* * *
Item: Heart of Typhon
Type: Crafting Component
Durability: 867568/950000
Grade: A Grade
Weight: 4200st.
Description: The one hundred-headed dragon Typhon, king of monsters, had lived thousand of years before being slain by Zeus, the god of thunder. The beast had given spawn to myriad new monster species with its pair, Echidna, storing a bit of their essence in each one. The essence of all of these monsters was likewise stored in the heart of their progenitor, making it stronger with each new generation and species. When used as a crafting component, the heart of Typhon can imbue an almost infinite number of attributes from these monsters.
* * *
This was by far the single strongest item I had ever laid eyes upon in my life. Granted, I had seen the A-grade weapons that my father and his titan siblings wielded but those were already crafted and finished gear. This component had the potential to turn anything into the absolute best it could be. I could only imagine what a spear imbued with this heart would be able to do. But I wasn’t about to waste it on a mortal crafter to get a B-grade weapon.
No, this would be my ultimate long-term investment. I would need to hold on to this until I found a crafter worthy of making such a weapon for the king of gods. And I wouldn’t be able to go up against my father with B-grade equipment, which meant I’d need to keep this until I reached level sixty-one and was able to use A-grade equipment. The right weapon at that level would definitely be worthy of a god king.
* * *
Item: Lung of Typhon
Type: Crafting Component
Durability: 815489/870000
Grade: A Grade
Weight: 5600st.
Description: The lungs of the one hundred-headed dragon have multiple extra-dimensional pockets in them and are thus able to store billions of liters of air. This allowed the beast to explore the elemental planes of water for centuries on end without the need to replenish its breath. It was after just such a long stay in an underwater realm that Typhon sucked all of the air out of the small demiplane of Tanas, instantly killing all of its inhabitants and all other life there. As a crafting component, it can be used with great synergy in anything concerning the element of air, as well as a power source for airships.
* * *
The heartless bastard had destroyed a whole demiplane by sucking all of the air out of it. We had all heard about the catastrophe that had befallen Tanas when the air suddenly disappeared but nobody had known exactly what had happened. I made sure many mortals had scanned this item so that this piece of lore would spread out into the world—not only because I wanted people to see me even more as a liberator and god who cared about justice, but also because the souls of those people deserved the truth to be known.
As for the uses of the lung—or rather the four lungs the beast had—I wasn’t sure as of yet. One or two would probably be used to construct airships but the clan hall was still a long way away from such constructions. Thus, the lungs were each placed in containers of their own and stashed in the storage facility as well.
There were so many organs and bits of flesh that could be used as crafting materials that I eventually got tired of reviewing them and just had them stored instead. I would need to make a note to revisit our storage crates when our guildhall had grown enough to be able to utilize such amazing resources
Now that the flesh had been stripped from the carcass and a series of large bones were the only thing still standing in the place where the beast had fallen, we were almost ready to put the whole attack behind us. After taking some of the bones to use as crafting materials, we were eventually left with a big pile that needed to be discarded somewhere. However, I wasn’t keen on the idea of just throwing them away. I wanted them to become a monument that would spark fear in our enemies and remind our people of the price Typhon had paid for attacking us.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Artemis had her miners dig a large hole in the ground outside the walls and all of the dragon’s bones were thrown into it. Once the hole was closed, around an hour after the sun had set, I had a large boulder placed on top and used my charged spear to carve some words of warning on it: “This is the barrow of Typhon, king of monsters, who once lashed at the sky with fire and now lies in the earth. The thunderbolts of Olympus burned him up.”
Despite the fact that the citizens were exhausted by the work they’d done during the day, they all left the burial site with wide smiles on their faces and whistling joyfully. This monument would forever be the bedrock and foundation of Mount Olympus’s glory.
“What’s the plan now, my king?” Aphrodite asked as we left the monument and headed home.
“You don’t have to call me that, Aphro.”
“But I like it,” she said, apparently not joking at all. “What I don’t like is you shortening my name.”
“In any case, you are the king,” Artemis agreed. “So what’s the plan?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about it when we get back…”
The walk to our house was quiet, as very few of the citizens still had strength to stay out after the long day and the even longer night before. Yet our house staff was waiting for us with fresh clothes on our beds and a hot meal in the main dining area. After dismissing them for the day, I looked at the two goddesses who were anxiously awaiting my explanation of what was now in store for our guild.
“I want us to grow stronger,” I said finally, a chalice of wine in my hand. “We’re on the right path but we’re nowhere near where were need to be in order to achieve what I have in mind.”
“And what would that be?” Artemis asked.
“Killing Cronus,” I said coldly. “Dismantling his clan and taking over Mount Orthys as a secondary clan hall or turning it into a dungeon so we can benefit from it.”
“As I understand it,” Aphrodite interrupted, “killing a titan is very different to killing a god, isn’t it?”
“That’s right,” I said. “Neither mortal nor god can hurt a titan. Not even my mother, who’s also a titan, can kill him.”
“Then how do you suggest we do it?” Artemis asked.
“First, we will need to weaken him,” I said.
“Take away his influence over the mortal world…” Aphrodite deduced.
“Exactly,” I clapped my hands together. “We will turn all of his believers. I have no doubt he will try to fight it, which is why we will also need to keep making our guildhall stronger.”
“If we are to grow stronger we need more gods in our guild,” Artemis said. “It’s not much of a guild if it’s only the three of us. We’re not even a full party.”
“We also can’t just start recruiting mortals,” I said, “no matter how strong they are.”
“I might have a solution to that,” Aphrodite said enigmatically.
“You know any gods who would join our guild?” I asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” she said with a smile. “My brother Ares—”
“The god of war?” Artemis interrupted. “He’s your brother?”
“Quite ironic, isn’t it?” Aphrodite laughed. “I’m the goddess of love and he’s the god of war.”
“That would be interesting,” I admitted. “Has he expressed any interest in joining our guild?”
“I’m sure he knows nothing of it yet,” she said, “but he must have seen the notification that you killed Typhon.”
“Still. That’s not enough of a reason for him to want to join us,” I said.
“It’s not,” Aphrodite agreed. “My brother... Well, he is a headstrong individual and he likes fighting. His latest obsession is invading the Norse realms.”
“What in the crows does he want with the Norse realms?” Artemis asked. “There are more than enough people to fight here.”
“If you knew of the monsters there, I’m sure you too would have left Greece to go hunting there,” Aphrodite said.
“I doubt it,” Artemis replied defiantly.
“Regardless,” Aphrodite said, “if we manage to convince him to stop fighting the Norse and join our cause against Cronus, he will be a big help to us.”
“I agree,” I said. “See if you can reach him.”
“I will,” she replied and nodded.
“Even if you weaken Cronus’s divine abilities,” Artemis said, “that won’t change the fact that he’s a titan and we can’t kill him. Do you plan to imprison him?”
“A prison will not do,” I said, thinking of my siblings. “No, he needs to die.”
“Then how?” Artemis asked.
“We will need a weapon able to kill titans,” I replied.
“And who is going to craft such a thing?” Aphrodite asked.
“I knew of a god that was able to craft the most amazing weapons and armor,” Artemis replied, before I had the chance to say anything.
“Who?” Aphrodite asked. “Where is he now?”
“His name was Hephaestus,” Artemis said.
I nodded. That’s who I’d been thinking of too.
“He was the god of the forge,” she continued. “But it has been decades since I last heard of him.”
“So we know of a god who can craft a titan-killing weapon,” Aphrodite said, “but we have no idea where he is? At least it’s a start. I can put out a call that we’re looking for him.”
“There’s no need for that,” I said. “I know exactly where he is.”
“Well?” Artemis prompted, slightly frustrated that I’d chosen that moment to take another sip of my wine.
“He’s been imprisoned by my uncle,” I said, “the titan Hyperion. His skills posed a threat to the titans, so my uncle had put him in a jail made for gods.”
“Well, that’s a bust then,” Aphrodite said, disappointed.
“Indeed, it is,” I said, smiling. “As in, we’re going to ‘bust’ him out of there.”
“You have got to be kidding,” Aphrodite asked, giving me the side-eye.
“This is going to be interesting,” Artemis said excitedly.
“Interesting is quite an understatement,” Aphrodite replied.
“Now you know my plans,” I said, standing up. “We grow our guildhall and make it stronger, we recruit the god of war, and we jailbreak the god of the forge.