"Wait a minute, it says here that Hippolytus was the embodiment of purity, just like Artemis. Are you telling me he had a son and broke his vow in the end?"
"It was Artemis' gift to him, the result of a union beyond the flesh, something complicated to explain. Let's just say that one of our ancestors was not born in the usual way. There are more books in the library if you want to know more about the subject."
"No, I've had enough."
"The reason for Artemis' help was that the cause of Hippolytus' death came from the divine intervention of Aphrodite, who used her divine power to instil such an intense desire for passion in Freda towards Hippolytus that you could almost smell it in the air."
"Aphrodite, the opposing force to Artemis among the Twelve Olympians, wild chastity and amorous desire." - William -
Uriel listened quietly and, before continuing, closed the book.
"Our offerings to the Goddess of the Hunt are rewarded if we are lucky enough to reach her, our blood is greatly diluted with the passage of time."
"I receive two bracelets and a gem to commemorate each of my ten great preys, did you receive anything?"
"Ten great preys?"
William was curious. He could sense a special power emanating from the two bracelets decorated with five exotic gems each that his father wore on each hand. He considered them to be merely artefacts made by a master of runes.
"I travelled the world, tracking unusual beasts for decades accompanying a military unit. I caught five of them in the United States, two in Japan, and three in Ireland. Don't change the subject. Tell me, did something suddenly appear in your hands?"
"Tsk... almost."
William clicked his tongue, William almost managed to make the old man lose himself in his memories. With no other choice but to give in, William walked to his desk and took a delicate white box with intricate golden patterns out of a locked drawer.
Uriel raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"I received a medal for each beast I defeated with Artemis' Spear."
William took his bracelet with the dawn moth and the four shiny medals made of Mitral out of the small box.
"Can I take a closer look?"
Uriel reached out his hand towards his son. A gift from an Olympian god like Artemis was so rare to see that Uriel eagerly desired it.
"May I see yours?"
William put on his bracelet and looked at his father's.
"All right, forget it and let's move on."
Uriel changed the subject. He didn't like lending his things without a reason either.
"The next ancestor we were able to trace is Periclymenus, prince of Pylos and Argonaut who accompanied Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece."
"If our passion for hunting comes from Hippolytus, our ability to change shape comes from our bloodline as descendants of Poseidon's son."
"Correct, Periclymenus was the grandson of Poseidon, who granted him the ability to change shape into various unusual beasts. In his last battle against Hercules, ancient records show that he took the form of a huge eight-winged eagle known as Fury."
The pages of the book turned to a photo of a painting where a muscular man dressed in a lion's skin shot an arrow at a large eagle high in the sky.
"Hercules' arrows were coated with the poison of a Hydra. Hercules invaded Pylos, and Periclymenus died at his hands."
The conversation ended at dinner time. Catherine insisted that they always eat together if possible.
William's room - Midday.
"So you are more of an interface than an ordinary system. You strengthen the connection between me and the gods who watch over the descendants of the ancient heroes... rather than generating objects out of thin air."
William had his headphones on and was resting on his rug after showering to wash away the sweat from training with his spear in the house gym, a large room with wooden floors and stone statues. Given what he knew about his family, the large statue of Artemis decorating one of the walls was not surprising.
"If Artemis is responsible for rewarding me with a medal every time I eliminate a beast dangerous to humanity... who will be responsible for the armour and rings?"
"Hey... Will, do you want me to teach you how to shoot a gun?"
"What?!!!"
William looked at his sister with a face full of question marks.
Several days had passed since the conversation about family history with his father. The conversation had been cut short halfway through because, according to his father, he had to work on something for an old friend, and they would finish their chat later.
"Wow!!!"
It was the first time William had entered his sister's room and seen her large collection of firearms. Large mahogany wood brackets held rifles and shotguns to the wall against a blood-red velvet backdrop.
"Take this as my apology for the other day. Would you like to start with a Type 54 Black Star Pistol?"
Victoria walked over to a glass-topped chest of drawers designed to display the weapons inside, took a key out of her jacket and pulled out a black pistol, a 9 x 19 mm Parabellum with the iconic black star on the grip.
"Or we can start with a shotgun if you prefer. The recoil is stronger, but Mum said you already have one of your 'Principalis Forma', so it shouldn't be a problem."
Victoria put the Black Star back in its place when she saw William looking at a black shotgun with silver trim.
"Can I take it?"
"Go ahead, they're all unloaded."
William took the shotgun from the rack. It was very comfortable to hold, with just the right weight, not too light and not too heavy.
"It's a Benelli 828U, 12-gauge, 76 mm Magnum chamber with a 70 cm barrel and a custom black walnut stock to match the barrel."
"Do you want to shoot? Dad soundproofed an area back here with runes so you can shoot to your heart's content."
30 minutes later - Backyard.
*Bang!!* *Bang!!*
Two loud shots broke the calm of the forest. William broke the shotgun, the Benelli 828U, an over-and-under shotgun, meaning it has two barrels stacked vertically.
Two clay targets flying through the air exploded into pieces.
"Fuck, it took me five hours to shoot two targets in the air at the same time."
Victoria cursed bitterly.
*Puff*
Both 12-gauge shells were ejected from the chamber thanks to the pressure ejector system, and William loaded two new cartridges.
"It's a shame I only have two shots."
"It's a hunting shotgun, and its simple design increases accuracy."
Victoria took off her noise-cancelling headphones and listened to her younger brother's complaint.
"If you want consecutive shots, you should have taken the Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol like the one I have."
Victoria rested her shotgun on her shoulder in a shooting stance and nodded to William, who pulled the trigger of the clay pigeon launcher.
Five discs shot high into the sky at great speed.
*Bang!!* *Bang!!* *Bang!!* *Bang!!* *Bang!!*
Five consecutive shots, all five clay pigeons shattered into dust before hitting the ground.
"Show-off..."
William looked away. He had only learned to shoot an hour ago, while Victoria had been practising for years.
"Ha! Loser, it's almost lunchtime. Let's pick all this up first."
Victoria smiled proudly and brushed her golden fringe aside with her free hand.
With practised movements, Victoria removed the two remaining cartridges from the loading tube and one more from the chamber of her Beretta.
"What did you mean earlier by 'Principalis Forma', It means 'main form' in Latin, doesn't it?"
William picked up the shell casings; his mother would kill them if they left them scattered all over the place.
"Didn't Dad tell you? Ah! Let me guess, it started with the heroes?"
"That's right."
"The Stones, who inherited the blood of heroes, in this case the blood of Periclymenus, inherited his ability to change shape. The shapes are divided into Principalis and Secundarium. The Secundarium are the shapes of common animals, from bears to lions or tigers."
Victoria sat down on a cut tree trunk, an improvised chair, crossed her legs and rested her head on her hand.
William narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but he still wanted to hear what his sister had to say, so he continued cleaning up the scattered pieces of clay.
"The Principalis are the forms of Unusual Beasts defeated by our ancestors or defeated by yourself. Depending on the density of the Blood of Heroes in your body, your number of 'Principalis' will vary."
"Every time you kill an Unusual Beast, its bodily information is recorded in your blood and passed on to the next generation." - Victoria -
"How many principal forms does Dad have?"
"Mmmm, six, although he refuses to show the Sixth. Grandfather has three."
On the way to the dining room, Victoria's tone became gloating.
"You should already know this, but I didn't inherit the Stone trait. There can only be one Skin Changer in each generation, and in very rare cases, two are born. I was spared the taste for violence or the excessive passion for hunting, courtesy of Hippolytus..."
William stopped in his tracks.
"Don't worry, I inherited the traits of Mum's family, descendants of Eletea, son of Arcas and the dryad Chrysopelea."
"Arcas' parents were Callisto and Zeus..."
"You're studying, very good. It would be funny if you inherited Mum's emblems of honour, as that would prove that the purity of your heroic blood is much higher than Dad's..."
"And the gaze of the gods is more intense in you."
"Emblems of honour..."
William looked at his arm and then at his belt. His father already knew that he was hunting and offering his prey to the gods. Even though he did so unconsciously, they tacitly accepted it. It no longer made much sense to hide his objects.