Son of Kaos (PJO Chaos Gacha)

[Yohnos]

Interesting, I'm quite curious about the past now, was there war between pantheons? I assume the Roman Gods fought The Celts among others things.

Great stuff

 

[Bakkughan]

CHAPTER 17

​

---

For the first few miles, neither of us said much.

Zoë had unfolded the map again, though I doubted she'd read much of it. I kept catching myself glancing over at her, only to find her doing the same. After that, I wisely decided to keep my eyes on the road. There were plenty of other things to occupy my attention after all.

"Do you think he was telling the truth?" I eventually asked, "that guy back at the diner, I mean."

Zoë looked up from the map. "About what?"

"My brother. Being safe."

She considered that for a moment, her fingers resting against a fold in the paper.

"I believe that, whatever the fate of the Ophiotaurus may be, he wished us to go to Bear's Lodge."

"Yeah, I got that much. I'm just… wondering whether we shouldn't have asked a few more questions before doing what he wanted."

"Would he have answered them?" she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not," I admitted.

I still didn't even know the guy's name. Asking probably would've just earned me a question about whether I'd ever considered what a name truly meant or some cagey crap like that, and I wasn't sure I could've sat through that without doing something... ill-advised to his coffee.

She nodded, then looked back down. There was something tired about the movement that made me regret bringing him up again; there had been rather more to that conversation for her than there was for me after all.

Before I could think of something else to say, she reached across and tapped a point on the map.

"This road will take us out of the reservation. From there, we continue west." She explained as I nodded, eager to get back on the road again.

We'd already wasted enough time driving in circles and the thought of my brother alone on a mountain with Orion somewhere behind him certainly didn't help. The scenery changed around us as we drove, open country giving way to stretches of wooded hills.

At one point, I noticed Zoë flexing her fingers against her knee.

"Any better?"

She glanced towards me.

"Your blessings," I clarified. "We're off the reservation now."

"A little," she said, though she didn't sound particularly pleased about it. "Less than I had hoped."

"Guess the local gods care less about the state lines than we do." I shrugged.

"Perhaps." Zoë admitted after a long pause, flexing her hand a few times before firmly taking hold of the bow lying across her lap and we drove on in silence.

The light had already begun to fade by the time Bear's Lodge came into view. The so-called Devil's Tower rose above the surrounding hills like an enormous pillar, its broad, flat top catching the evening light while the lower slopes lay in shadow. Long grooves ran down its sides, too straight and deep to look entirely natural, and I found myself remembering the stranger's fingers curling against his mug as he described the bears trying to claw their way up.

Looking at it, I could understand why people had believed such a story.

'I can see a route to the top, should be a doable climb.'

That realisation distracted me enough that I almost missed Zoë speaking. [Mountain Ascending Enhanced] kept finding little ledges amongst the grooves, whispering in my ear with absolute certainty where to brace a foot or wedge a hand before reaching for the next one, despite never having seen this mountain before in my life.

I'd been rather underwhelmed when killing Sirius earned me something that sounded like it belonged on a summer camp brochure. Apparently I should've learnt by now that my father had a better idea of what I might need than I did.

"Ethan."

"Sorry, what?"

"Below the trees. To the right."

I followed Zoë's gaze, letting my [Hawk Eyes] pick out the movement amongst the pines. A massive hound crossed between two boulders, its heavy chest and broad head briefly clear of the trees. Another followed, shoulders high enough to reach the truck's windows. Further along the slope, more prowled around the Tower's base or stood staring up at the rock above them.

"Sirius's pack." I muttered, hands tight on the steering wheel.

"What remains of it," Zoë said, reaching for her bow.

I looked towards the summit and for a few seconds I saw nothing but stone. Then a head appeared above the rim, small enough at that distance that I might have missed it without the blessing.

A pair of horns, large dark eyes, and beside them a loop of tail briefly curling over the edge.

"There! He's up there." I said as I leaned forwards despite knowing it wouldn't help me see any better.

Zoë followed my gaze, just barely catching sight of him before he disappeared again.

"How did he..." I began, then trailed off as I remembered the story the lanky native man had told us.

I glanced at Zoë. "You think our friend from the diner had something to do with that?"

"It would explain his choice of story."

"Would've been nice if he'd mentioned it." I looked back at the hounds. Several had started moving towards us. "Well, unless those bastards have learnt to climb, we should be able to get ahead of them."

Zoë was already bracing a hand against the dashboard when I pressed down on the accelerator and Arion surged forwards.

The first hound reached the road before we did, turning to face us with its teeth bared. I had a brief, unpleasant view of its open mouth before Arion's bumper struck it, and then there was a heavy jolt and golden dust sweeping over the bonnet. Something hit the passenger side a moment later, hard enough to rock us in our seats. Zoë swore under her breath and caught the door while I steered us off the road towards the base of the Tower.

Branches scraped across the windows. I kept my foot down, clipping another hound with the truck's front corner before a third hooked its forepaws over the flatbed. Its sheer weight dragged us sideways. I caught its enormous head in the mirror and wrenched the wheel, throwing it off before it could climb aboard.

By the time we stopped beside the fallen rock at the base, there were hounds approaching from both sides.

I put the truck in park and flipped open the guard over the anti-monster package's switch.

"Let's hope this is as good as they said," I muttered, pressing it.

A row of lights came on across the panel. Beneath them, a bronze steering-wheel symbol lit up, and the wheel turned a few degrees without my touching it. I took my foot off the pedal and watched the engine rev on its own, then unlocked the doors.

"Out. Quickly."

Zoë put an arrow through the first hound to come around her side. I got out into the path of another, catching it with an [Adamantine Fist] before its jaws could close around my arm. The blow sent it sprawling, but two more were already coming up behind it, when something heavy shifted inside Arion's flatbed.

The hounds hesitated at the noise.

Bronze shutters snapped across the windows. Plates slid down to cover the exposed parts of the wheels, followed by long metal shafts extending from beneath the chassis. Their tips unfolded into spearheads, locking into place with a series of hard clicks until approaching the truck meant finding a way through several feet of sharpened celestial bronze.

I stared as the panels in the flatbed drew apart.

Two heavy weapons swivelled on a turning column, cogs drawing their strings back while bolts dropped into place from a pair of magazines. The whole thing swivelled past me, following a hound that had been trying to approach from behind.

The bolt took it in the chest and pinned it to the ground. It was still dissolving when the second crossbow fired.

"Oh, the second those kids come of age, I'm gonna buy them so much booze it'll give Dionysus an aneurysm." I said wholeheartedly.

Orange light shone through Arion's grille, illuminating the ground ahead of him while meters-long spouts of sharp-smelling flame burst from his tailpipes. A hound lunged for the turret, only for the truck to swing beneath it and catch it on the spears along his side. The crossbows were already winding back, tracking the rest of the pack as it scattered amongst the boulders.

Zoë caught my sleeve.

"Come. Before they remember us."

I gave Arion's roof a grateful slap and followed her towards the wall.

The noise of the crossbows continued behind us as we scrambled over the fallen stone. By the time we reached the first vertical stretch, the hounds were keeping their distance from the truck, darting between cover while he turned to deny them a clear approach. I doubted the Hephaestus cabin had given him an unlimited supply of ammunition (though probably not for lack of trying), but he was certainly making good use of what he had.

Zoë slung her bow across her back and started climbing. I followed beside her, hands and feet finding their places with an ease that was almost unsettling. I'd never climbed anything like this in my life, yet I seemed to know what to do before I'd even looked for the next hold.

After the first few yards, I had already moved ahead of the huntress.

Zoë glanced up as I passed her. "Since when canst thou do this?"

"Since Sirius tried to eat me."

She considered that, then shook her head and reached for the next crack.

"Thy blessing, the one for mountain climbing. I suppose I should have expected such an answer."

"To be fair, I wasn't expecting to need it either."

I braced myself above a smoother section and offered her my hand. She looked at it for a moment before accepting, pulling herself up beside me one-handed with an effortlessness that made me look twice at her. I'd seen what she could do with Artemis's blessings intact, but apparently I'd misunderstood just how much of her strength remained even when deep in Native land.

She was skilled, too. Watching her, I could see the care she took with each movement, shifting her weight without wasting effort and testing anything that might give beneath it.

I simply didn't need to think about most of that.

It felt almost unfair, though I wasn't about to complain while my brother was waiting at the top.

We climbed quickly, stopping only where the rock forced us to find a different route. Sometimes I went ahead to give her a hand. Neither of us spoke much beyond what we needed to tell the other. The higher we went, the more exposed we became, and I was very conscious of how little either of us could do if something started dropping rocks from above.

The crossbows had fallen silent below us. I glanced down during a brief pause and could just make out Arion turning amongst the boulders, his headlights sweeping over drifting patches of golden dust, proudly belching flames like a dragon of steel and rubber. Nothing was pursuing him anymore.

A shower of sparks burst beside my face. I flinched and tightened my grip on the rock as the scroll unfurled above the ledge, presenting its writing with enthusiasm.

[Combat Achievement Recognized]

[Total Destruction of Sirius's hunting pack!]

[Reward: Silver Ability Drachma.]

[Rewards Dispensing]

The parchment straightened proudly, its lettering growing a little larger when I failed to respond immediately. A silver drachma dropped out of the empty air above it. I caught it, feeling its weight settle heavily against my palm.

"Very impressive," I muttered. "Could've waited until I wasn't hanging off a mountain though."

A gust caught the scroll before it could respond (not that I thought it would even if it could, I knew it well enough at this point). It hastily curled its edges and ducked into the sheltered space between Zoë and the rock.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Dad approving of my sweet ride." I shifted onto the ledge beside her.

Whatever waited at the summit, another Ability might be rather more useful than a coin in my pocket. Bracing one shoulder against the stone, I balanced the drachma on my thumb and flicked it upwards.

A swirling vortex of void sprang into existence around it.

For an instant, there was a miniature black hole hanging beside the mountain, and something impossibly vast noticed me. I felt that brief recognition from my father, as immediate as somebody resting a hand on my shoulder, before the coin vanished and the vortex closed.

Light formed above my head. A simple outline of a clenched fist appeared, repeated ahead of itself in smaller shapes, with straight lines marking their path. It hung there like a claiming symbol while the feeling of the blessing settled into place.

The scroll peered out from behind Zoë, then unrolled to show me what I'd received.

[OFFERING SILVER ABILITY DRACHMA.]

[Fist Projection]

|Rare Ability|

Allows you to launch projections of your fist by punching. The more energy you use, the stronger and larger the launched projection. You can use this at close range to amplify the power of your physical attacks, or launch projections to take enemies down from afar while still using your physical strength. The base power of the projections is equal to your physical strength.

"Oh, I can work with that." I muttered as a grin began to form on my face.

"What does it do?" Zoë asked curiously beside me.

"Lets me punch things without having to stand next to them." The symbol faded above me as I spoke, leaving the familiar certainty of a new blessing behind. "Or punch them harder when I am standing next to them. Both sound useful."

Zoë glanced towards the summit. "Let us hope thou hast no need of it just yet."

Which was of course when a frightened sound carried down from the summit.

I looked up sharply.

"Careful," Zoë said, close beneath me.

"I know." I said through gritted teeth as I forced myself to check the next hold before putting my weight on it.

Knowing that falling would help nobody didn't make it any easier to listen when the sound came again. My brother was crying up there. We were only a short distance from the top when I heard a man's voice answer him.

"Hold still, would you? You're only tightening it."

I stopped beneath the rim, heart hammering for reasons that had very little to do with the climb. Zoë saw my expression and drew closer. I waited until she was almost level with me before raising my head above the edge.

The Ophiotaurus lay on his side near the opposite end of the summit. Rope pinned his forelegs against his body and bound his coiled tail beneath him, leaving him unable to do much beyond twist helplessly against the knots. A man crouched beside him, finishing another loop.

"Well, that was a nuisance," he remarked, giving the rope a tug. "Never had to hogtie something with a snake for an ass before."

My brother lowed again. The man ignored him and rose to his full height.

Even with the stories I'd been told of him, said height was still more than I'd expected.

He must have been ten feet tall, broad and muscular enough that the Ophiotaurus looked small beside him, clad in a black leather hunting outfit that wouldn't have been out of place on the set of a Blade movie. He could've passed for a very handsome human if there'd been nobody standing nearby to provide a sense of scale.

The huge black bow across his back had more strings than I knew what to do with, all running through little pulleys, while the polished bronze grip was studded with dials and buttons. His dark hair was shaved close at the sides and swept up into spikes and combined with a handsome face and easy smile, the giant just oozed "bad boy" energy.

Then he turned towards us and I noticed his eyes.

Bronze mechanisms filled both sockets, focusing rings turning around dark lenses with little clicks. For a second they reminded me of military night-vision goggles, until I realised there were no straps and the metal was set directly into his face. Red light swept over the rock towards me. As the lenses settled, it turned green.

Orion smiled.

It was a remarkably pleasant expression on a man I already was determined to kill.

"Up you come. I was beginning to wonder whether you'd make it."

I pulled myself onto the summit. Zoë came up beside me, reaching for her bow, but I barely noticed. My brother had lifted his head at the movement, and the sight of him trying to drag himself towards us with his legs bound made something unpleasant tighten in my chest.

"Let him go."

Orion glanced down at him, then back at me.

"I've spent rather too long trying to catch him to do that."

His eyes clicked towards Zoë, then returned to me. He was still smiling, though the hand resting on my brother's bindings had tightened enough to make the rope creak.

"I had hoped we might have a moment to speak, Ethan Creed. You killed my dog, you see..." the giant seethed through smiling teeth, his knuckles white and I stopped.

Beside me, Zoë brought an arrow to her string.

"He tried to kill us." I shot back.

"Yes, I imagine he did. I asked him to, after all." Orion said it pleasantly enough, almost as though we were discussing some minor inconvenience. "Sirius was a hunting hound after all. A very good one, as a matter of fact, something I recognized and nurtured in him from the day I found him as a pup. He stood beside me in the night sky for thousands of years, you know. Every night. Not many friendships can boast the same."

His jaw shifted beneath the smile. A little red light flickered across my chest before the rings in his eyes clicked and steadied it to green again.

"I'm sure you understand why I've been looking forward to meeting you."

There was nothing friendly about the way he was watching me. The effort he was putting into sounding otherwise made it worse. I glanced at his hand as the rope creaked again, and my brother gave a pained little cry.

"Then put him down," I said. "Your problem's with me."

"Indeed it is." He loosened his grip with visible care, smoothing a thumb over the rope. "Please believe that I intend to give it my full attention."

He reached down to lift the Ophiotaurus, and I ran at him.

I caught movement beyond his shoulder, something dark rising over the far edge of the Tower. Then [Martial Foresight] had me throwing myself sideways before I'd properly understood what I was even looking at.

A claw struck the ground between us, shattering the ground. Stone burst against my legs and I stumbled, one hand going down to catch myself while the other came up to protect my face. Behind me, Zoë's bowstring snapped. Her arrow passed above the pincer towards Orion, only for a long, hooked shape to whip through its path.

Pieces of the shaft fell onto the grass.

The tail curled back, revealing a stinger longer than my forearm. Beneath it, jointed legs gripped the edge of the summit and hauled an enormous armoured body into view. The claw in front of me shifted, its teeth scraping against the rock as the creature brought the other up beside it.

The Scorpion.

Of course the big bastard had brought the Scorpion.

Its body was longer than Arion, broad enough that Orion disappeared behind it as it climbed clear of the edge. Black plates overlapped along its back, ridges catching the last of the light, while the tail curved high above it. Bright green venom clung to the tip of the stinger. A drop fell from it onto the rock and began to hiss.

I got to my feet, my hand dipping into my coat pocket and pulling out a Speed Cola, downing it in hurried gulps as chemical electricity snapped across my veins.

Beyond the creature, Orion lifted my brother onto his shoulders. He did it easily, one hand holding the bound tail while the other steadied the Ophiotaurus's head. The movement drew another frightened cry, and I started forwards before I'd thought much about how to get around the thing between us.

The nearest claw swept towards me.

I ducked under it, drove my fist against the joint and tried to keep going. [Martial Foresight] warned me of the next movement, and with the Speed Cola working through me I was quick enough to act on it. A leg jabbed across my path, forcing me to turn. By the time I'd recovered, the other pincer was coming down, and I had to retreat to avoid being pinned beneath it.

Zoë's next arrow buried itself in the softer flesh behind that claw. The creature jerked the limb back, and I saw Orion looping a rope around an outcrop near the far edge.

"Zoë, he's getting away!"

"I can see him!"

She moved to get a clear shot, but the Scorpion turned with her, and the stinger came down so quickly that I only just caught the back of her parka in time. I dragged her sideways as the hooked tip struck where she'd been standing, pulling us both off balance. Venom splashed across the stone beside us.

A sharp, hot smell reached me. I looked down to find a small hole spreading through the hem of my coat and slapped the fabric away from my leg. Zoë caught my arm and pulled me further back before the tail could sweep through us.

When I looked towards Orion again, he was already stepping over the far edge.

My brother's head hung over his shoulder. For a moment, those large eyes found mine, and I could see how frightened he was.

"Wait!" I shouted after him, starting forwards again. "I'm coming!"

"Are you?" Orion glanced back at me, his smile widening as the Scorpion moved between us, interrupting my path.

"Best not make promises you can't keep, Ethan Creed."

Then he disappeared below the rim.

---

For a little while, I kept trying to rush past the Scorpion.

I knew Orion couldn't be far below us yet. If I could reach the rope, perhaps I could haul him back up, or climb down after him while Zoë covered me. I hadn't worked out the details. Every time I thought I'd found a way around the Scorpion, it turned and put another of its many limbs in the way, far too quick for its size.

Another claw swept across my path. I stepped inside it, punched the underside and immediately had to duck as the other came back towards its body. The pincers met behind my head with a hard crack.

I backed away from the next sweep and tried to punch before remembering that I was well out of reach.

[Fist Projection] answered anyway.

A fist formed ahead of mine, the projection taking on the same metallic sheen as my [Adamantine Fist] and crossed the gap, striking the claw with a heavy crack. I felt the effort of launching it, surprisingly little for a blow that made the whole limb shudder sideways, and hit it again as I moved.

Despite the heavy impacts, there wasn't a mark on the claw.

I stared at it. That had been all of my strength behind the blow (increased by 20% from [Combo] thankfully still counting the long-distance punches), including my [Hanma] blood and the enhancement from my Goku One-Star Uniform, with [Adamantine Fist] added on top. Most things I'd hit with that combination had turned into golden monster dust at this point.

"Ethan, come back!"

"There's room on this side!"

"For thee to fall off! Come back!"

I glanced down and found my boot very close to the edge. The Scorpion had maneuvered me around the mountaintop without my noticing, leaving me with its legs on one side and a drop of several hundred feet on the other.

An arrow struck above me. One of those legs buckled, giving me just enough space to get clear before the claw slammed into the rim. Rock broke away beneath it. I felt the impact through my feet as I scrambled back towards Zoë.

She caught my sleeve, her eyes searching my face.

"Thou wilt not help thy brother by letting that thing kill thee."

"I know."

"Then stop pretending you're just another dumb male by trying to run past it. Believe me when I, perhaps as no other save my Lady, can understand the haste thou now feelst, but we cannot save the Ophiotaurus until we prevail here. We must kill the Scorpion first."

I looked towards the far edge again, even though there was nothing to see now beyond the taut rope disappearing over it. She was right. I knew she was right, and it still took an effort to make myself turn back towards the creature.

"Alright," I said. "Alright. So… how do we actually kill it?"

Zoë glanced at the arrow protruding from the joint of its claw as the Scorpion slowly stalked from side to side across from us. Its legs moved in quick, jerking steps, never quite in time with one another, while the plates covering its body shifted and scraped together. Eight black eyes watched us from above a pair of claws large enough to cut either of us in half, its tail curled overhead with the stinger following our every movement.

It could have attacked at any point.

Instead, the creepy thing had been happy to stand there while we argued, as though waiting to see what we'd try next.

'It's enjoying itself.' I realized with horror.

Not only was the damn thing intelligent, it was being a cocky little shit too and as I looked at the single arrow we'd managed to stick into it, then at the shallow marks covering its armour from everything else we'd thrown its way, I could sort of see why.

"We must focus our attacks on the gaps where the armour meets. My arrows will not pierce the plates."

"Neither will my fists, apparently."

"Keep striking it, from afar if need be. Thy blessings will grant thee the power to strike true… eventually." Zoë said, though her hand tightened on her bow and the question of how many hits I'd actually need to finally get through the massive exoskeleton was left unsaid.

The tail shifted above us, cutting short anything else she might have said. [Martial Foresight] gave me the warning, and [Effective Activity] helped me turn out of the sting's path at the last second. I planted my foot and punched as it struck between us, sending another projection into the creature's front.

The impact was heavier than the last, [Combo] still building and I could already feel the next blow waiting as I backed clear of the green venom spreading across the rock, and when I punched again, the projection carried that extra force with it.

For the first time since Orion disappeared, I thought we might actually have a way to do this.

Zoë put another arrow into the creature while it was recovering. This one caught the edge of a plate and glanced away, but the Scorpion turned towards her, giving me a brief view of the lower part of its body. There was a narrow section beneath its head, partly hidden by the bases of the claws. The armour looked thinner there.

"Keep it looking at you!" I called out, feeling the Speed Cola hum in my veins as I lowered into a crouch.

She gave me a brief, distinctly unimpressed glance, then drew again.

I waited until the tail moved towards her before exploding into motion, getting in close to the massive beast.

The first punch landed cleanly, a picture perfect blow thanks to my [Hanma] blood maximizing my skill with [Kung Fu Mastery]. I kept the projection close, releasing it against the shell at the moment my fist connected, and felt the doubled impact travel up my arm. Despite the solid hit, one that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Wuxia movie that would shatter the ground and pierce the clouds, the plate still fucking held.

So I just struck it again. [Effective Activity] kept the movement tight, turning the recovery from one punch into the beginning of the next, while [Martial Foresight] warned me when the claw behind me started to fold in. I stepped closer before it could reach me and put more energy into the next projection.

It formed around my hand, larger this time, the metallic knuckles striking across the same section of armour. I could feel how much harder I was striking now with [Combo] building, and still the fucking shell held.

I hit it again before the claw could come back and this time something finally cracked.

My [Hawk Eyes] caught it immediately: a thin, pale line running across the plate beneath my knuckles. It wasn't much, but it was the first real damage either of us had managed to do, and I stayed for another punch when I probably should've been getting out.

The pincer folded back against its own side.

I caught it before it closed, one hand against each half, and for a moment managed to hold it open. Then the creature lifted the claw, taking my feet off the ground.

That was when I discovered it hadn't been putting much effort into closing it.

My arms began to bend. One of the teeth caught my coat beneath the armpit, pressing against my ribs as I tried to twist free. There wasn't enough room. The pressure kept increasing, and despite [Adamantine Fist] protecting my hands, my shoulders were beginning to make it very clear they hadn't received the same blessing.

"Zoë!" I tried to call out, but all the air had been physically pushed from my lungs, so it came out more as a desperate wheeze.

Her arrow struck the joint. The claw shuddered, its grip easing just enough for me to turn sideways and force myself through. Something sharp dragged along my flank. I felt the pain before my feet reached the ground, but I kept moving, throwing a short punch back towards its body as I stumbled. The projection struck between the claws, lighter this time, barely even doing anything to the monster's thick plates, but it was enough to keep [Combo] going while Zoë caught my arm and pulled me out of the tail's path.

I pressed a hand against my side.

It came away bloody.

"Let me see," she said.

"Not now." I looked past her as the Scorpion started towards us and I swore that if it had a mouth, it'd be grinning at us. "There's a crack. Under its head, a little to the left."

"Ethan—"

"I know. I stayed too long." I could hear how breathless I sounded and tried to slow down. "But I hurt it. If we can get back in there..."

Zoë looked at the creature, then at the blood running over my fingers. I took that hand away from the cut to send another projection into its shell before the nearest claw could rise. Whatever she wanted to say had to wait.

We separated before its pincer came down.

The Scorpion kept turning with us, forcing us away from the fracture with its claws. I'd expected something that large to tire, or at least become slower as we put more arrows into its joints, but it seemed perfectly happy to keep trying to corner us on the flattened mountain top, claws forcing us back whenever we tried to approach.

I settled into a rapid series of punches, sending fist after fist across the gap while I moved. Finally, being driven out of reach no longer meant starting over. As long as I had the energy to keep punching and something to hit, I could keep [Combo] going indefinitely.

The first few had barely disturbed it. Now each impact knocked the body sideways, making its feet scrape for purchase, and little pockmarks began to appear where the projections caught its shell. Even then, the marks were shallow enough that I could barely see them when it turned.

The claws were another matter entirely. It kept them close to its front, angling their broad outer surfaces across the smaller plates whenever I tried to aim for those. A projected fist would strike one with enough force to swing it backwards, and the creature would simply bring it across again. The surface remained untouched.

All that force, every blessing I could bring to bear, and the only real breach in its armour was the narrow fracture I'd made with my fists pressed against it.

"Move left!" I called to Zoë.

She did, drawing as she went, and the nearest claw shifted to cover her angle. That gave me a clear view of the eyes clustered above its mouthparts.

I aimed for them.

The first projection struck squarely. Three of the glossy black eyes burst under the accumulated power of [Combo], collapsing into a disgusting mess of dark fluid and pale, stringy pulp. Goo splashed across the armour beneath them. The Scorpion lurched sideways, it's screech loud and piercing enough that it sent birds flying through the forest for miles around as it almost drove Zoë and I to our knees. I ignored the pain as I grit my teeth and kept punching. Its many limbs got tangled as the next two blasts slammed into the side of its head and drove it hard against the ground.

For a few seconds I was actually knocking the enormous bastard around, one blow lifting the front of its body before another rolled it onto a pair of folded legs. It was a considerable improvement over watching my attacks do nothing.

Then a claw came up between us.

The next projection struck that instead. So did the one after it. The Scorpion hauled itself upright behind its shield, ruined eyes leaking down its face, and swept the other pincer across the space in front of it, sending up a shower of gravel to keep me back. The tail could reach almost anywhere on the summit. Twice I thought Zoë was clear, only to see the sting lash sideways towards her instead of striking down as it had before.

She avoided the first. The second caught her shoulder as she turned, tearing through the silver parka and the clothing beneath it.

My stomach dropped.

"Did it get you?!"

"The side of the tail," she answered, already moving. "I am not poisoned."

I wanted to take a closer look, but a claw came between us before I could, forcing me back towards the edge. I stepped away from it and struck the pincer as it passed, hoping to turn it far enough to get inside. Instead, the Scorpion drove the limb sideways into my chest.

I hit the ground hard and slid.

There was barely enough time to notice where I was going before the ground disappeared beneath my legs. I grabbed for the rim, fingers catching a crack as the rest of me went over. Pain tore along my injured side. For a second all I could do was hang there, struggling to keep my hand closed while my boots scraped uselessly against the wall.

Then [Mountain Ascending Enhanced] gave me somewhere to put them.

I wedged one foot into a groove and shifted my weight onto it, freeing my other hand. As the creature leaned over the rim, I punched upwards. The projection struck its underside, briefly forcing it away from the edge and giving me a moment to catch another hold. Above me, Zoë shouted my name.

"I'm alright!"

A claw appeared over the edge.

The warning from [Martial Foresight] came just early enough for me to drop to a lower shelf before the rock beside my head shattered. Pieces struck my shoulders and back, and I pressed closer to the wall while the larger chunks fell past me. The claw withdrew, then came down again, tearing at the place I'd just left.

'Alright might have been optimistic.'

I worked sideways, using the cracks between the columns to keep out of reach. Whenever the pincer came down after me, I braced myself on the rock and hit it with a projection before moving again, desperate to keep within that three second window. My side was bleeding more heavily now. I could feel it every time I stretched for another hold, but stopping wasn't much of an option while the Scorpion was trying to throw me off the mountaintop.

Another arrow struck somewhere above me. The claw withdrew, followed by a scrape of feet, and I heard Zoë call out to draw it further away.

I started climbing before it could change its mind, sending a larger projection after the withdrawing claw. The fist burst against the rim and the limb above it, showering me with grit as I hauled myself up.

By the time I reached the rim, I was breathing hard enough that I had to pause for a moment before pulling myself over. Then I saw Zoë and forgot about catching my breath.

She had her bow wedged across an open pincer, both hands gripping it as she forced the claw to stay apart. The creature was pushing her backwards, her heels dragging through the dirt while her arms shook with the effort. She'd braced one foot against a stone, but it was sliding with her.

The strength required to hold it back at all would've impressed me under almost any other circumstances.

Unfortunately, the tail was already curling towards her.

I sent a projection into the base of the raised tail. It jolted the limb, buying a moment, but I couldn't get a clean angle for another with Zoë beneath it. There was a leg within reach, though, and a seam between two plates just above it. With incredibly lightness, as if I was being suspended by wires, I stepped onto the first and caught the second, dragging myself up the creature's side while its movements threatened to shake me loose.

"Ethan!"

"I see it!"

I scrambled across its back and drove my fist into the base of the tail, releasing a projection against the joint as I connected.

The sting went wide. It struck beside Zoë, close enough that she flinched, but the Scorpion's reaction loosened its grip and she wrenched her bow free before retreating. I barely had time to be relieved before the body beneath me twisted violently.

I caught a ridge of armour and held on.

Being on top of it had seemed a reasonable way to avoid the claws. I'd given rather less thought to how far back the tail might be able to bend, and the answer turned out to be more than I would've liked.

The stinger came towards my face.

I felt the warning from [Martial Foresight] and twisted, but there wasn't enough room. Knowing where the sting would land didn't give me anywhere safe to move. The tip caught the outside of my upper arm and punched through before I could drag myself clear. I felt it tear free as the tail recoiled, leaving a hot, wet pain that ran from my shoulder towards my elbow.

Bright green fluid stained the torn sleeve.

For a moment I simply stared at it. Then the burning started to spread, and my knees almost buckled underneath me as it truly began to dawn on me just how fucked I was.

"Damn it!" I cried out as I pressed the arm against my body.

Hurriedly, I drove a short projected punch into the shell beneath me and shifted before the sting could come down again. Even with [Effective Activity], the movement cost me my footing. I slid over the edge of its back, catching a seam with my good hand while one leg dangled amongst its feet.

"Stay there!" Zoë called.

"Not planning on going anywhere!" I called back, my mind oddly lucid despite (or perhaps because) of the burning pain radiating outward from my wounded arm.

She was moving towards its front. In trying to dislodge me, the Scorpion had raised one side of its body, exposing the damaged plate beneath it. I saw her draw, watched the arrow strike, and for a moment thought she'd found the opening.

Her arrow struck the fracture dead-on, punching through just far enough for the head to disappear beneath its armour. Then the Scorpion shifted and the shaft snapped, leaving the arrowhead buried barely beneath the surface and Zoë swore.

The Scorpion slammed itself sideways, and this time my hand slipped.

I hit the ground on my back. Something struck the stone beside my head before I could recover, and I rolled away without stopping to see which part of it had nearly killed me. A hurried punch sent a projection into its belly as I turned, scoring another hit before the strength behind my blows could fade. By the time I got to my knees, Zoë was there, pulling me up with one hand while keeping her eyes on the creature.

"I could not put enough power into the shot," she said, sounding furious with herself. Then she saw my sleeve. "Did it sting thee?"

"Caught my arm." I barely managed to gasp.

She reached for it, her expression changing as she saw the green amongst the blood.

"No… oh no, Ethan! We must—"

A claw struck between us before she could finish. We retreated together, and I flexed my hand to make sure the arm still worked. It hurt, but I could move it. For the moment, that would have to be enough.

"It's just like you said. We need to kill it first," I panted and already sweat was pouring down my face. "Then we can deal with this."

I meant it. I simply wasn't sure how many more attempts we had left.

---

AN: I didn't intend for this chapter to be such a cliffhanger, but looking at what I've all got planned, it just got way too long for a single upload. Also, I've been sick all week, this gives me the opportunity to expand and polish the rest of the fight scene and set up the final leg of this Arc. Which actually has me curious: we've been in this Quest for quite some chapters now and I was wondering how you guys felt about that? Does it feel like the story has begun to drag? Should I 'rush' the last leg of the Quest, or is this pace appropriate? Please do let me know (maybe over on my Discord?)

 

[Bakkughan]

Interesting, I'm quite curious about the past now, was there war between pantheons? I assume the Roman Gods fought The Celts among others things.

Great stuff

Click to shrink...

Yeah similar to the Trojan War, wars between humanity's peoples also translate to war between their respective pantheons

 

[aokway]

Fist Projection

Click to shrink...

Did someone say "weakness removal"?
His last issue in combat was the range limit
He no longer has that anymore(ok there are still weaknesses but not any obvious ones
He literally has multiplicative combat growth
He only needs a few more traits and abilities to turn it exponential
Then things are gonna get really crazy

The base power of the projections is equal to your physical strength.

Click to shrink...

Huh
Considering it's punches that probably refers to the fists specifically
The boosted nigh indestructible fists
This is reaching Baki levels of bullshit synergy
Literally everything builds on top of eachother
Hey considering it's "energy" could this let him punch ghosts?

Does it feel like the story has begun to drag?

Click to shrink...

Ehh not really
It's taking a long time but every chapter has meaningful progress
If you split the chapter up into smaller bits but took the same time I would say it's starting to drag
But because every chapter puts a meaningful step forward in plot progression it just feels like we need to be patient


Also
Can someone make a character sheet?
Considering we're gonna reach a "boss battle" soon it'd be nice to see just how much everything compounds off eachother

 

[UglyMonster17]

Hmm,i dont know…Good chapter no doubt about that the only thing i got to say is that it felt(to me) a bit like you made him weaker than he should…I dont know if I am making sense like the the new abilty as an example(other that he doesnt try to hit orion with it as he is running away because he "forgot") doesnt say that it travels in a straight line so it "should" be possible to curve around barriers(it can easly explained as user error or a different interpetration) but the efficient movement seem too weak(to me) if I am not remebering wrong it says that if should be more effective that it seem like I understand orion but somtimes he as problems even with "weaker" enemies…now i found it here:

Effective Activity]
|Epic Trait|

Your movements, attacks and actions are always effective, landing where they need to land and dealing what they need to deal. Every swing connects, every dodge works, every manoeuvre pays off. Some beings can still resist and it may not work on targets well above your level

Click to shrink...

I would belive orion but a target well above your level shoulnt be one that you can defeat like sirius he had some many problems with a pack of monster that with the right dodging and hitting he would have exterminated and I understand that too much too fast power doesnt seem like your plan but i would advise/caution…?(i dont feel this are the right words) to not "nerf"(another wrong words but the most direct because it doesnt feel really like a "nerf") the given abilities too much(than again you are free to do as you wish and interpret them as you like dont let me stop you) because in this epic trait it says :"always effective,…some beings can still resist and may not work on targets well above your level"and reading it unless they have some strange power that makes it it always hit,doging should need even more power above his level to "disable" this trait.
Sorry if it seem like I am not liking this story but it is not true in fact i am loving it keep up the good work.
Sorry again for my probably many mistakes english isnt my main language.

 

[ENDDRAGON]

Allows you to launch projections of your fist by punching. The more energy you use, the stronger and larger the launched projection.

Click to shrink...

MC can probably pull a Saint Seiya.

 

[Bakkughan]

CHAPTER 18​

​

---

The venom had reached my shoulder by the time I noticed how dark it had become.

I could still see the Scorpion well enough, (un)fortunately. Its claws scraped across the rock as it approached, the remaining eyes hatefully fixed on us while its tail swayed overhead. Finding that little fracture beneath its head was becoming considerably harder, even with [Hawk Eyes], and I needed to find it. Somewhere in there was the arrowhead Zoë had managed to bury in its armour. If we could get another clean shot at it, perhaps we could finally put the miserable bastard down.

Assuming my arm kept working long enough to help.

Every few breaths the burning sensation from the venom tightened across my chest, forcing me to stop and work air back into my lungs before I could move again. It had been manageable (if unbelievably painful) when the stinger first caught me, thanks to the poison resistance in my [Hanma] blood. Now I was struggling to keep that arm raised at all, and the pauses between those cramps were getting shorter.

'We're… I'm running out of time…'

For a few seconds I couldn't get a proper breath, let alone lift my fist, and I hurriedly punched with my right before [Combo]'s three seconds ran out. The projection struck its claw hard enough to knock it aside, buying us room to retreat.

Zoë reached into her quiver and came back with one of the few arrows she had left. Her fingers were bloody, and the sleeve beneath her torn parka was dark from the wound in her shoulder. She caught me looking and adjusted her grip on the bow, clearly suppressing a wince as she set her jaw.

"I can still draw it. Do not worry thyself about me, Ethan. Just… stay with me now." She panted slightly and she couldn't keep her eyes from flitting towards the burning wound in my upper arm with badly disguised worry.

"Mostly I was wondering how long we've been up here," I said, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. I felt cold everywhere except the arm.

She glanced at my arm, then towards Orion's rope.

"Too long," she said quietly.

We hadn't been able to get near it since he'd left. By now he could be halfway down the mountain with my brother, and I couldn't even spare a moment to look for him without risking the strength I'd spent the entire fight building.

The Scorpion shifted to block our view of the rope.

'Oh, you smug fucking prick.'

I drove another projection into its front, desperately fighting down the growing desperation that began clawing at my mind, sapping my resolve (or that could just be the venom burning through my veins). The Fates were the only things I'd faced that had frightened me more than this monstrous arachnid, and even that was becoming closer than I would've liked.

At least with the Fates, no matter how outclassed I felt at the time, the backlash from their attack on my very Existence had visibly hurt and shook them. But with the Scorpion, nothing in mine and Zoë's combined arsenal even seemed to slow the big bastard down. Several arrows still protruded from its joints, three eyes were a pulped mess and shallow dents covered its shell.

But all of it, save the eyes, was just surface level damage. Even the lack of three eyes hadn't seemingly done much beyond pissing it off, considering it had five left. It kept stalking us around the summit as though it had all the time in the world. With that shit spreading through my body, it probably did.

I'd tried pulping the rest of its little hateful eyes too, but sadistic bastard it may be, the giant arachnid wasn't an idiot and had wizened up to hiding it's face behind those massive pincers, using the invulnerable thick slabs of dark chitin as shields. The plate beneath its head was still the only part of its armour we'd properly cracked, the only way we could hurt the softer flesh underneath that annoying armour.

"We need to get its front off the ground," I panted. "Give you another shot at that crack."

"And how dost thou plan on achieving that?" Zoë warned, her tone tinged with worry. "Thou canst barely stand, Ethan!"

"I open to a better idea. Or any idea at this point." I bit back as another spam shot out from my arm, wrecking my torso and almost dropping me to my knees.

She looked past me, judging the space beneath the claws. I kept punching while she did, forcing the creature to shield its damaged face. Every impact jarred its pincer backwards, but it kept bringing the damn thing up again before I could hit anything softer. Zoë moved to my left, drawing its other claw away, and for a moment I could see the broken shaft beneath its head.

That would have to do.

I lunged forwards, keeping the next projection wrapped around my fist as I drove it at the fracture. The Scorpion folded its pincer across its body just before I connected. The impact slammed the claw back against its head and lifted the creature off its front legs, sending it crashing down several yards away. Dirt and loose stone sprayed from beneath its belly.

Seeing it get smacked in the face with its own claws was immensely gratifying until I stared at the part of the pincer I had managed to hit. All that power, with [Combo] built up through God knew how many punches, and I still hadn't even chipped the fucking thing.

The joints, then. It had to be the joints or that cracked plate. I forced myself after it before it could recover, only for another spasm to wrench my left arm against my chest. My stride faltered and its other pincer swept into me as it lurched upright, catching me before I could regain my footing.

I would've been launched straight off the edge of the Devil's Tower if it weren't for Zoë catching me as I smacked into her and we hit the ground together.

She hurriedly rolled out from underneath me and got a knee beneath her, lifting her bow as the creature already bore down on us. I tried to stand as well, but my heel slipped on loose gravel, sending stones skittering over the edge behind me, and I realised we'd run out of summit again.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

The claw rose, blotting out a patch of newly visible stars, and I punched at it from the ground. The projection checked its descent for barely a second. I was already trying to throw another when a woman dropped between us and caught the pincer in both hands.

For a moment I genuinely wondered whether the venom had reached my brain.

Her feet slid backwards through the dirt, silver light spilling over the black shell beneath her fingers. The claw was forcing her down despite her efforts, and I kept firing into its body as a second woman landed beside her. Together they heaved it away from us, their pale dresses whipping about their legs as the Scorpion tried to wrench free.

More light fell across the summit. Two women seized its other claw while another pair caught its rear legs, dragging them apart before it could turn. The last landed on its back and grabbed the tail below the stinger. It nearly threw her off. She clung to it with both arms, bracing a foot against its shell as the hooked point swung past her face.

Seven women, all shining brightly enough that I could see every gouge we'd torn into the ground.

Beside me, Zoë had lowered her bow.

"Sisters?" she whispered.

"Sisters?" I echoed, baffled.

I looked from her to the woman struggling with the nearest claw, and seeing the seven light-covered figures struggle against the monstrous star sign, things finally clicked. The Pleiades. They'd come down from the actual fucking sky to help us.

"Get up, Zoë!" one of the stars called, looking back at her. "Quickly!"

Zoë rose, still staring. The Scorpion dragged both women sideways with a vicious jerk of its pincer, a hateful chittering that sent a shiver down my spine bursting from its clicking mouthparts.

Clearly, as much as it had enjoyed in taking us apart during the fight, this was personal to the giant monster, rage clear in the glittering depths of its remaining eyes. It's many limbs jerked and spasmed again and the woman who'd spoken first cried out before finding her footing again.

"Thy bow! We cannot hold it much longer!"

That got through to the stunned Huntress. Zoë brought the arrow back to her string while I pushed myself upright, firing a small projection into the exposed shell as I did. I couldn't afford to lose [Combo] now, however much I wanted to stand there gawping at our rescuers.

"Under its head!" I called. "The plate with the arrow in it. Can you lift it?"

The sisters at the front tightened their grips, forcing the pincers upwards and apart. Behind them, the other pair hauled back on its legs until its belly began to rise. The Scorpion shrieked, scrabbling for purchase with its free limbs, and the woman on its back nearly lost her hold as the tail thrashed. Green venom dripped across her dress. The fabric broke into sparks wherever it touched, and I could see the strain on her face as she twisted the stinger away from her shoulder.

I kept punching while Zoë drew beside me. Her injured arm shook with the effort, the point wavering until she took a deep breath and pulled the string the final inch to her cheek. Several of her sisters murmured something I couldn't catch, and silver light spread along the shaft. Zoë's eyes widened. Then she adjusted her aim, teeth bared as she held the draw.

I sent another fist into the Scorpion's belly and started towards it. We'd already tried this often enough to know what the other needed to do without needing to say a word.

The arrow whipped inches past my shoulder and struck the fracture with a crack that carried across the summit. A sliver of armour broke away. This time the shaft sank several inches into the plate, right beside the remains of her earlier shot, before the creature convulsed and bent it sideways.

It still hadn't gone deep enough, but I could see the opening around it.

"Hold it!" I shouted, ducking between the claws.

My first punch snapped the shaft and drove the head further in. The broken edges grated and splintered against my unbreakable knuckles as I caught the plate with my left hand, ignoring the pain long enough to brace myself beneath its body. I struck again, releasing a tight projection as my fist connected. The fracture spread, one edge lifting far enough for me to get my fingers beneath it.

The Scorpion tried to lower itself onto me and it would've flattened me if not for my [One Star Uniform] boosting my [Hanma] blessing. A leg scraped down my thigh and I shoved my foot against the ground, keeping my shoulder clear of its snapping mouthparts while the sisters fought to lift it again. Up close I could hear the wet clicking coming from inside its mouth, and the fluid leaking from its ruined eyes dripped onto my sleeve.

'Gross…'

I desperately wanted to get the fuck away from its slavering mouth, but I needed to stay close enough to put everything I had into each punch.

I hit the arrowhead again. My left arm shook so badly I could barely keep hold, but the right still worked and the plate was finally giving. A chunk broke beneath my grip, exposing the embedded heads of both arrows. I barely even had time to notice that one of them was still glowing faintly with silver starlight as I pulled back for another blow.

Just then, above me, one of the claws tore free.

"Ethan!" Zoë's desperate cry cut across the mountaintop.

[Martial Foresight] showed me exactly how the pincer would come down on my skull. Not even to squeeze it off my shoulders, it'd just smash it (and the better part of my torso) into pulp, like taking a sledgehammer to a watermelon. I could get out, probably, but the Scorpion was already twisting away from the sisters holding it. If I let it cover that opening again, I wasn't sure I'd have enough left in me to try a second time.

'Come on. Just one more.'

I planted my foot and drove forwards, [Kung Fu Mastery] carrying the movement through my hips and shoulder as I poured everything I had into [Fist Projection]. Metallic knuckles swelled around my hand, huge enough to cover the broken plate, and I slammed them into the arrowheads before the pincer could reach me.

The megaton punch blew through its armour.

My arm followed it almost to the elbow, burying both arrowheads somewhere deep inside the creature. Its shriek cut off. For an instant I could feel it clenching around my fist, then the entire body reared and dragged me off the ground.

"Oh, shit—!"

I tried to wrench myself free, boots kicking above its legs while broken shell caught my sleeve. Starlight poured out around my arm. The plate beneath my other hand crumbled, and I fell onto my knees as the Scorpion began to topple forwards.

I threw an arm over my head. Several seconds passed before I dared to lower it again.

Silver motes drifted through the space where its belly had been. Above me, the enormous shell was dissolving a plate at a time, each piece breaking apart before it could hit the ground. The freed claw scattered across my upraised hand. Its tail remained curled against the sky a little longer, then unravelled from the stinger downwards, leaving the sisters standing amongst the rising lights.

Starlight. Even dying, the bastard had to be special.

I tried to laugh and choked instead.

The cramp seized my chest so hard I folded over, my forehead nearly striking the ground. I'd stopped punching, stopped moving, and suddenly there was nothing to distract me from how far the venom had spread. I tried to draw breath. My back arched without my permission and a horrible sound came out of my throat.

'Ethan, you fucking idiot. You still have to survive this.'

The scroll appeared beside me in a shower of sparks.

[Combat Achievement Recognized]

[Star Sign defeated: SCORPIO!]

[Reward: Platinum Item Drachma.]

[Rewards Dispensing]

It held itself proudly upright until another spasm nearly drove my face into its writing. The parchment flinched back as a platinum drachma dropped into the dirt, and I slapped my good hand over it before it could roll away. Even picking it up hurt. The thing felt absurdly heavy between my fingers, far more so than the silver coin I'd spent during the climb.

'An Item... Please, Dad. Give me something I can use… Please…'

I fumbled it onto my thumb and flicked it into the air. A vortex opened almost against my face, swallowing the coin, and for a brief moment I felt that familiar attention settle on me from somewhere impossibly far away. I tried to hold onto it through the pain.

I couldn't tell if it had done anything as that enormous, unfathomable presence receded again and the void closed. Above my head, the outline of a ring appeared with a small shield worked into its band. Something metallic landed between my knees and the scroll hurried closer, almost shoving its golden lettering in my face.

[OFFERING PLATINUM ITEM DRACHMA.]

[Ring of the Paladin]

|Elite Item|

An enchanted ring worn by a legendary paladin, now infused with his prayers. This ring can hold a total of 3 charges and recovers a charge every hour. You can spend a charge to cast a Rare tier Heal on yourself or a target, grant a target any one Uncommon tier blessing like strength or agility, or bless an object with holy energy to create holy water or a temporarily blessed weapon effective against the unholy.

[Charges: 3/3]

I got as far as Heal before my elbow gave out.

The ground struck my shoulder and I rolled onto my side, knocking the ring away as I tried to breathe. My left arm was shaking uncontrollably. I grabbed it with my right, which accomplished precisely fuck all, but I couldn't seem to stop myself, my knuckles turning white as another spasm wrecked my body.

"Ethan!" Zoë dropped beside me, catching my shoulder. "Look at me! What must I do?"

"Ring," I gasped, trying to point. "There. Healing."

One of her sisters knelt on my other side, saying something I couldn't follow, but clearly hadn't been encouraging if Zoë's reaction was anything to go by.

"No! No, I will not accept that! This will work, it must work!" the Huntress almost snarled as she hurriedly snatched up the band.

She rapidly read the scroll, then caught my good hand and tried to uncurl my fingers, but my grip was like iron, fueled as much by stacking blessings of strength as the pain radiating outwards in waves from the ruins of my arm.

"Let go of thy arm. Ethan, let go!"

I managed it on the second attempt. She worked the ring over my finger, a heavy band of pale metal with a little shield engraved into its face. Watching her do it, I had the stupidest thought of my life, which was quite an achievement considering how said life had got me to this point in the first place.

"Bit soon for marriage," I wheezed, "haven't asked your dad for permission yet…"

Zoë looked up sharply. "If thou hast breath for jests, thou hast breath to tell me how this works!"

"Have to… spend a charge."

"Then do it!" Her fingers tightened around mine. "Please."

I tried. Normally my blessings answered as soon as I wanted them, but it was difficult to want anything coherently while my own muscles were trying to tear themselves loose.

"Look at me, Ethan." Zoë's voice broke through the haze clouding my thoughts.

I did, briefly. Her face was very close, her eyes wide and frightened in a way I wasn't used to seeing. I tried to apologise, only for my back to seize again.

"Stay with me. Focus on the power within ring. Think of what you wish it to do."

I wanted it to stop hurting. I wanted my arm to stop shaking and my lungs to work, and I was trying to put all of that into whatever part of me normally answered when I called on a blessing.

"Use the charge. Heal thyself." Zoë kept talking in that soft, scared voice, holding my hand between hers, and I focused on the ring as best I could.

Heal. That was all I needed it to do. Put everything back where it belonged and let me breathe again.

Finally, warmth spread from the band. I gasped as the muscles across my chest loosened. The cut along my side pulled closed beneath my ruined shirt, followed by the puncture in my arm. I could feel the bruising fade from my ribs. For a few wonderful seconds I lay there breathing, and I thought it was over.

My hand convulsed around Zoë's. Apparently patching the holes hadn't dealt with what the Scorpion had pumped through them, and it was already undoing the ring's good work. I felt another cramp begin to draw my back off the ground.

"Still there," I choked out. "The poison."

She looked down at my arm. The wound was gone, but the muscles beneath it had started twitching again, contracting visibly underneath the skin. Desperately, Zoë looked at the scroll. It had amended the charge count to two, then retreated behind her shoulder when I cried out again. She caught its lower edge before it could roll itself away.

'For a thing without eyes or a face, it looks almost… worried.' I thought lucidly, my mind fogging up again as the heat from the venom began to spread through my veins once more.

"The healing, can he use it again?" I heard Zoë press the magical scroll.

The line about spending a charge enlarged until it occupied most of the parchment.

"Again, Ethan." She turned back to me, holding my hand firmly between both of hers. "It has closed thy wounds. Use another charge for just the venom."

I could already feel the next cramp starting. The first Heal had stopped my body coming apart; I could feel the difference even while the poison started undoing its work. This time I held onto the burning itself, the ugly heat spreading from the place where the stinger had caught me, and spent a second charge.

The ring grew warm against my finger and that familiar soothing sensation returned.

Gradually, the pressure eased in my chest. My arm stopped shaking. I held my breath, waiting for the next spasm, until Zoë squeezed my hand and told me to breathe.

I did. Then again, cautiously. My arm stopped trembling against my chest and the burning began to ease, retreating until I could move my shoulder without feeling it at all.

"Ethan?"

"I think…" I swallowed. My throat felt raw. "Yeah. I think that did it."

She kept watching me, her grip firm enough that I could feel my fingers pressing together. I couldn't blame her. I wasn't quite ready to trust it either, and we stayed like that for several breaths before I finally let my head rest on the ground.

Strangely, I wasn't just rapidly beginning to feel better, but I was actually starting to feel… well, better. Even better than before. Something (my [Hanma] blood if I had to guess) in my body had shifted, grown stronger thanks to surviving the trauma and I had the feeling that the next time something were to try and poison me, they were in for a nasty surprise.

Hopefully though, there wouldn't even be a next time.

The scroll peered cautiously around her shoulder.

[Charges: 1/3]

"Thank fuck," I whispered.

It rolled up, apparently satisfied, then returned almost immediately with a cheery burst of sparks.

[Survival Achievement Recognized]

[You have survived the Scorpion's venom!]

[Reward: Silver Trait Drachma.]

[Rewards Dispensing]

The coin landed on my chest. It carried considerably more weight than its size would suggest, though less than the platinum one had carried. I caught it before it could slide off and looked towards the parchment, which had recovered its enthusiasm considerably faster than I had.

It tilted its writing towards me until I acknowledged the reward, then curled up beside my knee. Zoë sat back on her heels, still holding my hand, and let out a long, unsteady breath.

"I thought I-… thou stood on Hades' doorstep, Ethan. I feared it to be thy end," she said haltingly.

"Yeah." I looked down at the ring. "Felt like it, too."

I wanted to thank her properly. Something a little better than the marriage joke, preferably, but when I looked back at her I noticed the blood soaking through her sleeve. She'd been kneeling here trying to keep me alive with her own shoulder still torn open.

"Let me get that."

She followed my gaze. "It can wait. Thou should—"

"Zoë, I've got one charge left. Come here."

I sat up and put my ringed hand against her injured arm. It was much easier to concentrate without the venom burning through my veins and I could feel the last charge when I concentrated, a small warmth gathered within the band. I spent it before she could argue any further. She inhaled sharply as the wound closed beneath the torn fabric. The cuts across her fingers, where she had torn the skin from firing so many arrows, had healed too. She turned a hand over, flexing her fingers as the last of the light faded.

[Charges: 0/3] the parchment unrolled and helpfully provided.

"That's all three. An hour before we get another, so let's try to avoid anything else with venom until then."

Zoë flexed her hand again, then looked at me. "Thou art hardly in a position to lecture me about that."

"Oh don't worry, I was including myself in that."

A quiet laugh came from beside us. Zoë turned towards the sister still kneeling there, and her hand slipped out of mine as whatever she'd been about to say to me disappeared.

The woman was still kneeling beside us, her expression gentle as she watched Zoë take in her face. The others stood close by, silver light falling across the grass around their feet. Without the Scorpion trying to kill us, I could see the resemblance properly. The same dark eyes, a similar shape to the mouth, though her expression was much warmer than anything Zoë had greeted me with when we'd first met.

"Merope…" the Huntress barely dared to breathe and the woman reached for Zoë's face with a dazzling smile, gently pushing back the hair stuck to her cheek.

"I did not know if thou wouldst remember me," Zoë admitted.

"Oh, Zoë," her sister's smile faltered, "How could we ever forget thee?"

Zoë threw her arms around her. The first sob was muffled against the woman's shoulder, but the next was loud enough that the others hurried over. They helped her to her feet and gathered around her, each trying to hold her while Zoë turned from one to another, crying too hard to get more than a few words out.

I looked down and tucked the silver drachma into my pocket. They'd waited long enough for this without some blood-covered idiot sitting there staring at them. The scroll rolled itself away once more, apparently satisfied that I was going to stay alive long enough to use it.

My hands were steady now. It was difficult to reconcile that with how they'd been shaking a minute earlier, and I found myself checking my arm again, rubbing at the place the stinger had gone through. I could remember exactly how it had felt tearing out of me. Now there wasn't even a mark.

If it hadn't been for the poison resistance and sheer fucking grit I got from being a [Hanma], there was no doubt in my mind I would've died before the magic healing ring could've saved my life and even getting that had been a gamble.

I'd been lucky. Absurdly, undeservedly lucky, and I wasn't sure I liked how much of my continued existence depended on Dad giving me the right thing at the right time.

Still, I turned the ring around my finger and quietly thanked him.

There were only traces of the Scorpion left above us, scattered points of light drifting back towards the stars by the time Zoë had recovered enough to speak.

"I saw thee in the sky," she said. "So many nights, I looked for thee, but I did not think… I did not know thou couldst come down."

"We saw thee too," her sister answered. "We watched thee climb."

"Then why—" Zoë stopped herself, glancing towards the place where the Scorpion had fallen. "I am sorry. I did not mean…"

"We could not reach thee before nightfall." One of the sisters took her hand. "And… neither did we know if we would dare."

The admission made me look up.

The woman glanced towards the place where the Scorpion had fallen. Even with it gone, I could see the unease in her face.

"For millennia, we have watched for him. Every night, Orion behind us, his awful hound at his feet and that creature lurking in his shadow. We learnt where to look, when to flee, how close we might allow either to come."

Her sister took her hand.

"We were afraid," she said to Zoë. "We were afraid when we saw thee fighting it, and still we waited for one another to move."

"But then we thought of watching thee die while we remained amongst the stars," the first sister said quietly. "After so long wishing we had stood beside thee once again and we knew that, after millennia, the Pleiades could stay idle no more."

Another sister came closer, resting her cheek briefly against Zoë's hair.

"I was afraid we would be too late."

"So was I," Zoë whispered.

I glanced up. The stars were bright now, the last light gone from the horizon. A few silver motes still drifted above the summit, rising slowly towards the sky. We'd needed to last until dark, and we'd very nearly failed without even knowing help was coming.

One of the sisters looked at me over Zoë's shoulder.

"Thank thee for staying with her."

I shifted, uncomfortable. "She stayed with me. I'd have gone over the side about six times without her."

Zoë made a small, watery sound that might have been a laugh. Her sister smiled and tightened the arm around her, and I left them to it while I got to my feet. My body felt fine. My clothes, on the other hand, were going to need considerably more attention than the Cleaning Stone could provide.

I pulled the torn coat away from my side and looked towards Orion's rope. The Ophiotaurus's frightened face came back to me, hanging over the giant's shoulder as he'd carried him away. I'd promised I was coming. For all we'd managed up here, he was still alone with that bastard.

"The hunter has gone west," one of the sisters said.

I turned. She'd been watching me, her own gaze settling on the rope before she came closer.

"Can you see him?" I asked. "Do you know where he's taking my brother?"

"We have watched him for a very long time and seen where he means to go. We know the place he seeks."

Zoë pulled back from the others, wiping her face. "Tell us. Please."

Her sister looked west, across the dark hills.

"Beyond these hills, beyond the country that lies between, there is a mountain in Oregon which burnt and fell into itself. Water filled the hollow. Deep water, held within a ring of cliffs and home to a wizard. That is where he means to offer thy brother."

I stared at her. A burnt mountain, water and a wizard. After the conversation at the diner, I'd rather been hoping we were finished with riddles.

"You know all this but… can't say a name or something? A heading? A fucking GPS location?" I asked, frustration leaking into my voice.

I felt a bit bad about sneering at the women who had saved our asses, but to be so close to getting the help I needed to save my brother and get stonewalled with riddles of all things was trying my already frayed patience.

The Pleiades seemed to understand at least, many of them looking away or bowing their head as one of stepped forwards.

"Apologies, Ethan Creed. Help thee as we wish, the Ancient Laws prevent us from completing thy Quest for thee. The Hunt for Orion and thy Brother belongs to thee and our Sister. We can hint at the solution, but not give thee the answer."

I gritted my teeth at the mention of these so-called Ancient Law and I could feel a flash of annoyance from my divine self, somewhat similar to the primal reaction I had to the presence of the Fates, but Zoë was already nodding.

"The final lines," she said, turning to me. "Of the prophecy. We have now completed most of it, only the last two remain."

I went back over it in my head, trying to fit the words to what her sister had described.

'Let's see. Forests and inland sea, check. Work alongside Zoë to track her quarry… almost-check. A child of the gods must live… they must mean Daniël. Which, I mean good for the kid I guess, but I was rather hoping that applied to me… And of course this is the mountain 'where sisters fled'… though I would've liked it if the Prophecy mentioned we'd be up against the literal Socrpio, I'd have brought bugspray. Which just leaves…'

"Shattered rim where stars once fell… A mountain with its top missing, a lake inside it. That sounds like a collapsed volcano or something." I muttered

"A lake within it… Crater Lake, in Oregon. It fills the remains of a volcano." Zoë quickly filled in the blanks.

"And the whole... wizard part?"

"Wizard Island, it lies within the lake," she said confidently as her sister nodded.

I looked between them. Oregon meant very little to me beyond being somewhere out west, but Zoë clearly knew the place. With any luck, she also knew how to get us there.

"Wizard Island, huh. Is that it?" I looked back at her sister. "That is where he means to make the sacrifice?"

She inclined her head.

Relief hit me hard enough that I almost laughed. An actual destination. Somewhere we could point Arion towards without spending another day following tracks and asking strangers whether they'd seen a giant walk past carrying a snake-bull.

"He won't hurt him before he gets there? He won't just stop somewhere along the way and..." I asked, unable to finished the sentence before taking a deep breath. I had to be sure. "He has to take him to the island?"

Several of the sisters nodded.

"That is the ground he has chosen. One does not simply slay a being containing such power as the Ophiotaurus possess as if one were a common butcher. He must offer it properly and for that, he has chosen this particular site and no other. Find the ritual site and you shall find thy brother. Make haste."

I nodded, already trying to remember how far away Oregon was. Too far, probably, but at least we knew. I opened my mouth to ask whether they could tell us anything else, then realised I could see the grass through the hem of her dress.

Zoë noticed too.

"No," she said, catching her sister's hand. "Already?"

"We used what strength we had to hold the Scorpion." The woman's fingers closed around hers. "We cannot remain."

"But I have so much to tell thee." Zoë's voice broke. She swallowed and tried again. "There is so much thou dost not know."

"Then look up to the night sky and tell the stars." Her sister touched her cheek. "We shall be listening."

Zoë hugged her so tightly I could see her hands through the woman's back. The others gathered close again, each taking her turn to hold her. Even as their hands grew faint and the edges of their clothing began to unravel into light, they brushed her hair or kissed her forehead. She cried openly now, and none of them seemed inclined to ask her to stop. Another brushed the tears away with fingers that were already breaking into light, and Zoë tried to catch her hand before it disappeared.

I stayed by the discarded bow, giving them what little time they had.

The last sister held the crying Huntress until there was nothing left for Zoë's fingers to close around. For a moment the light clung to Zoë's hair and shoulders, then rose after the others, leaving her standing beneath the stars with her arms slowly lowering to her sides.

"G-give me a moment, p-please…" she said, wiping at her face again.

"Of course." I said as I picked up her bow and moved away from her, giving her space.

I sat on a nearby rock while she kept looking up at the stars. The silver drachma pressed against my thigh through my pocket, and I took it out, weighing it against my palm. After what had just happened, leaving another potentially useful blessing untouched seemed like tempting fate.

Considering my last run-in with those old crones had ended with them trying to erase me from existence and getting smacked down for their troubles, I wasn't exactly eager to tempt them again.

The coin vanished into a little vortex above my hand. I felt my father's attention again, briefly, then a symbol appeared over my head. This time it showed a simple human figure with arrows rising around it, each successive outline broader than the last. I felt the blessing settle through me while the scroll appeared in a fresh shower of sparks to provide the explanation.

It seemed quite pleased to do so now that there wasn't anybody screaming anymore.

[OFFERING SILVER TRAIT DRACHMA.]

[Success Empowerment]

|Elite Trait|

You grow stronger, faster and more durable from success, whether your own or that of those around you. Every victory feeds back into you, unlocking new heights and sharpening existing abilities. Failure, however, weakens you just as readily.

I read the description twice, then looked down at the dried blood covering my clothes.

"Guess getting poisoned and almost killed by a giant scorpion counts as a win." I said somewhat bitterly.

The scroll pointed one curled edge towards the place where the Scorpion had died. Fair enough. I was alive and it wasn't, though I'd have preferred a slightly wider margin.

There was already a little more strength in my hands when I gripped the edge of the rock, a steadiness in my body as I rose from the crouch that hadn't been there before. Between [Hanma], the One-Star Uniform and this, I was getting a long way from the body I'd woken up in on that park bench. The next time something picked me up in a claw, perhaps I'd have a better chance of pulling the damn thing clean off.

Provided I kept winning, anyway. That last sentence wasn't something I could afford to ignore. Failing could leave me weaker for the next attempt, which seemed an excellent way for a bad day to become a considerably worse one.

It was the part about other people's successes that interested me most, though.

I thought of Luke and Thalia training at camp, of Annabeth determined to prove she was every bit as capable as the older kids. I thought of the Hephaestus kids, so eager to help and so proud of their creation, all for the promise of driving lessons. I thought of all the other demigods, all of them just kids trying to learn how to survive long enough to grow up, and the hours I could spend helping them do it.

Their successes would feed back into me, making me stronger while I helped them do the same, meaning helping them would be worth even more than it already was. I could spend time teaching them what I knew, get some practice myself and have something to show for it without needing to be almost eaten first.

Obviously I'd have to find out when the blessing actually counted. I doubted I could stand beside somebody opening a particularly stubborn pickle jar and become Superman overnight, but there was an awful lot of wiggle room between that and fighting another giant monster straight out of myth and horoscopes.

Returning to Camp was starting to sound very appealing. I already had had some vague notions of improving the life of those poor campers, but this blessing just reinforced my desire to actually do something about it.

"You could've just said you wanted me to go back," I muttered to the empty air before I shook my head.

First I had to get my brother back though.

The scroll had already disappeared by the time Zoë came over. Her eyes were red, though she'd stopped crying, and she accepted her bow with a quiet word of thanks.

"Another blessing?" she asked, clearly trying to distract herself.

"Yeah. Makes me stronger when things go well." I said, not going to bother her with the downside of the blessing, not now with… everything on her mind.

'Speaking of said "everything" though…'

"So… you didn't tell me you come from a big family. Struck me more as an only child to be honest." I said, trying to keep my tone light as I too looked up at the night sky.

It could've just been the lack of light pollution so high up on the Bear's Lodge, but the stars seemed to sparkle extra bright tonight.

Beside me, Zoë stilled and I thought back to the conversation between her and the stranger back at the diner.

"I'm guessing you didn't part with your family on the best terms?"

That actually got quite an unladylike snort from the Huntress.

"That is… an understatement."

She spent some long moments idly fiddling with one edge of her bow before letting out a deep sigh. She sounded exhausted and not just physically speaking.

"You don't have to tell me-" I began, but to my surprise she interrupted me in a small voice.

"No. Thou hast stood by me in battle… a battle that saw me reunited with my family, for however briefly. It is only right that I tell thee this much…"

"So… you're a star? Like your sisters?" I couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow, but the Huntress shook her head with a half-smile.

"Nay, I am no constellation. Thou hast lain thy eyes upon the Pleiades, the seven sisters placed in the night sky to save them from the predations of Orion. Or hungry bears, as the locals tell it. They are my half-sisters; I belong to another set of daughters."

She worried her lip for a long moment before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, before looking me straight in the eye, chin tilted in defiance.

"Mine own sisters are the Hesperides, though I was… expelled from their company close to three thousand years ago. The Hesperides and the Pleiades share blood through our shared father, he who holds the Sky."

She took another steadying breath, visibly pushing forward.

"Ethan Creed. Allow me to re-introduce myself to thee properly. My name is Zoë Nightshade… and I am a daughter of Atlas, the Titan of Strength and Endurance."

---

AN: You can read up to 5 chapters ahead over on my Patreon. The Quest just finished it's last chapter there!

 

[aokway]

Success Empowerment

Click to shrink...

What was that I said about "only needing 1 more roll to have exponential growth"
I think It might have been listening
Every successful punch
Every intuitive dodge
Also
Remember that old roll
I don't remember the wording exactly
But didn't it make his every action successful?
Usually the tiny bonuses from things like walking right would balance with the tiny failings
He doesn't fail period at that kinda thing

Also
Not to be rude but at this point I have to ask
Are you fudging the rolls???

 

[Zeldomnyo]

Oh that is going to snowball hard!