Chapter 25 Winds of change

I stood in front of the door to Reona’s cabin and glanced down, I was as presentable as I could be. Squaring my shoulders, I knocked. “Come In,” I heard. Opening the door, I entered the small cabin, it was larger than where I slept but not by much. There was a small table in the corner and a bunk against the far wall. Sitting at the table Reona was dressed in a conservative gown that did nothing to hide her curves.

Reona pointed to the other chair and said, “Please have a seat, Torn.” I smiled and sat and then we examined each other. Reona finally spoke, “We will be working together and I thought we should get to know one another. Why don’t you go first and tell me of yourself?”

I nodded and thought for a moment. There was not much I was willing to tell her but I had to give her something. “My name is Torn, and I was a visitor to the city, looking to find adventure and gold.” I chuckled and then said, “Clearly I have found something more than I thought I would.”

Reona laughed and said, “Strange things happen to interesting people. I know you were chosen by Mecha and the King to be the Eyes and Ears. How do you feel about that and what led Mecha to choose you, no offence but your level is not that high.”

I nodded, it was true I was not one of the higher-level players. “I am not sure why I was chosen, it really is a mystery to me, but when the King commands you to do something like this, you really can’t say no.”

Reona nodded and then asked me about my training and abilities, she was surprised to learn I was a Paladin. We engaged in pleasant but meaningless talk as the meal was served. The food was plain and a little salty, but most of the food aboard the ship was salted to help preserve it.

Once we had finished the meal Reona politely hinted at me that we were done, I was breathing a sigh of relief when she looked at me and said, “You remind me of someone I once knew.”

Keeping my face calm I asked, “Who?”

Not taking her eyes off me Reona replied, “He was a friend and a cousin, unfortunately, he died in a family squabble.” I looked at her, she was looking away and her voice and face seemed sad.

“What happened?” I asked. I was curious as to how she was going to explain what had happened when she betrayed me and I was killed.

Taking a deep breath Reona smiled at me and said, “It does not matter anymore, the past is the past it was years ago.”

I nodded and excused myself, I was about to reach for the door when there was an urgent knock. I glanced at Reona and seeing her nod I opened the door to discover the Capitan standing there, the look in his eyes was hungry as he stared at Reona.

“I think you both should come to the deck, there is something happening I think you should see. I glanced at Reona and then held the door for her as she followed the Capitan. It only took us a minute to reach the main deck and I could see that most of the crew and passengers were already standing in small groups observing the sky and the sea.

I heard the Capitan curse and Reona gasp before I could get a clear view of what I was seeing. The ship was caught in a massive whirlpool that must have been 5 kilometers in size. We were trapped, the ship could not fight the current and the wind was against us.

As bad as that sounds what was opposite us in the whirlpool was worse, it was a huge portal. The sides were over two hundred feet of towering water and the sea that stretched in between them glowed with a green hue that reflected shimmering colors.

At our current rate, we would be heading straight through that portal within minutes 15 at the most. Even more incredible was the sight of a giant man walking on the sea towards us. He would reach us in a couple of minutes. He was dressed in what looked like Greek attire from the classical age, 5th and 4th centuries BC.

He also looked pissed and as he spotted me he roared. It was in ancient Greek but I got the drift of what he was saying. It could be summed up like this. You pissant, I am going to kill you and then make everyone die also. I hate you and I will kill you. Et cetera.

“Friendly guy, isn’t he?” Reona remarked. The Capitan was looking at me and then at the giant walking on the sea towards us.

“He seems to be fixated on you Torn, any idea why?” the Capitan’s voice sound just a little nervous as he saw the giant was about to reach the ship. The giants name visible a bright red against the sea, Orion.

I had my PIM opened and was looking up who this big bastard was. The answer was not good, Orion a giant who was given the ability to walk on water by his father Poseidon. These damn Greek Gods, they were beginning to swarm this realm. The name of the game was Gods and Men. The problem was the game Gods were loosely based on real Gods. Yet here on the water about to board the ship and without a doubt attempt to kill me was a Greek demigod.

This was getting a little old, and I suddenly began to feel a little pissed. As all the others continued to look at the giant approaching the sea I quickly stripped down to the undergarments. Then with a dash of speed I ran to the port side of the ship and dived over the railing, as soon as I hit the sea the whirlpool became calm although the portal still loomed in the distance.

As I went over the side of the ship I could hear muttered curses and yells of surprise, but they faded once I went into the water. I had no trouble breathing thanks to my buff and my Dragon eyes made it easy to see clearly. I began to swim towards Orion as he also sang into the sea and began to swim towards me.

I called forth my pet Krusty the crab and told him to get behind Orion and hamstring him on both legs. It would not be as effective in the sea as it would on land but it all would help. Within seconds Orion and I were facing each other, he was about twice my size but very fast. Having a father who is the God of the sea did not hurt.

He reached out and grabbed my shoulder and then began to pull me towards closer as his fingers squeezed in an attempt to crush my shoulder. I reached up and grabbed his wrist and began to push his arm up in an attempt to release his grip on me. He smiled at this and then spoke, strangely enough, I could now understand his classical Greek.

"I will destroy you little man and take the three essences of demigod from your body, becoming even more powerful and beginning my ascent to the throne of the heavens, Mount Olympus." At this point, he stopped talking as his eyes opened in surprise.

I had lifted his arm and pulled his hand off my shoulder, my strength had increased with each level I had gained and the effect had been modified by the nanobots I had. I was sure that in a physical match I was stronger than Orion.

The fact was he displayed level twelve, in his realm that was probably enough for what he did, which was hunting and of course raping women, if my PIM was correct. Once I had his hand off my shoulder I began to squeeze his wrist. He grunted in pain and then drew back his left hand to remove my head from my shoulders with a punch.

I commanded Krusty to begin his attack now and then watched as the giant screamed as both his tendons were slashed. Krusty did not stop there but turned his attention towards the left leg and began to work on it. Orion screamed in rage and pain, I was all but forgotten as he tried to spin around and grab Krusty.

This allowed an opportunity to attack from behind him, but my Elf form was not large enough to do what I wanted, I metamorphosed into what I was beginning to think of as my Demon Dragon form, which still did not allow me to switch fully, but it did give me wings which were now covered in scales and increased my size by about three feet. We were at least forty feet under the water and I was sure that we were not visible to anyone on the ship so I felt safe in changing.

Reaching out I grasped Orion by the neck and pulled him into a Full Nelson, by swinging both my arms under his and then wrapping my hands up and over his shoulders and behind his head. I began to put pressure on his neck while effectively pinning his arms from being able to move. He began to strain against me once again, trying to power out of the hold.

I was not having any of that, this SOB had come here to this world to kill me and take me back to his realm. Suddenly the anger I had burned cold and could feel the energy I had received from the three other demigods begin to coalesce and shift within me, it was now working at changing not just some lines of code, but my very being.

I did not allow this to distract me and commanded Krusty to go for the stones. I had decided that a man's most vulnerable part of his anatomy is his balls. With Orion focusing all his effort on escaping me, he allowed my Crab to get close. With one click of his claws, he snipped off the demigod’s best friend and then with another snip Orion was suddenly bereft of his Family Jewels.

This did not sit well with the Sea Giant who began to scream and thrash grabbing at his injured area and curling into a ball. He was now ignoring both Krusty and myself and crying and screaming. I felt a hint of pity until I remembered reading of how he had raped Merope the King Oinopion of Khios. Suddenly the pity I felt turned to cold rage and I reached out and grabbed Orion then placing my hand over his wound I cast Sonic-shard with as much power as I could directly into the body of the Sea Giant. It was doing tremendous soft tissue damage, but demigods are tough, and I was not going to leave this enemy in any position to recoup, recover and re-enact vengeance.

I had learnt in school how high-frequency waves could cause seawater and salt to burn. The problem was it took more energy than it produced. But it did cause the seawater to burn. Funny thing even a demigod is full of blood and blood is full of salt.

I began to alter the frequency of my attack, after several seconds I could tell it was having an effect, Orion had stopped screaming and was now beginning to glow. Suddenly there was an explosion then an implosion that happened so fast I could barely register what had happened.

Orion was gone and floating in the water was a mass of energy, reaching out my hand I felt the energy slowly at first then with greater speed flow into me. Once again the window popped open on the interface about now having 4 aspects of Godhood and once I achieved 7 I would ascend to the lofty realms of the Gods themselves. I closed the window down as I felt the subtle changes begin to occur within me.

I could feel my body alter and become a little larger and heavier, with new pathways of energy develop within my body. I now knew that my powers as a demigod had increased but having a quick look at my stats showed no other changes.

I began to swim towards the surface, hoping that the ship would still be nearby. I reached the surface and saw that I was indeed alone I could make out the Golden Ass as she sailed far out in an arc to avoid the portal that still stood on the ocean.

The damn Capitan had abandoned me to certain death, without waiting to see the outcome of my battle with Orion. I add the Capitan to my kill on sight list. Calling Krusty towards me I pointed at the portal and we began to swim towards it. I was not sure we were going to make it the last few yards showed the light beginning to fade and as we swam across the threshold the whole thing collapsed in on itself.

The collapsing portal missed us by seconds and then we were no longer in Topland in the game Gods and Men. We were about ten feet of the shore of a picturesque little island, it was warm and the evening sky smelled of summer. About a mile past the island the mainland was visible, but what immediately drew my attention was the mountain that stood inland.

The top third of the mountain was wreathed in clouds with vicious lightening and thunder happening non-stop yet the very top of the mountain was clear and in the sunshine, the white marble buildings and golden roofs glinting in the warm sun. Going down the mountain were terraces, with whole cities separated by parklands and the different levels they were located on. The bottom half of the mountain was used for agrarian purposes with the fields being fed by the many streams and brooks that descended from the peak.

I knew what I was looking at, Mount Olympus, home of the Greek pantheon and according to the Goddess Nyx, Odin and his crew of Gods and demigods along with Shiva and a bunch of Gods from India were all ensconced on the mountain. What the Fuck.

Glancing down at Krusty I told him to go play in the ocean and I would call him if I needed him. If I met any more demigods or Gods I did not want him to get hurt. Those Gods from India were pretty nasty I recalled from my high school religious studies class. Actually, every God I had met so far had been a piece of work, with the exception of Nyx and Gaiatoci.

Time to get this show on the road I thought as I set out to explore the island I was on. It was small about ten kilometers across with some hills near the center and only one good beach, the one I had stumbled onto. There was some evidence that at one time it had been occupied, the old fields still had grain growing wild and the olives trees were heavy with fruit. It reminded me that culinary olives are fruits but are considered a vegetable for cooking purposes.

Funny how your mind wanders as you explore. Having circled the island and only seen more groves of olive trees and old fields full of grain that would never be harvested I headed inland. There were a few paths that I followed, old roads that led up through the small range of hills until we reached the peak and stared in wonder at the plateau that made up the middle of the island.

There was a lake with stream filling it that descended down from the side of the tallest hill, which was really a steep little mountain. Little ways away from the lake stood a tower, three stories high and clearly abandoned but still solid. The lake had a small beach and grass that grew out to the many flowers that seemed to be growing wild.

The whole thing was so similar to my island that I stopped and shook myself. Making my way to the tower I decided to explore it before I decided what to do next. What a day I thought, what a day.