Mavec slammed two glass jars onto the table; a copper piece of filament was at the center of each, and surrounding it seemed to be a literal thunderstorm in a jar. “Naya and Illaria. Take one of these,” Mavec insisted as he took a seat at the table. “Clockwork is vulnerable to electricity; the high heat during conduction fries and warps components, causing them to break down. So if you find yourself struggling, throw one of these suckers at them and let them fry. Alvec, you adjust your spell list to deal with clockwork?” he asked.

“What am I, an amatuer? Of course. We’ve traded out all our fire spells for the most effective lightning spells I could find. Hell, I copied lightning bolt from your spell book and swapped out my blast of diamond shards,” Alvec said, smiling.

“Good, that's the sort of proactive action I appreciate. We’re going to fucking smoke them,” Mavec said, grinning ear to ear maniacally. “I’ll have my revenge and expose Warren and the spineless coward and thief he is!”

“Is Mavec going to be okay?” Illaria asked.

“I hope so; this better not be the start of a mental breakdown,” Alvec replied.

“Bait, get it, gotta shoot bad men. Bait would shoot cheese thief, it like dat.”

“I won’t pretend to get it, but I’ll participate,” Naya said as she reached above her head and stretched out before taking one of the glass jars with a storm in it. Illaria took the other one and pocketed it. The group finished their meal and headed towards the stadium. Bait found the concession stand and stormed up to find Biswell manning the booth alongside a tiefling man.

“Welcome, young Goblin. May we interest you in our combination plate? We call it Cheese Nachos. We’ve combined corn chips with beef and a generous helping of gooey cheddar cheese. Just three silver a plate.”

“Bait TRY! GIVE,” he said, reaching his hands up.

“Bait, we’ve been over this before, coin first, food second,” Biswell said with casual disinterest.

Bait fished into his pockets and produced the required coin, quickly trading it for a plate full of food drenched in a very gooey cheddar cheese sauce. He dug right in without even walking away. It was as good as he had hoped it would be. The cheese flavor wasn’t overpowering but was strong and complimented the beef well.

“Bait want more!” he said as he fished for more silver from his pockets.

“Bait, we’ll buy more after the tournament,” Illaria stated. “If we don’t hurry, Mavec will murder us,” she said as she motioned for Bait to follow.

“Biswell, save some for me when I win,” Bait said before he scampered into the waiting area. Again, the team was scheduled for an early fight. The announcer’s voice rang out above the din of the crowd. “Today’s first match will be between Sha-Laial’s Academy team, here representing the art of Artificy. Versus the Cheese Acolytes, new adventurers in the city of Sha-Laial. Their team boasts two academy graduates. One of which is an artificer himself. Let's see what mechanical might the two teams bring today for us to witness.”

Mavec led the way onto the field. “Warren, get ready to lose!” he shouted. “Soon, they’ll all see you as I know you.” The rest of the team, even Bait, stood back and let Mavec do the talking.

Warren alone stood on the opposite team, wearing strange gloves and a device over his eyes. A Large mech with various dangerous-looking weaponry towered over the battlefield. Additionally, multiple smaller clockworks were on the field, each equipped with a long, elegant spear.

“So what's the play, Mavec?” Illaria asked.

“I’m going after Warren and anything else in my way. You guys take out the rest of them,” he said as he waited for the announcer to declare the battle started.

“Bait, you and I should focus on the big one. That leaves the clockwork soldiers to Naya, Echo, and Illaria,” Alvec said.

No sooner than Alvec spoke did the announcer shout, “Fight!” Bait dropped to one knee and fired a shot, which struck the largest construct and bounced off. It was tough to tell with its entirely metal body if it was particularly damaged by the barrage of bullets. Illaria rushed forward, pulling out the storm in a jar and tossing it at the feet of the giant construct. The jar shattered with a thunderous crack, which sprayed glass shards in a radius around its point of impact. Electricity arced through the machine, having a more noticeable effect as the construct seemed to seize up a bit as the current passed through it.

Naya and Echo moved in tandem, rushing towards Warren. The pair paid mind to their positions, leaving a clear shot for Mavec. They didn’t need to get shot by lightning. They couldn’t handle it nearly as well as Alvec could. They fell just short of being able to reach their targets.

The Large Mech stepped forward and began its attack. It swept a chainsawed hand at Echo. The protective magic did its work, but even then, it looked like it would have been a brutal wound. Another arm swept over towards Illaria, and a torrent of flames spewed at her. She did her best to jump over the sheet of fire; it clipped her boots, only singing her slightly. Then, from some shoulder-mounted compartments, it fired off its own guns. The first round aimed at Bait fell short. Apparently, its range was considerably less than Bait’s. The second got lucky, striking Alvec. The bullet stopped just shy of hurting him; the energy spun out of it at the last second, and it fell to the ground, plunking into the grass beneath his feet. Yet again, his defensive layer of spells was too much to overcome.

Mavec took aim and fired a bolt of lightning between Naya and Echo. It pierced through one of the clockwork soldiers before slamming into Warren, who was not fast enough to dodge entirely out of the way. “That's for stealing my designs!”

Alvec ran forward. If Mavec was going to ignore the most prominent threat in favor of his grudge match, then it would be up to Alvec to wreck this giant constructs day. He fired off his own lightning bolt, which slammed into it and dissipated as it passed through it. Cries went out from the stands. The residents of Scythefell Street were particularly vocal in their support. Alvec couldn’t help but notice that Hoc and Sarbie had both joined the Scythefell street spectators. He’d have to put on a more impressive display. Hoc, he expected, but having Sarbie there was a pleasant surprise. He’d have to put on a good show. He wrapped his tail around the handle of his enchanted dagger. He unsheathed it in a flash as he joined Illaria approaching the mech.

A clockwork soldier rushed to meet them; it thrust its fancy spear at Illaria, who deftly batted it off to the side and slashed forward her blade parallel to the creature's spear. She moved with the slash, brushing past it and placing herself opposite Alvec.

Bait again took aim at the big one and fired two more shots, focused on the knee joint. The bullets didn’t seem to have as much impact as the electricity, but he could clearly hear the groaning of machine parts as it tried to step forward. All he had to do was keep hammering the same spot.

Naya and Echo positioned themselves on either side of one of the sets of clockwork soldiers attempting to shield Warren Allston with their bodies. Echo grew large at her command and bit down on the metallic warrior. His teeth managed to pierce the outer jacket of metal, but he could not flip the construct to the ground; it was just too sturdy and possessed a lower center of gravity than one would expect.

Naya followed up Echo’s bite with two sword strikes. One was too shallow, only barely clipping its outer shell of armor. The other slipped beneath a bent plate covering its neck and cut deep into some vital cable. A black ichor gushed from the slash as she ripped it clean from the clockwork soldier. Between the bolt of lightning Mavec had slammed into it, Echo’s bite, and one good hit from Naya, this particular clockwork soldier was already starting to look somewhat worse for wear.

Alvec did his best to provide some threat, bashing the clockwork soldier beside him off balance just a smidge. Illaria capitalized on the momentary flash of instability and thrust the blade through one of its arm joints. She ripped it back out, dragging it deep against its internal gears. It still hadn’t done as much damage as she had wanted, but it was more than she’d expected. The large construct attacked again with as much gusto as possible. The blade swung this time at Naya, who tried to block the rotating sword by slamming her own two blades into it. Unfortunately, the momentum was too great, and her blades were knocked aside before she was sliced into.

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Next, it unloaded another torrent of flames, this time at Illaria, Alvec, and the clockwork soldier between them. None of them were fast enough to clear out of the way. Illaria took a blistering hit that she knew would have burned her badly without the power of the magic protecting them. Alvec, on the other hand, absorbed all of it. He had just enough defensive power between the power of his arcane wards and his devilish blood. What alarmed him was that a single hit had used up all his warding. This thing needed to go down now. Finally, it fired off two more shots at Bait. Both of which struck him this time.

Warren moved all of his soldiers to attack. Mavec observed that Warren wasn’t doing anything but directing them. No spellcasting of his own and no movement to speak of. It clearly took too much effort to control all of this clockworks at the same time. They were likely better off sending in two wizards to provide some spellcasting on top of the construct support. The clockwork soldiers beat down on Naya and Echo, who looked as if a stiff wind might be enough to bring them down.

“This is for taking advantage of my town,” Mavec shouted as another bolt of lightning erupted from his outstretched hand. The clockwork soldiers Echo and Naya had already been attacking, caught fire, and stumbled to the ground. Naya let out a sigh of relief. She was still too close for comfort to the big one, but she had two fewer spear thrusts to deal with now. Warren wasn’t looking the best, either. The second bolt of lightning in a row had done a number on him. One more bolt would be all it took to make him eat dirt.

Alvec spun his focus onto the large construct. He had initially planned to haste the party, but considering how much damage it was outputting and how vulnerable it was to electricity and resistant to other injuries, it seemed best to keep hammering it instead. He sheathed his hand in electricity and slapped its leg, sending a jolt all through it. It struggled to maintain standing. Even more so when Bait peppered its leg again with more bullets. The joint gave out, and it collapsed to the ground. At this point, it was entirely possible for them to just keep kiting the creature, as it was not as accurate with its ranged attacks as Bait was. Alvec could safely stand beside and heal him even if the mech focused its fire on the goblin. It was a strategy they’d have to keep in mind if the fight didn’t start coming to a close soon.

Illaria parried two spear thrusts back to back and responded in kind, bringing the clockwork soldier to its knees. Two out of three of them were down. One relatively unharmed clockwork soldier, one beat-up wizard, and one quickly fading giant construct remained of the opposing team. Mavec couldn’t help but laugh. Warren’s lack of offense was playing out exactly how Mavec had hoped it would. It was showing him to be a coward. They might have been in a much different position if he had taken a more significant risk rather than holding back two of his constructs.

He lined up one final bolt, this time firing from Piquora’s position, and let fly his arcane might. Warren crumpled to the ground, and the clockwork shuddered but continued to operate. No longer being guided, it would be hard to tell precisely how intelligent they were and if their tactics might change. “Suck on that, Warren!” Mavec shouted as he pumped his fist into the air.

The remaining clockwork soldier moved forward and slashed at Naya and Echo. The spear hit Echo but missed Naya by the slightest bit. The large construct turned its full attention to Alvec. It swung its saw blade down, piercing through his defenses and landing what would have been a devastating strike had the protective wards not mitigated it. Alvec screamed in pain. It wouldn’t have killed him, but it had taken him from untouched to critically wounded with a single swing. The torrent of flame came next. He dodged low, taking a smattering more damage. Still, he clamped his mouth hard, grunted, and bore with it as he immediately went invisible, an illusionary vision of himself withering to death in front of the construct. No longer seeing its target, the machine fired its remaining two bullets at Illaria, both connected.

Naya and Echo went all in on the clockwork soldier before them. Between fang and blade, they quickly tore it to pieces, when the gears clanged to the ground the pair were bloody but unbroken.

Illaria rushed toward the large construct and slashed at the flame thrower. With expert timing, she sliced clean through one of the valves that produced the flames. She smiled at her handy work. Alved reappeared, slamming electricity into the construct's chest. Bait took another two shots, this time targeting the chainsaw-like arm. Finally, between their three-pronged assault, the construct sputtered out, collapsing onto the ground. Piquora dashed toward the last standing clockwork soldier and barrelled into it; electricity pulsed through its body before it fell limp to the ground. A round of cheers went through the crowd as the Cheese Acolytes remained on their feet. Mavec rushed over to the announcer. “Hey, hey, I want it on the record that the reason Jai-Enora doesn’t have clean water is that asshole cheaping out on parts and skipping town with the extra money! I took the fall, but Warren Allston should have!”

Murmurs ran through the crowd as his words sunk in. It was beyond a simple grudge match, and with that closing statement, Alvec was sure that the academy would be looking into this. Perhaps before long, Mavec could return to Jai-Enora and restore his good name, having exposed Warren’s behavior to the world. The team walked out of the stadium.

“Thank you, guys, that went perfectly,” Mavec said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Speak for yourself. Echo and I took a beating!” Naya exclaimed.

“And thanks for that. Did you see the look on his face when I slammed him with that final bolt? I’m going to cherish that memory,” Mavec said.

“Aye, we appreciated the supporting fire, but could you also get Piquora in there next time instead? We could have used another target for them to swing at,” Illaria noted.

“Bait shoot targets, we fine,” Bait confirmed.

“So, who are we up against next?” Naya asked.

“We won’t know for a few hours yet, but my money is on the Red Banner Army,” Illaria said.

“What makes you think those useless border guards will win against other mercenary teams?” Mavec asked.

“They’re probably not nearly as useless as you're making them out to be. Think about it: the men and women at the helm of ALL of the Banners are extremely old and bloodied hands. They fought both in the Anarchy and in Ageneon’s War. Do you really think something as simple as peace would let them relax their training regimen? If anything, I’d be betting they’re a force to be reckoned with,” Illaria said.

“Do you think doing enough practice drills makes up for the lack of live combat?” Alvec asked.

“I think a bored guard with a rifle who practices shooting a few hours each day for lack of anything better to be doing is going to be more accurate than someone required to practice many different skills. One may be better overall, but the other may win the fight,” Illaria said.

“I get what you're saying; we beat Pacta at Cellocht’s party, though. Maybe it won’t be so bad.” Naya suggested.

“Different rules of engagement,” Alvec responded. “Did Pacta ever say she was a swordsman?”

“Now that you mention it, no,” Naya said.

“So we have to be assuming that she was fighting with a weapon that was not her best,” Illaria said.

“Which means that she’ll compete better. Good, I look forward to the challenge,” Naya said.

“Red Banner also have guns,” Bait interrupted as he waved his gun in the air.

“Their setup has been Pacta, who I haven’t seen use a weapon, two gunmen, two pikemen, and some sort of caster, perhaps a cleric?” Alvec rattled off.

“Aye, we’ll need a plan to take care of the gunman as quickly as possible,” Illaria stated.

“I can provide cover with obscuring mist,” Alvec said.

“OH! I’ll summon some wolves!” Naya added enthusiastically.

“You’ll do what?” Mavec asked.

“Summon. Wolves. I can do that.”

“Since when?” Mavec asked.

Naya shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, a few months at least? It just doesn’t come up often. Think of it: through a huge fog cloud... and then BAM, a pack of wolves comes barreling out of it! Should buy us a little bit of time, if nothing else.” Naya said, giving two thumbs up to her own plan.

“How Bait see?” he asked. “No shoot if no see.”

“You’ll just have to run around the cloud to get line of sight,” Mavec replied.

“Alright, let's be getting on out of here; we can talk strategy more at the house,” Illaria said.

“What are we all planning to do today anyway?” Alvec asked.

“Bait must spread word of cheese! All must know of the glorious cheese.”

“Did he just imply he will wander around telling people about cheese?” Mavec asked.

“Does that be surprising you at this point, Mavec?” Illaria asked.

“Yes, and now I’m a little disappointed in myself,” Mavec replied.

The announcer walked into the small antechamber they were discussing strategy in. “If you’re looking for things to do, you should consider coming back here after dark. We’ll be putting on a dance with live music in the stadium itself and the tents around it. Competitors are encouraged to come, but it's not strictly required.”

“What's the dress code?” Alvec asked.

“Look, we’re inviting anyone who wants to come. There will be dock workers, cooks, you name it. The dress code is as fancy or as minimalist as you want it to be. You want to come here covered in blood-soaked clothes by my guest. You want to pretend you’re the only star of the show; you can do that too.”

“Well, that's what I’m doing,” Naya said firmly.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make a showing,” Alvec agreed.

“A nice little celebration would be fun,” Illaria agreed.

“Bait can tell people of cheese facts!”

Mavec rolled his eyes hard. “If you’re all going, I suppose I have to as well, right?”

“Sure does; you can’t shoot your rival in the face with lightning and then not celebrate,” Naya said as she threw an arm around him, briefly dragging the aloof boy closer to the others.

The group left the arena, vowing to come back later that night to partake in the festivities.