When the day came, he was ready. Not a genius or a god, but his soulhome was finally more than a shell. After one final training session, he walked with Fiyu and Nauda to their preparation area. No one else had arrived, but they'd be coming soon, as it wasn't long until the match.

"What's our strategy for Famaj's team?" Theo asked. "I assume you've finished all your scouting?"

"He has nine members, just like we do." Nauda began ticking off her fingers. "Famaj himself is a straightforward Farmguard, but with significant cantae. His first pick was a man named Josiku, who is probably the physically strongest on their side. There's a Deuxan woman who I haven't been able to learn much about, but her soulhome is very well-crafted. Beyond them, there are three Tatians and a Fithan in the 'experienced' classes, which leaves just two apprentice soulcrafters."

"You sound more than ready." There was no need to go over their own side aloud, but he considered them briefly. He was confident in the three of them, but beyond that, their team wasn't strong. Maybe Kuber if Magnafor had found some magical way to let him ascend immediately.

"We should be." Nauda cast a smile at both of them. "Our capacity to react is excellent, especially given your new heart chamber. I mostly worry about every time we need to put forward a team member... I think I'll try to take that role first and spare the others who aren't as prepared."

Theo thought that protecting the weaker members of the team was probably a waste of her energy, but the fights would still be useful for her. As time passed, however, those lesser members failed to appear. It went from being irritating to concerning, and eventually Fiyu began casting glances toward the arena.

"We might be late... do you think they went to the arena instead?"

"Let's see." Nauda grimly took them in that direction, and as Theo followed he became certain that something was wrong.

When they arrived, they discovered that Famaj and his team were waiting, and the audience had mostly assembled, but their alcove sat empty. Nauda immediately left to track the other members down in their rooms, while Theo went to talk to Nanjuma. Though he stood in the center with a bland smile on his face, when Theo got close, he saw the concern in the old man's eyes.

"Our team didn't show at our meeting point," Theo said. "Do you know what might be wrong?"

"I can tell you that there have been few demon attacks recently, and no violence in Myufuru." Nanjuma's eyes briefly went unfocused as if he was looking through the ground itself. "We have the right number of soulcrafters within Landguard Village, but I cannot tell you about their condition."

"What happens if they don't arrive?"

"It would depend on the reason... but I suppose your family would be forced to fight with a limited group."

That was what he had been afraid of, and further fears were soon confirmed when Nauda returned. She only brought Kuber with her, and the Tatian man leaned heavily on her shoulder. When they finally stopped, he slumped onto a bench and looked as though he desperately wanted to vomit.

"A few of us... relaxed last night..." He coughed for a moment and accepted a drink of water from one of the Tatian healers. "This morning... I don't think I've ever been this sick..."

"All the rest are even worse," Nauda said. "I helped them to the healers, and I don't think there's any threat to their lives, but I hope someone will check."

Nanjuma touched Kuber's forehead briefly, then shook his head. "His body is struggling to repel a substance of ill intent. There is a rare event in which food can become sickening. Perhaps your team unfortunately ate the poisoned food."

Most seemed to accept that explanation, which was patently absurd. Since Nauda was too busy helping Kuber to the healers, Theo looked to Fiyu instead, and she simply nodded. Her focus shifted toward the other team, which was probably the right level of suspicion.

Famaj looked deeply concerned, and most of his team was confused. But the Deuxan woman sitting in the back had a smug smile on her face and didn't flinch from eye contact. In many Deuxan courts, poison was a way of life and a common means of promotion. The chance that she had mildly poisoned their team was high, but could he prove it? Probably not in any court, much less a Tatian circle.

"Are they just drunk?" one of the instructors asked. A few laughed and the Deuxan woman spoke up.

"Will we be robbed of our match simply because the other team made poor decisions?"

Her question prompted immediate disagreement, some arguing and many in the stands simply unable to avoid giving their opinions. It grew louder and more chaotic until Nanjuma coughed, the sound amplified so much that it crushed all others. The old man raised his hands for order, then spoke quietly.

"We will examine this matter to determine if any of our food has been tainted, of course. I think whether or not today's match continues should be determined by the two families involved."

Famaj stood up and stepped to the side of the ring. "There is no joy in competing against sickened opponents. We will continue only if the other family is willing to agree."

That pronouncement prompted a grimace in the Deuxan woman, which removed any remaining doubt in Theo's mind. She couldn't object without drawing undue attention, however, so the question turned toward them. Theo wondered if she could really get away with the poisoning, in a world as naive as Tatian, but the others clearly wanted his attention.

They formed a tight circle, for a time just glancing at one another, then Fiyu spoke quietly. "Many of their team members have cantae barriers. I think I could overcome any one individually, but I will soon exhaust myself."

"I think that's the wrong question," Theo said. "What we need to be asking is whether the experience is worth it. I'd personally rather get as many fights as possible, but it's true that we'll probably win fewer and reveal more of our abilities. But do we really need to be concerned with our exact win rate?"

Nauda took a deep breath, nearly spoke, then something shifted and her words came out flatter than he expected. "I would like to win this competition, but we also need to prove ourselves to everyone watching. Famaj and his family will have Tatian support after this is over. We need to earn it."

"Then you think we shouldn't fight?" There was clearly more that she hadn't said, but he decided not to press her on it. After a long pause, Nauda shook her head.

"We can try, if you're both willing. But we can't use our normal strategy."

"I should go first," Fiyu said. "If I have enough time to rest, I can recover most of my cantae. I might be able to make it through three fights, depending on my opponents."

"Then I suppose that's our choice." Nauda straightened her back and tapped her staff against the ground. When she turned back to Nanjuma, she looked completely confident. "We fight!"

The crowds cheered appreciatively, less in bloodlust than in admiration of her determination. Famaj looked at them for a time, and glanced back toward his own team thoughtfully, but eventually nodded and returned to his side. Nanjuma retreated to the stands and handed the ceremonial bell to one of the judges, who rang it immediately.

For the first round, Famaj sent out one of their Farmguards: the woman had an unremarkable soulhome, but she was reasonably strong. Normally Theo would have been happy to eliminate her, but he could only fight three times, so it was probably better to stick with Fiyu's strategy of going first.

Once Fiyu stepped into the ring, it wasn't really a fight. The Farmguard kept trying to close the distance between them, but she wasn't nearly as fast as Mogi, so she always collided with the scattering bolts. Even with Fiyu trying to conserve herself, her opponent was soon knocked from the arena and they took the first match.

That done, Fiyu returned to their area, sat down with her knees under her, folded her hands in her lap, and lowered her hood over her eyes. She had the right idea: there was no question that they'd win multiple matches, but if they ended up exhausting themselves, they'd forfeit all the rest.

"Should I go?" Theo asked, but even as he spoke, Nauda was already rising.

"No, I'll try. Even if they don't know about your abilities, they might send out one of their best to try to eliminate you right away."

Theo thought that he might be able to take their best, but it wasn't worth the argument. Nauda stepped out into the ring, set her staff firmly in front of her, and waited. Unfortunately, she didn't have to wait long before one of the Farmguards leapt to his feet. Judging from the man's expression, they again had a plan to counter her.

As soon as the bell rang, Nauda thrust her staff forward... and her opponent raised a fist in front of his face. Both of them froze in place, power clearly flooding between them. The man's sleeve began to tear away, ripped by the invisible force, revealing an ornate bracer carved of a bright wood. Whatever it was, it was obviously an armament.

They remained locked there for several heartbeats, then suddenly Nauda let out a cry and wrenched her staff away, dropping to one knee. Even though she had been the one attacking, her opponent looked unharmed. He smiled and began advancing, bracer still held in front of him.

When he drew close and pulled back a leg to kick her, Nauda struck. This time she swept her staff low, the force nearly sweeping him off his feet. She lunged in with a thrust and he put the bracer in the way, but this time she didn't attempt to use any force, she just struck him in the face with the head of her staff. He staggered back and Nauda thrust the butt of her spear toward his bracer, but he managed to leap away.

The two began slowly circling, weapons ready. Theo glanced to Fiyu, who looked concerned but confused, so he could only speculate. Whatever the bracer was, it must have absorbed or short-circuited the technique Nauda used to bind opponents in place. He realized that though her staff was likely extremely effective in many places, here on Tatian it was a known quantity with established counters.

Not making the same mistake twice, Nauda fought cautiously, and since her opponent was also willing to wait, the match dragged on. They stayed at a distance, Nauda occasionally making an attempt to bind a limb, while he only occasionally threatened. Yet given how Nauda was sweating, it didn't seem like she could last for much longer.

Except... he noticed that many of her interrupted movements led to the end of her staff tracing patterns on the ground in front of her. It was subtle, but she was laying down cantae in a way that he hadn't seen before. Though he couldn't see well enough into her soulhome, he had a strong feeling that this was the fourth room that she had kept locked.

Eventually Nauda let out a growl and thrust her staff forward, again trying to bind her opponent. He blocked once more, this time only briefly before Nauda sagged down to her knees, barely holding herself up with her staff.

Her opponent charged... and the instant he reached the line of cantae she'd been drawing, he was sent tumbling backward. The cantae burst was surprisingly bright, a wall of force exploding solely outward. When it faded, Nauda was back on her feet and her opponent lay unconscious outside the ring.

As she walked back to their side, Theo smiled at her. "Nicely done. Luring him into the trap was a good move."

"It wasn't entirely a lure." She remained controlled until she sat, then he saw her posture sag. "I didn't think they would have such a powerful armament - one of them must have borrowed it from family. That took more out of me than I expected, and I had to reveal my last trick."

"Not necessarily - to most watching, it might just have looked like you created a cantae shockwave. Or is that trapping technique well-known?"

"No. Not here." Nauda refused to give any more information, simply watching the arena with her Tatian smile fixed on her face defensively.

They'd won two matches, just not as well as he might have hoped. Fiyu was only slightly drained, but Nauda had been seriously weakened. It seemed that the other team knew it, sending out one of their weakest members to continue draining their cantae.

However, they hadn't planned for Theo. He stood up and stretched, walking to the arena at a relaxed pace. Even though his technique would be clear enough, he didn't think they'd be able to come up with a counter to it quickly, at least not other than the obvious counters he was prepared for.

When the bell rang, his opponent gathered all his cantae to prepare for a charge... and Theo simply extended a hand and created a gravitational field.

Instantly the Tatian man was struck by double normal gravity, and though he struggled to remain on his feet, burning through cantae rapidly, he wasn't prepared for it. In a matter of seconds, he dropped to one knee, then collapsed entirely. Theo withdrew his hand, smiled at the judges, and returned to his side.

For a little while there was silence in the audience as the healers came out in alarm, but his opponent was just exhausted, not seriously injured. The other side hesitated as well, which was even better, since it gave his teammates time to recover. He had considered prolonging the match himself, except that he hadn't yet soulcrafted enough to generate anything other than a field equal to the world's gravity.

From across the arena, Famaj gave him a nod of respect, though Theo didn't really want it. Not when he'd chosen the muscle-bound Josiku over him. Josiku actually stepped up next, flexing as he stepped into the arena.

"Looks like you came up with something strong. You think it'll be enough against me?"

Once, Theo might have risen to the challenge, but instead he just glanced at his allies. Nauda squinted toward their opponent, then shook her head. "If I could resist your field some," she whispered, "it wouldn't stop him enough. He's extremely strong physically, but he's slow and he doesn't have any ranged techniques. Fiyu?"

"Yes, I can." Fiyu unfolded herself and went out to fight him, which seemed to annoy Josiku.

Unfortunately for him, the muscular Farmguard had met his match. Fiyu simply kept her distance and rained concentrated bursts of light down upon him. Decently strong cantae flowed through his body, but it was clearly draining with each impact. He shouted at her to stand and fight him, but Fiyu dodged away from his clumsy attacks and continued wearing him down from a distance.

Eventually he collapsed, and the loss clearly hit Famaj's team hard. Fiyu had no expression on her face, but as she walked back, she swayed a little. Even if she had avoided injury, she'd clearly emptied most of her soulhome in the fight. They needed to buy her as much time as possible before she had to fight again.

He and Nauda glanced at each other, since one of them had to be the sacrificial lamb. Theo started to get to his feet, but to his surprise, Nauda pulled him back down and stepped forward. There was a burning determination in her eyes that he didn't quite understand, but he chose to stand down and let her go.

Soon enough, one of Famaj's Fithan competitors stepped out... and he was wearing the previous Farmguard's bracer, not to mention a smirk that was practically an act of war on Tatian. Nauda gritted her teeth and waited.

The same moment the bell rang, she leapt forward, her staff whirling around her. Not trying her ability, simply using it as a quarterstaff. Theo realized in surprise that she was actually pretty good, clearly trained in hand to hand combat and capable of reinforcing herself with cantae.

Unfortunately, her opponent wasn't relying solely on the armguard. He drew a sword and ably fended off her attacks. Combined with the bracer, he wove a skilled defense, especially since he was still fresh. Nauda eventually saw her chance and struck at the bracer with the end of her staff, but his sword batted it aside and then reversed, slashing across her chest.

The crowds gasped as Nauda staggered backward, but she wasn't bleeding. Theo hadn't been able to see well, but he thought that she'd managed to surge her cantae to defend against the cut. Wasteful, but better than a potentially disabling blow. Unfortunately, the effort left her on her hands and knees, gasping for breath.

Her opponent was too cautious to rush in, even though she hadn't apparently set up any traps, and instead began circling around her. Nauda remained on her hands and knees as he moved, then without warning lunged up, thrusting her staff in his direction.

Taken off guard, the Fithan only barely moved the bracer in the way in time. But it clearly did its work and Nauda gave a low groan, sagging as if her staff was the only thing keeping her upright. Her opponent smirked and remained in place, letting her exhaust herself against the bracer.

Nauda cried out and twisted her staff. The resulting crack rang over the arena and the bracer shattered into several fragments that clattered to the ground in the silence.

Her opponent staggered back in surprise... but Nauda's staff slipped from her fingers. It clattered to the ground and she followed a moment later, unconscious before her face hit the arena.