As annoyed as he was, Milo pondered the situation. The students of The Tower of Strife certainly lived up to their name. They must fight constantly with each other. There seemed to be rules to the duels, and the addition of healers was a nice touch. The mages got practice fighting and the healers got practice healing. Overall, it was a good system, but he was annoyed to be included without anyone giving him a rulebook.

His first three opponents were covered in bandages and leading against the tower eating cookies provided by three students. Milo was sure he hadn't hurt them badly, but the amount of bandages used was so excessive, he doubted they could walk. The junior healers took their practice time seriously. The crowd was excited and he saw several students eyeing him and considering a challenge, while others were placing bets. He saw that the bets were being taken by three more of the Eel clan. The threat of getting their skull beat in with a spanner certainly wasn't convincing anyone that this was a bad idea. Worse, they seemed to like it!

The crowd hushed when two new people walked towards him as the students moved hastily to clear a path. Both were older ratkins who oozed confidence and authority. Both were higher level than himself, and he could only see basic information about them.

[Professor Arlothe Sparktail Level 19 Stormcaster]

[Professor Cremona Strifebringer Level 18 Poisoned Soul]

Milo started to relax. These were Professors who taught the students and kept order in the Tower. Cooler and wiser heads had finally shown up to put an end to this nonsense.

Arlothe smiled at him. "Welcome to the Tower of Strife. My wife and I are happy to have visiting mages from other Hollows. I see that you have already studied our ancient traditions and engaged our students in duels as a way of sharing knowledge and techniques."

Milo had knew he'd done nothing of the sort! "uh...no? They sort of attacked me a couple of times. I just came over to look at the interesting machinery when they started abusing it. I wasn't trying to duel."

Cremona scowled at him, a green cloud floating over her head. "What? You didn't even come to visit with us? Are we less interesting than a stupid pile of wires?"

Milo felt that the answer was obvious. "Well, yes. Who doesn't like strange machines?"

Arlothe smiled and nodded in agreement. "Right?! What did you think of the electro-interface and...." He broke off as his wife elbowed him in the ribs.

"Stay focused dear, crafty Tallsqueak is trying to confuse the issue and make you forget how he has insulted the Tower!"

Arlothe caught his breath and sighed. Then continued in a loud voice. "Oh, of course. He's a tricky one, isn't he? What I meant to say was: How dare you tamper with a machine that combines the wisdom of generations of mages from the tower?!"

Milo pointed to the machine. "I think their 'combined wisdom' disagreed on what they were trying to make. Wouldn't it have been better for each mage to construct their own project and then compare the designs?" Arlothe nodded in agreement before taking another elbow to his sore ribs.

Cremona drew herself up and pointed at Tallsqueak. "You have transgressed upon the Tower of Strife, tried to steal the secrets of my husband’s stupid machine, beaten our students on a non-duel day, and failed to introduce yourself properly! I, Cremona Strifebringer, demand that you duel me so that I may restore the honor of the Tower of Strife. Accept my challenge or accept my punishment."

Every student and teacher in the tower was now watching. Dueling with Professor Cremona was referred to as playing 'test dummy for her latest concoction'. Many students would much rather accept her 'punishments', which ranged from cleaning out beakers and test tubes to filling in craters in the ground after duel days. No one actually fought her for real except her husband, and the score this season was 13 to 34 in her favor.

When Tallsqueak didn't immediately bow and accept his punishment, (which in this case was going to be an invitation to a dinner of steamed prawns and onion soup with the two professors), Arlothe began to worry. He highly doubted Tallsqueak was just a Necromancer or Death Mage. He hadn't summoned any undead minions and hadn't used any type of poison spell. He had two highly effective combat ranged attacks along with some very nice physical enhancements. The way he had taken down the two second-year students had shown he wasn't ignorant of claw-to-claw fighting. And the claws he had looked very sharp! Cremona was a very powerful mage, but she wasn't used to fighting for her life. He suspected Tallsqueak was. The idea of a little fake anger, a challenge, and then the 'punishment' of dinner had seemed like a better idea a few minutes ago. But it was too late for that. The challenge had been issued, and dangerous or not, his wife loved to duel.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Milo pulled two mana potions and a healing potion from his pouch and drank them. Punishment would obviously be some long quest or task that he didn't have time for. Even if he died and had to lose a day, that was better. His annoyance went away as he made his decision, replaced by calm focus. "I accept your challenge."

Cremona was surprised and excited. Dinner might get a little cold, but that was a small price to pay for a good duel with an unknown opponent. "Excellent! Arlothe will adjudicate the duel. Normal rules dear?"

Arlothe looked at his excited wife and the quietly focused Tallsqueak. "No, I think we'll do something a bit more formal than the usual brawl that the students like. As adjudicator of this duel, I invoke the formal rules of dueling and limit the duel to three rounds. Tallsqueak, are you familiar with the formal rules of dueling as set forth by the Marquis D'Camembert?"

Tallsqueak said in a very calm voice, "Perhaps you should go over all of the rules so both of us know them."

Arlothe nodded. "These rules of dueling were made to limit and control combat in the magical arts, and to provide a better showcase to judge the skill of the duelists. Two ten-foot diameter circles are drawn on the ground, with 30 feet between centers. Neither opponent may step outside the boundaries of the circles. Opponents will each have a round to cast a spell, followed by their opponent casting a spell. After three rounds a panel would normally judge the duel based on poise, damage done, verbal sparring, inventiveness of attacks, and several other minor criteria. Today it will be enough to see who remains conscious, and I will award points instead of a proper panel of judges."

Tallsqueak nodded, and Arlothe continued, happy to see that the visiting wizard was familiar with the rules, "An aspect of the Marquis’s spell is that if an opponent is badly injured, the duel ends, the circles are dispelled, and the magical energy is funneled into a powerful healing spell that can save the loser from all but the most messy of deaths. This allows both opponents to use their full power without fear of ending a life."

He turned to his wife. "And my wife won't be using Murgatroid’s Infernal Disintegration, will we dear?"

Cremona smiled. "Why, of course not. I want him begging for mercy, not floating away as a cloud of mold dust."

Arlothe turned to Tallsqueak. "Any questions? And as the challenged party, do you prefer to go first or second."

Tallsqueak thought about that for several seconds, then surprised everyone by saying,

"I have a question: Who's taking the bets, and what are the odds?" Milo had heard and seen bets being made, and there was a flurry of activity around three eels from Clan Emerald Wyrm.

Arlothe turned and addressed the crowd. "I'm sure we all know that betting isn't allowed, but in this case, I'll make an exception. Mr. Moray, would you be kind enough to tell us what the current odds are against Tallsqueak?"

Brer Moray was not happy about being called out. The eels ran all of the betting on duel days, and by creative use of odds and points spreads made a tidy sum. They didn’t need the attention of one of the Professors. "The odds are 1 to 17 in Professor Cremona's favor, with a point spread of 32."

Tallsqueak looked at the eels, then at Cremona. "I'll be going second and I bet five full wheels of one-year-aged cheddar on myself to win by beating the points spread."

As the crowd began to talk and surge towards the eels, Arlothe yelled out. "All betting is closed!"

Arlothe's hands glowed with blue electrical energy and two glowing circles appeared on the ground. He motioned Tallsqueak and Cremona to take their places. The crowd of students moved hastily to be out of the line of fire. "Tallsqueak has ceded his option to go first against a superiorly ranked opponent. Cremona, you may begin your round and cast your first spell!"