The only thing I own of any series is a set of five books for Christmas, involving Percy's second adventure. The only thing I own of this fanfiction is/are the ideas I come up with myself.

Percy Jackson the Half-Blood Gamer

Chapter 6

Ping!

You have slept in your own bed. HP and MP have been restored to 100%. All ailments and negative status effects have been removed.

Percy opened his eyes to this message for the second time… third? Well, either or. Honestly, it was a lot to take in… or it should be. The fact that life suddenly turned into a game would shock and surprise anyone! Or maybe that life was already a game and he just gained the power to see his stats?

… Gah! It was all so confusing and it felt like he should be frustrated with it but, for some reason, he just couldn't.

A spark of recognition entered his eyes and he quickly pulled up his skill list and opened up the first one on the list.

[Gamer's Mind Lv. MAX (Passive Dynamic)]

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows a peaceful state of mind. Grants immunity to psychological effects.

Yeah, this was likely the cause. Or maybe he just didn't really care?

… No, that wasn't it. He definitely cared. This ability was just stuffing down the feelings that… ah, whatever. If it wasn't here, he probably would've died to the wolves when that… moral dungeon or whatever happened.

He pushed his thoughts to the side and got out of bed. It didn't really seemed to be harmful, so he would think about it later.

He opened up his status menu and looked over his stats as he made his way to the bathroom and after a short mental debate with himself, he used a couple of his bonus points to increase his strength to twenty-five before dumping the rest into his INT, bringing it up to thirty-three.

He did it because most of his skills use up mana and INT gave him more mana, which meant he could use his skills for longer.

After using the bathroom, he got into the shower and took a quick one. He had fallen asleep quickly last night and had forgotten to shower after the dungeon run with Annabeth, so he felt rather nasty. Plus being drenched in water always relaxed him. At least now he knew why.

After he finished his shower and getting dressed, he left his room… and had a shield shoved into his arms. He looked at the person that gave him the shield and smiled, "Oh, hey Annabeth. I didn't expect you here this early. I was going to go to the arena, work on my sword skill."

"This early? Breakfast hasn't even started." She turned towards the campgrounds. It was early in the morning and there was a distinct lack of activity. It was something to be expected in a camp full of teenager.

"I didn't notice how early it was. I just woke up and got in the shower. What time is it?"

She raised her arm, taking a look at the old, beat up watch on her wrist, "A little past five-thirty. Honestly, I'm surprised you're awake after all we did yesterday. Anyway, Chiron asked me to come get you."

He raised the shield, "And this?"

"Oh. He got Luke and Clarisse up early so they could go over a training schedule for you. I figured you'd need the shield with that they were planning."

"That bad?" He shuddered some at the grin she gave.

She laughed as Percy shuddered, "No, it's never going to be that bad. But they have to whip you in shape by this weekend, so it could get a bit rough."

"... I'm going to hate myself for asking. How rough are we talking? By the end of the week, I mean."

A cheshire-ish grin graced her face as her stormy-gray eyes sparkled with mischief, "What level is your Physical Resistance skill?"

"Ten, why?"

"I expect we'll double it by the end of the week, that's why." She couldn't help but laugh again as Percy paled and tried to hide in his bathroom, "I'm kidding, Percy. No one is that… well, I take that back. No one in this camp is that cruel."

He gave a faux glare at Annabeth, "That's not funny, you know. And who outside of camp is that cruel?"

A small frown showed on her face and she started to walk towards the door, "Come on, I'll tell you on the way to the Big House."

He followed after walking beside her as they slowly walked their way out of his cabin.

She was silent a moment thinking of how to explain things, "So, you know how you can make your mirror reality filled with wolves and how they turn into gold dust when you kill them? Those are considered monsters and when all monsters die, or most, they turn into gold dust. Some monsters are smart… well, sort of smart. They can talk and think like most people, but they usually aren't all that bright. They will use any tactic they can think of to try to capture demigods and humans so they can kill, eat or toy with them."

She sighed, "Then there are the gods. They have their own streak of cruelty. Even the nicer god aren't exempt from that. Of course, a few are. Hestia, for one. As far as I'm aware, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Nemesis is an exception to that, as well. It's her divinity. She has to make a balance or things could go wrong. Wrong in the cosmic sense, which is extremely bad."

There was another long pause before she continued, "Then there are humans. Sometimes monsters pale in comparison to what they can do. We have some demigods here that had to be rescued, forcefully, from their human parent. I'm including demigods in the humans too. Lamia - yes, the monster Lamia - was a daughter of Hecate before she became a monster and cast a curse after Hera killed the children she had with Zeus. She gave us the Scent, a method monsters can use to find us. With few exceptions. The stronger your divine parent, the stronger your scent. Children of Aphrodite, Dionysus and minor gods like Nemesis can usually get away with living in the real world, since their scent blend in easily with that of normal humans."

She cleared her throat, "Children of gods like Athena and Apollo have more troubles out in the real world and can be hunted by monsters on occasion. Children of the Big Three, however… well, they have the strongest scent of all. We haven't actually… seen any in years but I met a daughter of Zeus on my way to camp and Grover told me he could smell her from half a city away. I'm talking a Texan city at that. So it's a pretty far distance. If you're anything like her, things will be pretty dangerous out there."

Their conversation ended when they reached their destination. Well, they had reached it a couple minutes before but they had stopped so Annabeth could finish the lesson. Percy had a sour look on his face and his tone matched, "I didn't know things were that bad. Maybe… Maybe instead of a camp, there should be a haven or something demigods can go to, y'know? A camp makes it feel like it's for kids and teenagers only, instead of demigods of all ages. I know there are some older demigods here but they aren't too much older than we are. Maybe… late teens? It kinda makes it feel like we won't survive long."

He ran a hand through his black hair, "We could use something to say, like, 'Hey, it's not so bad! We might have to fight the occasional monster but otherwise we're normal, boring adults!'. Honestly, if it weren't for this damn weird ass ability of mine, I'd probably be freaking out. Scratch that, I would be. I mean, what twelve year old find out he's half god but he shouldn't have been born in the first place and is subsequently cursed because of a stupid pact the gods made that they couldn't keep? The worst part of this, Annabeth, is that I can't even get properly angry at them."

He hung his head low, sitting on one of the benches on the porch, "I don't want this. I don't want to be told that I shouldn't have been born. I don't want to be cursed or have this scent or whatever that attracts monster. I'd trade it all away for a week on the beach in Montauk with my mom. No, not even a week. I'd take a day." He slumped some in his seat, "I'm not even sad. I can't get sad, I don't think. Just like I can't get angry or freak out."

He took a deep sigh and shook his head, "I'm sorry Annabeth. I'm gonna go. I just had to get that off my chest. I know we've only known each other for a couple days but it feels like I can trust you, you know?" He waved his hand through the air, dismissing her reply before it got started, "You don't have to reply to that. Like I said, I just had to get it off my chest."

Chiron wheeled out of the Big House doors and down the short ramp before turning to face the two preteens, "A good thing to do, Percy. I've seen many demigods break under pressure because they thought they could handle the weight of the world on their shoulders. Not literally, mind you. And you could not pick a better confidant." He smiled kindly at the pair, "Come along now. Clarisse and Luke are at the arena. I had breakfast prepared early for the two of you so you could eat while we go over your itinerary for the next week."

Two pairs of stomachs growl, Annabeths from knowing what was in store for them if Chiron set up breakfast and Percy's from the thought of food.

Chiron easily turned and started his way down towards the arena, prompting the pair to follow after.

Percy reinvited Annabeth to his party, the party having been taken down some time after he had been asleep, and went over his menus, looking for something he might've missed but no matter what screen he opened or what word he muttered, there was no help guide. He had to rely on his knowledge of games. He just really hoped it involved game mechanics he knew. And so far, it sort of had.

They arrived at the arena soon enough and the group gathered into the stands. Clarisse looked as gruff as ever, even as she piled pancakes into her mouth and Luke looked half asleep, the plate in front of him empty.

Percy moved right over and sat next to Luke, grabbing one of the two plates before starting to eat. He didn't see a brazier around so he didn't have to dump any of his food in it for an offering. Annabeth sat beside him, opposite of Luke. He could see her eyes flicking back and forth and occasionally a finger raised to press the screens. He couldn't see them, which was a bit disappointing but he could (and did) use observe to re-check her stats.

Name: Annabeth Chase

Level: 47

HP: 810/810

MP: 1150/1150

STR: 22

DEX: 28

VIT: 24

INT: 58

WIS: 113

LUC: 4

… Something was wrong with her stats. Her WIS stat looked higher than before. But then again, it wasn't like he memorized her stats. Not only that, her physical stats were way too low for her level. He was level nine and he had higher STR and VIT. His others were pathetically low compared to hers, with the exception of LUC which was exactly equal to his.

He looked to Clarisse and Luke and used observe on the two of them but only got a screen full of question marks. He wasn't even going to bother trying on Mr. Bru- Chiron. If he was the Chiron from all the old myths, he was about three thousand years old. From how he talked as if he knew people during the time at the museum, it seemed right. If he really was that old, his level must be extremely high.

He had just finished cleaning off the plate when he not another message.

Ping!

You have eaten too much and gain the [Overstuffed] debuff!

He pressed on the status effect to look at the penalties he got.

Overstuffed (29:52)

You have eaten too much, causing a minor discomfort in your stomach. -10% HP, STR and DEX for thirty minutes.

… Yep, totally accurate. His did feel like he ate to much. He even let out a loud burp that made him feel better for a second.

Luke seemed to wake up suddenly, snickering. Annabeth reached over to swat his arm, "That wasn't funny."

Luke raised his arms in surrender, "Right, right. Sorry. I don't live in a cabin full of other boys that all laugh when someone burps and its become a knee-jerk reaction."

A light blush tinted Annabeths cheeks as she was scolded. He had a point.

Chiron cleared his throat and drew attention to him, "Yes well, now that you've finished eating, lets get started." He gestured to Clarisse, "Percy, Clarisse is to help you with early morning stretches and basic routines to help you build strength. There won't be much gain but you are a demigod so there will be some. If you feel like you should use a weapon other than a sword, Clarisse is skilled with spears and javelins. However, if you decide to stay with your sword, Luke is the best swordsman in camp and will be helping you train with it. You may, of course, use both but I would suggest focusing on one type of weapon for the next week."

Percy had to think about it… for all of three seconds. While a spear might be cool, he already had a sword that offered bonuses to damage for him. Even in games he knew, those were somewhat rare. Well, more uncommon than anything, "I'm gonna have to go with a sword. Luke said I'm getting a hang of the basics already and Riptide just feels right in my hand."

A kindly smile spread across Chirons face, "I thought you might. Luke said you were a natural with a sword. Better than most demigods. It'll be a pleasure to see how far you progress in the next week." He cleared his throat, "After your weapons practice, a lunch will be brought to you, followed by a rest time of an hour and then finishing the day sparring with one of your three trainers. You will stop an hour before curfew and the rest of the day will be yours. I suggest going to the Big House's library. It's not as supplied as Athena's cabin but there might be something of interest to you."

The knowing glint in his eyes felt like he was encouraging Percy to visit. And Percy was really tempted to. While he hadn't seen one yet, there was always the possibility of a skill book. Maybe one to increase the level of his current skills or, better yet, a new skill. But, with his luck (literally), it'd just be a bunch of books.

Clarisse stood up suddenly and walked over to him, grabbing him by his shirts collar, "Come on, I don't have all day to sit on my butt and neither do you." She pulled him out of his chair and dragged him down to the middle of the arena, "Alright runt, listen. I don't like you. If it weren't for Chiron asking me, I wouldn't be here. Apparently he sees some talent in you or something." She sighed and shook her head, "Whatever. We'll start with stretching. Watch what I do and then repeat it."

The next half hour was rather boring for Percy. He didn't know what good stretching actually did but if it kept him from getting beat up, as he feared he would, he wouldn't mind doing it. The good thing about it was that it lasted long enough to take away the overstuffed debuff.

Once Clarisse was stretched out and thought that he was limber enough, she had him follow on a jog around the arena, "Today is just about finding your limits. Go as far as you can. Don't stop until your legs feel like jelly and breathing feels like you're inhaling glass." And so he ran, mostly because he got a quest for it but partly because Clarisse still scared him. Her level was still a question mark so he didn't want to try fighting her. At all. The quest wasn't anything great. It just said to run until he collapsed and he'd only get one-hundred experience points from it, one-thirty seventh of the total he needed to level. While not a small amount, he got better experience killing wolves.

He only lasted twenty minutes into the run before he fell over against the wall of the stands, panting hard. Clarisse finished her lap before she came over to him, "You're breathing wrong. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. You don't need to do it all the time but that's the best way to do it when you're working out." As blunt as she was, she at least seemed to know what to do.

Clarisse looked at an old, tattered watch on her wrist and then over to Luke before turning back to Percy, "Take five minutes and we'll start on some weights until your arms hurt. After that it's another jog and then back to the weights. If you need to recover, too bad. We'll stop when you can't move anymore."

Despite Percy's dislike for Clarisse reaching an all time high, he did what she told him to simply for the sake of getting stronger. The stronger he got, the better his chances of survival. And the better the chances of him getting nice drops, which would better the chances of his survival which would repeat the process all over again. And he really wanted some nice equipment.

All in all, the time he spent with Clarisse wasn't terrible. He did mostly ten pound weights and copied what Clarisse did like, then did as many crunches as he could, pull-ups, push-ups, back to jogging, rinse and repeat. By the time Clarisse was finished with him, his STR had gone up three points, his STA one and he was utterly exhausted.

Luke came forward after a few minutes, allowing Percy to get his breath back, "Don't worry about her. She'll get used to you. And today was all about finding out what you can do. You did alright for a first timer. Better than she expected, which is why she didn't say anything about how crap you were at the end. Err, no offense."

Percy waved him off and stood up, albeit wobbly. He was actually feeling a lot better now that he had rested. Not perfect, but better. More like he could walk normally than do everything he just did once more.

Luke tossed him a training sword, "Catch. Same as before, but no shields this time. We'll be focusing mostly on disarming your opponent today with just your sword. It's a bit advanced for you right now but if you learn swordplay as fast as you did a shield, you'll get it down in no time."

Luke turned and waved Annabeth over, "I need your help for this. I want to show him a few times before me and him try it out."

Annabeth came over quickly and grabbed her own training sword before making her way towards Luke. Without being told, she got into a one-handed stance. Percy saw he stance look more natural than his when holding a sword. Natural and different. He tried using observe to see if he could look if it was from a different skill or personal preference but it all that came up was her stats.

Instead of continuing to try and see if it was a skill or not, he turned his attention to what Luke wanted to show him. However, it happened too fast. By the time Percy had turned his attention to watching the demonstration, Annabeth's sword had already fallen to the ground.

Luke turned towards Percy and saw the frown on this face and smile, "Don't worry, we'll go slow and I'll explain it as I do it this time. Now, there are two methods to this. The most common is to hold the flat of your blade against your opponents and control their movement. It's a tricky skill for advanced swordsmen but it's pretty easy once you get it right a few times."

Annabeth picked up her blade and walked back to Luke. She got back in her stance and locked weapons with Luke.

Luke continued speaking once they got back into position, "Now, where your weapon is doesn't exactly matter, as long as you have the flat of your blade against the flat of theirs. A skilled swordsman can counter you but that's trickier than actually learning how to disarm them." He slid his blade along the length of Annabeths, locked against the hilt and twisted slowly until Annabeth had no choice but to let it go, "And that's how it's done. Looks simple but it really isn't. If a weapon doesn't feel right in your hands, it probably won't work as well, if at all. Also, if the weapon you're trying to take away is too big, you probably won't have any luck with that. That being said, this technique works on anyone, no matter how strong they are or what weapon their using."

Annabeth picked up her sword and moved to the side and Luke gestured to have Percy come closer, which he did. Luke raised his sword, "Get in position and we'll start."

Percy did as he was told and held his sword in front of him. He could see Luke frown and figured it was his stance, so he quickly shifted to about how Annabeth was standing and held his sword like she did. His frown was still there but he didn't say anything, locking blades with Percy, "We're gonna go slow like I did on Annabeth the second time and we'll pick the pace up bit by bit, alright? Now watch my movements."

Time after time was the blade knocked from his hand. Enough time to the point it felt almost natural to drop the blade. Neither he or Luke were sweating or tired. It wasn't exhausting to have the weapon knocked from his grasp and it didn't seem all that hard to knock weapons from someone's grip.

After a while, Luke stopped, "Now that you've gotten the hang of losing your weapon, it's time for you to make someone lose theirs. And I mean me. Think you can do it?"

After Percy picked his weapon up for the umpteenth time, he was more than ready to try. He got back into his stance and locked his weapon against Lukes. A deep breath and a short sigh and he slid his weapon down, locked it against the hilt, twisted and… failed. His blade slid off the hilt instead of twisting with it. Luke just smiled and got back in his stance, "It's alright. Just try again."

Percy tried again failed, the same result as before. The third try ended up the same as well. Luke held a hand up, "Hold on. You're rushing it. Take a minute, go at it slowly and you'll do it."

Another, slower breath and Percy started over, sliding his wooden weapon along Lukes, locking it with the hilt. He twisted and pop! The weapon fell from Lukes hand and fell to the ground in a loud clatter.

Luke smirked and bent over to grab his weapon again, pulling it back up, "Good job Percy. Now keep trying until you can do it ten out of ten times. Once we get you doing that, we can work on the basics of swordplay."

And so they started again, Percy twisting his sword against Lukes repeatedly until he disarmed Luke a total of six times, in which it turned into a skill called Blade Disarm and made it easier to disarm Luke.

[Blade Disarm Lv.1(Active)](0%)

This skill allows the user to dislodge a wielded weapon from their opponent's hands with their sword, knocking it to the ground and forcing them, at least for the moment, to fight hand-to-hand. Disarm chance varies by weapon sizes, shapes, opponent's level and the users skill level. 5MP/Use.

Alternate Name: Drop It Like It's Sharp

He still couldn't get it five times in a row but he could knock the weapon from Lukes hands more often than not now. Maybe it was because Luke was going easy on him or maybe he had a talent for the sword… Nah, it was definitely because Luke was going easy on him.

Luke didn't let up even after Percy got a total of ten, having him continue over and over and over. Percy didn't really mind. The experience towards the skill was steadily increasing. It wasn't increasing by large amounts but it was going up.

A half hour and Luke stopped the session. The skill hadn't leveled, being at around forty percent away from doing so but the movements seemed easier already.

Luke smiled, "You're a natural Percy. If we started learning how to use a sword at the same time, I doubt I could keep up with you." He gave Percy a high-five and nudged his shoulder, "Come on, lets take a short break and then we'll get started on proper stances and movement. Well, stances and movements from ancient Greece. Japan has a lot of good sword styles from what I hear and Romans have the best shield tactics, but Greece has the best combination of both. Even if you don't use a shield, you can still parry with your sword. However, it's best to use a shield until you can't parry one hundred out of one hundred times."

Luke laughed, "Man, I'm starting to sound like Chiron. All teacher-ly and wise." He went back into the stands and grabbed a couple bottles of water, tossing one to Percy, "Catch and drink up!"

Percy grabbed the bottle and twisted the lid off and brought it up for a drink… and paused. The lid wasn't sealed. Hermes was the god of trickery. He lowered the bottle back down and observed it.

Water Bottle

Filled with crisp, clean water. Restores 20 MP. Additional 40 MP and 100 HP restored for water based demigods.

Laughing, Percy pulled the bottle back up for a drink. That's right. Food and drinks had bonus effects in games. The stuff back at the dining pavilion hadn't given him anything which made him wonder why. Maybe because it was made by magic? That was probably it.

After their brief rest, Luke got him started on proper stances, how to hold a sword properly and how much power to put into a swing. Turns out, swinging at full strength all the time was a great way to get yourself killed. It sapped stamina needlessly and more often than not tired out the limb used to swing the weapon, making it harder and hard to use full strength. After that, death is almost a certainty. Percy was glad Luke clarified that. So far, that was the only way he used Riptide and, while he hadn't had any problems yet, he imagined real monsters were a lot harder to deal with than starving wolves.

Luke started showing Percy how to move properly, which Percy didn't know was a thing, the proper way to swing a sword and how much power he should put into it. That last part was easier than it seemed while the rest took a while to get a hang of. At the end of three hours worth of training, he gained a total of one point of DEX and the Greek Swordplay skill.

[Greek Swordplay Lv.1(Passive-Static)](0%)

You've learned to use your sword in the style of the ancient Greeks, honed for thousands of years by their descendants. +10% damage dealt with swords, +10% attack speed with swords.

The point of DEX was nice, but the real treat was in the sword skill. A ten percent bonus to damage and attack speed at level one was nothing to sneeze at. If it leveled like his others skills, which was only like three above level one, then it'd be one of his better skills. Probably.

After a quick lunch, he'd went back with Luke to train with his sword and shield, since he had gotten the hang of the basics so quickly. He sparred with Luke for a few more hours and found that the sword skill was incredibly hard to level! As long as he trained with Luke, it hadn't even reached fifty percent towards the first level.

Luke congratulated him on surviving the first, easiest day of training. Percy couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Percy moved over to Annabeth, ready to start their study session but when he saw her cover her nose as he got close, he pulled his shirt up to sniff it. Oh yeah, he smelled terrible, "Sorry Annabeth! I'm gonna take a shower and I'll be back when I don't stink so bad." He turned and ran towards his cabin, entering an empty dungeon when he got to a dark area so he could run back without worrying about running into someone.

When he got to about where his cabin was, he exited the dungeon and slipped in without anyone noticing him. Or so he thought.

After a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes, he left his cabin and made his way over to Athena cabin. Annabeth met him outside and yanked him, quite literally, inside, "Shh. Mr. D. is making rounds. He's never done that. He's already looked through Athena cabin, so hide here." She stuffed a book in his hands, "And read this. I'm going back outside to make it look like I'm still waiting for you."

After Annabeth went outside, Percy sat down under the window closest to the door and open up the book and started on it. Thankfully it was in ancient greek and he could actually read it… but it didn't help he was still all fidgety from training. The words weren't swimming around the page but it was a hollow victory. If he couldn't calm down and relax, he couldn't read.

Eventually Annabeth came back in and slumped down on the ground next to him, "He never does rounds. And I heard he went to an emergency council meeting with the other gods. Chiron was right, he got orders to take care of you." A shiver went down her spine and she wrapped an arm around Percy, lightly hugging him, "I'm sorry."

Percy shook his head, "It's fine. I might be in danger but I can always run away if I'm threatened. I have the dungeon creation, remember?"

"Promise you won't use it to abandon anyone when you're on a quest?"

"Annabeth, I promise. Now help me read this. I'm still all fidgety and can't calm down enough to read it." He offered the book to Annabeth, who took it.

"How far did you get?"

"I dunno, three pages? I couldn't focus on it."

She sighed and opened the book up to the first page, "We'll start over on it since you didn't get very far. The True Story of the Trojan War, Page One. After a long and undoubtedly successful talks of peace between the princes of Troy, Hector and Paris, the two began to sail back home with their crew and, unknown to Hector, an additional guest…"

I just noticed. I'm giving Percy lots of skills but not lots of training in them. And it feels appropriate, considering he's being kicked out of camp in six or so days in the story. Not lots of time for training.