Tales of the Old World Demon Lord

Chapter 15 – Insurmountable

[Eternum Calendar 1971]

“Kuh… Dammit! This is absurd, how is it possible that I cannot land even a single hit?!”

About an hour had passed since the fight between Morgant and Yvonne started, yet even after all this time Yvonne was unable to connect a single hit. Conversely she had been thrown across the field so many times that the battle arena no longer resembled what it had originally started off as. Bloodied and beaten, she refused to give up until she could land just one hit on her unreachable foe.

Morgant sighed as he shook his head. Not even a single bead of sweat was produced from this entire farce as he stood arrogantly and with a unsatisfied smile on his face. He managed to counter, dodge and parry every single one of Yvonne’s attacks which only made it easier for him as she struggled to get up after each time.

“It’s no use; no matter how many times you try you will never be able to land a single hit on me. Like I’ve said, ‘perfection’ isn’t something you can attain merely by ‘determination’ or ‘trying’ hard enough.”

Morgant taunted at her more and with each words they stabbed at her pride.

“S- Shut up.”

Wiping the blood off the corner of her mouth Yvonne focused her vision. As a progeny of the elite Vampire race her powers were heightened by the fall of night. Enhanced physical prowess, night vision and senses; on paper she shouldn’t have been struggling against a seven year old human child, especially during night. Despite this, no matter how many times she rushed at him, he effortlessly able to match her speed and power, reflecting all of her attacks and pummeling her to the ground each time.

At this point it didn’t even matter how minor the damage was, all she wanted to do was put a single scratch on him. She had long forgone the elegance of using her weapon as it lay stuck on the ground, neglected as she started to rely more on her physical properties as a Vampire. Her eyes glowed a deep crimson as she readied herself to rush once more.

“O- oi, Yvonne… Don’t you think you've tried enough? You’re clearly outmatched; just give up.”

Francisco warned from the sidelines, getting worried about his acquaintance’s wellbeing. Even Morgant was starting to agree with him that she should be giving up right about now. However despite his protests she wouldn’t give up; this was a matter of pride and to a Vampire there was nothing greater.

“I can’t… not now.”

She dashed in at breakneck speeds once more, kicking up a dust cloud from behind her. ‘This time…’ she thought to herself as she readied her fists to strike at the enigmatic human child known as ‘Morgant’. However, even with her superior speed and physical abilities, by the time she got into striking range he was no longer even there. Or rather it wasn’t her that got into striking distance but that she was running into his. Morgant never threw a direct assault, what he did instead was use various grappling techniques to throw her off balance and let the ground and gravity do most of the damage.

This time too was no exception. Her attacks failed to connect and Morgant grabbed her by the collar and used her own momentum to throw her towards the ground. A large quake followed by the cracking of the ground ended the exchange.

“Kuh!”

As she hit the ground more blood spewed from her mouth. Morgant wasn’t exactly going easier on her either and the result of that was a one sided fight. Perhaps that fact was the impetus that allowed her to struggle this hard; because the enemy also wasn't holding back she believed that if she could overcome this brief moment she could get an advantage over him.

However no matter how hard or how many times she tried it was an impossible feat; Morgant was to her an insurmountable foe. It was this fact that didn't make sense to her, 'why?' she asked herself. Logically speaking the situation should have been reversed, she was a lot older, had more experience and training, yet she was easily thrown apart despite this.

She grit her teeth and slammed the ground with her bloodied fists.

"Why?"

Still laying on the ground she asked Morgant. For her to ask this question meant that it was finally gotten through to her that she would never land a hit on him. Biting her pride she asked for an explanation, to which, after seeing her desperate expression Morgant happily obliged.

"You see the reason why there is such a huge disparity in our skills is because of experience and training. I don't mean me, I mean that you have too much experience that you've locked yourself into a preconceived notion of how fights are supposed to operate. You rely one your intuition and training more than anything to predict my movements. While that in and of itself is fine against ordinary opponents, I wish that you didn't treat me the same other people."

Yvonne stood with an exasperated expression, what he was saying was the complete opposite of common knowledge. Having too much 'experience' was her flaw? How could that even be possible?

"I guess it can't be helped that you still don't get it. Then I'll start from the basics, what 'training', or in other words numerous repeated action really does for your body. They create brain shortcuts known as 'reflexes' and build muscle structure in a certain way to maximize efficiency in that particular action. Then let me explain what 'reflexes' are: they are essential shortcuts for the brain to take to allow immediate action without thought; for when you need to take an action but don't have time to think about making. Your body automatically takes the action that you've 'trained' your body to execute through those numerous repetition."

"..."

Yvonne felt a little robbed as she listened to Morgant's explanation. Her life dedicated to training and constantly improving herself was being broken down to a basic science, but the worst of it was the fact that the art she devoted her life to was being exploited and used against her.

Morgant continued.

"For the most part it's these kinds of involuntary actions that allow you to read an opponent's next move; prediction. However if you've notice I don't have any of these 'reflexes' because I'm a complete amateur. That being said, my movements may not have any physical advantage to them but I do try to exert a bit of psychological pressure; taunting, flamboyant poses and a general mocking attitude. All of them help limit and control the opponent's thoughts and actions."

"Then even more so because you don't have any experience, how could you predict my movements so perfectly?!"

Yvonne shouted in an accusatory manner. She understood what he was saying but refused to admit that he could see those movements when he was an amateur himself; reading other's movements was an ability one should only gain through experience.

"What you fail to understand is that there is more than one method of prediction. Most fighters probably use an intuition-based prediction technique utilizing their experience as reference. However another way is through pure deductive logic."

"What? What's that even supposed to mean?"

Smiling, Morgant pointed towards his own head.

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"[Enhanced Kinetic Vision], you see this is the ability that differentiates me from everyone else. My brain can process information at a much greater speed than normal people, effectively allowing me to see and experience the world in slow motion. From there it's a simple deduction; when you throw a punch your shoulders move. A kick? your chest. Preparing to dash? Your neck. Like this your body is all interconnected revealing minute signals beforehand which allows me to see your next movement as clear as day."

"That's... but if that's true then there's no physical way you could ever be defeated."

It wasn't Yvonne who spoke those words but Francisco who had been watching the entire thing play out. Having witness such a one sided battle on the side of a seven year old human child, he was just about to believe anything but this was a little hard to take in. If he knew one thing it was that every strategy is supposed to have a weakness... is what he had thought up until that point. 'Perfection...' Morgant had spoken something about it, 'could it be?'

"That is not entirely correct, with enough speed it is possible to overcome my Kinetic Vision, not only that but I am also vulnerable to sensory type magic. Weaknesses exist everywhere and in everyone, it's only a matter of having the talent to conceal them."

After a brief moment of reflection to herself Yvonne eventually stood up, dusted off the dirt on her body and calmly walked over to Morgant. The fight had ended with her eventual acceptance of her defeat. It was a small but noticeable change that had bloomed inside Yvonne; the entire point of this little battle, she felt she could understand it now. 'It seems that it's necessary to change your perspective beforehand' those words rang thusly in her mind. She clenched her fists, infuriated and mortified that she had to go through such embarrassing tribulations but the prize for her broken and beaten pride was the growth of her understanding.

"The nature of people should always be subjected to scrutiny and suspicion... was it? Just like this boy... If I had never even bothered to ask I would never have guessed what kind of monster he was. Is that what you wanted to say?"

Glancing towards Francisco's direction Yvonne asked with a defeated sigh.

"Certainly the boy's strength was beyond even my own imagination but yes. Like this even the most unlikely of people can hide great secrets. Scrutinize their character; if they are true to their words then move on, but if they are truly hiding terrible secrets then you've just saved yourself a load of incoming headaches."

Yvonne gazed towards the cold darkness, taking a deep breath, she gave in to their words. Certainly Yvonne would have preferred to trust in the words and honesty of her hometown's residents but the world would never be so kind as to let her be so naïve. For the sake of their own safety and everyone else's, she needed to play the devil's advocate and question their true allegiances.

...

"So then boy, you said you've come to me to form an alliance to figure out the rat in hiding. Was that it?"

Francisco asked as he rummaged through the supply closet in his office for some medical instruments. While the damage that Yvonne suffered wasn't enough to require serious medical attention, being some bruises and small cuts all over the place, it was still a good idea to treat it.

"Yes."

After the three had composed themselves they decided to proceed with the main conversation. They had returned to the Longmoore Trading post to discuss the main topic at hand; the issue regarding the formation of their alliance and about locating the traitor hiding amongst their numbers. That being said Francisco had one more question to ask Morgant.

"The fact that you're forming an alliance with me specifically, I take it that means you've already crossed me out as a potential suspect then?"

Morgant who without hesitation sat in Francisco's chair gave a small nod as he answered.

"Of course I cannot say with a hundred percent certainty that you aren't the culprit, but you and Yvonne are definitely the least likely. More so now with everything that's happened."

Hearing his answer Francisco briefly ceased treating Yvonne who was quietly laying down on the sofa listening to the conversation. He then placed his hand on his chin and contemplated for a moment. He didn't even have to ask how Morgant knew what went on during the conference, most likely he used that undetectable stealth technique to eavesdrop. At the very least they were all on the same page and had the same goals in mind.

"Care to explain to this old man the logic behind choosing me? Though our meeting has been brief I can confidentially deduce what kind of character you possess. Taking that into consideration I don't think that merely being the 'least likely' is your true motivation in your choice."

From the beginning, Francisco had detected a certain disparity in this situation, specifically it was with the information that was being exchanged between Morgant and himself. The only thing Morgant should have known about him was what was already known to the public. Yet despite this Morgant revealed quite a lot about himself, his personalities, his capabilities and his short term motives. For any merchant this would have been a good thing but for some reason Francisco couldn't help but feel that something was a bit off.

Noticing his discomfort Morgant grinned as he turned to answer his question.

"Does it make you feel uncomfortable to not know what kind of game I'm playing at? Though I've revealed quite a bit of myself already you're still trying to figure out my true character aren't you? The real question you should be asking yourself is how much of what I told you is real. Well, we'll have to put that matter on hold for another time."

Francisco sighed as he resumed to treat Yvonne. With some of the cuts being in 'odd' places his hand natural gravitated towards some risqué areas, with Yvonne gently moaning as he touched them. Though that being said Francisco didn't particularly feel much from such an intense situation as those places weren't tender at all. None of it was the same as touching a woman, instead all he felt was the contours of an impressive muscle structure, in fact it was more akin to touching another man.

Trying to stray his mind away from it he replied to Morgant's comment.

"Very well then I'll stop dancing around the topic and ask you directly. Knowing you, it would've been more advantageous to simply investigate from the shadows yet by revealing yourself to us you could have potentially jeopardized the success of this witch hunt. Indeed your undetectable stealth and unexpected strength would offer more than I ever could if you had operated discreetly. So then tell me, what is it you want from me that you would risk that much?"

Morgant leapt up from Francisco's chair and slowly walked up to him. As Francisco was crouched down to bandage Yvonne they were able to meet eye to eye. Once again Morgant flashed a motive filled grin...

"I was hoping this arrangement could become something a little more permanent. You see... I was just in the process of searching for a capable adjutant."