Chapter 29: The Beauty and a Conman
In the middle of the training grounds of the Themyscira stood two figures, Marcus and Diana.
Marcus was standing in a relaxed pose as he observed the warrior in front of her, who had supposedly challenged him to a duel.
Marcus being surprised by this development would be an understatement but what made him reserved from accepting the duel was not his abilities but instead her status.
For all intents and purposes, Diana Prince was a demi-god born with Zeus's infidelity, unknown to herself.
Though Marcus had blessings that made him able to wield all sorts of weapons, it was in no way to the peak of mastery like the Sword sage, the almost he had was the no-how enough to an expert level.
Besides that, the only useful thing he had was his mastery in unarmed combat which made him have some confidence and Runemancy, which he had no desire to show possibly to Nyx or Hippolyta stalking him.
If he does desire to take in another blessing, he doesn't know how the Olympia would react if they monitored the island to the appearance of a sudden foreign champion.
Despite Marcus having so many blessings, physically he was only as strong as Steve Rogers which was quite the low bar for a person with a demi-god physique.
'But it is the perfect ground to test me.' he thought.
"Alright, Diana but to make it interesting; how about we put up a wager?"
"Hmm, what would it be?"
"Let's see, hmm...." Marcus muttered rubbing his chin in thought "How about if you win, I'll fulfil your one wish as long as I am able to and if I win, how about a date?"
"Date?" questioned Diana in confusion.
"Oh!" realising their seclusion from society Marcus then explained what a date is, its purpose and usually what it entails.
By the end of the explanation, Diana had a soft blush on her cheeks while a distance away Nyx was laughing at the sombre-faced Hippolyta.
"Oh my~ Looks like he has designs on your daughter Hippolyta. Hahaha"
Hippolyta though, just ignored the Goddess as she observed her daughter like a maiden in love or in the process of being in love.
"Very well!" agreed Diana
"Now pick your choice." she said indicating the rack consisting of all training weapons.
Now, Marcus had the blessing of the War god, meaning that he was proficient in all manners of weapon to at least the Master tier from the Kenichi-verse if taken as a comparison but so was his opponent having several decades of experience under her belt.
Experience V/S Know-how, the answer seemed obvious but was something that cannot be determined at that moment.
Sighing Marcus walked to the rack examining all manners of weapons from mace to swords to spears until his eyes landed on something that he had used for a long time, a very time-space crossing long time.
A Glaive or a Guandao
A glaive or a guandao is a European/Chinese polearm, consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole often referred to as a fusion between a sword and a spear considered to be one of the hardest weapons to master.
Seeing his choice of weapon, Diana was slightly surprised but calmed herself as she questioned his weapon of choice.
"Are you sure?" she asked as she held her sword and shield.
"Never been surer!" Marcus replied swinging his glaive 360 around him on both sides ending it with a side horse stance with his glaive pointed forward.
"Shall we begin!" said Diana who too held her shield up with the sword at shoulder level.
They kept looking each other in the eye for moments that seemed as long as seasons yet a fraction of seconds both finding flaws in their opponent.
Both seemed in a trance making the atmosphere rigid along with the anticipation in the form of beating hearts and the audience's breath held against their wishes as they observed each other's trance, placing of their feet, their breathing rhythm, movements of their hands and everything that helped them gauge their opponents.
For the world, they both seemed frozen in their place but the duo in the situation were already clashing their sword and glaive in their mind calculating their chances and strategies until they both bent slightly and the next moment jumped from their position.
Both ran forward to their opponent with Diana's shield and Marcus's glaive clashing with might and power as Marcus's glaive rebound slightly with Diana tilting her shield as the glaive passed beside her followed by her swing towards Marcus' side.
Marcus, who observed the swing bent sideways along with his glaive towards Diana who jumped up from her position a distance back.
"That was well thought-out." said Marcus standing up-right with his glaive pointing downwards behind his back.
"And you are strong too in respect to your past Kings." complimented Diana.
Without a single more word they again disappeared from their position clashing their sword, glaive and shield, the reverberating sound of their clash ringing in the field as the observers watched in awe, how a man was standing toe to toe with one of their tribe's strongest warrior.
Experiencing and seeing the exchange, the blood amongst the participants and the observers boiled in excitement as they started cheering, some for their Princess and some for the mysterious man.
Many would expect that Marcus having the blessing of a War god should be undefeatable which would be true if not for him clashing against a Demi-god with the possibility of having a War divinity as well.
Diana too was surprised by the exchange between her and the man name Marcus, her heart beating more erratically as time passed as she kept learning about him with each strike.
By now both Marcus and Diana were smiling with wide grins in happiness and excitement for having a fight against such an opponent both tying until Marcus flung her shield away.
Even though Diana had the potential to have divinity in war, Marcus at that moment already had one and thus the spar ended with Marcus' glaive against her throat while her sword was a few inches away from his guts.
The result was clear for the world to see, Marcus had won the duel with a few inches.
A few inches were enough to change someone's life both in a war on a battlefield or in bed. How he approached from now would determine their positions in the future.
Either enemies or soul-mates.
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