The Training Arena

(OOC near the end of the month time skip, last scene I promise )

It was early morning and all the demigods had once again assembled in the training arena to continue to practice and hone their combat skills. Stelios had been there for nearly a month now and he felt like he had adjusted quite nicely to this new style of combat. On his first day of training, Stelios had been easily bested by Linos but now the pair were nearly even when they sparred. Linos was unable to match Stelios' skill with the blade as it had developed, his skill becoming more in tune. It was as if his sword was now an extension of his arm. However, Linos still had superior speed when he unleashed his god given abilities but Stelios was always able to push the offensive with general superior physicality when Linos had to recharge. In the end though, if a target is moving too fast for you to hit it then you can't possibly win and as such, Linos and Stelios' match ratio was 3:1 in Linos' favour though Linos' other two victories were close calls. Beginning to respect Linos for his clear fighting skills, Stelios' pride was starting to be wounded less and less each time he lost to the son of Hermes.

Smeme had become very impressed with Stelios' progress as his movements in combat seemed to flow much more smoothly. As they both mainly fought without a shield, one wielding a sword, the other a spear, sparring matches between the pair were very interesting. Both being gifted with incredible fighting abilities from their god parent (though Stelios had still not been claimed) the pair fought ferociously. Stelios' years of training and enhanced physical capabilities seemed to give him a slight edge over the daughter of Athena but she too was well trained and naturally gifted with her weapon and as a brilliant tactician, Smeme always managed to come up with a way of beating Stelios despite being disadvantaged in every other department. Matches between them were still incredibly close but Smeme always came up with a way to beat Stelios, keeping a clean ratio against him 3:0.

For the most part though, Stelios had aided Smeme and Linos in teaching the others in the ways of combat given that he was so far ahead of the rest of the class for obvious reasons. Sophia still took a few pointers from him from time to time and the mercenary would occasionally offer advice to Prochorus though the pair were yet to spar again. Stelios' main pupil was another young demigod, Androkles, a son of Ares. Androkles was a bright lad who took to fighting like a fish takes to water. He was highly proficient with any melee weapon be it on its own or with a shield. As such, he favoured fighting with a sword and shield. He was a bit shy and reserved but easily got into the spirit of combat. Quite a few times Smeme had had to step in to calm the pair down as they became far too aggressive for a mere sparring match or fencing lesson.

After equipping himself at the weapons rack, Stelios proceeded towards Androkles for today's training.
"Morning kid," Stelios greeted him, his tone quite flat.
"Oh erm m-morning," Androkles nervously smiled back.
"You ready?" Stelios asked, gesturing with his sword.
"Ah y-yes," Androkles replied as he placed his helmet on his head, the one given to him by his father.

The pair took a couple of paces back from one another and readied themselves. Androkles put up his shield with his sword tucked round his side whilst Stelios stood side-on and stretched out his free arm out in front of him whilst his blade ran parallel to his face. The younger demigod charged forward, trying to shield bash the older one. Stelios skipped round Androkles' shield as the son of Ares swept it upwards at him and kicked the young man in the side.
"C'mon kid, bit easy to read that," Stelios grumbled.
Androkles suddenly span round and swung two blows at Stelios with his sword before performing another shield bash. Stelios was able to meet the two swings of Androkles' sword but the quick motion on the combo caught Stelios off guard, causing him to stumble backwards. Androkles saw the opportunity to push the offensive. He drove forward, swinging yet more blows at Stelios who was just about able to keep up with the speed and ferocity of the attacks. Androkles then leaped forward and spun round, his shield tucked under his sword-arm to protect him from any counter. The force of the strike as the two blades clashed forced Stelios to stumble back some more.
"I'll get you this time old man!" Androkles cried as he ran forward at Stelios.
The young demigod performed a reverse triangle as he moved in close enough to connect another shield bash. Stelios was able to parry the blows as he waited, anticipating the shield bash. As Androkles threw his shield forward, Stelios slammed his forearm across the shield and gripped it round the side. With one almighty pull, Stelios yanked the Androkles off the ground slightly as the pair wrestled for the shield. It didn't take long before Stelios' superior strength won and the mercenary ripped the shield from Androkles' grasp, kicking the boy away as he did so. Becoming slightly more aggressive than he should have been, Stelios raced forward at Androkles. The pair trading blows in a whirlwind of steel. Their blades met in an almighty clash as the pair struggled against each other for a few moments. Stelios then pushed Androkles' blade down before shoving the boy away. Androkles then came back at Stelios and swung to hit him in the side. Stelios parried the blow down to his left and then quickly moved in to end the match. He slapped the flat side of his blade against Androkles' neck, just under his helmet's chinstrap. The pairs eyes held each others stare for a moment as if to suggest this was not over.

Smeme reared her head as she paused her usual training with Prochorus. She commandingly marched over to the two warriors and confronted them before the situation got out of hand, it was her usual role with these two anyway.
"You both finished here?" Smeme asked with a stern tone and expression.
Stelios slowly turned his head, "yes," he nodded back at her as he stepped back and sheathed his sword.
Androkles just looked down at the ground and nervously shuffled, "s-sorry about that."
Smeme rolled her eyes at the pair, "don't worry about it, I know the drill with you guys, you get far too aggressive when you spar. Then again I suppose you would when you're a son of Ares and a veteran mercenary." Stelios again nodded back at her.

"You fought well today," Stelios said to Androkles as the pair walked over to the weapons rack.
"Th-thanks," Androkles smiled sheepishly.
"Was that a new combo with the shield?" Stelios asked.
"Y-yeh it was, kinda cool right? And it worked," a slight feeling of cockiness and confidence crept in to Androkles' tone as he spoke.
"You did good kid," Stelios half smiled as they reached the rack and replaced their equipment.
"Good!? Ha! It was nothing! You wouldn't last a minute against the monsters out there!" the harsh and gruff voice of Alkimos rang out in there ears as the mighty Spartan loomed over them.
"I-I've had a fair bit of training s-so I-I think I'd do fine," Androkles spoke up albeit rather nervously.
"Hmph!"Alkimos scoffed at the boy, "but training is nothing compared to actual life or death combat!"
"Leave the kid alone meathead, he's worked hard," Stelios defended his pupil.
"Ha! He's as shit a fighter as his teacher! Neither of you could stand up to any of the creatures I've faced or me for that matter!" Alkimos confidently remarked.
"Oh yeh?" Stelios said as he took his sword back off the rack.
"You really want to do this?" Alkimos smiled menacingly.
"If it'll get you to shut up, yeh," Stelios grumbled.
"Then let's get to it," Alkimos cheerfully said as he stepped back and put on his helmet and readied his spear and shield, all but the weapon, which was a gift from Ares, was standard Spartan military gear.

The two squared off against each other, Alkimos taunting and goading Stelios to attack. Never being one to stay away from a fight, Stelios jumped straight in. He swung his sword at Alkimos, trying to penetrate his defences but the mightiest son of Ares was able to block all of the attacks with his shield. Alkimos then jabbed his spear at Stelios several times in quick succession but the mercenary was able to parry the blows. The pair made a few exchanges like this, though Stelios struggled with the parries due to the shear force the spear was being thrusted at him. When Stelios moved in for another attack, Alkimos readied his shield to block but this time he lunged forward and landed a gigantic shield bash on Stelios, causing him to crash to the ground. The Spartan then charged forward and thrusted his spear into Stelios' hip, the spearhead tearing through the flesh and hitting the bone. Stelios growled through gritted teeth in pain but the Alkimos twirled his spear round and smacked Stelios across the face with the blunt end of the spear. The son of Ares then jabbed the blunt end into Stelios' neck and twisted it, half strangling the mercenary.

"You see mercenary, you are no match for me!" Alkimos growled down at Stelios.
"Alkimos!" the familiar sound of Smeme's voice echoed round the arena as she spoke, "let him up!"
The Spartan shot Smeme a dirty look but still reluctantly removed his spear.
"You just severely wounded one of our fellow brethren!" Smeme roared as she approached, "you're on toilet, kitchen and cabin cleaning duties until further notice!"
Alkimos just grumbled as he stared down Smeme before he walked off, knocking his shoulder against her. Smeme knelt down and helped Stelios sit up, beckoning over one of the demigods who had the nectar.
"Everyone else just get on with your training!" Seme ordered, "well, you nearly manged to go a week without getting yourself injured," she spoke to Stelios, "just what were you thinking challenging Alkimos and then fighting him like that!? You need to be smarter if you want to beat him," she lectured.
Stelios just grumbled as the other demigod gave him the jug of nectar.

It was getting late and the sun was beginning to set. As such, they all began to pack away the training equipment and went to go and wash before dinner.

"Th-thanks for sticking up for me by the way," Androkles thanked Stelios as he jogged up to him.
"Don't mention it kid. But you shouldn't let fatheaded idiots like Alkimos walk all over you like that," Stelios replied.
"I-I know but still..." Androkles sort of trailed off.
"Nevermind. That's what all this training is for, to get stronger, to get better. Trust me kid, you'll get there one day," Stelios placed a fatherly hand on Androkles' shoulder.
"You really think I could beat him one day?" there was a certain sense of optimism in Androkles' tone.
Stelios simply nodded in reply.

(OOC bit of a long one there, sorry but anyways that's what Stelios has been doing over the course of the month, now then, back to the main story )