Against the Standard

> “Close your eyes. Stay calm. Dig deep.” ~Frein Nivan

The moment had burned deep into Kristel’s memory.

Frein’s fingers were like warm metal bars pressing on her skin, but his grip was careful and cautious as if touching fragile glass. Even if he wouldn’t admit it, the way he eased her to the side was akin to handling a newborn yuma pup. The unexpectedness and strangeness of it all left her unable to react and the best she could do was preemptively prevent her two companions from interrupting.

Only when the clanging sound of stone crashing on metal did the chills came running up her spine.

A thought came to her head, but her words refused to speak them. She didn’t classify it as fear, it was purer than that. The warnings flared not from logic or reason, but deep within her primal instincts. That this man in front of her would take unimaginable lengths to get whatever he wanted. Anything she had to say had no chance of swaying him to do otherwise.

This confidence, this poise, claiming a position above all else—with utter disregard for the intended hierarchy—had struck a chord within the Princess.

This was the kind of person she aspired to be: defined and immovable, knowing that a mere whim of his will, without divine interventions or even worldly-favored powers to come to his aide, could bring everyone and everything to a full stop.

“I don’t mind fighting all of them for the dragon,” he said, taking steps further away from Kristel.

One Visitor against four Lord Knights. The notion was absurd. Despite all belief the Princess had for her mantra, she couldn’t see a practitioner with only five meiyal marks and barely able to Draw the most basic of Meiyal Arts to win—let alone survive—against four of what were essentially the equivalent of the Royal Knights of Irista Nation.

But the display of power Frein exhibited was enough to silence any argument she wanted to say.

A roaring crash echoed through King Urzic’s steps who recovered with a fury and a small gush of wound on the side of his face.

Kristel was sure he blocked the pebble.

“You insolent fool! You dare hurt the—”

“Talk like a spineless prick one more time, King Urzic, and I will really try to kill you,” Frein said. He held another piece of rock, fiddling with it.

“That’s enough, Visitor!” One of the Lord Knights, the one in black armor, flourished a greatsword as he walked forward. “You’ve overstepped long enough.”

“Wow,” Frein replied with a voice of sarcastic disappointment. “Took you almost a minute to fly off your perch. That’s a long time to come to your King’s aid, especially when he’s right—”

Frein snapped to his left, and the other Lord Knights followed a second later before showing a look of regret and amazement. Kristel was almost too late to spot a flying arrow barely missing the Visitor.

He barely gave any attention to the arrow, eyes looking directly towards where it came from. He took an odd pose, swaying slightly backwards and standing on one foot while winding up the pebble behind his temple. With a full step forwards, he flung himself like a whip, throwing the rock along with his Siffera. The launch emitted a small impact as the rock flew towards the distance. A second passed, then a scream of pain echoed throughout the dessert.

“You guys are sturdier than I thought,” Kristel heard Frein mutter under his breath. “That’s good to know.”

“Wow.” Unlike Frein’s, there was a genuine tone of amazement from Lor. “That was probably just as fast as my arrows.” He whispered the comment more towards Flimeth, but the Princess could hear him anyway.

“Yeah, but you saw the wind up. I can dodge that. You can dodge that. I’m more amazed by how he just ignored the arrow, though,” Flimeth responded.

“It was good form and accurate.”

“The arrow?”

“The throw, Flimeth. The throw.”

“Quiet,” Kristel hissed at them, then added, “You should look at his Milling.”

Their eyes widened at the absurdity of her statement and the realization that followed right after.

“What in Brymeia’s name am I looking at?” Flimeth said.

The Princess wished she knew the answer. The Milling form was familiar to her. It was the Perpetual-Layered Milling form, that much, she was sure. The form, when she took the time to practice it, had always been an excruciating experience, like trying to merge oil and water with her bare hands while drowning in the sea. She never tried to practice it for more than an hour a week.

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What was more, she’d never even heard of anyone Gathering in such a greedy way that it resulted in entire pockets of empty meiyal. Gathering more than one could Mill caused dispersion and was viewed as inefficient and sometimes outright rude, but Frein neither knew nor cared with the openness of his greed.

Here in front of an insurmountable number of enemies, facing off against the odds, he openly Milled, daring everyone—including the Princess herself—to challenge him.

Kristel decided not to intervene, erasing her materialized meiyal blades from reality. When Frein looked at her, she gave the Visitor a gesture to proceed as he wished.

We can always take the initiative when we need to.

“What will it be, King Urzic?” Frein said with his rudimentary echo Meiyal Art. The contrast of this and his Milling was truthfully appalling in Kristel’s mind, it was borderline comical.

Urzic had changed demeanor. Kristel couldn’t believe how quick he switched attitudes. What was once Frein referred to as a “spineless prick” just seconds ago, was now a steady upright man with a controlled and calm voice.

“Even offers for even odds, then, Visitor. Let’s make this fair and square.”

“My life, then, King Urzic. My meiyal system, specifically, granted by the Gatekeeper herself. You can have it and do whatever you want with it.”

“What assurance do I have that the Lady of the Void will not intervene?”

“On my name and honor,” Katherine said without missing a beat, eyes still focused on the Forest Jaw’s wound. “Should Frein admit defeat, I’ll kill him and give you his meiyal system myself. Should he die from this duel, I will stay my hand from pursuing vengeance.”

King Urzic pondered in silence. A long minute passed. Within this silence, horns from all over the army blared. It was a command to halt their attacks.

Immediately, Kristel activated her M.O.B.I.L.E.

“Uncle Kento,” she began.

“Princess!” the Monarch’s adviser replied, exhaustion apparent in his voice. “The enemies are pulling back! Did we win?”

“Not yet, but we bought you some time. Rest and recuperate. As an act of good faith, allow them to gather their dead, there will be no attacks for the time being.”

“Understood, Princess. We’ll begin recovery operations immediately.”

As a precaution, the Princess removed her M.O.B.I.L.E.'s connection and communication functions immediately as soon as she dismissed Kento. Her device held confidential information and they were at the heart of enemy territory. It would be bad if Vyndival was somehow able to probe her device and obtain more information than they should be privy to.

Despite King Urzic's graceful action, it puzzled Kristel. He had sacrificed countless soldiers to make a dent on the Vanguard. Now it was for naught. With this respite, Midan would have enough time to repair the entire wall.

But somehow, Kristel couldn’t feel like they’ve won. Somehow, everything still hinged, whether she liked it or not, in this duel the Visitor got himself into—forcefully she might add.

“No,” Urzic replied finally. “I’m not interested in your meiyal system. Offer something else.”

Frein crossed his arms in contemplation. The silence, this time was eerily long.

An uncomfortable breeze passed through, lifting loose sand and dust. Kristel protected her eyes for a moment, only to find the Visitor staring at her. Then he turned to Katherine.

For some reason, Katherine, the Seeker, the Lady of the Void, understood his simple gesture. There was defeat and acceptance in her eyes. It was simply for an instant, and she recovered as soon as she took a deep breath.

She turned away from the wound she was treating, still barely recovering despite the time she had been at it, and looked at Kristel. She mouthed one word in silence.

“Sorry.”

“Our allegiance, then, King Urzic. Should I lose, you will have me and Katherine aid you in your conquest against Irista Nation,” Frein said through an even clearer echo Meiyal Art. “And even if I die, Katherine’s help alone should be more than sufficient.”

“On my name and honor,” the Seeker followed after a deep sigh, “Should Frein, the Visitor, be defeated in this duel, I promise to uphold this deal through the best of my abilities and without contempt.”

Suddenly, it all made sense; why Urzic, unprompted, ordered his attacks to stand back, why he refused the Visitor’s first offer, why Frein and Katherine had those looks, and why Kristel felt uneasy.

Katherine alone, if she set her mind to it, could destroy the entire Vanguard in one fell swoop. Without those walls, Minaveil wouldn’t stand a chance. The province was her home, but Ladies of the Void—let alone Katherine—never went back on their word. Their name and their honor were what gave them such authority in the Nightmare Lands.

Frein had seen through the gesture, had seen through the King’s plans, and he didn’t even flinch. It was confidence.

No, it wasn’t! It’s madness!

Kristel wanted to retaliate, but she had lost the initiative. Lor and Flimeth were silent, but their eyes were affixed to the Visitor. They wanted to kill him. His back was carelessly left open to them, and Katherine was too far away to help in time.

Careless? No. It was like he knew they wouldn’t make a move.

She gave them the order, wordlessly, to stand down. It didn’t need to take a genius to see how fond Katherine was of Frein. Kristel wouldn’t want to make an enemy of her friend and give Urzic exactly what he wanted.

They had no choice.

By calling out Frein for a duel of honor, forcing him to even the stakes, commanding his army to hold their attack, and declining Frein’s first offer, King Urzic had lain such a well woven trap despite the provocations and the impromptu timing. He didn’t even need to rely on his Blessing.

For Frein, despite his madness, he had taken a step into this trap without a hint of hesitation. He only took the time, from what Kristel now deduced, to ask Katherine for permission. They had stepped in knowing full well what was at stake.

Kristel had every chance to intervene despite the loss of initiative. But in doing so, she would not only trample on her own words, she would also be throwing away what was still essentially their best chance to resolve this conflict.

She simply didn’t like how it all turned out.

“I accept these terms,” King Urzic said, his voice delivered to all the witnesses in the Desolate Lands. “Should we win, we continue this conquest with the aid of Frein, the Visitor and Katherine, the Lady of the Void. Should we lose, we release custody of the Forest Jaws and we return to our own lands. The two Lord Knights in front of you shall be your opponents.”

The Visitor stretched and Drew his Siffera. “I guess two’s fine.” Despite the absurdity of his words, Kristel only noticed one thing.

He was still Milling.

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