The God of Gravity part 2: Olympus

Inter-district Tournament

"You can do this, son!" said dad to me in a determined face while he grabs my shoulders with both hands. "You're gonna kick some demigod butts!"

I answered, "Uh-"

"DON'T GIVE UP!" he screams.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed. "My ears!"

"As long as you can sip air, the fight is not over!"

"Okay, okay.... let me go, I gotta get out of there now and fight."

He is still grabbing me. "Do you understand me?" he asks.

"So, do I have to use a straw to sip air?" He laughed so hard, and I wonder why he laughs that hard. My joke wasn't that funny.

"That's my son!"

He's proud of me because of that weak joke? I don't know.

His face became serious and says, "And don't be nervous."

I looked at his trembling knees. "You should say that to yourself!" I said.

"I just can't help it! This is the new league we're talking about! It's Inter-district! There will be a lot of more powerful demigods! And I don't even know if my son is gonna come home in one piece- Gahgh!"

"Ahh!" I reacted in surprise. Mom knocked him out cold! "Mom! Why-"

She says, "He's talking nonsense, don't listen to him. Focus on your fight. Go out there and make me proud!"

"Go, Leo!" cheered Hera. She's behind Mom and I patted her head with my hand.

"I'm gonna win this Championship for you, Hera," I said and she nodded. "Well, I'm off!" I said to Mom.

"Good luck," she said as she pulled Dad away.

I walked in the passage that leads to the arena. I checked my gloves if they are fit just right. They look the same as MMA gloves of humans, but it's made of some kind of metal that made my knuckles look like a knuckle of a robot. It's heavy and strong, yet flexible as leather gloves. The inside is also comfortable, I can feel no sharp edges. The rules in this Tournament is not what I had in mind. It is very different than the Hades District Tournament.

The way to win is to knock out the opponent, or make them tap in submission - that's it. There's no time limit, but a two-minute warning for initiation of the fight. If the two fighters stopped fighting for more than that time, they are both disqualified. We also only have to wear shorts. And low-blow is strictly prohibited. Now I don't have to worry about that, because I remembered Icarus tried to kick me in the balls when we fought. Then we don't wear any armor or protection at the body, and we won't wear shirts, except for women. Weapons are not allowed. We can only use Sword Breaking, but I have no Olympian Strength so it makes me incapable of that. What I have is my Dimensional Touch. I can use it to shield myself. Then there's this rule that I am not allowed to use my powers. The ring is just a wide metal octagon platform. If a fighter falls down, the referee counts to ten, and if he doesn't go back before the counting is over, he loses. Falling down from the ring is only allowed for a single time, next time it is a loss. There is still a chance that a fighter might die, so there was a signing of consent. Then Mom signed it without hesitation. That's so her.

This is gonna be hard, and I am not complaining about it. If this is enough to make me puke, then I am not worth to become the King of Olympus, nor worthy to become a god that everyone will acknowledge. Philip and Darius already won their fights. They have become stronger. Darius became faster and defeated his opponent in a single punch. Philip is not only using his legs, but he also uses his hands now. If I win this, I will face Philip at the semifinals. Then we can have the promise we had: Giving everything we have against each other. I'm excited about it and I want to end this fight early. One more reason to end it early is that all of the fight until the Championship is gonna be done in a single day.

You heard right, a single day. We will have no choice but to fight efficiently and smartly. We can't afford to use all we've got in a single fight, and we can't afford to be lazy it either or we could lose. This is really the next level. I understand why Dad is so nervous about me, but I am different now. I am not a normal human anymore. I am the apprentice of Lord Enzo and he trained me to the best he can. I won't fail him, and I won't allow him to be expelled from Olympus because there's no doubt that he worked so hard for it. I cannot afford to lose!

I can see the white light as if I finally escaped a cave. Then gradually I can hear the cheers of the crowd getting louder in my every step. I already entered the arena. It was a full house and then the spotlights blinded me, but seconds later, my eyes adjusted. I can see the metal platform at the center of the stadium, and there is a wide ceiling above that covered the whole stadium. It is late in the morning, but it seems like it is in the middle of the night, for the reason that the only things that light this huge stadium are artificial lights. This is a modern stadium and is located at the inner ring - in which the foot of Mt. Olympus sits. I marveled when saw the mountain in such a near distance. It made me feel that I am just a step away from becoming a god on Olympus.

I jumped over the ring without ropes and I see that my opponent is already there. The announcers are talking, but I don't care who they are and what they're talking about. I must focus on my fight, and my fight is against that two-meter tall man with a body comparable to Sir Heracles.

I heard the bell.

"Bring it on!" he taunted.

I charged without hesitation. "Fist of Five: Lion's Paw!" He just stood there and didn't even try to block or dodge. I can feel that he is using Sword Breaking to harden his stomach at the moment my fist hits him. The shockwave is powerful, and I can sense the feeling of awe of the people around me.

"Glaghhh!!" he coughed blood and realized it was not an ordinary punch.

"It certainly is not," I muttered and smiled. I punched him with another Fist of Five with my left fist. He failed to concentrate on activating his Sword Breaking, so he's finished. I blasted him away from the ring and he crashed onto the seats. Luckily, the audiences dodged before he crashed.

"The winner is Leonide Padine!" announced someone.

That's what he gets for underestimating me. I am dead serious with this fight, and he's not. That's why he lost. I walked slowly after I jumped off the platform and back into where I entered. I can hear some booing, but the cheers for me are louder. All of them are humans that have been granted permission to enter the Demigod District to watch the Tournament.

This never happened before. Because of the King - who I now admired, everything is changing. Everything..... even me. I am not the weak boy I once was. Looking back, I've come so far in just a year. All because of the people who helped me get to where I am now. I wanna thank them by winning this Championship.

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*

Through the glass panels of the best luxury box of the stadium, three deities watched what happened, but looked unimpressed. There's just calmness on their faces as they observed. The two goddesses, Mila at the right and Juliet at the left are sitting on their respective comfortable sofa, while Hyeon stood beside Juliet with his hands behind his back.

"He's lucky to have such stupid opponent," commented Mila while resting her head on her left hand.

Juliet responds, "Well, luck is always part of everything. You're worried that he might run out of luck?"

"Kind of... For Enzo's sake."

"Don't worry about it, my father already placed his bet that the boy will win the Championship."

"Perhaps you're right."

"Waaarghhh!" screamed someone after a bolt of lightning entered the room. "Did it start already?" asked Aurelia.

"It's finished, you dummy," answered Mila.

Aurelia groaned loudly and slowly until she lied on the ground. "How did it go?" she asks.

"The boy won."

"How did he win?"

"Just watch the replay."

"Hmm....," she hummed then noticed the servants standing near and along the walls of the room. "Can someone show me the replay?"

"Right away, my lady," said a woman and brought her a screen tablet. She played the video and Aurelia sat on the ground while watching it.

"Ahahahahaha!" she laughed. "That's my boy!" She zipped towards Mila and said, "He won!"

"I know!" yelled Mila.

"Wohooo!" she celebrated while lying in the ground.

"Would you please keep quiet?"

"I see you got your hands full, huh?" remarked Juliet.

"Tell me about it," responded Mila.

The following fights were not that interesting for them, and they constantly yawned. Aurelia sat upside-down on her own sofa beside her sister with her feet on the back of it and her golden hair stretching down to the floor. She looked at the fights while l*****g her lollipop.

"Don't you ever get tired of that?" asked Mila.

She pulled it out of her mouth with a pop and said, "Nope."

"And get your hair off the floor."

"Why?"

"It'll get dirty and I am the one who washes it!"

She groaned as she adjusted her position. She put her feet on the left arm of the sofa, and her head on the other. Mila frowned in irritation as her sister sways her feet near her ear.

"Sit properly!" she yelled.

"Argh!" violently reacted Aurelia. "You're irritating!"

"You're the one who's irritating!"

"No!"

"I said sit proper-"

"I wanna sit the way I want!"

"If you don't listen to me, then our deal is off!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Juliet just didn't mind them and watched at the fight between the demigods they care less about. Hyeon scratched his fang with his nails, and he notices that the humans were terrified at him as his eyes glowed red.

"Oh, for darkness's sake, Hyeon," she complained. "This is not the place to do that here."

He stops and says, "I'm sorry, my lady." Then put his hands behind his back.

Mila saw how she dealt with Hyeon and asks, "He's so obedient."

"Maybe or maybe not," answered Juliet.

Then Aurelia sat properly as her sister noticed her. "The deal's not off," she muttered.

"That's my sister," smiled Mila as she patted her.

Then the two black-haired goddesses smirked while resting their chin on their hands as the fight between Leo and Philip is nearing its turn to be commenced.

*

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