“Good morning, Elder,” Gregory said, “Dia, Bishop, and Quilet.”
“Good morning to you three,” Lightshield smiled. “You will be in the main arena for all three of your fights today. The first, tenth, and twelfth fights will be yours.”
“We’d been planning on being there to see the schedule,” Yukiko chuckled.
“You can still go after you study and get your other training in,” Lightshield replied. “We have hindered your training enough over the last three days. Your seats, as well as seats for your parents, will be kept beside Bishop in the stands.”
“Thank you, Elder,” they said together.
“You will also be interested to know that on the last day of the tournament, both Bishop and Dia will be putting on demonstrations of their magics. I am sure something of note will happen today, too.”
Gregory shook his head. “Elder, how far can you see?”
“Two miles, if it is a clear day,” Lightshield replied with a hint of a smile. Seeing the blank expressions, he laughed lightly. “Without strain, I can check a few days into the future, but that is only the most likely path. To check the other probabilities, it takes more out of me. The further into the future I peer, the more aether it takes, and the more it strains my mind. If I had followed the mind path, it might not be as bad, but I followed my grandfather’s path, instead.”
“I can only see a few minutes into the future,” Gregory said. “Is it wholly dependent on aether?”
“Not wholly,” Lightshield replied, “though all magic is easier when you have more aether.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I have breakfast ready, if that’s okay?” Quilet announced.
“Please serve us, Quilet,” Lightshield told the otter eurtik. “And yes, I will get bets placed for you and the others. I am sure a few in the academy box will wish to see them fail.”
“You won’t be in the stands with us, Elder?” Jenn asked as Quilet stood motionless in the kitchen, clearly surprised at Lightshield’s offer.
“I have been requested in the main box for today. I will not be the only head of a clan there today, either.”
“Shun,” Gregory said on reflex.
“Grandmaster Shun is one of those who will be present, along with the council and several others,” Lightshield replied. “Quilet, the food?”
“Yes, sir,” Quilet blurted. Snapped out of his shock, he rushed to serve them. “I’ll go collect from the others, sir.”
“No need,” Lightshield smiled at the nervous eurtik. “I know exactly what you would collect, and will make sure that the winnings match those set aside for you.”
“But,” Yukiko asked slowly as Quilet placed her food before her, “who would bet against a magi who can see the future?”
Lightshield laughed lightly. “A fool. But I will not be the one placing bets. No, an old friend of mine will be. It will be delightful to watch. When you know your opponent can see the future, you should not believe any information they seem to give away. A lesson that many never learn.”
“False leads,” Yukiko laughed as she picked up her chopsticks.
“Just so,” Lightshield smiled, picking up his soup bowl. “Now, let us enjoy the meal.”
~*~*~
“Apprentices, it is good to see you,” Rafiq grinned at them. “Are you ready for today?”
“As ready as we can be,” Gregory replied. “I was wondering, is there a book on the second floor that explains enchantments that can only be used by specific magi?”
“Yes, there is. Do you want it to be set aside for you?”
“Please and thank you.”
“You are welcome. You are the second apprentice to ask about that book this week.”
“Was the other Ling Lao?” Jenn asked.
“Apprentice Lao was the other one, yes,” Rafiq replied. “She, along with her friend, have become very studious this first half of the year. It is as though they have met someone with a fire to learn and came to appreciate it.”
“No doubt, they also mentioned the names of those individuals,” Yukiko added.
Rafiq chuckled lightly. “They most likely did. Did either of you wish for new books?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’m still working on mine,” Jenn said.
“Then I will bid you a good day and good luck in your fights.”
“Thank you,” they said, bowing to him before going toward the back of the archive.
Gregory pulled out one of the blank Magi Squares pages and smiled. “I know we’ve thanked them over the last few weeks, but this really does give us more time to study. Maybe we can get them something in return?”
“I asked Dia about it the other day while Velma was cooking,” Yukiko said. “She suggested simple things. I asked Mother, and she’s gathering the items for us.”
“For all five of them?” Jenn asked.
“Of course, though Velma’s will contain a few different things from the others.”
“Makes sense,” Gregory nodded. “I don’t know any men who would find a use for the lip paint you use on occasion.”
“There are some who would, but most would not,” Yukiko replied.
“We made it in,” Daciana was excited as she rushed to the table, but her voice was low so she wouldn’t break the rules of the archive.
“Yes,” Yukiko smiled. “We were told before we went to bed last night.”
“I’m sure she already told you,” Nessa snickered as she approached them with Victoria. “Getting her to wind down after she found out was difficult.” Nessa was flushed red when she finished, looking like she’d said more than she’d meant to.
Daciana was also red and deliberately not looking at anyone as she abruptly sat beside Jenn. Victoria was a little pink, though she wasn’t avoiding the eyes of the three apprentices.
“Do you find out your match-ups like we did?” Victoria asked after a few seconds of awkwardness.
“We should, but Elder Lightshield already informed us of our matches,” Yukiko said. “We are the first fight in the main arena, as well as the tenth and twelfth.”
“I still say that was the worst they could do to us without it being outright blatant,” Jenn said. “Only a single fight to rest and heal between our second and third.”
“It’s a good thing Gin trained us the way he did,” Gregory said. “We’ve done this before, and this time, it’ll be against other apprentices, at least.”
“You aren’t worried?” Daciana asked, finally looking up.
“I’m a little worried,” he admitted. “I won’t let that rule me, though. We trained as well as we could. Gin worked us hard every week we had off for moments like this.”
“Our hardest opponents likely won’t be who we fight today. They’ll want the majority of us to move onto tomorrow to make it better for the crowd. I don’t think they expect us to lose, but they surely want to hurt us,” Jenn said.
“The major clans will want to avoid us today. They likely used their influence to make sure that happened. Of course, the smaller clans are probably being paid off to inflict as much damage on us as they can instead of winning,” Yukiko added.
“Doesn’t matter if they are or aren’t. We’ll treat it as if they all intend to kill us,” Gregory said. “We won’t be caught napping.”
“Good,” Victoria said. “We’ll be doing the same, this year and next.”
“To uphold the name of the clan,” Nessa said after checking that no one was nearby.
“We have work to do,” Yukiko said, sliding her Magi Squares to Jenn.
“We do, indeed,” Jenn said, sliding hers to Gregory.
“And I’m almost done,” Gregory said. He put the last number in and then passed his to Yukiko. “There.”
“We need to get ours started,” Nessa said as she pulled out paper and ink.
~*~*~
Gregory stretched as they ended the Peaceful Fist. “I feel good.”
“I feel more at ease,” Jenn said. “I’m glad we went light, so we’re not sweaty.”
“We need to be in the best condition for our first fight,” Yukiko said. “The lighter path made the most sense with that in mind.”
“Everyone should start showing up soon. Should we slip out the far exit and circle around?” Gregory asked.
“We might want to skip this tomorrow,” Jenn said, thinking back to the people who attacked them during the second tournament. “We never learned what they found out about the attack on us.”
“The poisoned crossbows?” Gregory asked, getting a nod from Jenn. “I’m not surprised that we weren’t told, but they should have told Dia.”
“Must have been something we couldn’t do anything about,” Yukiko said. “Dia would have mentioned something if there was.”
“True,” Jenn agreed. “Out the back today, and we’ll skip tomorrow. We could just train at the clan hall tomorrow, then head down here?”
“Yes, I think that’ll work out,” Gregory said, picking his bag up and slinging it over his shoulder. “Let’s go see who our opponents will be.”
~*~*~
The circling took them a little longer than they thought it would, so the seventh bell was chiming by the time they reached the posting board. Being at the back of the pack, they could clearly see the different clans. Each clan had an arm’s length of space between them and the other clans, but there was a much larger space around Swift Wind, the Han Merchant Exchange, and the Eternal Flame.
As they waited, it slowly struck Gregory that he was one of the tallest in their class. All of the other apprentices that matched him in height were twice as broad, built more like his father. Jenn was the smallest in height and build in the entire class, too. Side-by-side, they stood out easily. With Yukiko’s white-blonde hair added in, he knew they would be hard-pressed to blend in.
“It’s too bad we won’t be fighting you today, Pettit,” Nick sneered. “If you somehow manage to make it to tomorrow, maybe we’ll end your suffering there.”
“I doubt your clan wants to lose even more face,” Gregory replied simply. “If we both advance to tomorrow, I would expect your clan to keep you as far away from us as they can.”
“Cocky Pettit, but we’ll see how you feel when we meet,” Jason said, his hand on Nick’s shoulder.
“Keeping your boyfriend in line, Jason?” Jenn asked with a smirk. “Did his antics damage the clan name that much?”
“You little—!” Michelle started.
“Enough!” Jason snapped. “Save it for when we fight them, if they can even do well enough with just three of them.”
Nick shrugged Jason’s hand off. “Eternal Flame, we’re leaving.”
The group of nine magi moved off, following Nick. Gregory met the gazes of Petak, Fureno, and Parks as they glared at him. Jenn and Yukiko gave Michelle and Gina smiles when the two women gave them sneers.
“They do hate you, which only makes me like you three more,” Hayworth started conversationally, then laughed. “We’ll likely see you tomorrow, and we’ll be watching your matches with interest.”
“Main arena?” Gregory asked, turning toward Hayworth.
“Us, them, and you, but none of us fight each other,” Hayworth replied. “If we do end up fighting, I look forward to how well your foresight can do against so many of us.”
Gregory looked at the six people behind Hayworth. “I hope to not find out until the last day.”
“I can honestly say I hope for the same,” Hayworth said. “Good luck to you three today.”
“Luck to your clan, as well,” Gregory said. “Will all seven of you be taking the field?”
“Wait and see,” Hayworth laughed, “though we know you’ll all be fighting every match, barring injury.”
“Barring injury,” Gregory agreed.
Hayworth walked away, and the other six fell into step behind him.
“To your left,” Jenn said.
Gregory looked left and gave Farin a nod as the Iron Hand group marched by. Farin dipped his head respectfully as he stayed in step with the other members of his clan.
The other clans were already dispersing, so they went up to the board to see who their opponents were. As Lightshield had told them, they had the first, tenth, and twelfth fights. Their first match was against the Shining Light, and Gregory exhaled slowly, thinking about the trouble he had with Klein. Their second fight was against the White Eagle clan, and their third was against the Saito clan.
“Hoping on bad blood, I see,” Yukiko said. “We turned both of them down. I wonder if they took that badly?”
“Possibly, but it’s our first fight that concerns me the most,” Gregory said. “I’m sure I can overcome Klein’s spirit path, but it’ll push me hard right at the start.”
“Use your ring,” Jenn said. “The other two fights won’t be as bad, hopefully. If needed, you can run back to the clan hall to replenish it from the medallion.”
“She’s got a good point,” Yukiko said.
“We’ll find out shortly,” Gregory said.
As they got closer to the arenas, he noticed something odd. “I don’t remember there being guards here last year.”
“Neither do I,” Jenn said.
“There weren’t,” Yukiko said. “Maybe they’re hoping to stop any of the occurrences of last year from repeating?”
“That’s good and bad,” Gregory said as they got closer to the main arena. “It means they don’t want it to happen again, but it begs the question of if they ever caught the culprits to begin with.”
