Liam stood by the window, staring outside before walking over to the mirror. As he looked at his reflection, he noticed that his right eye had turned black.
"So unfair..." he muttered under his breath, cursing his luck.
His mind wandered back to the events of the day.
"So, Mordo, are we fighting hand-to-hand, or are we allowed to use weapons?" Liam had asked, a cocky grin on his face.
Mordo, still smiling, responded, "Use whatever you like. I'll be using my staff." He reached for a wooden staff as he spoke.
Following his lead, I grabbed a wooden sword. As I walked back, I heard Mordo taunting me.
"Ohoh, of course a boy your age would go for a sword. Are you sure you can handle swinging that properly?"
Facing him, I noticed a portal appearing some distance away. Out stepped the Ancient One, probably here to watch the match. Distracted for just a moment, I noticed Mordo charging at me, a grin on his face as he thrust his staff towards my unguarded stomach.
But I'd left that opening on purpose, knowing he would take the bait. As his staff came toward me, I parried the strike with ease, throwing him off balance. I immediately followed up with a quick stab toward his ribs, but he recovered fast, using the back end of his staff to deflect my sword to the right. Seizing the momentum, I spun and aimed a kick at his exposed left knee. He barely managed to get his staff between my kick and his leg, then instantly backed off.
"So you do know how to fight. Impressive," Mordo said, clearly surprised.
"I'm surprised you managed to keep up," I replied, genuinely impressed since my physical strength and speed were above that of a normal human.
"You're stronger than most humans, I'll give you that. But strength and speed aren't everything. Here at the Sanctum, we train our reaction times and mental processing to superhuman levels. If it weren't for that, I would've likely lost already."
Seeing an opportunity to taunt him, I couldn't resist. "Weren't you about to lose, old man? All this talk about skill, but where's the proof?"
I saw a vein pop on Mordo's forehead as he put on an annoyed smile. "Let's continue. It'll get serious now," he said, clearly irritated.
Mordo took a stance and waited for me to make the first move. Why not? I thought, and moved in closer. As I approached, he swung his staff diagonally at my left shoulder. I gripped my sword tightly and blocked it, letting the staff slide off my blade as I took another step forward. This time, Mordo didn't have enough power behind his strike, and I easily knocked his staff aside. With the staff recoiling behind him, I leaned in to slash at his midsection, but Mordo quickly used the momentum of the recoil to backflip out of range.
"Impressive," I heard him say.
Mordo took the offensive next, closing the distance and sending rapid thrusts toward my body. I stepped back, dodging each one. I knew his attacks would miss, so I started building strength for my next swing, one that would disarm him and win me the fight. But just as I prepared to strike, Mordo's staff suddenly increased in length and hit me square in the eye.
I stumbled back, clutching my face as Mordo smirked.
"Always be ready for the unexpected. You can never let your guard down in a real fight," he said, his grin widening.
"You said no magic," I complained, clearly irritated by his cheap move. 'He's just making excuses because he didn't want to lose,' I thought. 'How childish.'
"Never trust what your enemy says—that's rule number one in a fight," Mordo responded, the smirk never leaving his face.
"What bullsh—" I started, "This was just a spar. You're not an enemy."
Mordo pretended not to hear me and began walking away. "Take a rest, Liam. Later, we'll work on basic spell circle creation," he said, his voice carrying a smug satisfaction.
"Petty a**," I muttered as I sat down, still irritated.
----
As Mordo approached the Ancient One, he couldn't help but mutter, "He's strong. His martial skills with the sword and hand-to-hand combat are highly advanced for someone his age... what a monster."
When he reached the Ancient One, she asked with a gentle smile, "So, what do you think of him?"
"He's good. Slightly arrogant, but he's got the ability to back it up," Mordo replied.
"Is that why you had to play dirty against him?" she asked, her tone light but pointed.
"Dirty? I don't know what you mean," Mordo said, feigning innocence. "I was just teaching him the importance of awareness in battle."
The Ancient One chuckled, then grew more serious. "Keep training him. He has immense potential, but there are still many great threats to his life."
With that, she opened a portal and stepped through, leaving Mordo to reflect on her words.
"Great threats to his life, huh..." Mordo mused, wondering what she meant.
----
After the rest of the training session wrapped up, Liam returned to his room, still holding an ice pack over his bruised eye. After checking in with his grandpa over the phone, he settled back down to continue reading the theory on Eldritch Constructs.
"Next time, I'll surprise him with magic," Liam thought, a determined grin crossing his face. "Let's see if he can still keep up the smirking then."