Chapter 11: Strength vs. Skill

"Begin!"

Doevm walked forward, his spear and his body completely still but his feet moving. When he got close enough, he stabbed, aiming for the heart. Frey stepped out of range and knocked the spear away. He took a defensive underhand stance while Doevm took an offensive overhand one. They exchanged a few more hits, standing completely still.

Jameson yawned: "Frey, I bet picking the roses is more entertaining than this. Pick up the pace!" Frey grunted, then changed to an overhand stance. He raised his spear. It was like a mountain descending on a pebble. Doevm blocked the hit, but his arms couldn't take it, and he dropped his spear. He tried to jump back, but Frey was quicker. One second Doevm was jumping, the next he woke up in the flowerbed. He lay down for a bit, grabbing at the flowers. "That's one to Frey. Doevm, go get your spear." Doevm shambled out, holding his bruised head. He picked up his spear and made a show of leaning on it. "Get into a stance!" Jameson roared. Doevm followed orders, but his spearhead shook.

"Just give it up," Frey said. "I don't want to hurt you. Just wait until you're older to join. What's a few years anyway?"

When Doevm smiled. His teeth were covered in blood: "You can take your pity and your spear and," he paused to take a breath. "Shove it up your ass."

Frey got into an overhand stance and took a step forward. "Very well. I'll try not to injure you any further."

"Begin!"

Frey ran forward, but Doevm was faster. The fatigue slipped away from him as well as his spear. It hurtled towards Frey, who rolled away. Before he could return to his stance, Doevm curled up like a spring and launched straight into his balls. Frey curled up like every other man within a five-mile radius. Doevm grabbed his man bun like a handle, shoved his face in the ground, and put him into an arm-lock

Before Frey could struggle, Jameson said, "Enough, you're not allowed to break any limbs. Pick up your spears and get in a stance. The score is one to one."

"The Worm's got some skill." A guard yelled out.

"Jameson you cheat, what did you teach him? I think he just wants to extort money from us."

"Quiet," Jameson said. "I didn't teach him anything. Third round, begin."

The opponents didn't charge forward this round. They circled each other, searching for weak points. The disadvantage of a spear was that it was easy to tell where your opponent was aiming. Doevm knew his head was targeted so he shifted his hands to be closer together. Frey must have seen something because he charged forward and let out a war cry. When he got close enough, a ball of dirt and flowers was thrown in his eyes. As he reeled back, he blindly swung his spear. Doevm ducked under and stabbed at empty air.

He grabbed onto Doevm's spear and mumbled, "There you are." Using Doevm's own spear as a guide, he punched. Doevm could only block but got knocked back. Frey wiped the dirt out of his eyes and threw both spears away. He got into a wrestler's stance. He crouched low with one leg and hand forward and the rest back. Doevm got low as well, but had his fists curled up like his lips.

"Stop smiling, you look like an idiot!" Jameson said. "You look like you're enjoying getting your ass kicked." Frey and Doevm didn't hear him. The adrenaline drowned everything out. To them, they were the only ones who mattered. They took a few tests of each other, just like the first round. Frey got in close and Doevm countered. Doevm got in close and Frey pushed him back. The yard was silent apart from the occasional grunt or hit.

Doevm had the patience of an Undead, but Frey was still a child. He charged in with a kick. Doevm ducked and feinted for Frey's balls. Frey covered the remains of his dignity and Doevm spat in his face. Frey didn't panic and stood still. He didn't wipe the spit because he expected a counter. He waited, and waited, and waited, but he was still impatient and wiped the spit off.

"Frey, duck!" someone yelled, and Frey rolled to the side. A spearhead flew by his ear. Doevm kept his assault up and Frey dodged. He got scraped, but those didn't count in the duel. Doevm stabbed over and over again only to reach skin. Frey weaved back and forth, getting closer as he did. Doevm stepped back as Frey got closer. Guards had to move around so they wouldn't interfere.

Their limbs screamed at them to stop and slowed down. The adrenaline was wearing off. Each stab felt like a shard of Hank's alcohol bottle to Doevm's arms. Each duck felt like a punch in the balls to Frey's legs. People closed in and cheered to continue, but Jameson shut them up. A few servants in the mansion stopped to look. On the top floor, Thomas looked down and called for Reginald to look.

Finally, one of the two made a mistake. Doevm's foot slipped on the sweaty ground. Frey closed in. Doevm brought his spear back and broke it on his knee. With the two shards, he aimed for Frey's head. Frey had his hand flat, ready to chop Doevm's windpipe.

"That's enough," Jameson raised his hands. "Frey wins two and wins the battle as a whole." Both competitors fell to the ground gasping for air.

"Sorry...I called...you weak," Frey gasped. "You're pretty tough for a worm." He stuck a sweaty hand forward.

"It's ok...I am weak." Doevm coughed. "That's why...I didn't just...use my spear. I can't shake your hand though; I can't move my arms."

"What?" A guard asked, "Why does Frey win?"

Jameson looked at them and shook his head: "Did you guys forget about the bet, you just won money off me?" The guards laughed but continued their complaints. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you. Doevm did break his weapon and had the pieces ready to stab through Frey if needed, but he was out of stamina for his arms. He couldn't move them if he wanted to. Frey, on the other hand, still had strength left in his arms. He could have ended the fight there, so I declared him a winner."

"Guess I'll have to try again." Doevm rolled to his feet and started back towards the mansion.

"Where are you going recruit?" Jameson asked.

"I-I'm a guard?" Doevm asked, wondering if Jameson had the memory of a goldfish.

"Yeah, I never said you had to pass the test." Jameson laughed and turned to his ninety-eight men. "This is the newest recruit. You guys already know Worm, so I don't have to introduce him." All his men laughed except the one doing push-ups under him. "And you, never call out to someone in the middle of live combat. You single-handedly lost me my money, so you're going to cover my losses."

The man groaned and kept his pace. "Training is over for today. Hit the baths." The guards left, but Doevm followed behind Jameson.

"I have some questions," Doevm said. "Do you mind answering a couple?"

"I'll inform Lord Reginald, and you'll be moved to the guards' quarters," Jameson said as he handed Doevm a note. "Just give this to him and he'll understand."

"No, not those, why does everyone keep calling me Worm?" Doevm asked.

Jameson pointed to the library, "It's short for bookworm. You've been staring at us all this time, but we can see you in there every day." He patted Doevm on the shoulder and left.

Doevm smiled and wobbled back to his broom closet. He opened and closed his fists. His face changed through various expressions when it landed on a smile. 'This,' he thought as he held up a tired arm. 'This is what I was longing for. All this suffering, acting every day, reincarnating, it was all worth it just for this one battle, and now I get to fight even more. I'm the happiest Lich I've ever been.' His eyes flashed a tint of green. 'It's my own life essence.' It was so faint he could easily dismiss it as grass stains, but he had life essence now. 'Arthur, I want to spar with you again. I wonder how you're doing in this life. I wonder how strong we'll both get. I can't wait until I beat you for the first time ever.' He got in his room and had the best sleep he ever had.

Meanwhile, on the third story of the mansion, Thomas got slapped on the back of his head. "Father, I don't understand, what's so great about watching the commoners fight? They don't have as much resources as we do, so they can't get as strong as us." Thomas's chubbiness didn't go away, although he didn't have enough to be called fat. He was now a head shorter than his father.

"Look at them, they were amazing," Reginald said. "They gave it everything they had, but what if Doevm was stronger? He used the environment, he played dirty, and nearly won because of it. That's thinking outside the box. You're just doing what I'm telling you to do. Think for yourself. You're a meathead right now. You need to get stronger not just physically, but mentally. Again."

Thomas sat down, crossed his legs, and cleared his mind. He pictured the fight and replayed it. He imagined himself as Doevm, then as Frey. He imagined how tired they must have been to collapse after the fight. "Doevm played dirty, he smiled, he enjoyed the fight, he shook hands afterwards, what's different? He just..." He trailed off. "That arm lock!"

Reginald nodded, "Finally, you see it. Doevm didn't just learn the spear, he also learned bare-handed techniques."

"I see," Thomas nodded. "But what does learning how to fight with my hands have to do with anything? That's not significant, I'm already learning that."

"It's not significant to us," Reginald said, "But it's significant for Doevm. Think, use that empty head. How does Doevm know how to fight using his hands? The guards only practice their spear techniques in the open. They practice the rest in their facilities. How did Doevm know how to do the arm lock?"

"I don't know," Thomas shrugged. "I thought he was taken in at four, so he couldn't have learned beforehand."

"I don't know either, and that's why he's dangerous."