Freedom

"What do you mean?" I looked at Athena. I didn't understand what she meant.

"What I'm technically doing is turning you into a god. To be a god in the eyes of the world you need to be immortal which you are becoming because of our souls syncing, be able to do something that is unique to you, be bonded to an artifact and some other things including having an enhanced body." She said.

"Why are you turning me into a god?" I asked. She hadn't said anything about that before now.

"The pen was made for a goddess, me, what do you think would happen if someone who isn't a god or goddess bonds with it." I didn't need to think about that. The person would probably die.

"Ok, but what should I do, the only thing I can think about is making myself stronger." I said.

"No, the first enhancement should be something special, I know, do something that gives you a sense of freedom." Athena looked at me, expecting me to have an answer ready.

I started thinking, something that gives me a sense of freedom. Wings, that is all I can think about, I try to think about something else but the more I try the more the idea comes to the forefront.

"I will give myself wings." I said. Athena nodded, showing that she found it a great idea.

"Wings are something that signifies freedom. Now let's start."

I started drawing the symbols in the air, something I noticed was that each symbol also had a unique elemental makeup. As in, every symbol was made up of multiple types of elemental particles that interacted in ways that shouldn't be possible.

Once I was finished drawing a complex array of symbols I had to walk through it to enhance my body.

The moment I did the symbols were literally burned onto my back, I wanted to scream but couldn't for some reason.

Particles started converging behind my back. First bones grew out of my back, I was surprised when they didn't really have weight.

Then the meat started growing around them and it was ... well let's not talk about that, I still have nightmares.

Lastly, black feathers covered the meat. After it was done I remarked that they made me look like an angel of death.

I do want to say that the wings could have turned out in a lot of ways. I just made an incredibly simple array. The simpler the array, the more varied the result can be.

Had I made a more complex array, I could've given myself specific wings but it was much harder and took a lot longer.

I decided to try and fly around and failed miserably. Hey, can you blame me.

I have never flown, never even had wings. It was already surprising that I could take off, it would be a miracle if I could fly on my first try.

After a few months of practicing I finally got the hang of it. Flying was amazing. The feeling of the wind rushing past me, speeding through the air, it can't be described with words.

I had already given myself another enhancement, this one made me able to gain someone's power if I drank even a drip of their blood.

I know that's gross but I asked Athena and it's the only way to make it permanent.

Now that I got used to not crashing and not falling on my face it was time to learn how to fight.

Well, it was more like learning how to kill since the first thing Athena made me do was choose a weapon.

Now for anyone who was still in that safe space in their head where superheroes don't kill. Let me burn that space down. Supes absolutely kill, and not just a few people. Where supes go death follow, mostly bad guys but also a few innocent bystanders.

My point is, it's just not possible to not kill when you are powerful and going all out. What, you thought the strongest man hasn't accidentally punched a few people to death? Or that a stray laser from laser vision hasn't accidentally hit a random goon and killed him?

I chose knives because they were versatile, they could be used in melee combat but also be thrown giving me long range capabilities.

Suddenly a big burly man appeared in front of me. "This is a previous owner of the pen, I forgot his name but he is big and strong and a weapons master." Athena said. I could see the guy looking at her with killing intent. Oh boy, this'll be ... great.