Just as he expected, just as he dreaded, throes of torturous pain passed throughout his body like a wave of suffering, ingraining themselves into his bones like the root of a parasitic plant.
Feeling his body break down and his spirit wane, Lieren's eyes widened. Gritting his teeth to bear with the pain, though its effectivity was questionable, he took a large step back to properly regroup.
There was a morbid smile on his face.
'Yeah, I guess this is what I get.'
Checking his body to assess his damage, Lieren for a second wished that he hadn't. His brittle bones felt like they were about to break down and his muscles felt like they were being torn apart by some invisible force — by which he meant himself — then hurriedly put back together. More resilient. More powerful. Better.
A tired sigh escaped his lips like a caged Rogue, unable to contained anymore.
"Liar."
The tall giant smiled and relaxed his stance. There was a dubious look on his face that he tried so hard to hide with an offended look. If it had been anybody but Lieren, then it would surely have worked. Alas, his opponent was not one to miss a lie, something he hated the most in the world.
"How rude. Here I am doing my absolute best to help train you, and this is what I get? The nerve!" Vesba had an incredulous expression the entire time, as if he really was hurt by the small boy's single-word insult.
His eyes, however, told a different story. Much darker and more insidious than what he let on.
'So that's what it is.'
With a cold realization fueling his will, Lieren planted his feet and looked around the barren battlefield. The young scion and her personal attendant was gone, most likely preparing for this test that all her marriage candidates will take for her hand, and of course Mysta would as a guide or, well, a mediator of sorts as well. Feng Xing Liu was not here either, though she did make certain that she would be back to train him again, making the small boy shiver with dread and awe.
Selen Votum was gone, as well. She did not seem to like watching fights, or was simply just disinterested in such matters. Her attitude suggested that it was beneath her. She seemed to like books more than people, which Lieren understood and respected, but was very reluctant to agree with. Books, after all, were not people. They were just books.
And then there's this guy.
"Misdirection."
Lieren's voice rang clear and true in the barren training grounds. Despite the painful grimace on his face and his grounded teeth, he still held on and made his confident declaration.
The tall giant smiled musingly behind his mask of lies, appearing disinterestedly confused.
"Whatever do you mean, boy?"
Lieren pierced him with a striking gaze, his eyes burning with resolve.
"Your battle art, it relies on misdirection. You told me earlier that your style is built on two things: grounded footwork and deception. But that was wrong… well, at least half of it is. While stable and balanced, you never exhibited any kind of grounded footwork, instead immediately dashing toward me on your first move, the complete contrary of your previous statement."
The tall giant flinched and shook for the smallest of seconds. It was so brief and expertly hidden that he almost missed it.
"And what? You're telling me that you just found this out, right now? Even though we barely exchanged blows, if you can even call it that?"
A sudden pang of numbing pain assailed Lieren leg, making him shiver for a second. He almost fell down to his knees.
"Yes, I am. And it's not just that either, there was also your first statement: the claim that you think I have already figured out your battle art. That was the second lie you told."
The tall giant shifted slightly.
"And what was the first one?"
Lieren smiled daringly, masking the torturous bouts of pain throughout his body.
"It was that first punch. As well as the second. I got a bad feeling when you said made your outrageous claim, and it was a good thing that I followed it."
His eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist; his nails dug into his palms.
"This entire, from the moment you made that first strike up to telling me of your make-believe battle art… you never intended to teach me, didn't you?"
The tall giant's eyes grew wide at Lieren's bold declaration, and he threw his head back. Boisterous laughter echoed throughout the barren grounds like thunder.
Wiping a humorous tear from his eye, Vesba smiled and said aloud:
"Ha~ You were so close, boy. So close. If you hadn't taken that wrong step at the finish line, you would have duly impressed me."
Lieren backed away with a shiver.
'He… he's not lying.'
"…But, well, for a first bout, I think that maybe one of the most impressive displays of intuition I have ever seen. Good job, Lieren. You were able to figure out my style after just a couple of blows. Truly well done."
"Is that…"
Just as he thought that Vesba was finished, the tall giant continued with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Especially after I gave you all those clues to start with."
Lieren's body shivered with a sensation that ran down his entire body like a furious waterfall at the terrifying realization that befell him so suddenly, as though he was struck by lightning on a clear day.
He had been in the man's palm this entire time.
The boy's eyes narrowed with skepticism as he resisted his body's cries of pain, burying them at the back of his mind and keeping them there for the time being.
However, Vesba didn't mind and just turned on his heel and made to leave. He was as tall as he was devious.
Just as he descended the elevated platform, however, he made a look that suggested he remembered something vital but failed to recall until now.
"Oh, yeah. Good job doing this all, and your spar with Feilu, without magic. That's pretty big for a scrawny kid like you," Turning back, he left without saying another word, instead humming a merry tune to himself like a carefree Bard.
Lieren slumped to his back like a puppet without strings, tired as a horse. His entire body was crying with pain and misery. He took the full brunt of that, as well as his heavily-burdened brain's practically steaming surface. He felt his body was being pulled from several direction at once while being weighed on by some divine force.
And yet, he refused to close his eyes.
Looking up at the windows of the Mansion, the boy sighed and got back up on his feet, feeling his entire body break down and rebuild itself over and over again. On a window at the very highest floor sat a robed figure with a beautiful staff, flipping through a book with an indifferent gaze.
"I guess it's time to meet her."
A pained groan escaped his lips as he made his way inside.