Never Change

Chapter 2

Percy sighed, leaning back into the bed. He really didn't want to get up and away from the soft sheets. He wanted to just lay in bed for the rest of the day, but lying in bed would only lead to thinking about Annabeth-

He forced himself up off the bed.

Ozpin had given them a lot of money – nearly five thousand lien, to be exact. Common sense dictated that Percy haggle, and he did, getting a room and food at some random inn in Vale for only a hundred lien.

Maybe he had to become a heartbreaking bastard of a bitch to do it – after all, he'd flirted with the clerk a little bit – but it was worth. Usually, he would have used the Mist and scammed the clerk anyway, but there was no Mist here. Even the regular laws of magic metal didn't apply here; Riptide worked on mortals here, not that he had tried it yet. He had no family, no job to his name. He was an orphan with no connections other than a couple thousand lien for being a good Samaritan and an invitation to Beacon.

Five weeks had passed in the blink of an eye, and it was the day already. The day to go to college – well Beacon Academy, but college with fighting in a nutshell. He'd been heading out every day for his daily workout, and turning in only at night. He alternated between studiously reading in the library and training in the forest. His apparently 'massive' reserves of aura boosted his recovery speeds, and he was in the best shape of his life.

The change in him was palpable. Rather than fidgeting in his seat and fighting against the swarm of letters, he now absorbed information like a sponge absorbing water, having no problem paying vast amounts of attention to reading. He frequently stayed for hours in one spot, even cracking his stiff back when he finished reading and took a break.

The demigod headed out of the inn, deigning to leave the city as a whole. He wanted to get some training in, anyway.

He found a clearing in a small forest after hacking through some Grimm, namely beowolves. They weren't too challenging, like Lycaon's werewolves except infinitely weaker and were prone to everything, not just silver.

As for the subject of his aura... the guy who'd unlocked it said he had massive reserves of it.

Percy slashed his sword tentatively on his arm, knowing that the sea was close by if he needed any aid.

It should have caused a gash on his arm, and his arm felt it, although dampened by both his aura and his high pain tolerance, but there was no visible sign of harm on him.

It was akin to having a blunt force hit him instead of a sharp one that would actually do bodily damage.

If he had such a massive aura... then it was like he had the curse of Achilles all over again! Or the blessing of Styx. This one had a limit, however; albeit a high one, but at least he didn't have some kind of stupid weak spot he had to watch out for.

Apparently, aura also healed you faster, meaning he could work out and recover insanely fast with his reserves.

Now, his semblance.

Wards.

Epsilon was expel, which was what he had figured out, courtesy of Athena's blessing, but only partially.

He'd played around with writing different letters of the Greek alphabet, sketching them lightly in the air with his left index finger – after all, in fights he would usually be holding Anaklusmos in his right hand.

His hand had been shaky at first, but soon he grew confident with his strokes in the air, learning them quickly with the aid of the blessing.

Each letter represented a different type of more powerful ward that could attack, defend, among others. Every stroke he drew in the air was sea green like his aura. Two Greek characters made finer strokes, with more niche attacks like fire-based attacks rather than the simple expel ward of explosions.