The dark, almost abyssal like, room swirled. It twisted with a disfigurement that tainted everything it so much as looked at. With a bellowing warp, it reached its disfigured corruption out towards a short puff of hair.
[Congratulations! You've succeeded in finding your parentage…]
The head that belonged to said hair slowly shook awake. "Uhh, what?" Like the twist of a knife, pain shot through his soul, and nothing but a faint wisp of a voice left his mouth. "N-no."
[Good job, son of Zeus, bringer of lightning, you've unlocked your half-blood heritage and the stat increases that entails!]
The young boy's head drifted towards the floor, his vision flooding further with the darkness that entangled his existence. His breath rasped shakily. "Shut up-"
[Dexterity and Arcaina have been increased by 15 while strength and Spirit have increased by 20!]
Loukas' head drifted towards his hands before falling limp. "J-just… stop…" His voice lost all wavering strength, "please."
[That's not all player! You've also gained a couple of perks! Just say status to show them!]
With his fingernails digging into his skin, Loukas shook, unable to get even a screech past the lump in his throat. His world began to spin and morph like his body was becoming a spiritual entity without mass. It felt as if he was but a bright, colorful mist of smoke floating up from a candle.
[With that, the secret tutorial has been completed! Have fun playing, for you've scored an S grade on your first {Hidden Quest}!]
His breath hitched as his subconscious begged him to yell - to scream out in anger and pain, yet nothing came - not even a pitiful grunt. Loukas' chest heaved with an anxiety he didn't know existed as his body grew shaky.
[Have fun!]
With that, his body gave out. It fell under the weight of his mind - like Atlas to the world. The weight was so unbearable as to halt even the tears that wished to anything, Chaos, The Fates, or any other god, yet its prayers were unheard, leaving nothing but a broken boy crumpled on the ground.
"nooo…" His face pushed into the ground, almost to shield him from the reality of his existence.
Loukas shakily steadied his breath with closed eyes. No words uttered from his mouth as he stood there, his shaking sliding to a halt, and as his eyes slid open, he spoke. "Ground yourself! You can do this…"
A singular tear slid from his eye as he tilted his head to the heavens. "This won't stop me."
He glanced around his surroundings, seeing nothing but the reflective moonlight bouncing off the normal sidewalk. "What?"
A sigh sounded out through the street. "Putting aside the fact that I'm no longer where I once was, let's look at what I got: {status}"
[Status]
[Name: Loukas]
[Age: 2]
[Race: Demi-god]
[Class: Mage]
[LVL: 2]
[Condition(Health): Healthy]
[Condition(Mana): Newly-Unlocked]
[Strength: 26]
[Dexterity: 23]
[Arcaina: 24]
[Spirit: 23]
[AP: 8]
[Skills]
[Mystiokinesis | Leveling Rate: D | Level: 3 {13.58%} | Description: Cast and manipulate the {Magic Type} known as {The Mist}.]
[Agri Glacies | Leveling Rate: E | Level: 1 {18.49%} | Description: Makes a small ice rink that the caster can walk upon without any inhibition. (Current Thickness: .5 Inches)]
[Ignire | Leveling Rate: D | Level: 2 {25.39%} | Description: The caster ignites a small flame on their finger that, with enough practice, they can control.]
[Skill Slots: 10]
[Perks]
[Poisonous Blood | Rank: B | Description: Users are immune to most poisons due to their blood already having such qualities.]
[Now that you've opened your {Status Page}, you can pick from a list of skills related to your parentage! Also, you can take a negative {Perk} to get 45% off (rounded down) your perchas.]
[Parentage Skills:]
[Flying: 1 AP]
[Aerokinesis: 2 Ap]
[Electrokinesis: 2 AP]
[Animal Speak: 1 AP]
[?: 4 AP]
[?: 3 AP]
[God King's Aura: 2 AP]
[Atmokinesis: 3 AP]
[?: 8 AP]
[Spearmanship: 1 AP]
[Negative Perks]
[Cursed]
[Prophecy]
[Abhorrent Scorn]
Loukas took a sigh. "Can you at least show me the descriptions of these?" Nothing came as he let out a groan. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Let's look at this logically." An almost sweet scent blasted through the air. "Spearmanship is a must. I have no actual combat skills, a-and if something like the minotaur were to happen again…"
Water tugged at the boy's eyes. "I need a combat related skill, and I need it fast. While that 8 point skill looks tempting, I don't even have a name to go off of; I can't risk it not being worth it and risk any shot at versatility I might have."
Loukas paused as the sound of silence grew heavy. He let the force grow while standing there, his eyes focused, yet nothing came. The mocking silence pounded against his skin, the previously sweet scent turning rotten.
The boy twisted his body whilst his head snapped to behind him. An arrow wished past where he previously stood. "Hmhm, the godling seems to have his wits about him, isn't that right, brother?"
A decaying corpse with flesh peeling off its bone stepped forward. "Why, yes, he seems to carry a great air of power…" Another arrow manifested itself onto the being's finger.
The sweetness came flooding back as the first voice stepped toward the boy, its body composed of silky skin that rippled with vitality. "I can nearly feel the stench of sulfur, must be one of Zeus' boys."
As the second "brother" licked its lips, the arrow shot from the corps' hand, piercing the child's left shoulder. "All the better. Not only do we get one over on Zeus, but he can't do anything because of Hera. What better to get lunch and revenge."
Rolling his eyes, the rosy scent being signed. "What is it with you and Hera? You do know that she's the one who turned me into this."
"Of course you would complain of looking like a king! You have no clue the amount of cologne it takes to get this scent off me for a day!" With the being's anger came a volley of bone-like arrows poking out of its body.
"You got the cool ability, meanwhile, I'm stuck here with beauty. What good is looking like a king when I can do nothing but sit here and do nothing!" With a wave of his hand, the whole area grew large bushes of roses.
Snarling, the arrows shot forward. "You bastard! You dare insult beauty?! You worthless brother; you're even soiling this feast."
As the arrows shot towards Loukas, He attempted to twist his body, only to be hit by the brunt of the bones. "I do! What good is it when I can't rule the land with a mighty fist? I had the chance to be stronger than the Godking if you hadn't involved me with that stuped plot from your 'mistress'."
The wrinkled bag of rotten meat turned toward his sibling. "You dare insult my goddess like that? This is the reason you were cursed to have something you don't deserve!"
"You take that back!"
"Never!"
Loukas took off in a limping sprint, his body dragging on the ground. Mana surged through his veins as reality seemed to warp. "Agri Glacies!" Ice coated a five meter radius around the boy as he ran, unhindered.
"Look what you did, brother. Because of you, the little godling thinks he can run." The condensation almost dropped from the rotten corps. "Why don't we play this little game?"
"Gah, you and your need to play with food…" A pause seemed to roll over them as Loukas shot around a corner. "Fine, but I got the first bite - and an apology!"
"Tch, of course you'd want to doop me with restrictions as heavy as those." The scent of the boy drew further away. "Grr, you win; he's getting too far away."
The smooth-skinned brother smirked. "Let the hunt begin!"
Both of them took off after the boy, not even noticing the ice that shattered beneath their feet, sending small sparks through the air.
The necrotic scent twisted with the sickly sweet one, blurring into a mixture from hell; as they reached around the corner, a bizarre pressure shot down on them.
Eyes shadowed by his hair, the boy let out an angry cry. "Is this what you wanted?! To fuck with my life?" Both the brothers looked towards one another. "Fine! Life doesn't matter! Every single person I talk to doesn't matter! You happy now, Game!"
The rotted corps looked towards his brother. "Did we get one of the insane ones, brother?"
"I don't know, maybe your arrows messed with his head? Ugh, they always taste worse that way."
"Shut, the fuck, up!" the two-year-old's eyes shot a cruel glare towards the brothers. "I'm not speaking to you."
"Knegh… Pfft… Brother," The rotted corps looked towards his duo. "Is the little godling speaking to us like that?"
The king-like brother snarled. "I think he is; how dare he look down upon us."
Loukas stood, his hair taking on an aura of death whilst his electric blue eyes emulated a cruel electricity. "I said: shut up… Current Shift." With that, time seemed to twist like a raging bolt of lightning. The two brothers simultaneously halted yet continued their trajectory.
The boy made his way in the slowest, fastest walk either brother had ever seen.
"Why?" Loukas' voice shook. "Why me; why now?" His hands clenched around his head. "Why won't you just give me a break!"
With his voice cutting in and out of reality, the decayed corps attempted to grin. "W-y, of c-ur-, becau-e yo- -mel- deli-"
"Is that it? Is that why all of you pieces of shit try to ruin my life? Because you can?!" With his face morphing into an amalgamation of rage and wrath, the boy grit his teeth. "I'm done. All of you think this is nothing but a game - that life is some bullshit RPG that you can terrorize others on…"
Loukas tilted his head toward the sky. "Listen to this: I am done. I will tear down this toy you use to play with me." His eyes moved back onto the brothers. "It starts here."
Lightning shot from the air, mixing with fire and ice. Plasma melted the air he breathed, and the world shook with the intensity of a god.
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I had just graduated before summer, started a job, and then life hit me like a truck (Why couldn't it just Isekai me?). I don't want to get into the specifics - it doesn't matter for the ongoings of this story - but it has been difficult. You might have noticed this chapter was on the shorter side, and that is because I have to get back into the swing of things. Now, I would also like to bring up the "power spike" that has appeared. Needless to say, it's temporary.
Satoshi Kenta: A pretty good gamer story (not a lot of good gamer stories for PJO) gotta ask though, are the abilities going to be mostly related to PJO or from any other books, games, or anime/manga?)
Me: I'd rather try to keep it more on the original spectrum (due to the nature of the "Game") but there might be things from other pieces of media. I do want to say, however, that there probably won't be a lot of gatcha' in the earlier part, due to how difficult it is to accumulate AP in comparison to spending it on "Tutorial Gift" skills. I.E the boons from Zeus' parentage.
Guest: Update
Me:Okay
P.S: Be prepared for fight scene next chapter
