Chapter 09: Preparation and Arrival
Percy and his group suppose to arrive at Mt. Tam today. To make sure Zoe's life is safe, I need to convince Hesperides to let them pass without a problem. I walked into the garden at the base of the mountain. In the middle of the garden, there was a majestic tree with glittering golden apples. That was the Tree of immortality. And there was an enormous dragon with a hundred heads making anyone who was tempted for immortality tremble in fear. I unconsciously touched the scar on my face which was caused by the same dragon. I didn't have thoughts of revenge it was more like muscle memory of the body. After all, I was not the person who faced Ladon before.
As I took a few steps forward, four figures appeared in front of me. Four young women were extremely gorgeous like every other goddess I had met.
"Thou had been warned before spawn of Hermes. Approach the tree, thou shall not leave alive." One of the girls said in a cold voice.
"Hesperides, As beautiful as always. But today I have come to deliver a message. You must let those who will come to free Artemis pass without a problem."
"How dare you to command us half-blood?" Another girl shouted. "Ladon"
"This will teach you a lesson." She said as the sleeping dragon opened its eyes.
I unsheathed my sword and my battle sense flared. I sidestepped avoiding the first head aimed at my chest. Then slashed it, the head fell on the ground yet another ten heads came toward me. It doesn't matter how many heads I cut more will come. I decided to retreat. I activated Hyperactive and escaped from the range dragon can reach. Ladon was trained to protect the tree. It will never leave far away from the tree.
"you dare to disobey the Titan lord?" I asked in a commanding voice.
"Two of the demigods who will come here wanted for great prophecy. Lord Kronos wants them on his side they must not be harmed. As for your sister, her fate was already decided by your father. So you will let them pass or you will face the wrath of the Titan lord."
"We will let them pass, half-blood. Even if they passed safely non of them can survive from our father." One of the Hesperides who talked to me first said. Then they disappeared into the shadows.
I left the garden and reached the beach near the mountain. Princess Andromeda float on the sea far away from the beach. It supposes to dock near the beach in the evening. I already instructed them not to interfere with the situation after the quest party's arrival, saying that I have to persuade them to join us and that they can't do anything with Atlas here.
With that first part of my plan was done. Now I have to wait until the quest party arrives. I decided to check my magical abilities. I extended fingers of my hand thinking 'Fireball'. An orange-colored ball of flame appeared on my palm. I aimed at a nearby rock and throw the fireball at the rock. The fireball went directly toward the rock and exploded into flames. When the fire was extinguished, there were black marks of burns on the surface of the rock. It was powerful but against a godlike enemy, it will be useless. It can be used as a distraction but against a demigod, I am sure it will deal some damage.
Then I took a dagger from the inventory. I focused on it then it started flote slowly. After that, it flew around as I command in my mind easily. But using a hand to control its movements made it easier and smoother.
I looked at My MP bar and it was decreasing rapidly. Unlike Fireball Telekinesis used 20MP per second. I can only use it for around 15 seconds right now. With Sword mastery and Telekinesis I felt like a youngling who got his first lightsaber.
I waited for MP to refill. After I concentrated on my own weight, almost half of my MP drained yet nothing happened. Then little by little I started to float few inches above and fell onto the ground. Currently, I can't use it on big weights. I tried to lift two daggers and it worked but unlike controlling one object this time it was hard and because I had to focus on two objects, my control over daggers easily got worse.
I trained for hours yet My Magic skill didn't level up. I was thinking about it when I noticed someone approaching me.
"Master Luke, The Quest party arrived at San Francisco. General has summoned you." One of the serpent women said.
"Let's go," I said looking at the window that appeared.
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*The sky bearer
Time to choose who will hold the curse.
Option 1:Help Atlas
Reward 1:+STR 40, Body strengthen skill
Penalty 1:Zoe Nightshade will die
Option 2:Help Artemis
Reward 2:+DEX 30, Tracking skill
Penalty 2:+10% suspicious from Titans
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