Demi-God

Stephanos, seeing that the fight was in danger of being called off, leapt to his feet. He couldn't let this opportunity for excitement and profit slip away. With a wild grin on his face, he began to pump his fist in the air, chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!"

At first, only a few people joined in, their voices tentative. But as Stephanos continued his chant, the crowd began to pick up on his energy. More and more spectators stood up, pumping their fists and shouting in unison, "Fight, fight, fight!"

The chant grew louder and louder until it seemed to shake the very foundations of the arena. People who had been on the fence about the fairness of the match found themselves swept up in the fervor, their doubts drowned out by the desire to see the battle continue.

"I'll double my bet on Lucian!" shouted one man.

"I'll triple mine!" yelled another, not to be outdone.

Soon, the arena was filled with shouts and wagers, with people offering up increasingly large sums of money in favor of one fighter or the other. The energy was electric, the tension palpable.

Stephanos watched the scene with a sense of satisfaction. He knew that once the crowd got going, there would be no stopping the fight. The allure of gold and glory was simply too strong.

He turned his gaze back to the fighters. "Let's see what you're really made of," he murmured, "go get ‘em, Lucian."

"The audience has spoken!" the announcer yelled. "The fight must continue!"

Alexios cursed under his breath before he turned to face Lucian. He readied his weapon while leaning in close to his opponent and whispered, "If you're going to cheat, then I will as well."

With a snap of his fingers, a group of armored warriors emerged from all the entrance of the arena. Each warrior carried a different weapon - a massive war hammer, a deadly battle axe, a razor-sharp spear. They fanned out, surrounding Lucian on all sides.

He was outmatched, outnumbered, and outflanked. But he refused to let his fear show on his face. Instead, he tightened his grip on his own weapon.

"Alexios!" he shouted. "What the fuck is this?! You can't possibly think this is a fair fight!"

But Alexios only laughed. "Fair? Who cares about fair? This is about winning. And I'll do whatever it takes to come out on top."

Lucian gritted his teeth. He couldn't take on all the warriors at once - he'd be cut down in seconds. But perhaps if he could use his speed to his advantage, he could outmaneuver them, pick them off one by one. So he took a deep breath, centering himself as he prepared for the fight of his life.

The crowd was still chanting, their voices rising to a fever pitch. Lucian blocked them out, focusing only on the task at hand.

"Come on, then," he said. "Let's see what you're made of."

"This fight is over!" Thais raised her hand, her voice cutting through the frenzy of the crowd. "Alexios is disqualified for cheating."

The audience's cheers turned into boos and confused murmurs. But before Thais could say more, Lucian cut her out.

"Wait!" he called. "Let the fight continue."

Thais turned to him, confused. "Lucian, this fight is not fair. Are you saying you'd like to continue?"

"Yes. Let it continue."

Deep down, Lucian felt a burning desire to test the limits of his newfound power. This was his chance to do that.

Alexios grinned, spreading his arms wide. "You heard the man! Let the fight continue!"

Thais hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed. "Very well, if that is what you want. The fight continues!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, the excitement in the arena reaching fever pitch.

In the stands, Stephanos muttered to himself, "What has gotten into his mind? How does he think he can defeat multiple opponents all at once?"

Back in the arena, Lucian felt his godly powers still coursing through his veins. He took a deep breath, centering himself.

"Alright," he said, lowering his spear in a offensive stance. "Let's make this quick."

With that, the warriors didn’t waste their time and charged at Lucian from all sides. The crowd held its breath, waiting to see how this seemingly impossible fight would unfold.

As the first warrior swung his battle axe, a blinding flash of light engulfed Lucian's vision. In an instant, the world around him froze, colors muting to a dull grey. The warrior's axe hung suspended in the air, mere inches from his face. He could see the individual beads of sweat on his opponent's brow, frozen in time like tiny crystals.

Lucian blinked, momentarily stunned by the surreal scene before him. Shaking off his amazement, he seized the opportunity.

He adjusted his grip on his spear then sidestepped the frozen axe, positioning himself perfectly. With a controlled swing, he brought the back of his spear up in a smooth arc. He could feel the impact radiating through his arms as the spear connected solidly with the warrior's jaw.

Without pausing, he pivoted smoothly to face the second attacker. This one, armed with a spear, was caught mid-thrust. Lucian observed the strain in the man's muscles and the anger etched on his face, all perfectly preserved in this moment of suspended time.

Lucian circled his immobile opponent, analyzing the best angle of attack. Decision made, he raised his own spear high, then brought it down with a strong force. The back of his weapon struck the top of the warrior's head with a loud clang.

Finally, he turned to the third warrior, the one wielding the massive war hammer. The sight was almost comical - the man frozen mid-swing, the heavy hammer poised at the apex of its arc.

Lucian couldn't help but smirk as he approached. He took a moment to appreciate the raw power evident in the warrior's stance, then focused on his target. With a quick step forward, Lucian swung his spear in a horizontal slash. The back of the weapon connected squarely with the warrior's cheek, and Lucian could almost imagine the ripple effect it would have once time resumed.

As he completed his strike, another flash of light flooded his senses. Color rushed back into the world, and sound crashed over him like a wave. Time snapped back to its normal flow with dizzying abruptness.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye to the spectators, all three warriors simultaneously crumpled to the ground. Their weapons clattered loudly on the arena floor. Lucian stood amidst a cloud of dust kicked up by the fallen warriors, his spear still at the ready, breath coming in quick pants.

The arena fell into stunned silence. The crowd, having witnessed what appeared to be a display of inhuman speed, sat in awe, their mouths agape. They had seen Lucian move, but the details of his attacks were lost in a blur of motion too quick for the eye to follow.

Alexios stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide with disbelief, struggling to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

"What... what are you?" He stammered.

Lucian, still processing his own actions, met his gaze. "I'm not entirely sure myself."

As the dust settled, Stephanos stood frozen in the stands. He blinked hard, then rubbed his eyes, certain he must have imagined what he'd just witnessed. But the scene before him remained unchanged – three formidable warriors lay crumpled on the ground, while Lucian stood tall and unscathed in the center of the arena.

"By the gods," he muttered under his breath, "this can't be a coincidence."

He thought back to the previous instances where he had seen Lucian move with inhuman speed. Once could have been a trick of the light, twice might have been luck, but three times? No, there was something more at play here, something he couldn't quite grasp.

He leaned forward, eyes narrowing at his friend. The young fighter seemed just as surprised by his own actions as everyone else. But there was no denying it – Lucian was doing something, something beyond the realm of normal human ability.

"What are you hiding?" Stephanos whispered to himself. "Have the gods blessed you?"

Whatever Lucian was doing, whatever he had become, it was clear that things would never be the same. The implications of such power were staggering, and Stephanos found himself both thrilled and terrified by the possibilities.

He glanced around at the other spectators, noting their slack-jawed expressions of shock. None of them seemed to have grasped the full significance of what they'd just witnessed.

Alexios, realizing his companions were incapacitated, felt fear grip his heart. He glanced around the arena before settling on the weapon rack. Without a second thought, he dropped his metal ball and sprinted towards the array of weapons.

But something extraordinary happened to Lucian. His eyes began to glow a brilliant yellow, his vision sharpening to an impossible degree. He could see every detail of Alexios' panicked flight with perfect clarity, as if he were standing right beside him instead of across the arena.

Acting on instinct, he reached for the small axe at his belt. In one fluid motion, he pulled it free and hurled it towards Alexios. The axe spun through the air, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.

Then, a sickening thud happened as the axe struck its target. Alexios let out an agonized scream as the weapon pinned his hand to the wooden wall behind the weapon rack. He tugged at his impaled hand, but each movement only intensified the pain, causing him to cry out even louder.

Lucian stood motionless, marveling at what he had just done. "This is amazing," he thought to himself.

Not only had his reflexes and strength increased, but even his sight had been enhanced. He could see details at distances that should have been impossible for any normal human.

His gaze swept across the arena, taking in the stunned faces of the spectators with crystal clarity. Then his eyes locked onto Kyra in the crowd. Despite the distance between them, he could see him smiling.

As the implications of his new abilities began to sink in, Lucian felt exhilaration, trepidation, he felt powerful. He was changing, becoming something more than human.

The announcer, finally shaking off his stunned silence, glanced at the incapacitated Alexios and then back to Lucian. He raised his arms high, shouted, "This fight is over! The winner, in a display of unprecedented skill, is LUCIAN the Spartan!"

The crowd, as if suddenly released from a spell, erupted into cheers and shouts.

"Did you see that?!" a man in the front row yelled, jumping to his feet. "He moved like…like Zeus’ lightning!"

"Lucian! Lucian! Lucian!" The chant started in one corner of the arena and quickly spread.

An older woman stood up, her eyes wide with awe. "By the gods, we've witnessed a miracle today!"

"That's our boy!" Stephanos pumped his fist in the air. "I knew he had it in him!"

The excitement was palpable as spectators hugged each other, some laughing, others weeping with the sheer emotion of the moment.

"I've never seen anything like it in all my years!" a grizzled veteran exclaimed, shaking his head in wonder. "This is fucking amazing!"

Coins began to rain down into the arena as those who had bet on Lucian celebrated their winnings. The clinking of metal added to the jubilant chaos.

Lucian raised his hands in acknowledgment of the crowd's cheers and began walking towards the arena exit. As he reached the entrance, he paused, eyes scanning the sea of faces. He was searching for Kyra, but to his surprise, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where could he be?" Lucian thought to himself.

Behind him, slaves rushed into the arena, quickly cleaning up the aftermath of the fight. He caught a glimpse of them carefully helping Alexios, tending to his injured hand. Lucian felt a twinge of guilt, but pushed it aside as he stepped into the corridor leading away from the arena.

As he entered the cooler, quieter space, he was met by Thais.

"What you showed out there," she said, "was something I did not expect. It was... extraordinary."

"Thank you."

Thais reached into her robes and pulled out a heavy pouch. The clinking of coins was audible as she handed it to Lucian. "This is the winnings from your bet on the fight."

Lucian hefted the pouch, surprised by its weight. "It's bigger than I thought," he remarked.

A small smile played on her lips. "After your... unusual stunt in the ring, a lot of people doubled their bets on you. It seems your display of power was quite convincing."

Lucian stared at the pouch. "Thais," he began, "what happened out there... I'm not sure I understand it myself."

"You don’t need to explain yourself. I know what you’re going through. For now, rest. Celebrate your victory."