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Both unsurprisingly and unfortunately my declaration of my intent to murder some of the strongest being in existence didn't, in fact, have them appear in front of me, asking to die, in fact, if any of them did show up, I'd probably instantly die, so... that's probably a good thing all things considered. Still annoying all things considering, but I was dealing with it.

Honestly it wasn't that bad, having the wrong body than what I was promised, if I was anyone else, then I'd probably just accept it and move on, but I wasn't anyone else. I was me, and as such, I thrived off pissing people off and spiting my way through anything I want... Probably, I'm mostly making that up since I had no idea who I am, but the idea was certainly appealing, so I was going to go with it!

Now, what all did I have to focus on for the time being? A list is important after all when you are planning to murder godlike beings, so let's get some points written down.

1. Find out who I am.

2. Found out where I am.

3. Find my way to Camp Half-Blood.

4. Don't die.

5. Find a way to defend myself against monsters.

6. Don't die.

7. Figure out who my god parent is.

8. Don't die.

9. Find a way to become a real boy.

There wasn't really a ranking of importance to list, more of an order I can complete them some what quickly, but I put don't die on there a few extra times just in case I forgot, since it seemed to be pretty important. Now to get to work!

Who am I?

Nicholas King is the easy answer, but I have no idea what that means in terms of personality or history or anything really... Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought...

Eh, I'll figure that one out as I go, right now I should probably focus on the situation at hand. After all, I am in a weird run down building.

Looking around for a moment, just to look at the place again, it certainly wasn't for someone of a more upstanding position in life, honestly the place looked like a dump. Moving around, just to explore a bit, I counted exactly three rooms, the main tiny living room with an even smaller kitchen, a small bedroom, and a bathroom off to the side, and that was it. That was the entire apartment.

There was some furniture around and other things about, a fridge and microwave, some very simple foods in the cabinets, it was pretty boring in honestly.

The milk was bad in the fridge, meaning it's been a while, the date on the carton said best by April of 2006. It took a few minutes, but I found a calendar, it was flipped to March, there was some scribbles on it. They were in terrible hand and really small writing, so I gave up on bothering to try and figure out what they meant after a second of staring at it, but I didn't really need the information.

Obvious stuff first, this was an apartment but whoever lived here was kicked out, obvious by the fact that there was nothing personal around, no clothes, pictures, or items outside the very basics like forks and knives in the drawers and said calendar. No one's been in here to clean the place out in at least a month, so the chances of someone renting this place was pretty low...

it also appeared from the ratty clothes I had on, it was clear that the person this defective body belonged to was homeless, and had been squatting here because of that fact. And now I was in control and had to deal with that situation.

[Notice: +2 Perception, +2 Wisdom; You're actually really perceptive when you try]

"Thanks!" Oh! "Oh! I can speak! Right. Ha, that's cool, my voice is all weird though, it's all crackly and stuff. Anyways, thanks System"

Still, my stats are improving pretty quickly, probably a demigod thing, or maybe just a Game System thing, but I'll take it. I hope it's that fast forever, but things like this have a way of slowing down after a while, quick gains at the start, but continual stuff takes more effort and all that jazz.

Past that, I should probably do something about this situation since I might be in danger now, though... With what I remember and how I know it, all demigods have a scent, which attract monsters, but it isn't super active until they realize what they are... Fuck.

Whelp, that's bad news for me, still, demigods from lesser known gods aren't as attractive or whatever to monsters, it's the opposite on the other side as well, which is why Percy got attacked so much, on top of the fact the kid's the strongest demigod ever, plus to get it's full effects you have to be claimed by the god in question as well, I think, so I shouldn't be in a super big amount of danger for the time being.

Though I think it might also get stronger the stronger you get? eh, doesn't matter, I can deal with that issue later, when I'm actually stronger, until then, nothing I really have to worry about. Well, until a monster tries to rend me limb from limb at least... Hmm, maybe I should focus on getting to Camp-Half Blood, I don't like the idea of dying.

Right, got it, perfect plan time, find out where I am, then travel to Camp-Half Blood, get a weapon that can kill monsters, grind, bitch slap a titan, and get a dick, preferably all in that order, though I am open to suggestions.

No? Nothing system? Fair enough, guess you're limited in what you can help me with.

Anyways, let's see what I can find around here and then get moving, after all, it's pointless to stay in one place when a monster could appear at any moment, especially with my current luck score being in the negatives cause a certain dick head had it's feelings hurt.

The following hour blurred together, as I went around the small apartment, looking over every inch of the place, and in the end managed to find... not much at all to be honest, but I did manage to get a stake knife which was sharp enough to cut a roll of paper towels, so it would probably be useful against anything I needed to fight. Past that, I found a massive jacket which absolutely covered most of my upper body and a portion of my lower body as well, but that was fine, I just wanted an extra layer of clothing on me.

Plus it helped hide my knife!

Past that, there really wasn't much else, the water wasn't even turned on which sucked, but given my luck, literally, it wasn't at all unexpected.

Still, I turned the entire damn place upside down, if anyone came in now, they'd think it was a murder scene in all honesty, the couch had rips in it, I stabbed the wall once, cause I was annoyed at not finding anything and I wanted to, and there may or may not be a door that is missing now, but no one can prove that and as such no one has to worry about my sins.

So now I just need to head on out into the city I was in, in the body of a homeless twelve year old girl.

Yes, that's a good choice.

[Notice: I want to remove from Wisdom

Update! Requirements met! New System unlocked: Accomplishments!]

[Accomplishment: First Day Exploration: Completed!

You've woken up in a strange body in a strange world, with even stranger powers, and you've done your best to figure it all out by searching your surroundings for gear and thinking through your situation and devising a plan, that deserves a reward

+100 Exp

Skill [Search] Unlocked!]

[Notice: You have leveled up!]

Huh, I have a new system, one I didn't recognize from my blocked memories, I was expecting something like a quest system, but instead I get accomplishments? So I don't get to know what things I'm working for until I complete them and then I get a reward for them based on the game system? That means if I just do stuff, and it's clever or insane enough, then I'll get rewarded for it. Making a sandwich probably wouldn't count, unless it was a really good one, but, say, befriending the protagonist might count as one.

Killing a titan certainly would be one.

Still, this was pretty cool as well, because this meant that the system wouldn't be leading me around or anything by issuing quests to me, to try and shoehorn me into the plot or something I didn't want to do by offering a nice looking carrot attached to a shotgun instead of a stick. This way I got rewarded for going the extra mile without trying to railroad me into a direction I wouldn't want to do. It's about as much free will a Game System can give a person when you think about.

"Sweet! Mind showing me my new skill?" Ah, here we are.

[Search] Level: 1

When you use this skill, you can instantly gain a minor understanding on the object you are looking.

This can include any of the following depending on skill level: Value, Damage, Rarity, Small Description, etc.

[Notice: Your perception stat counts as a phantom modifier, for every ten points of Perception, Search acts as if it is one level higher than presented here]

Damn, that's really cool! It's my version of Observe, but, like, a knock off version! Still, it's awesome since this does tell me a lot about my skills and how they will work in the future, sure it might not be all of them, but this also means that there are skills that I will learn in the future that my stats can effect and make stronger passively. Perception here makes Search better over time as well without having to level it up.

Sure, it might not seem like a lot, but for the future, if I get a real badass skill, like... I don't know, sword fighting, and I'm level forty or something, even though the skill itself will start at level one, which would be a really small bonus, I can make up for that by having my Physical stats being high enough to mimic proficiency. Sure, it probably wouldn't be like that for all of them, but the few it is for will be really helpful!

Now then, time to do the only logical thing, and use my new skill on the most important item I own.

My knife!

[Notice: Search used, presenting information...

Basic Stake Knife

A simple but decently taken care of stake knife, it probably isn't the most effective weapon, but it will work in a pinch.

Damage with it is determined by Strength and Dexterity.

Rank: E]

Cool, hmm, doesn't really tell me a damage count, just says that it is using Dex and Strength to determine it... Is it a floating number or is there just not a number applied to it like how I don't have a health bar, so it's up to me to make it deadly? I can do that, probably, I wasn't that strong.

I think... I don't really know what a base line human's strength is really suppose to me or how to compare myself to one.

Oh well, now then, the level up thing... My Stamina went up by fifty, and Mana by twenty-five, so that's probably just how much I get per level, which is a bit... not a lot at all, but that's fine for right now. Besides that, I got a cool five points to put into my stats, but I'll just hold onto them for right now, I don't want to spend any at all until at least level ten, cause that's when I get the first big jump in all my stats, and after that point, it will start to slow down, so until I need them, I won't use them.

Simple enough, just got to hope I'll be lucky enough to get another eight levels without needing them.

Fuck, that Luck stat is going to fuck me isn't it?

Eh, it'll be fine, probably.

Anyways, I've been in this dump for way to long, so it's time to get moving.

Heading out of the apartment was easy, getting into the rickety elevator was easy as well, walking out of the building was much the same... Getting onto the street was decidedly the moment when I realized that perhaps the rest of this wasn't going to be nearly as easy.

Right, cool, first I have to find where I am.

Thankfully there was people around, and no one wanted to say no to the cuteness that was my baby face. Turns out I was in the mysterious land of... Nebraska, yeah, hadn't really expected that. It was also no where near Long Island where Camp Half-Blood was. In fact, it was half the entire country away from where I was currently, and that really sucked.

Hmm, this might be a problem, so what to do?

Well, the first issue was finding some cash to manage to buy a bus ticket or two to start my way over, plus money for food and stuff, since it was hardly like I could just walk the distance. So how to get cash? My thoughts were interrupted as a hand tapped my shoulder lightly.

"Hey girl little, uh, are you ok?" I totally pouted at that, cause I could already tell being called a girl was going to get real old real fast, as I turned to look up at a concerned looking man in a business suit... Hmm.

"Give me your wallet" He just blinked before giving a soft laugh, I just waited slipping my hand into my new jacket. He stopped laughing after that.

[Notice: +1 Luck; You're a scary kid]

[Accomplishment: First Fight?: Completed!

It wasn't really a fight, more a horrifying showing of a small child threatening a grown man with a knife, but you still won, so good job... I think.

+500 Exp

Skill [Intimidation] Unlocked!]

[Notice: You have leveled up two times!]

[Intimidation] Level 1

Sometimes all it takes is some motivational words... and a knife pointed at someone's balls, apparently, to make the world go round.

5% bonus chance to scare someone into doing your bidding, this has a lower chance against creatures and beings higher level than you

[Notice: Your Control stat counts as a phantom modifier, for every ten points of Control, Intimidation acts as if it is one level higher than presented here]

I just hummed happily to myself as I thumbed through the contents of my new wallet, as I sat on a bench I found nearby, it didn't have that much in it to be honest, a picture of him and some children that I didn't really care about, a card, which I couldn't use without the pin and hasn't thought about until the man had already started running away from me, and a few other things, you know, driver's license, some work ID, and a few membership cards.

Past that, the actual interesting things was there was a twenty dollar gift card to some chicken place, and about eighty dollars cash. Cheapskate, I mean, who doesn't have cash on hand in 2006?

Oh, I have a phone now, but I'll have to toss it at some point, me being a kid or not, that guy was a pussy, he'd totally going to the police to report it, and I know to much about tv tropes to know that keeping a stolen phone on hand isn't a good idea. It'd suck if some police officer tried to be a hero and either shot me in the name of public safety for the horrible act of petty crime, or did the thing worst than death and sent me into CPS, then I'd have to deal with people telling me what to do, and that sounded annoying.

Besides, it was a phone, and those things sent out signals and stuff to monsters as well, no idea how, but that's in the books so no reason to risk it.

All things considered, I think I'm going to grab some snacks, and then I'm going to start bus hopping.

...Ah crap, I have no idea what kind of snacks i like, do I like sour or sweet? God, I can't waste money on picking a bit of everything, but I kind of really, really want to...

Oh wait, I just remembered something, I'm half-god and therefore above the law! I can just steal what I want from some gas station or something.

God, I love being a genius.

Wait, I can totally also just sneak onto a bus, it can't be that hard right?

God, I am a super genius!

[Notice: +1 Intelligence; Please stop having these ideas]

[Notice: +2 Dexterity, +1 Luck; I can't believe you weren't caught, seriously, I can't]

[Accomplishment: The Grand Theft of... Doritos?: Completed!

You're life of crime has started early and started small, but with how you are, you'll probably keep it going.

+250 Exp

Skill [Sleight of Hand] Unlocked!]

[Sleight of Hand] Level: 1

Sometimes all it takes is having some nimble fingers

5% bonus in your ability to use your hands in crafty and sneaky ways, like theft.

[Notice: Your Dexterity stat counts as a phantom modifier, for every ten points of Dexterity, [Sleight of Hand] acts as if it is one level higher than presented here]

Life's pretty good, I mean, it wasn't a perfect job, I totally got caught, but unfortunately for the old woman running the gas station register, I happened to look like a starved twelve year old girl wearing basically nothing but an oversized dirty jacket so in the end she took pity on me. Which I didn't really like, it felt kind of annoying to be looked at all sad like, but... I also happened to actually be in the body of a starved twelve year old girl, so I just sucked it up and moved on with my day.

By that, I mean it's been a few hours and I am currently chilling by a bus station on another bench, because while I got somewhat lucky with the woman working today, I was not lucky enough to get here when any bus should be arriving... In fact, according to the annoying complicated schedule I had to spend almost a minute squinting at to make our what it meant through all the annoying moving letters, that there wouldn't be another bus heading out of the city until the next morning.

It was late in the afternoon now, and while I'd have to wait about twelve hours before the next one would be coming through, I didn't really mind, it was pretty exciting to be honest, just sitting around, watching everything, it was awesome. Everything might be somewhat known to me, but everything also was new as well, and it was cool to see things and have my mind just fill in the blanks, or when I didn't know something, which was a constant, and I learned something knew, it was pretty cool.

I got another point into Perception for it as well which was neat, and a level in Search, since I was kind of using it on literally everything that breathed and then continued on and used it on everything that didn't.

Oh! I also figured out I like skittles which is pretty cool, though I mostly liked them because of how colorful they are, to bad they might cause cancer... Why the hell is that something that's still in my head?

Anyways, I like sweet stuff, they taste funny, oh! I also found out I like tasting things, it's a pretty cool experience.

But beyond that, not to much has happened really, I've just been waiting on the bus for the last few hours, either sitting, fiddling with my knife or the phone, calling random numbers and seeing what happened for the most part. I got bored really easy, plus there was this energy in my body that I had no basis to know if it was normal or not, but it just felt a bit weird to not be moving, so I stayed active.

You know, sit ups and stuff, got a few weird looks for it, but I netted one point in Strength and two in Constitution for my fidgeting so I considered it a wind and it helped get some of the energy out.

I also tried to do magic, by, I don't know, focusing on the energy I felt in my body? Nothing really happened though, probably needed actual training, or, like, an instruction manual on mana or something before I can start doing stuff with it. Which was a bit boring, but also, fair enough? All in all, it's been a pretty productive first day of being alive, I've stolen, threatened to castrate a man, got three levels, and managed to get fifteen points added to my stats through hard work. It was pretty goof in my opinion.

I even had a plan and everything to keep this train moving! Well, bus, but that's besides the point really.

I also might try looking into just what sleep is like later, but maybe not, everything's currently awesome and stuff, and sleep sounds super boring. I got enough nothingness when I was floating in a void with words annoying me.

Besides, how important can sleep be anyways?

While I was contemplating this important question, a loud and frankly annoying voice spoke up behind me.

"Oi! Girl, whatch thing like you doing here?" Blinking out of my important thoughts about how long I could last without sleeping, my personal bet was at least a week, I glanced back and looked at... the most cliche looking group of thug you could imagine. A bunch of burly looking men with leather jackets, looking pissed at the air for existing, and giving me a look that spelled trouble.

Frankly I didn't have enough of a working sense of death or fear to be anything other than annoyed about being a girl.

It's been a day, and it's really lost it's appeal already. I'm getting a hair cut as soon as possible after this, hell, I have my knife, I'll give myself one. I wonder how well I could style it given I don't have a mirror on hand... Do I want it styled? Do I care?... Yeah, no, I'm literally wearing rags and a stolen jacket, I can care about my appearance when I'm not... this.

Oh right, thugs trying to be intimidating, oops. What had they said again? Oh right!

"I'm a boy" he just raised an eyebrow. I was personally just enjoying the faint confusion before acceptance as he went back to taunting, clearly unsatisfied with the lack of a reaction on my part. Not really, sure what he was looking for though, as the group behind him made a bunch of muttering sounds, mostly just trying to mess with me I think, still unsure why. Did they get off on bullying children? If so, that's kind of sad.

"What, thinking your a big man then? Being out here at night without your parents to protect you" It's probably be overkill for my one of my parents to get involved, and considering I'm homeless...

"Well, one's probably dead and the others a god, so not sure they count" The man blinked, before laughing, though it was kind of strained, clearly this was not the reaction he was expecting.

"Heh, hear that boys? We got a little psycho in front of us" I just shrugged while the men did the thing where they all laughed creepily on some silent que. It was creepy sure, but not really that scary, so... Five out of ten.

"So, are you like... Trying to mug me or something? If so, I'm kind of homeless, not sure what you're expecting to get out of it, but I have some skittles left if you really want something" The man looked like he was trying really hard to keep the scary exterior up, and I think in most situations like this, me, being the typical hero figure, was suppose to have an epic battle, showing off my demigod body in it's full strength against a few regular humans, humans that were the typical villain type, mooks to just get beaten around for being generically evil.

You know, classic story telling, instead, the man in front of me just sighed, looking back at his boys for a moment, they seemed to lose a lot of their steam but were clearly trying to not show it. I was just kind of confused. Eventually the man just looked back at me before saying.

"Uh, look kid, seriously? Are you ok out here?" He sounded uncomfortable, he got off on scaring kids, not sure why asking if they were ok was somehow out of bounds for him. Still, I just shrugged.

"I'm good, just waiting on the bus, I'm planning on hitching a ride out east, apparently I got some family out there, trying to see if I can find them" His face did this interesting thing where it tried to look stoic, but instead just looked sad. Seriously? He was doing a really good job at making me somehow feel even more bad for him, this was just sad, even the whole group behind him where now actively looking at each other, the wind out of their sails, now just looking uncomfortable.

"Yeah? Uh, that's pretty dangerous kid?"

"Probably, but it's not like I got anywhere to be, might as well right?" He slowly moved over, sitting down next to me, staring at me as I just looked back, I blamed the bad lighting of the night time, but now that he was closer, it was clear he wasn't that old, maybe mid twenties?

"Haven't you thought about, I don't know, child services or something?"

"Nah, I've been out here my entire life" Not a lie, though he looked even more depressed now, "I don't want to spend the rest of my childhood bouncing around either. Rather just move about"

"That's not safe"

"I know"

"You're going to get yourself hurt kid"

"Weren't you just trying to rob me or something?" He sighed, looking very tired, as he rubbed a hand over his face for a long moment, looking almost shameful, before saying.

"No, god no. I just... it's a thing we do, go around and scare kids after dark, it's good fun and it teaches the brats to not go wandering around at night in a city, it's dangerous" Huh, that almost made him sound like a respectable person, doesn't change the fact he actively enjoyed terrorizing children, that kind of ruined it for me.

"Sounds stupid" He managed a laugh at that before shaking his head.

"It is... Look, I'm not going to, like, grab you and drag you to some police station or anything, I'd probably get charged with kidnapping anyways, but listen, there's a homeless shelter off Board Street, Jimmy's sister, the big guy over there, works there on occasion, it's a good place, just, stay there if you need to, but don't go on some cross country trip"

"Sounds nice, but nah. I'm going to live my life, and if I die from something, it's going to be more awesome than something found in a city" He groaned and looked around, trying to get some idea before just seemingly giving up, standing up suddenly, he said with a pointed finger.

"Don't move, I'll be back in a minute" I just blinked before looking away, not really caring, they weren't... that bad I guess, a bit stupid, but they weren't going to try anything, though, being honest, I was totally ready to shank him when he first sat down, but that's not here nor there.

About five minutes later he moved back over and handed me something, as I looked at what was in his hand for a moment before saying in surprise.

"That's money" I felt a bit stupid for just stating the obvious, but that's what it was, in his hand was just a bunch of loose bills, he looked awkward as he handed it over, but I accepted it all the same.

"Just... don't think about it to much alright? It ain't a lot, none of us are really making bank over here alright? But, it's enough for a few meals and maybe a hotel room for a night or two. Don't get yourself killed alright? And here" He handed over a slip of paper, as I blinked in continued surprise at the number written on it. "I don't feel right about leaving a kid to just... go out there, so... I don't know, call or something if you can, use a payphone or something, I just don't want to have some kid on my conscience for the rest of my life"

I just nodded a bit, not really sure why he wanted that, but I guess it wouldn't hurt? Pulling the bills close while putting the slip fo paper into a pocket, I did some quick math and... there was about a hundred bucks here, huh.

The guy got up and moved away, before calling over his shoulder.

"Seriously, call, I really don't want to feel like shit for the rest of my life"

"Uh, sure, I'll try every once and while?" He just shrugged, trying to not act like that gave him some relief.

People are weird.

[Notice: +5 Luck; What the actual hell?! In every way possible that was suppose to be a fight? How?!]

[Accomplishment: Pacified: Completed!

You've somehow managed to talk down a gang from escalating a situation set for a fight. I don't know if it's more impressive or just stupid that you didn't even mean to.

+1000 Exp

[Notice: You have leveled up two times!]

Huh, cool...

Anyways, time to go back to waiting I guess...

I wonder if blue skittles are a thing?

I... I don't even know, I just started writing, cause I liked the last one, and not even a day later, five thousands words of just absolute stupidity just appeared in front of me, and I don't even know how it happened. It just sort of did. Still, guess I'll be continuing this story I guess? It's a lot of fun for just how dumb it is, and I actually do have something of a plot in my head at the moment, though right now it's just me writing whatever comes to mind, which will probably get me in a lot of trouble down the line from breaking the scaling way to early or not early enough, or something... I don't know, I'm not really putting a massive stock into the Game system, it's just there to be quirky and fun, without needing to deal with all the numbers and stuff, cause I've done that before, and it's a headache to keep track of.

Still, this chapter was just a build up to the actual trip to the camp, as well as Nick actually learning about himself, and me testing the waters with his personality to make sure I actually got it nailed down while making fun of every single situation I can think of by making fun of constant tropes found in this kind of story. Anyways, my rambles have ended, I'm posting this again, when I finished writing it, this time, some how later than when I finished the last one... I'm choosing to not worry about all the responsibilities I'm putting off and am just going to post this now. Then sleep, sleep sounds good. See ya.

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Game of the Insane Demigod by KyKyuKai

Books » Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rated: T, English, Humor & Adventure, OC, Words: 242k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Sep 15, 2022 Updated: Mar 3, 2023

481Chapter 3

I Don't Own Percy Jackson

Wait, before you get to the chapter, the end notes are sort of important if you read literally... any other story of mine, so stick around for that after reading this chapter.

Sleep was just as boring as I thought it would be, but I did in fact need it, well, more like my child body couldn't handle behind awake anymore and passed out on me without permission about four hours into the bus ride. Which, have to say, very rude of it to do so.

But when I woke up, I was two states over and was being kicked off by a very confused and pretty terrified old man who thought he might have accidently kidnapped me. I just waved him off and walked off the bus.

Illinois, being honest here, is kind of was boring.

Like, it wasn't horrible or anything, but when I got off the bus and started to look into seeing when the next route is, nothing happened, and that's boring.

Frankly it really didn't help that I was bored out of my mind in general, which would happen when you haven't had anything interesting happen in at least... six hours? Give or take. Anyways, I woke up about half an hour ago and it's already late afternoon meaning I've officially already ruined my sleep schedule. Second day alive, so I'm taking that as quite the accomplishment, my System didn't seem to agree with that though.

Anyways, all that aside, I'm hungry, have been for a while apparently, as eating only candy since I've come alive, is apparently not a good way of keeping keeping fed. Good to know for the future, not great to know right now when I was hungry.

So right now I'm looking around for somewhere I can get something to eat, without having the cops either called about the homeless child or the cops called because I was homeless, it was quite the conundrum. So like all the things that should be problems, I just decided that being all scared of something possibly happening was a waste of time, and just walked into the first restaurant that looked interesting.

It had a big chicken on the front, my first thought was to order a vegan meal, if only to see what would happen.

My protesting stomach vetoed the idea unfortunately.

Anyways, I got a weird look or two, but money is money, and in the end I had a sandwich all to myself, which I destroyed in a few minutes, then went up and got two more, and then destroyed them as well. I was very hungry as it turns out, I wasn't sure it was a homeless child thing, or a demigod thing, but either way, I was out nearly twenty bucks by the end of it and happy.

Oh, it turns out, I do in fact like mayo, so that's cool.

It was pretty late when I left the restaurant, but I was happy, so now I was just exploring around, seeing if there was anything interesting around that would make this state decidedly less boring.

Eventually, and through many mental gymnastics and trials to think of a way to get out of it... I unfortunately decided to head to the library. It was sad, but as it stood I did, in fact, need to do some research, and since three of the items on my list was to not die, I figured it would be, I don't know, important? To actually work on that, and knowledge is power, or at least, it is until I figure out how to have power be power, but since I don't have magic yet, I have to rely on my brain.

Which was stupid, cause it meant I had to do things like... reading, gross. Who reads for fun anyways?

Still, I found the publics library not to long later and... it was closed, right, of course. My luck is super weird isn't it? I mean, it's in the negative, but sometimes it seems like I'm super lucky in spite of that, but other times it literally does nothing for me, like a public library that closes before six! I should probably put some thought into that... Is there some god for luck? Probably, to bad I can't know since the library is closed!

Hmm... Maybe I should break in?

I mean, I'm already collecting a list of laws broken, might as well do my best to keep it up right? Besides, it's a library in the middle of no where. What's the worst that'll happen? Plus I even get a place to take a nap after I'm done, so I'll be all refreshed for the next time I hitch a ride on a bus tomorrow to keep on heading eastward.

With that, I looked at the medium sized building, it really wasn't that big, before moving around it, there wasn't exactly anyone near by, since, well, it's closed. So I just moved around, trying any handle I found along the way, they were all locked, which sucked, but whatever. I found a window around the back that technically was locked... but I found a rock, and after some genius level MacGyver trickery, the window was suddenly unlocked!

[Notice: 1 Strength; You threw a rock through it, don't give yourself a pat on the back]

Spoilsport, anyways, jumping up and carefully climbing over glass shards, I managed to pull myself up into the window and even managed to not go face first onto the ground where the rest of the glass had landed. I considered that a win in my book!

Heading on into the building, I just kept an eye out, it was pretty dark and there was no reason to go stumbling around after all, and it's not like I could just turn on the building lights without someone outside noticing and then calling the police about a break in, which frankly would be to big a pain to deal with right now. Unfortunately for this time period, smartphones weren't really a thing, my own was just a flip phone, meaning it didn't really give off much light, so I had to go looking around for a bit in some of the back rooms, ignoring the actual library section, before I found what I was looking for a solid half an hour of looking later.

It was hidden in a small kitchen area in the back, under the sink and behind a bunch of cleaning products, a small hand held flashlight. Flickering it on, I nearly blinded myself with the thing before pulling the bright side away from my eyes as I looked around, now with actual light.

I decided after a moment of thought on the matter, of the sharp contrasting shadows bouncing off the walls and cabinets in the small room, that I both thought this was pretty cool and creepy, in about equal measure.

I stopped thinking about that when I realized there was a fridge in here, and instead moved to raid it, pulling out a soda of some knock off brand I didn't know, and what looked like a half eaten sandwich, I smiled to myself and cracked the can open as I moved around, the flashlight wedged between my elbow and my side as I walked around and ate, being careful of the light, while moving to the book sections.

It took a while, cause, dyslexia is like that, but I eventually tracked down the mythology section of the library, there were some computers that I had tried to get on first, but they were stupid and required a password, which I didn't have, an looking through the help desk hadn't got me anything. The passwords were probably online as well or something annoying like that.

See what I mean? Terrible luck, but sometimes it isn't? Weird huh? Normally it wouldn't even be noticeable, but with my stat Luck being what it is, it probably means something important right?

With that in mind, I started to work through the Greek myth books, but being honest, it was just a lot of boring stories about either demigods killing monsters or Zeus fucking new ones into existence. Not to mention the freaking indexes hurt my eyes to look at for to long, books fucking suck, but I did manage to get a few things from them, mostly just names and stuff about monsters, but that was more I had before I guess?

After that, I sort of gave up on the big boy books, and looked around to see if there were any kid books on the matter, without a single shred of shame. They had pictures ok? That instantly just makes them better in every conceivable way.

So I was quite happen when I found a simple children's book with cartoon pictures of a few dozen important figures through Greek mythology, you know, monsters, kings, titans, gods, heroes, that sort of thing.

It was much more entertaining and it didn't have that stupid index thing, and the letters were real big so it was easier to read them as well.

I learned a lot more from this one than the big stupid ones, didn't get any big story or anything, but this did have cliff notes and that's all my brain could handle in terms of having to learn stuff, so it worked out great.

In the end, I didn't really learn much more than I had before in terms of getting some information on just who my godparent is, since the book mostly just named the main thirteen and a few others, like the four winds, boring, I know. Why should I care about some god name Notus? That's a stupid name. Almost as bad as Charon, it's to close to Chiron and it keeps messing me up when either are mentioned.

Still, it was handy to know, and it was beginning to get close to midnight by the time I had finished bothering with the reading stuff and instead went exploring around the place some more. I could read some more later, my sleep schedule was messed up enough that I wouldn't be feeling tired until about noon tomorrow anyways, though I was planning on a nap at some point, being all tired and sleeping on a bus is weird, and I want to see if I can just stop that since apparently I can't just not sleep.

Which I still think is stupid, but whatever!

Moving on with my existence, I looked around for a while, but sadly this public library didn't, in fact, any any weapons in it, unless you counted the pends, which while would be cool, just wouldn't be very effective.

So I just gave up after a while, nothing really to find, as instead I eventually found myself in a small bathroom, using the wink to wash my face up and to get rid of some of the grime I felt all over, it was kind of gross.

I was just going to leave it at that, but then I caught my reflection in the mirror. The long hair was taunting me, falling over my eyes and my face, getting everywhere.

I'm going to stab it.

That was about the only real thought I gave the matter as I pulled my hair back, so it was all in one hand, as the other came out and grabbed my lovely knife, and with a bit of sawing, to get through the thickness of it, the hair came off my head without issue, as it fell back on my head uneven as all hell, but shorter than it had been by a large margin, as I just grinned at my reflection for a moment, before repeating the process a few times, shortening my bangs to get them out of my eyes.

In the end, my hair looked like a slasher victim, and judging by the insane smile on my face and the knife in my hands, you'd think I was the slasher...

And you'd be right!

Running a hand through my hair, I had to say, I certainly like this better.

"Not bad at all... It's almost like I wanted to have my hair look like this from the start Jackass!" Talking angrily at a ceiling was surprisingly cathartic, I think I've been holding that one in for a while.

Nodding to myself with a smaller smile, I was about ready to turn and leave, when my ears twitched as they barely managed to pick up on the faint sound of voices in the distance.

"No, I'm serious man! It sounded like some kid being angry about hair or something I swear!" Ah... hmm, well isn't quite the predicament I've found myself in? Creeping out of the men's bathroom, I moved as quiet as I could manage along the wall, my ears tryin got pick up whatever was happening as the sound got a bit clearer as a second voice spoke up, this one sounding distinctly more female.

"You're an idiot, why would some kid be here at night?"

"Why are we dumbass? Maybe they know about the book?" Book? I don't like books, but this one sounds important... Great, now I'm interested, isn't this just a pain.

"Some kid isn't going to know about it, besides, it took us months to track it down here, ahead of everyone else I might add! If some kid managed it before us I'll eat my shoe. Now keep a proper look out alright? Let me know when something more dangerous than some brat manages to prick your pointy ears" The drama increases... I really want to know what those two are talking about now, but they also were clearly older than I am, and since it's clear they seem to be expecting a threat of some kind, it's obvious they are battle ready... But on the other hand, this was interesting...

Given the fact that I honestly have no idea if this whole situation is on my weirdly great luck, or my predictably shit luck, it really could go fifty-fifty on how this goes if I step out there and get their attention...

Eh, better odds than what I'm used to.

Plus, I have a knife, and so far, said knife has solved every problem I've put it up against.

"Hello there!" Walking into sight, I did the only obvious thing I could, I instantly shone my flashlight right into the taller one's face, that one happened to be the guy who heard me. He looked weird, though I was must to busy grinning as he let out a screechy sound and flung his hands in the air in terror. It was funny, I decided I liked him, and if it came to a fight, I'd kill the other one first.

"What the fuck!" As he continued to panic, I got a look at him, he was... normal enough looking.

Well, that's a lie, he was hot as fuck, which, wasn't that a sudden realization about myself, though maybe not...? He didn't really look... fair, every inch of his body looked like it was designed to be attractive no matter who was looking at him, with snow white skin with no sign of a blemish or marks to break the perfection. His hair was the perfect shade of blonde, that even under the harsh flashlight, it managed to somehow look incredible and flowing. His face looked near sculpted out of marble, but still looked soft somehow, with slanted piercing ocean blue for eyes. Trying to get a feel for his age was basically impossible.

Oh, he also had, like, pointed foot long ears breaking through his perfect hair, so... That's something.

"Ha! You were right Jor, you did hear a kid!" My eyes shifted to the other, she was... boring and franlky plain in comparison, which I felt sort of bad about, but it wasn't really my fault she looked like a standard default woman from a character customizer. Brown hair coming to her shoulders, with brown eyes, and fair skin, and at least late teens, there really wasn't much interesting there to look at.

Well, besides the footlong broadsword just chilling on her hip... That's also something. Though, speaking woman body to woman body, my knife obvious just shows I'm not compensating and therefore I am better.

"I- Gah! I think I'm about to have a heart attack!" My eyes shifted back to the clearly not human one, and tilted my head as he clutched his chest. As the woman just huffed before rolling her eyes.

"Oh suck it up!" Then her eyes spun around and stared at me, I just stared back, before giving a wave, cause I'm polite and shit, "So, twerp, what the hell you doing here for? In case you haven't noticed, the place is currently closed" She really was just acting like she didn't have a massive sword and the guy next to her wasn't clearly a elf, which I... think that's technically Norse in origin?

Isn't there suppose to be some barrier that's suppose to stop two mythologies from interacting? Is my luck that... Bad? Good? They aren't trying to kill me yet, so that's probably good right? Anyways, was my luck... whatever it was, so much that it just poked through that?

Cool!

"Just wandering about, trying to not die, all that good stuff. I don't suppose you have any extra weapon on hand?" She tensed as the elf yelped and... turned invisible? Ok, that's a new one, he just vanished, and the woman was pointing a fucking sword at me now. I just slipped a hand into my pocket, still holding the flashlight up, as my hand gripped tight onto the handle of my knife as she spoke up harshly, as my eyes scanned about, trying to find the elf... the light from my hand began to drift by the time I tuned into what she was saying.

"Who are you?!" Ah! Hey! This suddenly isn't so bad, I haven't had the chance to do this yet!

"Nicholas! My name is Nicholas King! You can call me Nick" I waited a moment, before adding on, "So, what do you think? Last opinion I got was from a jerk so that doesn't count" She just blinked, before asking.

"What do I think about your name?" I nodded, the flashlight hand still lightly waving around and ah, there you are elf-boy, you might be invisible, but you still have a shadow, meaning it isn't light refraction but something else, interesting, though if he get's closer then I'll stab him.

"Uh. It's fine?" Fine... I huffed a bit at that, before saying.

"Hey! I worked hard on that name you know!" She squinted her eyes at me, like she was actively trying to figure out if I was trying to do something. Eventually she answered slowly.

"No... No, I really don't. Uh, look! Just... Who sent you, and what are you! Stop avoiding the question"

"But you didn't ask me that!" She just glared at me, and I watched with faint interest and a tiny bit of worry as the sword glowed a bit, I could nearly feel the power pulsing off it now, which was wild, so I continued on with a pout, "Fine! Look, no one sent me, I just have really bi-polar luck. And I'm a demi-god, from the Greek side of the world, just moving on through here" She frowned for a long moment before glancing over and around before rolling her eyes.

"Jor! the out here, is the kid telling the truth?" I just turned to look right where I knew him to be, as he yelped and suddenly appeared, looking at me like he was scared to get any closer, I liked that expression, I wonder if it would get worse if I pulled my knife out... That's a really tempting thought to be honest.

"Uh, yeah, she's tell- Ah!" Ok, in my defense, I'm getting really annoyed about the pronoun thing, in his defense... he didn't know that... In my defense, part two, I flung my flashlight at his head before I really thought about it.

In his defense, part two, uh... He ducked?

"I'm a guy! Just... you know... Thought I should mention that" He gave me a look while the woman just barked out at me, her sword, which had almost started to lower was back up ant pointed at me.

"Hey! No attacking the elf!" I was ready to retort when said elf spoke up.

"Hey! I'm a albaz!" I blinked, everything forgotten, as I pointed at him and said

"But you have the ears?" He huffed at that.

"So! You're a human, would it be better to say human than... I don't know? Hispanic?" I just blinked before saying.

"Yes, cause that's incredibly racist, like, just... wow. Also, no, not Hispanic, in fact completely wrong side of the world" The woman snorted at that.

"Don't mind Jor, he's new to Midgard"

"I got dragged here because you dragged me here!"

"Details details, now, is the brat telling the truth!" Oh right, we've gotten off topic, that's something. Though in defense... part three? of all of us, this was pretty fucking confusing, and I have absolutely no idea what the hell is happening.

"Yes! Gods, sh- He! He's telling the truth, I don't know how, but the kids a demigod completely unrelated to our entire mythology and reason for being here" Could Jor also have a lie detecting ability on top of the invisibly?

"Really?"

"Yeah! So can we hurry the hell up so we can get out of here! We really don't have as big a lead as you think we do Bryja?" Bryja? Huh, they both have neat names that don't really sound real, but that's because even though I'm two days old, I've already become an ignorant American. This country has that effect on people.

"Ugh, yeah, fine, hey kid, want to help me find a misplaced tomb of warding magic?"

"Do I get to keep it if I find it?"

"Are you fluent in Old Norse and have a blessing to use Nordic fjolkyngi?"

"Uh, no" I... think fjolkyngi is the Nordic word for magic? Probably? Just, like, not modernized top just say magic to make it sound more fancy.

"Then no, still want to help?"

"Sure, not like I'm doing anything else"

"Cool" Jor let out a soft whining sound as I went to collect my flashlight.

"You have to be kidding! I- I don't even know where to begin to describe just how horrible of an idea this is! That is a literal child! We have hunters on our ass alright! If they even get a whiff of another non-human being here, we're going to have a fight!" I spoke up as I walked over towards a side room I had found earlier where book returns and the sorting of the books took place before they were shelved, if it had been misplaced here, then it would be found there.

"Who is hunting you two? You said earlier that you all were tracking the same thing right?" She sighed before saying.

"Oh, right, explaining, uh... Simple terms? You know who Ullr is?" I shook my head, she just sighed, "Course, uh... They are the God of hunting, and they have a group of hunters who they send out with tasks to collect things for Odin, it's a whole thing, this is like, I don't know, the final exam of that, I'm hunting a book down with nothing more than an annoying elf and a vague idea about what it is, and I have to be the first one to both get it, and the one who held onto it long enough to offer to Ullr themself to prove myself worthy of becoming one of his trackers. So, that's what I'm doing"

Jor was making a bunch of offended noises and gestures as we began to search the small room, as I looked around for a bit before asking.

"And how coveted is the spot? Like, I don't know, if another tracker hopeful got here would they-" She answered before I could finished the question.

"They would try to kill every not normal being in this building just to make sure they got the book before someone else"

"Ah, fun. So if we don't find it soon, we could have a death squad moving in"

"Nah, they'd all start fighting each other first, and we only got one helper each, so it's just teams of two, but Jor here is worried if you helping out, that they'll think we got ourselves the biggest advantage so they'll try to take us out first"

"Well... that's nice?"

"Not in the slightest, demigod or not, all of us having some kind of blessing from Ullr to get us this far, and most of us are legacy brats, my great grandmother is the Goddess Skaoi. And all of us have way more training than you, and are a lot older. If we do get targeted... Well, sorry to get you killed I guess" I just hummed at that, it sounded about right, as I glanced over at her for a moment before trying to use Search.

It worked, though not... greatly.

Bryja

Age: 22

Level: 19

Mana Points: 2,700/2,700

Stamina Points: 5,520/5,520

Hmm, this told me nothing about her actual strength, gave me no details about her skills, and barely gave me a number for her level that I could quantify against my own.

Basically, Search was worthless for threat assessment at the moment, but it did still tell me enough, at the bare minimum, all of them were stronger than me in terms of pure strength, and was also way more skilled in a fight, since, you know, I had not a single combat skill yet. I admit, that seems like an oversight on my part, but in my defense, part four, I'm literally two days old... I think that's enough said really about this whole situation.

Anyways, I went back to looking, giving up real quick on actually looking over the books themselves, and just mass scanning them with Search, seeing if anything interesting popped up. There really wasn't any, until...

[Notice: [Search] used on special item, presenting information

Nordic Teaches of Seidr Runes

A detailed book written over mastery level runes based on the Seidr branch of Norse magic, focusing on the ability to predict events, the author is unknown but they clearly knew what they were doing

Rank: A]

Obviously the first thing I did when I saw that was instantly reach down and pick the thing up and stare at it, the thing was old, somehow still had a layer of dust on it, and was written in even worse scribbles than normal words were written in. But that's when more information popped up in front of me as I stared at the thing in the short moment I had before Bryja noticed.

[Notice: Skill book acquired! Would you like to unlock skill [Seidr Rune Mastery]?]

Huh, that was interesting and informative information that I'll give deep thought about the long term ramifications about how I can learn knew skills and- Yes! Fuck yes! Give me that Nordic magical goodness!

[Notice: Requirements unmet

Requirements needed:

Control- 125

Power- 100

Intelligence- 75

Wisdom- 75

Perk [Nordic Magical Affinity]]

And just like that, I want the world to burn, slowly and without remorse for the sin it has brought down upon me in this very moment.

For I will never trust a book again.

"Oh sweet! Hey Nick found it! Get over here!" The book was ripped from my clenched hands as I stared ahead with murder in my eyes as Bryja gave me a pat on the back as Jor moved over and looked at the book.

"Yeah, that's it, come on, let's get the hell out of here already"

"Geeze, we're find old man. Hey Nick, come on, let's blow this place" I blinked out of my thoughts of arson on the entire building in which we found ourselves in, as I looked over and was about to say something when-

Boom!

The words died in my throat, as the building around us shook as dust trickled down from the ceiling as I glanced up at it for a moment before saying something new.

"So... what are the chances that's just a normal earthquake?" Jor answered my question by instantly going invisible, while Bryja pulled out her sword, looking suddenly way more tense and serious than she had before.

"Got a weapon kid? Cause I have a feeling you're about to need one" I just pulled out my knife, she took one look at the thing before scoffing, and fine then, if she was going to die then I wasn't going to step in! No one insults my knife! "Great, you got a toothpick... Here, use this" Any and all thoughts about my knife went out the window as she handed over another knife from her thigh, it was longer and oh so much sharper, and by the gods do I think I have a knife fetish, as I snatched the thing from her hands with way to much excitement.

Alright, she could live!

[Notice: [Search] has been used, presenting information

Basic Bone Steel Scramaseax

A simple but strong Nordic styled short blade referred to as a Scramaseax, crafted out of a simple and not overly refined bar of Bone Steel, making it just effective enough to kill any monster, but not much more than that.

Damage with it is determined by Strength and Dexterity.

When used against a mythological creature, this weapon deals two times as much damage than normal.

Rank: C]

[Notice: Like all blessed metals, this weapon can not be used to harm a mortal]

[Notice: You have no standing with the Nordic Mythology, this weapon is 15% not as effective while you are using it]

Ah, this was a mix of joy and mild annoyance, on one hand I have a new knife! On the other... It's not a Greek based weapon, and since my body's DNA is kind of hardwired for only Greek weaponry, it's just not as good in my hands as it could be, so I'm not able to use it as well. Still, it was way better in terms of possible damage output, and while no offense to my first knife, since I love my children equally... but this one is my new favorite and if Bryja asks for it back, then I'm going to stab her with it and run!

Boom!

Oh, right, but for right now, time for a fight to the death...

Time to live up to the insane part of the title, this one is... well, its a fight involving a crazy demigod who likes knives a bit to much, you get what you expect.

[Notice: Perk [Son of [?]]] has activated, all stats are now increased by 20%]

Oh, well, that's cool, I guess when you think about it, a fight to the death, is certainly something that has a winner to it, it's called blood sport for a reason, so it counts... Now then, onto more important things.

"Try to not die, I'm going to go into the book section, if you need help, show up there I guess" Bryja gave me a hard look.

"You leaving us brat?"

"Duh, I'm going to die if I fight anyone one on one, and you said we all would be targeted if they see us together, so I'm going to try and keep that from happening, now shoo!" I waved her off, she let out a harsh growl at that, before just marching ahead, barking at Jor to be useful as I slipped out and moved around the room before getting into the book section.

Normally I'd be running for the hills right about now to be honest, because, well, I couldn't kill a titan if I got killed here, and I do believe I've mentioned how little I want to die at least once or twice at this point, and this entire situation seemed like a lovely way to have a death wish... But as it stood, this was also an amazing chance for something, after all, what other time soon, before I get to camp, where I'll be safe anyways, will I have a chance to get some exp while also having teammates to back me up?

Well, going by my luck, it could happen, or something worse could happen, or maybe I'd fall into a landfill full of gold, I still have no idea how this is working to be honest. I really wish I was a bigger nerd in my past life, then I'd actually know more than the very basics of the minor gods, all of which information I got from a children's book series.

Anyways, the building was shaking a bit which was very worrying, as I moved over to the nearest all bookshelf, and then proceeded to climb up the side, trying to not knock any books over and failing pretty badly, but I managed, before with a small hop, landing on the next shelf over before laying down on my stomach, two knives in hand, as I lightly wondered how long it'd take.

[Notice: +1 Intelligence; For the plan you have, but you're going to get yourself killed]

Eh, you worry to much, it'll be fine.

Wait, question? If I die do you die? Or are you, like, returned to the great game in the sky?

Hello?... Hellllloooo?

Hmm, did I just give my System a existential crisis?

Neat.

Bang!

My eyes snapped up, thoughts on the matter long gone, as I watched as two figures in the dim lightly crashed through the door into the section I was in, they were about ten feet away when I shifted myself up a bit as I looked down at them... I didn't recognize either, both garbed in dark greens covering most of their features, as they struggled to get a hold on the other while rolling in my direction.

it was like watching to very aggressive caterpillars trying to hate fuck. It was gross, weird, and a lot of fluids were involved, thankfully said fluids was just a bunch of blood, but still, kind of gross. I think it was the one on the right who was stabbed, and the one of the left was just not strong enough to get out of the grapple, even with the stab victim being the one holding them down, so the one of the left was just trying to bleed them out.

it would be clever... If I wasn't here, as I just got up, barley onto my feet, before doing the only logical thing possible.

I jumped right straight down the two pair, my knives up in a reserve grip, and the second I landed, all the force of my fall went into them as both blades plunged right into them. Both yelled out in pain, well, one tried, I think I hit something pretty important in the other, the already stabbed one, or maybe I did enough to put them in shock or whatever.

I didn't get more time to think about it, as a foot shot up, and managed to kick me straight in the chest, shooting me back hard enough that I landed on my back a solid five feet away with a harsh thud as pain shot through and laced up my body as I gasped in sudden on set agony.

[Notice: Status Effect [Broken Ribs] has been applied, -5 Stamina]

Ugh, that sucked... Rolling onto my hands and knees, before getting up onto my feet, I looked up and noted that my stake knife was sticking awkwardly out of the man's side.

He looked pissed, and... just ripped my knife out and started to stalk at me with a blade in his other hand, it was long, proper sword... Shit. my eyes shot to the one on the ground, where I kind of lost my Bone Steel knife, his chest was still moving up and down... very slowly... Right, time to get going then.

"I don't suppose we can talk about this?" He charged and I yelped as he moved almost faster than I could keep track of him, the way his body seemed to blur into motion was terrifying. I managed to just barely spin in time as the sword came down in a long slashing arc of the blast, as I felt the way the sword sliced through my massive jacket that made him think my body was bigger than it was, an inch closer and my side would have been spilt open.

Leaping forwards at the body as the man whirled around, every inch of my body felt like it was on fire as adrenaline surge through my veins hard enough to burn, as I just barely managed to grab onto the Bone Steel weapon, and with a rip and pull, yanked it out, in the same turn, killing the man, as I spun around and prayed, as I brought up my blade from where I was practically laying on the ground, to try and block the in-coming strike from the man that was basically already over me, sword above his head, ready to strike.

My gamble paid off.

[Notice: +3500 Exp for killing a much higher level combatant]

[Notice: You have leveled up five times!]

[Notice: You have gained ten level, Son of [?] has activated; +10 to Strength and Dex, +5 to all other stats]

Spend points now please!

[Notice: You have used fifteen points on both Strength and Dexterity]

I didn't have time to think past that, as my entire body felt like it was being super charged as my blade shot up, held in both my hands, at a speed that my eyes could barely keep up with as it clashed at a horrible angle with the other's blade, as I gritted my teeth as my hands were slowly pressed back, into my chest, the angle was nearly impossible to get as much force out as he could from being over me.

Soon I let out a long hissing sound as the tip of my knife was pressed hard enough to my chest that it had stabbed lightly into my chest, as the sword's razor sharp edge was just in front of my eyes, if my knife lost it's grip on the sword's edge then the blade would slide right into my head.

The burning in my limbs got worse and worse, it was passing the point of pain to just an aching all encompassing feeling, like the muscles in my arms had already been ripped apart too far to tear anymore, but they were still trying anyways, because if I didn't then my head would be split in two like a melon.

[Notice: Status Effect [Damaged Arms] has been applied, -5 Strength]

I yelped out as a grunt of a choked down scream tried to pull from my lips as my own blade dug deeper into my chest as my arms finally began to take to much damage to withstand the force. The Bone Steel metal burning and making my blood feel like it was boiling, it was made to kill supernatural beings, and I was about as up there as you can get.

[Notice: Status Effect [Bleeding] has been applied, -1 Stamina for every minute untreated]

It was near panic inducing, no, it was well past that, it was terrifying in a way that I hadn't expected, and it wasn't for the reason I thought, I wasn't scared of dying, I didn't want to die, but what I was even more scared of... no what I hated the idea of was that I was going to lose. The thought of that was suddenly caught as the burning finally reached my head, and suddenly it was like I could breath, even as my body burned and ached, and I was an inch from death-

I looked right into the eyes of the man in front of me, his arms bulging with his own effort, and I grinned.

One of my hands, which had been in a death clutch on the handle of my blade, let go, shooting off to the side as I let out a faint roar of one last shot of adrenaline as I managed, just for a single moment, to hold the two handed sword with one, before my left hand, snaked out, grabbed onto the stake knife that this man had tossed nearby, before shooting up with the knife, and stabbed it straight through both the man's wrists.

He screamed and pulled back as I laughed, cause I had won, before rolling onto my feet, my entire body hurting, but that was easy to ignore when I had something to do after all!, with my other hand still armed with Bone Steel, and the man's hands being a bit... stuck together, I shot forwards as he just managed to pull his arms apart with a faint grunt of agony, but it was to late. He had seen how fast I could move before, and didn't think it had gotten any better.

To bad for him it has gotten over thirty points better with my Son of Perk, before he could hope to get his hands up to defend himself, the blade found itself in his chest as I crashed into him, my body weight wedging the knife in as we fell onto the floor, the situation now reversed as he tried to pull me away, but it was away to late.

[Notice: +1500 Exp for killing a higher level combatant]

[Notice: You have leveled up 2 times!]

I won! I let out a short huffing laugh before rolling onto my back and then, slowly let out a long painful groan as the pain finally caught up with me now that I didn't have anything to avoid... Fuck, oh fuck my everything hurts!

I let out a long groan before blinking in mild delirium from the pain as a few new screens showed up in front of me.

[Notice: +2 Strength, +4 Constitution, +1 Wisdom; Ok, I can admit it, that's was pretty badass]

[Accomplishment: Mortal Combat!: Completed!

You've fought for your life, and you managed to pull it off, sure your opponents were underestimating you, and were already greatly injured and exhausted already, and you had to sneak attack them to stand a chance, and you still nearly killed like, three times over, but you managed to do it!

+1000 Exp for your first kill

+1500 Exp for every kill after within the same battle

Skill [Short Blade Mastery] Unlocked!

Skill [Trade Off] Unlocked!

Skill [Pain Tolerance] Unlocked!]

[Notice: You have gained 2 times!]

[Notice: Skill [Short Blade Mastery] has been boosted by Son of [?] and has gained three levels]

[Notice: Skill [Trade Off] has been boosted by Son of [?] and has gained two levels]

[Notice: Skill [Pain Tolerance] has been boosted by Son of [?] and has gained one level]

Ah... that's nice. I'll... look at that later when my everything doesn't hurt like hell.

The room shook a few times from whatever the hell was happening in the other room, as I slowly managed to get to my feet and started to pat down the two men's bodies, trying to see if I could find anything of use. Though started off my using one of my knives, after I collected both and wiped them off, to cut a long stretch of cloth off from one of their outfits and used it as a bandage as best I could to stim the bleeding since the Bleeding effect was still active.

Afterwards I started looking once it told me it had been treated.

I came out of it ahead all things considered, which was good, nice I basically broke my body to manage to kill the two of them. I found two small bags filled with some really shine red coins that I'll look into later, but they seemed expensive so I took them all the same. Both had weapons, or at least they must have, but one lost his on the way, and the other's sword was a bit... meh, I mean, it was cool and all... but the thing was nearly as tall as I was, and while I could probably swing it around without to much issue, that doesn't mean I can use the thing as effectively as I'd like, or even hope to be able to carry it around without someone wondering what it was... Well the mist would probably sort that out, hopefully... since there was a chance it would just appear to someone as a chainsaw or something equally dangerous for a twelve year old to be carrying around, besides it seemed like a big hassle more than it was worth in the end, so I left it alone.

I found some normal cash as well, it wasn't much, but enough to nab all the same, and one last item that I particularly liked. After a while I also pulled off one of their green cloaks, it was basic, but running my fingers over it, the thing was a lot thicker than it looked, wouldn't be great against piercing attacks, but it might just hold up against a slash or two, it explained why it was such a pain to cut some out to tie my wound up.

I had to roll it up a bit, and work at getting rid of the excess since, well, it was way more than massive on me as is, but I managed something, it more looked like a badly made poncho that was a size to big for me, but it was comfortable, more than it looked, so I just moved on with my day after that. The shaking of the building and the sounds of combat had ended a while ago, so I was pleasantly surprised when the door burst open as the limping form of a injured and cut up Bryja came in, being held up by Jor, who had a nasty cute across one of his cheeks which seemed to be dripping green blood.

The lights had been cut on for a while, since, well, if there was anything that was going to get the police called here, it wasn't going to be the lights anymore, so there was no a point to not have them on, so they saw me, sitting on the ground a little ways away from the two dead bodies, when I waved at them.

Jor just looked a bit sick, Bryja instead just grinned, her eyes just bordering on feral as she said.

"Hey! I was wondering where those two had gone off to! Nice job Nick, good to see you aren't completely useless, though you look more fucked up than I do!"

"I'm twelve and figured out I was a demigod, like, barely over two days ago, I think I'm doing pretty well" She paused at that before giving me a look before just rolling her eyes, I don't think she cared enough to try and find out if that was a joke or not, Jor just went pale, probably wondering just what was wrong with me that a twelve year old with two days experience managed to kill two grown and trained supernatural men.

It was a pretty funny look to be honest.

"Well, thanks for the help kid, but we need to get outta here before the police show up" I just hummed before nodding as I slowly managed to get up onto my feet before saying.

"So I guess this is where we part ways?" She just shrugged, before thinking about something apparently for a long second, before pulling out a small ring before tossing it at me, before saying.

"Listen, you did me a solid and us Norse don't let deeds go without reward, I'm going to be busy for a while, but if you need anything, or want to scary Jor on occasion, you can use that. Just heat it up, like, put it on a fire and it'll get in touch with us" I just blinked before asking.

"How's that work?" She just sighed before looking around for a moment, clearly trying to remember it all properly.

"It's, like, a long story, when Baldr died, Hermoor, a God of messages, went to Hel to try and bring him back, she said only if everything wept for him, so Baldr gave Hermoor the ring of Draupnir, something his body had been burned with, which cab replicate itself eight times every ninth day, and gave it to Odin. After that, Odin gave the ring the blessing of messages so that all that came from it after would have the ability to spread a message when burned like Baldr had been. More happened but that's the idea, and since that happened thousands of years ago... those things are honestly kind of really easy to get, but they can only work once every nine days because of the original rings power, so, keep that in mind. Now let's get out of here!"

She seemed eager to I let her head off as I looked at the golden ring that was crafted to a frankly astonishing level of detail carved into it in the appearance of what must have been Nordic runes, it felt weird, had a strange... energy to it, but it was a magic artifact, which was awesome, so I wasn't going to complain. So I just slipped it on my finger and then moved to look at the stack of books for a long moment, before pulling out the last item I had found on the two...

A flint and steel. I've been betrayed by this place, and I was going to have my revenge, and there was nothing that was going to stop me now.

So with a grin, I moved forwards, and wondered, briefly, to myself, about who would get here first, the police or the firemen?

[Accomplishment: Petty Arson!: Completed!

Hard focus on the 'Petty' in Petty Arson, I seriously can't believe I have to reward you for doing this, but you did do a special event so... Ugh.

+750 Exp]

I hobbled on out of the library faster than the flames could spread and found myself at a shitty motel, unsurprisingly I felt like garbage, so I managed to get the woman who was clearly not paid enough to worry about a kid renting a room, just gave me a key card and left me to my own devices. I passed out around the same time I had hit the bed, the only reason it wasn't instant was because I had multiple broke ribs and flopping face first into a shitty brick solid mattress wasn't my best idea.

Waking up the next morning though, I felt right as rain, since it's obvious that something as simple as multiple shattered bones and most of the muscles in my arms ripped to shreds would only be minor status effects, and as such could be cured with just a nights rest with my Gamer's Body. So that means all my stats were back up as high as they normally were, and that was saying something, I was fucking jacked now!

Like, seriously, I went from seven Strength and Dexterity to both being over thirty. It was no wonder my entire body felt like smooth ingredients right after the blender was turned on, I was to strong for my body to handle, every move I made in that fight was to much force for my arms to take, so they basically destroyed themselves to keep up with my Strength. I'll have to work on that.

Another issue is, at one point I moved faster than even I could react at, my Perception is high enough, with the bonuses it gest as well, to keep track of my surroundings, but my Intelligence isn't high enough to think fast enough to make use of that information and make plans and actions for it. Clearly that all my stats are a lot more important than I thought, which isn't to surprisingly but a bit annoying as well.

Oh, and speaking of things that destroy my body, I looked over those new skills I got last night after I woke up, and one was pretty interesting.

[Short Blade Mastery] Level: 4

The skill to show your mastery over short bladed weaponry, such as knives and daggers

+4% increase in handling and dealing damage with short bladed weapons when the skill is in use

Cost: 20 Stamina per minute

[Trade Off] Level: 3

You want to win, so you're going to win, no matter the cost it takes on you.

You can actively trade your stamina for very minor boosts in your stats and skills.

Cost: Varies per minute based on how much of a boost the user wants

[Notice: If you do not have enough Stamina to fulfill the requirement, the skill will apply a Status Effect of equal trade for the increase in ability]

[Pain Tolerance] Level: 2

Your ability to take pain and keep on moving, cause what doesn't kill you sure hurts like hell

1% decrease in pain taken

[Notice: This does not mean you are taking less damage you just don't feel it in it's full effect]

[Notice: Your Constitution stat counts as a phantom modifier, for every ten points of Constitution, [Pain Tolerance] acts as if it is one level higher than presented here]

The main thing to notice is the Trade Off Skill, the other two were very self explanatory, but Trade Off? I think I got the skill in the middle of the fight, and that's what that burning was, I was literally flooding my body with every ounce of adrenaline I could produce all at once so I could keep up with that guy. Crazy right? I tested it out, using the skill just to see, and it was like I thought, using it made my entire body feel like it was heating up, if I used a lot of Stamina I had no question that it would make me feel like I was burning with energy like I had last night.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great skill, it saved my life last night no doubt about it, it gave my mind the clarity I needed to be able to think of getting my other knife, but it was a bit dangerous as well. I mean, could literally kill myself with that skill if I wasn't careful about just how much of a boost I wanted, I might, like, stop my heart or something on accidently from trying to make my body do too much at once.

Anyways, I headed off not too long after that, after all there wasn't much reason to stick around any longer, so with that I went on out, moving to head on back to the bus station to catch another ride, after getting something along the way. Saw a newspaper as well, talking about the fire, that was pretty cool, didn't read it, cause... words, but there was a picture and I was pretty proud of my accomplishments to be honest.

I got a favor I can call in from a literal magic item tracker, got a blessed weapon to kill monsters with, got, like, super strong in just an hour's time, and managed to get a pretty solid clue about my parentage.

I mean, I don't know much about the gods, I've mentioned that, but there was a theme going on here, with my new skill Trade Off, and my own... opinions on the matter, it was clear that I really like winning, no matter what, and every time I seem to get in any form of competition or event when someone is on the other side of me, I usually come out much better off than I should, while for everything else that can't be like that, true random luck, like what a person has in their pockets, or the chances I'd get dropped off in the only town in the States that would be the sight of a Norse show down, with me caught in the middle, then my luck sucks, which only makes sense, cause my Luck stat is currently still at a negative three.

So, I do have some kind of passive Luck power, when I'm in some sort of fight or competitive environment, I do better, it's literally apart of the perk I have, and I love winning, and I have incredible passive luck when I'm in these situations... So, clearly that's a pretty big hint to my god parent... It really was to bad that I had absolutely no idea just what minor god that could be, since I didn't learn about any competition gods in my book reading last night, and then proceeded to burn the rest of them, the reading had been a pretty big waste of time.

But at least now I do have a domain of influence that I can look into now, so that's something pretty cool.

Handy to know, and especially to have, it was certainly better than getting a minor god of, like, wind or some small river or something. I'd look like a knock off big three kid.

Anyways, I got on a bus, and within the next three hours I was out of the state, it was... fine, a bit boring, but I did make a friend! He was a stripper apparently, down on his luck since, well, 2006, but apparently there might be some jobs for him in the same direction I'm heading, so we talked for a bit, it was fun.

He taught me how to player poker, though apparently I didn't need to learn since I got something called 'pocket aces' three times in a row, which is apparently statically near impossible or whatever. He gave up actually playing against me after that, since I kind of won all the snacks we had been using in replace for cash, and instead just told me the rules and the winning hands and stuff, so if I ever had a midlife crisis and wanted to abuse my powers for evil, I'd know how to clear out a casino.

His words, though it did give me some ideas that I hadn't thought about before, considering, apparently I can't lose. Seriously, I've been trying for the rest of the bus ride, but no matter how many times Trevor, the name of the stripper, shuffled and dealt cards for another round, I never got anything lower than nine of a pair. I managed to get a solid six points in Luck from it before the system told me in a not so nice way that I could no longer gain Luck from meaningless events anymore.

I have to, like, actually win something for my luck to go up now, even though though I still had my super luck when I was against Trevor so it didn't really matter there, and since we stopped betting I just gave it a rest. Though, I was right about it really needing to be determined by just what I was doing, cause just doing some test shuffles without me actually playing against anyone, my luck tanked like a brick.

It was very informative to be honest, and something I was totally going to abuse in the future when I titan a kill... I mean kill a titan... Kill a titan with a titan? That'd be funny...

Anyways! In the end, the bus drove for basically the entire day, and I ended up getting off in Indiana, said good by to Trevor and swapped numbers with him. The idea of tossing my phone mostly out the window now, or at least until I got another one to use, since this one had the numbers already in them which was nice, though the amount of times I've gotten a call on this thing, having to explain that I wasn't the guy I took the phone from, and that I had in fact stolen it at knife point, was a bit tedious, but I guess that's just the price of getting free stuff.

Now then, time to see if I can find somewhere where I can bully someone into telling me about Greek mythology, there has to be at least one college campus in this state right?