Several Months Later… (13th June 2004)

Holding two giant boulders in my right arm, by balancing the second on top of the boulder in my hand, and a rope pulling a sled full of fallen branches in my other hand, I walked to one of the numerous construction sites that were at camp. Usually the cabins were made from logs, however the Pan Cabin was being made today, and the Council of Cloven Elders opposed the use of trees. Something about using the corpses of their dead friends or something.

Either way, Chiron decided to put me on boulder duty, which the Cyclops would use to sculpt out a cabin. Honestly, I didn't really mind, but it was sooo boring. Frankly, I can't wait for smartphones to come. Sure, it fucked the attention spans of an entire generation, but frankly, I wouldn't mind getting my attention span getting messed up right now.

"Hey Carl!" I called out to a man taller than any basketball star, wearing a high-vis vest, and a bright yellow helmet. He turned to me, blinking (or winking?) with his singular eye. He gave me his classical cheery and innocent smile. Honestly, the guy has done wonders with the camp's general perception of cyclops. I mean, everyone knew that there were evil, man-eating cyclops out there, but now the demigods also knew that some were alright, and pretty sweet.

"Gilly!" He cheered. "You got the boulders! Put them down over there" Though he didn't say where 'there' was, the giant pile of rocks was more than enough to signal me the drop point. I gently place the boulders down, and let the top boulder slowly fall onto the pile as it loses balance.

I stretch my arms out, relaxing my muscles. I have grown significantly over the last month. Whilst I wasn't some sort of Olympian, I could still be mistaken as an athletic 13 or 14 year old. I might not have a ripped body yet, but I did have a somewhat lean body that had a respectable amount of muscle, though it most certainly did not show how strong I actually was. Over the past few months I've been increasing my stats madly, especially my Strength stat which was one my highest stats. The seal weights I had gotten from the System were very useful for increasing my strength, but they stopped when my Strength reached about 840.

However, that didn't matter much, all thanks to my new title, Apollo Cabin Councillor. The title was an upgrade of my Halfblood Resident title, and instead of a maximum of 2 Stat Points per day, I could get 4 stats per day. It may seem like a small change, but that literally doubled how much I could get in a year. Over 1400 Stat Points per year. Pretty insane. And because of that, all my stats were nearly over 700. Beyond close to Zoe's level. Imagine that, 2000 years of training had made her an elite hunter and soldier, powerful enough to take down any demigod (apart from maybe Heracles) at her full power. And I had essentially reached that level in a couple of years.

Though that made my teacher, Sasaki Kojiro, more impressive when you realise that he's a mortal who died before he even turned 40. WIthout a shred of divinity, he was stronger than most demigods of his generation, and withstood the wrath of his gods. All that, and he didn't even need the Gamer System like I did. A true testament to his character.

And fortunately for me, he was my teacher. On the turn of the New Year, we had finally begun my lessons on Shinseina Kenjutsu. Half of it was meditation, which was very boring, but the other half was far more exciting.

Over 4 Months Ago…

The spectral figure of Sasaki Kojiro paced in front of me, his hand upon the hilt of his sheathed katana. "As I've said before, Shinseina Kenjutsu uses faith in yourself for it to work. Just like how the gods were made from the faith of mortals, you can use the same faith to power your attacks. Of course, since you don't have legions of worshipers or fans at your disposal, you have to have faith or understanding of yourself. And that is what I tasked you with several years ago."

I pondered at his explanation for a little bit, "Huh. Couldn't that mean that Taylor Swift would be super powerful if she were to try out Shinseina Kenjutsu?" I mean, her fans basically treated her like an actual god. Frankly, they were more insane than Dionysus Cultists.

"...Who's Taylor Swift?" Sasaki asks me, with a quizzical look on his ghostly face.

…

Oh right. It's 2004. She's like 14 right now.

"Nobody" I sighed, annoyed at my slip-up, "Anyway, so you were saying?"

Sasaki shakes his head and continues, "Well, to harness this new found self-faith, you must do something that I'm sure you're quite familiar with. Focusing."

"Focusing" I groan, "Gods, I hate focusing" Seriously, having only one thought going through my mind can be so boring, and a waste of my shit ton of Intelligence. But regardless, I stood up from the grass I was sitting on, and took out a spare katana-like sword I had found in the Camps Armoury. No point in using the Rivers of Blood katana for mere training.

"No, get your actual sword out. It'll be easier for you to use the techniques in actual battle." He says, the moment I take out my spare. I roll my eyes at his obvious attempt to annoy me. Teach had been doing that for a while now. He said it was to make sure I could stay calm at all times, but I call bullshit though. He's just doing it for shits and giggles.

I switch swords, and enter a pose with my sword stretched out in front of me. Shoulders straight, eyes dead ahead. It was something that had come natural to me as the years passed.

"Now, take a deep breath, Gill." He says softly, eyes focused on my blade, "Now, I want you to remember how it felt when you were in the metaphysical realm. Remember the sheer power coursing through your veins. The pride and the control you felt." I remember it. I felt as if I were at my peak. As if the world was in the palm of my hands. "Now, I try to direct those feelings to your sword. For me, I imagined my sword being made of scales. I suppose you should do something similar."

I had seen a world of threads. Threads of fate wrapping around each other. And a single golden thread. My thread. Just as I had wrapped my thread around the world, I imagine myself doing the same to the Rivers of Blood Katana. Shroud it in golden threads, imposing my will upon it.

Despite my eyes being closed, I could feel a warmth emanating from the blade in front of me. I open my eyes, and widen them in surprise as I see the sword that was once crimson red, now being the colour of the purest gold. And oddly, it didn't feel as if I were holding a katana, but rather it was more like the sword had become an extension of my body. I guess that's what they mean in fiction when a swordsmanship teacher tells their student to become one with the blade, as silly as it may sound.

"Amazing. You never cease to shock me." Sasaki says with awe, "I was almost certain that you would fail. Instead you defy all my expectations, and accomplish the hardest step in your first attempt." He lets loose a hearty chuckle, "I definitely lucked out when it came to my last disciple."

I am 1000% sure that I managed to do it so easily thanks to having a level in Shinseina Kenjutsu, but Teach didn't need to know that. And it looks like that just by 'activating' the skill, I gained a level in Shinseina Kenjutsu, sending it to level 2.

"Is this really the hardest step?" I ask my sensei, a little sceptical. Surely learning the actual implementation would be the hardest part, rather than activating it.

"Absolutely, Gilgamesh" Sasaki nods, "I didn't really want to mention it till we reached the step, but using the techniques that require Shinseina Kenjutsu are not complex. Of course, I'm not saying that it's easy, but the techniques only need you to be able to activate Shinseina Kenjutsu, and be able to make a sequence of moves in rapid succession with pinpoint accuracy. No introspection or enlightenment needed. Frankly, the step you managed to do in the span of a few minutes, was meant to take at least a year. And that was my most generous estimation. Now all we have left is for me to teach you all 800 techniques I know. At this rate, we'll be done by the end of the year!"

"So essentially, I'm a year ahead of track… Wait, did you say 800 techniques?" I turned to him, as it was my turn to be shocked. That has to be overkill, right? I don't think even most anime protagonists have that many techniques. It's quite ridiculous.

My teacher scratches the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face, "Yes, I suppose that's overkill. I guess I can cut it down to 100. With your talent, you should definitely be able to learn them all by the end of year. Honestly, I tend to forget that I've had centuries to learn and master new techniques" Ok, 100 should be… workable. I still think it's overkill.

"Alright, what are we doing first?" I ask, excited, "Some technique that lets me do a million slashes in a second? Or how about a technique where I can slice even a giant in half? Or what about-"

"How about… I tell you" Sasaki Kojiro says, interrupting me. I flush in embarrassment. It's moments like these that make me wonder whether my physical age was affecting my mentality. There were moments here and there where I seemed to act like an actual child. Damn, going through puberty for the second time is like going to be hell. Sasaki continues, taking my silence as my willingness to listen, "Now, the first technique that I'll be teaching you is the most simple, and is only used as a teaching tool. It's called 'Imaizumi's Worm Crawl', and it consists of 3 moves to work."

"What's with the name, Teach? Even if it is a simple technique, I can't imagine anyone wanting to name an attack they made after a worm." I do hope the stronger techniques have better names. I'd hate to have to destroy an army of monsters with a move named after a toad or something.

Sasaki chuckled, "Of course you'd be interested in something like that. Well traditionally, techniques made for Shinseina Kenjutsu were named using two things. One, the name of the creator's clan, which in this case is the Imaizumi Clan, and 2, a symbol important to said clan. Sometimes the creator will also add a third word to the technique's name to make it seem grander. This is how we get the name, 'Imaizumi's Worm Crawl', though don't worry the good techniques have better names"

That's interesting. Though I wonder how demigods or those without clans would name techniques they've created, I imagine that making a technique isn't easy work. And since Sasaki implied that there are at least 800, making a new and original technique must be even harder.

Sasaki, who was previously floating with his legs crossed in the air, settles to the ground and stands. He takes his ethereal sword off his back, and enters a sturdy pose. "Ok Gill, watch what I do carefully. I was being serious when I said that each movement of the sword has to be precise. Not even a millimetre off. Otherwise, you just look like an idiot waving around a sword mindlessly."

"The first movement of Imaizumi's Worm Crawl is an upward slash. However the angle of the sword's blade must stop when it is 45 degrees upward, relative to your body's angle." My teacher commits to the action he describes, and just like he said, he stops at exactly 45 degrees, which I could only realise thanks to being a child of Apollo, and also having a high Intelligence stat.

Oh shit. It was seriously that exact? That's gotta be overkill. I truly hope that the System will allow me to not have to memorise this shit. Because frankly, that much detail for what Teach claims is a 'simple' move implies that the amount of preciseness required for more flashy or powerful techniques could be fucking headache inducing. Honestly, I bet someone with OCD could become a god when it comes to Shinseina Kenjutsu.

Regardless, I've become freakishly good at memorisation after death. In my previous life, I sucked at memorising things which made me generally bad at academics despite managing to get into university. On the other hand, I was luckily quite good at procrastination, so it wasn't like I was a complete failure. But still, after my rebirth, I could recall pretty much any memory or information I wanted, even shit from my previous life. Hell, I could tell you what the first 3 words are on page 79 in the first Twilight book (It's 'I followed you').

"The next movement is pulling back the sword. I suppose an accurate image of the action would be like taking a book off a high shelf. Now, since every sword, and every wielder is different in size, there is no exact measurable distance for how far back you pull the sword, but typically, the top of the hilt should be touching the front of your shoulder." And once again Teach does the action. There is something fascinating with the way he moves. It feels more like an art form instead of a technique designed to kill. It kind of reminds me of back when I was in Halcyon's old home when Luke was unlocking the treasure chest.

Speaking of my elderly half-brother, he had left camp a couple months ago. Though the farewell wasn't as emotional as it was with Thalia and Luke, it still left Annabeth sad for a couple days. It struck me as interesting as I learnt that Annabeth had developed a good relationship with Hal in this timeline, which I attribute to it being him the one that gave Annabeth her dagger. This in turn made Annabeth's relationship with Luke different to the one in the books. I'd been carefully analysing her whenever she interacted with the son of Hermes, but frankly, I couldn't find any sense of romantic interest. Yes, there was an insane amount of admiration, but love? Nah. And trust me, I've read enough romance novels to know when somebody is in love. Well, at least I won't have to deal with her weird childhood crush. Nor would I have to deal with Evil Luke reciprocating those feelings.

Snapping me from my thoughts, Sasaki speaks once more, "And now the final step, a single thrust. The blade must be perfectly vertical, and your thrust must not stop until your arm has fully reached out. Otherwise it ruins the entire sequence." Once again, he shows me how to perform the action. "Ok, and now the final step to use a technique is to complete all the actions as quickly as possible, whilst keeping it accurate."

I watch as my teacher lowers his sword, and with a deep breath, he immediately raises his blade, and just as quickly he pulls it to his shoulder, and then he swiftly thrusts his sword forward. Perhaps it was my imagination, but surrounding his sword was what seemed like a ghostly green worm. When the thrust reached full length, the worm shot out, and with startling speeds, it soared the air for a few metres. Though there weren't any signs of an attack, I could feel a gust of wind hitting my face as it flew in the air.

After a few seconds, Sasaki lowers his sword, and looks at me. "Did you see it, Gill?" He asks expectantly, "At the end of the thrust?"

I nod, though a little unsure, "I think I saw a worm?"

Sasaki grins, "You did. When one masters a technique, the technique will take form and enhance the attack. Now, you've seen how each movement comes together, let me show you the damage that the weakest Shinseina Kenjutsu technique can do."

Sasaki stands in front of a tree, facing its trunk, and once again he repeats the moves. At first I didn't see any difference between this attempt and the previous. Until I saw the tree trunk. My eyes widen as I see a small hole, with an approximately 10 cm diameter, that went straight through the tree. And the next tree. And the next. And so and so forth, almost every tree that I could see from my position and was also in the path of the sword's path, had that very piercing.

"Do you see the true potential of this art, Gill?" Sasaki asks me, "Can you understand its power? Tell me, when you feel the energy that emanates from my attack, what do you feel?" I hadn't considered such a question, but now that I think of it, I did get an odd image in my mind when I looked at the energy around Sasaki's katana.

"I… I see a rough ocean, unrelenting and untamed." I answer. But it was weird. I mean, the aura around the sword wasn't even blue, it was green. And yet, when I think of it, all I see is that ocean.

However, it seems that I had given the right answer, judging by my teacher's expression, I had given the right answer. "What you saw was a manifestation of my spirit, something only other Shinseina Kenjutsu users can see. A representation of what makes me Sasaki Kojiro. From birth I have been called a wild card, or even a beast, for chaos is my nature. And even till my death, I lived my last breath, I was as unpredictable as it came."

There is a silence between, not tense, yet still suspenseful. "I've never told you the truth about my death, have I?" Sasaki continues, sighing, "Fine. I suppose now is as good a time as any." He sheathed his sword, and took a seat. "History says that Musashi defeated me in a duel on the shores of Ganryu. They say I was goaded into the fight, and how I was a raging bull throughout the duel. There are still songs about how Musashi beat me with skill and smarts. But the truth was far more different than one could ever imagine."

There is a momentary pause, as if Sasaki was recollecting memories that he had long since repressed. I said nothing, not wanting to disturb the mentor I respected, along with the fact that I was fascinated by the idea of how much history differed to common knowledge thanks to divine entities.

"It is true that the fateful day occurred at Ganryu Island." Sasaki says, breaking his silence, "I was there with a student of mine, my 3rd disciple. We weren't there for any particular reason apart from it being a quiet place where we could train without interruption. However, despite our hopes, we were interrupted. At midday, I saw my old friend turned enemy standing before me, as almost as shocked as I was. And though I still harboured my respect and admiration for him, I still drew my sword out and asked him why he was here."

"He then told me that he had no clue. Though I was suspicious of the notion, I knew Musashi was not one to lie. So I continued to hear him out. From what I remember, he had been walking along the rivers of Nippon for a week, following a giant catfish that bore the mark of his father, Takemikazuchi. It seemed that the gods decided to play with us one more time." Sasaki stares at the sky with a rueful glare, as if cursing the gods. He muttered something beneath his breath.

"Anyway, we faced each other for the first time in years, both our disciples in their youthful vigour were more than ready to duel it out. However, both Musashi and I could sense something… Something fateful." A solemn expression rests upon Sasaki's face, perhaps even melancholic, "We told both our students to stand aside, and I told mine to watch and learn from the greatest duel to grace the earth. Musashi and I stared at one another for what felt like years… Then he made the first move. If I was the raging sea, then Musashi was the eye of the storm. When our swords clashed, heaven and hell shook. Every attack Musashi made seemed to be filled with the strength of lightning, and that was without using Shinseina Kenjutsu." Now a smile was on Sasaki's face, his nature of being a battle-maniac taking over.

"We used techniques that were once forgotten, attacks that we ourselves had created, and skills that astounded even gods. On that day, I surpassed my own limits several times, and so too had Musashi during that battle. We were unrivalled, and we truly understood what it meant to be a swordsman. We both had a smile through the entire fight. However, just like with all fights, there had to be a winner. Ten hours into the fight, we were both tired and weary. We both knew it was time to end the battle. We had to end it with one technique. I knew that Musashi had a counter to my strongest attack, the Swallow Reversal, so I did something that no serious swordmaster would have ever considered doing in a fight. I created a technique on the spot." He began laughing, whilst I stared at him with a shocked look. It's crazy how everyone at camp calls me wild or talented, but if they knew of the man, the myth, the legend, Sasaki Kojiro, they'd probably get an aneurysm.

"With his blade, Musashi brought down the heavens upon me, but what he did not expect was the hell that was created to destroy him. Our swords clashed for one last time, and a bright light took over the entire island." He then sighs, the memory of the battle now over, "When the light dissipated, the area around us had been ravaged and destroyed, not a shred of the pretty landscape was left. I had been injured, my clothes tattered and blood covering my skin. But I was still standing. Musashi was not. He was on the ground, reduced to his knees. I could tell that the fight had left him. On that day, I, Sasaki Kojiro stood victorious over Miyamoto Musashi" Damn. I've gotta say, Sasaki was an insanely good storyteller, perhaps he's had practice over the years.

"As I stood in front of Musashi, I knew what I had to do next. I had to kill my oldest and true rival. And though I've never been one for honour or tradition, it would be an insult to Musashi's name had I let him walk away, and I respected him too much to let live. And so I raised my blade, ready for the final blow. Blood splattered upon Musashi." A look of fury covered Sasaki's sadness, "But it wasn't his. It was my blood. Before I could swing down my sword, a blade made of lightning pierced my heart. As the lightning disappeared, I vomited out my own blood and collapsed face first to the ground. I could hear Musashi shout in surprise and anger. With the last of my dying strength, I flipped over to my back, and I felt anger I had never felt before. Standing above me, lightning surrounding his body and pouring out of his eyes, was Takemikazuchi, God of Swords and Lightning, and father of Musashi"

"And behind him was the headless corpse of my disciple. I could only make out a few words as the world turned cold. It seemed that the gods could no longer tolerate my presence anymore, especially after my showing in the battle. A mere mortal beating a demigod was a cardinal sin. In a flash of lightning, the god left the battlefield, leaving only me, and Musashi. Musashi's disciple had apparently escaped the island. Musashi's face was wrought with rage, but when he turned to me, it was clear that he was sad. After all, my death was a dishonour to his name. Miyamoto walked to me, limping. I'll never forget the final words I heard before I died."

"I am sorry it ended like this, Sasaki-kun. But know this. You will always be my greatest rival… and my greatest friend. I hope to fight you once more in the Land of the Dead."

Though it was dark, I could see a stray tear going down my teacher's face as he had a small, gentle smile.

"As he walked away, I saw a red ribbon that seemed to be tied to the both of us, slowly turning black, and crumbling away. And thus was the end of Sasaki Kojiro, who spent the next several centuries wandering, just as he did in life." Sasaki looks at me, quietly wiping away his tear. "Do you understand why I'm telling you this story?"

I look at him confused. I had thought he wanted to simply get it off his chest. "Uh… Never let your guard down?"

My teacher chuckles, "Good answer, but incorrect. No, the reason why I told you how I died, is the same reason why I am teaching you. It is because to have true freedom, you must be stronger than even gods. Were it not for gods, Musashi and I could have continued to be friends. Were it not for gods, I could've met him in the afterlife. Were it for the gods, Musashi and I's duel would not have been ruined. My goal isn't to make you the strongest human. It's to make the strongest."

I look at him, a little taken aback. It seemed a bit uncharacteristic of Sasaki, but after a moment, I did understand what he was getting at. He was the strongest mortal, yet that was still not enough. It took a god only a few seconds to destroy his life. And the same thing could happen to me. And I realised just how weak I was. I was a whale in a goldfish tank. And there are leviathans surrounding me, reading to pounce. I needed a safeguard. Something that would protect me from them. I've been far too complacent with their existence. And I think I know what I need as a shield from the gods.

"I get what you mean, Teach."

"That's all I can ask, Gill," Sasaki responds with a soft smile, "Now get up! The night's still young and you're not going back to your cabin till I see the damn worm come from your sword!"

I grin, and stand up, glad that the atmosphere was less sombre. As I grip my katana, I look at my teacher and ask him a question that would probably annoy him, "By the way Teach, I only know a little bit about Japanese Culture, so I could be wrong, but isn't a red ribbon supposed to show two soulmates fated for one another?" To my surprise I could see my ghost green teacher's cheeks darken a bit, he quickly hid.

"Just swing the damn sword brat!" He shouts, though it wasn't mean-spirited, "Every mistake you make is 100 pushups."

Okay, I was practically asking for it. I sigh and begin to repeat the movements Sasaki has shown me earlier. It was going to be a long year.

Present Day…

"Alright Carl, if you need anything else, just holler for you me!" I shout to the cyclops, who gives me a thumbs up.

Taking a bottle of water from my inventory, I walked to the training grounds, where Yurei was waiting for me. The kid had grown over the years. Whilst he was still a bit of a loner, I heard he had made friends with a couple of kids from the Hecate cabin, which interestingly enough was one of the first cabins made in the new batch.

By Yurei's waist were two curved daggers sheathed in leather pouches. The son of Melinoe looked at me, and his eyes lit up. "Took you long enough" He said tonelessly, "I was wondering whether I'd have to resort to Clarisse." Speaking of the child of Ares, she was quite a bit different from canon. Yes, she was still rough, and a bit of a bully, but she didn't maim people anymore, and gave new kids a 3 week grace-period.

"Hey don't worry, I'll still kick your ass, free of charge" I grinned, jumping down to the arena. From my Inventory, I take out a practice sword that I used for friendly spars. Yurei in turn takes out his two daggers, and gets into position.

We look at each for a moment, more for his sake so that he could plan out his next few attacks.

And then he charged.

Thanks to his small frame, he reached me very quickly, and thrusted forth his left dagger. Reflexively, I blocked it with my sword, which gave the boy a chance to slash with his other dagger. However, I saw this coming, and moved my head back, narrowly dodging the attack. Yurei jumps back from me, getting his bearings.

"Not bad!" I shouted to him with a grin, "But you should've pushed harder!" Yurei however, didn't respond, as he made his charge again. During the rush, he throws one of his daggers at my head, and another towards my leg. I chuckle, as instead of blocking the daggers with my blade, I instead jump into the air, watching as both daggers fly beneath me. I see Yurei's face fall, as I go back down to the earth.

I laugh and tell the kid, "Sorry, Yurei, but it's over." This time it was my turn to charge, as the boy looked around distraught as he was currently weaponless. As soon as I was in front of him, I slash my sword at his neck. The son of Melinoe screams as the blade touches his neck… and goes straight through, not a single drop of blood.

Yurei gasps in shock, "No matter how many times that happens, it still feels so real" He says, fear still in his voice.

I sigh, "I'm sorry Yurei, but you've gotta get used to it. Once you master that skill you could be a beast on a battlefield, or an amazing assassin. Also, how many times do I have to tell ya? Throwing your daggers is never worth it unless your opponent is on their last legs. You're not durable enough to be without your daggers." Despite how many years I've been here, the idea of training what was essentially child soldiers was still weird.

"Why do you always talk as if we're in a war?" Yurei asks, leaving me speechless. Yeah, I guess I have been talking like that. But that's because we ARE about to get into a war. Against Kronos, Gaia, and if things go wrong, Camp Jupiter.

Thankfully, I was spared from answering, as Icarus descended from the skies. The phoenix lands upon my head, and chirps. I throw him a piece of bacon from my Inventory which he gobbles up. "Dad! There's a new demigod at camp! He just arrived." I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and relayed the information to Yurei.

He too was quite shocked, though his face didn't particularly express that, "We should go check it out." I nod in agreement, and we begin to set out, whilst Icarus flies off, either to hunt or hear some gossip.

We walk to the centre of camp where we see a crowd of demigods greeting what appeared to be the newest resident. The kid looked to be a little bit older than me, but still shorter. She had short black hair, with tanned skin. She wore a black buttoned up shirt with golden embellishments, and wore equally black jeans. Her eyes were so golden that I would suspect her of being a daughter of Hades had I not already known that there were only two children of Hades currently alive.

However, things got fucking weird when I used Observe on her.

Name: Nashota

Age: 12

Title: NONE

HP: 10000/10000
MP: 50000/50000

Stats
Strength:670
Agility: 720
Endurance: 699
Charisma: 1329
Intelligence: 1507
Willpower: 950

Description: [INFORMATION BLOCKED BY MENTAL PROTECTIONS]

[INTELLIGENCE 2000 REQUIRED]

Oh for fuck's sakes. Ok who is this chick? Hera? Aphrodite? The kid is almost as strong as I am, and apparently has a mental defence that can beat the system. I wonder how my existence managed to create a whole new human? Damnable Butterfly effect.

Alright, here's the game plan. No doing any dumb shit to antagonise this child, and even if it takes years, try to find what her deal is. Yup. That sounds good to me.

I approach the possibly-a-god child, and greet her, "Hey there! You must be the new kid. I'm Gill, the Cabin Councillor for the Apollo Cabin." I reached out my hand to the girl, who looked at it suspiciously before reciprocating the gesture.

"...I'm Nashota." She says. Her voice is surprisingly deep for a squirt like her, but puberty is weird like that… Wait, does puberty even happen at 12 years old? Although, if my secretly-a-god theory is correct, then it might just be her being bad at "Are you really a Cabin Councillor? You can't be much older than I am."

I let out a good natured chuckle, "I'm pretty sure I'm younger than you. I'm only 11."

At her look of surprise, Will exclaims, "But he's still super strong!" I can always rely on my number one fanboy to put some respect on my name. "See that big hole up there?" He points towards 'Gills Crater', "He made that with a single attack! And he also managed to take down a giant scorpion single handedly!"

The new girl looked at me appraisingly, still in a little disbelief, "Really? Okay, let's see some of that power." Seriously? She thinks she can use peer pressure. As if. I'm like a piece of coal. Pressure just makes me better.

"I would, but Chiron said if I showed off again, he'd put me on stable cleaning duty again." I shrugged apologetically. It was true though, but it wasn't like Chiron didn't have a good reason for imposing such a rule. Last time I tried to show a new kid my power, some of the Aphrodite Cabin kids got their eyebrows burnt off.

"Pfft… Nice excuse" She says, rolling her eyes. Yeah, if she's a genuine demigod, her parents are either Ares or Nike. But still there's 0 mention of her in the books. Does she die somehow within the year?

I sigh, as I see the pleading eyes of Will, who really wanted to prove her wrong. "Fine, I won't do anything flashy, so how about this" I cross my fingers together, and suddenly a puff of smoke appears in front of me. The smoke disappears, revealing a clone of myself, a shadow clone, one of my favourite skills. It made training so much easier. At this moment, there are 3 clones training for me, practising their combat skills, 2 clones doing some reading, and 1 clone patrolling the camp as a dire raven. Of course, once I deactivated them each night, there's a splitting headache from the rush of information, but thanks to my Healing Palms skills, it didn't have any lasting effect.

"Wow! So cool!" Will marvels, "It looks so real! How did you get the Mist to do that?"

"Talent, I guess." My clone speaks for me, a grin on his face. He turns to Nashota and asks, "So whaddya think, impressive-" However he was cut off as Nashota throws a punch at the clone. Despite the shadow clone having good reflexes, it only had a seventh of my stats. Nowhere near enough to dodge an attack from my Nashota's fist. The fist goes through his head, and he disappears in a puff of smoke.

"Lame." She mutters, walking away.

"What a confusing girl." Yurei mutters.

"She reminds me of you… but worse" I tell him, though I do get a slightly offended face in return.

After the very odd meeting, I split off from everyone and met with Icarus, telling him to keep an eye on the new girl. There was something so inexplicably unsettling about her.

With all said and done, I head to the Athena Cabin, where Annabeth was awaiting. Though we were somewhat antagonists to one another, we had gotten close since Luke, Thalia, and Hal had left Camp. After all, we were all that was left of the group. Frankly, I'd be tempted to call us friends…

"What's up, Sunshine."

…Were it not for that annoying nickname. Lucky for me, I'd be getting my revenge.

15 Minutes Later…

Training Grounds…

"AARGH!" Annabeth screams, landing on her back.

"Too bad, BookWorm." I smile. Yeah, the nickname was pretty common. So what? It still annoyed the fuck out her, and in the end, that's all that matters.

Now of course, I'm not abusing the girl. Rather, she was quite literally asking for it. See, for the past few months, I'd been giving Annabeth one on one combat training just as I am doing for Yurei. I wish I had a camera to take a photo of her face when she asked me for the favour.

At the moment we were doing hand to hand combat, but eventually I wanted to move her onto the spear and shield, rather than the dagger she used in canon. As the daughter of Athena, she had a natural talent when it came to the spear, but apparently, she never was interested in it due to her tendency to be more of a strategist. It took quite a bit of convincing but she agreed to the idea.

"Screw you, Sunshine" she practically growled. She got up from the ground, and got into position. At least she knew better than to charge blindly. Still with a grin on my face, we circle another, taking a defence position. And suddenly she pounces, a fist forward. I catch it quickly, much to her annoyance and shock, and using my shoulder I flip her over. Once again throwing her to the ground.

Ah, I love Camp.

Author's Notes: Hey… Long time no see… Yeaaah I got no real excuse for not updating. I mean, I do have a reason, but I doubt anyone's gonna be satisfied with them, so here are 7 potential reasons, 4 are truths, 3 are lies. If you get it right… idk have a cookie.

Reasons:

-Writer's Block

-Small Cocaine Addiction

-Lack of Motivation

-University shit

-Broke my L4 Vertebrae

-Fell out of love with the concept of fanfiction for the past few months, only having recently begun re-reading fanfiction, and now want to continue this fic.

-Got drafted into the army, and am currently AWOL.

Anyway, here are Gill's stats:

Name: Gilgamesh Ashford
Age: 11
Level: 60
Title: Apollo Cabin Councillor

HP: 10318/10318
MP: 12793/12793

Stats
Strength: 850
Agility: 700
Endurance: 750
Charisma: 700
Intelligence: 700
Willpower: 715
Luck: 700

Stat Points: 0