“You will challenge a First Green today?” Mahon processed the news.

“Yeah. And there is a tournament coming.” Zac answered with a smug smile.

“I’ve left you alone for only two days…” Mahon sighed.

“Haha, shaddap and listen. The most important part is that I’ll duel Filarion just after Yordar’s lesson this afternoon. You remember who he is?”

“Filarion? I think, yes. Small, thin, ginger and pretty good at strategy?”

“Yeah, that’s him! I think I can beat him at strategy. I’ve a plan already. If it succeeds, then beating him with a sword should be a formality.”

Mahon tried to remember the last time he had seen the First Green fight. The man was not that good, probably among the last First Green or best First White. Given what he had seen, Mahon estimated his friend could beat the First Green eleven times out of twelve in a duel. The hard part would indeed be the strategy one.

“You want me to review your plan?” Mahon proposed.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t want to rely too much on you. Although my plan comes from things you told me, I want to give it go on my own. We can review it afterwards, though.”

Mahon acquiesced. “Good to me. So who should I aim for, then?”

“I’ve already prepared it. The name is Jhaeros. Pretty much the opposite of my own duel. A dick at strategy and a bull at fighting.”

Mahon chuckled at the comparison. “Ok, no problem.”

“Yeah, yeah, stop showing off. Or wait a bit more, you could get a real opportunity to prove your skills.”

“The tournament thing?”

“Bingo! Fresh from last night's banquet, the new challenge of the school. It has been six months since we started school and to celebrate half of our first year, the school organizes a big tournament. Everyone has to participate and it will last for two days. First strategy, then fighting. Winners can choose special weapons from the armory.”

“When is it?”

“Next week.”

“Really? There are Fada cultist murdering people every other day, and we’re organizing a nice little tournament at school in the meantime?”

Zac eyed Mahon suspiciously.

“Didn’t you say we would be able to stop the cult in the coming days?”

Mahon sighed loudly in answer.

“Oh, Fada. I thought I had a scoop, but you could beat me there. What happened?” Zac asked.

“Jorik said we had to wait. He doesn’t want to attack the cult right now.”

“What?! But why?” Zac threw a stunned look at him.

“I’ve no idea. Actually, he said you would know.”

“Me? Why would I know? Wait, wait, wait, start from the beginning. I feel I’m lacking context here.”

With another sigh Mahon started to tell Zac his previous conversation with Jorik, and what the First Black had said about himself and his will to stop the war. He concluded by asking Zac the very same question Jorik asked him.

“What would be Ravatoris best move?”

“Exterminate the cult as fast as possible, for sure. Nobles are playing a game between themselves. A harsh game, but they respect their own rules. Ravatoris would gain in popularity if he can bring an end to the cult, but he will never try to reveal that a noble family was behind it. There is too much risk. The move will bite back at him later on.”

“Hmm.” Mahon agreed. He didn’t have Zac’s knowledge, but from the endless lessons his friends had taught him about nobles, he could also guess that much. “What about Jorik then?”

“Harder question. Depends on what he wants deep inside. If he wants to assure his place among the Theodred, the better move would be to tell Ravatoris about the situation and let his half brother take all the credit. Their father would probably accept him in the family after seeing such dedication.”

“He didn’t tell Ravatoris.” Mahon intervened.

“Right. So he probably aims even higher than that and wants to beat his brother at the game and take all the credits. If he ends the cult by himself without Ravatoris, he will steal his brother’s victory.”

“Alas, he didn’t want to end the cult right now. He said he wanted to prove the implication of a noble family behind the cult. Why would he do that?”

Zac was lost in thought for half a minute before he shook his head.

“I’ve no idea. What is sure is that the man isn’t playing the usual noble scheme. Although harsh and ruthless, they still follow their own rules. They would lose too much not doing so. Why would Jorik want to reveal what’s really happening behind the cult?”

Mahon shrugged in answer. “Don’t ask me. You’re the expert in people.”

“Ah, shaddap, it was only rhetoric. Let me think again.”

The two friends finished eating in silence a couple minutes later before Zac spoke again.

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“Maybe he really wants to shake the noble world? Change things. You said he wanted to end the war, right?” Mahon acquiesced. “He is probably playing far ahead, but if he could take an important position on the battlefield while the noble families were in the midst of a scandal, he could probably succeed in making things change in a direction he wants to.”

“Why not let the Fada cult do his job, then? They’re already brewing a revolution. He could just let it happen and it would destabilize the nobles all the same. Why go to such lengths?” Mahon thought out loud.

“Because he cares about people. You said it yourself. The Fada cult is killing every other day. If Jorik lets them do a full revolution, they’ll make Ratho a bloodbath or maybe even lead us all to our demise. And if he stops the cult without involving a noble family, he’s still stuck in the noble games. If his goal is really to shake Ratho to a better future, he has to walk a careful line between the two options.”

Mahon threw a dubious look at his friend. “Seems like really convoluted to me.”

“Not that much, actually, considering the other stories I told you about nobles.”

“True…”

“I’m sorry, I can’t really know. Go ask Jorik what his plan is, and we will know for sure. Or we can discuss it more later, but now we’ve got to go to Yordar’s lesson and beat some First Green!”

Mahon smiled at his friend’s enthusiasm and followed a lively Zac up to their classroom. They placed their papers in the box on Yordar’s desk and then went to their usual seats.

Zac waited impatiently during the whole lesson, his excitation clearly visible to Mahon. His friend couldn’t remain in one place, and he wriggled in his chair until Mahon told him to focus on the lesson. Yordar was explaining advanced stuff about 28-men units while introducing a new scenario, but Zac didn’t listen to more than half of it. By the end of the lesson, he had become still, however, as if body had consumed all the adrenaline and was now entirely focused on the task ahead.

Yordar called out the duels, and Mahon and Zac were the only ones in the box. Their opponents, Jhaeros and Filarion, couldn’t refuse the duel, and the four students went on to stand near Yordar. Most of the other students had left, but a duel to promote from First White to First Green was still sufficiently interesting to some people that they got a dozen spectators.

“Side or scenario?” Yordar asked Zac.

“Scenario. I chose the thirty-seventh.”

“Double bridge?”

“Yes, professor.”

Yordar nodded, and while he handed them a map, he turned to Filarion. “Which side?”

The First Green took some time to think before answering. “Attack.”

“Good. Set it up and write down your first moves while I deal with the second duel.” He faced Mahon and asked the same question as Zac.

“Side.” Mahon answered, and the professor drew a random number for them.

“Twelfth. Ambush by the lake.”

“Defense.” Mahon immediately said.

The professor handed them the map, and without further ado, Mahon and Jhaeros started to place their units. They had not dueled that often, but it was enough to know exactly how to proceed, and the process was fluid.

After a few rounds, Mahon started to pay more attention to Zac’s board than his own. Strategy wasn’t Mahon’s opponent’s greatest strength, on the contrary, whereas he was a good level above everyone at school. Not yet at his First Red level from Nightmare because he lacked real practice, and there was so much you could do with simulated scenarios, but still.

He could probably crush all the best students in simultaneous games. The First Green in front of him also seemed to know Mahon was a monster at strategy, and he quickly gave up the battle, giving Mahon even more time to observe his friend.

Their battle was intense and very close, but Mahon could see the signs of Zac’s opponent starting to collapse. Zac’s strategy relied on advanced formations to defend bridges Mahon had taught him. There was no bridge in Nightmare, but more often than not, they had to defend wedged, tight passages leading to the spawning area, and the fights were very similar.

Filarion was very good at strategy, but he didn’t know this one, and although he gave his best attempts to crack it, Zac’s formation stayed standing at the end of the fight.

“Zac’s warriors are still controlling one bridge out of two. It’s his victory.” Yordar called under the dejected face of Filarion.

Zac tried to hide a proud smile, but to Mahon he could as well have laughed out loud it would have had the same effect. His friend was beaming with happiness. Zac and Filarion both knew the duel was almost already decided now. They had fought with swords before and knew Filarion’s chance of victory was really thin.

The four students went to the arena, and as planned, Zac disposed of Filarion relatively easily under Slander’s impassive watch. Mahon entered the arena next against Jhaeros.

The noble had an impressive musculature and carried a heavy-looking sword. He was not known to hold back his hits. His face was relaxed, but Mahon could see in the man’s eyes he already knew he would lose. As soon as he had seen the way the duel happened, he knew his own future wasn’t in his hands.

If Filarion lost, then Mahon would crush him. If Filarion won, then Mahon would lose on purpose. Yet, Jhaeros wasn’t a First Green for nothing, and he raised his head to look straight at Mahon.

“Please give me pointers. Let it be a good fight.” He said while bowing slightly at Mahon.

Mahon didn’t hesitate a single second, for it was not in his nature to deny someone willing an opportunity to learn. “Let it be a good fight.” He repeated with a nod.

He switched his mindset from a fast attack to end the fight quickly to another approach. He banned himself from using the Flow and also discarded his usual control style. His opponent used his strength and endurance to beat his opponent with strong, unstoppable strikes.

I can’t rival him in that exact style, but I can give him a good run for it.

With a smile, Mahon charged directly at his opponent. He slightly jumped just before swiping, to increase his momentum and landed a heavy hit right at the man’s face. Jhaeros blocked it with clenched teeth and tried to push back Mahon at the same time.

But Mahon didn’t give any ground. He spun, again increasing his momentum, and delivered another heavy strike. Jhaeros blocked again with difficulty, but this time a smile lingered on his face. He was starting to enjoy the fight.

The men exchanged heavy blows after heavy blows. Jhaeros struck with the strength of two men and could withstand almost any blows. Mahon used his impressive technique to increase the force of his blows. His impressive awareness of the situation and quick judgment also allowed him to block Jhaeros’ stunning strikes by deflecting most of their power with a slightly tilted sword angle or better positioning.

For the whole duration of the fight, Jhaeros didn’t dodge any strikes. Mahon held his promise of a good fight and did exactly the same. Not once did he dodge the impressive blows of his opponents. Instead, he parried them all.

The fight lasted for ten minutes upon which Mahon was left breathless and exhausted. Jhaeros didn’t fare well either, but he was still a tad better than Mahon, given his impressive endurance.

Both men had fought to a stalemate for so long, but Jhaeros knew it was his defeat. Mahon had never dodged once and returned blow after blow at him, pushing him in his last strength. And yet, Mahon had half his strength and endurance. He had shown him another way to fight. Another way to deliver even faster and stronger strikes. A way to block heavy blows with half the stamina.

Jhaeros took a step back from the fight and lowered his sword. He threw a look at Slander before speaking.

“I lost.”

“Jhaeros, dead.” Slander immediately said with an appreciative nod. The purpose of the fight hadn’t escaped his teacher’s senses, and he turned to Mahon with a gentle smile. “Mahon, you’ve won your duel. Exchange your badges now.”