"You want me to do what?" Arthur stared at his friend. Or, the person he was beginning to think of as his friend. Now he was starting to wonder.
Marion winced, which struck Arthur as an odd reaction. Almost as if he didn't anticipate Arthur's question.
But Marion could see several seconds into the future... unless he had his Nullify card turned on.
Come to think of it, the prince was looking worse for wear.
It had been a hard night full of dueling. Arthur himself was exhausted and so was everyone else.
More than a few of the Legendary recruits had ordered their personal servants to bring them cots which had been set off to the side of the arena. They now took naps in between rounds.
Arthur had asked Carley to bring him the thickest, strongest tea she could find. It had tasted terrible going down, but had kept him going.
Thanks to his Body Enhancement card, it also gave him a mild stamina boost.
Marion, however, looked bad. Wan and pale, the bruises under his eyes looked so dark he would have suspected black eyes if there hadn't been so many healers around.
Marion held up his hands. There was a slight tremor to his fingers.
"I know how it sounds—" he began.
Arthur crossed his arms. "It sounds like you're asking me to throw the next duel against you."
"I have no right to ask you," Marion confirmed, "Except..." he glanced meaningfully up at the list. "Echo's done better than anyone foresaw. Even me."
His little half sister had proven to be an absolute beast in the arena, and now sat at number two overall, having just switched places with Penn. It helped she could duplicate opponents to a lesser extent, or mimic a power that worked to counter anyone who opposed her.
Arthur, meanwhile, sat at number five. Not bad for someone without a dedicated combat card.
Marion sat almost at the bottom of the list at number twenty-three.
Marion must have seen the growing doubt on Arthur's face because he spoke quickly.
"Look, I timed it out. Because I'm at the bottom, the loss will mean less for you. You'll drop three spots. Meanwhile, I'll jump ten. That will put me at fourteen, which is still enough for the second round for the egg. That is my best shot to be close if... if things go wrong."
Arthur held up his hand. "Wait, does 'timed it out' mean what I think it means?"
Marion nodded and now it was Arthur's turn to grimace. No wonder he looked like he'd been run over by a dragon. Last time he used that effect on his time-card he'd passed out.
Then the rest of what Marion said hit him.
"What do you mean by second round?"
Marion raised his eyebrows, once again surprised at Arthur's reaction. "Oh, the Buck Moon leader decided that the recruits will face the egg ten at a time."
"What?!"
The word exploded out of Arthur. He quickly looked around to see if anyone was close enough to listen — they weren't and most of the audience was paying attention to the duels.
But that interest was fading too. It was so late in the night it could be called morning. People had to sleep and had jobs to do.
Arthur stepped closer to Marion, lowering his voice though his tone was no less fierce than before. "They're not sending us one at a time, like they do with the Rare eggs?"
"Nooo," Marion drew out the word. "They're trying to reduce casualties after the eruption and apparently the... uh, chances are better if more people faced the egg at once." Marion hesitated. "This is a good thing. You don't want to be the fifth to meet the egg, right?"
Indignation warred with... well, more indignation. "Then what's the point of the list?" He had been practically killing himself to make sure his standing was as high as possible.
Granted, it wouldn't be all for nothing. He would still be safely within the first group to meet the egg. He had put himself up against Legendary recruits, and while he hadn't come out on top every time, he had won duels with the odds stacked against him. His current standing was proof enough of that.
Other benefits had been more than rewarding as well.
The few seconds he'd faced the guy with the volcanic powers had been enough to earn him Fire Resistance - Level 1.
Then he'd received another level when facing the fire and smoke girl. In addition, when the air had gone wrong at the end and all the oxygen had been burned away, he had received Breath Enhancement - Level 1.
This had the potential to be invaluable as he could see enhanced breath as an aid to running and other strenuous skills.
Finally, in his duel against Francis Orchardtree he had received Charm Resistance and leveled it up to 3 in short order.
Francis, apparently, had a strong charm card in addition to his illusions. Arthur had honestly felt bad for defeating him — guilty with a sick feeling deep in his soul as if he were kicking a puppy or something.
That had all evaporated once Francis conceded the match. It had been a result of his Charm card — one that Arthur now had the tools to fight against.
So yes, he had received some invaluable skills but... this was aggravating.
"You know how it is when we all get together. The families have to prove who is better, who has the strongest family to lead the next generation," Marion said. Clearly "we" meant nobles and royals.
Arthur wanted to spit.
He held it in and breathed deep to keep his temper from fraying. Being tired from fighting all day didn't help, but oddly, his new Breath Enhancement skill did.
When he concentrated on breathing, he felt more refreshed than he thought he would have.
"Are you absolutely certain they'll be letting us in ten at a time?" he asked.
"Oh? Yeah." Marion waved a hand in the air. "I paid off the servants who were in attendance for the meeting and they all reported back the same thing. Well, except for the guy who was paid to disseminate false information, but that's standard for high-level meetings."
Arthur snorted. Then he turned serious again.
"Let's say you're right. If I lose against you and get knocked down a few places, that means if I lose again..." He trailed off. There was every chance he could get knocked out of the top ten completely.
That was unacceptable.
"No, they'll be calling the duels over soon. Look at the audience," he said and pointed to the visibly wilting crowd. There were more empty seats than filled seats, too.
"But tomorrow..." Arthur started.
"Tomorrow is the final rest day. Our last day to prepare." Marion looked grim. He had already hinted he wasn't looking forward to the hatching. It was a duty for him.
So why am I considering helping him out? Arthur wondered. He wanted that egg. He should do nothing to risk that.
Marion had no right to ask this of him. Less than no right, really. Marion was a prince. He could pay someone to take the fall for him.
Except the rest of the recruits were rich nobles.
The only thing Marion could do was to ask Arthur as a friend. Which, of course, was what he was doing.
Arthur made a disgusted sound at himself.
"Fine," he groaned, "But I need something out of this."
Marion brightened. "What? Another bag of coins? I think I have one around here..." he started digging around in his vest.
Too bad Marion wasn't the type of friend Arthur felt comfortable punching.
"No, I don't want your money," he said. "I want your Instant Competence card."
Marion looked pained. "I'd gift it to you if I could, but those are assigned—"
"No, no." Arthur shook his head. "We have one more day tomorrow? I only need fifteen minutes. It synchronizes well with my existing card." He intended to buy or borrow every tool he could get his hands on and see what skills he could get from them.
Marion's eyebrows rose. "Then I think we have a deal, except... there's one more thing."
"What's that?"
"From what I saw, we have to drag out this match until the judges call it a night."
"How long?" Arthur asked.
"Twenty minutes should do it."
Which didn't sound bad, except neither he or Marion could fight.
Arthur thought he had scraped the bottom of the barrel for silly duels by letting Penn punch him for hours.
But no, it could get worse.
Because now Arthur was the aggressor who was chasing Marion around the arena. And Marion, of course, used his time sense to easily avoid Arthur's strikes.
And Marion being Marion, of course he had to be a know-it-all about it.
"You really don't have any combat experience, do you?" Marion said, easily stepping out from one of Arthur’s blows. "These punches are really sloppy."
"I know how to fight!" Arthur snapped. "My recruiter showed me some brawling techniques, but you gotta be within arms range first." He made a half hearted grab for Marion, who of course, easily stepped out of the way.
One thing Arthur had going for him was the wicked curved dagger in his hands. Marion had given it to him on the sly, so the duel would look slightly more impressive.
But Arthur had no skills with it. The dagger was sharp and wicked and felt clumsy in his hand.
Honestly, if he were being serious about the duel, he would have brought out the scissor again. Marion struck him as the type who would concede rather than ruin a good outfit.
He swung his dagger again. Marion easily danced out of the way, letting the dagger sail by an inch from his neck. It might as well have been a mile.
"Widen your stance," Marion suggested. "It'll help your swings — No, not that wide. You know what? Never mind. I have some books that may help you."
Arthur brightened, then remembered they were supposed to be in the middle of a duel. He returned his expression to a scowl.
His mental bookshelf was depressingly empty and he hadn't had time to fill it. "I'll take you up on that." He glanced at the audience which had dwindled even more. More telling was that two of the arena quadrants were empty. The healers around them were looking impatient as if ready for this to be wrapped up. "Hey, I think it's time for that lucky shot."
"All right," Marion said, "Sorry about this."
Then he came into Arthur's space quicker than Arthur anticipated. Cocking back his fist, he nailed Arthur right in the chin.
They stared at each other for a moment. Arthur hadn't even flinched.
"Seriously?" Arthur said.
"Aren't you supposed to be knocked out now?"
"I would be if you had hit me hard."
"That was my best punch!" Marion objected.
Either Marion was really bad at this or Arthur was just used to Penn's strength.
Or his Blunt Force resistance was just that effective against non-card enhanced hits.
He made a halfhearted swipe at Marion, just for show — though from the trickle of audience left, he wasn’t sure who he was trying to impress.
"Okay, I'll fall the next time. Then just punch me a few more times and I'll give up, fair? Don't hold back." He smiled and Marion barked a laugh.
"All right, you asked for it." He actually managed to hook Arthur's ankle and make him fall for real.
Arthur landed on his back and Marion followed him down to deliver a few rapid hits.
They felt like taps, at best.
Arthur raised his hand, conceding.
He didn't think they'd fooled anyone. Once the semi-translucent walls fell, none of the tired looking healers even bothered coming in to check on him.
As Marion foresaw, Arthur's name fell to number 8 whereas Marion's shot to number 14.
Marion helped Arthur up. "Thank you."
He let out a breath. "You'd better not be wrong about this."
"I'm not," Marion said with calm surety. "And now... well if something happens, I might be able to intervene on Echo's behalf." He looked at Arthur. "I won't forget this."
Arthur nodded and looked away. He just hoped he hadn't made a big mistake.
"You want me to do what?" Arthur stared at his friend. Or, the person he was beginning to think of as his friend. Now he was starting to wonder.
Marion winced, which struck Arthur as an odd reaction. Almost as if he didn't anticipate Arthur's question.
But Marion could see several seconds into the future... unless he had his Nullify card turned on.
Come to think of it, the prince was looking worse for wear.
It had been a hard night full of dueling. Arthur himself was exhausted and so was everyone else.
More than a few of the Legendary recruits had ordered their personal servants to bring them cots which had been set off to the side of the arena. They now took naps in between rounds.
Arthur had asked Carley to bring him the thickest, strongest tea she could find. It had tasted terrible going down, but had kept him going.
Thanks to his Body Enhancement card, it also gave him a mild stamina boost.
Marion, however, looked bad. Wan and pale, the bruises under his eyes looked so dark he would have suspected black eyes if there hadn't been so many healers around.
Marion held up his hands. There was a slight tremor to his fingers.
"I know how it sounds—" he began.
Arthur crossed his arms. "It sounds like you're asking me to throw the next duel against you."
"I have no right to ask you," Marion confirmed, "Except..." he glanced meaningfully up at the list. "Echo's done better than anyone foresaw. Even me."
His little half sister had proven to be an absolute beast in the arena, and now sat at number two overall, having just switched places with Penn. It helped she could duplicate opponents to a lesser extent, or mimic a power that worked to counter anyone who opposed her.
Arthur, meanwhile, sat at number five. Not bad for someone without a dedicated combat card.
Marion sat almost at the bottom of the list at number twenty-three.
Marion must have seen the growing doubt on Arthur's face because he spoke quickly.
"Look, I timed it out. Because I'm at the bottom, the loss will mean less for you. You'll drop three spots. Meanwhile, I'll jump ten. That will put me at fourteen, which is still enough for the second round for the egg. That is my best shot to be close if... if things go wrong."
Arthur held up his hand. "Wait, does 'timed it out' mean what I think it means?"
Marion nodded and now it was Arthur's turn to grimace. No wonder he looked like he'd been run over by a dragon. Last time he used that effect on his time-card he'd passed out.
Then the rest of what Marion said hit him.
"What do you mean by second round?"
Marion raised his eyebrows, once again surprised at Arthur's reaction. "Oh, the Buck Moon leader decided that the recruits will face the egg ten at a time."
"What?!"
The word exploded out of Arthur. He quickly looked around to see if anyone was close enough to listen — they weren't and most of the audience was paying attention to the duels.
But that interest was fading too. It was so late in the night it could be called morning. People had to sleep and had jobs to do.
Arthur stepped closer to Marion, lowering his voice though his tone was no less fierce than before. "They're not sending us one at a time, like they do with the Rare eggs?"
"Nooo," Marion drew out the word. "They're trying to reduce casualties after the eruption and apparently the... uh, chances are better if more people faced the egg at once." Marion hesitated. "This is a good thing. You don't want to be the fifth to meet the egg, right?"
Indignation warred with... well, more indignation. "Then what's the point of the list?" He had been practically killing himself to make sure his standing was as high as possible.
Granted, it wouldn't be all for nothing. He would still be safely within the first group to meet the egg. He had put himself up against Legendary recruits, and while he hadn't come out on top every time, he had won duels with the odds stacked against him. His current standing was proof enough of that.
Other benefits had been more than rewarding as well.
The few seconds he'd faced the guy with the volcanic powers had been enough to earn him Fire Resistance - Level 1.
Then he'd received another level when facing the fire and smoke girl. In addition, when the air had gone wrong at the end and all the oxygen had been burned away, he had received Breath Enhancement - Level 1.
This had the potential to be invaluable as he could see enhanced breath as an aid to running and other strenuous skills.
Finally, in his duel against Francis Orchardtree he had received Charm Resistance and leveled it up to 3 in short order.
Francis, apparently, had a strong charm card in addition to his illusions. Arthur had honestly felt bad for defeating him — guilty with a sick feeling deep in his soul as if he were kicking a puppy or something.
That had all evaporated once Francis conceded the match. It had been a result of his Charm card — one that Arthur now had the tools to fight against.
So yes, he had received some invaluable skills but... this was aggravating.
"You know how it is when we all get together. The families have to prove who is better, who has the strongest family to lead the next generation," Marion said. Clearly "we" meant nobles and royals.
Arthur wanted to spit.
He held it in and breathed deep to keep his temper from fraying. Being tired from fighting all day didn't help, but oddly, his new Breath Enhancement skill did.
When he concentrated on breathing, he felt more refreshed than he thought he would have.
"Are you absolutely certain they'll be letting us in ten at a time?" he asked.
"Oh? Yeah." Marion waved a hand in the air. "I paid off the servants who were in attendance for the meeting and they all reported back the same thing. Well, except for the guy who was paid to disseminate false information, but that's standard for high-level meetings."
Arthur snorted. Then he turned serious again.
"Let's say you're right. If I lose against you and get knocked down a few places, that means if I lose again..." He trailed off. There was every chance he could get knocked out of the top ten completely.
That was unacceptable.
"No, they'll be calling the duels over soon. Look at the audience," he said and pointed to the visibly wilting crowd. There were more empty seats than filled seats, too.
"But tomorrow..." Arthur started.
"Tomorrow is the final rest day. Our last day to prepare." Marion looked grim. He had already hinted he wasn't looking forward to the hatching. It was a duty for him.
So why am I considering helping him out? Arthur wondered. He wanted that egg. He should do nothing to risk that.
Marion had no right to ask this of him. Less than no right, really. Marion was a prince. He could pay someone to take the fall for him.
Except the rest of the recruits were rich nobles.
The only thing Marion could do was to ask Arthur as a friend. Which, of course, was what he was doing.
Arthur made a disgusted sound at himself.
"Fine," he groaned, "But I need something out of this."
Marion brightened. "What? Another bag of coins? I think I have one around here..." he started digging around in his vest.
Too bad Marion wasn't the type of friend Arthur felt comfortable punching.
"No, I don't want your money," he said. "I want your Instant Competence card."
Marion looked pained. "I'd gift it to you if I could, but those are assigned—"
"No, no." Arthur shook his head. "We have one more day tomorrow? I only need fifteen minutes. It synchronizes well with my existing card." He intended to buy or borrow every tool he could get his hands on and see what skills he could get from them.
Marion's eyebrows rose. "Then I think we have a deal, except... there's one more thing."
"What's that?"
"From what I saw, we have to drag out this match until the judges call it a night."
"How long?" Arthur asked.
"Twenty minutes should do it."
Which didn't sound bad, except neither he or Marion could fight.
Arthur thought he had scraped the bottom of the barrel for silly duels by letting Penn punch him for hours.
But no, it could get worse.
Because now Arthur was the aggressor who was chasing Marion around the arena. And Marion, of course, used his time sense to easily avoid Arthur's strikes.
And Marion being Marion, of course he had to be a know-it-all about it.
"You really don't have any combat experience, do you?" Marion said, easily stepping out from one of Arthur’s blows. "These punches are really sloppy."
"I know how to fight!" Arthur snapped. "My recruiter showed me some brawling techniques, but you gotta be within arms range first." He made a half hearted grab for Marion, who of course, easily stepped out of the way.
One thing Arthur had going for him was the wicked curved dagger in his hands. Marion had given it to him on the sly, so the duel would look slightly more impressive.
But Arthur had no skills with it. The dagger was sharp and wicked and felt clumsy in his hand.
Honestly, if he were being serious about the duel, he would have brought out the scissor again. Marion struck him as the type who would concede rather than ruin a good outfit.
He swung his dagger again. Marion easily danced out of the way, letting the dagger sail by an inch from his neck. It might as well have been a mile.
"Widen your stance," Marion suggested. "It'll help your swings — No, not that wide. You know what? Never mind. I have some books that may help you."
Arthur brightened, then remembered they were supposed to be in the middle of a duel. He returned his expression to a scowl.
His mental bookshelf was depressingly empty and he hadn't had time to fill it. "I'll take you up on that." He glanced at the audience which had dwindled even more. More telling was that two of the arena quadrants were empty. The healers around them were looking impatient as if ready for this to be wrapped up. "Hey, I think it's time for that lucky shot."
"All right," Marion said, "Sorry about this."
Then he came into Arthur's space quicker than Arthur anticipated. Cocking back his fist, he nailed Arthur right in the chin.
They stared at each other for a moment. Arthur hadn't even flinched.
"Seriously?" Arthur said.
"Aren't you supposed to be knocked out now?"
"I would be if you had hit me hard."
"That was my best punch!" Marion objected.
Either Marion was really bad at this or Arthur was just used to Penn's strength.
Or his Blunt Force resistance was just that effective against non-card enhanced hits.
He made a halfhearted swipe at Marion, just for show — though from the trickle of audience left, he wasn’t sure who he was trying to impress.
"Okay, I'll fall the next time. Then just punch me a few more times and I'll give up, fair? Don't hold back." He smiled and Marion barked a laugh.
"All right, you asked for it." He actually managed to hook Arthur's ankle and make him fall for real.
Arthur landed on his back and Marion followed him down to deliver a few rapid hits.
They felt like taps, at best.
Arthur raised his hand, conceding.
He didn't think they'd fooled anyone. Once the semi-translucent walls fell, none of the tired looking healers even bothered coming in to check on him.
As Marion foresaw, Arthur's name fell to number 8 whereas Marion's shot to number 14.
Marion helped Arthur up. "Thank you."
He let out a breath. "You'd better not be wrong about this."
"I'm not," Marion said with calm surety. "And now... well if something happens, I might be able to intervene on Echo's behalf." He looked at Arthur. "I won't forget this."
Arthur nodded and looked away. He just hoped he hadn't made a big mistake.
