Board Thread:Antaeus' Arena: Audience Chamber/@comment-1515612-20170321230658/@comment-32159399-20170609063559

Ea225225 wrote:

Coral8 wrote: Ok, we saw Frank turn into a dragon, but Percy defeated Ares at age 12, was asked to become a god, fell in Tartarus for Annabeth, survived a swim in the river Styx, fought Kronos... Oh my god. Look, no offense to you, but how does falling in Tartarus, surviving a swim in Styx and being asked to become a god has anything to do with his fighting. Ares went easy with Percy and Percy was near water. Also, the only reason why Percy didn't get beaten by Kronos was because the Curse of Achilles. I see where you're coming from but you are underrating some of Percy's feats a bit too much.

First, yes Percy had the curse of Achilles when he fought Kronos but please note that Kronos also had the curse and both combatants needed to use it several times. Here are two examples of how Percy could've injured or even killed Kronos if not for the curse of Achilles.

"I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that."

And yet, Kronos did survive it as he had the curse of Achilles. Here's another example:

“Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks. He was stronger than me, but for the moment I felt the power of the ocean in my arms. I pushed him back and struck again—slashing Riptide across his breastplate so hard I cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.”

Also, Percy fought Kronos once when he didn't have the curse of Achilles too. Yet, he was able to hold his own against Kronos ho had all his titan strength and powers except his divine form, all of Luke's skill, and the Curse of Achilles. And when Percy also got the curse, he was completely equal with Kronos in both physical strength, skill, and power.

"I met Kronos first strike with Riptide. The whole bridge shuddered but I stood my ground. Kronos's smile wavered."

As well as that, Percy was able to overcome a time spell from Kronos too, something which will take a lot of willpower to do.

"Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward."

And did I forget to mention that before the second time Percy fights with Kronos, he had to defeat like 200 monsters?

"I sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake woman exploded. Hellhounds melted into shadow. I slashed and stabbed and whirled, and I might have even laughed once or twice-a crazy laugh that scared me as much as it did my enemies. I was aware of the Apollo campers behind me shooting arrows, disrupting any attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled-about twenty out of two hundred."

And I think we are also forgetting that The Curse of Achilles tires Percy a lot faster than usual.

"You may be invulnerable in combat," Chiron said. "But that will only make your body tire faster. I remember Achilles. Whenever that lad was not fighting, he was sleeping. He must've taken twenty naps a day."

I'm not overrating the feat of Percy defeating Kronos - I just wanted to get some things clear.

Now, about Ares, I know some of you think this feat is flawed but it isn't. Percy was out of practiced when Luke; even Luke himself admits it.

"My, Percy," Luke chided."You are out of practiced". As for Chrysoar, people think that the Ares feat is flawed as Percy lost to Chrysoar who was considered in a similar power level as Ares. However, Percy was also rusty against Chrysoar.

"Many of Percy's powers have grown stronger since then but too late, Percy realized that swordplay wasn't one of them. He was rusty, at least against an adversary like Chrysoar."

That was from MOA in Percy's fight with Chrysoar. So Percy was also out of practiced when he fought Chrysoar. And Percy did need to use his powers to eventually defeat Ares but he was able to hold his own against the god for an extremely long time at absolute equal footing before that.

"Ares cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.

My body thought for me. The water seemed to push me into the air and I catapoluted over him, slashing as I came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt. His sword had a reach several feet longer than Riptide. He knocked my blade out of my hands and kicked me in the chest. I went airborne, twenty, maybe thirty feet. I would've broken my back if I hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a sand dune. I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I was aware of Annabeth and Grover, thirty feet to my left. I felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly I had an idea. Little waves, I thought. And the waves behind me seemed to recede. I was holding back the tide by force of will, but tension was building, like carbonation behind a cork. I released the tide and jumped, rocketing straight over Ares on a wave. A six foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. I landed behind him with a splash and feinted toward his head, as I done before. He turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. I changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed Riptide straight down in the water, sending the point through the god's heel."

Also, Ares wasn't going easy on him, he was toying with Percy and arrogantly underestimating him. I kind of agree that this feat isn't as good as some people think but it isn't as flawed as others think either.