CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

The First Labor, Part 1

Another heavy blow struck Sam in the side of his face, knocking him to the ground for the second time that afternoon.

While there, as Regeneration worked to unscramble his brain, Sam’s mind drifted off. It sent him back into a past Saturday Temple where he’d first heard the legend of Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar.

“It was a shaggy, tameless cannibal of vast weight and unquenchable hunger that ravaged the land of Erymanthus in the early days of the Bronze Age,” the young, blue-robed priestess of Zeus had shared this bit with Sam and the other children gathered around her. “Only with the strength wielded by the Lion of Olympus did this ancient horror finally come undone.”

“H...how did he do it,” Sam struggled to his feet. “I forgot... the priestess’ story...”

Kid! Chiron’s disembodied voice screamed into his mind, forcing Sam to focus if only for a moment. You’ve got incoming!

Instinct drove Sam to dive forward and avoid the pointy end of the cannibal Boar’s tusks as it drove them into the space Sam’s neck had been in only a moment ago.

Sam rolled to his feet, and with adrenaline clearing his mind, he turned around and flung his axe at the horror rushing after him with all the force Herculean could muster. The Thorn Axe cut through the air like an arrow in flight. With explosive force it bit deep into the cannibal Boar’s shoulder, causing the horror to stumble in its charge.

What is it with you and throwing your weapons? Chiron complained. It’s not like they’ll come flying back into your hand you know...

True, but that one hit had provided Sam a full moment to consider his options. A quick view of his stats brought relief flooding into his mind because he discovered his HP had dropped little despite the savageness of this encounter.

“I’ve got this...” Sam raised his left arm in front of his face and yelled, “Bulwark!”

Earlier that day, immediately after breakfast in fact, Chiron had taught Sam a trick to better manage this new power of his.

Instead of keeping your whole body wrapped in a protective aura and drain your HP quicker, limiting the protection to a single limb might be a more economical use of Bulwark’s power, Chiron had recommended.

Now, a barely visible aura of protection wrapped around Sam’s left arm.

Lesson number five, kid... Concentrate... Will that aura into a shape that’ll help you survive this round, Chiron urged.

In his mind’s eye, Sam visualized a shape he’d fantasized about back when he was a kid. It was during that first visit at the Met where Sam glimpsed a statue of Perseus, slayer of Medusa, and the relic he’d used to keep himself from staring at her directly.

Nice, Chiron said approvingly. Let’s hope this shield holds...

The near-transparent shield had a round shape with a circumference of about half the length of Sam’s arm. This may seem too small a defense against such a large foe, yet it proved itself strong enough to withstand the horror’s head-first charge.

“Ah~~h!” Sam screamed as he dug his feet and braced against his shield. “I can do this!”

The hero and horror pressed against each other, neither giving an inch to the other’s power.

HP: 612/700 HP: 608/700 HP: 604/700

Sam was dismayed to notice that every second of their tug-of-war cost him a four-point drop in HP. It was the largest drop rate he’d experienced yet.

Kid... Chiron sounded concerned.

“I know,” Sam breathed.

Then, as he felt the cannibal Boar’s hands grasp the edges of his shield — probably to lift it and Sam off his feet — Sam felt its weight shift and knew his moment had finally arrived.

He bent his knees, and for a split-second, pulled back just enough to force the cannibal Boar’s hand. It sensed Sam give way and pressed its advantage. But, as it raised itself up just a little, Sam gathered all his strength and pushed his shield-arm upward.

“This is going—”

The cannibal Boar lost to Sam’s well-timed shove and stumbled back, giving Sam enough breathing room to reach out for the axe still embedded in the horror’s shoulder.

“—to hurt you more—”

Sam jumped and sent his axe crashing up the underside of the cannibal Boar’s snout.

“—than it will hurt me!”

Dark ichor splashed across Sam’s face as he stumbled back. Some of it even got into his mouth.

“Oh, gods... that’s disgusting,” he spat.

The cannibal Boar released a grunt of pain that was much like the sound a pig at a slaughterhouse might have made. This was an oddly comforting sound for Sam.

“It’s not healing as quickly,” he realized.

Strangely enough, neither the wound on its shoulder nor the tear in its snout was healing as rapidly as before.

Either that thing’s running out of gas or—

“—or this axe,” Sam glanced down at the weapon in his hands, “is a lot more useful than I thought...”

Enchanted bronze is poison to some horror-types in the same way pure iron is anathema to fairies, Chiron explained.

Sam tightened his grip on his axe’s handle. “One way to find out...”

As it turned out, Sam wouldn’t discover a thing. For no sooner had he launched another attack on a horror that seemed distracted by its own injuries when the Cannibal Boar reached out with massive fingers to snuff out hope from his hand.

The horror had actually played Sam, drawing him in close enough for it to snatch the weapon in his hand. It squeezed its fingers, forcing a howl of pain from Sam’s lips, and then released both the broken handle and Sam’s own broken fingers from its grasp.

Sam fell to his knees while cradling his broken hand. It had been a long while since he’d felt such intense pain that not even Regeneration could dull fast enough.

Kid, watch out! Chiron warned.

He’d barely raised his head when the blow struck him, rocking him so badly that he was lifted off his feet.

Sam had never learned to maneuver in midair, so he was unable to block the cannibal Boar’s follow-up. Its fist smashed against Sam’s spine, causing pain to flare across his entire back.

“Sam!” Thunder screamed.

The worry in her voice reached his ears, forcing Sam’s eyes to stay open and driving him to back away from what would have been a final and fatal blow to his head.

Hades’ bottom, kid, Chiron’s voice seemed so distant. Are you alright?”

Black spots appeared over Sam’s vision. He could taste the blood in his mouth. Yet despite the haze over his mind he knew he hadn’t fallen. Whether by some miracle or stubbornness or unflinching resolve, Sam managed to stumble back and plant his feet firmly on the ground.

WARNING! The hero has sustained a heavy injury. It is recommended that you refrain from moving while [Regeneration (ζ)] counteracts the damage.

No can do, Sam thought.

He could hear them now, the shouts of encouragement coming from behind him. It wasn’t just Thunder’s voice either, but a cacophony of voices from the patients and nurses who were placing their hopes on him. Sam, once a failed and disgraced healer, now had people cheering him on and believing in his victory.

“Is that... all you got?” Despite the intense pain in his right hand, Sam raised his fists. “I can do this all day.”

Perhaps it was a coincidence that the moment both he and the cannibal Boar launched themselves at each other, the sound of music reached Sam’s ears.

He didn’t know what it was, but the melody was uplifting, inspiring him to keep fighting. For bards, as it turned out, were very useful in helping a hero find his second wind.

That first collision, his fist against the horror’s fist, carried with it all the hope Sam had been given, and maybe that’s why it was the horror’s arm that had been blown back and not his.

“Well, well, Mr. healer,” the Trickster’s mocking voice reverberated all around Sam, “I didn’t think you’d be such a savage!”

Sam ignored the taunt. He poured all his focus, all his strength, all his will into the fight before him.

Faster, he thought.

One, two, three — with each blow, Sam’s punching speed increased until his arms had become a blur and forced their way past the horror’s defenses.

Stronger, he thought.

Eight, nine, ten — with each new blow, Sam’s fists got heavier and heavier until at last he could hear the wind roaring in his ears. Every one of his punches was a bomb detonating on the cannibal Boar’s flesh.

Still, the horror held, and despite getting pushed back by Sam’s assault, it managed to punch the hero back, often landing a blow that caused Sam to stumble backward.

“I can’t... lose!” With hope in his heart, Sam charged forward. “I’ve got... too many people... pushing me forward!”

The music egged him on just as much as the cheering did. They lit a fire under Sam that pushed him past his limits.

The power of belief is strong, kid, Chiron once said, and although he’d meant this in the context of the Trickster’s illusions, Sam couldn’t help but wonder if the power of belief wasn’t helping him right now.

“If you’re... a gamma-level power,” Sam braced against the hits pushing past his own defenses. He smashed his back foot on the ground. “Then all I need to do... is become gamma too!”

The ground beneath them rumbled at their savagery. The surrounding air howled at their might.

“Even if it’s... just for a moment,” Sam breathed. “Even if it’s just now...”

He pulled his left fist back and willed his life-force into it. Warmth, the kind that bursts forth from a newly lit bonfire, flowed into this fist, causing it to glow a brilliant green hue.

“I’ll go beyond even the extraordinary...” Sam breathed.

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve accumulated enough experience to unlock a new power from the [COMBAT] tree. [Mortal Fist (ζ)] received.

“...And become super!”

Sam didn’t have time to read up on this new power. And so, throwing caution out into the wind, he smashed his glowing fist against the cannibal Boar’s chest.

There was a sound akin to a thunderclap, and then the horror was blown back toward the other end of the healing gardens and straight over the edge of the railing where it fell onto the street below with a deafening crash.

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve completed the hidden mission [THE FIRST LABOR]. REWARD ONE: [Herculean (ζ)] has leveled up to [Herculean (Δ)]. REWARD TWO: Special Item [The Gluttonous Heart of the Cannibal] received.

Something shiny fell into Sam’s right hand. It was a shiny red orb the size of a baseball.

REWARD THREE: The hidden quest [THE SECOND LABOR] will now be available to you.

“Master, what’s with these—”

There was a familiar flash of shimmering sparks to Sam’s right that forced him to turn sideways just in time to discover that the Trickster had appeared beside him with a knife in his hand that was streaking toward Sam’s gut.

Thunder screamed. “Sam!”