Several days passed, and the day Raymond Promised to meet up with Bob and Emma soon arrived. That evening, Ray was picked up by Emma from the mansion back in Argo, and they proceeded to Bob's house.
Unlike Emma, Bob lived in the hilly side of Argo. His house was located on a particular hill that had a very magnificent view of the city. On arrival, Ray found a fairly large rave going on. There were at least a dozen people he automatically assumed to be Supernatural.
Emma led him straight to the backyard but not before passing through the hall where Ray got a glimpse of Bob's trophies and photos with various people and a particular one, he instantly recognized as the State Governor. While the crowd inside was more relaxed, the crowd outside was a lot livelier.
"There! I brought him, so you can quit nagging me." Emma said, a little impatiently.
Bob, who was engaged in a conversation with two other guys Ray couldn't recognize, turned to face them. It had been almost a month since the two last met. After the incident at M.A.R.S, Ray had promised Bob a favor, and ever since then, Bob had been very anxious to collect.
Bob grinned at the pair before excusing himself from the two guys and joining Ray and Emma. "Hey, Raymond! I'm glad you came. I was starting to feel like you used me and then dumped me." Bob said with feigned innocence while lightly tapping Ray's right shoulder and smiled.
"Hey, Bob." Ray returned flatly without sharing Bob's fake enthusiasm.
"I see you've been working out. You look a little beefier than the last time I saw you." Bob continued after giving Ray a once-over. "Fancy a drink?"
Ray nodded, and Bob led them to the outdoor bar top and poured Ray an expensive looking golden colored drink. Raymond almost immediately motioned for Bob to stop.
"Do you have any beer?"
Emma, on the other hand, got busy mixing a drink for herself. Bob opened a beer cooler and grabbed two bottles, one for himself and one for Raymond. Bob and Emma then had some light chat before Bob introduced Ray to his friends, confirming Ray's initial hunch about them being Supernatural.
"I heard you're going to be my opponent in the coming Contest," Bob pried as he gave Ray his fourth beer.
Ray narrowed his eyes before turning to Emma. She just shrugged. "I didn't think it was secret."
"I have so far been training for it," he replied after giving it some thought.
"Really? You won't mind a little spar then, would you?" Bob egged him on.
"I'm not really that good," Ray replied, flatly. While he wasn't the same Ray as before he started his training, Ray had lost all his old mentality when it came to fighting.
"No need to be polite. There is no shame in losing to me." Bob grinned.
With just that statement, the Bob Raymond was familiar with was back. Ray couldn't help but close his hands into fists. There was a primal urge that wash over him. He wanted to put Bob right in his place. In no time, Ray and Bob squared off. Many of the people Ray saw inside came out to watch.
Ray slowly tuned them out and focused on his opponent, until it was just him and Bob. Unlike Charles, Bob was a little taller and whereas Charles was calm, exuded an aura of ancientness, Bob was all fresh and overbearing. Raymond inwardly sighed and looked forward to settling his score with Bob.
Bob watched as Ray circled him like prey and was inwardly delighted. All his life, all he ever heard was how powerful Olympians were. His kind even turned them into the bogeyman to scare their young for generations.
Angering just one of them could risk wiping out their entire race. Now he was face-to-face with one, albeit an infant as far as his capabilities were concerned. However, in his book, Ray was still an Olympian.
When Ray initiated the attack, Bob was ready. Everything from Ray's posture to execution was well done—not the best—and it was a significant change from the Ray he first saw on the beach.
Bob leaned back to avoid Ray's punch. Without waiting for a follow-up, Bob responded with two rapid punches of his own. Ray backed away from him but not without throwing a kick to his knees. Bob sidestepped, and before he knew it, Raymond was back again on the offensive. 'Balanced offense and defense,' Bob thought.
"You fight like a Centaur."
"I'm being trained by one," Ray replied without skipping a beat.
Bob was initially impressed, but as the fight went on, it started to get into a rhythm. While Raymond fought like a Centaur, he was also as slippery as a Harpy. Ray's movements were quick, and if Bob didn't know any better, he would've assumed he was playing whac-a-mole.
Bob slowly analyzed Raymond as they sparred. With Raymond's current level, it wouldn't be too difficult to pass through the preliminaries of Champion of Argo's coming contest. As for how far Ray will progress into the Contest? Bob wasn't exactly sure.
Based on their fight, Bob was sure if Ray had his level of experience, then even with Ray's current skill level, he would've been more than a match for him. But for the moment, Ray had a lot to learn.
Bob drove his right foot down and vaulted forward with inhuman strength, swiftly closing the distance Ray had initially gained and gave him a shoulder tackle. Seeing he had no chance of avoiding the attack, Ray placed his left shoulder forward and braced for it.
However, Bob switched tactics and grabbed Ray by the neck at the last minute. Bob slammed him down, relying purely on his superior strength. Raymond groaned as the all-too-familiar dark spots welcomed him with open arms. His world faded from existence for a few seconds before he regained consciousness.
Throughout all that, only one thought stuck in Raymond's head; Charles had significantly been holding back his strength. In fact, if it weren't for Charles' own words claiming his kind were inferior to Minotaurs, Ray would definitely place them in the same weight class.
"You okay there?" Ray squinted his eyes to see a concerned look on Bob's face. "Hope I didn't hit you too hard. I still need your mind to be sharp."
Bob offered his arm, and Ray took it. "Keep training. You'll catch up in the future."
"Yeah," Ray replied, sarcastically. Bob relied purely on his superior strength, and without a way to close the gap, Ray knew there was nothing he could do.
'For now.'
Ray's eyes narrowed.
"Now to the good stuff." Bob singled out Emma from the crowd that was still watching their interaction and motioned her to follow them. Bob then led them into the house and into a particular room that looks like his office. "Take a seat. I'll just go grab them."
Bob then opened another door and disappeared inside. Some seconds later, he came out with two sheathed swords. He unsheathed them, Ray was rewarded with a sight of two silvery broadswords. The hilt was completely black, but what caught Ray's attention the most was their pommels.
Each of the swords had an aquamarine gemstone. This addition gave the swords an elegant feel. Each sword also had several runes inscribed on the blade in a beautiful pattern.
"Originally, I intended to leverage my services to an Olympian in exchange for their enchantment, but who knew one would fall right into my arms, and…he happens to owe me one." Bob grinned.
Bob then gave the swords to Emma. "You brought the spell?"
Emma nodded before taking out a piece of paper filled with an incantation. She then placed the swords side by side on the floor and proceeded to draw an array. Ray gave her a questioning look.
"It's a containment circle," Emma answered. "Just in case we need it." Ray just nodded and waited patiently.
After finishing drawing the magic array, she took out another piece of paper and gave the two to Raymond. "Step into the circle and then cast the Containment Spell before you proceed. Once you start using a containment circle, you have to maintain your connection to magic in order to continuously feed the array. This would prevent any of your spells from breaking out of containment."
Ray nodded and sat inside the array, and started casting the first spell. One by one, the runes drawn inside the array began to glow blue until Ray finished his incantation. While maintaining his connection to magic, Raymond began the second spell.
Words rolled out of his tongue, and shortly after, his hands began to glow as dark blue energy flowed from his hands and moving towards the swords.
Bob was inwardly delighted. While Ray's arcane potential was a bit on the low side from what he knew about Olympians, it was still better than what he had available, which was Emma. Besides, it was better to build a relationship with Ray while he was still a weakling.
As Raymond continued the spell, more and more magic flowed out of him. Soon his entire arms were covered in magic up to his elbows. The swords' runes began to glow, and like a sponge, they began to absorb all the magic coming from Ray.
As Ray continued, he could feel the runes on the two swords sucking his magic dry. No matter how much he kept on releasing, the runes kept on sucking. The two swords felt like two black-holes with an endless potential to draw his magic.
Soon, sweat started pooling on his back, his brows furrowed in concentration. Even with the containment circle, one could feel the magic flowing from Ray and into the swords. The two aquamarine gemstones that had been still up to this point also began to glow, but unlike the runes, the gems looked like they were filled with a blue liquid.
Minutes passed, and Ray's head started to spin. His arms that were covered in magic became hot, and he began running out of breath.
"That's enough!" Emma who had been watching all this time, commanded. But by the time Ray stopped, he dropped down unconscious.