avoid wasting them. Taking a look at the random skill scroll, he opened that up to see what it is about.
Ping!
You have opened a random skill scroll! A random skill has been received!
Passive Skill
Mana Sense – LVL Max
Sixth sense! Detect when someone is attempting to use mana, and determine the intent behind it. Allows for sensing secret attacks, magic, fighting mind control and suggestions, and more. Also allows for sensing locations of people using mana.
Woah, a free skill, nice! Kind of a broken skill, as now no one should be able to sneak up on him again if he is actively monitoring mana signatures. He also can sense intent behind certain magics, and can fight mind control, too? Definitely broken. Turning to the last item he brought out of his inventory, he studied the wine Dionysus gave him.
Dionysus' Special Wine
Personal wine of Dionysus. When drank, increases DEX and CHA +5 permanently, and increases HP and MP +500 permanently.
He uncorked the bottle and smelled its contents. Pleasant and unpleasant, it smelled like fermented grapes, of course, but also smelled like a bunch of different fruits he couldn't pinpoint. Deciding to take a swig, he was hit with an explosion of flavor and an odd, bitter, acrid taste that he couldn't pinpoint, although he was pretty sure it was the taste of alcohol. Overall, it was pretty good, though he wasn't sure if it was for him. Deciding to play it safe, he spent the next few minutes draining the bottle to make sure he got the buffs from the item.
CHA: 22 + 5 = 27
DEX: 24 + 5 = 29
HP: 550 + 500 = 1,050 + (100)
MP: 500 + 500 = 1,000 + (100)
Status: Drunk
Holy shit, he was getting really woozy. Oh this was a bad idea, his mom always told him to stay away from alcohol but one gift from a god and he is jumping on it. Uh-oh, he could barely sit up. Percy thought that he should probably lie down, and as soon as his head touched the pillow he blacked out.
Perseus "Percy" Jackson
Son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson
Perseus is the son of Sally Jackson and Poseidon. His ADHD and Dyslexia provide him battle reflexes and natural affinity to Greek due to his existence as a demigod. Due to his heritage, he has an ingrained affinity to the sea and is able to control water and ?. Due to being a demigod you permanently receive +5 to STR, VIT, and DEX.
Title: Son of Poseidon
Race: Demigod
Level 11
EXP: 5,000/12,000
HP: 1,050/1,050 (+100)
MP: 1,000/1,000 (+100)
STR: 20 (+5) (Boost: +100 HP)
VIT: 20 (+5) (Boost: +10% HP Regen. | Current Regen.: 25 HP/min)
WIS: 22 (Boost: +10% MP Regen.) (Current Regen.: 22 MP/min)
INT: 20 (Boost: +100 MP)
DEX: 29 (+5) (Boost: +5% effectiveness to all physical skills)
CHA: 27 (Boost: +5% to all prices. +5% effectiveness to all speaking skills)
LUC: 11
Attribute Points: 17
Money: $85,170/D785
Status: Drunk
Skills
Physical:
Swimming (LVL - MAX)
Running (LVL 10 – 30%)
Sneaking (LVL 2 - 65%)
Acrobatics (LVL 7 – 38%)
Archery (LVL 4 – 65%)
Unarmed Combat (LVL 2 - 96%)
-Sub Skills:
- Judo (LVL 2 - 45%)
Sword Mastery (LVL 7 - 20%)
Critical Strike (LVL 4 - 60%)
Powers:
Observe (LVL 5 - 95%)
Charm (LVL 2 - 88%)
Taunt (LVL 2 – 25%)
Water Manipulation (LVL 10 - 75%)
-Sub Skills:
-Water Spikes (LVL 5 - 95%)
-Blood Control (LVL 3 – 97%)
-Ice Control (LVL 3 – 50%)
Shadow Manipulation (LVL 4 – 90%)
Language:
Modern English (LVL 13 – 50%)
Ancient Greek (Level – MAX)
Equish (LVL – MAX)
Passive:
Gamer's Mind (LVL - MAX)
Lie Detection (LVL 1 - 35%)
Mana Sense (LVL – Max)
Reputation
Hermes Cabin: 8/100 - Neutral
-Patron God: Hermes – 3/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Hermes!
-Councilor: Luke Castellan – 5/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Luke!
Ares Cabin: 13/100 - Neutral
-Patron God: Ares – 2/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Ares!
-Councilor: Clarisse La Rue – 19/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Unarmed Training from Clarisse!
Athena Cabin: 2/100 - Neutral
-Patron God: Athena – 0/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Athena!
-Councilor: Annabeth – 6/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Annabeth!
Dionysus Cabin: 3/100 - Neutral
-Patron God: Dionysus – 8/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Dionysus!
-Councilor: Pollux – 1/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Pollux!
Hephaestus Cabin: 5/100 - Neutral
-Patron God: Hephaestus – 0/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Hephaestus!
-Councilor: Charles – 6/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Nothing from Charles!
Forest Nymphs and Satyrs: 10/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Assistance from Forest Nymphs and Satyrs!
Chiron: 10/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Arrow Totem from Chiron!
Hestia: 15/100
-Due to this reputation, you currently receive Use of a favor from Hestia!