章節 42: Know your enemy

Leo sat on a mountain top while writing in his journal, and waiting for the moon to rise. He was trying to record the information that Artemis gave him the night before, but some of it was hard to remember after what happened earlier. When he woke up, he had Luna in his face begging for breakfast. Leo thought he lost it until Iris said she heard her too. Then elder grandma, Natalie and Jack all heard her as well. He thought that she must've inherited Fenrir's ability to communicate telepathically, she just needed to mature enough before she could actually use it.

Leo pushed the mornings events out of his head, and focused on writing. Truth be told, what Artemis told him terrified him. Arthur alone was said to be insanely strong, but according to Artemis his blessing was a more powerful version of his pack ability. Apparently while Leo gained strength from his followers, Arthur gained strength just being under the sun each day. It only increased one percent each day, but after more than a thousand years it has grown to a nearly godlike level. This was also the reason why the gods didn't limit giving out information about him, he was practically unbeatable so they had to attempt to increase their champions odds of survival.

That was before taking his followers into account. According to Artemis, since he never had to undergo any intense training, he spent all day with his "wives" that he collected over the last thousand years. As long as he spent his time with them under the sun, he would still grow stronger. And the more time they spent with him, the stronger they seemed to be as well. They were the elites, while the rest of the people around him were more like cannon fodder.

He was apparently a self proclaimed ruler over humans, but never actually accepted any responsibility. All he did was travel around, terrorize people, and take back a new wife to his home each time. As such the amount of "wives" he had collected probably numbered in the hundreds to thousands, due to the fact that after becoming his they didn't seem to age as well. So in other words to defeat him, Leo would have to get past his army of super powered wives, and then fight what was essentially a "mortal God". The good thing though, was that he didn't tolerate any other champions to serve him, too much of a risk they'd overthrow him.

Leo's plan was to recruit as many champions as he could to push against Arthur with numbers. The problem would be getting them to cooperate with him, or better yet serve him. The difference may make him seem power hungry, but with his pack ability there was a huge difference between the two. He would have to start planning how to do so, when he started learning more about the outside world.

At that moment Leo looked up and faced what he knew was south, and started thinking about the future when he wouldn't have to fight anymore.

"Some day, I'll travel the whole world with Iris. No champion struggles, no politics. Just traveling to see that sights that possibly no one else has seen before." He said to himself. He also pictured living a normal life as a hunter, coming home each day to a bigger house and a entire group of kids waiting for him. He laughed at himself. He never would've thought about such things before, but things were different now than they were before. Then a darker thought plagued him, one that he tried to push away almost immediately. What if he couldn't live a normal life? What if the struggles of being a champion plagued him his whole life?

He quickly pushed the thoughts from his head, and started putting his stuff away when he saw the sun going down.

***

The next day Leo made his way back to the village. He was still getting better at handling his monthly transformations. As he arrived outside the village, a silver streak bolted right to him, followed by a red one.

'Daddy! You're home! I was so worried about you yesterday, but mommy said that it was something you do every month. I waited like, a good girl!' Luna's thoughts bombarded Leo as she tackled him to the ground. He might've not been in as bad a shape each month, but that didn't mean he was able to take being tackled by a demigod high wolf pup. Iris made her way over and pulled Luna off of Leo.

"Luna, you should be more careful. Leo needs to rest after the full moon." Giving Luna a small lecture, she turned to Leo and he pulled her into his arms. Due to the fact he was still vomiting intestines each month, it was an understanding that there would be no kissing until he rinsed his mouth out heavily. Neither one felt the need to argue this unspoken rule.

"How are you? I didn't transform last night, so I returned to the village and spent the night calming Luna. I think she could tell there was something wrong with you, she was quite frantic after the moon came up." Iris explained the night s events after he left. So he was right that she didn't transform as well. It at least put his mind to ease that he wouldn't have to worry about that, if he made more werewolves in the future. Leo cracked a smile as they walked back to the hut, and said,

"I think I want to start bringing some alcohol with me each month, then I could justify felling like I'm hungover each morning." Iris started laughing at his joke, but she knew he was just avoiding the topic. It was hard on him each month, but things seemed to be getting easier.

As they got to the hut, Leo laid down on the floor where his blankets were already waiting for him. Luna seemed to take the fat he needed rest seriously, as once he laid down she came over and laid next to him, as if to provide comfort.