The Olympus that this fake Zeus had me living on was no where near the likes of the real Olympus. Olympians were a prideful race of beings. They were powerful in strength and their government was operated by the most powerful of them all, Aethos. He was one of the pure Olympians, battle ridden and glorified by his people. He was notably described as a large being with a golden eyepatch covering his left eye. Olympus was the galactic center for jailed criminals and the arena grounds. The arena was easily two times the size of the fake Olympus's and held a massive viewing screen held high above. The battles were broadcasted to all sorts of lands, especially on the Forge. At the end of the year, each species was allowed to submit their greatest warrior to the gladiatorial games. The winner held the mantle of greatest gladiator for their species, for that forge cycle. To fill in the gaps throughout the year and for gladiators to gain their official cards required to be entered for the games, they faced prisoners fighting for their freedom. The prisoners had the option to either live out their sentence or fight for freedom. They would be given a small earnings for the match and released if they won. Every match was to the death unless shown mercy by the gladiator. When there was a lack of participants, the Olympians would hunt for the largest beasts to bring in here to combat a gladiator.
The Collector was Olympian and he desired nothing but the greatest warriors in his arsenal. He had to pay a massive price to acquire me from the prison. We figured he couldn't refuse to pay whatever was necessary for a swordsman and I am sure he changed my actual papers to something less atrocious as slaying the founder of the Forge. His guards walked me to their gladiatorial preparations room.
"Listen closely swordsman. You will likely win your first match and be freed from me. But you will bare the emblem of my crest. If you try to escape, we will kill on sight, no second chances. You fight tomorrow." The collector said in a calm and demeaning manor.
I shrugged and they released my chains.
"Who will I be facing?" I asked, knowing it had to be some big timer.
"We don't know yet, so be prepared. Where is your weapon?" The collector asked.
"Pope and his henchmen left it on the ship when I was taken." I said, feeling a little anger fill my chest at the prospect of it being left on the deck plates.
"Those idiots!" The collector shouted. "Muhlog, get ahold of Pope and tell him if I don't have that sword in my swordsman's hands by tomorrow morning, I am cutting his pay and ruining his reputation!"
Muhlog nodded and ran out the room.
"So, your name has been changed and you will wear a helmet. We couldn't have the killer of the founder of the Forge being on our side. Bad publicity. You are simply a swordsman looking to make a quick buck who had some bad misfortune. With that being said, I took some matters into my own hands. If you win for our house tomorrow, I will wipe Xander's slate clean." The collector said.
"How is that even possible?" I asked.
"We will simply frame someone who died after the events and say it was a misunderstanding, and money has influenced the inner workings to keep their mouths shut. The name that you will bestow will be David. Simple, yet common for your people."
"David. Got it. And if I refuse to fight?" I asked, knowing I would fight regardless, but seeing how this collector guy operates.
"Then I kill you and hand you over to the galactic authorities and be praised a hero. Which means nothing because a hero doesn't get paid as well as these gladiatorial battles. So don't play games with me swordsman. We benefit each other and you will be a free man. Now, eat up, wash up and pray that fool brings your sword." The collector finished and walked out of the room.
The floor lined with sand and cobblestone. I walked the room examining the many weapons at my disposal. He had javelins, spears, swords, axes, and even cyborg attachments. There was a skyline that allowed an even amount of light for the room along with the torches that burned endlessly on the walls. I gotta give it to the collector though, the feast was quite impressive. I knew his house was honorable and wealthy, but I guess I never expected a fighter to be this well taken care of.
I brewed a hot bath and allowed my aching body to sit in it. I dozed off a few times and before I knew it, night had risen. I stretched and thought of many strategies. I remember this arena vaguely from the mercenaries sector constantly repeating battles for the occupants to enjoy. It had a more natural scenery, giant boulders, a little stream of running water and the ground rose like small ramps for the ability to attack bigger foes. Each side of the arena mimicked the other, so there was no advantage to one side.
The night rode on slowly and I napped when I felt my eyes growing heavy. A loud gong blasted through the city and I awoke to it. The sun has risen high in the sky, and the gong sound was letting the cities around the planet know, the arena battles were to begin in approximately one hour.
The collector arrived with a few others in his company.
"The foolish mercenary cannot locate your ship, so we shall improvise. This is Quell, he is my designer for my fighters. He will give you the appearance we desire for this upcoming battle."
A thin gray skinned Cregun stood next to the collector confidently, dressed in a very formal garb. Creguns were known for their aesthetically pleasing art and designs. They were a species of philosophers and artists, no threat nor battles ever existed in their history.
"Thank you my liege." Quell said. "Now, we will go with the traditional metal helmet, only revealing your mouth, eyes and nose. You can keep the pants you currently wear and I suggest we leave him bare chested and paint the crest over his abdomen."
"Yes, revealing the muscular strength of our swordsman would be a good idea. Get to it Quell, he is the second battle of the day, so we don't have much time." The collector smiled and walked off with the rest of his guards.
Quell began to design the house crest on my stomach in red ink. The house crest was two flaming swords crossed. I began to remember stories of the house of flaming swords. They had a long history and had many dealings with mercenaries. They were always second to the house of minotaur's in the games. But, seeing the collector in this short amount of time, I deduced that he was more in for the money than the glory.
I was now dressed and painted and escorted to the arena. I was shoved into a room full of other occupants that paced around the room. Some sat in silence and didn't even make eye contact. This had to be the prisoners side. I took a long sword as my weapon of choice. We could peer into the arena from the prisoners side and I watched the first match.
The house of minotaur had actual minotaur gladiators. This one had black fur and stood high on its hooves. It held an axe in each hand and had a circle ring pierced in its nostrils. It let out a deafening roar as his opponent was a small cyborg that shook all over. The cyborg had a metal shield attachment in his left arm and a sword attachment in place of his right hand. The minotaur sprinted with impressive speed across the arena, hooves stomping and leaving a trail in the grassy ground. The crowd cheered as the match had begun. The minotaur slashed downward with and axe and stabbed into the cyborgs shield. The cyborg used his blasters in his feet to lift the minotaur up and the beast dropped his other axe and grabbed the cyborgs leg, giving an imbalance to the flight. He pulled down hard and the cyborg crashed into the ground with a hard thud. The cyborg leapt to his feet and jabbed with the sword catching the minotaur on the edge of his shoulder, he simply ignored it and grabbed the cyborgs place with his hand and swung his axe hard into the arm, cutting through the metal and literally disarming the poor robot. The cyborg swung viciously with his shield and only caught air. The minotaur kicked him in the chest, causing it to cave in and sending the cyborg into the ground. The minotaur lightly set a hoof on the robot and looked into the crowd. Cheers filled the air and the minotaur raised his hands up allowing himself to soak in the glory. He turned around and looked at the higher priced seating and someone gave him the thumbs up. The minotaur nodded and brought his axe down onto the cyborg, ceasing the duel. The crowd was going wild and only fueled my enthusiasm to get this over with. The announcer came over the arena stating it was the end of the duel and the next one starts in five minutes.
I felt a little nervous without my weapon, but I already strategized how I would lay waste to a minotaur. We were taught this on Nibiru, they don't really block or dodge, so you just need to be quick.
Minotaur's hailed from the outlands on Olympus. They had their own little tribes that were in constant battle against the manticores. The Olympians left them to be until their species had grown in large numbers and welcomed a peace treaty to allow them entry into the cities without battle. The Olympians saw this opportunity for the beasts to give glory to the arena.
Time had ticked away faster than I had expected and before I knew it, I was being ushered into the arena and the crowd stared at me in amazement. I was the first ever swordsman of Nibiru to be in here and for most, this is the first time they had ever seen a swordsman let alone our ability for combat.
The announcer spoke loud and I could see the mega viewing screen above the arena zoom in on him.
"We have a battle for the centuries folks! We have David! A swordsman from Nibiru, versus Elhanan the Goliath!"
I had no idea what a Goliath was and I was caught off guard not facing a minotaur. The opposing gate had risen slowly and I glanced back at the viewing screen, the title above read, 'David vs Goliath' in big bold letters.
A massive beast with a javelin had appeared from the other side. It stood nearly fifteen feet tall and wore nothing but a cloth covering his private area. It was a human like body but its large stature led me to believe it was something from Jotunheim. It had turned and raised its arms towards the crowd revealing the mark on its back. It was another beast from Zeus's little project. Surely, no one knew what the hell that meant.
The giant ran across the arena in a staggering speed as the crowd cheered. It stabbed downward and I simply rolled out of the way of the javelin but was grabbed by his free hand and tossed across the arena. My body collided hard against its stone walls. I quickly got to my feet and ran up the nearest ramp, standing tall I only reached its chest in height. I swung and I ducked underneath and blocked the javelin from piercing through me. The crowd was going wild at my ability to match the goliaths strength. I jumped in the air and attempted to cut at its face and it swatted me back to the ground. I rolled to my stomach and lifted myself to my feet. This goliath was fast and knew some of my moves, I need to get creative here. I was caught off guard once again by its speed and sheer strength. I was kicked hard and hit a boulder. I laid there for a moment, catching my breath. I looked around and came up with an idea. The goliath had lifted me up and threw me back into the ground. He attempted to stomp on me and I rolled out of the way. The force he exerted into the ground cracked the boulder behind me in half. I stuck my blade into the ground and lifted the half boulder up to my chest. I spun a little, using my momentum and threw the rock into the goliaths face. He toppled over and landed hard on his back. The goliath was visibly dazed and I took this opportunity to grab my blade and jump onto the beasts chest. I looked up to the collector in the stands and he smiled wide.
He gave me the thumbs up and I peered down to the goliath. I held my blade to his throat and shouted.
"Do you concede?!"
The goliath simply nodded and I hopped down. The crowd began to boo me. I didn't care. I wasn't here to murder some helpless giant in this arena for their entertainment. I stood waiting for the announcer to call the match and he hadn't done so. The goliath stood once more and the crowd cheered him on. The goliath smiled and spoke in a deep voice. "Mistake horseman, you will die for that."
I realized I had no choice. I dodged his javelin and jumped with all my might and speed. I spun mid air and the crowd gasped as my blade cut the goliaths head clean off. It's lifeless body slumped to the ground and head had thumped on the ground. The crowd was quiet and then roared with cheers and chants.
"Flaming sword! Flaming Sword!" Filled the air.
I looked back at the collector and he looked happy but gave a little hesitant smile due to me disobeying his thumbs up.
"The battle of David vs. Goliath has come to an end with a clear victor! Lets hear it for our victor! The swordsman!" The announcer yelled.
I walked back towards the gate when I heard the viewing screens sound get interrupted. It showed the room that Galices had died in on the Forge. Galices confessing to the atrocities of his alliance with Zeus and his attempt to kill me backfiring on himself. I lifted my helmet off and the crowd stared stunned down at me. It was time I cleared my name.