Kalden stood with his peers while Grandmaster Raizen covered the day’s obvious lesson.

“There are a thousand paths to victory, and you should never underestimate your opponents.”

He mentioned Akari by name, along with Arturo Kazalla, and two other students who’d supposedly hacked their generators. Elise Moonfire hadn’t made the list, which proved one of her friends had done the work for her.

“Mr. Kazalla saved his best trick for last,” Raizen told the class. “He majored in Sigilcraft before switching to Combat this year. His class built arenas like these, and this let him find the exploits.”

Kalden shot a glance at his Cadrian classmate across the half circle. Sigilcraft actually made more sense for someone with narrow channels, but Arturo clearly had plans to translate those skills into combat. Such a thing would have disqualified him from a proper duel, but it worked perfectly in this class.

“He was right to save that trick,” Raizen said, “because it will only work once. That exploit will be patched when we return on Narsday, and Mr. Kazalla will need to adapt. The same is true for your generations—those will become progressively harder to hack every class session. You may even find the arena no longer allows armor, weapons, or potions. Exploits are part of battle, but so are setbacks.”

Akari bristled beside him, and Kalden understood. She’d barely survived her second duel, even with her comically large armory. She’d need to adapt quickly or risk falling behind again.

Raizen went on to explain how some days would have more instruction than others. As the students fought in the rings, he’d observe their strengths and weaknesses from the catwalks. Then he’d invent new, personalized challenges to help them improve.

Sen and Camila had painted Raizen as an uptight drill sergeant, but he seemed surprisingly reasonable. And while he hadn’t done much actual teaching, he’d observed them all with both eyes open. By the time class was over, he probably knew their fighting styles better than they did.

Perhaps Kalden had expected all the Artegium’s teachers to be as eccentric as Elend. Now, he grinned to imagine Raizen and Elend trapped in a room together.

Class ended at 10:30, and they all headed for the locker rooms

“See you outside?” Kalden asked Akari as they parted.

“Dining hall,” she corrected

He gave her a look.

“What? You take like three hours to style your hair.”

“You’re exaggerating.” Kalden took a normal amount of time to get ready. It wasn’t his fault she treated it like a race. He also wouldn’t pull his punches when she showed up to lunch dripping wet, with tangled hair and inside-out clothes.

Actually, she’d probably look good no matter what, but Kalden definitely wouldn’t say that out loud.

~~~

He emerged from the men’s locker room twenty minutes later and found Tori Raizen waiting for him in the hallway. Her black hair fell past her shoulders now, streaked with several lines of bright pink. He also spotted two silver piercings in each of her eyebrows, shaped like tiny blades.

“Trengsen.” She gave an easy smile as she sauntered forward—a far cry from the stoic duelist he’d faced in class.

Kalden shouldered his backpack and inclined his head. “Miss Raizen.”

“Which way you headed?” she asked.

“Dining hall.”

“Perfect. So am I.”

They walked side by side in unspoken agreement, weaving through the horde of their classmates.

“I’ll get straight to the point,” Tori said. “Do you want to join my alliance?”

“Seriously?” Kalden said. “Don’t tell me I impressed you today.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “You’re still in the top twelve. Plus, I’ve looked into you. You lost your hand earlier this year, fighting an Artisan in Creta.”

Kalden’s blood froze, but he only let the confusion show on his face. “Who told you that?”

“I’ve seen the footage.”

“There’s footage?”

Her lip curled in amusement. “Don’t worry—it’s not public. My dad’s got eyes on the ground in Tureko. They found some Unmarked members who knew you. One of them recorded the fight on his cell phone.”

Kalden let out a breath as he processed that. “You and I just met two hours ago.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Yeah, but my dad’s been obsessed with you since admissions. He said you fight like a Blade Artist—better than most students from our old sect—but no one’s ever heard of you. And he knows every Master Blade Artist in the world.

Kalden kept silent. Fortunately, Elend had identified Raizen as an ally, so things could have been far worse than this. Besides, the Battle of Tureko wasn’t a secret, even if it strayed uncomfortably close to the Archipelago.

“What else do you know about me?” he asked.

“Quid pro quo,” she said. “Who trained you?”

“My father. Grandmaster Rinshi Trengsen.”

Tori wrinkled her nose. “He some hidden Master or something?”

Kalden shook his head—not a denial, but a refusal to answer. “That’s the thing about hidden Masters. Most of them like to stay hidden.”

“But I get his name for free?”

“You won’t find anything. Trust me, I’ve tried.” More importantly, Elend and Irina had tried. They’d also looked for his brother, Sozen, but nothing came up. Almost as if they’d all never existed.

“Now it’s your turn,” Kalden said as they passed through a pair of double glass doors.

“I know your background is fake,” she said. “But someone did a good job on it. My dad sent a guy to your old school in Vaslana. Found your picture in the yearbook archives, and several staff members who swore they knew you.”

Kalden said nothing as they stepped outside under the late summer sun.

Tori removed her jacket, revealing a black tank-top, and a full tattoo sleeve on her right arm. “But the students had never heard of you. Not even the Combat Artists. An Apprentice with your skills should have been a celebrity down there.”

Funny, considering he had been a celebrity before Last Haven’s destruction. But even if he could share that, Tori wouldn’t believe him.

“And then you show up in Creta out of nowhere,” Tori said. “Your transcript said you were a champion duelist, but that’s the first footage anyone has of you.”

Again, Kalden didn’t explain himself or make excuses. Why would he? They’d poked some reasonable holes in his story, but their conclusions were weak compared to the evidence Irina had planted. Kalden knew it, and Tori knew it too.

“That’s all?” he asked.

She shook her head. “It’s your turn again. Why the pure blades? Wouldn’t it be ten times easier just to aspect your mana?”

Kalden had prepared for this question weeks ago, and it didn’t require any actual lies. “Honestly, my teachers never told me the reason.” This was a common approach among Shokenese teachers. Unlike the Espirians, many of them believed that knowledge could only be discovered rather than given. They’d let their students live in ignorance for the sake of greater long-term understanding. “For now, I just know I’m keeping my options open.”

Tori’s brow furrowed, but she couldn’t have been too surprised. It was a simple answer, and a hard one to dismiss. “Okay. We also know that Zeller and Dawnfire were in Creta with you, but we have no idea why.”

When Kalden didn’t take the bait, she pressed on. “So, what about my offer?”

Kalden hesitated. “Is this offer for your main team, or just your alliance?”

He’d researched the terminology the day after Arturo’s party. Teams were limited to six people for the interschool battlegrounds. However, alliances in the qualifying rounds could be much larger—sometimes up to half the first-year class. But wider recruitment meant more betrayals toward the end of the semester. And even if they all survived, certain members might be left out in the cold when it came time to form real teams.

“Both,” Tori said. “You’d have a spot in the main team if you survive, but we still need to recruit wide. Moonfire and Kortez already have the two biggest factions. They’ll crush us if we don’t fill our ranks.”

Kalden’s chest tightened, and he took several deep breaths to steady himself. There were actual factions already? On the first day of class? He’d considered himself proactive at Arturo’s party, but now he saw how far behind he really was.

Then again, Elend had warned them about this. Many students had spent a full year making friends in the pre-Artegium program, and they’d probably started this work months ago. The true inner circles would be based on trust, while those in the outer circles would believe they had higher standing than they actually did. No doubt the truth would reveal itself during the qualifying rounds.

Kalden could have tried starting his own alliance with Akari and Relia, but they’d never be serious contenders. Better to work within the current framework. All warfare was based on deception after all, and two could play at that game.

“I might be interested,” Kalden finally said.

Tori gave a curt nod. “One more thing. What’s your connection to Akari Zeller and Relia Dawnfire?”

She spoke their names as if they were issues, and Kalden saw the first sign of a challenge in her dark eyes. He could have gotten defensive on his friends’ behalf, but he’d learn more if he played along.

“We share a teacher. That’s all.”

“You aren’t friends?”

Kalden shrugged as if he’d never actually considered it. “Those two are like lost puppies who will follow anyone who feeds them. But they’re also assets. You saw what Zeller did with her generator today.”

“Just be careful,” Tori said. “I’m sure you know Dawnfire’s reputation by now. And Elise Moonfire wants Zeller taken down. She’s sent out several orders to her minions.”

“What?”

“I don’t know much about it—and no, that’s not me being secretive. I just know she’s calling in every favor and bribe she can.”

“When you say ‘taken down’ …”

“Out of the competition,” Tori clarified. “Maybe even out of the Artegium.”

Damnit. That had Valeria Antano written all over it. The Dragonlord’s sister had already tried using Dansin Roth to keep Akari out of the Artegium. That route had failed, but of course she’d keep her options open.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Kalden said. “I guess I’ll keep my distance.” Once again, he could have stood stubbornly by his friends’ sides, but he’d do more good in a strong alliance. Here, he could wield influence and weave plots of his own.

His friends wouldn’t like it, though. Akari liked straightforward battles with visible opponents. And Relia would sooner follow her heart and go down in a blaze of glory. She’d already proven that with the soulshine issue.

Fortunately, they also understood subtlety. They’d played a long game against the Martials on Arkala, and it had paid off.

But what was Valeria Antano’s endgame? What if the woman lost this next round and Akari made it through the qualifying rounds? Would she send assassins after her next?

“Kalden?” someone called his name from across the lawn.

Confused, Kalden turned to see a Shokenese man, a few years older than him. He blinked several times, processing the features—strange and familiar all at once.

Then it hit him like a Missile. Beneath the thin black beard was a face Kalden knew. He hadn’t seen that face in several years, but he could never forget it.

This was the first person to ever defy the Martials and escape the Archipelago.

This was his older brother, Sozen Trengsen.