#just another monday for him and another day of being nerfed for nico

[princessofghosts-posts]

I've been thinking about Nico's sword lately and honestly? That weapon alone is extremely OP,even more than whatever other weapon we had in the books (that don't include magical artifacts,because those are part af a different category).

Riptide is made of celestial bronze,so it can harm demigods and monsters,and has a special feature of always returning with Percy no matter what because it's enchanted.

IVLIVS could always be with Jason because it was a golden coin that turned into a javelin,but it got destroyed pretty fast in the narrative so we don't know if it had some other frature. It was also made of imperial gold so again,could slay monsters and immortals.

Katoptris's original use wasn't for battle,since Helen used it as a mirror,but with Piper it mainly focus on its special feature: visions. It was quite useful for them but Piper hated it so we never got to know much about the dagger.

Backbiter is a modified version of Kronos's scythe (sick enough with just this,since Luke can open portals and travelable rips through space and time),but it's made of tempered steel and celestial bronze so it can kill mortals,demigods and monsters and sever their souls.

All of those swords have different feature that distinguish them from normal ones,but they are still made of typical materials for demigods: imperial gold and celestial bronze,while stygian iron is only used for one sword in the books. Luke's sword,in this list,is the only one that is similar to Nico's in term of powerfulness,but it's still quite different.

Stygian iron is a magical metal capable of absorbing or destroying the essence of: monsters,Gods,Titans,demigods and Giants. And,unlike imperial gold and celestial bronze,it can harm mortals,monsters and immortals alike,and prevent the souls of monsters from returning to Tartarus,and traps those of the people it touches.

Technically stygian iron is the strongest,of all the metals,in the books. And the only sword made of this material is Nico's. Only the children of the Underworld can touch the material,but the sword itself can only be touched by Nico,otherwise everyone else souls get trapped and things can get ugly.

Like,not even Percy or Luke had this much power in their weapons: Riptide is a "normal" sword,for how much "normal" its user is,and Backbiter had so much power because it got modified to be similar to Kronos's weapon,but originally it was just made of different metals. But Nico? Nico got a weapon of mass destruction and extermination of humanity in his hand every day. And we never talk about how much damage it can cause,and how much OP it is compared to the other swords.

It doesn't even have a name like the others,but people already know to not fuck with a black sword laying around,becuse they know it's Nico's. Because he is the only one to have,use and held that sword. That's just how iconic it is and how unique it is to everyone. And just like Riptide and IVLIVS (before it got destroyed),his sword is always with him since he can summon it from the shadows and the darkness.

That weapon is OP,literally the strongest of the whole main timeline (we are talking about more than almost 20 books) and we never gave it much more than a look.

This is just another moment of Rick "I don't want someone to overshadow Percy but I already added this....I'll just made sure to not use that too much so people will not give it much attention" regarding Nico.

I'll probably do a list for how many times it happens.

[princessofghosts-posts]

Another post,another "Nico is OP and Riordan fucked up with his powers" discussion. I should make this a serie at this point,lmao.

Today we focus on one of his main powers,that is always there in the background: the ability to feel someone's else soul.

Now,as a son of Hades,Nico can feel when someone die thanks to their soul. It's talked a bit everywhere and it's one of his most know ability together with shadow-travelling. But it's only talked about when there is a character that died or is dying,or just feel like an aura of death around them that can make him think that they will not have a good end.

But technically this power of his isn't only focused on that. If he can feel their deaths,means that he can always sense their soul,even when they are still alive and kicking. Because otherwise it make little to no sense,because if he can't feel souls in general he shouldn't be ale to feel when they pass and viceversa. So,it's more extended than that and can be identified as a sort of soul-searching power.

And there are actually two moments in the books that made me think about this:

Nico di Angelo shuffled over,leaning on his black sword. “Leo,they’re not dead. If they were,I could feel it.”

“How can you be sure?” Leo asked. “If that pit really led to…you know…how could you sense them so far away?” Nico and Hazel shared a look,maybe comparing notes on their Hades/Pluto death radar.

Leo shivered. Hazel had never seemed like a child of the Underworld to him,but Nico di Angelo—that guy was creepy. “We can’t be one hundred percent sure,” Hazel admitted. “But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive…at least,so far.”

Pag 265 of MoA,after Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus,from LII Leo's pov.

Nico tried to keep their spirit high by telling them that Percy and Annabeth were alive,because otherwise he would have felt their souls pass. Again,not strange since it's something that it's always there with him. But then Hazel tries to make Leo understand that their friends were still alive and it wasn't his fault what happened. Also,totally forgot how Leo was there- Bro,what do you mean you didn't think of Hazel as an Underworld child??? Acting like Frank in his Venice trip era,I see. Also,Nico got released from that fuckin jar not even 30 minutes ago,after days starving and suffocating,what the hell were you thinking-???

Anyway-

“We need to leave,” Nico said. “Soon.”

Jason had been having the same feeling, but hearing Nico say it made him even edgier. “You sense something?”

“Percy is close to the Doors,” Nico said. “He’ll need us if he’s going to make it through alive.” Jason noticed that he didn’t mention Annabeth. He decided not to bring that up.

Page 324 of HoH,when the crew was blocked for a bit in Notus's palace,from LVII Jason's pov.

Nico there explicitly tells Jason that Percy,and by extension Annabeth,is close to the doors,even tho at the time he was alive and kicking,and not dying. So,Nico was searching for Percy's soul in the meantime,tracking their path in Tartarus,and making sure they would catch up to them in time to help them out. The Leo scene is also a way that make us realize that Hazel too is capable of this,even tho probably not as much as Nico.

Y'all know what this means? Nico can feel everyone's soul in every minute of his,and their,life. He probably tuned it down and focused only on the ones he cares about after he learned to better control it,but this is still insane. And he use this advance to track people's position down like a fucking GPS,and his geo-kinesis powers probably have a big part in this. Nico is basically Google Maps but without the map and only the souls.

He started to properly use his powers during BotL,with Minos help right? Even tho he wasn't that much of a teacher he still made Nico learn how to properly summon the dead,with the rituals and the offerings too,and how to control them. So,before that,Nico didn't know what to do,which mean he felt everyone's soul on the fucking Earth Every. Single. Fucking. Day. and couldn't stop it because he didn't know how at the time,and probably felt more than one death per day. At 10 years old. And after loosing his last family member (that he knew of,of course,since Hades wasn't yet in the picture) and feeling her soul being judged too. The mental health damage here is insane.

Nico di Angelo should be totally insane but he isn't (thanks the gods).

He is basically a fucking tracking device and people only focus on the "he can feel when someone's soul dies" part. THERE IS MORE and Riordan barely wrote about it. Dude,why would you continue to torture us like that?? Let the boy have his powers without erasing or leaving them there to be.

And,idk if I remember correctly but I think in BotL,when they were in the Labyrinth and before they all gathered at the ranch,Percy made a comment about how he could feel Nico getting closer to them??? I might be wrong tho,because I can't find that part,but if it's true,then it's mean that Big 3 kids can detect each other??? Like,they can feel each other's powers or have some Bluetooth shit going on– and this would explain why Nico could feel Percy in fucking TARTARUS (if it isn't about his soul-searching power,but I'm pretty sure it is).

This also is extremely efficent because he can just track down his enemies's souls and just shadowtravel where they are to kill them off. HE IS UNSTOPPABLE.

And extremely OP,but Rick will try to erase that anyway because he fucked up and doesn't know how to adjust his powers and balance him.