Chapter 44

[Skill Leveled Up: Lover] Lvl 8

'Hardwork is always rewarded.' I smiled in satisfaction, slowly pulling out of the exhausted girl below me.

A few deep breaths in, and I was ready for another round... unfortunately, that wasn't the case for my partner.

Knowing our time was finally up, I sat up with a sigh.

'Now back to the boring old world.'

We were both still lying on the ground behind Zeus' fist, with only a couple of boulders, and my mist, to cover our naked glory from the Ares cabin who were snooping around the area. While Drew's clothes were littering the ground in pieces, my own were thankfully still intact

"So, is your little rite of passage over?" I asked absently, creating a loose green dress for the girl.

"How did you...You knew?" She asked, surprised and bewildered, still catching her breath.

"Silly girl, of course I knew. I'm the oldest around here, remember? Do you think you're the first one to approach me with that intention?"

I threw the newly created dress to her as I retrieved my own. The sun was starting to set, and I could hear the sound of celebration coming from the other side.

"I-I see. And yeah, I think they'll let me be the counselor after they hear about my passage."

I snorted at her words. Silena Beauregard has been the Aphrodite counselor for over a year now, and she was one of the most beloved campers.

Even I wouldn't vote for Drew over Silena, though Drew was older of the two.

To be honest, I would've already been inside Silena, but I didn't want to ruin her budding relationship with Charles Beckendorf, one of the few campers who fought in the Camp Battle.

The kid was worthy of my respect, being the one to piece together the Dragon automaton after the war. And the one who single handedly kept his cabin from depression when their counselor died alongside Markus and his two Apollos.

Fucking another's girlfriend was a dickish move, an assholish move. Fucking your friend and trusted soldier's crush was just betrayal. I considered myself to be an asshole, not an honorless bastard.

I hadn't fallen to the levels of the old Zeus yet, and I sure as hell wasn't going to transform into insects just to satisfy my lust. Becoming an ant to fuck another ant? Yeah, that was some messed up shit that Zeus should be ashamed of.

"Come on." I slapped Drew's behind. "The match is over."

"O—of course." She nodded rapidly, her eyes stuck to the floor as she blushed, acting shy and delicate even with half of her tits still peeking out. "When will we meet next?"

I snorted. 'Did she forget I was the one who brought her to the camp?'

I knew exactly what kind of girl she was. And shy and delicate certainly wasn't it. Arrogant and narcissist, yes. And very prideful, even more than me. The difference was, I'd earned the right to my pride...she hasn't.

"We'll meet when I tell you to." I snapped, waving her over as I turned around. "Now come on."

Drew Tanaka was a piece of royal shit. Very rich and spoilt. The first time we met, she had asked her father to permanently hire me as her guard. And her stupid dad had actually tried to manhandle me into it when I'd laughed in their faces.

The screams that man had let out by the time I was done with him, were enough to scare away his daughter into running. And I had to personally catch her and dump her ass in the camp.

Yes, I knew exactly what she and her ilk was, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise.

Shaking my head, I dismissed her subject, letting the mist covering Zeus's fist dissipate.

As soon as the mist stopped messing with their senses, the two Ares kids and their leader Josh, stopped running around like headless chickens and finally managed to spot them.

Being the overly cruel bitch that she was, Drew took her sweet time in plopping back her left tit inside the dress, flaunting her mussed up hairs and ruffled state to insinuate exactly what happened here for the last few hours.

Realization struck the three boys, and the two Ares kids slowly backed away from Josh, who had a look of pure shock and betrayal on his face.

That was quickly replaced by rage however, which increased substantially when he turned to glare at me balefully, only to receive an innocent smile in return.

My own team finally reached us as well, laughing and celebrating with the captured flag raised above them, not recognizing Drew's state even though she might as well be announcing it to the world, loud and clear: 'I just got fucked and it was amazing.'

They were all kids really. Small kids who couldn't be trusted to visit Olympus alongside the seniors. And while it wasn't the first time I'd screwed a girl while playing capture the flag, I've always kept it a secret from the whole camp. I didn't want everyone to start distrusting me after all, wondering if I'd been sleeping with their girls as well.

Through all this, Josh seemed to be hyperventilating, a glare filled with rage and humiliation fixed on his face. I was quite excited to see if he'll be smart enough to back off or...

Nope.

With a glare that promised retribution, the boy started marching straight for me, unheeding of his friend's harsh whispers to back off.

"Well, it looks like I won, Joshie. Better luck next time." I said with false cheer as I made to walk past him. Of course, he didn't let me.

Wrong choice.

"You bastard!" He screamed, throwing a punch full of rage. "How dar–"

His punch would've most likely broken his own hand, than do any true damage to me. But I wasn't content with that.

My pride wasn't content with that.

And thus, in one swift move, I swatted away his fist, breaking his knuckles in the process, while my hand gripped him up by his throat before he could react.

His words chocked in his mouth as he struggled to breathe, arms and legs flailing around in a new sense of panic as I upped the pressure.

His anger was now completely replaced with fear and panic as I slowly squeezed the life out of him.

"P-ple–" He choked out in desperation, his hands weakly pleading to let go.

"Hmm Josh?" I brought him closer to my ears. "I didn't hear you."

I loosened the hold just a bit, enough for him to squeeze one word out.

"Pl-please!"

I snorted, quickly losing interest. There was just no excitement in bullying a weakling. So in one well swoop, I threw him away.

The 15 year old went flying back, smacking against a tree before falling down in a painful heap. For a second, the whole area around Zeus' fist remained silent save for the coughing and desperate breathing of Josh.

Josh' friends stood petrified, none moving to give a hand.

I turned around, quite done with the worthless boy.

"Attacking a senior counselor without any proper reason is a shameful behaviour, bounds to getting kicked out of the campus." I started my noble way of bullshittry. "And it is my duty as the current leader of the camp to maintain our rules and regulations. So, I push forward the subject to remove Josh from cabin counselor's position entirely."

A loud 'Yeah!' came from within the Ares bunch, and a girl roughly pushed past several campers to get to the front.

My eyes tracked the girl in amusement and a brilliant idea suddenly popped up in my head. "He has only been here for three months and did not deserve the position in the first place. I'd say Clarisse is a better choice."

The girl who'd made her way over, uncaring of the angry bunch she'd left behind, gave a loud cheer. "OF course I am! I told you all already, I'll be much better than this weak piece of trash. You should've listened to me."

Clarisse was another kid I'd picked up around Arizona. She was a big brute of a girl, towering over even some of the older boys at 5'7. She was brash, overconfident, and a bully, but she knew not to question her superiors and gave them appropriate respect as long as they didn't insult her directly. And she definitely considered me her superior.

Normally, this type of subjects should be held in the big house, and only with all the counselors present. But considering all of them were off to Olympus today, while Chiron had run off to teach some random powerful demigod, I was the highest authority around.

"Well go on then, vote away all of you." I waved at the other Ares kids who stood around awkwardly. "We won't be taking this topic to a council meeting. Ares cabin will decided who they want as their counselor. An untrained demigod who doesn't know when to pick fights, or an... experienced warrior... who actually received a gift from Ares."

Right at that moment Clarisse raised her electrical spear up to the air with a roar. It was a...good weapon. No really...

A ...wooden handle... tipped with celestial bronze blade that danced with... electricity?

Alright it was pathetic. Wooden handle? Seriously? And electricity? Bitch please. Those are the sparks I sometimes produce out of my nose when I sneeze too hard. But whatever.

'Good enough for her I guess.'

It wasn't long before Clarisse was raised above her cabinmates shoulders as the new counselor.

Honestly the Josh boy should never have been in a place of power. But the former Ares counselor had just given his resignation because he was transferring to England, and Josh, being a stupid but ambitious cretin, had used his position as the former counselor's shadow and supposedly 'Ares's favorite' to snatch the position.

'Should've kept to his cabin instead of challenging me. What a dumbass.'

"Yes yes, congrats Ares, for getting a real counselor. Don't be stupid again, and use a little bit of your head to decide these things next time." I said, wrapping things up. "Go on, everyone. Dinners at 9, don't forget the newbies behind. After that we'll have a sing along. Now shoo."

Done with my duties, I left the forest and made my way to Zeus cabin. The kids wouldn't be back from Olympus for quite some time now. Without any counselors and Chiron, Dionysus has–

I was startled out of my thoughts by a massive boom of lightning that kept the windows rattling for a good few seconds. My feet quickly scrambled outside, and I took in the sudden change in atmosphere.

The winds were starting to blow unnaturally fast, while thunder growled in the just-clear sky. On the other side of the camp, the long Island sound was behaving oddly, with waves of ocean water threatening to sweep the camp away in floods.

'Zeus and Poseidon were fighting again.' I concluded, feeling the explosive trace of divinity in the air. 'What the fuck did Poseidon do now? And was he actually to going to attack the camp? Seriously?'

Looking at the churning water, I couldn't help but be alarmed. I might be able to survive Poseidon's wrath by flying away, but the rest of the camp wouldn't be so lucky.

Quickly deciding on some basic survival tips, I cupped my hands in front of me, forming a tunnel of wind to magnify my words before announcing, "Everyone! Inside your cabins now! Sub counselors, control your group! Don't let a single one outside!"

The campers heeded me instantly, herding all the demigods inside.

'What the hell is happening?'

I looked to the sky again, taking in the scene of an Armageddon in progress.

The black clouds were completely covering the setting sun now, plunging us all in darkness. The harsh winds were blowing with such intensity that it tore away some of the strawberry vines that had been enforced with Satyr magic and Dionysus' blessings.

'Zeus must be well and truly pissed off this time.'

I could feel his authority in the air, the sky bending down to his command, ready to battle off the churning floods.

Between the two gods, this camp would be left in ruins.

I immediately went back in, approaching the statue of Zeus.

After my father learned about my ability to travel using lightning, he had connected his statue directly to the chambers in his palace, in case I ever wanted to visit him.

This quickly became my only true teleportation method. Though it was extremely limiting considering I can only travel to and fro from the camp to Olympus.

Coincidentally, the statue had also become a good source of information for me, as I spend quite a lot of time studying the phenomenon to create my own prototype teleporters.

The way it worked was simple: I concentrated my mind and self to a single point, before letting the well of divine energy flood around that point, and simply Willed. And for less than a second, I became lightning itself, diving inside the electric connection hidden within the statue.

Almost instantly, I arrived in the grand palace of Zeus that stood over the very peak of Olympus.

Opening my eyes, I was greeted by walls of shining white marble with lightning flaring around the pillars. It was sort of an open porch or balcony, with a clear view of the entirety of Olympus from the top of the mountain.

The smell of ozone and rain made me turn around, and I found my father staring at the sky quietly.

"Father." I announced myself.

He didn't turn, simply staring at the dark sky. I let him have his time, content with waiting.

Though not for long.

"Someone stole my lightning bolt." Zeus finally announced without any preamble.

"Oh."

"I blamed Poseidon."

"Obviously."

"Now we are going to war."

"Is Poseidon at fault?"

"...No."

"Of course."

"I need your help."

"Obviously."

He sighed, shooting me an irritated look. "You should take this with suitable gravity. Should Poseidon and I go to war, the entire world will feel the effects. Even the other pantheons. You felt the blast of godly energy last year, yes? The Egyptian gods are on the loose again. We cannot look weak in front of them."

"Why can't you just...you know? Not fight."

"Poseidon wants an apology."

"...Of course."

"I'm the king, I can't give it to him."

"Obviously."

He sighed again, shaking his head. "My Olympian family has proved to be useless. I sent Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Ares, even Hephaestus. But all came back with failure."

"Obviously. No don't give me that look, seriously. Their failure is obvious. How many times did your family really succeed in something without some kind of war breaking out?"

The god gave me another cross look. "They are your family too, you know."

"Wha–!?...no, they aren't." I denied firmly, getting over my dismayed shock. "I despise that very notion, I'm nothing like the rest of them."

"Indeed?" Zeus smirked. "So you were not coverting with dozens of females for the last two years? You were not seducing the wives and daughters of mortals around this country?"

Surprised, I stared at the smug god for a straight second before shooting him a disgusted scowl. "You were spying on me? Ewww, that's so disgusting. Besides, I got that trait from you."

The god frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose you are correct. But then again, all of my children get that trait from me."

"That's not something to be proud of, Mr. Dad. I had to rescue dozens of demigods from streets, you know? Especially Athena's. Dozens dead, because she couldn't limit herself. Is it truly a surprise I do not enjoy associating with them?"

The god grimaced. We'd talked about this before, and the god had not been happy. He wasn't a very moralistic man, even now, but the idea of his children dying in droves angered him.

Very very much.

"You need not remind me again, this topic never fails to ruin my mood. I have talked with her, have no doubt. But we digress. Will you retrieve my weapon, Mikael? I suspected Poseidon's brat but he seems entirely ignorant about our world, I've checked already."

[Quest Received: Golden Retriever]

-Retrieve the Lightning Bolt

Rewards: 20 Level, ?

Final–fucking–ly! A quest! An actual Quest! Something that'll directly push me into Tier 7! I'm gonna be a god! A minor one, but still!

While I was jumping in the inside, outside I just calmly nodded. I had an image to maintain. "Where do you want me to start?"

A few seconds passed in silence and the god started looking uncomfortable, not meeting my eyes, before finally answering uncertainly. "... Poseidon's brat?"

I shot him an unimpressed look. "Seriously? You just cleared Poseidon but you are still blaming him?"

"I can't help myself." The god sighed. "The time my brother trapped me in that unbreakable rope has scarred me for life. But still, it is not without merit. Anyone who stole the bolt must be counting on the fact that I would blame Poseidon, unaware of how truly wise I have become."

I scoffed loudly, shrugging off his offended glare.

"They must certainly want to scapegoat the seaweed's kid." The god continued a moment later. "The bolt will come around him, sooner or later."

"Uh huh, what's the real reason?"

The god shot me another glare that screamed: 'How Dare You!?'.

I didn't relent, tapping my foot to hurry him up. Minor God was calling for me.

Soon, the god sighed again, finally giving up. He gave me another irritated look before he finally spoke. "...I want you to test him, my most willful child. He may be the subject of the great prophecy. You are not a half-blood...Well, atleast I assume so, I truly haven't a clue of what you are. Besides you, only Thalia remains, who is... removed for the time being. That leaves the boy. Stay with him till he reaches twelve. Test him, reshape him, and then guide him to the camp. It shall take over six months."

I frowned at the explanation. Zeus wasn't willing to diverge all the contents of the prophecy but the little that he said has been very worrying. "I see."

Though I was a little disappointed at not getting another quest relating this task.

As their meeting came to an end, the god seemed to hesitate a little, closing his eyes. A dark thunderstorm passed through his face, sparks of lightning dancing around his hairs.

"My father...The Titan lord, has been stirring close to consciousness for some time now, we both know this. I fear this may be a plot of his doing. You must be wary Mikael. He is known to target my and mine brother's mortal children. Should you get any dreams that includes him, you must come to me. Immediately."

'Like he targeted Luke?' I wanted to ask, but I kept quiet. Maybe my suspicions were wrong about him, who knows.

'Yeah, right.'

Still, I didn't want to waste either of our time on that so I just nodded with the same seriousness that my father warned me with. "Don't worry, father. I'll be careful."

"Good. Now go, Hera calls for me."

"Of course she did." I scoffed. "Anyway, bye for now."

With a last wave, I tapped the exact place where I came from, and became lightning once more.