"where are we going?" donghyuck asked jeno who was dragging him across the woods.

"to the forge." jeno replied. "before training, you need to figure out which weapon would be best for you."

"weapon?!" donghyuck exclaimed, stopping in his tracks.

"tell me you didn't expect fighting people using just your beauty."

"well..."

jeno slapped a hand on his forehead.

"oh my god donghyuck. this is the real world, you need to learn how to fight, for real."

"excuse me but this seems hard to believe. all this mythology seems like a big nightmare."

"it's a bit like that except that when the nightmare ends, you die." jeno explained.

"thank you for the motivating speech." donghyuck sassed.

"let's go. the children of hephaestus will make you a perfect weapon."

after another five minutes of walking, they arrived in a small camp surrounded by fire pits.

"hello guys." jeno greeted the people that were here.

"hello jeno. do you need anything?" a girl asked, walking towards jeno and donghyuck.

"yes, donghyuck here needs a sword."

the girl eyed donghyuck from head to toe, a tint of jealousy visible in her eyes as she registered the beauty of the male.

"i'll be back with some prototypes." she said before walking back into the forge.

jeno and donghyuck stayed silent while she was gone, donghyuck admiring the way these people could manipulate fire and iron to create weapons.

"here you are." the girl came back with five swords of different sizes and shapes. "tell me which one you're more comfortable with."

donghyuck furrowed his brows struggling to take one because of its weight and then looking at it strangely. "huh... what do i- "

he was cut by the girl who just had lifted a sword herself to attack him, making donghyuck widen his eyes and paralyse on the spot.

"woah, soojin!" jeno exclaimed standing in front of donghyuck protectively.

"he doesn't know how to fight." she gasped, putting her weapon down.

"no, he doesn't." jeno told, taking the sword from a trembling donghyuck's hand.

soojin sighed, massaging her temples.

"make him a light one, not too long, but not a dagger either. oh, and don't make it too sharp yet. he's a bit clumsy, so i don't want him to lose a limb." jeno told.

the girl nodded, picking the swords she had brought and heading back to the forge to make the new weapon.

"j-jeno?" donghyuck asked, his voice barely audible.

"yes?" jeno gave all his attention to his best friend.

"d-did she try to... k-kill me?"

"no, she wanted you to figure which sword you preferred." jeno explained, tugging a strand of hair behind the beauty's ear.

"b-but she attacked me."

"she expected you to fight back."

donghyuck sniffed, a few tears escaping his eyes. "i'll never make it. i can't fight jeno."

"of course, you can." jeno comforted the boy, pulling him into a hug. "you'll learn."

"b-but what if i never manage to fight?" he asked.

"i'll be here to protect you." jeno whispered, rubbing his back.

donghyuck and jeno stayed like that for a while, allowing dongyuck to calm down.

"who is that?" the boy next to soojin asked her while she was preparing donghyuck's sword.

"he's the son of aphrodite and apollo." she told.

"really?" he asked. "is he as beautiful as they say him to be?"

"yes, xiaojun. he is." she sighed, pulling the blade out of the fire and walking away.

"hey, wait!" xiaojun stopped her. "the blade isn't sharp at all."

"he doesn't know how to fight." soojin told leaving a shocked xiaojun behind.

"here you are." she said, handing donghyuck the weapon.

donghyuck took it carefully, staring at it in awe.

"you can come back anytime to sharpen it." she said.

"thank you very much soojin." jeno smiled.

"yes, thank you." donghyuck said shyly.

"you're welcome. it's always a pleasure to help people finding the best weapon." she smiled before leaving the two of them.

Ω

"jenooo... i'm tired..." donghyuck whined.

"but you need to train." jeno told, lowering his own sword.

"but my hands arms are aching and i'm hungry..." donghyuck pouted, letting his sword fall onto the grass.

they were alone in a small glade, circled by dozens of trees.

jeno had assured they weren't far from their bungalows, but donghyuck wouldn't be able to find his way back.

they had trained the whole morning, and now, donghyuck's stomach was begging him to feed it.

"donghyuck, we have to, your life depends on it."

"but at this point i'll die from hunger..."

jeno sighed. "okay, let's do this." he started, making donghyuck smile brightly. "you stay here and train alone, just like i showed you, and i go back to the camp to grab a few things to eat. by the time i'll be back i want you to know the different attacks."

"okay!" donghyuck jumped in joy, swinging his sword in the air.

"and be careful not to hurt yourself." jeno said. "i'll be back quickly."

and with those words, jeno left the glade, disappearing in the forest.

once he wasn't in sight anymore, donghyuck stopped attacking the air like he was supposed to do and sat on the ground, a loud sigh escaping his lips.

this whole situation was giving him a headache.

his life had drastically changed from one day to another, and now, he had to learn how to fight with weapons because his life depends on it.

donghyuck sat up abruptly when he heard some noise.

he turned around, making sure no one was here.

he could hear branches and leaves creaking meaning someone was approaching.

even if he didn't know how to fight – because the three hours they had spent with jeno didn't really teach him anything – he picked his sword and held it in front of him.

"j-jeno?" he called, hoping his best friend would reply.

the noise became louder and louder, meaning the person would get to him very soon.

donghyuck started trembling, thinking about what he could do to save his life if anything happened.

and before he could find an answer, a black dog appeared in front of him, stopping as soon as donghyuck came into his view. the animal tilted its head to the side studying the beautiful boy.

"oh, it's just a dog." donghyuck sighed, letting his guard down. "woofy woofy!" he exclaimed, calling the dog.

the black creature approached donghyuck slowly, checking his surroundings often.

"hello little dog." donghyuck said even though the dog was far from being little – but this didn't scare donghyuck.

the dog approached again, standing a meter away from donghyuck and hesitating to approach more.

"i'm not going to hurt you. i just want to caress you." donghyuck said in a baby voice, stretching his hand out towards the dog.

the dog looked between the hand and donghyuck before approaching again.

and so, donghyuck could pass a hand through its fur and caress its back.

donghyuck petted the dog as it wiggled its tail – showing that he liked the boy's soft touches – for a few minutes.

but then, a voice was heard, making donghyuck tremble again.

"MAVROS!" the voice shouted.

donghyuck looked in the direction of the voice as the black dog he was caressing rubbed his head against his thigh.

"MAVROS, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" the voice screamed again, louder.

the dog which donghyuck was caressing barked, making donghyuck flinch, and then jumped around the beautiful boy.

"mavros i've been looking for you every..." the owner of the voice appeared in the glade, making donghyuck freeze. "...where."