6 The Honeymoon Period

'Another day, another dollar!' Azemo wanted to punch himself after that thought.

Azemo arose from his slumber and put on his clothes, Agnes didn't need to remind him to do that anymore. In fact Agnes rarely had to remind him to do anything as they only occasionally crossed paths. Over the years Azemo had learned the reality behind Agnes and all the other smoke people.

They were not real people and were all controlled by one demon's magycka. The demon in question used his wraiths, that's what the smoke people were really called, to do all the menial work in the demon stronghold.

Azemo had never met the wraith user as he was told that they had enough interactions throughout the day thanks to the numerous wraiths they controlled. But for that matter Azemo had met very few demons during the six years he had been at the fortress.

The "fortress" was the castle of the Eight Demon Lords and was the last line of defense for the demons. It's walls were enchanted with various magicks, some demons could use magick similar to humans on top of their magycka. It's towers could see for miles and it was fully stocked with an army and supplies. Still Azemo rarely met anyone, it was if Amyon was hiding him.

Of course, Amyon was hiding him, he was hiding everyone that was summoned because the summoned were supposed to be an overwhelming power. They were needed to inspire the troops with their incredible actions and if demons saw the state they were in during training it would be extremely disheartening.

It had been six years since Azemo had first become a demon and his schedule had been very similar that entire time. He would wake up, eat, then meet Zaebos for training. The "training'' he had done on his first day had become only the warm up and Zaebos expected him to finish it in 10 minutes. After the warm up Zaebos would teach him some moves and then they would spar. Azemo had never beaten Zaebos, for that matter he rarely touched Zaebos. After their sparring session Zaebos would force the dead tired Azemo to do 1000 strikes and block 1000 punches.

Azemo had learned a lot about fighting over the six years and was probably well above the level of a black belt. However as he had become stronger Zaebos had instilled a few principles in him.

First: There is always someone stronger than you. Azemo knew Zaebos was not trying to make him lose motivation but instead to teach him never to get over confident or underestimate an opponent. Of course Azemo being Azemo had not gotten the full message in the lesson but in time he would figure it out.

Second: Every strike must have a purpose, if it is meant to finish a battle it must do so. This idea was the essence of Zaebos' fighting style and it was why he rarely attacked. Instead Zaebos would analyze his combatants and wait for the perfect opportunity. Azemo recalled all the times Zaebos had stopped their duels because he had thrown out an errant punch.

"Really, that punch, that it was you would bet your life on." Zaebos sometimes contradicted himself in Azemo's opinion because he also said "You can never be afraid of striking." Zaebos didn't want Azemo to become hesitant, hesitation would often lead to death, Zaebos wanted Azemo to trust his punches. He wanted Azemo to have full confidence in every blow but Azemo only saw the contradiction in his words.

Third: Honor is for the dead. This principle was meant to tell Azemo that ingenuity was always welcome in a fight because you never know what your opponent would do. Funnily enough this was the rule Azemo understood the most and he often tried to cheese Zaebos with traps or surprise attacks.

Those three rules were the basis of Zaebos teaching and everything else he taught harkened back to one of the rules.

Zaebos himself was not a harsh teacher, maybe he was, but Azemo had learned never to complain after he saw what Cadence put Benthar through. Cadence and Benthar were the only demons Azemo regularly interacted with but they rarely talked and instead spent most of their time together training.

Cadence's fighting style was very different from Zaebos'. Its guiding rule was One Million strikes. The principle literally meant that if one could perform the million strikes in battle no one could stand up to them. Azemo had fought Cadence a few times and he learned first hand that the storm of strikes she launched were no joke. Even at a slower speed Cadence's axe was a blur always coming from unexpected angles and she was not afraid to abandon it to use her feet or hands. Her barrage of blows always overwhelmed Azemo and he had never gotten the chance to so much as touch her. Her student was just as difficult for Azemo.

While he did not have Cadence's speed, Benthar had grown to be massive, standing eight feet tall and muscular as heck, every one of Benthar's strikes was a killing blow. Azemo often wondered if Cadence should be his teacher because his speed was his best attribute and Benthar should have Zaebos as a teacher because Benthar could end the fight in one blow. However Zaebos assured him that Amyon knew what he was doing and that he would understand someday. "That day might be in a thousand years though with your intelligence."

Azemo's record with Benthar was okay, the two of them were pretty evenly matched but Azemo often struggled with dealing the finishing blow. Benthar was so damn tanky. This was due to the fact the Cadence would hit him repeatedly with her axe for training. Benthar was sometimes surprisingly fast as well but only in short bursts, instead he favored standing still and swinging his axe not caring about retaliation. However Azemo often teased Benthar about his strength because Benthar always lost to Candice in arm wrestling. Benthar's massive muscles would bulge and strain but Candice seemed like a rock unmoving and sometimes even bored.

After his training Azemo would go study with the old demon. The old tortoise would teach him history, strategy, magics and magycka but to Azemo's disappointment he had yet to unlock his magycka.