Chapter 22: Words of Fate

Important A/N

Hey!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

I will be releasing a new work tomorrow that I have been working on recently. This will be posted approximately 24 hours from now. Do check it out and follow it if you like it. I would really appreciate it! Thank you :)

If you have any queries / suggestions / want to speak to me, feel free to DM me on discord chaos#7844. I have also created a server, the link for which can be found on my profile. If it doesn't work, DM me and I'll send it your way.

Shoutout to Yoshi and Fox for always helping out.

A huge shout out to MrMaruf and Ekto for the beta.

...

FAQs

Q. Pairing Request.

I have said this before, and I will say it again. This will ONLY be Percy x Hestia x Artemis. NO requests for harem, one-night stands or another pairing will be entertained. I will be deleting those DMs straightaway.

...

Disclaimer : I do not own PJO or any of its characters.

x.x

Chapter 22: Words of Fate

Soon, Percy was out of the attic, sitting inside the big house with Athena. He had relayed the prophecy to her and was currently discussing the next plan of action.

"Are you sure that is exactly what you heard? I do NOT want such an important thing to get mixed up in any manner whatsoever," Athena asked.

"Yes, Lady Athena, I am sure. Those were the exact words of the prophecy," Percy replied.

"This certainly brings a conundrum. The words are too vague to understand except the first two lines. I'd say this is the first time that this has happened and, as such, I don't want to risk things in the slightest given the current state of events. I will return to Olympus at once and ponder over this even more before reaching a decisive conclusion, I'll also speak to Zeus. It is far too important to act on impulse here. However, I'm pretty sure this is bound to happen sometime in the winter since 'the longest night' only occurs during that season. As such, the prophecy has given you ample time before you can set out, so I do not want you lagging in your training. We are going to up the training regimen from here on out and work with your powers in depth, while boosting other aspects. So, you will be staying here at camp as a year-round camper. I trust you understand the importance for you to stay safe. Prepare yourself Perseus." Athena said as she disappeared in a poof of grey.

Percy could inwardly groan since he'd be subjected to an even harsher training schedule by the goddess, but all in all, it helped him so he couldn't really complain. He wouldn't get to see his mother which bummed him out but surely, he could take a day or two to visit her. He was sure that Chiron or Athena would understand and give him a short break. At the same time, since he almost had four to five months in hand now, he could finally go to the dungeon. His stats had grown by quite a bit in the last few weeks and he felt more confident than before. He was quite excited for it.

Percy walked out of the big house only to find Chiron standing outside, waiting for him. Worry was written all over his face and it seemed as though he had aged within a span of a few minutes.

"My boy, I understand things aren't going to be easy from here on out, and I can't imagine how much you're going through. I can just wish you the best of luck and my support through everything. If you ever need any help, you know where to come." Chiron said with a sad smile.

"Thank you, Chiron, I will."

With that done, Percy decided to walk to the beach where he plopped on the sand and took in the fresh night air. Sleep was a distant thought now after the prophecy that was just issued. It was still hard to come to terms with what was said. Despite how many times Percy recalled the memory, nothing changed which frustrated him to no end. He was so deep in thought that he failed to notice the presence that had suddenly appeared beside him. He was only brought out when a warm hand grazed his cheek and turned his head around.

"What happened Percy?" Hestia asked with a gentle smile on her face. She had been idly walking around Olympus when she felt Percy's emotional state become unstable. Being the overprotective patron, she immediately rushed to his location and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was in no immediate danger.

Percy could see the worry etched on her face and almost considered not telling her about the events that had transpired but before he could utter anything, Hestia said, "Don't think about hiding anything from me. What is it?"

"I was just issued another prophecy," Percy said which made Hestia freeze in shock.

"What was it?"

"The tides, the m..."

"WHAT?! Are you sure these were the exact words that the Oracle said?"

"Yes."

"This is indeed foreboding. If I had it my way, I wouldn't let you go on the quest, lest something happens to you but, sadly, I know how important it is. We will talk about this later, since I can see that you're not in the mood or the mindset to speak about it. Anyway, the only option left is for you to become stronger. I want you back here safe and sound alright?"

"Understood, Hestia."

They then fell into a comfortable silence as they sat together and watched the sea and the moon whilst the stars blanketed the night sky. Soon, the calming sounds of the sea, the cool air, and Hestia's presence made Percy's eyes heavy, as the toll of the night and the past few days finally caught up with him, as he fell into blissful sleep on the sand.

Hestia looked at him with a small smile as she gingerly lifted his head and put it on her lap. She then casted a spell that hid their presence so that no one would disturb them at this time. The goddess looked at the vast ocean in front of her and then at the demigod in her arms with a soft smile. She brushed his silky-smooth hair in an effort to tame them but they still ran wild regardless of how much she tried, so she just ended up stroking his hair. As she was about to get lost in her thoughts, her other half spoke.

'He really needs a break. It has hardly been a few weeks since he came back from the quest only to be issued another,' Vesta said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

'All he has done ever since he entered this world has been training. Nothing else. He didn't get to live and enjoy life like a normal child. This kind of life is something that no child should be exposed to, regardless of their age,' Hesta replied.

'But we will be there for him and ensure that he doesn't lose himself along the way. The burden he bears is not an easy one. We will share it with him.'

'Of course, we will. We'll be with him at every step of his journey.'

'You do realise the way you phrased it has another meaning to it altogether? Which reminds me, did you give the possibility of us falling for him some more thought?' Vesta asked curiously.

'It is still too far-fetched. I know we care for him deeply but caring and falling for someone is different altogether.'

'So why are you appearing as a 12-year-old?'

'To make him feel comfortable and so he can speak to someone his age of course,' Hestia answered.

'Then what about the time during his training on Olympus when you two were so close to kissing?'

'Th-th,' Hestia stuttered with embarrassment as she recalled that time.

'Doesn't count? Happened on its own? I'm inclined to believe it's the latter since you subconsciously approached each other which does give a clue as to how you feel about him.'

'Why are you so annoying? And how come you've suddenly become a psychologist?'

'It is only your knowledge that I'm using. We're experts in this field aren't we, sister?'

The Greek goddess sighed, knowing that it was true. Being the goddess of the hearth and being able to control bonds made her an expert when it came to this field from the numerous instances she experienced and had to resolve. And now, that very knowledge was being used against her by herself. The talk between the two was basically like a counselling session she was giving herself while she was in another form with a slightly different thought process but essentially her own. As bizarre as it sounded.

'But that still doesn't mean that I or we love him. That's a really deep word, you know. And an emotion that we have not experienced ourselves.'

'Oh, I never suggested that you or we love him now, did I? I merely suggested that we might have taken a liking to him as something more than friend or family, you were the one who brought it up, which means you have thought about it after all,' Vesta said.

Hestia could feel Vesta smirking within her mind, making her groan. But, it was true. She had spent quite a while thinking how things would be if she ended up falling in love with the demigod. While that in itself would be a long stretch, she couldn't help but accept the fact that she had taken a liking to him more so than as a friend or a family member, as much as she tried to say otherwise. She knew the signs after all.

Moreover, distancing herself from him was not an option since it would end up hurting all of them. However, a small part of her did agree that ending up with Percy wouldn't be a bad thing in the slightest. In fact, she'd relish the emotions that would come with it as well as the amount of time she'd get to spend with her favourite person. There were many more things that had to be taken into consideration which would end up giving her a headache. Her trying to do anything would only cause more problems. So, for now, all she could do was accept her budding feelings for the son of Poseidon, go with the flow and see how things would end up.

'Fine, yes, I have also started liking him just as you have,' Hestia finally admitted, much to Vesta's delight.

'Finally! Also, there's no point in denying our feelings. We represent hearth, family and if we try to deny the very thing that we represent, you know the backlash we face.'

'True but we are not going to do anything about it, okay? We are in a conundrum right now and if we try to do anything, it might just ruin things and our relationship, as patron and champion, would also get affected. This is something I don't want to happen.'

'You really think anything can go wrong with a bond like this?' Vesta asked as she momentarily took control and used their power to summon the bonds connecting them. The familiar sea-green and orange bonds became visible again in their intricate pattern of connecting with each other.

Hestia kept her gaze on the bond as her heart filled up with a warm feeling and brain exploded into a thousand different thoughts. Vesta, on the other hand, decided to give her Greek counterpart a little time off to dwell on their conversation. She had long ago accepted the fact that she had started to like Percy but that was it. Anything further was out of her books as well. Hestia was right when she said that only time would tell.

...

~2-3 hours later~

...

Percy groaned as he woke up and threw off the blankets off his bed. Wait. Bed? Wasn't he at the beach with Hestia a few hours ago? So that meant he must've fallen asleep and the goddess had brought him here. He felt a little bad for falling asleep on her lap, when they were supposed to spend time together but he knew that the goddess wouldn't mind and would be understanding about it. So, he didn't need to worry about it. He then remembered that he had to start with the dungeon which he had been looking forward to for a long time and since it was only open at night, he had at most an hour or two before Apollo began his journey across the skies. The demigod hastily got ready, checked all his equipment and then ran off to Zeus' fist to start the dungeon. He could always summon food whenever he felt hungry so he didn't bother to store any in his inventory. As soon as he reached, the familiar menu came up.

...

Dungeon Available!

Zeus' Fist (Level 8)

Great Orcus Labyrinth – (tap for details)

...

Percy touched the Great Orcus Labyrinth. Then, another box popped up.

...

Are you sure you want to proceed with the choice? Exit post floor 20 will be available only at night.

Accept / Decline?

...

This was far more intimidating than Percy thought was possible but on the bright side, he could always escape if he got overwhelmed on the first few floors. He steeled himself and pressed accept. Right after, the rocks moved, revealing a passage going down. Just as he was about to go in, another window popped up.

...

Ping!

Quest Alert!

Clear the Great Orcus Labyrinth.

Rewards –

?

?

Failure –

Death

Accept / Decline?

...

Percy just pressed accept since he was pretty much used to every other quest saying he'd die if he failed.

Percy then walked down the stairs until it levelled out and a passage stretched in a single direction. The corridor was well lit with torches burning on both sides as it kept going forward. The walls and the ceiling were made of jagged rock which didn't look outwardly in any manner whatsoever. Maybe the Fates were playing a practical joke? It was unlikely since they were always serious whenever they met him.

The son of Poseidon cast aside his thoughts as he summoned Riptide in one hand and a bottle of water in another. He also activated Mage Armor just in case, since this dungeon was from another world altogether and he didn't want to risk things.

...

Skill Activated!

Mage Armor

HP: 950 + 300 = 1,250

...

Satisfied, Percy started inching forward slowly and kept his senses open for any sudden movements. Gamer's Mind kept him calm and focused so that he was alert of his surroundings. He walked a few more steps until he heard a chatter coming from deep within the passage. It was infrequent but there nonetheless which suggested that there was only one monster up ahead. Still holding a guarded stance, Percy walked forward till the end of the corridor where it opened up to a small area of sorts with another corridor on the opposite side. However, what caught his attention was a small humanoid figure which was sitting on the ground as it examined something in its hands whilst making some sounds at irregular intervals. He decided to use Observe to get some information however, he was taken aback when he saw the screen.

...

?

HP: ? / ?

MP: ? / ?

...

The demigod was now in a conundrum. He had two options. One was to gauge the battle prowess of this creature so that he'd have an idea of what to expect or he could just shoot some water knives at it and get it over with. After a small debate, the former won out since it was more practical and would be more beneficial in the long run. Thus, Percy picked up a small rock near him and chucked it at the creature.

"Kiiiii," it made a sound as it started looking around frantically to find out where the rock came from. Percy could only sweat drop at this since he was practically standing in full view in front of the 'thing' and it still had to notice him.

Sighing, Percy picked up another rock and chucked it with a little more force.

"KIIIII," it made a sound again but this time it locked onto Percy's form as it finally noticed him. It then carefully put whatever it was holding on the ground, picked up a spear which was beside him, stood up and turned towards Percy. It was hardly four feet in height and the height disparity would have amused him if not for Gamer's Mind keeping a grip on his emotions.

The creature then zipped forward with surprising speed and a loud 'KIII', intent on running the spear through Percy. However, the truth was far from it. Its form was beyond horrible as the demigod was able to spot multiple openings within a short span. Just as the creature was about to reach Percy, he took a sudden step forward, catching the creature by surprise and with a quick thrust, ran Riptide through its neck.

...

Critical Strike!

Damage = 200

STR bonus = 200 + 28 = 228

Sword Fighting Skill bonus = 228 + (228 x 20%) =274

Critical Strike = 274 + (274 x 360%) = 986

Total Damage = 986

...

He then pulled the sword out, expecting the creature to disappear but it just collapsed in front of him as a dark liquid oozed out of its neck and stained the floor below it. This almost took Percy by surprise but Gamer's Mind clamped down on him, forcing him to remain calm. He felt queasy seeing the sight of blood flow as the creature lay on the ground. It was true that he had killed monsters before but never had any stayed like this, all of them disintegrated as soon as they were killed hence Percy was so uncomfortable. The emotional side of him felt remorse for doing such a thing but the practical side won out as these were monsters in a dungeon who would kill anyone and had no connections to the outside world in any manner whatsoever. So feeling any pity for them would end up in his own demise. Percy took comfort from this fact and proceeded further.

He walked ahead and stopped to pick up the object that the thing was fussing over.

...

Iron Nugget x 1

...

Percy was disappointed. He just chucked it away since he had practically no use of it. Just then, another screen popped up.

...

Rewards:

XP: 20

XP: 4,596 + 20 = 4,616 / 7,290

...

Even though it was less, at least he could collect more XP to level up quickly now. He then looked at the damage notifications and wondered if he could switch those off since they'd end up distracting him during a fight. He navigated through the menu until he found the option to disable the thing altogether. It would still show important stats during a fight like his opponent's HP and MP but except for those, the other calculations won't show up. He could do away with those anyway.

He then proceeded to walk towards the other end of the tunnel where he saw another set of stairs going down which meant that he had cleared the floor and sure enough, a notification came up for it.

...

Floor 1 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 1 (Small)

Continue to Floor 2?

Accept / Decline?

...

Seeing that he had more time, Percy pressed accept and proceeded to the next floor.

The next floor looked exactly the same as the previous one except this time, there were two of those creatures instead of one and both seemed to be fighting over an iron nugget. Percy still needed to gauge their strength so he decided to settle it with sword fighting before he pulled any other tricks. After all, knowing his enemy was half the battle.

The son of Poseidon decided to pull the same trick as last time as he picked up a stone and threw it at one of them to grab their attention. Sadly, it did not work since it seemingly intensified the fight between the two creatures. He could only sigh at this since the creatures seemed too stupid to do anything so he just decided to follow the old fashioned way.

"Hey Ugly," he yelled, successfully grabbing their attention although whether they understood him or not was a different matter altogether. However, their attention was short-lived as the object in their hands was far more interesting than him. Just then, he got another idea.

"Look what I have," Percy yelled as he summoned the bronze nugget and waved it in front of him. This seemed to successfully get their attention as they immediately dropped the other object, grabbed their spears and rushed him once again.

The first one who reached him thrust his spear forward which Percy easily avoided by side stepping and with a quick slash, cut its throat. The second one also lacked any technique and just settled for a forward thrust which the demigod deflected with his sword and cut its throat as well. Both the creatures fell on the ground, unmoving.

...

Rewards:

XP: 20 x 2 = 40

XP: 4,616 + 40 = 4,656 / 7,290

...

Percy swiped the screen away and walked towards the opposite side where another notification came up.

...

Floor 2 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 2 (Small)

Continue to Floor 3?

Accept / Decline?

...

Percy stopped before continuing. From what he had seen so far, the goblins had next to no skill when it came to fighting and only had their speed and stature to rely on. Sadly for them, Percy had all three so they would be hard pressed to deal with him. To make matters worse for them, he wasn't even using any of his powers – just his skills. Considering the circumstances, Percy decided that he could level up some of his other skills which he could not in the real world. He then brought up the list and skimmed through the relevant ones taking into account his environment. He could not use Earth Shaker since he did not trust the foundations of this place and had no intention of trying to figure it out and get buried alive in the process. Storms were a no-go since this was an underground place so that was ruled out as well. After some more thought, his final list read as:

...

Skills

...

Combat :

Sword Fighting (Level 20)

...

General :

Mage Armor (Level 6)

Bond Manipulation (Level 1) (Purple: Romance, Brown: Family, Red: Dislike/Hatred, Blue: Friends, Grey: Neutral)

...

Chores :

Cleaning Dishes (Max)

...

Abilities :

Water Control (Level 20)

Water Manipulation (Level 15)

Blood Control (Level 1)

Ice Control (Level 6)

Steam Control (Level 5)

Fire Control (Level 13)

Fire Manipulation (Level 10)

...

Out of all the listed skills, Blood Control was the one which was the lowest ranked and one that he had put off to learn since he could not try it in his world due to self-imposed moral reasons but here, he could give it a shot. Percy reckoned that if he could get sufficient control over it, he could disrupt his opponent's movements and gain an advantage in a fight. He then stored the water bottle in his inventory but kept Riptide in his hands in case of an emergency. As an added precaution, he decided to call Alecto in case things went south. She was faster and more nimble compared to the Death Knight which would be effective against the goblins.

He got the Resurrection Stone from his inventory and summoned Alecto. As soon as she burst out, she looked around, sighed and looked at Percy.

"Where are we? And what trouble have you managed to land us in now?" Alecto asked.

"A dungeon which hosts creatures of another world. Came in voluntarily, we can exit any time up to floor 20, currently at floor 2 and going to floor 3," Percy replied immediately.

"This is a shit*y place. There's no room for me to fly. Why do you always find such horrible places?" Alecto complained.

"Hey, there was a dungeon and I entered it. Besides, you can also train and get stronger here," the demigod pointed out.

"Fine. Anything to keep in mind?"

"Every floor, the number of creatures," Percy pointed out the corpses behind him, "Increases by one. They wield spears and have no experience. However, they are fast. I am going to practice a few of my skills here that I could not practice otherwise so if I'm in danger, help me out please."

"Sounds fair. Don't they disintegrate?"

"Nah. They bleed."

"Don't care, have seen worse in the Fields of Punishment. You should try going there one of these days you know? Quite a fascinating place."

Percy gave her a deadpan gaze and started walking down with Alecto following.

The layout for the third floor was also similar to that of the previous two floors which made things easier since it was straight up combat with no places for ambush. Just as the duo reached the ending of the corridor, Percy gave a signal for them to stop and looked around the corner. True to his deduction, there were three creatures this time compared to two in the previous floor.

Instead of charging headfirst this time, the son of Sally Jackson asked Alecto to watch over him whilst he tried something new.

He then closed his eyes and dived into his being, searching for his powers until he found the one that he was looking for. The thread was not as bright as the others which indicated how weak it was. He concentrated on it and called forth for the power albeit, with some effort.

Alecto, who had been focusing on the creatures, whipped her head around as she felt Percy's aura spike suddenly. However, she was startled when she saw that his sea-green eyes had changed colour and were now glowing sea-green with a hint of red mixed with them. The red eyes unnerved her a lot and the more she looked at them, the more she felt as though all the blood in her would drain which wasn't far from the truth.

"P-P-Percy, why are your eyes red?" she asked with fear evident in her voice. She was starting to get used to the weird situations Percy always found himself in but this, this was on a whole other level entirely.

"What do you mean?" he asked, as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Use a mirror."

"Don't have one, we'll see it later. Let me try this though," he said with a little excitement in his voice which didn't go unnoticed by the fury. It made her wonder what could possibly excite the normally stoic demigod.

...

Ability Activated!

Blood Control (Level 1)

Cost: 150 MP / min

...

Percy ignored the notification and then concentrated on one of the creatures. He let out his senses as he felt the blood within his body begin to respond. He started expanding his senses slowly when he felt Alecto's blood. He ignored it and continued until he felt three more presences. He kept his concentration on them as he tried to focus on which one belonged to who. After a minute of hard reading, he finally found one for the creature he was aiming for. He proceeded to evade the blood as he tried to make it submit to him. For a minute or two it refused to listen to him until he exerted more pressure until it finally relented and gave up control, allowing Percy to access all the blood in its body. He kept his focus on it as he slowly and steadily cut off the supply of blood to the creature's heart, willing it to stop its course eventually.

Alecto followed Percy's line of sight and focused on the creature. She held her breath for a minute or two until she saw that it started spasming lightly, making her wonder what exactly the son of Poseidon was doing. The creature then fell on its knees as it gripped the area where its heart was with a pained expression. This caused more questions to pop up in her brain.

The demigod was able to do everything perfectly when suddenly his control slipped from the blood. He felt the blood, which was being held back, rush in all too quickly, taking its natural course. And he knew what was going to happen.

If Alecto was startled earlier, she was now gobsmacked with what happened next. The area around the creature's heart suddenly burst as dark liquid poured out like a shaken soda bottle popped open. Did he just control the creature's blood?! She whipped her head around to find the demigod bathed in sweat with a bottle of water in his hand.

...

Blood Control (Level 1)

MP: 1,050 – (6 mins x 150 MP / min) = 1,050 – 900 = 150 / 1,050

...

Notification 2

...

Due to continuous use, Blood Control levelled up!

Blood Control: Level 1 + 1 = 2

Cost: 150 – 1 = 149 MP

Range: 10 + 2 = 12 levels above.

...

"Shit," Percy exclaimed whilst he took deep breaths. He then proceeded to summon a bottle of water and gulped it, fully restoring his lost MP.

Once their first comrade died, the creatures panicked and ran around the room making Alecto tense immediately as she unsheathed her claws. However, she didn't have to do anything as they stayed in the same area. It looked like they could not leave that place, a fact the fury noted.

"Percy, what the Hades was that?!" Alecto exclaimed with her eyes wide in fear.

"Blood Control. One of the perks of being a son of Poseidon, I can control the blood in others, but it is far too difficult as you saw," he replied. He didn't really feel bad anymore since he knew they were monsters and thus, he wasn't really causing any actual damage to mortals or demigods.

"Are you sure? I have never seen ANY son of Poseidon ever possess this ability. This is unprecedented. How did this happen?" she continued to rant.

"Gods know. Look, we can think about this later once we're out of this place but meanwhile, can I at least practice?"

"Fine."

Percy shifted his attention back to the creatures as he repeated the procedure only to fail each time.

...

Due to continuous use, Blood Control levelled up!

Blood Control: Level 2 + 1 = 3

Cost: 149 – 1 = 148 MP

Range: 12 + 2 = 14 levels above.

...

By the time Percy was done, Alecto had calmed down and even sported a sinister smile on her face. She watched with rapt attention as each creature convulsed in pain before its heart burst and sprayed the liquid all over the ground making her glad, she was away from the filthy liquid.

"You know, I have to appreciate this sort of punishment. If you joined our torturers, I'm sure you'd end up being the finest of the lot. Controlling the very liquid running in someone's veins and being able to do anything with it is an incredible power. It's also fun," Alecto said, still captivated by the grotesque scene in front of her.

"No thanks," Percy denied immediately.

He then deactivated his power as his eyes returned to their natural sea-green colour.

"Let's go ahead, I want to see this again," Alecto insisted. It was a truly beautiful sight. No matter how many times she saw it, it amazed her each time.

"This isn't a show for you," Percy replied as they walked to the next floor.

...

Rewards:

XP: 20 x3 = 60

XP: 4,656 + 60 = 4716 / 7,290

...

Notification 2

...

Floor 3 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 3 (Small)

Continue to Floor 4?

Accept / Decline?

...

The answer was obvious as Percy proceeded to the next floor. He continued practicing the skill for the next 2 floors until he had enough of the macabre sight in front of him while Alecto had a field day and kept giving him unnecessary torture tips, which was something he didn't want to remember. He did get some benefits out of it, though, so he did not complain much.

...

Rewards:

XP: 20 x 4 = 80

XP: 4,716 + 80 = 4,796 / 7,290

...

Notification 2

...

Floor 4 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 4 (Small)

Continue to Floor 5?

Accept / Decline?

...

Notification 3

...

XP: 20 x 5 = 100

XP: 4,796 + 100 = 4,896 / 7,290

...

Notification 4

...

Floor 5 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 5 (Small)

Continue to Floor 6?

Accept / Decline?

...

Notification 5

...

Due to continuous use, Blood Control levelled up!

Blood Control: Level 3 + 2 = 5

Cost: 148 – 2 = 146 MP

Range: 14 + 4 = 18 levels above.

...

Percy took a breather as he wrapped up Floor 5 and sat near the stairs leading to the next floor. He was satisfied with the way his stats had gone up with Blood Control. Even though it was still low compared to his other skills, he was able to at least practice it without feeling guilty. He brought up the skill menu again to give it a glance.

He could not use Bond Manipulation properly since he still faltered. He'd need Hestia's help for this which gave him an idea of getting the goddess along with him for dungeon crawling. She could also let loose a little without any repercussions. He was sure that there'd be millennia worth of stress that she'd be blowing off. Their family wasn't exactly the easiest to deal with after all.

The next skill that caught his eye was Ice Control which he still had to use in active combat. He had not used it for anything except turning water into ice and turning them into small shards to kill monsters. He could try something here as a few ideas started flowing through his mind.

Once he reached the central cavern again, he closed his eyes to reach out for his Water and Ice powers and called them forth.

Percy then summoned a few bottles of water and placed them on the ground. He proceeded to call the water and floated it above him. With that done, he pulled on his Ice Control powers, changing the colour of his eyes from sea-green to bluish-green and rapidly cooled the water until a big block of ice now sat in front of him.

...

Skill Activated!

Water Control (Level 20)

MP: 1,050 – 31 = 1,019

...

Notification 2

...

Skill Activated!

Ice Control (Level 6)

MP: 1,019 – (95 MP/min x 5 mins) = 1,019 – 475 = 544 MP

...

Seeing his MP getting lower, he summoned a bottle of water and proceeded to pour it over himself.

...

Son of the Sea god Perk Activated!

HP: 950 + 2,000 = 2,950

MP: 1,050 + 2,000 = 3,050

STR: 26 + 2 + 20 = 48

DEX: 20 + 2 + 20 = 42

VIT: 20 + 20 = 40

...

Notification 2

...

VIT Bonus Activated!

HP: 2,950 + (50 x 2) = 3,050

...

Percy swiped the screens away, focusing on the task at hand. He reached out and felt the ice block sitting in front of him. He imagined them slowly turning into multiple small shards. Sure enough, the ice responded as it slowly began cracking and thousands of cuts ran through it. It cracked and broke until at last, Percy was satisfied with the result.

...

Skill Activated!

Ice Manipulation (Level 3)

MP: 3,050 – (122 MP/min x 10 mins) = 3,050 – 1,220 = 1,830 MP

...

He raised the shards high in the air and rained them down on the six goblins present in the middle. For those watching, it was truly a beautiful sight as many small blue crystals rained down from the heavens as though snow was falling. However, the same couldn't be said for those on the receiving end. The shards punctured the creatures in multiple places as it constantly rained down, not giving them a moment of respite.

Once it was done, all that remained were mangled bodies with dark shards protruding from almost every place whilst some blue ones remained embedded on the ground.

...

Rewards:

XP: 20 x 6 = 120

XP: 4,896 +120 = 5,016 / 7,290

...

Notification 2

...

Due to continuous use, Ice Control levelled up!

Ice Control: Level 6 + 1 = 7

Cost: 95 – 1 = 94 MP

...

Notification 3

...

Due to continuous use, Ice Manipulation levelled up!

Ice Manipulation: Level 3 + 1 = 4

Cost: 122 – 1 = 121 MP

...

Percy swiped the screen and walked towards the next floor, ready for the challenge.

...

Floor 6 Cleared!

Rewards:

Bronze Nugget x 6 (Small)

Continue to Floor 7?

Accept / Decline?

...

Soon, Percy had cleared Floor 10 whilst trying a variety of techniques and testing out new battle strategies. Whilst some ended up failing, many of them worked well. However, he knew he was still lacking since his fighting style was dependent on swords only and he needed to train with another weapon to use in dire situations. He couldn't depend on his other skills and abilities throughout the time. Plus, he had to prepare for the worst, something that Athena had taught him. Make plans for every situation – from the best to the worst whilst keeping special emphasis on the latter so if he was prepared for the worst, he could handle almost every other situation.

He gave his stats a final look and sighed in content. His work didn't go to waste after all. Even though the increase seemed less, it was quite big actually since he needed live combat experience in order to realise what suited him and when to use which skill.

...

Skills

...

General :

Mage Armor: Level 6 + 2 = 8

...

Abilities :

Water Control: Level 20 + 1 = 21

Water Manipulation: Level 15 + 1 = 16

Blood Control: Level 1 + 4 = 5

Ice Control: Level 6 + 2 = 8

Ice Manipulation: Level 3 + 2 = 5

Fire Control: Level 13 + 1 = 14

Fire Manipulation: Level 10 + 1 = 11

...

Just then he looked at the notifications that had piled up. To summarise, his rewards till Floor 10 were:

...

XP: 5,016 + (20 x 7) + (20 x 8) + (20 x 9) + (20 x 10) = 5,016 + 140 + 160 + 180 + 200 = 5,696 / 7,290

Bronze Nugget: 55

...

It wasn't that bad since he got some XP, but he hoped that it would increase once he went to the lower floors since he really needed to be prepared before the quest.

He brought down the menu and pressed the exit button. Immediately, a staircase simmered into existence which Percy gratefully climbed up and reached the fresh night air. Wait. Night air? Wasn't it supposed to be afternoon? That meant that he was in the dungeon for approximately a day, but it felt as though he had spent very little time there. However, now that he was out and the adrenaline had receded, he felt fatigue set in. It was almost as if he trained for two to three days continuously. Things weren't adding up here.

On one hand, he had been in the dungeon for a day. On the other hand, it felt as though time had barely passed in there but now that he was out, his body had the same feeling as it did after he trained for 2-3 days. This indicated that there was more than one variable at play. The most straightforward answer that he could jump on was the fact that the time went twice as quickly compared to the real world and that it felt he had spent less time inside. If this was true, Percy could end up increasing his endurance and stamina thereby increasing the amount of time he could fight.

He decided to leave the thinking for later since he was too exhausted at that moment. He slowly trudged to his cabin and was out immediately. He would need to go again soon.

~Somewhere~

"Why do I need to go?" a voice yelled at the other figure.

"Because it is as clear as it can get!" another voice replied calmly.

"No, I will not go or endanger the others."

"Believe me, I tried my best. I spent a long time on this, and this was the only conclusion I reached. I had to tell him about it and even though he is reluctant about it, he has decided to send you."

"No, I don't care what he says," the first figure said angrily.

"This is important. Normally I would oppose him but right now, we need to heed their words."

"They really had to mess things up, didn't they? All this started ever since he appeared."

"Now, now, don't bring him in this," the second figure said.

"What's gotten into you? When did you, of all people, started siding with him?"

"I'm not and you know it. Don't try to change the topic now. Do you want to discuss this, or should I go?"

"Fine, tell me once again from the start and then I will see whether I want to go or not."

The second figure just sighed at this. Looks like they were alike in a lot of ways.

"The tides, the m...."

x.x

Percy's Stats

Perseus Jackson

Species : Demigod (gives +2 STR and +2 DEX)

Title : Son of Poseidon

Perseus is the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. Blessed by Elpis, the spirit of hope, he has a natural affinity with water due to his heritage which grants him control over water, horses, storms and earthquakes. He is also Hestia's champion which grants him control over fire and lets him summon meals.

...

Level - 17

Exp – 5,696 / 7,290

...

HP : 950 / 950 (+ 2,000)

MP : 1,050 / 1,050 (+ 2,000)

...

STR : 26 (+ 2 + 20) (Bonus : Weapon damage - Damage + STR | Unarmed damage - STR * 2)

VIT : 20 (+ 20) (Bonus : 50 HP per 10 levels)

DEX : 20 (+2 + 20) (Bonus : +10% HP regenerated / min)

INT : 30 (Bonus : 50 MP per 10 levels)

WIS : 21 (Bonus : +10% MP regenerated / min)

LUC : 26 (Bonus : +14% chance of better loot)

Points : 22

Money : $37,200 / D520

...

Status : Demigod

...

Skills

...

Combat :

Sword Fighting (Level 20)

...

Inherited :

Ancient Greek (Max)

Tongue of the Old Times (Max)

Modern English (Level 35)

Swimming (Level 11 - 13 km/hr)

Breathe Underwater (Max)

Akachan Shiru no Me (Max)

Running (Level 10 - 40 km / hr)

Storms (Level 4)

Earth Shaker (Level 3)

...

General :

Observe (Level 4)

Sneaking (Level 6)

Critical Strike (Level 7)

Mark of the Furies (Level 8)

Mage Armor (Level 8)

Summon Meals (Max)

Makarios tis Elpis (Level 3)

Battle Strategy (Level 7)

Bond Manipulation (Level 1) (Purple: Romance, Brown: Family, Red: Dislike/Hatred, Blue: Friends, Grey: Neutral)

...

Chores :

Cleaning Dishes (Max)

...

Passive :

Gamer's Mind (Max)

Son of the Sea God (Gives +20 STR, VIT & DEX as well as +2000 HP and +2000 MP when in water)

Battle Instincts (Max)

Champion of Hestia (to be declared)

...

Abilities :

Water Control (Level 21)

Water Manipulation (Level 16)

Blood Control (Level 5)

Dimension Create (Max)

Ice Control (Level 8)

Ice Manipulation (Level 5)

Steam Control (Level 5)

Fire Control (Level 14)

Fire Manipulation (Level 11)