Chapter Seven

It's never easy to live.

That was something I had to learn for hundreds of lifetimes.

And now, I had to teach these kids how to survive this challenge called life.

My hand extended, the spear surging forward only to meet nothing but air as my opponent slid past the piercing location and tried to retaliate with her own attack.

I leaned my body to the side, grabbing the hilt and tugging it back, sending a kick forward, connecting it with my opponent's stomach.

She grunted, staggering but not letting go of the spear, which would be good, but against an opponent with superior skill, that was would have been a fatal mistake.

Lighting crackled from her hands, channeling up the shaft of the spear, aiming to electrocute me, maybe to force me to let go of the spear. A good strategy, but unfortunately for her, it was not enough.

My divinity traveled to my hand, Electricity of my own responding to the challenge and with superior control, I nullified the attempt.

I could see her eyes widen in surprise and I pulled the opposing spear back a little more, twirling my own around and holding it in a reverse grip, leveling the tip at my adversary's neck.

She stared at me for a moment, electric blue staring into my own before she sighed in annoyance, her shoulders slumping.

Taking the spear back, I let go of Thalia's spear and placed my own on my shoulder.

"Do you understand?"

I asked, searching for something in her expression, which I didn't get at all.

"No! What am I soppoased to get? We just fight and you don't explain anything at all!"

I sighed. She did not understand at all. She wasn't a theoretical learner, she was a physical. She did not understand, but her body did. In a fight, she lasted much longer than a week ago, which was something rarely seen unless you were a child of Ares.

"You don't get it do you, Thalia?"

My question seemed to piss her off even more, judging from the aggravated growl that escaped her throat.

"No! You don't even tell me what I am supposed to ge-"

Before she could finish, I thrust my spear forward, watching as her eyes widened, her body began moving and she avoided my strike.

Before she had a chance to process what was happening, I surged forward, bringing my spear back and thrusting it forward again, pressing my attack.

She batted my weapon to the side with her own while taking several steps back. My foot slid forward, my body lowering as I brought the spear up, bringing it down in a slash.

She spun to the side, falling to the ground. I thrust my spear down as she rolled away, avoiding a series of stabs that landed in the dirt.

Pushing her hands against the dirt she pushed herself up, avoiding a strike that was missed by a hair's breadth.

Using the moment I had to bring my spear back to attack me, gaming for the side of my chest.

I let go of my spear, leaning back and avoiding the stab. Grabbing her spear right below the tip, I brought my left leg up, breaking the wooden hilt in half.

Twirling my new weapon in my hand, I stabbed at her again and she brought that remained of her spear to block it, only for me to cut right through and stop a centimeter away from her neck.

She was breathing heavily, the adrenaline rush still present as she looked at me, her eyes shaking from fear or thrill, I didn't know.

"What about now?"

She gulped, took in a shaky breath, and finally nodded.

____

"I wanted to ask, how can you use lightning? Isn't that a child of Zeus thing?"

I glanced up at the sky, waiting for the familiar sound of thunder when someone mentioned his name, but nothing came. I resisted the urge to scoff.

Favoritism at its finest.

I looked down at Thalia, who was currently holding a bottle of water that was nearly empty. She was breathing heavily and her shirt was drenched in sweat, sticking to her body as she looked at me expectantly.

I sighed, twirling my spear, slamming its blunt end into the ground, and sitting on the bench next to her.

"Most don't even think much about the domain that encircles the concept of "War". It's just a mindless battle, two people, two armies, killing, blood, something along those lines."

I glanced at her to make sure she was listening.

"The domain "War" contains a lot of things, The lightning I used came from the first time lightning was used in war, by your father, to be exact. Since it was a war between gods and the Titans, the domain covers that, too. Highly pressurized water can be deadly, and since one of the Olympians used it in a war, I can use it too, that control extends to ice and vapor."

I looked up at the sky, noticing how quiet it had gotten, no rumbling about me mentioning that I technically got the lightning from Zeus himself.

"War isn't just two armies fighting to the death, the domain is large and anything it covers can be used by the one that has an affinity to it. For example, your dad has domain over the sky, but that's also a broad stroke."

I scratched the back of my head, narrowing my eyes to focus.

"The sky contains winds, birds, and air, and if you get down to the scientific side of it, Nitrogen, just control over wind can make you deadly, control over air can make you untouchable, and mortals can't live without Nitrogen."

As I took a breath and was about to continue, I was interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait so you're telling me that if I get the control over sky, I can beat anyone?"

I smirked as a chuckle escaped me, the chuckle turned into laughter and I could see the daughter of Zeus getting annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just, many think that then they get humbled, very fast and very brutally. You don't understand, control over Air needs to be perfect, if not, you might just kill yourself if you push air away from your body accidentally."

I watched as annoyance turned to horror and realised that I would have to answer a lot of questions in the near future