Time flies when you're a demigod in training—or at least, it did for me. What felt like mere months in my infant body stretched into years, but the Mythos System accelerated everything. By my thirteenth birthday, I looked like a strapping young man of eighteen, muscles rippling under sun-bronzed skin, standing taller than most adults in Thebes. The villagers whispered about me: "Heracles, the blessed one," they'd say, eyeing my feats with awe and a touch of fear. I'd lift boulders to clear fields, wrestle wild bulls into submission, and hunt packs of wolves that plagued the hills. Each victory fed the system, pushing my levels higher.
**[Status Update: Level 15]**
**[Strength: 45 (+20 from Herculean Strength Level 3)]**
**[Agility: 28]**
**[Vitality: 35]**
**[Intelligence: 22]**
**[Skills: Mythic Sense (Level 2), Essence Absorption (Level 1), Boar Charge (Unlocked from Shadow Boar - Dash attack with shadow camouflage)]**
**[Pantheon Essences: Greek (Minor - Hera's Spite, Zeus' Thunder Echo)]**
The essences were game-changers. Hera's spite gave me resistance to poisons and curses, turning her attempts to sabotage me—like tainted water sources or illusory traps—into minor annoyances. Zeus' echo, absorbed from a stray lightning bolt during a storm (which I suspected wasn't accidental), let me channel small sparks of electricity in my punches. But with power came scrutiny. The gods were watching, always.
Amphitryon had taken me under his wing as a "squire," training me in swordplay and strategy. "You're no ordinary boy, Heracles," he'd say during our sparring sessions in the dusty courtyard. His blade clashed against mine, but I held back—barely—to avoid shattering it. Alcmene watched from the sidelines, her eyes filled with pride and worry. She'd caught me sneaking out for hunts more than once, but she never scolded. "The blood of Zeus runs hot in you," she'd murmur, binding my wounds with herbal poultices.
One crisp autumn morning, as leaves swirled like golden confetti, I set out for the Cithaeron Mountains. The system had pinged a new quest overnight:
**[Quest: Claim the Summit - Ascend Mount Cithaeron and meditate at the peak. Uncover a hidden divine relic. Rewards: +5 Levels, New Skill Unlock, Potential Mentor Encounter.]**
Mentor encounter? Intriguing. The myths mentioned various teachers for Hercules—Chiron the centaur, or even Linus for music—but with my multiverse twist, who knew? I packed a satchel with bread, cheese, and my trusty bronze dagger (upgraded from the wooden toy), then slipped away before dawn.
The climb was grueling, even for me. Steep cliffs tested my agility, and wild goats charged like living battering rams. I dispatched them with ease, absorbing minor beast essences that boosted my stamina. By midday, sweat soaked my tunic, but Mythic Sense guided me, highlighting faint trails glowing with ethereal energy.
As I neared the summit, a fog rolled in, thick and unnatural. Thunder rumbled distantly—Zeus' domain, perhaps? But something else prickled my senses: a presence, wise and calculating, like a chess master surveying the board.
I crested the peak, a flat expanse dotted with ancient altars weathered by time. In the center stood a pedestal, cracked marble holding a gleaming owl-shaped amulet. The relic? As I reached for it, a voice echoed—not in my ears, but in my mind.
" Bold mortal—or should I say, demigod? You seek wisdom amid the stones."
I spun, dagger drawn. From the mist emerged a woman, tall and regal, clad in flowing white robes embroidered with golden threads. A helmet adorned her head, plumed with owl feathers, and her eyes—storm-gray and piercing—held the weight of eternal knowledge. Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. My heart skipped. In the myths, she was Hercules' occasional ally, but often at arm's length from Zeus' bastard kids.
"Athena," I said, lowering my weapon but staying alert. My voice had deepened, carrying the gravel of adolescence. "To what do I owe this... intervention?"
She smiled faintly, circling me like a sculptor appraising clay. "Intervention? No, Heracles. Observation. Your feats echo across Olympus. Slaying Hera's serpents as an infant, hunting shadowed beasts—these are not the acts of a mere hero. You carry something more... foreign." Her gaze sharpened, as if peering into my soul. "Memories not of this world. A system of power, binding myths like threads in a tapestry."
How did she know? Panic flickered, but I masked it. "Let's say I do. What of it? Zeus sired me; Hera hunts me. I survive however I can."
Athena nodded, her helmet catching the light. "Survival is the first lesson. But to thrive? That requires strategy." She waved a hand, and illusions sprang to life: visions of battles, strategies unfolding like maps. "I offer mentorship. Not out of pity, but necessity. The pantheons stir—Greek, Norse, Egyptian, even shadows from realms beyond. Zeus' rule frays at the edges. You could be the thread that mends... or severs."
Norse? Egyptian? Confirmation—this world was interconnected. I grabbed the amulet from the pedestal, feeling a rush of energy.
**[Relic Acquired: Owl's Insight Amulet]**
**[Effect: +10 Intelligence, Unlock Skill - Tactical Foresight (Level 1): Predict enemy moves in combat with 70% accuracy.]**
**[Quest Completed: Claim the Summit. +5 Levels (Now Level 20), Mentor Unlocked - Athena.]**
The system approved. "Deal," I said, slipping the amulet around my neck. "But on my terms. No blind obedience to Olympus."
Athena's laugh was like chiming bells. "Spoken like a true strategist. Very well. Our first lesson: awareness." She pointed skyward. "You are watched, not just by Greek eyes."
I followed her gaze. Perched on a jagged rock was a raven, black as midnight, its beady eyes fixed on us. Not a normal bird—Mythic Sense screamed foreign energy, cold and rune-like. Norse. Odin's Huginn or Muninn? The Allfather's spies, thought and memory, scouting across realms.
The raven cawed once, a sound laced with ancient whispers, then took flight, vanishing into a shimmer—like a portal closing.
"Odin's gaze turns southward," Athena murmured. "Asgard senses the fractures. Realms bleed into one another—valkyries in Egyptian deserts, Greek fires in Norse fjords. Lucifer's whispers fan the flames, promising chaos to the disgruntled."
Lucifer again. That vision from infancy resurfaced: the fallen one offering power. "Why me?" I asked. "What's so special about a reincarnated gamer in Hercules' body?"
Athena's expression softened, almost maternal. "Because you bridge worlds, Heracles. Your 'system' devours essences, uniting what was divided. But beware—absorption invites corruption. Take too much, and you become the monster."
We trained for hours. Athena conjured phantom warriors—hoplites with spears, teaching me parries and feints enhanced by Tactical Foresight. Predictions flashed in my HUD: "Enemy thrust incoming—dodge left." I countered, shattering illusions with electrified punches.
By dusk, exhaustion set in, but power thrummed through me. "Return here in three days," Athena said, fading into mist. "More lessons await. And Heracles? Trust few. Even gods have agendas."
As she vanished, the raven's caw echoed faintly from afar. Odin's interest—was it alliance or threat? Back home, Alcmene fussed over my "late hunt," but her eyes held knowing. "The gods speak to you," she said softly.
That night, dreams plagued me: Olympus crumbling, Asgard's halls invading, Lucifer laughing amid ruins. I awoke sweating, system pinging.
**[New Quest Chain Unlocked: Pantheon Intrigue - Investigate the Norse Spy. Reward: Crossover Essence (Norse - Minor).]**
The game was escalating. Teen Hercules was ready—but the divine bloodline? It burned hotter than ever.