AN: Welcome to another installment of "The Clear-Sighted Gamer"! With the Gods angry, what will happen now? Will Luke be caught? How many things will change in the plot now that Remedy has had his first bump with the main characters? All will be addressed this time on Dragon Ball Z – I mean, The Clear-Sighted Gamer!
Also, I am currently writing this on an airplane. My family is holidaying in Scotland this year (Covid measures are laxer now.) So publishing hours might be a bit off for the next two weeks.
Also, you guys are in for a surprise this chapter. A new OC is going to be introduced, and she is quite interesting... While it is probably easy for someone to find out her secret, let's make it a riddle. First person to figure out the other side of her family, you get a Victory Cookie (::) and will be mentioned at the start of next chapter. Everyone else gets a Negative Cracker [#].
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Chapter 4: The Forge of Sunken Ships
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Disclaimer: I don't own Rick Riordan's Universe. If I did, many characters would have gotten a better Fate
-(Remedy Adams)-
Even me, an everyday mortal, could sense the absolute fury Zeus is experiencing right now.
Of course, he is making it very obvious with the sky looking like it is about to rain anvils instead of rain; the clouds are dark, like crude, unrefined iron. Every minute or so, another blinding bolt of lightning strikes the top of the Empire States Building, each one followed by a deafening roar of thunder. I rushed back home, knowing that things are very much about to escalate.
As I ran, the ground trembled, like the footsteps of some ancient eldritch giant. My mind scrambled for knowledge; which God was in command of earthquakes? The Storm Warnings kept blaring, shocking me into realizing the name I was grasping for. While my personal ad hoc training into the Greek Myths was woefully incomplete and has many holes in it, I knew the big names. Poseidon, God of the Sea, Earthshaker, is probably also involved in this. And I know for a fact that Hades and Zeus are both mixed into the mess, what with their Symbols being stolen and the constant barrage of lightning strikes.
With what I understand of the Greek myths, the Greeks saw the Gods not as metaphysical, unknowable concepts, but humanized them. They had human feelings and emotions; they felt jealousy and pain and anger. The problem is that when a being this powerful gets jealous or sad or angry, they abuse their power, and those less powerful than them suffer greatly. I don't know how often such family squabbles happen with the Gods, but I am certain that this has gone much further than a simple sibling rivalry. With how they control literal concepts and elements of nature, a war between the Sky, Sea, and Underworld would cause the unintended deaths of many innocents.
I rushed back home alive, at least. I put down my things, before turning on my old box TV for the latest news on potential world ending catastrophes. Surprisingly, even with the freak weather the Olympians were cooking up, the signal was still fine, if a bit shaky. The news itself painted a dire picture, however. They were already calling it freak sudden weather, and one of the worst storms to hit the area in a century. At least I got inside before the hail started falling, but the experts are already predicting thousands of dollars of repairs is going to be needed after this is all over. Through the static, the live cameras sent to me a grim picture. The cameraman is currently at the bay, camera pointed out at the horizon. The waves seemed to curl up at the sky, while the sky tossed back hail and lightning. This was the Sea and Sky fighting, though this was likely still only the equivalent of a fistfight for the Gods. They haven't even gotten serious yet.
I fear what will happen when they do.
-(Luke Castellan)-
"I messed up. I messed up so badly, I really fucked up this time."
Luke muttered under his breath. He knew he messed up. Using the Helm to shadow travel away from his pursuers was an amazing idea, yes, totally! Of course he couldn't use it as well as Hades; if he could, he would be somewhere in China hiding with the Pandas right now! But no, he just had to try and be smart and use the Helm while being this close to Olympus! Hades must have detected the unauthorized use of shadow travel, and went to find his Helm in the throne room, only to find it missing. He blames his brothers, and Zeus blames him right back for the missing bolt. Or maybe he blames both Hades and Poseidon for the theft of his bolt; the King of the Olympians isn't known for being fair or reasonable when the nuclear arsenal (and his personal weapon) of the Olympians was missing.
And now, Luke is still very much within range of smiting distance. The area of NYC and Olympus is covered with ink black clouds, showing Zeus found out already. Likely all of Zeus' godly children are currently hunting him down, including one being the literal goddess of hunts. She and her twin drive the Sun and Moon, allowing for the two combined to see everything that happens, anywhere. Other than them are the god of War and goddess of Wisdom, both of which are no slouches either in finding demigod traitors. And then there was his father. Hermes, source of his trauma, the very absent father that left his kid with a deranged shell of a women. Each and every one of them could find him, catch him, and send him back to Olympus for eternal torture.
So yeah. It was obvious that Luke really messed up.
So, he ran, and he kept on running. Halfway to New Jersey already. Just keep going. Delay. Hide. Bring the Symbols to Kronos, and all will be well. He has the power to protect Luke, and he soon will have the power to tear down the Olympians, brick by brick, throne by throne.
"Going somewhere?" Shivers crawled up Luke's spine, before he was blown off his feet by a wave of Godly power. He wasn't being careful again. 'Please let it be Ares or Apollo. Those two I can fight, those two I can reason with.' Luke's mind sent a prayer to whatever power was even higher than the Olympians. 'Please not my father' How was he going to explain this to him?
The man, no God, before him smirked. The grin of a wolf cornering prey, or a gladiator about to go for the final kill. His face was covered by a motorcycle helmet, but it was still possible to see the flames flickering in bloodthirsty eyes. Ares, God of War and Combat, has caught up with Luke.
"Fuck me." Luke's mind went into overdrive. At least it was Ares, but how in the name of the Underworld is he going to think his way out of this?
"Well, little Godling. Spawn of Hermes, from what I remember. What are you doing with my dear papa's Bolt? I don't mind my uncle losing his hat, but my father really wants his stuff back."
'What do I do? What do I say?' Luke ransacked his mind for any ideas, tore it apart for a way out of this situation, but comes up with nothing. Nothing at all.
"And then I will bring you to him, to await your divine punishment. Wonder what it will be?"
That was when the Voice of Kronos slid into his mind.
Speak of War to those who crave it, silly servant. Speak of how if the items are lost forever, war on a scale never seen before will occur. All the bloodshed, possible if the Symbols just went missing.
"Maybe he will be creative this time. It isn't fun to see you mortals always being punished the same way as before, you know? But then again, father might just be feeling uninspired. Maybe he will send an eagle to peck out your liver for all eternity, or force you to suffer like Tantalus or Sisyphus." Ares kept blabbering, not detecting the voice in Luke's head.
Speak, servant. Speak so your life will not be forfeit. Speak!
"Hey Ares." The god stopped talking.
"You caught me, sure, Good job." Luke pulled himself up, body and bones still aching and sore.
"But wonder in awe at how much more you can do with the Symbols. You like war, don't you? Why not trigger the greatest, biggest war of all time?"
-(Remedy Adams)-
At long last, the weather seemed to calm down a bit. I am not sure if they actually caught Luke and now everything is fine with the Gods, but likely not. I can sort of feel it in the air. The items are still missing, and the Gods are now in a sort of cold war stage where they wait for someone to make the first move.
And I think it is best for me to also start making my own moves while I still can. First, a plan according to what information I already know.
Step one, get my own Celestial Bronze weapon. I imagine that slashing or piercing weapons would work best, because the Demigod group used spears and swords primarily. And while clubs are easy to use, swords are likely better for the actual slaying of monsters.
Step two, find a way to get in Camp Half-Blood. The descriptions I got from the camp t-shirts gave some clues; Demigods are able to enter unobstructed, but monsters and mortals can't. Thus, I need to contact a demigod and get them to let me into the Camp.
Step three, convince the management to let me stay. No idea how to do that, but being able to use the training facilities that is definitely in camp will help speed up my growth.
Step four, find and confront Luke about the Bolt and Helm so I can prevent an inevitable War between nature itself, and prevent innocent mortals from getting harmed. Of course, Luke might just kill me instead in order to shut me up, so contingencies will be needed.
All the while avoiding getting killed by the many dangers that populate the Greek mythos. Fun. No pressure.
Back to hunting for a machinist, then. Let's hope they are suitable for my needs.
(The next day, afternoon)
I have not found a good machinist.
Each and every machine shop I visited had all the things and facilities I am looking for, of course. If they were actually able to shape the damn metal, I would have been done looking a long time ago! Apparently, you need to have a bare minimum connection to the mythical world to be able to shape Celestial Bronze! Each machinist tried, and failed for some reason! The metal refused to melt, or their forges and cutters broke down, or they had a sudden urgent thing they needed to do. I myself can melt the Bronze myself by just putting pieces of the disassembled leg (Which actually had no internal parts, it was just a collection of bronze plates stuck together) in a forge, but I have no skill in shaping the melted metal into a sword. But the machinists and metallurgy experts could not actually use the stuff to make a sword, while I can use the metal but have no ability to forge! It is absolutely infuriating! I am at my wits end. Do I really need to learn metallurgy and machining just for a personal monster slaying weapon!
At least all the running around increased my Con by one and brought me to level 12. Max HP, Hunger, and Stamina is now 130, and Stamina regen is 65/hr. Stat points is 23, Skill points is 12, and Perk points is 2. But I still haven't gotten a good weapon!
I got one more machining shop to try. If this one also doesn't work out, I am giving up finding a mythical machinist and I am learning how to make a sword on my own, difficulty curve be damned! I walked down the street, to a small nook around the corner. And there it was.
The outside of the shop was dingy, poor looking. The windows were dirty and fogged from the heat inside, the paint on the walls was peeling off in sheets, and outside was a copper sign that was rusted green saying: "The Foreg of Suknen Ships: Machniing, Forging, Metallurgy and Gunsmithing".
Ignoring the typos on the sign, I entered. Inside was a paradise for machinists: a veritable jungle of metal scraps and old car engines and power tools, all hanging haphazardly everywhere and anywhere. Yes, this place isn't well known at all, but the place was an absolute mess, at least to my eyes. Take care of the mess, people! And every step seemed like tempting fate: yes, trip and activate that drill, and cause the entire shelf to fall on top of you, do it! Now that I know the Fates are real, I really shouldn't put myself in such dangerous situations and give them an excuse to off me.
But their Yelp review said that they had all the things I wanted and more, and thus I have decided I will give it a go. "Hello? Anyone there!" I was incredulous that anyone could hear me over the constant din of machinery, but then a women rounded the corner of a stack of boxes labeled "Nails and Bolts".
She is hard to describe. Beautiful, yes, but at the same time strange and almost otherworldly. Part of her feels like she doesn't belong here, in this forge, but in defiance of everything she was still here. Another part of her felt like she always belonged in the forge, surrounded by machinery and smelling of motor oil and bathed in the bangs and glow of heated metal.
Her features too were hard to understand. Fair skin, European, maybe. Celtic or Scottish, perhaps. Somewhere more north, Northern Europe. She was around my age, maybe a bit younger. She had long black hair, black eyes. Eyes that were almost all black, glinting like smoothed stones. Her legs and arms seem a bit too long in proportion to her body, just a bit, not much. Fingers too, a bit too lengthened, and almost webbed.
She was wearing the normal clothes of a machinist. I would know, having seen so many of them over the past two days. A pair of heat proof gloves in her pockets, metal visor flipped up, overalls with a shirt and work pants. And I can't say she was really well endowed; she was slim, sleek, with the elegance of a mermaid but the strength and fury of a Great White or Hammerhead shark.
Most noticeable was the slight limp that she had on her right leg. Not very noticeable, but I tensed up for a moment, thinking she was an Empousa, before noticing her two very human legs. The right leg was just slightly shorter than the left.
"Did you call? We are currently taking private orders." She called out to me, before sitting down at a low table to start organize a pile of scattered wrenches by size.
"Ah, yes. I recently found a number of metal plates. Not sure what bronze alloy this is, but I want to make it into something cool. I got the money for it." As I gave my now automatic starter line, I examined her:
Coral Gemseeker: Coral is the demigod daughter of [Redacted] and Hephaestus. She lived with her mother under the [Redacted] along with the rest of the [Redacted] [Redacted]. Because the [Redacted] did not approve of her interest in forging, machinery and the [Redacted], she left the [Redacted] to live in her own forge.
Age: 19
Emotion: She is currently curious
And I am surprised by the number of redacted spots I get on her Bio. What is happening here? She isn't more than 30 levels higher than me! Either a god (Likely Hephaestus) is blocking my examination of her, or she is actively keeping the identity of her mother and origins a secret. Probably both. Bah, I can deal with her ancestry later! Right now, the more important thing is that I have finally found a machinist able to shape Celestial bronze! My long search is over.
It is likely, however, that she doesn't know who her father is. After all, if she does, then she would be keeping it an active secret from the mortals, thus redacting even more of her Bio. And how is she keeping her Scent hidden from the monsters? Aren't the demigods supposed to have a lifespan of 18 years old? She's like a year past her due date to die!
Scent trails: Leave behind a trail of scent that monsters can use to track you down. This scent is the divine energy of your godly parent or ancestor leaking out, and gets more powerful over time. More powerful godly connections also equate more powerful scent, though it doesn't get too bad until your 13th birthday. You will be lucky if you survive to your 18th birthday. (Being repressed by other side of ancestry and not knowing about your godly parent)
As I suspected, she doesn't know who her father is. If I tell her of her parentage, she would lose some of her protection. When that happens, she might be attacked by monsters. Guess I am telling her after we get some Celestial Bronze weaponry, if I tell her at all.
"Let me see the metal, then. I used just about every alloy know to man." She tilted her chin up, half a smirk on her face.
"Pretty sure you have never even heard of this metal though. All the other Machinists I went to were absolutely clueless." And with those words of challenge, I handed her the tote bag of shiny Celestial Bronze.
As she opened it, her hands froze, body stiffened. Just a second, and then- a boiling anger, like that of a boiling volcano. No, an avalanche. Cool on the outside, but one wrong step, one wrong word, and it all comes crashing down on you.
"Where" her voice was bland. Frozen. "Did you find this. What. Do you know?"
Time to pray to whatever higher power deals with lies and deceit, and of course my [Basic Lying Level 1] skill!
"I just found the stuff at a dump. Looked shiny and tough though, so I want to make use of it"
The machinist glared at me. "Nope. You know how to find this, and it isn't the dump. I will ask one last time. Where. Did. You. Find. This." Crap. My skill didn't work. You failed me, [Basic Lying Level 1]!
I sighed. Deciding to give her some information, but not all, I started talking, voice solemn. "Do you see the Monsters roaming the streets? The one-eyed, the hounds, the vampires... I know you see them. I do to".
She blinked twice, before staring at me like I was some new oddity at a museum. Strange, but ultimately detached from your life. She doesn't want to admit that the hallucinations were real.
"You can... see them? How? Only I see them..." she trailed off into silence, reminiscing, no doubt, about the things she thought only she could see.
"Have you ever approached them?" the shake of the head. A no.
"I did. Silly me, really. Saw a girl being torn in half by a Cyclops." Her breath hitched, and she curled into herself, shivering even in the warm machine shop. Even with her intentionally avoiding the beings, she must have seen the broken, half eaten bodies they leave behind.
"Gave me nightmares for the next couple years. Better now, though". I took a piece of the Celestial Bronze out of the bag and gestured to the rest of it. "This bronze used to be assembled into a leg. You've seen the Vampires, right? One of their legs is made of this stuff. The other is a donkey leg." A nod when I asked her about the Empousa. A face of confusion at the part about the donkey leg.
"Wait a minute. If you got this metal, and it came from the leg of one of the... vampires... then doesn't that mean you had to fight for it?" I did not reply. Instead, I wordlessly lifted up my shirt to show her the crisscrossing claw marks that now scar my belly. The scars were still red, and painful despite being mostly healed. A face of shock and utter terror flitted across her face. She opened her mouth to scream, but only a whimper came out. Understandable really. Finding out the monsters you have been avoiding was this dangerous is a shock to anyone's system. She is probably feeling relief that she heeded her instincts to avoid the monsters.
"That bitch gave me this. Pretty sure she was on the weak end of the power scale, but still she nearly killed me." I pulled my shirt back down, before diving into the meat of this conversation. Let's hope my [Basic Convincing Level 1] turns out to be more useful than [Basic Lying Level 1].
"You fear the monsters out there, don't you?" She was now curled up into a ball, shoving her body into the gap between several boxes of metal parts. Rapid breathing, twitches. Likely hyperventilating right now. Her eyes are unfocused- or rather, focused on a memory long past. "You had encounters with them, correct? What happened?" Concern lined my voice, but all the girl could do was shake her head "no" in rapid succession. I scrolled further down her examination. Many Abilities, Skills and Perks are redacted, but I did see the perks PTSD and Trauma. Also, for some reason, a perk called Partial Syndactyly, not sure why that is there. I don't even know what that medical condition means. But I do know one thing: while she tries to put on a tough face, she is a broken person within. Much like me just a week ago.
I put my [Basic Calming Level 4] to use, calming her down and getting an extra level in the skill. When she eventually calmed down, I helped pull her out the box cave she burrowed herself into, noticing once more that her hands are webbed. Maybe that is why she has the Partial Syndactyly perk. Her legs are still weak and her voice is still shaky, but she still spoke.
"So, you didn't find this at my old forge? You got it from the vampire... what do you know, and what do you want?" her voice became stronger as she finished her sentence. She picked herself back up together. Good mental strength, that was.
"What I want is a weapon, made from this metal. This stuff, called Celestial Bronze, is deadly to the monsters out there, much like how werewolves are said to be vulnerable to silver. I know that for a fact, I checked. As for what other things I know..." I smiled. Not a creepy smile, no. A gentle smile, rather, one of helpfulness.
"I don't know your mother's identity, nor do I know your past." A very visible sigh at that, like all the tension of the past couple minutes being expelled along with the air. She must be very secretive and fearful of people finding out about her mother and past home. If not, she wouldn't have redacted that specific part of her Bio. But the tension went right back up with my next words.
"But I do know who your father is. I know why the monsters try to find you. And I know you must have lost someone in the past to the monsters. May I know who they were?" a sniffle, and then a nod from the other party.
"My mother. She was torn apart- consumed- by one of those... dark hounds." A resolute emotion solidified on her face. The avalanche has condensed into a glacier. Slow progress, but she was now unstoppable, slowly pushing forward to extract revenge.
"You say the metal is called Celestial Bronze, right?"
"Correct. And with Celestial Bronze, we don't have to hide anymore. The hunters shall become the hunted should we get Celestial Bronze weapons" I was elated. [Basic Convincing Level 1] just leveled up. That means I succeeded.
"While I never forged a sword before, I have forged combat knifes. And guns, well." She gestured to the large displays of modern artillery at the back of the shop. "That's my specialty."
-(o)-
Over the next couple days, I stayed with Coral, both to help out and to explain the properties of Celestial Bronze.
I helped out in menial tasks and small jobs around the place while she tested for the limitations and parameters of Celestial Bronze, with her being surprised every time with how perfect the metal was. While she did say that she used Celestial Bronze in the past, that was with a homemade forge. She didn't have ways of measurements back at her old forge (Where ever that is, she still doesn't trust me enough to tell me). However, even with all the helping out at the forge, I only increased my Str and Con by one, and increased Int and puzzle skill by one from training I did when I was allowed home. As I suspected, it was getting harder and harder to increase stats.
In exchange for the weapons, she made me promise to tell her about her father and the monsters. I told her that I will tell her the full truth only after I got the items. After all, can't have either of us going back on our promises. However, I haven't told her yet about my Game system, and I don't know if I should.
Today was the third day of forging with Coral, the 26th of December, Boxing Day. We already had a small Christmas feast the day before. I borrowed one of Coral's shotguns to go test out some of the new Celestial Bronze Shotgun Shells, and shot down half a dozen Stymphalian birds in a rural area outside the city (Along with getting a Gun wielding skill). Luckily for me, I remembered the original myth, and bought a set of cowbells along to scare away the birds whenever the flock got too close. To my surprise and Coral's delight, it turned out that the beak of the Stymphalian bird was made out of Celestial Bronze, replenishing our supply. The birds also were a fine replacement for a Christmas roast, and the feathers would be perfect for arrow fins.
As today is Boxing Day, we decided to exchange gifts. Weapons for me, and Information about her father to Coral. Though I decided to take it a step further. Bringing her to Camp Half Blood would be ideal; she figures out her father's identity, and I can get inside to use the training facilities.
Coral was already waiting for me when I got to the machine shop. She held onto her new personal weapon like it was her own child. In a way, the Celestial Bronze Bayonet Shotgun really was her baby. Twin Celestial Bronze barrels, over and under, with matching blast chambers made out of Celestial Bronze so they are tougher and can withstand more powerful explosions, thus providing an even deadlier bullet propulsion. Five-inch-long bayonet rifle knife strapped onto the bottom barrel of the shotgun, also made of Celestial Bronze. Celestial Bronze Shotgun Shells, of course. She even managed to make a dozen rudimentary Celestial Bronze Fragmentation Grenades, now clipped onto a belt around her waist. And to top it all off, a dark brown cloak I never seen before today, made from the pelt of some marine animal. If you didn't know, you would have thought she was some post-apocalyptic warrior ready to do battle.
Beside her was two boxes wrapped in plain brown paper and tagged with my name. At long last, my weapons are finally ready.
"Hey Coral! Happy Boxing Day!"
"Happy Boxing Day right back at you, Adams. Now open your gift so we can go to mine" I already told her about how the secret to her father is at a location. She accepted that easily enough, and has already packed her bags.
I opened both boxes, and examined both weapons:
[Celestial Bronze Handgun]: A handgun capable of firing bullets, easily concealable. Reinforced with Celestial Bronze, and able to handle stronger explosions. Can fire both normal and Celestial Bronze Bullets (Damage Calculations assumes Celestial Bronze ammunition)
Quality: Green
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 1750/1750
Damage: 500+Dex (500 shock damage is not affected by [Mythical Slayer])
Extra property: [Mythical Metal]: Item does not break easily, damage towards item is lowered by 100. Item has a damage threshold of 105
Extra property: [Mythical Slayer]: Damage is multiplied by 10 when used to kill Mythical beings
Extra property: [Ignores Mortals]: Passes through mortals like smoke when used to attack them
Along with the handgun is a custom designed combat knife:
[Celestial Bronze Combat Knife]: Combat knife made from Celestial Bronze. Incredibly light yet tough, sharpened to a fine edge. Many a monster will turn to powder under this blade.
Quality: Green
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 3000/3000
Damage: 12d6+Dex (Extra 100% damage if crit)
Extra property: [Mythical Metal]: Item does not break easily, damage towards item is lowered by 500. Item has a damage threshold of 700
Extra property: [Mythical Slayer]: Damage is multiplied by 10 when used to kill Mythical beings
Extra property: [Ignores Mortals]: Passes through mortals like smoke when used to attack them
Extra property: [Finesse]: Str or Dex can be used to calculate damage from weapon
When I first found out about how shock damage from a bullet doesn't apply to the bonus x10 from Mythical Slayer, I was distraught. If it did, that would mean upwards of 5000 damage in a single attack! But then Coral handed me armor-piercing and incendiary Celestial Bronze bullets, so that was good news for me. At least the combat knife was up to my expectations, even if I don't have a knife wielding skill yet.
After packing everything and getting ready, we got into Coral's car, with me riding shotgun. Soon, we were on the road to Long Island.
"Why are we going to a private farm called "Delphi Strawberry Service", and what relation does it have with my father?" Queries came from Coral several times, only for me to reply with "Focus on the road" and "You will see".
Of course, things didn't go perfectly smooth. As we travelled down the country road, two massive Hellhounds jumped out the bush and started chasing us. As they chased, Coral very nearly lost control of the car and crashed, but managed to take back control at the last moment.
"Oh god. Please. Not the hounds. Not again!" Coral's body was shaking, shuddering so much that the car was swerving left and right with her motions.
"Focus on driving, and speed up! I will get rid of them!" I took out my handgun, along with Coral's Shotgun and a couple of grenades. Time for a field test.
I leaned out the window and aimed my handgun, already loaded with 6 incendiary Celestial Bronze Bullets. And I fired an entire clip in quick succession!
You entered combat with the Hellhound! Show Examination?
You dealt 600 damage to the Hellhound! (x5)
You missed!
The Hellhound is burning, -50 hp/sec for 10 seconds
The Hellhound dies! +70 EXP
As I fired, I checked the Examination:
Name: Hellhound (Dead)
Race: Hellhound
Title(s): None
Level 35
HP: 0/3500
MP: 300/1500, +300/hr
Rest: 100%, -5%/hr
Stamina: 840/1000, +500/hr when not in a state of high activity
Hunger: 440/1000, -5/hr
Stats: Expanded
Str: 100
Dex: 100
Con: 100
Int: 30
Wis: 30
Cha: 0
Luc: 0
Perks: None
Abilities and Skills: [MP x10 Multiplier] [MP regen x10 Multiplier] [Extra 2500 HP] [Good Shadow Travel Level 2] [Expert Clawing Level 7] [Expert Biting Level 4] [Basic Shadow Fur Defense Level 3]
Description: A large, black mastiff with glowing red eyes. Hellhounds are children of the goddess Nyx and Cerberus, the guard dog of the Underworld. They are feared by demigods save for children of Hades and other chthonic deities. And they really like the taste of Demigod Flesh.
The other hellhound is already catching up by the time I killed the first one. It snapped its massive jaws, trying to bite onto the back bumper of the car. Just perfectly in range for a grenade in the mouth.
Rudimentary Celestial Bronze Fragmentation Grenade: Deals 100d4 damage in a 10-meter (33 ft) radius. Has the effect of [Mythical Slayer] and [Ignores Mortals]
I pulled the pin and tossed it right in the Hellhound's mouth. A muffled explosion and a whine of pain followed afterwards.
You dealt 2520 damage to the Hellhound!
But the monster wasn't dead yet. So, I pulled up Coral's Shotgun.
Coral's Shotgun has a damage of 10+4d4 for every piece of shot that hits the enemy, with around 50 of pieces of shot in each shell. The thus has half its damage is from the 10 bullet shock damage, and half its damage is from the 4d4 that can be affected by Mythical Slayer. This partially neutralized the annoyance of bullet shock damage not being affected by Mythical Slayer, as a good bit of the damage wasn't from shock damage, but rather the tearing of the shot through flesh and bone. Shotguns were apparently best suited to have Celestial Bronze ammo.
You dealt 470 (shock) + 1210 damage to the Hellhound!
The Hellhound dies! +72 EXP
Level up to Level 13! +13 Stat points, +13 Skill points, +1 Perk points
The car rolled to a stop now that the Hellhounds are dead. Coral then proceeded to curl into a ball, still very much in the throes of trauma her memories are throwing at her.
"Hey. The guns worked perfectly, Coral. You outdone yourself there." I pulled on her shoulder, getting the anxiety attack to dissipate. The fear was never truly far away, of course.
"Come on. We got to make good impressions to the people we are about to meet." Her face, now streaked with tears, was also streaked with confusion for a moment, but soon realized that her situation might not actually be unique, and that there might be many more that suffered like her at where ever I was bringing her to.
We got out the car, now parked off to the side. Just about a hundred meters away, the tallest pine tree I have ever seen grew at the top of the hill. As it was a landmark, I examined it.
Thalia's Pine Tree: Thalia's Pine Tree is the pine tree on the very tip of Camp Half-Blood. As Thalia Grace laid dying from her fight to save her friends (Luke Castellan, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood), her father Zeus, God of the skies, Ruler of the Gods, created Thalia's pine tree to not only save his daughter but to stop that from happening again. He created a barrier to protect lost demigods and to keep Camp Half-Blood a safe place from the monsters trying to kill them. This barrier is very powerful, and only lets demigods in uninvited.
Extra property: [Divine Barrier]: Only gods, demigods, and invited beings can enter. All other beings are repelled.
Extra property: [Coil of Mortality]: Keeps the soul of the original sacrificial being sealed within, in a state between life and death. Person inside can be restored with extremely powerful restorative magic.
As I read the examination, I walked back to the now disintegrating corpses of the Hellhounds. Not much was left of them after the dusting, except the pelt, claws, and teeth. I bundled it all up in my arms, figuring that Hellhound pelts would have some crafting uses. I tried to pass one of the pelts to Coral as a way of splitting the loot; after all, her weapons let me kill them with ease. But she would not take it, and instead held onto her shotgun with a vice-like grip and stepped forward with a determined grimace.
I could literally feel it as we neared the pine. A hum of powerful magic, that only parted when Coral stepped pass the boundary line. And me? I slammed headfirst into the barrier. The air in front of me glowed blue for a moment, stopping me from passing, before dissipating back into nothing.
The demigod walking ahead of me turned back, noticing that I can't get any further. "What happened? Why aren't you moving?"
"I think there is a border here that I can't move past. Not sure how I can get any further." Just as I was about to bring up the idea of inviting me in, a voice sounded out further down the valley.
"He needs to be invited in by someone already inside." It was Annabeth, the child of Athena and the one gushing about the architecture on Olympus. As soon as she made herself known, however, Coral pointed the loaded shotgun right at her, not sure if she is friend or foe.
Annabeth's hands went up in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa. No need to point that at me. I am not trying to hurt you." Before Annabeth could say another word however, Coral spoke first.
"Can I invite him in?" Coral gestured towards me, still outside the barrier and holding an armful of Hellhound pelts. It really is a good thing to have a reliable teammate.
"Well, mortals aren't normally allowed into camp, but I can see you are going to do so anyway, with or without permission." With a look of resignation, she told Coral the normal invitation phrase. First the inviter's full name, then the full name of the invited.
"I, Coral Gemseeker, invite Remedy Adams in." with the words being uttered, there was a rumbling of thunder, as if the gods are giving their confirmation.
All of a sudden, the barrier no longer held me back, and I simply walked across into the territory of Camp Half-Blood.
"Right. I am taking you two to the Big House to see Chiron. Don't" Annabeth glared at both of us, stormy grey eyes giving us a stare for ten seconds each. "Point your guns at anyone, and don't cause any trouble until you tell us your entire story. And remember to speak truthfully." Annabeth paused her footsteps for a moment, before continuing.
"And I suppose it's time to say this now: Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Now follow me, we haven't got all day".
Current Character Sheet.
Name: Remedy Adams
Race: Human (Clear-Sighted)
Title(s): [Walmart employee]
Level 13, EXP (62/170)
Status: Expanded
HP: 140/140
MP: 110/110, +13/hr
Rest: 100%, -5%/hr
Stamina: 140/140, +70/hr when not in a state of high activity
Hunger: 140/140, -5/hr
Stats (36pts): Expanded
Str: 14
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 22
Wis: 13
Cha: 13
Luc: 10
Perks (3pts): None
Abilities and Skills (22pts): {Game Guide} {Calm Gaming} {Observe} [Basic Calming Level 5] [Basic Conversation Level 5] [Basic Modern English Level 9] [Basic Club Wielding Level 1] [Basic Gun Wielding Level 1] [Basic Willpower Level 1] [Basic Human Calculator Level 1] [Basic Chess Tactics Level 1] [Basic Puzzle Solving Level 2] [Basic Magic Tricks Level 1] [Basic Lying Level 1] [Basic Convincing Level 2]
-(o)-
I am not an expert in guns, so please don't nitpick if I made any mistakes.
Same as last chapter, many descriptions are adapted from the Wiki.
As always, Favorite, Follow, and Review this story, I would appreciate it. I like constructive feedback. Also, as our main character is going to pull loot from any fictional universe (or even from your own imagination) out there, you, the readers, can suggest something for him to get as a loot drop! Below is the suggested format:
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Suggested Item Stats (I reserve the right to change any part of this I want, got to keep my game balanced)
In addition, you can also leave an OC, using a similar format to above:
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