I blocked the heavy downswing of the halberd stepping in and headbutting the knight in the face. He stumbled back and I kicked his knee spinning behind him and kicking the back of his other knee sending him to the ground.

The tip of my sword pressed to the back of his neck.

“I yield,” he grunted, and I stepped back letting him get to his feet.

This had been my second match of the day and had gone like all the others. Kalin stood with Aisha in the tunnel watching me. Aisha had looked at him strangely at first, but my one sentence explaining his presence, “This is my apprentice,” had been enough to satisfy her curiosity.

I exited the arena and sat down taking off my helmet. Kalin handed me a canteen of water and I downed its contents.

“What did you learn?” I asked Kalin.

“I was supposed to learn something?” Kalin asked.

“You were watching the fight, weren’t you?” I asked.

“Yes,” Kalin said.

“Then what did you learn about how to fight?” I asked.

“Well…” Kalin said hesitantly. “He only fought with his weapon. “You hit from multiple directions at once and he couldn’t stop you.”

“So, what does that tell you?” I asked.

“That you shouldn’t just use your weapon?” he asked.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” I said a saying my sensei had used a lot on me when I was learning karate growing up.

Kalin was silent for a bit, and I wasn’t sure if he would get it.

“You shouldn’t just use your weapons,” he said a bit more confidence.

“Good,” I said. “Always speak and act with confidence, weakness is like blood in the water those around you will smell it and will try to destroy you.”

“How many more fight for the day?” I asked Aisha.

“One more at the end of the day,” she said. “They’re running out of fighters in your rank bracket they can just throw at you without causing a stir among the nobility.”

“Take this,” I said handing her a rectangular stone. “It can be used to contact me if they try any more shenanigans. Kalin come with me we need to do some training.”

--

I took him below ground through a manhole entrance I’d seen before. One of the first spells I’d ever learned could pinpoint gifted around me and I was getting an unusual number below ground. Kalin was wearing leather armor I’d made for him a small round shield on his left hand and a short doubled bladed sword in his right. His ability was to turn invisible but at rank one it only lasted for five seconds and used almost all his mana.

We walked along the sewer edge, I had to basically turn off my perception to keep from being overwhelmed by the rancid sewer water.

“What do you want me to do?” Kalin asked me looking around nervously.

“To test yourself, to survive,” I said. I spotted a group of rats approaching us and stopped crossing my arms as I examined them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Dire Rat, Gifted- beast/dire-rat, Mortal Rank: 5

There were three of the brutes, given their level disparity Kalin couldn’t fight them all at once.

“Hell-dragon’s Armory,” I said creating a cage of stone around the two rats in the back. “Fight,” I told Kalin. “You have five minutes to finish off the first before I release another one.”

The rat charged Kaling letting out a piercing screech as it launched itself at him. It was about half the boy’s size and Kalin panicked hiding behind his shield. The rat latched onto his shield and yanked Kalin to the ground.

“Help me!” Kalin screamed.

“Help yourself,” I said no emotion in my voice. “You won’t always have me, if you cannot learn to save yourself you will always be at the mercy of others.”

Kalin slashed wildly with his sword and cut across the rat’s flank. It squealed in pain rearing back and launched itself at Kalin biting into his shoulder he screamed, and his fight instinct finally kicked in and he buried the sword into its neck. The rat stumbled backwards taking his sword with him as it fell to the ground thrashing before going still.

“Well done,” I said kneeling beside Kalin drawing a knife and slashing it across my palm spilling my blood to heal his wounds.

Kalin panted the fear slowly fading from his face to be replaced by a look of triumph.

“Now,” I said my voice hardening again. “Pick up your sword again, you have two more to kill.”

--

Kalin and I sat back in our tent. I had used my cleansing cloth to wipe the filth and smell of the sewer off both of us and we sat in a meditation pose facing each other.

“Other gifted all take drugs when they rank up,” I explained to him. “It is incredibly painful and will only grow more so with each rank you increase your attributes by. However, if you can withstand the pain and raise all your attributes past twenty without using these drugs the system will award you with a title. Titles are what separates a truly powerful gifted from another. Even if they have more deadly abilities than you if your titles are better you will win.”

“I think I understand,” Kalin said. “More titles mean someone is a better fighter.”

“Correct,” I said handing him a leather strap. “When you’re ready to rank up bite on this. Only raise your powers one rank at a time, I learned that mistake the hard way.”

Kalin nodded his head and bit down on the thick piece of leather. “Raise Silent Shadow by one rank,” he told the system beneath the mouthful of leather.

He screamed around the leather binding, but I didn’t do anything to stop it. Only through pain could Kalin excise his weaknesses to become who he was meant to be.

---

The last few fights had all been disappointments. Good fighters all, but none good enough.

“Guinevere?” a soft female voice asked behind her.

Guinevere turned around and saw Mira. The winged woman stepped forward enveloping her in a hug.

“Guinevere!” Mira said. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Mira,” Guinevere said warmly surprised to see how much seeing her friend again made her feel better even with their last interactions. “It’s good to see you again, what are you doing here in Camelot?”

Mira cheeks flushed as she smiled brightly. “Lancelot came to see me Luminara, we’re betrothed now.”

“That so good he hear,” Guinevere said feeling happy for Mira even as it felt like a dagger twisted in her chest at the reminder of her loss.

“What’s wrong?” Mira asked, picking up on Guinevere’s emotions.

“It’s nothing,” Guinevere said. “I just…I recently lost someone close to me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mira said. “Did they die in the fighting in Dracon?”

“Yes,” Guinevere said cliptly not wanting to say anymore, she couldn’t truly confide in anyone.

“This is my friend Vone,” Mira said pulling another woman forwards. “We fought together against the Warlord in the Event.”

“I heard you were Mordred’s prisoner,” Vone said placing a comforting hand on Guinevere’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“He wasn’t like that!” Guinevere snapped her teeth gritting together. She let out a breath. “I’m sorry, I’ve… I’ve been going through a lot. Tell me more about you and Lancelot, Mira, when is the wedding?”

“We planned on having it after yours,” Mira said. “I know this event is all for you and don’t want to upstage you.”

“I’d actually prefer if you did,” Guinevere said. “I personally would rather not be involved in any of this.”

“You don’t want to marry Arthur?” Mira asked. “But why, you to look so beautiful together.”

“He already has a woman,” Guinevere said coldly.

“Oh,” Vone and Mira said an awkward silence forming between the three women.

“So,” Mira said steering the conversation in a different direction. “Vone, you’ve been seeing someone recently I hear.”

“I have,” Vone said. “Although he’s playing hard to get, but he’s just my type.”

Guinevere’s handmaidens formed a circle around them as they walked and chatted Guinevere’s mind drifting to matters of more importance.