by Andrew Rowe
I blinked. “What? What happened?”
“I suppose you probably wouldn’t be able to read the newspapers, would you? Forgive me. I didn’t think of it. There’s been a string of strange murders in the city since the tournament started. At least four tournament participants have been killed in a similar fashion — with the attuned portions of the victim’s body entirely removed. The victims also often bore one additional cut, but only one. From the autopsy reports, it’s believed that these other cuts were the source of the lethal damage, and that the attuned body locations were removed after the fact.”
I didn’t even know what to say to that. “...So, there’s some sort of person targeting people with attunements to....what, steal them? Is it possible to graft an attunement onto someone else?”
“It’s unknown. Or, at least, unknown to the general populace.” She frowned. “Anyway, someone attempted to target Lady Hartigan as well. Fortunately, the attack occurred near the spire, which meant the collateral damage from the fight was not in a particularly occupied part of the city. I’m told the craters will take months to fill in, though.”
“That’s some pretty impressive destruction. Did she say anything about what the attacker looked like?”
Lia nodded. “Yes, but she claimed they were ‘shrouded in shadow’, and she couldn’t get a good look.”
“Something with shadow magic, then.” I thought of the Phantom Thief Ravenshade immediately, given that she’d concealed herself with similar magic. From our initial encounter, she didn’t seem like the type to run around murdering people and chopping off their limbs, but I couldn’t discount her entirely.
“And someone with the motivation and confidence to go after Lady Hartigan. She’s known to be extraordinarily powerful, and represents one of the most prominent families in Valia. Attacking her was an extraordinary risk.”
I thought back to what Grandmother Iron mentioned about assassins targeting her when she’d refused to make a deal, and I wondered if these killings might be related. Maybe they were hoping to eliminate the strongest competitors further in advance this time.
One of the people who was supposed to fight Edria Song never showed up. That might have been faked as a way of encouraging someone from the audience to step in, but I don’t think so. The crown princess seemed genuinely surprised.
Could someone have killed one of the people she’d been planning to fight in order to protect her?
If that was happening, Reika and I were potential targets.
“Were all the targets all high-ranking competitors?”
Lea considered that. “Moderate to high. Hartigan was the only one that I can think of that was particularly notable.”
“Anything else in common between the victims? National identity, attunement, that sort of thing?”
“Nothing I can think of. Of the four targets I know of, two are Valian and three are Edrian. Both Valians were Elementalists, if that matters.”
I pondered that. “And the others?”
“A Pyromancer, a Juggernaut, and… I’m not sure on the third one, sorry. Purifier, maybe?”
“Purifier?” I asked.
“That one is East Edrian. Heavy offense, using both fire and light magic.”
I nodded in understanding. “All offensive casters, then. That might be a pattern.”
Lea nodded noncommittally. “Juggernauts aren’t generally thought of in that fashion — they’re generally more melee focused, like Ari is. They can use fire magic, but it’s their secondary mana type.”
I pondered that. “Okay. You mentioned they’d all been cut once, in addition to the removed limbs. What type of cut?”
Lia frowned. “I didn’t see any of the bodies myself, but I’m told it looked like a cut from a heavy blade. Someone mentioned curved, I think.”
I made a mental note to keep an eye out for heavy curved weapons, but that was a long list. Broad axes, halberds, some glaives, curved swords…there were a considerable number of weapons that fell into that category, depending on how loosely one interpreted it.
I…doubt that a member of the imperial family is going around killing contestants in the tournament. But you’re right, I suppose it’s technically a possibility.
There was one potential culprit that kept coming to my mind, even if what I’d seen didn’t fit the description perfectly. “Could it be Akadi, trying to remove any potential threats?”
“I don’t think so.” Lia leaned closer and whispered to me. “I’m told he’s been taken care of.”
“What does that mean? Captured, killed?”
She gave me a shrug. “Don’t know. I might know a couple important people, but they don’t tell me everything, especially about cases like that one. Still, I don’t think it was probably him.”
I gave her a slow nod, but that information didn’t make me more comfortable. If anything, it made me more worried.
If they’d killed the host body of an entity capable of possession without taking the proper precautions...
Sorry.
I tried to focus. “Okay. Do you know anything else about who it might be?”
Lia shook her head.
“Okay. Can you warn Ari to be careful? He’s another Juggernaut, and I don’t think he’ll listen to me.”
Lia raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh, dear. You’re right, I suppose he might be a potential target. Very well, I’ll speak to him. I don’t know how receptive he’ll be, though. He’s much closer to the Meilin, and he doesn’t listen to her, either.”
“Fair. Okay. Let’s jump back a topic. So, you don’t think Hartigan is the one who took my challenge?”
Lia looked relieved to switch subjects. “No, I don’t believe so. Lady Hartigan was not seriously hurt, but she’s been notably more cautious since the attempt on her life. Spending a thousand points to challenge you seems uncharacteristically reckless.”
“Unless she thinks I’m the culprit.”
Lia seemed to consider that. “Possible. We can prepare for that, but I think there are more likely options.”
“Such as?”
“Well, there’s the Green Guardian. He’s famous, and I could see some patrons donating points toward his ‘cause’. Fighting you in a high profile, public match does sound like the sort of publicity stunt he’d consider.”
I nodded. That was an exciting prospect — I was looking forward to another chance to fight him. “Who else?”
Lia considered. “Well, there’s Walter’s strange friend.”
“...Shun?” I blinked.
“Yes, that’s the one. I haven’t been able to find almost anything out about him. Walter knows more, but he’s refused to tell me anything.”
“You think he has a thousand points?”
“I know he does. I wasn’t able to find who challenged you, and I don’t have access to the full point lists, but a friend who does have access wrote down a few names for me. Shun was one of them.”
That was...very odd. I’d seen him make one display of power, but it still didn’t seem sufficient to warrant a point score that high, especially if he was deliberately hiding his abilities like he seemed to be. “Why would he challenge me?”
“I’m sorry, I have too little information to say.” She shook her head. “And Walter has been very clear that he doesn’t want me to investigate Shun’s background. As one of my instructors, I need to follow his wishes in that regard.”
I understood her position, even if I found it frustrating. I’d have to take it up with Walter at some point, or with Shun directly.
Either way, it did potentially explain one thing — if Shun was the one who challenged me, that could have been why he was so hesitant to be friendly. And, of course, why he wouldn’t want to show off the full scope of his abilities
.
Had Walter placed Shun on our team so Shun could evaluate my strengths and weaknesses?
That was a troubling possibility, and one I wasn’t sure I should confront him about.
“Okay. Anyone else?”
“Hannah Meiyer. She’s a member of the Edrian Royal Guard. You should be very cautious with her. She’s considered one of the most likely to make it to the final round.”
I raised an eyebrow. I’d seen a few different types of royal guards over the years. About half of them were ceremonial. The other half? Well, they were people like my friends Velas and Landen — the most skilled fighters I’d ever encountered.
What would their local equivalent of Velas or Landen look like?
I got a little excited just thinking about it. “What makes her so impressive?”
“They call her The Royal Executioner. Not because she literally performs executions for the royal family, although she might. She’s the strongest known user of the Executioner attunement alive. Possibly ever.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Meaning she’s Emerald-level?”
Lia nodded. “One of the very few publicly-known ones. Each nation only has a handful of people who publicly demonstrate their Emerald status.”
That seemed a little strange to me, but I couldn’t exactly complain. I was hiding plenty of my own capabilities. Badly, I admit, but I was trying. “Okay. Emerald-level Executioner, that’s good to know.” I paused, thinking. “Is she one of those royal guard friends you mentioned?”
Lia frowned. “I’m not comfortable giving names on that.”
“Right. Sorry.” I took a breath. “Do you have memory crystals of her?”
Lia’s expression shifted to introspective. “I’ll have to check. Probably not, but I can work on trying to get some.”
“Please do. Wait, what would happen if a member of the royal guard went into the final match? Would they even be allowed to fight?”
Lia blinked. “I...suppose that’s a good point. Harming their charge would be rather against their job, wouldn’t it? I honestly don’t know. We’re a proud nation — I can’t see Hannah just surrendering. But I can’t see her winning, either.”
I nodded in understanding, remembering the opening ceremonies. “Crown Princess Edria Song. She’s absurdly powerful.”
“She is.” Lia nodded. “We’re doing some research and adjusting our plans, but I don’t know if anyone in the tournament stands a chance against her. Respectfully, even you should be prepared to lose against her.”
“How exactly did she get so powerful? Is Diamantine that overwhelming?”
Lia shook her head. “Diamantine is a part of it, of course. Most of our students are training for anti-petrification measures, but from what I saw in the first round, you already have a method for that.”
I nodded. That was one of my advantages that I’d already considered, but I wasn’t sure if Lia or Grandmother Iron had noticed. “I do. I’ll want to practice it more, though. Diamantine seemed to work faster than that eye creature, or other people with petrification than I’m used to. But if Diamantine isn’t the main source of her power, what is?”
Lia’s expression was grave. “Edria Song is the subject of a great prophecy, and she was blessed by the visages at birth.”
I quirked a brow. “Blessed with what?”
“Blessed with six attunements.”
“...Oh.”
***
After that, I briefly discussed the next match with Lia, but she didn’t have a lot of information on it yet.
She gave me a few more memory crystals to study, including ones that showed the wielder of Soulbrand in his previous matches. I studied them carefully, looking for weaknesses.
He didn’t seem to have any. He was fast, powerful, and his teleportation didn’t seem to exhaust him in the slightest. Attempts to shut down his teleportation with shadow or void magic — like what Meilin presumably had been trying to do with her shadow chains — all seemed to fail outright.
Even attempts to stop him with water and ice magic, which should have been the natural counters to a flame sword, didn’t seem to slow him down. Soulbrand was simply too powerful for ordinary magic to counter, and no one seemed to have an ice magic artifact comparable to it.
No, Corin, I don’t think Selys-Lyann would have done the job, either.
I studied some other memory crystals as well, watching matches that included Lady Hartigan and the Green Guardian. Lady Hartigan’s abilities seemed more conventional, at least, but she had a few techniques I’d have to be very cautious about, like creating simulacra.
The Green Guardian seemed to rely heavily on his supposed invulnerability. I was already confident I could break that, so I wasn’t as concerned about him.
Lia wasn’t able to find any memory crystals of Hannah, as she’d suspected. That just meant I’d have to spend more time studying the Executioner attunement in general, and I didn’t mind that. I hoped I could use that knowledge to polish some of my own techniques.
I was exhausted when Reika finally found her way into my bedroom, and we collapsed together to sleep.
***
First thing in the morning the next day, I woke to finding Grandmother looming over my bed. “Wake quickly and ready yourself. It’s time I teach you a thing or two directly.”
I groaned, pulled myself out of bed, and got myself ready for the day. A bit later, I found Grandmother Iron waiting in her room. She stood as I entered, then gestured for me to follow her to another room. She didn’t take me to a private arena, but rather the main training hall for the Study of Iron itself. Meilin was already there waiting for us. She gave me a silent nod as I entered the room, and I returned it in kind.
“Meilin, wooden sword. Keras, no swords. Then, both of you to the center,” Iron instructed.
I raised an eyebrow, but unbuckled my sword belt and rested it in the corner of the room.
Don’t worry, you still get to watch.
Don’t worry, I’ll spend some time with you later.
I took my position near the center of the room, only a sword-length away from Meilin.
Grandmother Iron walked to the back of the room, sitting down on a pillow. “Most traditional sword schools focus on teaching their own fighting style, as well as general footwork and technique. Both of you already have a firm foundation in sword work, so that will not be our focus. Instead, this lesson and my subsequent lessons will focus on honing specific techniques I have selected to supplement your abilities for this tournament.”
I could understand her reasoning. A few weeks wouldn’t be enough time to meaningfully teach me an entirely different sword style, but picking up a couple new spells or techniques could make a difference. “What are we working on today?”
Iron turned to me. “You have a body-reinforcement technique.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, but I answered anyway. “Two of them. Body of Stone and Body of Iron. I’m also working on some other variants.”
When she heard the name “Body of Iron”, Grandmother’s lips twitched just slightly. “Show me the stronger technique.”
I took a breath and nodded. “Body of Iron.” Speaking the name aloud was unnecessary, but I did it as a demonstration to show that it was active. Iron mana flooded into my body, vastly reinforcing my strength and resilience.
“Good. Meilin, hit him.”
Meilin raised her wooden sword without the slightest hesitation and smashed it into my arm. I didn’t bother trying to dodge or block — I didn’t have to.
The sword trembled on impact. She’d swung with considerable force, but hadn’t hurt me in the slightest.
Iron’s eyes narrowed. “Hm. Again.”
Meilin hit me several more times, each with the same impact.
“This seems sufficient. Now, Meilin, reinforce your weapon.”
Meilin gave Iron an uncertain look, then closed her eyes and concentrated. I saw a brief flicker across the surface of her weapon, but that was it.
“Now, strike him. Harder.”
I didn’t like the idea of where this was going, but I still let her hit me.
Crack.
The wooden sword shattered on impact. I still didn’t feel the hit.
“Good. You may both disable the techniques.”
I took a breath. Release Body of Iron.
I’d only kept the ability active for a short time, but it was enough for me to feel the strain.
Iron turned to Meilin. “Your control has improved, but it is still insufficient. Do you see a bruise on his arm? No? Then you have not hit him hard enough. Your weapon is shattered. You have lost your battle. Go. Retrieve another sword.”
Meilin looked briefly abashed before leaving to retrieve another sword from a storage room nearby.
Grandmother turned to me. “Where did you learn that technique?”
“Back at home. When I was doing my military training, I met another metal sorcery specialist. He’d already graduated, but he came to spar with me from time to time.”
Iron’s frowned. “And this graduate taught you the technique?”
“Well, my instructor explained the basics, but yeah, Taer’vys is the one who practiced the Body of Iron technique with me.”
“And this…Taer’vys…did he say where he learned it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“I see.” Iron took a breath. “Well, after watching it, I can see that Walter’s assessment was correct. Your technique has several flaws.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m doing something wrong?”
“Not precisely. The technique itself is…rudimentary. Inefficient. You appear to be simply flooding your body with metal mana, yes?”
“Basically. There’s some shaping involved with moving it, but that’s about it.”
Meilin returned to the room with a new wooden sword, then took a position across from me like before.