Chapter 25: The Refining
A/N
Okay seriously, this is getting annoying now and I must put this out. Many people ask me to update faster and whatnot. This is to those of you. I have said this before, and I will say it again. Try to understand that I HAVE A LIFE. While I would love nothing more than to write, I have other, more important things to take care of. This was precisely why I put a biweekly update schedule in the first place. I can't put this in clearer words. If you can't understand this, I really don't know what to say.
Shoutout to Yoshi and Fox for helping and e-luckarcher, Murph, Meister and Maruf for the beta and proof reading.
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Warning: A bit of gore in this chapter. Read at your own risk.
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Disclaimer : I do not own PJO or any of its characters.
x.x
Chapter 25: The Refining
The room was silent as three pairs of eyes looked at a shocked god, who for the life of him, couldn't understand why the Fates would be so cruel to drag his son into one prophecy after another.
"Percy," Poseidon started slowly. "Are you sure this is the prophecy?"
Percy rolled his eyes, tired of answering the same question over and over.
"Yes, dad, can you please not ask me the same exact thing ten times as Lady Athena did?"
"WHAT? SHE KNEW OF THIS BEFORE ME?" Poseidon's thundered, his voice booming around the room. How dare that owl be around his son? He would give her an earful once he saw her next.
"Lord Zeus sent her to ensure everything went right when I visited the Oracle," Percy replied quickly, wanting to avoid another fight in the family. He knew that if he told his father about the weekly updates he had with her, he'd blow a gasket and be on his way to Olympus to pick a fight with the goddess of wisdom.
"That idiot still favours bird-brain above all the others. Typical," Poseidon sneered. He then remembered what the conversation was about and turned to Percy once again who was fiddling with the bracelet in his hand.
"Percy, was Athena able to come up with anything else that could be useful? Tell me everything that you know."
"No, she has been thinking and trying to interpret the prophecy for the past few days. She said that she'd tell me if there was anything and that I should train and be focused on it to survive the quest"
"Hmph. For once she is actually thinking through without any sort of prejudice. Anyway, back to the topic in hand, since the prophecy has already been given by the Fates, we cannot do anything about it except be ready for it. My son, I know you don't have enough faith in me currently but I do not want any terrible fate to befall you. I love and care for you a lot to let you go unprepared so, I will train you twice a week or thrice if possible. Your lessons would mostly include your water powers and wielding the trident. Since it is enchanted by me, it will aid you in controlling and manipulating water. You will be far stronger if you use the trident and control water in tandem," Poseidon said with excitement. He really was looking forward to this after all.
Percy was shocked by the sea god's outburst. Never in his life did he imagine that this day would come to pass. Furthermore, there were no false promises in his father's eyes. They were practically glowing with excitement and he could see how much Poseidon wanted to spend time with him.
"I can't wait to start dad," Percy answered with a smile on his face.
Poseidon beamed, his smile threatening to split his face, as he engulfed his son in a tight hug due to the sheer gratitude and happiness he felt at that moment. His smile only widened further when he felt Percy wrap his arms around him.
"I will head right back to Atlantis and finish all my work so that I can make time for our training. I do not want to be interrupted at that time. I will personally teach you of course," Poseidon said. He then wished Percy a happy birthday once again, hugged Sally and vanished in a sea-breeze.
x.x
~Hestia~
'That was certainly an interesting turn of events,' Vesta said to Hestia.
'It was, but let's see how much will Poseidon actually follow through with his promise after getting Percy's hopes so high,' Hestia thought back.
'There will be no place in this world where he can hide from us if he does break Percy's trust,' Vesta said seriously.
'Agreed.'
'By the way, did you ask Sally how she ended up getting her place to stay? As far as I remember, the previous one was more of a crime scene than a house.'
'Oh yeah, I meant to ask her that. I wanted to visit her before but couldn't since I didn't know her whereabouts. Thanks to Percy we found our way otherwise it'd take us a little while.'
x.x
~3rd Person~
"Hey Sally, did you shift from your previous apartment? I wanted to visit you earlier but was unable to meet you since no one was there," Hestia whispered. Percy was currently admiring the trident and the charm so now was the best time to ask her about it.
"Oh yes, I did. Hecate teleported me to a hotel after Percy got me from the Underworld. I stayed there for a while until eventually, I got a letter asking me to visit the apartment. It was marked with the letter 'H'. Now that I think about it, was it you that got me the place?" Sally asked.
"No, it wasn't me, sadly." Hestia said with a frown. "Do you still have the letter? I could try and detect if it's from another immortal then."
Sally nodded and walked out only to return a moment later with the letter in her hand. She handed it to the goddess who looked at it sceptically.
Hestia then closed her eyes, and used a bit of her power to make any lingering energy in the letter react to hers and sure enough, it did. However, the one she detected was something that she did not expect in the slightest, making her eyes widen in shock.
"Is everything alright Hestia?" Sally asked with concern.
"Yes, it is."
"Were you able to find out who sent this letter?"
"Hecate."
"Huh? Why would she give me a place? I only saw her once when I was in the Underworld."
"Not because of you, because of Percy. She must have something planned for him or a favour to ask. Gods or goddesses never do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. Every action is well thought out. Well, most deities, since we do have a couple of idiots lurking around. Anyway, as far as I know, Hecate will surely approach Percy in the future for something. And don't worry, I will make sure no harm befalls him. I will be with him through it all." Hestia said as soon as she saw the look of horror on Sally's face.
"Oh, of course you will." Sally said with a smirk on her face which did not go unnoticed by the goddess.
'She knows!' Vesta screamed in Hestia's mind.
'I know she knows. She saw us blushing,' Hestia snapped back.
"Umm," was Hestia's intelligent reply. She did not know how to act when in a situation like this. It was her first time.
"Don't worry, I will not be mentioning anything to Percy. If anything, I will be rooting for the two of you. There's no one else who I'd trust my baby boy with other than you. However, let him grow up a little if you want to start a relationship with him. He's far too young right now," Sally said, laughing.
By now, Hestia's face was tinged red due to her blush and sheer embarrassment she felt at that moment. She did not know what to think, all she knew was that Percy's mom wasn't opposed to their relationship, should they ever be in one, which made her happy inside. With nothing else to say, she settled with the safest answer.
"Thank you, Sally. I will take care of Percy. I know you will worry for him still but you can be more assured that he'll be safe." Hestia said as she somewhat got her blushing face under control.
"Thank you for everything Hestia. Truly."
"You're family, Sally. You don't have to thank me for anything."
The three then spent a little while enjoying the nightly sky and the calm waves until they became tired and eventually drifted off to sleep. Hestia too returned to Olympus, promising Percy to meet him in the morning to take him back to camp.
x.x
~Next day~
Percy was back at camp to resume his training after the brief break he had gotten. Now that the prophecy was approaching nearer, his training routine had been kicked up a notch, courtesy of Athena. The moment he had entered his cabin, he had found a letter addressed to him which detailed his new training regimen that the goddess must have left for him during the time he was away.
Out of all the things listed, there was one thing that was missing which was his training time with Poseidon. He made a mental note to speak to the goddess when he met her next. He was sure that Athena would not be opposed to it since it would help him achieve something that he had been failing for a long time now plus, he would get to learn how to wield a trident, something that he was looking forward to.
He then opened the screen to look at the development that he had in the past 1.5 months. Firstly, his XP had taken a huge jump during the time he had gone dungeon crawling with Hestia. They had started from floor 1 and cleared up to floor 60. His XP gain had been:
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Floor 1: 20 XP x 1 = 20 XP
Floor 2: 20 XP x 2 = 40 XP
Floor 3: 20 XP x 3 = 60 XP
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The pattern continued until Floor 10.
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XP gained = 20 + 40 + 60 + 80 + 100 + 120 + 140 + 160 + 180 + 200 = 1,100 XP
Exp: 5,696 + 1,100 = 6,796 / 7,290
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Floor 11 – 20, gave him a similar gain except it gave him 30 XP per floor. The only thing noteworthy was the fact that there now seemed to be a boss level. He was quite surprised to find that one of the creatures could cast magic but it was at an extremely low level thus, it hardly damaged Percy. The XP gained from these floors equated to:
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XP gained = 30 + 60 + 90 + 120 + 150 + 180 + 210 + 240 + 270 + 300 + 300 (boss) = 1,950 XP
Exp: 6,796 + 1,950 = 1,456 / 8,573
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Level Up!
Level 17 + 1 = 18
HP: 950 + 50 = 1,000
MP: 1,050 + 50 = 1,100
Points = 22 + 2 = 24
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Moving on, floors 21 – 30 had been quite a surprise. There were different creatures. The new ones came in pairs of an archer and a melee combatant and increased by a pair on each floor. He had gotten quite a bit of XP from them.
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Floor 21: 30 XP x 2 (1 pair) = 60
Floor 22: 30 XP x 4 (2 pairs) = 120
Floor 23: 30 XP x 6 (3 pairs) = 180
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XP gained = 60 + 120 + 180 + 240 + 300 + 360 + 420 + 480 + 540 + 600 = 3,300
Exp: 1,456 + 3,300 = 4,756 / 8,573
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Floors 31 – 40 consisted of a random pattern of the creatures as it changed between the magic casters, archers and melee combatants, each appearing in increments of one. While the XP gain from these wasn't as high as he had hoped, he was still able to lap up quite a bit of it. However, what was most surprising was the new floor boss that had popped up.
It was green in colour like the other creatures that looked like goblins. However, the familiarities ended there. This new boss was a little taller than the average human, standing at 6 feet 5 inches easily. It wore leather armour and was slower than the goblins due to its hulking frame. After defeating it, Percy had researched a bit and found out that it was called an Orc.
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Floor 31: 40 XP x 1 = 40
Floor 32: 40 XP x 2 = 80
Floor 33: 40 XP x 3 = 120
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XP gained: 40 + 80 + 120 + 160 + 200 + 240 + 280 + 320 + 360 + 400 + 800 (boss) = 3,000
Exp: 4,756 + 3,000 = 7,756 / 8,573
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After clearing out Floor 40, the next 10 floors were filled with orcs. Percy and Hestia had a field day with them. Since the orcs were slow, the demigod and goddess tried out different types of attacks, even throwing in a few just to show off. It was a pretty fun time.
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Floor 41: 60 XP x 1 = 60
Floor 42: 60 XP x 2 = 120
Floor 43: 60 XP x 3 = 180
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XP gained: 60 + 120 + 180 + 240 + 300 + 360 + 420 + 480 + 540 + 600 = 3,300
Exp: 7,756 + 3,300 = 2,483 / 10,000
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Level Up!
Level 18 + 1 = 19
HP: 1,000 + 50 = 1,050
MP: 1,100 + 50 = 1,150
Points = 24 + 2 = 26
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Finally, floors 51-60 were again variants of the previous floors. These floors consisted of orcs, orc archers with the final boss being a magic caster. The fights had not been easy since orcs were tougher compared to their goblin counterparts and hence, took longer to deal with. Normally, Percy wouldn't have a problem but stack 5 or even 10 of them at once, then it would end up in a disaster. Hestia had to practically bail him out on Floor 60. She ended up razing everything to the ground since her worry for her champion skyrocketed at that moment.
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Floor 51: 70 XP x 1 = 70
Floor 52: 70 XP x 2 = 140
Floor 53: 70 XP x 3 = 210
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XP gained: 70 + 140 + 210 + 280 + 350 + 420 + 490 + 560 + 630 + 700 = 3,850
Exp: 6,333 / 10,000
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And that was just the amount of XP he had gained. His other skills had taken a huge jump due to the amount of exposure he had in the dungeon. Add the fact that Hestia was with him and was actively teaching him about using his powers more effectively while locked in a battle made his progress skyrocket. Not to forget, the time spent with Athena and her children as well as following the wisdom goddess' routine sprouted forth some favourable results.
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STR : 34 (+ 2 + 20) (Bonus : Weapon damage - Damage + STR | Unarmed damage - STR * 2)
VIT : 25 (+ 20) (Bonus : 50 HP per 10 levels)
DEX : 25 (+2 + 20) (Bonus : +10% HP regenerated / min)
INT : 36 (Bonus : 50 MP per 10 levels)
WIS : 27 (Bonus : +10% MP regenerated / min)
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Skills
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Combat :
Sword Fighting (Level 20 + 7 = 27)
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General :
Sneaking (Level 6 + 2 = 8)
Critical Strike (Level 7 + 3 = 10)
Mage Armor (Level 8 + 5 = 13)
Makarios tis Elpis (Level 3)
Battle Strategy (Level 7 + 5 = 12)
Bond Manipulation (Level 1 + 2 = 3) (Purple: Romance, Brown: Family, Red: Dislike/Hatred, Blue: Friends, Grey: Neutral)
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Abilities :
Water Control (Level 21 + 4 = 25)
Water Manipulation (Level 16 + 4 = 20)
Blood Control (Level 5 + 3 = 8)
Ice Control (Level 8 + 3 = 11)
Ice Manipulation (Level 5 + 3 = 8)
Fire Control (Level 14 + 6 = 20)
Fire Manipulation (Level 11 + 7 = 18)
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This was by far one of the biggest progress jumps that he had in a long time. To say that the dungeon had been beneficial for him would be an understatement at this point in time.
The demigod then made his way to Zeus' Fist where Hestia was waiting for him.
"Ready to go Percy?" the goddess asked.
Percy answered by opening the way to the dungeon and resuming the dungeon from Floor 61.
As soon as the two made their way to the central cove, Percy peeked over some rocks only to see a pair of orcs composed of a warrior and an archer. The two monsters were idly sitting and making weird noises which in-turn weirded out the demigod. Moreover, their weapons lay by their side, not being given a second thought as though there were no intruders expected which sort of made sense since Percy was the only one who could enter this dungeon.
"So Percy, do you want to go for hand to hand combat or will you use your powers?" Vesta asked. She had taken over from Hestia for the day ever since the two had agreed to alternate. The demigod would hardly notice this subtle change and she doubted he would use his gamer powers for something so trivial.
"Can we start with blood manipulation? There are fewer enemies here. I can learn how to control it better." Percy reasoned after taking a moment to scroll through his abilities
Vesta nodded her head, glad to see that he was not only developing his powers but also was becoming a worthy tactician who assessed the situation before taking any action. The brash and impulsive boy was slowly and steadily growing into a man now.
Percy focused for a few seconds before he called forth his power. Whilst it was becoming easier to access them, he still could not call them within a moment's notice. The demigod knew that he needed to practice more to get to the level where such actions became second nature to him and required next to no concentration.
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Ability Activated!
Blood Control!
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As soon as the ability was activated and Percy's power rocketed, his eyes glowed sea-green with a hint of red in them indicating the power he was using. This slight change was barely noticeable from afar but upon closer inspection, it was clearly seen.
Hestia had been quite concerned when she had seen it for the first time and had spent the next few minutes fussing over Percy to ensure that nothing had happened to him. Eventually, once she was satisfied, she chalked it up as another trait that he received from his father. On a side note, the goddess had never seen Poseidon control the blood of his enemies except during the Titan War. None of his children had ever received this ability from the god and it seemed that Percy was the first one in eons to possess this ability.
"Percy, don't forget to tell Poseidon about this power of yours. He will be able to help you with it as well," Vesta said. Now that the sea god was going to train her champion, she wanted the best results. She expected nothing but the best from Percy since she knew he had the drive and potential to be the greatest demigod the world had ever seen.
Percy nodded and then focused on the two orcs in front of him. He would take them one by one since he still needed to perfect his skill. He then reached out and connected with the blood circulating in the archer orc's body. He was met with a little resistance but he pushed his will over it and after a minute subdued it and assumed control of the dark liquid. He kept a strong grasp over it and slowly cut off its flow through the orc's body. He made it still, not pumping anything to the heart until suddenly the orc convulsed and fell back on the floor, dead. Its companion saw the action and walked up to it and started poking at it, unaware that it would not receive any feedback whatsoever.
By now, Percy's face was caked with sweat by the amount of focus and power he exerted for performing a feat like this. He was quite happy with the amount of progress he had made with his ability and looked forward to improving it further to use in active combat without putting too much effort into it. He then looked at the screen and smiled.
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Blood Control
MP: 1,150 – (143 x 5 minutes) = 435 / 1,150
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Even though he had taken a long time trying to get the blood of the monster under his control, he was able to do the job perfectly instead of making the monsters burst like his previous attempts.
Percy summoned a water bottle and finished it in a single gulp, feeling the liquid re-vitalize him.
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Ping!
Son of the Sea God perk activated!
STR: 34 + 2 + 20 = 56
DEX: 25 + 2 + 20 = 47
VIT: 25 + 20 = 45
HP: 1,050 + 2,000 = 3,050
MP 1,150 + 2,000 = 3,150
…
He dismissed the screen as he looked at the other orc who was still poking its comrade whilst making weird grunting noises.
"Use your fire powers now. Start with a simple fireball and then try to burn it at once," Vesta said as she kept her eyes trained on the orc.
Percy closed his eyes momentarily as he called forth the powers of his patron. As soon as he opened them, his sea-green irises were now replaced with Greek fire as it burned with power.
The demigod then stepped from behind the cover of rocks and conjured a ball of fire. It cracked with happiness as it came to life in the hand of the champion of its master.
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Skill Activated!
Fire Control
MP: 3,150 – 60 = 3,090 / 3,150
Fire Manipulation
MP: 3,150 – 88 = 3,062 / 3,150
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Percy then lopped the fireball at the orc which didn't cause much damage and hardly left any burn marks on its skin. However, it did end up drawing the orc's attention as it turned to look at Percy, picked up its spear, and started running towards Vesta's champion while roaring.
The son of Sally didn't budge a spot as he kept his eyes on the orc while focusing on his fire powers. He kept both his hands in a praying position with some space between the hands as he poured more and more power into the fire churning between his hands. Just as the orc was within a few feet of Percy, he blasted the fire, which was now the size of a soccer ball, straight onto the orc's face, completely burning through the flesh and organs. It took a step or two more before it fell face first or rather lack of it, in front of Percy. Just before any of the dark liquid could flow out, Percy sent a small ball of flame where its head used to be and cauterized it to avoid spilling any of it on Vesta.
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Skill Activated!
Fire Control
MP: 3,090 – (60 x 7) = 2,670 / 3,150
Fire Manipulation
MP: 3,062 – (88 x 7) = 2,446 / 3,150
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He then swiped away the screen and turned to the goddess, silently asking about his performance.
"Not too shabby. Your trick to construct fireballs of that size is good but you still need to decrease the amount of time it takes to conjure bigger ones. If you don't, you'd be caught up in a really bad position," Vesta said.
The demigod nodded his head in assent and walked to the other end of the cave where they'd go to the next floor.
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Ping!
XP gained: 80 x 2 = 160
XP: 6,333 + 160 = 6,493 / 10,000
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Floor 61 Cleared!
Continue to Floor 62?
Accept / Decline?
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Percy accepted it and continued the dungeon with Hestia until they finally reached Floor 71.
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Floor 62: 80 x 3 = 240
Floor 63: 80 x 4 = 320
Floor 64: 80 x 5 = 400
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XP gained: 240 + 320 + 400 + 480 + 560 + 640 + 720 + 800 + 880 = 5,040
XP: 6,493 + 5,040 = 1,533 / 11,576
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Level Up!
Level 19 + 1 = 20
HP: 1,050 + 50 = 1,100
MP: 1,150 + 50 = 1,200
Points: 26 + 2 = 28
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Floor 71 brought about a new pair of monsters that Percy had never seen. These were tall, had grey skin, and moved around at a snail's pace. Moreover, their skin looked extremely tough which suggested that they were more for defence rather than offence. However, the clubs they carried looked nothing to scoff at since the amount of power they could pack in a swing would be far greater than that of the other monsters Percy had seen. From his brief recollection, Percy realised that these monsters were trolls.
Percy summoned Anaklusmos from his inventory and walked towards the 2 trolls as the bronze blade shimmered to life, its sharp edge looking as deadly as ever. He wanted to find out how effective the sword would be against the monsters.
Since the two weren't looking in Percy's direction, the demigod ran up to one of them and slashed at its ankle with all his might. He was met with a momentary resistance before Anaklusmos cut through the flesh and came out the other side with dark liquid dripping down its surface as the troll bellowed out in pain.
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Damage: 200
STR Bonus: 200 + 34 = 234
Anaklusmos Bonus: 234 x 2 = 468
Sword Fighting Skill Bonus: 468 + (468 x 53%) = 716.04
Critical Strike: 716.04 x 390% = 2,792.55
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Percy dismissed the screen to avoid being distracted during the fight, something that he found irritating. He made a mental note to pray to the Fates right after this was taken care of. Focusing back on the fight, the troll had crashed on the ground since a single foot could not hold its sheer weight. The demigod quickly lunged forward and plunged the blade deep within the monster's heart, silencing it almost immediately.
He then quickly got up and looked over to the other troll who was slowly hulking towards him. Percy's face sported a feral smile as he immediately zipped towards the troll and easily avoided the club's swing. He made his way towards the troll's back where he slashed Anaklusmos right behind the troll's knee caps, cutting off the nerves that supported its huge figure. The troll ended up falling on its face, as it made some sounds and tried to get up but was unable to due to the lack of support on its legs. Not wanting to hear more of it, Percy stabbed it in its heart, ending its suffering.
As soon as he felt the battle high die, his focus shifted back to the goddess who had been looking at the battle from afar. Her face was impassive, with not an ounce of emotion showing through nor did her flaming eyes betray any emotion. She slowly made her way towards the demigod while she kept her eyes glued on him, making the tension in the air grow until she finally spoke.
"Percy, why did you kill the monsters in that manner?"
"Their size was big. I would need to find a way to get in their guard and climb up if I needed to deal some damage. The quickest way was to bring them down to my height and cut off any movements before finishing them off," the demigod answered immediately.
"Couldn't you have left them to their own devices since you clearly stopped their movement?" the goddess asked as she kept her features schooled.
"If an enemy can be killed, I will finish it off rather than play the hero and have mercy. It is either my life or theirs. Better safe than sorry."
Vesta was silent for a moment as she kept her gaze on her champion for a minute longer. His eyes clearly stated what he meant with no ounce of doubt present. He knew what needed to be done. She could see that this was clearly Athena's influence on the boy since his answers were a far cry from his thought process earlier. Where before he may have had any mercy on his enemy, it was all extinguished since everything was fair in war and his enemies would come back if left to their own devices. Athena, being a Goddess of Warfare, had ingrained these values in his head right from the start to avoid any mishaps in the future and get him ready for the prophecy should it come to pass.
"Good to hear that you know this. It is an important yet overlooked fact by heroes of the past. Their moral compass more often than not never let them finish their enemies off, only to fall by their hands in the end. Remember this, I want you to survive whatever it takes. Understood?" Vesta asked.
"I will, Hestia," Percy replied with determination.
Vesta smiled and gestured for Percy to head towards the next floor to continue the dungeon.
x.x
~Vesta~
'We should tell him about both our sides soon, Hestia,' Vesta said to her counterpart mentally.
'Agreed. Even though Zeus has forbidden the Olympians from revealing anything, we aren't one of them. Moreover, I'd rather have him ready for every single challenge that he may face than be caught up with any surprises.'
'After the quest?'
'Agreed.'
x.x
~Percy~
Percy swiped through the screen as he looked at it off-handily and smiled. This was going to be even more fun.
…
Floor 71 cleared!
XP gained: 90 x 2 = 180
XP: 1533 + 180 = 1,713
…
Continue to Floor 72?
Accept / Decline?
…
Before Percy continued, he sent a quick prayer to the Fates for an option to hide the stats since it tended to interfere between his fights and distracted him.
Almost immediately, another screen popped up.
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Disable attack stats during battle?
Accept / Decline?
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With a quick thank you, he pressed accept, sighing with relief. He then opened the stairs for the next floor, intent on covering as many as he could before heading for his quest.
…
XP gained: 270 + 360 + 450 + 540 + 630 + 720 + 810 + 900 = 4,680
XP: 1,713 + 4,680 = 6,393
…
The duo soon reached Floor 80 which was the boss floor. It was by far one of the toughest ones Percy had encountered since it consisted of 12 trolls wielding clubs and one who had a sort of a magician's wand which suggested that it was a shaman troll.
Vesta had taken to issuing challenges for each floor wherein Percy was restricted from using some skills or had to use specific ones in order to get rid of the monsters. She didn't want him to depend on one or a few skills but instead, be proficient in all of them and be able to fully utilise each one of them. This had proven to be difficult yet effective since it gave the demigod a chance to try a myriad of techniques and expand his artillery.
"Kill the boss without being discovered, and without using any of your long-ranged attacks. You can use any skill you want," Vesta said as she surveyed the scene in front of her.
This would've normally put Percy in a bind but thanks to Athena's quizzes and training, a plan immediately formed in his mind. The son of Poseidon summoned a few water bottles and uncapped those. He then willed the water to form a giant glob in one hand whilst he set his other hand on fire. He then combined the two to create steam and shrouded the area in it, making the visibility go down significantly for the trolls whilst he could still see perfectly.
…
Ability Activated!
Steam Control
MP: 1,200 - 71 = 1,129
…
Just as Percy was about to launch himself forward, another notification popped up.
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Son of the Sea God perk activated!
STR: 34 + 2 + 20 = 56
DEX: 25 + 2 + 20 = 47
VIT: 25 + 20 = 45
HP: 1,100 + 2,000 = 3,100
MP: 1,200 + 2,000 = 3,200
…
This came as a welcome surprise since Percy had forgotten that steam contains droplets of water in the air which was akin to him being in contact with water. Shrugging it off, he rushed towards the shaman troll. Even though its initial position had changed, it didn't matter.
As he neared the troll, Percy willed some of the water in the air to form a gag around the monster's mouth. As soon as he was behind the troll, he delivered a powerful blow with the pommel of his sword to the back of its knee, making it get down on its knees. Not wasting any moment, Percy ran around it and quickly stabbed it in the neck, killing it instantly with no sound. A successful assassination. Looks like leveling up his sneaking skills would actually be helpful.
Seeing that his objective was complete, he made his way back to the goddess who was sporting a smile on her face.
"Good job Percy, you're getting better at adapting to different situations now."
"Thanks, Hestia!"
"As a small bonus, let me get the rest for you," Vesta said as she brought her hand up and lightly clicked her fingers. Almost immediately, an inferno roared to life, covering the whole area as it burned down all the trolls to nothing. After a minute of letting the fire burn, Vesta dismissed it with a wave of her hand, content with the outcome.
Meanwhile, Percy stood gobsmacked at the sight. It took almost all of his effort to make a huge fireball, and here Hestia created a sea of fire as easily as she breathed. The power difference between the two of them was simply too huge. However, this just served as a motivation for him to get stronger so that he could protect those that he cared about in the future.
…
XP gained: 990 + 4,320 = 5,310
XP: 6,393 + 5,310 = 127 / 13,310
...
Level Up!
Level 20 + 1 = 21
HP: 1,100 + 50 = 1,150
MP: 1,200 + 50 = 1,250
Points: 28 + 2 = 30
…
Just as Percy dismissed the screen, he realised how tired he actually was. The two had been in battle after battle for a few hours easily with very little breaks in between, and even though he had been drinking water to revitalise himself, the tiredness started to sink in slowly but surely.
"I'm tired, Hestia. Can we come back later?" Percy asked the goddess.
"Of course, Percy. I was just about to suggest this. You really need to get some rest now. Don't overwork yourself."
As soon as the two left the dungeon, Percy bid farewell to Hestia and made his way to his cabin. The moment he was inside, he lay on his bed and almost immediately drifted off to sleep as the training finally caught up with him.
x.x
A/N
So a bit of character development for Percy here and some action. We will have just one more chapter before the start of the quest.
As always, do drop your reviews!
Until next time.
...
Percy's Stats
Perseus Jackson
Species : Demigod (gives +2 STR and +2 DEX)
Title : Son of Poseidon
Perseus is the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. Blessed by Elpis, the spirit of hope, he has a natural affinity with water due to his heritage which grants him control over water, horses, storms and earthquakes. He is also Hestia's champion which grants him control over fire and lets him summon meals.
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Level - 21
Exp – 127 / 13,310
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HP : 1,150 / 1,150 (+ 2,000)
MP : 1,250 / 1,250 (+ 2,000)
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STR : 34 (+ 2 + 20) (Bonus : Weapon damage - Damage + STR | Unarmed damage - STR * 2)
VIT : 25 (+ 20) (Bonus : 50 HP per 10 levels)
DEX : 25 (+2 + 20) (Bonus : +10% HP regenerated / min)
INT : 36 (Bonus : 50 MP per 10 levels)
WIS : 27 (Bonus : +10% MP regenerated / min)
LUC : 26 (Bonus : +14% chance of better loot)
Points : 30
Money : $2,200 / D520
…
Status : Demigod
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Skills
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Combat :
Sword Fighting (Level 27)
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Inherited :
Ancient Greek (Max)
Tongue of the Old Times (Max)
Modern English (Level 35)
Swimming (Level 11 - 13 km/hr)
Breathe Underwater (Max)
Akachan Shiru no Me (Max)
Running (Level 10 - 40 km / hr)
Storms (Level 4)
Earth Shaker (Level 3)
…
General :
Observe (Level 4)
Sneaking (Level 8)
Critical Strike (Level 10)
Mark of the Furies (Level 8)
Mage Armor (Level 13)
Summon Meals (Max)
Makarios tis Elpis (Level 3)
Battle Strategy (Level 12)
Bond Manipulation (Level 3) (Purple: Romance, Brown: Family, Red: Dislike/Hatred, Blue: Friends, Grey: Neutral)
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Chores :
Cleaning Dishes (Max)
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Passive :
Gamer's Mind (Max)
Son of the Sea God (Gives +20 STR, VIT & DEX as well as +2000 HP and +2000 MP when in water)
Battle Instincts (Max)
Champion of Hestia (to be declared)
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Abilities :
Water Control (Level 25)
Water Manipulation (Level 20)
Blood Control (Level 8)
Dimension Create (Max)
Ice Control (Level 11)
Ice Manipulation (Level 8)
Steam Control (Level 5)
Fire Control (Level 20)
Fire Manipulation (Level 18)