When they opened their eyes again, they were no longer in the forest but in what could very well have been the Christian hell. Burning ground, streams of magma and fire, the smell of sulfur in the air and, high above them, winged creatures circling. They looked like demons, wicked horns, red, purple and blue, leathery skin. There was fields of fire in every direction, with castles in the far distance, great and imposing, build of black stone which seemed to swallow the light, creating a dark aura around them.
"This… this is where you disappear to? Why, by the gods, would you willingly come back here?" Thalia wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Alexander had his lineage to keep him cool but to Thalia, it must've been unbearably hot. Alexander laid a hand on her shoulder and -just as with the calming magic- pushed the cold energy into her. The magic would wear off after a few hours but for now, it should stay bearable.
"It isn't always like this. Each time I create a dungeon, it is different. One time, I was in the Trojan horse as Odysseus and the others stormed Troy. This is one of the more… hostile environments I have encountered", he explained to her, his gaze shifting to the quest screen.
[Quest: breaking infernal chains
Nature spirits have been imprisoned in each of the three castles. Free one of them
Reward: one random attribute rank up; two random skill rank up]
"Okay, as far as I know, we have to get to those castles and free some nature spirits"
"How do you know that?"
"Another power", he shrugged.
"I would say you were making things up at this point but seeing as we have literally been sent to hell using one of your powers, I won't question it. Though it is fucking weird, what does this have to do with Boreas?"
"Your guess is as good as mine", he truly didn't know for why he had the system. His working theory was that it was a blessing. Gods can bless things that have nothing to do with their domain. Just look at Midas. Dionysus wasn't the god of gold! But who blessed him? His father? He doubted that Boreas knew what a gamer system was but who else could it be? Perhaps he would never know, perhaps the god who blessed him would tell him one day but that was all up to the fates, he supposed.
They walked along the fiery ground, killing some demons who dared to swoop down, nothing the two of them couldn't handle. When they got closer to one of the castles, they could feel the foul power radiating from it. It was like an invisible pressure, bearing down on them. The gates stood wide open, not a guard inside.
"Let's do this!" Thalia was about to storm in but Alexander stopped her.
"This is easy… too easy, let me just-" he picked up a small stone and threw it through the gate. Plumes of blue flame shot out the ground, incinerating it, "okay, not going in the front door… maybe we could fly up?"
"No!" Thalia protested a bit too drastically.
"I know you are scared of heights but do you really rather want to be incinerated? Just close your eyes", he hoisted her into his arms like a princess.
"Don't you dare drop me", Thalia hissed as she closed her eyes.
"Just try and stay calm", he activated his power, letting the wind carry them upwards, higher and higher, until they were above the walls and even higher than that, up to a tower, from which he could feel nature magic. That was where they probably kept the spirit. He flew into the window and touched down, "you can open your eyes now", as he sat her down.
They looked around. At the end of the room was a nature spirit, green skin and flowers for hair, bound in black and red chains, malnutritioned. In front of the trapped nature spirit stood a gigantic demon with leathery, yellow skin, three sets of horns, all pointing in a different direction, eyes like burning coals, too small for his head. He had needle like teeth, rows upon rows of them. Blood and flesh was stuck on them. When he saw them enter, he slapped his big gut with his meaty, clawed hands, releasing a sound like a war drum. Out of the walls, chained with spikes at the ends flew at them. They barely had time to summon their shields. Upon seeing Thalia's shield, the demon flinched but overcame his fear and sent more chains after them. They blocked chain after chain with their shields but had no opportunity to move close enough to attack. They were hit more than once and his hp kept dropping. He threw some of his ice grenates, freezing the demon in place but not for long, as the demon broke through the ice which had taken Thalia 15 minutes to break, in a few seconds, "shit!"
Alexander took another hit and popped an ambrosia square. Well, this was the perfect opportunity for dancing weapon.
He threw snowstorm into the air and it flew straight at the demon, piercing its throat and yet, it didn't die. It laughed, a deep, guttural sound.
"Thalia, try to shoot it with lightning!"
She nodded, raising her arm, gathering electricity, all the whilst blocking more and more chains. When the lightning bolt hit the demon, it stopped laughing. Looking down, there was a hole in its chest. It shrieked and fell over. The chains fell limply to the ground.
Alexander activated heal and healed himself to full hp before healing Thalia up too, damn, he was tired…
Thalia snapped the chains of the nymph and a glowing green aura erupted from her. Looking out the window, the landscape had changed. Around the castle, a lush forest was where fiery wasteland had been before. Where magma flew, not bubbled streams of crystal clear water.
"Thank you brave heroes"
[quest completed]
English has ranked up twice!
English has reached A rank. Greek mind no longer prevents the user from reading English fluently.
"Status?"
Alexander Dorn
Race: Demigod
HP: 100/100
Titles: The gamer; Son of Winter
Attributes(mortal average is D, Demigod average is C):
Strength: S
Constitution: B+
Mind: B-
Dexterity: B
Skills:
Gamer's body: SSSR(Allows the user to live their life as if it was a videogame, not requiring sleep, food or water. Sleeping in a bed restores all HP and cures status conditions)
Gamer's mind: SSSR(Allows the user to clearly and calmly think even in the most stressful of times, grants immunity to mind status effects)
Swordsmanship: SS(Hit 'em with the pointy end)
Archery: B(ready, set aim!)
Greek mind: C(Allows the user to read ancient greek, but making all other languages look like gibberish, effectively causing Dyslexia)!! No longer inhibits the reading of the English languages thanks to English reaching rank A!!
Battle instincts: C(Your mind is always in battle mode, effectively causing ADHD)
Math: c-(plus, minus, divide, multiply)
English: A(your mother tongue)
Aeromancy: B+(As the son of the north wind, air is yours to control)
Cryomancy: A-(As the son of winter, ice and the cold is yours to control)
Atmokinesis: A-(Create storms, hail and snow are easier to create)
Calmness manipulation: C+(as the son of the god of calmness, you can induce a state of pure calmness in yourself and others)
French: B+(the language of love)
Observe: C(gain insights to who or whatever you look at)
Summon skeleton: C+(by offering some food and drink you can summon a skeletal warrior, loyal to you)
Craft: C+(Creating something from raw ingredients)
Water breathing: C(Grants you the ability to breathe water and survive water pressure)
Mist manipulation: C(bend the truth)
Healing: B(channel the energy of life itself)
Dancing weapon: C(magically lets a weapon fight on its own)
Power boost: B(raises strength and constitution in a pinch to S+ rank for one minute)
Mist control: B+(weave the mist to work in your favor)
Create dungeon: C(create a dungeon every week. Danger levels and rewards will be randomly chosen)
Dragon breath: C(Shoot fire from your mouth)
Awesome!
They were kicked out of the dungeon, now back in the forest.
"That. Was… awesome!", Thalia cheered, "you have to take me more often!"
"We almost died?"
"We are half bloods, it's part of the package"