A few weeks past by as Liam is getting used to the natural characteristics of being a Champion while learning new ways to defeat the Hell-beings with heap combat experiences. Afterward, Abi showed Liam how to use his power from her experiences and feelings. The combination of using, feeling, muscle, and imagery makes it hard for Liam to pull out his powers.
"Don't get frustrated. It's very common for newbies to struggle to use and train their powers. It will take months to half a year for the basics and years for developing new abilities for humans." Abi stated.
"What about the others like Elves, Beastkins, and Dwarves?"
"It's very hard for them to adapt if they are teenagers and adults. That's why most humans are Champions instead as other kingdoms and empires recommended."
Liam shook his head. As as frustrating this can be, he has faith in himself and will get the result he always wanted.
'The harder the training is, the better results I could get.'
In the background where the others are watching Liam's progression, Aniya walks over the hill to meet up the team with Shae by her side. She was interested to see the progress of Liam's training since he came to his room late every day ever since his training started.
"Hey girls." She greeted Kiana, Malinda, and Bianca.
"Hello, you must be Aniya!" Malinda greeted her back by shaking her hand. "Oh, who is this?!!!"
"This is Shae. We found her when we were settling in. Anyway, how is Liam doing?"
"He's getting the hang of it. Learning how to use his powers is rough for him."
"No sparring?"
"Not really. The first two steps are preparing your body to memorize your usage and feelings."
"Really? He came to the inn very late every single night for some reason."
"Oh, he's probably at the library after his training was done. It's not that far from where you are if you go to the crossroad."
"Library?"
"Yeah, he said it's for research purposes."
"Research purposes?"
"RESEARCH PURPOSES?! I'm interested!" The girls screamed when Rhett popped out of nowhere with Moira behind his back. Shaking her head and hides her face from the embarrassment her boyfriend is making.
"Who are you guys?!" Aniya exclaimed.
"I'm Rhett and this is my lovely-"
"Moira, and don't listen to him. He's a little bit crazy in his head and gets excited to mystery things."
"Oh, that's the exciting part. Mystery~. The curiosity is uncontrollable to know what's behind the door."
"And something behind the door might kill you in a heartbeat."
"I'm willing to take that risk right away." Rhett trotted off towards Liam to venture his research.
"Oh boy, there he goes."
"Hey Liam, mind if we have a sparring session?" Rhett asked.
"Sure-"
"But...show me everything. Give me everything you've got, and no holding back."
"You got it. I'm glad you're asking that" Liam smiled. "Are we gonna use our champion's power or...?"
"No, it's a bit unfair since you still haven't gotten used to being a champion yet. Besides, I find it fun to dig your hidden talents."
Abi handed both of them specialized wooden swords and they got into their fighting stance. Rhett glared at him as he was in his standard long-point guard. It wasn't his other stance when he first met him. He made his first move by stabbing forward.
Liam barely reacted to it and slipped to the outside. Rhett easily swung his sword to the back of his head and knocked him down. Liam dodged his attack from above and recovered quickly. He lunged forward. Rhett parried and smacked him from the side with his sword. Liam quickly backed up to a safe distance.
Rhett charged in at the same time and his blade was inches away from his face until Liam stepped to the side and struck him out of nowhere. The strike was enough to make him take a couple of steps back as he tilted his head and stared at Liam. Throbbing a bit from the pain.
'What was that?' Rhett had no idea what hit him. The impact was compact and sharp, but duller than a blade, including a wooden one.
Then, Liam got into a new stance with a reverse sword grip. Both of his hands were near his face, but his left is sticking a bit out and protecting the cheek while his right protects his chin while his feet positions remain the same.
Rhett smiled and felt the fear of the unknown. This strange style is new to him. Different from any other styles except a few. Knowing them, he can see why the King of Valerie decided for him to stay as a Champion.
He closed the distances inches by inches while weary of his new stance. As the tip of his blade was within feet of Liam's face, Rhett was struck in the face, making him retreat again.
'What was that? It looks like his fist got bigger the moment I closed the distance?'
"That's not a straight punch, is it?" Abi asked while the others were at a loss for words.
"It is, but a different type of straight. Also, it's unreadable for Rhett. We can see it on the sidelines, but it's fast." Moira stated. "But how in the world is it so strong? Is it the technique?"
"A straight punch? It looks like he hit him with an invisible attack" Malinda exclaimed.
"That's because we are not on their level. They see things differently than we do." Aniya implies that they are Champions instead of a regular mortal.
Rhett continues backing up until Liam advances. Closing the distance quickly. Rhett changed his stance to a plow guard. A guard that's designed specifically to prevent any attack while remaining in a defensive position.
However, it didn't go exactly with Rhett's plan. Liam unexpectedly closed a huge gap of distance and threw consecutive jabs. Rhett brought his sword up to cover his face after getting hit with two jabs and Liam went after his body. Rhett jumped back to create distances and Liam stalked him down. Continuing to suffocate him with jabs and plundering his choices.
Rhett couldn't read his movement. There was no telegraphing. No movement for him to notice quickly. He moved his head randomly to avoid the center line but was still hit by a couple of jabs while Liam struggled to land most of his jabs.
Then, Rhett slipped his jab to his left and quickly closed the distance. Sending an underhand slash. At the same time, Liam pivoted to his right and hit him with a cross and scraping him with his sword simultaneously.
He stalked him down as Rhett continued to retreat. Liam never threw his rear hand before and understood why his Champion's sword was the way it looked. He can hit his opponent bluntly and cut them right after.
Jab. Jab. Jab. Rhett had a hard time dodging his ghostly attack as Liam adapted to his random dodges until it was Rhett's turn to adapt. Liam was only jabbing his head and was in the center of the line.
Rhett slipped his jab to the inside and was ready to stab his stomach until Liam's right hand beat him to it by slashing his chest.
"You win!" Rhett exclaimed.
"Huh? But I only landed one killing blow on you compared to yours."
"But you landed most of your shots more than me. It doesn't matter if you land a killing blow as long as you can frustrate your opponent. I can see why the King decided to not strip away your core."
"Wait, he never told me any of that. Why now and why he never told me in front of me?" Rhett smiled as he sat down with his smirk getting bigger and bigger.
"Because of your strange fighting style. It's rare for any soldier to throw unordinary attacks. Not only that, you're the only cadet to fit in with the Wackos of the Anomalous Table."
"W-Wackos of the Anomalous Table?"
"A group of people from all over the world who have unorthodox ways in combat that make them look like a madman, but put a hard fight against the demons, especially archdemons."
"What~?"
"Yep, even I was surprised but it's effective. They believed using a different style or unusual ways that are not from the textbooks is the key to defeat them in one on one fight."
'That's what I thought.'
"Are you a left-handed fighter? You've rarely thrown your right hand."
"Yeah, I am left-handed, but I've been right-handed fighter ever since I went to military school since there's no instructions for left-handed fighter."
"Prove me wrong, but maybe that's the reason why you're average because you are uncomfortable with your one-sided stance. But then again, every nation wanted a perfect soldier in their army because we don't want to risk any more casualties." They both stopped talking and looked over to the girls to see Aniya blushing as the others teased her. Aniya slipped her feelings out right after the fight was over and continued to spill it out after they teased her to the next.
"When are you going to ask him out?!"
"You love him and he loves you!"
"I can't believe you have those feelings all along and YOU KNEW HIS FEELINGS WHILE HE KNEW YOURS!" Rhett widened his eyes and gazed over at Liam.
Liam's face went red and looked away before whistling.
"Dude, when are you going to ask her out?!"
"It's complicated! Alright, besides...I-I."
"How is it complicated when you know her feelings and she knows yours?"
"B-Because...is-is it wrong for me to ask her out during the war? I mean, sure there are a lot of people who've done it this time of year, but I want both of us to be more happy than anyone else. The war is the major obstacle in our way to be a couple."
'At least both of them are not dense unlike some people and stage shows.' Rhett thought as he overheard Aniya's same response as Liam.
"Understandable. However, there will be a time when you will miss your chance because I doubt you guys are the only ones who thought this way. There is a reason why it's called the Eternal War."
Liam twitched at the name. Eternal War. He won't forget that name no matter how many times he read the history of this world. But, he was right. There will be a time when he's going to miss his chance. When and how?
"I know there's a lot of subject change, but I've been meaning to ask you this. How did you come across the North Star Champion's core? Usually, they can be found in the Meadow Mountains or passed down by noble family generations or stolen."
"Well, I don't know how the core ended up where it was, but I believe there was a cavern underneath my house."
"A core in the cavern huh?" Liam nodded but got dizzy a bit. There are too many difficult things to think about.
"Anyway, let's take a break. I've got to recover from your spectral punches." Rhett began walking away as Liam smiled behind his back. He knows his style works for him. But the real question is would it work on the Hell-Beings? Now that he began to realize it. His style did work on them before since they didn't react to it till it landed.
Liam shrugged and started walking to the group.
"Shhh, quiet down. I don't want you guys teasing me in front of Liam."
"Sorry, Aniya. I've heard everything" Liam winked at her while blushing, deciding to join them and tease her. Aniya went red and stood up on her tippy toes.
"I know you've heard everything, and it's your fault for being stupidly cute and cool for making me spill things about our feelings!"
Liam was about to respond but noticed everyone's smirks. He gazed upon at Shae who was staring back at him. He was about to greet her but she stood up and began walking away.
"Wait, where is she going?" Liam asked as the others began to notice her. Shae continued to ignore them and Liam was about to follow her until Aniya stopped him.
"Maybe she got a scent of her family. I think it's wise to let her go if she begins to wander off like that." Liam stared back at her and smiled. He hopes that her family is safe and is happy to be reunited with her.
...
Shae walked deep within the forest line outside of Valerie Kingdom. A forest that is not within No Man's Land, but the opposite from that area. She approached a group of sinister individuals before shapeshifting to her humanoid form with the eye-catching appearance of a very attractive lady as wings burst out from her back. She fixed her red skin revealing nightgown. Two curvy horns protruded from her head as her reddish brown long hair waved within the winds along with her thin tail that had a heart-shaped tip.
"Why do you have to call me this hour, Blaze the Patriot?" She asked the individuals. "You messed up my lovely tonight. I was dying to get my hands on the cutie pie and have coitus with him. Ah, he gave me a lovely name~."
"Your desire can come later, Calypso." said one of the individuals who was looking at the kingdom. "Remember, your job was to spread the diseases across the kingdom with Asag's power, so he can trigger the pandemic."
His appearance was a black knight as his yellow eyes pierced the darkness in his great helm helmet. The long sword with curved cross guard shined in the moonlight along with his heater shield. A satanic star was implanted at the center of his shield.
"Be thankful ma' lady." Stated a demon, fluttering his orange eyes at her. His face was asymmetrical with his eyes and mouth not aligned with each other. He shook his head and stroked his hair-like horns. "I'm willing to impress the sexiest succubus right here with my power and chaos."
"Nobody wants to date a two-face like you." She bluntly struck him with a cold denial and insulted his appearance, making him staggered.
"I felt pity for you, Asag. You envy the passionate love and live as a couple like me and Nuba." The demon chuckled with the wind blowing against his funeral robes from the east while holding onto his rimmed hat.
"Shut up, Jiang before I make you puke from your favorite food. Besides, you're just lucky she took you in because of your fashion. Your appearance is as ugly as mine with that sunken eyes of yours." Jiang growled and balled up his fists as his yellow eyes flared up at the threat of his meal.
"Enough..." Blaze spoke as the others stopped their actions. "I don't want any fights from all of you. Since I've known you guys, I'm putting Colainn in charge if he's with the three of you while I'm not there."
"Is it because he wore armor like you," Asag asked as he looked at Colainn who was wearing the same outfit as Blaze and riding on a demonic horse. "Or is it because he's a squire?"
"No, it's because he and his family have the same reasons for this war." Blaze did not move his head to speak in front of them as he glared down at the Valerie kingdom. "Now, quiet down before the Champions heard us. In a couple of days, we'll make our move, which is why I called Calypso over since her job is done."
"Blaze, I have something to say." Blaze turned his whole body and faced Calypso. His gaze held immense weight on her shoulders, but that didn't stop her from what she was witnessing. "The Valerie kingdom has a Champion named Liam who is a North Star Champion with a bizarre fighting style and want him to join the Wackos of the Anomalous Table."
The demons smiled except the knightly ones.
"A challenge, I see." Asag widened his smile.
"And a mortal who is a most beautiful champion. Perfect for a present for my wife." Jiang also widened his smile.
"More like a problem." Colainn moved up in front of Jiang with his horse. "A bizarre warrior is enough, but a bizarre Champion is worst."