The God of Gravity part 1: Demigod District

Enzo Returns

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*

The blockade went on for a month, and the Olympian troops under the command of Hilde are still on standby. The navy continued to look on their radar around the coasts of the Taiyo region. For a month, nothing happened. The five deployed gods haven't found a threat or any unusual movements. This disturbed Hilde as she waited for Enzo to return to the ship. She stood with her hands behind her back, at the edge of the flight deck towards the South East - where the Island of Taiyo sits on the horizon. John approached her from behind.

"Lady Hilde," he said. "nothing happened this past month since we started the blockade, the citizens of Taiyo are feeling enraged."

She turned to look at him, the morning winter sun that rose from the east silhouetted her mighty stature. She said, "I don't give a damn about their feelings," she scoffed.

He was about to say something but changed his mind. He fell silent for a moment as she turned her gaze towards the horizon. Her red armor reflected the sunlight, and her black cape flailing with the sea breeze. Then she sees something flying in the distance, just above the horizon. It's closing in fast to their direction.

Then someone spoke from John's radio on his chest: "Captain! We have a bogey!"

"What?" he exclaimed. "Take it down, asap!"

"Calm down, captain," said Hilde. "That's Enzo." She then returned to the island as the captain ordered his men that it was a false alarm.

Enzo approached the ship in mach3, riding a griffin. The sailors watched in awe as the griffin slowed down as it approached the flight deck. A powerful sonic boom and a scream of the griffin were heard before he landed. As soon as he got off, the griffin immediately flew back to his master at the mainland Taiyo. Enzo walked through the crowd of humans looking at him in awe, and he didn't care.

"Did you find anything?" asked Hilde as he entered the top floor of the island.

"Nothing, my lady," said Enzo. She frowned as she is sitting at the table that was recently made up for them. "But I am working on a speculation on how they covered up the Miyamoto incident."

"Is that so? Then tell me." She gestured for him to sit with her.

"Thank you, my lady," he said as he sat on the opposite chair. "I investigated the men who first saw the wiped-out clan. They were a squad of four, and they were human agents from the Taiyo Intelligence Department. I too, had doubts about their loyalty as to why they only reported the incident just recently while the bodies are three weeks dead. But they weren't lying about everything. We even had a lie detector working on them, and they definitely are telling the truth."

"But they are agents," she said. "they are trained how to lie against a lie detector."

"They had their evidence to prove that they weren't lying. They have these pictures of the Miyamoto people that they took every day," she gave her an envelope of pictures and she looked at them. "The head of the intelligence has confirmed that these pictures are untampered. There have been a series of testimony about it, and they have confirmed that they are telling the truth."

She nodded with her hands clasped on the table. "So what's your speculation?"

"There is another god during the incident."

Her eyes widened. "How can you prove that it isn't just one god?"

"I still don't know. That is why it is just speculation."

"Very well, at least it gives us a direction."

"Also, I need permission to return to Olympus."

"Why?"

"I need to search in the archives for the different powers that could've been used to cover up this whole incident so that we might get an idea of what kind of enemy we are facing."

"Why not just call Seok? He's a walking encyclopedia."

"I tried, and he said he's the 'God of Wisdom,' but not a 'God of Knowledge.' Also, I have tried to ask him a favor to search on my behalf, but he said that he is the secretary of the whole Realm, thousands of paperwork are waiting for him in his office every day."

"That cheeky bastard," she said in a frown, but regain composure after a second. "Alright. Since we are dealing with a god, there's a chance that the enemy might be a god from Olympus, so we can't just ask anyone about it."

"You're thinking that too?"

"Just a hunch, so keep a low profile about your intentions for now."

"I will, my lady," he said as he stood up. "I'll send you a word if I found something then I will immediately return."

She nodded, and he went on his way.

*

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"Alrighty, one more time!" I said to myself as I took my stance. Doing it for a thousand times, I don't need to think about the steps but do it. I delivered a punch to the boulder, and it split in half as my fist went an inch deep into it.

I nodded in satisfaction. I looked at the place, and every boulder is destroyed. There are over forty boulders here, and I lost count exactly how many there are. The first time I did it successfully was six days ago. Then I've been refining it until I do it consecutively, but I needed to rest every time I try. It took me a while to successfully do it consecutively three times. Thanks to my recovery medicine, my stamina got better, so I am rolling today, and I destroyed five consecutive boulders in one-hour intervals. It really is a hard technique, but now I got it! The natural strength that I have acquired through intensive training has been doubled by the Dimensional Touch. I can say I have become stronger, but not enough. The King of Olympus is a million times stronger than this. I need to become stronger!

After I regain my strength, I'll try destroying that big boulder near the rocky hill. I sat under a tree to protect myself from the hot spring sun. I am sweating, and dust is sticking to me. Phew!

Then there is Lord Enzo with that usual landing. The wind blew the dust cloud to me, and I can't avoid it. Now my whole body is covered with dirt. It's been a while since I saw Lord Enzo.

"Good afternoon, Lord Enzo!" I said as I cleaned myself.

He nodded and looked around the vicinity. "You finally mastered it already?"

"Yes!" I said proudly (how could I not?).

"You're quite a fast learner, aren't you?"

"No, I had difficulty."

"We mastered this for a whole year, and you did it in two months."

"It's because I have a good teacher!" I said while bowing down.

"Okay, now all you have to do is pull another by doing each step as twice as strong."

I had a hard time with just one, and doing it twice as strong will be as twice as hard. But if I managed to pull another, I will have thrice the strength.

I nodded while touching my chin.

"That training will be up to you because I don't have much time. The last thing I will teach you will be Demigod Martial Arts, but it's similar to Human Martial Arts, so I will just point out the differences."

I felt excited.

"Most fights can be won without using all you've got. But before that, let me see your stance."

I took a stance. I'm southpaw, so I have my right foot forward as to how my father taught me.

"So you're a southpaw?" he said while assessing my stance. "Who taught you the basics?"

"My father, he is a human MMA fighter."

"Oh, good. Now I can skip the basics."

"It's the same with Demigod Martial Arts?"

"Kind of, but you will be dealing with opponents in an unrestricted battle. There will be no rules, so the flexibility of style and mind is needed for you to win. In humans, you fight using less space even if it is not in a ring. In demigods and gods, it includes the terrain of the Earth in miles of distances."

Oh right, most of them can fly, like this guy.

"The first thing for you to understand is when to fight. Remember all of the things I say."

"Yes, sir!" I pulled my small notebook from my pocket with a short pencil. I wrote everything he said.

"Assess the situation before fighting, by asking these questions to yourself: Is it necessary to fight? Where are we now? Are there innocent people who will get caught up if we fight here? Your job as a demigod or a god is to protect your people. Your fight is meaningless without a reason why you are fighting. And fighting while the people you have to protect are gonna get caught up in it, is good as meaningless. You have to force or lure the enemy out into an uncrowded place to fight."

In short, it is fighting at the right time and place. Okay, I'll take note of that.

"Next is, knowing your enemy. You fight different people, and it calls you to be flexible with your fighting style. Is the enemy fast and strong? How many are there? Is the enemy a god? What kind of power does the enemy have? How can I avoid getting beaten by him? What moves will he pull to beat me? How can I counter those? Depending on the context, you might have to try a different style of fighting. Just like how I fought with the God of Heat. I can't get close to him, so instead, I used my flying punch to push him to the water, and drowned him there."

Knowing the enemy, just like what my father taught me, okay....

"The last thing is that you only think of these things before the action. During a battle, you will only have an instinct on your side. Thinking of those things during a fight will only distract you, so you need to engrave them into your instincts."

This is what my father said. He said that everything he planned before the fight, are destroyed once he enters the ring, then just let his instincts guide him.

"I guess your father taught you those things as well, didn't he?"

Oh, he knows. "Uhh... Yes, sir."

"Thanks to your father, you spared some time. I saw your punches and your forms. They are proper and precise. All you have to do is experience what it is like to fight a demigod. Go find someone to fight."

"What?" I exclaimed. "I can't just walk anywhere and taunt people to fight!"

"Even so, you have to," he said as he turned to walk to his tent. "The tournament is a month away, and you will have to experience how to fight a demigod, or you'll be annihilated on the Coliseum."

"Coliseum?"

"You will fight in front of thousands of demigods, and there might be gods too."

"Woah...."

"Yeah, 'Woah,' so don't be pathetic in front of everyone. Go find someone to fight." He entered his tent.

Who could be in this district I could ask?