Coffee sounds nice right now

Chapter 51

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(Ivan's POV)

My body shook as my eyes open. I look around to see myself in a ballroom filled with tables, chairs, and fancy decorations, everything was covered in a bright yellow with some white mixed in. There was a chandler hanging from the ceiling. In one corner was a piano. I stretch before getting up and pushing the chair in. I look around to make sure no one suddenly appeared before walking over to the piano. I lightly touching a white key.

It let out a soft ring. I touch the key one more time but this time a little harder. It let out a louder, but a still soft ring. I put my left hand on the right side of the piano while keeping one hand in the middle. I randomly tap on the keys. The keys on the right side let out a high pitch sound as the ones in the middle let out a soft ring. I noticed the harder I pressed the keys the louder the sound they made. This is kind of fun. I hear a chair being pulled out behind me. I look over my shoulder to see Nuxiel sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Sit down," he calmly said. I get off the piano with a sigh as go to sit down across from him. I notice that the table was leaning towards my side. Are his legs lifting up the table? He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "I'm going to keep this short. I'm glad that you have a plan, but I'm also disappointed you got almost caught." I shift in my seat as he kept talking. "I wish you could've done better but I'm still surprised that you got away with it. You should probably ease up on the Heka usage but at this point, I don't this it matters." He reached under the table and pulled out a tiny piece of paper. He stretched out his arm to give me the paper. I gently take the paper from his hand and look at the paper. The paper had a phone number on it.

"What's the number for?"

"You remember your first day at camp?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I'm confident you remember the red sky that appeared that was then followed by Yokai attacking the camp."

"I remember it very clearly."

"Well after that day I kind of stopped using it as it was getting me nowhere other than killing innocent demigods. However, after I met you I notice that you could fight. What I want you to do, is that from time to time call that number," he said as he pointed at the paper. "When you do, Yokai will attack the camp. They won't attack you unless you want them to." I put the paper in my Inventory and take out my phone to save the number "Do whatever you want with it, but make sure it's often."

"Yeahh," I blankly say as I saved the number. He sipped his coffee and set the cup down.

"Would you like anything?" He calmly asked. I was about to say no, but I decided I might as well stay here for a bit. In here at least I have nothing to worry about it.

"I guess a drink?" He calmly nodded as a cup of something appeared with a straw in the middle of the drink. The top part of the drink was brown while the bottom part of the drink was white. The drink let out a faint smell that reminded me of coffee. What is this? I use Inspect on the drink.

Ca Phe Sua Da

Description- Ca Phe Sua Da also known as Vietnamese iced coffee is made from a traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe. It is described as having no smell and having a very bitter taste along. The drink is made from medium or coarse dark roast with a small metal Vietnamese filter (Phin cà phê). As hot water is added into the cup, the filter releases drops of hot coffee. Ice is then quickly put in.

+200 Stamina

+150 Mana

As I read it I took a sip. I felt the bitter taste cover my tongue. I shut my eyes as the taste went down my throat. I took another sip, this time the taste was pleasant. The drink was bitter but it had a tint of sweetness to it. It's not that bad. I took a big sip. I felt the corner of my mouth rise as the taste pleasantly swept across my mouth. Before I could close the box, Nuxiel calmly reached over and grabbed the box. I was left speechless as he flipped over the box and started reading it.

"I wished this box would tell you the history of the drink. It doesn't even tell you that the variations of the drink."

"Yu-You can see it?"

"Clear as day. Can other people not see it?" I was left stunned for a second. I've never met anyone that can see these boxes. Did he make them?

"No one else can see it other than me." Nuxiel let out a small grunt as he drank from his cup. "Did you give me this power?" Nuxiel put down his drink and stared right at me.

"No, my eyes are just better than most, also, do those bars around your head mean anything?"

"They do, the green is my health, the yellow is my stamina." Nuxiel nodded before asking another question.

"Is there anything else you can do with that power?"

"I can see my stats, powers. Stuff like that."

"Show me your powers." I nod. I quickly close the box about the coffee and open up the box listing my powers. He grabbed the box and took out a tiny book. There was a pen acting as a bookmark, he opened up the book to the page the pen was on and grabbed the pen. I saw him mess around with my skills, he couldn't do anything to them. He scrolled down to my perk list. I nervously sip from my cup as he quickly wrote my perk list. I twist the straw in my cup before Nuxiel handed the box back to me. "I didn't get to change your abilities but I did change stuff about your perks."

I only noticed two new perks in the list.

Nuxiel's Follower- As long as you are a follower of Nuxiel you will gain +150 to all stats.

"I know one hundred fifty is low, but I still think it's helpful. Before I could read the next box, six boxes appeared. I grit my teeth as I saw the boxes.

Thanks to the Str stat going past 200, you get to pick a perk or skill!

[Perk} Serotonin decrease- It will be harder for you to feel sore, along with the bonus of making it easier to increase Str, Vit, and Dex stat by 20%

[Perk] Steroid like- When lifting weights, you gain a bonus that makes it easier to raise the Str stat by 75%

[Skill] Temporary Strength- Gives you a free +50 stat bonus to Str for 20 minutes. Cost- 200 hp

I click on Serotonin decrease without hesitation. I don't lift weights, and I don't even have enough health to use Temporary Strength. I look at the next box.

Thanks to the Dex stat going past 200, you get to pick a perk or skill!

[Perk] Adaptive heart- It is 40% easier to raise your Dex and Vit stats

[Perk] Quick Action- The more you move in a fight, the faster you get. WILL RESET IF YOU STAY STILL FOR MORE THAN 3 SECONDS

[Skill] Overexert- You can push your body to the limits without any consequences. +75 stat bonus to Str, Dex, and Vit for 5 seconds. You also don't feel pain and the Stamina bar won't go down. Cost-150 points of stamina.

Why does Overexert keep coming up? I ignore the skill and go for Adaptive Heart. Hopefully, Quick Action appears again.

Thanks to the Vit stat going past 200, you get to pick a perk!

[Perk] Recovery- Your Stamina and Hp recovers 25% quicker

[Perk] Runners body-It is 60% easier to raise your Vit stat

[Perk] Adaptive heart- It is 40% easier to raise your Dex and Vit stats

[Perk] More health, please!- Every time you level up you gain +150 hp.

I go for More Health Please! the second I see it. Sure the other perks sound good, but I almost always get close to losing all my health during a fight to the death. The problem is leveling up.

Thanks to the Wis stat going past 200, you gained a new perk!

[Perk] Spiritual Regen- Increase Mp regen by 10%

Not bad. I can't really ask for a better perk.

Thanks to the Int stat going past 100, you get to pick a new perk!

[Perk] Two Steps ahead- Can predict the future by 2 seconds when in a fight.

It's so short. It's not like it's bad though. I just kind of wish it was a bit longer.

Thanks to the Int stat going past 200, you get a new perk!

[Perk] Bookworm- Int and Vit is easier to raise by 20%

Already? How? I suddenly remember that my Int stat was at ninety-two. One hundred fifty plus ninety-two is two hundred forty-two. Okay, that makes sense.

Thanks to the Luc stat going past 100, you get a new perk!

[Perk] Gambling addict- When gambling, Luc is easier to raise by 5%

I could raise Luc just by gambling? No wonder it was always so low. I just never gambled. I sigh in relief as I get through all the perk and skill selection. There were so many boxes. There shouldn't be that much.

"You still didn't read the last perk I put." I roll my eyes as I look at the second perk Nuxiel gave me.

Misfortune- Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. (For the other person.) Everything will go right for you. (Most of the time)

He leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee.

"What do you think about it?"

"Uh- it's good. Really good. It's like plot armor."

"I don't know what plot armor is but I can only assume it's a good thing." He calmly stood up and stood and checked his wrist for a non-existent watch. "When you wake up, I want you to call the phone number. Did I tell you to control Yokai now?"

"You did not tell me that, you only told me that they won't attack me unless I want them to."

"Well, now you know."

Saturday, January 11, 2014

5:00 am

I sit up as my eyes open. I rub my eyes before getting out of bed. I tried my best to not hit Goldie who was sleeping in fox form on the corner of my bed. I make my way to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I see Goldie staring at me from my bed when I walked back into the room.

"Why are you up early?" She asked in a sleepy tone.

"I don't know, I just woke up."

"Oh." She said before going back to sleep. I quickly put on my shoes before walking out my using the paper I left on the floor to teleport back to the camp. My vision flashed white, my eyes adjusted and I found myself in the middle of the forest. I pick up the paper and stuff it in my Inventory. I begrudgingly my way back to the place I was working on.

I stare at all the trunks surrounding the area. I take out a shovel and head towards the nearest trunk. I pour my magic into my arms and stick it under the trunk. I put all my weight onto the handle of the shovel. The roots cracked as the trunk was slowly lifted out of the ground. The handle cracked out of nowhere. I caught myself with my elbows. I groan as I stood back up.

"Goddammit." I stared at the trunk not really knowing what to do. I could get a rope and lift it up that way. It shouldn't be hard to find a rope. I could use the wind. I smile as I think of an idea. I walk to the trunk and use the wind to shove the dirt underneath. I dug until there was enough space so that I could put my hand in. I close my eyes and think of ice forming under the tree. Once I knew the ice was under the trunk, I imagine the ice pushing the trunk out of the ground. I the sound of ice cracking along with a faint thud accompanied by it. I open my eyes to find a fist made of ice in the trunks' place. The trunk was laying on its side a few feet away from the fist. The fist melted as a box appeared.

Lvl 1(13%) Ice Smash- A fist of ice comes out of the ground to smash whatever you want. Cost- 50 mp. Damage- 150 per punch

I shrug as I look at the skill. It's still better than nothing, there are nothing specials about it. Can I do the same thing with the wind though? At least then it will be invisible.

I walk to the next trunk and sigh at the sight.

I wish we had someone else to do this.

8:36 am

I use Ice Smash to push the last trunk out of the ground. I smile as I sit on the grass.

Finally! It took so long. I lay down on the grass, my arms twitched as the grass lightly tickled them. I take a deep breath as I stared up at the sky. Soreness took over my body as I closed my eyes. The cold air rushed over my body, I watched the clouds move slowly before getting back up. I stare at the ground for a bit. I force myself to get up. My body ached with each movement.

I take out my phone and go to the number that Nuxiel gave me. He just wanted me to call this? I click to call. The phone buzzed a few times before the sky darkened and the light coming from the sky changed from the usual bright red quickly changed into a crimson color. I quickly put the phone back in my Inventory as I look up at the sky. I thought it would take longer.

I felt a slight tap on my shoulder, I turn around to see Coach standing staring intently at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Working," I say as I point at the trunks. He stared at the trunks before staring at me. He glanced at the sky then returned his gaze back to me.

"Do you remember that sky?" I nod. "Well, instead of going with the other demigods to hide, I want you to fight and get help get rid of the Yokai.

"I would do that if I still had my weapon." He held up his hand, a spear with a long slightly curved blade appeared in his hands. He shoved the spear into my hands before backing up. "Use that. You can keep it, just use it whenever something like this happens again." I silently nod as I look at the spear. The handle was a dark black, at the base of the blade and the end of the handle was a ring. I wonder what it's used for. The handle was bigger than my body, the blade went two feet over my head. How could anyone use this? It's too big. I look back up at Coach only to find him gone. I hold the handle at the beginning of the handle and spread them apart so both hands were a few inches away from each other. One palm was facing upwards while the other was facing downwards. I smile sadly as I remembered that my old weapon had something similar to this. I took a few practice swings before putting it back in my Inventory. I see what looks like otters flying around in the sky. What even are those things?

I run towards the camp and hear bushes rattle around me. I jump back just in time to dodge a red blur run past. Everything seemed to slow down as Perfect Doge activated. I teleport a few feet back before everything went back to normal. The red blur stopped and looked towards me. The red blur turned out to be a child with red skin and long beautiful hair. It looked hungrily at me. It looked like it wanted to attack but couldn't. Didn't Nuxiel say they wouldn't attack me unless I wanted them to?

"Attack me," I say as I take out the spear. The creature charged towards me with its fangs bared at me. I put the spear in front of me. I attempt to stab the creature's stomach, the creature stepped to the side. As the creature quickly got into my range, I flip the spear so that the handle smacked him in the face. The creature fell to the ground, I flip the spear back and stab them into the creatures head. I quickly take the spear back out and resume my run towards the camp again. The spear is not that bad, nothing like Retribution though. I quickly make my way towards the camp only to find people running around in panic. A box suddenly appeared in my face before I could do anything.

New quest!

Save 10 people!

Rewards:

100 xp

50$

5 points

Slightly more respect from the camp

Failure:

Nothing

Accept?

Yes

No

Oh, an easy quest. I accept the quest and run into camp. I notice two people being attacked by the flying otters. I shoot a Wind Arrow at the otters. In one shot they went down without much of a fight. The people ran off before anything could happen to them. I run in a random direction in an attempt to find more people. As I turned a corner I see an area filled with Onis and more of those red creatures. I hear footsteps quickly run up behind me. I launch myself out of the way with Wind's Cannon. In the corner of my eye, I see Michael run up and slam his weapon the Oni's head. Some of the Onis and the red creatures turned around while some others ignored him.

I suddenly see a flash of a flying otter attacking Michael's head. I look up in the sky and see an otter aiming for the back of Michael's head. I aim a wind arrow at the otter and shoot. The arrow barely missed as the otter went down. That barely scratched him! Do they just die instantly?

Michael jumped back before an Oni could hit him. He backed up as he stuck his weapon under his armpit and started doing hand signs. I felt the side of my head tingle. I run towards Michael while looking over my shoulder. I saw three Onis and one red creature after me. I stop and turn around. I send a wind arrow towards one of the Oni's eyes as the creature charged towards me. I step to the side and stab the creature's side. I look up just in time for an Oni to raise his arm above his head. I slash at his leg and follow it up by smashing a fist of ice into the Oni's face. The Oni stumbled backward as another came out of nowhere and kicked me in the sides. I was sent flying towards Michael. I land behind Michael's feet, his feet hit my sides as he tripped over me. He quickly got off me, I got up quickly soon after. I and Michael backed up together.

Michael opened his hand to reveal an eye-poking out of his hand. I stay there stunned as he tossed the eye towards the Oni. Instead of bouncing off, the eye fused with the Oni. The Oni suddenly punched a nearby Oni. Is he controlling them? The other Onis quickly ganged up on the controlled Oni and beat him to death. The red creatures quickly rushed towards the Oni and ripped the flesh off the Oni. They stuffed the flesh into their mouths as the Onis walked towards us. I stare at the otter flying above. I point towards the otter and tap Michael's shoulder.

"Michael."

"What?" He said as he looked towards the Onis. "Can you toss up an eye into the air?" He nodded as he formed another eye and tossed it up into the air. I use the wind to quickly strike the otter. The eye fused with the Otter. "Bring it here Michael." Michael didn't say anything as the otter glided towards me. I grab the otter's stomach. It didn't struggle, it just sat there. I take out a piece of paper with hieroglyphs and take out a stapler. I press the top part of the stapler to its stomach and press down. The creature froze as its breathing stopped. I back up and wind back my arm.

"Michael back up," I say calmly as I threw the otter towards the Onis. The body flew in-between the Onis. Before it could land I snap my fingers. The otter exploded along with everything around it. Dust went up into the air as I heard the thuds of bodies hitting the ground. The dust settled only to reveal the bodies of the Onis. Michael did some hand signs only to form a small ball of fire in his hands. He tossed the ball into the bodies. The ball suddenly exploded into a huge sea of fire. We both back up as sparks flew out of the fire.

The sky suddenly turned blue as the light turned back to normal. We both lookup.

"Don't you think that was kind of fast?" He said as I put the spear back in my Inventory.

"Yeah, it wasn't like last time."

"Much easier too."

"I wouldn't call that easy." I suddenly got a notification saying I failed a quest. I close the quest as Michael responded.

"Nice plan by the way," Michael said as he cracked his neck then his knuckles.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"You wanna get something to eat?"

"No, I got something to do."

"You need help?" I think for a moment. I could use some help.

"Yeah. It's a lot of work though."

"It's fine," He said with a sigh. "I don't have anything else to do."

10:45 pm

I look around for Jax and Qaid. They didn't even come yet. Michael groaned as he stuck his shovel into the ground. Sweat streamed down his face. His shirt was soaked with sweat. His muscles bulged as he moved his hands. I noticed that his muscles were two times bigger than my arms. Were his muscles always big?

I turn back to the little hole we've been working on and shove my shovel into the ground. I dig out some of the dirt and throw the dirt a few feet away from the hole. Michael cracked his neck before lifting his shovel again.

"Shouldn't we get Alice or somehow else to do this?" He said as he put his shovel into the ground.

"Probably, but I'm not sure if they wanna help."

"I think I got a brother who could do this easily."

"Then go get him," I say as I dig dirt out of the ground.

"He sleeps all the time."

"Then why mention him?"

"I don't know." I sigh as I put my shovel into the dirt. "You know anyone else who can help?"

"My," he thought for a bit. "I would say my sister but she doesn't like the woods. Or the dirt. Or the-"

"I get it, Michael."

"Don't you have a bunch of siblings? Why not get them." I dig some dirt out of the ground and fling the dirt behind me. I sigh as I answered.

"They-I don't trust them." Michael looked at me with a confused face. "The brothers I talk to are, I guess disliked? Some like them, but I don't think they're close. I don't talk to my siblings much so I doubt they would wanna help me. Plus, most of them are busy."

"How many do you have." I shrug.

"I don't know, I lost count. It's gotten so bad that I'm pretty sure we're close to running out of beds."

"Jesus, I only have a brother and sister."

"Lucky."

We stayed in silence as we dug dirt.

"Hey, you think we can escape camp?" I stop for a moment and look in his direction.

"What do you mean?"

"I- I just wanna get out of camp, go see my friends outside." I look at the wall surrounding the camp.

"Have you tried climbing the wall?"

"The thing is, I can't even get close to the wall. Every time I try to get close, I just suddenly get lost."

"I don't know if you can get out. I haven't tried." Michael sighed as he got back to digging. I get back to digging.

"So, how was life outside the camp?"

"It was okay," I say trying my best to dismiss it.

"How was your mom?"

"Normal." Before Michael can say anything else I try to get Michael off-topic.

"How was your mom?" Michael smiled.

"She's great, she was always there for me. She always tried her best to give me food, shelter. Oh! I remember how she used to take me to the movies. We would sneak in candy, drinks. I wonder how she's doing now. "

"She sounds great."

"She is."

I dig silently until a box suddenly appeared.

New quest!

Get Michael back to his mom!

Rewards:

150 xp

$50

20 points

Closer bond to Michael

Failures:

Nothing

Accept?

Yes

No

"Hey Michael," Michael looked in my direction. "Where do you live?