World Sphere - 44 - Qualifiers

Chapter 44: Qualifiers

Things do not return to normalcy after the Sadian attack. The farm became fairly quiet without Cilia and Lena. In fact, Wynna moved to Hen’s Hollow to stay with her daughter Ennet. Callem left every morning to go to Hen’s Hollow to supervise the rebuilding of the old barracks that were used as the first-year academy for those kids coming of age, their 17th birthday. 

I suspected I was funding a portion of the reconstruction as Callem had asked for 50 large gold coins from me. That left Gareth, Aelyn and myself to train on our own. Gareth mostly supervised Aelyn and I in the weapons training while I supervised the strength and conditioning. Aelyn was responsible for making sure Callem’s crops continued to thrive, which meant making sure we did the weeding and watering. 

The three of us took a day off to attend the funeral of Mera and Fera’s grandparents. Although we were definitely sheltered living on these large floating islands, we knew that there were many warring factions in the Sphere, making death from conflict commonplace. 

Still, I had a lot of sympathy for the twins. When the mercenary ogres attacked, their grandparents had protected their two younger brothers, who hid in the root cellar. I wasn’t certain, but one of the ogres might have been the swordsman we let get away. I didn’t harbor guilt due to this since seven ogres had attacked the Gaskill farm, looted it, and retreated in an old skyship. 

At the funeral, the bodies were burned in a ceremony to return their ashes to the Sphere. A lot of nice things were said about them. I learned that their grandmother had been a dungeon delver and had settled in Skyholme over 60 years ago. It was their grandfather who had been the farmer. The twins thanked Gareth, Aelyn, and me for coming, and we had a grand meal to celebrate the lives of their grandparents after the cremation.

I was a little surprised when the twin’s father came and sat next to me while I was picking at some foodfrom the buffet. “Storme Hardlight.” He said as he looked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I have not had a chance to thank you for getting my daughters to safety.” 

I was waiting for him to say more, and when he didn’t, I replied. “No problem, sir. I just got them to the safest place I knew.” The ogres had rampaged the countryside farms, stripping many of them of flocks and stores and we had been lucky Callem’s farm was so remote.

“My daughters…” The very tired man spoke slowly. “They said you have magic and are a good fighter. That captain Callem taught you and your friend to fight and defend yourself?”

I was puzzled, but I think I knew where he was going. He was going to ask me to marry one of his daughters. The man continued, “If I sent my two girls early to the academy, do you think Captain Callem could do the same for them?”  Well, that burst my bubble of self-confidence a bit.

“Callem is a fantastic teacher, sir,” I said, then paused. “If you want them to learn from the best and be able to defend themselves, then sending them to the academy early can only be a good thing.” We locked eyes for a moment, his mind working behind his.

Finally, he rose, “Thank you for coming, Storme. We didn’t expect such an outpouring from the town and surrounding community with so many people being lost. As Gaskill’s, we mostly keep to ourselves. As for your advice on Captain Callem. Thank you. I will try to convince my wife. If Mera and Fera do attend, keep an eye on them for me.” We both looked over at the twins having a lively conversation with Gareth. He was probably telling them how he had destroyed me on the obstacle course this morning and how I fell ten feet into the mud pit with his assistance.

“I will, sir. It should be a lively academy class. Callem said over 20 this cycle,” I added with fabricated excitement. He nodded appreciatively and walked away. Gareth would be happy with the learning the twins would be at academy with us.

Two days after the funeral, Callem came to fetch us. Gareth had wanted to test himself in the martial pre-Annuals. The pre-Annuals were intended for those under twenty years of age who had not completed their first year of Academy. The truth was Gareth looked more like a man than a boy. 

Callem escorted us to the city of Solaris not far from Hen’s Hollow. Tryouts were in a small arena. There must have been a hundred young men and a handful of young woman here trying their luck. The captain of the city watch was in charge of organizing the tryouts.

Solaris City only had two slots for the actual pre-Annuals’ tournament in the capital. Today, the guard captain was trying to whittle down the applicants to 32 to hold a mini-tournament of their own. 

Over the next week, each day, a new round would be held. I scanned the group and saw the vile boy who had almost killed me, Leon Mogensen. He hadn’t seen me yet, and it looked like he was here to compete. His presence was the one thing that could get me into this silly test of masculinity. Gudrun Busk, another of my ambushers, was also trying out.

“Hey, Callem, you can sign me up as well,” I said, staring at the two boys.

Callem looked over at the boys, and his jaw clenched. “Sorry, Storme. I thought I had taken care of it, but I am guessing after the attack, the city was shorthanded, and his family was allowed to return.” He turned to study me with a glance before nodding and went to add my name to the rolls. 

I sat with Gareth in the stands and pointed out Leon and Gundrun to him. There were two other young men in their group, probably also trying out. My brother walked into the stadium with our father and also went to register, and once they finished they came and sat by us.

My father spoke, “So the whispers are that Gareth is probably the favorite. I mean, he looks like a seasoned fighter just sitting here!”  I don’t know if it was my father praised Gareth or something else, but I felt the need to stick up for my myself.

“Gareth, we will be one of the two slots from the city. I will probably take the other.” Pascal and father looked toward me at my announcement.

Pascal spoke, “You are competing too? I thought this was beneath you?”  He sounded a little worried and somewhat ticked off. He had taken an arrow and a small fireball during the Sadian attack but had been fully healed and revered. He knew I was a better swordsman than him—if I tried.

“Yeah, Gareth convinced me,” I said as I stared across at my enemies. They had noticed me, and Gudrun had pointed me out for Leon. The organizers started calling individual names to a private audience.

The private room was just for a pair of soldiers to assess how competent you were with a sword or weapon of our choosing. You were limited to a sword, spear, staff, or mace. All other weapons were mostly off-limits. Of course, there was a lot of variance in these weapons.

This testing went very quickly. Gareth and Pascal went before me, and when my turn came, I chose to use the staff. The town guard who tested me had a sword and shield and was overconfident when he saw me. I managed to deflect his blade and clip his unprotected shin in short order. When he attempted a reprisal, the captain of the guard halted the exchange and sent me back while calling for a healer for the guard.

When all the testing was done, the guard captain came out and read off 24 names. I was not on that list, but I was shocked, as Pascal and Gareth were. Leo, Gudrun, and one of their associates, Terraz Shide, were included. There appeared to be a lot of upset people and some angry voices. Two men flanking the man tapped their spears on the platform, creating an echo to silence the crowd.

The guard captain then announced he was going to read off eight pairings. Each pairing would fight for the final slots in the Solaris pre-academy annuals, bringing the total number to 32. 

I was paired with one of the few women trying out, Mia Silverstone. Callem sat next to me as I stared at the young woman, “She is good, Storme. Did you see the way she walks? Good balance and steps lightly. I can only assume the guard captain has some bias against her. Of the 13 women who came today, only one was in the first 24 selected, and four have to earn their way in. Eight didn’t make it past the selection stage. Don’t expect an easy fight.” 

Callem was right. Mia was a head shorter than me, but thick of body. She had feminine curves, but her body appeared to be well-muscled from extensive training. She was also studying me intently. Her weapon appeared to be a thin short sword at her hip. She would be at a disadvantage to my longer-reach. Then a young boy came running into the stadium with a spear and handed it to her. She had realized it as well and negated my advantage.

I had to agree with Callem that Mia had intentionally been put against me to lose. The captain sported a sour look on his face as Mia took the spear, which confirmed it. You were allowed to change weapons, but you were only allowed one weapon into combat unless you dual-wielded.

I half-watched the first three matches as I waited for mine. Soon,

 I was standing across from Mia. She was not pretty at all. A flat face, square shoulders, and a scowl so deep it appeared frightening. She was definitely out to prove herself. I wished I hadn’t bragged to my father about making it to the final two as I wouldn’t have minded losing intentionally just to piss off the smug captain.

A mage came and cast a dulling enchantment on her spear tip. We then faced off, and the combat began. I was heavily on the defensive as she came at me fast with stabs and sweeps. 

I could predict her movements by her feet and the muscle tension in her shoulders. I guess what Callem had been teaching us worked. After a dozen exchanges, she became increasingly frustrated. I could tell she was skilled with the spear, but it was not her preferred weapon. 

Confident I had learned her patterns, I countered her thrust with a downward strike and sidestep. She saw the fault immediately and tried to retreat and reset, but my follow-up sweep was too fast. She tried to duck under, but her timing was off, and I hit her in the side of the head. She crumpled to the ground. The healer rushed out, and thankfully, she was all right. She was carried away, and I could see the guard captain smirk and give me a nod of approval that was unwelcomed.

There was something else going on here, I thought. When I sat next to Callem, he told me, “Been talking with a few of the city folks in the stands. That girl, Mia, is the daughter of Haggrim Silverstone. He is a silversmith in the city. The guard captain,” he pointed at the guard captain who was supervising the next bout, “is Fazal Balkar. He has a son over there,” Callem indicated a boy already in the bracket. “Mia turned down his son’s request for betrothal. Some bad blood there. Fazal isn’t known to be a kind person, so I am guessing his son is the same.”

Gareth butted into our conversation, “If I get a chance, I will put him in his place.” I shook my head, Gareth was eager to play the knight in shining armor for the girl he had never met.

“I doubt you will get the chance Gareth,” they were already putting up the bracket of 32. Gareth and the boy, Vazneth Balkar, were at the top of each bracket of 16. “Most likely, the guard captain put all the lesser opponents on his son’s side of the bracket.” I noticed my name was there as well. I would have to fight him in the second round. So the guard captain didn’t think too highly of my skills—or maybe my choice of weapon.

The guard captain stood and announced, “This evening, we will hold the first round of 16 duels. The winner of each duel will receive a large silver for their victory!”  Some cheers went up from the crowd. “The city lord has also been generous, and the loser will also receive a single silver coin!”  He waited for the cheers to die down a bit before finishing. “The contests will begin in two hours! Tell your friends, and let us fill this arena to cheer on the next generation of warriors of Skyholme!” The cheers weresubdued as most people were already filing out since it was two hours away. 

As we walked out, Aelyn congratulated me on my victory. Callem and Gareth lectured me on what I did wrong and what I could improve upon. We ate in a small tavern. Callem seemed to know the busty middle-aged waitress, and our food and drink were brought out promptly. 

Callem chewed noisily. “Not as good as what you make, Storme, but extremely palatable.” The food was seared steaks with a creamy butter sauce. Callem continued addressing us, “So in this farce of a tournament, you need to knock out your opponent or get them to concede. The healer mages are decent enough, but death is still possible, so protect your heads.” 

I thought about poor Mia and the solid blow I gave her in our match. Gareth spoke, “Callem, are all tournaments like this? Rigged by the people who set them up?” Gareth and Callem had been talking about the brackets on the walk here, and I hadn’t paid much attention. My father and Pascal walked in and sat with us as Callem ordered them food from the waitress.

“Usually, yes. The Annuals in the capital is a seeded tournament, but the seeds are determined by one of the lords. Pay him enough gold, and you can be seated in a favorable bracket.” Callem said as he continued chewing on his steak. 

“The key is to show as little as possible in your victories,” my father inserted himself into the conversation. “If your next opponent doesn’t know what to expect or the man seeding the brackets doesn’t know your true ability, you have the best chance. Gareth showed a lot in his evaluation, so he got seated first.” 

Gareth blushed in embarrassment. “Don’t worry, Gareth. I don’t think there is anyone in this group that can challenge you. But you should be aware that whatever you show will be relayed to your opponents when you travel to the capital for the true pre-Annuals there. Also, I have the prize list here for this tourney.” Callem produced a rolled page.

Father took it and unrolled the page, and it showed that each victory got you a large silver. A defeatearned a single silver. If you won your side of the bracket, you got one gold. And if you defeated the winner of the other side of the bracket, you got a large gold. A large gold piece is about what my father made in a year. The reward was probably so high to encourage the wealthier young men and women to participate.

We discussed strategy during the meal, and I barely paid attention as I worked on my new alarm spell. The spell enabled me to set it at a fixed point, and if a living creature came within 20 feet of it, I would receive a mental alert. For the first evolution, I modified the alert to provide a mental flash of the approaching creature. 

For my second evolution, I adjusted the alarm spell to emit a loud sound to alert others when a specific event occurred. This action was currently very broad, and I needed further evolutions to refine it. I was currently spamming the spell to reach level three and attain my third evolution. There were quite a few useful evolutions, and I hoped to advance the spell to level 11 in the next few months.

When we returned to the arena, there was an entrance fee of 5 coppers per person. As participants, we didn’t have to pay. Gareth was the first to fight, and we didn’t even need to cheer him. Using a broadsword, Gareth easily overpowered the outclassed boy. The boy had some speed, was only slightly smaller than Gareth, but Gareth was much faster. I was happy to see two of Leon’s minions get eliminated on Gareth’s side of the bracket in the first round. 

When we started the fights on my side of the bracket, Zaneth fought first. He was big, and Callem said he was 17 and entering the academy this year. He was a decent swordsman, but I was able to see multiple flaws in his style, at least compared to Gareth. I thought I might be able to match him. But first, I needed to win my next match.

I was confused when it was Gudrun Busk. I looked up at the bracket board, and his name was there, but I was certain someone else had been placed there before we went for dinner. I looked in the crowd, and Callem looked perplexed as well, as he remembered the same thing I had. 

Maybe they thought Gudrun would knock me out of the tourney. But this is why I had entered this little tournament: personal revenge. 

Gudrun stood across from me with a buckler and scimitar, smirking confidently. He would be very fast with his slashing attacks, but I had range on him, and we were equal in size even though he was two years older than I. As we circled, I noted that my footwork was also superior and thought this contest would be easily won. 

Then my opponent played dirty. releasing some glass dust into my path of attack. He had been concealing itin his buckler arm and appeared to be regular sand. I rolled away from his onslaught and cast my cleanliness spell to eliminate the glass dust. I also needed to do a touch of healing to my eyes as I retreated. 

Gudrun pressed his attack, thinking I was disabled. My staff shot straight out into his groin. A surprised look on his face was quickly turned to pain. I thought he hadn’t surrendered yet, so half a heartbeat later, my staff was slamming into the side of his skull. It was a much harder strike than Mia had taken, and the boy crumbled like all his bones had been removed from his body.

The crowd was not aware of the despicable tactics and I had some boos for my brutal victory. Unfortunately, there was a conference. The mages observing the fight had noted my magic. With Callem and my father, I had to answer some questions about what magic I had used. 

The proctoring mage confirmed it was the cleanliness spell and the mend flesh spell. Both were legal, but I had failed to register them as part of my combat repertoire, making them illegal in this instance. At least, that was the argument I was facing. 

It was Callem’s turn to play the hero. Callem knew the rules of the Annuals better than anyone. Defensive spells didn’t need to be registered, just offensive spells, so the proctoring mages could better prepare to intervene in a life-or-death situation. After nearly half an hour of arguing, I was declared the victor of the match. Callem also pointedly recorded the brackets so they could not be altered again.

Gundrun didn’t face any reprimand for his attempt to blind me with the glass dust. My father brought it up, but since the boy lost, the guard captain considered the point moot. I got my large silver coin reward. I placed it in my pocket and moved it to my dimensional closet. To me, this was not a coin but a trophy of vengeance.

I was happy to see Gudrun have trouble walking, even after the healing. That brief bit of revenge was sweet, and I hoped there was more to come. With our day finished, we headed back to Hen’s Hollow. On the walk back, Aelyn was the most excited of any of us. Pascal had also won his first bout and was in my bracket. If I beat Zaneth tomorrow and Pascal also won, we would face each other. Pascal was scheduled to fight Leon, and I was torn as to whether I wanted him to win or lose. If my brother lost, I would get my chance at revenage.

Of course, when we got to our house, Freya was upset that she didn’t get to see her brothers and Gareth fight today. She thought we were just registering and pouted to our mother. She spent dinner trying to get permission from our parents to go tomorrow. They eventually caved, and Mother, Wynna, and Ennet would escort her. 

The next day, I hoped to seek revenge for Mia and put the guard captain’s son in his place. I was sure there would be some new trick I would have to overcome to win. That seemed to be the nature of this tourney.