Mountain of the Immortals

The light fabric of her nightgown caressed my face as she took a seat next to me.

"I'm done now," I said, sighing at the fact that such an amazing day had ended on a low note with me wasting ten billion MP.

"We all know you're doing your best," she said, laying down and placing her head on my lap before looking up at me.

"We all are," I replied. "But what if it's not enough?"

"What if it's not?" Artemis replied, also appearing behind me.

"I thought we were going to bed," I protested. "And yet you're all on the roof with me."

"You didn’t answer," Artemis said. "If what we're doing isn’t enough, there's still nothing more we can do. So there’s no need to worry about it."

"Don't you two worry?" I asked.

"We do," Aphrodite replied. "Everyone does. But after a long day working hard, knowing we did our best is enough."

"I wish I could be more like you." I began running my hands through Aphrodite’s hair. "How’s Hephaestus settling in?"

"Quite well, considering he's still living in the same house as us," Artemis replied.

"That's only because he hasn't heard us fucking yet," Aphrodite said, with a laugh.

"How can that still be on your mind?" Artemis asked. "We're breaking our backs all day, every day."

"I can't help it. It's in my nature. You should be more worried if I stop thinking about it."

"I don't think we'll ever have to worry about that," I said, and leaned forward to kiss her.

"In any case,” Aphrodite said, “I’m trying this new thing where I'm saving my energy for a big release. You better keep up once this Cronus thing is over." She gave me a smirk.

"That sounds like a threat," Artemis interjected. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been enjoying the recent peace and quiet in our house when trying to sleep.”

Aphrodite chuckled.

"Go to bed soon, darling." Aphrodite said and stood up. The two of them walked down the rooftop and disappeared inside.

I took in a deep breath, trying to shed the exhaustion from my body, and then followed them back into our manor.

* * *

When I woke up the next day, I felt surprisingly rejuvenated. The feeling of triumph from seeing all the new upgrades take shape had stuck with me, but the mental exhaustion of it was gone.

The sun hadn’t come up yet but there were people walking through the stone-laid streets of our little town already. The new citizens that had arrived the day before were getting ready for another hard day at work, having their breakfasts outside while deciding who would work where.

There was a buzz of excitement as we walked toward the town gates. People were happy with what they were seeing. They were feeling blessed at being admitted to a place that had it all. It was safe for them, it had jobs, and it was as luxurious as any town could get. And what's more, their gods walked among them.

I noticed the last part specifically because I saw a significant boost in how fast our divinity points recharged. Since the doors of Mount Olympus had opened to new people, I was gaining them back much faster and so were the rest of my guildmates.

During our trek to our usual XP-farming spot, I told everyone about the upgrades I’d carried out the day before as well as all the mental notes I’d made about them. As it turned out, they also had some very big news to share with me.

The secondary portal in the open Aegean Sea was now fully operational. In fact, the little lake and dock we’d created on the top of our mountain had already received its first ship, with two more on their way. The vessels brought food rations so that our food stocks would not dwindle, and livestock for our farms so that they could become fully operational as soon as possible.

Aphrodite hadn’t made any arrangements for what they would be taking from us, but the captains of the vessels were more than happy to leave empty handed if we didn't have anything to give them. They only wished to be the first to take their ships to the top of the mountain.

Only one of them would really be the first one, of course, but I had no doubt more than one captain would claim this world first. And if it meant that more merchant ship captains learned about our new unique trading route I had absolutely no reason to squash their claims.

It was around noon, with the best part of our daily XP farming done, when Ares called for a break. His sister groaned audibly.

"Why rest now?" she said. "I rebuffed you a few minutes ago, and I still have enough MP."

"I need to check something important," he said, not entertaining her attitude at all.

We finished the train of monsters we’d pulled and climbed up the hill to the place where we usually rested. The spot had always been safe from pulling aggro on monsters so we had used it extensively while training out here. So much so, in fact, that Artemis had stretched a large piece of leather over a metal frame here, essentially creating a shelter large enough to fit all of us inside.

"What is it, Ares?" I asked.

His eyes lost focus as if he was checking a notification before he turned to face us. Ares looked more worried now than the time we were busted by the two Norse gods.

"I just received communication from our operatives in Cronus's ranks," he said.

"What is it?" Hephaestus asked.

"He's making a move, isn't he?" I asked.

"It looks like it," Ares replied. "Cronus hasn’t made a move himself but my people are telling me that his forces are gathering at the base of Mount Orthys."

"Why weren't we notified by our watchtower?" Aphrodite asked. "Orthys is definitely within its range."

"The watchtower will let us know that someone is coming for us if they actually decide to do that," I said.

"That's right," Ares agreed. "They aren’t doing that yet, and they might not do it all. At the moment they’re just gathering at their master's behest. But knowing the situation between you two, I’m betting Cronus is mobilizing his troops to launch an offensive."

"We need to get ready," Hephaestus said.

"Our place is here," I said. "The town is as ready as it's ever going to be. There’s nothing Cronus can throw at us that we won't be able to defend against."

"But surely there are preparations?" she replied.

"All of the preparation that will need to take place can be done after we’re notified by the watchtower," I said. "Once we’re sure that we’re going to be attacked, we will make ourselves ready. But we only need a couple of hours to do that, and Cronus's armies won’t reach us for hours after we are notified."

"He’s right," Aphrodite said, backing me up. "The most important thing we can do right now is to continue XPing. We need to get you leveled up so you can at least create the weapon."

"The way I see it, there are two possible outcomes," I said. "Either we’re destroyed by the army that will lay siege to our town, which is simply ridiculous considering all of the upgrades we have… or we beat them. If Cronus's army is beaten, that will be the best opportunity to counterattack."

"With his army beaten, an offensive operation on his palace would find him at his lowest," Ares said. "And for that, we'll need the titan-slaying weapon."

"And Zeus at level sixty-one so he can wield it," Hephaestus added.

"We might be lucky enough that Cronus will lead his armies," Artemis said.

"There’s zero chance that will happen," I said with certainty. "My father doesn’t leave Mount Orthys, ever. At least, I've never seen him do it."

"What of the stories of him fighting the monsters of the world before he settled on the mountain?" Ares asked.

"That was centuries before I was born. And the titan of those stories is nothing like my father now. In truth, my father was never the brave and just king of titans people like to remember."

"I figured," Hephaestus said. He reached out and touched my shoulder.

"I think I might be missing some information here," Ares said.

"Will it give you a strategic advantage against my father if I tell you what a horrible person he is?" I asked, expecting him to drop the subject.

"Perhaps. But, more importantly, it will make me want to beat him even more."

"I told you he's my exact opposite," Aphrodite told me. "Love is my fuel, and he feeds on hate."

"But sister, hate is love's close neighbor not it's opposite," Ares retorted. He turned back to me. "So please do elaborate, Zeus."

"Let's not waste time with stories," I said, and stood up. "I'll tell you everything once we finish our XP farming for the day."

"Or we could hear your story during our breaks," Hephaestus said.

"We'll plan our town’s defenses during the breaks," I said, then sprinted off toward a cluster of monsters to make them follow me.

* * *