“If it’s possible,” Gregory nodded. “The less I have to physically overcome them, the less prepared they’ll be for the next tournament.”
“That’s a good stance. Win, but not at the cost of losing.”
“I will do as you say, Dia.”
The group walked the rest of the way in silence. When they entered the archive, Gregory’s pace slowed as he hadn’t expected such a large crowd. Magus Elkit was there with Fureno, Nick, Jason, Michelle, and Gina. Master Chen and Magus Erichson stood off to the side of that group, the novices from their clan with them. Another large cluster consisted of the majority of the other novices of the year, and Magus Han and her small group of novices were waiting just inside the door.
“There they are,” Sarinia said, coming forward from the rear of the novice cluster. “We can get this challenge underway. I dislike it when such a gathering is inside the halls and not studying.”
“As if you have any say,” Elkit snorted.
Sarinia’s eyes narrowed briefly before she bowed her head. “If the Eternal Flame clan is ready for the challenge, have your novice take a seat at the table behind you. Pettit, you join him across the table.”
“As you wish,” Gregory replied, bowing to her formally.
Fureno sneered at Gregory. “Bowing to slave animals? No wonder Aether’s Guard is all but forgotten.”
Gregory shook his head. Not replying as he headed for the table, he stopped when Nick shifted to get in his way. “Excuse me, you’re blocking my path,” Gregory said levelly.
“Get used to it,” Nick replied before stepping aside. “Once you lose, we’ll get your pet to lose and I’ll be back to my rightful place.”
Gregory’s jaw tightened when Nick called Yukiko a pet, but he didn’t respond, just moving on. When a foot lashed out to catch his ankle, Gregory staggered and went into a roll before coming up in a smooth motion.
“Novice,” Rafiq said from behind Jason, “violence is not tolerated inside these walls. Attack another person and you will be ejected, as the rules of the archive state.”
“You will not lay a hand on my clan, lizard,” Elkit sneered.
Sarinia was suddenly behind Elkit. “Magus, disrespect toward the staff is a violation of the archive. I give you this one warning to curtail yourself and your novices, or the Eternal Flame will be brought to the council.”
Elkit turned stiffly to Sarinia, staring down at her. “They would never hear your charge.”
Dia laughed. “Sarinia has been in charge of the archive for… well… for over twenty years. She was in charge of it when I was a novice, and when you were a novice. I daresay she would be heard by the council. Her mother held the post of Chief Archivist before she did, and her grandmother before that. It does pay to study some, Elkit.”
Elkit’s jaw tightened. “Let’s get this farce over with.”
“Simon,” Sarinia said, suddenly standing on the balcony overlooking the first floor. “My assistant Simon will be adjudicating this challenge. It’s to be ten pages of Magi Squares, and the first to complete them wins. If Novice Ebbs wins, Novice Pettit loses his title as champion of the first tournament, forfeiting it to the next in line. If Novice Pettit wins, Novice Ebbs is forbidden to harass, pester, or challenge any novice from this year’s class. Novices, do you agree to these terms?”
“I do,” Gregory said, keeping his face straight at Sarinia’s wording.
“I do,” Fureno said before anyone could speak up to stop him.
Elkit snapped his mouth shut, glaring at Fureno for his lack of understanding— Fureno had just agreed to never bother another member of the same novice class if he lost.
Simon stepped forward with two bundles of rolled paper in his hands. “I completed these just minutes ago. Both sets are identical, so the challenge is equal to both sides. No one, not even Chief Archivist Sarinia, has seen them. After the challenge is over, they may be inspected by the eldest member of each clan present to verify that they are identical. Are there any questions?”
“Why can’t we examine them first?” Elkit snapped the question out.
“To make sure no one can help the novices,” Simon said.
Elkit sneered. “As if my novice needs help to beat a fringer.”
Rafiq appeared, presenting two charcoal pencils to Fureno. “Pick your weapon.”
Fureno frowned at him and took one of the pencils. Rafiq handed the second one to Gregory, who had taken his seat in the meantime.
“Since there are no questions, I ask that the crowd steps back at least twenty paces from the table,” Simon said. “Rafiq, if you will place the divider between them?”
Rafiq came back with a paper barrier on a wooden frame and set it on the table. It blocked them from seeing the other person’s paper, but they could still see each other. “It’s done, Simon.”
“Good. Novices, are you ready to begin?” Simon asked.
“Yes,” Fureno said stiffly.
“I’m ready, Archivist,” Gregory said.
Simon stepped to the side of the table and placed a roll of paper in front of each of them. “Begin,” he said, stepping back.
Gregory unrolled the page and studied the Magi Squares he had. The first one was simple; he completed it within a minute. Glancing up, he met Fureno’s eyes as he slid the first Magi Square aside.
Brow furrowing, Gregory looked back down and got to work, focusing solely on the task before him. Minutes ticked by as he completed the second, third, and fourth Magi Squares, each only a touch more difficult than the previous one.
“Side by side,” he heard someone say from the crowd. “Good thing neither of them is mind path, or this would be lopsided and not close at all.”
Gregory blocked out the distraction, looking at the fifth Magi Squares and smiling for a moment. This one jumped in difficulty by a large margin. It took him nearly twice as long to finish it as the previous four combined.
Gregory was sweating when he looked at the tenth and final page. It was the most difficult Magi Squares he’d ever seen, and he wasn’t sure if there was enough information for it to be solved. Swallowing, he closed his eyes and felt himself sink into his trance of meditation.
The aether cavern surrounded him in that instant, the Magi Squares puzzle floating in the air in front of him. “Okay, there has to be an answer... let’s see if you can’t help me,” he said, looking at the fire burning away a few feet from him.
The flames flickered and climbed higher for a moment before the embers floated across the puzzle in the air. They settled in place in a couple of the squares, forming numbers. As each appeared, Gregory checked them before laughing.
“Thank you. That should give me what I need,” Gregory said as he began to fill the other squares with numbers in rapid succession.
Blinking as the cavern faded away, Gregory sat up straight, the puzzle in front of him completed. Simon was by his side, looking over the last page, and the crowd was silent.
Simon eventually stepped back. “Novice Pettit has solved all ten correctly.”
“Impossible!” Elkit barked, striding forward. “Fureno hasn’t even started to fill in his last page.”
“This one wasn’t possible to solve,” Fureno said, standing up from his seat. “Impossible to solve, in fact.”
“Are you saying one of my assistants was less than neutral?” Sarinia asked, appearing behind Fureno, the coldness in her tone making all the novices in the room step away from her.
“May I see both sets?” Master Chen said. “I can verify if they were both equal, if that works for both parties.”
“I will accept that,” Elkit sniffed.
“Agreed,” Dia said amiably.
Simon took the papers and handed them to Master Chen, who had Magus Han standing beside him and looking over his shoulder.
“I wish to verify them, as well,” Marcia said.
“Agreed. Two sets of eyes are better,” Chen said. “I’ll hold Fureno’s and you can hold Pettit’s.”<
br />
“That would work wonderfully,” Marcia said as the two Magi examined each page together. After a couple of minutes, Marcia laughed. “They are identical. Goodness, what a blow to the pride of the Eternal Flame.”
“Indeed. This was a fair challenge. The archive has never failed to be fair and equal in their tasks,” Chen said. “Your novice lost, Elkit. Accept it gracefully.”
Elkit’s face was red as he glared at Fureno. “Pathetic useless cur! Get out!”
Fureno was white, but he didn’t hesitate, bolting for the exit.
“We’re leaving,” Elkit hissed at the members of his clan. “Now.” He strode away, the others falling in behind him.
Han turned to Gregory. “Well done. How long did it take you to realize the answer to the last one?”
“It didn’t dawn on me until I was over halfway done with it,” Gregory admitted.
“It was well done,” Han replied. “Have a good evening. We’re leaving, clan. We’ll discuss why this is important after dinner. Now, come.”
The groups broke up and left in short order, leaving just Dia and the three novices alone in the archive with the archivists. Dia bowed to Sarinia. “Our thanks, Chief Archivist. I was worried you were going to attack Elkit and give him an excuse to say your staff was biased.”
Sarinia’s eyes sparkled with anger for a moment. “That would have been bad for the novices involved. I’ll make sure he pays for what he said at a later time— I’ll be speaking with the council next week. It might be time for them to remind the clans about civility.”
“From your lips to Aether’s ears,” Dia murmured. “We’ll not intrude on your time more than we already have. A good night, Chief Archivist Sarinia.”
“A good eve, Magus Dia.”
“Let’s go home and have dinner,” Dia smiled. “I’m sure the others will be eager to hear the news.”
“Dia, can I ask Archivist Simon a question before we go?” Gregory asked.
Simon stood a dozen feet away, his eyes going to Gregory when he heard his name. “How might I help you, Novice?”
“The last puzzle... why did you make it the exact same order as the first?”
Simon’s eyes gleamed. “Because people always try to deny repetition.”
“I was when I started it,” Gregory replied and nodded. “I’ll keep that lesson in mind. My thanks.” Gregory cupped his left hand over his right fist, bowing formally to him.
“A lesson taught is an honor for us,” Simon said, bowing back just as formally. “Good evening.”
Chapter Thirty-two
No one from the Eternal Flame showed up to harass them throughout the next week, though some of the other novices were still having problems. From the chatter they heard, a few of the other clans had started to clash. Yamato Shipping and the Han Merchant Exchange had a handful of challenges before their day off came.
Jenn was all smiles when they finished their meditation exercises in the park. “Three days in a row now. Comparing what you told me, Yuki, my aether channels are wider, but my aether fire is not as dense as yours yet.”
“You focused on body for the first six months,” Yukiko replied. “It’ll stabilize more before the year ends.”
“I agree,” Gregory added. “Now, it’s time to head down to Hemet’s.”
“And to see if Nick has set anything up to cause us trouble,” Yukiko said.
“Do you really think he put it together from just seeing us last week?” Jenn asked as they started walking for the main street.
“Considering how much he hates us, it’s entirely possible,” Yukiko replied.
“It’s possible, but as long as nothing happens today, we’ll dodge that mess starting next week,” Gregory said.
“It’ll be easier to get our meditation done at Gin’s, anyway,” Yukiko said. “I keep expecting someone to show up while we’re using the park. If it was any time other than this early in the morning, it would happen.”
Turning onto the main street, Gregory’s shoulder blades began to itch. Glancing back, he caught sight of Fureno, who ducked into an alley. “Fureno’s tailing us,” Gregory said. “It seems that Nick wanted to verify it, after all.”
“Should we run?” Yukiko asked.
“Turn down the next street, sprint for the next corner, and start taking the back roads down to the gate. If we take turns now and again, he’ll have almost no chance of keeping up,” Jenn suggested.
“Do it,” Gregory said. “Funny that this is the same street we turned on when Nick tried to run us over... They might stay focused on it for a while.”
“That would be amusing,” Yukiko snorted. “All together?”
“Yup,” Gregory said. “Go!”
The moment they turned the corner, they pushed their aether into their legs and feet. Jenn’s feet were encased in blue flames as she ran, easily out-distancing them. When she glanced back, she cut down how much aether she was using so they could catch her. They turned the corner and Gregory looked back, no longer seeing Fureno.
“Next street, take a left,” Gregory said. “Then a right after that one.”
“Got it,” Jenn said.
~*~*~
The three of them had a light sweat dotting their foreheads when they came up to the gate between the inner and lower rings of the city. The guards on duty gave them curious glances, looking back down the street in case trouble had followed them.
“Magi, is there a problem?” one of the guards asked when they slowed to pass through the gateway.
“No problems,” Gregory said. “Just getting some exercise in.”
“Very well. Please be careful— you might injure someone accidentally if you run.”
“We’ll be careful,” Yukiko said.
The guard nodded. “Have a good day.”
“You, as well,” Jenn said.
“It’s this way,” Yukiko said, taking the lead. “We should have lost Fureno.”
“I haven’t seen him,” Gregory said.
“Good. We can go back to enjoying our day off,” Yukiko smiled. “We need to stop by Alvis Alchemy, too, Greg. Jenn’s starting to run low on the alchemical gifts we gave her.”
“Are we going to be able to keep her supplied?” Gregory asked.
“That’s why I want to stop by. That, and we need them to increase the potency of what we’ve been getting.”
“You have a good point.”
“I have a couple of bonds, if needed,” Yukiko said. “I’ll write Father and tell him that the alchemy money might run out faster than he anticipated.”
“You really don’t need to do that,” Jenn said.
“I feel that we do,” Yukiko said. “If you intend to walk beside us, you need to be our equal.”
Jenn’s cheeks flushed a little. “The cost is prohibitive. Yuki, I truly do appreciate the sentiment, but—”
“Jenn,” Gregory said, putting a hand on her shoulder and cutting her off, “I’ve been down this road with her before. Once she makes up her mind about something, she can be as unmoving as a mountain. I think she gets it from her father. While he isn’t a magi, he still managed to back down Grandmaster Shun at an auction.”
Jenn stared at him briefly before looking at Yukiko, who was wearing a victorious smile. Exhaling, she nodded. “I’ll pay you back in some fashion.”
“You can even help pay for some of it, if you’d like,” Yukiko said. “We three are all the novices our clan will have this year. If we’re all equal or near equal, then even if we’re outnumbered by the other clans, we’ll be the hardest challenge they have next year.”
“Always thinking ahead,” Gregory grinned. “You’re also right. If we can keep going as we have been, we’ll easily outstrip most of the other clans’ novices and be a real challenge to the bigger clans. It’ll give us enough trouble this year and next.”
“I’m glad I spoke with you before the fight,” Jenn said, “and afterward. If I hadn’t, I would have joined the Iron Hand and we would be ad
versaries instead of allies.”
“I’d rather have you as an ally,” Yukiko said.
“Me, too,” Gregory nodded.
Jenn smiled. “I wasn’t very nice before our bout.”
“Really? You made some small talk with me.”
Jenn laughed lightly. “I remember thinking you were on the spirit path because you meditated before the fight. I would never have suspected you of what we’re doing now.”
“I doubt anyone would,” Yukiko laughed with her. “Besides, you went to check on him after the fight. Mother said you were concerned for him.”
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