Chapter 11: Why does his mother hate him so much?
Daemon raised his hands. Since his face was hidden by his hood, the bandits did not know they were attacking a Dagon.
"Wait, guys." Daemon tried to calm the situation with a steady voice. "You’re making a serious mistake..."
Before he could continue, "We’re not giving anything. If you have the balls, come and take it yourselves!"
Daemon turned his head toward her. Under his hood, his golden eyes expressed deep fatigue. "Master, why do you want your disciple’s death?" he murmured.
Daemon did not have time to think before a blow came rushing toward him. He dodged the first blow by stepping back, but the second bandit, the one with the knife, sent a straight punch into his ribs. Daemon bent in half, coughed, and received a kick to the shin. He fell to his knees.
He tried to defend himself, but his arms were too slow, his reflexes were pathetic no doubt because of years of inactivity. He could not even land a single blow. The third bandit grabbed him by the collar and gave him two punches to the face.
"Stop!" he shouted, but his voice was muffled.
One of the bandits pulled out a knife.
Seeing the situation degenerate, Luna then took out a small metal badge: the blazon of the Sword Clan.
"Shit, this guy is from the Sword Clan!"
They did not think any longer. They released Daemon and fled.
Luna put the badge back in her pocket. Then she crouched in front of Daemon, who was lying on the ground, one hand on his ribs.
"You’re really useless."
Daemon spat a little blood. "Thanks for the support, Master."
"I thought with your physique you had done some sport." Luna shook her head. "You have muscles, but you don’t know how to use them. Even with your chi core blocked, you could still have learned martial arts or the basics, at least... I needed to check your level." Luna held out her hand to him. "Now that I have seen everything you have in your belly, we are going to start by forging your endurance."
Daemon grabbed her hand and stood up grimacing. "You could have just asked." He put a hand to his ribs. "Ahr... it hurts. You know what I think? You’re getting revenge for yesterday."
Luna took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it. She inhaled deeply. "It’s true that I don’t like you." She shrugged. "But that’s not the question. Stop whining. We have a lot of things to do."
***
During the days that followed, Daemon began training under Luna’s orders. Every morning, even before the sun rose, she dragged him out of bed and took him to the manor garden. The garden was a rectangular space bordered by bushes and statues. In the center, a well-maintained lawn served as a training ground.
Luna sat on a stone bench in the shade of a large oak tree. She held a white towel and a gourd. While Daemon ran, did push-ups or chained jumps in place.
"Faster!" she shouted when he slowed down. "You go slower than my grandmother that your Clan assassinated!"
"What’s the connection?"
Daemon panted, his face sweaty, but he obeyed. He wanted to show that he was serious.
In parallel with his physical training, Daemon had undertaken steps with the Alchemy Clan. He had sent an official letter, accompanied by a substantial sum, to order a remedy capable of healing a damaged chi core. The cost was exorbitant: one fifth of the Thirteenth District’s treasure went into this transaction. The steward Mallory had almost had a heart attack when she saw the figures, but Daemon had insisted. He had not given a precise reason, claiming it was an investment for his chi core.
The remedy took time to arrive. The alchemists had to prepare the potion on order, and the ingredients came from the four corners of Hundun. Luna waited impatiently, but she was also secretly satisfied: without someone as rich as Daemon, she would never have had access to such treatment. If she had been injured like that at her beginnings, she would have been abandoned like a useless animal, a bit like what happened years later.
In one week, the training continued relentlessly. Every day brought its share of exercises: endurance runs, jumps, push-ups, sit-ups, and even bare-handed combat sessions where Luna made him fall again and again. Daemon progressed slowly, but he did not complain about the training itself. He complained about the muscle soreness that left him perpetually in pain.
But another symptom began to worry Luna. Daemon often complained about his heart. At first she thought it was a lazy man’s excuse.
When Daemon fell unconscious in the middle of a series of push-ups, Luna knew it was serious. Daemon was then transported to his room, and a doctor was sent for. Steward Mallory arrived running, her face pale.
"This is not the first time." Mallory confessed to Luna in the hallway. "The young master suffers from a heart condition."
Luna frowned. "Why didn’t he tell me?"
"Out of pride, probably." Mallory sighed. "He doesn’t want to be seen as a cripple. He already has enough handicaps like that with his sealed core."
Luna left the hallway and headed toward Daemon’s room.
Daemon was sitting in his bed, shirtless, drinking a glass of water. Seeing Luna enter, he jumped and quickly grabbed a blanket to hide his intimacy.
"Master! You could have knocked!"
Luna looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Stop your simpering." she said in a flat voice. "Come here so I can check something."
"What?"
"I may no longer have my power." Luna approached the bed. "But my Master skills are still there. Let me analyze your chi core."
Luna sat in front of him and placed her palm in the center of his sternum.
The chi core was located in the center of the heart, a convergence point where chi spread throughout the body.
Persephone’s chi was everywhere in Daemon’s body, but it was concentrated around the heart. It was a powerful chi that blocked every energy vein, preventing any external chi from entering.
Luna opened her eyes. "I see." she said in a calm voice. "A Master could never unblock your energy center."
Daemon raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
Luna withdrew her hand. "Only you can unblock it."
Daemon remained silent for a moment. Then smiled. "And to think that I bribed dozens of masters to help me and even organized a dozen engagements..." He shook his head. "When only I could do it. At least, that’s good news."
Luna did not answer.
Daemon saw her expression. She was looking at him with pity.
’Why does his mother hate him so much?’ Luna thought. ’There is something I don’t know about him?’
His smile gradually faded. "Master, what’s going on?"