Mountain of the Immortals

"For as long as I have existed, I was the god of the forge," Hephaestus said. "I was creating weapons from silver and steel when mortals were barely able to create crude tools using rocks and sticks. I gave my knowledge willingly, and with every weapon my followers created I grew stronger. I was able to make weapons that defied every so-called law of the gods thus far."

His eyes lost focus. It looked like he remembered the weapons quite vividly.

"Swords that could cut through reality itself, and arrows that traveled through time as if it was air," he continued. "I was the best there ever was, and I thought that if I didn't bother anyone, nobody would bother me either. But the gods started spreading rumors that my weapons were powerful enough to kill anything that walked. And that was mostly true, which did not sit well with immortal, invincible titans. They began to take notice of me and the threat I posed to them, and they started harassing me."

"Did you create a weapon that could kill titans?" Ares asked.

"Ironically enough, I hadn't even considered forging a weapon like that," he replied. "At least not until Crius tried to murder me."

"Can it be...?" I whispered to myself.

"Who's Crius?" Artemis asked.

"Crius was a titan," I explained. "He is the only titan of the twelve in my father's guild that I have never met. I was always told that he's a very irritable person, fighting over the smallest of things and thus prefers being alone. I heard many rumors that he was killed too, which of course were never confirmed, since that would not sit well with what we were told... that the titans can't be killed."

"He was angry all the time and when I told him I wouldn't work for him, he started sending his thugs to attack me," Hephaestus continued. "When I saw he couldn't be reasoned with, I crafted a weapon that could indeed kill titans. And I tested it on him."

"You managed to kill him?" Aphrodite asked.

The man replied with a simple nod.

"Where is this weapon now?" Ares asked. "It just so happens that we're in dire need of it."

"This was hundreds of years ago," he said, "and the power scales have changed since then. I crafted a B-grade weapon because Crius was not at A-grade levels yet. He was still below level sixty-one, which meant a B-grade weapon was enough to kill him. As far as I know, most of the titans were already using A-grade equipment though."

"Is that why my uncle took you prisoner?" I asked. "So that you would never reach level sixty one and be able to craft weapons that would kill the rest of them?"

"No matter how much I explained it to them, Hyperion wouldn't believe me. My grudge was with Crius and his continuous attempts to control me or kill me, not with all titans. But he said that anyone who might be able to kill a titan was too big of a threat."

"Why change your body though?" Artemis asked.

"By changing the way I looked and what people knew of me, I started to lose my divine powers," he replied. "People were told of the story of an ugly old man who was great at forging, and that wasn't me. I couldn't benefit from any of those followers."

"If you're such a great threat to the titans as a species, why would Hyperion let us have you for two months?" asked Artemis.

We all looked at him, our eyes widening.

Hephaestus’ expression seemed confused, which confirmed my suspicion that he hadn't heard that part of our conversation. It was safe to say this wasn't something I wanted him to know about and neither did Aphrodite or Ares. Artemis, on the other hand, probably hadn't even considered hiding it from him.

"What?" the goddess of the hunt asked the rest of us. "You weren't thinking about actually giving him back after he works for us... Right?"

"What are you talking about?" Hephaestus asked. "I thought you came to rescue me."

"We did," Aphrodite said, taking control of the conversation. "But once we reached here and you shed that ugly body of yours, your captor informed us that you would be free for two months. After that, he wants you back."

He didn't say anything. His forearm muscles flexed as he clenched his fist and a vein moved on his temple.

"We made no such agreement," Aphrodite rushed to add.

"It's fine," he said finally. "You helped me escape, and I will do the best I can to help you for these two months. After that, I will return to Hyperion--"

"You will do no such thing," Artemis interrupted.

"I am grateful to you, and I do not wish to bring your dooms upon you," Hephaestus replied. "I will treasure the time I spend crafting items again."

I didn't like this arrangement one bit. On the one hand, we had exactly what we needed--a person who was able to craft a weapon to kill titans. Normally, I wouldn't mind letting them go afterwards. The most important thing was killing Cronus, after all.

But how would I be able to let go of him? He had done nothing wrong except for being the best at what he did. And the titans hated him for it--at least all of them except for Hyperion. For him, he was only a tool.

"He wants us to kill Cronus," I said, shifting the conversation. "Hyperion is stronger than Cronus but he can't act against him. He is his guild leader."

"But if someone else takes him out, he'll be the ruler of the titans," Ares deduced. "And having Hephaestus back under his control would make him invincible again."

"Wouldn't he then come after Zeus?" Artemis asked.

"He might," I replied.

"Or he might split Greece in half," Aphrodite said. "Half of it belonging to Mount Orthys and the other half to Mount Olympus. There's more than enough land and people to avoid further conflict."

"Let's cross that bridge when we reach it," I said, and turned to Hephaestus. "For the moment, we need you to craft a weapon that will kill my father."

"The king of titans will not be easy to kill," he warned.

"I'm sure he won't," I replied. "Definitely not without a weapon from you."

"At the moment I'm still unable to craft A-grade equipment," Hephaestus said, "and that's what you need."

"Sounds to me like we need to get you a level," I said, and glanced at my fellow guild members. "Just one level for Hephaestus to craft the titan-killing A-grade weapon, and then three for me so I can wield it."

"Check again, Zeus," Ares said, his mouth staying open in surprise.

"Check what?" I asked.

"The hidden quest we just finished."

I pulled up my notifications. There was indeed a quest entry there.

* * *

Quest Name: Rescuer of Gods

Availability: Single

Rarity: A Grade

Description: There is a special place for gods and other powerful forces to be kept in check. They are not dead, but nor are they alive. Kept imprisoned through the ages, their names are forgotten and the world remains safe from their presence. A change to this status quo would create eternal ripples in the flow of time and the Apocosmos.

Success: Rescue at least one god or god-tier creature from the Eternal Doom of Hyperion Dungeon.

Failure: None.

Status: 3/1

Time Left: Unlimited

Reward: Powerful favors from powerful creatures. 80,000,000 XP per rescued creature.

* * *

Yet another quest I hadn't actually taken up by myself. But this time, it was A-grade and the rewards were more than significant. Judging by the status bar, three of the former prisoners were now free, including our own Hephaestus.

* * *

You have successfully completed "Rescuer of Gods". You have been awarded 240,000,000 XP and the favor of the demon Astaroth, the greater deity Nergal, and the greater deity Hephaestus.

* * *

"I got the 'Rescuer of Gods' quest completion too," Aphrodite exclaimed. "Oh, wow. The XP reward wasn't split."

"What do you mean?" I said, and pulled up the next notifications flashing on the side of my view.

"I mean we each just got two hundred and forty million XP," she replied. "This must have been an important world-balancing quest for the Dark Energy to give us such a big reward."

* * *

Congratulations. You have advanced to level 59.

You have 6 skills ready for upgrade.

* * *

Congratulations. You have advanced to level 60.

You have 10 skills ready for upgrade.

* * *

"That's just insane!" I exclaimed. "How can a single quest give so much XP?"

"Who cares?" Ares said. "We're only one level away from A-grade mastery now."

"Did you get anything good?" Aphrodite asked all of us. "I got some cool upgrades but nothing new."

I looked at my new skills. I also got a few upgrades to my existing skills, but nothing I wasn't expecting really.

"Nothing fancy," I said.

"Same here," Ares added.

"It's my turn to shine then," Artemis said, puffing out her chest. "Look at this."

* * *

Name: Shoot to Kill

Level: 1

Type: Active

HP Consumed: 0

MP Consumed: 84

Power: 0

Range: Self

Precondition: None

Description: The absolute offensive stance for ranged attacks. Every shred of mana is pumped into the areas of the brain that control reflexes and accuracy at the expense of agility. Increases Physical Accuracy by 3, Physical Attack by 124, Shooting Range by 50 feet, and Physical Critical Rate by 20% for 20 minutes. Movement Speed is decreased to 0 for the duration of this skill.

* * *

"That is amazing, but only for very specific situations," Ares said.

"Yeah, the whole not-moving thing makes it less than perfect, but now I have a skill that would make me super powerful against creatures with reduced mobility," she said. "Imagine how useful this would be if I just sat in a high tree and used it on creatures below. I'd just be able to shoot down everything around me without having to worry about them reaching me."

"You're right," Aphrodite said, "but please be careful how you use it. Twenty minutes is a very long time not to be able to move."

"I will," Artemis said, and turned to Hephaestus again. "How do you feel about us getting you leveled up?"