– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 96 –

“Do you need a hand with the healing?”

Terry jerked his head around so fast that his ribs shot out a painful reminder of their broken state. “Huh?”

“I asked if you need a hand with the healing,” the match’s overseer repeated patiently. Terry’s battle had been the last for the day under her watch and she had taken it upon herself to guide Terry to the contestant barracks. “It would be a shame to lose you after that performance.”

Terry narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Heh,” the woman chortled. “That’s the look of a man growing into the coliseum alright. Here…” She shaped two spell structures in front of Terry. “The spells are primed, ready, and plain for you to see. Yes or no? I won’t insist.”

“Yes,” muttered Terry in a puzzled tone. “Thanks.”

“Thank yourself.” The overseer grinned. “The more you prove yourself, the more allies you will find. One of the many lessons of the Proving Grounds.” Her grin became wider. “More enemies too. Another lesson. That match wasn’t normal. You must have pissed on someone’s leg to invite such attention.”

“Guess so,” said Terry. His voice had become louder and more amicable after the relieving sensation of healing spells. “Are you going to investigate this?”

“What for?” asked the overseer indifferently. “None of the setup violated the rules of the Proving Grounds. If your enemies outshine your allies, then your life will be harder. That applies not only in the arena. Well, you reminded the instigators of another lesson of the Proving Grounds.” The overseer smirked. “Plots and intrigue can create an advantage but that is that. It is more difficult to lose with an advantage but far from impossible. In front of power, many plots become meaningless.”

Terry did not feel inclined to join in such an abstract conversation. He felt grateful for the healing, but with the lingering pain of his broken body, ‘power’ was not a word he associated with himself at this very moment.

“Alright, they’ll take you from here,” said the overseer. “I’m called Yesenia, by the way. See you soon.” She left and a group of soldiers accompanied Terry for the rest of the trip.

Terry had barely settled down in his transparent cell when he heard the familiar clicking sound of the door opening.

Damian arrived with hurried steps. “Oh?” His steps slowed. “I see you have already performed some treatment.” Relief was visible on his face. “Are the remaining primers in the wand enough for the task? I brought a good healing potion just in case.”

Terry nodded. “The match overseer offered to heal me.”

“She did?” Damian was surprised and then a glimmer of understanding flickered across his face. “I believe she appreciated seeing something new, same as many in the audience.” He examined Terry with an appraising glance. “Same as me. Stay in the back.” Damian first placed a fingerless glove in the cell and then, with an appreciative nod, he added the healing potion. “You did well today.”

“You mean that I caught Beatrice’s attention?” asked Terry with a trace of annoyance.

“I mean that you survived,” retorted Damian. “And yes, you did. I failed to account for the possibility of the arena being prepared against you.” He shook his head. “I could point out that such tactics are practically never seen, because they don’t have much use. In fact, I can only recall a single incident where someone poured gallons of poison and salt in advance to sabotage a mage that focused on plant manipulation.” Damian clicked his tongue. “But I’m not a fan of making excuses. If Beatrice could see it, I should have been able to see it too. I’ll do better.”

‘See it’? Terry used the wand from his uncle Samuel to cast another Heal spell on himself. “You mean that the way I relied on the pebbles was easy to sabotage?”

“Exactly,” confirmed Damian. “No point in trying to sabotage an earth mage, but with you, the field manipulation practically eliminated your spell use until— What exactly was that?”

“Luck,” replied Terry with a dark expression. “I can’t rely on that.”

“Well, I hope you continue being lucky,” said Damian. “But perhaps next time, you could knock out some teeth to use.”

Terry blinked with mouth agape. Why didn’t I think of that? I got a lucky break by sensing the targetable object in the cultivator’s body but what if I hadn’t?

I’m an idiot…

Okay, at least I learned something.

“If they have Metal Skin active, you first need to get your opponent talking though,” continued Damian. “Worst case, you could knock out your own teeth to use.” He shrugged. “Better than getting yourself killed.” He looked at Terry. “Do you still want to go with the glove? Or did the Metal Skin convince you to choose the dagger instead?”

Terry noted the casual reference to his items. It was evident that Damian knew about the keen inscription on Terry’s daggers. The mana blade would indeed make it easier for Terry to inflict damage and tear through magic defenses.

“I’ll take the glove,” said Terry. “More utility.”

Terry would have chosen the glove even if it only carried the bidirectional attraction inscription. The inscription allowed Terry to gather objects for his spell from a distance and it also acted as a mobility option, especially against flying opponents. If the mage from the last match had been able to fly, Terry would have died. The radiating light inscription was a bonus. The self-mending and inertia-lock inscriptions were perfect for Terry’s current challenge in the coliseum too.

“Suit yourself,” said Damian. “I personally feel like I’m missing a limb without a weapon at hand. Even the cultivator among the twins you faced usually wields a weapon instead of some magic glove. They changed their equipment specifically to counter you.”

“That.” Terry blurted out. “How does that work? How did they know they were going to face me? I didn’t know whom I would face.” Terry could not prevent a tinge of resentment from entering his voice. This wasn’t like the combat practice matches in Tiv. These were battles with the risk of death. If there was intel on his opponents, then Terry would very much like to be informed.

“That’s more complicated than you might think,” said Damian wearily. “I did not expect it to be so much of a hassle either. They did not know whom they would face. Not exactly. Beatrice and her allies have joined the voting from the audience. They have also coordinated with the twins to have them finish their earlier matches so that you would be free at roughly the same time. Opponents are matched according to rough tier, availability, and audience preference. Beatrice’s faction covered all three points to set things up.”

Terry frowned.

“I might disappoint you in how much – or little – I can support you with these things.” Damian smiled wryly. “The whole idea was for you to distract Beatrice, not to get distracted myself. I have to focus on my actual work, not on these games. I have to use my time in the Lucky Wing wisely. Unless I make a name for myself and actually get things done, I won’t make it into the Popular Wing of the Bloody Hall.” Damian shook his head slightly. “My military career has been successful but comparatively short. I won’t stand out with that. I need to use my lucky chance to prove myself.”

Terry tilted his head. “This whole sortition system sounds so weird. Selecting half of your government at random? How does that make sense?”

Damian chuckled. “Not completely random. Only veterans from a recent deployment are eligible for the lottery.”

“Still weird…” Terry wrinkled his forehead. “Even weirder actually.”

“Agree to disagree,” said Damian with a smile. He pulled up a chair and sat down. “I find other forms of government much stranger. A country is defined by those willing to defend it. Without them, the country ceases to exist. If you’re not willing to defend your country, why should you have a say in running it? You don’t deserve it! You are free-riding on other people’s blood. If you don’t care enough to put your own skin in the game, your opinion is worse than useless.”

Damian adjusted his seating position and then continued. “As for sortition, who do you think should run the country then? Hereditary positions like in the old countries of the Union? The strongest fists like in some of the Union’s martial sects? The winners of a popularity contest like in Tiv’s Assembly?” Damian scoffed. “Meaning the most attractive, the best rhetoricians, the best connected, and the most shameless peddlers of untenable promises?”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Wait, aren’t the members of the Popular Wing also elected?” interjected Terry with a raised eyebrow.

“So?” Damian shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Difference in purpose. There needs to be a way to keep effective politicians in office. That’s what the Popular Wing is for.” He cracked his knuckles. “The sortition of the Lucky Wing is to prevent the blood in the Bloody Hall from going stale. New perspectives. All perspectives have a chance.” Damian smirked. “How about your own country, Arcana? Magic obliges? Ruled by those with better magic. Strange if you ask me.”

“Yeah…” Terry crossed his arms in thought. “Doesn’t it make sense to let intelligent people take care of running everything? Intelligent and educated?”

“Sense?” Damian guffawed. “In what way? Is it really that different from letting the strongest rule? Or those with the biggest talent in magic? Being intelligent doesn’t make you more deserving of being heard. If you ask me, it’s no different from being strong or gifted in magic.” Damian put his hands behind his back. “While education eliminates some blind spots, it also creates a few new ones.”

Okay now everything sounds weird, thought Terry with a frown.

Damian put his hands in front of him again. “There is only one thing that matters and that is being effective at improving the Empire.” Damian smirked. “Talking about intelligence, how about this: Let’s go with your theory about who deserves the job. Give it Terry’s golden stamp of approval. Assume you’ve been right. What if things change? How would you ever prove yourself wrong?”

Terry was still trying to process the question when Damian already continued.

“The answer is: You can’t if you start from a position of selection bias!” Damian spoke with emphasis. “It’s impossible to unlearn wrong or outdated information unless you are giving alternatives a chance.” Damian took a deep breath and continued: “That’s why the Lucky Wing is essential. The randomness of sortition is the only guarantee for periodic unlearning. That’s explained near the end of the Warlord’s inquiries.”

“Still sounds weird to me and it might take a while for me to reach that chapter,” remarked Terry drily. “Unless you would like to give me some time off from the Proving Grounds?”

“Not going to happen,” said Damian. “You know why, but good point. You should focus on training before reading. You need to prove yourself.” He stood up and returned the chair to its original position. “As do I. See you when there is something to talk about.”

Terry watched Damian depart and then picked up the inscribed glove from the floor. The familiar fabric made him smile. He pulled the glove over his left arm and tightened the lace to secure it on his forearm.

Terry channeled mana into the inscription and attracted one of the pebbles on the floor. “Battle aside, this will make training so much easier again.”

I guess I hadn’t realized how big a help the pebbles are in the arena… Terry clicked his tongue and looked down at his tattered robes and bruised body.

“I should probably clean myself…” Terry looked to a corner of his transparent cell where fresh sets of clothes and a wash bin with a water catcher were located. After Damian had been convinced that Terry had properly remembered the previous lesson of nearly dying, Damian’s assistant had brought these items over for Terry.

Terry was feeling conflicted. He wanted to clean himself and get into proper clothes, but he also wanted to continue practicing with the pebbles. Subconsciously, Terry clenched his fist around the pebble in his left hand and began aspecting the pebble with his oscillating mana. Terry used the aspecting technique that Wallace had taught him during Terry’s visit to the dungeon scavengers.

Terry carefully paid attention to the uneven mana charge and when he judged the timing right, he cast the Immovable Object spell and flung the pebble away. He followed up with a rapid targeting of the bidirectional attraction inscription and a movement of his left arm to further navigate the pebble until the spell fully activated and the pebble became transfixed in the air.

“I wish I had my notebook…” Terry grumbled absentmindedly.

Since Terry had started battling without his equipment, he did not have the luxury to switch between different materials like septimum or octavum in order to influence the activation delay of his Immovable Object spell.

Terry felt lucky that he had discovered the influence of an imbalanced mana charge with oscillating mana on the activation delay of the spell by accident. However, it was difficult to keep all the results of his experiments in his head. Terry was used to writing things down in order to free his mind up for the next topic without worrying about forgetting something.

Maybe I could get Damian to temporarily hand over my storage items so that I can retrieve my notebooks?

But then they might press me to reveal why they were not able to retrieve the oscillating containers.

Or they might confiscate my notebooks and learn what I know about oscillating mana…

Terry shook his head. “Not worth it.” He looked at the transfixed pebble. “Slower delay than before.”

Terry had noticed that there were ways to both lengthen and shorten the activation delay compared to transfixing a plain pebble without any oscillating mana charge. However, this pebble had transfixed slower than it should have been according to Terry’s previous experiments.

Terry repeated the pebble throw but without the adjustment with his bidirectional attraction glove. The pebble transfixed quicker than the first one. Terry felt a headache coming.

Other mana activations causing interference?

Crap.

“How am I supposed to remember all of this?” Terry groaned. He looked at the wash bin. “Time to procrastinate.”

While Terry was cleaning himself up, he dumped his mana into the cell and began feeling around outside the inner cell with his naturalized mana. Even if it wasn’t for the benefit of scouting the area, Terry was now utterly convinced of the usefulness of his recently discovered mana touch. The past battle had demonstrated to Terry that feeling with his mana touch beyond the limits of his mana sight could be a life saver.

***

Terry walked down the hallway with clenched fists. He enjoyed feeling the familiar sensation of the long, fingerless glove that was bound tightly around his left forearm. The inscribed glove that his aunt Brynn had sent him to Tiv reminded Terry what he was fighting for in the Proving Grounds: a chance to get back to his family and friends.

The darkness of the hallway gave room to the bright sun covering the arena. Terry’s eyes moved curiously over the audience seats.

Is it just me or are there more seats than in the arenas before? What’s that sound—?

Terry realized that a large part of the audience had begun cheering as soon as he entered. He blinked dazedly.

Weird.

This is new… Terry sensed a mana signature from the second entrance. Focus!

A woman in the same plain robes as Terry entered. She was carrying a short scepter that was ornamented with a purple mana crystal. “Damn, why is it this one of all people?” The woman exclaimed unhappily.

“““Field!””” “““Field!””” “““Field!””” The audience began chanting with anticipation.

“Huh?” Terry raised an eyebrow, but immediately brought his attention back to his opponent. There was still some distance between them and Terry did not want to enter another ranged combat stand-off. He charged towards the female mage.

Before Terry could reach the woman, she vanished from sight and reappeared at another location.

Blink. Terry was prepared because he had already sensed the spell shaping. He unleashed a disruption discharge to counter the snakes of fire that were shooting at him from the woman’s scepter.

“““Field!””” “““Field!””” “““Field!”””

Terry was still thinking about how to deal with the mage’s Blink spell when the chants from the audience droned in his ears again. He scrunched up his face. “Oh is that what they mean?” He dumped a large portion of his mana into the arena and moments later, the mass of mana was rotating through placed focus refractors and spell slicers were roaming the arena.

Terry had set up his disruption field once more.

“Damn it, fine I surrender!” shouted the woman before Terry could rush over.

Terry had to remind himself not to take a contestant’s word of surrender at face value.

Surprisingly, the woman simply left with the overseer’s assistant without making any fuss. Terry almost didn’t believe that it had been this easy. In half a daze, Terry reabsorbed his own mana with practiced mana control. The process only took a few seconds, much to the disappointment of the audience, who was eager to see more of the disruption field in action.

“““Terry!””” “““Terry!””” “““Terry!””” The initial disappointment at the short display gave way to enthusiastic cheering.

“Huh…” Terry gave the excited audience one last incredulous look before leaving the arena. “This is new…”

This isn’t half bad.

Terry subconsciously touched the inscribed glove on his left arm.

***

Her dark scaled hands pulled down her mage hood further as she passed the people on the road. Her eyes darted nervously across the soft-skinned humans. If only her magic hadn’t shown her this direction.

“Fate, you can do this.” The lizan woman mumbled to herself. “You have to.”

She knew that she had no choice. Sooner or later she would have to enter the settlements of this realm. There was no other way. The fact that these natives were not taken aback by her lizan appearance told her that this was the right place, even if it hadn’t been for paying her debts.

The way these humans reacted told her that they had seen other lizans before. Unfortunately, the crowd still made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to crowds. Not since the truth had been revealed to her.

“Fate, you can do this.” She tried to encourage herself once more and looked around. Her spellwork only indicated a general direction. Ever since she had learned the scrying spellwork of this realm, she had relied on it. She understood its limitations. It had to be taken step by step. Otherwise, she would never have entered an inhabited settlement, no matter how small or remote it was.

Fate paused and her mana sense told her that one of the stronger mana signatures was still following her. Her heartbeat accelerated even though she understood perfectly well that these were not the folks whom she needed to worry about. This was just one of the crimson-robed humans she had noticed earlier. Just a guard doing her job.

Fate turned a corner, channeled mana into her staff, and teleported away while covering her tracks. These soldiers were no threat to her. Her blood was still safe.

Fate arrived in her new location and was comforted with the assurance of a fresh scrying. Her path was set. Her mission and her debt were both leading her to the same direction. Further into the crimson empire.

***