Arthur:
Airports and terminals.
I hated them with a passion. In fact, I hated them so much that I had spent a couple of extra days in Vegas on a bit of a vacation just so I wouldn't have to go back to one so soon. Courtesy of my new Lotus Card.
Though apparently, the feeling was mutual.
"STAY STILL AND DIE GODLING." A rather pissed off cyclops roared at me.
"Gonna have to say no to that buddy."
"RAAHH."
Dropping down to my knees I dodged another wild haymaker as it sailed above my head.
Crack
A brief glance back and I saw the damn things arm fully embedded into the concrete wall where my head had just been
"I SAID STAY STILL" It continued to roar as it struggled to pull its arm out of the wall.
That mistake would cost it.
Throwing my bow back into my inventory I reached into the adjacent box and summoned Abyss Watcher. The sword burst into reality, its gleaming silver blade and archaic runes both glowing brighter than I remembered.
It seemed rather bloodthirsty today.
I swung the sword up in an arc and it sliced the Cyclopes free arm like a hot knife through butter and it started screaming bloody murder.
While I imagine having your arm cut off was probably painful, I had a feeling that some of it might be the whole Soul Tear enchantment my sword had.
I think Percy had gotten hit with something similar in the books once and said it was pretty painful.
A damn shame I didn't have time to experiment with what it fully did.
The hum of energy I always felt under my skin intensified as I brought my power bear.
All the while notification popped that Blessing of the Lightbringer had activated.
Not even a second later the now one-armed Cyclops found 3 light arrows piercing through its skull.
I didn't even bother looking at the XP or items it dropped as the thing crumpled into golden dust. As currently, I had far bigger problems.
"BROTHER NO! HOW DARE YOU, LITTLE MORTAL!" Another cyclops bellowed as 5 of its brothers formed up with him.
Honestly, I didn't even know what it was complaining about. Wouldn't they all just reform anyway?
"So what's the odds that you fellas just give up and go home?" I asked hopefully.
I was not equipped to handle this right now
The guttural roars I received in response as they began to charge me was the only answer I received.
A quick glance at my current mana showed I might have been in trouble.
[HP] - 1245/2000
[MP] -300/1000
'Great.'
I threw out the idea of grabbing my bow from my inventory and instead focused my remaining energy around my sword.
It had been a while since I innovated with my Photokinesis, but there was no time like the present.
I watched my MP indicator slip down to zero as the last of my power seeped into the Biblical blade and swung it into a horizontal Winchester
A thin wave of light erupted from the sword and surged forward faster than any mortal could blink. It cut through the air and right into the 6 charging cyclops.
Had light not been energized enough to cauterize anything it touched, the results would have been gory.
The thin wave of light passed through the 6 monsters with no resistance, bisecting them right in half. By the time they hit the floor, they were already piles of golden dust.
A silence descended on the luggage room where I had lured the monsters.
The Cyclops had been a lot less subtle when stalking me compared to those greek Vampire things that had ambushed me in New York.
In the interests of not having any civilian casualties and not sending the airport into a total shutdown, thus canceling my flight, I had taken them as far away from the main terminals as I could.
Hopefully whatever the mist made the mortals think had happened with all the damages here wouldn't delay my plane.
!
You have multiple notifications!
Leveled up X3!
New skill created: LightWave
LightWave, Lvl (1): A slash of light that can cut incredibly well. Useful against hordes of attacking enemies.
-DMG entirely depends on how much magic is imputed into the attack. This also determines the cost of the skill.
Skill leveled up!
Photokinesis, Lvl (5): An ability that allows you to manipulate light.
- 55 MP per minute
Well, that was… interesting.
I hadn't expected to create a skill that would instantly kill all of them at once. I was simply just trying to improve my odds by at least getting some damage on all of them.
'Though that wasn't entirely due to me of course.' I thought as my gaze dropped down to the sword in my hand.
The Lightbringer blessing had once again saved my bacon. That wave should have only dealt 300 damage with the mana I had left. Barely enough to scratch even those low-level cyclops from what I had seen of their health earlier.
The blessing however had doubled its damage while making my energy go farther by only charging me ¼ of the mana as I was charging the attack.
Meaning what should have been a 300 damage attack actually dealt 2400…
If my reserves were full and I pumped everything I had into the attack with the blessing, I could deal 8000 damage at once. While I had no idea if that was good or not considering I had only faced REALLY low-level monsters so far, it still gave me pause and left me with one question.
Why the hell did that Devil Knight asshole let me have this thing?!
I wasn't an idiot. The Lightbringer perk and it saying it belonged to an Archangel alluded to this thing having some kind of connection to Lucifer at the very least.
Hell, it might outright be his personal sword. Or her sword?
That blue-haired asshole said he served "Lady Lucifer". Which I guess could mean a multitude of things.
That being either the fallen was a female in this universe or that it had a family/descendants that were female? Maybe both?
And if that Hell Knight really did belong to her or her family, why would he let me have a sword that belongs rightfully to them?
Out of respect for Richard?
"I knew Richard had daughters, but a son? Now that's a surprise." Magdaran mused, "And one that's a demigod to top it off? Even in death, that bastard is still finding ways to one-up me."
The memory from our little encounter back at the airport in Virginia played through my head.
"Even in death, that bastard is still finding ways to one-up me."
That last part would imply that Richard has one-upped him before. So rivals possibly?
I could already feel the headaches coming on. After all this sword had already attracted 1 whole Archangel in the form of Uriel.
Probably should be far more careful when using this thing and learn to not use it as such a crutch. Especially since I was pretty crappy at actually using the sword in combat other than some basic swings and chops.
As such, I was going to have to look into expanding my weapons list.
Because my bow wasn't going to cut it anymore either.
I had discovered a rather striking fact in this battle. A rather important one that I should have realized weeks ago.
That fact?
That. Bows. Fucking. Suck.
And that there was a reason why humanity threw them in the damn trash when they discovered black powder and guns.
You could only notch an arrow, pull back, and aim so fast. Even with my Demigod and System enhanced strength stats, it was just too damn slow to use reliably. And don't even get me started on the speed and penetration, or lack thereof I should say.
Throw in other factors like how large they were in tight spaces like hallways and the fact that I already could make light arrows that didn't need to be notched.
As such, I had decided guns were definitely the way to go. Compact, could be switched between automatic and semi-automatic and didn't drain my mana.
Plus I should still be natural with them if one of my perks were correct.
Son of Artemis: You are naturally gifted in archery, shooting, and stealth. Your soul has a natural affinity for light and you innately can use photokinesis.
Once fully claimed: an affinity for all animals of the wild, limited chlorokinesis unlocked, gains bonuses when under the moonlight, skills related to hunting and tracking are unlocked, Amokinesis immunity.
Archery and shooting were in two different categories according to it. So I should be good on that front.
Was definitely going to have to consult the Hephesus kids about my little project.
"Will passengers for flight 1210 please begin boarding."
A groan escaped my mouth.
"One day I will be able to walk through an airport and get to my plane on time without trouble," I swore.
Percy:
Despite only having known him for a few weeks, he sometimes really hated Arthur.
Like a lot.
Especially during times like this.
"I'll kill you and that little huntress spawn when I get my hands on him! Do you hear my Jackson!?" Ares roared in rage while another strike aimed to take his head off.
A quick dodge to his right had Percy sprawling into the sand and doing his best to get up as fast as he possibly could to defend against the war gods onslaught.
Now you may be wondering what both Arthur and he had done to piss off a god?
Well, it might have had something to do with the now smoking pile of blue fabric that was laying on the beach a few feet from them.
One moment Ares had been gloating about his master plan to start a war amongst the gods.
The next he was oddly silent with his eyes fixated on the bag upon Percy's back. With a snap of his fingers, the bag had materialized in the god's hands and was frantically ripped open.
The only thing to come out of it was a half-eaten box of double stuffed cookies.
Now in Percy's defense, he had been absolutely confused about the situation as well. After all, from what Ares had just monologued to them about in his evil master plan, if that backpack was supposed to be keyed to return to him so he could be framed by war god…
Then why did he just have a fake one?
Then enter Grover who had a sudden realization that some silver-eyed attendant at the Louts had apparently swapped room cards a few days prior. When they had all been under the influence of the Hotel.
The room and only place where the bag had been of Percy's sight…
Why he chose that moment of all times to open his mouth Percy did not know. But he really wished he hadn't.
Percy and Annebeth had shared a knowing look.
Ares apparently also used the few brain cells that he had to figure out what happened as well.
After all, only two people in the Greek Pantheon currently had silver eyes.
Which leads back to the current situation.
"I don't know how you brats figured out my plan and were able to switch backpacks," Ares continued to snarl and bull-rushed him again, "but I promise once we're done here I'll beat it out of you."
Percy sighed. He also would have loved to know how Arthur knew about Ares's plan.
And why he had decided to not inform them about it at all while apparently using them as a distraction.
Honestly, it kind of reminded him of Annabeth's plan during the capture the flag game all those weeks ago. With only one person who knew what was going on, all while keeping the other players in the dark to distract the enemy.
Percy mentally snorted and lashed out with Riptide to meet Ares's next blow.
No wonder Annabeth liked Arthur enough to let him read books out of the Athena Cabins library.
They both seemed to have the same crazy strategies when making plans.
Celestial bronze met Celestial bronze with a mighty clash and Percy felt his arms nearly give out.
He knew that realistically he had no chance against Ares. Sure there were stories about mighty Demigods of old being powerful enough to sometimes best even the gods. But that was when they were fully grown and had years of training.
He was 12 and had a couple weeks at best.
There was no way he was going to best Ares with his current power.
He needed more.
A small memory of Arthur goading him to anger crossed his mind and the rush of power that had followed.
Arthur had gotten him into this mess.
"C'mon brat." Ares smeared as he casually put more and more pressure into their locked blades, "Just give up already. I can hear your bones creaking from here."
And Arthur was going to get him out of it.
Percy let the fact that the gods, camp HalfBlood, his own father, and even Arthur were using him as their pawn. And if there was one thing he hated.
It was being used as a pawn.
The anger surged through his veins and carried power with it.
Behind him, he heard the deafening sound of the ocean beginning to roar and the wind starting screaming while a sharp pain went through his gut.
He swore he even heard Annebeth let out a curse in Greek.
Percy Jackson was going to survive this duel with Ares.
Even if it was just so he could punch Arthur Winchester right in the damn face.
Arthur:
Landing and walking out without anything bad happening was possibly the luckiest I had ever been.
No monsters had jumped me on my short jaunt through the terminals and I was able to breathe in a great sigh of relief as the cold New York air filled into my lungs.
The relief was two-fold. For not only the fact that nothing terrible had happened at this airport, but also because this damn quest was almost over.
I'd get some juicy XP from it, an unknown reward, and a request from the council itself. Not too shabby rewards all in all.
Plus I avoided having to get into a fight with Ares. Probably meant Percy was still going to run into him, but he beat the war god the first time so I imagined he could do it again.
Probably.
I'd make it up to him by taking the brat out to eat afterward at a good restaurant. Maybe even withdraw a good chunk of change with my new lotus card and drop it off in a briefcase to his mother. I know she'd make money off the statue of her ex and later on from her writing career, but a little extra cash so she and Percy could live more comfortably wouldn't hurt either.
Let it never be said that I didn't take care of my friends. Even if I was using him as god bait right now.
I quickly bought my bus fare and settled in for the hour or so ride it would take me to get to the Empire State building.
Today was the day of the Winter Solstice so I should have plenty of time to make it there before the meeting.
Poseidon had discussed that while full council meetings would be going off and on the entire week because of the current situation taking place, that actual meeting and deadline for the bolt being stolen wouldn't actually be until today.
Which still seemed to perfectly align with the book.
Leaning back my head I let out a yawn. This was really going to be a boring multi-hour trip with how much traffic there was on the road today and I didn't have a smartphone to entertain myself with as they wouldn't exist for another year or two if the timeline was still correct.
Why not fuck around with my powers then? I was in the back of the bus away from everyone else and the Mist would hide it anyway. It probably makes mortals think I was just a kid screwing around with a flashlight.
Making a ball of light in my hand I studied it for a few seconds while thinking of some of the powers I had already invented.
Arrows, a shield, and LightWave…
Shit, I really was too dependent on Abyss Watcher. I'd been in this world for well over a month at this point and I had only made about 3 skills with my magic.
That was actually kind of sad.
So what else could I do with my powers?
Move at lightspeed?
No. The amount of energy I'd need to even move my small mass at even .5% of lightspeed was probably going to be beyond me for a very long time. Even my arrows and waves while fast didn't move as fast as light considering I could still keep track of them. If I couldn't move those at lightspeed I was definitely not going to be able to move myself.
Plus even with my regeneration pumping all that energy through my mortal body with my low dex couldn't possibly be good for me. I'd have to wait until I had an element like Lightning before I tried to enhance my speed.
Starting at the little ball in my hand I watched lazily as it interacted with natural light and bent it slightly, giving itself a somewhat shimmering appearance as it buzzed.
Wait.
Light bending?
Dismissing the ball of light in my hand I willed the vibrant humming of energy that was constantly underneath my skin to instead command the natural light that was around my arm.
I then ordered it to stop interacting with my arm entirely.
Suddenly my entire limb disappeared from view.
A grin grew on my face.
!
New skill created: Invisibility
Invisibility, Lvl (1): Your ability to bend and scatter light now allows you to make yourself unseen to the naked eye which can greatly augment your stealth.
-This ability costs 1000 MP per 1 minute of use.
Hell yeah! Now that what I'm talking about-
!
Warning: This is not true invisibility as it only affects visible light.
Annnnd just like that my joy was slightly killed.
Sure it was still cool and I should have seen it coming, but limited visibility kind of sucked in a world filled with magical beings.
Sure I could go and spy on a girl's locker room and no one will be none the wiser.
"Which is something I'll never do," I said aloud even though no one was around me.
I knew the game would probably block anything from reading my mind considering what it did at the Lotus. But one could never be too careful when your mother was a Goddess known to not take kindly at those sorts of things.
But back to my point. Sure I could fuck with mortals and maybe some monsters, but any beings that could see magic like the ability my Silver Eyes granted me, had an advanced sense of smell and hearing could still find me easily, or could just plain out sense you like gods could nullify it.
I would need to find ways or other magics to augment it before it became truly versatile.
But I suppose it was a good start for now.
Though that MP price was pretty damn steep if I do say so myself. I'd either have to increase my reserves or level the fuck out of that skill.
One step at a time though.
Of course, someone had to interrupt my private time of planning said steps.
Slap
"How dare you question my orders, you ignorant little whore! I am your master, you do as I say!" A voice roared in anger from outside the bus.
'What the hell?' I thought in confusion as I looked around for the source of the noise.
Not exactly something you hear in New York every day.
Looking to my right I saw two people standing outside near the bus terminal. One was a tall and lanky man currently screaming so hard that his face was turning a nice crimson color, and the other was a young woman who was currently holding her face and crying.
No scratch that last part. She wasn't a woman. She was damn near a child. And the crowds milling past them didn't even react to the scene.
I knew New Yorkers could be assholes, but holy shit was on another level.
An unexpected heat crawled into the back of my mind as I felt my fists clench. I could feel my already hyperactive power begin to buzz even harder under my skin.
Even though I could understand it was rage filtering into my mind, I didn't understand why it felt so overwhelming. Sure it was horrible to beat a kid and even worse when the people around were even giving a second glance, but I don't think I had ever felt anger on this level before.
Hell, I wasn't even that pissed off when Richard died and he was my father technically.
!
{WikiLink}: Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the patron and protector of young girls.
I blinked as a notification popped up right in my face.
First off. Did this system just try to sass me?
Second off. This mother fucker just sass me with a fucking wiki article link?
The audacity of this bitch.
It was implying that I was getting angry because one of the things under my mother's protection was being harmed.
It did kind of make sense. Percy was known to have a short fuse just like his father and helped out sea life when he could, Annabeth along with all her siblings were afraid of spiders, and the children of Hermes were kinda cleptomaniacs by nature.
I guess traits were sometimes passed down when the child had access to the same domains as their parents.
If only it had mentioned this beforehand or I dunno, in the freakin tutorial?!
!
Perk Gained!
Protector of Maidens: For thousands of years your mother had protected young girls in their times of need and wrought terrible vengeance on those who sought to harm them. As her son, you share her righteous anger at those who would harm them. In return for your protection, maidens and patrons of your mother are more willing to trust you.
!
Warning! Rage status effect has been inflicted!
Sometimes I really hated this system.
Pulling my eyes away from the notification I focused on the pair outside and made a rather interesting discovery. While all the mortals seemed to glow the same dull nonvibrant color, these two pulsed with energy. The girl had a darker shade of purple surrounding her while the man had a slightly pulsing red.
So they were supernatural.
Huh. That might explain why the crowds were just overlooking this. Stupid mist.
Slap
I let out a sigh that became a half growl as the heat in my body seemed to grow hotter.
I knew that I really shouldn't be getting mad at this. Yet that didn't stop the emotions from continuing to build. If I had to guess this was meant to be some sort of compulsory feature.
Even worst was that it was so easily fucking with my mind, thus my free will. And that absolutely grinded my gears in ways I couldn't describe, making me even angrier.
!
Quest type: Normal
A young maiden is in trouble. Get off your butt and go save her!
Rewards:
?
Failure:
Your mother will be heavily disappointed.
Do you wish to accept?
[Yes/No]
The mystery reward and the failure were the last damn things on my mind as I pressed the yes button and strode off the bus. I just wanted this damn rage to go away.
As I made my way toward the pair a very basic plan formed in my head.
Normally I prided myself on being rather 'low key' and 'working smarter not harder' when it came to quests or coming up with a solution for a situation. Such as when I immediately contacted Poseidon about the whole Luke thing or pretended to be a Hotel Staffer to get the room key instead of just trying to bust in.
Unfortunately, the ever-increasing heat and buzzing from the rage was making it hard to think at the moment.
So instead of going invisible, observing the situation, and then striking at an opportune moment as I should have. I instead dropped about half of my MP into a Lightwave attack from my hand.
The man in question barely had time to turn his head in alarm from the bright flash of light before he went still. And then split into two perfectly cut pieces right down the middle as the body fell to the ground.
!
Critical hit because of elemental weakness!
I blinked as the rage almost immediately vanished and the street went silent.
!
Rage status effect has been cured!
I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. Also definitely a compulsory feature considering the rage almost immediately disappeared.
This stupid game truly would never stop trying to force me down specific paths would it?
Remembering where I was, I looked around and noticed two things.
One. The girl who was sobbing was now staring at me with large purple watery eyes.
And two. So was the whole busy as hell street in mid-afternoon New York. Minus the watery eyes of course. Instead, they were filled with confusion and horror.
Sparring a glance back down at the vertically bisected body I suddenly realized and remembered that the mist couldn't completely hide everything and only made things seem un supernatural. A sword would still look like a gun or baseball bat, and fighting would simply look more conventional than supernatural.
So they probably just saw a 12-year-old commit homicide with a chainsaw or something.
Whoops.
Why the asshole I just killed got away with beating a girl in broad daylight but I get caught I'll never know.
Looking back towards the girl I gave her the best 'sorry about that' smile I possibly could, "We should probably get out of here now."
Surprise, surprise. She just stared at me with shell shocked eyes. Which to be fair I did just split a man right in half in front of her.
I sighed.
There was no way in hell I could just leave this kid here. The fact she had a magical aura and the dude I just ganked was calling her a slave meant she probably isn't from around here and didn't have anyone to fall back on.
Hopefully, since she looked human that meant she was just a HalfBlood and I could drop her off at Camp once my business on Olympus was done.
Time to improvise.
Just as the first of the screams started I grabbed the girl's hand and activated my newest skill. A shimmer covered us before fading away entirely. To me, it looked like nothing had happened, but the confused eyes of a now panicked crowd told me a different story.
Ha, this shit was easy.
!
Two beings detected under invisibility skill! Skill cost increased by 2x!
I let out a sigh. My stupid ass just had to say something.
Considering I just spent half my mana that means I had about 15 seconds with how low my regeneration was.
Time to put that demigod enhanced Dex to work.
I took off half sprinting half dragging a poor frightened girl to the subway entrance a good hundred feet away.
Halfway there my I noticed my MP drop below 250. There was no way in hell I was going to make it at this rate. Already I could hear the screams of the crowd and sirens blaring only blocks away as I contented my mad dash.
If my invisibility dropped now I was still close enough to where people would either try and stop me or point out where I went when the police questioned them.
And I did not want to get charged with murder and kidnapping at only 12 years old dammit. That was Percy's thing, not mine.
If only I had something that could make this damn skill not cost as mu… I'm an idiot.
Half panicked I yanked Abyss Watcher out of my inventory for the second time today and once again felt its blessing activate. Almost immediately I saw the drain on my MP bar slow down significantly.
I know I already said it, but goddamn was this thing broken.
Thankfully the reduced drain barely bought us enough time to reach the entrance to the subway and a little further. About halfway down the stairs the world around us shimmered again and the invincibility was broken as my MP bar emptied to zero.
"That was too damn close," I muttered as I dragged us onto the nearest train and picked a relatively empty back corner to sit in.
I laid my sword across my lap in case I needed another emergency invisibility while my power built back up and turned my attention across from me to my newest companion. Who by the way was still staring at me with a 1000 yard stare.
Had she even blinked this entire time?
"Um hello there?" I said.
She continued to just stare.
Well, that can't be healthy. Really hope I didn't traumatize her into a vegetable with the whole killing thing.
"Listen I know you've suddenly been through a lot, but I promise I'm not here to hurt you." I tried to coax. That last part probably would have sounded more convincing if I just hadn't committed murder and then dragged her away while invisible.
If this system wasn't such a railroading asshole with its dumb storylines this would have never happened. What the hell was the point of this little encounter anyway? Just to introduce a new perk that was sure to continue to be a pain in my ass?
Also what happened to mental effects or any status effects, in general, being blocked? I'm going to take a wild guess and say it doesn't count if the System itself decides to inflict it on me via perk or to push me towards a certain path.
!
+3 to INT!
Deep breaths Arthur, deep breaths. Do not violently hurl Abyss Watcher at the nearest person. You've already traumatized this poor girl enough.
I could already tell that at some point some villain was going to realize I have this weakness and use it against me. Just like they did to Artemis in the 3rd book to trap her.
Fuck me.
"Are you an Angel?" A timid and rather squeaky voice drew me out of my thoughts.
My eyes snapped back to the girl in front of me.
"What?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A-an Angel," she breathed out shakily, "Are you an Angel?"
Huh. That wasn't exactly what I was expecting her to say, but progress was progress.
"Nope," I replied back.
Technically I wasn't completely sure considering I really had no idea what Richard was. That however was neither here nor there. Though that did raise a question.
"What would make you think that I am?" I asked.
"Y-your eyes and power." She stuttered before her eyes drew down to my lap, "And your sword."
She did make some valid points. I could see why she thought someone who was silver-eyed, light wielding, could turn invisible, and who had a glowing silver sword was an Angel.
"Plus your sword is covered in Enochian runes and symbols." She muttered as she continued to study it.
Well, there was that as well. Which now I guess I knew what the runes were.
That thought gave me pause. How did she know what they were?
I suddenly had a sneaking suspicion the 12-year-old in front of me possibly wasn't who I thought she was.
I hit her with an observe.
Abigail Kehe, Lvl: 12
Title: Underworld Citizen
[HP] - 1000/1000
[MP] - 600/600
A young Fallen Angel that was born in the underworld to a lower-class family. The only thing to note about her life is that she was recently kidnapped by the youngest son of a high-class devil family as a slave and for personal entertainment. She is currently both nervous and in awe that she was potentially rescued by someone who seems to be an Angel.
Of course this was Biblical related.
I had to admit it did kind of make sense now that I thought about it. The girl in front of me had damn near glowing amethyst-colored eyes and her long free-flowing hair seemed to be darker than ebony. Pretty sure that was a stereotypical look for Fallen given any animated or fictional medium out there.
An odd thought struck me that this was something I should have remembered for something else. But for the life of me, I couldn't think of it.
It also would explain why my LightWave apparently caused critical damage earlier. Devils and demons were weak to light after all.
"Sorry to burst your bubble kid, but I'm really not an angel." I said to her, "I'm a Demigod."
Startled eyes snapped back up to meet my own.
"A Demigod?"
"In the flesh."
"Like the stories of Grunda and Infernus?"
I blanked a bit at that. Were those even real names?
"No, more like Hercules and Achilles," I responded.
"Who?" She responded back with a blank stare of her own.
It seemed we both had a few cultural differences.
"Never mind." I waived off, "I'm a Demigod of the Greek Pantheon."
"Oh! So the Pantheon that has Zeus and Hades!"
"Yep," I answered back as something worrying crossed my mind. Namely how the hell I was going to get her back home. If she wasn't a Demigod I couldn't take her back to camp and I had no way to access the Biblical version of the UnderWorld.
I could possibly ask a god on Olympus, but I didn't exactly know what the policy was for inter-pantheon relations.
If it was anything like it was with the Romans they'd probably try to mindwipe me. Since that probably wouldn't work, they'd either force Styx Vow or straight up kill me. None of said options exactly please me in the slightest.
Which meant I had one option.
"So who's your godly parent?" Abigail asked rather suddenly and excitedly.
The sudden excitement threw me off a bit, but I guess she was just still a kid. The thought of meeting someone foreign in the most extreme terms was probably heart-stopping. Even if she just had a traumatic experience not five minutes ago.
Or it was just that as a supernatural creature she was more resilient than a human child would be.
"Artemis," I answered her distractedly as I began focusing on invoking a single name.
I heard her gasp as a million other questions began pouring out of her mouth, but I didn't pay them any head.
The most basic rule of the POJ universe was that names had power. While the fact was less focused on the further the series went on and into the sequel series, the concept remained. Gods got pissy when you used their name and insulted them in the Greek World. Meanwhile, a beings True Name could be used to control them in the Egyptian world.
So I was hoping the concept remained the same for the Biblical World as well. Of course, I had a little advantage considering I knew his exact title as well.
"Uriel, The Watchman, and Archangel of Heaven," I spoke clearly and confidently.
Abigail looked suddenly taken aback and fearful.
Meanwhile, I suddenly felt a presence sitting next to me.
"It's good to see you again Arthur. A bit sooner than I expected though." A familiar and amused voice said.
I looked over and indeed the Archangel was sitting beside me.
A glance back in front of me indicated that Abigeal seemed to be on the verge of fainting.
Heh. She did seem to want to meet an Angel.
"I'll make this short considering I'm currently busy with a very important quest and I have no doubt that a being like yourself probably has more important things to do." I started.
Uriel smiled with a shrug as he leaned back against the wall of the train.
At least he seemed a lot more chill than last time.
"Do I win anything if I guessed that it has to do with your little Fallen friend you've seemed to have picked up?" The Archangel mused while sparing her a look.
I nodded, "I rescued her a bit ago but I've got no way to get her back home to the UnderWorld."
Humor danced among the Archangel's eyes.
"And you want me to take her back home do you?" He mused, "And what makes you think that I am capable of that?"
I gave him a barely raised eyebrow with my response, "I'm not even going to dignify a response to that considering what you are."
"Fair enough I suppose," Uriel admitted with a chuckle.
I sighed and knew the hard part was next, "As for in exchange-"
"Nope." Uriel interrupted me before I could finish.
"No?" I responded.
Damn. I didn't expect him to shoot me down before I even made an offer.
I saw Uriel roll his eyes.
"Not no as in I won't do it. No as in I don't want anything in exchange for taking her home."
I blinked. That was unexpected.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Seriously." Uriel stated with a smile, "Arthur, you are asking me to do something relatively trivial for a being of my power."
"So?" I asked, "That's true for almost any divine being, and yet history is full of bargains for even asking them for simple favors. Plus I figured it would be more trouble since she's a fallen and well your a..."
This time Uriel was the one who raised a blonde eyebrow at me, "True enough I suppose. But answer me this Arthur. Am I a god?"
In technical terms he was. Any being with his power would generally be classed as one, but I knew that wasn't what he was asking me.
"No," I answered.
"Am I a Demon?"
"No."
"A vengeful spirit?"
I shook my head.
A smile graced the Angles lips, "Exactly. I am an Angel my boy. A being my father created to help guide and guard all those who need it in their times of need. While many of my kind including some of my fellow Archangels think differently, I believe my father would have wanted that kindness extended to all life. Not just his worshipers or direct creations. Even those whose ancestors had forsaken him."
I nodded as I listened to his speech. Had I actually been a 12-year old I probably would have felt awed and a little humbled by it, but I wasn't buying it for a fucking second.
If being as old as he was and having a title like the Watchman didn't tip me off. Then the fact that God has killed off pantheons for sneezing wrong in the old testament certainly did. God most certainly did not extend kindness to his enemies.
One of his old Hebrew titles was literally "The breaker of old gods" or some crap like that.
I also didn't miss the past tense he used when he said what his father "would" have wanted.
Fuck this.
"You're full of shit and He i's gone isn't he."
I heard a gasp from Abigail.
Uriel's smile didn't even waver. In fact, I dare say it grew… colder.
"Oh you're just a treat you know that? And you're not an idiot. Good. We'll work great together Arthur." He said with a pleased tone, "Tell me though, what's your morals and thoughts on killing?"
I fixed him with a flat stare.
"I literally just bisected a man in broad daylight."
"Hmmm, noted. We'll have to work on your stealth though."
Great, I just passed a test from a CIA Arcangel. I'm sure this won't backfire or potentially get me killed at all.
What even was this cannon anymore?
"So you still going to do me that favor?" I asked hopefully.
Uriel shrugged, "Indeed. I have some business to attend to in Hell anyway. Dropping this kid off won't take too long."
The Angel looked thoughtful for a moment before he suddenly snapped his fingers and I felt something pass through me.
!
Mental intrusion blocked.
Brushing the notification away I raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
For the first time during both our encounters, Uriel looked surprised.
"Noted." He muttered with narrowed eyes, "Your mental defenses are astonishing Arthur."
I snorted, "Your damn right they are. Any reason why you just tried some sort of mental intrusion on me?"
Uriel snorted back, "What revelation did you just make not moments ago that Heaven probably wouldn't want anyone knowing?"
"That you're full of shit or the other one?" I replied.
"The other one." He sighed, "I was hoping I could make you and the girl forget that little tidbit of information, but I guess I'll have to settle on just wiping the girl's memory. Considering how strong your mental defenses are and you seem remarkably mature for a child, can I assume that you will not let anyone willingly know about that little fact?"
I nodded.
"Good." Uriel said simply before reaching over and grabbing Abigail's shoulder, "Remember that after this quest of yours's I still have a favor to ask of you."
In a blink, they were gone. No flash or light of a portal, just gone in an instant.
!
Normal Quest Completed!
Rewards:
Summoning Contract of House Raum: A scroll used to summon a being to negotiate a deal in the name of House Raum. Simply input MP to activate. The greater the amount of MP offered, the more powerful and important the being summoned fourth will be.
This item has been put in your inventory.
I stared at the new pop up and sighed.
"Sometimes I really regret picking that randomizer."
Note - I can feel that the constant writing is gonna burn me out sooner. So I am changing the pace of writing. Rather than trying for a chapter daily now one chapter will be published very 3 or 4 days.
Patreon link if anyone wants to read five chapters ahead - https://www.patreon.com/cw/AWinSter