Alecto wants to be my teacher…

Alecto strikes first by swinging at my face, but I dodge her attack easily.

"Status." I whisper trying to check her status for some information, but it doesn't work.

Passive Skill Detected: Dodge 20

The game user interface detects my dodging skills and gives it the number 20. It also says that it is a passive skill.

Alecto swings faster than before but she's not hard to dodge. In fact, she's very easy to dodge, it's like she repeats the same attack pattern over and over. Did she attack me like this when I was a kid? If so, she is a lot less dangerous than I remember.

I have enough of the fight going nowhere and kick her in the stomach with my foot when she overextends. I kick her as hard as I can, but she doesn't react. She straightens herself up after another missed strike and catches her breath. I take a few breaths myself but not nearly as many as her. If possible, I would like her to explain why she's trying to kill me, but the current situation requires some focus. Not that I'm in danger or anything but I need to see what I can learn from her. Like why she isn't reacting to my hits, maybe I should talk to her.

"I can't believe you're actually trying to fight back Jackson! A weakling like you is nothing." She screams as she keeps trying to kill me.

"Guess you are too stupid to know how fucked you are!" Rude, I decide to taunt her back after all.

"Are you kidding, you are so bad at fighting I could fall asleep and still run laps around you," I mock back while I continue to dodge her entire assault. "Hell, your class bores me less than this." She gets visibly agitated but then smiles, she magically grows her claws and shows them to me.

"You might think you can survive because you're a bit good at dodging but that's not how the real world works Jackson. You aren't a real hero, you're a cowardly weak boy. You're just a twelve-year-old kid but I'm the torturer of the underworld, not even your parent can save you now."

Alecto swings her claws at nothing and rushes me. Although I couldn't see the attack she used, I felt something coming at me and immediately hit the ground. The attack she sent slashes at something behind me.

Passive Skill Detected: Magic Sense 5

I see Alecto running to slash my face, so I roll over and kick her again to gain some distance. I stand up while avoiding another one of her kicks and create more distance by taking a few steps back. She launches another invisible attack with a swipe that I also dodge.

She then jumps straight at me with her foot and I dodge it too. Alecto must have packed quite the power on that one because her foot made a hole on the museum floor.

"A new hero like you shouldn't be this good at dodging but good luck evading this." She lifts her right claw upwards and a stronger magical energy appears beneath me.

Passive Skill Detected: Magic Sense 10

I jump away just in time to avoid the massive fire that appears where I was standing and look around. There are only statues around me, I have to find a way to get into another section of the museum, or hope Chiron finds us and gives me Riptide like last time this happened.

"Little shit, why don't you die!" Alecto tries her invisible attack again, but I dodge it much easier this time.

Since there are no swords nearby or any other weapons, I decide to go on the aggressive with my hands and feet alone. This time I rush her and punch her in the face before she can react. I clearly make contact, but she acts like nothing. Alecto stands still and looks at me with pity?

"You have no weapon, lost the protection from the GRID and to make things worse you don't even do damage. You lack the experience and skills a hero ought to have. You don't have a chance Jackson; you'll never be a true hero." A true hero? That's something weird to say. What would a fury know about being a hero?

I looked around and spot a statue that Alecto damaged with one of her magic attacks with my peripheral vision. It made giant claw like cuts at the base of a Heracles statue. Good thing I dodged that.

"A true hero?" I ask while walking and pointing towards it. "Like this guy?" Alecto scowls and takes a step forward.

"Nah, I don't ever want to be like this guy. He is prick." I say while looking at it. "To be honest even this damaged statue is too good for him." I gently lay my hand on its side and focus into using my powers to push it down. I am not near water and my strength is very low in my younger body, but I am still Poseidon's son. I have enough control of my power to do things like this.

Active Skill Detected: Strength Enhancement 18

God Power: -1800

Strength: +540

The statue falls and Alecto look pissed.

"You dare disrespect their statues when you yourself are a demigod? What kind of ungrateful shit are you?" She asks me bewildered.

"Wait, it doesn't matter." She regains her composure. "You'll be dead in a second anyway."

Alecto unleashes her assault on me again, but I was already near exit of the statue room. I smirk as I see the water fountain near the hallway and run towards it. That's when I see two hellhounds in front of me and froze in place. They weren't here last time! Why are two hellhounds here! And where the hell is Chiron! I hear Alecto chuckle behind me and turn around to see the wicked smile on her face.

"Well Jackson, seems like it's game over." Alecto encircles me with the hellhounds and walks slowly towards me with fake sadness. "It might sound weird to you to hear me say this but I'm kind of going to miss you Jackson. Three months of hearing your witty retorts and snide remarks changes people. If only you had gotten to camp sooner, oh well, enjoy the afterlife." Alecto raises her hand, but I interrupt her.

"Wait, wait, I thought you were going to eat me. What happened to the whole 'I can savor you now' thing?"

"Obviously I changed my mind. Don't you see the hellhounds got here? I have to feed them something. They are hungry and need some XP." Alecto is about to signal the attack, but I interrupt her again.

"I know but hear me out here. What if you kill them and that way you can eat me as planned?"

"Wow, what a great idea Jackson. Why didn't I think of it? Oh yeah, because I'm not an idiot." Alecto shakes her head. "Honestly, I don't know why you're trying to talk this out. We both know how this is going to end, although I will admit you did surprise me a bit. By far you have been the most annoying opponent I faced in years, but you can't dodge the pups and I." Alecto shrugs and smiles evilly.

"Fine, fine. Look, I'm just looking for information. My mom isn't married to smelly Gabe anymore and Grover turned out to be a dick. Also, my attacks don't work on you and you didn't disguise yourself as an old lady this time." Alecto frowns at that last one and sighs.

"You do seem out of it today and way different than yesterday so I guess I can talk for a bit. You are surrounded so I suppose there is no harm in telling you now." Alecto says and then continues after pausing. "For starters my natural armor gives me 720 Defense, and with my added armor of 136 any attack short of 856 Attack power doesn't affect me. In short, to mortals I am invincible." She states with pride.

"So, the reason you took no damage from my punches and kicks was because-"

"You didn't do enough damage. Simply put, you are too weak." She chuckles. "Okay, time to die now." She raises her arm again, but I stop her.

"Wait! I still need more information. I need you to tell me more about this GRID thing, since you won't be able to tell me later."

"Because you're going to be half eaten by the Hellhounds?" She asks mockingly.

"No, because monster dust can't talk."

Passive Skill Detected: Intimidation 5

Alecto slowly freezes and her right hand visibly shakes when she tries to raise it. The hellhounds' eyes widen but they stand still.

I focus on the water fountains and create two torrents of water. In less than a second I kill both hellhounds.

Passive Skill Detected: Water Manipulation 50

Active Skill Detected: Water Torrent 50 x 2

Active Skill Detected: Water Enhancement 50 x 2

Active Skill Detected: Magic Enhancement 50 x 2

God Power: -30,000

You have done 4,500 damage!

You have done 4,500 damage!

You have gained 51,173 experience!

You have gained 61,466 experience!

You have gained 2,559 bronze credits!

You have gained 3,073 bronze credits!

I look back at Alecto and with the palm of my right-hand point both water torrents at her.

"Talk and I won't kill you." I tell her.

"Uhh, what do you want to know?' She asks me meekly. My training with Lupa must have paid off to be told I have an intimidation skill. Alecto takes a deep breath and breathes out calmly. She also returns to her human form, showing she didn't want to fight me anymore by raising her arms.

"Everything, but in the meantime just tell me where Chiron is." Alecto looks confused but nods.

"Some harpies are taking care of him, when I found out he was protecting you I got three poor harpies over level 60 to distract him. Individually they aren't that strong but three should be enough to hinder him greatly, even if he is level 92 with all his equipment." Alecto gulps.

"And what level are you?" I ask her, curious about how she knows Chiron's level since I can't check hers.

"I'm level 98, I told you I'm very strong. I can be useful to you. Make a Summoner Contract with me and I'll be your ally. I'll guide you to Chiron myself and if he is injured, I will help him recover. I have a healing skill and can teach you anything you want; I will help you be a hero." She pleads to me. Alecto was strong back in my old world and she does seem powerful here, more than Chiron if her level is something to go by. Also, this summoner contract sounds like a loyalty tool which didn't exist in my reality, so I have an obvious choice before me.

"Tell me more about this contract thing."

Name: Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon

Race: Demigod, Sub-race: God

Party: None

Level: 983, Age: 12

Health Pool: 22,934,845/22,934,845

God Power: 22,903,050/22,934,845

Strength: 555 (Strength Enhanced)

Dexterity: 15

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 14

Luck: 9839

Attack Power: 10 (Fists)

Defense Power: 1000 (Divine Threshold)

"All you need to do now is hold this item and say, 'I agree to this contract as the summoner', then place it on my forehead." I finish explaining the Summoner Contract to the boy. I hand out a contract to him, but he holds it suspiciously.

"That's it?" He asks me. "If that's all it takes this contract thing sounds dangerous." This kid, I guess I must explain my part too then.

"No, not really Jackson. The summon must accept the summoner or else it won't work. When the GRID recognizes the contract as valid it will disappear, and you will be able to summon me. Naturally you are free to read it first to make sure you understand it, although it is the most common type of contract used by many monsters and even other demigods and the terms are deemed fair."

When he starts looking at the contract his water skills fall, and he nods while reading. The massive amounts of water spread through the museum floor, but he doesn't bat an eye. He is stronger than I thought to control this much water.

He looks unguarded while reading the contract, but he easily dodged my Mana Slash 5 and Hellfire 10, so he must have at least Magic Sense 10. He avoided my Passive Skill Knife 10 attacks so he must have Dodge 10 or higher. He also put me under the Intimidated Debuff and given that I have Mental Resistance 4, his Intimidation Skill Level must be at least 5.

I look at the dust of the killed hellhounds and still can't believe he killed them with a single attack. A level 27 and a level 25 hellhound have about 3400 and 2800 Health Points, for a single attack to kill each of them he must have high stats, or his Skill Levels must be absurdly high. My Magic Sense 8 skill didn't detect it so that water attack Skill Level must be 9 or higher.

A twelve-year-old kid with Magic Sense 10, Dodge 10, Intimidation 5 and a level 9 water-based attack, he must be at least level 34 unless he learned those skills outside the GRID system. No, that's impossible, even the fates are bound by it.

To have a level 10 skill one needs to be level 90 or higher, he shouldn't be this strong, especially if he is a newly awakened hero.

I use my Information 2 skill on him hoping it gives me useful information about him, I didn't use it on him earlier since Hades assured me that he was going to awaken the GRID sometime soon, thus he would be a mere level 1 with no combat experience.

Name: Perseus Jackson. He is skilled with water and magic control.

Nothing I did not already know.

"Okay, I think I got it," he says. "I agree to this contract as the summoner." He puts the contract on my forehead and brings me back to reality.

If I refuse the contract Jackson might unleash some sort of power against me. I am interested in knowing more about him now so allying with him doesn't sound like a bad choice. If he is level 1, I can eventually find out what makes him so strong and use it to get stronger myself. If he truly becomes my ally, I can accomplish some of my goals Hades refused to aid me on. I accept the contract and see a GRID notification.

Your Summoner Contract is now in effect. This contract is now enforced.

Friendly Fire is Disabled.

You have left Hellhound Training 37.

You have joined Percy Jackson's Party.

I look at Perseus and he nods.

"Okay, take me to Chiron." I pick up the rare drops from the hellhounds he killed and run towards the school bus. I find Chiron fighting the last harpy while taking cover behind it. He is attempting to shoot arrows while the harpy barrages him with empowered feathers like throwing knives. Razor Feathers 7, their signature attack.

"This is a good time to show me how helpful you are." The boy says while looking around for something on the ground. I pull out my claws and send five Hellfire 10 to one of the harpies I hired. Since she is barely over level 60 she doesn't have any ability over level 7 and naturally won't feel my level 10 attacks coming. Poor fool, she should have known this was a suicide mission.

Hellfire 10 x 5

Mana: -5,000

Chiron lands a hit on the harpy, but I land the finishing blow with my last Hellfire. Another rare drop falls from the sky and I go to pick it up.

You have done 20,000 damage!

I landed the last hit; I did 20,000 damage of her approximate 29,000 health and she was originally here because of me so this drop is technically rightfully mine. Plus, I did pay her services, so I better get something out of this whole ordeal.

You have gained 363,839 experience!

You have gained 18,192 credits!

Chiron looks over at me suspiciously and opens a pouch. He picks up a drop from one of the harpies and stuffs it inside before coming our direction.

I use my Information 2 skill on Chiron.

Name: Chiron. He is skilled in shooting arrows and sword fighting.

Useless again, but that's fine.

"I don't suppose you have anything to do with this Ms. Dodds," he says with emphasis on my name. He puts away his bow and takes out a pen that turns into a sword made of Celestial Bronze.

Jackson reacts to it and looks over at Chiron. I inspect the sword to see what was special about it.

Name: Anaklusmos. A legendary +9 Celestial Bronze sword that buffs ocean related entities.

"Percy, are you okay? Are you safe?" He asks the boy. That's a very strong sword, I wonder if Jackson, no Percy, reacted to it because he felt a connection with him being a son of Poseidon. Hades wasn't sure but our fight confirmed it for me.

"I'm fine. Alecto made a Summoner Contract with me. She promised to help me out." Chiron looks a bit shocked but turns the sword back into a pen and puts it away. He looks wary of me but comes forward after thinking for a second.

"I see, Percy could you wait here for a bit. I need to talk with Alecto about something." He says putting emphasis on my name again. He urges me to walk away with him a bit and looks furiously at me.

"What are you plotting Alecto. I know it was you who brought those harpies, don't think I will trust you just because you used a Summoner Contract and killed the last one. I should kill you right now." He says, although he is in no shape to fight.

"You are always welcomed to try," I taunt knowing he wouldn't dare launch the first strike. "But you know that with me as his summon he is the safest demigod alive. Unless the Minotaur comes out of hiding for him specifically, and even then, I still think I can take him on." Chiron relaxes his gaze and smirks.

"What's with the change of heart, yesterday you told me not even I could protect him from whatever Hades threw at him but now you would fight the Minotaur to protect him?" He chuckles a bit.

"I may be a monster but even I have a heart. I just couldn't bring myself to kill him." I lie to him. "Is it hard to believe I grew kind of attached?" I ask innocently.

"Not really, you did always have a soft spot for heroes." He laughs a few seconds to my annoyance before turning serious. "You will bring him to the camps before tonight you hear me, we need to train him and keep him safe. You know better than everyone that a war is coming, and he might be the prophecy child." I look over at Percy and think of our little skirmish, he is probably the child of the prophecy. His powers of water, his combat skills and magical prowess are absurd, he might hold the future of Olympus in his hands but there is no reason for Chiron to know that. I doubt the tree girl will find a way to turn back into a human and the siblings are still too young.

"I'll keep that in mind Chiron, but you do know that I am just the summon. In a way he's my master, what he does is up to him. I am merely here to help. Also seeing that your job here is done because he awakened, you should be about to disappear. No?" Chiron nods while backing off but looks at me intently.

"You can't break the contract Alecto; you are sworn to protect him as his summon. The camps might not be the most virtuous of places, but they are there to protect people like him. You are duty bound to at least explain them, so he at least considers them." He pulls out his pen but puts it back into his pocket.

"You aren't going to give him that sword?" I ask him. "I might not be able to defend him all by myself." Chiron narrows his eyes and shakes his head.

"He got you to swear loyalty to him, so I have a feeling he doesn't need it. At least not yet." Chiron walks over to Percy and I follow.

Percy looks over at Chiron and glances at me behind him.

"I'm glad you're safe Percy, now that you have awakened this world is no longer safe. I know of a safe place, it's for others like you, other heroes with these gifts. You are welcomed to join me, and I will be happy to-" Chiron vanishes and Percy's eyes widen. He looks at me expectantly.

"The magic he used to leave the camp runs out faster the more power he uses, so he was teleported back. Ah yes, before I forget, the place he was referring to is the camp he was forcefully returned. Supposedly it is a 'safe' place for demigods, children born from a god and a human like you and other magical beings, personally I think it is filled with degenerates like your 'friend' Grover." Percy nods and raises his finger.

"That actually explains a lot. Should we go there? Can you even go there if it's a safe place for demigods?" He asks me.

"Since I am a part of your party now, I can enter the main camp and whichever one you decide to join. I can also pick up your drops and wise versa but that's because we are summoner and summon. It was in the contract remember." I pull out the drops and hand them over to him realizing he might not know what they were.

"What are these?" He asks me while he holds the two red and one yellow golf ball sized orbs.

"The red ones increase your strength, yellow ones your dexterity and blue ones your intelligence, permanently. You just eat them, and your stats get increased. They are very rare drops; they are worth a lot of credits too. You are very lucky." Percy seems impressed and gives them back to me.

"I think you should store them for now, you have a bag, right?" I open my virtual storage and put them inside. Percy looks shocked and looks at me expectantly again.

"This is a storage system the GRID gives everyone; you can open it by saying storage. You only get one slot per level but fortunately identical items stack. You can buy more but you need credits for that. Food goes bad though, so unless you want it to rot because you forgot about it don't put any there." I laugh. "Don't put live grenades either." I say half serious thinking about that incident with one my sisters and that child of Hephaestus. Percy chuckles and nods.

"So, what's the plan Percy? Want to go to those Greek demigod camps?" I ask him. He hesitantly shakes his head and puts his GRID into the storage after opening it.

"No, I told my mom I would go to camp, but things have changed. Right now, I'm thinking of getting myself some powerful equipment." He says sternly. I look over at him confused but he smirks.

"Powerful equipment, like made from Enchanted Gold?"

"Is it stronger than Celestial Bronze or Stygian Iron?" He knows the magical metals, interesting.

"Things made of Enchanted Gold are more powerful than Stygian Iron and significantly more powerful than Celestial Bronze. Not to mention really expensive. There's a reason only gods use Enchanted Gold equipment." I tell him. "Gold is so rare the Golden Drachma hasn't been used as a currency for centuries. Ever since the monsters like the Minotaur and Nemean Lion went into hiding."

Percy scratches his chin and looks at me questioningly, like if he were solving a puzzle.

"These legendary monsters went into hiding huh. Or maybe they just haven't come out because this GRID thing protects us demigods…"

"Possibly, if a monster attacks an unawakened hero they are punished by the GRID system. Something changed with the gods too, they stopped communicating with heroes even through thought. Although Hades has no problem with the cease in communication." Percy raised an eyebrow and then frowned.

"Manticore? Hydra?" He asks.

"They all disappeared when the GRID system took over." I tell him.

"I see," he says. He then looks at me and smiles.

"I have an idea of where we can get some funding." He tells me. I unintentionally look at him with doubt and he raises his index finger. "But first I need to know something."

"What?" I ask.

"Are you stronger than Medusa?"

Seems like Percy Jackson wants to be a different type of hero. My only response is a sly smile.

Name: Alecto, Mistress of Torture

Race: Fury, Sub-race: None

Party: Percy Jackson's Party

Level: 98, Age: None

Health Pool: 106,783/106,783

Mana Pool: 99,328/102,828

Strength: 185 (Strength Enhanced)

Dexterity: 4,193

Intelligence: 200

Wisdom: 21

Luck: 9

Attack Power: 1,035

Defense Power: 756