"I need you to cover me," I said in a no-nonsense tone.
I eyed Triton nervously, realizing that if I wanted to walk away from this one intact, I'd have to do some serious upgrading. I'd have to invest everything I'd gotten so far just to stand a chance. As for asking for cover… well, it was a bit of an odd request. I knew that expressly asking for cover wasn't the best way to keep my powers a secret, but I kind of needed a few moments to myself to work the perks and stats and all of that out. Plus, it was Aphrodite. I was sure she'd be able to keep a secret or two for me, worst case. Besides, her possible confusion wasn't a priority—honestly, it didn't even really matter to me. Aphrodite would've found out sooner or later. I just needed her to buy me a bit of time.
"Just keep him busy for a minute or two. I need a moment to calm down."
"Okay," Aphrodite nodded, shooting me a concerned look. Without even stopping to think twice about what I'd said, she followed instructions. She snapped her fingers, and a pink dome erected itself around me, humming with pure energy and warmth. It felt like I was standing inside a space heater. With another look back at me, Aphrodite walked out of the barrier, her silvery hair floating out of the ponytail as a pinkish glow surrounded her body.
Okay. Good. Time to think. Breathe, Percy, breathe.
I pulled up my status screen.
— - —
{Perseus Jackson}
[Son of Poseidon] [Hestia's Favored] [Echidna's Bane] [Always Sunny] [Godhunter] [Hera's Blessing]
[LVL]: 39 [11,100/27,000]
[HP]: 32,500/32,500
[SP]: 37,500/37,500
[MP]: 21,250/21,250
[FEALTY]: N/A
[STR]: 58 [+30]
[VIT]: 39
[DEX]: 69 [+20]
[INT]: 51
[CHA]: 30 [+5]
[WIS]: 33
[LUC]: 23
[$]: 1265 USD, 53D
[Info]: Son of the legendary lord of all seas, Poseidon, and Sally Jackson, Percy is the current [Child of Prophecy] and bearer of Olympus' flame. Despite his murky past, Percy is ready to take on his future with determination.
{Titles}
[Son of Poseidon] – Permanently grants [+1000 MP] and increases [Mana Regeneration] rate by [1%] per five seconds.
[Hestia's Favored] – Permanently grants [+750 HP] and [+750 MP].
[Echidna's Bane] – Grants immunity to all poison-based status effects and toxins, and reduces incoming damage from monstrous creatures by [10%].
[Always Sunny] – This title makes your natural charisma shine even brighter, making you a beacon of positivity and influence and boosting your [CHA] by [2] every level-up.
[Godhunter] – Grants [+20%] damage to divine or godly beings (including minor gods and divine constructs). Increases critical hit chance against godly enemies by [+10%].
[Hera's Blessing] – Boosts your [Mana Manipulation] skill to [15] and unlocks techniques, allowing you to shape mana into intricate forms, such as shields, weapons, or traps.
[Divine Consultant] – [2×] all [EXP] given on quests that originate from a divine being.
— - —
Perfect.
I shuffled ten points each into [STR], [DEX], and [VIT] respectively, and split the remaining points between everything but [LUC] and [CHA]—eight for [WIS] and seven for [INT]. As the points began working their magic, I turned my attention to the perks screen, which was gleaming with a big number seven. I'd honestly forgotten how many perk points I just sort of had lying around.
I flicked through the perk tree, only paying attention to the ones that would help me in this fight specifically. It was a shame—there were a few that caught my interest, but they didn't offer the immediate sort of benefits I was looking for. Right now I needed short-term boost-type perks, the kind that would let me go toe-to-toe with a god and come out on top. I didn't have time for cool passives.
Regardless of how he'd acted before or his lack of formal training, Triton was still a god. The version of him I thought I knew had clearly been doctored to some extent, so I had to treat him like any other god—minor or not. I needed to bring out the big guns and only pick perks that would make me stronger right now.
I heard a few explosions from outside the dome; the top cracked with a soft shattering noise. A few moments later the cracks repaired themselves, and I heard Aphrodite yell something. Another female voice yelled back, and the ground underneath me rumbled.
I narrowed my list quickly—I didn't have time to spare. I remembered researching these perks way back before I went to Atlantis. Funny. Back then I hadn't wanted them because they only offered short-term boosts, and I was looking for long-term effects.
First things first, I picked up [Opportunist].
— - —
[Description]: Whenever you disarm someone or land a strike dealing any damage, your attacks become incrementally faster, capping at a boosted attack speed of [DEX% + 50%] on top of your current attack speed.
— - —
Pretty simple and straightforward. That one cost two points, so I still had five left.
I considered [Lunar Lullaby] again, but I still didn't love it—it was clearly for training. Lowering gravity on my body would only make it harder to move in the short term, and I'd probably just float away while Triton pulverized me.
I nabbed [Photokinetic] for another two points.
— - —
[Description]: Photokinesis is the mental and/or physical ability to control light. To a greater extent, one could become invisible, concentrate light particles into lasers, and manipulate any part of the light spectrum.
— - —
I wanted to look at more, but the pink bubble Aphrodite had spawned around me exploded, motes of energy fluttering wildly through the wind.
How strong was he?
I banished the menu with a flick of my wrist and quickly brought up the special menu I'd gotten from the hidden objectives. Carcinus had been good for something besides mangling my arm, after all.
I bit my lip, looking at the choices. All of them were enticing. The Eyes of Heaven would let me see the gods, one route would give me a tenth of a perk for every enemy I defeated (which would be busted), and Medusa's route would get me a limit break. Based on my very little experience with them, limit breaks were absolutely busted. Having one at my beck and call would be amazing.
For this fight, though, it was obvious. The route of the warrior was the best way to go. If the eye could really help me predict movements off the slightest twitch of someone's muscle, I'd be able to outmaneuver Triton. My speed coupled with the eye should give me enough of an advantage to at least hang with him—mix that in with my new abilities, and I'd be fighting well above my skill level, even if only for a few moments.
Sighing, I clicked it.
Medusa's eye burned for a moment, and the menu vanished. My depth perception felt completely off. My right eye saw things normally, but my left eye almost felt zoomed out—way more clarity and sharpness. I could make out every wrinkle in the ground, every tiny pebble, every small movement. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion with my left eye, but normally with my right. It was very trippy.
I looked around. I was standing on a patch of dirt about five feet across. That wasn't the weird part—the weird part was that the patch was standing twenty or thirty feet above the rest of the area, which had been razed into the ground. The grass was completely melted off, steam rising from the mud, the annoying smell of burning seawater in the air.
Clarisse and some of the other campers were nestled in the woods. I tried waving, but their eyes were glued to the sky. I followed their gaze.
Aphrodite was in the air along with Hestia, engaging Triton in a battle of unbelievable proportions. Even with my new eye it was difficult to track them. They hadn't slipped into their godly forms yet, but they were hard to follow anyway. Aphrodite zoomed around, her sundress fluttering. We made eye contact for a moment; she gave me a small smile before her face hardened again. She vanished into a pink haze and smashed into Triton. He growled and shot a column of pure energy toward where she'd been. Hestia appeared out of nowhere, obliterating it with a wave of her hand.
The battle kicked up another gear, all three entering more lucid forms. By that point I lost all track of what was going on—only loud flashes of light, banging noises, and the occasional ground-shaking tremor. To my immense surprise, the blob that looked like Triton was somehow keeping up with both of them.
I knew I had to get involved.
— - —
Quest Alert!
[XXXXX QUEST] {An Egyptian Affair!}
[Quest Prompt]: Prepare to wake up on the western banks…
[Total Possible Rewards]: - [?]
Please select: [YES/NO]
— - —