Chương 73: Chapter 10

The next morning, Shaya and her friends arrived at the Five Rings duelling site. They were far from alone. Dozens of spectators lined the stands around the simple, one-hundred-yard-diameter grassy circle. She recognized several students from her cohort, but there were plenty of others she didn't recognize as well. Shaya's eyes were drawn to the figures in gilded armour and coloured cloaks: Mageknight Orders come to watch her fight.

She spotted Slayers in their torn green robes, Justicars in their bright red, and plenty of Wardens standing watch in their blue. Other Orders she was less familiar with were present as well, such as the black-robed Seekers and white-robed Guardians. She swallowed down her nervous energy, adjusting the straps on her bladed shield and fidgeting with the head of the new axe on her belt.

"Don't worry," Bri said, squeezing her shoulder through her brigandine, "there's no way that shorty can beat you."

"Thanks." Shaya shot her friend a nervous smile.

"I guess we'll find out."

"We already know," Samorn assured her as well.

"All we're going to watch is the inevitable conclusion." Oraeus and Shep nodded their support.

"I dunno," Ren said, stretching as he walked, "she seems spicy, I'd watch yourself in there with her."

"I don't know what that means, Ren," Shaya replied drily.

"Are you telling me to keep my tongue off her?" Ren blinked.

"No, but now that you mention it, I would strongly encoura—" Bri cut him off, slowing her stride to jab him in the kidney. Shaya laughed, then spotted Apricot and her Lance heading towards the stands.

"Apricot!" she shouted, waving a hand at her.

"Can we talk a minute?" The petite woman waved back, then she and her Lance walked over. Her eyes were still shot through with Sapphire blobs, even a week after the deployment.

"Hi, Shaya, it's good to see you aga—" Shaya crushed her in a big hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay! And I'm so sorry for asking you to do the thing with the portals, I had no idea it would—""I'm okay," Apricot insisted from inside Shaya's grip, unable to escape. She held a tin cup off to the side, keeping the steaming, black liquid within from spilling.

"At least I might be if you stop crushing me." Shaya did so immediately.

"I'm so—""Sorry," Bri finished, rolling her eyes, "we all know. Gods, this is the real reason Apricot hasn't been around this week."

"I wish," Apricot giggled, turning to Bri and the others.

"Watching Shaya stumble over herself is actually pretty refreshing, has she been like this since deployment?"

"It gets old fast," Ren assured her, fluffy tail twitching in annoyance.

"Especially now that she's not purple anymore."

"She was…purple?" Apricot asked.

"Oh, yeah," Ren replied, "from head to toe, looked like an eggplant for most of the week."

"Ugh!" Apricot rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe I missed that. You're all so lucky to get to live with her."

"Yes," Oraeus replied drily, "we count our blessings every day. But it is good to see you hale again, Apricot, our classes were not the same without you."

"Thanks, Oraeus." Apricot smiled.

"I can't wait to get back to class now that the aether fevers are done."

"Aether…fevers?" Shaya asked.

"Lasting aether burn, from pushing my circuits too far," Apricot explained, taking a sip from her tin. Shaya's sensitive nose wrinkled as the bitter brew's scent wafted up to her and she had no idea how her friend could choose to drink it. A few of the others in Apricot's Lance seemed to be drinking the same stuff, including Lan, shocking Shaya given that it smelled like acid.

"Wait," she said, looking at the wintry Veyeiran, "Lan! You're back!" He simply nodded.

"Well," Shaya continued, "it's good to see you, you had me worried. You missed an exciting deployment, though I'm sure Apricot has already filled you in." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Indeed," he replied, averting his gaze, "my apologies, I had… personal matters to attend to. But it sounds like the deployment, though 'exciting' as you say, brought to light certain inadequacies amongst our cohort and rid us of them." Shaya chuckled.

"At least in the short term, yeah. Which I guess might not have happened if you were there, so it all worked out." He nodded again. Shaya suspected there was more to the story, but she didn't want to push him further right now.

"What is that?" she asked Apricot, pointing at the cup of black acid.

"Hm?" Apricot cocked her head, then her eyes lit up.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting Arcadia doesn't have coffee beans."

"You're drinking beans?"

"Well, it's more like a…tea… I guess?" Apricot explained, face scrunching up as she thought about it.

"Give it a try, it's not as bad as you think. Also, it wakes you right up!" With dread, Shaya accepted her friend's tin cup and took a tentative sip of the black liquid. She never wanted it to be said that she judged something before trying it… within reason. It took all of her willpower to avoid spitting it back into the cup.

"Thanks," she said, returning the cup with a grimace, "I don't think it's for me." Apricot giggled.

"It's an acquired taste. My mom makes it better than I do, she lives off the stuff."

"I'll take your word for it," Shaya said, wanting to claw the flavour off her tongue.

"Una's shooting daggers at you from across the field, so we should leave you to your duel."

"You and your Lance should feel free to join our side of the ring," Shaya said, smiling.

"We wanted to see if you'd be interested in practicing together, so we can figure out larger scale manoeuvres. This might be a fun first step!" Apricot cocked her head.

"That sounds like a lot of fun! I'll let the others know. See you all on Shaya's side of the ring."

"Good luck," Bri said, clapping her on the shoulder again, "don't make us look bad now!" The others echoed the well wishes and Shaya moved to the centre, where Una was already standing with the referee, Avaim, the same squire from the Order of Justice who hosted some of Shaya's practice sessions.

"Done saying your farewells to dear friends?" Una scoffed as Shaya approached.

"I hope you actually have real friends, Una." Shaya shook her head and replied with the same volume, ensuring only she and Avaim could hear her.

"The kind that don't throw you under the palanquin when it's convenient to do so."

"I don't need your sympathy," her rival spat back.

"You're not exactly swimming in friends right now either."

"I'll take quality over quantity any day," Shaya said, smiling.

"Though I'm greedy enough to want both, of course." Una snorted.

"I can't wait to wipe that smile off your face."

"I can't wait to see you try."

"Then perhaps we should get started?" Avaim said, quirking an eyebrow in amusement at their exchange.

"Happily," both women said, still glaring at one another.

"Enchantments on the field will ensure no wound is critical," Avaim explained, his voice carrying out to the crowd.

"Points will be scored for hits based on severity, with additional points scored for knockdowns. Knocking out your opponent, delivering a 'killing' blow, or forcing them to surrender will result in an automatic win, as will the referee stepping in to call a match if it gets out of hand.

"All magic is available for use during the duel, as the same enchantments that protect against physical damage will ensure no spell is lethal. The challenger has dictated that no time shall be given prior to the duel to pre-cast spells." Shaya cursed inwardly.

"Existing enchantments are allowed," Avaim continued, red robe billowing in the chill wind.

"I shall inspect each duellist to ensure no spells are currently being maintained on them, then they shall report to their designated squares. As per tradition, the challenger stands to the east, and the challenged to the west." Shaya felt a slight pressure on her spirit as Avaim probed for ongoing spells. An active use of dowsing, perhaps? she wondered. Rather than just relying on it passively? Avaim nodded at her when he detected no magic, then followed the same process for Una.

"May the best woman win," Shaya said to her as they were about to part for their starting spaces.

"Don't mind if I do," Una replied with a vicious grin, then walked to her spot, poleaxe over one shoulder. Shaya finished strapping her shield onto her other arm, checked that her broadsword could be drawn easily from its scabbard, then drew her new axe instead. Unlike the one she took into the swamp, this one had a shorter haft for close-in fighting and a smaller head counter-balanced for throwing.

Since Una wasn't in Foundations and committed to Jade magic tied to woodcraft, Shaya had suspected she was attached to her polearm. She was happy to see she was correct, and happier still that Una continued to favour light armour her weapons could punch through easily. Gods, my armour repair bills are going to kill me. Why is health care free here, but not padding? Shaya rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck, and readied herself while Una did the same fifty yards away from her.

Good thing it's overcast today, Shaya thought, looking up at the sky as she stretched her neck, otherwise the sun would be beaming into my eyes at this hour.

"Today's challenger is Una Irvyn, fifth in line of Zothiri's Dozoel County!" Avaim announced, addressing the crowd in the stands by their duelling ring.

"Her opponent: Shaya Heirosoth, second in line of Kelahk's Mangdae County!" Avaim lifted his hand from the edge of the arena. The crowd went silent, tension mounting as all eyes watched the hand. Shaya tried not to focus on it, but it fell in slow motion in her peripheral vision as her adrenaline spiked.

"Fight!"

"Phaedra!" Shaya invoked, feeling her esper appear in a burst of light and connect her to the aetherium. She was drawing in Amber a heartbeat later, her confidence soaring as she took it in and shouted, "Ward me from Jade energy!" Rather than rely on a directional shield, Shaya went with a tight cylindrical ward, knowing that Una was in Ren's Geomancy class.

She expected plants to be nipping at her heels and trying to restrain her for much of the match, and couldn't afford to be caught off guard against Una's attacks.