Chapter 798: In The Library
Chapter 798: In The Library
Because Nyxie handled most of the observation, Liam did not have to sacrifice the rest of his routine. After classes ended each day, he still trained with Mabel. And just like the weeks that had passed before, the training remained trapped in a stagnant circle.He still could not mimic her swordsmanship correctly.
That fact became more obvious the longer he tried. Liam could reproduce certain surface motions from Mabel’s style, but the deeper quality remained out of reach. His copied movements had shape, but not continuity. They carried angles, but not the natural transitions that made her swordwork so difficult to read.
Whenever he tried to force the flow, the motion became stiff. Whenever he tried to relax, it lost structure. When he slowed it down, he could understand pieces. When he sped up, the pieces broke apart.
Mabel found the entire thing more entertaining than she felt guilty admitting.
She had warned him countless times that it would not work. She had explained the limitations, the family nature of the art, the Myst alignment behind it, and the fact that he could not simply observe his way into something built from generations of inherited discipline. She had done her part.
If Liam insisted on continuing, then she was allowed to enjoy the rare sight of him repeatedly failing at something he had chosen for himself.
It was not every day she saw Liam Hunter behave with such childish stubbornness.
That amused her more than it should have.
For a boy who carried too much maturity for his age, who analyzed danger with unnerving calm and spoke about survival, power, and death as if they were practical subjects on a lesson board, this was almost refreshing. He was not breaking himself over vengeance in those moments. He was not dragging old pain behind his eyes. He was not forcing growth out of necessity. He was simply trying to learn something he wanted, refusing to accept failure because failure annoyed him.
Mabel suspected he would not remain stuck forever. Eventually, he would either accept the truth and turn his attention elsewhere or discover some strange workaround that irritated her entire bloodline by existing.
Until then, she watched him fail.
And Liam continued failing.
***
By the first day of the weekend, three days after choosing Marren Voss as his target, the academy had settled into its usual weekend rhythm.
Noon arrived beneath a pale sky and a cold sun that gave light without kindness. The day was not as harsh as the evenings had become, but late autumn still pressed itself against the academy grounds in every breeze that passed between the buildings.
Students filled different parts of the campus according to their priorities.
Some trained because exams were approaching and fear had finally overcome laziness. Some studied in groups, spreading notes and books across every available table they could claim. Others went into Grandeur City with permission, eager to spend a few hours pretending they were not trapped inside a school that considered danger a teaching method.