Nikomedes and the Game of Olympus

Chapter 15, Act III - The Labrythine Epilogue.

The month I spent with the Hunters flew by quickly. We moved every week, from state to state, hunting dangerous monsters. Thorn had the balls to show his face again. Aside from him, there was a mix of monsters from all pantheons, and I didn't like it.

It was dawn, on my last day with the Hunters. None of them really warmed up to me, but we all had a shared respect, I think, from all the hunts we had been on together. I had largely spent my time with Thalia and Zoë, as they were the two who could tolerate my presence most.

As I woke up, I rubbed my eyes, making my way to our dining area. We were in Kansas, and the System told me it was August 16th. Two days before Percy's birthday. Hunters started trickling into the clearing, emerging from their tents. I sat at the firepit, the rest of them slowly joining me.

Someone brought out a pack of waffles. I had to keep myself from snorting. It was routine for them, admittedly, but it still seems surreal to me. Does anybody actually cook waffles over a fire, or are the Hunters just weird?

I mentally shrugged, and just conjured myself a plate of pancakes. I started digging in as everyone else did, and some of the Hunters struck up quiet conversation. That only changed when Thalia joined us. "Niko! Last day here! How do you feel?" I smiled at her. "I feel great, honestly. I had a phenomenal time, and I feel like I really improved myself while I was here. I'm thankful Lady Artemis had offered this, and I would love to visit again." I answered honestly.

Zoë shot me a small smile. I smiled back at her. "Maybe the duel can be a tradition, then." Another voice suggested. I laughed. "I agree, my Lady. I feel it would be an adequate test for the both of us." I mused, replying to the goddess.

"Good that you agree. You may like what we are to do at noon, then." The goddess grinned. I grinned back. I've practiced plenty with her, over the month, but nothing as intense as the first duel. She taught me basic hand-to-hand combat, gave me some tips to improve my archery skills (after she had banned me from using light arrows, of course,) and she gave me a pair of celestial bronze hunting knives, and sparred with me using those to help me practice.

It was honestly refreshing, being on literally equal footing with a goddess. It only was weird when you considered that I'm a guy, and Artemis has a healthy dislike of men.

Anyways, suffice to say, I was excited to duel her again. It was understood that no powers were to be used, aside from passive ones. I was thankful passive ones weren't banned though, because now Battle Precognition would have time to shine.

I was exempt from training with them today, so I could prepare for the duel. We were to fight, no powers, only our wits, our bodies, and our weapons. I was crouching over Backbiter, sharpening it, my key hooked around my camp necklace for easy access.

When I was satisfied, I pulled out my gauntlet. I set it on the table in front of me, and I focused, separating all foreign magic from the gauntlet so I could make an attempt to enchant it. I set my wristband next to it, so I could hazard guesses at how to duplicate the enchantment used to make the sheath some kind of wearable item.

I had initially tried to produce such an enchantment, before I realized that was futile, in such a short time. Circe taught me brief things about enchantments, but nothing more than basics. Making something lightweight, making something heavier, making something unbreakable, things like that. But not how to morph items.

So, instead, I held my hand around the sphere that was the enchantment that allowed the trident to become a wristband, slowly coaxing some of the enchantment into a sphere of raw magic in my other hand, the raw magic replacing the enchantment, until it was around half of each in both of them.