The Basic to Kill

Geras went to the blackboard and grabbed a stool to make he tall enough and started scribbling the words 'Divine Lineage'.

“Who knows what this is?”

No one responded to the teacher.

“Do we have a bunch of idiots here? Please, you are descendants of some of the most powerful gods that exist, that's the least!”

Ask timidly began to speak.

“Well, we all have some divine ancestry, don't we? Are you talking about our blood?”

Geras jumped off the stool with impressive agility for someone his age and hit Ask's table.

“Lord Ascalaphus, you couldn't be more wrong! Of course you have divine lineage, but this term is about one specific thing.”

Thanato raised his hand, waiting for the teacher's approval.

“Divine Lineage is a skill related to each god's domain. It is different from magic in that spells can be learned and used in many different ways, whereas Divine Lineage is a single power.”

“And why do you know this?” asked the professor.

“Well, I use my Divine Lineage constantly. It’s name is ‘Death’ allows me to manipulate souls of mortals and bring them here with no problem.”

When he finished speaking, a snore came from the direction of Hypnos, completely unconscious over his desk. Geras began to walk slowly towards him.

“Yes, Divine Lineage are special abilities, being able to control elements, emotions, creatures. I, for one, can do this!”

He pointed to Hypnos who woke up in a fright, his skin quickly began to get wrinkled and his hair turned white.

“What?” he said, noticing his old age.

“Mr. Hypnos, I suggest you no longer sleep in my class unless you want to have permanent wrinkles. What about your Divine Lineage?”

Hypnos spoke in a hoarse, dry voice.

“Yes, my power is ‘Sleep’.”

He pointed his hand at Geras who fell to the floor instantly, hitting his head on the desk. The effect of ‘Old Age’ on Hypnos wore off and everyone in the room stared in disbelief.

“Look, I honestly didn't want to do this,” Hypnos said.

“What do we do now?” asked Oizys as Momus approached the teacher with pens in hand.

The youngest was stopped by Thanatos who looked at him reproachfully.

“Now we wake him up and continue the lesson.” Thanatos stood up and faced his colleagues. “Please, let's get serious about this. This mission is very important for our king.”

His gaze met Mac's, which she averted on impulse. Momus went back to his desk and Thanato helped Geras to wake up.

“What happened? Everything went dark all of a sudden,” asked the stunned professor.

“The titans came back and attacked you.” replied Momus, “don't worry, after an epic battle we sent them to Tartarus again.”

The old man needed some time to recover and soon the same sullen personality returned.

“Yeah, Divine Lineage, that was the topic. In these four months it would be good for you to awaken them, they are very useful skills for the competition and know that your opponents will know how to use them. Not all gods can activate the Divine Lineage, but that's no excuse!”

While the class was taking place, Mac and Mel felt strange being so close in the room. It was the most time they'd spent together in years, and even though they were in class, it was uncomfortable not communicating with each other.

Mac considered trying to sit next to Thanatos the next day, but it would be just as uncomfortable if she didn't know how to interact. Meanwhile, Mel felt enormous sadness in not being able to talk to Mac like she used to. She just wanted to be able to go back in time to a time when the two played together.

The silence between them said more than a thousand words. Until a long ruler hit both tables at the same time.

“Are the princesses wanting a little break? Do you think that just because your father is the boss, you don't need to pay attention?”

The two apologized and a strange look came between them.

“Well, I was talking about the best ways to kill. Not that there will be murders during the competition, however the Olympics are dangerous games, you must be prepared for anything. By the way, the next topic is: lethal weapons!”

When talking about weapons, Oizys, who was the only one who wrote everything down, turned to the teacher worriedly.

“Do we need guns for sports games?”

Geras let out a single, loud 'ha!' laughing at the young goddess.

“The Olympics are bloodthirsty! Wrestling, chariot racing, battles between ships, all with dangerous beasts and explosives involved! You have to know the basics of fighting and for that it's important to specialize in a weapon. Come with me, I'll show you the basics and you'll have a week to decide your weapons for the rest of the classes. We don't have time to keep changing.”

Without waiting for anyone, Geras left the room, followed with hurried steps. They went along the wooden corridors to another room. This one had no natural light and looked like an old warehouse.

In it were dozens of weapons. Retractable spears, firearms, sword-pistols, shields with cutting edges and more diverse combinations of technological weapons with various effects attached.

“Choose what you want to test, this week will be for experimentation. See what best suits your personal tastes. Let's take the weapons outside.”

Following Geras' orders, everyone inspected the weapons that looked the most interesting and took them outside.

Angela found a pair of silver pistols that she loved, they weren't too heavy and felt good in her hand.

Mel took several weapons, without feeling connected with any, until she found a metal structure attached to a chain. The structure was similar to the lamp that Rete carried.

“What is that?” Mel asked Geras.

“A lamp of Hecate. It's a weapon to amplify spells, not very useful if you're not a sorcerer, but you can still knock someone over the head.”

She had never done any magic, but she knew that was her goal and left the room with only the lamp.

Mac, on the other hand, hadn't found anything that interested her, just picking up random weapons to follow the gang.

Outside they found test dummies made of wood to practice attacks.

“I believe that Thanatos is the only one with skill in combat, so I will count on you to help everyone.”

Thanatos picked the curved blade on his back and a handle extended six feet, forming a scythe. Mac immediately fell in love with the gun.

“I want one of those,” she said without even realizing she was speaking.

“Serious?” asked Thanatos. “A scythe isn't really a good weapon. It is extremely unbalanced and takes a lot of work to lethally use it.”

The young woman thought it was funny that their first conversation at school was about weapons and she wasn't even trying to get close to him, she really loved the idea of ​​using a scythe.

“What's the problem? You use the scythe,” she said.

“I've had years of practice. I think you can get a spear, it should be easier.”

Mac didn't like the answer and immediately went back to the weapons room to look for a scythe. She found one that wasn't retractable, just the curved blade connected to the long wooden handle.

When he returned, she saw Geras beside Angela who was aiming her weapons in the direction of one of the targets.

“These weapons are far better than those of mortals. Theirs only shoot projectiles, you can fire a divine essence. You can put your own strength into the shots and decide the power, plus infinite ammo as long as you have the strength to fight.”

She started shooting and little pink sparks flew towards the target, missing most of them.

Meanwhile, Momus was sitting next to a pile of guns, seeing a flail and an array of explosives. Oizys were ostending up by his side, inspecting a metallic flute.

“Is this a weapon too?” she asked as Geras approached.

“Certainly. Instruments can be used to amplify powers, such as your Divine Lineage eventually. Furthermore…”

He took the flute from her and pressed a hidden button, revealing a sharp blade at one end.

“It's also good for stealth killing.”

The girl looked worried and pressed the button again, retracting the blade.

“I think I prefer the flute part anyway.”

“Hey, Gagaras, can I assemble my gun? I'm getting a lot of ideas here.”

The teacher hit Momus's head before answering.

“This is part of the process, in a few months you will build or improve your weapons, if you think you have the skills for that already, feel free. Just remember you have a week to decide.”

Hypnos floated on his pillow not testing anything while Mel tried to get her lamp to work, without much success. Ask had several weapons at his side, unsure of picking up any of them.

Mac tried to use the scythe, which proved to be something difficult to handle, it would have hit Thanatos in the head if the god had not held the handle of the weapon.

“Do you really want this?” asked Thanatos.

“There is no other weapon that would serve me.”

He sighed and picked up his own scythe, getting into a fighting stance beside her.

“You shouldn’t embarrass yourself in front of the other gods.”

Mac felt her heart racing and tried to be discreet, accepting Thanatos training.