"What makes you think that you are a whole different level from me, Achilles?" Gabriel kept his old posture. Achilles sighed and asked him:
"What is your CQW of choice?"
"What the fuck is CQW?" Gabriel asked obviously confused by the term.
'Idiot. He doesn't have the basic military knowledge apparently. This will be a pain in the ass.' I sighed.
"CQW stands for Close Quarter Weapon. What do you prefer using? A sword, spear, hammer, axe, a dagger? Any of these could be used in a first blood spar. Although warhammer is a tough weapon for such a spar." Achilles explained patiently.
"Wait, wait, wait! We're gonna use weapons?!" Gabriel is flabbergasted by this simple information.
"What did you think? That I have come here to train you for fun? We came here as bodyguards for your father and I am officially your boss now. My job will mostly be to mold you into a first-class soldier that can go on par with any SF or assassin organization." I smirked and explained to him what his future has to do with me.
He almost fell to his knees.
'Heh, so he isn't as stupid as I thought. He realized that he had insulted a man who will be like a god to him in the future. Hehe.'
"Anyway, this is a golden chance for us to see what are you able to do with your favorite melee weapon." Anna said.
"Chose any bladed weapon that you might like and that we have in our arsenal." Achilles added while taking his pen out.
"I will give you five minutes to prepare. Also, no armor of any sorts." He added.
Gabriel ran to the house to fetch a weapon. For that short time he spent in the house, Achilles transformed his pen into a spear which was his favorite weapon. It has a 1.75m long shaft and a 75cm long blade.
A perfect weapon for close encounters like this.
Soon after, Gabriel came out of the house and walked up to where we are standing.
"Let's go to the training grounds." Lazarus said.
Gabriel seemed to have taken a hammer.
'Is this boy nuts? Does he know that if one carries a hammer to this kind of duel the other side has the right to kill them without thinking.' I thought. It is an actual rule that dates back from middle ages when these kind of duels were even more common than today. Since one hit from a hammer is more likely gonna leave permanent damage than any other weapon available to participants of the duel. But it was never forbidden for use in such duels because the odds were never on the side of the hammer user. The other party has permission to kill if one is using a hammer. And that is a big handicap for anybody, to be unable to kill but to also be susceptible to killing.
"Gabe?" his mother called him.
"I'm busy at the moment, mother." He answered coldly. Achilles looked at him weirdly and then averted his gaze at me. I shrugged and then nodded.
"Gabriel." I called him.
"What do you want now?" He rolled his eyes and turned around to face me.
"First thing I'm gonna teach you is to respect your elders. Especially your parents." I said while stretching my fingers.
"Respecting my elders? Pfft, they don't deserve respect. Not once have they shown respect to me, why should I show respect towards them?" Gabriel asked.
"They're your parents, boy. You own them respect for giving birth to you. Even if you're the lowest scum there can be." I spoke as I approached him slowly. He didn't seem bothered by my approach.
'This kid really has no respect for anyone.' I sighed. Not a good thing, to be disrespectful to everybody. It can easily kill you in this world of ours.
"Death is not funny. Not even when the most hated die in a hilarious way.
Only those who are dead are allowed to laugh at death's face. And even they know when to stop and bow in respect." The Core spreads that message to everyone that it controls in one way or the other. I said those words with a solemn expression on my face. It is a solemn message.
As I stood next to Gabriel, I raised my hand and slapped his face with such force that he stumbled to the side, barely keeping himself on his feet. ‚
"You dare slap me!!!" He screamed holding his left cheek. From the edge of his lips, a drop of blood rolled down his chin and onto the ground. I probably moved a tooth or something.
"And I'll do it again if..." I didn't finish my sentence because he tried hitting me with that hammer of his.
'Ah, what a child he is.'
"It is illegal to rise your duel weapon at a person who is not participating. Punishment is rather severe just so you know, kid." I said. He kept trying to hit me.
"Ok. That would be enough, Gabriel!" his father yelled.
"He slapped me. That is an insult, and I will not tolerate it, father." Gabriel answered while swinging his hammer once more.
Probably seeing that the kid is an idiot, Anna jumped in:
"Then you can duel it out with him. A first blood duel is also used to sort out things like that, not just for sparring."
"Fine. But I don't want a first blood duel." Gabriel said. I smirked.
"Then what do you want, kid?" I asked.
"I want you dead." He said while a killing intent flashed through his eyes.
"Nice wording for a beginner. But can you hold your ground behind that statement, I wonder?" I said while rising an eyebrow.
"Try me and find out." Gabriel scoffed.
"As you wish, kiddo." I smiled while spinning my pen around my fingers.
'I used this pen to kill so many people. It's probably cursed as far as I know, heh.' I joked inside.
"Gabriel, this man is not a stupid idiot like the ones you've used to bully in high school. He is a world class killer. A wanted man. Be cautious." Michael came to his brother's side and warned him while panting from the running he had finished just a second ago.
"Michael you'll spar with Achilles then. Go choose a weapon and be back asap." I told him, and then turned towards Achilles and said:
"You two go first."
"Got it, Harbinger." Achilles nodded.
Gabriel didn't look fascinated by my decision. Judging from his frown that is.
"Why don't we do it now?"
"Because you need to be patient. Nothing falls from the sky finished and ready for use. Except bombs that is, hehe." I said.
"Damn you." Gabriel cursed me.
"Well I am a damned bastard. Do you know how many people used to curse me, my name and my ancestry a day? About fifty. And that's the average number." I shrugged.
"Whatever."
I turned to see Michael approaching us with a sword. Standard sidearm for Landigian soldiers. And inferior in length to Pangrasian spears, which means a handicap in this duel. Depending on his skill of course.
"Ready, Michael?" Achilles asked.
"Sure. Let's start."
After nodding towards each other, they moved into a ring composed of soldiers on the training ground not far away.