Nearly two more weeks of routine passed without major incident for them. Two of those days had been taken up by Hayworth’s group and the apprentices from Yamato Shipping having a challenge. Surprisingly, it wasn’t combat, but Empire’s Gambit, with Egil being the adjudicator of the matches.
All of the apprentices were in the main room, watching the five games play out. Though they were given breaks to get some food and relieve themselves, they were otherwise observing the matches for nearly two straight days.
The instructors walked around the room, waking any student who nodded off with a cuff to the back of the head, a loud word in the ear, and other jarring actions. The ones who used aether to keep themselves awake were obvious in small ways— the body path users looked refreshed, but it was obvious they couldn’t follow the game easily. Mind path users had bright eyes, but their movements were sluggish and jerky. The few spirit path magi seemed the best of the three with bright eyes and sure movements, but they would go still for hour-long stretches, clearly meditating without seeing.
Both Elkit and Harrison stayed near Gregory, Yukiko, and Jenn, waiting for a chance to rebuke them for sleeping. They never got the chance, as all of them took turns meditating with their eyes open and burning their aether to stay sharp and focused.
In the end, Hayworth’s group won the fourth and deciding game out of the best-of-five format, but Egil still made them play the fifth game. The last match didn’t take long, as the player for Yamato Shipping was mind path while the apprentice for Swift Wind was body path.
That game helped reaffirm what Dia had told them about their aether being used to help them stay awake. They knew that it would be obvious that they were on more than a single path, and that they would need to play into being on the spirit path during those moments.
~*~*~
Gregory was looking forward to the game today, as Paul had promised a change from what they’d been doing. “Do you think he’s going to start us playing on multiple fronts?”
“It’s a possibility,” Yukiko said, “but I think he’s going to force us to play nations other than the empire.”
“Oh,” Gregory said, his excitement ebbing. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“You have to know what your opponent is capable of if you want to have a better chance to defeat them,” Jenn said. “Clover and Ling have been studying hard. I wonder what they’ll do?”
“We’ll find out shortly,” Yukiko said. “It’ll probably be like us dabbling with the other nations— a learning curve. What about Farin?”
“He’s been a surprise,” Gregory said. “He’s willing to learn and is even eager, in his own way, but he’s obviously not on the mind path. He’s been determined to learn since Paul got him a trainer. You can see his drive. He was very happy about the book too.”
“Farin is vastly different from Chucky,” Jenn said, “and he is glad to be away from Nick’s group.”
“Can’t blame him for that. Wonder if Chucky regrets his choice of leaving now?” Gregory snickered.
“Or if their mutual dislike of us has caused a new friendship?” Yukiko suggested.
Gregory went silent as he considered that.
“There they are,” Clover said, bouncing up from her seat. “We grew, we grew, we grew!” She fished her medallion out as she did a fun little dance. “Rank ten! We made it to rank ten!”
“Both of us,” Ling said. She had her medallion out when they looked at her. “We never expected to reach this rank so quickly after the last one.”
“Congratulations,” Gregory grinned at Clover. “You’ll be in the apprentice tier in no time now.”
“All that extra studying must be paying off,” Yukiko said, going to Ling. “How does it feel?”
“Amazing,” Ling smiled. “Since we’ve been learning with you, it’s felt so much easier.”
Yukiko glanced at Gregory, who gave a micro-shrug.
“It has been,” Clover agreed. “And we have friends now, too.” She grinned and lurched forward to hug Jenn. “I like friends! Thank you.”
Jenn laughed and patted Clover on the back. “We like friends, too, and we’re glad you’re ours.”
“Friends make things easier,” Gregory said.
“They can, indeed,” Paul said, coming into the room, trailed by Farin. “Clans can strain friendships, or even break them, however. It’s something to keep in mind when you have friends who don’t share a clan with you.”
“Yes, sir,” all six of them echoed.
“Today, we’re doing something different. You’ve all made strides with the empire, but to be ready for being an adept or magus, you need to know what our enemies might do. With that in mind, we will be starting to use the other nations today. Gregory, have you three played with other nations?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Then today, we will do things very differently. The three of you will play a free-for-all game— one of you per nation. It’ll be your choice who gets what nation, the land will be neutral, and the terrain will be a mix. The rest of you, set the board, and be creative with it.”
“Yes, sir,” all six replied, moving to do as commanded.
As they set the board, Paul spoke on, “During the game, you will explain what and why you are doing things. This isn’t about victory, but about showcasing each nation’s high points and exposing their vulnerabilities. Can you do that?”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory replied, Jenn and Yukiko in sync with him.
“Good. I want to see how much you know, and how well you can teach them.”
~*~*~
Gregory frowned at the board. This is what you get for letting them choose first… Yukiko went with her strength in Buldoun, and knowing magi were going to be hard to field, Jenn went with Limaz. Left me being slaughtered as Krogga…
“Do you see how difficult it is for Krogga to deal with the superior gear of Buldoun?” Paul asked the three apprentices taking notes. “That’s their biggest weakness. It’s their good fortune that we stand between their two nations, or else Buldoun may have conquered them by now.”
“They seem so weak,” Farin said. “Even Limaz is dealing with them without a great deal of trouble.”
“Their strengths are not on display here. That’s the problem of not having them face the empire. We’ll fix that tomorrow. However, there’s another aspect of Krogga that is difficult to deal with, and we’ll see that in a few more turns. Gregory, play for the long game.”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory said, having been intending to.
A handful of turns later, Gregory’s army got nearly wiped out, but not as much as Yukiko would have preferred. Using his hasty retreat card, Gregory had his small units break off and move into the heavy woods he’d positioned his camp near.
“Well, he’s done,” Farin said.
“No, he’s not,” Paul shook his head. “This is the other aspect of Krogga that you need to understand and take to heart. Gregory, explain it.”
“Krogga’s army is made primarily of fanatics. It’s problematic for magi, but the other side of that is that just because their core is broken, it doesn’t mean they quit. At this point, most armies are done— the remnants would leave the field and head home or move back to regroup. Krogga just breaks down into smaller units and begins a war of attrition with hit and run tactics. Lighthand called it ‘guerilla warfare,’ and it can be devastating if they act intelligently. As you can see, the commander didn’t go down. I had pulled him back and, while that hurts morale, it also means he can rally his broken few and have them act in a coordinated fashion.”
“So, to beat them, we’d have to run down all of them?” Farin asked with wide eyes.
“Yes,” Paul nodded. “While you have another major opponent on the field that makes it all the more difficult. Gregory will now show you why Krogga being able to survive, even for a little bit of time, can significantly impact your army.”
“Sir,” Yukiko said, waiting for him to nod to her, “I’d like to point out that the smart thing for me to do now would be to pull back. It would invite Jenn’s army to move forward, and in doing so, put her closer to them. That would make it more likely that they raid her and not me. I could use my old camp, which is still defensible.”
“All fair points,” Paul nodded. “If we were doing more than highlighting the different nations, it would be a smart move. However, I’d like you to hold the ground you just took. We need to show them why your move would be the right one.”
“Yes, sir.”
~*~*~
The next few hours, Gregory did his best to harass and annoy both Yukiko and Jenn. It was late evening when Yukiko finally played a card she’d been holding onto for the past few turns.
“‘Battlefield diplomacy,’” Yukiko declared, playing the card.
“Rarely played, but this is an excellent time for it,” Paul nodded.
“Sir, I don’t know that card,” Farin said.
“It’s asking one of them to parley for a specific reason,” Paul said. “Can you tell me what that reason would be?”
Farin thought for a long minute before he spoke hesitantly, “To join up with Jenn to wipe Gregory off the map?”
“Yukiko?” Paul said.
“That is indeed what I am asking for. Considering he just took out half of her food in that raid, I have a high probability of being listened to.”
“I won’t even try to fight it. I need him gone,” Jenn said. “Leaving remnants of Krogga on the field is hindering my maneuverability. The bonus is that, since she asked, I can get a concession out of it. No doubt she’s thinking that I’m going to ask about some food, as that would be the obvious choice.”
“No, you want gear,” Yukiko said. “You could have upgraded your archers, but haven’t yet.”
“Correct.”
“That was my second offer, so accepted,” Yukiko pulled her extra superior bow gear from her stack and handed it to Jenn. “He dies now.”
“And that’ll be it,” Gregory sighed. “I did what I could.”
“You hindered them both for a long time,” Clover said with wide eyes. “I need to learn more about this.”
“You will, and you’ll have to play against them in the next few days, so study hard,” Paul said.
“Yes, sir,” Clover said crisply.
~*~*~
It was well into the evening when they left the hall behind.
“You could have won a couple of rounds after you took Gregory’s main force out,” Jenn said. “You delayed yourself to show them more, didn’t you?”
“Of course. That’s what we were told to do,” Yukiko smiled.
“Thank you for doing so,” Ling said. “I learned a lot by watching the game.”
“So did I,” Clover added. “I can’t wait to try Krogga for myself. Some of the advanced strategies make a lot more sense now.”
“They do,” Ling agreed. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you for helping us grow.”
“It’s what friends do,” Jenn smiled. “Pushing each other to grow stronger and helping while doing it.”
“Not that we’re doing a lot of that for you,” Ling sighed.
“But you are,” Gregory said. “We’re learning how to explain things better, which will make it easier for us next year.”
“Next year,” Clover said, her normally bright voice dim. “That will not be a good year… No clan, no troops except what they can find for us.” She shuddered. “No more friends…”
Gregory felt like he’d watched someone kick a puppy. “Hey now, chin up. That’s still a ways off. Who knows what might happen between now and then? Some clan might hear about how well you’re doing in the class and take an interest.”
Clover looked at him with hopeful eyes. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, yeah I do,” Gregory said. “You and Ling are growing fast, and learning even faster. Some clan will scoop you up before the year is over.”
“That is hopeful,” Ling said, going to stand beside Clover, who had stopped walking. “I will hold to that hope, and maybe even hope for more— that it’ll be a good clan that won’t discriminate against us too badly because of our heritage. If one is to dream, they should dream for the moon.”
“They should,” Jenn said softly. “And if they dream hard enough and work even harder, they might even catch their dreams. I did.”
Yukiko and Gregory gave her loving smiles.
Clover’s smile grew wider, as she could see the love that they had for each other. “That’s so cute.”
“It is,” Ling nodded. “Come on. We should get some food, a bath, and then sleep, Clover.”
“Yeah,” Clover said as the two of them turned away from the others.
They watched the pair go and smiled at their backs before heading for the clan hall.
“Do you think a clan will really pick them up?” Yukiko asked Gregory.
“Yeah. They’re both serious about trying to grow, and they’ve been making great strides toward it.”
“Is that because of you or Darkness?” Jenn asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe both? I do consider them friends. If no one else approaches them by the first tournament, I’m going to see if Dia is willing to.”
“That’s a good idea,” Yukiko smiled.
“I agree, too,” Jenn nodded.
