THEOS

B2 Chapter 2: Ins and Outs

“You named it Blinky?” Luke asked incredulously.

“I thought it fit.” Rex mumbled, brushing past Luke and into the stable that contained the dreadglare. He came back a second later, with the monstrosity latched onto the back of his neck, and draped around him in the form of a cape. One made of thousands of eyes, each one blinking at random, with mouths opening and closing around them.

A bead of nervous sweat rolled down Luke’s face at how casually Rex seemed to handle the demon. Feeling a dull ache beginning to form behind his eyes from looking at it too long, Luke tore his gaze away from the pair.

He’s insane. Absolutely insane. There’s got to be some other powerful things that hatch from eggs, why not make one of them his familiar. His grandpa is literally an Emperor of an entire continent sized island, does he really need to resort to his? He thought to himself, and shaking his head, he walked past him and into the now empty stable.

His shoulders slightly sank in relief at finding all his artifacts as well as Lukeus’s sword and Rex’s laying on the ground, he reached down and grabbed the leather grip of his most valuable possession, only to drop it a moment later in disgust. It was wet. Bile crept up in his throat, and a mild burning sensation spread over his skin.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and wiped his hand over his robe. All the while doing his best to ignore how his hand stuck to the fabric of his clothes.

Rex better have a good reason for this. He thought darkly while he shrugged out of his robes. Using them as impromptu gloves, he gathered his things, and marched out of the stable.

“Where’s my manasink?”

“Oh, it broke. I tossed it out.” Rex shrugged.

“I see. Bye.” He walked straight out of the room, unwilling to stay in the uncomfortable presence of the dreadglare for a second longer.

“You got what you needed?” Jason asked the second Luke stepped through the brass door.

Frowning, Luke returned his borrowed blade to him. “I did. Do you have anywhere I can wash these?” He asked, miserably lifting the blue bundle into the air.

“Yeah, we do actually.” Jason nodded, and stepped away from the brass door. “Follow me.”

They walked back up through the halls of the ship, leaving the pair of brothers behind, and towards a destination at the very back of the ship.

“What do you guys do on the Argo anyways?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… what’s all this for?” Luke asked. Gesturing around them vaguely. “Are you an army, mercenaries… Pirates? And how did you even get a ship this big and awesome?” He asked, curiosity and a hint of desire burning in his eyes. A small part of him, yearned for his own giant craft.

Jason laughed out loud. “I– we do have a goal, but at heart, all of us are adventurers. When I set sail, I didn’t expect it to turn into what it did, or for so many people to set sail with me. It kind of became its own thing after Heracles said he was coming with us. You may not have heard of him here, but back in Pelion he’s… famous. Not just as a son of Zeus, but as a prodigy even among prodigies. As for the ship,” he ran his arms along its walls, “I won it.”

“You did?”

“Mhm.” He grunted. “In the Olympics, ten years ago.”

Luke felt his heart beat in anticipation. “I didn’t know the prizes were– quite this impressive. Cyzicus mentioned an apple that sounded really cool once, but this ship is… It won’t help you cultivate but– Wow.”

“The Apple from the Evening Garden, I believe it was Lady Hera hosting that year. If I had the choice though, I don’t know what I’d pick. On one hand you save years if not decades of effort, but the Argo is well… The Argo. Anyway, the prizes usually aren’t this grand” Jason admitted, immediately putting a damper on Luke’s enthusiasm, “but, it was Lord Poseidon that was hosting the games the year I participated. He’s known to be generous. My mentor told me that it’s usually something more… simple. Things like Weapons, armor, and the like. Still amazing, but…” he trailed off.

Yeah, I kind of doubted a ship bigger than a supertanker is a common prize.

“What about Lord Hephestus? I heard he’s hosting this year.” Luke asked.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “The tournament takes place once every ten years, and neither the prizes nor the challenges are the same. It’s also been centuries since Lord Hephestus hosted it, and of the Olympians he is one of the most reclusive. There are likely some records of what prizes he’s given before, but I don’t remember reading them. You’re thinking of competing?”

“I will be.” Luke said, already making plans to ask Clite if they had a list of past prizes and winners. “What did you have to do to win?”

“Swim.”

“Swim?”

“It was a little more complicated than that, I assure you, but essentially, yes.”

“So you won the tournament, got the Argo as a prize, and have been on an adventure since?”

“Mhm.”

“And there’s nothing you want to do with an entire army at your back, other than that?” Luke pried.

“What I want…” He trailed off, his voice losing some of its earlier cheer. “I’d be lying if I said I was doing all of this for nothing more than the joy of seeing the world, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you unless you join us. So what do you say?”

“Join you?” Luke’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Mhm.”

“I uh, I don’t know about that.”

“Well, think about it. We’ll stay until the games are over, so take at least until then to decide” He said, throwing open another brass door.

A golden fountain, in the shape of a woman, spewed hot water from her hands and into an array of waist level aqueducts positioned around it. Each one of them was made of colorful clay and vibrating. Filling the room with the sounds of falling water and a quiet buzz.

In the far corner, Luke saw someone strip out of their clothes and armor, haphazardly chuck everything in, before walking through a door deeper in the room.

“This is one of our cleaning rooms.” Jason said, leading him over to one of the clay constructs. “Drop your weapons and clothes in there, and when you pull them back out, they’ll be free of any stains,” he explained enthusiastically. “The whole system is enchanted to clean basically everything.”

A magic, communal washing machine… Luke looked at the contraption, amusement dancing across his eyes as he carefully laid out his artifacts in the water. Now I’ve seen everything.

“It’s impressive right?” Jason asked eagerly.

“It is.” Luke nodded to him. For a minute, they just stood there as small particles shook themselves free of his clothes to be carried away by the water moments later. “Why do you want me to join you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He turned to Luke. “Any man that can fight countless giants for hours on end, slay thousands of them without injury, and then survive an encounter with a foe many tiers higher, is someone I want fighting beside me.”

"Oh." Luke said.

I guess either Heracles or Rex have been talking. Still when he puts it like that, even I would want me fighting by my side.

"Captain!" Someone threw open the door, and a lean man with curly brown hair poked his head through. "There’s trouble on deck. It’s Atalanta again.”

Jason cursed under his breath. “I have to go.” He rose into the air, and disappeared down the hallway.

“I’m Luke.” He nodded towards the man.

“Maleager.” He nodded curtly, before he too rose into the air, and disappeared after him.

Collecting his clothes and weapons from the magical laundry, he wandered aimlessly around the Argo before finding his way back to the room he had awoken in. As much as he wanted to explore the ship, and meet the people on it, he couldn’t delay exploring the changes made in his status anymore.

Sitting down cross legged on his bed, he toggled the Seed, and flipped through its tabs, intent on finding what had changed.

Status | Skills | Quests | Inventory

Name: Lukas King

Tier: Warrior

Bloodline: Eyes of Insight

Mana: 351 / 351

Rate: 17% per hour

Strength: 14

Agility: 11

Constitution: 18

Arcana: 39

Stat Points: 9

Charges: 7/10

Status | Skills | Quests | Inventory

First Truth of Death

Tier: Warrior

Progress: 0.1%

An expression of a Warrior-tier Truth derived by Lukas King, from the Three Stances of Death created by Empress Alexia Xancrest. Gives users the ability to perceive the future of those that carry the desire to kill them.

First Stance of the Sword

Tier: Mortal

Progress: 100% [COMPLETED]

An expression of a Mortal-tier Truth uncovered by the Hero, Alexia Xancrest. Through centuries of battle and meditation, she perfected her understanding of the Truth and infused it in the First Stance of the Sword, creating a sword-style that draws out its complete potential. A Technique that has since received the acknowledgment of the Heavens, and become permanently entwined within the Eternal Tapestry.

First Stance of the Shield

Tier: Mortal

Progress: 100% [COMPLETED]

[...]

First Stance of the Spear

Tier: Mortal

Progress: 100% [COMPLETED]

[...]

josei

Status | Skills | Quests | Inventory

A Paragon’s Path:

Over the Eons, many gods have arisen, but few have tread The Path of Paragons, and fewer have succeeded.

Requirements:

-All attributes must be advanced to 1000 at the same time to advance to the Hero-tier.

-All incomplete techniques must be fully mastered to advance to the Hero-tier.

*All attribute gains over 999 will be redirected as Stat Points, until all conditions are met.

Status | Skills | Quests | Inventory

Capacity: 1 013.4 kg of 1 540 000 kg

Overall, the differences weren’t unexpected.

The most notable change was that his Paragon quest had been updated to reflect his new tier, instead of vanishing from his Status by itself when the task was completed.

I kind of had a feeling that it would be that way too. It wouldn’t really make sense to be a Paragon at the Mortal-tier, and then decide not to be one later. No, for better or worse I’m locked in. And it’s definitely for the better.

At least this time, I don’t need to gather an additional ten thousand points to unlock my bloodline. From what Lukeus said, he awakened his along with his mana. Obviously, mine is different. But why though?

If the gods are real, and they really have as many kids as it seems like they do, then just by the sheer virtue of their age, everyone should have a bloodline. Assuming of course you even need to be a god make one. And I sincerely doubt that Lukeus’s mother is a god. So is it just binary? Either you unlock it or you don’t?

Rex’s is supposed to be weaker than Lukeus’s and Nel’s, so that could be it.

Or maybe some people unlock it at different tiers? And I would have been able to do it even without the Seed later. For now though, it seems to be like another Arcana situation. I have it, but I’m still missing some impetus to actually make it work.

I’ll have to figure that out, and hopefully without causing a scene. If it ever leaks out that I have one though, I’ll need to pretend that it’s always been there. If I ever manage to use it that is.

What else…

The formula for my inventory looks like it changed too. It’s definitely not just Strength multiplied by Constitution anymore… Unless it is, and it’s just adjusted for my compressed stats . He closed his eyes and did some math in his head, grinning slightly at the obscenely large number. Looks like it is.

Still over a million kilograms, that’s a lot. Or is it? If I look at it in terms of water, I can carry around basically a swimming pool's worth. It’s more than I’d realistically need, but bound to be useful, if I ever need to store a whole swimming pool worth of stuff. Which… could happen.

I’ll need to explore the limits of my inventory a little better too. Not being able to stuff Hercules's ring in there was a surprise.

Sighing, he added his nine free points to his Arcana stat one at a time and closed his status. Paying careful attention to how each one caused it to surge within him, and become a little more vigorous.

Arcana should definitely be the Stat I prioritize, but letting Constitution drag too far behind is a no go, both because it's nonoptimal and because being squishy seems like a bad idea. I still have the boiling and freezing baths, so it’s not like I’m completely hung out to dry on that front though. As for Agility and Strength, I should be able to improve them the normal way for now. Especially with my saturation point so high.

If I can max out my Arcana and get another manasink though… I’ll basically have free Stat Points as long as I'm willing to suffer a headache.

His eyes glimmered, as he looked towards the door.

Grinning, he closed his eyes, and focused on his mana. Circulating it around his body he let some seep through his skin.

Just like when he was under the metal slab, he could feel it brushing against space itself.

How do I move now? He frowned. I’m anchored here, in this spot, and if someone moved the bed out from under me, I’d float. Except, floating isn’t flying.

Letting go of his mana, he climbed off his bed, he looked around the room. Finding an empty spot, he jumped into the air. The moment his feet left the ground, he once again called his mana forward, and like he expected, he hung in the air.

How did Lukeus make it seem so easy? He frowned, as he adjusted his mana to the soles of his feet, and took a step forward. As it is, I can imitate my boots, but that’s not how everyone else does it. I’ve never seen anyone have to move their body at all.

A lightbulb went off in his head. Channeling mana into his hands, he held himself in the air with his palms alone. Then slowly, he circulated the film of mana on his hands so that the mana at the back of his would glide forward, while the mana on the tips of his fingers would seep back into him.

“Fuck yeah!” He yelled, as he crawled an inch backwards in the air.

Someone banged on the wall, and startled he fell out of the air.

“KEEP IT QUIET ASSHOLE. I’M TRYING TO SLEEP.”

“Sorry!” He yelled back. A wide grin plastered on his face, as he covered his whole body in mana, and darted through the room.

I should go outside. Flying in a room isn’t that fun.