Jal’s hair was a rainbow of colors. “I feel sick.”

“Take a deep breath,” Jan said loudly. “I remember what this was like. You can do this, Jal. You’ve worked really hard. Trust your instincts.”

There was a blast over the announcement system. “Contest Four, Beginner Division. In the purple, representing the Ridali family from Iragos Peninsula, Jal Jomari. In the green, representing the Kakoti family from Nacturis Island, Supriya Kakoti.”

The two fighters ran into the ring and nodded to one another. They began tentatively, and the clang of their swords mixed with other fights taking place in the huge building. Jal stepped back and let Supriya advance a step. It saw how she lifted her shield high as she swung her weapon.

The step forward had given her confidence, and instead of a typical thrust-and-parry, she slashed diagonally. Her sword bounced off Jal’s shield. As it rebounded, Jal adjusted its hold on its sword and knocked her shield with the pommel of his sword. The shield flew out of her hand. Jal raced over, picked it up and threw it out of the box, thus eliminating any chance that she could retrieve it during the fight.

Jal slowly stepped forward and crouched. As it moved, it adjusted its shield. A moment later, Jal ran, then somersaulted over Karriya. She turned as Jal landed behind her. It dropped its shield, caught her by the upper arm, and held the knife above her neck.

“I concede!” she said loudly.

“Jal Ridali advances to the next round!” blasted over the loudspeaker.

Jal stepped out of the ring and found Sage Elvan.

“Nice job, Jal. There’s nothing like getting things done quickly. Let’s step around to the tournament display to see when you fight again.”

A few minutes later, the two stood in front of a large screen. Jal’s name appeared in green. They looked at the time scheduled, and what the actual time was, and decided to go directly to the designated zone. A pair of fighters faced off, and Jal watched intently. The match lasted only a few minutes, and the next pair entered. Many of these fighters were like Jal, new to fighting in real contests. All types of races were present; only a few were Stafriez.

It wasn’t long before Jal entered the zone. This opponent was smaller than the last one. He swung his sword up and down rapidly. Jal brought its sword up, and held it shoulder high as the opponent railed against it. Jal kneed its opponent, pushing him backwards.

“You’re cheating!”

“Are. You. Sure?” With each word, Jal stepped forward and drew circles in the air with its sword. As the fellow was distracted by the sword, Jal smashed him with its shield, knocking him off his feet. His shield went one way, the sword another. Jal’s sword was pointed at his chest when he conceded.

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As Jal entered the zone for the third contest, the opponent refused to enter. Frightened by Jal’s size, he could not be convinced to compete, and forfeited the match.

The fourth contest lasted a bit longer than the others. This fighter was more evenly matched with Jal. Jal managed to knock her weapon from her hand twice, and she landed a kick that brought Jal down on one knee. When the buzzer sounded, she won by three points.

Jal barely had time to catch its breath and it was in the ring again. This was a Medii who seemed pretty confident of himself. His yellow eyes were very distracting for Jal, so it focused on the hand holding the sword. The two parried back and forth, and Jal realized that the Medii wasn’t really fighting. “It’s trying to hold out until the end of the round. Enough of this!” Jal thought. As Jal lifted the sword high, it moved the shield to cover its stomach and under its arm. It faked a slash down and to the left but spun clockwise. Jal’s sword hit the rim of the opponent’s shield, who was so surprised he dropped it. Jal kicked it out of the zone. A warning bell rang. “Almost out of time!” Jal thought. It dove for his feet and they both fell. As Jal rolled over, its opponent jumped to his feet.

Jal lay on the ground with its sword pointed straight up at the Medii’s neck. “Don’t move,” Jal said firmly.

The young man didn’t speak. He stood over Jal with his sword at his side. Jal saw motion out of the corner of its eye. It lifted its sword to touch the Medii’s neck.

“I concede! Don’t hurt me!”

“Jal Ridali advances to the next round!” blasted over the speaker.

“Good fight,” Jal spoke to its opponent.

“Thank you,” the adolescent nodded to Jal. “You are very intimidating. I saw your opponent from Haybuti forfeit the round and thought about doing the same thing.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Jal said as they left the ring together. “Have we met? You seem familiar.”

“I’m from Nik. I train with Zarlesh Barlock.”

“I do too. We’re at the same level here, but not in the same class at the training center?”

“There are two sets of students. I train on the days that there’s no school. I’m Votan Malu.”

“I’m Jal Jomari. What days don’t you have school?”

“Zaterdag and Zondag.” Votan looked at Jal curiously. “What days don’t you have school?”

“It depends on what’s happening at work.”

“You’re going to school and working? And training?”

“I’m an apprentice. It’s-”

“There you are Jal! We have two minutes to get to your next contest. Come this way!” Sage Elvan grabbed Jal’s shield. They wound through the crowd to get to a different zone.

***

Jal took a drink of water from his bottle. As the match was announced, Jal stepped toward the middle of the ring, Ela’ Krol stepped in and lifted her sword over her head. Jal pushed its shield into the air and caught the full force of her attack. Ela’ lifted her sword over her head a second time.

This time Jal was looking at her head and sidestepped, avoiding her swing. It swung its sword left and spun around, hitting her leg. She cried out, and dropped to one knee, but immediately jumped to her feet.

Ela’ thrust her sword at Jal, and it retreated a step. Jal swung at her as hard as it could, and there was a loud clang of metal against metal. She didn’t loosen her grip on her sword, as Jal had hoped, so he rammed his knee into her shield, pushing her backward and off-balance. She fell onto her butt and sat there for a moment stunned. In a split-second, Jal kicked her shield out of her hand, dropped his shield and grabbed the grip of her sword. It tried to yank the sword out of her hand.

She wouldn’t let go. Jal kept a tight grip and with its other hand carefully brought its sword several centimeters in front of her throat. Ela’ would not admit defeat.

“Jal Ridali advances to the next round!” blasted over the speaker.

Jal released its hold on her sword, and as it turned away, she slashed her weapon across its calves.