《Theomachy》


 Chapter 1- Congratulations, youre a Demigod!

    ¡°¡­So, you¡¯re telling me, that an untrained, teenage, only awoken ten minutes before Demigod, fought back a God of roughly the same Principles, and not only survived, but actually forced the God back into the Divine Realm?¡± Edgar knew this sentence would seem extremely strange had he not actually been a Demigod himself.


    Edgar Yule was no stranger to the world of Gods, and considering his role in the world, it was only right that he understand and say this without any joking tone in his voice, despite his current look of a Hawaiian Shirt, shorts, and some flip-flops¡­


    It was probably comical how he looked, in his current outfit, talking to a man wearing a suit with sunglasses looking like an FBI Agent and Edgar was the one with the higher position¡­ but still, that was besides the current situation.


    ¡°Indeed sir, the Demigod in question, Jake Ignis, was reported by Agents near the scene to have been chased and attacked by the Ancient Aztecan God Huitzilopochtli.¡± Edgar absently wondered how those Aztecs thought to come up with such a name, but remembered that they had even worse names for other Gods.


    ¡°Said God happens to be God of Will, Patron of War, Fire, the Sun and Lord of the South. Apparently the god was attracted to Ignis due to his Godly parent, based on his skills we have heavy suspicions that his godly parent would be Apollo, Greek God of The Sun, Music, Poetry, Art, Oracles, Archery, Plague, Medicine, Light and Knowledge.¡± Edgar widened his eyes at that¡­ it was rare to find a God with so many domains.


    ¡°During the chase, Ignis managed to turn his originally mundane Bow into a Divine Weapon which he then used to wound Huitzilopochtli, sending the God back to the Divine Realm. Upon his victory, Ignis fell unconscious due to the heavy usage of his recently acquired power, after which our agents appeared and brought the unconscious Ignis here¡­ he should be waking up soon.¡± The agent explained to Edgar, who had partially tuned out certain pieces of the speech, but noted the ending and important parts so that he could answer.


    ¡°So we got him, great, he¡¯ll need training, equipment, we¡¯ll need to enrol him into the school¡­ anything else, Agent Karma?¡± mentioning the surname of the agent of course annoyed him due to the strangeness of his surname, but he had long ago gotten used to it, as he sighed, before placing a folder on the desk in front of both of them, though Agent Karma was the one with his back to the door, as Edgar opened it to read the information on their latest Demigod.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see, Jake Ignis, age eighteen, high school senior, gets extremely high grades in English, Biology, Chemistry, and higher than average in Mathematics, his second Language chosen was¡­ Latin, interesting choice, he gets average marks there, but considering the rarity of the Language that is impressive, and his final subject is the given Life Education¡­¡± Edgar thought the subject to be pointless, he wouldn¡¯t trust a teacher to explain to him how to live his life responsibly, that should just be instinctual.


    ¡°In which he gets average marks, and the ace of the Archery Club, though is a known skater¡­ overall, a good student¡­ wait a moment¡­ darn.¡± Edgar looked at the ¡®Guardians¡¯ point, in which the two names Mark and Annie Thomas, in other words¡­


    ¡°¡­He isn¡¯t an orphan?¡± Edgar was used to Demigods being¡­ alone, and difficult to communicate with, but once meeting other Demigods, becoming open and trusting. With this kid, he might not want to join their group due to living a normal life before this¡­ incident.


    ¡°Indeed sir, in fact, he¡¯s the ¡®elder brother¡¯ of the twin children of said Guardians. In fact, all of his records were as Jake Thomas, we had to dig into the orphanage records to discover that he was in fact surnamed Ignis¡­ we aren¡¯t sure he knows he is an Orphan.¡± Agent Karma admitted, though he perked up in a second.


    ¡°We are, however, bringing in his ¡®parents¡¯ and ¡®siblings¡¯ to discuss this. We figure the truth would best be heard from the parents themselves.¡± Edgar gave a nod at that, at least the Agent was on top of things, if it weren¡¯t for the Agent and The Council; Edgar wouldn¡¯t be able to manage with this workload.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty good Agent, pretty good¡­ I believe this kid would be an excellent addition to our group¡­ I mean, barely awoken, not even trained in true combat and capable of fighting off a God with similar powers? This kid might go far.¡± Edgar admitted as a knock was heard on the door.


    Edgar nodded, and another of their Agents, a lower tier one Edgar couldn¡¯t quite remember the name of, came in, saluting towards Edgar and the Head Agent before speaking.


    ¡°Jake Ignis has woken up.¡± Edgar and Agent Karma looked to each other, both nodding as they stepped out.


    Jake was confused¡­ very confused. The last thing he remembered before waking up was being chased by this big guy who was practically on fire, trying to hit him as he ran¡­ then he got nicked with an arrow of fire, then waking up¡­ Jake could only think it was a God.


    Gods weren¡¯t private knowledge anyway. Not since the year 2000, when that Norse God Baldur descended on a city in Norway and killed a lot of the population before a Demigod showed up and killed him. That Demigod then went on to create an Anti-Supernatural Agency known as Aegis.


    This was household knowledge, so Jake wasn¡¯t completely confused on what the being attacking him was¡­ but¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ alive?¡± he asked himself as the doors opened, revealing what looked like an FBI agent, and¡­ a man just back from vacation at Hawaii?


    ¡°Indeed you are, Jake Thomas.¡± Said the FBI looking guy as Jake sat up, turning to look at the two who just entered the room. Jake absently noted that he was currently in a pair of shorts and shirt, both plain white.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± Jake asked, his eyes looking around the room, an action that made the Hawaiian shirt guy smile.


    ¡°You are currently in the Main Headquarters of the Anti-Supernatural Agency, Aegis. I am Head Agent Karma, and this man to my side is Edgar Yule, one of the Founders of Aegis.¡± Jake looked to the casually dressed man with wide eyes upon hearing his name, that name was also commonly known.


    In fact, this man was the man who actually killed a God, Edgar Yule, also considered the First Demigod due to being the first to publicly say as much in the modern public setting¡­ which meant that, despite how¡­ casual, he seemed, this man was strong enough to kill beings on the level of the guy who put Jake here in what looked to be a med-bay.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t act so formal with me, would you? I¡¯m just another guy.¡± The man spoke casually too, Jake noted, as the Agent on the side seemed annoyed at that.


    ¡°Anyway, you were brought in once we found you unconscious near the Entrance Site for the Aztec God Huitzilopochtli.¡± Jake appeared serious as he listened, though he wondered how such a name could roll off the tongue so easily.


    ¡°Before we continue talking though, your family is coming shortly, and we¡¯ll let them sit with you while we discuss what happened.¡± The Agent explained as Jake nodded, coming to terms with what happened as the door opened once more, this time revealing a woman with glasses, wearing a skirt and professional clothes, carrying a pad with her as she stepped in, her eyes focusing on Edgar.


    ¡°Edgar, what are you doing here, aren¡¯t you supposed to be helping out Team Alpha with their training?¡± she said with venom in her voice as the Edgar raised his hands defensively.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, I was supposed to do that, but I got side-tracked when Jake here was brought in, certainly you must have heard about the Huitzilopochtli case from a few hours ago, didn¡¯t you Rose?¡± Edgar spoke as the woman, apparently named Rose, frowned and nodded.


    ¡°Indeed, Charlie was prepped and ready to fight the God due to his affinity against such Gods, but it was thought to be a false report seeing as the God vanished after twenty minutes.¡± She said as Edgar shook his head.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t, Jake here was being chased by the God and, through circumstances, managed to survive the encounter.¡±


    Edgar motioned to Jake who sat a bit straighter upon being looked at by the stern woman. ¡°I see¡­ Jake? My name is Rose Cora; I¡¯m one of the Founders of Aegis and a Demigod, and member of The Council of Demigods. I¡¯m also the one in charge of the more magical parts of our organization; it is a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    She put out her hand as Jake nodded, taking Rose¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s Jake Thomas, and it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you too.¡± Jake said as the woman nodded, having found his manners acceptable.


    ¡°Still, despite Mr Thomas¡¯ circumstances, you aren¡¯t the one supposed to be dealing with this, I am.¡± Rose looked to Edgar as she spoke, making the man shrink to the door.


    ¡°That you are that you are¡­ um, I¡¯ll just get going now.¡± Edgar then proceeded to run out of the door like a bat out of hell. Jake was brought back into the present when Rose nodded to the Agent who explained the situation to her.


    ¡°Alright, Mr Thomas, I¡¯ve received word your family is here, they¡¯ll be in shortly, I¡¯ll be the one to sit and talk with your group, seeing as Edgar was supposed to be busy¡­¡± she practically growled the end of the sentence out in thought of the apparent laziness of Edgar, though she did seem a bit concerned when she paused after speaking as if to think.


    She shook her head of that as the door opened though, revealing Jake¡¯s parents and his siblings who were twins, Lyle and Luke Thomas, and his parents Mark and Annie Thomas.


    ¡°Jake!¡± shouted the twins as they stepped a bit faster upon seeing him, the two twelve year olds checking to see if he was alright. After discovering their elder brother to be alright, they stepped back, and Jake caught the strange look in his parent¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Mr and Mrs Thomas it is nice to meet you, my name is Rose Cora, co-founder of Aegis and a Demigod.¡± Jake¡¯s parents nodded, a serious look in their eyes as Jake looked at the confrontation.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Mrs Cora¡­ We¡­ we think we have an idea of why we are here.¡± Jake¡¯s father spoke, making Rose nod with a look to Jake and then the parents.


    ¡°Jake here, survived an encounter with the Aztec God Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec God of Will, patron of Fire and War. We brought you here, so you may tell Jake something important.¡± She said, hinting at something as Jake¡¯s father sighed¡­ then he turned to Jake.


    ¡°¡­Jake¡­ I¡¯m sure you know the only way for a person to survive a fight against a God is to be a Demigod¡­ right?¡± he asked, making Jake nod¡­ realization hitting him slowly, though he could feel it coming on.


    ¡°Jake¡­ the truth is¡­ you were adopted.¡± Jake stared at his parents, not really sure how to react to that. ¡°¡­we know it is a lot to take in, but-¡± before his ¡®mother¡¯ could continue, Jake raised a hand, worrying some with how he might react.


    ¡°¡­actually¡­ I don¡¯t really know how I¡¯m supposed to react to that¡­ do I get mad? Do I cry? Do I complain? Do I laugh it off? I don¡¯t really know what to do about that¡­ so I¡¯d rather do nothing. You are still the people who raised me, and the people who made sure I could eat, stay clothed, and have a roof over my head. My not being related to you changes nothing.¡± He admitted, making his parents sigh in relief.


    ¡°Although¡­ it was kind of obvious, and I had thought of it before¡­ I mean, I¡¯m blonde with green eyes, and both of my parents have brown hair¡­ though mine does look kind of like a light brown, still doesn¡¯t hide much.¡± A chuckle was heard from out the room as a pen appeared in the hand of Rose, before her hand blurred and the pen was embedded in the door¡­ an audible gulp was heard.


    ¡°Edgar, what did I say?¡± a series of footsteps were heard before everyone just blinked at the occurrence¡­ Demigods were weird, even Jake, who was trying to associate himself with the exclusive group in his mind, thought so.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Continuing, Jake, we have the belief that your Godly Parent might be Apollo, Greek God of Archery, the Sun, and¡­ miscellaneous things¡­ there are quite a few things he¡¯s in charge of.¡± Rose admitted looking at the list with annoyance¡­


    It spelt out good news about Jake being a Demigod, but trying to wrap her head around a God that encompassed all those things was difficult¡­


    Of course, Creator Gods by extension- okay, she was getting side-tracked. Jake blinked at that, not really knowing much about the God, though recognizing the name from the big names of the Greek Pantheon¡­


    Namely, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Hestia were ones he knew well, especially Hestia¡­ Goddess of the Hearth, he enjoyed the concept¡­ family, and warmth; he thought she might be one of the few okay Greek Goddesses.


    ¡°Anyway, during times of extreme stress, Demigods can awaken their powers as a Demigod, these typically occur when exposed to Divinity or stress, Demigods awaken even greater power the more Divinity they are exposed to, which is why Demigods who fight a lot get stronger quicker¡­ we believe this is also part of the reason you survived against Huitzilopochtli, let alone driving him away¡­ do you remember how you did, by the way?¡± asked Rose as Jake shook his head, wondering where his beanie went¡­ probably burnt away.


    ¡°No¡­ I remember using my skateboard to get away¡­ then that God broke it¡­ going to miss that board, but anyway, shortly after he broke it I was shot with an arrow made of fire¡­ hit me in the stomach area I think¡­¡± Jake poked the part, wincing at the feeling¡­ it didn¡¯t hurt, not really, but it felt¡­ new¡­ like the skin underneath a scab.


    ¡°After being shot, I don¡¯t remember much.¡± Jake said, and Rose just nodded, writing something down.


    ¡°Indeed, that seems to be the case with the majority of Demigods, their first time using their powers usually has a vague sense of memory loss.¡± Rose stated, finishing her writing before she handed the board to a man standing nearby in a suit with sunglasses.


    They were really pulling off the whole ¡®secret agent¡¯ thing there.


    ¡°Though I must admit, you are really lucky to be alive¡­ most Demigods don¡¯t survive a fight against a God the first time they awaken, usually just surviving long enough for someone else to stop whatever just happened.¡± Rose explained as Jake looked to his hand, wondering at what she just stated¡­


    And then his hand set itself on fire and he just stared with wide eyes.


    ¡°Well¡­ guess that proves that fire is part of your Principles.¡± Everyone in the room was staring at the fire at that point, but when Rose spoke out, it caused the occupants to turn to her.


    ¡°Principles? What does that mean exactly?¡± Mark, Jake¡¯s father, spoke out in question as Rose held out her hand, allowing them to see the fire that engulfed her hand.


    Before another word could be said, the fire was doused as her hand became enveloped in water, then began to spark lightning, confusing the eyes of those who were watching before Rose snapped her fingers, allowing the show to disappear.


    ¡°Principle, as in ¡®Law¡¯ is something Gods and Goddesses have Domain over, they control these Principles and we Demigods receive weakened control over some of these Principles. For example, as Apollo is the God of the Sun and Archery as his main Principles, Jake will find himself with the ability to create fire and preternatural archery skills.¡± Jake wondered, looking to his own fire, willing it to disappear, and he watched as the fire sucked itself back into his left hand.


    ¡°Now, this is obvious, but we at Aegis would like to have Jake stay with us and train with Aegis, to teach him how to control his newly found strength as well as how to use his Principles.¡± Rose maintained as Annie spoke out, tightening her grip on the hand of her husband.


    ¡°Now wait a moment, Aegis¡­ Aegis fights Gods right? Will¡­ will Jake have to fight too?¡± Annie asked with worry as Rose smiled at her concern.


    ¡°No Mrs Thomas, Jake will not need to fight. However we do believe in training Demigods to defend themselves at the least, as Demigods are much more likely to encounter supernatural beings. In addition, the only time Jake would be asked to fight a God would be if he gave permission for it, and if we approved his skill in combat.¡± Rose admitted, receiving a page from the agent at her side before handing it to Jake¡¯s parents.


    ¡°That is a list of what is required of Jake. Any more than that, without permission of Jake, is against the law and we at Aegis aren¡¯t above the laws of man.¡± Rose reminded as the couple looked over the list.


    ¡°It says here that Jake is required to receive Aegis approved education, as well as receive combat training.¡± Mark stated, his twin songs looking over his shoulder to try and read the list without much understanding to the matter.


    ¡°Indeed. Aegis is controlled, with United Nations approval, by Demigods for Demigods. All Demigods are orphans unfortunately, as our conception requires our human parent to die for our birth.¡± Rose frowned at this, developing a far off look for a moment before shaking her head.


    ¡°Ahem, so as such, we are more accustomed to dealing with people still in orphanages, or those who are in foster care. We aren¡¯t really used to dealing with people who are already adopted with a family, which is why education become a requirement.¡± Rose explained as Annie spoke out, understanding what the woman meant.


    ¡°You mean they wouldn¡¯t have many options for education, so Aegis became required to give free education to Demigods?¡± Annie asked, still going over the list herself.


    ¡°Indeed. Aegis has, with the assistance of the United Nations, created bases all over the world, and many of these bases have all the things necessary for teenage and even adult Demigods to live there. We also have deals with schools to let our Demigods study there, with some freedom with schooling hours.¡± Rose explained as Mark cut in.


    ¡°Freedom with schooling hours, why is that, is that in case of a God attacking and a Demigod being called in to fight?¡± He asked as Rose nodded, having a small smile as she saw the twin twelve year olds trying to use their injured older brother as a tree to climb.


    ¡°Not always, this is also to account for complications with each Demigod, some are children of Gods of night and therefore by nature nocturnal. As such, they receive information packets containing what they are required to know for each subject, essentially being home schooled with approval from a government approved school.¡± Rose tried to explain as Mark nodded in approval.


    ¡°Okay¡­ and you already explained why they would need training¡­ it also says here that Jake will be required to undergo monthly Principle tests¡­ so I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s to check his powers?¡± Annie asked as Jake perked up slightly, having been listening into the conversation but finding no need to speak out.


    ¡°Yes, see, Demigods are functionally half human, they require different needs and grow differently. For example, I¡¯m over seventy years old.¡± That caused everyone to pause, except for the agent next to her.


    It was reasonable to be shocked when the woman who looked barely six years older than Jake claimed to be over three times his age.


    ¡°Demigods are functionally immortal, in the sense that we age extremely slowly, and at some point just stop aging at all. We can¡¯t exactly decide this, as I am aware of a Demigod that stopped aging when his physical age reached somewhere around forty, and I know another who stopped physically aging at twelve.¡± Rose seemed really irritated at that last one as she glanced away to hide her irritation.


    ¡°Demigods, other than our aging, also are more powerful than humans at our core. Even a Demigod of a minor Deity focusing on things like intellect would likely be capable of lifting a literal ton of weight with minimal training and effort.¡± Jake cautiously, oh so cautiously, looked at his younger brothers trying to hold him down, and worried what would happen if he tried to stand up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Jake, it takes time for a Demigod¡¯s strength to appear, but I think you understand my worries. Demigods are dangerous, even without meaning to be, and so Aegis doesn¡¯t only train Demigods on how to best use their strength, but also how to control said strength.¡± Rose explained as she casually reached to another bed, lifting it with one hand as if it were nothing, once more shocking the group.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any physical sense.¡± Spoke Mark as someone who studied physics in high school, he knew it didn¡¯t make sense for someone of Rose¡¯s stature to be able to do that without tipping over.


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t Mr Thomas. Demigods are not under the laws of Physics entirely, a child of Hermes might be able to run at the speed of light, yet would not displace anything while doing so. That makes no sense, and yet it happens. Likewise, if a Demigod were to lift up a building, the weight of the building wouldn¡¯t cause the much lighter Demigod to fall over.¡± Rose gave a smirk at that as she allowed the bed to be placed back on the floor.


    ¡°As I was saying though, we need to train Jake in how to control his strength and powers, and how to best use them. The monthly tests are to check whether or not they have grown, and if they have, to adjust his training to account for such changes.¡± Rose added, and Jake gulped and nodded, wondering how bad it would be if he didn¡¯t receive such training¡­


    Walking through a wall by accident might not be a dream but a reality.


    ¡°Word of warning Jake, the strongest Demigods, such as myself don¡¯t seem to stop gaining strength even if we stop training. Edgar, the head of Aegis, is the strongest Demigod in existence since the year two thousand, and he hasn¡¯t trained a day since the year two thousand and five, and yet he is stronger than he was back then.¡± Jake understood the message with a frown.


    If he joined that rank, the strongest Demigods, he might never stop growing stronger.


    ¡°But that¡¯s something we should worry about when we cross that bridge.¡± Rose reassured as Mark and Annie finally stopped looking over the list, and then turned to Jake.


    ¡°Jake¡­ you¡¯re a Demigod now. Aegis, is a required thing for you to join as one, but you don¡¯t need to fight¡­ so we can¡¯t ask whether or not you will join¡­ but we can ask whether or not you will fight.¡± Mark stated as Jake looked to the man in surprise as Annie added in.


    ¡°Jake, we¡¯ve all seen the news, we know how fights against Gods normally go¡­ normally there are at least five or so Demigods fighting against one God, and on average one of those five would die every second or so fight. You fought a God alone and won. You already have a lot of qualification to join their fight¡­ and we won¡¯t stop you if you want to.¡± Annie said as Jake thought it over, looking at his younger brothers who were staring at him with wide eyes.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll fight. I want to fight.¡± Jake reassured himself as Luke and Lyle looked to him with wide eyes, in awe of their brother who fought and defeated a God.


    ¡°¡­Okay¡­ know that we¡¯ll support you every step of the way.¡± Mark said with a frown as Annie cried a bit from the side¡­ she knew what he was getting into¡­


    Demigods didn¡¯t have high life expectancy, most died before the age of twenty. Those who lived past that age usually died in their thirties¡­ and if a Demigod lived past that, the only way they¡¯d die is when fighting a God uniquely suited to defeat them.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say not to worry dad, mom¡­ but think about it, I can fight Gods, Gods that kill people incapable of fighting back¡­ if I can help protect people, then I think I want to do it.¡± Jake said with a smile, even as his parents smiled at him.


    Only Rose had a frown as she looked at the scene, not wishing to cut in with her own problems with his view.


    Fact of the matter was, his views were good for Aegis, but they were toxic for a human.


    Selflessness is something considered heroic and amazing in idols, but for a psychiatrist, of which Rose is certified as one in several fields, selflessness becomes less of an admirable trait and more of a worrisome one.


    It¡¯s barely two steps away from tossing away your own life to save someone else after all, and it wasn¡¯t healthy to so easily weigh another¡¯s life over your own.


    It was even worse for Demigods, they were rare and powerful, they were necessary to fight back against the Gods¡­ but if they all thought normal lives weighed more than theirs, how many would have sacrificed themselves for some random human and then die, weakening Aegis before the next God appeared.


    Admirable, but worrying, that described selflessness to Rose.


    ¡°So, where do we sign?¡± Rose bit back her inner worries as she forced a smile on her face, handing the ¡®contract¡¯ to them.


    ¡°Normally Jake alone would fill it out, but you are welcome to help him of course¡­ we do need Jake to start living at our base by next week though, and transferring him to his new school¡­¡± Rose knew this would be a bit saddening for them, but figured she had to say it as soon as possible.


    ¡°Alright, new school, new people, new problems too¡­ sounds exciting.¡± Jake grinned as Rose smiled giving a small clap.


    ¡°Good, you are all welcome to leave whenever you are ready, as Jake seems to heal faster than most Demigods. Should you decide to leave, Agent Six here will show you out.¡± Rose gestured to the agent on her side, wondering why they were numbered instead of named¡­


    The only ¡®named¡¯ agent was Head Agent Karma, and that was because calling him ¡®Agent Zero¡¯ was way too over the top he said.


    ¡°Sure, and thank you a lot miss Cora.¡± Jake¡¯s parents greeted, as did his siblings, while Jake looked over the contract, sending one last glance and nod at her before he began reading.


    Rose left the room easily, walking down the corridor before she spoke out to the ¡®elephant¡¯ in the room.


    ¡°Charlie, what are you doing here? Weren¡¯t you supposed to be at our Australian base along with Shane?¡± Rose asked as she looked to her side, an illusion fading from the wall to reveal a man with a cowboy hat hiding his pitch black hair, his eyes such a pale blue one could almost mistake him for being blind.


    ¡°Well I was there, but I took an express return as soon as I was able to once I heard¡­ a Demigod of Apollo huh?¡± Charlie asked as Rose continued walking, the man leaving his spot on the wall to walk just behind her.


    ¡°Indeed, so why does that interest you? Maybe¡­ is it because of what Apollo represents? Archery, like your own parent?¡± Rose asked as Charlie grinned.


    ¡°That¡¯s part of it, we don¡¯t get a lot of archers in this place, but beyond that¡­ we¡¯ve never had a Demigod of Apollo before¡­ his main Principles are known to be Archery and the Sun, the Chinese hero Hou Yi might be based off of him or vice-versa¡­ aren¡¯t I the perfect counter for him?¡± Charlie asked as Rose thought it over.


    ¡°You are right¡­ after all, Ull is a God of Ice and Hunters, and the main weapon of hunters were bows¡­ it¡¯s a close thing, your elements are opposite and your weapons are the same.¡± Rose said as Charlie grinned, snapping his fingers in an attempt to cause a thin layer of ice where Rose would walk.


    Her own snap of her fingers erased the ice as if it never existed.


    ¡°Wow, as expected of the Witch¡­ but yeah, we¡¯re opposites¡­ so I think I¡¯d be the best team leader for him.¡± Charlie stated, his joking tone vanishing towards the end as Rose looked to the man with a searching glance.


    ¡°Very well Charlie, I¡¯ll approve of it, and knowing Edgar he¡¯ll agree. The Council will be interested, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll leave well enough alone.¡± Rose said with a thin smile as she walked away, leaving Charlie to just hold onto his hat with a grin.


    ¡°Scary woman¡­ talking as if she isn¡¯t on the Council.¡± Charlie grinned and walked away, knowing that if he were to have a team, he¡¯d need more than just one recruit¡­


    ¡°Now then, we need four others¡­ a son of Hephaestus¡­ a son of Ares wouldn¡¯t be bad¡­ there was a new daughter of Hermes¡­ then there¡¯s our own little problem child¡­ yeah, this team sounds good.¡± Charlie walked away, a hop in his step and a whistle on his lips.


    After a few years of not having a team, he¡¯d finally get one again¡­ he was so excited, not only for the fights, but for meeting a son of Apollo, the premier God of Archery¡­


    To be exact, Charlie just wanted to compete in Archery, but guiding the kid could happen too. Just saying.

 Chapter 2- Huitzilopochtli

    ¡°Wow man, I heard you¡¯re a Demigod, that¡¯s awesome man!¡± Jake gave an awkward chuckle at the words of one of his skater friends who were visiting his house, another speaking up after the first statement.


    ¡°Yeah, man, it was all over the news that some fire God or something appeared¡­ sorry to say, but it¡¯s lucky we weren¡¯t there at the time.¡± Jake¡¯s second friend said as Jake nodded.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ hey Jake, you mind telling us what happened?¡± Jake¡¯s first friend asked as Jake thought about it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember much, but this is what I do remember.¡± Jake began his tale-


    It started like a normal Friday, in the sense that school was out early, and Jake, as usual, was finished early with his projects and therefore free to do as he pleased over the weekend.


    That usually meant either skating around or visiting the nearest library for the weekend.


    It still confused Jake¡¯s friends that he was cool, but he was also pretty smart, having some of the top grades in their school.


    For this weekend, Jake felt like skating, as it was one of his joys, travelling around that is. Doing tricks was just a bonus Jake felt.


    So Jake went to a skate-park, he was well known there, and no one batted an eye at his appearance other than asking why he was lugging around his bow from the archery club.


    ¡°It¡¯s because we were practicing today. They left the bow with me to practice over the weekend.¡± Jake admitted to whoever asked, Jake leaving the bow next to his bag as he skated.


    It was around noon when things went wrong.


    It was June, so obviously it was hot, summer and all, but for some reason it started to get really warm. It was when someone had a heatstroke that people began to panic a bit.


    And it was also when Jake went to check on the victim that everyone heard it.


    The voice of a God.


    ¡°Ah¡­ there you are, child of fire.¡± The voice boomed, no one hearing it but Jake, everyone else just hearing the sudden crackling of flames, before someone thought of looking up.


    And it was at this moment where everyone else did, because this person had the clarity of mind to ask this question:


    ¡°Why does the sun seem so close?¡± Jake was panicking by now, wondering why no one asked any questions about the voice as the sun seemed to¡­ crack, for lack of a better word.


    Then there was a burst of light, all who looked at it were immediately blinded, Jake having enough forethought to shade his eyes.


    Once the light cleared, there stood the God.


    Bronze skin, eyes of literal fire, bright red hair that floated on a non-existent breeze, clad only in some sort of cloth skirting, cuffs and anklets of fire and in the centre of the chest pulsed a diamond of blue flames, veins leading from said diamond creating tattoo¡¯s going all over the body of the being.


    No one would look upon such a being and think ¡®mortal¡¯.


    ¡°Greetings, child of fire. I am Huitzilopochtli, Aztec God of Will, Fire, the Sun, and Patron of the South.¡± Now, now the voice could be heard by all, as the normal people clenched their ears in pain, to Jake, the voice was smooth and powerful.


    To all others it was the roar of fire in their ears, a burning sensation from their ears which had no right to hear the voice of such a being.


    ¡°It appears that some mortals are in our presence. They are unnecessary for what will come.¡± The God, Huitzilopochtli waved his arm, and a wall of flames appeared.


    It instantly incinerated all beings in the presence of Huitzilopochtli with the exception of Jake, who was wide eyed in shock.


    ¡°There¡­ no distractions. Speak your name, child of fire.¡± The God would not be denied, and yet Jake only now realized that it was he who was being spoken to¡­ and he was terrified at the idea.


    Remember, Gods were not a secret¡­ it was well known that Gods existed and could appear in the world, ready to slaughter humanity.


    ¡°Jake, Jake Thomas.¡± Jake couldn¡¯t even bring himself to shout, his voice unnaturally calm, making the God nod, his face resembling Mexican¡¯s in ethnicity as the God smirked.


    Jake did not feel comforted by it, let alone the glow that came from the God¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Jake Thomas¡­ Excellent, Jake Thomas, I have descended upon this world for contest, a battle of wills and strength!¡± The God spread its arms, and Jake stood still, knowing that if he moved, he might die.


    ¡°If you are looking for a battle¡­ why did you appear in front of me?¡± Jake asked, the God blinking for a moment in apparent surprise before looking closely at Jake.


    ¡°I see, you know not of your power? No matter, your power is not what I will contest. I, the Patron of the South, have appeared before you, Jake Thomas, because you are a child of fire.¡± Huitzilopochtli spoke as he held out a hand, clenching it into a fist.


    ¡°I am a God of the Sun. And you hold the essence of the Sun within you. I felt that it would make an excellent contest.¡± The God snapped his fingers, the sun above them shining brightly as suddenly the world around them darkened, as if the very sun itself was merely a spotlight for Huitzilopochtli.


    ¡°Essence of the Sun? I¡¯m¡­ oh crap.¡± Jake had but a moment to get the idea of what he was, before Huitzilopochtli raised his hands to the sun.


    Any person who knew of a certain Sun-bro would know the pose.


    ¡°Indeed, you hold the essence of a God! You will battle me in a contest of Will! Should I slay you I will destroy this entire city and continue until I burn this entire world!¡± The God then gestured to Jake, the smirk of the God taking on a slightly more sinister look.


    ¡°On the other hand, if you manage to lay a fatal blow on my person, I will take it as my defeat! I grant you but ten seconds to gather your equipment!¡± Jake turned and ran.


    Jake was terrified, but¡­ but he felt calm. He did not know why, but he knew he had to move. He knew he could not stay still, lest he die.


    He had to survive until Aegis sent a Demigod to fight Huitzilopochtli, and if that couldn¡¯t happen, he¡¯d have to try and give the God a fatal blow himself.


    And Jake only possessed one weapon at current, the bow sitting by his bag¡­ as for other equipment, the skateboard beneath his feet was the only other thing that might help him he felt¡­ that didn¡¯t stop him from grabbing something from next to the bag as the God began to move.


    ¡°Time is up, let the contest begin! Now we will see whether or not your will is enough to stand against me!¡± Jake immediately kicked off, turning just enough to see Huitzilopochtli hold his hand out, a thin stream of fire appearing in his hand¡­ and then the hand blurred.


    Jake didn¡¯t know what happened in this moment, only that the place he was at just a moment ago had seemed to spontaneously combust, leaving behind slag while he had somehow ended up grinding down a rail as the God stalked behind him.


    ¡°Interesting, you dodged my spear throw!¡± The God exclaimed in joy, while internally Jake was panicking at how excited the Aztec God felt.


    Jake had very little time to complain as another ¡®spear¡¯ flew where his head was just a moment ago, leaving Jake certain that following his instincts would allow him to stay alive.


    And so that was what he did, at least, until the ambient heat of the floor seemed to be melting the very wheels of his skateboard, much to his internal despair¡­


    He liked his skateboard, even if he was about to die he¡¯d feel sad about it.


    And if the wheels were melting, Jake soon found himself thrown from his board as he landed on smouldering grass.


    It was but for a moment, but Jake marvelled at the warm sensation¡­ and then he was attacked once more, causing him to roll forward again in an attempt to dodge.


    ¡°You are intriguing, being able to survive the warmth of my presence¡­ but you only run. If you do not attack, you will not win!¡± Huitzilopochtli roared as he raised both hands, summoning two spears as he began to toss them even faster than before.


    Jake was barely dodging, made all the more awkward by the fact that he was carrying his bow with him, unable to roll and jump around properly due to its weight.


    It didn¡¯t matter though, Jake needed it to win, and so he¡¯d carry it with him. And as he dodged, he felt it.


    The heat. The warmth¡­ not from his surroundings, but from within¡­ instead of being stifling like the uncomfortable heat of exertion or tiredness, it felt like the warmth from a mother¡¯s love.


    It comforted Jake, as much as it pushed him forward, driving him to continue, to live. It was while following this feeling, diving deep into his wish to feel more, that the God spoke in wonder.


    ¡°¡­It has barely been four minutes. In a mere four minutes of my presence triggering your growth, you have begun to feel the Sun, the power it grants us¡­ you might be more dangerous than expected.¡± The God spoke with neutrality towards the end, raising its arm.


    ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to defeat me.¡± Huitzilopochtli had a spear of fire in his hand¡­ and then suddenly it was gone.


    ¡°-And that¡¯s all I remember. From what Aegis told me, he picked up speed and hit me in the stomach, and I don¡¯t know what happened next.¡± Jake informed his friends who were wide eyed with wonder at the event that happened the day before¡­ too bad they had to leave.


    Maybe Jake should ask what happened after he blanked out next time he saw someone from Aegis?


    ¡°Alright, so, Jake Thomas, real name Jake Ignus, will be joining Aegis. He is set to join Alexandria tomorrow.¡± Agent Karma read the report to the microphone, knowing that all relevant parties were listening in.


    Namely, the Council of Demigods, the collective heads of Aegis, two of which were Edgar Yule and Rose Cora.


    All of the Council had access to this live stream of information, no matter where they were, with the exception of one member who was constantly disappearing.


    ¡°Jake Ignus is a Demigod son of Apollo, who is a god of Archery, the Sun, and multiple others. He was triggered yesterday due to the Descent of the Aztec God, Huitzilopochtli.¡± Karma wondered about that missing Councilman¡­


    He was the son of one of the strongest Aztec Gods, so he would have been better to talk about those Gods.


    It was nigh involuntary, but a child of a certain God would end up curious on their parent, and research them. Following this, one would obviously research the pantheon said God belonged to.


    It was the same with the other Council members, who collectively knew about Greek myth, Aztec myth, and Norse myth majorly.


    No one except Rose and Karma were aware of whom Edgar¡¯s God parent was, and it was a well-kept secret in Aegis. Suffice to say his parent was powerful, and ancient to a degree almost unmatched by most other Gods.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Huitzilopochtli, God of Will, War and the Sun, as well as Patron of the South in his myth, he apparently challenged Jake Ignus to a battle of will, threatening to destroy the world if he won.¡± Karma¡¯s scoff was held in due to the serious nature of this report, though he had no doubt all other people listening scoffed.


    As if one God could threaten the world. The Council was the strongest defence against such Gods, and Edgar, the strongest Demigod, had made a name for himself slaying them¡­


    Only the top three Demigods could slay Gods though, one being Edgar, the second being Rose and the third was the previously mentioned Aztec Demigod.


    That didn¡¯t mean the others were weak though.


    All other members of the Council were capable of defeating a God in a one-on-one setting, even if killing a God was a bit beyond them.


    ¡°Jake Ignus apparently tried to stall for time, running away under attack by the God, however at the time only one of our Agents was at the scene watching using a scrying spell.¡± Karma frowned at his own words.


    Granted, Aegis had Charlie, who was a uniquely suitable counter against Gods of Fire or the Sun, but he had been in charge of the Australian branch and was awaiting the teleportation rune system to be powered.


    By the time he had teleported, the fight was over, leaving Charlie in America with no God to fight.


    This meant that Aegis was late, and that some untrained Demigod was forced into a fight that really should not have been his problem yet.


    ¡°Using a skateboard, Jake Ignus managed to evade the God for roughly three and a half minutes before the heat Huitzilopochtli emitted melted the wheels of said skateboard, forcing Jake Ignus to dodge on foot.¡± Karma would admit to himself in private that he was kind of impressed with what the boy had done.


    ¡°Soon after this, Jake Ignus began to access his powers over the Sun, and therefore fire, to the point that he was beginning to have sparks of yellow flame falling around him, and his footsteps were leaving a trail of fire.¡± It was a strange ¡®Awakening¡¯ but it wasn¡¯t the strangest.


    ¡°Huitzilopochtli apparently felt threatened by Jake Ignus and his rate of growth, and so stopped holding back his power, sending forth his attacks at full speed, his first hit impaling the boy through the stomach.¡± Karma stated, thinking back to the recording he was shown of the fight.


    Soon after Jake Ignus was beginning to Awaken his powers, the God Huitzilopochtli stopped holding back, as evidenced when he attacked at such high speeds that no one caught the spear throw until it was over.


    Edgar, who watched the video as well and as expected, he easily caught the throw as it happened, saying that the difference between it and the previous throws was that the God was originally just using physical strength to toss spears around.


    In this latest throw, Huitzilopochtli also used his control over fire to enhance the speed the spear left at, a subtle but important difference.


    Jake Ignus was obviously blown back upon being hit, not possessing the armour Aegis provided to its Demigods and not being a Demigod holding a Principle of Durability or Strength.


    The boy was launched more than a few metres away, the fire having dissipated upon completing its job, leaving the boy to roll and scream in pain.


    Now at this point, Karma and the Agent found themselves unable to quite get what this God was saying. In person, Karma was of sufficient magical skill to be able to understand, but the Agent at the scene did not have this level of skill, and Karma could not translate a recording.


    Edgar and Rose could though, and that was what allowed them to know what Huitzilopochtli said next.


    ¡°You¡­ are absorbing my fire? What trickery is this!¡± Granted, when Edgar translated, he mimicked the tone mockingly, only to get slapped upside the head by Rose.


    But everyone who had any knowledge of Gods and their powers found this bit interesting.


    Jake Ignus finished rolling, clenching his stomach which had been burnt so badly as to be cauterized, and yet the spear of flames had not punched clean through him as they should have.


    Indeed, he was injured heavily as if someone had taken a scoop or two of his stomach area and removed it, but he should have been far more harmed at this point.


    Instead, the fire seemed to flow into the wound, and Jake Ignus glared at his enemy, his bright green eyes smouldering as they changed into a yellow some would immediately attribute to the supernatural.


    ¡°Impossible, that fire was mine and not yours to command, by how would you have stolen from me?¡± it was odd, admittedly, but no one really had an explanation for it¡­


    One person mentioned the Titan of Forethought, but the idea was discarded considering Jake and his skill with the bow, as well as other personality traits.


    The next point in the recording was surprising, and if Edgar and Rose were to be believed, immensely satisfying.


    Jake Ignus, still holding his left hand over his stomach, held his right arm out, in a rather familiar fashion as a ¡®spear¡¯ of fire materialized in his hands as he threw his divine opponent with his new weapon.


    Understandably, Jake Ignus was not trained in spear throwing, magic, or anything like that, and his opponent was a God of War, thus easily capable of swatting the fire away.


    ¡°Insolence! I shall smite you where you stand!¡± the God roared as he focused, instead of creating a spear, creating a sword¡­


    Now admittedly, the Aztecs used spears and daggers more often, so Huitzilopochtli was expected to use those weapons, as a God of War though¡­


    Well, War evolved with time, and so Huitzilopochtli tapped into that Principle and generated a weapon not commonly used by his people, in this case, a great-sword.


    Karma still recalled how he and Edgar both shook their heads at the sight immediately, dubbing this as the moment the God began to lose the fight.


    There were multiple reasons, such as Jake Ignus having a higher Principle for Fire than Huitzilopochtli, or the God having lost his composure¡­


    The last one was important, as it led to Huitzilopochtli making a mistake as a warrior ironically¡­ he began to try and fight with a weapon he was not used to.


    The God stepped forward, much like Jake, a trail of fire being left behind from the soles of his bare feet, as he attempted to cut the young Demigod in half.


    It was not to be, as Jake Ignus stepped to the side, holding his right hand in the air. Given Jake¡¯s testimony, he was actually running on raw instinct the moment he got hit with the spear of fire.


    In layman¡¯s terms, he was fighting while unconscious¡­ and so, his instincts and body did what his logical mind did not know it could do.


    From the concentrated sunlight in the area, given that Huitzilopochtli was showboating and concentrating the rays of light as if it were a spotlight on their fighting area, Jake further concentrated it, blinding those who did not wear sunglasses as light condensed in the palm of his hand.


    Rose nodded approvingly at this point as the light began to flow down Jake¡¯s arm, towards his chest, then further down to his wound where it began to heal.


    ¡°Light based healing, admittedly light magic has a preconception as a form uniquely suited for healing¡­ and being the son of Apollo, a God of Light and Medicine, the effect is probably even better than normal.¡±


    That was Rose¡¯s expert opinion on the matter as the wound healed itself, new flesh growing to replace the lost in a display of magical prowess¡­


    Though in this case, it was less magical and more divine, given that Jake Ignus had no formal training with magic like most in Aegis did.


    ¡°You think I will allow you time to heal?¡± Huitzilopochtli gave a large sweeping slash to try and cut his opponent in half, though Jake had already mostly healed his injuries, allowing him to slide underneath the large slash.


    Karma considered the move and found it to be acceptable. The God was too fast for Jake to escape to a distance where his bow was worth using, and a sword the size Huitzilopochtli was using was more like a spear in length.


    Meaning the best position to attack from was in fact close range, as neither of them had the definitive advantage there when looking at weapons.


    Like a storm, one would find the eye to be comparatively clear¡­


    That isn¡¯t to say it wasn¡¯t dangerous though, as the God removed one hand from the grip of the blade to try and punch Jake, who had seemed to be coming up to a stand from his slide.


    But instead of doing so, which would place his head exactly where Huitzilopochtli¡¯s fist would pass through, Jake held his momentum and converted it into an odd sort of roll through the God¡¯s legs.


    The God was surprised by the move turning to launch a slash at where Jake Ignus would be, instead finding nothing as Jake moved with the God¡¯s turning speed, and finally placing his bow into his hands.


    It was this action that allowed Huitzilopochtli to catch onto where Jake was, but that wasn¡¯t because the God heard the movement or anything like that.


    No, he found Jake because the bow in his hands began to shine.


    Karma was quick to understand the phenomenon; it was common when dealing with Demigods who had a certain weapon in their Principles, such as a sword for the children of Gods associated with swords.


    This phenomenon didn¡¯t have a name, people had different things they called it, Assimilation was a popular one though¡­ mostly because that¡¯s what Edgar called it and most Demigods looked up to him, despite his laziness.


    What Assimilation did was quite obvious if one looked to the video, seeing Huitzilopochtli swing his great-sword from an overhead position, with Jake raising his now Divine Weapon and angling it as the sword hit.


    Admittedly, a normal bow and great-sword colliding like this could only have one real outcome, that of the bow breaking. This was not a normal bow, and that wasn¡¯t a normal great-sword though.


    Firstly, the angling of the bow was helping here, as Jake did not meet the force of the God full on, as he would doubtlessly be destroyed in that situation.


    It was extremely rare for a Demigod to be able to defeat a God in pure physical might, as most fights were decided by techniques and suitability.


    With how he had moved the bow, the great-sword of fire only glanced off, hitting the ground. Unlike what one would expect, there was no explosion of debris or anything like that, but that was only because the heat of the blade had melted the ground the point that the sword easily entered it, meeting little to no resistance.


    The fact that it hit the ground instead of its target was telling though, as Huitzilopochtli had his eyes widen as he stared at Jake, who calmly had his bow barely a half metre away from the chest of the God.


    The string was taut, and Jake¡¯s glare was emphasized by the yellow in his eyes as the arrow finally let itself be shown, a thin stream of light, the God barely had any time to even look at the light before he was hit.


    It goes without question that Huitzilopochtli had his chest pierced by this ray of light, though Edgar shook his head when he saw this part of the video.


    He was one of only three God-slayers in the world, and he knew when an attack was capable of killing a God.


    While Jake¡¯s light arrow was powerful¡­ that was only relative to his position as a newly Awakened Demigod, running on instincts without his conscience to help focus his power.


    So no, this was not a fatal blow to the God¡­ however-


    ¡°¡­You have landed an attack on me. You fought through confusion, pain, your lack of combat experience, and managed to land an attack on my heart.¡± The God¡¯s voice was suddenly much calmer, Huitzilopochtli nodding after looking at Jake¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Yes, you even fought through unconsciousness? That is impressive¡­ Jake Thomas, I will accept this loss. You possess Will enough to be approved by me.¡± Huitzilopochtli nodded, and with that, his divine aura slowly receded, and with it leaving, Jake¡¯s body finally released its tension, falling backwards as the God caught his body.


    ¡°¡­I bid thee farewell, Jake Thomas. And with my leave, you may have my blessing. Where others will falter, you will rise above as a beacon.¡± The God placed his palm on Jake¡¯s forehead, a small glow appearing as the God nodded, laying Jake¡¯s body down as he stood.


    And with a snap of his fingers, and a bright light, the God was gone, and the light in the area was back to normal.


    The video ended there.


    ¡°And that is the events of yesterday, June 24<sup>th</sup> of 2016, occurring at approximately one PM.¡± The date just let the facts stick out¡­


    That a sixteen year old newly Awakened Demigod was forced to fight a God and only won because it was a competition with a God who actually stuck to his agreements.


    ¡°Agent, you know we didn¡¯t need the date and time¡­¡± Edgar complained from a nearby couch, even as he let go of a crystal ball.


    The fact that it was made in China did not stop Rose from messing with it to make it legitimate.


    ¡°Time zones are different, it¡¯s why I add it in. And stop lazing on my couch, don¡¯t you have your own office, or your own home even?¡± Karma knew Edgar had these things, Karma helped Edgar set them up after all.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going. Rose wants me to do paperwork again. Why is she my secretary if she doesn¡¯t do my paperwork?¡± Edgar asked as he snacked on a piece of chocolate.


    ¡°Firstly, she isn¡¯t your secretary, I am. Secondly, she wants you to do paperwork because you haven¡¯t been doing any since four years ago.¡± Edgar looked unrepentant.


    ¡°There¡¯s a massive backlog because of this, and the only reason Aegis isn¡¯t crippled because of it is because most important documents get sent to Rose rather. She has a right to complain at this point.¡± Karma added as Edgar rolled over.


    ¡°In addition, the only thing you do around here is train people in combat with weaponry. Granted that is necessary, but any of the other Demigods could do it, even I could.¡± Karma was not exaggerating or bragging, he really was that good when it came to combat.


    He was the Head Agent of Aegis, as well as their ambassador. Consider that meant that he had to meet other supernatural races such as the one time he had to visit a Vampire coven in Wallachia.


    And he met those powerful creatures as an equal, for Karma was the strongest human in Aegis, even if that didn¡¯t mean much against a Demigod, it meant a lot elsewhere.


    ¡°Sure you could do it, but no one does it better than me.¡± Karma raised a brow and Edgar looked away¡­ he was wrong here.


    ¡°Edgar, I acknowledge that you have the greatest knowledge of weaponry in Aegis, but Shane honestly teaches better than you do.¡± Edgar pouted at that, not wanting to be compared to the Demigod just mentioned.


    ¡°And as for the two other basics of combat, magic and unarmed, you know Rose and Samuel are better than you in those prospective fields.¡± Edgar nodded.


    Indeed, the three God-slayers had a unique relation in which each one had mastered one part of combat to the point the other two acknowledged it.


    Edgar was the authority on weapons, Rose on magic, and Samuel was the best hand-to-hand combatant amongst all Demigods, and that¡¯s including someone who happens to be the son of Heracles.


    ¡°So Edgar, what are you doing?¡± Karma asked, staring at his friend and boss, who just stared back¡­


    Then Edgar stood and walked away, grumbling about his friend not being any fun today.


    ¡°Edgar. You need to understand that you can¡¯t just laze around all the time. Despite your power, you are not the human equivalent of a nuclear warhead.¡± Karma called out before Edgar could close the door, only for Edgar to sigh, looking at his friend.


    ¡°Karma. The problem here is that I am the human equivalent of a nuclear warhead¡­ with all that entails.¡± Edgar closed the door, making Karma pause for a moment¡­


    Karma was still slumped in his chair when the door to his office opened and Rose walked in, plopping down on the couch with nary a word.


    ¡°He was hiding here, wasn¡¯t he?¡± she asked and Karma didn¡¯t even bother wondering who she was talking about as he nodded without speaking.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried Karma¡­ Edgar¡­ he hasn¡¯t fought in a while.¡± That was an understatement.


    From the year 2000 to the year 2014 Edgar was a man on a mission. Wherever a God appeared, he was either there, or busy fighting a God elsewhere, he was a modern day hero to the people.


    And then at the beginning of 2015 Edgar suddenly stopped. He stopped fighting Gods entirely, saying he was going to relax for a while, tossing aside his combat uniform for an Hawaiian shirt, shorts and flip flops, and everyone was confused.


    That was a year and a half ago, and Edgar had seemingly gotten worse.


    ¡°He¡­ He didn¡¯t like fighting, but he was always so proud of what he was doing¡­ it¡¯s weird that he suddenly lost that drive.¡± Rose said, and Karma nodded¡­


    He didn¡¯t tell her that he had seen Edgar coughing blood.


    Edgar wouldn¡¯t want to worry her after all.

 Chapter 3- Alexandria

    ¡°Welcome young Demigod, welcome, to Alexandria! The U.S branch at least.¡± Jake stared at the man blocking off the gates into the school with clear confusion in his eyes.


    ¡°Uh¡­ mister Yule, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re supposed to be here.¡± Jake said, looking down to the letter stating what he was to bring for school, and that he was supposed to wait at the entrance for his guide.


    ¡°Nonsense, I funded this school, no one can keep me from being here, no one!¡± The man in the blue Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops seemed adamant that he be allowed to go wherever he pleased.


    ¡°Now Edgar, we all know you¡¯re lying¡­ The little miss is scary enough to keep you away.¡± Jake looked to the side, seeing no one¡­ that¡¯s when the speaker revealed themselves.


    A strange mist seemed to be there, unnoticeable until now as it moved away little by little to reveal a man in a cowboy hat wearing a button up shirt and denim vest, wearing slacks and boots.


    ¡°Charlie, how are you doing, aren¡¯t you supposed to be in Australia?¡± Edgar asked, and once more Jake wondered at how the man was in charge of all Demigods in the world.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright Edgar. And as for why I¡¯m here, I¡¯m the kid¡¯s guide and Team Commander.¡± Edgar blinked before frowning, crossing his arms.


    ¡°Now hold on, don¡¯t I get a say in teams normally? Obviously you¡¯ll be Team Charlie, but who else would be in it?¡± Edgar asked as Jake just decided to keep quiet and listen to the powerful people in front of him.


    ¡°Well me, Jake, one of Shane¡¯s younger brothers, a War God Demigod, there was a new daughter of Hermes and finally Mary.¡± Edgar just raised an eyebrow in response to the last bit, making Jake think that this ¡®Mary¡¯ must be a unique existence amongst Demigods.


    ¡°Huh¡­ that seems pretty solid, a front-line fighter, a technician, two long-range fighters and Mary¡­ well, she can fight just about anywhere.¡± Again, this only reinforced Jake¡¯s thoughts that this ¡®Mary¡¯ person was special if she was an ¡®all-rounder¡¯¡­


    He already pegged himself as a long-ranged fighter after researching Apollo, who was apparently his father.


    He used Wikipedia by the way. The one site on the internet he trusted near unconditionally when it came to information, not counting the website Aegis had on Gods they had encountered or knew about.


    Apollo was not a God that descended to Earth apparently, and thus he wasn¡¯t on Aegis¡¯ website, so he just looked elsewhere instead, no big deal.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought. Though the exact members are still a bit iffy for us to decide¡­ I¡¯ve already contacted Mary, she¡¯s willing to join up but only if she knows the other candidates.¡± Charlie explained as Edgar sighed, scratching his head.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll accept that you want to talk to Jake here. Go ahead, explain everything¡­ I¡¯m going to go look around for a bakery.¡± Edgar walked away, Charlie blinking for a moment before he shouted after the blonde.


    ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t the little miss say you should stop eating sweets?¡± Charlie asked, and instead of getting an answer Edgar just walked faster, hoping to get away from Charlie who was chuckling.


    Then he turned to Jake who was just blinking in surprise with his bag on his back.


    ¡°Right, sorry about that kid, I¡¯m an old friend of Edgar¡¯s. My name¡¯s Charlie Baker, I¡¯m one of the top-ranked Demigods of Aegis, as well as your team commander when we eventually get sent out.¡± Charlie¡¯s explanation got Jake to snap out of his surprise as he extended a hand in response.


    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you sir, I¡¯m Jake Thomas though I suppose you know that already¡­¡± Jake said as Charlie looked at the hand with a raised eyebrow before taking it.


    ¡°I do, but at least you got manners kid. Lots of Demigods think they¡¯re hot-shit until they get the crap beat out of them, so I¡¯m glad we can skip that step with you.¡± Charlie¡¯s words did not make Jake feel much better beyond knowing he wasn¡¯t going to get beaten up.


    ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s nice¡­ so, this is Alexandria?¡± Jake asked as Charlie motioned him to follow him, Charlie looking around with a nod.


    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s a boarding school for Demigods and humans alike, though obviously it was made by Aegis for Demigods especially.¡± Charlie said, gesturing to the campus which was admittedly huge¡­


    ¡°By the way, the campus is about five square kilometres in size. Also, get used to using the metric system, as we get missions outside of America often and no other place uses the imperial system.¡± Charlie warned as Jake blinked at the size of the place.


    ¡°Oh, I have studied that before, when I was working in Chemistry class¡­ ounces and pounds aren¡¯t as precise as milligrams and kilograms for me¡­¡± Jake scratched his head as Charlie nodded with a smile.


    ¡°That makes sense, Apollo is a God associated with many scientific and artistic ventures, including art, poetry, medicine, and so on. Greek too, and they came up with a lot of concepts we still use today.¡± Charlie stated as they continued their walk, making Jake¡¯s eyes widen.


    ¡°What, just ¡®cause I look like a thuggish cowboy doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m stupid kid. Any Demigod worth their salt has to know about Gods, as much as they can¡­ that, and no Demigod is an idiot.¡± Jake looked confused but Charlie just rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Just follow me kid, we¡¯ll explain it later.¡± Jake nodded and followed as they entered the main building which was across from the gate entering the school.


    ¡°Okay¡­ also, sir, I haven¡¯t gotten a class schedule yet¡­¡± Jake asked as Charlie reached into his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to Jake.


    ¡°There, I got it from the little miss¡­ er, Rose Cora. She already set up your schedule after comparing it to your old subjects and who your God parent is.¡± Charlie said, leaving Jake to check his schedule while Charlie moved to the receptionist.


    His classes had barely changed, except that he no longer did Life Education for some reason¡­ instead, he got a new class labelled as Demigod Studies, which he figured was unique to Demigods entering the school.


    ¡°Hey kid, straighten up, I¡¯m going to be showing you to each of your classes, you can ask any questions you got while we walk.¡± Charlie said as Jake followed behind the man.


    ¡°Does that mean you might not answer sir? You said I could ask, but you didn¡¯t say you would answer.¡± Charlie¡¯s smirk was hidden when the boy asked the question¡­ the boy was interesting it seemed.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what it means kid. If you asked me any personal questions I might not answer after all.¡± Charlie admitted leaving Jake to think for a bit.


    ¡°Okay sir. I wanted to know why my schedule seems to have traded Life Education in exchange for Demigod Studies? Well, the why is obvious, but what do I learn there?¡± Jake asked as Charlie thought about it.


    ¡°Not quite sure kid, I never went to this school so I wouldn¡¯t know, but I think they teach you about mythology and such, possibly magic too.¡± Charlie said, and he wasn¡¯t lying, he wasn¡¯t part of the modern generation of Demigods.


    ¡°Okay¡­ by the way sir, I was told that Demigods don¡¯t age after a certain point¡­ is this true?¡± Jake asked with a bit of worry in his eyes, something justifiable in Charlie¡¯s view.


    ¡°It¡¯s true kid, Demigods will never die of old age or any sickness that is not magical in origin. In addition, we¡¯re super strong, durable, and built for surviving battle, so we¡¯re hard to kill too.¡± Charlie admitted, making Jake frown.


    ¡°Sir¡­ how old are you?¡± Jake asked as Charlie looked over to the boy.


    ¡°¡­I was around for the wild west, which should say enough.¡± Charlie said, walking onwards as Jake paused for a moment before catching up¡­


    The wild west was the period of time between the early seventeenth century and ended around the early twentieth.


    That was almost three hundred years worth of time, not to mention that it¡¯s been over a century since that time ended¡­


    Charlie was at max around four hundred years old¡­


    ¡°Kid, call me grandpa and I¡¯ll kick your skull in.¡± Charlie said straight up and Jake raised his hands in defence, inwardly thinking that Charlie probably said that to lighten the weight of the statement¡­ but it just wasn¡¯t to be.


    ¡°What about Edgar sir? Is he older than you?¡± Jake asked as Charlie chuckled and shook his head.


    ¡°Nah, Edgar¡¯s about two hundred and fifty, give or take. The little miss is barely twenty years younger, but don¡¯t mention that.¡± Charlie warned and Jake thought to the old adage about women worrying over their ages and agreeing.


    ¡°Bit of trivia for you to know kid, Demigods, after a certain point, stop considering their ages and instead we classify ourselves into categories.¡± Charlie said, and thus begun his explanation.


    From what Charlie explained, there were three classifications for Demigods that Aegis had. The first was the above mentioned modern Demigods, they were the Demigods who Awakened to their abilities after Edgar¡¯s fight with Baldur in the year 2000, most were anywhere between the ages of sixteen and roughly thirty eight at this point.


    Then there were Century Demigods, those whose ages were roughly 100 years old or just slightly younger. Charlie fell in to this category, currently being over three hundred years old. Most high ranked Demigods were in this category.


    For the last group they were the Ancient Demigods, Demigods who were around during the times of myth, meaning the youngest Ancient Demigod would be around a thousand years old at the minimum.


    In Aegis there were only two such Demigods, though Edgar claimed to know a third¡­ these Demigods were not children of powerful Gods though, and so their power was more equal to Century Demigods who had battle-oriented parents.


    Jake was in awe of the last category, but before he could ask who were the Demigods in that category, they had arrived to Jake¡¯s homeroom apparently.


    ¡°Here we are kid, the kids in this class have similar classes, so they can help you find your way around. And respect your teacher.¡± Charlie¡¯s warning was heeded as he walked away with a wave over his shoulder, leaving Jake to knock on the door.


    After a moment, the door was opened and Jake blinked at the sight of small boy opening the door¡­


    Was he in the wrong section?


    ¡°Ah, you must be Jake, I¡¯m your teacher, Christian Rook, Demigod son of Athena, make fun of my name and die.¡± The boy introduced himself as he closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Uh¡­ hello sir, yes, I¡¯m Jake¡­ sorry sir, I¡¯m just a bit surprised.¡± Jake said as the boy giggled a bit while waving him off.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I get that a lot, miss Cora wants me to grow up more but I refused. Children have brains much more malleable than an adult, so I remain a child to have a more adaptable brain! It does come with disadvantages though, like a short attention span.¡± The boy said as Jake nodded with a confused look.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°So you just chose to remain a child? You can do that?¡± Jake asked as his apparent teacher nodded¡­ though Jake couldn¡¯t think of the child as ¡®mister Rook¡¯.


    ¡°Sure, but only if you awaken to your powers as a child. I did, and because growing up seemed boring, I decided to stay a child¡­ obviously, it was a stupid reason, but it worked out.¡± Mister Rook stated as Jake just shrugged, not quite getting it.


    ¡°Anyway, come in, I was just busy explaining that a new student would be joining our class.¡± The ¡®boy¡¯ said as he reached for the door handle, opening it.


    ¡°Class, this is our new student.¡± Jake flinched a bit at the quick introduction before he looked over the class, seeing nineteen other students, as classes in Alexandria were apparently much smaller than public schools.


    ¡°Uh, hi, my name is Jake Thomas¡­ though apparently my surname is supposed to be Ignus, I¡¯m still getting used to that.¡± Jake admitted as some murmuring went through the seats.


    ¡°Alright Jake, you can sit next to Derek over there, we have a minute or two before classes start so feel free to mingle a bit.¡± Mister Rook, standing on a chair, pointed over to a spot near the middle of the class where a lone empty chair was, and a boy next to it waving¡­ he must be Derek.


    Jake moved to his seat, looking at his classmates as he nodded at them, finally sitting down and placing his bag on the floor below his desk.


    ¡°Hi, I know mister Rook said it, but my name¡¯s Derek, Derek Oliver. I¡¯m a Demigod like you.¡± Derek said, making Jake widen his eyes in surprise as Derek reached to take his hand.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Derek. Is it inappropriate to ask who your God parent is?¡± Jake asked as Derek chuckled while waving it off.


    ¡°For some people it¡¯s an issue, but I don¡¯t mind. My dad is Ares, God of War and all that jazz.¡± Derek said as Jake smiled a bit, glad that the son of someone so famously aggressive wasn¡¯t immediately a fighter.


    ¡°Ah, my dad is Apollo apparently.¡± Jake said as Derek began to smile at the name.


    ¡°Whoa, so our dad¡¯s are both Olympians¡­ not to mention that Ares and Apollo are brothers¡­ so we¡¯re cousins?¡± Derek asked as Jake considered the statement.


    ¡°I guess? I¡¯m not certain on the unique biology of Demigods, but in the sense of the divine, yeah, we¡¯re cousins.¡± Derek smiled at that as he stretched out a fist.


    ¡°Well, it was already said, but nice to meet you cousin. Sorry if I go overboard during training later.¡± Derek apologized ahead of time as Jake accepted the fist bump with a confused look on his face at the mention of training.


    ¡°Hey, hey, so you¡¯re the son of Apollo, that sounds cool.¡± Another voice cut in from in front of Jake¡¯s seat, making him turn from looking at Derek to look at the person talking to him.


    ¡°Hello there, I¡¯m Johnny Adams, I¡¯m a normal human unlike you two special ones.¡± The boy said with a grin as Jake just looked at Johnny with confusion.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m studying here to become an agent for Aegis in the future, so I¡¯ll be a co-worker of you Demigods. I¡¯ll look forward to working with you.¡± He said with a smile before a slam sounded out from the front desk.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to our first class of the day, Mathematics.¡± There were a large amount of groans through the class as Jake frowned.


    An hour later, Jake stumbled out of the class clutching his head as Derek patted his back.


    ¡°Walk it off cousin, walk it off¡­ maths is difficult with mister Rook after all.¡± Derek barely fared any better, and that was only because he was actually in the class since the beginning of the year.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­ isn¡¯t that university level mathematics?¡± Jake asked wearily as Derek nodded with a serious expression on his face as they walked to their next class.


    ¡°It kind of is, Demigods are on average smarter than normal people, something about knowledge of the Divine having to do with it, but that¡¯s complicated. So we get harder classes to better apply our raised intelligence.¡± Jake blinked at that, raising an eyebrow at Derek.


    ¡°What, just cause I¡¯m the son of the God of War doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t be smart at times. I¡¯ll have you know my I.Q is currently one hundred and twenty.¡± That was actually pretty good seeing as Derek was the same age as Jake¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s above average at least. Mine¡¯s one thirty by the way.¡± Jake recalled getting tested in his youth and he found the test to be quite fun.


    ¡°Eh, whatever, Apollo is a God of Knowledge anyway.¡± Derek waved it off as Jake blinked¡­


    Maybe that was why he learnt things faster than other people? Sure explained a lot, as well as Apollo being God of archery, music, poetry, art, healing, etc¡­


    Huh¡­ Jake¡¯s choice of hobby and school subjects really should have pointed it out, given that he was studying to be a surgeon at some point, and he was part of the Archery club and the school band before the whole God business kicked off.


    And he quite enjoyed Shakespeare. The man¡¯s plays were unfortunately tragic and Jake found them quite emotional for that reason, at least if acted out correctly.


    ¡°So our next class is English right?¡± Jake asked as their class finally got to the classroom they needed to get to next.


    ¡°Yeah, though we learn two forms of English, namely American standard and British standard. The latter is what we use overseas most often¡­¡± Derek frowned and Jake understood his complaints.


    Working internationally but starting out America was a bit of an issue when it came to having to learn that the rest of the world did not work the exact same way¡­


    Jake¡¯s father (or at least the man who raised him) complained about it a lot actually, as he was British and moved to America for a job where he met Jake¡¯s mother.


    His complaints were many and varied, including the measuring systems, the pronunciation of words, the usage of certain words changed, and even sports if the man was to be believed.


    Jake still thought that baseball was better than cricket, regardless of what his father said. Rugby was awesome though, less armour than in American football¡­ seriously, their helmets were more like tiny bits of padding to keep you from dying, but allow you to get injury.


    In the words of a certain comedian from South Africa- ¡®I suffer Rugby every Saturday¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s the same with every other class by the way, they teach us both sets of information if necessary so that if we go to another country to fight a God, at least we¡¯ll be able to survive there.¡± Derek sighed as they waited for the class still using the English room to walk out.


    As the other class began to walk out, two people walked closer to Derek and Jake, a girl and boy, as the girl raised a hand for Derek to high five.


    ¡°What¡¯s up cousin!¡± the girl shouted, and Derek responded with said high five and the same sentence, leaving Jake rolling his eyes, already pegging Derek as a happy go-lucky kind of jock.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, we got a new cousin here, Jake Thomas, though his real surname is Ignus. He¡¯s the son of Apollo.¡± The girl and the boy both looked at Jake with approval and a nod as the boy extended a hand with a bit of shyness.


    ¡°Hi there, my name is Mark Bismarck, I¡¯m a son of Hephaestus, as boring as that is compared to having a God of War as a parent.¡± The boy had some snark on him, Jake could appreciate a good dose of sarcasm.


    Mark had brown hair approaching a shade of red and a tiny figure in comparison to Derek, or even Jake who had a swimmers build with how he exercised¡­


    Jake made certain to train in shooting arrows with both arms though, as archers typically had lopsided muscle structure if they didn¡¯t train their off-hand a lot.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Terri Cole, daughter of Hermes! So we¡¯re all kids of the second generation of Olympians, hence, cousins.¡± She explained as Jake looked a bit bewildered at the sudden finding of family¡­


    Of course he would though, the Greek family tree of the Gods was strange and messed up, given that Hephaestus and Aphrodite were brother and sister yet were married.


    Terri was stereotypically blonde and peppy, though judging from the odd bits and bobs all over her bag and in some places of her outfit, she seemed like someone who liked arts and crafts.


    As they introduced each other, a girl walked past their group with only a glance in their direction before she walked on, her face cold as she saw the four chatting¡­


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Jake asked, wondering what he could have done to earn the mystery girl¡¯s ire so quickly.


    ¡°That¡¯s Mary Baker, she¡¯s a Demigod like us, but she¡¯s a bit special in comparison to us.¡± Derek said, as Jake finally had a face and appearance to put to the name Charlie mentioned, considering her long black hair and stormy grey eyes.


    ¡°Wait, Baker¡­ is she related to Charlie Baker?¡± Jake asked as the three looked between each other, and back to him with a bit of uncertainty.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who that is, but odds are they are siblings of the same God. It happens, just look at Mark.¡± Terri explained as Mark sighed and nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, Hephaestus has a lot of kids, and we all have the same surname, Bismarck. Well¡­ that¡¯s mostly because of who our eldest brother is.¡± Mark sighed as Jake raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask the question he wanted to, he was dragged into the classroom by Derek.


    Once the class was over, the roles were reversed of the mathematics class, with Derek complaining and Jake trying to help him out¡­ Jake was good with languages out of his love of poetry, he tried to learn other languages to read poetry in their original languages.


    He liked Stormy Petrel as one of his favourites by the way.


    ¡°So hey, before we get to¡­ Biology, who¡¯s Mark¡¯s brother?¡± Jake asked as Derek gained a serious expression as he explained.


    ¡°He¡¯s someone important in Aegis, he¡¯s basically one of the top Demigods, despite being a son of Hephaestus, he¡¯s the smartest guy in Aegis by far.¡± Derek explained as they walked across the courtyard in the middle of the campus to cut across to their class.


    ¡°So why did Mark look a bit¡­ unhappy, at the mention of his brother?¡± Jake asked with a raised eyebrow as Derek frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of how amazing his brother is. There are over thirty children of Hephaestus, that we know of, and most of them aren¡¯t that strong, but Mark¡¯s elder brother is a different story.¡± Derek considered his next words carefully before they walked back into a corridor.


    ¡°Basically, Mark¡¯s elder brother is amazing, and all his siblings look up to him, including Mark¡­ but his brother is too strong for them to try and compete.¡± Derek explained.


    Jake didn¡¯t quite get it, but he got that Mark¡¯s elder brother was apparently a powerful Demigod, and much more powerful than his siblings, and that makes Mark a bit unhappy.


    Biology was soon over with, Jake smiling as he left the classroom¡­ he quite enjoyed Biology, though he could do without the needlessly long names for things.


    All that memorization¡­


    ¡°Alright then, it¡¯s lunch time man, let¡¯s go get some food.¡± Derek said, gesturing for Jake to follow him as they walked away from the school to Jake¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry man, as long as we¡¯re in class the school is pretty chill with us leaving¡­ besides, we¡¯re Demigods, short of a God descending nothing¡¯s going to hurt us.¡± Derek explained even as they searched for a shop nearby.


    Jake was feeling a bit lost, given that he had lived in a quiet suburb in Washington for his whole life, and now he was across the country from his home¡­


    Alexandria happened to be built in Los Angeles, for explanation.


    Known only to a select few in Aegis, but the school was only built there because Edgar wanted a place near the beach when he visited the school.


    He was rich and he liked the beach, and needed to build a school. Win for everyone in his opinion.


    ¡°New to L.A?¡± Derek asked as Jake nodded looking in the direction of the ocean in the distance.


    ¡°Yeah, lived in Washington for my whole life, so this is a bit new to me¡­ by the way, Derek, how did you Awaken?¡± Jake asked, as Derek blinked as they walked into a seafood place.


    ¡°Oh, you want to know that? Well¡­ I happened to be nearby when a team of Demigods were fighting a God, near enough that it apparently counted as an encounter with the supernatural.¡± Jake got the idea, as he had gained his powers as a Demigod during a fight against a God.


    ¡°Though Jake, I don¡¯t recommend asking others that¡­ some people are traumatized by how they Awakened.¡± Derek warned, his smile vanishing for a bit to convey how serious he was being, getting a nod from Jake.


    ¡°In return for asking me such a personal question, what about you, how did you Awaken as a Demigod?¡± Derek¡¯s question got a sigh from Jake as he thought back to the events of a week ago, back when he was still around Washington.


    ¡°I was attacked by a God. Can¡¯t pronounce his name, was an Aztec God. Killed everyone around me then challenged me to a contest, which I somehow won¡­¡± Derek was wide eyed at this as they sat down after he ordered some food.


    ¡°Wow¡­ not a lot of people survive their first encounters with Gods you know? Even for Demigods it¡¯s the same, I¡¯ve only been in a fight against a God once, against Anansi.¡± Jake raised an eyebrow, unaware of the God.


    ¡°He¡¯s an African Trickster God¡­ honestly he didn¡¯t seem interested in killing people like some other Gods, but the area around him for a few miles were covered in spider webs and people couldn¡¯t go near.¡± That got a wince from Jake¡­


    Spiders, while he didn¡¯t exactly mind the things, a spider God? That sounded terrifying.


    ¡°Well, I say fight but I wasn¡¯t the one to go upfront. I was a tag along for one of the Council members.¡± Jake¡¯s raised eyebrow showed that he did not know what Derek was talking about, as their food finally arrived.


    ¡°The Council of Demigods, they¡¯re basically the seven top Demigods in Aegis, they¡¯re all really powerful. I was brought to witness a fight against a god by Samuel, the third ranked Council-man.¡± Jake wondered at the name, given by Derek¡¯s pronunciation the man sounded Spanish or Mexican.


    ¡°Well, if I remember right, the council members include Edgar Yule, who is ranked one. No one knows who his God parent is except some of the other Council members.¡± Derek¡¯s words finally got a response from Jake as he bit into some fish.


    ¡°Is miss Cora one of them? She seemed strong if mister Yule was scared of her.¡± Jake asked as Derek nodded with a chuckle.


    ¡°Yeah, though you don¡¯t need to be so formal with Edgar man, he¡¯s strong, but he¡¯s pretty relaxed with us weaker Demigods.¡± Derek said making Jake nod¡­ fish bones were annoying.


    ¡°Yeah, miss Cora is rank two. Her God parent is apparently Pandora, who technically shouldn¡¯t be a Goddess but what do we know eh?¡± Jake knew Pandora at least¡­


    All the World¡¯s Evil, and a Handful of Hope and all that jazz.


    ¡°Then Samuel, he¡¯s rank three, son of Mi..micht¡­ I can¡¯t say the name, but an Aztec God of Death.¡± That sounded impressive for many reasons after all¡­


    Death is inevitable.


    ¡°Rank four is actually Mark¡¯s brother, Shaun Bismarck, son of Hephaestus, he¡¯s one of only two Ancient Demigods.¡± That¡­ sounded really impressive, if Hephaestus Demigods weren¡¯t that powerful, him being the fourth strongest Demigod should say something about him as a person.


    ¡°I forget the names, but for the others, Rank five is the son of Odin, rank six is the Daughter of Nike, Goddess of Victory, and rank seven is a son of Heracles, better known as Hercules.¡± The last one got a raise of the eyebrow from Jake.


    ¡°Yeah, Heracles was a Demigod like us, a hero, but at some point in his myth he became a God of Strength, Sports, and a few other things. So he¡¯s technically a God now.¡± That got a shrug as they continued eating.


    ¡°So Jake, quick question, do you think you¡¯d like hanging out in Alexandria?¡± Jake looked outside the window of the shop, looking towards the large gates of the school and shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s only the first day¡­ but I could get used to it in time I guess.¡± Derek smiled and gave his ¡®cousin¡¯ a pat on the back.


    ¡°That¡¯s the best I can ask for at current man. Come on, we¡¯ll be late for Demigod Studies!¡± Jake¡¯s eyes widened as they began to run, not wanting to be late.


    Jake never noticed that they were running a bit faster than thirty Miles per hour, and that anyone who saw them running just shrugged, looked at whoever was confused and said one word.


    ¡°Demigods.¡±

 Chapter 4- Meeting the Team

    ¡°Welcome to Demigod Studies. We have a new student joining, so I¡¯ll just reiterate what I said at the beginning of the year! This class caters to the individual, and teaches everyone differently based on necessity.¡± Their teacher stated as he looked over everyone¡­


    For Jake though, he was just staring at the teacher with his face very, very carefully remaining neutral.


    ¡®What was that about not knowing what is taught in Demigod Studies?¡ä Jake wondered as he looked at the man who had brought him into the school, Charlie Baker¡­ clearly the man was lying.


    ¡°And before you think it Thomas, I didn¡¯t lie. I really don¡¯t know what is taught here.¡± His grin showed that he knew exactly what Jake was thinking, and was saying it to call Jake out.


    ¡°If so then how are you a teacher sir?¡± Jake asked and mister Baker smirked.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t until today. You, Derek, Mary, Mark and Terri, with me. The rest of you, you know who your teachers are.¡± The Demigods called out looked to each other, and then walked forward to follow Charlie as he walked away.


    Demigod Studies was the one class which every class joined in as long as they were in the same year.


    Apparently seniors, like Jake and Derek, got their class at the end of the day, with freshmen getting the class in the morning and so on.


    After walking with the older Demigod until they were in their own section of the large facility, the man turned around and they stopped.


    ¡°Great, we have all five of you. You five are going to be a team under my command against Gods and whatever other supernatural things we might need to fight.¡± Charlie¡¯s words got the teenage Demigods looking at each other as Mary spoke out¡­


    She really was noticeable compared to other people, given her beautiful appearance¡­


    No Demigod looked bad, but Mary was really good looking. The only other Demigod Jake considered to be equal in the looks department was Miss Cora.


    ¡°Us five? Why now?¡± Mary asked a question that Jake didn¡¯t quite understand as Charlie scratched the back of his head before he sighed.


    ¡°Many reasons, but the fact is that there are supposed to be around five or six Demigod teams, and for two years now, I haven¡¯t been a part of one, hence we created Team Charlie. And no, it isn¡¯t actually named after me, it¡¯s actually named after the military code.¡± Ah, Jake knew some of those¡­


    Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Epsilon, Foxtrot¡­ what else¡­ he couldn¡¯t quite remember more but if they were named then those should be the six.


    ¡°Each team has their own jurisdiction when it comes to situations, such as Team Bravo which is usually on call to fight Divine Beasts instead of actual Gods, or team Alpha which is a team specializing in fast arrival.¡± Charlie¡¯s words got them to look at each other before looking back at him, wanting an explanation.


    ¡°We¡¯re hoping to turn the five of you, plus me, into a sort of decoy unit. When big enemies pop up, we either take them out or keep them busy until one of the tougher Demigods pop in.¡± Charlie caught the glances, especially from Mary wondering at his strength.


    ¡°I¡¯m a powerful Demigod admittedly, but I¡¯m too specialized. If the enemy doesn¡¯t use fire or is animal based I¡¯m really weak against them.¡± Charlie admitted weakly as Jake considered his own reason for being in the team.


    ¡°Is that why I¡¯m in the team? I can control fire, so I can fight people you can¡¯t?¡± Jake asked, getting a glare from Mary who was ready to defend Charlie, except-


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Between the two of us, we are the strongest long range attacking Demigod team. The other four members are to round us out actually.¡± Mary looked a bit betrayed at this actually¡­


    Was she an airhead? She seemed smart at first glance but her reactions¡­


    ¡°We have Derek as the son of a War God to be a front-line attacker, Terri to be a scout, Mark to build whatever equipment we need at the moment and Mary¡­ Mary is special.¡± The blush on her face said yes, she was probably an airhead.


    ¡°Wait, so this team is based around the two of us, so it¡¯s actually a long-range assault team isn¡¯t it?¡± Jake¡¯s question would have merit, normally, but it was Derek who set him straight.


    ¡°Maybe if we were fighting anything other than Gods man, then we could say things like assault and such¡­ but Gods don¡¯t die.¡± Derek¡¯s words were met with nods from everyone as Charlie added on.


    ¡°Yeah, unless your name is Edgar Yule, any God you fight probably isn¡¯t dead, just injured and back in the Divine Realm where they live. It¡¯s why I said decoy team kid.¡± Jake got the idea.


    If God¡¯s were killable, they would be a long-range assault team. But that implies that the enemy can be killed, which isn¡¯t the case here.


    Gods do not die when they are killed¡­ Jake felt his brain take two steps to the left and trip over itself at that thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s a thing Aegis does, the only time we consider any team an ¡®assault¡¯ team is when  a Council member is a part of the team.¡± This made sense and Jake shook his head from his previous confusing train of thought before nodding.


    ¡°Ahem, we got off track there, anyway, Demigod Studies changes depending on the students and this class has the most teachers. If you are to be part of a team, your team leader is your teacher.¡± Charlie pointed to himself, proving his point before he pointed elsewhere¡­


    Jake was interested in this strange thing, but his eyesight had changed after his fight with that Aztec God, Huitzilopochtli¡­ it wasn¡¯t just that, his physical strength and speed, the accuracy of his movements, everything was heightened¡­


    It wasn¡¯t overly powerful in comparison to Gods or other Demigods, but compared to the peak physical ability of humans, Jake was firmly above that.


    Using his eyesight, he saw the human students getting taught by men in suits with sun-glasses, some having a board to write or draw things out, and others were practicing martial arts or weapon use.


    ¡°For normal humans, they get training from the Agents here. Agents are the people who keep everything running smoothly in Aegis in case you didn¡¯t know kid.¡± Charlie spoke once more to Jake who nodded, knowing about the Agents¡­


    Aegis wasn¡¯t an overly secretive organization, but they didn¡¯t broadcast everything either. Their Agents were common knowledge given their appearance before and after fights against Gods that could be predicted.


    ¡°And for all the other Demigods who aren¡¯t part of a team, well they are normally taught by elder siblings or a Demigod with similar abilities.¡± Charlie pointed to two dark skinned Demigods, one older as he demonstrated summoning a fireball of all things, and the other trying to imitate it.


    ¡°They¡¯re sons of Ra by the way. Continuing. What I¡¯m going to teach you five is simple. I¡¯m going to increase your basic abilities so that you can survive an encounter with most Gods, and from there we can specialize.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were punctuated with a clap before he pointed at Derek.


    ¡°Derek, you have gotten training before from other Demigods right?¡± Derek nodded, his joking smile vanished as he became serious, stretching his hand to his right, causing light to gather.


    The light slowly coalesced into a rune of some kind, before a piece of wood stretched out from it, Derek grabbed onto this and pulled, bringing out a large halberd.


    ¡°Yes sir. I was trained in weapon use by one of my elder sisters, and I was taught general storage magic by an Agent. As for my hand-to-hand, I was trained by a daughter of Neto¡­¡± Derek¡¯s words brought a shiver to himself even as he spoke¡­


    The horrors he faced while training¡­


    ¡°I also received training from Councilman Samuel during our hunt of Anansi.¡± Derek admitted and Charlie¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he smirked and nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Samuel is the greatest hand-to-hand combatant of the Demigods, even one lesson from him is worth a lot. What fighting styles do you know?¡± Derek considered it for a moment.


    ¡°I know krav-maga and pankration, though Councilman Samuel refused to teach me he did recommend learning boxing and possibly Tae-kwan-do.¡± Derek stated, thinking about the latter as Charlie nodded.


    ¡°That makes sense, Samuel¡¯s main fighting style is boxing, he just knows the others from fighting users of those styles for so long.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were apparently interesting to the other Demigods, but to Jake it just made him tilt his head in wonder¡­


    Wait, Mary was doing it to¡­ oh no, he was doing an airhead move.


    ¡°Everyone always wondered what was his best fighting style¡­ but boxing? Isn¡¯t it kind of limited? I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong, there are few fighting styles with an equal focus on punches, but¡­¡± Terri spoke up in wonder but Charlie just nodded.


    ¡°Yep, Samuel¡¯s a boxer at heart, he¡¯s a natural at the style. And boxing is a limited fighting style, given that it doesn¡¯t have any kicks or throws.¡± Charlie¡¯s smile turned a bit vicious, as if he knew many things they didn¡¯t¡­ which was probably accurate.


    ¡°It says something that even with its limits, Samuel can beat the crap out of anyone using just boxing.¡± Even Jake who had never seen the man could consider it to make sense. The man was the strongest in no-weapon fighting and his strongest style didn¡¯t even have a few categories of attacks.


    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll work on tae-kwan-do and I¡¯ll show you some boxing myself, I used to spar with Samuel, I¡¯ve had my fair share of beatings from that guy.¡± Charlie¡¯s self-depreciating words did not act as intended as Derek, Mark and Terri looked at him as if they were only now realizing how strong he was.


    ¡°Anyway, Mark, you¡¯re a son of Hephaestus. Which means you have basic know-how on every weapon you can make right?¡± Charlie asked, getting a nod from the smaller Demigod, making Charlie smile a bit.


    ¡°Good. I won¡¯t need to worry about your fighting style, given that your eldest brother trains all his siblings himself at least once a month.¡± Mark looked away at that, and Jake considered Mark¡¯s dislike for the mentioning of his brother¡­


    ¡°As for you, Terri, you¡¯re a daughter of Hermes so I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re fast as shit and act as a field medic?¡± she nodded, and Jake considered the energetic girl.


    His own father, Apollo, was considered God of medicine and that helped Jake with healing apparently¡­ so maybe he could learn a thing or two from her, if she could already heal people?


    ¡°Since you¡¯re going to be a healer and scout, your combat requirements aren¡¯t going to be as high as Derek or Mary, but I trust you know some basics of a throwing fighting style like Judo?¡± Her nod and wide grin seemed to make Charlie tired of looking at her as he turned to Mary, who perked up at the attention.


    ¡°Mary, you¡¯re training with me obviously. Everyone, just, before you ask, Mary, would you mind telling everyone who your mother is?¡± Mary looked very disturbed as she looked to the other four, looking at her¡­


    Jake just sighed, and then looked to Charlie.


    ¡°Sir, does she have to tell us right now? She¡¯s clearly uncomfortable with the topic¡­ we¡¯ll need to know, but does it have to be right now?¡± Jake¡¯s words got an appreciative look from Mary before she looked to Charlie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say¡­ my mother is Tiamat. The Mother of Dragons of ancient myths centred around the Babylonian era.¡± She looked a bit unhappy with that, and Jake didn¡¯t know why¡­


    Until he saw Derek and the other three step away from her for a moment, confusing Jake as Charlie gave the three a small glare before sighing.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Mary just seemed to accept that they wanted to get away from her, while also being surprised that Jake was still standing close enough for her to grab.


    ¡°Jake, you don¡¯t really know much about mythology since you¡¯re a new Demigod, but dragons are¡­ well you can think of them as the scaly cousins of Demigods.¡± Jake raised an eyebrow, looking to Mary.


    ¡°Dragons, depending on the place and era, are either considered good, or evil, and the most ancient legends of them involve evil, they were considered representations of the devil.¡± Jake looked at Mary¡­ and then back to Charlie.


    ¡°And that matters how? Sorry, I¡¯m a bit ignorant here, but why does that make Mary dangerous or scary?¡± Jake asked as Charlie looked to Derek and the others who were now sheepish at being caught out.


    ¡°Dragons are dangerous Jake. They¡¯re essentially Gods that can be killed for us Demigods due to their age and power, and Mary is essentially a human one. There was that case of a dragon attacking Berlin and razing half of it to the ground before someone stopped it?¡± Charlie asked, and Jake thought back¡­


    Oh he knew of the incident. Then he looked to Mary.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s cool. So you are like a human dragon? Glad I¡¯m on your side then.¡± Jake¡¯s nonchalance got surprised looked from Derek and the others, but Charlie smiled at it.


    Derek and the other two had known they were Demigods for over two years, they had time to build up prejudices, but Jake didn¡¯t, he only knew he was a Demigod less than ten days before.


    ¡°Thanks for that Jake. I¡¯m sort of Mary¡¯s father figure, but we don¡¯t share the same mother.¡± The meaning was clear, Charlie was a Demigod of a different God or Goddess, and he was just fostering Mary.


    ¡°And you three, just because you all are scared of dragons does not mean you can treat your teammate like that. Do it again and I¡¯ll shove an icicle up your assholes.¡± All three winced, hands unintentionally moving to their rears.


    ¡°Good, you three get it. Jake, you and Mary will both be training with me. There are very few people she would train with, and I need to train you because we have similar abilities.¡± Jake nodded getting the idea as Derek and the others walked closer, apologizing to Mary who just nodded with a glare.


    Jake really wasn¡¯t sure what was going on with her emotions¡­


    ¡°Kid, don¡¯t try and understand Mary, she switches emotions quickly.¡± Charlie warned, getting a weary nod from Jake¡­


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s continue the dream plan! Derek, I want you to copy this mannequin. If you fail to copy it correctly, it will stop and return back to normal.¡± There was no mannequin, but Charlie pointed his finger to his side, creating a rune similar to how Derek had done earlier¡­ except this one was difficult.


    Then there was another, and another, and slowly a circle began to form around the runes as a block of ice formed, cracking before bursting to reveal a humanoid figure of ice, holding a spear similar to Derek, and it began to move on its own.


    ¡°Next, Terri, what I¡¯m having you do is that you are now the healer. Of this entire class.¡± Teri was confused as they heard a tiny explosion followed by a cry of pain, making her eyes widen.


    ¡°Go! Heal that person! Look around for injuries, help everyone. When no one is hurt, you are to be jogging around this entire place to build up stamina. As the scout and healer, you need to be where you need to be at all times. And if where you need to be is moving, then you need to keep up!¡± Charlie shouted getting quick nods from Terri before she rushed off.


    ¡°Mark, I want you on blueprints, I want you to make three blueprints before this class is over, at the beginning of each class I¡¯ll give you a goal and you must have designed three things to do the same thing.¡± Mark¡¯s eyes widened in fear.


    ¡°Today¡¯s topic is ice, draw up three blue prints for a magic device to generate ice in some form. If you don¡¯t know the necessary runes and such, don¡¯t mind, just leave it blank with a note for what type of rune should be placed there, and I¡¯ll teach you them after.¡± Mark nodded, reaching into his bag quickly to pull out a collapsible drawing board as he got to work.


    ¡°Now you two, come with me, Jake, do you have your bow?¡± Charlie¡¯s words got a shake of the head from the student as Charlie sighed.


    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t, you don¡¯t know the storage rune¡­ nor do you know how to use magic, or to summon your Principles.¡± Charlie sighed, before looking to Mary who seemed to nod¡­ she had gotten serious when the training started huh?


    ¡°Mary, I know what you can do, you can¡¯t use any wide range attacks in this place, so I want you to get used to quickly activating and deactivating your Dragon Principle. It takes you way too long to go from normal to combat ready.¡± Mary nodded, walking away as she began to focus.


    From what little Jake saw, she was slowly gaining skin coloured scales as she focused, but before he could pay any more attention, Charlie had snapped his fingers, calling for attention.


    ¡°Jake, I need you to listen, I want you to activate a Principle. Here¡¯s a bow, now turn it into a Divine Weapon.¡± Jake looked to the plain bow with confusion, then looking to Charlie.


    He didn¡¯t care for Jake and his confusion, instead forcing the plain weapon into the hands of the student.


    ¡°There, now focus¡­ concentrate, close your eyes if you have to, but try and locate a burning feeling in your heart. And when you find it, try and make that feeling cover the bow in your hands.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were confusing, but Jake nodded, willing to listen to his words as he focused.


    It was there. To Jake¡¯s surprise, there was a burning feeling in the centre of his chest, similar to the flickering of a flame¡­ maybe the flickering was his heartbeat? It made sense, given that the fire seemed to be everywhere in his body to some extent.


    He focused more of the fire, drawing it to his hands, wincing at the pain of something moving up his arms as he focused it into his hands¡­


    Then there was a bright line shining on his eyelids as he opened his eyes in surprise, looking at the bow in his hands.


    No longer was the bow in Jakes hands plain or wooden, not it seemed gilded gold, with markings all over it as it shown, the string seemed missing until Jake noticed a feeling of fire¡­


    And then the string was there, made out of fire, and yet, Jake knew it would not hurt him.


    ¡°Well done, seems like you activated the Principle.¡± Jake looked to Charlie, confused on what was going on.


    Seeing the confusion of the kid, Charlie gestured to the bow.


    ¡°That, is an effect of a Principle. A Principle is the domain of Gods and things that they are Gods of, and we Demigods can use the Principles of our parents to lesser extents.¡± Charlie¡¯s words got Jake to look at the bow.


    Inlaid, on the body of the bow was a word, repeated on both sides of the body, the slot where the pressed against acting as a divider.


    Ignus¡­ Jake had typed in the word and it was really simple. It meant fire, in Latin.


    It was actually an appropriate name, given who his father was.


    ¡°This is probably caused by your father being a God of Archery, which is done using any bow-like weapon. So any weapon of that category that gets to your hands?¡± Charlie¡¯s smirk said many things.


    ¡°They get upgraded like that. You won¡¯t be needing arrows or anything like that, your Principle and magic power will sort that out for you.¡± Charlie¡¯s words got Jake to look back down to the bow before he tried to pull back on the string.


    Jake gasped as a light started to form between his pointer and middle finger as he stretched the fire that formed the string¡­


    It was surprisingly difficult to pull the string back, and Jake appreciated that. If it were easy to pull back, the tension would be bad. If it were too hard, then the tension would be too much.


    This was difficult¡­ but the good kind. It meant that for Jake¡¯s current strength, the bow was perfect, likely it adjusted itself for its user.


    ¡°Oh we got to name that thing now¡­ any bow you touch will always appear the same when you use it so¡­ Ignus huh? Isn¡¯t that your birth name?¡± Charlie asked, looking to the words on the bow shaft, and Jake looked to it and nodded.


    ¡°I have a name for it.¡± Jake said, ignoring Charlie¡¯s half-hearted attempts to name it (butt-fire was not a valid name) and he looked at it, and then back to Charlie.


    ¡°Solaris Ignus.¡± Jake¡¯s statement cut off Charlie¡¯s last attempt, some Japanese sounding name.


    It was appropriate to Charlie at least. Kawamura was always BURNING!


    But that reference would have gone over Jake¡¯s head, and Charlie considered the statement of the younger Demigod.


    ¡°Sure, that sounds appropriate. I was maybe going to recommend something like dragon breath after I stopped joking, but Solaris Ignus¡­ it works, and it¡¯s technically named after you.¡± Jake wondered at that¡­


    He was raised Jake Thomas¡­ but he was born Jake Ignus. Jake Thomas was a human eldest son of Mark and Annie Thomas¡­


    But he was a Demigod, and as a Demigod, his name should be Jake Ignus.


    He¡¯d change it later¡­ first he had to deal with another issue¡­


    How had he not noticed until now that Mark Bismarck shared his father¡¯s first name?


    Eh, probably because he referred to the man as ¡®Dad¡¯.


    That would be weird, and it would also be strange for the two to meet but¡­


    ¡°You want to have your parents stay with you¡­ that isn¡¯t possible. Aegis fights Gods, it¡¯s dangerous. We are strong, but we aren¡¯t so strong we can look after everyone. Most Demigods are orphans and our Agents are all people who severed ties. Visiting, sure, but¡­¡± He recalled the words of Edgar Yule when the man had gotten a plane for Jake to go down to L.A.


    It was sad, but it also made sense to Jake. He fought so his parents didn¡¯t need to die, so his little brothers didn¡¯t need to die.


    He would miss them, but at least it wasn¡¯t forever, he¡¯d see them during breaks and the occasional visit.


    He had ample time to talk to them about it, and he would still refer to them as his family¡­


    But when asked if he would take on his birth name, Jake had originally been unsure.


    Now, looking at the bow with his birth surname on it¡­


    He felt the distinction was necessary.


    ¡°Kid, no, Jake. You decided on something just now, didn¡¯t you?¡± Charlie¡¯s question got a look of confusion from Jake, before he realized that anyone within a few metres of him were staring at him.


    ¡°Uh¡­ did I do something?¡± Jake asked as Charlie chuckled.


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad. But your magic¡­ it¡¯s clearer.¡± Jake wondered at that, looking at the little fire inside his heart, and indeed, Charlie was right.


    Before it was a deep red, as if setting his blood on fire¡­ now it was lighter, closer to yellow, and Jake wondered at the strange difference.


    ¡°It¡¯s a thing that happens only to Demigods, but, our magic is affected by our emotions. If we are troubled by bad emotions, our magic gets sluggish and weak to some extent.¡± Charlie raised his hand, a sculpture of ice appearing on his hand in an instant.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t obvious until I felt it now, but you were emotionally troubled. Somehow, you lightened the baggage so to speak, and so your magic might flow better now. That¡¯s good.¡± Charlie¡¯s words got a confused look from Jake.


    ¡°The longer your heart is clear, the stronger you¡¯ll get. If you¡¯re bogged down by bad emotions, you get stronger slower.¡± Charlie smirked, reaching to his side, creating a rune similar to the first one Derek made, and in his hand, an old revolver appeared.


    Within moments, the revolver¡¯s appearance changed, looking like ice was creeping over it before it shattered, revealing a revolver with a blue handle similar in colour to Charlie¡¯s eyes, the previously black metal of the gun now a shining white with dark blue depictions of what looked like yew leaves.


    ¡°This is my weapon, Winter Bane. Come on, you and I are going to the shooting range. Mary, you¡¯re welcome to come along.¡± Mary, who Jake had been ignoring while focusing on the bow, appeared in his sight and he blinked.


    Her previously black hair was now blue, and her eyes animalistic red, and she had scales, as well as claws and a tail¡­


    Rather, why were her clothes not damaged by the tail, it was nigh seamless when it came to the clothes.


    ¡°Clothes sewn by an Arachne, and imbued with magic by a few other Demigods. Our combat uniforms are usually of similar make, because some Demigods like Mary change physical shape and I¡¯d kill anyone that looked at her if her clothes tore while fighting.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were emphasized by pulling back the hammer of Winter Bane.


    Jake nodded furiously, getting what Charlie was saying¡­ he wasn¡¯t biologically related to Mary, but¡­


    Their relationship was similar to Jake¡¯s own with the Thomas family.


    He got it, and so he smiled as he followed the two.


    By the end of the hour long period of time, they had all regrouped, Derek sweating and huffing, Terri laying passed out on the floor, and Mark looked ready to bite his nails as he only had one blue-print.


    In contrast, Jake and Mary looked king of happy, especially Jake as he had gotten a chance to practice archery¡­ better, at distances he never considered before.


    Charlie made him look pitiful though, with how accurate the man was with a weapon known for violent kick-backs and inaccuracy beyond a few metres.


    the targets were set up every twenty metres until the hundredth metre, and then one every hundred metres.


    Charlie hit the furthest one, at three hundred metres¡­ he claimed being capable of shooting even further, but the building they were in wasn¡¯t that large.


    Jake barely managed to get two hundred metres, which was actually impressive given that he was used to school-level archery and not what Charlie termed as ¡®hunting archery¡¯.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got a rough idea on all of you. Also you three, I made you three work a bit harder because quite frankly Jake and Mary have more talent.¡± The three looked crestfallen, but Charlie clapped his hands to get their attention once more.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be so down. Jake¡¯s entirely new to this, so he isn¡¯t stronger yet, he just has greater talent. You all just need to work harder to keep up. Look at Shaun, he has over one hundred siblings, including you Mark, and yet he¡¯s strong, disregarding his age.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were correct, and lit a fire in the three Demigod¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t get it.¡± Jake admitted, looking at the three and then wondering what this talk about talent was, before Charlie waved him off.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain it when we have this class again, since you need a lot of theory rammed into your head as soon as possible.¡± Charlie said, poking Jake in the forehead with Winter Bane¡­


    Jake was ready to piss himself when he remembered what the gun did to the target Charlie shot earlier.


    ¡°As for those three, they already know what you know, so they just need to build up their basic abilities. As for Mary¡­¡± Jake and Charlie both looked at the girl who seemed torn between being shy and glaring at them.


    ¡°She is very powerful and she has her theory down, to be honest she¡¯s only training to prevent the degradation of her skills.¡± Mary looked smug at that, yet somehow still managed to find space in her emotional coverage to glare at the other four Demigods her age.


    ¡°She¡¯s competitive, she¡¯ll get over it. Right, so, to be a bit formal, Bismarck, I want you to message your brother for tutoring, you know he¡¯ll drop whatever he¡¯s doing to help a sibling.¡± Mark looked like he ate something foul but he nodded.


    ¡°Cole, if you haven¡¯t already, I want you to sign up for the First Aid class. Magical healing is excellent, but even God¡¯s can get tired, let alone you. Learn some mundane healing for if you need to save on magic.¡± She nodded with looking at her schedule, looking a bit irritated at a change she¡¯d have to make.


    ¡°Oliver, you¡¯ll be doing a fitness plan. You¡¯re already fit, but¡­ well, you¡¯re the child of a War God, I have no doubt you could toss boulders at people with a bit more training.¡± Derek looked very excited about having a teacher with a Y?


    ¡°Mary, you live with me, I know how you train, I¡¯d rather you relax honestly.¡± Mary glared at him for that and Charlie just sighed before looking over to Jake.


    ¡°Thomas-¡± Charlie was cut off by Jake glaring at the man, the green in his eyes fading to become bright yellow for a moment, causing them to stop.


    ¡°Ignus. Jake Thomas was a human. I am a Demigod, and my name is Jake Ignus.¡± Charlie thought back to the clearing of the kid¡¯s magic about half an hour ago and nodded, understanding a bit.


    ¡°Right, Ignus. I want you to increase your range. The furthest on target shot with a bow and arrow by a normal human was two hundred and eighty metres roughly. As you said, you aren¡¯t human.¡± Jake nodded, looking to Solaris Ignus.


    ¡°Jake, I want you to be hitting targets a kilometre away by the end of the month. And if you don¡¯t I¡¯m going to hurt you.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were met with a nod by Jake before Jake looked to the bow, taking away the energy he was covering the bow with.


    The bow quickly reverted to its normal wooden form.


    ¡°Ah shit.¡± Charlie said looking at the bow and Jake wondered what was wrong¡­


    That¡¯s when the bow turned to dust and Charlie sighed.


    ¡°Well, we better get you a stronger bow.¡± Jake just stared at the dust floating away...

 Chapter 5- Division of Power

    ¡°Okay class, today will be entirely given to the Demigod studies group, don¡¯t expect it to be a usual thing though. It only happens one Friday a month.¡± Jake listened to mister Rook with some awkwardness, considering everyone in the class likely knew this already, it was just being said for Jake¡¯s benefit.


    It had been two weeks since his first day of classes at Alexandria, and Jake was finding the classes tiring but fun.


    Most of the classes were slightly above what he was used to, some even more so, meaning he had to study to catch up. Luckily for him he was good at memorizing things, which helped him a lot.


    He still wasn¡¯t at a position where he would be comfortable in the class, but he was getting there, and that was progress.


    As for team Charlie, they met up at least once a day during the Demigod Studies class, though occasionally they ran into each other during the day.


    Mary was the only one who seemed unsure how to deal with her fellow Demigods, and Jake didn¡¯t go out of his way to give her special treatment, only to remind her that he didn¡¯t really care that she was practically half-dragon.


    Their team was one made to attack from a range predominantly, with Mary and Derek attacking upfront, Jake and Charlie from the rear with Mark and Terri as support.


    They hadn¡¯t seen Charlie since that first meeting though, instead being given a note from the person in charge of maintaining the large room they trained in saying what they had to do each day.


    If they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d find that they¡¯d have bad-luck until the next class, apparently simply reading the notes given counted as applying a curse on them.


    Terri and Derek tried to get out of it when they found out that Charlie literally applied a bad-luck curse to activate if they didn¡¯t do their training, but Mark was quick to warn them that Charlie was much better magically than they were.


    So with that, training was now done so as to not be humiliated by tripping over shoelaces, having a chair you sit on break, or having someone drop food on you by accident.


    There were many different ways bad-luck could appear.


    Though given how long the training would be on this day, about four hours, Charlie would have to appear.


    They trained anywhere between an hour to two hours, and the notes always had something that could be achieved in that time frame, such as Jake aiming further and further away with his bow, or firing at a fast speed.


    Jake¡¯s limit for training inside the large warehouse like structure was fast approaching though, because at some point he¡¯d need more and more space to aim longer shots, space the warehouse just wouldn¡¯t have.


    As they stepped into the warehouse they found Charlie in front of them with a large yawn, then he noticed them.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here. Come on, we¡¯re not training in here.¡± Charlie said, getting them to follow him as he stepped out of the warehouse, dragging them towards the nearby forest.


    ¡°Most of the things we have here at Alexandria were provided by other Demigods, like a Demigod of Medeina grew these trees here to form the forest we use now.¡± Charlie offered, and Jake went through the growing encyclopaedic knowledge on Gods in his head.


    The major known ones were the Greek, the Romans (who were practically the Greeks under different names), the Egyptians and the Norse.


    Beyond those groups, many Gods and Goddesses were falling into obscurity, meaning that those obscure Gods were the main ones to learn about.


    Jake unfortunately didn¡¯t recognize the name, until he got a poke in the shoulder from Mary.


    ¡°Baltic area, Lithuanian goddess of forests, trees and animals¡­ basically nature.¡± Mary offered, and Jake thanked her for the information, repeating it to remember it.


    It wasn¡¯t outright stated, but it was common for Demigods to be called in to provide information on their own parent should said Deity appear in the world.


    Only some would actually fight their own parent, but still.


    ¡°Before we start training, I actually promised Jake some information, so I¡¯ll have my little storytelling moment, and then we can get to training.¡± Charlie said, snapping his fingers as ice sculpture chairs appeared around the group.


    Surprisingly, for being ice, they weren¡¯t cold or wet at all¡­


    ¡°Okay, this is just a general description about the births of Demigods and what it means to have siblings.¡± Charlie said as they all made themselves comfortable.


    ¡°Firstly, it¡¯s kind of obvious at this point, but you know how every Demigod is an orphan? But you don¡¯t know why, do you?¡± Jake¡¯s shake of the head admitted that he didn¡¯t know the reason why¡­


    Most of what he knew about Demigods before becoming one was found off of the internet after all.


    ¡°It¡¯s because the nature of a Demigod¡¯s birth is a sacrifice. The God parent decides to have a kid, and finds a suitable vessel for his power. The vessel is the human parent.¡±


    Charlie looked a bit reluctant at the last bit before he sighed, figuring that, like a bandage, it was better to remove it all at once.


    ¡°By sacrificing the vessel and repurposing the human body into a suitable dwelling for divine power, an empty shell is born, and then filled with the divine power of a God, at which point a Demigod is born.¡± Jake felt his face going pale at those words¡­


    No doubt every Demigod disliked this topic¡­ to know that one of your parents was literally sacrificed to give birth to you from their own body¡­


    ¡°So this works regardless of gender?¡± Jake managed to ask after a few moments of wrapping his head around that insanity.


    ¡°Well obviously the Gods have their own preferences when it comes to vessels, so commonly the vessels they pick would be of the opposite gender. No doubt there are Gods that pick vessels of the same gender though, as gender isn¡¯t as important to them as it is to us.¡± Charlie admitted with a sigh¡­


    ¡°So that¡¯s why every Demigod doesn¡¯t have any living parent¡­¡± Jake murmured to himself, getting poked by Mary once Charlie wanted to continue talking but Jake was getting lost in thought.


    ¡°That was something you would have learnt at some point, so I figured I¡¯d tell you as soon as possible. But that wasn¡¯t the main thing I was supposed to tell you.¡± Charlie said, taking a moment to stretch, clearly tired.


    ¡°What I said last time was that I was going to tell you why Demigods had differing levels of base talent, and I was going to explain why that is.¡± Jake recalled it and nodded, waiting for the explanation.


    ¡°It has to do with the amount of children a God has and can have. It isn¡¯t always like this, but think about nature, and childbirth. The stronger and bigger animals have few children, while the smaller and weaker ones have many.¡± Mark looked a bit irritated at the words, but didn¡¯t refute it.


    ¡°So wait¡­ the more siblings you have, the less talent you all have collectively?¡± Jake¡¯s question showed his confusion and Charlie smirked at it.


    ¡°That is a rule of thumb, but clearly it¡¯s not always true. The stronger Gods have stronger children, but can only have a small amount. The Gods with less strength can have more children, but they will generally be weaker than the others.¡± Charlie added once more, letting Jake think about it.


    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, than wouldn¡¯t Mark¡¯s brother, Shane, be incapable of being as strong as he is?¡± Jake¡¯s question got a snap of the fingers from Charlie.


    ¡°Exactly what I was trying to get at. It¡¯s a general rule, not a constant. With training and effort, it is possible to go beyond what your birth determines.¡± Charlie then looked to the three other children of Greek Gods.


    ¡°Of course, it also means that they need to put in more effort to match what you can achieve with less. You have a better effort to result ratio than they do on basis of having no known siblings.¡± Jake blinked at that¡­


    Charlie¡¯s words implied that it was possible to have a sibling or two that he didn¡¯t know about¡­


    Maybe he did? Jake wouldn¡¯t be able to tell though, if even Aegis never found said brother or sister.


    ¡°It¡¯s also why I give them tougher training. It¡¯s not to pick on you three, but because I know what you would need to do to match Demigods like Mary, Jake or myself. I know because I got my ass handed to me by Shane more than once.¡± Charlie offered, making Mark raise his eyebrows.


    ¡°You¡¯re friends with my brother? Not a lot of people get a chance to meet the Council, let alone more than one member¡­¡± Mark asked, and Charlie shrugged, unwilling to explain his situation to them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got friends in high places suffice to say. I¡¯m not as well-known as Edgar, the little lady (Rose) or even Samuel, but I¡¯ve met and fought alongside them more than once.¡± Charlie admitted, hinting at his strength very slightly.


    They already knew that he had sparred with Samuel once or twice in a boxing ring, but still, exactly who Charlie was, was still a mystery.


    Those Demigods, the top three, were much more powerful than every other Demigod, and their only competition were the four other Council members, one of which was Shane Bismarck, Mark¡¯s brother.


    ¡°But hey, we¡¯re here to train you five, not to talk about my past. You three, I¡¯ll be training you three directly now, as I will be doing every time we have these long classes.¡± Charlie admitted, getting serious stares from the three Demigods, Mark, Derek and Terri.


    ¡°As for Mary and Jake, you two will be training together¡­ or more like Mary will be trying to teach you magic Jake. Your bow is coming along nicely, it¡¯s being made by one of Mark¡¯s elder sisters, so there¡¯s that.¡± Mark seemed to know who it would be as he smirked at Jake.


    Must mean that the bow would be good¡­ all the bows Jake used kept breaking after converting them into Solaris Ignus. This was fine because Aegis was insanely rich, and any bow could be turned into the Divine Weapon.


    It was something Derek explained to Jake during the Demigod Studies class, but Demigods whose parents were related to a weapon allowed them to convert mundane versions of those weapons into Divine Weaponry.


    Unfortunately, there had to be a focus on only one or two types of weapons or it was impossible, as Derek was a son of Ares, and Ares didn¡¯t have any singular weapon he used, so Derek couldn¡¯t turn his halberd into a Divine Weapon.


    Which also let them know that Charlie¡¯s God parent likely had power over winter and ranged weaponry, as no God was a God of Guns due to them being a relatively new addition to the world.


    To have a Divine Weapon was one thing though, but the base used to create it had to be powerful, or else afterwards¡­ well, there were more than a few cases of Jake having to sweep up the ash the bows turned into after dispelling Solaris Ignus.


    This meant that the revolver Charlie used was in fact extremely well made and possibly magical even before it was converted into Winter Bane.


    ¡°So today you won¡¯t be doing any ranged training except at the end of the day, I¡¯ll talk with you then. Until that point, you¡¯ll have Mary teach you how to use magic.¡± Mary looked determined, which worried Jake.


    Jake, over the past two weeks had determined Mary to not be a stereotypical airhead¡­ but she wasn¡¯t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to human interaction.


    When it came to knowledge, Mary was extremely smart, but again, human interactions were her weak point, and Jake really didn¡¯t want to call her out on it.


    So seeing the fire in her eyes, Jake had to worry about how she would interpret Charlie¡¯s request/order.


    Everyone split up quickly and Jake was dragged to a small clearing where Mary turned to look at him.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°¡­¡± She said nothing, instead staring at him intently as Jake felt a bit awkward about being stared at like this, especially by someone as good looking as Mary.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to teach.¡± Mary finally spoke, and what she said had Jake worried for his prospects when it came to magic¡­


    Given his relation to fire, learning magic in a forest was not good, but luckily there was a nearby lake¡­ or maybe Mary actually made that decision on purpose?


    ¡°Uh, how did you learn Mary?¡± Jake asked, hoping that it would offer a hint for her to teach him¡­


    ¡°Miss Cora kept sending spells at me until I learnt how to cancel them.¡± Okay, that was a no go¡­ and wasn¡¯t Miss Cora the second-in-command of Aegis?


    It didn¡¯t make sense for the greatest magic user of Aegis to teach in such a haphazard manner¡­


    ¡°Maybe we should do so?¡± Mary offered, a fire appearing in her palms as Jake was quick to shake his head in refusal.


    ¡°No, no, that sounds insane! Okay, new plan¡­ How do you do magic?¡± Jake asked, trying to go for a different approach.


    ¡°I feel the energy in my core, and I make it do what I want.¡± Mary offered, and Jake had the feeling that Mary could possibly take the role of those legendary characters¡­


    You know the ones¡­ they are amazing when it comes to learning through instinct, but ask them to explain how they do what they do and they draw up a blank or start explaining using sound effects.


    Theoretically amazing people to have on your side, but being taught by one when you aren¡¯t such a person was horrible, Jake could now say this with the added words of: I speak from experience.


    ¡°¡­But what about things like that rune for storage, or more complicated stuff?¡± Jake¡¯s question was met with a huff of air and a fist to the sky from Mary.


    ¡°If you believe, you can achieve.¡± ¡­


    If Mary were to have been a man instead, Jake would have slapped the person by now.


    Jake and Mary were attempting to communicate in the same language, while Charlie and the other three Demigods of team Charlie were in another clearing a while away.


    ¡°Uh¡­ are you really okay with leaving those two together?¡± Derek asked with a bit of confusion as Charlie shrugged in response.


    ¡°Mary would kill Jake by accident with their current power difference if he tried something, so that¡¯s not the real worry. The real worry is that Mary has no clue how to teach someone, and Jake is someone that works on logic.¡± Charlie admitted, getting a few odd looks.


    ¡°Uh¡­ so aren¡¯t they going to get nothing done?¡± Terri offered and Charlie nodded, fully expecting Jake to have learnt nothing, and Mary to be confused on why Jake couldn¡¯t do what she ¡®explained¡¯.


    ¡°Probably¡­ but if they get something done, I¡¯d be glad. Jake is a skater and an archer, the first especially isn¡¯t something that is entirely broken down by logic.¡± Charlie offered and no one else got what he meant.


    Well, Charlie had tried skating before¡­ it made no sense to him and he had fallen more than once before giving up.


    He had no clue how an ¡®ollie¡¯ could occur, so how could he be expected to do any other tricks? How the hell did pushing down on something result in going up?


    Ignoring Charlie and his confusion on skating, which could actually be explained, what Charlie was trying to get at was that using magic was something best ¡®felt¡¯ instead of being thought through.


    After getting the feeling, then finesse could come in.


    Mary was unfortunately only taught in one way by Rose Cora, the result of which was that Mary could do magic based on the free-form style, which Mary was suited for.


    Jake¡¯s suitability for different branches of magic was not clear just yet, but Rose had mentioned that as a child of Apollo Jake should be capable of using divination magic as well as fire based magic.


    Many people mistook divination as seeing the future or something like that, but that was only a single part of it.


    The divination branch of magic was focused on information gathering, seeing the future, knowing the location of something, finding the weaknesses of an enemy, those were what divination was meant to do in general.


    Apollo was also a God of Oracles, and they were considered the greatest at divination.


    One of Edward¡¯s and Charlie¡¯s greatest rivals, another Demigod, was really good at divination¡­ it¡¯s why they had never caught the guy even if they beat him.


    Just thinking of that man had Charlie feeling the urge to freeze over the ocean.


    ¡°Anyway, Jake¡¯s issues aren¡¯t yours.¡± Charlie¡¯s statement got them focused as they realized the change in topic for what it was.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the roles you three have in this team. Starting with you Mark, I¡¯ve called in your brother, he¡¯ll be stopping by Alexandria for a month, and he¡¯s agreed to train you.¡± Mark nodded while feeling conflicted on getting the help of his eldest brother.


    ¡°Terri, there aren¡¯t many children of Hermes, but the majority are healers and communicators. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve done any of the latter, so we¡¯ll be working on using communication based magic.¡± Terri nodded with an understanding that her role in team Charlie was to heal and assist in smooth communication between the members.


    ¡°And finally Derek, you¡¯ll be co-ordinating with Mary as our front-line fighters¡­ quite frankly, the two of you have the greatest chance of dying when we face a God. Mary is very difficult to hurt due to her dragon scales, but you are quite a bit fleshier.¡± Derek winced at the admittance, but he nodded nonetheless.


    ¡°I want you three to understand something. Team Charlie is, admittedly, made around the team up between myself and Jake, with Mary joining due to having prior claim to joining any team I do.¡± Charlie¡¯s statement was met with frowns.


    ¡°But despite that, a machine can only work well if every part works correctly. Just because the car looks good doesn¡¯t mean the inside can be hollow.¡± Charlie¡¯s words had the following meaning:


    It¡¯s pointless if we¡¯re out there and we don¡¯t have you to support us.


    It was exactly what the three were there for, and there wasn¡¯t anything strange about it, team Alpha was based around the son of Zeus, a Council member.


    He had five teammates though, but many didn¡¯t register their existence¡­ yet if one were to ask the leader, he would immediately extol the helpfulness of his teammates.


    A star player is nothing without the support of a team, and Demigods had their own star players as well, thus they needed their team.


    With a bit of renewed drive, the three began to work, finally having some hands-on training with Charlie.


    They immediately regretted it¡­


    The strength of Charlie was repeatedly hinted and he seemed to be an extremely high rank Demigod, especially considering he called the second-in-command, Rose Cora, by the nickname of ¡®little lady¡¯.


    Now, actually facing him in any context, they realized how monstrous a top-ranking Demigod was.


    The three were being trained simultaneously in different things all at once, a condensed learning program that would inevitably lead to losing some of the lessons imparted, but more than likely some hints would slip through.


    Firstly, all three were sparring with Charlie. This was non-debateable as all Demigods had some manner of combat ability, and so they fought.


    The rules were separate for each of them, designed to boost their ability overall.


    For Derek, he was not allowed to stumble or be knocked back from an attack, he and Mary were the shields of the rest of the team, a flimsy shield would be broken on the battlefield.


    For Terri, after being taught the sub-divination spell on sharing thoughts, had to maintain the spell constantly throughout the fight between all four people in the clearing, while making certain that any private communication between the three students was kept out of Charlie¡¯s mind.


    And then for Mark, he was not allowed to do anything beyond moving if he didn¡¯t have a device to assist with the action before doing so.


    If he was to attack, he needed a weapon, if he was going to defend, he needed a shield.


    With the ability of a Demigod of Hephaestus, it was possible to ¡®actualize¡¯ the imagination of the Demigod in question, as long as a working blueprint existed in his mind, as well as the availability of the parts.


    Basically, they skipped the production process, changing it into a simple ¡®insert materials, obtain item¡¯ situation.


    Shane Bismarck, the eldest son of Hephaestus, notably did not use this ability often because the item created would only be ¡®average¡¯ instead of amazing.


    That didn¡¯t stop Shane from reaching a point where he could build or create almost anything small within a minute or so¡­ which made sense, Shane had a really long time to get that good.


    So by utilizing the storage rune every Demigod was inevitably taught, Mark would remove materials, Actualize an item into existence, and use it until Charlie destroyed it or took it away from Mark.


    Also, the fight started off with no weapons at all, and Mark had to build and provide weaponry to be used for his teammates, and Charlie would not use any.


    They had sparred for barely five minutes before they were each knocked out, and once they woke up they got back to it.


    Charlie was a practical juggernaut in relation to them, when he punched the ground it shook, when he waved his hand air pressure formed, and his magic was accurate and powerful¡­


    And yet he was at his weakest in a close-up fight, he was a long range specialist.


    This really had Derek and his two partners worried on their future prospects.


    One time they got knocked out, when they woke up, Charlie didn¡¯t immediately restart the spar, instead reminding them again of the age difference between him and the other modern Demigods, as well as reminding them that the three weren¡¯t chosen for what they were currently.


    They were chosen for the potential they possessed. Aegis played the long game when it came to forming teams, partnering up Ancient and Century Demigods with modern Demigods so the latter would have someone to guide them and teach them.


    It was a rule of thumb that older Demigods would always win, but it wasn¡¯t set in stone, Edgar was actually relatively young amongst some of the stronger Demigods, and Rose was even younger.


    And yet the two of them held the position of strongest and second strongest respectively.


    There were other factors to strength, and instead of trying to strengthen the already powerful older Demigods, the members of Aegis were trying to elevate the weakest group, the modern Demigods, to the point where they would be capable of fighting next to older Demigods.


    The three ¡®less talented¡¯ Demigods would only be able to catch up to Demigods like Jake and Mary, whose Godly parents could only have one or possibly two children if they worked hard.


    Another example for the talent a Demigod could have in a ratio of children to talent would be to have a number like one hundred ¡®talent¡¯ per God.


    Their children, to inherit their power, would need a minimum number of ¡®talent¡¯ to be born, with stronger Gods having children with higher ¡®talent¡¯ requirements.


    Gods like Hephaestus, his children would get something like one each.


    Gods like Zeus or Odin on the other hand would be required to give the full one hundred to their children to allow their birth, and until that child died, they wouldn¡¯t have any more to give.


    This was how it was explained to Charlie at one point at least, and he understood it pretty easily after it was told to him.


    They also used visual aids in the form of one hundred plastic blocks, but he got the idea.


    There was also that saying, one hundred per cent of success is made through ninety nine per cent talent and one per cent hard work.


    That one per cent could be the difference between victory and defeat, so if they wanted to fight, Derek, Terri and Mark had to have that one per cent on their side from the beginning.


    After a solid three hours of sparring, reviving, getting healed by Terri and continuing, they finally stopped, too sore and exhausted to continue.


    By normal mortal standards, they were unnatural to still be able to move, but by Demigod standards, it just showed they were growing.


    Demigods had the most adaptable bodies amongst the supernatural beings in existence, and this showed in that a Demigod could gain resistance to just about anything harmful through prolonged exposure.


    Edgar was actually resistant to fire and cold, as well as poison being something he was nigh-immune to, the only thing that could poison Edgar at this point would be if the God was related to poison in some way.


    What Charlie was doing by beating up the Demigods was an attempt to artificially cause their bodies to adapt to the strain, becoming stronger, faster, and more durable.


    It worked for every Demigod, but only if they carried through with it.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done with you three for the day. Also, for the next month or two, after school you¡¯ll come to this clearing and find a sparring partner waiting for you. Most of the time it will be me, but if not, I¡¯ll get someone else to fight you.¡± Charlie¡¯s words brought down morale slightly, but Derek, Terri and Mark were determined to get stronger.


    The four Demigods moved over towards the clearing in which Jake and Mary were, only to find Mary in her semi-dragon form attempting to choke Jake, and Jake attempting to set her on fire.


    Well, considering he had no weapon and was creating the fire out of his hands, Jake had succeeded in doing magic¡­


    Charlie just wasn¡¯t sure on the method¡­


    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Ignoring the alliteration, Charlie¡¯s question was viable and the two separated shortly, and each began to try and talk over one another.


    Unfortunately for Mary, Charlie knew her personality better and immediately realized that Jake was the one telling the truth between the two of them.


    Basically following Jake¡¯s story:


    Mary¡¯s explanation was vague and difficult to understand, starting off slightly sensible and progressively getting more and more strange, to the point where it started to include sound effects such as ¡®the energy will go boom and then you channel it with a swish¡¯ and so on.


    Jake eventually couldn¡¯t take it anymore and decried Mary as a bad teacher because he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of what she was saying.


    Mary didn¡¯t take this well, and began to teach Jake as she was taught, which involved being attacked by a superior opponent without any method to fight back except magic.


    After three hours, it seems Jake was finally too tired to escape her grasp, but also after three hours Jake had managed to will magic into existence.


    It was¡­ not quite a victory, and not quite a loss? Mixed results sounded better.


    The goal was for Mary to learn how to teach and if not, how to handle rejection. The other goal was for Jake to tap into his instincts and use some of the magical energy all Demigods had.


    Jake did end up succeeding in his part, but only because Mary failed in hers, as what she did wasn¡¯t really teaching¡­


    Maybe Charlie accidentally set up a mutually exclusive situation by accident, as when he explained this to the two, Jake simply sighed tiredly while Mary looked like someone kicked her puppy.


    She idolized Charlie since he adopted her, and ¡®failing¡¯ hurt, despite the fact that her failure allowed her to succeed in something else.


    The only reason Rose taught Mary in the way the second-in-command did was because Mary couldn¡¯t understand the lesson and drove Rose to attacking the younger Demigod.


    Every other Demigod taught magic by Rose claimed that she had an amazing knowledge of magic and that it was easy to understand, but Mary just didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Well, the end result of all this insanity is that Mary accidentally taught Jake how to channel his magic, and obviously he has skill in Fire. We¡¯ll test your other affinities just to be sure though.¡± Charlie said, snapping his fingers, causing the rune for storage to appear.


    ¡°By the way, just so I can say I verbally taught you something, some magic users do an action to prepare themselves mentally for the magic they are doing, snapping my fingers is my one, and I know that Edgar¡¯s trigger is clenching a fist.¡± The looks Charlie got clearly stated that Edgar¡¯s trigger made little sense.


    ¡°Oh his one is actually better than mine, considering Edgar is a weapon specialist, he normally has a sword or other weapon in hand. By grasping it, is his fist not clenched?¡± Charlie asked, and the realized the honesty of the statement.


    If it had to be a conscious action, lifting something was a conscious action, no matter how used to the weight you were, you would know it was there.


    So Edgar could activate any magic he had as long as he had a weapon in hand, though without a weapon his clenching of a fist would be a bit more obvious.


    It was his skill with a weapon and his sheer power when wielding them that earned Edgar the title of Red King.


    Rather¡­ one particular incident resulted in that, but Charlie was hoping that the teens would never need to know about that incident.


    ¡°Okay, so we have about an hour left together here, so what we¡¯re going to do is understand formations.¡± Charlie said, and thus they got to work on their last bit of training for the day¡­


    Standing in a certain position relative to the other members of the team¡­ was such a mundane training type.


    ¡°Gods usually hit many people at once so these aren¡¯t as important in the fight, but this general shape should be held. Okay, everyone can leave, Mary, you can wait at the car. Jake, I want to see the furthest shot you can make currently with a standard bow.¡± Charlie dismissed four of the five modern Demigods, leaving Jake who was nodding.


    After being handed another bow, and converting it into Solaris Ignus, Jake took his stance, squared feet and his body perpendicular to the target Charlie set up over three hundred metres away.


    After a moment of stabilizing himself, the arrow created as a spear of fire.


    A block of ice was destroyed, and two smiles were formed.

 Chapter 6- Python

    ¡°So, after a month of training¡­ you think you¡¯re up for a challenge?¡± Charlie¡¯s words were spoken to the corpses, sorry, the almost unconscious forms of the five Demigods who made up the rest of team Charlie.


    As his words suggested, it had been one month since the day Jake shot at an ice block three hundred metres away, and he had gotten quite a few new experiences in since then.


    For one, Jake¡¯s archery form was destroyed by Charlie and repurposed into something else, this was because Jake¡¯s form was stable, but did not account for having to dodge or move while firing.


    Now that Jake could reliably hit a target from far away, he had to do so consistently while under pressure.


    Said pressure was originally Mark trying to hit him while Jake aimed at something, then it was Terri, then Terri and Mark.


    At this point, Derek was the one to try and hit Jake while Jake stumbled around and tried to hit his target, and Jake had no doubt Mary would be the last one, if Charlie didn¡¯t get involved.


    Another new thing was that Jake had been taken to the teleportation array created by Rose Cora all over the world that allowed Demigods to get to attack points of Gods as quickly as possible.


    There was a method of checking if a God would appear, but sometimes it didn¡¯t work, such as when Huitzilopochtli appeared, as it was delayed in when the signal of the God was sent.


    Other times the signal was sent early, and Demigods knew what God they¡¯d be facing a week before he/she appeared.


    Knowing that they might be called in, team Charlie collectively used the teleportation arrays more than once, taking a trip to Australia, then Germany, and finally back to America.


    Someone offered South Africa, and that person was quickly refused.


    Nothing wrong with the country, it was just that a Demigod or two lived in that area and meeting up with them was hazardous to the health.


    The array was draining, and took about ten minutes to half an hour to charge, but the Agents in charge of it were understanding to why Jake and the others were using it.


    Jake puked the first time it activated, and suddenly found himself more than a few hours off in his biological clock.


    Another new thing that occurred was that team Charlie was getting a bit of attention amongst the other Demigods.


    Alexandria was a combination of a private school and a boarding school, if one had housing nearby, they could stay there, but if they didn¡¯t, dorms were available.


    Jake stayed in the dorms, with Derek having a room on a different floor inside the unisex dorm, one for the boys, and one for the girls.


    There were more than a few Demigods at Alexandria, and occasionally whispers could be heard about the new team, and this was because only six teams were in circulation at a time, and team Charlie hadn¡¯t been around for two or three years.


    During these conversations, Jake also managed to butt in during some and get some information he wanted to know regarding Aegis, mostly in the ¡®who is important to know¡¯ area of questioning.


    The Council, the Head Agent, and the Team Leaders were the juggernauts of Aegis to be listened to immediately.


    The Council comprised of seven Demigods, each amongst the most powerful Demigods alive and their positions are decided by strength and competition.


    In fact, once every three months a person may challenge anyone on the Council to a battle and the Council-member may not refuse said challenge unless a God is invading.


    Council-members may even challenge each other to change ranks, but the current group was:


    Rank one, Edgar Yule, the strongest Demigod alive, his God parent was unknown and he was known for being the best weapon user and instructor in Aegis.


    Rank two, Rose Cora, the second-in-command of Aegis, she was apparently the daughter of Pandora, how she was considered a Goddess was a mystery but Rose was proof that Pandora was considered one. Rose was also the best magic user and instructor in Aegis.


    Rank three, Samuel Esteban, a wanderer who enjoys meeting new people, and teaching, his Godly parent was Mictlantechutli, lord of the Aztecan Underworld making his God parent a God of the Dead. Samuel was the best unarmed fighter in Aegis, and took students whether they were Demigod or a normal human, though he taught no one boxing.


    Rank four, Shane Bismarck, one of two Ancient Demigods in Aegis, Shane is a son of Hephaestus and thus specializes in analysing his opponents and creating items to counter them¡­ unfortunately, many have begun to consider him an eccentric Bat-man due to this trait¡­


    Rank five, Lyle Porter, son of Odin and a part-time model¡­ surprisingly down to earth for a guy as rich as he is, he occasionally leads team Delta.


    Rank six, Lukas Winter, son of Hercules and the leader of team Alpha, the strong man of the Council, physically he is actually the strongest, however he does not have the skill of the higher ranked members and thus possesses the rank he does. He frequently challenges Samuel apparently.


    And Rank seven, Nikita Quartz, a daughter of Horus and the second of the two Ancient Demigods, her ability in long-range combat was something Charlie immediately commanded Jake to aspire to.


    These seven council-members were the longest lasting ones, after a whole lot of fighting over the positions occurred during the creation of Aegis¡­ rather, the only positions fought over were the lower three¡­


    As for the Head Agent, Jake could not recall meeting the man but apparently he was nearby when Jake awoke after the fight with Huitzilopochtli.


    The man was known as Agent Karma, the only Agent to not possess a number as his call-sign (notably they did not include any zeroes or ¡®double o¡¯ in their Agent names) and strangely enough, no one knew his first name.


    Agents had a number that determined how long they worked for Aegis, the smaller the number, the earlier they began working for Aegis. Their names were known though, and they were free to use their names or numbers interchangeably.


    The Agents focused on merit though, not seniority.


    But as for Agent Karma, he was unique amongst the Agents for his position as an ambassador to other supernatural entities such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and so on.


    And supernatural beings typically looked down on humans, on the weak as they said¡­ so it said a lot that they all respected and were at times terrified of Agent Karma.


    The man was one hundred per cent human, but he was strangely youthful and powerful for a human, and someone considered that Agent Karma might have done a ritual of some kind in his youth to result in his power.


    Whatever he did to achieve it, the result was the man and his title of ¡®World¡¯s Strongest Human¡¯.


    Granted, the man achieved that title through skill, but no matter how skilful he was, the sheer power a Demigod possessed usually surpassed him.


    Brought down to the same level, Agent Karma would win every time though.


    Rumours of the man sparring with Edgar daily had gone around, though no one knew how true they were.


    Much later on, Jake would find out these rumours were false from the man himself, as the rumours were perpetuated by Edgar so as to make Agent Karma look scarier to the younger Demigods who might disrespect him.


    That plan clearly worked given the myths about the agent.


    As for the Team Leaders, they were obviously strong, at the very least Century Demigods who were hiding their powers until the creation of Aegis.


    Lukas Winter was one, Charlie Baker was another, and so was Lyle Porter. Two of those were Council members, and it stood to reason that Nikita Quartz probably also helped out, either in team Beta, Epsilon or Foxtrot.


    No one knew where team Epsilon was actually, but they were registered as ¡®active¡¯ though.


    And so it was that Jake was told of the hierarchy of the Demigods, and realizing that, for all of his new skill, hitting a target a kilometre away was a possibility now, he was still amongst the weakest Demigods¡­


    For now¡­ Combat had a way of urging the growth of Demigods so they could survive the next fight.


    ¡°Again, you guy¡¯s ready for a fight?¡± Charlie asked as a groan was sounded out in response¡­


    ¡°Good, cause I set us up to be fighting a lesser known God in a week.¡± That got their attention quickly, and through the pain they all stood up with worry in their eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. From our reports, it seems to be a God with strong ties to snakes. Don¡¯t know if you skipped the memo, but I¡¯m strong against animals, and things that are weak against the cold. This God is both.¡± Charlie assured.


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ we have a week to prepare right¡­ so where are we fighting, and at what time of the day?¡± Derek asked, with his mind quick to go to combat information.


    As a child of Ares, Derek and his siblings would commonly be thought of as muscle-heads and the thought wouldn¡¯t be completely wrong¡­


    But when it came to combat and warfare, there was no mind sharper than a God of War¡¯s, or their children in this case.


    Following the instructions of Charlie, and the suggestions and ideas of Derek, the week passed and their team was ¡®ready¡¯ to confront a God.


    Gods were not to be ¡®killed¡¯ but they could be ¡®defeated¡¯ even by teams.


    That being said, it was standard procedure to have a Council-member or a suitably powerful Demigod nearby to assist the battle in case the God was too powerful.


    This was a flawed plan, as sometimes the Council-member would step in too late to protect the weaker Demigods, but it was the only thing they could do bar fighting the battles for the younger Demigods.


    In this case, the assistant for team Charlie was Rose Cora herself.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again miss Cora.¡± Jake greeted with a nod and the woman in turn nodded at him.


    Her image of seriousness was destroyed by the blonde man having his ear twisted by her.


    ¡°Ow, ouch, stop it Rose, I just wanted to watch!¡± Edgar Yule everyone, the strongest being on the planet bar Gods, and even then it isn¡¯t so clear-cut.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Mister Yule is really lazy huh¡­¡± Terri muttered while Mark and Derek agreed.


    Jake just accepted the oddity that was Edgar¡¯s personality while Mary frowned at the ear-twisting¡­ she was having some bad memories of that technique¡­


    Rose was her teacher for magic after all.


    ¡°Edgar, go do your paperwork. Look, Karma¡¯s already coming along to drag you back.¡± Rose offered, and Edgar looked to the suited man approaching as if the man was the personification of death¡­ or endless work.


    The latter was scarier to Edgar.


    ¡°Ignoring Edgar, I¡¯ve been reading up on your progress Jake, quite impressive with your new firing range, though given who has been teaching you magic, I might just take over from there.¡± Rose¡¯s annoyed glance at Mary showed that she knew exactly what the issue was.


    Jake looked like he received the greatest gift in the world as he nodded enthusiastically. Not because of who would teach him, but because of who wouldn¡¯t be teaching him.


    ¡°Alright guys, let¡¯s go, the God is appearing in Spain at the Valley of Ordesa, otherwise known as Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.¡± Charlie¡¯s pronunciation was good as they stepped on the teleporting array.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the lesser known National Parks of Spain, but it¡¯s actually the oldest one I think.¡± Mark offered, liking to collect random facts to tell people, something he got from his eldest brother actually.


    Sometimes he got facts slightly wrong though, so they were taken with a grain of salt.


    Soon the array activated, and they found themselves underground.


    All of the teleportation arrays were connected and were typically underground, but in the case of headquarters or notable places like Alexandria, they could be above ground.


    This one was underground, and had Jake wondering how many of the things existed¡­


    And also, it showed the power Aegis possessed as an international organization when they had ways of illegally entering a country, and the country wouldn¡¯t even complain.


    There was never a case of the teleportation arrays being used to stage attacks, so it was accepted for now.


    ¡°Come on, the God is set to appear in the next hour or two, let¡¯s go.¡± Charlie¡¯s statement was met with nods as they moved, Rose trailing behind due to being an observer.


    Once emerging from the underground, they found themselves exiting a non-descript building in Jaca, the closest city to the park.


    Some people seemed surprised to see them leaving the building, prompting Jake and the other young Demigods to turn back to look at it, seeing the sign ¡®Aegis¡¯ proudly.


    No wonder they were being stared at.


    Someone stepped forward and began speaking in rapid Spanish, to which Charlie responded in the same language, his accent non-existent in comparison to most foreigners.


    After a moment, the person that stepped forward moved back to the crowd, and Charlie motioned for them to follow him.


    ¡°At some point you¡¯re all going to need to learn different languages to be able to talk with the locals. If not, there is a translation spell, but trust me when I say learning the language is better.¡± Rose could be heard scoffing at Charlie¡¯s explanation, though no one called her out on it.


    Clearly she believed the spell was fine, or that there was something else she considered better.


    ¡°Right, Charlie, were you also planning on telling them about the spell involving information intake?¡± Rose¡¯s question cleared up what she thought was better, and had the five Demigods looking at their commander with questioning gazes.


    ¡°¡­I wanted them to learn the normal way Rose, and besides, they can¡¯t learn it right now¡­¡± Charlie¡¯s complaints fell on deaf ears as Rose glared at him.


    ¡°Charlie, between having them learn languages normally and appreciating what they learnt, and having them learn quickly with magic, the latter is quite a bit more logical.¡± Rose¡¯s words had everyone understand what the spell was about, retaining information and sorting of information.


    Basically, a spell to help in studying¡­ that sounded really useful¡­


    ¡°Though you are correct in that they aren¡¯t allowed to learn it yet given they¡¯re still in school¡­¡± Rose realized after her statement was out there, and this had the five look sad at the prospect of not using something that useful for school¡­


    Well, school was for mental things, not magical things despite the Demigod Studies class.


    There was clearly a difference between mental and magical given Mary¡¯s ability to use magic instinctually with barely any understanding on how it worked.


    ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re facing a Snake God. Regardless of how you five do, this God cannot win this encounter with both Rose and me here.¡± Charlie smirked at this while Rose rolled her eyes.


    After a walk of quite a distance, they found themselves within the Valley of Ordesa, waiting until high noon, the apparent time the serpent God would appear¡­


    Moments after the metaphorical clock struck twelve, a¡­ warp, for lack of a better term, in space occurred in the distance.


    From the strangely circular ¡®hole¡¯ in reality, emerged a serpentine head, followed closely by large wings and clawed arms.


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t that a Dragon?¡± Terri¡¯s complain was ignored as Charlie looked to Rose who palmed her face.


    ¡°It was a really odd error on our part¡­ the only things we got from our divination was this location, the time, and the word python, so we assumed snake God¡­¡± Rose¡¯s stare at the dragon drew a sigh from her lips.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t what it was God of, but the name of the God. It¡¯s the Greek Earth Spirit, Python, known to have been slain by Apollo.¡± Jake perked at the name of his father, staring at the Dragon, ironically named Python, who was staring across the vast fields of greenery and mountains.


    It¡¯s body was in the shape of a standard western dragon, huge to the point where a small house would be the size of its head, and its scales were a dull green of common snakes, except the scales of the being known as Python were much, much larger, and its eyes a blood-red, looking around,


    It soon saw Jake¡¯s group, and upon seeing Jake in particular, began to growl almost without meaning to as it sensed the essence of Apollo.


    ¡°You, you have the stench of my enemy, the stench of Apollo! Die for his transgressions!¡± Python roared as it charged forward, its body similar to the western interpretation of a dragon, and yet slinking forward as if mimicking its namesake.


    ¡°Why is it that every God I¡¯ve encountered so far is getting pissed at me for a father I¡¯ve never met?¡± Jake¡¯s complaint was obviously ignored as everyone removed their weaponry.


    ¡°Right, this is a bit different than expected, but we can work with this. Mary, you¡¯re practically a Dragon yourself, so you should be capable of surviving close combat. Derek, don¡¯t die.¡± Charlie¡¯s orders were realistic in regards to their skill levels, Mary wasn¡¯t as skilled as Derek in combat, but given her natural advantages, she was the stronger of the two.


    Charlie¡¯s commands were followed as Mary¡¯s body began to take on traits similar to the beast charging at them, a tail, beastly eyes, claws and a scale pattern coming over her skin as she charged forward.


    Following behind her was Derek who was already wincing in anticipation for facing the dragon-like God, leaving behind the other four members of team Charlie, and Rose who was further back watching.


    ¡°Terri, set up communications, you¡¯re not going to be able to punch through those scales with your abilities so try hitting it with weaker attacks from a distance.¡± Terri nodded, standing up and running off, much faster in comparison to Mary and Derek due to her father being Hermes, the Greek God associated with speed.


    ¡°Mark, not a lot of things work against beings like Python, but I¡¯m sure you know temperature control would work brilliantly. Make something, use it, and set up a shield to hide behind somewhere in case someone gets injured.¡± Mark went off, not heading towards the colossal God charging forward, instead heading to the side.


    The only reason Mark hadn¡¯t set up any equipment was because of a motto of his siblings.


    ¡®Prepare for everything, and do what is necessary¡¯. Some would take that to mean to make as much preparation as possible, but the children of Hephaestus would tell you otherwise.


    Preparation for everything could be taken as is, but the latter half of the motto was to say ¡®don¡¯t do anything until you know what to do though¡¯.


    Shane, the flag-bearer of the Bismarck family, repeatedly hammered in that lesson when teaching his siblings because assistance for one problem could be a debilitation in another situation.


    Preparing something fire based to use against an ice enemy, only to find out your enemy is fire based, would cause your own equipment to be used against you.


    And so it was that children of Hephaestus began to specialize in both building, and information usage.


    ¡°Okay, Python, Earth Spirit of some kind, killed by Apollo signifying a weakness towards either fire or arrows, Jake is perfectly suited to be fighting this guy, not to mention the normal weaknesses against cold for cold-blooded beings meaning Charlie-¡± Mark began to mumble to himself as he ran off.


    ¡°Jake, you and I are the most important combatants of team Charlie, we¡¯re the source of damage. I¡¯ll be laying suppressive fire for Mary, Derek and Terri, you fire off damaging attacks okay? And make sure to never stand still¡­ you¡¯ll die if you do.¡± Charlie warned as he shot off in the opposite direction of Mark, leaving Jake to start running away from the God.


    Charlie wasn¡¯t sure whether or not to be proud or annoyed at Jake¡¯s action¡­ as a ranged fighter, getting too close was a death sentence.


    On the other hand, it¡¯s impossible to look heroic while running away from the enemy¡­


    ¡°Bastard son of Apollo, I will enjoy grinding your bones to dust before I spread them across the lands of Delphi as a sacrifice to Mother Gaia!¡± The beast known as Python roared as it charged forward, or at least tried to before Mary made her presence known, leaping forward to punch the dragon¡¯s foreleg, tripping up its charge momentarily causing it to roar in pain.


    Taking the opportunity, Derek stabbed at its leg with his halberd, the weapon crafted by one of the elder siblings of Mark standing up to the scales and barely piercing through to draw blood of the beast.


    Python¡¯s retaliation would be almost too quick for the human eye to see as its other leg came down in a clawing motion, but for the enhanced bodies of a Demigod, it was fast, but not to the point where it could not be dodged, as Derek did.


    Mary did not dodge, instead crossing her arms in front of her chest as the claws hit her flying away.


    It was a calculated thing, as Mary and Derek were to distract and cause Python to pause, taking the time to hit something counted¡­


    That, and Mary also needed to gauge the hitting power of the God.


    ¡°One-hit, two to kill!¡± Mary shouted as she flipped into a landing, her arms already showing signs of bruising despite her enhanced durability in relation to other Demigods, her assessment was accurate.


    They could survive any hit from Python, but a second would more than likely kill them.


    This was discounting attacks like blowing off their heads, or that they could block said hits.


    Python attempted to attack Derek after hitting Mary, lunging forward to swallow him whole only for a gunshot to ring out and an insane amount of pain to go through Python¡¯s mouth, rearing back its head as the frozen blocks of blood dripped out.


    In the distance, more than two kilometres from the God, stood Charlie with Winter Bane, having shot at Python¡¯s mouth just as it tried to bite down on Derek, letting the younger Demigod escape.


    In truth, like Rose, Charlie was just observing this encounter, there were differences between Gods and Python was barely considered one, originally being known as a spirit which was not the same thing.


    It was obvious like how fighting Zeus would be much different in comparison to fighting Hephaestus who was a known cripple, and not even a warrior.


    In the hierarchy of Gods, Python was pitifully low.


    Not to mention that Python had three natural enemies within Charlie¡¯s team. First was Charlie himself, specialized in fighting within a forested area against animal-type enemies, and focusing in ice-based powers, Charlie was a natural counter to Gods like Python.


    Then there was Mary who was the daughter of the Mother of Dragons, she didn¡¯t have the strength to drive back Python, but that was due to her lack of experience, something she would gain. She was similar to Python in physical ability, making their situation similar to ¡®rock versus rock¡¯.


    And finally, with a streak of fire heralding his opening salvo to the fight, was Jake.


    The arrow of fire punched into the chest of Python, causing it to roar in anger, a part of its chest gouged out and cauterized as it screeched, trying to rush forward.


    Jake was the son of Apollo, the same God that killed Python in the myths. Like all Gods, Python couldn¡¯t die on Earth unless certain conditions were met, but myths had large impacts on Demigods and their affinities against other mythical beings.


    Apollo trumps Python was already in myth, the son of Apollo, with similar if weaker powers, should also be strong against Python.


    This was set in myth, and even here it proved true, given that the injury given by Derek was already healed, but the wounds caused by Jake and Charlie were not, the healing being halted.


    ¡°Regeneration, use fire or ice!¡± Mark shouted out as he joined the battle, carrying rifle of his own, microscopic runes on the barrel to give the rifle bullets similar in function to Winter Bane.


    Everyone began to attack using this method, Terri allowing everyone¡¯s words, whether shouted or not, to be heard across all six teammates, hiding from the enemy so as to not have communication destroyed.


    Derek and Mary were the distractions and Python momentarily paused due to attacks from the two Demigods.


    Taking advantage of this pause, Charlie and Jake would attack, trying to gouge out the heart of the beast so as to ¡®kill¡¯ it.


    Mark on the other hand assisted with observation, and shared a shield with Derek which could survive more than one hit from the God.


    ¡°I¡¯m not necessary for this fight.¡± Rose said to herself as she watched from a distance away, looking at the actions of the younger Demigods with approval.


    This would not be too dangerous a fight for them, even considering their weakness in relation to older Demigods.


    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to be complacent, but it¡¯s a waste of effort to fear that which you can defeat.¡± It was dual nature that Rose was well aware of, given her own fights against Gods and spars with her fellow Demigods.


    She could defeat every Demigod ranked lower than her, and yet she had suffered a defeat against Samuel and Shaun more than once.


    ¡°This should be over soon¡­¡± Rose looked away, to the nearby town in thought.


    Without the Demigods around, the town would have been destroyed without question. Weak as the God may be, it was still a God, beyond the limits of humans.


    Python would be capable of destroying the town easily, even Rose or Charlie could do so at their level of strength.


    So while simple¡­ this fight was in fact necessary.


    As Rose expected, the fight lacked any notable issues other than a moment in which Python began to try and manipulate the earth beneath the feet of the Demigods.


    Rose nullified it with her own control, not wanting the younger Demigods to be thrown into the deep end¡­


    They would win, after a while due to the vitality possessed by Python, leaving its ¡®corpse¡¯ to vanish into motes of light, proof that it had returned to the Divine realm in which Gods resided.


    The Demigods would never know that Rose helped them in this fight, and that was fine by her¡­


    They needed to grow, not be killed.


    She wouldn¡¯t let the latter happen on her watch, never.


    They left Spain shortly afterwards, getting a message of thanks from the Spanish Government for the lack of damage inside the valley.


    The face the Demigods made when they received fifty thousand Euros each brought a smile on Rose¡¯s face and a laugh from Charlie¡­


    And the children would also hopefully never learn that Aegis got more than a million each time they defeated a God in a country¡­ they might ask for more then.

 Chapter 7-A wider world

    Charlie was, at the moment, yawning.


    Granted, he was doing so while in a meeting and if he were a normal person doing as such might be grounds for a complaint on work ethic.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one yawning, and heck, it was his boss that was yawning with him¡­


    But the secretary of said boss was glaring at both of them, and that scared Charlie more than the idea of being fired, if a Demigod could be fired from Aegis.


    ¡°I understand the two of you are happier running around than talking, but we really need to get this report out of the way.¡± Rose Cora everyone, the scariest Demigod in Charlie¡¯s opinion.


    Even if she was a century or two younger than him, Rose was scary to Charlie.


    ¡°I hate reports¡­ besides, you were there at the Python fight a month ago, and you should have been able to guess how they¡¯re progressing by now.¡± Charlie¡¯s statement was met with a roll of the eyes by Rose.


    ¡°Of course I have an idea on how your team has grown in strength by now, but my first estimations had Ignus incapable of fighting as he was.¡± Rose¡¯s words were true¡­


    Charlie could admit that Jake was progressing quickly as a Demigod in relation to others, even given the fact that he was a child of a God who could only have one or two children.


    Charlie himself had no siblings, meaning that he should have a huge amount of power when it came to the Principle¡¯s he used, but Charlie hadn¡¯t gained strength like Jake did.


    ¡°Uh, it might have to do with how he was introduced through combat instead of stress or simply aging into Awakening.¡± Edgar included, and his was the word of an expert in regards to Demigod Awakening.


    Edgar himself Awoke through combat, and he was the sole child of whoever his parent was, so it would be easier to relate Jake¡¯s growth to Edgar actually¡­


    Edgar was the strongest Demigod alive though, so no one could really come close, even Demigods older than him struggled in a fight against him.


    Charlie hadn¡¯t won a single one of their spars after all.


    ¡°Even with all those ¡®benefits¡¯ it still doesn¡¯t explain how Jake was capable of fighting at the level he did during the Python encounter.¡± Rose¡¯s complaints were uncared for by both Charlie and Edgar, mostly because why complain if you have a strong teammate?


    ¡°Does it truly matter? Jake grows stronger faster, all Demigods do after or even during a fight in some cases. Who knows, he might even be a Favoured which would explain why every God he has faced was related to his father in some way.¡± Edgar added, and Charlie once more remembered that there were some things that just didn¡¯t make sense.


    Favoured would be an example of things that didn¡¯t make sense¡­ as far as Charlie was aware, a Favoured was essentially a real-life hero, or to put it better, main character.


    A Favoured could be ¡®bad¡¯ or ¡®good¡¯ at their choosing, but the main commonalities between Favoured was a sense of charisma, growing stronger at a faster pace, and being abnormally lucky in bad situations.


    In other words, plot armour.


    Edgar was a confirmed Favoured, he had to be with how powerful he was, and it was suspected that each of the Council members were also Favoured.


    Also, the name Favoured came from the term ¡®Fate¡¯s Favoured¡¯. When two people of equal strength, skill and intelligence fought, the winner was the one who was more loved by ¡®Fate¡¯.


    And Favoured were those who seemed to win every time, until they ran into another Favoured.


    Edgar and Charlie both had another Demigod they disliked, one who was good at Divination. It was believed that this Demigod might also be a Favoured, hence why Edgar couldn¡¯t get a clean victory.


    ¡°¡­If he is a Favoured, that explains a bit. We¡¯ll list him as a possible one, but there is no way to determine a Favoured without taking time.¡± Rose¡¯s complaints were valid and Charlie and Edgar both nodded in agreement.


    Favoured were rare, though Demigods had a higher chance of being one, and the only way to know one is a Favoured is to use trial and error.


    They were the ones who turned that ¡®one per cent chance of victory¡¯ into a definite win, so if someone survives many fights which would normally kill another in the same situation, they were considered a Favoured then.


    ¡°Okay, ignoring that you might have two Favoured on team Charlie, that report is done for now. Edgar, we still need to talk about everything else Aegis is involved in.¡± Edgar sighed, looking at the page in front of him listing the things needed to be known.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Aegis is, as usual, making enough money to keep afloat, especially after killing Python and considering the businesses we run.¡± Edgar said, recalling that the children of nature Gods were attempting to reverse global warming and that was getting them quite a bit of money.


    ¡°As to the Council, we haven¡¯t received a challenge this last month, the current iteration of the Council is being considered the strongest ever¡­¡± Edgar seemed a bit awkward saying that last bit, and Charlie understood Edgar¡¯s pain.


    The Council was meant to consist of the strongest Demigods and heads of Aegis, but there was a Demigod or two that didn¡¯t want to be involved there.


    The leader of Team Epsilon was strong enough to fight with Shane Bismarck on equal grounds, but refused to leave his area of the world to ¡®do something as tedious as lead¡¯.


    Ironic considering he was a team leader, but ask him to be a Council member and he¡¯d probably beat you black and blue.


    Then there was the aforementioned Demigod skilled at Divination, who was not a member of Aegis but could at the very least fight Samuel and possibly Rose to a draw.


    ¡°It is what it is there; few would challenge us after Nikita destroyed all the challengers last month without letting them have a chance to fight anyone else.¡± Rose sighed, knowing that Nikita, rank seven of the Council, was only trying to prevent anyone from suddenly having a higher rank than her¡­


    She was surprisingly competitive for someone who was so quiet.


    ¡°Alright, next we move onto the teams¡­ Team Alpha is currently in Australia communing with the Rainbow Serpent; it has agreed to cause no damage beyond its home at Uluru.¡± Charlie read off, he was the only team leader here at the meeting, which didn¡¯t mean much as even if he weren¡¯t there someone would have told him what happened.


    The same for the other leaders, they¡¯d get the information eventually, Aegis had a ¡®if they aren¡¯t here they¡¯re busy¡¯ view when it came to attendance, and they accepted it.


    The strongest Demigods were all too old to care about being late to a meeting when they had to fight a God or some other mythological being in an hour.


    ¡°It causes the area around it to convert back into the dawn of creation; some people say they saw a dinosaur or two in the distance. Luckily they keep in that area¡­¡± That made very little sense scientifically¡­


    If you considered immune systems and germs then Dinosaurs shouldn¡¯t survive in the modern world, and modern humans couldn¡¯t survive for long in that area.


    ¡°Team Bravo has been called into Western Europe on reports of people dying randomly; they¡¯ll be checking that out.¡± Rose checked the next group, Team Bravo, the survivors is what the higher ups called them.


    The higher ups would be referring to Edgar alone.


    Team Bravo consisted of hard to kill Demigods, even Samuel would struggle to kill one or two of them.


    Whenever there was an information shortage, Team Bravo was the team to be sent in to verify information, and then act accordingly; essentially they were nigh immortal scouts.


    ¡°Team Charlie is obviously here and still training.¡± Charlie said with a hint of sarcasm, not that anyone bothered to complain about it.


    Everyone got sarcastic as they got older, and Demigods of their power were typically older than most humans could get.


    ¡°Team Delta is busy talking to that group of werewolves hiding in the Amazon, following which they¡¯d be moving to around Washington to talk to the Vampire coven we found there a month ago.¡±


    Ah, Team Delta, the peace-keeping team, they were rarely sent to deal with actual Gods and Divinity, instead being sent around the world to talk to other supernatural beings like the aforementioned Werewolves and Vampires.


    Many, many aspects of the supernatural were real and existed, Demigods and Gods being just one part of it, and Aegis tried to keep relations between different groups fair¡­


    To put it more bluntly, Aegis threatened all the other supernatural beings into leaving humans as alone as possible¡­


    Demigods were on top of the chain of supernatural beings when it came to sheer power, second only to Dragons and Gods, generally, so the other races feared them.


    ¡°Okay¡­ next would be team Epsilon¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s skip them.¡± It wasn¡¯t even Edgar who suggested this, but Rose herself¡­


    No one wanted anything to do with team Epsilon¡­ it was the strangest team of Demigods Aegis employed, consisting of only experienced Demigods led by a Council-Candidate, the only constants of this team is that they went where no one else wanted to go, and that each member of the team had lesser known Godly Parents, or ones that were not really combat worthy.


    Team Epsilon lived to prove that any Demigod could be dangerous. Last Charlie checked, a member of their group was a son of Dionysus of all people.


    God of Wine and Parties, and his son willingly runs at Gods to beat them up.


    Again, Epsilon was full of abnormal Demigods, no matter how logical their leader thought he was.


    There was also the superstition that talking about team Epsilon for too long would summon a member of said team, but that was clearly nonsense.


    At least, it was nonsense until Rose could prove that the leader of team Epsilon put a curse on the team itself to be where they are mentioned.


    ¡°Okay, skipping that we have team Foxtrot, who are a few hours away from fighting Ogoun, the Vodou God of Politics, War, Fire, Iron and Hunting¡­¡± Mary looked squarely at Charlie for a moment while said person scoffed.


    He wasn¡¯t going to be fighting that God. Charlie might seem like a counter to at least two of the God¡¯s Principles, Charlie really wasn¡¯t.


    Under the correct conditions, Charlie could fight at an equal strength to Shane Bismarck, but more commonly he was not Council-level, he was honest enough to admit it.


    A God with the opposite affinities was not ¡®correct conditions¡¯ when it came to what Charlie could do.


    Besides, Foxtrot was an adaptable team, possessing as many different Principles as possible and usually being led by Nikita Quartz, or if she was unavailable, then someone at that Council-Candidate level.


    Not strong enough to actually be in the Council, but strong enough to have been considered for the Council, some even were on the Council before the current iteration.


    Epsilon¡¯s leader was one of the latter.


    ¡°Charlie, someday, I will get you to fight seriously.¡± Charlie pointedly pretended that Rose did not exist, not wanting to entertain the idea of being a Council-member¡­If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Being a team leader was already annoying, leading the entirety of Aegis seemed like too much¡­


    The only reason Edgar wasn¡¯t dying from the workload was because Agent Karma and Rose worked together to help out Edgar. Edgar led through his sheer strength.


    Edgar was the force that bound Aegis together, Charlie could admit to himself, even if Edgar currently looked like a homeless surfer dude.


    In all honesty, Charlie himself wouldn¡¯t have joined Aegis if it weren¡¯t for Edgar¡­ Edgar was a magnetic force when it came to other Demigods, randomly running into them, attracting them to his power, and the knowledge that regardless of what happened, Edgar could fix it.


    ¡°Damn, that was annoying me.¡± Again, regardless of Edgar¡¯s current appearance of scratching a bit of snot out of his nose, Edgar was powerful and¡­


    It was getting hard to defend the reputation of someone looking like Edgar though¡­ Charlie now understood why Karma gave up.


    ¡°Edgar. You are disgusting. Go wash your hands before I kill you.¡± Eh, at least Rose was still trying¡­ someone had to.


    After his hands were cleaned, and the three were once more seated, now with cups of coffee/tea in front of them, they began to talk about other things.


    ¡°So Edgar, I got a question for you¡­ You¡¯re the premier weapon expert of Aegis, and Rose is the magic expert. Rose already admitted that she was interested in helping out with team Charlie, what about you?¡± Edgar looked at Charlie, taking a moment to sip at his tea before placing the cup down.


    It was easy to forget that Edgar was French with how he dressed and his lack of an accent. One did not think of sloppy surfer when thinking of the French typically.


    ¡°I¡¯d have to see a few videos of your fights or training sessions, but I¡¯m sure I can pop in once in a while. Besides, each Council-member is required to teach other Demigods how to fight, the only exception being team leaders.¡± Charlie nodded to that, having forgotten that¡­


    He wasn¡¯t a team leader for a while, and he was never in the Council so Charlie wasn¡¯t aware of the requirement¡­ It did explain why Edgar was often found teaching.


    Well, if he wasn¡¯t hiding from Rose or Agent Karma, he was either teaching or being forced to do paperwork by the aforementioned two.


    ¡°Good¡­ because my team is admittedly a bit lost in regards to that. The only one I can teach properly is Ignus due to our similarities, the others I have to wing it.¡± Charlie would never admit his faults in front of his team, but he wasn¡¯t ignorant, especially of himself.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t a bad teacher Charlie, in case you forgot, it was you who taught me how to use a gun?¡± Edgar offered, and Charlie scoffed.


    ¡°Maybe I did, but here we are, a few decades later and you can match me in sharpshooting, and my God-parent actually has a Principle related to aiming.¡± Left unsaid was that Edgar knew exactly who Charlie¡¯s God-parent was, a side effect of his own powers.


    Edgar, after meeting someone, could say with ninety per cent accuracy who the Divine parent of someone was, even if he had never seen them fight¡­ of course, this only applied to Awakened Demigods though.


    Edgar just shrugged, inwardly complaining about Charlie¡¯s annoyances¡­ because Charlie was effectively crippling himself with his weaponry.


    Winter¡¯s Bane was indeed a Divine Weapon, much like Edgar¡¯s own, but unlike Edgar or even Jake Ignus¡­


    Charlie was turning an unsuitable weapon into a Divine Weapon.


    The sheer control over your power necessary to even attempt something like that was insane, Edgar would know given that he had trained himself to turn any weapon into a Divine Weapon, it was difficult to get it with even one.


    And Edgar was also well aware that he was an irregularity amongst the Demigods, but still. Charlie was the only other Demigod Edgar knew that was capable of converting an unsuitable weapon into a Divine Weapon like Winter¡¯s Bane.


    It¡¯s why Edgar didn¡¯t stop Rose from complaining about Charlie¡¯s lack of trying. Charlie actually was barely trying.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s because I have a large affinity for weaponry in general. But sure, who uses weapons in your team again? I know Jake does, as well as Derek¡­¡± Edgar considered, leaving Charlie to fill in the gaps.


    ¡°Mark will be getting training from Shane, no one can train a child of Hephaestus like their eldest brother can, so I¡¯m not even going to try too much there. As for Terri and Mary, Mary doesn¡¯t use weapons because in her draconic form her body is essentially one, and Terri might need to learn how to use a pair of daggers, just something to protect herself.¡± Charlie offered, and Edgar nodded in agreement.


    ¡°That makes sense. Okay, I¡¯ll be training Derek and Terri, as for Jake, we¡¯ll split his training. You teach him ranged weaponry, and I¡¯ll teach close.¡± Charlie blinked a bit¡­


    ¡°Wait, you actually want to teach Jake? What would you teach him exactly¡­ I need to know so I can account for it.¡± Charlie added after Edgar just raised an eyebrow in question.


    ¡°Whatever I can really, it¡¯ll depend on what Jake is good at. I really want to try and teach him swordsmanship though¡­¡± Charlie shuddered at that idea.


    As stated many a time, Edgar was the greatest weapon user in Aegis, no one was better than him in any weapon, though one may be his equal, no one was his better.


    Swords were a commonly used weapon by the Aegis Demigods, not really because of their power but because of how modern media has romanticized the sword as some all powerful weapon.


    It wasn¡¯t as amazing as they made it out to be, but a sword was a good weapon in the hands of a master.


    Edgar was the greatest master of the sword on Earth, so if he thought that Jake would do well learning to use a sword, then Jake¡¯s talent for swordsmanship must be high.


    ¡°That¡¯s a scary idea¡­ if he gets good enough with a sword he¡¯ll be an all-range fighter¡­ we honestly don¡¯t have a lot of those.¡± Charlie could be considered one to an extent¡­


    Any older Demigod would have learnt something to defend themselves at all ranges, it was part of their survival instinct¡­ and a bit of common sense.


    If you possess a weakness, you either get rid of the weakness, or make the weakness irrelevant.


    As an example of the first, a long range expert learns martial arts to defeat people who come in close.


    As an example of the latter, a long range expert gets so good no one can get close without dying.


    Demigods rarely if ever tried the latter, because their opponents were Gods. If they were battling a God of Archery using a bow, there was no way to win.


    So erasing your weakness was common sense to the group of Demigods.


    ¡°Yes, an all-range Demigod would be a nice addition to your team¡­ he¡¯d be the youngest too.¡± Edgar added, and Charlie acknowledged it with a nod.


    ¡°Well I was also intending to teach him magic, but I also doubt he¡¯d have the patience for most branches of magic beyond Divination and Pyromancy.¡± Rose considered, and Charlie really had to stop and consider¡­


    Jake really could be a Favoured. With the first and second strongest Demigods both wanting to train him in their greatest skills, the boy was extremely lucky.


    There was a sudden knock on the door, though no one in the room was surprised given their abilities to detect the presence of others was extreme.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Edgar called out, and in walked Agent Karma, and following behind him-


    ¡°Hello Edgar, Rose, Charlie.¡± The yawning monotone voice of Shane Bismarck, fourth seat of the Council spoke out as he shuffled into the room.


    Charlie, regardless of his cowboy-thug looks, enjoyed cartoons, anime too. The closest similarity to a character from an anime Shane had was L from Death Note.


    ¡°Hey Shane, you¡¯re finally here¡­ what were you doing for the past month?¡± Charlie asked, having called Shane more than a month ago to come help train Mark.


    Sitting down on a chair, stretching out his limbs much like a cat, the eldest Demigod of Aegis ran a hand through his own dusty red hair with a sigh.


    ¡°I only got the message today¡­ I was busy creating a new weapon for myself inside my workshop for the past month¡­ I took a break today and happened to see the message.¡± Charlie just chuckled, accepting the explanation at face value.


    Shane was someone who only looked lazy because he was a workaholic at all other times. Shane liked creating things like the common man liked breathing.


    ¡°Let me guess, you watched some new anime and got some inspiration from there¡­ someday you¡¯ll get sued by some animation company.¡± Charlie warned, only slightly joking.


    They¡¯d never sue Shane when he got their anime even more buyers by being an unintentional advertisement¡­ heck, on occasion he even modified anything he built based on an anime, and then a month or two later that modification would be included in the actual anime.


    ¡°I was just busy making my own Optimus Prime. I always wanted a Transformer.¡± Charlie, very, very carefully¡­ dropped his jaw.


    Edgar and Rose were both surprised as well, though Rose didn¡¯t really watch cartoons like the three men in the room.


    She liked her drama.


    ¡°¡­You made an actual Transformer like Optimus Prime? Just one, right?¡± Charlie had worried this day would come¡­


    Ever since he and Shane saw Pacific Rim, he knew it would happen eventually, he just didn¡¯t expect that day to be so soon.


    They watched Pacific Rim about six months ago.


    ¡°Yeah, quantity is nice, but I like creating unique existences from time to time. And besides¡­ I didn¡¯t have enough money to buy the materials for a Jaeger.¡± Everyone in the room, including Agent Karma, palmed their faces with a sigh.


    ¡°Oh¡­ if only everyone knew how you really were¡­¡± Charlie mumbled, looking at the confused face of Shane.


    He didn¡¯t even realize where he went wrong with actually building a giant robot.


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ we all expected this to happen someday, let¡¯s work with it. Is the robot autonomous?¡± Rose asked, looking to Shane in question.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t work with A.I that often. Besides, Energon is not a real substance so I needed an alternative power source. In this case, I decided to use the ambient magic of a Demigod.¡± Rose in particular had widened eyes here.


    ¡°You managed to harness the ambient magic around a Demigod? So these suits wouldn¡¯t work if we put, say, Agent Karma in them?¡± this was a deceptively important question.


    ¡°No, humans just don¡¯t have enough magic in them, even if they were arch-mage level like the Agent. To better explain, the magic of a Demigod is the base requirement.¡± Shane¡¯s explanation drew sighs of relief from all over the room.


    Aegis was an organization built by and for Demigods, with only communications assistance from the U.N. There were rules that Aegis had to abide by though.


    If a Demigod is involved in the situation, it¡¯s Aegis¡¯ problem. If a God is involved, it¡¯s Aegis¡¯ problem. If the supernatural is involved, it¡¯s Aegis¡¯ problem.


    For every problem they solve, Aegis is paid.


    Those are just some of the ¡®rules¡¯ put simply, another one is that Aegis would create no weapons of mass destruction, or if Aegis does create something like that, it must not be useable by base humans.


    This was to ensure that no Demigod would create weapons for a country and give that country power to go to war.


    Basic things like swords, spears, those were fine, they could even sell them to weapon collectors, but things like a giant robot which was most likely capable of destroying a city given time?


    Oh that was not okay¡­ luckily, it could only be used by Demigods, keeping in line with the rule.


    ¡°Okay, so, giant robot¡­ Shane, what are the drawbacks?¡± Edgar asked, interested in this creation.


    ¡°Well, as I said, it draws on the ambient magic of a Demigod. That ambient magic is one of the key reasons why we aren¡¯t affected by physics like base humans, so your body will be weaker inside the robot. Also, teleportation magic doesn¡¯t work on it, so you¡¯d either need to have it waiting at the battlefield, or have a storage dimension as large as mine.¡±


    Those were large drawbacks, workable drawbacks in the sense that Shane pretty much admitted that no Demigod could carry these robots around.


    Shane had the highest storage capacity of all Demigods, and that included even Edgar and Rose, a side-effect of Shane continuously expanding the size of his magic over a thousand or so years.


    Sometimes it was easy to forget that Shane was a literal millennial, and then you¡¯d be reminded of the odd disturbances such as his storage space.


    ¡°Does the abilities of the user affect the robot?¡± Rose asked, drawing Shane back into consideration of the ¡®ambient magic¡¯ part of the robot¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°Well obviously the robot is affected by the abilities of the user, but I have the feeling you were talking more about the magical side than the physical side.¡± Shane said, waving his arm as a page fell into his hand as he began to draw a bit on it.


    ¡°The physical aspect is muscle memory to an extent, if the user can do something, the robot can do the same thing on a much larger scale, such as flips and fighting styles. When it comes to magic, it is possible to supercharge the robot into being more durable and faster depending on your ambient magic.¡± Shane said, lifting the page to show the page divided in two.


    On one half showed the name Edgar, the other the name Rose.


    Beneath the names were ¡®advantages and disadvantages¡¯ of the following people using the robot.


    Amongst the list was that Edgar had a really small amount of ambient magic compared to other Demigods due to constantly using his magic on boosting his physical abilities, but the robot would have all of Edgar¡¯s skills with weaponry.


    For Rose, she had a large amount of ambient magic so the robot would be extremely durable and strong, but due to how the robot worked, Rose wouldn¡¯t be able to use magic, her major skill.


    ¡°Any weapons for it?¡± Charlie asked, feeling as if he was being dropped out of the conversation at this point¡­


    Karma just kept quiet, not willing to get Shane to think about a robot for base humans.


    ¡°It generates a weapon for the user. If you got in, it might give you a gun, if I got in, I¡¯d get a sword, if Samuel got in he¡¯d get gauntlets or something.¡± Shane added as the conversation began to pick up pace.


    After almost a solid hour of talking about the robot, Charlie finally had to leave, but not before he brought the topic of conversations back to his team.


    ¡°Okay, so between the four of us, we¡¯ll be teaching team Charlie?¡± Charlie asked, noting that if they had another trainer they could each sit with one student.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be teaching my younger brother, he has yet to choose a specialty or master crafting.¡± Shane admitted, always willing to help his younger brothers and sisters, as long as they didn¡¯t disturb him from his focus too much.


    One did not disturb Leonardo as he painted the Mona Lisa did they?


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle Mary and Terri, those two would benefit from some magic¡­ especially the former¡­¡± Rose cracked her fingers with an evil smile¡­


    Rose actually enjoyed teaching, and was a good one, but Mary had a way of bringing out the bad in her.


    ¡°That leaves me to work with Derek and Charlie to work with Jake¡­ though I also want to train Jake, it can be done after he has his specialty.¡± As interested as Edgar was in Jake, he was also aware that it would be pointless to overload the younger Demigod with information.


    Being a one-trick pony was bad, but being a jack of all trades, master of none was a good way to die when fighting Gods.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll keep training our current people, and if necessary rotate¡­ for example, Shane I think your fighting style would be suitable for Terri and Jake.¡± Charlie added, making Shane shrug.


    ¡°I might teach them, I might not, who knows what will end up happening.¡± Shane had a ¡®come as it will¡¯ attitude in regards to long term planning¡­


    It irritated Rose and Karma, but they just sighed in acceptance of the fourth strongest (known) being on the planet.


    ¡°It would be interesting though¡­ having an archer with your fighting style.¡± Charlie added, and Shane actually considered the idea, having been ignoring the fighting style of Jake¡­


    ¡°That would be weirdly cool¡­ but like you said, he¡¯s not an archer yet, at least, he¡¯s not a Demigod archer.¡± Shane shut down the idea before it could take off, not willing to read too much into it.


    Edgar was hiding his smirk from the others even as they finalized everything¡­


    ¡®Depending on how he reacts to the lessons, we¡¯d be making someone capable of fighting at all ranges and much more¡­ fire, divination, poison and medicine¡­¡¯ Edgar thought to himself as he signalled Karma who nodded.


    ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll send the messages to team Charlie. Their schooling will be turned into lesson packets and they¡¯ll be given the usual school hours for training.¡± Agent Karma arranged everything, tapping away on his little messenger.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling a bit sorry for those kids all of a sudden. I must be going soft.¡± Charlie joked as the four Demigods laughed¡­


    Karma, watching the meeting could only agree¡­ those Demigods were soon going to learn the difference between Century Demigods and Modern Demigods.


    ¡°Poor kids¡­ their fight against Python was simple¡­¡± Karma could only hope that those children learnt that their battle was only a taste of the wider world they lived in¡­


    And if they were to be trained by some of the strongest Demigods in existence, then unfortunately, they were getting tossed into the deep end immediately after learning how to swim, so to speak.


    Eh, they¡¯d survive.

 Chapter 8- The theory of Power

    Jake and the other members of team Charlie felt fear, true fear as they looked in front of them, lined up as they were.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look so worried, we¡¯re not aiming to hurt you but to train you.¡± The words of Charlie sounded calming, if it weren¡¯t for that grin on his face belying his true intentions.


    ¡°Exactly, you should all be honoured that you get to be trained by some of the strongest Demigods in Aegis¡­¡± Edgar¡¯s smile was bright and happy, but in such a suspicious way that no one could bring themselves to trust it.


    ¡°And even if you were to get hurt in training we know quite a few healing spells after all.¡± Rose didn¡¯t even bother hiding her thoughts as her hands kept forming into an approximation of Mary¡¯s throat... squeezing slowly.


    ¡°Anyway, you will be training with us until otherwise stated. Mark, come with me.¡± Shane Bismarck, son of Hephaestus called over his younger brother, who followed.


    Shane was arguably the worst of the four Demigods training team Charlie, as mentioned, Shane was a workaholic despite his appearance.


    Everyone moved over to their teachers for their current iteration of training, Derek moving towards Edgar, Mary being dragged by Terri towards Rose as Charlie walked away with Jake.


    ¡°Uh, this doesn¡¯t change much, does it sir?¡± Jake asked, not willing to speak casually during training¡­ especially when anything he did might get Charlie to up the training.


    ¡°For you and I, not really, given that I was always training you, the difference is that we got more time to train and I can afford to go more in depth now.¡± Charlie said, looking across the large empty space he was given.


    Well, it was still property of Aegis, but that didn¡¯t matter to Charlie really.


    ¡°For one, I¡¯m going to tell you a few things that should really boost your abilities as a long-ranged fighter. Firstly, your new bow was completed a few days ago, here it is.¡± Charlie snapped his fingers (a mental activation for his magic apparently, though when forced he could do magic without snapping his fingers) and a hole appeared in space.


    Reaching in, Charlie removed a bow that looked just like Solaris Ignus did when Jake turned a normal bow into it¡­


    ¡°The shape helps stabilize the divinity, think of Solaris Ignus as a square, and normal bows are circles. There¡¯s going to be some damage forcing that square into the circle, but if we change the circle into a square¡­¡± Charlie¡¯s explanation did explain a bit about how shape actually helped.


    Winter¡¯s Bane had the engravings on it before it transformed, they were just difficult to see until Charlie turned it into a Divine Weapon.


    ¡°Not just appearances, but also the creator has a role in it. The bow looks like Solaris Ignus, and was created by a Demigod, someone who holds Divinity, making it a better vessel for the Divine.¡± Charlie smirked, and Jake understood why Demigods only used weapons made by other Demigods.


    When Demigods created something, they automatically made said things attuned for other Demigods, even if said Demigod wasn¡¯t capable of creating Divine Weaponry, such as Derek or Mary whose parents weren¡¯t focused around a specific weapon type.


    Derek did have an affinity for all weapons, but because of that he had no Divine Weapon, instead getting a flat boost to all weaponry when he used them.


    A sword capable of cutting through trees would now be capable of cutting through concrete in his hands, all without dulling, for example.


    Demigods creating things for other Demigods also explained why Demigods could fight in what looked like casual clothes, with their ambient mana enhancing them, their clothes would be bullet proof at worst.


    And that defence would only increase if it was another Demigod that made those clothes¡­


    ¡°Now that you have a good weapon, let¡¯s talk about your training.¡± Charlie said, sitting down on the grass, Jake taking a seat across from him.


    ¡°For an archer, there are quite a few important things you need to consider. Stance, or stability, power, which is determined by your draw, and speed, determined by how fast you can notch another arrow.¡± This was an abridged course but Jake nodded in agreement.


    ¡°This is for normal archers, but as a Demigod, we do practical combat. You cannot afford to stand still unless you have suddenly gained invulnerability or your team is completely locking down the God in place, highly unlikely.¡± Jake nodded in understanding.


    When they fought Python, Jake dealt the most damage, but had he stood still he probably would have died.


    It was like hunting sharks from a shark cage. It¡¯s safe, but things can go wrong.


    ¡°Other than movement, you also need to attack from a longer distance than you are comfortable with, and there are often cases for Demigods where they need to hit the enemy even if the attack isn¡¯t a clean one.¡± Another thing Jake appreciated, getting a nod from Charlie.


    Charlie could have said all these things before the fight against Python, but the thing is that Jake might not have appreciated the advice until he realized how said advice was necessary.


    It was a case of the student not believing the teacher until the student got a bit further on his own.


    ¡°So for our training, we¡¯ll be training moving, but maintaining the ability to fire an arrow, as well as being able to hit a target no matter the situation.¡± Charlie said, getting a nod from Jake¡­


    Jake would soon wish he never agreed so easily, as Charlie snapped his fingers.


    Snapping his fingers, Charlie created a wall of ice surrounding them, and then different targets of ice beyond the wall.


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re going to be attacking me while I do it, huh?¡± Jake asked nervously, only now noticing the growing smirk on Charlie¡¯s face.


    ¡°Of course¡­ Demigods grow stronger the closer they are to death after all¡­¡± Charlie¡¯s ominous words, along with his revolver becoming Winter¡¯s Bane, signalled the start of training.


    Forward one hour, and Jake was breathing heavily, which was saying something, because since becoming a Demigod Jake had never found himself getting tired from exercising¡­ the only time seemed to be when he was being trained by Charlie¡­


    ¡°Come on kid, we¡¯re doing this for a few weeks, or until another God attacks, whichever comes first.¡± Charlie was not joking, a team that survived an encounter with a God was given longer training times.


    As for school work, that would be done later in bulk. Killing Gods in the defence of humanity was more important than homework, regardless of what mister Rook said.


    Mister Rook was a dirty liar, regardless of his child-like form.


    ¡°Listen, Jake, I know I¡¯m trying to viciously kill you in the guise of training, but you could at least work a little harder.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were spoken in joking¡­ Jake wasn¡¯t sure what the joke was given that Jake thought his limbs would freeze off multiple times.


    The training was actually helpful, beyond getting Jake into the mind set of ¡®everything is trying to kill me, maybe by freezing¡¯ in that Jake was seeing how a veteran Demigod used a Divine Weapon.


    Winter¡¯s Bane was a revolver and pretty different from Jakes own Solaris Ignus Bow, but it was still a ranged weapon and Jake could pick up some tricks from Charlie¡¯s use of it.


    For instance, Winter¡¯s Bane was a perfect conductor for Charlie¡¯s magic apparently, given that Charlie could activate magic in areas simply by pointing the barrel of the revolver in the general direction of his target.


    Concentrated blasts were like bullets though, and he¡¯d have to properly aim for that.


    Given that Charlie could shoot the wings off of a fly at a mile out, without hurting said fly beyond that, Jake was pretty sure that Charlie could casually aim and kill many.


    Luckily Charlie was a good Demigod, right?


    ¡°Ah¡­ this reminds me of when I used to rob trains back in the West¡­ good times.¡± Charlie was psychic, he had to be¡­ he also had to be sadistic.


    ¡°All truths aside, compare the advantages of your bow compared to my revolver.¡± Charlie gestured to the icy-blue magical revolver.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same with all firearms really. Firearms, unless fired over extremely large distances, all move in a straight line. Bows on the other hand hold the advantage of having an adjustable level of force.¡± Charlie then pointed towards one of the targets which was slightly melted from one of Jake¡¯s arrows.


    ¡°Guns do not have adjustable force, though they in general have greater force than arrows¡­¡± Charlie looked to the gun with a sigh before looking back to Jake.


    ¡°With Demigods, it¡¯s different though. Demigods do not entirely have to obey the laws of physics due to our ambient magic. As such, a Demigod can fire an arrow just as far as a bullet flies, and even further when they are strong enough.¡± Charlie sighed as he could already see the question in Jake¡¯s eyes.


    ¡®If that is the case, why do you not use a bow?¡¯ Charlie had no doubt that Jake was considering that, but Charlie had his reasons¡­


    Reasons which no one was privy to, and Charlie doubted that he¡¯d randomly blurt it out to the younger Demigod.


    ¡°Other than the advantages of the weapon itself, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve picked up a bit about Divine Weapon usage. A key part which I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve figured out is that simply holding your weapon increases your strength.¡± Jake looked down to Solaris Ignus with wide eyes at that admittance.


    ¡°Trust me, when you become capable of tossing buildings with ease, the boost will be noticeable. And when you finally become capable of proper magic.¡± Charlie¡¯s eyes narrowed at that last sentence hinting to Jake how annoyed the older Demigod was at Jake¡¯s apparent lack of talent with magic.


    Oh he could do the raw manipulation Mary did¡­ but unlike Mary, Jake didn¡¯t have a Draconic Heart beating in his chest to make the transferal of mana easier.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Mary¡¯s talent for magic was immense, but¡­ she wasn¡¯t any good at understanding it.


    In the words of Rose: It¡¯s like giving a fighter jet to a four year old. They might be able to do something, but more likely than not they¡¯ll crash.


    Rose just barely managed to get Mary to the point of ¡®take off¡¯ so to speak.


    But, even with her horrendous ability with magic beyond instinct, Mary¡¯s sheer amount of mana would boost any spell she used to a huge extent.


    Jake didn¡¯t have that benefit, so he needed to start using structured spells.


    ¡°Sir, why don¡¯t you teach me magic?¡± Jake¡¯s question was valid, as Charlie could use magic quite well from what Jake could see¡­


    But that was just it. What he could see.


    ¡°Jake, as a son of Apollo, you possess a talent for divination, fire based magic and the subcategory of temperature magic. Given that Apollo is also related to medicine and plague, you could probably do a bit of healing and poisoning too.¡± Charlie explained, having stopped the spar to explain this important information.


    ¡°I can do none of those except maybe temperature magic, and I¡¯m horrible with it. My specialty is in magic related to stealth, ice, and to a certain extent trees.¡± Charlie was actually giving a minor hint to his Godly parent, but he knew Jake didn¡¯t know enough about mythology to guess.


    Charlie was also adamant that it should be called Demigod History instead of mythology given that it wasn¡¯t myth anymore, but no one agreed except Edgar.


    And while Edgar was strong, he wasn¡¯t exactly¡­ sane at times.


    ¡°I share no magic areas with you and so I¡¯d be a terrible teacher. At least Mary could use fire magic like you. In all honesty, we¡¯re waiting for Rose to finish training Mary and Terri before she trains you.¡± Jake noted Charlie¡¯s look of annoyance as he realized the names of the two rhymed.


    ¡°Oh, okay¡­ though, is it alright if you taught me a bit of the common knowledge about magic?¡± Jake asked, getting a sigh and nod from Charlie.


    No doubt Mary felt it unimportant the last time she tried to train Jake in magic.


    ¡°Okay, let me just remember a lecture by the little lady¡­ Magic is the invocation of miracles through energy we refer to as mana.¡± The start of the explanation was something out of a fantasy¡­


    It was everything Jake hoped it would sound like.


    ¡°Mana is something generated by existing, everything in the world possesses mana to some extent, from the smallest pebbles to the air we breathe.¡± Charlie gestured to a small pebble before continuing his explanation.


    ¡°Magic, is what occurs when something beyond the natural occurs at the willing of an intelligent being controlling their mana, subconsciously or not.¡± It was a bit confusing when Charlie said it, but Jake got the gist of it.


    ¡°Magic is split into quite a few groups, but the largest ones are Ritual, Formal, Structured, and Free, each one opposing another.¡± Charlie snapped his fingers, and a circle divided into four quadrants appeared made of ice.


    ¡°The only one you can currently use is Free Magic, it is the raw manipulation of mana into phenomenon, it¡¯s a method all magic users are taught, but it is honestly only an entry level group of magic¡­ for us at least.¡± Charlie created a block to fill one quadrant.


    ¡°For Gods, they possess enormous amounts of mana due to their divinity, and for them, Free Magic is actually the standard. They don¡¯t need to use any of the other types because they can brute force mana into the results they want without feeling tired, where we Demigods would die from loss of mana.¡± Jake gulped at the knowledge that he knew the same magic type as Gods, and that they¡¯d always win him in that group.


    ¡°Next is Structured, the opposite of Free Magic. Structured Magic is what I suspect you¡¯ll be best at, as Structured Magic can alternatively be referred to as Physics Magic.¡± Jake smiled at the mention of the subject¡­ even if he spat at the laws of physics every day with his mere existence.


    ¡°Structured Magic is done through calculations and subtle application of mana to invoke phenomenon, essentially allowing you to get more effect for less mana.¡± Charlie¡¯s words made the group of magic sound brilliant.


    ¡°Structured Magic is however limited by, as you expect, Physics. With Free Magic you could create a fire that could stay lit underwater, but with Structured Magic that wouldn¡¯t work.¡± Jake understood the idea then, and why Structured Magic and Free Magic were considered opposites.


    One used imagination and raw power to actualize impossible feats.


    The other used calculation and precise control to actualize theoretically possible feats.


    ¡°Then, continuing with the explanation, is Ritual Magic. Ritual Magic is closer to Free Magic than Structured, but takes a bit from both.¡± Charlie explained as he snapped his fingers, creating a miniature room of ice sculptures.


    ¡°Ritual Magic is the melding of magic between one person and many others, creating a chain effect where the power of all participants of the ritual would multiply to enact an effect on reality.¡± The ice sculptures began to move slightly, looking like they were praying.


    ¡°The drawback to Ritual Magic is that everyone involved must trust each other, and should a mistake occur something nasty would occur.¡± For example, one of the ice sculptures turned into a frog.


    ¡°The fourth and final grouping of magic would be Formal Magic. This, as the opposite of Ritual Magic, is closer to Structured Magic than Free Magic, but like Ritual Magic takes bit of both.¡± Charlie said, closing the circle of ice and having the word ¡®magic¡¯ engraved in it.


    ¡°Formal Magic differs from Ritual Magic in the sense that it is essentially a Ritual done by one person with the assistance of ambient mana floating around the earth.¡± The previous room of ice sculptures was replaced by one ice sculpture in front of a circle.


    ¡°Another key difference is that Ritual Magic focuses on enacting instant effects, while Formal Magic works best for long lasting things.¡± Charlie said, showing two different sculptures, one where a man made a fire (still made of ice by the way) and the other having a group of people make a small explosion.


    The fire continued, the explosion did not of course.


    ¡°These are the four general groups we use, though you should also consider how to bypass certain things.¡± Charlie¡¯s smirk was the kind one saw on children before they got into trouble as he held up his hand.


    On his hand, a flame appeared, surprising Jake, mostly because the flame was icy blue, and instead of emitting heat, the flame absorbed it.


    ¡°Would you say this is Free Magic or Structured Magic?¡± Charlie asked Jake with that same grin on his face as Jake narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Well, from your explanation, I¡¯d say Free Magic¡­ but your expression says that it can¡¯t be that simple, so I say Structured.¡± Jake answered getting only a widening of the smirk.


    ¡°The answer is both.¡± Jake blinked at that, a frown coming over his face at being wrong.


    ¡°Just because the branches of magic are considered opposites does not mean they cannot be mixed, they aren¡¯t mutually exclusive existences.¡± Charlie began to ¡®juggle¡¯ the flame as more began to appear.


    ¡°You see, the ice flame has the same basis as a flame, consuming fuel to emit a temperature. That is the Structured part of the magic. But, by adding a bit of Free Magic to the mix, I change the fuel from ¡®mana¡¯ to ¡®heat¡¯ and instead of emitting heat, it emits cold.¡± Charlie¡¯s explanation had wide eyes from Jake.


    ¡°Wait, then would it be possible to create a flame that emitted mana instead of temperature?¡± Jake¡¯s question would be valid, but Charlie¡¯s raised eyebrow denounced it.


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re thinking of making a nigh eternal power source, but you also need to consider that temperature isn¡¯t permanent, for this place to get hot, the heat must come from somewhere, that¡¯s one of Newton¡¯s Laws remember?¡± Indeed, Jake did, Energy cannot be destroyed or created, only distributed.


    ¡°But¡­ don¡¯t we deny the laws of physics in some ways?¡± Jake asked, thinking back to seeing Rose Cora lifting a bed from one of its legs.


    ¡°Not necessarily, we ¡®deny¡¯ those laws because of our ambient mana. You see, the amount of mana a thing possesses is determined by its weight of existence, though that could be changed in some ways.¡± Charlie clearly knew a few ways given by his thoughtful appearance.


    ¡°Now take a rock. It¡¯s not important right, so you¡¯d say it has little mana. Now take a rock they threw at Christ when he walked to be crucified, wouldn¡¯t the latter possess more ¡®weight¡¯ to its existence?¡± Indeed, when one looked at it like that, it made a bit more sense.


    ¡°Now the ¡®weightiest¡¯ things in existence are Divinity and Earth itself.¡± Charlie explained, and Jake blinked at the heavy subjects.


    ¡°The two existences who benefit most from those things are Gods and Dragons respectively, with Gods possessing Divinity and Dragons being granted Mana by the Earth.¡± Charlie¡¯s words harkened back to talk of Mary being part-dragon.


    ¡°Divinity is the result of all of humanity believing in something, in hoping. Granted, back when there were less humans it was easier to gain Divinity, but now in the modern era of about six to seven billion humans, it¡¯s much more difficult.¡± Charlie¡¯s words were said with a tired sigh.


    ¡°Anyway, Divinity grants a huge amount of importance to your existence, granting you a larger mana pool. Now we started this talk about magic and then moved to physics, now let¡¯s move back to magic. Magic, for all of its mysticism, is a type of physics on its own.¡± Jake blinked in confusion at this, getting a groan from Charlie.


    ¡°The strange things we Demigods do, such as running past the sound barrier without our bones breaking or actually causing damaging sonic booms, are possible because our existence is allowed such advantages due to the weight of our existence. Basically, us picking up that house is more important than the fact that house should be breaking and we should be falling over.¡± It was strange, but Jake was starting to get the idea.


    ¡°Wait¡­ so you¡¯re saying that existence is like a corrupt justice system? A normal person tries to lift a heavy object from its corner, he feels more weight and tips over, but when we do it, physics gives us a pass because we¡¯re more important?¡± Jake¡¯s analogy actually got a laugh from Charlie.


    ¡°You¡¯re the second person I¡¯ve met to say that, the first being the little lady. Rose had the same complaints, saying that being good at magic is just being good at playing the system.¡±


    Jake dropped his jaw at that, the foremost expert at magic actually said that about magic itself?


    ¡°Ahem, where were we¡­ oh yeah, denying the laws of physics is something we do because we have that kind of clout. But a spell used like you suggested would no longer be connected to us after we left it alone. Meaning it would be subject to physics once more, and it would begin to take heat from all over the world.¡± Jake paled as he realized what he just suggested.


    ¡°Sure, some people might appreciate it, what with global warming, but if the spell wasn¡¯t stopped fast enough you¡¯d launch the world in a never ending winter.¡± Jake was glad he asked these things before he even considered doing such magic¡­ or was capable of such things.


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t do that, got it¡­ but what about what sir mentioned, increasing mana capacity?¡± Jake got a nod from Charlie at the question, showing that Charlie was hoping that Jake would actually think about it.


    ¡°Increasing mana capacity is done through many ways, but the most important one is typically experiences.¡± Charlie gestured between himself and Jake.


    ¡°Think about the life we¡¯ve both lived up until this moment. For one, I¡¯m older than three hundred years whereas you aren¡¯t even into your twenties. When it comes to the amount of experiences we¡¯ve had, I win.¡± Charlie said, and Jake began to understand why it was said that ¡®older Demigods always win¡¯.


    ¡°Other than the ¡®amount¡¯ of experiences, the importance of said experiences is another thing to take into consideration. If you and I arm-wrestle right now and it is considered as an experience, you¡¯d earn more mana than I would because of the different meaning of the moment.¡± Charlie said, gesturing to his arm.


    One small crater and sore wrist later, Charlie continued his explanation, ignoring the pain Jake was going through.


    ¡°See, to me, I just ¡®defeated someone I am fifteen times older than in a game that means nothing to me¡¯. It¡¯s a light experience. To you however, it¡¯s ¡®I lost to a Century Demigod, one of the strongest beings in the planet, in a contest of strength¡¯. Which sounds much more important right?¡± Jake got the idea, even though he still felt the pain.


    ¡°The importance of an experience is what can help bridge the gap between Demigods of vastly different ages, take Edgar for example, he has fought and defeated the most Gods out of anyone in Aegis, and the weight of his existence is so high that he is stronger than an Ancient Demigod like Shane.¡± Charlie reminded Jake about the strongest Demigod.


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ is it the same for Rose and the third ranked, mister Samuel?¡± Jake¡¯s question was met with a nod by Charlie.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ listen Jake, Demigods are innately very magical, we have huge supplies of mana and said mana only serves to increase our physical abilities and allow us to use magic. The more mana you have, the stronger you are, though control and skill with mana is a factor.¡± Charlie said, raising a fist and tapping the ground.


    Rolling a bit due to the sudden shaking, Jake stared at the Century Demigod with fear at what just happened.


    ¡°Think about it. The strong people of this world all have had amazing experiences defining them to their current levels. You can also become one, but it will take many rich experiences before your mana comes close to mine, let alone a Council-members.¡± Charlie warned, seeing both caution and excitement in Jake¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I understand sir¡­ last question before we continue sir, but these ¡®experiences¡¯ do they also explain why Demigods get stronger faster after fighting?¡± Jake¡¯s question got a nod from Charlie.


    Charlie wasn¡¯t going to be explaining the mechanics of it, Jake could see the reluctance, and that was fine, because Jake had an idea on his own already, that the increase in growth was actually the increase in mana and the ¡®growth¡¯ was the body acclimatizing to the increase in mana.


    Charlie was glad he didn¡¯t have to mention ¡®Chosen¡¯. While it was still unconfirmed whether or not Jake was a Chosen, if he really was one, Charlie was sure that Jake would be powerful¡­


    Chosen are those who live very interesting lives, and growing in power would follow obviously¡­ Jake wasn¡¯t strong.


    Yet.


    On a related note, the other Demigods of team Charlie were all looking like soulless husks after their training, and their trainers were just softly chuckling to themselves.


    Team Charlie would be interesting¡­

 Chapter 9- Down time

    ¡°Ah¡­ school¡­ why do we still do this?¡± Jake chuckled at Derek¡¯s question while they walked to their class¡­


    It was a valid question, as it had been a whole month since they had their training with their tutors, and the day before was the last day of their training until they got enough merit to get more training.


    Really. There were groups of Demigods waiting for training from someone on the level of Edgar or Rose, and unless they were willing to wait months for a chance, they had to do something making the other Demigods think ¡®hey, those guys deserve training¡¯.


    Despite the pain it brought, it was a reward, as Derek was quite certain of.


    ¡°Man, Mister Yule is strong¡­ sometimes he¡¯d move so fast I couldn¡¯t see anything, and then other times he¡¯d move slowly but still keep me from hurting him¡­¡± Derek complained while at the same time talking about how amazing the strongest Demigod was.


    As a side note, ever since his training with Edgar, Derek had become incapable of referring to the man by his first name as he used to¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s a weapon expert isn¡¯t he? What did he fight you with?¡± Jake asked, curious as to the situation Derek was in.


    During the month of training they were too tired to even talk to each other, and there was a period of time where they had to train even through sleeping times.


    According to Charlie it was because you couldn¡¯t decide when you¡¯d fight a God, let alone claim to be fully rested before the next fight.


    That sounded like nonsense given that they usually had a week notice before the God appeared, but cases like Jake¡¯s one with Huitzilopochtli could and would occur.


    Just because there was a ninety nine per cent chance of rest, that didn¡¯t make it a definite.


    But as said, they didn¡¯t have much time to even see the other during their training, let alone talk.


    ¡°Ah, he used a spear like mine¡­ it¡¯s eye opening see someone use the same weapon as you to do much greater things. I saw him uproot a tree by swinging the spear from a few feet away.¡± That was definitely surprising to see¡­


    Any Demigod could do such eventually, especially when Jake recalled his lesson on Mana being ¡®Authority given by the Universe¡¯ and such.


    It was one thing to know something and another to see it.


    Even Jake felt he could uproot a tree if given enough time, but using the air pressure of swinging something to blow a tree away sounded extreme.


    Then again, that was what their teachers were. All of them were powerful to absurd lengths, and that was the norm when it came to Council Members and Team Leaders.


    ¡°The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.¡± Jake said absently as they stepped into mister Rook¡¯s classroom, already used to the childish figure of their homeroom teacher, despite not being in class all that often.


    They saw him often enough when he came to drop off lesson packages for Jake and Derek¡­


    ¡°You know we haven¡¯t had much time to hang out¡­ sorry about that bro.¡± Derek said, looking at Jake with an apologetic glance, thinking about the past month of training.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s cool man. We were both busy, it¡¯s all chill.¡± Inwardly Jake winced at his own speech, but it was an ingrained response by now.


    Jake quite enjoyed poetry and was an excellent English student, even able to switch up his accent at the drop of a hat, but he subconsciously favoured a French accent, with a hint of British.


    However, that would be weird, considering he was in America and no one in his household had a French accent despite his father being British.


    He was starting to wonder if that was another thing caused by being the child of a God like Apollo.


    Long story short though, his ¡®skater-boy¡¯ accent was played, it wasn¡¯t how he naturally spoke. Derek, friend as he was, already knew this, and Jake admitted that he disliked it.


    Derek just shrugged and accepted it, he understood changing yourself to fit into the surroundings, it was a human thing to do anyway, it was normal.


    ¡°But hey, we going to go hang out with Terri and Mark or are we going to go to the cafeteria?¡± Derek asked, rolling his eyes at Jake¡¯s wince, his question snapping Jake out of his wondering.


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s go hang out with Terri and Mark, we can complain about our teachers together.¡± Jake chuckled and Derek raised a thumb in agreement as the bell rang¡­


    Class was in session, silence was now golden.


    Breaking that rule would get them cursed in some manner by their vertically challenged teacher.


    And after dodging a piece of chalk, Jake became certain that mister Rook knew when people thought of him.


    A few hours of classes later, break time happened and four of the six members of team Charlie were on one of the roofs of Alexandria.


    The term ¡®one of¡¯ was used because Demigods all had a strange obsession with high places, and one roof wasn¡¯t large or private enough for the groups of Demigods attending.


    ¡°Miss Rose says it¡¯s because Demigods subconsciously want to be closer to ¡®heaven¡¯ which is associated with the sky and the divine. Mister Edgar says it¡¯s because all Demigods are main characters.¡± Mark said with a shrug, getting laughs from the rest as they sat eating their lunches.


    ¡°There are a lot of weird things about Demigods huh? Did any of you get that lecture on mana and why we Demigods are so powerful?¡± Jakes question got shakes of the head.


    ¡°To sum it up, the strength of any being is determined by an intangible value, a type of authority based on your existence.¡± It was a complicated thing to discuss in detail, and the other three Demigods got the idea to varying extents.


    ¡°Oh, wait, I heard something like this from my brother, he was apparently the one to research it and explain it to the other Demigods.¡± Mark mentioned his elder brother as he took a lecturing pose, finger pointed at the sky.


    ¡°As Jake mentioned, Authority is the power universal, and Authority is determined by your very existence.¡± This got odd looks from Derek and Terri who looked to each other, and then to their two smarter friends.


    ¡°It sums up everything, gender, age, race, what experiences you went through, achievements, and more, and the cumulative Authority would be your power.¡± Jake explained as Derek and Terri nodded.


    ¡°Oh¡­ well that¡¯s weird¡­ miss Rose mentioned something similar, but she didn¡¯t really go into detail.¡± Terri added as Derek nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Mister Yule too¡­ he told me that regardless of my strength, my skill also had to improve.¡± Derek said, getting a nod from Terri as her eyes widened.


    ¡°Same thing, except involving magic! Miss Rose said that magically, mister Edgar was actually stronger, but miss Rose was the stronger magic user¡­¡± Terri seemed confused by her own words as Jake tried to unravel the meaning.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it that Authority is kind of ¡®what you can do¡¯ but that doesn¡¯t necessarily say ¡®what you know how to do¡¯.¡± Jake felt that talking about abstracts was really difficult, but this topic was only semi-abstract given that it had actual effects.


    ¡°Oh, let me try, it¡¯s like mister Yule has a single All-Rounder Star Player, and miss Rose has an entire team of slightly weaker players?¡± Derek¡¯s sports analogy actually explained it really well, and Jake once more appreciated that Derek was smarter than his jock appearance belied.


    ¡°Yeah. That player can probably beat any single player on the other team, maybe even two on one, but against the whole team, he can¡¯t win.¡± Jake agreed, getting odd looks from Mark and Terri¡­


    More proof that Jake and Derek were really fast friends, with how easily they understood the other.


    ¡°So mister Yule has much more strength, but can¡¯t do as much as miss Rose because he knows less or something like that¡­¡± Derek paused, hitting his palm with his fist.


    ¡°So Authority is like potential, but if you don¡¯t use your potential, it¡¯s wasted, and miss Rose is using her magical potential better than mister Yule.¡± Derek summed up, getting wide eyed stares from Terri and Mark.


    Their lunch was over soon after, with Derek and Jake switching their complicated conversation topic over to sports such as American Football and skating.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, American Football¡¯s armour allows for more extreme plays, penalized they may be.¡± Jake said, referencing a video of a football player using another player¡¯s head as a springboard to jump higher.


    A play that would almost certainly be penalized, but no one would dare do such a thing in Rugby given that they didn¡¯t have helmets, only padded guards.


    Derek still said that American Football was better, and Jake would argue that Rugby was better and more technical. It was an unending argument between the two, cycling arguments and whoever was close enough to listen had already gotten used to their talks.


    It was one of those arguments friends had with each other.


    As they walked though, Mary¡¯s class was walking past, a small space kept around her as some girls fawned over her, making Mary¡¯s normally blank face seem narrowed in consternation.


    ¡°Feel sorry for her¡­ she isn¡¯t quite accepted around Demigods, and everyone else admires her for her high marks and good looks, smothering her.¡± Derek said knowingly.


    He was an observant one, and looking at the class pass, locking eyes with Mary for a moment to nod in greeting, Jake found himself agreeing with Derek.


    ¡°Hey, Derek, can we talk about why Mary is discriminated by Demigods?¡± Jake asked after a moment of thought, looking back to Derek only to be met with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, I know the whole Dragon thing is part of it, but¡­ why is that such a bad thing?¡± Jake¡¯s question was legitimate, and Derek palmed his face upon realizing that Jake was asking because Jake was new to being a Demigod, even if he was a confirmed one for over two months now.


    Even a year was short for some Demigods.


    ¡°Right, right, no one ever explained the relationship between Gods and Dragons to you¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll explain.¡± And thus Derek began his attempt to describe Dragons to Jake.


    To summarize a conversation that took place over multiple classes through the use of notes and whispering, Dragons were different existences when compared to Gods¡­Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    A God was born of faith, of hope in a higher power, even ¡®evil¡¯ Gods had faith, faith that they would remain evil and be the source of all problems.


    A Dragon was the same, some Dragons were evil, some were good¡­ unlike Gods, they did not change based on the faith of humans though.


    Gods were given ability and history from myth, essentially being spiritual existences, whereas Dragons were given ability from the world itself, being physical existences.


    The result of this relation was that Dragons could be killed unlike Gods, but Dragons could also exert more of their power compared to Gods who were not physical existences.


    The result was that in a fight between a grown Dragon and a God, the Dragon would win the fight, but be incapable of killing the God.


    A God that was also a Dragon, did not exist. There were Gods like Python that were in the form of a Dragon, or looked similar, but they were not Dragons.


    There was only one known exception to this rule, and that was Mary¡¯s own mother.


    Mary¡¯s mother, Tiamat, was practically divided into two separate interpretations in her own legends, one telling of her being the salt water Goddess of Creation, the other¡­


    The Mother of Dragons (Monsters) Tiamat¡­ Somehow the Goddess of Creation and Mother of Dragons were once one, and are now two separate beings.


    Mary, was born of the latter, the Dragon form of Tiamat.


    It¡¯s because of this difference in birth that Mary was feared amongst her fellow Demigods, she was more of a Demi-Dragon than a Demigod, but considering the irregularity of Tiamat¡¯s situation, in the end Aegis accepted her as a Demigod.


    ¡°Okay, so Dragons and Gods aren¡¯t exactly the same thing, but that doesn¡¯t explain why they are against each other.¡± Jake said as they exited the school grounds, hoping to hang out towards the beach for the day.


    Jake still wasn¡¯t much for swimming though, despite being able to.


    ¡°Well think about it, Dragons are physical beings given power by the world, while Gods are spiritual beings given power by faith. They are incompatible to some extent, and whenever there was a case of a God encountering a Dragon, a battle was waged.¡± Derek said as they walked by some skaters.


    Jake nodded in appreciation for some of their tricks as he focused back into the conversation.


    ¡°And well, Dragons are capable of defeating Gods, and vice-versa, until it became natural for the two different beings to battle constantly. Dragons are also known for hunting Demigods when they find one, so we¡¯re suffering for their battles.¡± Jake suddenly found everything much more understandable after that line.


    ¡°Oh, so we¡¯re fighting Dragons because they hate the Divine, and because of the fear of Dragons, that fear is kind of there when it comes to Mary as well¡­¡± Jake thought about it for a moment¡­ then nodded.


    ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t care. Let¡¯s go find something to do.¡± Derek blinked at the casual dismissal of a feud between races and how their friend was involved before moving to follow Jake.


    ¡°Wait, just like that, you don¡¯t care?¡± Derek asked as Jake nodded, looking back to his friend.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve ever fought a Dragon, and even then, hating Mary for being the child of a Dragon would be like Dragons hating us for being children of Gods. I think a circle of hate is pointless.¡± The hidden pun drew a snort from Derek once he found it, but he laughed at that as they walked away.


    Meanwhile, elsewhere, Agent Karma was walking next to Edgar as they walked over to the God Finder room.


    It had a much more mythical name, but that¡¯s what everyone started calling it after a while, it was basically the room connected to the detection method Aegis used to find Gods.


    Said detection method was created using Ley Lines, creating Gods (with Demigods possessing much less Divinity after all) to determine where they would appear, as a God typically saturated an area in their Divinity to appear there.


    In the case of Gods which suddenly appeared, such as Huitzilopochtli, their strength was usually slightly diminished from their fullest, hence why a newly Awakened Demigod such as Jake Ignus could actually fight back and defeat the God, even if said God surrendered after one non-lethal blow.


    ¡°Okay, anything for the month?¡± Edgar asked, taking a sip from his mug of coffee with a sigh of relish.


    It was an ever-refilling cup by the way, somehow enchanted by Rose so he didn¡¯t have to keep bothering her for more coffee¡­


    How she got it right was a mystery, but this was one of the reasons that Rose was considered the foremost expert on magic.


    ¡°Not really, there isn¡¯t a lot of activity; there is one God descent though¡­¡± Karma replied as he looked to the world map in front of him, seeing the symbol for a God descent somewhere near eastern Europe.


    ¡°Is there any information on the God?¡± Edgar asked, looking at the symbol and then back to Karma.


    Edgar did know how to work the machine, but he¡¯d claim that his coffee was more important than trying to work out something that he was slightly unrelated to.


    He wasn¡¯t going to be fighting the God, so he didn¡¯t need to know much, as long as someone knew and told the correct people the information.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Greco-Roman God, their signatures being almost indistinguishable from each other until a day or two before they appear after all¡­ it may be Mercury, or his Greek variation, Hermes.¡± If it was Hermes that would be awkward, sending team Charlie to handle it¡­


    Hermes had quite a few children much like Hephaestus, only slightly less¡­ really, there were a few Gods capable of having more than ten or twenty children, and the majority were Gods of odd things like the Beauty, Luck, Sleep, etc.


    Every team at least knew a child of Hermes or his Roman variation Mercury. And yes, there was in fact a separation between the two, small things, but in Divinity even small things can result in large differences.


    Case in point, children of Hermes found themselves as better healers while children of Mercury found themselves as excellent business people. Both groups were excellent at sneaking (aka thievery) and communications.


    ¡°Well we currently have a first wave team in the form of team Charlie, we designated them as scouts for a reason¡­ maybe let those Demigods experience some more conflict.¡± Edgar joked with a smirk that didn¡¯t reach his eyes, making Karma chuckle with much the same look in his eyes.


    They shouldn¡¯t take advantage of those young Demigods¡­ but it felt so easy and made them laugh at times. Even Karma, for he was ¡®head agent¡¯ of Aegis, was still a person after all.


    ¡°After they encounter the God we¡¯ll send in¡­ who¡¯s free?¡± Edgar asked Karma as the agent checked his phone.


    ¡°Rose is currently¡­ away. Samuel is still travelling around looking for hidden supernatural beings while training, Shane fled back to his labs after training his brother for a bit, that leaves Lyle, Nikita and Lukas¡­ and Charlie doesn¡¯t like talking to Lukas¡­ let¡¯s send Lukas to deal with the God, maybe Nikita as well.¡± Edgar smirked, imagining the annoyed expressions of Charlie and Lukas as they realize that they have to work together¡­


    That was what Charlie got for concealing his strength.


    ¡°They¡¯re both going to be mad at you, and might challenge you to a fight again¡­ speaking of fighting¡­¡± Karma was giving Edgar a pointed look at the mention of the activity Edgar no longer did, and Edgar just looked away with a frown on his face.


    ¡°¡­¡± Edgar wanted to keep quiet, leaving the topic to be ignored, but Karma wasn¡¯t having it.


    ¡°Edgar, don¡¯t try and ignore what I just said. I caught you coughing blood into a toilet a few months ago.¡± Karma looked at Edgar at that and Edgar frowned as he looked to his friend.


    ¡°Hey, why were you spying on me in the toilet?¡± The accusation made by Edgar was just to distract from another crucial fact, Karma somehow did that without being seen by Edgar.


    Edgar, the strongest being on the planet bar the appearance of certain Gods, and even then he was one of only three who could fight Gods one on one.


    Sneaking up on Edgar was all but impossible unless possibly done by a Council-level Demigod who had ability in stealth.


    Karma, for all that he was ¡®the strongest human¡¯ was still just that, human. He shouldn¡¯t have been able to sneak up on a Demigod, much less the strongest one.


    Both Edgar and Karma knew that the former was slipping if the latter could sneak up on him.


    ¡°Edgar¡­ your health is failing for some reason, and none of us understand why¡­ I haven¡¯t said anything to Rose, but Samuel and Shane both know, and the other three Council members suspect something is up.¡± Karma warned.


    ¡°¡­I know why my health is failing¡­ but¡­ it¡¯s something that can¡¯t really be helped.¡± Edgar said with a tired sigh, looking out at the command centre of Aegis.


    Demigods did not succumb to the sickness of humans, only being affected by supernatural afflictions, usually under malicious intent of course.


    So yes, whatever was affecting Edgar and preventing him from fighting, it was a supernatural thing.


    ¡°Edgar, are you sure you don¡¯t want to talk to Rose, or at least Shane and Samuel¡­ Shane especially might be able to help, given his experience.¡± Indeed, when you talked to a Demigod that was older than two thousand years, well, it was obvious he knew some things.


    ¡°Samuel wouldn¡¯t be able to help me¡­ and Shane¡¯s the one who hinted at what was happening to me.¡± Edgar admitted as he walked over to a chair, slumping into it as Karma sat opposite him.


    ¡°Then couldn¡¯t he help you, couldn¡¯t he talk you through everything¡­ and is this why you stopped hanging out with Shane as often?¡± Karma asked, thinking back to times where Edgar and Shane seemed to stay away from each other.


    ¡°Kind of, it was also because Shane knows much more than he lets on.¡± Edgar warned, thinking about the fourth ranked Council member¡­


    An Ancient Demigod older than the calendar, Shane was around during the Age of Gods when most Demigods from that era were dead. It stood to reason that Shane knew much, but he wasn¡¯t exactly forthcoming with said information¡­


    It was a curse felt by older Demigods, they started to care less about the world around them, only being brought back into focus by things that intrigued them, caught their interest.


    Edgar was old enough to feel separated from petty problems, but not so old that he could ignore groups of people dying in front of him without doing anything.


    Shane could, and would do the latter if he felt it was fine, having been around during the Black Plague and capable of creating healing machines even back then, Shane could have stopped the deaths of thousands, maybe even halt the plague completely.


    He did nothing, instead only acknowledging the event and moving on with his own life.


    The older Demigods, the more self-centred they were¡­ especially when they didn¡¯t encounter anyone living as long as they did¡­


    If the world was dying around you, but you remained the same, clearly it would be better to focus on the one thing that wouldn¡¯t change.


    ¡°Shane¡­ yes, Shane knows a lot of scary things¡­ but he also knows a lot of good things, and since finding him you have helped him care more for his surroundings, have you not?¡± Karma asked as Edgar looked away, silently acknowledging that Shane was much nicer¡­


    Edgar met Shane back during World War one, Shane was a German scientist focusing on issues regarding possible upgrades to equipment, and Edgar was headhunting for Demigods while disguised as an American soldier.


    Their first meeting was thankfully more in Edgar¡¯s favour since Edgar was travelling with Samuel, Rose, Charlie and the leader of team Epsilon, and Shane was alone.


    Even then Edgar was left on the back-foot during most of the encounter, and he was only saved from fighting when they managed to persuade Shane that being with other Demigods had to be better than being with people who you will watch die.


    From there, it¡¯s history.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not forget that Shane was also the one who taught you that stupid ritual¡­¡± Edgar glared at Karma who was forced to glance away, knowing that he was in the wrong¡­


    Sure, it was a considered a ¡®ritual¡¯ despite being conducted alone¡­ but Karma knew that the Ritual of Exchanges was a disastrous thing if did incorrectly.


    It was Irish based, and worked on a similar basis as a Geass, by forbidding something, you¡¯d gain something else, typically power.


    It could also only be invoked once by one person, and whatever a person gave up would be lost forever.


    Not to mention that unlike a Geass, the Ritual of Exchanges actually enforced itself, if one broke a Geass a backlash would occur resulting in either the loss of power or even injury and death.


    With the Ritual of Exchanges, you couldn¡¯t even break it. If you for instance, offered the knowledge of how to create a light bulb, even if you had the knowledge in your mind, trying to convey said knowledge to anyone else would be met with disastrous events occurring to prevent the spread of knowledge.


    Karma would know, as in his Ritual of Exchanges he had given up three things, one of which being his physical growth, which was why he still looked young and could not become any more fit than he was when he did the Ritual.


    The other two things he gave up was a bit of information, and ever since giving up said piece of information, Karma had become incapable of conveying said information.


    Every time he tried something would happen, a car would rev its engine to block out the noise, if he wrote it on paper the paper would somehow be destroyed.


    The last time he tried to convey the message the plane he was on started to crash, and when he stopped talking it suddenly stabilized, and so Karma stopped trying.


    ¡°He taught you that ritual even when I told him not to, and the result was as expected, you went through with it.¡± Edgar frowned, not liking to know that his friend was being limited in such a manner.


    Karma on the other hand frowned back with an equal glare at his boss/friend.


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t done that ritual I would have died a few months later. And if I somehow hadn¡¯t done it and survived to this day, I¡¯d still do it.¡± Karma¡¯s insistence was the only reason that Edgar never actually fought Shane¡­


    Though Edgar would never face Shane in his workshop, that was just a creative method of suicide¡­


    Edgar maintained his strength no matter where he was, but for Shane, being in his workshop would allow Shane to compete on equal terms with Gods.


    In other words, so long as he was inside his workshop, Shane was a God-slayer much like Edgar, Rose and Samuel.


    ¡°Fine, fine, let¡¯s move past the ritual¡­ Karma¡­ I just wanted to say that it¡¯s not that I can¡¯t fight anymore¡­ but that I won¡¯t.¡± Edgar¡¯s statement could only sound horrible, and Karma¡¯s face reflected that¡­


    But Karma was willing to wait for Edgar to clarify.


    ¡°Karma, I could probably singlehandedly repel the majority of Gods facing Aegis, but that was back when fighting didn¡¯t make me feel like dying¡­¡± Karma realized the situation, even if he didn¡¯t know the cause, he now knew the symptom.


    Edgar could live, but fight and he¡¯d die¡­ it made Karma feel even worse about the time he mentioned that Edgar was like a nuke¡­


    Because now, just like a nuke, it felt like Edgar was implying that he was only good for one more fight before he¡¯d be gone.


    ¡°¡­How many times can you still fight higher ranked Gods?¡± Karma asked, dreading the answer.


    ¡°Most probably only two or three times¡­ then I¡¯m gone. If I somehow survive, I doubt I¡¯ll be of any help to you, in fact I could be a burden¡­¡± Edgar seemed to know something very specific about his condition given how he was hinting towards something more than what was readily apparent.


    ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± Two or three more fights.


    Aegis only had two or three more fights its leader could participate in, two or three more fights which would almost certainly result in the victory of Aegis¡­


    They had to make it count.

 Chapter 10- Hermes part one

    ¡°Come on, move it you kids!¡± Jake knew that Charlie wasn¡¯t actually annoyed or in a hurry, but he was trying to instil a sense of urgency in the Demigods nonetheless.


    Jake could appreciate the cause, as they were truly going to fight a God, which one was a bit confusing, but one of the options was apparently Terri¡¯s own ¡®father¡¯ Hermes.


    The quotations were there because no Demigod child truly loved their own parent¡­ because the only one they had that was alive killed the other for their birth. It was complicated like that.


    Some could maybe tolerate the idea of their godly parents, but others couldn¡¯t stand the idea of even seeing the being that cursed them to be alone in this world.


    Terri was handling the idea of fighting her father with a grain of salt. If it was her father, that would be a bit annoying, but not a train wreck.


    If it wasn¡¯t, better.


    ¡°Sir, do we have confirmation on the God yet?¡± Derek asked, given that he was the vice-commander of team Charlie, he was in the right to ask.


    That was decided a week ago, and no one felt it to be a mistake¡­ Derek was a son of Ares, War was his thing.


    Jake was Charlie¡¯s assistant and fellow long-range fighter, and Mary was strong but she was used to being alone, but Derek had the charisma to lead.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably going to be Hermes, but it¡¯s not a certainty. Regardless, we know we will be facing a God associated with the same tenants, that being a thief, messenger, and connected with the dead in some form.¡± That last bit came as a surprise to some, but Terri simply nodded in acknowledgement.


    Of course she would, Jake thought to himself, as she would have obviously researched her own father much like Jake researched Apollo.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lesser known aspect of Hermes, as he is associated with those sandals that let him fly and that staff of Caduceus which allows healing, but he was also the God that ferried deceased souls from the mortal world to wherever they had to go, usually the underworld.¡± Charlie said, looking over a piece of paper, likely with information written or printed on it about said God.


    Jake was considering more and more that Hermes was already confirmed as their enemy, but Charlie wanted them second guessing because things wouldn¡¯t always be as certain when it came to fights.


    ¡°Now to mention a much more annoying fact about fighting Gods when compared to fighting Spirits and Dragon¡­ their Domains get weird.¡± The Demigods blinked in confusion.


    ¡°If a God of the sea descends then the ocean may start rising and become turbulent, a God associated with fire or the sun would cause the global temperature to increase over time, and so on.¡± That was a worrisome bit of information, and the Demigods looked to each other for a bit of reassurance.


    ¡°You all might not have even noticed this since Aegis is typically on time to battle the Gods before it can get too drastic around the world, but at the epicentre of a fight it can be especially felt.¡± Charlie explained, glancing at Jake for a moment.


    ¡°The reason Jake here didn¡¯t seem to notice this despite fighting a God up close is because he shared abilities with said God, the changes didn¡¯t affect him, but if one of us had been there we might have been cooked alive.¡± Jake raised a hand, and slowly a flame flickered to life upon it.


    Fire¡­ ever since Awakening as a Demigod Jake felt no fear to heat anymore. In fact, his body temperature had risen and flames no longer burnt him at all, though he wouldn¡¯t be changing his last name to Targaryen anytime soon.


    He wasn¡¯t related to Dragons after all.


    ¡°But against a God like Hermes¡­ well, I¡¯ve actually fought against Mercury and they are extremely similar. In the area around them the world¡­ shifts, and certain objects might be displaced or in a clearly wrong position, like a tree with rocks for leaves, and more importantly¡­¡± Charlie looked up from the page at this as he stared at the Demigods.


    ¡°While Hermes is around, it¡¯s extremely likely that no one will be able to pass on after dying. Their spirits will linger, and if enough people die in one place their spirits might become visible to normal humans. That would be bad.¡± Charlie seemed annoyed with the information he gave them.


    ¡°Gods associated with the afterlife usually all affect the world in a similar manner¡­ just know that it won¡¯t happen immediately, but the longer we let Hermes stick around, the more likely this will happen.¡± Team Charlie nodded, preparing themselves for battle as they got on the teleportation array.


    Within a moment the group found themselves in Greece, a clear sign of which God they¡¯d be facing, causing Terri to frown for a moment before steeling her resolve.


    Fighting your own parent must be horrible¡­ then again, Jake thought to himself, most Demigods disliked their godly parents with the exception of a few odd cases who are ambivalent to the idea of Godly parents.


    ¡°So as expected, it¡¯s Hermes, though we won¡¯t always be right¡­ careful, he¡¯s appearing in a minute, Mark, get your basic equipment ready, Terri, I know this will be an odd fight for you but you probably won¡¯t be able to be a communication tower this time around¡­¡± Terri nodded in understanding at Charlie¡¯s words.


    When Gods fought their children, they typically got a sort of tunnel vision for their children alone.


    Everyone got into position, knowing that the God would be appearing soon enough, and that the fight would begin¡­


    ¡°Well this is interesting.¡± The voice appeared nearby and immediately the group was disturbed, looking at the source of the voice, finding a ¡®man¡¯ with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing sandals with feathers on its side and holding a lyre.


    It was immediately obvious who it was, but the scary part was that they barely felt his presence until he spoke¡­ the God Hermes.


    There was a strange whipping sound, and a tiny explosion, and Hermes was gone, having vanished at a speed almost too fast to follow¡­ but what attacked him was still a mystery, until Charlie spoke.


    ¡°God Hermes. I see we were correct in our assumption that it would be you my team would face.¡± Charlie said, Winter¡¯s Bane vaguely smoking as it was aimed where Hermes was just moments ago, the barrel aiming squarely at where Hermes head was.


    ¡°You in particular are quite a scary child¡­ why so violent, can¡¯t we just talk?¡± Hermes asked, a good natured smile on his perfectly sculptured features, gesturing with his hand to mime sitting down.


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t. Gods corrode the planet the longer they stray away from the Divine Realm. Even as we speak you are affecting the world around us.¡± Charlie warned.


    Jake and the others could already see it to an extent, the air around Hermes almost seeming¡­ still, silent. The grass near his feet stopped rustling and yet the winds were blowing strongly.


    ¡°That we do¡­ I don¡¯t really decide that, much as I wish I could. I¡¯d just like to visit really, partake in the interesting things mortals have created over the years¡­ visit my children maybe.¡± Hermes said with a pointed look in Terri¡¯s general direction, making the girl frown, tensing slightly.


    ¡°Shame. I¡¯m afraid that just can¡¯t happen.¡± Charlie warned, his off-hand holding a bowie knife in a reverse grip, the Demigods by now had all their weapons out like their commander.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit annoying¡­ I mean, just being what I am results in our conflict¡­ oh?¡± Hermes paused for a moment to look at Jake in particular, and then Mary, before stopping to look at Mark and Derek¡­ then his gaze went back to Terri.


    ¡°Four Greek Demigods¡­ one of which is my daughter, two others being children of my half siblings¡­ and you, son of Apollo.¡± Jake seemed a bit uncertain as to why the God was focusing on him, but Charlie answered the unasked question.


    ¡°Is your rivalry with Apollo not a myth?¡± Charlie asked, getting a scoff from the God, who smiled at the group for a moment.


    ¡°Not really. Siblings fight and argue, and yes Apollo dislikes me a bit¡­ but we don¡¯t hate each other.¡± Hermes said, looking to Jake with a smirk.


    ¡°Though I suppose harming one of his children would get him annoyed, I don¡¯t really have a choice in the matter, do I?¡± Hermes then shrugged, and a wave of force seemed to emanate from the God.


    The lyre in his hand vanished, and in its place was a Greek short sword called a Xiphos, and on his other hand a small hoplite shield, bronze armour falling over his previously toga-covered form.


    Seeing the God was now well and truly ready for combat, the battle could begin¡­


    ¡°Scatter!¡± Charlie called out immediately, the team of younger Demigods obeying his commands as Mary and Derek stepped forward, keeping Charlie¡¯s line of sight clear, Terri jumping to the side, Mark the other, while Jake stepped backwards, it was a rudimentary formation.


    It wasn¡¯t the entirety of their battle strategy, but it was a point from which to continue, as Hermes stepped, appearing next to Mary whose arms grew scales, raising her hands to block the chopping blow of the Xiphos.


    She was forced to a kneel instantly, even when he wasn¡¯t associated with battle or strength, a God was still strong, as Hermes proved, though he was forced to dodge a spearhead.


    Pulling back from the thrust, Derek chased after Hermes, knowing that Mary recovered quickly due to her dragon blood, Derek took a standard stance, shield in front of him, spear tucked close and ready to shoot forward as he approached the God.


    ¡°My siblings are lucky to have such talented children¡­¡± There it was, that ethereal quality that Gods possessed¡­ Jake had heard something similar with Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec God sounding gruff and powerful compared to Hermes and his flighty voice¡­


    Derek stabbed with his spear, making the God raise his own shield in response, and then Jake saw a blur of the arm, Hermes thrusting his Xiphos while aiming for Derek¡¯s own chest hidden by his shield¡­


    Jake had already launched an arrow, streaking through the air as it aimed for Hermes¡¯ face, forcing the God to step backwards rather than commit to an attack.


    ¡°Especially that one¡­ How rare to see a blessed child.¡± Hermes words were confusing, though they were aimed at Jake he didn¡¯t quite get what was meant by ¡®blessed¡¯¡­


    It didn¡¯t stop Jake from launching more arrows, aiming the bolts of fire at the God in an attempt to keep the God on the defensive, Charlie taking an occasional shot.


    ¡°Gods get stronger the longer they¡¯re around, so we have to finish this as quickly as possible, reinforcements have an ETA of ten minutes.¡± Charlie spat out as two more shots went off.


    One was deflected by a shield, a second was dodged when Hermes leapt into the air and instead of falling like mere mortals, stood as if atop a platform of air.


    Ah, the Hermes sandals.


    There was a strange whipping sound as a large arrow, almost a javelin, shot off towards Hermes, the arrow bursting to become a net in an attempt to trap the God.


    Mark was clearly busy building things.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    There was a blur as Hermes slashed out with his weapon, the net being cut instantly as Jake spoke to Charlie.


    ¡°Hermes is a bit¡­ blurry? He¡¯s hard to focus on, does it have to do with his Aspect of Thievery?¡± Jake asked aloud, launching another arrow, aiming another a bit behind where Hermes in the case he might dodge in that direction.


    Jake¡¯s question was met with a nod, and his attack was met with a dodge and then a block of the second arrow.


    ¡°That seems likely, Gods associated with things like that are obviously difficult to follow, makes it all the more easier for them to steal things.¡± Charlie explained, flicking Winter¡¯s Bane as if reloading it.


    Charlie didn¡¯t really need to reload the weapon, but it was similar to how he snapped his fingers to activate magic that he already knew how to do, a physical action that evokes a mental reaction, in this case, reinforcing his next six attacks done with Winter¡¯s Bane, if he fired without reinforcing he might only deal a bit more damage than Jake¡¯s arrows.


    With the reloading action complete, Charlie held the Divine revolver to his side and began shooting like out of a western movie¡­ oh wait, Charlie was actually around for those days.


    Six shots, all at extreme speeds making the Greek God widen his shining blue eyes as six streams of ice wound around him, morphing to appear like dragons as they bit at the God.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s scary.¡± Even in danger the God seemed jovial as he slipped downwards, the dragons all missing with their bites.


    And it was because Hermes dropped down that he got kicked in the face by Mary as she used Derek¡¯s shield as a platform to jump off of.


    Jake could be serious and just accept the incident for what it was, but deep inside he couldn¡¯t help but find that funny as the God was knocked ¡®ass over teakettle¡¯ as it were¡­


    The God didn¡¯t hit the ground, but certainly came close to it as the God finally stopped spinning, floating and staring at Mary as she landed.


    ¡°¡­ouch.¡± Was all the God said, his face becoming a bit more serious, the casual smirk on his face dropping slightly, but not disappearing entirely.


    Ah, Gods were typically prideful beings, whether they were kind or not, even Buddha would not tolerate a third offense, so why would less patient Gods even tolerate one?


    Hermes seemed jovial, but it was clear that he was taking the fight a bit more seriously as he seemingly vanished, appearing next to Terri.


    It was a moment of terror really, Terri was the weakest of the group when one considered Mark¡¯s inventions, not to mention the God in question being her father¡­


    ¡°How about you daughter, are you interesting like them?¡± The God asked, swinging his blade as Terri held out the two daggers and began parrying, having focused on learning Escrima or Kali.


    She was quite good at it, judging by the fact that she was managing to stay alive against the God while the other Demigods approached, Jake and Charlie still firing shots while making sure they wouldn¡¯t hit Terri by accident.


    Charlie was obviously a bit more confident than Jake in this regard as Jake had never had to hit a target while making sure to not hit another¡­


    Charlie noted this and decided that Jake would be getting training for this as soon as possible.


    But Terri wasn¡¯t exactly trained as a combatant first, she was just trained to survive much in the same way medics in warfare know how to use a gun but aren¡¯t expected to go run in front.


    Hermes was overpowering his daughter, and would have landed a felling blow if it weren¡¯t for Derek¡¯s interruption, thrusting forward with his spear to interrupt the battle, making Hermes step back while Terri rolled away.


    ¡°You are all becoming quite annoying¡­¡± Even the ¡®jovial¡¯ God was starting to sound annoyed as he dodged a few thrusts of Derek¡¯s spear, attacking back with his sword, making Derek roll backwards into a kneeling position, spear pointed at Hermes defensively.


    The melee continued with Hermes stalking forward, his sword morphing into a spear of his own while Mary dashed forward, joining them once more.


    During this, the two supporting members of team Charlie, Mark and Terri, began to flank the God, stepping backwards while Mark spontaneously constructed a repeating cross bow of his own to launch attacks at the Greek God.


    Hermes stepped forward, seemingly vanishing from perception from a moment before reappearing in front of Mary, who decided to fall onto her back rather than get hit.


    Taking advantage of her moment of weakness Hermes tried to stab at her neck, spinning his spear into position only for Mary to roll backwards, kicking the spear upwards as she did so, a burst of fire added to her movements through her instinctual magic.


    ¡°Oh, a Dragon¡­ you know, that fire of yours isn¡¯t going to help much¡­ my elder brother is the God of the sun remember, your fire is a bit lack-lustre in comparison.¡± The God mocked as Mary growled, Derek rushing at the God before Mary could jump back in.


    Derek then managed to engage the God in a surprising display of close range spearman-ship, with Derek and Hermes both moving their hands from the rear end of the spear closer towards the middle, ¡®shortening¡¯ the spear so as to make it more viable for close range as they parried one another, Derek eventually being forced back by the more powerful blows of a God.


    All while this was happening, the other four members of team Charlie were attacking at range, with the exception of Terri who was actively using magic to boost the stamina and recovery abilities of the two melee fighters¡­ but Charlie was noticing that Jake wasn¡¯t acting up to par at the moment.


    Unlike the fight with Python, their opponent was more human-sized, meaning that the members of team Charlie were closer to the target¡­ Charlie immediately recognized the problem.


    ¡°Jake, you got to take a more proactive stance here you know.¡± Charlie said, reloading and attacking once more, Hermes ducking down and hiding behind his shield, the powerful blasts of ice somehow doing next to nothing against the shield.


    The younger Demigod heard the words of his commander and considered it¡­ Jake was still worried about hitting his friends¡­ he didn¡¯t want to miss and harm them¡­ and Jake¡¯s arrows weren¡¯t exactly something that could be shrugged off easily, even Mary¡¯s draconic defence would still be damaged.


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s just¡­ if I miss, I could make things worse.¡± Jake¡¯s statement was met with a scoff by Charlie who motioned for both of them to move, Hermes trying to drag the fight away.


    ¡°So, your teammates can¡¯t truly blame you for trying¡­ a person who tries has a fifty-fifty shot of succeeding. Someone who doesn¡¯t try at all has a definite chance of failing.¡± Charlie reminded, watching Hermes morph his shield into a lyre, his blade vanishing¡­


    The God smirked, his fingers moving to the strings.


    ¡°Shit, block out the sound!¡± Charlie shouted, but by then it was too late, and Hermes strummed the lyre, a smirk on his perfect face.


    As one, the Demigods screamed in agony.


    And in response a God laughed.


    ¡°Where the hell is Lukas, we told him to wait for his chance to step in, so why is there a delay?¡± Rose screamed at the unfortunate Agent who had to deliver the message, prompting Edgar to place a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.


    Sometimes people forgot that while Rose seemed like a triple-c person, cool, calm and collected, she was quite passionate about things, and quick to give into her emotions so long as she could rationalize them.


    Not too much though¡­ for Rose especially it was bad to give into her emotions, which was why Edgar was usually around to calm her down or remind her to relax.


    And no, despite what many people suggested, Rose was not dating Edgar, as much as either of them might want to, their interactions with each other were not that simple.


    ¡°Rose, calm, Lukas was being held back by an incident with the Rainbow Serpent down in Australia, we estimated he¡¯d be back by now, we were likely off by a few minutes.¡± Edgar reminded, using information given by Karma as the second-in-command of Aegis sighed, her face becoming impassive once more.


    ¡°I understand that mistakes can be made, but with children¡­ we¡¯ve lost a few before, but I don¡¯t want to see that happen again.¡± Edgar¡¯s frown came naturally, knowing exactly what Rose was talking about¡­


    Aegis had only been around for about sixteen years, officially at least, and they didn¡¯t have all the answers when they first created Aegis.


    Back when Aegis was first created Gods, evil spirits, mythological monsters, and even a few Dragons attacked more frequently, in a week there would probably be more than twenty different types of attacks¡­ at minimum.


    And the answer to those attacks was to send a Council-member at the problem, particularly Edgar, but if there were eight incidents happening at once then obviously with seven Council-members they¡¯d be one short.


    The result was that they¡¯d decided to let other Demigods act as stopgaps, keeping the enemy busy, defeat if they could, but it likely wouldn¡¯t happen¡­


    Defeating a God was different from winning a competition with a God like Jake had done, unless the God was known for lying or trickery they would likely keep their word, their pride not allowing them to care for the effort lying would take.


    Defeating a God was extremely difficult¡­ and many young Demigods died fighting Gods, waiting and hoping for a Council-member to be able to reach them in time.


    Rose would have gone herself, and if Lukas took too long to get back she probably would, but Rose was the best at interpreting the information gained by Aegis¡¯ magical network.


    She set it up with some help powering it up from Edgar, so she could use it best, magicians who worked for Aegis could at best look at one area and if there were multiple problems in that area they would only see the single worst problem.


    There was a reason that the Council-members rarely actually held Council with how busy they were.


    There was a hum, and Rose looked to the side, seeing one of the teleporting landing pads flashing, and out of the light stepped the lowest ranked of the seven Council-members, Lukas Winter, son of Hercules.


    Black/brown hair, cut very short, extremely muscular and huge, he¡¯d probably be able to compete with the Terminator himself at his prime with his physique, the man stood wearing a chest plate, wrist-guards, and skirting commonly worn by Greek warriors, greaves as well, his weapons already placed inside storage¡­


    And for all that he was the most physically imposing being in the room, he immediately paled upon seeing the glare Rose was sending him, raising his hands defensively.


    Strong as he was, Lukas knew he wasn¡¯t going to be defeating Rose anytime soon, and if she was mad, there was a reason.


    Rose wasn¡¯t an emotional person.


    ¡°Wait, wait miss Cora, what did I do?¡± Lukas shouted defensively, cringing as he stepped backwards off of the pad, looking for support and seeing Edgar¡­


    Edgar, who had his palms pressed together in mock prayer.


    ¡°You¡¯re late, team Charlie has been fighting Hermes for the past twenty minutes, we¡¯ve already got reports of the entire southern half of Greece having odd things happening, go fix it!¡± Rose demanded, and Lukas saluted, knowing that he was going to have to come back from a peace-talk straight into battle¡­


    The life of a Demigod¡­ then again, battle was the natural state of being for many a Demigod.


    ¡°Understood, Hermes right, I can handle that.¡± Lukas reassured as he was directed towards a different teleportation pad, Rose following him to better place him at the battlefield¡­


    ¡°Rose, the affected area just had a massive jump in size, the rate of expansion is increasing, Hermes is doing something dangerous, get Lukas there fast!¡± Karma shouted as he looked up from a screen, getting a horrified look from Rose as she turned back to the teleportation pad, the son of Hercules¡¯ face changing from apprehensive to determined.


    It was a good thing, Edgar decided, that Lukas could so quickly go from okay to combat ready, knowing the difference between a joke and a moment of seriousness.


    ¡°Damn it, the affected area can¡¯t be accessed, Lukas, I¡¯m going to need to teleport you outside of Greece and you¡¯ll need to move on your own from there onwards.¡± Rose cursed as she attempted to trigger the teleportation, instead watching the magic fizzle out.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big area, good thing I¡¯m fast.¡± Lukas admitted with a huffed out sigh, nodding as Rose calculated.


    The problem with structured magic, it struggled with concepts like teleportation, one needed to specify distance, elevation, consider the curvature of the Earth, the speed at which it rotated, all sorts of things, which meant that most people would struggle to recalculate a teleportation point so far off from the original point.


    Rose was not most people though, as within a minute she had already worked it out, finalizing everything as she punched in enough magic energy to trigger the connection.


    With a buzz and crack, Lukas was gone, the noise a sign of how rushed the teleportation was¡­


    Luckily with Demigods innate magic resistance, teleportation couldn¡¯t be used to kill them¡­ for humans, humans would probably need to worry about leaving an organ behind or something when they teleported.


    ¡°This is still an issue, why did the rate of the ¡®dead zone¡¯ expansion increase so much?¡± Karma noted as Edgar sat in the back, thinking about the question.


    ¡°Edgar, didn¡¯t you face Mercury once, any ideas?¡± Rose asked as she walked closer, stumbling a bit from the sudden expenditure of magic.


    Rose had a huge amount of Mana, but it wasn¡¯t the highest among Demigods, that position belonged to either the children of Gods of Magic such as Hecate or possibly Edgar with his abnormal strength.


    But Rose had the greatest efficiency of using said Mana, making her the ¡®greatest¡¯ magic user¡­ but acting on the fly like that ate up more Mana than usual due to her being unable to optimize the spell in time.


    The result was that she had essentially brute forced the magic into working, which took up quite a bit of her Mana when normally it wouldn¡¯t have taken even a hundredth of what she just used.


    Edgar, noticing this, held out an arm to help balance Rose while she recovered, nodding as she took his seat, leaving Karma on the side to smile at the image¡­


    ¡°Yes, I fought Mercury, one of the few Gods I fought that I wasn¡¯t able to kill really.¡± Edgar admitted, and that casual admittance once more cemented his place as the strongest Demigod to all the humans in the room¡­


    No other Demigod spoke of ¡®times I killed Gods¡¯. He was the only one who actually killed a God despite there being two others who could do the same, three if Shane was prepared.


    ¡°The only reason I can see for the dead-zone increasing¡­ music.¡± That got odd looks as Karma nodded, the head agent agreeing with that outlook.


    ¡°That makes sense, both Gods are associated with music and the dead, as well as thievery, communication and to a lesser extent, healing due to a gift from Apollo.¡± Karma added, his near encyclopaedic knowledge coming in handy as he continued.


    ¡°Music is sound, vibrations, it¡¯s actually the basis of one of my more powerful spells, the vibrations or oscillations help disperse Mana, widens the area of effect and it¡¯s just about impossible to really defend against unless you use vibrations in an opposite frequency.¡± Karma explained getting a frown from Edgar and Rose.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ if Hermes is playing music, he¡¯s likely doing a lot of damage, Lukas better get there quickly if he wants to save those kids¡­ the only ones who might stand a chance are¡­¡± Edgar paused for a moment.


    Meanwhile, back in Greece, Hermes was smirking as he looked at his knocked out audience¡­ well, knocked out with the exception of two people.


    ¡°I suppose this was to be expected¡­ it only really makes sense that you two would be able to still move like this.¡± Hermes offered, looking to the two young Demigods.


    Terri and Jake stood on wobbly feet, their skulls paining even as they glared at the Gods, not wanting to give up and let their comrades die¡­


    They had to stop him from playing.


    The next segment of this fight was going to be two of the young Demigods against the God Hermes, as Jake held out his bow, and Terri her daggers, still wobbling, but unwilling to fall.


    From a few hundred metres away, a cloaked being stood watching, eerie blue light shining from its eyes as it watched, waiting, expectant for the events as they unfolded before it.


    The fight continues.