5-6

I Don't Own Percy Jackson

"And, uh, why do you want to know about Greek myths little... boy?" I shrugged, then realized the man I currently was sitting on, with my stake knife to his throat couldn't see me currently with one of my feet pressing on his face to keep him down. Oops, admittedly that one is on me.

"Cause? Anything wrong with that? I mean, let's be real, I have a hobby, you have a kidnapping ring going after your students, between the two of us, it's better if we focus on mine" Once again, don't know if my Luck was bad or good to stumble on this whole thing, though the almost getting kidnapped was not my favorite thing, but they were all just humans, and humans were, like, pathetic, so it really wasn't that hard to break their hands and get an answer as to who was in charge.

Hence why I was currently sitting on top of a mythology professor, he had a very strange business for a guy who was wearing green khakis. Oh, it's also how I got three more levels in Intimidation.

"You... do have a point" I just hummed before asking.

"So, about the god of winning shit?" He gulped, then regretted it as it made his face rub against my shoes, it probably hurt, I probably cared... Nah.

"Uh, I mean... There are a few Ares is seen as a god of victory for those that prayed to him in war times?" I just sighed.

"No, I'm not interested in the main group, get to the minor ones or I'm going to slit your throat and hang you from a flag pole" He got pale at that, I just rolled my eyes to myself, like I'd actually do that, I don't even know where a flag pole was! For being a main component in a crime ring, you'd think he wouldn't be a wussy.

"I- I, uh, I mean, there's Nike? She isn't that well known, there really is only a few stories involving her so-" I interrupted that, suddenly feeling like I was getting somewhere.

"Nike is a she? Like, a goddess?"

"Y-yeah?" I just hummed. So my parent was a goddess potentially. Huh. I have a mom? That's pretty cool.

"What's she known for? Like, her domains and stuff?"

"I- I mean, not a lot? She's known as the Goddess of victory, speed, and strength, the ancient people used to worship to her as well as Ares and Athena during war times for victory, and as well in peaceful times for winning games. Um... She along with her brothers were the first of the gods to side with Zeus during the titan war, and as such she was rewarded with the position of favor by him, following in his silent footsteps. Where Zeus goes Victory follows was the idea, though she is also said to follow both Athena and Ares as well like I said earlier"

That's pretty interesting, it might be a bit big headed to consider, but it was kind of cool to know my mom is kind of a really big deal, like, maybe not the biggest deal, but, like, if she wasn't around then nothing would have a winner or loser, it's her domain and so she is important is basically everything. That's actually pretty cool all things considered to know she's super important.

"Any written stories of children?"

"Uh? N-no? She's only mentioned a few times ever, it's speculated that since she is just a follower of the other major gods, most of any of her accomplishments over time just got pushed onto the one's she helped grant victory, so maybe? But I wouldn't know, my classes don't really talk about her" I pouted at that and said with faint annoyance.

"Why not? She sounds super important?" My voice apparently scared him, which was just dumb, the knife should be the more scary thing, adults are weird.

"B-Because there just isn't much known about her! It's nothing personal, just, you know, it's like mentioning Poseidon every time we talk about a water god? Just cause one has a correlation with the other, doesn't mean they have to be talked about together" Hmm... that's a good point.

"Fair enough, I think that's all my questions" He sighed with relief, that was before I pulled the knife away and slammed my fist into his face hard enough to shatter his nose and knock him out instantly as I moved to stand up and head over to the phone, time to call in a crime. Well, once I find some incriminating evidence around here somewhere...

Ah, a safe, well then, let's see... code huh? Let's see here... One-One-One-One- Oh! Four digits total, and that's not the answer huh? That's sad.

One-One-One-Two... Nope.

One-One-One-Three... Nope.

One-One-One-Four-

I was leaving the town on another bus the day after the bust happened, I didn't stick around to see what happened, but it was apparently quite the sandal from the gossiping women about town who loved to talk. I overheard them while I was getting breakfast, the professor is currently awaiting trial from the sounds of it, good, what he did was fucked up, and normally I'd kill him, but honestly?

I got more exp from the quest for bringing the whole thing down peacefully than I would have from killing him. My system called my a sociopath for that being my reasoning, but I also got a point in Wisdom for it, so, like... Whatever.

Past that, for the rest of the day afterwards, I just exercised and just chilled for the most part, my strength and Dexterity didn't budge in the slightest but I managed to get a point into Constitution which I'm cool with as a trade, since it seems a lot harder to grind my physical stats outside of times where I had to really push my body. It's fine though, I was more than strong enough to deal with any human, and I honestly haven't dealt with any monsters yet, which I was kind of surprised about, but as well, it's literally only been four days in total since I... came out as a demigod? Is there a term for realizing your half god, cause coming up is normally for something else...

Does it matter...? Eh, whatever, anyways I haven't been attacked by monster yet, which I'm totally cool with, but past that, it really was just a matter of time, no reason to worry about it, it'll happen eventually and then I can get some more exp.

Though, being honest, it was pretty hard to tell just where I stood with other people, like, a normal human was a person I could break over my knee without an issue, but if I fought those legacy people from two days ago again, this time one on one, I'd probably lose in most conceivable ways, I had ever advantage in the books in that fight with that one guy, literally, I'm the child of the literal aspect of Victory, and he was at best maybe one fourth god, already injured and exhausted, and I won through trickery more than raw strength or skill.

But even my mom's powers can't just make me unable to lose, that just wasn't realistic, though would be really cool, I could have the best chance for victory no matter the situation, but if the best chance available to me, is a point one percent chance of coming out alive, then I'm just going to die. So back to the point, as it stands, I have no idea where I stand among other demigods, or monsters in general.

I know in the books Percy was basically just a minor god by himself at times, being able to beat actual Gods in one on one combat, summoning hurricanes and exploding volcanos and shit with a surprising lack of effort for the most part. But that's Percy, he's literally the strongest demigod alive and a child of the big three, he's designed to be overpowered, but for a normal demigod, how strong are they?

How does a single kid of Ares stack up to me? And then how do they stack to Percy? It's just not something I can know to be honest, I had no information to base my stats off of really, so I just had to deal with my thoughts while I continued on my way to camp.

It's something to think about and look into later on, when I can actually look into it, but for the time being I was just relaxing, talking on my phone, though the battery on the thing was getting low, so I'll probably have to find a charger that works for it at some point.

"So, yeah, I stabbed a knife through his wrists and then stabbed him in the heart with a blessed weapon of the gods... Anyways, I'm heading into Ohio now" I stared out at the signs we passed it, it was very... there.

"Damn... I- It's been only a few days? How you are like, five states over kid?" I tried to shrug, remember the thug on the other end of the line wasn't able to see me, and instead said.

"Cause I'm incredible. Hey, how's Tommy doing? Last time we talked he had that ankle thing right?" I heard a grumble over the line before-

"Yeah, he's all pissy about it, you'd think he'd be a man and just deal with it, but with how hard the hospital screwed him just to get the damn cast on, I guess he can grumble a bit. He's taking extra shifts to make up for it, so I haven't seen him around in the last day or two, busy you know?" I just hummed. This was only really my second call with the thugs form back in Nebraska, but the guy seemed happy to talk whenever I had the time. It was interesting to hear about their boring little lives, and I think James, the man's name, actually liked hearing about my crazy life.

Well, personally, he doesn't actually believe I'm the son of the Goddess of Victory, nor does he think I've recently burned down a library and got about twenty people arrested, but he thought the stories were funny so he kept listening to them.

It was pretty nice, I'm pretty sure this is what having friends is like which was a pretty cool thought.

It was when I got off the bus in the middle of Ohio when I first got attacked by some an actual monster... It really wasn't as fun as I thought it would be, as I scrambled around as a wave of razor sharp feathers slammed into another wall, stabbing into it like it was made of butter and not brick, as I sprinted away from the flying bird thing which was hurling even more at me, screaming over my shoulder as I jumped over a barrier and kept running as two of the feathers grazed across my arms.

"What the hell even are you?" They shrieked loudly at me in answer, as I listened to the sounds of people around me screaming, from... whatever the hell it was that they saw.

Gods, what I would do for a gun right about now, or a bow and arrow... Or literally any projectile weapon!

I felt another feather try and slice through my side, but this one my cloak caught and kept from splitting me open, so that was nice, as I rushed into the first somewhat abandoned looking building I could find. I wasn't really looking for other people to get killed... though they would make convenient pin cushions for me...l No! To late now, already decided against it!

With that I slammed the door closer and moved deeper into the building, around a corner before pausing, my Bone Steel knife in hand, if they came in here, then they would be in an incredibly tight space with a very short ceiling compared to the open sky.

And if they didn't come in here then I was safe to treat my wounds and wait for them to go away.

I was patient! I could totally out last them! They'd have to lose interest eventually.

...

Come on! Where the hell are they! I want to stab them already!

Fucking birds, I hate birds! I've decided it, I hate birds, and books, and words with too many squiggly lines!

Seriously! What words needs, like, twenty letters anyways!

My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of somethin moving behind me, in a blur, I spun around, my mind still not fast enough to see just what I was doing, but my body could still follow my orders, as I grabbed onto the front of the bird that thought it could sneak up on me, spun around, and slammed the thing into the wall hard enough for it to break, being drywall, as my other hand came up, and I slammed the dagger straight down where the head was.

The thing jerked and just barely managed to get it's head out of the way enough to avoid a fatal blow, as my fist, with so such force behind it, half buried itself into the dry wall. Ripping it out I was about to try again when-

"W-wait! Please! Not a monster!" I paused... and blinked as I looked at the creature, and... that wasn't a bird, in fact he just looked like a normal person, but with horns... Oops, I nearly just murdered a Satyr.

"Oh, hi. You should really announce yourself when you're sneaking up on someone you know" He grunted at that, pulling away from the wall as I let him go.

"And you shouldn't try to stab people!"

"Why not? It's worked out every time I've done it so far" He gave me a very concerned look at that, before asking.

"I really hope you mean this isn't the first time you haven't been attacked by monsters" I mean, what is man if not monsters? Also, I want him to take me to Camp, and not realize I'm a domestic terrorist, so I just shrugged.

"I mean, if it wasn't, I'd probably be screaming at the fact a goat man was talking to me" He opened his mouth, slowly closed it, before sighing.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good point" I just rolled my eyes as I glanced back to the entrance, I couldn't hear anything, but the birds might be trying to get in at any time and I wasn't going to let my guard down just because of some goat, "Look! Hey, I know you're probably confused about all this alright? You're really lucky you've made it this long, but I can answer your questions alright?" I just turned back and stared at him.

"What questions?" He blinked, before... slowly just staring at me before just saying.

"Uh, every question? I mean, girl, I'm a Satyr, the thing out there is a Stymphalian, and they are incredibly dangerous and targeting you, shouldn't you be freaking out?" He honestly sounded almost confused, I just sighed.

"I'm a guy"

"Oh, sorry! It's just you... don't look like one?"

"Trust me, I'm very aware, now come on" He grabbed my arm to stop me, once more asking-

"Uh, right, but still! Questions?" I groaned in annoyance, before grabbing his arm back and started to drag him to the door as I spoke.

"I'm a demigod, that creature out there is trying got kill me because I'm a demigod, you're here to protect me because I'm a demigod, and I'm going to go out there and kill it because I'm a demigod. That about sum it up?" He just went slack jawed, half stumbling as I pulled him along.

"I- I mean, yes?" Finally, some people just can't read the room huh?

"Cool, now come on, you're the bait" That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

"I- HUH! N-nono! I'm not going be no bait!" He was pulling on my arm, and admittedly, he was pretty strong, but I was under my mom's powers right now, meaning my Strength was just past forty at the moment.

"It's either that or we wait it out"

"Or we could run!"

"But then I wouldn't get any exp"

"What the hell is exp!"

"Don't worry about it"

"I'm worrying about it!"

"Well stop?"

"No! Now let me go!"

"Yeah sure"

"Wait... really?"

"Yep, we're at the door after all"

He paused as he realized this, just in time for my foot to come up and kick the door hard enough to open it up as I walked out and watched as the Stymphalian dive bombed at us, my eyes tracking the way it's wings moved, I had noticed it earlier when I was running, but this just confirmed it.

They had to swing their wings forwards to launch the feathers forwards with the proper force necessary to be so dangerous, but they also had to do it to keep them in the air, and that meant that they could only target one creature at a time, otherwise they'd tail spin, meaning if there was another, bigger, target around, like the satyr I just pushed ahead, then it was only logical, for the bird brain, to target them first, and since I now had time for it...

I pulled from my knife, my Bone Steel Dagger, held it back, and focused, feeling Trade Off activate, just as the Stymphalian got in perfect range to strike, just as it's wings began to come down, I shot every inch of Stamina I had into my skills, and then some, then flung the knife forwards with every ounce of strength I had, as I watched as it raced through the air, reflecting the mid day sun off it's blade, like a shining streak of white, before slamming straight into the head of the creature as it screeched in pain for just the briefest of moments before exploding in a cloud of golden dust as my knife fell to the ground, bouncing once before resting.

I didn't really noticed, as I was to busy holding my arm in agony.

[Notice: [Trade Off] has inflicted Status Effect [Broken Wrist] and [Ripped muscles] to your right arm, for your trade for [Aim] -10 Dexterity]

[Notice: 1 Intelligence; that actually was a clever plan and observation]

[Accomplishment: Monster Hunter!: Completed!

You've finally have lived up to your legacy and killed a monster, now just get ready to be forced to do it for the rest of your life, congrats again!

+1500 Exp

Skill [Thrown Projectile Mastery] Has been unlocked!]

[Notice: You have gained 1 level!]

[Thrown Projectile Mastery] Level: 1

Balanced or not, if you can throw it, you will throw it, and with skill to!

+2% increase to accuracy and damage when throwing a weapon or item at something while skill is in effect

Cost: 20 Stamina per throw

[Notice: Your Dexterity stat counts as a phantom modifier, for every ten points of Dexterity, [Thrown Projectile Master] acts as if it is one level higher than presented here]

Hmm, not bad at all, sure, not my best skill or anything, but it'll certainly help out if I can level it up when I have to deal with annoying flying monsters, oh, and on the other hand... Fucking ow! God this stings like a bitch! Sure a night's rest would fix it, but damn was it going to stuck in the mean time. Totally worth it, otherwise I'd have a dead goat and a lack of a second target.

Plus, I needed to make damn sure that I wouldn't miss, the knife on occasion still didn't feel right in my hands, because of what the thing was made of, and I couldn't risk missing right there, so I just powered up my aim along with my natural luck in combat, to make sure that I wouldn't lose.

Moving over to my knife, I picked it up with my of hand, before slipping it back into my cloak as the Satyr rushed over.

"Hey! You can't just do that man! I could have died" I hummed.

"I mean, the thing could have targetted me, and then I probably would have died"

"So you can just risk my life instead!"

"If I died, you would have been killed soon after, you don't have a weapon on you"

"How do you know that?"

"I frisked you when I was pulling you over to the door"

"I-... Uh... gods, you're totally an Athena kid, that's just like something they would do"

"Nah, not Athena" He gave me a look, his hands were still shaking with nerves, but he was obviously the chatty type and seemed to want any kind of distraction from his almost death.

"You know who your godly parent is?"

"I have a good idea from a reputable source"

"A god? Did your parent talk to you?"

"Huh? No, I got it from the ring leader of a kidnapping ring"

"I-... I'm sorry what?"

"Anyways, my mom's probably Nike, I'll know for sure later" I had to get claimed for that to happen and for my Perk to finally reveal all it's information, cause there had to be something more interesting hidden behind the pay wall of being claimed, I mean, sure, the hidden name of the Perk was cool, but it would be such a let down if all being claimed did was just change the perk title.

I'm sure there was stuff I just didn't know about, the hidden luck bonus in competitive environments just happens, but I wouldn't surprised if it was, like, a hidden perk or something that I just couldn't see yet. Anyways, goat man grabbed onto it, clearly wanting to get away from my casual conversation about criminal enterprises.

"The Victory Goddess? She doesn't have any kids as far as I'm aware, but minor gods don't often claim their kids, it doesn't really matter since they... uh, well you'll see when you get there" Not unsurprising, all minor god kids got kicked to Hermes' cabin so why bother if they're kid isn't going to get respected anyways? Plus, most gods just don't care about their children in general.

My mom better not be like that, it'll be really annoying if I have to wait for ages to learn something I obviously already know.

Could you imagine how annoying that would be? Waiting to get a reveal everyone predicted ages ago when it was actually relevant, and now it's just a sad excuse of an attempt to get a surprised gasp out of maybe one or two people who couldn't put context clues together?

"So, you got a magic chariot or something to bring us back to c- Wherever we're going apparently?" I probably shouldn't just say things I shouldn't know about yet, the Fates would probably get annoyed at me or something, and I can't have that happen until I ruin everything for everyone.

"Oh, right, uh yeah. We should get moving, we're heading to a camp, Camp half-Blood, it's a place for kids like you, demigods who don't have a place in the world and need protection. I'm sure you've noticed but monsters are attracted to you, at Camp your safe, you learn how to fight and defend yourself, and you can live a life not... here" I just hummed.

"Cool, oh, by the way, nice to meet you, name's Nicolas King. You can call me Nick" I still really liked that, made me happy to say. I didn't introduce myself enough.

"Right... nice to meet you as well, I think. My names Alwin" I just nodded.

"So, we leaving now? Cause we can probably catch a bus out of town without to much issue, or we can stay around and I can use you as bait to make killing them easy for me to gain levels quickly"

"I- No! I'm not going to be bait again and what do you mean by levels?"

"Don't worry about"

"I feel like I'm going to constantly worry about it for the entire time I know you"

"Good, that means I win"

"Win what!"

"Exactly"

"Oh gods... This is going to be a long trip isn't it?"

"I could make it faster if I get to use you as bait?"

"No!"

Man, how unreasonable.

Alwin was a bit high strung to be honest, he freaked out a lot and got nervous when I mentioned the floating words in my head that told me I was special, but he was fine as company. It was honestly really nice to have a person just traveling with me, though he was awkward at times, I think once he realized I mostly just liked fucking with people and seeing how they react with me being me, he seemed to fall in line with my humor, not perfectly, but it was clear he was enjoying being on the inside of it a lot more than being on the out.

He certainly had to get used to it at least from dealing with me in life or death situation either being annoyed at random things or being happy about even more random things. Oh! I got one of those cool little prism things now, you know, the one's where if light it going through it then it makes a rainbow. I honestly have no idea why the camp wouldn't have, like, a dozen of these things every where for Iris messaging, but that's why I got mine... stole mine.

Plus it was just pretty, though in my defense, part six, yes this joke is still going, I got it when I was attacked by some weird snake thing when we were eating out. The fight got dragged into some rock store, and I saw it, and it looked pretty, and it was by a bunch of handy fist sized geodes that made perfect heavy stones to club the monster to the ground before I cut it's head off.

So I just happened to grab one before the cops arrived.

That whole thing was a few days ago, it's been a lot, but in total since I met Alwin, everything kind of has gone to shit? I mean, that's not totally fair to say but to put it in simple terms. Alwin got used as bait a lot more than even I was expecting.

It was kind of fun, Alwin really disagreed...

That was kind half the fun.

Anyways, I got three levels from the stuff, the exp had quickly dropped though from the kills, probably some difficulty scale to keep my form achieving godhood to quickly, which I think is a bit bullshit, but whatever. Past that, a number of my skills, the combat ones, got a few levels and that was about it to be honest, beyond a stat point or two.

And currently, we had just managed to make it to Long Island, about an hour out of the camp, as I hummed happily to myself, excitement thrilling through my veins as we walked along the road. Apparently the normal means of transportation had been pestered by Harpies so he was taking the day of, so we just had to talk the distance, which was fine, I've kind of been doing a lot of that in case someone hadn't been able to notice.

Alwin was pretty excited to get back, I could tell, so we were both pretty stoked about the whole thing. It was pretty early in the morning, so hopefully I don't have to deal with anything before we got to the camp which would be nice.

Time to meet my new home I guess.

The idea put a big grin on my face, and if Alwin shuddered from a learned fear because of my smiles, then that was completely unrelated to what I had planned.

Time to start my plans for titan murder.

Of course it wasn't that easy as I groaned in annoyance as I sprinted through the woods, trying to fide the damn camp with Alwin groaning in pain on my back much to small back considering he was way bigger than me. But one of his legs had been snapped and he was a baby, so I just grabbed him, tossed his arms over my shoulders, and then ran for both our lives.

The trees made it easier, and really when you think about it, it was just one big game of keep away, but it was still annoying, if Alwin hadn't been hurt, and there was only one of the things, then I could have managed just fine, but no! There had to be a few of those weird dog things, I couldn't take on all three at the same time while protecting someone else, and so I had to make a run for the barrier around camp instead.

Ugh, this sucked, I almost got bit! I doubt I'd even get any cool wolf powers from it!

"You know you're a pain in the ass some times" Alwin screamed something back at me, I just ignored it, instead ducking behind a tree as one of the things shot in a pouncing lunge right past me as my foot shot up at the same time, barely making contact, but hitting it hard enough to fling the fucker away and buy me more time as I kept rushing in now a new direction.

"Y-you freaking suck sometimes" I just rolled my eyes at Alwin's bitching as I managed to catch sight of something in front of me, it looked... wrong? Off? Nothing was there, but it just didn't look right, I charged at it.

"I am fully winning to drop you" He just groaned.

"You won't, you care more than you act" I dropped him, he screamed in shock, and maybe pain, cause, broken leg, but he'd be fine. "h-Hey! I was kidding! Kidding! You're heartless and cold and please don't fucking fight them!"

"Don't worry you baby, we're safe" He blinked before looking around as I just stared ahead, and watched as the blurs of black shot forwards before crashing into the barrier before recoiling back, letting out a sharp howl into the air before dashing off in dissatisfaction, I just sighed with a fair bit of that myself.

"Oh man, I really wanted to kill them too" Alwin, from the ground, just groaned in pain.

"You're fucking insane! That was a pack of... of... I don't even freaking know!" I nodded, I really wanted to use Search on them, but I hadn't had the time to get the command up while keeping track of them all while running to make sure we wouldn't get mauled, still, not Greek, at least I don't think they were.

"Probably werewolves" Alwin sputtered a bit before shaking his head.

"Those aren't real, we got lycans but those weren't them" Right, he was stupid and thought that Greek was the only mythology out there that was real, that was stupid, everyone is stupid, it's going to be annoying to be around stupid people isn't it? Eh, I'll get used to it.

"Eh, whatever, I'll kill them next time"

"You... do that, now can we get moving! My leg is killing me man"

"Yeah yeah, stop moaning, I've broken more bones than that and you don't hear me complain"

"Well you should! You're a freak of nature! Not to mention you heal way to freaking fast without needing ambrosia! It's like nothing can hurt you for more than a day!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing, it's saved your ass more than once"

"I wouldn't be in danger if I wasn't with you in the first place! You're a pretty freaking strong Half-Blood Nick, especially for your age, it's attracting everything by us for miles!"

"You saying I'm smelly?"

"Yes! You reek! You haven't showered since I've met you! It's gross" I just rolled my eyes and ignored that part, letting the conversation drop, at least on my side, more withdrawing than conceding defeat, cause I'd rather die than have that happen, but also cause I just didn't want to keep on the subject. I tried to shower but... I didn't like it.

I mean, it was probably fine, but... Look, I got to the shower, and got ready to get in, and then I saw myself in the mirror and... Well I just don't like my body, it was stupid and wrong and I don't like looking at it. Plus my chest is so fucking sore and tender all the time, having tits fucking sucks!

They were annoying.

Anyways, we headed into camp, and before I could really get a look around at anything, there was a large number teens and kids rushing at me, with a mash of armored pieces and orange shirts. Oh, and weapons, about every instinct in my body wanted to pull my weapon, but I held it back as I looked around at them all before saying.

"Well, I wasn't expecting a red carpet, but orange works to. Anyways know where the doctors are? I got a goat that needs attention" I felt Alwin smack me on the back a bit as I just gave a smile to the group of demigods looking around and staring at each other before a girl pushed through the crowd.

"Move! Everyone estop gawking, she's just a new half-blood! Gods, it's like you lot have never seen one before" I called out before everyone could rush off, at the same time Alwin gave a tired sigh and spoke up at the same time.

"I'm a guy!"/ "He's a guy"

I just smiled, Alwin has figured out that it was best to make sure people knew that, otherwise I got a bit... violent. Anyways, a number of people gave me a look at that, but not much past it, as the girl walked up, giving me a look up in down as I just stared back. She was pretty conventionally attractive in all the right ways, maybe a year or two older than me, with flowing black hair and a soft face with delicate features and warm brown eyes and a nice frame for being so young.

She just stared, looking up at me hair for a long moment before saying with a pouty frown.

"What did you do to it? Use a hacksaw?" I snorted at that, she sounded so serious, it was kind of funny, before replying back.

"Just a knife, it was getting in my way" She just rolled her eyes, giving my face a long observing look before grimacing.

"I can tell, it's so uneven in the front, and look at just how choppy it is? Gods, I'm ashamed to have to be the same sex as you" I just nodded solemnly, though we had two matching smiles on our faces. I liked her, she got used to the idea of my own situation pretty quickly. Even making a clear joke over it.

"Trust me, I feel the same way, this side's body's suck. Ever try fighting a monster when blood is-" Alwin shoved his head past my shoulder to get in between us when I was about to make a very good point, and said.

"I am not listening to... whatever the hell this is, I'm leaving to tell Chiron you're here Nick, and then I'm going to try to forget the last week happened, bye, have fun with Silena!" With that, he slowly got off my back as the two of us watched as he got help from two teens who helped walk him off to... somewhere. Muttering about how the last week made sense and that women were terrifying. No idea what that was about, though I made myself a reminder to punch him the next time I saw him regardless.

"What's his problem?" She just giggled.

"It's one of those guy things, written to their DNA, you'll figure it out over time" I just hummed.

"Alright then, I'll take your word for it. He said your name is Silena?" She smiled and nodded, holding out a hand.

"Yep, that's me, Silena Beauregard" Oh... Oh, it's this Silena, explains why she's hot at least, hmm... great this throws a wrench in my plans, I like her and that means I can no longer use her a cannon fodder. That moves me down to plan C, plan B apparently wasn't viable after I realized that finding a volcano on short notice would be more of a hassle than it was worth.

"Cool, I'm Nick" I reached out and shook her hand and smiled back, it wasn't as... me like as it normally was, it was softer, it felt weird.

"Nice to meet you as well Nick, now then I guess I'm suppose to be showing you around since everyone else has run off, and I can't in good conscious leave your head looking like that. We'll work our way around the camp and end at my cabin, Cabin Ten. I assume that Alwin explained everything?" We started instantly, as I followed after her, nodding.

"Yeah, he explained the whole thing with the cabins, though I already figured out the mythology thing a while before that" She got a lightly surprised look on her face.

"And you managed to get here in one piece while knowing? That's really impressive Nick, most of the time the satyrs try to make sure us Half-Bloods don't know because once we realize what we are, the monsters start coming. How'd you deal with them?" I just shrugged.

"I just killed them" She looked even more impressed at that.

"Really? Doubly impressive then, there's only a few times that's happened, when we can survive out there without any training, I can only think of a few times that's happened actually. We aren't really suppose to talk about it, but if you want some gossip, then talk to Annabeth over at Cabin Six or Luke, he's in Cabin Eleven. Though you'll meet him soon depending on how long it takes for your parent to claim you" I absently noticed just how wistful she got when she said the name Luke, I can't be having that.

I've decided I liked her, that means that I can't have her thinking she's in love with some tragic bad boy, who will then threaten her actual love interest.

"Shouldn't be to long I hope, I know who she is, and have been praying at her when I have the chance" I might or might not have been pestering my mother into making sure she would claim me. Either I've been making great progress or I'm going to have a very interesting/painful meeting with my mother whenever I met her.

"Oh? You really are full of surprise aren't you? Who do you think it is? Better not be my mom or we're going to have a problem buddy, there is no son of Aphrodite looking so... like that. Seriously, where did you even get that cloak? The hem needs urgent fixing if you want it to look even close to presentable, not to mention that jacket, it's all torn up and so trashy"

"Nah, I'm not looking to step on your toes about fashion and all that, I don't really get it to be honest, I'm just a son of Nike. As for my outfit, I mean, I did find it in an abandoned apartment I was squatting in, the jacket at least, I got the cloak of a guy I killed" She snorted at that, I cracked a grin as well, cause, yeah, it was pretty nice to think about.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did, still, it's good to have an idea. Come on, let's get you this tour and then we can get you settled into your cabin after meeting Mr. D. I recommend being nice to him, Chiron isn't actually here at the moment, hasn't been for a while, I think Alwin just didn't want to here about your period" I snickered at that.

"Yeah? I lied about that, Alwin is really easy to mess with like that. I haven't had to deal with that yet when fighting monsters, but I am not looking forwards to it either. This body sucks!" She grimaced before nodding.

"Trust me, between you and me, it's hell. We get off training when it's bad for the most part, but we're suppose to learn just how to deal with it as well in case it happens in combat or whatever, just let your cabin leader know and see what they say. But if you really are feeling bad, my Cabin has everything you could need to get sorted. Chiron and Mr. D don't know, but Hermes's Cabin also sneaks in a ton of snakes and stuff that we get and then pass out for them. Just don't tell any boys alright? It's a pain to bribe them to keep quiet, they don't really get it yet"

I just nodded, keeping it in mind for the future, since I doubt I'll be beating the shit out of a titan within the next few weeks, since I really wasn't that lucky, before saying.

"Cool, I'll keep that in mind. Now then, what's this?" From there we just went through the motions as I got shown around, from the training grounds, the lake, the eating pavilion, the big house, and finally the Cabins, as well as I got introduced to a bunch of the other 'half-bloods' which wasn't nearly as cool as saying demigod, but whatever.

Apparently Silena was really popular, not to surprising, she seemed to be able to get along with literally everyone, from the goth types to the nerdy types, she seemed to just have a way of speaking that lead people into wanting to talk to her, and since she was actually really freaking nice, it just made it hard to not want to talk to her again.

It was nice, her sense of humor and mine really didn't click in the natural sense, but we both still somehow got each other bursting with laughing more than a few times through stray comments or just simple talk.

And in the end, I got to Aphrodite's Cabin, I got strapped to a chair and was tortured violently. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but all the Aphrodite kids seemed to all at once take great offense to my hair and demanded that they helped out Silena in fixing it, which was a bit confusing, but in the end I met basically every kid in the cabin by the end of it which was probably a good thing, though it all happened while I was sitting in a chair, with scissors snipping around my head, with an older Aphrodite kid, named Minnie trimming my hair into something of a style, while I chatted about with them all.

It was really fun to be honest, it's been, literally, never since I had so many people I could just talk to so openly, sure I talked with strangers sometimes over the last few weeks, but beyond that, Alwin had been my only real constant companion, and while he was cool, this was decidedly really nice as well. Needless to say, it was pretty clear I liked being around a bunch of people, and it certainly helped literally everyone in this cabin was unfairly attractive, like, seriously it was unnecessary, why couldn't there be at least one token ugly kid or something?

And with how they were presented in the books, I honestly thought they would be a lot more shallow, but most of them were chill, sure some of them certainly turned a nose up at my outfit and hair, but no one questioned me on anything else, which was nice, threatening people into making them realize I really am a guy was kind of fun, but it was also repetitive as well.

I got an offer to pay for a service of getting my cloak repaired when I mentioned that it was the only item of clothing I had that I was actually attached to, which was probably a good thing, since literally all of the teens seemed ready to rip my outfit to shreds when I got changed out of them into a much more fitting set of clothing consisting of an orange tee-shirt and jeans. Though figuring out the bra thing took longer than I'd like to admit, and got in a bit of an argument with one of the guys when I asked if I could just not wear it. Apparently that was 'not cool' so I just had to deal with the thing.

I even got a necklace, the one that the beads are collected on, apparently this cabin is the one that made them which was pretty cool and fitting. Some of them also have a frankly creepy skill from their mom which let's them instantly be able to know a person's measurements and seamline from looking at them for a minute.

With that in mind, I accepted the deal that they would make my cloak actually fitting and a bit more protective, since apparently they also worked with armor since they refused to wear anything that wasn't fashionable but wasn't quite stubborn enough to not go into combat without protection. Meaning they just made the armor for themselves to look both good and useful at the same time.

I may... have made a mistake though, saying if they were up for it, I'd pay double if they could beat me at a game of cards, any game they wanted, and if I won I wouldn't pay... In the end, the Aphrodite cabin learned I kind of can't lose when it comes to card games and now I was apart of at least two gambling rings in which they were trying to get use of my powers by abusing them for their own gain.

In the end, I didn't come out of it with nothing thankfully, though some of them were really scary, I managed to get out of the thing with a deal that for every five drachma I won them through betting, I could get a small favor from the cabin. It worked out pretty well in my opinion, though I have no idea just what I'm going to be using those favors for, I'm sure I'll come up with something when I get some time to think about it more.

After all that was said and done, my hair was better, it was something close to a pixie cut, cause apparently that's what looked best on me, I didn't argue, it was more comfortable shorten to the point they got it, but it also wasn't super short either, and it kept out of my eyes, so I was cool with it.

Once the make over party was done, and a promise that they could find me when they wanted to win by cheating with my powers, I was then shuttled out by Silena to finally meet Mr. D, which was where we were right now, as the two of us moved in front of the man... He was... something.

Imagine a middle aged baby but, like, stretched out and old... then slap on a kind of awesomely designed tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt and make him look like he was constantly hung over, and then you'd get a rough idea of what looking at him was like. He was also playing some kind of card game with two very terrified looking satyrs. His eyes drifted up at me for a second, squinted, and then looked back down at his cards.

"And who are you suppose to be little girl?" Silena had told me to be nice, but the way he said that made my entire body fill with annoyance, and that quickly seeped into my tone.

"I'm a guy" He didn't even bother to look up.

"I don't care" I felt my eyebrow twitch violently, a smile beginning to pull on my face as I tried to say nicely, though it came out hard and strained.

"I don't like you" He smirked, as Silena moved forwards, placing a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

"Still don't care" It wasn't working, in fact I was getting even further away from calm by the second.

"Deal me in. I can't punch you in the face, but I can take your money" Silena let out a long sigh, and the two satyrs looked horrified, Mr. D continued to smirk.

"Fine girl. Do you know how to play?"

"Guy, and I don't need to"

"This won't end well for you"

"That's hilarious, I was just about to say the same thing!" Mr. D and I were staring at each other, my eyes sparking with angry, his just blood shot and bored, but after a second he said, as he moved the cards in order to play the game fresh.

"Don't disappoint me then brat, since Chiron's been gone no one here actually bothers to try. It's insulting, I'm hoping your mother made it so you aren't the same way, if you aren't... then, we'll see just how this goes" The satyrs make small squeaking sounds at that, looking like they wished they were anywhere but between the two of us.

"Oh don't worry, I don't care who you are, I don't lose"

"We shall see"

I was about to play pinochle with a god... Heh, he certainly was pretty fucking annoying, but this is still pretty awesome. Silena just sighed, but she managed to look amused, and certainly relieved that Dionysus wasn't in fact smiting me to death for disrespect or something. Then again, he is the God of partying, party games, like card games, must fall in his domain, so it makes sense he liked being able to play them with someone who won't throw just because they're scared of him.

Unlike those people, I have no working fear of the gods, and as such will crush this man in front of me with everything I have!

...

[Accomplishment: Draw with God : Completed!

It wasn't in anything major, hardly a fight for the ages, but you have battled a god to a stalemate in a battle of luck and skill in cards, which is pretty impressive, even if you are totally cheating with your own powers... He's also a god so it evens out. But because of that, you get a nice big exp reward, so enjoy that.

+7,500 Exp]

[Notice: You have leveled up two times!]

This is bullshit, and I hate gods!

I was fuming as I stomped away from the table that held Dionysus, furious and annoyed. We went for a solid two hours, and somehow every time I would win a round, he'd win the next one! No matter what, I just couldn't pull ahead in the lead! The only damn fucking reason I hadn't kept going until I passed out from exhaustion was because Silena told me it was kind to met Luke, and Dionysus seemed to have gotten bored and refused to play with me anymore.

I wanted to skin him alive! How fucking dare he!

"Come on Nick! It's fine, besides you two went at it for ages, it's clear that you'd destroy anyone else" I just huffed.

"I want to grind him into a paste and coat those fucking cards of his with his own entrails" She just rolled her eyes, she didn't stick around for the entire thing, but when she got back to tell me about the meeting with Luke to get me settled into Hermes's cabin, I hadn't really been... talking nice to the god, after he managed to tie with me for the seventeenth time in a row.

I fucking swear the little shit was enjoying getting me angry!

"You're just over reacting"

"I don't lose Silena! It's literally my thing, a defining character trait! I'm basically a Gary Stu! I can not lose! I feel like I've lost a part of my very soul!" She snorted at that, before giving me a pat on the back and said with a soothing voice

"You're just being very dramatic, now suck it up ok? Luke's got enough on his plate without you being a small angry goblin cause you didn't win at a card game"

"I'm just saying, he was totally cheating! He's a God!"

"And what were you doing exactly?"

"Shut up!"

"Yeah yeah. Here we are, uh... Hey Luke!" Her voice hitch an octave as she gave a girly wave to the man in question, and... oh fucking come on! He's hot too? Why is literally everyone around me attractive? Is it a being a demigod of an Olympian thing? I swear I don't look this good!

Life is so unfair.

He gave the two of us a dazzling smile and I sadly understood just where Silena came from in falling for him in the first place, but I was made of stronger stuff, and by that, he wasn't my type, so I endured such a true hardship as he spoke.

"Hey, so you're the new camper, Nick right?" I nodded, he held out and hand which I shook, with an easy smile on my face as he continued "It's good to meet you, come on, let's get you settled in" We headed inside, as I looked around, nearly every space was filled with something marking a person's spot, to say it was a bit crowded was an understatement. Silena had headed out, thought it was clear she did want to still hang around, it wouldn't work without being a bit awkward.

"Sure, sorry to say, but I'll probably be sticking around, this place doesn't seem to have a cabin for my parent" He paused, a dark shadowy look came over his face, just for a small moment, before clearing like it was never there.

"It's fine, that's what this cabin is here for after all, now let's see if we can get you a spot. As I hear you've already been shown around, so tomorrow we'll begin training, from what I hear from Silena I hope you live up to your expectations" I just kept my smile.

"Don't worry, I'm all for seeing for sure that I can crush you into the dirt" He laughed, I didn't.

[Notice: Search has been used, presenting information...]

Luke Castellan

Age: 19

Level: 37

Mana Points: 4,700/4,700

Stamina Points: 14,500/14,500

Hmm, I probably couldn't beat him right now... I don't like that.

"You're great fun, I'm sure you'll do great with that kind of focus. Now come on, dinner is almost ready, it's good to show you what to do for it, and what we do for meals" He went on to explain the whole, sacrificing a portion of our meals to the gods for well wishes and all that. I didn't always understand just why that was necessary, but anything to get me on the good side of some of them through easy means was fine by me.

Though, maybe it was just because I had an unreliable amount of years worth of experiences I can't remember somewhere in my head, but it was pretty clear Luke's smile was amount as fake as it could get as he talked about it, saying how it was our duty was children of the gods to give respect to them.

By the time the dinner happened, I had sat down at the Hermes's table and was assaulted with a bunch of questions, apparently some gossip about me has spread around, and as the newest person here, everyone was interested in hearing about me. I figured that would last about another two days and then they'd forget I'd exist until I did something particularly 'insane' whatever that means, Alwin just liked to use that term a lot when I was doing stuff.

When dinner was served, and I was given a plate full of food, I moved over the fire spot, and just hummed to myself for a moment, first step after all. Time to see just how the rest of my life is going to go.

With that I tossed a fifth of my plate in, made my offering and pray... then did that two more times... and then another time for good measure... waited another few seconds... and then dumped my entire plate in, the prayers getting progressively louder and louder, or as loud as I could make my thoughts... Nothing.

Ok, fuck this, walking over, I grabbed a random teen's plate of food, he made some kind of sound of protest, I grabbed the knife off the plate and flung it at him, it buried itself in the table in front of him, he shut up after that, as I moved back over to the fire and started tossing individual pieces of food in, and started praying one word at a time for each piece of food.

Finally, after a solid five minutes, with everyone looking at me, I grinned as form over the top of my head a light rolled out from above the golden symbol of a wreath surrounded by two wings, as I spoke out loud to the stunned air.

"Ha! Suck it Mom! I win this time, one point to Nick!"

[Notice: Event [Claimed Heritage] has been activated and resolved; congrats! Perk [Son of [?]] has been updated]

[Notice; +1 intelligence; I can't believe you annoyed a goddess so much that she did what you wanted out of not wanting to deal with you anymore]