He considered just ignoring Jason and letting his summons continue to kill but he thoughts better of it and called them all back. He gave a small nod at Jason when he did. He was much more curious as to what this conversation would be like over killing people who didn’t really matter.

He sat there in silence for a bit watching them while they stood not far from him watching back. It took all of a few seconds for his summons to arrive and when they did they all settled around him joining him in a staring competition.

Jason broke the silence with a laugh, one that sounded all too real. “I wish I had that skill! Your own personal team of elemental creatures that can fight for you! Amazing!”

“I killed three of them in seconds, they aren’t that impressive. If they are any indication of his strength he wasn’t that impressive either.” Percy was a big guy but the moment he opened his mouth he sounded like an idiot.

His summons, understanding what he said, immediately started to power up attacks but didn’t let them go, but their eyes were now solely focused on Percy.

“I think you pissed them off. Pretty standard for you.” Persephone chimed in now, a smirk on her face. “I wouldn’t underestimate him either. He sent a bolt of lightning at me that would have killed me if it hit.”

“Good to know.” She had given him a piece of information that she probably shouldn’t have. That was the risk of talking with your enemy. She groaned as soon as he said it and Percy just laughed at her.

Jason came a few steps closer and joined him on the ground. He didn’t look threatened or scared by him or his summons. If anything he looked like he was trying to get closer to Spike. “You know you wont be able to claim this fortress now, not with so many of us here, yet you have stayed. That means your open to talking, so let’s talk. You can go first.”

“You were all born with your power, or at least given something when you were young for you to have the affinity you have now, right?” He didn’t ask what their affinity were or how they got them as that would be asking for too much information that they wouldn’t provide. This was a nice middle ground of getting information without pushing too far. Jason knew it too by the annoying smile on his face.

“Correct. It’s a family thing. I am not surprised you recognised that we all had affinity, I am curious if you could figure out which ones though. My question now!” As he finished he leant to the side, getting closer to Spike who lifted his head, gave Jason a look and then placed his head down across Shaun’s own legs and into his lap. Jason frowned at the Flame Hound and then looked at Shaun then back to Spike.

“His name is Spike, he is a good boy.” He started to rub Spike behind the ear and his tail started to wag across the ground, clearly enjoying the attention.

“My question, why after rejecting all of the factions, did you then turn around and fight for The Empire?”

Shaun couldn’t hold back his laughter at the question, the idea that he was fighting for The Empire was ridiculous! He was working with them, for now, but he had not joined them in any long term capacity and wasn’t even fighting for them really. His own participation in the event was purely selfish.

“What a waste of a question, I am not fighting this event for The Empire, not really. We have a mutually beneficial relationship. This War has nothing to do with me really outside of me wanting to come first. It was you and Viv who wanted this War and I agreed so that people don’t actually die for no reason back on Earth.”

“So your saying that if we fought this war on Earth you wouldn’t have joined?” Jason looked like he had been slapped.

“Exactly, I made it clear I wasn’t fighting this war for them. The only reason I am now is so I win the event.”

“You really have no loyalty toward The Empire, do you?” Jason looked like he was in shock, so did the other two which made this whole conversation worth it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“None at all. You kind of fucked up by agreeing to this whole event deciding the world leader thing. You have also asked two extra questions so now I get a few myself.” Jason, still shocked and starting to get angry just nodded at him.

“Do you know why Earth is so important to the factions?” That question snapped Jason back to the present.

“I…..No, I don’t. I was hoping you did. The way everyone is fighting over our planet makes me wonder but when I asked I was shut down quickly.” That wasn’t the answer he had hoped for but it made him feel better that he also didn’t know.

“Last one from me. If I asked you that if we get to the end of the event and we both still live if we could fight it out one on one to see who wins, would you say yes? Obviously neither of us would technically die but I bet the points would be worth it.”

“I would say no.” He was disappointed in that answer, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t get to fight him. “If we fought one on one I wouldn’t win. That has been made perfectly clear to me by Octavius. If we do fight, which I imagine we will, I will use everyone and everything I have to win, even if I have to bring an entire army against you to do it.”

“So why not kill me now?” He was curious why they chose to talk rather than fight.

“Because you would flee rather than die. You wont fight to the death until the very end, when you have nothing else to lose in the event.” He was right, but it annoyed him that Jason could read him so well. “I am guessing that if we offered you a place in The Pantheon you would turn it down?” Shaun nodded at him. “Thought so.” Jason let out a sigh before standing back up. “Before you go, can I pat Spike?”

At hearing his name Spike lifted his head again, interrupting his ear rub, and looked at Jason. The feelings he got from Spike were hell no. No one got to pat him like he was a tamed dog. “He isn’t a fan of that idea.”

“I really am jealous of that skill.” Jason started to walk away before turning back. “You can go now, but next time we meet it will end in a fight.”

“Seriously! We are going to let him go? Cant we at least try and kill him now?” Percy really was an idiot.

“If you think you can get to him, go ahead.”

Before Percy had a chance he pulled all the mana back form his summons and shifted into lightning. Within a split second he had gone from lazing around with his summons to being kilometres in the air. Even then he immediately took to his air form and was gone on the wind.

They had been right, he wasn’t going to try and fight them all now, there was no fun in it seeing as the event had only just started. Besides that he wasn’t confident in killing all three of them plus and army and making it out of their alive. Jason had bought a lot of his people to the fortress in case it came to that and he had no back up and no idea what the guy was capable of.

If all went to plan though he would be getting the last laugh on that interaction, if only he could have stuck around to see all the chaos unfold if his rituals all went the way he wanted.

He moved back to the outer fortress and didn’t see anyone or anything along the way. Jason really had pulled everyone that he could to come to that fortress in case they needed to fight him. He had admitted that he wouldn’t win if they fought one on one which put him right at the top of the power rankings of Earth, but that didn’t matter if it was a million against one.

Shaun Clermont: I met Jason and his family, all are powerful and all have affinity. If you come across one of them throw everything and everyone you have at them, it will be the only way to win.

Vivenne Grace: Any idea of what Affinity they have?

Shaun Clermont: No, not with any certainty. But they are all above level 80, Jason near 100. Do not underestimate them.

They all spoke a bit more and he found that a majority of his team had moved past the central fortress, some closing in on the outer fortresses. This was better than Jason’s team which put him in good spirits. After seeing just how many people Jason could get together in a short amount of time though made him wonder what their best course of action was.

Meeting in the open would squarely put Jason on the winning side of a fight. Too many people to fight with no protection, they would be overwhelmed by pure numbers. Going to them would also put them in a bad spot. They would need to invade a fortress and fight which would stretch them even thinner. The best bet of winning a fight was to have The Pantheon come to them and be ready for them when they arrived.

As he travelled he also couldn’t help but smile, just because he hadn’t been able to claim one of the central fortresses didn’t mean he didn’t win this fight. He had killed so many of their people and would only kill more. They had earnt a lot of points and could use them to reinforce their own fortresses. There was also nothing stopping him from claiming one of the outer fortress and holding it, but not until he knew if the gift he left behind would work out or not, he didn’t want to risk them all running to him too soon, he needed them to stay put for a while.

When he made it to the outer fortress he sent a message to Eric for him and as many as he could spare to come join him at his location. When he was done with that he moved on to another idea he had, one that involved crafting explosive bombs of fire that could be used when the time came to defend a fortress. With his plans all in motion he centred his mind and got to crafting, he would win this event, he would make sure of it.