Chapitre 38: Origins: vs Cadmus

'I'm supposed to fight him barehanded?' Julius' thoughts were running wild from both slight fear and anticipation of the upcoming battle between him and the Dragonslayer. 'It's okay…he's just a mortal. Regardless of his hero status, he is just a mortal too with no godly powers whatsoever – '

Then, before he can finish his internal monologue, Cadmus ran headfirst at him with his spear stretched out to strike his leg. Fortunately for him, he was quick to react on that one and managed to transport himself to the back of his opponent.

Cadmus seemed surprised by his sudden disappearance and appearance, but he did not really look intimidated by this supernatural phenomenon. For goodness sake, he faced off with a dragon before! A neophyte who obviously lacks combat skills is nothing compared to that, even if he has this strange powers.

So Cadmus only momentarily let go of his spear, turned its tip around and caught it again in the middle, before shoving it to the direction where Julius was approximately located without him even properly looking.

Again, that was a close shave for Julius, as it actually hit his stomach area and now his shirt is torn by the shaft of the spear. He was lucky that his abdomen was only lightly grazed, and the bleeding of the wound is only barely noticeable. Still, he must not underestimate Cadmus, especially now that he doesn't seem to be fazed by his teleport abilities.

He stepped back, and his foot made a screeching halt to the ground as faced the back of his opponent. Cadmus did not feel the hit, so he turned around and found Julius glaring daggers at him. He saw that he was able to actually wound his torso, but the boy seems to have really good reflexes to be able to avoid a critical damage that was supposed to terribly injure him.

Now that Cadmus is facing him with a more serious expression, Julius got a closer look at the first King of Thebes, and noted another thing which he can use to possibly outsmart him in this disadvantageous battle. He looked at his weapon – it was a spear about 6 to 7 feet long. That is Cadmus' primary weapon, but at his waist…. he seems to have an extra weapon hidden. A short sword.

No…. it's a…. gladius. A back-up weapon if ever he loses his spear. Julius knows that he won't be getting anywhere with just dodging and running away from Cadmus' advances. He needs to attack too. And he doesn't have a weapon with him which he can use to strike his foe. Then, an idea crept into his mind. 'I must get closer and steal that weapon from him.'

'Well, here goes nothing.' He ran to the sides and Cadmus followed his movements, then out of the blue, Julius shouted, "Bind!" and the thick purple lasso came out from his hands and went after Cadmus.

The Dragonslayer rolled over to avoid the binding magic, much to Julius' disappointment. He actually thought that if only he can immobilize him, even just for a moment, he can creep closer to get the gladius and shove it to his opponent's throat – he doesn't mind killing someone who's already dead in the first place.

Still, that was unexpected for Cadmus. 'So aside from having the ability to bend space, he can attack with binding magic too? Who knows what else he can do? Maybe this young man is no ordinary mortal like I first thought. He is far more formidable than any normal person I've ever faced before when I was still alive.'

"I'll slice you up you little – " Cadmus said as he thrusted his spear forwards aiming for Julius' chest. But Julius disappeared and reappeared right under his reach, kicking his jaw from below.

'Connect, come on.' Julius thought, expecting to hear a loud crunch from Cadmus' jaw after that hard kick. But his opponent is really tough, as he barely budged from the hit, and pushed back the butt of his spear to smack Julius in the back.

Julius coughed out blood from the damage he took, and before Cadmus can deliver another blow, he disappeared again from his position and reappeared several meters away from the Dragonslayer.

In the sidelines, Rexis and Corinna can only look anxiously at the ongoing battle between their friend and the former King of Thebes. On the other hand, the other two divine beings who were watching with them can't seem to take their eyes off Julius. Hades and Hermes were actually wondering how the boy can actually possess these unusual powers and is actually standing up against the legendary Cadmus.

'Is this young man someone's bastard? But who?' Both gods thought.

Julius heaved several deep and heavy breaths, and Cadmus meanwhile, just studied him as if trying to comprehend his abilities in order to learn how to counter it properly. He probably knows he's doing the same assessment to him too.

Cadmus hasn't noticed it yet, but when Julius closed in to him earlier, he was actually able to get his gladius and immediately opened his inventory in the space below to put it inside.

"Oi Cadmus." He said in a taunting tone, and then manipulated the space beside him to drag out the thing he just stole from the hero. "Doesn't this look familiar to you?" He caught the hilt of the gladius and waved it around, just to piss off his opponent. He's awfully cocky that way, even when he plays his sport.

Cadmus was vexed upon realizing that indeed, the gladius he keeps around his waist was stolen by this irksome brat whose flashing him a shit-eating grin and provoking him to attack.

Oh yes, Julius is provoking him to attack. He watched many historical action movies before, and read many fantasy novels too, to know that in order to win against a spearman, you have to engage him in close combat. Though inexperienced when it comes to that, surely, his enhanced Julius v.2.0 version can probably hold out against someone who hasn't fought in ages like Cadmus.

One important thing to keep in mind about spears, javelins, polearms, etc. is that they are very rarely extended to their maximum range, and then only to strike. The rest of the time, one hand (usually the user's off-hand) rests close to the center of balance of the shaft; the other will be near the butt. This applies to Cadmus' more-or-less six-foot-long spear. Rather than thrusting forward with both hands gripping tightly, the normal practice is for the forward hand to aim, the back to provide the power; the shaft slides through the forward hand, which both makes it easier to keep the thrust on a straight course and makes attack and recovery much faster. This also allows to thrust out to the maximum length of the weapon, which is a very troublesome thing for Julius right now.

The primary advantage of a spear is obviously reach. The longer the spear shaft, the more unwieldy or extremely cumbersome it is to maneuver the weapon. But most of all, it's success of use depended on the user's skills. In Julius' opinion, Cadmus' greatest advantage right now is his reach, his skill, and the perfect length of his spear to match his arm-span and height.

While him, it's a big, fat ZERO. Conversely however, for his case, where he is compelled to fight with one weapon in hand, the proper move in this situation is to charge in and try to pin the spear against Cadmus' body… closing range is the only effective tactic against anyone with a significantly longer weapon, no matter what it is.

The only good defense against this is his speed. Here, the length of his stolen gladius becomes far less of a factor: if anything, he wants it short rather than long, since the other guy's doing his best to put himself inside its range anyway. Still, trying to counter opponents wielding an impressive spear would tend to be a mistake he only got to make so many times. He's not about to risk making that mistake, so he carefully strategized his next move.

'I need to get close, but he's on guard.' Julius thought. Cadmus was not leaving him an opening where he can sneak in and teleport. He gripped the hilt of his gladius tighter, and another idea crossed his mind. 'What if I extend my powers to this weapon? That would be better, I think.' So he did it, and his ominous purple aura now coated the gladius. 'Let's see what this can do, shall we?'

The next thing that happened was Cadmus lunging forward for another direct attack. But in Julius' mind, 'A spear wielder should never be "rushing in" for a kill' and that's exactly what the other guy wants to do. 'You are making a mistake, Cadmus. The spearman should be trying to maintain his distance.'

When the tip of the weapon almost sliced his head off, Julius moved faster than the wind and dodged the pointed end of that stick, and now it's his time to launch his first counterattack. He swung his glowing gladius from below, and it connected with Cadmus' arm.

A long slash wound appeared, and black liquid oozed from it. Cadmus screamed in pain, and his arm, which was buff before, slowly shrank and lost its vitality. Similar to what happened with the Fury earlier, it aged, until it reached his fingertips, which now looked like an old man's.

Rexis and Corinna watched from the shadows, amazed, while Hades and Hermes could only look in utter disbelief. 'What kind of power does this young man hold?'