THEOS

Luke opened the door leading out to the main deck of the Argo. A streak of bright red hair flashed in front of his eyes, and immediately a woman, the first he had seen the entire time he had been on the ship, collided into him with enough force to send him stumbling back into the hallway.

“Are you ok–”

“Fuck off.” She planted a hand on his chest and pushed him into the wall before marching away. Stomping her feet into the ground hard enough to make the wood groan.

Luke blinked in surprise, glancing between the spot on his chest where she had pushed him and her retreating figure before pulling himself forward.

“That was pretty rude, you know!” He called after her as she turned around the corner. She ignored him. He scoffed and absently rubbed his chest. Pull his hands away in mild surprise a second later. His mind lingering on the strange sensation of being hit hard enough to stumble and crash into a wall but still not take any damage, or even feel sting for that matter.

Weird, but not unexpected. I’m definitely getting to the point that my body is durable enough to withstand some decent force. He grinned.

Grip though, might be an issue when I’m not actively using mana for traction. He thought, as he dusted himself off. Which makes sense, my weight didn’t change when I broke through, so it’s easy for people to throw me around when I’m not braced. Not the worst thing, but becoming a ragdoll isn’t ideal.

Maybe I just need to constantly keep channeling my mana and have it wrapped around my body all the time– but the amount of practice I’ll need to control my mana like that instinctually… He shook his head slightly. It should be possible, butI’ll have to match my mana drain to my regen so I’m not always running on empty, and on top of that, do it in a way that still lets me focus on other things.

Which now that I think about it, will be necessary when fighting in the air is a very real thing. I guess with some practice, it won’t be too different than using an artifact. Then again, every artifact I have I just push mana in. Holding myself tethered to space and maneuvering around is a bit more complicated than that.

I’ll try it out, but it's one more thing I’ll need to ask Clite, or any experienced warrior about for that matter. The way mana interacts with space opens up way too many possibilities for me to fumble around by myself with. Not when I can learn the basic tricks and tips from someone else.

Besides, if I don’t, I risk missing something important and having my ass handed to me. Cyzicus mentioned that a lot of the participants in the Tournament are going to be important people- as in the children of gods and other high level cultivators. Who knows what kind of tricks and bloodlines they're going to pull out of their asses.

Lukeus was a mortal when he broke through in the desert with me, and he already knew how to fly, and make stuff float. For most people, I bet even breaking into the warrior-tier is a struggle, for Lukeus and probably even Rex, it might as well be inevitable. It wouldn't be strange if his instructors had him doing exercises that would only be useful in the Warrior-tier from the moment he unlocked his mana.

That’s fine though. With the tide, I’ll have no shortage of monsters to both harvest points from, and the instruction of an experienced tutor. I can probably even ask Heracles for help. I did help free him, so it won’t be too out of place asking for a couple pointers.

Scratching his chin in thought, he walked through the door, only to stop dead in his tracks.

What the… He blinked in surprise. Did she do this?

Laying on the floor of the deck were dozens of men covered in blood and cuts with a few even having arrows poking out of their arms and legs. He gulped, and rose into the air and over the comatose form of an exceedingly hairy man, laying right by the door. If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Luke would have thought he was dead with how still he was.

What happened here? He frowned, his earlier thoughts leaving his head.

Searching the deck, he found Jason standing at the very front of the ship, leaning forward with his hands on the rail, and gazing deep into the water below. Luke glided through the air towards him.

A hand shot out from beneath him, and grabbed his leg. A chill ran down Luke’s spine.

“Wha–” Luke frowned, and instinctively tried to tug his leg free. It didn’t move an inch.

“Relax, it’s me.” Heracles smiled and winked from under him.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked.

“Hiding.” The Son of Zeus said, letting go of him, and rising into the air, so that he was floating alongside him.

“From?”

“Atalanta.” He shivered. “Her wrath isn’t worth facing, so whenever she goes off I just lie down, and pretend I’m unconscious.”

“That… I guess that’s smart. Is that what happened here?”

“Aye.”

“Why was she mad?”

“Eh.” He shrugged, and then looking at Luke’s skeptical face as his eyes roamed the fallen bodies, he elaborated. “It’s not as serious as it seems. They’ll all be fine with a potion or two.”

“But why?” I’ve got to be missing something here.

“I highly doubt anyone remembers. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to seek you out. We’re almost there and I was talking to Rex earlier, and he mentioned that you and Nel have been getting on well. Did she say anything about me?”

“What?”

Heracles blushed. “Just casually, you know. I uh… Forget it, I was just… It’s fine.” He scratched his chin. “Did she?”

“No, sorry. No one talked about you, at least to me. Unless you count Lukeus but that was when we were coming to get you so…” Luke trailed off.

“Oh. I guess that’s fine.” He deflated slightly and scratched his head. “I have to go check something down in the…” He pointed to the door, and floated away. “I will find you later.”

“So what was all that about?” Luke asked, landing gently behind Jason.

Jason scratched his chin. “Heracles has taken a fancy to her. From what I understand, they met a few years ago, and he’s been besotten since. Half the reason he even joined my quest was so that he could woo her. You wouldn’t believe the stink he made on Lemnos to get us to leave. He actuall–”

“– I was asking about the bodies on the ground.” Luke cut him off.

“Oh that. It’s something of a tradition now. Whenever Atalanta gets mad, she goads one fool after another into a battle.”

“And they just line up?” Luke asked incredulously.

“She pays well, and most of the crew considers it training. We all spar with each other anyway, but fighting someone on her level is an experience. There’s not many among us here that can defeat her.” He admitted.

“Huh.” Seems like a waste of potions, but at the same time, if you have them, might as well use them. It’s not like I haven’t been taking them to heal after training, and getting pierced by arrows and knocked unconscious is likely less painful than being boiled so…

“I smell blood.” Jason said suddenly, pulling Luke out of his musings.

Luke sniffed the air. “Yeah, me too. I think it’s mostly that guy.” Luke pointed to someone lying in a pool of his own blood. Right under the holographic map hovering near the ship’s wheel. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I’m not talking about them.” He ignored Luke’s question, and pointed forward. “From up ahead. The wind is carrying it downstream. The scent has been getting stronger for the past hour.”

Luke took a deep breath, and shook his head slightly when he didn’t smell anything but water. Does he have a really good sense of smell, or is he just fucking with me?

“Could it be the giants? If there’s a town they cleared nearby.”

“No…” He frowned. “It doesn’t smell like the giants you felled while freeing Heracles, but it doesn’t smell human either.”

“Some kind of monster then? Harpies?”

“No.” He shook his head. The golden ring dangling from his ear glowed, and a key appeared in his hand. He flicked it forwards, and it shot through the air, and embedded itself into the ship's wheel. “We’re much too close to the Capital for that to be the case. They shy away from the bigger towns. This is something else.”

The Argo shook, and all fifty of its sails suddenly fell to the side and hung horizontally over the ship's rails.

“Woah, is that supposed to –” Luke’s eyes widened in awe as they lifted up and then beat down again. The ship groaned as it took to the sky. “Woah.”

Of course it can fly. He grinned slightly, and peered over the edge, and watched the shadow of the flying boat shrink rapidly on the water. A moment later, Jason made a gesture with his hands, and the ship’s wheel started spinning to the right.

“Impressive isn’t it?” He said directing it over the land, and forgoing the river entirely in favor of a straight path towards the Capital.

“Very.” Luke nodded. Moving to the side, as Jason stepped past him with a large frown on his.

How much blood does he smell? Luke thought worriedly, watching as Jason knelt down in front of a brown haired man and withdrew a potion from his ring.

Pinching the man's face, he forced his lips open and spilled the contents of the vial down his throat. The second he woke up, Jason started barking orders.

“Find Lukeus, and send him here. Sound the alarm, and tell everyone to prepare for battle. Once that’s done, find a medic, and have them treat all these bozos. I want them battle ready in ten!”

“Yes Sir.” He saluted Jason, and ran off to do his bidding.

Luke gulped heavily. “Did the smell change?”

“I smell a lot more blood.” He said grimly, walking over to the map displaying all the ships in the fleet, he stared at it. His storage ring glowed softly, and one talisman after another appeared in the air in front of him. “Attention all Argonauts, this is Jason. We may be entering a live conflict. Hold a perimeter around the Capital while the Argo investigates. Stand ready to assist, but do not act. I repeat, do not act until I’ve confirmed the tier of the enemy.” He waved his hand, and every talisman flew off in a direction behind him.

“Why do you want them to stay?” Luke frowned. “If we’re really going into a fight, then shouldn’t the more people we have, the better?”

“No. The Argo has enough protections built in that you’d need to be very strong… at least at the Saint-tier, maybe even higher to break through our wards, and I’ve got a trick or two that lets us run fast if things go south. Most of the ships that are following us don’t. They’ll barely hold up to a Hero. And, any one who’s anyone won’t attack this ship carelessly. Lady Hera blessed my voyage, and Lord Posiedon gave it to me. Both their symbols are on the side… The rest of the fleet doesn’t carry similar protections.”

Luke nodded in understanding, and looked over the horizon. Squinting as the faint outline of the Capital of Sylcra, wrapped in a shimmering gold barrier came into focus.

“Shit.” Luke cursed, as a shockwave traveled through the air, and made the Argo shudder underneath his feet. Considering that the boat was enchanted, and that the entire time he had been on it he hadn’t felt a single tremor, it worried him.

Who would attack the Capital? Is it the Rebel? It can’t be… Sophia should still be chasing her.

Jason rose into the air and sighed. “It looks like we’re fine.” He said, a hint of awe in his voice .”It appears Lord Cyzicus has already slain the monster.”

“No.” Luke said, his heart dropping in his chest. His eyes, just barely able to make out the form of a giant, many story tall decapitated head sitting outside the barrier. A head belonging to a woman, with blond hair, and a single blue eye. “That’s not a monster, that’s Sophia, Cyzicus’s fiance.”