Gregory was sitting between Yoo-jin and Gin when the ninth bell rang. Gina and Yukiko bowed as instructed by Magus Paul. Gregory’s heart began to beat faster when Paul stepped back and brought his arm down sharply.
The moment his arm started to descend, Gina flung a ball of fire from her hand, but it passed harmlessly through the space Yukiko had been standing in just a few heartbeats prior. Gina didn’t stop with the fireball— she spun behind her, lashing out with the practice wakizashi she wielded, only to have the wooden blade pass through empty space.
Gregory grinned. He spotted Yukiko, who had gone behind Magus Paul, stepping out from around him and flinging the shuriken she had chosen as her weapon. Gina started to turn back around only to find her legs stuck firmly in place. The shuriken connected with the back of her neck, making Gina cry out and hunch down.
Paul shouted, raising his hand. Raising a metal disk to his mouth, he spoke so the entire arena could hear him, “Winner: Novice Warlin. The attack would have severed Novice Asmit’s spine.” Pulling the disk back down, he spoke to Yukiko and Gina.
Yukiko bowed to Gina, who was glaring at her and refusing to bow. Yukiko didn’t acknowledge Gina as she bowed to Paul, and then finally, the box that housed the academy council.
“Shadow magic? The magic of the coward and assassin,” a man sitting in front of them snorted. “She won’t get away with such magic next year.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Hao said. “Depending on who she has beside her, she could be the key to her clan’s victory.”
The man snorted. “Clan? I didn’t recognize the symbol of her clan. No doubt they beggared themselves to entice her away from the real powers. Poor fool probably doesn’t even realize it.”
“I believe she has two fellow novices in her clan who are both slated to fight in this arena before the break for food. Would you care to place a wager on them sweeping their opponents?” Hao asked in a jovial tone.
The man turned in his seat to look at Hao. “I would like to make such a bet. Say… a thousand vela?”
“But at what odds?” Hao chuckled. “I need to have two more novices win, and you only need one to lose.”
“Hmm, not so sure after all, are you?” the man snickered. “I’m generous, so I’ll give you three to one. Your thousand against my three.”
“Acceptable,” Hao replied. “Armsmaster, did you hear the bet?”
“I did,” Gin said. “I’ll make sure that it’s honored, on my blade.”
The man turned to speak to Gin, only to blink. “That emblem… it’s the same as the novice who just won.”
“Aether’s Guard,” Gin said. “I’m their weapons instructor.”
“Hmm, I would call the bet into question if you weren’t an armsmaster. What’s your name?”
“Gin Watashi, formerly an armsmaster for the Han Merchant Exchange.”
The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I doubted you.”
“It’s fine,” Gin said. “May I introduce the two remaining novices from my clan? Jenn Bean, one of the final eight from the previous tournament.” Gin pointed to Jenn, who was sitting beside her parents. “She’s the best trained physical enhancement magi from this year.”
The man gave Jenn and her parent’s a hard look, his lip pulling up at the corner in distaste. “Ah… I see.”
“And Gregory Pettit, the winner of the previous tournament,” Gin said flatly, staring the man down. “One of the most talented students I’ve ever taught.”
“The previous champion, and a finalist… It seems my words might have been too hasty.”
“We shall see,” Hao smiled.
“As to the clan, Aether’s Guard has been around since the empire was founded,” Gin said bluntly. “It’s as old as the Eternal Flame or the Han Merchant Exchange.”
The man squinted. “I thought they had disbanded and been forgotten.”
“They were diminished, but are rising again,” Gin replied, “and will continue to do so next year and beyond.”
“Why is the next match not starting yet?” the woman beside the man asked.
“They are slated to be every half bell,” Yoo-jin said. “I doubt they expected my daughter to dispatch her opponent with such ease.”
“Your daughter?” the man said.
“Indeed,” Hao chuckled. “I am Hao Warlin, head of Warlin Mercantile. And you are?”
“I see I stepped right into this trap,” the man sighed. “I am Velus Pratt. I apologize for speaking ill of your daughter.”
“I didn’t take offense; she and her friends will prove me right.”
“We’ll see,” Velus said, turning away from them.
Yukiko joined them a few minutes later, a satisfied smirk on her lips. “We can exchange rings. I didn’t need it, after all.”
Gregory traded rings with Yukiko, settling it down onto his finger. “You made short work of that. That trick might not work a second time.”
“I doubt it will, but they still have to guess where I am and what angle I’m attacking from,” Yukiko said, taking the empty spot between her parents.
“It was well done,” Inda said. “She reacted to the obvious line of attack. However, if you’d been even a little slower on the binds, she might have been able to turn and defeat your attack.”
“I will bind quicker in the future,” Yukiko said.
“I’ve never seen shadow magic at work before. It was interesting,” Umbrose said. “To think you can move from place to place like that.”
“I can only move short distances at the moment,” Yukiko said. “The aether cost increases the further you wish to go.”
“And the shadows wrapping around her legs?” Adolphus asked.
“More aether can form the shadows better, which makes for a tighter bind,” Yukiko replied. “I’m thankful it’s only a single fight a day.”
“Yuki is hard to pin down, because of her magic,” Jenn said. “That attack wouldn’t work against someone with my magic, though. We can harden our skin with aether, meaning a shuriken is unlikely to penetrate, unless the opponent used physical enhancement magic to put aether into the throw. It would increase its ability to cause damage.”
“What about your opponent? What magic does he use?” Adolphus asked.
“Franco uses the same magic as I do,” Jenn replied.
“But she’s more advanced in its application,” Gin added. “You’ll see control over her magic when she fights.”
“She beat him in a duel months ago,” Gregory added. “He was not prepared for her. I’m willing to bet he’s focused hard to improve.”
“He has,” Inda said. “He’ll be the toughest fight our clan has today. Jenn can win, but it will be much harder. Franco has taken to using an odachi, which will give Jenn problems with her wakizashi.”
“Master Chen taught me how to fight against weapons with greater reach,” Jenn said. “It’ll be tougher, but I’ll still win.”
~*~*~
Jenn won her match, but the fight was long, hard, and brutal before she finally knocked Franco out. The healer rushed out to check on both of them. Franco was loaded onto a stretcher and carted off the field, but Jenn was treated on the field after she bowed to Paul and the council.
“Is she going to be okay?” Umbrose asked nervously.
“Mindie, the healer, will take care of her,” Yukiko assured her. “She’ll be fine when she comes back to us.”
“The next fight is Nick against Clement,” Gregory said. “This will give us a chance to see what Nick might have learned since the last tournament.”
Adolphus shifted in his seat. “This is the man who’s been giving all of you trouble?”
“Nick Shun, grandson of Grandmaster Shun, the head of the Eternal Flame inside the city,” Hao said. “The Shun family has controlled the Eternal Flame since its inception. They are powerful, and use that power to further an agenda against those with mixed blood.”
Adolphus’ expression was grim. “Ah, I see. No wonder he dislikes our children.”
“One or more of us will end up fighting him before the tournament ends,” Gregory said, “which is why seeing this fight is important. There goes Jenn, she’ll be up shortly.”
“Paul is walking back out to the middle,” Yukiko said. “The next fight’s about to start.”
Jenn made it back up to them just before Nick and Clement reached Paul. “Good, I made it.”
“How are you?” Umbrose asked, looking over Jenn to make sure she was okay.
“Sore, but nothing’s broken,” Jenn told her mother. “Not anymore, at least. I had two fractured ribs, but Mindie got them to mend.”
“What about him?” Adolphus asked.
“A broken rib, a fractured tibia, and internal hemorrhaging,” Jenn replied. “She got him stabilized for the trip to the healers.”
“Hemorr… what?” Adolphus asked.
“Bleeding,” Jenn simplified. “He was bleeding inside.”
Jenn stopped talking when she saw Nick and Clement bow to each other.
The moment Paul dropped his arm to start the bout, Nick threw fire at Clement. The fireball was pushed out and away from Clement with a strong gust of wind. The second attempt was deflected just as easily as the first.
Clement said something to Nick, who shook his head in reply. Clement laughed and pulled the slender wooden sword up to his shoulder.
Nick just smiled and threw another ball of fire. Clement batted it away before backpedaling, as Nick was rushing toward him. A spray of sand went flying into Nick’s face, but he turned his head away in time to avoid being blinded.
“If he had more training, he could be using the wind as a physical weapon,” Dia said. “It appears that he’s only focused on using it to defend against ranged attacks.”
“The fight is already over,” Gin nodded.
Clement stopped giving ground, realizing he wouldn’t be able to get away. The two novices clashed, the clack of wooden weapons echoing in the air. Nick stumbled back a step, thrown off-balance when Clement used a hard gust to push at him. Clement lunged forward, thinking he’d gotten the upper hand. Nick smirked as a blast of fire exploded out of him, engulfing Clement from head to toe.
Nick laughed and backed away from the other novice, who was coated in fire and flailing at himself. Paul was shouting for the healers as he tackled Clement to the ground, trying to smother the flames.
Clement’s screams cut off and Paul pushed himself off the charred remains, his own skin blistered and bleeding. Mindie and Klim rushed to Paul’s side, trying to help the magus.
Paul let them tend to him for a few moments before he got to his feet. “The winner is Novice Shun. There will be a change of adjudicator for the rest of today.”
Nick was already bowing to the council and walking away before Paul finished speaking. Klim guided Paul toward the exit, supporting him as they walked.
“That’s going to be a problem,” Gregory said.
“A curtain of flame…” Dia murmured. “That’s advanced apprentice-level magic. I’m surprised to see it used in this tournament.”
“He wasn’t steady on his feet as he walked away,” Gin said. “It must have taxed him heavily.”
“That’s something,” Gregory said, “but the flames looked like they resisted being put out.”
“It’s something the Shun family is known for,” Dia said. “It makes them more formidable.”
“Greg, be careful with Petak,” Yukiko said. “We have no idea what they might have prepared for you.”
“I’ll be as careful as I can be,” Gregory said.
~*~*~
Gregory took a deep breath when he left the tunnel and stepped onto the arena sands. Walking at a measured pace, he met Petak’s eyes as the two of them approached Master Chen. He could feel Yukiko’s eyes on his back as he came to a stop.
“Novices, the rules are the same as the last tournament,” Chen said. “You may stop the fight by forfeiting at any time. The fight will continue unless you are rendered unconscious, quit, or if I call an end because your opponent is unable to defend themselves. Do you understand?”
“Of course,” Petak smirked. “Don’t worry— this won’t take long.”
“I understand, sir,” Gregory said.
“Bow to the council,” Chen said.
“Bow to me,” Chen ordered.
This time, both bows were equal.
“Bow to your opponent,” Chen said.
Gregory bowed, his left hand cupping his right, held at chest height. Petak gave a shallow, mocking bow in return. Chen’s lips thinned as he watched Petak. As the two of them bowed to each other, Chen stepped back from them, raising his right hand. Bringing it down sharply, he commanded them to fight.
Gregory faked right before rushing to the left. Two steps later, he pivoted and went hard right. A ball of fire went through the spot Gregory would have been standing if he hadn’t changed direction.
“Damn you! I’m not done yet!” Petak cursed.
Gregory grunted as he felt his aether pouring into his foresight. The next couple of seconds of time filled Gregory’s mind, and he plotted his course.
Petak backpedaled as Gregory kept coming toward him in a random zigzag pattern. Petak started to panic and tossed more balls of fire, but missed with each one. “No! Dammit! Just burn, already!”
Gregory spun in place as two balls zipped past on either side of him. When he stopped the spin, he was ten feet away from Petak, who looked alarmed.
“All done? Good,” Gregory said.
Petak spat at Gregory before charging at him, mace poised to strike. Gregory stood his ground, falling into the first stance of the naginata.
The moment Petak got into striking distance, he tried to attack. Gregory easily deflected the first strike up and out wide, but let the blade of his naginata go out, as well. Petak laughed thinking Gregory had made a mistake. He got a rude surprise when the butt of the naginata slapped into his other arm, pushing it out the other way and leaving Petak’s chest exposed.
Petak’s eyes went wide just before Gregory lifted his leg and kicked hard. Petak let out an ugly exhale as he stumbled back, trying to catch his breath. Gregory let the motion flow, the naginata spinning back around as his foot came down, his balance perfect. The blade of his naginata slammed into the side of Petak’s neck.
“Stop!” Chen shouted. “Healers!”
Mindie was hurrying to Petak, who had dropped the practice mace and fallen limply to the ground. She touched the fallen novice and exhaled in relief. “He’ll be fine with some help, though his neck will be sore for hours, at least. His spine was badly stressed, but not broken.”
“I pulled the strike,” Gregory said.
Chen lifted the metal disk to his mouth. “Winner is Novice Pettit.”
Gregory bowed to Petak, who was glaring at him, then to Chen, before finishing with a bow to the council’s box. As he walked away, he felt Chen and Mindie watching him go.
