Chapter 90: One Clean Takedown

Liam wrote his name beneath Alexandra’s, then drew a line down the middle of the page. On his side, he listed the equipment, the money he was prepared to put into the work, and the things he wanted to help develop. Alexandra watched until he reached the power cell, then stopped his pencil with one finger.

“That needs its own page.”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t know what it is yet. I don’t want everything else depending on whether we manage to understand your mysterious little box.”

Liam glanced at the cell, then crossed it off the list. She was right. They could build another recorder tomorrow using parts they knew how to replace. They couldn’t build another Divine Reserve Cell because he had decided it belonged in a business proposal. He put the research project on a separate sheet and returned to the work they had actually done.

They disagreed over how much Alexandra could manage alongside her classes, then disagreed again when she suggested a schedule that barely left her time to sleep. Liam reminded her that hiring somebody was supposed to reduce the work, not give her another person to supervise after midnight.

“You’re also in college,” she said.

“I know. They keep sending me assignments.”

“Then stop writing down things we can supposedly do every day.”

By the time they finished, both sides of the page had corrections. They had a starting point for the ownership discussion, a rough budget, and a list of decisions neither intended to make alone. Nothing was signed. Alexandra folded her copy into her notebook while Liam photographed the other and sent Daniel a message asking for an introduction to someone who could help them form the company.

Alexandra would arrange her own advice.

Before leaving, Liam disconnected the cell and put it away. She kept the test results, along with three questions written so heavily that the pencil had nearly torn the paper.

“Next time, bring answers.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“That means you don’t have any.”

“It means I’m leaving before you give me homework.”

She smiled and pointed toward his bag.

“You already have homework.”

Clara’s chair turned out to be an armchair wide enough that Liam could sit in it without feeling as though he had borrowed furniture from a child. It stood near the living-room window, still partly wrapped in protective plastic. He looked at it, then at the place she wanted it moved.

It was less than six feet away.

“You waited for me to do that?”

“I wanted to see where it looked better.”

“You can lift it.”

“I know.”

Clara stood beside the window with her hands behind her back, smiling in a way that made it clear she had understood his complaint and wasn’t especially troubled by it. Liam shook his head, lifted the chair, and placed it where she pointed. She considered it for several seconds before asking him to turn it slightly.

Then slightly the other way.

‘I’ve fought a man with a cursed sword. Apparently, this is what finally defeats me.’

He put it down a third time and sat in it before she could reconsider. Clara laughed and came closer, testing the armrest with one hand before settling across his lap. Liam caught her waist as the remaining plastic made an unpleasant noise beneath them.

“There. Perfect.”

“For you?”

“For both of us.”

She leaned back against him and looked through the window. The apartment had slowly stopped feeling like a place they were borrowing. There were books on the table, shoes she insisted belonged near the door, and a blanket he recognized from the night before hanging over the couch. Liam rested his chin near her shoulder while she explained where a small lamp would go.

He let her finish before mentioning the company.

Clara listened, then turned enough to look at him.

“Alexandra asked for part of it?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“You answered that quickly.”

“She’s always working on those things.”

Liam smiled.

“That’s what she said.”

Clara shifted closer, then caught his wrist when he reached for his phone.

“You can build a company tomorrow. Sit here.”

He left the phone where it was.

For the next half hour, the chair stayed exactly where she wanted it.

Lin arrived at the warehouse on Saturday with the mats beneath one arm and a bag in the other. Liam checked the bag before he could help himself. Lin noticed and opened it, revealing water, a towel, and an extra shirt.

“No sword.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Your face did.”

They laid out the mats together. The marks on Lin’s wrist had faded enough that Liam had to look closely to find the edges. When he asked about the case, Lin said it remained closed. There had been no reason to open it, and he had spent the previous evening reading the original part of the manual without practicing anything new.

Liam accepted that and took off his jacket.

“Same rules?”

Lin nodded.

“No weapons. No reflection. No flying.”

“You remembered that one.”

“I remember you trying to stay upright without using your legs.”

Liam put the cape and screwdriver aside with the rest of his things. He wanted the system’s remaining hundred and ninety-two EXP badly enough that he had checked the number twice that morning. That didn’t mean floating above a training mat while Lin complained would count as learning.

They began slowly.

For the first several rounds, Lin made him work from bad positions. Liam started with his wrist caught, then with an arm around his shoulders, then with his back close to the boundary. Every time he tried to solve the problem by pulling harder, Lin stopped him and made him look at where his feet had ended up.

The grappling skill supplied more answers than Liam could use.

Choosing one quickly enough remained the problem.

“Again.”

“You could say something else occasionally.”

“Move your foot.”

“Something encouraging.”

Lin looked down at him.

“You moved it before falling that time.”

Liam swore, and Lin almost smiled.

They took a break after the next round. Liam sat with his elbows resting on his knees, letting his breathing settle while Lin explained why he kept getting caught halfway through an escape. He was already thinking about the next movement before he had finished the first. His hands changed direction while his weight remained somewhere else.

Liam looked at the mat.

He could remember exactly how each attempt had failed. The knowledge from God Tier Grappling made the mistakes painfully obvious afterward. Under pressure, he still tried to perform the part that would win instead of completing the part that let him attempt it.

‘Fine. One thing at a time.’

When they started again, he stopped trying to throw Lin immediately. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

He worked for position.

Lin caught his shoulder, and Liam turned with the pressure instead of resisting it. He freed one hand, kept the other close, and made Lin reach again. The man was still holding his speed and strength down to their agreed training pace. Liam knew that. Even then, the difference between them had been enough to put him on his back all morning.

This time, he stayed close.

Lin shifted to block the turn he had used in the previous round. Liam began the same movement, felt the response, then changed his grip before committing his weight. His foot stayed beneath him. For once, his body arrived where the skill told him it needed to be.

Lin’s balance moved.

Liam felt it and continued.

They hit the mat together, but Lin’s back touched first.

For a moment, Liam remained over him, one hand still caught against his sleeve. He waited for the correction, the second movement, the part where Lin casually reversed everything and told him he had celebrated too early.

Instead, Lin tapped his arm.

“Let go.”

Liam released him and sat back.

“That counts.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going to explain why it doesn’t?”

“You put me down. It counts.”

Lin rose before him, brushing a hand over his shirt. Liam looked at the place where the man’s shoulders had touched the mat, then started laughing quietly. It had taken controlled training, enough failed attempts to make his back ache, and an opponent who could still overpower him whenever he chose.

He didn’t care.

The movement had worked.

A green panel appeared.

[Combat EXP Gained: 200.]

[Level Up!]

[Level: 5 (8/600)]

[All Attributes Increased by 20.]

[Divine Point Gained: 1.]

Liam’s laughter stopped.

Warmth spread through his limbs, making him straighten as the familiar change passed through his body. He flexed his fingers, then planted his feet more carefully beneath him. Lin had begun reaching for his water but stopped when he noticed.

“What happened?”

“One second.”

[Main Mission Complete: Reach Level 5.]

[Reward: Basic Footwork Skill.]

[AMPLIFYING THE REWARDS BY 10,000X…]

[NEW REWARD: God Tier Footwork.]

[Explanation: Mastery of balance, weight transfer, positioning, and directional changes during movement. Execution remains limited by the user’s physical attributes and condition.]

The understanding arrived while Liam was still sitting on the mat.

He looked at his feet.

Then at Lin.

‘You could have given me that before he spent the morning folding me in half.’

There was no answer, but another panel appeared.

[Updated.]

[New Main Mission: Win a combat encounter using a technique you developed yourself.]

Liam read it before dismissing the messages. A technique of his own. He had spent weeks collecting abilities, then discovering that owning several impressive things didn’t mean he could use them well together.

Apparently, Red had noticed too.

Lin stood over him with the water bottle.

“Are you finished staring?”

“For now.”

“Then get up.”

The next round lasted twelve seconds.

Liam hit the mat on his side, rolled onto his back, and stared at the ceiling while Lin stepped away. The new skill had told him exactly where to move. Unfortunately, he had become so interested in how naturally the movement came that he had stopped paying attention to the hand catching his arm.

Lin crouched beside him.

“You were thinking about your feet.”

“They were doing something interesting.”

“So were my hands.”

Liam laughed and accepted the hand offered to him. The new attributes helped. The footwork helped more than he wanted to admit after spending half the morning arguing about it. Neither had turned him into someone who could forget the opponent standing in front of him.

They finished with slow practice instead of another round.

Liam moved through the same entries until the new knowledge stopped feeling separate from the rest of his body. Lin corrected him less often now, though he still found enough to complain about that Liam suspected silence would have physically hurt him.

When they finally stopped, Lin picked up one of the mats.

“Tuesday?”

Liam took the other.

“Tuesday.”

Clara was reading in the new chair when he returned. She looked up at the sound of the door, examined how he was walking, then put the book down.

“You’re smiling.”

“I reached Level Five.”

She stood immediately.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Her arms went around his neck before he could put his bag away. Liam caught her, laughing as she kissed him and asked what he had received. He explained while carrying the bag toward the table, and she released him long enough to listen to the part about footwork.

Then she looked down at his shoes.

“So you won’t step on me when we dance?”

“I have other uses for it.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

He placed the bag down and offered his hand. Clara glanced at it, then smiled and moved closer. There was no music playing, and they barely had enough clear space between the chair and the table, but Liam guided her through a turn without looking at his feet.

She came back against him, pleased.

“Better.”

“High praise.”

“I haven’t checked the rest.”

His eyes moved briefly toward the bag holding the cape and the screwdriver. A technique of his own would take thought, practice, and probably several failed attempts somewhere far from Clara’s furniture.

For now, he moved the coffee table aside with his foot.

“Then keep checking.”