Life's a Game (Rewriting) Chapter 4 (Rewritten!), a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

I'm sorry this took so long, please forgive me.

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Percy was in dangerously close proximity to Artemis. Yes, by Artemis, he meant the Greek goddess of the moon and renowned man-hater Artemis.

And by dangerously close proximity, he meant 10 feet away from her.

He had dumped her unceremoniously on the couch that used to be the couch to Gabe's potato and he could have sworn he saw her nose scrunch up, not that he could really blame her.

Grover had scurried over with gloves on and a clothes pin clamped on his nose, and was trying to move her into a sitting position, but was unsuccessful as she kept slumping down.

He answered Percy's raised eyebrow with a, "Dude, she's a literal goddess, what do you think she'll do if she wakes up faceplanting the couch? And what'll happen when she finds out she has male fingerprints on her? Safety first." He ended his speech with a wriggle of his gloved fingers.

He seemed to just remember the clothes pin on his nose and continued, "Her scent's too strong, it might even knock me out if not for this clothes pin."

Percy accepted this explanation for his friend's weird behavior, even he could feel the power coming off her in waves.

And apparently so could nearby monsters. Due to Grover's clothes pinned nose, he wasn't able to sniff out any approaching monsters, instead, Percy had looked out of the window to the pleasant sight of giant jet-black dogs running full tilt at his apartment.

He did a double-take at the sight and was about to inform Grover when the front door shuddered a few times before splintering, revealing even more of the giant dogs, or, if the name above their heads was any indicator, hellhounds.

Percy did a quick headcount, there were five at the doorway, but he knew there were more approaching, probably attracted to the high-level goddess in the room.

He pulled Riptide out of his inventory and uncapped it in one swift motion.

MP doubled!

[1,700(x 2) =3,400/3,400]

A glance at their floating names told him a lot. He was facing two Type-D Hellhounds, two Type-C Hellhounds and a Type-B Hellhound.

Oh, he was dead Hellhound-meat, thanks a lot Artemis.

That was when his mother made her presence known. After a yelp of surprise, Sally Jackson pressed her palm against the key cabinet, which glowed blue and flickered away, revealing a set of what looked like runes underneath.

Percy glanced back at the Hellhounds at the doorway, surprised they hadn't rushed in yet. Another hellhound had joined the five, a Type-A, well above level 100, furiously butting its head against the barrier separating them from the apartment room.

Wait, barrier? The Hellhounds were seemingly unable to get through a translucent blue barrier that had flickered into existence once the door came down, and was flashing red every time a Hellhound made contact, stopping them from getting to Artemis, their target.

He knew he wouldn't be able to fend off this many Hellhounds. Especially with a particularly large one at the back, even though he was behind the barrier, Percy felt goosebumps appear on his skin just looking at it.

His mother flicked open a secret compartment in the bracelet she always wore, causing a blue orb to fall out into her hand.

She threw it at the hellhounds pokeball style just as the barrier flashed on last time before fading away, letting the pack of Hellhounds now twelve strong to rush in the open doorway.

Percy and Grover watched in amazement as the orb ruptured midair, and more water than it could hold poured out.

The water started moving of its own accord, forming a spiked head with glowing blue slits for eyes, a body with two arms ending with clenched fists and a watery tail that was floating two feet off the ground.

Percy did a quick observe on it, his gamer abilities letting him handle the shock way better than Grover, who was repeatedly opening and closing his mouth.

Palaemon-Level 575

REP: [Neutral-0]

Species: Sea god

Title: [Protector of Sailors]

Age: ?

Status effects: ?

HP: [100,100]/500,000

MP: [250,000]/500,000

STR-500

SPD-575

VIT-?

STA-?

DEX-?

INT-275

WIS-?

LUK-?

Money: ?

Palaemon was originally a mortal boy named Melikertes whose parents incurred the wrath of Hera for fostering the young god Dionysus. His father was driven into a murderous rage by the goddess and Ino fled with Melikertes in her arms, leaping off the cliffs into the sea. The pair were transformed into sea-gods and renamed Palaemon and Leukothea. Palaemon volunteered to be Sally Jackson's protector and has been in stasis for more than a decade, lowering his stats by quite a margin.

Fun fact: He is bound to service to Sally Jackson, and by connection, Percy Jackson.

"Free, free at last!" Palaemon cheered, in a voice that somehow managed to be equal parts joyful and imposing. He stretched and cracked his knuckles, a feat considering he didn't appear to have bones, before turning to Sally expectantly.

Even the Hellhounds seemed to back away from the power that this... Sea god was emanating. Percy's mom pointed at the Hellhounds and without a word Palaemon the sea god attacked them, moving so fast Percy's brain couldn't seem to register more than a blue blur.

Behind him, Grover gasped in realization and whispered to him, "Percy... th- that's Palaemon, a minor god of the sea. He went missing about a decade ago, but Poseidon refused to send any search parties."

"A minor god?"

Grover nodded. "He's powerful, very powerful, but he pales in comparison to one of the Big Three. And... I don't think he's at full power, he should be stronger than this."

Percy's question died in his throat as he watched the ongoing battle. Palaemon was losing. He was getting swarmed by a Hellhound after Hellhound. Wait- did the Hellhounds take the stairs?

loooooooolllllllllll

But on a more serious note, Palaemon was able to easily reduce most of the Hellhounds to golden dust, but the Type-A Hellhound seemed to be giving him quite a bit of trouble.

A single blast of water seemed to instantly disintegrate but others just got back up like nothing happened. Percy wondered if Palaemon's mana was running low, causing a bar to pop up.

[MP: 25,000/500,000]

'Ping!'

Quest: Hellhound Exterminator

Tasks:

-Kill 7 Level 10 or above Hellhounds

-Kill 1 Type-B Hellhound

Bonus task:

-Save Palaemon

Success:

-5,000XP

-100D

-1UP

-S1UP

Bonus:

-[Epic] Item

Failure:

-Death

Time remaining: 59 minutes 47 seconds

YES/NO

Selecting yes, Percy joined the fray with Riptide in hand. As he engaged the first Hellhound in combat, he wondered what any passing neighbors' would see, with his luck, they would probably see him using a baseball bat to abuse dogs.

He subtly willed his observe skill to bring up the level 12 Type-C Hellhounds health and mana.

[Type-C Hellhound's HP: 10,000/10,000]

[Type-C Hellhound's MP: 1,250/1,250]

Percy silently cursed as he narrowly avoided a swipe of the Hellhound's claw. He needed to be more aware of his surroundings while reading stats.

He ducked under another swipe and loped of the offending paw. The Hellhound roared in pain as its health depleted.

Damage: 1,955 (+10%) =2,150.5HP

Critical hit!

Damage: 2,150.5 x 2 =4,301HP

[Type-C Hellhound's HP: 10,000(-4,301) =5,699/10,000]

Say what now? If he had Riptide's water boost, he would've already killed the Hellhound! His damage output had decupled thanks to the increase in his strength, speed and his swords mastery, he was becoming a Gary Stu!

Of course, his luck didn't hold.

Thanks to his ADHD, he could seemed to be able to be aware of what was happening throughout the battlefield that way the front door of his apartment.

There were around twenty Hellhounds left, and they were all starting to change targets to him, being the weaker of the opposition. A quick glance told him that Palaemon was locked in combat with the level 314 Hellhound.

He wanted to help him, but he had more pressing matters to deal with. Once again he stabbed the stunned Type-C Hellhound in the underbelly, sending him back to Tartarus without any remorse. These monsters had invaded his home and endangered the lives of his best friend and his mom, they didn't deserve any.

Damage: 1,955HP

Critical hit!

Damage: 1,955 x 2 =3,910HP

[Type-C Hellhound's HP: 3548(-3,910) =-362/10,000]

He had done over ten thousand damage in just two attacks! He clamped down on his excitement as he just managed to sidestep a charging Hellhound.

He stepped forwards and decapitated the Type-D Hellhound, killing him in one-shot.

Fatal hit!

Damage: ∞HP

[Type-D Hellhound's HP: 2,450(-∞) =-∞/2,450]

That was neat. Two down, nine more to go. And that was when things went really wrong.

First, two Type-D Hellhounds started howling together, then another two Type-D's followed suit. The Type-C's howled in pairs as well, probably confusing the heck out of Percy's neighbors.

Skill [Shadow fusion] has been detected!

Mimic?

YES/NO

Percy tapped no, whatever shadow fusion was, he didn't want to waste a thousand mana on it with only a ten percent chance of success, he would need his mana for the fight.

The howling Hellhounds melted into shadow-like silhouettes, two Hellhounds fusing into one, the shadowy silhouettes solidifying into bigger, badder Hellhounds.

A glance at their status bars told him all he needed to know.

Fused Type-D Hellhound-Level 15

Fused Type-D Hellhound-Level 17

Fused Type-C Hellhound-Level 28

Fused Type-C Hellhound-Level 42

Type-B Hellhound-Level 37

He was facing enemies with levels way higher than his own, sure, he had defeated monsters twenty to a hundred levels above him, but thinking about it, Alecto's stats had been restricted by a large margin and he had only bested Mimic through a cheap trick.

By fusing, their levels, and probably their stats had combined. Percy would need more than just a sword to win this one.

He felt a water source connected to the taps and tried to draw water from it, but that required a moment of concentration, something he didn't think the Hellhounds would be courteous enough to offer.

So he relied on twisting and turning, getting in a few stabs here and there, whittling down the health of the four fused Hellhounds. Percy chanced a glance at the Type-B Hellhound.

It was curled up, watching the fight with what could be passed as amusement on its canine features. Although Percy felt a little pissed that the Hellhound seemed to think he was nothing to worry about, he knew better than to goad it into joining the battle, he had to deal with the fused Hellhounds first.

A lapse in concentration caused him to get raked in the back by sharp claws, causing his health to drop and him to flinch in pain.

[HP: 1,900(-100) 1,800/1,900]

Hey, that wasn't so bad.

You have received the status effect [Bleeding-Level 10]

Bleeding-Level 10

Buffs: None

Debuffs: -10HP/Second

Duration: 15 Seconds

[HP: 1,800(-10) =1790/1,900]

That still wasn't too bad actually.

You have received the status effect [Shadow poisoning-Level 2]

Bleeding-Level 2

Buffs: None

Debuffs: -20HP/Second, -20MP/Second

Duration: 10 Seconds

Aw, come on!

[HP: 1790(-20 -10) =1,760/1,900]

[MP: 3,400(-20) =3,380/3,400]

At least this was an attack from the level 42 Type-C Hellhound, so hopefully the others weren't as devastating.

He winced as his health and mana depleted once more. He dodged and weaved, doing his best to avoid the claws, he got cut a few times from the Type-D Hellhounds, but he didn't suffer from the same status effects, he wasn't sure whether it was due to the amount of blood drawn or the level.

He managed to get in a few slices of Riptide as well, but he couldn't do much without his main advantage. His water manipulation skill.

He needed more time. If he could just stun the Hellhounds for a few seconds... Then it hit him.

Percy mentally allocated fifteen stat points into his speed, bringing his base speed to twenty-five. He felt his entire body get stronger and his perception of the world slowed just enough to be noticeable. He even felt his brain process faster to compensate for his new speed boost.

[SPD-25(+13) =38]

And what's more, he still had fifty stat points left!

With his upgraded speed, he easily avoided an attack and stabbed the lowest level Hellhound, his damage increased by quite a lot thanks to his speed points.

Damage: 3,230HP(+10% +2%) =3,624.6HP

[Fused Type-D Hellhound's HP: 5,264(-3,624.6) =1,999.4]

Percy noticed that the passive bonus damage of his weapons mastery skill had come into play.

The injured Hellhound slumped to the ground, leaving Percy with one less Hellhound to deal with.

Seeing that the other three Hellhounds' attention was on the injured Hellhound, Percy tried to use his water manipulation, drawing out the water from the pipes with just a trickle of his mana reserves.

He spun around just in time to see the level 42 Fused Type-C Hellhound lunge at him, along with what sounded like Darude-Sandstorm on reed pipes. The Hellhound snarled as vines somehow sprung up from the carpet to restrain it inches away from Percy's face.

Percy let out a gasp of surprise when he saw that Grover seemed to be doing this, the vines growing according to the rhythm of Grover's reed pipe playing.

The water enveloped him, buffing him and Riptide.

You have made contact with a body of water and have gained the following buffs:

-MP doubled

-MP regen rate doubled

-HP regen rate doubled

-STR doubled

His mana had regenerated back to its cap once the shadow poisoning status effect had worn off, and it was now quadrupled thanks to Riptide's bonus.

Percy encased the bound Hellhound and himself in a dome made of hardened water, pouring in five thousand mana points.

[MP: 6,800(-5,000) =800/6,800]

The dome of water formed just in time to tank a hit from a Hellhound. A tab popped up, showing the barrier's defense points.

[DP: 5,000(-800) =4,200/5,000]

Percy knew the barrier wouldn't last long, it was just to keep him safe from the attacks of the other Hellhounds while he dealt with the one in front of him.

It had the highest level of all of the Hellhounds, so he expected it to have a ton of health points. His explosive attack was too slow, his continuous damage one wouldn't cut it, but Riptide? With critical strikes and the double damage bonus, that might be the best option.

He raised Riptide and swung away, doing as much damage as he could while his hydro-barrier's defense points were whittled down.

Damage: 3,200HP(+10%) =3,520HP

[Fused Type-C Hellhound's HP: 40,000(-3,250) =36,750/40,000]

Damage: 3,200HP(+10%) =3,520HP

Critical hit!

Damage: 3,520 x 2 =7,040HP

[Fused Type-C Hellhound's HP: 36,750(-7,040) =29,710/40,000]

He managed to land five more similar hits before the barrier shattered in an explosion of blue shards, leaving the Hellhound with just over ten-thousand health points.

And boy did it look angry. The vines that had bound it were wilted and easily shredded by the Hellhounds claws. It had looked to be severely wounded earlier, but now, shadowy patches looked like they were sealing up the wounds, cancelling out any bleeding status effect.

Skill [Shadow manipulation] has been detected!

Mimic?

YES/NO

Heck yes!

Skill [Shadow manipulation] has successfully been mimicked!

[MP: 1,002(-1,000) =2/6,800]

Oops. Percy jumped aside as a Hellhound barreled past him. Grover was going ham on his reed pipes again, turning the apartment into a jungle, vines and even trees growing everywhere, trapping the Hellhounds.

Percy took advantage of the havoc and stabbed at the confused Hellhounds. He managed to kill all of them with the help of critical and fatal hits, collecting the loot and stowing away in his inventory before anyone noticed, and levelling up thanks to the experience points.

'Ping!'

You have reached level 14!

You have reached level 15!

Perseus Jackson-Level 15 (XP-70/3,000)

Species: Demigod (+15 to STR, SPD, VIT, STA and DEX)

Title: [Son of Poseidon]

Age: 12

Status effects: [Partial immortality-Level 1]

HP: 2,300/2,300

MP: 2,100/2,100

HP regen rate: 3 HP/5 Seconds

MP regen rate: 2 MP/5 Seconds

STR-4(+15) =19

SPD-25(+15) =40

VIT-12(+15) =27

STA-8(+15) =23

DEX-4(+15) =19

INT-17

WIS-3

LUK-0

Stat Points: 60

Money: $19,515

Perseus 'Percy' Jackson is a demigod, He has ADHD and Dyslexia. He is the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. He is able to see the world as a video game as a means of getting more powerful to save Olympus, gifted to him by the combined power of the Olympians and the three Fates that reside in the future. He wishes for his mother, whom he loves dearly, to have a better life and all the blue candy in the world. He also hopes to make more friends. Currently, he is trying to figure his powers out.

Percy panted, his health down to under a thousand points after the scuffle with the Hellhounds, a quick observe told him that Grover was extremely low on MP as well.

But the remaining Hellhound wasn't going to let him rest. Despite being a Type-B Hellhound, it was only two levels ahead of him, so he could probably deal with it even while injured.

He manipulated the water enveloping him to encase his entire body, acting like a second skin, and giving him a new defense.

Active: Water manipulation-Level 18 (2%)

Grants the ability to manipulate water in all its forms to a high extent with deadly precision to create a variety of different effects.

Skill power tier: [High]

Max cost: 1,800MP/Second

Max amount: 180,000 gallons

Attacks:

+SHOW

Defense:

User creates a structure of solidified water with the defense points equal to the amount of mana points allocated. Can absorb some types of water and energy based attacks to boost defense points.

Max radius: 17 feet

Max defense points: 1,700MP

Max cost: 1,700MP

Cooldown: 5 seconds

User encases his body in water, giving him the usual buffs with the added bonus of not needing to be constricted to a water source. User also takes 1% less damage from all attacks and deals increased water damage. User is able to manipulate the water encasing him for a variety of effects.

Max cost: 10MP/Second

-HIDE

Percy's grin faded away when he saw that the Hellhound in front of him was suddenly emitting a dark aura, making nearby shadows more prominent and giving them an odd blur.

He was pretty sure this was shadow manipulation. If he didn't do something fast, the shadows would... actually, he had no idea what would happen, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't turn out well for him.

Percy aimed a jet of water at the Hellhound's eye, forcing it to close its eyes to avoid experiencing pain worse than stepping on Legos.

Breaking its concentration caused the shadows to return to normal. Percy's victory was short-lived however, the Hellhound growled in annoyance and formed a black visor over his eyes.

Skill [Darkness manipulation] has been detected!

Unable to mimic!

Well, crap. He had used his daily mimic quota on shadow manipulation, a branch of umbrakinesis.

Percy squinted at the Hellhound. Its stats were nothing much, due to its level, but perhaps its classification as Type-B was due to its ability to manipulate darkness? After all, the previous Hellhounds didn't seem able to use this particular skill.

He lashed out at the Hellhound with his fist, manipulating the water around his fist to form into sharp spikes. He didn't expect the Hellhound to move out of the way so swiftly, and it was only thanks to his increased speed points that he managed to graze its maw.

Before he could make another attack, the Hellhound disappeared, its body turning into a black mass that slithered into the shadow of a nearby table.

He heard a panicked yelp and whipped around, seeing that the Hellhound had reappeared near Grover.

Thinking quickly, Percy encased the Hellhound in a dome of water, just in time for its claws to rake against its surface.

[DP: 1(-200) =-200/1]

[MP: 532(-1) =531/6,800]

Ahahahahahaha, loophole! One defense point was enough to withstand a single attack, the only downside was that this particular skill only had a cooldown. He rushed to close the distance between himself and the Hellhound, but he didn't make it in time.

Grover was now dead.

Just kidding.

Artemis beat him to the chase. The Hellhound was blasted through the kitchen wall by a silver blast of energy, creating an oddly shaped hole.

Artemis had gotten up and was clutching her head in pain, her level had dropped to 435 and was still dropping, albeit at a slower pace.

She groaned before slumping back down, going unconscious again. Huh, that was such a good timing to wake up, it was almost as if a Fanfiction author had just used the situation to get himself out of the hole he had written himself into.

Percy peeked through the hole to find that the Hellhound was still alive and had gotten rubble on his bed, the resilient bugger.

He stepped through the hole and stabbed the Hellhound, feeling slightly sorry for it. He scooped the loot into his inventory, the golden dust accompanying it residing in a box of its own.

XP is gained is greatly reduced!

All tasks for quest: Hellhound Exterminator are complete!

Quest: Hellhound Exterminator

Tasks:

-All tasks have been completed!

Bonus task:

-Save Palaemon

Success:

-Rewards received!

Bonus:

-[Epic] Item

Failure:

-Death of Palaemon

Time remaining: 42 minutes 47 seconds

You have levelled up!

Perseus Jackson-Level 15 (XP-100/3,000)

Species: Demigod (+15 to STR, SPD, VIT, STA and DEX)

Title: [Son of Poseidon]

Age: 12

Status effects: [Partial immortality-Level 1]

HP: 2,300/2,300

MP: 2,100/2,100

HP regen rate: 3 HP/5 Seconds

MP regen rate: 2 MP/5 Seconds

STR-4(+15) =19

SPD-25(+15) =40

VIT-12(+15) =27

STA-8(+15) =23

DEX-4(+15) =19

INT-17

WIS-3

LUK-0

Stat Points: 60

Money: $19,515, 152D

Thankfully the rewards had been safely sent to his inventory. He still had a bonus task left, save Palaemon. But that would mean...

He threw Riptide at the Hellhound that Palaemon had been fighting, his strength stat high enough for it to drive Riptide into its right paw.

Riptide was promptly pushed out by tendrils of shadows that sealed up the wound in less than a second, but it served to break the concentration of the Hellhound, causing the shadow chains that had bound Palaemon to shimmer away, letting him decimate the Hellhound in a wave of water.

XP gained is drastically reduced!

Bonus task for quest: Hellhound Exterminator is complete!

Quest: Hellhound Exterminator

Tasks:

-All tasks have been completed!

Bonus task:

-Save Palaemon

Success:

-Rewards received!

Bonus:

-Rewards received!

Palaemon picked up the loot that the Hellhound had dropped, causing Percy to freak out for a moment before Palaemon floated towards him and handed him the loot.

"Thank you, noble son of Sally Jackson and Poseidon. The spoils of war are yours to keep."

And with that, his body disintegrated into flecks of water and flew into the ring that he had come from.

"Can someone explain to me what in the world just happened?"

Good old Grover.

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I'M SORRY! This chapter is short, and I took so long because I got kinda stuck. Would it be okay if you guys came up with names for his water based attacks and posted them in the review section, or send a PM? Thanks! (Don't feel obligated too though.)

Also thanks to the guest who sent the kind words! :D

I'm really sorry if you didn't receive a reply to your review, sometimes the order of the reviews get mixed up and I skipped over it by mistake!