“I’ll outpace my fear and prove to you that I can catch my dream,” Nessa said, her tail flicking in agitation.
Victoria smiled softly, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “I feel like an idiot… like a child afraid of the dark that had to be shown the noise outside was just the tree scratching at the shutters. Thank you, Greg. I’ll be in the finals with them. We’ll win.”
“Damned right, we will,” Daciana said, nodding sharply.
“Friends can help pull you up, as well as push you to do more,” Nessa smiled. “Thanks for the hand up.”
“It’s just who he is,” Yukiko said fondly. “We’ll be right there in the stands beside your families, cheering for you. We know you’ll win today, tomorrow, and into the finals.”
“We believe in you, so believe in yourselves,” Jenn said. “We’ll be looking forward to standing with you on the sands to accept our rewards from the council.”
“Stupid...” Daciana huffed. “We have studying to do.”
“We do, indeed,” Yukiko agreed.
~*~*~
They had taken their seats, and a few other students and magi were still getting settled as the seventh bell rang. Gregory wondered if Carlisle would show up again or choose a different place to sit. He might want to stay away in case they win— he’d want to avoid the embarrassment. Then again, he’d want to be here if they lose so he can declare just how “smart” he is. Hmm... which is more likely? He was still pondering when Hao and the others arrived.
“Here all day again?” Hao asked Lightshield as he took his seat.
“Yes. It appears as if the council wants to keep the undefeated novices fighting in the central arena. It is a little different from some of the past tournaments, but it will give people a chance to cheer the novices on easier. That also means that keeping these seats is going to be tougher.”
“I can see that,” Hao said, nodding to the few people he recognized from the day before.
Daciana, Nessa, and Victoria came into view. Their previous fear was gone— they were smiling and joking with each other as they took their seats. Some surreptitious nods were exchanged by the novices and apprentices.
Daciana spoke to her father, loud enough for the others to hear her, “We’re all fighting in the late morning into the late afternoon. Some of our fights are back-to-back-to-back, so it’ll be busy for us.”
“Maybe this farce will end quickly, then,” Carlisle’s voice caught everyone’s attention nearby. He sneered at the novices. “Aether willing, we’ll see some blood today.”
Gregory looked away from Carlisle to the man who had followed him. He had cold eyes and scarred hands, and was wearing armor and carrying a sword. The man exuded an aura of uncaring violence. His cold eyes shifted to Gregory and stared into him.
“Carlisle,” Hao said amiably, “so good of you to join us again. Look, they even left your previous spot open for you, though I do have to say that your previous companion was more attractive.”
“Warlin, I look forward to you losing today’s bet. You’ll learn how foolish you were, and everyone here will see it.”
“Possibly,” Hao said, his smile still in place. “Then again, I’d bluster if I had the chance of losing all the vela you are. I notice that the majority of people nearby were here yesterday, too.”
“It appears that is the case,” Carlisle said after taking a look around.
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy some of the fights today,” Hao said. “I know I will.”
~*~*~
The morning fights went by with minor interest. The novices used very little aether, as the majority of them did not have the skill or aether to do a lot of magic. A few outliers caught a lot of attention, though— Franklin Buddiz turned out to be a prodigy earth magi, able to fling hardened balls of earth at his opponent. While he couldn’t throw many, he’d been able to use enough at key points throughout his matches to quickly dispatch his opponent. The other novice, Seymour Xandia, reminded Gregory of Franco Ichor. He was a physical enhancement magi who was brutal to his opponents.
The eleventh bell came a second before Daciana walked out of the tunnel and onto the arena floor. She walked with her head held high and her back straight, ignoring the cheers and boos from the stands.
The same magus from the day prior had Daciana and her opponent bow as normal. The brawny magi backed up with his hand raised, but before he could drop it, a spike of earth shot up out of the ground, aimed directly for Daciana’s gut.
Daciana’s eyes widened. She started to shift to the side on reflex, but it wasn’t going to be enough to get clear of the earthen spear. When the spike collided with and shattered on an aether-made barrier, it was her opponent’s turn to be shocked.
The adjudicator went from where he’d been, to in front of Daciana’s opponent in a blink. The crowd was going nuts, equal parts incensed and eager for more. Seconds passed as the magi talked with the novice, who had attacked before the match started.
“Novice Jilam forfeits the match and will withdraw from the tournament,” the adjudicator announced, stepping back from the novice as they dropped to their knees.
There were more boos than cheers coming from the crowd, but Daciana bowed as she should, then left the arena floor. Carlisle was one of the loudest jeering over the announcement.
As the crowd settled down, Carlisle spoke up, “Pathetic! If you win, it’ll be because the magus stopped her from fighting as she should have.”
Hao didn’t bother replying to Carlisle. Instead, he leaned forward to ask Gin, “Armsmaster, is that normal? Making the fighter forfeit and withdraw?”
“The rules of duels are sacrosanct,” Gin replied. “He was lucky that the adjudicator didn’t cripple or kill him for blatantly breaking those rules.”
“Not many novices can create an earthen spear, either, and definitely not before the second tournament,” Dia added. “That means the novice likely had an item. The attack was deliberately before the start of the match, as well, as it was intended to catch their opponent off-guard. Luckily for Daciana, she had something to create a barrier with. She’d have been skewered at worst or badly gashed at best.”
Daciana came out of the tunnel for the stands. She was wearing a thoughtful expression as she moved toward her friends. Nessa and Victoria began to talk to her, finding out if there was more to know. Daciana explained what she could as the next set of fighters bowed on the arena floor.
Chapter Sixty-two
The afternoon came, and all three novices had fought multiple times.
Victoria had won all three of her matches. She’d outclassed two of her opponents, but the last was a real fight. In the end, she stood victorious with her black eyes and a split lip.
Daciana won her second fight with ease— her opponent was an enchantment magi, who was clearly far from proficient with fighting. Her last fight was going to be after Nessa’s third.
Nessa won her matches with only a little trouble against her second opponent. The woman was tenacious, and Nessa was forced to render her unconscious before she stopped fighting. Nessa had taken several hard hits, but didn’t acquire any major injuries from the fight. The problem was that her third fight was about to begin, only two fights after her second bout.
Nessa was waiting near the adjudicator when her opponent came out of the far tunnel. The crowd cheered when they saw Novice Buddiz. Carlisle was on his feet, whistling and cheering along with them.
“Now it ends, Warlin!” Carlisle laughed. “There is no way she can keep up with the barrage of earth he can throw at her!”
Hao looked pensive as the adjudicator had the novices bow. “That’s true. This very well might be the end of it. I feel confident in her, though. I’d even double the bet, if you’d accept it, even if that does mean you would get vela from me if she lost.”
Carlisle paused. The idea of getting vela back from Warlin was a bright hope in his mind. He glanced at the arena floor where the two novices turned to bow to the academy box.
“I accept,” he said.
“What?” Hao asked, looking back at Carlisle. “Wait—”
“Too late. I agreed,” Carlisle cut him off with a triumphant sneer. “You heard that, didn’t you, Armsmaster?”
Gin nodded. “I did, indeed. I will make sure that the bet is honored.”
Before more could be said, the fight down below started.
Nessa charged, rushing straight for Buddiz with a focused expression. Buddiz backpedaled, launching fist-sized clumps of compact sand at Nessa’s face. She didn’t even flinch, and the reason why was soon apparent to the crowd— the clods impacted on a barrier a foot away from Nessa.
Buddiz grimaced and made a grasping gesture. The barrier that had been in front of Nessa shifted behind her, and the newly formed earthen balls impacted it instead of her. Eyes wide with panic, Buddiz tried to set his feet to meet her. He hadn’t expected her to be able to block both barrages.
Nessa didn’t slow as Buddiz expected her to, so his kick failed, leaving him on a single leg just before Nessa tackled him. She didn’t stop— she planted her shoulder into his gut and drove him into the ground. She was on top of him and hammered his face relentlessly in mere heartbeats.
Stepping closer, Magus Igorson was impressed with Nessa. She’d always been a bit soft in his opinion, but in this moment, she was vicious. That made him smile as he let her batter the other novice for a few seconds longer than he rightfully should have.
“Break!” Igorson said firmly.
Nessa checked her next swing an inch from Buddiz’s bloody face. Breathing hard and fast, she pushed herself off the unconscious novice and stood. After taking a step back, she bowed to her opponent first, to Igorson, and then to the academy box. As she walked away, she became aware of the crowd again, which was mostly cheering wildly.
Carlisle’s face was purple, and he couldn’t speak as he glared down at the arena floor. The feeling of all those nearby watching him only made his humiliation worse. On top of that, Hao never said a word— he was just sitting there, refusing to gloat as Carlisle would have. By the time he could form words again, the next fighter was walking out of the tunnel and onto the arena floor.
Walking slowly and waving to the crowd as they cheered him on, Novice Xandia wore a haughty smile. Stopping in front of Igorson, the novice bowed his head to the magus. Igorson inclined his head back, which got the crowd talking.
Daciana exited the other tunnel with her ears up and her tail lightly swishing side-to-side. The crowd was cheering loudly, as they anticipated a good fight. Daciana could feel her friend’s eyes on her back and a weight settle on her shoulders.
Hao didn’t offer Carlisle another bet as, this time, he was honestly concerned for Daciana. Carlisle exhaled, relief flooding him when he saw the match-up.
The crowd noise died down as the two novices started the ritual bowing. The excitement was still clearly ratcheting up as people unconsciously leaned forward in anticipation.
Nessa came bolting out of the tunnel in the stands as Daciana and Xandia bowed to each other. With the noise dropping further, the crowd could clearly hear her shout, “You can do this, Daciana!”
“Fight!” That word was what people had been waiting for, but it felt oddly out of place after Nessa’s yell.
Xandia’s concentration on Daciana had broken when Nessa yelled. His eyes tracked to Nessa, shocked that anyone was cheering for the eurtik instead of him. That surprise was redoubled when Igorson called for them to fight, as he was no longer prepared to start.
Daciana took that slight advantage and rushed at Xandia. The distance was too far for her to reach him before he could set himself, but she’d been able to close the distance appreciably. Xandia just smirked, as that meant less work for him. When he saw the clods of earth coming at him, he batted them aside with a flame-covered hand contemptuously. The balls exploded when he hit them instead of being deflected aside— they hadn’t been tightly compacted as he expected, but loosely. He staggered back a step as his eyes watered and he tried to get the dust out of his lungs.
Daciana’s smile was feral as she closed the last few feet and kicked. It wasn’t what people would think of as proper, but in battle, the only thing that mattered was who was left standing at the end. Magus Igorson had told them that every day for the last few months. Xandia tried to block the kick, but since he couldn’t see clearly through his tears, his aether-covered hand missed.
When her foot connected with her target, Xandia let out a wordless scream and pitched forward, his aether gone from his hands as he grabbed his injured groin. Daciana wasn’t foolish enough to stop there, as Igorson hadn’t told her to break— she kicked Xandia under the chin as he rolled to his side, snapping the novice’s head back. Igorson still hadn’t told her to stop, so she continued with her attack, stomping down when Xandia was thrown onto his back.
“Break!” Igorson shouted. “Healers!”
The crowd had been nearly silent during the brief fight, shocked at what had happened. When the healers came rushing out to see to Xandia, it broke the moment and the crowd started to cheer, jeer, and talk in confusion.
As her adrenaline wore off, Daciana’s smile grew wide when she realized she’d won. Her plan had been foolish and flimsy, but it had worked. She spun to face the stands where her friends and family were sitting. Her father was grabbing the rail and shouting in joy. Nessa was grinning at her, and Victoria hugged Nessa with one arm and waved at Daciana with the other as if calling her to come join them.
“Winner, Novice Lyall!” Igorson announced as Mindie worked on Xandia’s throat.
“Bullshit!” Carlisle snapped. “She broke the rules!”
“What rule did she break?” Hao asked as he stood, turning to face the irate merchant.
“She kicked him in the groin!”
“There’s no rule against that,” Gin said, having turned in his seat to speak.
Carlisle was shaking with fury as he felt all the eyes on him from everyone nearby. “You all planned this!” he seethed.
“Honestly, no,” Hao said. “I would have never even bet against you if you hadn’t spoken out on the first match of the first day. It was just your misfortune to do so in my presence. Now, I believe you owe me nearly one and a half million vela. I’ll take a bond.”
Carlisle was trapped. If he refused to pay the debt, his family name would be dragged through the mud, but paying would be accepting that Hao was right, and that burned his pride. Seconds ticked by as he wavered on what to do.
Gin stood and went over to the stairs that led up to where Carlisle sat. “Honorable Carlisle, there is a debt that needs to be paid,” Gin said the words evenly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Carlisle swallowed and stared at Gin. With shaky hands, he pulled a bond from his belt pouch and filled in the information. Carlisle got to his feet when he finished, thrusting the bond at Hao. “We’re even.”
Hao didn’t move to take the bond. “You have to seal it, first.”
Carlisle’s jaw tightened as he snatched his knife from his belt and nicked his thumb. Pressing the bleeding digit to the bond beside his name, he again thrust it toward Hao.
Hao took it this time, smiling. “A pleasure.” With a glance at the bond, he sighed and pulled two coins from his belt pouch, holding them out to Carlisle. “You overpaid. Here is your change.”
Nostrils flaring, Carlisle slapped Hao’s hand and sent the coins flying. Without speaking, he stalked past Hao, his bodyguard following him. Gin stepped aside, keeping his eyes on the bodyguard. He dipped his head fractionally to Gin as he passed.
“That was amazing!” someone said in the nearby crowd, making people laugh.
Hao grinned and shrugged as he stuffed the bond into his pouch. “Well, I need to go. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the fights.”
Yoo-jin was already on her feet and leading the apprentices away by the time Hao stopped speaking. Gregory and his wives gave Nes
sa and Victoria grins and winks when they went by.
~*~*~
They weren’t waiting for too long before the others came out of the arena. The novices were smiling broadly and chatting animatedly about Daciana’s fight.
“You did well,” Gin said when they were finally away from the arena. “Some might look down on you for that first blow, but you did what you had to to beat him. Besides, it’s the least he deserved, considering his other fights.”
Daciana beamed with pride. “Magus Igorson always told us the only thing that matters is who is still standing at the end.”
“In a real fight, it is, and they want these fights to be as close to that as possible. A word of warning, though? In the next tournament, your kick might not work.”
Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) Page 48