CHAPTER NINETY-NINE

Overcoming Tribulation, Part 2

With that surprising vote of confidence filling him up with positive vibes, Sam ran forward to conquer the Tribulator, which was also when he heard a strange voice in the air spouting words that caused his steps to falter suddenly.

“This thousandth-anniversary episode of the Tribulator comes to you live from Hero’s Trail, Oregon,” the sexy female voice announced over the speakers hidden in the foliage.

“Seriously?” Sam raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got surround sound out here?”

“Focus, kid,” Chiron chided. “Or you’re about to get your butt whooped in more ways than you could imagine.”

“Sponsored by Hephaestus Armory, the forge fit for the gods!” the announcer continued. “Olympus+, streaming mortal trials to cloud screens across the cosmos! And Venus, the dating app for immortals that’ll keep you swiping right.”

“Um,” Sam’s brow furrowed. Concentrating was a tall order now that he knew the gods were watching him. “Are you letting them film this?”

“Yup, so don’t crash and burn. That’d tarnish my brand,” Chiron admitted in an unabashed tone. As an afterthought, the centaur added, “Just so you know, Artemis bet Ares you’ll get the job done...and you don’t want to disappoint a goddess who might be willing to co-sponsor you in the future.”

“Thanks.” Sam could feel a bead of sweat drip down his cheek. “I needed the extra pressure...”

“You’re also not operating at a hundred percent so don’t get careless, but don’t be too careful that you’ll sacrifice your time either,” Chiron instructed.

“The event will begin in five, four, three,” the sexy female voice counted down, “two, one...”

A horn blasted from everywhere around him, jarring Sam’s senses enough that he started his run three seconds after the countdown ended.

“Don’t stumble from the get-go, lame-brain!” Chiron whined.

Sam didn’t bother to reply as he was too busy dodging the arrows flying toward him.

“This—”

He ducked away from an arrow that had just flown past his head.

“—is seriously—”

Sam dove to the ground as arrows peppered the space his chest was in only a moment ago.

“—not”—he scrambled back to his feet—“okay!”

It was a twenty-yard dash across an open field whose sky was filled with arrows arching down toward him, and all he could do was bob and weave out of their way as there was nothing to hit.

“Alright, enough of this!” Sam smashed his forearms against each other in an x-pattern. “Bulwark, shield form!”

A near-invisible aura exploded out of his arms to spread outward in a circular disc that covered Sam from neck to thigh.

ALERT! A combo effect is possible. Activating [Thunder Charge (ζ)] will enhance [Bulwark (ζ)], providing it with lightning elemental damage and protection bonuses for a short duration.

Sam braced against the arrows peppering his shield, and although Bulwark held, he was beginning to feel the strain of the relentless assault.

“Do it!” he commanded.

Sam felt a slight tingle spread across the surface of his skin, causing the hairs on the back of his arms to stand on end. The energy rising out of him was unfamiliar, like tasting a glass of wine after years of only drinking draft beer. Sam wasn’t sure if he liked this sensation as he was far too used to Herculean’s explosive energy. However, this new power proved useful pretty quickly.

“Holy...”

Bulwark wrapped across Sam’s body like armor, enveloping him in a glowing blue aura that was supercharged by the elemental sparks racing across its surface.

“Is this how she always feels...?”

Sam was so engrossed by the feeling of lightning wrapping around him that he didn’t notice the arrow until it was a foot away from his face.

He reacted too late, or so he thought.

Sam reached out and plucked the arrow from the air at an even faster reflex speed than usual. He held it in his hand, staring at it for another half-second before a wide, giddy smile appeared on his face.

“Ho-ho-holy Styx,” Sam breathed. “This just became fun.”

More arrows flew toward him, but Sam dodged them all easily now. It was the complete opposite of his earlier showing where every dodge had been a hard struggle for his weakened body. He zipped across the rest of that open field as if he were one of the supersonic speedsters who called Texas their home track. But then the ground began to rumble over at the far end of the field, forcing Sam to slow his pace. That’s when a giant automaton broke out of the earth, one even larger than the dragon Sam had faced only a week ago.

“And Talos-lite finally makes an appearance right as the hero gets cocky,” said the announcer. It was a voice Sam recognized instantly.

“That damn centaur’s enjoying this,” Sam managed to say while he jumped out of the giant bronze fist that smashed the ground where he was just standing.

“Oo~~oh that was a close one,” Chiron commented.

To his surprise, Sam could hear the roaring of a crowd. Although only trees could be seen around this obstacle course.

Sam sighed. “Please take this seriously...”

He hopped up on the automaton’s forearm and then traveled up the length of it in a flash so that he could lift off its shoulders. Then, with a cry of “Herculean!” Sam sent his fist smashing against the automaton’s helmeted face.

Sam’s punch was accompanied by the ‘Krak-ka-boom!’ of thunder because his fist was still wrapped in a coating of elemental energy. Surprisingly, that single punch was all it took to topple the automaton, opening the way for Sam to delve further into the Tribulator.

“No, he didn’t destroy Talos-lite, folks,” Chiron assured his invisible audience. “The kid just knocked it out of the way. Honestly, it was a ballsy move.”

Sam didn’t bother reacting to his master’s astonished tone. He was too busy dealing with the obstacle course’s next stage; the lava bed.

It was a field spanning thirty yards long with rough-hewn stone slabs floating along roiling lava so hot Sam was sweating profusely under his chest plate even before he hopped onto the first slab.

“I hate platform games,” he sighed.

Sam barely had a moment to breathe before the slab he was on began to sink, encouraging him to jump over to the next one as quickly as possible. Luckily for him, Bulwark’s supercharged aura was still active, ensuring that he was quick enough to jump from one platform to another without losing his foot to the hot lava underneath.

ALERT! Stamina has dropped to less than 20%. It is recommended that the hero deactivate [Thunder Charge (ζ)] + [Bulwark (ζ)] and take a short rest before continuing.

“Yeah”—Sam had just leaped off a quickly sinking slab of stone—“I can’t do that right now!”

A plume of orange flames shot out from the lava bed, catching Sam in mid-air and bathing him in its fiery embrace.

“Hephaestus’ flaming beard!” Chiron exclaimed. “Talk about bad timing... Kid, you still alive?”

Sam appeared on the other side of the flames looking no worse for wear apart from the smoke clinging to the tips of his clothes and hair.

“That’s not—”

He landed on another platform and then immediately jumped over to the next one.

“—enough to—”

Sam dug his heels against the ground and then lifted off like a rocket that pushed him across the remaining ten yards of the lava bed in a single bound.

“—bring me down!”

He landed on the solid ground at the end of the second obstacle to thunderous applause, which really weirded him out.

“Yeah, yeah, I give him points for that one,” Chiron agreed reluctantly. “Good thing he didn’t get damaged too, or he’d have given up his prize.”

“Styx,” Sam gasped. “I forgot about that.”

“Idiot!” Chiron yelled to the laughter of the invisible crowd.

Sam glanced around him with a sheepish expression. He’d been so focused on the course that he’d forgotten the reason he was doing it. The aura surrounding him was blinking rapidly too. As if to warn Sam that his power was fading.

“At least it got me through two rounds of this death trap,” he shrugged.

Sam deactivated Bulwark. However, just as he dropped his aura, something huge exploded from right behind him.

A large, metallic hand appeared on Sam’s peripheral, but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge it anymore. He didn’t realize it until just now, but combining two of his abilities came with a penalty of increased fatigue that caused him to stumble at the worst time. There was a loud ‘splat!’ and then came the “Oo~~oh,” of the invisible crowd. It was immediately followed by Chiron’s “Well, that’s all she wrote, folks.”