30 A Potential Ally For A Spear Boy

(Cao Cao POV)

As I meditated on one of my islands, I focused on my Authority, or should I say Authorities as when I killed Ares, I also got the Authority from both Ares and Mars, with the Greek version giving me essentially a copy of the Noble Phantasm Thermopylae Enomotia, which is the ability to summon an army of 300 Spartans to fight for me.

The Mars Authority has two parts, with one being a passive Authority that increases my ability to lead the people and armies to a greater degree. The second is the ability to absorb a large portion of the damage I took and turn it into power for me to use or the noble phantasm of Spartacus or his Crying Warmonger ability.

It had been two days since I had woken up, and I had been relaxing as my body was in turmoil with all the changes and exertion, so after a year of training, I decided to take a break. But made my own mistake. 

I am still technically training as I'm using my shadow clones to do the training for me, at least for now, as I have a group of clones training in my martial arts and spear Arts and others in magic.

Scathach, after I placed the binder mark on her, which took the form of Brotherhood from Assassins Creed, had been training herself as without the curses placed on her, she could begin to improve power-wise and not just skill-wise. 

Essentially similar to what Excalibur/Avalon did to Artoria to keep her body less developed, the Land of Shadows made it so that Scathach could not grow in power as it absorbed any of her gains.

I was genuinely surprised when I told her I was taking a break for a few days, but instead of reprimanding me, she simply said, "Every Warrior requires rest if not for the body, then the mind and the spirit. As long as you do not become lazy, you may take a break, but do know if you take too long, I will know." The last part, she said while brandishing Gae Bulg in a menacing manner.

Right now, if she is on another one of the islands I created, and I actually have to thank the gods because due to the auto-repairing nature of the Land of Shadows below us, I can straight up rip off pieces of land, and it will repair itself within a day so I have infinite space to grow above it. 

So for now, I sit and focus my magic, which had grown considerably after becoming a Campione, and speaking of which, I sensed a connection with Archmage that led to the land where Pandora was so I could use it to go back there eventually once I learn some space/time magics. 

To do so, I could buy it, but I would be better served finding Georg and studying his dimension lost sacred gear.

Or Madame Aisha may show up thanks to her ability to hop dimensions but who knows? Either way, if she shows up, I will deal with her myself. Even though her kindness is infinite, she represents the extreme of kindness to the point where people actively avoid her because of her nature.

It also doesn't help that due to her ability to hop through time and dimensions, she may cause irreparable damage to the timeline, so she is a threat that I may have to deal with in the future. But for now, I need to learn to control my Authorities and their output.

Due to the nature of how a Campione operates, any God could sense my aura when I enter their territory due to the existence of my Authorities within myself. It's how humans track campiones and how campiones can track heretic gods. But thanks to Archmage and Blank, the process is very rapid as my once fiery golden aura reigned itself in.

I had always been checking my aura thanks to the all-seeing eyes of god, and before, it was like a bubble of pure gold, but now it seems like a raging fire, which I attribute to an influence from Ares's Authorities being more violent in nature. I had tried to talk to Cato and Celestine, but they had been silent for days now.

I assume it is due to the shock on my soul due to becoming a campione that knocked them out, and while I am slightly worried, I knew that they were okay and they just needed time to adjust to my new state of being.

Authorities are an interesting power as they are mine but seem to be connected to some force I am trying to identify as it was not divinity but something else, but after some study, I recognized why it was familiar. 

These authorities are powered by divinity and mystery, as since Authorities are connected to a god's story and existence, the mystery behind their story powers their abilities.

"So that is what I am missing. A history to enforce on my creations." I think to myself before using memory partition to send my thoughts to a few of the shadow clones on the magic research island. 

Standing up, I prepare to leave this place to see if a question of mine can be answered.

(Luke Castellan POV)

The world was going insane as storms raged across the state. Zeus was left angry at the loss of his son, and the voice in his head kept laughing in triumph after the news of Ares's death at the hands of the spear user was revealed. Yet when I went to the Ares cabin, few were seemingly grieving for their loss.

When I asked Clarisse why no one seemed too bothered, she said, "When he died, we felt his last emotions and his passing. He was at peace and died in an honorable battle against a worthy foe. We shall not dishonor him by crying and wanting revenge. Nothing is more glorious than dying to a truly superior foe as it is just the way of things."

She then slammed the door on me, and I was left more lost than when I asked the question. Maybe it was the difference in parentage. As if Hermes died, I don't know what I would feel unless he died trying to peak on goddesses. 

Then, I would simply walk away. Hermes does sometimes show up to the camp, but only very rarely, and almost every time, he has been kicked out for trying to peek at the water nymphs.

But as I walked to the training field to continue my sword training, I heard the voice again as I stumbled into a tree.

(This is the perfect opportunity, great-grandson. A mortal was able to kill gods! You must find him and convince him to join you against the worthless Olympians.) The voice then allowed me to speak.

"And how would I do that? He could be anywhere in the world by now?!" the voice then remained silent at my question as he seemed about as clueless as I was. But before I could continue my walk, the world seemed to crack and fracture as I found myself in another place. 

I hefted my sword and looked around, but then, as I found nothing, something appeared behind me.

I slashed behind me, but the being caught my sword between his fingers as he studied me. My eyes widened as I recognized who this was. I let go of the sword and fell to the ground. The being who looked about as old as I was (Luke is 18, as it is a year before the lightning thief.)

The God Slayer then grabbed the sword and swung it around a couple of times. He then looked at the blade and grazed the sword with his fingers as if studying the celestial bronze. But after nodding to himself, he threw the sword in front of me as he said, "Pick it up."

I was stunned as he said again, "Pick it up." I then grasped the hilt and stood back up as he remained on a throne of what seemed like pure white energy, to which I was able to ask.

"Who are you?" My question came out much more shakily than I liked, but he simply summoned a chair and gestured to it. Knowing how beings like him abide by power and respect, I sat down.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked as I nodded, to which he said in response, "That's good. It would be best if you always recognized when an opponent is stronger than you. It's what happened to me before, well, at least before I became what I am now. But that is not why I am here. I am here to answer a question I had, and I have found my answer."

"How did you get into the camp? It should be shielded against anyone that is not of divine blood." He then smirked as he simply snapped his fingers, and thousands of blades were summoned and pointed right at me.

"When I killed Ares, I took not only his life but his Authority. By all means, I am but a god of war in mortal flesh, so your barrier does not even register me as an enemy, not that I would be bothered if it did. But I am here for you, Luke, not to harm you but to simply relieve you of the burden you are carrying." 

My confusion only grew as the voice became scared. It tried to retreat into my mind, but the God Slayer was already in front of me and placed his hands on my temples.

"This boy is not yours, relic. Leave this body now!" He yelled as I felt the voice scream in pain. As the pressure on my mind lessened, I fell to the ground, breathing heavily. The man then placed a hand on my back, and I felt a soothing energy enter my being and begin to heal. As he placed me on the chair, he asked, "Do you still feel him in your mind?"

I shook my head, smiling that the pain was gone as he continued, "Kronos would have stoked your worst fears and all of your worst emotions to become something you were never meant to be. I assume he gave you such visions as well as words?"

I nodded as I explained, "For the past weeks, all I had dreamed of was to camp on fire and you were destroying everything. His voice felt like scratches on the surface of my mind like I was going to be drowned in an endless ocean. Thank you for that."

He nodded and sat back on his throne. "He is not dead, at least not yet, as the presence in your mind was only a portion of his strength. The rest of him still lies locked away in Tartarus with the other Titans other than Prometheus and Atlas. But for now, I must ask another question. What do you desire, Luke Castellan?"

The question was filled with power as I responded, "I want my mother cured of the damage done to her by trying to harbor the Spirit of the Oracle and to see my cabinmates happy. I want my father to show me he cares." I then looked down in shame as my desires were laid bare.

But instead of judging me, he placed a hand on my shoulder again and said, "There is nothing wrong in having desires, Luke, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel the love of your parents or at least have their approval, so I will give you an offer. I will not ask you to join me but to convince your fellow demigods not to fight me when the inevitable happens."

"Inevitable? You are going to kill more of them, aren't you?" I asked, to which he nodded solemnly and summoned a spear that almost brought me to my knees with its mere presence.

He then said, "The coming battles would never have happened if your "parents" or at least Zeus decided to leave me alone, but I will not cower nor hide in fear as I have the right to live and be free just as anyone else does. So yes, I may have to kill another god and another."

"But won't that just make things worse? The gods are innately connected to the fire of civilization, and their deaths may cause irreparable damage." My answer made him chuckle as he stared off into the infinite glass.

"After Ares died, did you notice anything? No, you did not, as I took his place, and there are other gods that hold the same domains. If they were the only gods in existence, then yes, there may have been some issues, but there is much more out there than you know. Devils, Fallen Angels, Monsters, Gods, Vikings, Onmyōji, and more exist in this world, and you have only seen a small part of it, my friend."

He then summoned a holographic globe using the same energy he used to heal me, and it showed all the various beings that existed, and it made me feel so much smaller. And as I looked at him, I asked, "Why me? Out of all the demigods and mortals and beings, why me?"

"Because I can. And because I see potential in you, Luke, and besides, you can refuse this, and I will leave. I will not harm innocent children; I am not bad of of a monster." The fact that he admits he is one is unnerving, but I sat down and said.

"A week, give me a week, and I will decide. And I hope you won't have to kill any more of my family." He then shook his head and said.

"Regardless of your choice, Luke, I am still willing to help you with your mother. Just let me know using this." He then gave me a necklace with a strange symbol on it that looked like a triangle with a smooth half-circle bottom.

"If you are wondering what the symbol is, it is one of Brotherhood. I can't be everywhere at once, and I would hope to find allies and maybe even friends, but it's your choice. After a week, that necklace will disappear, and we will have another conversation. I hope you are able to give your answer with a clear mind now."

I deadpanned at the joke as he simply shrugged, and he disappeared as I stood near the treeline outside the training area. I began to walk towards it as I needed to hit something.