Mountain of the Immortals

Flying it was one thing but watching the hills, forests, rivers, and lakes underneath our feet was something entirely new and different. The world looked so small and insignificant from up here. No mortal would ever survive a drop from this altitude. Perhaps that was why my uncle decided to create his dungeon up here. A floating dungeon must have cost him a fortune both in money and mana but I didn't have the impression that Hyperion ever really cared about material things. Granted, he was power-hungry and knew well the connection between the two, but he had a different view on things than most of the titans.

"I'll take it from here," I said, when I saw the southernmost island of the Greek realms ahead. "It won't be long before we see the dungeon now."

"Shouldn't we hide in a cloud then, like you said?" Aphrodite asked.

"We should, but my skill only lasts for four hours and I want to make the most of it," I replied. "As soon as we see the dungeon, I'll trigger it."

"In that case, Artemis should keep an eye out," Aphrodite said. "She has by far the sharpest eyesight of us all."

"I will," she replied, and we continued our trip.

It only took about half an hour before Artemis squinted and leaned forward.

"I see something," she said. "Looks like a long building."

No matter how much we tried, neither I nor the rest of our party were able to distinguish anything other than blue sky and clouds ahead. The sun was still in its prime and visibility was high but the eyes of the huntress were just far superior to ours.

I pulled up the divine skill I needed to help cloak us and activated it.

* * *

Name: Master of Storms

Level: Divine Skill

Type: Active

HP Consumed: 0

MP Consumed: 0

DP Consumed: 1

Power: n/a

Range: 7000 inches

Precondition: None

Description: The divine domain of Zeus, supreme monster slayer and master of Mount Olympus, covers all aspects of thunderstorms. This includes manipulation of electricity, winds, clouds, and rainfall. Zeus is able to control all of these elements with a single thought or command them to act in a certain way for 4 hours without expending any concentration or MP.

* * *

As soon as the skill triggered, I felt instantly connected to the ethereal elements around me. All it took was a simple thought and the winds pushed us forward while small tufts of clouds moved toward us from all directions. Within a few seconds, we were completely surrounded by white clouds.

This impeded our vision, so I ordered them to create a small opening just big enough to allow me to see where we were going. I also adjusted the speed of our vessel so that it wouldn't look like the cloud was traveling abnormally fast compared with the others around us.

Over the next forty minutes, we made steady progress toward the dungeon until we stopped right above it. From the limited view I had of it, it seemed to be a single-story rectangular building with only one entrance. Even so, there were patrols around the whole structure, which had been built on what looked like a small mountain peak cut clean off from the base and turned upside down.

The logistics of building this place must have been complicated and costly, but we hadn't come here to marvel at what my uncle had created.

"I'll get us closer and we'll jump down in front of the entrance," I said.

"What about the vessel?" Ares asked. "I thought the whole point of hiding it was so that we could use it to escape."

"I'll keep the crystal with me and use it to move the vessel along with the cloud surrounding it," I replied. "That way it will be exactly where we need it, when we need it."

"Should I do the talking with the guards?" Aphrodite asked.

"I will," I replied. "They know my relationship with Hyperion. I just need to make sure that none of the patrols see us fall from the cloud."

I flew above the entrance a couple of times until I was sure all of the guards around the dungeon were sufficiently far away. I nodded at my party members and ordered the vessel, along with the clouds, to slowly lower closer to the ground.

"Now!" I said and jumped out of the glass box that had brought us here.

The fall was still quite big since I didn't want to alert the guards at the entrance with a suspicious cloud, but it wouldn't give us too much damage. We were immortal gods, after all. When I hit the ground, I looked around to make sure nobody was looking at us and used the crystals to move the cloaked mana bird as far away as possible.

All four of us landed roughly at the same time, cracking the rock underneath us a tiny bit. I nodded at the rest and they all put up the hoods of the cloaks we'd brought with us but I kept mine down. I needed the guards to be able to identify me first.

The two gigantic humanoids standing on each side of the entrance immediately adopted a fighting stance. I looked at the one on the left who looked ready to charge at me with his large double axe.

* * *

Name: Alos of Itania

Race: Human

Class: Tyrant

Level: 36

* * *

The man was built like an ox, with huge muscles and veins bulging over his whole body. As strong and intimidating as he looked, his complete lack of armor suggested that he'd been placed there mostly for show, so that people who visited would see him and never think of attacking this place. Or trying to escape it.

It wasn't enough to convince me.

"Ease your weapon before I ease your spine, mortal," I commanded, and the man looked at me confused but still kept his weapon high until the other guard raised his arm in front of him.

* * *

Name: Eelos of Itania

Race: Human

Class: Tyrant

Level: 38

* * *

This one looked more prepared for a fight. For starters, he had enough wits to scan me after I addressed them and tried to investigate instead of attacking. Besides that, he was wearing top-grade leather armor and the two swords hanging from his belt glowed slightly, a sign that they were +4 or +5.

"We were not informed of your arrival, Master Zeus," Eelos said, and bumped his fellow guard's ribs. "Your appearance caught us by surprise."

"Yes, Master," the man said hurriedly. "You just appeared from the sky."

"How else would you expect the god of thunder to arrive," I said, to make them think that I had just teleported us here. "I am here to inspect a prisoner."

"Master Zeus, such a request should first be cleared by lord Hyperion..." Eelos started.

"You mean that you will have me and my associates wait here so you can ask my uncle if it's okay to enter his dungeon?" I said, my voice steady and promising punishment should things not go my way.

"Of course not," the man replied quickly.

Alos looked at him, surprised.

"Can I please record the names of your associates and the reason for your visit?" Eelos continued.

There was no reason for keeping the rest of my guild concealed other than the fact that I wanted to avoid any leaks if one of the guards somehow survived. Getting heat on myself was one thing, and I knew that after all these weeks, people knew that Aphrodite and Artemis lived with me on Mount Olympus.

Revealing them, however, would also mean that Ares' identity would need to be revealed and I couldn't have that. That would send the message to my father that I was gearing up for war, and I wanted to keep this knowledge secret for as long as possible.

"These are guests of my father who sent me here," I said, gesturing at the three hooded figures. "Cronus. The king of the titans."

The mere mention of my father's name was enough to make them both shake in fear and I knew that at that point I could command them to do anything I liked.

"You will take us inside so my associates can make sure that a prisoner is held here," I said, before they had the chance to say anything more.

"Of course," Eelos said, then he turned to Alos. "You wait here."

"You will both accompany us," I ordered. I couldn't have news of our arrival spreading from the guard to the patrols. "I was informed that this place is full of dangerous individuals. No finger will touch me or my associates."

"Of course, Master Zeus," the man said, and whistled at one of the patrols that was visible some distance behind us. "Cover us."

I saw in the man's expression that he was going to wait until the patrol joined us before leading us in. That would mean them identifying me as well.

"Just go in," Aphrodite said in the guild chat, and I did as she suggested.

"Oh--" Eelos started, and rushed to follow us. "Of course, let's go."