Tuesday passed slowly and quickly at the same time. I have no clue how that's possible. After Luke and I sneaked back to the cabin and relaxed. He gave me advice on how to improve my swordsmanship and how to train properly until it was time for breakfast. In my first session, I participated in wilderness survival training, where veterans guided us on how to survive alone in the wild. We learned to track prints, how to blend in the forest and listen.
Next was archery class, and I realized I'm no good with a bow. Percy didn't have much luck either, which meant he wasn't a child of Apollo, seeing as how most of his kids are masters of archery naturally. I didn't know using a bow was a strength-based weapon; I would have thought all I had to worry about was my aim. Since the bows are made for demigods who are naturally stronger than even adult humans, I could barely pull the strong bow and get the shot off.
Then we did horse riding, which is obvious what we're doing. It's similar to the pegasi. The horses, too, flock around Percy, liking him a lot. Even my own horse seemed attracted to him. But the next activity was interesting, very interesting and potentially dangerous.
Chiron brought us into an open space where there is a large circle of this grey sand, the whole thing about the size of a whole school gym. We were grouped up in four people, Percy, Annabeth, me and finally a guy of the same age as me with fair blonde hair and pretty good looking. He was a son of Apollo named Will Solace, an overall pretty good guy. I shook hands with him, not caring for the fact that I was a mortal kid. Annabeth, as usual, is still pretty cold and is focusing on the sand.
Then, after the rest of us got settled, Chiron tapped the sand with one of his horse legs and suddenly the sand started shifting. Percy and I moved back, while Annabeth and Will drew out their weapons. Annabeth with her dagger and Will with his bow and arrows. The sand rose and formed a shape; it was humanoid, but towered over all of us. It had huge muscles like the minotaur, thought a bit more chunkier; it was bald and had crooked, messed up jagged teeth. But its main defining feature was its single eye smack dab in the middle of where two are supposed to be.
A Cyclops.
I turned my attention to the other campers who are also facing monsters, but different from us. One was facing a monster woman with snakes in her hair, a metallic bull and other creatures. The rest of them shared one feature, though: all of them were colored grey.
"Heads up!"
Annabeth called dashing in, fighting the grey cyclops expertly, using her smaller size to evade its grabs, while Will drew his bow and started firing. Percy and I just looked at each other, we just shrugged and joined the fight. I later found out the supernatural sand was made by Hecate to train heroes and allow them a safe simulation to fight a weaker and dumber version of Greek monsters that were roaming out in the world. It was pretty fun, I'll admit, Percy and I slashing the legs while Annabeth gets its attention and Will shoots it to weaken it even further.
While I wasn't able to do as much damage as I would have liked, I felt useful for once. After that, it was free time, and Luke immediately grabbed me and Percy, bringing us to a secluded part of the forest. Percy and I will be training under him, apparently, because he saw promise in Percy when it comes to swordsmanship, and he wants to train him, though he whispers to me that he was going to be training me a lot more. I hadn't told Percy about Luke and I's deal, and I preferred to stay that way; I don't need him bothering us.
Percy is plenty strong anyway. My lips twitch in excitement. I was ready to get stronger and be a better swordsman. I was eager to see what kind of sword techniques Luke would show us.
"Alright, Percy, I'll show you how to fight with a sword properly. A for you Clay..."
My ears perked up.
"Drop down and give me a hundred."
"What?" I blinked.
I did not expect him to say that.
"Yeah, you heard me, I want you to do a hundred push-ups, squats, sit-ups, get to it."
"W-What? Hold on, why is Percy getting special treatment? I know Percy is...a special kid-"
"Hey! You're also not exactly normal, either, Brandon!"
I smirked at him. "I'm charming, you're...you."
"Oh, yeah? You want to settle this right now, Morty-Boy?"
"Come at me, Prissy."
Luke sighs, shaking his head. "Okay, break it up. Before the Aphrodite starts shipping you two."
Percy and I gagged. Luke explained to me why Percy is learning swordsmanship while I train physically. He says that because I'm physically weak, I should build up my strength before I should learn how to use a sword. Since Percy was already strong, he could use some of the techniques Luke uses.
"Think of it like Myths and Beasts."
"The video game?"
"Well, yes, but actually no. I never played video games; technology isn't really good to use. For some reason, it attracts monsters. But I did play the table game!"
Huh, no wonder there is no one pulling out their phones here.
"Anyways, think of Percy as a level ten warrior, because of his level, he has skills and abilities that can be taught to him. But Clay, you are about level one; you need to build up your level or in this case, your strength, before you can use these skills properly. Without levelling up any skills, I teach you wouldn't be very effective, or you're unable to do it physically."
I rub my hair. "I guess that makes sense?"
So, with that, while Percy and Luke sparred with their swords, Luke called out some tips while Percy struggled to keep up. My chest touches the ground, my face already covered in sweat as I drop down for my fifteenth pushup. By the time I was done a hundred, my arms felt like jelly, and I was ready to fall asleep. I turned my head to see Percy pushing Luke back. Their blades clash as I see Luke form a proud grin.
My mood darkened as I pushed up and started squatting. After an hour had passed, it was now dinner time, and I absolutely felt like jello, a hundred pushups, squats and situps weren't easy, especially for someone who is just starting for the first time. We did the normal thing where I could scrape a portion of my food onto the fire. When I had my first dinner here, it made me confused. Luke told me it's an offering to the gods because they like the smell. I remembered Luke burning his portion for Hermes; I, on the other hand, burned mine for Hestia.
The only Greek goddess that, if memory serves correctly, didn't really do anything wrong and most level-headed out of all of her siblings, who were Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, you know, the original gods that beat the titans. When I did it, a sweet aroma filled the air, and I was filled with warmth. Ever since then, I have always offered my portion to Hestia. Later, after dinner, Luke dragged me out of the forest alone. This time, he was training my endurance, jogging with me around camp nonstop.
Even after thirty minutes, Luke barely sweated while I felt like my limbs were turning into a literal puddle. During this time, the campers would play tag, but it was only optional; everybody was playing it, aside from me and Luke, who jogged around. Eventually, he allowed me to take a breather. I gasped for air as my knees dropped to the ground, and sweat covered my face. After resting, Luke dragged me to a small part of the forest where there was a small lake disconnected from the larger waters. He took off his shirt and pants, leaving him with just his underwear and necklace as he dove in, splashing.
He turns to me now, wet and gives me a goofy grin.
"Please warn me next time when you take off your clothes," I say with a deadpan expression.
"I thought you were taking me to a secluded part of the forest because of...less than innocent reasons."
"Gross, I like girls, not scrawny underage dudes like you!" Luke says, making a disgusted face before shifting back to his happy smile, "Come on, the water is cool!"
I hesitated before taking off my clothes and jumped in. The water was indeed cool yet somehow warm. It felt good. Really good. Like all of the physical torture I put my body through was slowly being healed.
"This feels awesome. Is this some kind of special water?"
"Yeah, it's water blessed by the sea god himself. It has a special property where it could heal minor injuries, though it's not as effective as ambrosia or Apollo kids' magic hands, but since you're a mortal, this is the only way you can recover quickly from tearing your muscles, allowing you to train the next day without delay."
It felt nice, the water wrapping around me like a cool blanket. I could honestly stay here for the whole day
I smiled at Luke.
"Thank you, really."
"Don't sweat it, we had a deal, right?" Said Luke. "Though I'm curious, why do you want to get stronger so much?"
I flinched, not expecting his question. I turned away, debating with myself whether to tell him or not. But Luke has been trustworthy so far, and he's been helping me get stronger. I took a deep breath and looked at Luke, who was patiently waiting for my answer.
"Well, I wanted to see this side of reality. I can see through the mist, unlike a lot of people...I was hurt, bullied and abandoned because of it; they believed I was a mentally ill child. But when I found out about everything, I've seen it turning out to be real? It makes me feel validated. That's why I want to get stronger to explore the world that I could only look behind a curtain for so many years."
Luke's eyes soften. "I see-"
"But it's more than just that," I say, interrupting Luke.
"I...want to prove everyone here that they're wrong about me, that I'm not just a mortal, that I'm not deadweight."
I close my eyes, remembering that day, poor, torn shoes freezing as I shivered from the cold, pulling away from the window to the house. My tears froze as I walked back to the orphanage.
"That's what I want. To become so strong that even the gods themselves acknowledge me, I want everyone to acknowledge me..."
Things got silent between me and Luke. We didn't look at each other, just letting the silence fill the air. Luke approached me, splashing the water while doing so, before putting a hand to my head.
"People will recognize you, just keep fighting." Luke said softly."My advice? Keep pushing on forward, don't let morals or attachments keep you down, that's how you get what you want."
"Luke?"
He removes his hand and gets out of the water, his muscular body glistening with water. Luke cracks his neck and smiles at me.
"I'll be back at the cabin; they need me. You could stay longer until you're fully recovered. I'll see you then." Luke waves, grabbing his clothes before jogging away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.