6 GROWTH
7 years.
7 fucking years.
That's how long it took for Athos to complete his training. He had been trained in numerous weapons, from swords, spears and daggers, to unorthodox weapons such as hammers, axes and his father's favourite, the club.
His dad was well-versed in almost all weapons but especially excelled in swords and archery. While he wanted Athos to follow in his footsteps, Athos preferred using hammers and axes, for he enjoyed the feeling of using brute strength to pulverize monsters and using a club made him feel like a barbarian.
He also found that Pankration, Herakles' martial art, was surprisingly similar to MMA, albeit more focused on grappling and wrestling. Thus, He was able to pick it up rather quickly and had mastered it to a fairly high level within 2 years due to his father's wealth of experience. The rest 5 years were spent on weapons and fighting monsters.
Many, many monsters.
Amphisbaena, Dracaenae, Gryphons ( small ones), and Myrmekes. He had fought them all and sent them back to the depths of Tartarus.
After 7 years, he now stood at 5'8 and his growth spurt was just beginning. He was fairly tall in his past life, but he couldn't compare to Herakles who stood at a towering 2 meters. His hair had grown longer, and 7 years of training had given him a lean and powerful figure that started to show some musculature. But what grew the most was his strength.
He was now thoroughly superhuman, even by demigod standards. Courtesy of having Herakles' genes. Well, Gods don't have DNA, but that's a whole other story.
He could now easily punch through steel and lift up to 5 tons which left him ecstatic. He didn't feel weak in the slightest. Even his healing factor had grown over the years and he could shrug away small injuries quite easily. Yet, he was nowhere close to his father when he was a demigod and in his prime. While Herakleswas still a mortal, he had wrestled Apollo himself and the match ended in a draw.
Just what level of strength was that? Well, Apollo didn't use his divine authority and his other 'Godly abilities'. It was just a battle of strength. Even so, wrestling a Major God while still a demigod....he hadn't become an immortal for nothing.
When his training was finished, he asked his father whether he could finally venture out into the world. He was already 12 years old, and he could not become a God if he was stuck on this island his entire life. It took some time, but he managed to persuade Herakles, who agreed to let him leave the island, if and only if he managed to defeat two cyclopses barehanded.
Only a crazy man would tell that to a 12-year-old, but he welcomed the challenge.
***
A 10-foot red-skinned Cyclops slowly lumbered forward. It swung its large arm towards a young black-haired boy, its hand outstretched and its strength making the air whistle. Yet the fleet-footed rascal quickly dodged backwards, narrowly avoiding its fingers.
"That's right! Show 'em, Sump! We sons of Ma Gasket don't go down so easy!", another similar-looking Cyclops shouted.
"I will do just that, brother. I'll squash this midget! Else my name ain't Sump!", the Cyclops declared, smacking his chest, looking at his brother, Torque, who was tied down by gold chains while a tall man in a white chiton stood next to him.
He wished to tear that man to pieces but he was a god. A powerful one at that. He had snatched both him and his brother from their mother, Ma gasket. They had just caught a son of Hermes, too! Did he have any idea how hard it was to catch those bastards? They tasted great! but just before he could sink his teeth into the demigod's flesh, they had been kidnapped and had been promised freedom if they managed to beat the god's son in combat.
He looked down at the demigod in front of him with murder in his single eye along with some anticipation.
After all, he had never eaten a son of Herakles.
***
Athos grunted as he dodged a wild swing. He didn't expect the two Cyclopses to be Northern variants. Hyperborean (Northern) Cyclopses were smarter than their Southern counterparts and their strength lay in their building talents, like the fibreglass toga that Sump was wearing. He probably crafted it himself. Although they were still incredibly physically strong like all other cyclopses, it wasn't their forte.
Athos was wary of the Cyclops' cunning, but he instantly doubted whether Hyperborean Cyclopses were really smart when Sump puffed out his chest and promised his brother that he would smash him into meat paste. He could almost hear the phantom voice of his Dad screaming 'NEVER take your eyes off the enemy!'.
He dashed forward taking advantage of the fact that the Cyclops was looking elsewhere and with two large leaps, he appeared in front of Sump. Whilst moving, he feigned a punch toward the Cyclops' liver which came up to his head. The surprised Cyclops used its elbows to block, but Athos used his speed to slide through the gap between its legs and grab its ankle. Using his strength he pulled and caused the monster to fall to its knees.
He was now behind the giant monster and quickly jumped on its back, unleashing three punches that almost caused the monster to face-plant. The concussed Sump, now disoriented and in pain, tried grabbing Athos, who was still on his back. That was a mistake. Athos immediately grasped the giant red hand, bringing it around Sump's neck, throwing the Cyclops off balance and making it collapse. He then placed his leg behind the Cyclops' neck and pulled the hand, dislocating its shoulder and choking it with its own arm.
He looked at his father as he had the Cyclop writhing under his feet. Herakles sighed and threw Athos a familiar bronze dagger with a serrated edge. He grabbed it with his right hand and sank it deep into the Cyclops' brain, ceasing its pained yells and turning it into dust, much to Torque's dismay.
"No! Sump! You can't turn ta dust! Ma'll kill you!", Torque yelled, fear filling his eye, but Herakles flicked his finger and the golden chains disappeared throwing him toward Athos.
The Cyclops quickly got up coming face to face with the demigod who easily dusted his brother, and was met with a smile that could only belong to the devil himself.
"Shall we begin?", Athos said, his finger tracing the dagger's edge.
A few minutes and another dead Cyclops later, Athos dusted off his tunic while rubbing his left arm. Torque was a little faster than Sump, and his fist had slightly nicked him, but his healing factor took care of that. He put away his dagger and confidently walked up to his father and stared him right in the eye.
"Your promise?", he said, hoping Herakles wouldn't just tell him to go fuck himself. God's had a habit of doing that.
Herakles' eyebrows twitched, a quirk that both he and Athos had when they were annoyed.
"Fine. You have earned it. I was intending to let you go anyway. You can't become a hero if you just stay here forever"
"Wait what? Then why did you have me fi-"
Herakles raised his hand silencing Athos.
"I wanted to make sure you knew the strength of the monsters out there. But it was unnecessary. Your mastery in combat has surprised even me. Now it is time for the reward I promised you seven years ago", he said.
Athos immediately perked up. Just what was the reward? Herakles had dangled it in front of him to motivate him when he was going through gruelling training, but he had never seen it nor heard a hint of what it could be.
Could it be a blessing?
A mythical weapon?
A lifetime supply of nectar?
Herakles pulled out a cracked black stone ring.
"Here", he said as though he was being extremely generous.
"Eh?"
