Monster? No, I'm a Cultivator! (Percy Jackson)

Ocean Song had been in secluded Cultivation for an uncountable number of years.

That was mostly true because he didn't know how long the handful of days he forced himself to try and mediate equated when factored into the percentage of a year.

Math wasn't his strong suit.

Nor was secluded meditation it seemed because he was having a hard time sitting still.

Technically, it wasn't really secluded either because he often got up and walked around the island when he was bored.

…..and also he didn't mediate the entire time, so was it actually cultivation?

Truly, for the young Cyclops, the Dao was fleeting and impossible to understand at his current Cultivation.

However, he was about to make a large leap forward!

His second Meridian was about to be unlocked as he made all the preparations to break through to this vast new realm.

He knew he succeeded when he started throwing up mouthfuls of blood.

And he didn't even pass out this time, that means he was getting stronger. It just proved his path to be the orthodox one.

So what if he had to quickly run to the ocean, crying out in pain as blood exited all the wrong places so suddenly.

His Father's bloodline assured his success.

Second Realm of Qi Condensation.

He was ecstatic, his power doubled. Though, each new Meridian unlocked only gave him about the same amount of Qi as the others, so there were diminishing returns in flexing his 'power'.

While he celebrating, he sensed something among the Ocean's currents.

He would call it his Divine Sense, but he was fairly sure he hadn't reached high enough in his Cultivation to have that yet.

So probably, it was his bloodline as his connection to the Sea.

Something strong was coming, and it was coming fast.

He may have been worried otherwise, but he was expecting a delivery.

His sword was here!

Funny enough, he still had his Trident.

His Father had been kind enough to let him keep it…after it magically smacked him on the bottom for several hours after their…..negotiation.

Yes, he was taking good care of the Trident, making sure to creating ropes and tying it down nice and tight…so it couldn't get stolen of course, and for no other reason.

However, he became a bit more concerned as he could better feel the presence approaching. Initially, it felt powerful to his senses from the distance it was…now, he was very sure a God was coming at him.

Not his Father though, but it had a very similar feeling.

Something shot out of the water, like a torpedo, landing gracefully onto the sands of the beach.

When he got out of the water, the Cyclops could just vaguely get a glimpse of a Mermaid-like body, but it quickly changed upon landing as to human-like legs pushed into the sand.

Ocean Song would admit, he was….a bit frightened, meeting such a senior in this situation when he was but a second stage Qi Condensation Cultivation.

"So….you're the one that Father had been complaining about to the smiths for the past few days." He looked at Ocean Song.

Ocean Song realized his identity immediate and with his quickest speed he jumped down to a kneel, and clasped his hands in a proper greeting. "Greetings, Senior Brother."

Triton, the Godly Son of Poseidon looked upon his youngest brother. "…..Senior….Brother?" He repeated the words as they sounded odd.

"You are my brother, and my Senior, I pay respects to my Senior Brother." Ocean Song repeated, doing his best to appear polite and deferential to a God that could smite him by accidently sneezing.

Triton rubbed his chin, originally he carried a rather cocky grin when he appeared, but it morphed into something a bit more…..warm. "Senior Brother. Senior Brother. I like that. It comes off as polite, but also carries a hint of familiarity due to our shared blood." He walked up and put a hand on Ocean Song. "It seems like you got a good head on your shoulders, Little Brother."

"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Brother."

Triton snorted, waving dismissively. "Alright, enough of that. I don't usually meet with the Monsters that Father sires, but maybe I should pay more attention if they're like you. But that's besides the point, Father had been ranting for the past few days to his smiths as he demanded a weapon be made. What exactly did you do to get pops like that, little bro?" He started acting more familiar with the Cyclops.

Ocean Song looked at his brother straight in the eyes. "I extorted him."

Triton paused, blinking in disbelief before breaking out in a laugh that caused the ocean's tides to climb and fall to an extreme. "You extorted Father?"

"Yes, Senior Brother." Ocean Song confirmed.

"How did you do that, Little Brother?"

"I threatened to cry to his wife."

Triton snorted again, doing his best to hold back another monstrous bellow. "You got balls, little bro. Just so you know, if you were the son of anyone else, that wouldn't have worked."

"I know Senior Brother. Despite being a Monster, Father showed care and concern for me, I am forever grateful to him." Oddly, Ocean Song felt a strange sensation in the waves as if someone were peeking and pulled back quickly.

Triton as well jerked his head to the side then looked back at the Cyclops. "You're not a normal one, are you? It's like you said little bro, dad does care about all his kids, maybe to his own detriment. But that has its limits too, one thing that would have him cut you off is if you kill any of his other kids."

"Senior Brother, are you warning me because I'm a Monster?" Ocean Song asked.

Triton shrugged. "Pops isn't an idiot, if another of his tries to kill you, he isn't going to make a big mess of things if you defend yourself. Especially if they're another Monster and reform in Tartarus. But if you want to go eating some demi-gods…."

"I don't plan on eating any Demi-Gods, Senior Brother. I just want to Cultivate in peace." Ocean Song replied.

"You want to farm?" Triton furrowed his brow before shrugging again, not really caring about the plans of his monstrous younger brother. "Well, it's whatever. I was just coming because I was bored. Heard pops ranting about his 'Shameless Bastard of a newborn son' and I wanted to check it out. Wasn't even supposed to be the one to pop over, but it's nice to stretch my land legs every now and then."

"You honored me with your visit, Senior Brother." Ocean Song quickly flattered him once more.

Triton seemed to enjoy it, so Ocean Song noted to do so more in the future.

"Alright, I can see the anxiousness in your eyes…..eye." The Lesser God waved his hand through the air and summoned a sword in a black and blue sheath. But that wasn't all, a few hundred feet of rope landed on the ground, along with what appeared to be a few basic tools. "Pops also was going to send this stuff over. It's just some basic crap, but since you're stranded on this island, it'll help you to build a basic ship."

Ocean Song, well, there were the beginnings of tears forming in his eye. "…..thanks dad." He whispered.

Triton seemed to smile genuinely at that, his cocky smirk disappearing for just a moment.

Ocean Song wiped away the tears, regaining his composure. "And thank you, Senior brother!" He clasped his hands, bowing his head. "I have nothing worthwhile, but when I hunt something good, I'll make sure to sacrifice something to you!"

Triton looked at his youngest brother, his smile growing. He looked around and found a conch shell on the seashore, waving his hand and pulled it to him and imbued it with a smidgen of his power before tossing it to the strange Cyclops. "This is a little gift from me. Blow that and It'll give you a gentle current back to the mainland when you finally decide to leave this place."

Ocean Song smiled brightly towards his eldest brother. "Thank you again, Senior Brother!"

"Yeah yeah." Triton rolled his eyes, looking casual about it, but deep down, he was starting to like his youngest brother.

Generally, he was either neutral or he disliked the kids his pops had when cheating on his mom. He'd be the first to admit that he wasn't particular thrilled with every bastard that popped up. But his heart wasn't made of stone, he was willing to accept them if they proved themselves and knew their places.

Of course, Ocean Song knew how to handle this sort of character.

As the saying went, you don't slap a smiling face.

Being able to properly lick boots was important for every Cultivator!

The God unceremoniously turned around and jumped back into the water, having simply dumped the things into the sand before leaving.

Giving it a moment out of politeness, Ocean Song then quickly ran over and grabbed at his sword.

He may or may not have hummed a certain tune under his breath as if he were opening a treasure chest.

Was it his bloodline? He didn't quite know, but as soon as he put his hands on the sword, he knew it perfectly matched his specifications that he told his Father.

It was made of Celestial Bronze, as was tradition. But it had other things in it, the Celestial Bronze was actually the minority here.

The Sword itself, it could change shape. It would 'grow' according to his own size, but he could change it to a different type of Sword.

It was a Xiphos at its base, but as soon as Ocean Song willed it, it changed into a proper Jian, a Cultivators sword!

From this moment forth, he was a Sword Cultivator!

Though, the true power of this sword was yet to be revealed. The materials it was made of meant it would take in his Qi more easily. He wasn't sure what the Material was called, only that his Father confirmed that there was a type of metal that 'could absorb magic' or some other nonsense.

He bent over and grabbed the flayed end of the rope and pulled off quite a few strands, gently binding them together until he made a new, smaller rope and made sure to resheath his sword, then tie it up so it couldn't be easily unsheathed.

Obviously to be a proper Sword Cultivator, he had to seal his own sword, never using it unless he met a worthy opponent.

For some reason, a storm suddenly sprang up around the island.

Ocean Soul cultivated diligently.

He forced himself to meditate and constantly exert his Cultivation Base to feel out the next Meridian.

He chose a different method this time, considering other possibilities. He recalled the ancient tales – at least the random stories he read before in his last life – and Cultivation was supposed to be a slow and gradual process.

Perhaps forcing open his Meridians until he nearly killed himself every time was not the right method?

Instead, this time, he just gradually rotated his budding Cultivation Base and pushed against the next Meridian, like a stream of water eroding away at a blockage within its path.

Despite taking a….slower approach, he realized something. Even if he used the method he did before and nearly killed himself to unlock it, he felt like it would take more effort.

After giving it consideration, it made sense. Each step upon the path of Cultivation was harder than the previous. Obviously the first, and even the second Meridians would be rather easy to open, and the speed of his Cultivation would slow down.

Still, he felt like he was making good progress. At this current speed, he felt like he could unlock his next Meridian with diligent meditation and Cultivation in about a week.

Though, he had other things he had to do just as well, so perhaps two weeks.

First off…..he needed clothes.

His Senior Brother was kind enough not to point out that he had been stark naked with his other sword swinging in the breeze the entire time.

Though his Senior Brother was a God, especially a Greek God, so he probably was used to such sights.

He also needed to practice with his sword!

It was sealed of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't swing it around with its Sheath still on.

He needed to learn proper swordsmanship and sword techniques!

He quickly jumped to his feet, and grabbed his sheathed sword. It felt perfect in his large, monstrous hands.

This would be his new routine. Every day, he would swing his sword thousands of times, he would utilize all of his Qi and pour it into each movement, feeding into his sword.

He didn't simply do this for a lark. Truthfully, he was worried about the future, the fragmented memories hie had told him a scary story of the enemies that would appear.

It would be his final trump card.

When his sword was drawn, Immortals and Gods would be forced to retreat.

Time passed on the nameless island, unknown the rest of the world. The Young Cyclops passed his second month with ease.

Every day, he would swing his sword thousands of times until his hands bled, with single-minded dedication.

The strokes of an amateur gradually smoothened, and then they sharpened.

When he wasn't practicing, either his Cultivation or his Swordsmanship, he was busying himself with other matters.

He had crafted himself a makeshift 'grass skirt' that was oddly capable considering the materials. He marveled at the almost mystical nature of his bloodline when it came to crafting.

Oddly enough as well, he didn't actually need to eat very much.

With his large body, he had assumed he required equally large portions of food to fuel himself, but maybe that was his Qi offsetting such a basic need?

Regardless, he would every so often make time to go swimming, enjoying the soothing nature of the sea around his island, and of course, bring back plenty of fish to treat himself.

He made sure to offer a portion to his Father out of respect in the proper rituals. Every time, he felt the vague gaze of his father, accepting it with what he felt like was a small smile even if no words were returned.

Maybe it was his Monster heritage, or the strangeness of his new existence, but he didn't begrudge his Father for staying away and never visiting.

There were a few times that he felt like someone was glancing at him through the Ocean's tides, but every time he tried to reach back, the feeling disappeared. Strangely, those times were when the young Cyclops felt the loneliest, appearing just when he needed them most.

Maybe if he were human, his mentality would be different. But just the small acknowledgements from his father brought about a certain pride within the young Cyclops.

Gods were not human, they did not behave like humans. And he slowly stopped thinking of himself as human as well.

Yet, he still felt the fatherly love, and that was enough for him.

On this particular day, his sword slowly lowered despite only finishing a thousand swings.

After months of practice, his arms weren't tired from this level of exertion. Even when he put everything he had into a single swing, his heart his Qi. Every swing of his sword was a true swing that taxed even his Monster Physiology.

But after so long practicing he had grown accustomed to it and continued to increase the intensity.

Just this enough was merely enough to work up a small sweat.

Yet, he stopped, letting out a breath.

His Cultivation was at the Fourth Qi Condensation Stage.

Previously, he used a more gentle method to unlock his Third Meridian and he felt it was…..better? The power increase was about the same, but it felt more appropriate than what he was doing before.

He felt the threshold of the Fifth Stage approaching, but he didn't push it, instead he set his sword down.

He had been thinking recently, and it might be good to expand his repertoire as it were. Even Sword Immortals knew a few Daoist Spells.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to use them.

Maybe there was an easier method? There's always the Dao of Talisman making he could give a shot.

However…..he didn't have paper….or a brush…or have any general idea on how to achieve this.

Technically, he could perform a few tricks utilizing his Qi.

Like snapping his fingers, and making a small fireballs. But he felt like anyone could do something like that, especially with his heritage.

It's not like he was without options in how to pursue the Dao of Talismans though.

He vaguely recalled a documentary about shaving away very thin pieces of wood and soaking them and….other things he couldn't quite recall to make some primitive paper.

But he suddenly had another idea.

Without a second though, he jumped into the water, his larger body causing a big splash as he sunk down and used his Qi to propel himself forward.

The Ocean welcomed him as if another of its children.

He dove down deep, deep enough that he found his prize.

Seaweed.

He grabbed enough to fill his arms before returning to the sands of his island and tossing them on the ground.

His Qi was water aligned, that meant Seaweed should have a synergistic effect even if he lacked proper materials.

He created a small fire, fastening some sticks to hover of it and then setting some Seaweed over top to dry it out.

Then he went into the small forest on the island, rummaging around until he found a berry bush. He grabbed enough to fill a wooden bowl he carved some weeks ago. Finding a few good plants, he extracted some sticky residue, adding it into the bowl before returning to the fire and using a stone he found to mash it all together.

And crafting a primitive brush was…not as hard as he initially though. He had some strings from the rope his dad gave him. Tying it around a stick, he had something resembling a brush, if you looked at it a certain way. If scaled up to fit into two hands, it would look like an old fashion broom.

But it would do.

He took a piece of Seaweed off the wooden rack, it was dried to a good degree and rather crisp.

He cut it into a rectangular shape before gently placing it on a flat stone and he dipped his brush into the 'ink'.

Though, before he could write his first Talisman, he realized, he didn't know what to do.

The Talismans he was 'familiar' with were written in Chinese script or ancient characters. Well, technically, he also had an 'Ancient Language' to utilize, right?

Ancient Greek was very old.

The idea forming in his head, he wrote something simple on the Seaweed, utilizing his Qi to imbue it with his power.

As he began to write, his Qi drained at an alarming rate. He began to sweat profusely, it felt like he had been training for days all compressed in the span of minutes as the final stroke of his brush finished.

His breathing was ragged, and he felt a little lightheaded even.

However, upon completion, he could feel it.

His Qi was nearly empty. Almost at the Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation, and he had been sucked dry.

He smiled, looking down at his work regardless.

βροχὴ πτῶσις

Rain Fall.

A basic Talisman to summon rain. Though he wondered if he truly had any talent in this area since such a basic and pedestrian type of Talisman nearly made him kneel over in defeat.

He had been reaching around blindly in the dark this entire time since he was born.

Maybe…..he should seek out a teacher.

All great Cultivators had good Masters, right?

He just needed to find one.

"Daaaaaaaaad!" He shouted out to the ocean.

"No." An immediate rebuke as the waters unnaturally deformed and splashed him in the face.

His first plan failed, type for his backup plan.

He would pray to someone and ask for their tutelage!

Of course, this had its own set of dangers. But if a being he could pray to simple wished to ignore him, they would do so. Many pray to Gods and Immortals on a daily basis, he doubt his would anger anyone.

Oh, should he include his Talisman?

Maybe it would show his sincerity, his first 'work' from being completely self taught.

It was a good idea.

And he had the best thought on who to ask. Why not the Goddess of Magic? Wouldn't she be the best to teach him the ways of the Magical Dao?

He quickly got to work, making a small ritual altar with a fire to give sacrifices to.

Her symbols were drawn in the sand as he did previously with his Father.

"I pray to you, Goddess of Magic. The Goddess of the Mist and Crossroads. The Queen of Ghosts! The Night and the Moon!." The Alter sort of 'activated', though that was simply part of the ritual, it wasn't as if the Goddess was looking his way. "I seek tutelage from your prestigious self. I am but a humble Cyclops trying his hand at the Magical Dao for the first time, and this is my first attempt. I offer you my first creation in hopes of earning your grace." He tossed the first Talisman onto the fire.

Ocean Song stood there for minutes, yet nothing happened.

Maybe it was an effort in futility. Now that he thought about it, the Goddess Hecate only taught Women in legends, didn't she? Or maybe he was remembering incorrectly, that happened sometimes.

Though the fires flicked oddly, turning black.

I felt it, the same as my Senior Brother, but…..more powerful.

Despite the Black Fire snapping and crackling like normal, it produced no light, and the natural daytime seemed to slowly dissipate around his island.

Rather quickly, a Godly presence descended.

Ocean Song was prepared.

He knew how to shamelessly flatter a divine being to protect his own behind, as he did with his Senior Brother.

He had run many lines through his head, but his thoughts came to a screeching halt upon seeing the descended Goddess.

She had black eyes, black hair and pale skin. Her divine clothing matched with its dark color. Even her makeup matched her aesthetics, purple lipstick, purple eyeliner. And a glance at her fingers he noticed a black fingernail polish.

He was confused for several reasons.

He expected a Jade Fairy, yet he got a Big titty Goth Goddess with a dump truck.

She was holding his Talisman in her hand as she looked at him sternly. "Are you the one who made, this?" She held it up.

Ocean Song stared at her unblinkingly.

She narrowed her eyes at him, a hint of annoyance as he didn't answer. "Is there something wrong with you, creature? I asked you a question."

"Yes? Sorry." Ocean Song nodded absentmindedly. "I think I just now went through puberty."