The Anemoi Thuellai curled in on itself as it died, wrapping around the shadow arrow penetrating its heart. When I thought the storm spirit could press no further into the mountain peak, it puffed out of existence in all directions like an electric smoke bomb.
Quest Completed: Storm Over Olympus
“Error: Unable to report System feedback.”
Rewards:
* Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 6/10: Your armor becomes charged with electricity, dealing 70 damage to attackers who make physical contact and reflecting 20% of incoming damage back to the source.
* Stamina (+80): lvl 15 (150/160)
* Intelligence (+10): lvl 9 (10/100)
* Glory (+570): 6,540
* Level (+1): 56 (550/580)
* Skill Points (+1): 2
* Title: Imperator Augustus Maximus, Pluto’s Phoenix, Gladiator Champion, Cyclops Slayer, Mercator, Dungeon Diver, Conqueror of Cetus, Minotaur Menace, Tyrannicida, Giant Bane
I laid my head back onto the snowy peak, breathing a sigh of relief.
Since I had already maxed out my pilum abilities and would need a new mentor to learn additional skills from, I decided to quickly spend my skill points on my stamina and health regeneration and my shield ability.
Aurelian Discipline (+1): lvl 3.
* Increases your stamina and health regeneration by 3x (Every 3.3 seconds, regain 3 points for each).
Shield (+1): lvl 4.
* Protection: Reduces incoming damage by 26%
* Block Chance: 81%
* Stamina Cost: 13.5 per block (10% reduction)
* Additional Effect: Reduces stamina cost of blocking by an additional 10%
As soon as the red text notification vanished, my armor crackled with electricity, further compounding my electrical aura that hovered around me. I also felt a sudden breath of energy as my stamina and health began to recover at a faster rate.
It was a strange feeling, going from being stripped of power to being suddenly so mighty that if a regular enemy were to strike me they would almost certainly die.
“I take it you’re not dead?” Sporus said as he crunched through the snow to reach me.
“Not yet,” I said, rising to my feet.
“I thought it had you there for a second,” Sporus said, his hair whipping from the bitter morning wind. Even though we destroyed the storm spirit and its storm had ceased around Mount Olympus, allowing the rising sun to give us light, the wind still prevailed. “Can we go back now?”
“You read my mind. Hop on kid!”
Sporus grimaced. “You know what, I think I’ll walk.”
I rolled my eyes as he clung to me. With a quick summoning of my Lightning Pilum ability, lightning struck from the very near clouds and I seized it with my hand before it could retract. In a flash we were traveling almost half the speed of light.
Something clattered to the ground as we roughly crashed into the rocky mountain surface of Medusa’s Island a few seconds later.
“You’re back!” Cleopatra said, picking up a smooth and flat rock that had bits of cooked fish on it. “I was beginning to worry.”
“Maximus can thank me for saving him,” Sporus said, happily unclinging himself from me to devour the rock plates with steaming fish set out for us.
“Thank you for breakfast,” I said, taking her into a gentle embrace.
“I imagined you’d be hungry,” she said, squeezing me tight. “Umbra is out swimming. He said something about the water helping him to stay awake and of a ‘fresh mind’ or something.”
As she pulled back, I couldn’t help but notice the rings in her eyes were darker and more purple. Seeing it was a grim reminder that today would be here last day awake. She had already been up for two days straight. Going beyond a third day would become increasingly detrimental to our children. Even with the Café Aeternum artificially giving her energy, her flesh and our children still needed rest.
The knowledge of having to restrain her tonight and be without her company until the civil war was finished, and that was a big if on if I would be successful, made me sick. Suddenly my hunger vanished.
“Today’s your last day,” I whispered.
She closed her eyes in pain. “I know. Best not to tarry. You should eat before your next quest, let your body recover.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I’ve got some health and stamina potions. I’ll use those if they don’t recover by then.”
I sat down on a ruined pillar to eat alongside Sporus and Cleopatra. After we’d finished, I summoned Umbra to join us via the golden Friendship Key. The red dragon appeared from thin air in an instant. The dragon was soaking wet and splashed us all with sea water upon his abrupt arrival, much to the consternation of Sporus and Cleopatra.
“Could you have waited?” Sporus said, wiping the water from his face.
My thoughts exactly, Umbra growled into our minds as he regained his composure.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. The sudden splash of water on my face was revivifying. We were going to need it for this next part of the journey.
“Everyone ready?” I said, rising to request the next quest from Jupiter. They were too busy drying themselves to respond, so I activated the next quest.
Hunt of Aquila: Ascend into the storm-choked skies to pursue and catch the legendary Aquila, a servant of Jupiter with immense power and bearer of his lightning bolts. Navigate through blinding rain, thunderous clouds, and lightning-infused winds in this aerial hunt. Do not kill Aquila, for that will anger Jupiter and he will cease to be your patron.
Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 7/10: Unleashes a shockwave that deals 100 damage and knocks back enemies within a 20-foot radius, with a 50% chance to disorient them for 5 seconds. Cooldown 10 minutes.
Accept this quest?
After I accepted the quest, I summarized the details to the others.
Can’t you just lighting teleport to catch him? Umbra said in response.
“Tried that,” I said, those futures flashing through my brain. “He’s too fast and small. Even if I just teleport you in Umbra to land on top of him, he’ll just whisk away and electrocute us.”
You mean just me, since you can become shadow to avoid it.
“Well, er, yes that’s correct.”
“So what can work?” Sporus said as Cleoaptra put away our stone dishes.
“Actually, that’s where you come into play,” I said. This Jupiter quest could not be done alone. No matter which angle I took by myself, I would fail every time, receiving lightning bolts to the face on more than one occasion. “We can’t kill Jupiter’s messenger, but the quest didn’t say anything about wounding. I’m going to need you to shoot him with your bow while I navigate us on Umbra’s back.”
“So let me get this straight. Not kill the bird, but shoot it with an arrow?”
“Through the wing, with the arrow connected to a light metal chain,” I said.
Cleopatra’s eyes widened with surprise as she sat back down with me. “And when Aquila throws his lightning at the chain…”
“I’ll be using leather gloves covered in beeswax.” I had already seen where I’d find the arrows, chain, beeswax and gloves. It could work if Sporus got the right shot. “It’ll still shock me if we pull it off, but it’s the only thing that'll work. At least in this case, my heart won’t explode from how much lightning will travel through the chain.”
As long as I don’t get shocked, I’m in, Umbra said, breathing a small dose of flames onto the campfire to bring life back to it.
“Will anyone come here?” Cleopatra said, looking pleadingly into my eyes. She would be alone with all of us gone.
“No,” I said confidently, having seen the futures where I stayed here until the sunset, which was the length of the chase. Thinking about it only depressed my mood. It would be our last evening together, and there were only so many evenings I had left until she gave birth to our sons. Until she…
No, it was best to focus on the task at hand. Catching Aquila was a big if, and even that paled in comparison to the last three challenges we would have to face. I didn’t want to think of tomorrow, which would be one of the most challenging trials in just about every way possible. And that wasn’t factoring in that the effects of sleep deprivation and the potion drawbacks would also be kicking in.
In a way, this was my least crazy day to experience. A death defying mountain hike and chasing an eagle over a breathtaking city in Croatia where Diocletian had built his palace.
Totally normal.
Well, what are we waiting for? Umbra said, lowering his neck for us to hop on.
“I’m going to need some more of that Café Aeternum,” I said, standing on my tired legs. They felt as stiff and worn out as they had been during my training with Bulla Felix. The thought of carrying those rocks made me shiver. “Hiking for half a day kind of wiped me out.”
“Me too,” Sporus said, though he looked progressively more tired than me. I almost forgot that he’d been up for an extra day, nearing almost three days straight like Cleopatra.
“Let me get some for you both,” Cleopatra said, excusing herself to fetch us some potions. After she gave them to us, I immediately drained mine. Just like before, I felt like a cosmic deity smacked me in the face and doused my mind with fire. Everything became clear again and my heart picked up its pace.
“Things will start to get weird at midnight, so we should get going,” I said, giving Cleopatra a quick embrace. Thankfully, my electrified armor only hurt my enemies, so she wasn’t shocked as I hugged her.
“I’ll be praying the gods favor you,” she said, offering a tired smile. It hurt to see her so exhausted.
“Thank you,” I said, letting my eyes linger on her exotic face for a few more moments. “Sporus is a good shot, so I’m not too worried.”
“How am I going to hold on?” Sporus said as he saddled Umbra’s spiked spine, sitting behind me. “If I use just my legs and Umbra twists in the air, I’m going to die.”
“You’re right,” I said, seeing those gruesome futures play out. Though we could catch him, it would not be a gentle snatch with Umbra’s claws. That’s if Aquila didn’t zap Sporus out of the sy. “We’ll get some extra chains to keep you connected to Umbra.”
While not a perfect solution, it would have to do. Sporus nodded in acceptance.
Umbra took off into the late morning sky. At the helm, I guided him towards the beautiful Roman city which would one day be named Split of Croatia. With Umbra’s incredible speed, it didn’t take us too long to fly, though it was much slower than my lightning teleportation.
The beautiful terracotta roof city came into view along the coast, shrouded by an almost black stormy sky. Diocletian’s Palace stood like a beacon beneath it of Roman pride and power, the heart of the city. I had always wanted to visit it back in my first life. If we survived this civil war, I would make it a vacation spot for Cleopatra and myself.
From all of the futures I could see, it would be best if we robbed a forge nearest Aquila and furthest from Caesar. Though Caesar could activate entire pockets of the city whom he controlled with the Orb of Morpheus, I would have just enough time to drop in, snatch what we needed, and roll out.
“There!” I shouted above the whipping wind and rain that soon drenched us.
Smoke swelled from the heat of a local forge nestled in the vibrant city, fighting against the torrent. A team of blacksmiths were hard at work as we descended over the pristine city.
I would have twenty seconds until I was swarmed by his literal sleeper agents. The rest of the city would watch with astonishment.
Above us, Aquila screeched from the heart of the storm clouds.
“Barrel left!” I shouted just in time for Umbra to roll away the sudden lightning strike. If Sporus and I weren’t holding on for dear life, we would have fallen off.
“Make it quick,” Sporus said, already sounding sick.
“I’ll be right back!” I shouted, leaping unnaturally high off of Umbra’s back and freefalling to the stormy coast of Split.