1 Adam

I looked around with bored eyes. I was currently sitting on a bench outside of the Colosseum in Italy. The Dursleys had ended up winning a trip to Italy as part of Vernon's job, and they were forced to bring me along. Unfortunately, they refused to let me actually go into any of the landmarks or generally do anything fun, as they were worried my 'freakishness' would do something like the Zoo a few years back.

'At this point, I was better off staying home.'

As I continued to sit on the bench, I felt like someone was watching me. Glancing around, I looked through the crowds, but I didn't notice anyone as my vision returned to where I was originally looking, I found a man standing directly in front of my face.

"Ah," I said in surprise as I jumped back.

"I seem to have scared you," the man said, although he did not sound all that apologetic about it. Taking a look at the man in front of me, I realized that he didn't actually look all the old. He had blonde hair that framed his face and blue eyes, but the thing that stuck out the most was what he was wearing.

"What are you doing, put some clothes on," I said, covering my eyes with my hands. The man was clad only in a leaf that served to cover his private parts.

"I am fine," was the only response I got.

'How is nobody noticing this?' I wondered as I looked around, seeing that nobody was even paying attention to the oddly dressed man.

"What do you want?" I asked, turning my attention back to him.

"It is interesting how far my children have gone. I never thought that one could split their soul such as this," the man said, seeming to disappear from view and appeared directly in front of me as he reached a finger out, touching my forehead where my scar was. My scar began to burn as his finger touched it.

Smacking his hand away, I pulled out my wand, pointing it at the strange man cautiously.

'He moved way too fast to be human. Is he a type of werewolf or something?'

"I would put that away. What I am doing is for the best, child."

"Yeah well the pain doesn't exactly instill confidence," I said.

'My scar usually only reacts like that around Voldemort. Who is this guy?'

"Very well then, I will have to use force. This is for the good of all my children," the man said and he appeared in front of me again, using one hand to latch onto my arm as he moved his other hand to my scar. The searing pain returned as I cried out in pain. Trying to clear my mind for a spell, I couldn't focus enough for the words to form.

The pain continued as my own cries of pain were overlayed by the cries of pain of another being. I wasn't in any condition to think about the voice that seemed to overlay with my own, but I could feel my magic spiraling out of control.

Without any way to focus, I lashed out with a bolt of random magic, but it impacted the man and disappeared harmlessly. Bolts of magic continued to come from my body, but they continued to be ineffective. I grew more and more desperate as it felt like my mind was splitting in half, and I began to draw on whatever energy I could find in my body. I could feel my core twist as I pulled on some kind of force, and as I did I pulled as much as I possibly could. A bolt erupted from my chest that tore its way straight through the man's chest and left a gaping hole.

I felt his grip on me loosen as I fell to the ground, but I couldn't do anything as my body and mind gave out, with the only sight before me being the man collapsing with a smile on his face.

--------------------------------------------------------------I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away the haze from them. Looking across from me, I saw a teenage girl with violet hair and blue eyes sitting across from me.

"How do you feel? All of your injuries should be healed now" the girl said.

Confused, I responded "I feel fine. Who are you? Where am I?"

The girl's face lit up with a smile. "That's good, I'm glad my newest child is alright. I'm Pandora, the mother of all Campione."

"What do you mean your newest child? And what's a Campione?" I asked, still extremely confused with what was going on.

"Well all Campione are my adopted children, so you're my son. As for what a Campione is, well in the simplest terms they're god slayers. People who have killed Heretic Gods."

"Gods are real? I haven't even met a god before much less killed one, how could I be a Campione?" I asked.

"You did meet a heretic god. That man who attacked you, he was one. He represented humanity as a whole, its progenitor, Adam. He was attempting to remove the soul that had latched onto your own, and you killed him by drawing on your very lifeforce to defend yourself," Pandora said.

I closed my eyes, remembering what had happened. 'So that's what that extra energy was. I pulled on my lifeforce to attack him. So was he only trying to help me?'

"He was not attempting to help you, but instead all of humanity. It is a problem that he tends to deal with. He is one of the more benevolent Heretic Gods, but his own nature has twisted by becoming a Heretic God as he tries to protect as many of his children at the expense of the few. You would have died had he finished removing the soul from your own."

'Then I don't feel bad about killing him. I'm a little tired of being used for the good of many about now.'

"What does being a Campione mean exactly?" I asked.

"Campione are regarded as kings. You're very being will be enhanced and you will receive some of the authorities of the god you have defeated. It will make more sense once I officially christen you a Campione. Come here, child." Pandora said, gesturing for me to come towards her.

Hesitantly, I stood up and walked towards her slowly. When I made it in front of her, I crouched down slightly to get at eye level with her and Pandora leaned forward, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"From now on you are my seventh child, the youngest Campione."

I felt a surge of energy in my body. I could feel myself getting more powerful and my magic reserves were increased hundreds of times over. Along with the changes came a surge of knowledge, but before I could understand it I felt light-headed and fell back into Pandora's waiting arms.

"Take care my child" were the last words I heard before my vision faded to black.

--------------------------------------------------------------Opening my eyes, I found myself laying on the ground where I had fallen after the fight with Adam. Slowly standing up, I patted my body all over as I realized that I was uninjured. In fact, I felt better than I ever had before. It looked like somehow muscle had developed on my body, with my stomach, chest, and arms becoming more defined. My vision felt a little blurry as I reached up and removed my glasses, finding that I could see perfectly fine now.

'Seems like being a Campione has its perks.'

Along with the changes to my body, I got knowledge of the Authorities I had taken from Adam.

[Eyes of the Lord: As a man designed in the image of a god, Adam was gifted with the ability to perfectly replicate any move and technique used by beings he saw, regardless of its speed or power.]

[Humaity's Resilience: An authority that represents the ability of mankind to adapt and evolve to any adversity. Enhances the user's strength and speed. If the user survives an injury, something of that manner will not work again. If they fail to lift something, after a period of time, that will become their new maximum. Time taken to adapt depends on the difficulty of the adaption.]

'Interesting, so I can copy other people's techniques. So if I watched martial artists, I would learn their skills. That's amazing! And my body adapts. I guess I need to start going to the gym.'

Walking back over to the bench, I could see that no one had noticed anything that had happened with Adam. I figured it was some kind of power of his or Heretic Gods as a whole that kept them hidden since I had never heard of them before.

I continued to wait for the Dursleys to come back out, but as I sat I noticed that I was getting a few passing looks by people who passed by. They were odd looks like they were a little captivated with me for some reason before they continued on.

'What is so interesting?'

Standing up again, I walked over to a nearby glass window and looked in it, and I was surprised by what I found. It was odd like my appearance had changed in a minor way that made me look better as a whole. Any imperfection in my appearance seemed to have disappeared. Small blemishes on my skin were gone, and my nose seemed to better fit on my face. Alongside all of that, the part I was most happy about was the fact that my scar was gone.

Sitting back down, I was smiling now at the realization that I wouldn't be stared at constantly because of the scar Voldemort had left me.

When the Dursleys walked out of the Coliseum, Vernon took one look at me and came marching over like a raging bull.

"Boy, what freakishness did you do to yourself. We'll deal with this when we get back to the hotel, now get in the taxi," he said, his face turning somewhat red as he grabbed my shoulder and tried to shove me, but he wasn't capable of moving me. Shrugging his hand off of my shoulder, I entered the taxi as the Dursleys followed soon after.

The moment we got back to the hotel, Vernon tried to grab my arm again, but it seemed like he was moving in slow motion as I moved out of the way.

Vernon's face looked angry, but he seemed to realize something had changed and he couldn't grab me, so he instead said "Boy you will change back this freakishness you've done to yourself at once."

"Even if I could, I think I'll pass Vernon. I..." I began, but before I could finish there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Who the hell could that be?" Vernon asked.

Petunia walked towards the door and opened it to find two people standing outside. The Dursleys and I all looked in surprise at the pair, their appearances showing distinct signs of wealth and status.

One, the taller of the two, was a well-dressed man in a suit with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Standing next to him and much shorter was a teenage girl who seemed to be around 15, who seemed to be related to him, as she had similar features, having long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Hello, we are looking for Harry Potter," the man said.

"He's not here," Vernon said and moved to close the door, but the man reached out and gripped the door frame, a stoic look on his face.

"I am certain that he is here, we wish to speak with him."

Vernon tried to push the door closed, but the door wouldn't budge in the man's hand. Vernon's face twisted up.

"You're one of those freaks, aren't you. I'll not have your kind where I live..." Vernon began, but I moved past him and in front of the two.

"I'm Harry Potter, what is it that you want?" I asked cautiously, still a little on edge from the encounter with Adam.

"We've come to greet the newest Campione, I am Paolo Blandelli, this is my niece Erica. We are from the Copper-Black Cross," Paolo said with a bow.

"A pleasure to meet you," Erica said similarly with a bow.

"Uh, nice to meet you too," I said awkwardly, a little confused about why they were being so respectful, but remembering that Campione is apparently 'kings' whatever that means.

"How did you know what I was, or where I was for that matter?" I asked, my awkwardness moving aside to caution as I realized that they had found out something way too quickly.

"We have methods to monitor Heretic God appearances to try to minimize as many casualties as possible. Our methods detected the influx of energy we've come to associate with the creation of a new Campione, and it wasn't hard to center that to you," Paolo explained.

'That makes some sense, but they'd have to have a lot of connections to track me down this quickly.'

"What exactly is the Copper-Black Cross?" I asked.

"You mean you don't know who we are? Usually, a Campione has some kind of interaction with the supernatural before they encounter a Heretic God," Erica said in surprise.

I saw Paolo's eyes notice my wand sticking out of my pocket and his face took on a look somewhere between understanding and resolution.

"That would explain it. You're a wizard, aren't you Harry?" Paolo asked.

"Wow, this is the first time one of the wand wavers has become a Campione," Erica said, some annoyance bleeding into her tone at the words 'wand wavers.'

"Mind your manners, Erica. Yes, as far as we are aware one has never become a Campione."

"What does being a wizard have to do with anything?" I asked, annoyed with how little I seemed to know.

"It seems we will need to get you caught up on the rest of the supernatural. With how isolationist wizards are, they tend to not know much outside of themselves. Would you like to come with us? We will do our best to explain what you need to know as a Campione," Paolo asked.

Looking at the Dursleys who seemed to have been listening mutely, somewhat cowed by the general presence of Paolo, I turned back to the pair and nodded.

'I need to figure out what all comes along with being a Campione. I'm tired of everyone seeming to know more than me.'

"Very well, follow me," Paolo said, turning and walking out of the room as Erica followed behind him. I took a step to follow when Vernon said, "Boy if you leave don't come back. I don't know what you're kind of have gotten wrapped up in now, but we'll have no part of it."

Looking at Dudley, he seemed to just be unsure of what was going on, but Petunia looked worried.

"Fine, I'll find my own way back to England," I said and walked out of the door. I wasn't sure how far Campione's status carried, but I was really hoping that it had enough weight to get me a flight home.

Paolo and Erica led me to an expensive limo. He opened the door, allowing me to slide in with Erica coming in after me and Paolo entering last. The limo began to move right away, so I figured that Paolo had told the driver to go.

"To begin, do you understand what kind of position Campione has in the world?" Paolo asked.

I shook my head and he nodded as if he expected it.

"Well first, I should inform you that wizards are not the only supernatural society in the world. There are several different groups throughout the world, from Mage Associations to devils and angels. The Copper-Black Cross is one such Mage Association devoted to preventing the supernatural from becoming public knowledge."

"Wait, back up. Devils and angels are real?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and the devils also have a tendency to reincarnate humans as their slaves," Erica said, but she maintained a sophisticated posture and expression despite the anger in her tone.

"You do not have to worry about being reincarnated, Campione is much too strong for a devil to make their slave, and your magic resistance prevents it anyway," Paolo said.

'Well good to know I don't have to worry about becoming someone's house-elf.'

"Which brings me back to Campione's role in the world. You are the humans who've succeeded in killing a Heretic God and stolen their Authorities. You defy the natural order of things, and as such, you are viewed as untouchable kings. Anyone aware of your status will listen to your words because it's known that no human being can challenge a god slayer," Paolo continued.

My eyes widened in surprise. It was one thing to be told I had become a king, it was another to hear just how much authority that entailed.

"Well I guess I don't have to worry about getting a flight back to England," I said with an abashed face, rubbing the back of my head.

"That can be easily arranged. As for any other information you may need, we can provide a packet on the more obscure parts for you to read at your leisure. When do you need to return to England?" Paolo asked.

"I need to get back in a week for the Quidditch World Cup," I answered.

"I'll arrange a flight for you then. Would you like to stay with us until you leave? You can get acclimated to the environment of Mage Associations as well since you'll end up interacting with them in some way."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

It was at this point that the limo came to a stop.

"Erica please show him to the guest room. I need to update everyone on the newest Campione," Paolo said as Erica got out of the car and I followed her out. The door closed and the limo pulled off as I turned to Erica. Looking in front of me, I found a large mansion waiting for us. I stood still, a little awed at how rich this place seemed, before Erica's voice cut through my distraction.

"Follow me," she said shortly and began walking.

As we walked I noticed Erica looking at me out of the corner of her eyes.

"What?" I asked, seeing she clearly wanted to say something.

"You aren't used to authority, are you," she said, but it wasn't framed as a question.

Rubbing the back of my head sheepishly, I nodded my head.

"Was it that obvious?"

"You looked surprised at the thought of having any kind of authority as a Campione. You'll have to get over that, a Campione needs to be absolute."

"It's just a lot to get used to all at once," I said, a little frustrated with the expectation that I would be able to just instantly get used to being some kind of king.

"Campione aren't normal people. You don't conform to our standards or expectations. The sooner you understand that the better Campione you will be," Erica said succinctly.

"I get that, it'll just take some getting used to."

Erica paused and held her finger up to her ear, listening to something before nodding her head and saying she'd be right there.

"My uncle called, it seems that a Heretic God has appeared. We'd like to ask for your help on the matter to limit the number of casualties."

'I guess I can't have one normal day can I?'

"Okay, I'll help. How are we getting there?" I asked.

Instead of answering, Erica formed a magic circle at our feet that slowly lifted over us and we disappeared from the mansion.