6 The Crossroads Of A Spear Boy

(Artemis POV)

Witnessing the child leave, I relocated the camp somewhere else to prevent him from returning. Such are the perks of being a goddess, as while I can teleport myself, I can also teleport anyone in my domain or the camp. Zoe, after the conversation, has been staring at me for a few minutes now, to which I ask, "I can feel your need to speak, Zoe, so out with it."

The girl then says, "Lady Artemis, why doth my lady allow the man's trespass? He was merely a boy, and yet he disrespected my lady." Sighing at her old English, I respond, "Zoe, I will always admire your desire to protect me as well as my reputation, but you must understand that if that child desired it he, could have killed everyone in this camp before you could blink. One swipe of that spear could clear the entire camp while I would live, I would be grievously injured, and all of you would be dead."

Before she could protest, I raised my hand and said, "My reputation is already set in stone, my loyal Huntress, but I cannot replace any of you. We are sisters. After all, I feel every loss. Even though the boy probably would have died the second he attacked me, he did not. And since he is still but a child, I cannot hold his caution against him." 

My Huntress then asks, "But I must inquire, my lady, if we should keep the child under watch?" Shaking my head, I said to the nearby huntresses, "Understand your desire to engage in a rematch with the child, but again, I just threatened his life and forced him into a deal that he could not disagree with. He is not holding a favorable opinion of us, and if I was not around, he would have killed you. That stupid spear will always be a threat, even to the divine. One cut is all it would take, so no, we shall leave him be but report it to the council that the spear has found a new user."

Zoe then sighs as she leaves the tent, and as I pet a nearby wolf to calm myself, I thank the fates that he did not lash out as I still remember the scars from that weapon. As well as a certain woman who wielded it, as that was a day I underestimated the holy lance. I can still feel phantom pains from the scars on my body, even if they do not show physically.

Yet even I do not know why I let him go. Was it his age? Was it his countenance or patience, or was it something else? Such thoughts hold questions unanswered, but for now, I must prepare to meet with the council. 

I feel that it will not matter as he never said his name, and I could not learn it. A physical description is all I have. Zeus will not be happy, but he is never happy unless he is drinking or desiring women.

So, standing up, I go to prepare the camp to move east as I have heard rumors of a growing amount of old monsters. Such prey is hard to find these days.

Looking at the sun that has risen, I wonder if my brother saw the conversation as he is a relentless gossip. I also send a silent prayer to the spear wielder, as my brother has always had an inclination for the male form. But it is out of my hands now.

(Cao Cao POV)

Swinging my spear with complete and utter focus, I continued using the methods of training that Celestine had given me during our nightly spars, and as I remained silent as I trained further and further, Cato spoke in my mind ( Young Cao Cao, are you alright? You have not spoken in hours.) Taking a small breath, I continued to practice my spear techniques while focusing on chakra sensing and observational haki.

"No, I am fine, at least mostly, as I keep being caught unawares by the world and wonder if I am simply cursed." I feel Celestine pipe in and say (I understand the feeling. I once said to deal with Devils chasing me for two weeks straight after getting caught in one encounter with them. Those buggers truly are like a plague. But you must not let this get to you, Cao Cao, as doubt is the Devil's weapon against the human mind.)

"You are right, but I don't know what to do as the entire planet is seemingly hostile against me, and I have no connections to take advantage of." Placing my spear into my soul, I sit against a tree and begin to meditate in order to improve my chakra control and calm myself down. 

With my LP at 38,800 and rising, I decided to use it to form a basic anti-scrying defense or trace defense for 30,000 LP. It won't stop primordials like the fates or Indra, but as I grow stronger, so will my defenses.

The low cost is simply due to the fact that true precogs amount to barely more than ten based on my knowledge, as in this world, there are only the Fates, Indra, Shiva, Apollo (Sort Of), Ajuka Beelzebub (Kankara Formula) and maybe Great Red and Ophis. But most are only able to see multiple futures at the same time and not a certain future.

For now, though, my defense has been created and will grow with time and as I age, which, speaking of my new birthday being December 24th, means that I have two months until I turn fourteen. 

But then a new idea comes to mind as the events of Slash/Dog will occur next year. Slash/Dog did happen three years before DXD since Tobio was 18 during the beginning of Slash/Dog, and he is confirmed at age 21 when DXD began, so those events should happen soon enough.

But what to do with Tobio? While he does have a logninus in the form of Canis Lykaon, do I really need to do anything with him? Thoughts for later, Celestine then said ( I would recommend getting involved as dealing with Fallen Angels and Japanese Clansmen will be good training.)

"Celestine, are you trying to kill me?" I ask her, to which she simply says ( Training is training, and all training is good.) I had not realized that I essentially have the female version of Goku in my head or soul, but then I asked her, "You seem to have known the huntresses, Celestine. Do you have a history with them?)

Silence is all I am greeted with as Cato answers ( That is a question for later as we all have our own demons as well as problems that we dealt with during our lives. Her encounter with the huntresses of Artemis is one of them. Regardless, I may have an idea, but it would be suicide.)

Raising my brow, I ask, "And what is it?" To which Cato says slowly (There exists a teacher who would teach you, but she is rather strict and violent. Her name is Scathach, the Queen Of Shadows and God Slayer. She is currently within the lands of shadow located near Scotland. It is her that holds back the endless hordes of shadows for eternity as a way to seal her.)

Cato seems hesitant to even mention her as I ask, "Why the hesitation, Cato? It would seem like the perfect teacher for those learning the spear?" Cato then answers (Well, you see, the way she tests those that are worthy of her is rather extreme. to become her student, not only do you need to have the personal requirements that she looks for in a disciple, but she will also ask those looking to learn to fend off the shadows for three months, and those shadows are powerful ul, as while they are shades, they are numerous and they feel no pain. Most do not survive, and she then kills those that do due to being lacking in some way.)

The amount of time would not be an issue as Slash Dog is inconsequential to DXD overall, but then Cato corrects me ( Oh, you see, the Land of Shadows does not operate in the same time as Earth does as time in there passes much faster than here as for her she has fought for thousands of years after only being sealed a couple hundred years ago.)

"So you're telling me that she has access to a Hyperbolic Time Chamber? This is perfect! But what exactly does she desire from a disciple?" Cato, with an even higher amount of hesitation, says (Well, she desires that her disciples have the bearing of a king and a defined goal while also being willing to kill her after the training is complete, and none have been able to do so since the legendary Hound of Ulster and even he could not kill her but get her so close to death that she allowed him to leave. And that is another thing: she has essentially gained control of the Land of Shadows, and no one can even leave without her permission.)

While that is good, one question comes to mind. "Cato, how do you know all this I ask as he sighs and says ( You would not be the first that wields the Spear of Longinus to go and seek her teaching, as a decent number of us have attempted to learn from her, but most were killed, and others were simply thrown out due to being unworthy of her time. I would not advise going there as she will kill you as you are now.)

To be honest, that comment feels like I am in an MMO or an RPG, and I need to level up in order to reach a higher amount of teaching, but I can understand the hesitation as if her Fate counterpart is anything to go off of, she is rather intense. 

So, with that in mind, I continued my training, wondering what shall be my next move as I was presented with two options. First is simply training myself and then using my training to deal with the enemies of Slash Dog or go to the Land Of Shadows and die.

Standing back up, I feel motivated to continue training as I need power to travel the multiverse, and the world will not wait for me to gain strength. I have four years to reach the minimum ultimate class, but I seek to surpass that, and as if trying to motivate me, Celestine came back and played "You're The Best Around" By Joe Esposito, to which Cato sighed as I laughed.

So, I decided to try something different. Reaching over to the tree, I placed a hand on it and, using my affinity for water and Earth as well as some spiritual energy, formed a wood clone. And the process of doing so nearly drained me by a round 50%, and as I looked at the clone and he looked at me, we immediately pointed at each other but then stopped as he said, "So this is weird. I have autonomy but innate loyalty to the original, which is good as we do not want a Twice situation on our hands. So want to spar, boss?"

Nodding, we backed off with him not having the Longinus. He formed a spear from the ground, which I did the same, and so we rushed at each other and began to continue training as we swiped and fought with one another. The progress was substantial, as having an opponent at my level that was durable enough was an amazing find. 

For now, though, this shall be my current training regime, as, during the night, I practice in the soul space. In the morning is chakra and haki training, with the afternoon being meant for sorcery and meditation. In terms of food, I have found I need no food or water as it seems my LP is my sustenance, which is great as while I do hunt for food, I do not need it.

And so this shall be the regime for a while as I have little other options.