Leveling with the Gods

[Blood Drops Necklace]

* * * A necklace made from a chain of blood drops. Contains someone's deepest desires.

# Protects the wearer's physical body.

# Can store three different abilities.

There was no great description of the item.

But its effects were enough to make anyone want one.

An item that could store three abilities.

But to Hercules it was much more than just an item.

"Why, you...!"

Kurrrrrrrr-.

The ground cracked and an earthquake struck.

Seeing Hercules' anger, YuWon felt a shiver run down his spine for the first time in a long time.

He felt as if a fist was going to hit him at any moment.

'Scary.'

At least that anger wouldn't be directed at him now.

The necklace was in his hand, and he would be insanely curious as to why.

"I picked it up."

"You picked it up?"

Boom-.

His body was crushed downward.

It looked as if he'd sunk into the ground.

"Stolen, to be precise."

He hastened to explain.

"From whom?"

"Ares."

"Ares?"

"He had it.

The ruler of war and fighting.

Since they had the same father, he knew at least his name.

Of course, they had never met.

Ares hadn't done much in the Gigantomachy, and didn't have much of a public presence.

"Why would that guy..."

"I don't know why."

YuWon jerked his head toward the necklace.

"See for yourself."

"...."

Hercules looked at the necklace in his hand with an expressionless face.

Necklace of Blood Drops.

It was a beautiful necklace, despite its name, as the color was exactly the same as blood.

Hercules remembered exactly whose neck that necklace hung from.

-My son.

Takk-.

He couldn't squeeze any tighter because he feared it would break.

This was a souvenir, not just a necklace.

-Everyone will try to use you.

Hercules' mother.

Shortly after giving birth to Hercules, Alcmene looked at him and said.

-I am sorry, son, for having given birth to you, for having brought you into a world of hardship.

A son born of a wrong destiny.

Zeus took Alcmene in his arms and made her give birth to Hercules, and she hugged him tightly and wept.

Hercules.

A child who inherited the blood of Zeus and would become the strongest in the future.

And henceforth unhappy.

The world, and especially Olympus, would not leave him alone with such power.

-Nevertheless, I beg you.

Hercules remembered.

The sound of his mother's voice as she cried and hugged him to herself that was too big for a newborn baby.

And, strangely, his own infant self managed to understand every word.

-Please be a good person, don't wield your power recklessly.

Zalgrak-.

The necklace was worn by Alcmena at the time.

She treated this necklace as her own heart. As to who she got it from, she did not tell Hercules.

'Ares had it...'

Ares, a son of Zeus.

Why did he have this necklace?

Obviously it was a coveted item. It's not every day that you find an item capable of protecting your body and storing your abilities.

Also, it was a necklace that was easy to wear, so the High Ranks coveted it.

But none of that mattered.

The problem was 'why' the necklace of his mother, who died at the hands of the Giants, was in his hand.

An unanswered question.

'Maybe that guy is lying to me'.

And suspicion.

It was then that Hercules looked at YuWon.

"That necklace can store and use three abilities."

Gii-.

A red light began to emanate from the necklace.

Hercules' eyes twitched slightly.

A familiar Mana.

"But unfortunately, only the wearer who stores the ability can use it."

"No way... ... ."

[User verification completed.]

[The user is 'Hercules', the son of 'Alcmene'."]

[Beginning of 'Memories of the Necklace'.]

Whoaaaah-!

An aura enveloped Hercules.

If he resisted, he could fight it.

But Hercules didn't.

"The necklace must have been set to automatically activate the skill when it was returned to its owner."

An ability that is activated the moment the necklace enters Hercules' hand.

It belonged to his mother, Alcmene.

A moment later.

The glowing red mana emanating from the necklace enveloped Hercules.

* * *

Before him stood a small boy, large for his age, but small in front of him.

A small hand covered the back of his neck.

Hercules stared at his reflection, unable even to open his eyes.

'Is it me?'

It was unbelievable.

To see himself so small.

It was a strange feeling.

It was a strange feeling to see his mother smiling at him.

Alcmena was a beautiful red haired woman. She was both the leader of a Guild and a Ranker.

She gave birth to the son of Zeus, the King of Olympus.

It was an unwanted birth. But, in spite of everything, she loved Hercules.

-Son. My son...

Alcmene's feelings for holding Hercules in her arms were passed on intact.

The Memories of the Necklace

She had the ability to convey the emotions of Alcmene, who wore the necklace.

'Mother...'

The landscape changed.

Hercules had grown up in the blink of an eye.

As a child, he had survived a snake sent by Hera. Alcmene almost fainted as she watched Hercules crush the snake with one hand.

From an early age, Hercules grew up fighting someone.

Each time, Alcmene took a step forward and bowed her head.

Seeing that, Hercules thought that he should not use his fist recklessly.

How much time passed.

Hercules passed the tutorial and became a Player.

-Mom, I passed the Test! I'm ranked higher than my father!

Her son's first message after receiving his Player kit.

Seeing that, Alcmena smiled.

It was a bitter, sad laugh.

- Great job! That's my boy.

He remembered.

The message Alcmena had sent to his player kit.

At the time, he thought he was proud to have passed the test with flying colors.

That wasn't all.

"Why..."

The memory of the necklace reflected Alcmena's figure.

-How was the test? Was it difficult?

-Yes? -Did you make any friends?

-That's good, but you should take it easy for a while. Don't go up too fast or you might fall.

- Do you? But...

"Why is she crying?"

The text messages were casual.

He was shaking and crying and texting, seemingly indifferent.

He wished and wished and wished this moment would never come.

"Why..."

She must be proud, he thought.

He thought she would be glad that he had become a great qualifier, that he had honored Olympus, and that he had put his energy into the right things.

But she wasn't...

The necklace continued to illuminate those nostalgic times.

Having become a Ranker, he visited Alcmene. She greeted him as always, and then he met Zeus.

The great King of Olympus, with his golden hair hanging down.

-Although Hercules has become a Ranker, he is still too young to go to war.

As a low-level Ranker, she didn't even flinch in front of Zeus.

If he lifted a finger, she would die, but she held her head high.

Although she was Hercules' mother, she was now much weaker than her son.

- There is still a long way to go before the war begins. He's a Ranker, you just have to level him up in that time. He'll be ready by then.

-Do you really intend to raise my son as a weapon of war?

-He's my son before he's yours.

-No.

Facing the King of Olympus, he shook his head proudly.

- As much as your blood flows, he is my son.

-Yes, he is.

Zeus nodded his head more easily than he thought.

-Anyway, it doesn't matter whose son he is.

What was more important to Alcmene than anything else was what Zeus was going to eat today.

Whose son he was, it didn't really matter.

Zeus had many, many children, and it was common knowledge that he didn't love them all.

But...

A weapon of war?

It wasn't a conversation to pass up.

A weapon of war.

Something created, not a living person.

The war had been planned for a long time. Sending a child of one's own blood, like Athena, into battle was no big deal, at least to Zeus.

However, sending a son to the battlefield and giving birth to a son to be sent to the battlefield were completely different things.

-You're crazy.

Zeus, who had been contemplating the surface of the pool, turned his eyes to Alcmene, who had spoken fiercely.

-Crazy?

-That's right. For you, the child is nothing more than a weapon: a spear, a sword, a bow?

-Something like that, of course, though it is a far superior weapon to those things.

- So you really are mad. How can you say that about your own son?

-Sons, daughters, whatever. There are many women who want to give birth to my children.

-You...!

-If only I could break the roof of this tower... -If only I could break the roof of this tower...

The roof of the tower.

It was a story Hercules had grown up hearing.

In this tower, there is a roof that no one has reached yet.

-I can make a second and a third Hercules.

"Hehe..."

Hercules could do nothing but laugh.

To think that his life was planned by someone else.

A son for war. Alcmene knew, and had been urging Hercules for years.

Please don't wield your power recklessly.

Fortunately, Hercules was a rather obedient son.

That was all.

Why did his mother die?

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck.

Dozens of people besieged Alcmene.

Kak-.

Among them, someone walked forward.

A face she had never seen before.

But in the memory of the necklace, Alcmena knew him clearly.

-Ares.

The ruler of war and strife....

No, at the time he was a mere novice, who had not long ago been promoted to Ranker.

Of course, he was surrounded by other Rankers, many of whom were supported by Zeus.

-Are you Alcmene?

-Yes.

-Then there is nothing more to say.

Cha-ang, Chang.

The dozens of Rankers unsheathed their spears, swords and other weapons.

Alcmene's face was calm, as if she had sensed this moment long ago.

-Is the war about to begin?

-Yes.

-I've thought of many cases, but this is definitely Zeus.

-Don't use that name carelessly.

-Now I'm going to die, I'll say whatever name I want.

Alcmene chuckled to herself as she felt the wind blow through the forest.

Soon after, she looked at Ares, another son of Zeus.

-What are you, the second or the third Hercules?

-...

Ares did not answer.

He was well aware of his situation.

But he didn't care anyway.

The faithful sword of Zeus.

That's how Ares lived.

- Silently give me your head.

Ares' sword pointed at Alcmene.

Thud-.

Hercules' eyes were bloodshot and his teeth gnashed.

-We will say that you died at the hands of the Giants.

A weapon of war prepared for the Gigantomachy.

It was completed with the death of Alcmene, Hercules' mother.