It was Freya’s Day, and classes had just ended. Sigismund bought some pieces of meat before returning home. Inside, Gustava was lying on one of the benches around the table in the hearth room. Ogier sat on the ground next to her. The velociraptor hissed at Sigismund.

“Hey, Gustava,” Sigismund said.

“Hello, Siggy,” she replied. “Today was exhausting.”

“I know what you mean. I was questioned about some of the arrests I was involved in on Odin’s Day.”

“You’d think that they’d just need one day, but I guess they were investigating or something,” Gustava sighed.

“I can handle a bit of excitement, but that was too much,” Sigismund stated.

He walked over to Ogier. The human knelt. Ogier approached him with caution, but the velociraptor didn’t make any aggressive moves.

“I got something for you, Ogier,” Sigismund said.

He pulled out one of the pieces of meat he got. Ogier sniffed it. The velociraptor turned back to Gustava.

“Go ahead, Ogier. Sigismund is a friend,” she stated.

Ogier turned back to the meat. He smelled it again. The velociraptor moved his head forward with caution. His jaws bit down on the meat. Sigismund let go, allowing Ogier to take it. Then, he threw another bit of meat to the ground.

The velociraptor ate his current piece of meat. He looked down at the other bit of meat and back at Sigismund. Ogier took the other bit of food.

His mind raced. Only a few people ever gave Ogier food. His mother was the one who did it most often. Sometimes, some of the people at the place they lived gave him food. Now, his mother wanted him to like this new human. But she showed hostility to him when they first met. What could that mean?

Ogier decided to figure it out later. Sigismund had placed down another piece of meat. The velociraptor’s primitive mind told him to focus on food since he had determined that Sigismund was no longer a threat. After giving a friendly cluck to the human, Ogier continued eating.

Sigismund slowly walked to the table. He kept his eye on Ogier, but the velociraptor focused on his meal. The human sat on the bench across from where Gustava was sitting. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth.

“Thank the gods he doesn’t hate me anymore,” Sigismund said.

Gustava pushed herself up and leaned on the table.

“You finally got through to him,” she stated.

“I guess so, but another question remains: do you still hate yourself?” Sigismund asked.

“Yes,” Gustava answered without hesitation.

“Well, that’s not much of a surprise. You can’t change how you feel about yourself so fast. But what you can change is your attitude,” he said.

“Do you have a plan?”

“I think so. You hate yourself because you think that nothing you do is good enough. What you need to do is to be proud of your accomplishments,” Sigismund stated.

“But I haven’t done anything, and I’m not sure if having pride can help me. Arrogance is a pretty big character flaw,” Gustava told him.

“There are two reasons why pride can help you, Gustava. First, your greatest enemy is yourself. You need to be proud of your enemies because their achievements are your own.”

“Okay.”

“The second is the path of self-mastery,” Sigismund said. “You must not repress your flaws. Instead, you control them. Then, you use your flaws to push yourself forward. In the case of your pride, you can use it to have a more positive attitude and gradually overcome your self-hatred.”

“Can you really use your pride to help you?” Gustava asked.

“I’m already doing it. If I didn’t have a lot of pride, I wouldn’t have been able to save you. I’d have given up when you broke my arm,” he answered.

“Okay. Then, what do I do?”

“You need to change one of the things that you can change: your behavior. Basically, you need to go out and accomplish something,” Sigismund said.

“Well…ummm…I’m not sure if I can. Even if I succeed, it won’t be good enough,” Gustava stated.

“Don’t think that way! Tell me, what do you want to do right now, more than anything else?”

“I want to pay you back for helping me!”

“And how do you want to do that?” Sigismund questioned.

“I want to help you with your self-mastery, just like you’re helping me!” Gustava said.

“Then I guess I don’t have a choice,” he stated. “I can’t rely on anyone but myself on my journey to self-mastery, but I’ll have to think of a way that you can help out.”

“Thank you!”

Gustava leaped across the table and hugged Sigismund.

“You really don’t need to hug me like this,” he blushed.

She let go.

“Sorry. I just got excited,” Gustava said.

“Don’t worry about it. Now, onto my self-mastery. The next things I want to master are my fears. I can’t change what I’m afraid of so easily, but I can take actions that’ll eventually let me overcome them. I’ll also want to get into art eventually, but fears are first,” Sigismund stated.

“What are you afraid of?”

“Spiders.”

“That’s normal,” Gustava said.

“Heights, snakes, jesters, frogs, and live fish,” Sigismund recalled.

There was a moment of silence as Gustava’s eyes widened.

“Being afraid of living fish is really weird,” she stated.

“It would be weirder if I was scared of dead fish,” Sigismund said.

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“That’s not the point,” Gustava replied. “Honestly, you’re afraid of a lot of things.”

“Yes. That’s why I need to master my fears,” he pointed out.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to think of a way I can help you,” she replied.

“I already have one. You’ll get things I’m afraid of. Then, I’ll willingly confront them,” Sigismund said.

“And if someone sees us, they’ll think that I’m trying to torment you,” Gustava added.

“Considering how a lot of people will be at the tournament tomorrow, that might be a good day to try this out. Of course, I wouldn’t object if you decide to enter the tournament.”

“I won’t. You were right when you said that people could use it to see what I can do. I don’t want to take that risk.”

“Alright. Then, let’s get ready for tomorrow,” Sigismund said.

“Right. I’m already getting ideas,” Gustava nodded.

Elsewhere, John was jogging in plate armor. Or, rather, he was trying to. The boy was struggling to move. Maria and Nathaniel were also in plate armor and jogging. They were moving with much greater ease than John was.

Maria stopped and walked over to her fiancé.

“John, please take a rest,” she begged.

“I must keep training. The tournament is tomorrow,” he said.

“If you keep going, you’ll fall asleep in the first match! You’re already falling asleep in class,” Maria stated.

That made John stop in his tracks.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “Tomorrow is the day when I make everyone on campus my rival. I can’t mess this up. I need to win my first match, no matter what. I’ve trained all week nonstop for this, and if I lose because I’m tired…that’d be a waste!”

“Then you’ll rest?” Maria asked.

“I will,” John answered.

He walked away, stumbling to his dorm. Maria and Nathaniel followed him there. John made it just fine, and the two breathed a sigh of relief outside of the room.

“Do you think John can win the tournament?” Maria said.

“No. He’s worn himself out too much,” Nathaniel replied.

“I hope no one beats him too badly. That’ll destroy him in more ways than one.”

“You don’t need to worry. John’s strong, even if he’s worn himself out. Unless he gets unlucky, he’ll make it past the first few rounds,” Nathaniel assured her.

“Let’s hope that’ll be enough. And Nathaniel, take it easy on John if you’re up against him.”

“If I face John, I’ll let him win.”

“He wouldn’t want that,” Maria said.

“John also wanted you to be his rival, and you’re supporting each other,” Nathaniel replied.

“Well…I can’t argue with that. But at least make it look like you’re doing your best,” she told him.

“I apologize, but I cannot. I can’t even make it look like I’m going to harm my lord. That is the level of my devotion to him,” he said.

“Then I hope you get defeated before you fight John,” Maria stated.

“I do too,” Nathaniel replied.

Morning dawned on Saturn’s Day. Gustava had her glove on. Ogier was biting her fingers as she darted them around. The velociraptor got bored eventually and went to sleep under a table.

Sigismund exited his room.

“Siggy, I have a plan,” Gustava said.

“That’s good. What is it?” Sigismund asked.

“You’ll find out. Go to the forest outside of Athena Academy two hours from now. You’ll be facing your fears in there,” she answered.

Sigismund let out a worried chuckle.

“I’m honestly a bit worried already,” he said.

“Don’t worry. I know that these things are about taking small steps. I’ll go easy on you,” Gustava stated.

Then her eyes widened.

“Don’t take that the wrong way! I’m not disrespecting you or anything, it’s just…” she started.

“It’s fine. I know what you mean,” Sigismund assured her.

“That’s good,” Gustava said.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“You don’t have to worry so much. I’m not going to freak out on you,” Sigismund stated.

“Right. You’re not me,” a glumness overcame Gustava.

“Don’t worry. I know you can control yourself. You’ve got to keep a positive attitude,” he said.

“I can do this. I can do this,” she repeated.

“I’m going to get food now. I’ll see you in two hours,” Sigismund said.

“See you then,” Gustava replied.

Sigismund left the room, and Gustava started casting a spell. She summoned clay into her hands. The girl used magic to mold and harden it in an instant. This transformed the clay into an obviously fake spider with googly eyes.

“I hope I’m not going too easy on him,” she said. “Well, I need him to figure it out pretty quickly so he can move on to the other things I have planned.”

A crowd of numerous students, teachers, and staff had assembled at a large tournament area. The arena in front of them would have been used for the melee in knightly tournaments. Now, it was being used for the first years’ matches that John suggested.

Sir William surveyed the crowd with a smile. He stood next to a young man who carried a banner with a golden lance on it in one hand. The man’s other handheld a trumpet.

“Ah, a tournament. It isn’t the type of tournament that most knights would get in, but it still reminds me of my youth. I won a great many prizes at the lists back in my day. My wife’s heart was the greatest of them all,” William said.

“I thought it was an arranged marriage,” the young man stated.

“It was, but I managed to get her to love me at that tournament, squire. I won the day after receiving her favor.”

“That must have been glorious,” his squire said.

“Yes. And that night, she fucked me so hard that I couldn’t move for a week,” Sir William stated.

“Oh. Was the sex worth it?”

“Not in the slightest. But the love was. I suppose I’m a hopeless romantic at heart,” William said.

The Witchfinder General sat on the highest part of the stands. He held a crystal ball in his hands, which were raised in the air.

“Do you have a good view of the arena?” he asked.

“We do,” a voice in the crystal ball answered.

Across a vast sea, a one-legged woman and 11 children were crowded around another crystal ball.

“I’m so excited! I’m going to get to see Big Brother fighting today!” a little boy said.

“He’d better do well. I put in all that effort training him,” the eldest son, a boy of 17, added.

“You can win this, big brother!” one of the daughters stated.

Back at the arena, the Witchfinder General let out a rare smile.

“I wonder, Thomas, will you be able to find what you seek here?” he thought.

John was in a tent with Maria. He splashed a bucket of water on his face and slapped himself.

“Finally, I’m fully awake,” he stated.

Maria sighed.

“You’re still exhausted,” she said.

“So, what if I am?” John asked.

“You won’t be able to win the tournament,” Maria answered.

“If I lose, then that’ll just encourage me to crush my rivals and get stronger! But I promise you that I won’t lose!” he declared.

“How can you be so sure that you’ll win?”

“When I was younger, my father hired the best knight in the entire kingdom to train me. And ever since I got to Athena Academy, I’ve been training harder than anyone else! No one’s more motivated than I am either.”

“None of that matters if you can barely move your body,” Maria said.

“Don’t worry. When this is over, you’ll be able to write poetry about my victory,” John stated.

The trumpet sounded, and John smiled.

“My match is up first. Watch every detail of this fight so you can make a great poem out of it,” he said.

“You’re too tired to think straight,” Maria realized.

John ignored her comment and stepped into the arena. Thomas stood across from him. He had the same empty smile he always did.

“Fighting first are John Lancaster,” Sir William announced. “And Sir Thomas Aleworth.”

“Sir?” John’s eyes widened in shock.

“Yes, I’m a knight. I’d have liked it better if no one found out, but it can’t be helped,” Thomas said.

“Since when did you become a knight?”

“I was knighted when I was 13. I’m the youngest person to ever be knighted in my homeland. I’m also the first member of my family to be made a noble,” Thomas explained.

“Heh. I’m glad that I have someone like you as my first opponent,” John said.

“That’s great. We can have some fun.”

Sir William was about to speak when Thomas shouted so the crowd could hear him.

“Everyone! I have something to say!” the young boy told them. “Could you all please cheer for my opponent?”

The crowd turned silent.

“You’re probably wondering what I’d make that request. It’s because my opponent will need all the support they can get to defeat me. That is all.”

Thomas then turned to John, who had an expression of rage on his face.

“You bastard…don’t take me lightly!” he shouted.

“Now, begin!” Sir William commanded.

John charged forward, thrusting his sword at Thomas.