Chapters

Origin Story, Part 1

Origin Story, Part 2

Save the Girl Save the World, Part 1

Save the Girl Save the World, Part 2

Gods and Monsters and Those Who Train Them, Part 1

Gods and Monsters and Those Who Train Them, Part 2

The Will of Self-Sacrifice, Part 1

The Will of Self-Sacrifice, Part 2

Starting Line, Part 1

Starting Line, Part 2

Powers and Bonds, Part 1

Powers and Bonds, Part 2

Solo Mission, Part 1

Solo Mission, Part 2

Goodwill Hunting, Part 1

Goodwill Hunting, Part 2

Facing Despair, Part 1

Facing Despair, Part 2

Lesson Number Eleven, part 1

Lesson Number Eleven, Part 2

Into the Fire, Part 1

Into the Fire, Part 2

The Brave and the Bold, Part 1

The Brave and the Bold, Part 2

Mr. Moonday, Part 1

Mr. Moonday, Part 2

Suiting Up, Part 1

Suiting Up, Part 2

A Starry Night Infiltration, Part 1

A Starry Night Infiltration, Part 2

Midnight Madness, Part 1

Midnight Madness, Part 2

Going Delta, Part 1

Going Delta, Part 2

The Bow of Heracles, Part 1

The Bow of Heracles, Part 2

A Visit to the Healing Gardens, Part 1

A Visit to the Healing Gardens, Part 2

Broken Prophecies, Part 1

Broken Prophecies, Part 2

Boars and Walls, Part 1

Boars and Walls, Part 2

Blunt Force Trauma, Part 1

Blunt Force Trauma, Part 2

Lesson Number Ten, Part 1

Lesson Number Ten, Part 2

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Part 1

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Part 2

Lost Girls and bad Dreams, Part 1

Lost Girls and Bad Dreams, Part 2

Rooftop Running Man, Part 1

Rooftop Running Man, Part 2

No Rest for the Wicked or the Heroic, Part 1

No Rest for the Wicked or the Heroic, Part 2

The First Labor, Part 1

The First Labor, Part 2

Love and Thunder, Part 1

Love and Thunder, Part 2

Hero, Part 1

Hero, Part 2

Rebirth: Epilogue

Brave New World, Part 1

Brave New World, Part 2

A Meeting of the World’s Finest

Meet the Crew, Part 1

Meet the Crew, Part 2

The Chime of Liberty, Part 1

The Chime of Liberty, Part 2

Predator, Part 1

Predator, Part 2

Riddles in the Dark, Part 1

Riddles in the Dark, Part 2

A Trial of Water

Oh River, You Heartbreaker, Part 1

Oh River, You Heartbreaker, Part 2

Against Gods and Monsters, Part 1

Against Gods and Monsters, Part 2

Chasing Liberty, Part 1

Chasing Liberty, Part 2

Every Adventure Needs a Sidequest, Part 1

Every Adventure Needs a Sidequest, Part 2

The Second Labor, Part 1

The Second Labor, Part 2

The Light of Memory, Part 1

The Light of Memory, Part 2

Mass Healer, Part 1

Mass Healer, Part 2

The Endless Maze, part 1

The Endless Maze, Part 2

Chimera, Part 1

Chimera, Part 2

Fire and Ice, Part 1

Fire and Ice, Part 2

Sacrificial Play, Part 1

Sacrificial Play, Part 2

Death and Rebirth, Part 1

Death and Rebirth, Part 2

Master and Apprentice, Part 1

Master and Apprentice, Part 2

Overcoming Tribulation, Part 1

Overcoming Tribulation, Part 2

The Unbroken, Part 1

The Unbroken, Part 2

Reunions, Part 1

Reunions, Part 2

The Way Forward, Part 1

The Way Forward, Part 2

Mist and Bone, Part 1

Mist and Bone, Part 2

There Be Dragons Here, Part 1

There Be Dragons Here, Part 2

Inside the Belly of the Beast, Part 1

Inside the Belly of the Beast, Part 2

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

The Golden Fleece, Part 1

The Golden Fleece, Part 2

The Girl That Time Forgot, Part 1

The Girl That Time Forgot, Part 2

The Origins of Tragedy, Part 1

The Origins of Tragedy, Part 2

Pandora's Box Unwrapped, Part 1

Pandora's Box Unwrapped, Part 2

Standoff

Rocket Man

Finding Hope, Part 1

Finding Hope, Part 2

Hopeful Thinking, Part 1

Hopeful Thinking, Part 2

The Fast and the Ferocious, Part 1

The Fast and the Ferocious, Part 2

The Last Heracleidae, Part 1

The Last Heracleidae, Part 2

The Third labor, part 1

The Third labor, part 2

The Hand of Mercy, Part 1

The Hand of Mercy, Part 2

Blessing of the Sea, Part 1

Blessing of the Sea, Part 2

Rising, Part 1

Rising, Part 2

Vigilante No More, Part 1

Vigilante No More, Part 2

Prison Break, Part 1

Prison Break, Part 2

The Return of Crow-Man, Part 1

The Return of Crow-Man, Part 2

Heroes of the Crucible

Healers on a Battlefield Equals Victory

A New Mystery Unfolds, Part 1

A New Mystery Unfolds, Part 2

Assessment Day

Fortune Favors the Bold

New York's Newest Alpha, Part 1

New York's Newest Alpha, Part 2

Heart to Hearth, Part 1

Heart to Hearth, Part 2

New Threads Fit for Demigods, Part 1

New Threads Fit for Demigods, Part 2

Blood and Fyre, Part 1

Blood and Fyre, Part 2

The Trick to Catching Vampires, Part 1

The Trick to Catching Vampires, Part 2

Shadow and Flame, Part 1

Shadow and Flame, Part 2

Marked for Death

Herculean’s First Endorsement

Training Day, Part 1

Training Day, Part 2

Tech Support

Practice Makes Perfect, Part 1

Practice Makes Perfect, Part 2

Love and Training, Part 1

Love and Training, Part 2

A Chariot Fit for Adventure, Part 1

A Chariot Fit for Adventure, Part 2

A Knife in the Dark

Taken, part 1

Taken, Part 2

No Malarkey, Part 1

No Malarkey, Part 2

Death Valley, part 1

Death Valley, part 2

Super Massive Black Hole, Part 1

Super Massive Black Hole, Part 2

Styx, Part 1

Styx, Part 2

Temple of Doom, Part 1

Temple of Doom, Part 2

Monster Envy, Part 1

Monster Envy, Part 2

The Gates of the Damned, Part 1

The Gates of the Damned, Part 2

The Resistance, Part 1

The Resistance, Part 2

Dead Men Walking, Part 1

Dead Men Walking, Part 2

Labyrinthian, Part 1

Labyrinthian, Part 2

Hungry Ghoul, Part 1

Hungry Ghoul, Part 2

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Facing Despair, Part 1

As Sam smashed his hammer against the final phantom’s face—one whose flickering form showed off the muscles of a male bodybuilder—a new notification appeared before him.

[You have leveled up!]

It was the second one he’d seen since his battle began with the eight phantoms he’d systematically destroyed. One by one they went down while Sam tested his body’s limits.

He’d dodged attacks from ghostly hands that meant him harm by jumping around the room like a certain spider-themed hero from his favorite MCU movie. All the while, his hammer had swung without abandon, breaking through bone and earning him kill after kill. More than once he’d been tagged by a phantom’s touch, but Regeneration quickly tamped down on this dangerous curse’s more lethal effects, allowing Sam to be more reckless than his old self would have been.

Now, as he stood over the pile of phantom dust that the bodybuilder phantom left behind—with the inside of his hoodie slicked with sweat—Sam couldn’t quite remember just how long it had been since he’d entered Goodwill Asylum. Although it must have been at least an hour or two since sunlight warmed his skin.

[You look like you’re about to drop dead, kid.]

“I’m…all…good,” Sam managed to say between gasps of air.

[Now’s a good time for lesson number six. Pace yourself! Going past your limits isn’t always the solution, especially not if you’re doing things solo. Know when to fight and when to pull back and recover…that’s lesson number six, but it’s also the first rule in staying alive inside a haunted zone.]

“I…heal fast, remember?”

[Regeneration only heals your fatigue when you take a break, lame-brain!]

Sam’s hand was shivering when he picked up the golden drachma glinting on the linoleum floor below him.

“Oh…right…Sure, I’ll take a break...”

He sat on the ground and gave his fatigue, which was at a whopping [85%], time to drop to [10%] before he collected the rest of the loot scattered around him.

Sam earned twenty drachmas in that last fight against those eight phantoms, and that final phantom earned him a whopping seven drachmas, which Chiron theorized was because some of the gods had thoroughly enjoyed Sam’s mad scramble for victory.

[Entertaining the gods is a double-edged sword, kid. The higher the risk the higher they reward, but don’t forget that you’ve just started on this new path…so pace yourself.]

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Yeah…I know.”

Honestly, he hadn’t planned to entertain the gods. Sam was just trying to survive that last fight. Once more his thoughts drifted toward blasphemy as he wondered what kind of gods thought a life or death struggle was entertainment.

“We’re not done yet, are we?”

[What do you think?]

Sam’s gaze drifted to the far end of the hall where the path split into two short corridors. “I think you want me to get in even more trouble…”

The right path led to the elevators and stairs that would take one up to the floors above. He didn’t want to go that way. Meanwhile, the left path led into a shorter corridor that ended at two heavily-damaged wooden doors that must have once led into what Sam assumed was an administrator’s office. Interestingly enough, the wave of energy emanating from beyond those wooden doors was making the hairs on the back of his arms stand on end.

“Master…do you know what type of horror is hiding in there?”

Sure, the energy he was sensing now was pretty weak—more like a pulse rather than the roaring river that was the alpha-level terror’s strength. But Sam had this feeling he couldn’t shake off telling him that whatever was on the other side of those wooden doors wasn’t something he would have an easy time against.

[I’m not sure…but like you said, an asylum is a buffet of emotions just waiting to give birth to every kind of horror imaginable… Isn’t this exciting?]

“You and I clearly have different views on what that word means.”

He hadn’t quite found his resolve to wade into another dangerous situation yet. Luckily for Sam, there was one more thing for him to kill time doing. He pulled out the pouch he’d filled with Phantom Dust earlier and scooped up as much of the dust on the floor he could stuff into it.

“I get it now,” Sam said as he realized he’d already earned drachmas equivalent to two hundred forty dollars in this one mission—and he was just cleaning up for the guys who’d already cleared this zone. “Why most heroes risk so much of their lives for this…”

As his gaze turned to the pouch in his hands, Sam recalled his past struggling to earn a living as a newbie hero. The fact he was a healer should have helped since the profession was in such high demand. Only, Sam’s low power rating meant his share of profits was always the lowest whenever he worked as a freelancer.

It didn’t matter that his gift risked his own life to heal others. What mattered was how much actual healing Sam could do. Thus, the Wardens rating system appraised Sam as an ineffectual healer, and the rest of the world saw him that way too as a consequence of it.

“I earned a thousand drachmas in the Battle of the Bronx, but that horror’s corpse probably cost ten times more,” Sam deduced.

[No one believes a zeta could have done what you achieved, kid… It’s just the way it is in these days of heroic commercialism.]

Yeah, Sam thought. The system is biased for those with greater power. It wasn’t fair, and in the corner of his mind, Sam recalled the Trickster and how the villain had called this current hero society corrupt.

“Thunder and Dr. Hearthstone would have gotten most of that battle’s profits,” Sam guessed. “She’s probably the reason I even earned a thousand drachmas…”

[Yeah, she asked me to give you that money.]

Sam was surprised that Chiron so easily admitted this to him. Not that he was angry about it. Thunder deserved all the credit. It was her power that destroyed the horror. Not Sam’s.

[But it wasn’t just you…Thunder donated most of what she earned from that battle to the families of the heroes who’d died fighting the terror. She’s a classy gal, that one.]

The thought of Thunder made Sam smile. “Yeah…she really is.”

[If you’re done looking like a lovesick puppy, lame-brain, I recommend you get to finishing the mission already. We’re burning daylight here.]

That comment wiped away the dopey smile plastered on Sam’s face.

“I’m not lovesick,” he protested. “I’m just impressed with her generosity…”

[Yeah, sure, you’re very believable right now.]

It was only just the message box, but Sam could swear he could read the sarcasm in Chiron’s words.

He sighed. “Fine, fine… I’m going to go fight the creepy monster hiding in the shadows now…are you happy?”

[I’d be happier with a more competent student… Sadly, all I have is you.]

“You said even Superion would have been impressed with my moves,” Sam reminded him.

[I don’t remember ever saying that. Now quit fooling around and go to work already.]

Sam was fuming as he stomped his way toward the left corridor. He didn’t even realize that his annoyance with his master had helped him shed off the nervousness he’d been feeling earlier. But, as he stood before those damaged wooden doors, Sam wondered if Chiron had intentionally riled him up to help get his head back in the game.

Cold, the kind of brutal cold only a horror could unleash wafted out of the many holes peppering those wooden doors.

“I really need to figure out my battle cry,” he said in an attempt at levity.

The doors crumbled to the ground at his touch. Dust got kicked up into the air, helping to momentarily block his view of what lay beyond. He didn’t need to see to know what he would find, however, because Sam heard the high-pitched shriek that made his skin crawl. He’d heard this same sound in his nightmares; the one that never failed to wake him up in a cold sweat.

“Talk about bad luck…of all the horrors I could face…I get the one born from despair.”

At the far end of the room, Sam saw a ghostly face with blood-red eyes and an open mouth that was fixed in a silent scream.

“Holy Zeus…not another one.”

Just like the terror he’d fought three weeks ago, this horror of despair had a tall, thin frame and four spindly limbs that ended in sharp-nailed hands and feet. Wild, wiry hair flew out from behind a face so pale it was like staring into death.

The horror’s lips parted, widening into the shape of an O that unhinged its jaw, giving it the countenance of one of death’s shrieking mistresses.

“Aw, Styx,” Sam sighed.

He ducked behind the sliver of a wall that had once supported the wooden doors as the horror unleashed a high-pitched shriek whose sound waves shattered the office floor.

Sam covered his ears. “I’m not ready to rehash this old trauma!”

And he wasn't, but trauma—and destiny—had come for him anyway...

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