Rise of House Neptune

Gladiator Challenge

Chapter 11

The next day the gladiator challenge was well on its way. Percy, Jason, and Bianca, had decimated their way through the competition thus far. Percy had been given three members of the second cohort, and two of them were carted off on stretchers. The third had not been one of Kyle Logan's stooges, so he allowed a smidgen of mercy. Bianca had proven to be one of the most competent female fighters so far. There were only a few left from each cohort at this point, and surprisingly the new girl from Cohort two was one of them.

For their own cohort Gwen was coaching all the gladiators while Dakota remained the only other fighter left standing from the fifth. The boy's sugar rush was clearly helping him out today as he fought like one of his father's mad victims, and Percy was excited to have so many people from his cohort left.

The way Percy figured it was shaping out that he was going to get another shot at Kyle Logan in the final four, and Bianca was on track to take on the new girl Reyna in the sweet sixteen giving her a chance to be the final female gladiator in the competition. Jason was on the opposite side of the bracket of Percy, but knew one of them was going to have to take down Michael Kahale eventually.

Percy was watching Bianca fight, and he had to admit the girl looked good today. She was whirling through a daughter of Apollo who was dual wielding hunting knives like a huntress of Diana. The girl was from the first Cohort, and her name was Summer. She was one of the few girls in that entire Cohort who had been kind to Percy, Jason, and Bianca. She just had one of those personalities as a daughter of Apollo that was always bright and kind, but she was a fierce fighter in the ring. Certainly among the best females in the entire legion, but with Riptide in Bianca's hand she made it look like an even fight.

The fight was long and drawn out, but eventually Bianca dodged a heavy handed attack and thrusted her blade so fast it's a miracle she didn't cut Summer's throat. The Celestial Bronze blade was inches from the intended target, and Bianca called out quietly heaving for breath, "Yield."

The girl had a fierce look on her face for a moment before sighing dropping both blades, "Very well daughter of Pluto. Well fought. I yield."

Bianca capped her pen and the two shook hands to immense applause. Percy, Jason, and Gwen whistled loudly at her victory putting her in the top sixteen.

Jason was next in the coliseum as he took on Dylan the son of Trivia that Percy had faced last year. The match was excellent, but Jason proved too fast, focussed, and strong, for the skinny son of Trivia.

With Jason's victory it meant that Percy would have the next fight to advance to the final eight, and currently four of the sixteen remaining legionnaires were all from the fifth cohort. It was a good feeling, and Percy felt elated when he was summoned to fight Centurion Hank from the Third Cohort.

Hank was a legacy of Vulcan, and a huge African American teenager who was the lead blacksmith in the active legion. Hank was a great fighter, and Percy respected the man for his quiet demeanor. He never spoke up, or against Percy so the son of Neptune took him as a potential ally.

The fight that followed proved to be a battle of wits, and speed. Not something you would expect from the muscular blacksmith, but the young man had incredible technique. He joined the legion at nine, and only had one year left of service, which meant that he was very close to retiring to the city, and making his fortune as an accomplished blacksmith. His experience made him formidable, but it was nothing compared to the cards Percy was working with. Having been trained by his brother, and then having Jason as a sparring partner his speed was unmatched, and he disarmed the boy with great effort and placed his trident at the young man's throat after a long few minutes of fighting.