When Victoria left the arena floor, Hao stood up. “Well, that was invigorating. I could use some dinner.”
Gregory looked at the afternoon sky, but rose with him. “I’m sure an early dinner would be wonderful.”
“We’ll be staying to watch the rest of the fights,” Bishop said. “Enjoy your day, but remember the elder’s words about being back at a reasonable hour.”
“We will have them back before it becomes too late,” Yoo-jin said. “Have a good day.”
As they were leaving the arena, Yukiko moved up to walk beside her father. “How did you choose which item to give to each of them, Father?”
Hao snorted. “I didn’t. As I left the shop, Elder Lightshield stopped me. We chatted for a few minutes and he made vague comments about the items I’d just purchased. As I was on the way to join you, all his meaning fell into place. I did as he suggested, and it looks like it was the right choice.”
“Ah, that makes much more sense,” Yukiko nodded. “It felt odd that they just happened to have the items they needed to win. Without those boots, Daciana would have been crippled for days, at least.”
“Her foot would have been nearly destroyed by the first spike, and her other leg would have been maimed,” Jenn said darkly. “True, he didn’t try to kill her, but she would’ve been even worse off than you both were after the first tournament.”
“And Nessa,” Gregory said. “She would’ve been badly burned if not for the gloves. I was uncertain at first if they could counter Walun’s flames.”
“And the earrings and gloves were the only reason Vicky won,” Yukiko added. “She was able to make a tear to punch him in the throat, and she showed her strength off to everyone when she revealed her medallion. That caused quite a stir.”
“Yes, it did,” Hao nodded. “Until they declare what clan they’re joining, they will have even more people circling them.”
“Daciana is going to be beside herself,” Jenn said as they left the arena, changing the subject. “Literally walking on air.”
Gregory winced at the pun. “That was horrible.”
Yukiko laughed. “I thought it was good. Do you think Nessa will give her a… cold shoulder?”
Gregory groaned. “They get worse.”
“Yeah, sorry, Greg,” Jenn said with contriteness. “Sometimes, they come out of nowhere, like a punch to the throat.”
Hao laughed at that one. “That was good, very good.”
“Don’t encourage them, please?” Gregory asked Hao.
They came to a stop within sight of the arena entrance, but far enough away not to impede others. Umbrose shook her head as she patted Gregory’s shoulder. “Her father does the same thing.”
“As does my husband,” Yoo-jin said. “Sorry, Gregory, but it seems they will both do this at times.”
“We’ll stop for now,” Yukiko snickered.
Gregory sighed. “It’s fine. I’d never ask you to change who you are.”
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Jenn said, giving his hand a squeeze, “but we can change a little for the one we love.”
“Yes,” Yukiko said, going to his side to squeeze his other hand.
“I’ll endure those moments and do my best to accept them,” Gregory said.
“Here they come,” Hao smiled, turning to face the novices and their families. He waved, and the group headed their way.
“We won,” Daciana grinned, but her grin slipped a little and she shot a glance at Victoria. “Now I know how you both felt last year.”
Jenn and Yukiko nodded, but it was Yukiko who spoke, “Yes, which is good and bad for you. It’s bad because now, you have to fight your friend with everything you have, but it’s good because you are a step closer to being the champion and not facing someone who might try to kill you.”
“Which is where you have it tough,” Jenn said, looking at Nessa. “It might have been better if Charles had won, since you know the gloves can help against fire magi. Instead, you have to face Frederica.”
“The healers will have her back in top-shape for tomorrow,” Nessa said. “I worried about the splash of fire on her shoulder that singed her head. Luckily, it missed her eye.”
Yukiko winced as she recalled nearly losing hers. “If it hadn’t, you might not have fought tomorrow.”
Daciana broke into the moment, bowing at the waist to Hao. “Thank you.”
“Stand up,” Hao said not unkindly, his eyes tracking the few people who could see them. When she did, he gave her a lopsided smile. “I have no need for thanks. I didn’t do anything. Your family is the one who gave you the items to win. Thank them.”
Gufta looked ashamed. “She would have been killed or maimed if not for those boots. We couldn’t do anything for her.”
“Nonsense,” Hao said, slapping the eurtik on the back. “You made friends with people who know the hardships you face. You could have told those people off, refused, and walked away. So, you did do something, and a very important something— you showed your daughter that friendship can help carry them through trouble.”
“Same for us,” Ramon said softly. “Our Ness could have been burned badly if not for her gloves. The little bit she had to deal with was bad enough.”
“You’ll always be welcome in our home,” Vana said.
“We thank you,” Yoo-jin smiled. “I hope you realize that if Nessa wins, your business will grow even more popular.”
“We did see a bit more business after the tournaments last year. People wanted to see where the champions had spent the time outside of the tournaments.”
“And it will only redouble, as she has already made it to the final four and might be the champion or runner-up,” Hao told him.
“I still have my earring,” Nessa said. “That gives me a slight advantage, at least.”
“Yes, it will,” Yukiko nodded.
“We should get to dinner. I did warn them it would be early for us today,” Hao said. “Shall we?”
~*~*~
As they walked back to the clan after dinner, Gregory was lost in thought.
“Greg? You’ve been quiet since dinner,” Yukiko said, pulling him from his thoughts.
“Sorry. I was just going over the book I was reading earlier. It explained why only you can use the ring. Enchantments can be set to only be usable in certain circumstances so, in the case of your ring, a shadow magi can use it, but not others. The trick is the requirements.”
“Okay. What are they for my ring?” Yukiko asked.
“Nothing very special. It takes a touch of aether that is in tune with shadow to trigger it. The book used a similar example, but for a different type of magic. When you go to use the ring, it taps your aether to see if the requirement is met. It’s such a brief and subtle thing that, unless you’re focused on it, you’d never even notice.”
“Which is why it doesn’t work for me at all, but you could feel it start and then stop?” Jenn asked.
“Because of who I am,” Gregory said. “I think I can get it to work, but there’s a step I’m missing. I’m not going to figure it out before the end of this tournament, but I might after that.”
“Maybe before we leave to go to the event?” Yukiko asked.
“Possibly. I wonder about that, though. It felt like Yunlo and the council didn’t agree to the idea.”
“I had that same impression,” Yukiko said.
“That will be interesting,” Jenn said. “I wonder how it will be different.”
“Buldoun’s magi aren’t known for risking death, which makes me wonder about the event. I find it hard to believe it’ll be a tournament like ours,” Yukiko said.
“Tournament winners and Empire’s Gambit winners,” Gregory said. “It’ll be a twofold event, at least.”
“Agreed. The Empire’s Gambit will be the same, I believe,” Yukiko said.
“We need to win the tournament here to find out,” Jenn said. “If we play as clan teams, I like our chances.”
“Especially with Ling and Clover beside us,” Gregory said. “We’ll have to wait and see what Egil decides to do for the tournament. Clan groups would favor the bigger ones.”
“That’s true,” Jenn nodded.
“Maybe they’ll use the classes we have as groups?” Yukiko said.
“That makes sense. It’ll be interesting to have a six-man team, but they might decide to keep it to the three-man teams.”
“Yeah, that would make it easier,” Jenn said. “That means we won’t be playing with them, though.”
“Disappointing, but hopefully, they can do well.”
“Are we going to meditate before bed?” Yukiko asked.
“Yeah, that was my plan,” Gregory smiled. “Meditation, bath, and then bed.”
“I like that plan, especially that last bit,” Jenn grinned.
“Bed for sleep,” Gregory chuckled. “We do need to be at our best for the fights.”
“We’ll get sleep,” Yukiko smirked, “and we’ll even temper ourselves so we don’t go as long as we normally would.”
Gregory raised his hands. “I surrender. Saying no to you both is nearly impossible for me.”
“We know,” Jenn giggled.
~*~*~
Gregory wiped the water out of his eye, having just finished rinsing the soap off when the door opened. “Elder?” He was surprised to see Elder Lightshield standing in the doorway.
“Ah, Gregory. Can you give me a hand, please?”
Gregory went over to help the older man to the washing bench. “How was your day, sir?”
“Productive,” Lightshield sighed as he sat. “Your last fight had a lot of people talking. You did the right thing. I was stopped by the Saito clan head and thanked for giving them a chance. If you could have heard Grandmaster Shun hoping for you to fail…” He trailed off with a tired chuckle.
“I don’t know if I would have done that if not for your message, sir.”
“But you had wanted to do it before you heard my message, did you not?” Lightshield asked, giving Gregory a thankful nod when the younger man put the bucket of water next to him.
“I want the clan to be seen as strong and honorable, Elder. In truth, yes. I wanted to face him alone before you sent word, but I didn’t want to risk serious injury, either. When Dia told us what you had said, I was fairly certain you already knew the outcome, which let me do what I’d wanted to.”
Lathering up the soap, Lightshield nodded. “Yes. Oh, how it galled them with you winning as you did. Some tried to play it up as you being overconfident or even arrogant. The fools did not even realize what you could have done if you wanted to. Grandmaster Yunlo would not have been fast enough to stop you if you had wanted to kill that apprentice.”
“I could have easily killed him, sir, but as I told him, we are here to learn and train. It doesn’t help the empire if we kill and maim each other here.”
“Yes. Those words had weight to them— he has already been talking to others about it. It has prompted a few questions already about why the arena is not enchanted to help with healing. Several clans have training rings that do, so why does the academy not?”
“I would think the council is not exactly happy, then,” Gregory said as Lightshield scrubbed himself down.
“Oh, those three are upset, but it is well past time. The guards are out and patrolling during this tournament and not just holding their posts, like they did last year. It is something they should have done for years, but it took a few mysterious incidents last year to push them into doing it.”
“Did they ever find the assassins?” Gregory asked.
“For you? No. For the poor novice who was drowned? Yes. That is academy business though, and does not concern us.”
“Yes, sir.” Gregory hesitated, but then asked, “Sir, about Magus Yang in—?”
“Leave it be. It will be seen to,” Lightshield said, cutting him off gently. “He is going to lose a lot of face for his clan and, in turn, their parent clan. You can only cut so many corners before it gets away from you.” Picking up the bucket, Lightshield rinsed himself off.
“Sir, thank you.”
“No, Gregory, do not thank me. I should be thanking you. The clan is on the rise again, and while your wives are certainly helping with that, it is because of you that they are even here. If you had not joined, they would not have, nor would the others that will be in a couple of days. You have revived this clan and, with it, my family’s legacy.” With a strained grunt, Lightshield got to his feet and wobbled. “Now, if you do not mind helping me to the tub?”
