7

[Son of Nike]

As the son of the Goddess of Victory, your abilities are greatly increased compared to that of a normal human.

You gain a +150% increase in leveling skills when you use them well enough to win in someway

When you are in any task or event in which you are competing with another, your stats are increased by 20% until the task/event is complete.

You gain 10 Points to Strength and Dexterity every ten levels.

You gain 5 Points to all stats every ten levels

You gain Status Effect [Victory's Blessing] When requirements are met

[Victory's Blessing]

When you are in a competitive environment, one the following bonuses is added, based on the task.

[Luck] is always required to win: Your Luck stat is increased based on the difficulty of your task [This makes it incredibly difficult for you to lose in any game of chance]

[Skill] is the backbone of success: Your Skills are all increased temporarily by four [This increases by one for every five levels total]

[Talent] is the basis of one's potential: Your Stats are all increased temporality by five [This increases by one for every four levels total and is added after [Son of Nike] bonus]

You know, I have to wonder what the scaling in this world is like for this to be able to be balanced, I mean, it wouldn't make sense if I was overpowered yet, I mean, all I really had going for me realistically was my stats since I didn't have many skills, and no magic to speak off. But my stats were massive compared to my level and that's without using all my points. Anyways, Victory's Blessing was pretty cool, it activated based on what I was doing, and I don't think I can pick which of the three effects are chosen, so that's something.

It's pretty cool, the Talent wasn't the best, the flat bonus wasn't horrible, but a static plus five wasn't anything special either, the Skill was good, it would certainly help out in the long run when my skills stop leveling up somewhat quickly, and Luck was mostly just in chance based situations, it was great cause it meant I'd never lose in a card game or from the roll of a dice, but that's all it seemed to effect.

Anyways, that's my upgrade, now the events happening around me, as Mr. in a bored voice, spoke up.

"All Hail Nicole something or another, kid of Nike, no one could have seen that coming... Anyways, back to dinner" I just moved back to my seat, grabbing another plate of food from someone, who tried to pull it back, but I just grabbed the knife from my new plate and they gave up right quick, as I sat back down, while at the same time about half the Hermes' cabin stood up and marched over to the fire, plates in hand, and looking determined.

I figured I'd give them the heads up.

"It probably won't work if you don't know who you're suppose to pray to!" That seemed to do nothing to stop them as I just smiled and dug into my food, it was good, better than the take out and fast food I had been living on for about half a month.

The air soon became filled with an almost overwhelming smell of charring food as the fire nearly got smothered out by the amounts of it that was being tossed in one after the other in a wave of baked beans and coleslaw. I just hummed to myself with some amusement at the sight.

Then the light show started.

It wasn't to many, but a number of kids got claimed one after the other, as I gave Mr. D a glaring smile as he just sighed and started calling out with a bored tone about who got what.

In the end, six campers out of the nearly twenty who rushed the fire, got claimed. They apparently had an idea about their parent for ages but didn't think it was worth bugging said parent about... until I pestered my own mother way worse than anything the rest did or would even consider. It was pretty hilarious, Luke looked smack jawed as I just lightly cackled at the sight of what I created as all six of the kids were moved about into the right cabins by nightfall, also giving me more room to breath in my new Cabin, which was half the point of why I did it.

All in all, good day to be me!

"I hate my life!" Luke just laughed over me as I glared up at him with hate, my hand padding around for the new celestial bronze knife I had been given to train with. It had been knocked away early on in the fight, and left me with only a sword, which was why I was on the ground, swords were stupid. They were just longer, worse knives.

"It's alright Nick, frankly you're pretty damn handy with that daggers, not to mention you're pretty strong and fast for your age, but you don't have any training in actual sword play, so against another Half-Blood, who's stronger and faster than you are, and has a lot more training, you just don't stand a chance" I continued to glare.

"This isn't helping and I still hate everything" Apparently yesterday wasn't enough to prove it to me, but I have a sneaking suspicious I am a really sore loser. But in my defense, part six, I hate losing more than I fear death, so this really fucking sucks.

"Well, if you want to improve, ready for round six?" I grumbled some more, getting up onto my feet, only mollified somewhat by the fact that there was more rounds that I could prove my superiority on. It wouldn't happen, since that's what got me up the last five times and nothing has changed, but it helped my mind calm down and focus.

As it stood, Luke was just better than me in every way, he was way stronger, and was honestly startlingly fast, like, my Perception with my boosts, was standing at a proud forty, I could still barely keep track of him, it was probably a lack of brain power, but still! It was insane, I know he's suppose to be some prodigy or whatever, but this is a pain in my ass!

I think the worst part is, he honestly wasn't special, everyone here, from when I sparred against them, ended in the similar result, I might win against some of the younger ones, but anyone who had been here for at least two or so years could kick my ass. Luke was just in an entirely different league than them, and at least two leagues above me. It was... really fucking annoying.

The books did a horrible job of describing just how alarmingly strong demigods are. Like, every single one of these teens had super strength, and look, I won't ever complain about Nike being my parent, but holy fucking shit is the difference between having an Olympian parent and a minor god parent like night and day!

I was the only damn kid here who was the child of a minor god who was even somewhat on terms with the big twelve demigods. It wasn't honestly that surprising, those twelve all are much stronger than most minor gods, so it makes sense that the kids would follow in the same regards, but fucking hell if it wasn't annoying. There were kids from Apollo's Cabin that were three years younger than me that could beat me at an arm wrestling match if I wasn't using Trade Off!

Any child from the twelve Olympians just had so much more raw power and potential than minor god's kids did, their bodies were just naturally started stronger and got stronger way faster than someone like me, who had a minor demigod has a parent. It probably had somethings to do with belief or whatever, but the point that it's freaking crazy stands, since it means that even though Luke's level says he's only in his thirties, his stats are probably way, way, over mine as well as his skills. The level for other people is probably more like a showing of his real life experience in using his stats and skills more than an actual gauge of his strength.

It was genuinely alarming, and made me wonder just how much of a fucking beast the big three children really were. A twelve year old Percy could probably break me over his knee without even trying! I mean, he fucking killed, or is going to kill, the minotaur without a single day of training! Like, holy shit I had some work to do if I wanted to keep up with that!

I mean, it makes sense in a way, everyone here is literally half god, and considering just what we're going to be fighting, aka, literal fucking titans that could challenge literal fucking gods. Something like a forty-four in Strength was honestly nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. It was something I hadn't really thought about, or well, hadn't put a ton of thought about because I didn't have a scale to work against before now.

These beings in question rank on a scale of godlike power, cause that's what they are, godlike, and so that means the upper stats cap of this world, for the sole fact that there are gods, means it could be in the thousands! Hundreds at the very least.

It also put in perspective my ego on being told I was impressive for getting here, and how I was strong for my age. All that was just fluff talk, most demigods have no idea about their powers or strength, and can't even access it for a time before they get used to it all after they become aware. All those words meant I was impressive for figuring it out myself and that I had potential... Just it was nothing compared to literally anyone who's been in camp longer than me. And I'm beginning to think the scent thing is based off Level and not actual average power, which... I don't know how that works but whatever.

Which, once again, what the hell is Percy Jackson made of? Ocean water probably... holy shit, is he sixty percent salt water? Wait, he gets stronger in the water and he's mostly made up of water, so does that mean... No! Bad ADHD, focus!

My point in all this is, I need to train like a madman if I want to be able to bitch slap a titan, and I was completely fine with that, because it means I won't have to deal with losing ever again if I get that strong, and that could be all the motivation I needed, but I also had my whole, gender crisis thing going on, which I also wanted sorted out, which, was like, double motivation, which I personally thought should mean I get two times experience gains, but the system didn't like that idea.

"You going to get that sword up King? Or are you going to admit defeat?" My mind snapped back into focus as I stared at Luke for a long moment, taking a deep breath to try and get my temper under control at the insanely insulting idea that I would ever admit defeat in anything... Failed, and then proceeded to charge him.

"Hiya Nick! We managed to get that cloak of yours repaired, took some effort, the thing was hard to work with. What is it made out of?" I shrugged as the two Aphrodite kids offered me my item back, two days after I had given it away. Since then I won them a week off chores from game night, it was fun recovering some of my pride by crushing every single cabin under my boot.

"Honestly don't know, I just know it's pretty good for protection my back from slashing attacks, doesn't work as well against stabbing though" I grabbed the thing and pulled it over my shoulders as soon as possible, bringing the front close so it was covering my chest, either of the two girls mentioned it. I just spun about a bit, getting use to the new way it flowed around me, it was better, but... I grabbed the hem line, the part the kids had put on the tihng to make it look less like a ripped cloth pulled from a blanket, and said.

"Did you use gold?" The one on the right smirked.

"Well, not exactly but it looks like it, it's more sturdy, it's what we use to thread the leather armor pieces together so they can take an extra hard hit, but I looked into Nike, and Gold is one of her colors, along with white. You tossed it on to quick, but you should look at lining" I pulled it out and looked at it before blinking as I looked at the two white detailed and, frankly beautiful white patterned wings sown into the inside of the coat. I glanced back up and they gave me making cheeky smiles

"Figured it was fitting and, well, there is nothing us kids in Cabin Ten do more than make sure something looks damn good. The cloak can be worn in the other way round, but it's fine like that as well. The white is made from a strong wool that comes from some of the animals around here, it's much better at taking a stab than the rest of the material the cloak is made out of, we figured this would be a cool way to make your back more protected" I just smiled.

"Thank you, that's actually really awesome" They beamed before saying.

"It's not problem at all! You have no idea how little we get to actually do here, everyone is terrified that we'll, like, paint them with make up or something if the get to close to asking our advice, which is pretty funny, but it's really nice to be able to work on something as well!" I just nodded.

"Still, thanks a lot. Let me know when you want me to win something else for you, this is awesome!" I know I had said I was going to wait on looking cool until after I got everything sorted out, but... I also looked fucking awesome right now ok? And rule of cool breaks all other rules, and besides, it's not like I was the one who did all this, I just let the Aphrodite kids do what acme natural, and they were more than willing to help out, though some were a bit... eager about it, but that's fine to, I understood being a bit zealous in doing something you like.

For them, it's fashion and style, for me it's murder and monster hunting, it's a bit different but they're also kind of the same when you think about it.

I hummed as I tossed food into the fire, making my daily prayer to my mom, just to make sure she didn't get to used to silence, and then tossed a bit more into the fire as well, this one going to another goddess I had in mind. I've been alternating for the last few days since I got here on just which gods I was giving offerings to, all of which I had a reason for, but that's for a later me to fully finish those projects up with, as I moved back to the sitting area and plopped down and looked about, a number of kids were still trying to annoy their parents into paying attention to them, it was funny.

In one case, some of the still burning food had shot back out of the flame when a particularly stubborn girl had gone through four whole plates, with the burning chicken smacking her in the head, then she got claimed. I couldn't tell if she was more mortified at the resounding laughter or happy that it had finally worked, but it also seemed to get the message across and the unclaimed slowly stopped trying after that, but it was fun while it lasted.

Right now I was just making use of everything around here, training was fun, beating up people was even more fun, and a great way for my skills to grow quickly was by bullying those weaker than me. Literally, my skills level up faster when I win, so if I just target those beneath me then I can power level! It's been real handy. I've also asked around about magic, but no one was currently willing or had enough time to give me a proper crash course from the cabins I had good relations with, and also because they mostly didn't know, since those cabins were Aphrodite's and Hermes's for the most part.

Apparently there was books for that in the Big House, but... books, gross, so I've been putting it off, but I will have to look into it eventually, to see if I can find another skill book around somewhere. But for now, I had a plan to look for tomorrow, it'll be fun!

It was something I remembered when I had been going over my memories of the Percy Jackson books, since said half-blood would be arriving soon and the plot would be kicking off, I figured it was important to know about right? And then I remembered something, that sign thing, of three fingers over the heart before pushing outwards? It was suppose to be some ward against evil but it had never actually been explained past it being a small joke and a nod to Percy's powers when he used it against his jackass step-dad.

Obviously he could do it and with such a extreme reaction cause the guy is pumped full of mana from having a cheat code to life, but what about me? Grover could do it, but it didn't seem to have as big a reaction to him, and he had training right? So... Only one way to figure it out right?

I was in between the woods and the proper forest that surrounded the camp where a number of monsters could usually be found. I've been talked down more than once about going out there by myself, apparently it was a good way to be killed unless you had a team with you, and since there was technically a curfew, people wouldn't let me go out there until night and then I could leave without having to fight my way past the damn harpies that acted as guards here, it was annoying.

Grinding my skill were certainly important, but exp was also very important and I only got that from Accomplishments and killing things, and I haven't been able to much of either in days! It was pretty annoying, and I'm hoping magic is going to make it up.

So with that, I reached up, my fingers curling into an approximation of what I had read at some point during my last life, and took a deep breath, focusing on the things inside me, the things that were hard to notice, the faint burning warmth that pulled in my gut every time my Perk activated, the rush of power that filled my body when I needed to win. It was just a flicker now, only coming out when I needed it, but now I needed it, as I pulled and with a grunt, shoved my hand out at a tree and!

... Nothing, I groaned before repeating the process a few times before sighing... Alright, this wasn't going to work, I could feel the energy, and I'm certain it's mana, because it's obviously magic, but the ward wasn't working, but why? Did I just not have enough power to manage it? Both a Satyr and Half-blood used the ward, so it's not a repeat of what happened with that damn Nordic Rune book.

I'm forgetting something... What is it? Something in the books about it... Something important, has to be, cause otherwise I just can't use the spell and that's completely unacceptable...

Ah! I remember now! It can only be used on evil stuff cause it's an evil repellent ward thing! That's why it worked on Percy's step-dad! Right, it also explains why it didn't work on the tree! I'm not incompetent, the tree is just a goody two shoes and boring! Right, I can work with this, I still want to learn the skill so I just need to use it on something to show the ward works, and then the System will unlock it for me! Perfect, I make great plans!

Now... who can I use the ward on?

Luke? No, he'd know what the ward is for and then kill me since he'd know it would be a confirmation of his evil in my eyes... Silena is to pure to actually, Mr. D is unfortunately, while a dick, is still head of the camp and would probably kill me if I tried...

Hmm, this is hard, maybe I could sneak into the forest and try it out on some monsters? That would be nice to get some exp in, though there is a chance that I might be stopped, and then I'd have to listen to another whole conversation about why it's dangerous and blah, blah, blah. Honestly I'm surprisingly weak, compared to everyone else, but I'm not incapable of handling myself damn it!

It was really annoying. I was handled with kids gloves and that was just downright insulting! I mean, so what if I'm a literal child, I want to murder monsters damn it!

Know what? Fuck them, I'mma do it!

[Notice: Monster slain combo 19x]

I was panting like a mad man, sweat dripping from my brow as I spun around, barely just managing to dodge out of the way of a lightning fast scorpion tail that was taller than I was long, as I dashed forwards, just managing to get up onto the scorpion's body, before plunging my sword into it's head, as it spasmed about, flinging me off as I rolled on the ground, before managing to control the fall enough to roll onto my feet, as I whirled around, two knives now in hand as I rolled to the right as another tail tried to kill me as another notice popped up about the more recent kill.

I was running on fumes, have been for the last half hour, I had started trading my health off for stamina a while ago, and it was beginning to not be enough anymore, my normally olive skin was a washed out near pale color, my lungs constrained to get air in, my limbs feeling like they were covered in cement, the only still sharp part of me was my head, and only just, as I rolled to the side of another attack and just managed to push the fucking bug up enough to carve into it's stomach.

I nearly stumbled to the ground when it's body broke into golden dust, but I caught myself just in time to avoid a deadly piercing stab, shifting myself so the slashing pincer only nicked my face, leaving a long trail of blood flowing down my cheek instead of cutting my head off as I spun and jumped back, flinging one of my knives down at it, stabbing deep into it's shell before my other one found itself right next to the first as I reached out and grabbed onto my fallen sword, as I brought it up in time to block an attack that sent my entire body into an aching spiral as I was slammed to my knees, as the other pincer was raised up, as the pin cushion one, which was still hanging on like a jerk, moved closer, as I grunted with pain, right as I was about to be skewered.

I just managed to bring my hand up, right over my hearty, as my entire body felt like it was burning for a moment as I ripped the clawed hand forwards, and like a wave of force had slammed into the one pressing down on me, ready to strike, it went skidding back, as I spun and just managed to slam my blade deep into the pin cushion's head, finally killing it, but not before it's tail shot out and slammed into my body, as I gasped in shock as I was tossed away.

The notice informing me of the shatter left section of my ribs was unimportant. I mean, it already hurt to breath before now, so this doesn't really change anything, as I grunted with effort to stand up, as the last one, the one I had blasted away, skittered closer as I watched as it's own tail shot out, ready to stab through my chest as I gritted my teeth before, with a yell of effort and pain, swung my sword up, slicing through the damn things tail, sending the stinger flying off behind me as it screeched and made a bunch of clicking sounds, well, before I impaled it with my sword that is.

[Notice: Monster slain combo 23x]

I just gasped as I let myself slowly fall to my feet, as I looked around for a long moment, waiting on another group of somethings to attack, if I started making my way back to camp now, then I wouldn't be able to defend myself in time if something pounced. But after a long, painful, five minutes of waiting, nothing happened, and eventually my notification screen finally gave me my rewards.

I collapsed in a heaving pile after that.

[Notice: You have killed twenty-three monsters, congratulations!

+22,575 Exp gained

Skill [Short Blade Mastery] has gained 4 levels!

Skill [Long Blade Mastery] has gained 6 levels!

Skill [Trade Off] has gained 2 levels!

Skill [Thrown Projectile Mastery] has gained 3 levels!

Skill [Pain Tolerance] has gained 3 levels!

Skill [Greek Protection Ward] has gained 2 levels!

Perk [Unyielding Spirit] has been unlocked from meeting requirements]

[You have gained four levels]

[Notice: +6 Constitution, +3 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Power; From some really insane training. Like, seriously, you're insane and should be dead]

[Unyielding Spirit]

You refuse to give up on literally anything, it's honestly kind of a fault as much as it is a benefit, because it means you refuse to change your mind on literally anything. Be it the stupid idea of fighting a titan one on one, or be it the stupid idea of fighting for half an hour straight in a place where you are both under leveled and not at all properly prepared. Still, you haven't died yet, meaning your spirit is incredibly hard to kill, making you near immune to the pressures others would use to make you bend the knee, through intimidation or through extreme amounts of pain, you'll stand tall.

Neat... That... Something... I think I need the infirmary? Cause, last time I checked, I wasn't suppose to taste blood every time I breathed in and out. So...

Yeah, I'm going to go head in that direction now, I think I have upwards of, like, fifteen bones broken, and I've lost, like, a lot of blood.

"Damn it Nick! You weren't suppose to go out there!" I just huffed in mock annoyance as Silena swatted at my arm as Michael Yew moved around, muttering to himself about stupid half-bloods, moved about, pressing these cool magical ice pack things over my incredibly bruised skin and incredibly in pain ribs, I just flinched a bit, mostly cause it was cold.

"I'm fine! A nights sleep and I'll be good, some of that happy juice and I could probably leave right now. What do you say?" I turned and gave Michael one of my face smiles, he blushed and looked lightly terrified, only one of those was cause of my smile, and I was proud of say it wasn't the former. Silena smacked my shoulder again.

"Stop messing with the boy, and you don't give him anything!" I just pouted as Silena moved and dropped my cloak over my exposed chest, only covered by a sports bra, as Michael said.

"I'm not planning on it, we have a limited ration of it right now after that thing that happened in the stables. He can heal on his own for his dumb mistakes" Michael kept chanting the he and hims like he was trying to get something out of his head, it was hilarious. Silena noticed my glee and just smacked me again, she had a habit of doing that.

"Look it's seriously not that bad, I really will be fine by tomorrow, I just wanted to get some more training in, is that so wrong?" Michael scoffed at that.

"Nick, you came in with half your ribs shattered, extreme blood loss making you look three shades lighter than you're suppose to, and I've literally had to sow nearly a dozen cuts closed on your body. I'd be more worried about getting some nasty scars, we heal real fast, but not that fast, and not that well" I just rolled my eyes.

"I'm just built different then I guess"

"No, you're built stupid, a broken bone by itself should take up to two days to heal completely, it should take up to four for what you did to yourself with any god food, and until you can prove you've healed fully, then you aren't leaving" I just pouted, it wasn't my fault I honestly did heal faster then them, but then again, at least it wasn't unbelievable or anything. It's actually kind of ridiculous that I can shatter this many bones, and he can say for any other half-blood, it would only take a few days. Sure, mine was faster, but compared to a normal person, that was insane.

"Whatever, I'm just going to chill here then...Want to play poker?" Silena just gave me a look while Michael sighed, looking around for a moment before shrugging.

"Yeah, sure, if it'll get you stop shut up, it's not like anyone else was stupid enough to get hurt today" Silena sighed, quietly, to herself and gave Michael a pat on the shoulder as I just smiled to myself, as she said to him.

"Good luck then" He just looked confused until he saw the grin on my face, then he paled a bit, but it was too late, he agreed and the pack has been sealed!

I was still in the infirmary the same night, being incredibly wounded was actually pretty cool, they brought the food to you! Anyways, on a slightly more important note than free meal delivery services, Percy was dragged into the infirmary around an hour past dinner and was held up into a cot, no one told me anything outside that he had been in a fight with the minotaur and that was about it.

I just took the time to look at him... He was skinny, scrawny looking, and small. He was a sleeping twelve year old, not sure what exactly I expected outside of that, but it was pretty interesting to see him. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, he does in fact drool in his sleep. It was cute in a kind of gross way.

I also used Search on him, and just... I mean... Look at this shit!

Perseus Jackson

Age: 12

Level: 16

Mana Points: 357/9,700

Stamina Points: 230/12,250

He had over double the amount of mana that Luke had, and his stamina was only just smaller than his, and his level of sixteen! If that wasn't a confirmation of level being a scale for experience than an actual threat showing than nothing else would, that was just insane! For reference, to have that much mana at that level if it was me, my Power stat would literally need to be in the thousands!

God, this game is bullshit sometimes, I know he's the main character, but that's just way to much! Like, seriously, how is anyone suppose to handle that? And just how strong is he going to get? I know he literally blew up a mountain at one point, and that wasn't even at the end of his series!

I know, I've made the joke I was a Mary Stu, but literally no one can say Percy isn't the exact same, sure he struggles, but, like, name one time off the cuff he actually lost anything important ever?

I'm not jealous! Shut up!

It's just a bit unfair that's all.

I was free to leave by the next morning, cause, it's me, Michael seemed more glad to be able to kick me out than he was confused about just why I healed faster than other demigods, which was cool and mildly insulting. Still, I left without any complaints, since I wasn't in fact creepy enough to want to continue to stare at a sleeping twelve year old boy any longer than I had to out of boredom and nothing else to do.

I got a new shirt, since my last one was just a small bit covered in my own blood, you know, minor details.

After that I got to meet Chiron which was cool, he was in a wheelchair still, for some reason, but he probably was waiting on Percy to get up for the reveal.

Everyone was really chatty about Percy though, when I headed back and reintegrated myself with society, most of the talk was about the fact that Percy managed to kill the minotaur with his bare hands, which, I mean, fair, that's real impressive, ripping it's own horn off and then killing it with it. The amount of raw strength needed to do that... Well, I've mentioned just how powerful the kid is already, no reason to keep going and going.

With that the rest of the day passed in a blur, I beat the shit out of my sparring partners for the day, not used to the sudden increase in both strength and skill, but they adjusted quickly and more easily than I'd like to admit, but I still won most of my matches and it made me feel less like a small twelve year old trying to compete with people years older than me.

I went back into the woods not to long after that, I got another two levels and got a very annoyed look from both Michael when I showed up back up at the clinic covered in gold dust and a broken right arm, but if there was one thing I was, it was stubborn. And I refuse to stay weak, so if I had to throw myself into dangerous situations then so be it!

So, I was there, chilling, when Annabeth showed up, we hadn't really interacted much, I didn't exactly get along with the Athena kids, I thought they were annoying and they thought I was an idiot with identity issues, it was mutual for the most part. Still, we traded some words and I watched her shove pudding down Percy's throat, so that was something.

Then I got down to business.

"So, what are you thinking? Big three bare minimum right?" Annabeth froze before turning to look at me, I just smiled and gave a short wave.

"I don't know what your talking about" She tried to make it sound like she wasn't lying, but she was twelve. She was smart, but she wasn't quite a good actor just yet, she had no experience just yet to hide behind a mask outside of her intelligence.

"The kid, he's one of the big three's kids, probably Poseidon or Zeus, I'm got a bet with some Aphrodite kids on which" I actually did, it was cute they thought they had a chance, most were just betting Ares, being safe and all that. The pact was still in effect, but that didn't really mean anything, to bad for dear old grandma Styx that one of her oaths got broken. Oh, right, my Grandmother is that one river Titan, also she's a Titan Goddess, and a river, my Grandfather is actually also Titan, Pallas, so that's neat, it also means I'm technically way more related to the titans than I am the gods, since from Styx's side, my great Grandfather is Erebus, and Great Grandmother is Nyx... just... ignore they're siblings and it's all good.

My point is, I'm more related to titans and primordial beings than I am actual gods when you look at my bloodline, which is fun, but that's all really besides the point.

"Why do you ask?" I just shrugged. Time to drop some bombs and to either piss her off or endear my intelligence to her, that her and her siblings don't think I have.

"Context clues, you don't really hang around anyone who isn't your sibling, you're not cold, but you also don't go out of your way to be here and help injured people, you haven't even asked me what's wrong with my arm. Means you think he's special, with what he did outside without a weapon means he is, so kid of the big three, and from what I've heard, you're waiting on someone special, probably for whatever is going to happen during the Summer solstice" She looked shocked.

"H-how did you...? Who told you that?" I just hummed, shrugging a bit, before wincing as I pouted at my arm for hurting when I was trying to look cool, before saying.

"I'm a son of Nike, you need a lot of things to win, brains is one of the necessary ones, but not something I feel the need to flex all the time. People are kind of more open to gossip when all they think they'll get in return is some weird action or sentence back from the weird trans kid who keeps almost getting himself killed" Annabeth took a short breath before looking away, a look filtering across her face, before turning back, looking determined.

"Alright, so what of it? Why are you asking?" I just shrugged, looking about for a moment before saying.

"No real reason, just making conversation. Just figure it would be nice to be kept in the loops, somethings happening, I'm sure you've noticed it as well, I don't know what it is yet, and it's annoying me, so I figure it would be nice to have someone who's in the know to help me on out" She took a breath before saying.

"No promises" Her expression was hard, I just smiled, she really was that smart huh? Incredible.

"You don't trust me"

"No, not really"

"Any reason why?"

"Just a hunch" I kept smiling, before turning away. This didn't go how I planned, but then again I had tried to trick a child of the Goddess of Wisdom, it really was to bad for her I still had a back up plan, this was all mostly just for me to be told knowledge that I shouldn't have access to.

"Good, I recommend you listen to those hunches in the future"

"What does that mean?" I just sighed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering just what to go about to say here. It had to sound cryptic enough...

"I'm a kid of victory, I can tell whose going to be the winning side. I also happen to know I like my side the most. Call it selfish, but I care about my own things a bit more than I care about any other issue if it doesn't relate to me. Listen, I'm going to head out, I need to keep training and Michael refuses to let me get a nap in when I'm here, something about concussions or whatever. Just figured I'd make conversation" As I slowly pulled myself out of the bed, and moved to the door, Annabeth spoke up once more.

"You got hurt on purpose didn't you? So you'd have an excuse to be in here again, because you knew I'd show up" I let out a huff of laughter as the tension in her voice. It was funny she thought that I was the threat here. Then again, I really didn't make it easy for it, I wouldn't be making it easy on a lot of people to want to be on my side soon. Plan E wasn't exactly my favorite, but... Eh, we'll have to see how it goes.

"You really are clever aren't you? I'm not some enemy if that's what you're worried about... I'm just a weird guy looking for something" She tensed at that.

"And what is that?" I spun around and with a smile said just a bit to loudly.

"I'm looking to get a dick" The look on her face was hilarious as I spun back around and walked out.

I hadn't lied when I said I had things to, things to train. Just I couldn't get my arm fixed until tonight when I go to sleep, so instead I think it's about time I figure out this whole magic thing in it's entirety. I already have a solid theory on the matter, but figuring it out for certain is the next step into learning just what powers I'll have access to and what is limited to me.

After all, I didn't just give that history lesson earlier about my family tree just because, no, that was information I've figured out over my time here at camp from asking some questions on occasion, under the guise of being some what interested in the matter. No, I wanted to know who was in my bloodline, and for a good reason.

Now it's time to confirm my theory.

It really fucking sucks that I had to read books of all things to learn it, which was, like, gross as hell.

Oh, right, and before I forget, it wouldn't be all that useful, doing all this studying, if I can't figure out what I'm reading after all, and this has been a long time coming, so...

[Notice: You have used twenty points on Intelligence]

[Notice: You have used fifteen points on Wisdom]

...Time to get to work.

Ugh! Books are so boring!

Magic theory sounded interesting, but it was actually just... not. Mostly because I was teaching myself Ancient Greek at the same time and sometimes one to one translations just failed me. Still the rest of the day, and the next, flung on by without my notice, my stubbornness just barely winning against my hate of squiggly lines on paper.

In the end, I did manage to learn a fair bit while lying about having woman issues to get out of training and chores, Luke was a bit suspicious, but shut up real quick when I started to loudly describe to him what I was going through in the middle of lunch when he pressed the subject. It was cute just how red he got, made me almost feel bad for planning on killing him later.

Anyways, back to the point, the main thing I've figured out, from having to deal with a basis recount of Greek magic, from the looks of things, our magic is divine in nature, obviously, it's divine blood that my mana is made out of. Anyways, it's divine Greek blood, meaning I can only really use Greek magic, and that does give options if you have the power to make use of the mana you have.

Mist control is the biggest and most obvious one, the ability to make mortals see what you want them to by manipulating the mist around them, even to the point of interacting with them, which is what is going to happen in a few years in New York, when the entire city goes to sleep, that's the Mist imposing it's will on the mundane. It doesn't have nearly as strong an effect on demigods or any mythical creature, but for mortals, being able to shape and control the Mist, is basically the same has having the powers of a god.

You can make them see things that aren't there, not see things that are there, make them do things that they don't want to do, and even make them think things they shouldn't. It's insane, and kind of awesome, and kind of terrifying that any one Demigod can have that much power over a normal human being. Sure, to do basically all of that, outside of hiding something, is incredibly more difficult and requires a much more fine hand in control to manage, but theoretically any demigod that's Greek or Roman can do it with enough training.

Most just don't bother, from what I can tell, it's just to much effort or they want to focus on other things, which I just didn't understand, so maybe it's just not something that's commonly trained cause the Mist already does the bare basics to keep mortals from seeing the mythical without any interference so there isn't really a reason to bother having kids be taught it.

Which is fine, honestly, I understood it to a degree, there just wasn't any real need for it with just how much control was required to do anything past what the Mist already did on a daily basis... But on the other side of things, it also meant that it was the perfect way to train my Control stat, since the Mist is an incredibly fine art to perfect, it seems like a perfect skill to be able to grind a stat out.

Next, and more importantly, things outside of the Mist, sure having control over the Mist is the main power that any Greek demigod can use, and it can honestly do just about anything if you try hard enough, but that's with years of time and practice, and only Hecate's, the goddess of magic, kids seem to ever get far enough to be able to use the Mist to also effect other demigods as well as mortals.

So now we come to Dominion Magics, or just Domain powers, whatever is more fancy for you. Basically, every god has a domain right? They have control over it, and as such when they have kids, the kids can have access to a small portion of that domain's abilities, though it's usually limited. For Apollo kids, they can heal through song, have near supernatural aim with a bow, and can curse people into rhythms, you know, things that involve their parent, Apollo's domain.

Domain magic is a certain magic that only kids of certain gods can use, it's why Percy has the powers of Poseidon, but he isn't ever going to be lighting himself on fire like Leo can, and vice versa. And it's not always exact, it's not set that you'll get anything at all from the looks of things, Ares kids have practically no magic to speak of, but they have incredibly powerful bodies that more than make up for it, easily being the strongest campers here.

And sometimes, a kid just don't get a power at all, it'll just skip them over, I think it's a pick and chose kind of thing, a God or Goddess can chose just how much access their kid has, I've found corresponding texts in some of the books I've skimmed through over the last two days as well, which just proves my point true.

So... if that's the case, it means a person's powers are solely bound by their blood based on what their parent wants them to be able to do... So then what about legacy powers? I mean, isn't it the same case? Zeus's blood is in Apollo, who's blood is in Michael, for example, so technically he could have access to Zeus's powers.

Would that ever happen?

Of course not, Zeus barely allows his own children any power over his domain, he certainly wouldn't bother for one of his grandkids... but theoretically he could still could do so if he wished, and if he did, then I honestly haven't found any evidence that would imply if such a thing happened, there is no reason why Michael wouldn't be shooting lightning out of his ass.

It just all depends on what the people, who make up your, divine blood want you to have.

Nike, my mother, didn't give me any magical spells in the traditional sense, but I do have her blessing, as a Status Effect, which is magical and I also have very small power over her domain of Victory, it's why I can learn a skill like Trade Off in the first place, it's something unique to my blood. If I tried to tell someone how to use it, they just wouldn't be able to, it's just an innate ability of mine that I unlocked, like how Percy unlocked Earthquakes later when he needed it.

So, with all this lovely exposition out of the way, just what does this mean for me? Well, in summary, I currently have only a small bit of access to my mom's domain, which grant me the magical boosts that come from the Son of Nike Perk and the Victory's Blessing Status Effect. And it allows me to learn skills like Trade Off, and... that's about it, the only things I could think about that my Mom could grant me have already been given to me.

Unless she can literally give me wings somehow, I think I've already tapped out my Mom's domain for the most part, sure, Strength and Speed are on that list as well, but Son of Nike already gives me stuff for that, and while there is probably a skill I can learn to power my body up to be faster and stronger through magic, I honestly probably don't have enough mana right now for that to be viable.

Still going to try and figure it out, but that point stands.

So now, the new question becomes, if I already have basically as much as I can get over the limited magic powers I can get from my Mom, and Mist control doesn't have the strongest effect on Demigods without extreme talent and power, then the real question becomes, how do I cheat the system and get more power anyways?

Easy enough, get the powers from the people further up my blood line... And literally all of them are titans. Nike and her siblings are literally the only gods that I'm related to, everyone is is either just a titan, a titan goddess, which sounds redundant but whatever, or a primordial deity! It is wild how annoyingly unlucky it is that literally my entire damn family is basically the enemy or just doesn't give a shit about the Titans rising.

So... figuring out a way to trick them into giving me more domains is basically impossible for the long run. I'm sure I could trick one or two, but then I'd probably get cursed or something and then the domains would just be stripped away from me without me being able to do anything, meaning in the end all I did was piss some people off... So... That's great isn't it? Makes my life so, so very... fun.

But enough of my bitching, time to talk about the things I can do to get stronger.

First up, Styx, she's a lot more than a river, she's the Goddess Titan, still don't really understand that since all titans are just older gods, so you really can't have both titles, and her parents aren't even titans, so I don't know why... Anyways! Styx, she's the Goddess of Oaths, of the most famous river in Greek Mythology, and of hatred. She's not some weak goddess, she's considered the strongest of her parents children.

And she's also the only known deity on my list that is known to have helped demigods, sure, maybe not directly, but if Styx never allowed it, then the Curse of Achilles would mean something very different, she herself is the one that bestows the power to the demigods, not the river... At least I think so, considering she kind of is the river.

So yeah, Styx is currently my best bet to get more powers, and I happen to have a few ideas on just how to convince her to help me on out.

Sure, some of the others would be cool, Crius, the father of Pallus, literally helped create the stars, Nyx and Erebus are both near primordial beings made of pure darkness, and Eurybia is kind of low key just a knock off Poseidon, but I can't really hope to convince many if any of them to help me on out, so I'm taking what I can get.

Kronos is stronger than basically everyone I listed, and if I want to be one of the main reasons he's defeated, or any of the titans are defeated, then I need to get Percy Jackson levels of plot armor and have just as many bullshit powers to make sure my chance isn't ripped from me. Still, now there is more to consider than just how strong I'll be able to get, I also have a time limit set on how much time I have before everything goes to shit, as well as somethings I just can't change right now.

As it stands, I have to believe that the prophecy is immutable, Percy Jackson is going to be the one who helps decide the fate of the world, end of story, and it's going to happen right when he turns sixteen, that gives me a little less than three years to get as strong as possible, since Percy is currently twelve and will be turning thirteen this Summer, and I honestly am not sure why I know that.

Anyways, my point is, I need cannon to keep on it's track, somewhat, I don't really care about the in between, as long as Percy continues to stay the kid of the prophecy, then everything should be good. Bianca will be handled by the hunter's of Artemis, though I do want to see if I can keep her alive, Thalia should hopefully join the same boat, since Artemis's lead commander, Zoe is still set to die, since that itself, was in a prophecy, and such fate, one I don't see any reason to interfere with. So Thalia should be asked to join.

Baring that in mind, then that should lead to Percy being the mythical chosen one.

I'm cool with that, and this plan should work well all things considered, and since my first place was to ruin literally everything and probably piss the fates off so bad that the world would shake, this is probably a better long term solution. Besides, I need cannon to be somewhat on track, because if I did follow through with that plan anyways, then all that would have happened is Gaia would wake up way to early, and the Seven wouldn't be at all prepared in the slightest to deal with that, meaning I'd have to do it, and frankly that sounds like a lot of extra work I don't want to sign up for to be honest.

Beyond all of that, I bet I'm going to need all three years I've been given to get strong enough to face any titan, seeing how it's standing right now, I'm kind of a lot weaker than I thought I would be. Coming here to camp showed me that, the strength ceiling here is beyond what I can accomplish in just a few short months.

At least, if I use just the Greek side of things, but I happen to know many, many, other pantheon's out there, just waiting to be exploited. All I need to do is find them, and get what I need... After I find out what I need... And how to find them... and if I can even use anything they have... and a few other things

Look, I'm not prefect ok? I've been really busy in the last month, the only month I've been alive, I might add, so all things considered, with what I've managed, I think I'm doing pretty well!

My thoughts were knocked off kilter, as a cough came from above me, as I glanced up at the sight of Chiron, he's mostly just moved round when when I mentioned I was just looking for books, but it seemed he was interested in something now.

"Uh... Yes?" I tilted my head to the side in mock interest, as he spoke.

"Yes, sorry to disturb you, but Ms. Beauregard seems to be quite interested in finding you, she's already charmed some other Half-bloods into looking, and while I normally try to stay away from such matters, I'd rather not have any blood get on the carpets when she finds you" I blinked, before humming a bit, trying to figure out just what she was angry about this time... Ah, she probably found out about the 'leaving the infirmary with a broken arm' thing,.

I hadn't actually told her that... or told her anything, I haven't actually seen her in a few days, which was kind of rare, since she's probably my favorite person at camp, and she had this weird habit of being worried for me when I do things that are perfectly safe... Probably, perfectly safe.

"Yeah alright, I've basically figured out everything I wanted" He seemed interested.

"And what would that mean?" I just smiled.

"Eh, nothing for right now, but I do have a plan in mind for some things in the future" He seemed interested, but didn't say anything else as I headed out. I might be a bit strange at times, but I have never been stupid, I couldn't joke openly with Chiron like I could with others, he was in a position to be able to stop me. So no reason to risk anything right now.

Before long, I had found Silena who instantly walked over to me with an annoyed look on her face.

"You're giving us a bad name, you're clearly fine" I just shrugged.

"I needed to do some stuff without being annoyed by things like rules and chores and other boring things" She just sighed, rubbing her forehead for a long moment before asking.

"And what did you need to do?"

"Find a way to the underworld" Technically not a lie, Silena just stared at me for a long, long, moment with a look on her face like she was questioning everything, before finally, she just asked.

"Why?"

"I need to meet some family" She looked up to the sky, like she was praying Zeus for strength, before saying.

"You're stupid, you can barely handle going out in the woods without getting hurt, if you try to go to the freaking underworld I'm going to have you strapped down to a chair and have my siblings use your face as a makeup doll" I winced at that.

"Ah come on! That's just unnecessary!"

"I think it's completely necessary, because knowing you, you'd actually try to do it"

"I mean, that's not the point?"

"It is exactly the point!" I just pouted, she was getting to used to me, it was getting harder and harder to one up her in a conversation, so I just sighed and said.

"Fine" She seemed pretty smug about it, I just continued to pout. This having friends thing wasn't always as cool as it was cracked up to be.