TRAINING

Athos reluctantly sat up, dusting himself off. The sand truly made a great bed. He got up and slowly made his way to the forefront of the island, where his father usually was and where the phrase, "Non-Plus-Ultra" was written.

The Mediterranean sea was probably one of the most dangerous places any demigod could venture in and it was Herakles' job to test any demigod who wanted to cross the infamous sea. Honestly, although the 'Gatekeeper of Olympus' sounded cool, it was a boring job for no mentally sane demigod would actually want to go to the Mediterranean sea.

Percy and his friends who traveled in the Argo II did cross into the Mediterranean sea, but that didn't count as they were practically forced into it. They even met his father and unfortunately, didn't leave the best of first impressions, but he wasn't sure whether that had already come to pass, for he had no idea what year this really was. For all he knew, Kronos and Gaia were now atomized, Nero was dead and Apollo was a God again or maybe the Great Stirring had yet to start.

'Let's take this slow, step by step', he told himself. He first needed to grow. Although he was already quite strong, his five-year-old body wasn't developed enough. Fighting some of the most common monsters such as Amphisbaena (Double headed snake) and dracaenae (Half woman, Half snake) would still be a giant headache. He didn't have Celestial Bronze either, the only metal that could genuinely affect monsters, so fighting them would be even harder.

"Athos!", a voice interrupted his thoughts and he whirled around finding his father standing in front of him.

"You have grown into a fine young boy. For 5 years you have lived carefree, enjoying the best of what this island has to offer, but now it is time you earn it", Herakles spoke, his electric-blue eyes, ice-cold.

Athos was stunned. His usually easygoing father had transformed into an army instructor. Perhaps this was who he truly was. But whatever it may be, he knew that this was the beginning of what would hopefully be a long journey.

'Finally! Some action'

"Yes Father", Athos nodded, his eyes betraying his excitement.

***

When Herakles told him that it was time to train, he didn't particularly know what to expect, but he sure didn't expect whatever this was.

He was teleported to what he assumed were the forests of the island, with nothing but a dagger. No armor, no instructions, nothing. Something about unlocking your instincts when you face death. Seriously, what kind of maniac sends his five-year-old son against ancient greek monsters? Then again, he was a demigod, and with all the shit that Herakles went through, it would be more surprising if he was right in the head.

"Well, at least the dagger is celestial bronze", he muttered, looking at the work of art in his hands. The dagger he was given was quite big. It was 10 inches long and due to his 3'8 height, looked akin to a short sword when he held it. It had a serrated edge and gave out a faint bronze light.

After admiring said dagger, he sighed and looked around him. All he saw were tall trees with a ton of vegetation. It was quite cold and it didn't help that he was wearing a Greek tunic and leather-laced sandals like what his father was wearing. He had his father's black hair and blue eyes so if he put on a brooding expression, he would look like a miniature version of Herakles.

He didn't know what he had to do. Maybe killing a monster would gain his father's acknowledgment?

He shook his head and slowly walked around the forest, his hands firmly gripping the dagger. He knew that demigods gave off a certain scent that attracted monsters, and from what he remembered, it was buttered bread. Moreover, the stronger the demigod, the greater and more appetizing the scent.

'Surely, I should smell quite appetizing to those monsters.'

***

Perhaps the island had a scarcity of monsters or he just smelled like shit, because after a day of wandering about, not a single monster showed up. He went with the first option because he really didn't how he felt about the second.

He had caught some rabbits for food and had drunk from a nearby stream. Wanting to remain at his peak, he took a risk and slept for about 4 hours after climbing a tall tree. He didn't know when a monster would show up, so he tried to be as alert as he possibly could.

Currently, he was walking alongside the stream, continuing his search for a monster because he didn't want to leave his only water source. A few hours passed, and he was really starting to become annoyed.

"Do I really smell like shit?", he mumbled.

Just when he had that depressing thought, alarm bells went off in his head. He ducked and rolled out of the way before a large fist smashed the ground where he previously stood, forming a small crater. He quickly got up and held his dagger in front of him, ready to face the monster that had just attempted to squash him into meat paste.

Before him stood a very strange figure. At first glance, it looked like a headless human, a very broad-shouldered one at that, but all the features that a head would have were present on its upper body. Its shoulders were covered in brown hair, its ears poking out from beneath its armpits. Where the pectorals would be, were two large, bulging eyes. A large nose protruded from its sternum, and across its abdomen was a smiling mouth lined with white teeth.

"Blemmyae", Athos whispered, recognizing this abomination from the books.

"Oh! You know of me! How nice. Thank you", the Blemmyae's mouth somehow stretched into an even wider smile and it tried giving a short bow but failed spectacularly.

Athos' eyebrow's twitched at the monster's antics. He didn't let his guard down for he knew how dangerous this monster really was. It had superhuman strength and endurance, able to crumple a full-grown man into a meatball with little effort. Other than being tone-deaf, their only other weakness was being overly polite. Too polite. No matter the situation, a Blemmyae would take politeness as a priority. Even if it was threatening someone, it would still talk in a very polite manner.

"I am Carl. May I know your name? Please and thank you", the Blemmyae clapped his hands. As for why he wanted to know the name of a demigod he wanted to kill? He probably thought it was polite.

Athos ignored the question and his eyes darted around, taking in his surroundings, looking for anything he could use. A Blemmyae was currently way too strong for his 5-year-old body. He needed to use every advantage he possibly could.

The Blemmyae didn't seem to like being ignored for its grin promptly disappeared.

"That's not very polite", it said, its eyes revealing murderous intent.

'Shit, here we go.'