The First Mage

It was obvious from our previous interaction that Grym enjoyed a good fight, and he was also ready to bet on his own strength. He had lost his first match against a divine messenger, but he himself had said that he wanted a rematch, and he would most definitely be interested in a fight against one of my followers. After getting a feeling for what I could do, he would also be more prepared, and presumably think his chances could only improve. Not to mention that he wouldn’t be fighting the “boss” this time.

“You have already agreed to give us six months... How about, on top of that, you will spend these six as guard captain? If we win. If not, it’s up to you how things continue from here, just like our last wager.”

I was betting it all, but even if I had wanted to play it safe, we didn’t really have a lot to give to him but this. He thought it over for only a moment, and quickly agreed.

“You got it, girly.”

One could be under the impression that he was taking this challenge too lightly, but he had acted the same way before our sparring match, and once the fight started, he didn’t appear to underestimate me one bit.

“Make some space,” I said, and everybody stepped back a few meters. The area in front of the gate was large enough for a small match, and there were very few people who could get in the way or accidentally be hurt. Or so I thought, until I heard a shout from the girl on the wall, who had apparently noticed that a “ring” was forming around Grym, Tomar, and myself.

“Everyone!! Rematch between Grym and the boss girl!!”

Within seconds, several guards gathered on top of the wall, and nearby workers dropped what they were doing and came our way to catch the show. The audience wasn’t quite as large as when Grym and I fought in the main square, but it was large enough that we could be sure people would hear about this. That’s not bad, but I didn’t want to make another speech just yet... I thought with a sigh. It was interesting how much people seemed to like watching a fight though. As far as I knew, there were no fighting competitions or anything of that kind here, and I wondered if that could be a good source of entertainment. Especially with the supernatural abilities of Fighters, as well as their heightened recovery rate, that made serious injuries more unlikely.

I looked around the three or so dozen people that had gathered, and when it seemed like everybody was here, I turned away from Grym and addressed them.

“Dear citizens! At the risk of disappointing you, I have to tell you that this won’t be a rematch! Instead, this young man here, Tomar Remor, would like to prove his prowess against the guard Grym Vance, in a mutually-agreed-to sparring match!”

I could see a few disappointed faces when they looked at Tomar, and a couple of people even seemed ready to leave. Curious. I’m a girl right now, and much more feeble looking than Tomar. The fact that I’m the “divine messenger” seems to make quite a difference in people’s perceptions.

“But don’t you worry!” I said. “This will be very interesting!”

In the end, nobody left, and Tomar and I took a few steps back, to create some space between him and his opponent.

“If you just beat him, that’s fine,” I whispered to him, “but if you can... make it splashy.”

“Alright,” Tomar said with a determined nod and turned towards Grym, as I walked over to stand beside Berla and Reurig.

“Ready!” I announced from the side-lines. “3... 2... 1... Fight!”

Everybody was ready for the action to start, but nothing happened at first. Tomar and Grym were seizing each other up, waiting for their opponent to make the first move. Knight vs Wizard, such a classic.

Grym would have to get close to do anything, while Tomar would want to keep him at a distance. At the same time, he couldn’t let himself get distracted and create openings while “casting spells,” and he would also have to preserve his mana. At least that’s what I would assume any sensible magic user to do, and my personal fighting style was based on that idea. Let my opponent come to me, knock them off balance, and then finish them off, with the least amount of effort and mana necessary.

Apparently, Tomar had other plans, because he suddenly started running towards Grym at full speed, while flinging water balls in his general direction, which were fast enough to knock him over, should they hit at full force. Startled by the assault for just a brief moment, Grym was grazed by a couple of shots, before he recovered and started evading them with little effort. A smile crept onto his face when Tomar was almost in range of his sword, but the moment he stepped in to take a swing, Tomar took a shot at the ground, directly in front of Grym’s feet, putting a ten centimeter wide hole into one of the stone slabs making up the floor. Had a foot been there in that moment, it would’ve been no more, and Grym immediately jumped back, to put some distance between him and Tomar. That move would prove to be fatal, however, as Tomar stopped in his tracks, took aim, and shot a large stream of water at the exact spot Grym would land at. Unable to avoid it, he was hit a fraction of a second before he would’ve landed and was propelled backwards, crashing into the wooden gate behind him. Such a hit would never be enough to take someone like Grym out, but if this had been a real fight, Tomar could’ve made this shot a lethal one, and it would’ve been the end. While Grym crumbled to the floor, Tomar resumed his sprint and shot water balls at his opponent, which were strategically placed to hit Grym’s legs and his head, making it difficult for him to get back up, and just as he finally did jump to his feet, he was looking straight at Tomar’s palm, directly in front of him, as a tiny amount of water sprayed in Grym’s face, like from a water pistol.

“I won,” Tomar declared, and the audience started applauding and cheering, with Emeryn drowning out everybody else, chanting “Boss Boy! Boss Boy!”, while hanging out the window of the watchtower, to be able to see the fight right below.

Panting lightly, Tomar glanced around himself, at the onlookers above and behind, an embarrassed, but proud grin on his face. Right on, I thought, you should be proud of that fight.

When I glanced at Berla, she looked at Tomar with pride as well. If it hadn’t been obvious up to this point, these two had evidently kept up Tomar’s training since our first night in Cerus, when she decided that he would need to get into shape, to be able to keep up with beasts. I had been there for the first couple of days, during which she mostly had us do simple exercises in the mornings or evenings, but if I had to guess, she had probably taught him more in the following weeks, because this fighting style was reminiscent of an agent’s.

As our group approached the two, I saw a pleased expression on Grym’s face for the first time. There was no evil grin, no ridiculing laugh, just an honest smile, as he looked the slightly smaller Tomar in the eyes. One might try to argue that Grym had once again lost because he hadn’t known what he was up against, but I didn’t believe that was the deciding factor. Tomar had caught him off-guard at every step, unlike when Grym fought me. I had managed to beat him, and I was confident I could do it again, but the way Tomar and I had handled ourselves were entirely different, and would elicit different kinds of respect.

The final sign that something was different this time, was what happened next. After our fight, Grym had gotten back up, showed that he respected my strength, and asked for a rematch, presumably because he knew that he would just need to find a way past my mana blast. Now, he got down, lowered his head, and knelt before his opponent.

“Tomar Remor, was it? As per the agreement, I swear loyalty to you for the next six months, and to serve you in any position you see fit.”

It was probably good that Grym had lowered his head, because the surprised and uncertain look on Tomar’s face as he glanced back at me, looking for help, was anything but imposing. Gesturing with my eyes and chin, I tried telling him that he needed to say something. Come on, he’s swearing loyalty to you, not me.

“Thank you... Grym Vance,” he said with an unsteady voice. “We will... announce your appointment to captain of the guard at noon.”

“Very well, I shall be there,” he said as he got back up. “Until then, I will return to my duties.”

“Please do,” Tomar said.

“Always a pleasure, Grym,” I said, as he turned around and threw a stare at one of the gate guards, making them hurriedly open it for him. Once he had left, the onlookers dispersed as quickly as they had appeared, and after just a few moments, we were alone again.

“Good job,” I said to both Tomar and Berla. “You didn’t think to tell me what you’ve been up to?”

“I thought I’d surprise you for a change,” Tomar said with a smile.

Surprise me you did.

Ever since that very first night, when Tomar and Riala had their mana circulation activated, I had known that their physical abilities had received a boost. The fact alone that he had been able to escape the guards at the water source back then, while carrying Riala, had proved it, as a normal human wouldn’t usually be able to run from a Fighter. This had helped us in almost all of our fights, but Tomar had brought it to a whole new level now, and he combined it brilliantly with our scripts.

“I’ve never seen my father getting overwhelmed like that...” Bren said.

“Lilly...” Brie said under her breath, “can you fight like that as well...?”

I hadn’t paid too much attention to her and Bren during the fight, but looking at them now, they appeared to be in shock. Oh, right. Tomar just dominated one of, if not the strongest guard in town... Huh.

“The gods have been generous to me in many ways, but these abilities you aren’t just granted,” I said. “Tomar has honed them for a while, and he trained hard to gain full control over his Calling.”

“His Calling...? I thought he was a divine messenger, like you.” Bren said.

“No, Tomar is different. He has received a special Calling from the gods that allows him to do things even I know very little about. He’s a Sourcerer.”

““A Sourcerer...”” Bren and Brie said in unison.

Stick to the story you know to work.