Ch. 3 Training with a God

10-year-old Percy Jackson was doing push-ups in his room early in the morning. It had been 2 years since the fateful day that Percy had found a god in his head. In these two years, Percy had found an older brother of sorts in Alexander. The fact that Percy had a God in his head was only known to three people: Percy, Alexander and Percy's mother.

When Sally had found out that Percy knew about the Greek world and apparently had a god in his head, she had freaked out. It had taken Percy and Alexander the greater part of an hour to calm her down and some more to explain the situation to her. Alexander had promised to keep Percy as safe as he could.

Since the past two years a lot had changed for Percy. He was now a little above average student. He got all As and Bs in his assignments. His grades never dropped below a B since he joined his new school soon after Alexander joined him. Of course Percy gave the tests with complete honesty as Alexander refused to aid him during an exam. He was extremely thankful to Alexander for reducing his Dyslexia. Also he was now a pretty popular kid in school as he had even joined sports clubs namely the baseball, football and most importantly the Swimming club. In the past two years Percy had won several swimming championships thanks to his heritage. Percy did have an advantage over the other swimmers but... meh. As long as they didn't know that, it didn't harm anyone.

While Percy became a good student (not necessarily a model student) his mother had also got a promotion of sorts. Now, she was the Sales manager at the famous candy shop and earned much more. Consequently she also had lesser work than she did as the sales girl. So, Sally Jackson started pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. She was in the progress of writing a book already.

Needless to say that life was much better than before for both the members of the Jackson household.

Now, to the main topic of training. Percy's divine training.

Alexander's first concern had been educating Percy about the Greek world and its workings. Percy would have to face a lot of Greek monsters in his journey and knowing the enemy was half the battle. So, he gave Percy lessons solely based on Greek myths, four days a week for an hour. By now, Percy was confident that he could recognize most normal and famous monsters and also, remember their weaknesses. Once a month, Alexander asked him questions and he had to answer them like an oral exam. He was proud to say that he hadn't got a single question wrong in the last 4 exams Alexander had taken.

Alexander had started teaching him to manipulate and see through the mist as one of the first parts of their training. Manipulating the mist was of vital importance for a demigod and so was seeing through it. Most monsters hid themselves with mists and it had happened numerous times that a demigod had been killed due to their failure to recognize a monster in disguise.

Next came the Divine powers. It had two parts: The manipulation of things outside the body and on the second part was inside ones body.

In the first part, he had learned to manipulate the water around him, create small hurricanes in the swimming pool (when he was alone), fasten time around himself leading to perceiving the world around him slower than it was, shadow travelling (which he couldn't do a lot without tiring himself out) and cause winds to blow much faster.

The second part involved channeling the godly energy within the body to increase strength, speed, vision, hearing etc. One had to channel the energy within their body to enhance themselves. Percy, if he needed could run at around 44 miles an hour speed (20meter/sec) for around an hour by now.

He could also punch harder than a professional boxer by channeling the divine energy into his punches. That was while not adding his earth-shaker power into the mix. He had broken a huge rock with a single punch when he had tried it for the first time (even though it hurt like hell afterwards). Alexander had forbidden Percy from creating a real earthquake for safety reasons. So, he only channeled that power into his fists to punch rocks to pieces.

All this was made easier as Percy had found his divine core, a feat which very few demigods like achilleas had achieved. Once a demigod found the divine core, it was only a matter of pulling power and manipulating it. Of course, merely finding the core had taken Percy 19 months of everyday meditation. And he was still learning to pull power and manipulate it properly. Heck, it had taken Percy a month to calm his mind enough to perform some semblance of meditation due to his ADHD. Now, he could keep his ADHD in check for a few hours.

The only thing that his training hadn't started in, was weapons and combat. Alexander hadn't taught him anything beyond the basic knife moves with the knife he had taken from the cyclops. He always said that Percy was too young to work with a proper weapon. They won't start that part of his training before his body was conditioned enough for it and also, he was old enough to handle a sword. So, Percy had began doing physical exercises like push-ups, crunches, pull ups, squats etc. along with all the other training.

The result of the exercise was that Percy was well built for a 10-year old. He wasn't overly muscular but his muscles were visible on his lean and tall form. He stood at a height of 4'10 (147 cm), the tallest in his class. He already had developed six pack abs, much to his pride.

Percy stepped into the shower and started the water flow. The water started energizing him after the tiring morning workout. He started washing himself in order to get ready for school.

#Hey Percy.#

"Hmmm"

#Today we are going on a mission after your school ends for the day.#

Percy perked up hearing this. 'Really? What sort of Mission? Are we slaying some monsters? Or...'

#Calm down champ. No, we aren't slaying any monsters today. No, today I have decided that you should get your weapon. Your sword.#

'FINALLY!'

#Yes, we will also unlock the weapon your father has given you today. I am pretty sure it is a trident, but I would like to confirm. If everything goes as I have planned, then today you will have your own weapon.#

'I thought it was locked till...'

#But I found the password to unlock it as of a few days ago. We will unlock it in the place I have kept the sword to avoid your dad knowing about your knowledge of the divine world.#

'Nice. Where would we find a sword though?'

#We don't need to search for it. I already know where it is. Actually, the sword I am going to give to you was supposed to be my new symbol of power#

'WHAT!?' Percy yelled in his head. Godly weapons were big deal. Especially symbols of power. They could level a town easily if a single mistake was made while handling them. Also, demigods weren't supposed to be handed Godly weapons to use.

#Geez dude. Stop shouting. Hear me out. I was going to make it my symbol of power. I never got around doing it. The sword was forged just before Gaia and the giants rose. So, I put the Sword in a weapon vault I had, deciding to wait till the war was over. But, I unfortunately sort of died by Gaia's hands and my original sword was destroyed in the explosion. So, it is not a super powerful weapon like your Father's trident or Zeus's master bolt. It is merely a better-than-normal sword currently.#

'Oh, okay. So, where is this vault. I hope it shifted with the flame.' Everything in the Greek world shifted with the flame of Olympus. Gods decided where the place would be in the new destination. Like the Olympian council decided where mount Olympus would be, Poseidon decided the location of Atlantis and the sea of monsters, Hades decided for the underworld and so on.

#Of course it shifted. I am not making you go to the ancient lands for a sword of all things. No, this vault has shifted to central park.#

'Central park?'

#Yup.#

'So, I just have to go to central park, find a hidden vault, take a sword out and then back home?'

#Yep. Of course we would have work to do there in the vault, but there won't be any danger to your life or such.#

'What work?'

#Will tell you when we get there as I don't want to jinx it. Now, get ready for school whelp. Or else you are gonna to be late to school.#

After school, Percy found himself jogging towards the central park instead of the normal route he took. His mother won't be home till evening anyways so he would be home by the time his mother returned even if his mission lasted longer than anticipated.

He entered the park at a jog. 'Now, where?'

#Turn right and keep jogging.# Alexander directed him towards a lake which had a bridge above it for people to cross.

#Now, jump in the water and go down. Stay near the bridge foundation.#

'Your vault is under water?'

#Yep. I put it there for safety reason. One couldn't accidently stumble upon it.#

'When I open it, won't water enter inside the vault?'

#Not at all.#

'How?'

#Magic which I layered on the vault prevents water from entering the vault. Also, the vault will be clean due to it. I made it in such a way that nothing inside the vault will be affected by the passage of time or the forces of nature.#

'Awesome.' Percy thought back, before he removed his bag and placed it on the ground and covered it with mist so that no one stole it. He dived in.

Alexander directed him towards a patch in the foundation of the wall. #Place your hand on the depression.# Percy obeyed and as soon as the hand was placed, the wall started rumbling and slid open. Percy entered the vault. True to Alexander's word the water stayed like a glass window was blocking it.

Percy walked in, thankfully dry due to his heritage. He walked towards another door that was there a few meters away from the landing. It had a pass code to be entered with 9 boxes.

#Place your finger on the first one and say 26# As soon as he did, the number appeared in the box. #Now, place it on the next box and say 15.# Alexander kept on instructing. Finally the password was:

26 15 22 03 26 13 13 22 09

The door swung open. Percy felt his jaw hit the floor at the sheer size of the vault and the contents in it. The vault was filled with various types of objects including several types of weapons, several of which he couldn't even name.

#Cool, isn't it.#

"Wow." Percy said out loud. The vault was bigger than a whole floor of the building Percy lived in.

#Go in kid. To the middle of the vault.# Percy obeyed Alexander's command and started walking forward taking in the sights of every weapon and occasionally asking Alexander the name of things that caught his fancy.

'Can I take these with me?'

#No, not now atleast. I will tell you what to take and what not to. Some of the objects here are very dangerous for demigods. Like see that flask of liquid?# Percy's head turned towards the place where the flask was, by Alexander's command. #That liquid will burn you to ashes in the most painful manner even if a tenth of a drop touches you.#

'Oh.'

#That golden knife you wanted to take a few moments ago, had a bloodlust curse on it. You would have went on a killing rampage if you touched it... well, if you touched it without me present in your head anyways. The hammer you saw on the wall? It would have crushed your skull if you tried to use it.# The god said.

'Oh.'

#Yeah, that is right. Now, the sword.#

Percy arrived at the center of the room where a sword was clearly laid on a pedestal. It was clearly the central artifact in the room according to the arrangement of the room.

Calling the sword a work of art would be an insult to the sword. It was mesmerizing. Percy drooled at the sight of the sword and its craftmanship.

#Beautiful sword, isn't it? This sword is no ordinary sword. As I told you it was supposed to be my weapon of power but I couldn't do it because of the war. It was forged in the heart of mount Etna and cooled in the springs of Pontus itself. It was tempered for several days in the water of Phlegethon. It was forged by the elder cyclops and the Hekatonkheires, the same which forged the Master bolt Zeus, Trident of Poseidon and the Helm of darkness for Hades and of course, my original sword. It is made of three metals: Celestial bronze, umbra platinum and Imperial gold. It is a deadly weapon.#

All three were godly metals. These days Celestial bronze was the most in use by demigods. Imperial gold was greatly used during the Roman era while the umbra platinum was only used exclusively by the descendants of Nyx, the primordial of night so far. The umbra platinum was basically a powerful version of stygian iron but it didn't reap everything it touched like the stygian iron. The wielder needed will it to absorb the essence into the sword so the monsters took much longer to reform. It could kill mortals too with a scratch only if the wielder wanted it to. The stygian iron would have ripped the soul of a person apart regardless if the wielder wished to or not.

And to think it was being handed to Percy was mindboggling for the poor boy.

'Are you sure that I can handle such a weapon Alexander?'

#Yes Percy. I am sure. I wouldn't have given it to you even if it had completed any more than the first stage of becoming a godly weapon. So, it is currently the perfect weapon for you. It can kill almost anything due to its composition and even harm immortals. Also, you can imbibe your powers within it and over time it will be your own symbol of power.#

'Excuse me?'

#I meant that you can convert this sword into a perfect weapon for you as time passes. You would be able to enhance the magnitude of your abilities with it once it is sufficiently prepared and stays with you. Now, enough about the sword. Remove your pendant and say Μορφή όπλων έλα να βγεις από εδώ.# (Weapon form, come forth)

Percy removed the pendant on his neck. "Μορφή όπλων έλα να βγεις από εδώ."(Weapon form, come forth)

The pendent in Percy's hand changed into a beautiful 4 and half feet long trident which was perfect for Percy's height. Alexander immediately requested for control of his body.

ALEXANDER POV

I came in control of Percy's body. It was good to see my priced vault again. It was my treasure after all, which I had collected or won over several millennia. In my (Percy's) hand was a Trident. A gift from ol' Barnacle beard to his son. I smiled at his gesture. The weapon was a beautiful one... not as beautiful as my sword of course, but it looked cool. I ideally noted that my prediction was bang on about the gift before I started feeling the properties of the trident.

#Hey Percy.# I called to the kid whose body I was controlling at the moment. Percy had become my little brother of sorts and I have sworn to protect him. He is a good kid and a worthy hero. I will make him the greatest hero to have ever walked on Earth and make sure he survives the great prophecy which I knew was coming but hadn't told Percy yet.

'Yes Alexander?' He questioned from his mind.

#Your dad pulled all stops while gifting you this trident. It is made of an alloy of adamantine and Olympian silver. Plus it has a connection to the ocean which will grow with you. Once you are well trained in your powers and sufficiently powerful, you would also be able to shoot water with the trident like a fire-hose. And it will grow in size proportional to your height.#

Adamantine was a very rare metal which was almost unbreakable and had the ability to harm divine beings as well as mortals. Olympian silver was a metal used specially by the hunters of Artemis and was extremely deadly to some monsters like werewolves. So an alloy will have both their properties.

'Whoa. That's seriously cool.'

#Yes it is. Now, I am going to combine my sword and this trident.#

'You mean that I will have a weapon which is half sword- half trident?'

#No. I will do magic in order to form a band which you will wear. The weapon would be able to convert into the trident or the sword at your will. Even in the middle of a battle, you can switch between weapons with a single thought. Also, it will imbibe the sword's deadliness into the trident and the Trident's connection with the ocean in the sword.#

'Oh. That is good I suppose.'

#Course it is. Now, don't disturb me till I finish my work.#

'Aye sir.' Percy cheekily replied. I just rolled his eyes. Call it a feeling but Percy was going to piss off several immortals regularly with his sassiness and still leave to tell the tale. Percy always knew where to draw the line.

I started working on the weapons. It took me an hour to combine them and enchant it to turn into a band while retaining the function to absorb the scent and reinforcing it like the necklace did. It was necessary for time being, even if it would be overwhelmed within a year from now or so. It would have been overwhelmed a year ago actually, but I had reinforced it then. But, my reinforcement couldn't hold for longer than a year at the rate Percy was progressing and that was with the new one I just applied. With such an artifact, a normal demigod would have been able to hide from the divine world for most of their life. But Percy was a son of a big three and the champion of mine, making him several times more powerful than a normal demigod.

At the end of it, I was tired as fuck. And Percy's divine powers were drained. As the final step, I completed the connection of the weapon with Percy. Now, I need to teach the kid to imbibe his powers in the weapon to make it a symbol of power for him but that could wait. He would need a worthy weapon for the battles he would be fighting. This would be the weapon. Hmmm... I would make him name the weapon. Calling it weapon is kinda boring.

#Hey man. I am done. As soon as I give you back the control, I will pass out for a couple of days in your head. So, head back home immediately. Okay. I have retained your pendant's scent hiding ability in the band so you don't need to worry about monsters. You can test the weapon out if you want but try not to break anything. Also while I am out, don't touch anything in this vault. We will return again when needed. Also, give the weapon a worthy name.#

Saying so, I gave the control back to Percy and promptly passed out.

Ricky Burdick: Pairing is Pertemis. So Artemis X Percy pairing. I have written it in the summary. Also, don't expect the love life to start till the Battle of Labyrinth book equivalent in this story.

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Also, find out what the vault password actually was. It is pretty easy tbh. Along with the logic of course.

26 15 22 03 26 13 13 22 09

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Hope you all enjoyed it.

Stay Happy! Stay safe! Keep smiling!

HPfanfictioner66