CHAPTER 001

"It seems like you are finally awake, mortal." A booming voice startled me

The confused Mark tried to move his body but it seems like it won't listen to any of his commands. The only thing that he can move are his eyes and what he is seeing definitely not a hospital ceiling.

"First of all I, Zeus the Skyfather, thank you for saving my son. Your demised soul was summoned by my Wife Hera through Magic and was used to heal the soul of Hercules. Normally, a mortal soul such as yours would be overwhelmed and be destroyed by the soul if Hercules but it seems like that your soul is strong enough that it managed to defended against Hercules's Soul albeit a weakened one " The towering voice of Zeus said which shocked Mark to the core since if what Zeus is true, he soul should've been destroyed be Hercules. Mark may not be an expert in Souls and Occult but he can conclude that having his own soul destroyed will definitely not result to any good on his end.

"As a form of gratitude, we decided to allow your soul to live which is why you have a body right now. You are now in a body of a younger Hercules. We took a portion of Hercules's blood and made a copy of him which mirrored his body when he was still a 20 years old living in the mortal realm." Zeus followed up as he carried my body

"However you wouldn't necessarily going to be able to harness all the powers of Hercules since your soul is but a mere fraction of what Hercules's Soul. Not only that but your soul is still exhausted in healing Hercules so your power is further weakened. Your body can only function to the peak of human body potential and not the Godly Qualities that Hercules have." A woman said which caught my attention

"I am Hera, the Skymother. Zeus and I decided to let you live as a gift so you should be thankful. Since you were give the body of an Olympian, you may be required and be called in battles. As a last gift to you, we decalare you to be Hero of Olympus in the Mortal Realm. You are tasked to establish a brand new faith for Olympus." Hera said before a magical circle appeared on the ceiling in which Mark can observe to be containing Ancient Roman Letters such as the Omega symbol

"That should healed you up to your top form. It has been 300 years since Olympus severed the connection with Mortal Realm. As a Hero of Olympus, you are tasked to re establish the religion of Olympus. I believe you can now move your body?" Zeus said in which the newly given bodied Mark responded by sitting up and properly looking at both Zeus and Hera

"How exactly do you expect me to built a religion?" Mark asked because as an ordinary college student, he do not have the knowledge to establish a religion

"Well, your quest is to start a church in the Mortal Realm and gather faith from followers and believers. Don't worry since we would help you. However as the Hero of Olympus, you are not only tasked to establish the Olympus Church but also to be a protector of humanity from its foes. I am Hephaestus by the way, God of Fire and Crafts" Hephaestus said as he summoned a set of armor and a wide array of weapons

"You are not yet worthy enough to wield weapon made from Adamantine. However we can give you these weapons made from mortal steal. Hephaestus made these when he was imparting smithing knowledge to men before." Zeus said as held a sword and bent it like a plastic ruler

Looking at the weapons, the ma from Eartg remember a fact that he read in the internet during one of his late night spelunking. You know, when it is already 3 am and your brain start to wonder to different sites in the internet.

The fact is that polearms are much better weapons when it comes to medieval times. Swords are indeed great and deserve its iconice place when it comes to weapons. But the extra reach that polearms give provies an advantage to battles.

So Mark immediately skipped over the different short weapons and looked at the polearms available. There are various spears of different lengths. Lances of different width and length. However what caught my eyes are the halberds. It is a polearm with a spearhead, Axe, and a hook which make it a versatile weapon.

So without further looking into other weapons, I held the halberd with a decent length. I practiced stabbing and swing before facing Zeus again.

"Oho, it seems like you really are different from Hercules. At your age, Hercules chose to start weilding the mace." Hephaestus said as he unsummoned the other weapons

"Now that you are equipped, I am now going to send you to the mortal realm."Hera said as she started chanting.

"Wait! Hold on! Can someone please teach me how to use this Halberd?" The newly summomed human plead which halted the chanting of Hera

"GAHAHA! You have the body of Hercules. You have my blood running through your veins as we speak. The talent of Battles flow through you. I trust that you would be able to learn about your weapon when you get sent to the Mortal Realm." The Skyfather laughed at the plea of Mark

"You are going to be summoned to an altar made by a nobleman. The man is a barren man who is never able to produce a kin. He seeked power from Olympians and was a devout believer." The Skymother said as she finished her incantation

"As the Sky Father, I am now giving you the name of Umbra. Born from the Shadow of Hercules, and shall be the protector of Humanity from the Shadows." Zeus said as placed his finger on the forehead of the new Hero of Olympus

As Zeus declared the changing of his name, the summoned soul started to forget about his previous name back on Earth. However, many of the memories still remained and only his previous name vanished.

"Establish faith for Olympians and you shall be able to return here in Olympus. And I assure you that it would be worth your effort." Zeus said before summoning a lightning bolt and slaming it to the Magic Circle powering it.

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"Lord Ulric! There has been an attack of Vikings to another village!" An old man shouted as he reported to the 60 year old Lord Ulric

"My liege! The Legion of Black Knights are currently pillaging one of our village" another elder said as he came with a letter on hand

Lord Ulric's face started to rub his temples as his face reveal stress and agony.

"Gather up our men and we shall banish those Black Knights. As for the Vikings, they probably already left to the seas. Gather the army at the city gate and I will arrive later." Lord Ulric said as he left the room

Ulric then walked down a flight of stairs alone while carrying a lamp. He arrived at a door carved with Ancient Roman alphabet and opened it revealing another flight of stairs towards an undergroud altar.

Twelve statues of the Olympians are present as a blazing Hearth was placed in the middle.

"Lord Zeus the Skyfather, I plea for your help. I have been praying like my forefathers were. I beg the Olympians to give me help in my current problems." Lord Ulric broke down into tears as he let out his bottled up emotions

"I *hic* plea to all of you * hic* to at least save my citizens. I am already tired my gods and I can only plea that their sufferings to stop. *sniff* I am already a weak old man and may never sire a son or a daughter so I adopted my citizens as my sons and daughters. So please..*huhuhu* send forth a blessing to vanquish my foes." Lord Ulric continued as he weeped for the sufferings and death of his citizens

As Ulric began to wipe up his tears and was prepared to leave in disappointment that his prayers were still not heard by the gods similar to all the times that he prayed during his 60 years life time.

"ULRIC! I HEARD ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS! THE DEVOTION OF FAITH DONE BY YOUR FAMILY HAS ALLOWED US OLYMPIANS TO BE ABLE TO ENTER THE MORTAL REALMS." A booming voice resounded as a Lightning strike appeared out of nothing and struck the Hearth

"US OLYMPIANS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER THE MORTAL REALM LIKE WE USED TO BEFORE BUT WE CAN SEND FORTH A HERO. HIS NAME IS UMBRA AND HE IS THE NEW HERO OF OLYMPUS! FOLLOW HIM AND YOU SHALL PROSPER." The booming voice continued before the blinding Lightning vanish and a man suddenky appeared standing. He was clad with a Metal Armor and was holding a Halberd.

The unprepared and stressed Ulric could not take the sudden turn of events and fainted