I took a deep breath. I’d talked with the people Berlia introduced me to and there was a problem that weighed heavier in my mind with each encounter. Everyone was nice. They gave me my fair share of time and remembered my name. It was the little things that made me suspicious. They clicked their tongues and crossed their arms when they heard about my lineage. The problem wasn’t me.

It was my dad.

I tried introducing myself to someone only as Andross Silver. The conversation had gone amazingly well until another person had come in and mentioned my dad. After that, it was like a wall had been put up against me.

This was strange. I knew my dad had something to do with high society. He lived in a terrible house when he shouldn’t have to and we never seemed to have money, but I didn’t think it was this bad.

“Is it just me or is everyone acting cold towards you?” Berlia and I made our way back to the food.

All the rejection had made me hungry.

“Then it’s not just my imagination.” I frowned. “What is going on here? It’s like I’m that guy nobody wants to know.”

“Maybe your people skills aren’t as good as you thought they were.” Berlia filled her plate to the brim.

She also passed a snack to Mirabelle.

“Impossible. It’s true that I’m rusty, but that’s where my childlike curiosity kicks in and does the rest of the work.” My eyes darted from person to person. “It’s like someone told them not to get close with me.”

“It’s not my mother if that’s what you’re thinking.” Berlia waved a blue spring roll at me. “She doesn’t have that kind of influence. Not with this crowd.”

I believed her. Berlia has done nothing but good things for me so far. She introduced me to people she knew and made sure the conversations went smoothly. I’d seen nothing to suggest that she was ostracised as well. It was just me.

“Okay, these next people are great.” Berlia grabbed my arm again.

Something caught my attention.

I tapped her shoulder. “Berlia, your earrings are glowing.”

“What? Oh.” She stopped and pressed her hand against her ear. “Okay. Mhmm. Sure.”

She turned to me. “I’m sorry, my mum wants me to bring Mirabelle to her.”

I gave her a smile. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll catch up later.”

This time we hugged. No weird hand shaking from me. Speaking of weird hand shaking…

Where did Gerial go? I looked around for the Marked one.

“Excuse me, are you Andross?”

I turned to find myself staring at a knee. It was attached to a body clad in fine robes. I had to crane my neck to meet the gaze of the person and saw a pair of amused green eyes gazing down at me.

“I am he. How may I address you?”

It was a stiff greeting, but it was protocol. I couldn’t act too familiar with the guests or else they would get antsy. There was a lot of political intrigue here that went over my head.

“My name is Kerle, a director of the company Athena.” He lowered himself and put out his hand. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while. Zodiac is very protective of you, but I wanted to meet the famous toddler in question.”

That shook me out of my formal act. Athena. They were… In a complicated relationship with Zodiac.

It wasn’t right to call them enemies. Or allies. More like rivals. Rivals that fought together but also kept all pieces of information private from each other.

Athena wasn’t supposed to know about me. Jackson and Indra had kept a tight lid on any information.

He saw my expression and tapped his nose.

“People talk. Zodiac knows this, they just wanted to mitigate it for as long as possible. The best way to do that is to ignore it while it is hidden and keep prying eyes elsewhere.” He shifted his gaze around the room. “It wasn’t a bad plan. I expected a more welcoming reception for you.”

The implication was that Zodiac knew about me too. That part didn’t surprise me as much. Their employees were doing a few too many things for me for it to be completely under the radar.

“You and me both.” I switched back to casual conversation.

Companies like ours were different when it came to protocol and manners. Call it the corporation’s culture but when you all work towards keeping your people alive in a battlefield formality tends to take a backseat.

I was gambling that Kerle felt the same way.

“It's their loss. It’s not my problem if a bunch of stuffy old men can’t see the value of the younger generation.” Kerle chuckled. “So, I heard that you’re going to be fighting William instead of the Marked one.”

I groaned. It had only been 20 minutes since William had left to charge his onze. I didn’t know who was spreading this rumour, but I had a pretty good idea. He had a gold mask and was still fighting with his friends.

One of the servants had asked me if I needed any preparation time. I’d told them I was still thinking about it.

After the warning I’d been given, I was surprised Master Wilhelm was willing to go along with this.

Kerle smiled. “Have you ever been in a fight before?”

I shook my head.

“Have you had any combat training?” He knew the answer to this one.

Zodiac didn’t raise an army just for show.

“The usual drills. It was more focused on manning our defences.” My training with earth creation and manipulation was extensive.

Once symbols took a back seat I’d been put through hell by Indra. The man had taken sadistic glee in making sure that any mistake I made was punished tenfold.

I’d done a lot of preparation for this day. I wanted to make a good impression. My shoulders hunched. It didn’t matter. The people around me refused to get close to me, and I would have to lose the match against William.

“You have the wrong impression of the Wilhelm household.” Kerle interrupted my thoughts. “They do not care if they lose. The best way to insult them is to avoid giving them your full effort.”

“I don’t think that’s entirely true.” I recalled Master Wilhelm’s words to me on my arrival. “I’ve been told it would be better for me to avoid this match.”

I looked towards Master Wilhelm. He was hovering in the air. Kerle followed my gaze and shook his head.

“Fatherhood makes men stupid with worry. William is wise, and his battles are his alone. Master Wilhelm cannot overturn a judgement his son has made. Not without good reason.” Kerle pointed up at the man in question. “He knows it as well. It has always been the way of the Wilhelms.”

Master Wilhelm had been floating in the air, fighting his challengers in a self-contained bubble. An orange glow shimmered around them. Occasionally a person would fly out and slam into the surroundings, but the attacks stayed within the protective field.

“His father didn’t want him to be a fighter either. Now look at him. The entire family are battle nuts.”

We grinned. It was true.

“There is another misunderstanding you have.” Kerle pursed his lips. “William will not be an easy opponent. If I were a betting man, I would say that you have a one in ten chance of winning. You have been training with Zodiac’s methods. William has been training since birth in the techniques of the Wilhelm household. Our companies focus on fighting in groups. The Willhelm‘s focus on fighting individuals. With live practice.”

I thought over his words in my mind. He had a point. I had never been in a fight, and a lot of my training had been focused on leveling my skills.

Is my intelligence making me overconfident?

I’ve been thinking of William as a toddler. Technically, he was a toddler. That didn’t mean he couldn’t fight. Just because I was older than him mentally, didn’t mean I had more experience in battle than he did. Earth was peaceful. My life here was also peaceful… when it comes to human interactions.

I’d never even hit a person.

Zodiac had metal dummies to practice on. Some of them moved, and others were just there to test how strong my magic was. None of them had been live targets.

“Suddenly I feel like this is a lose-lose situation for another reason.” I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “Got any tips?”

The main thing holding me back from fighting William was the idea that his dad would get angry at me. I couldn’t afford to lose an ally when I was here to make them. That obstacle was gone.

Now I wanted to make sure I could win.

Nobody would want to sponsor me or get to know me if I was immediately destroyed in the demonstration fight. I wanted to put up a good showing, win or lose.

“Half the battle is won with mindset. The other half is knowledge.” Kerle’s serious tone caught my attention. “You are out-skilled, and outmatched, but if you know this then you can plan around it. William’s fighting style should be obvious to you. However, your fighting style remains a mystery, even to me.”

He gestured at me. “Unless you want to change that?”

“I’ll keep it a surprise. There’s no fun in opening your gifts early.” I smiled.

He was right. Indra had made sure that we could only practice in the cultivation room. Zodiac had more secrets to hide in the spires than just me. They were the most guarded assets in the compound.

Moving the dummies there had been part of my practice of trying to attune with metal. It hadn’t worked.

“A wise stratagem. Humility has won far more battles than it has lost. I’m looking forward to the fight now.” Kerle stood up straight. “Now, I need to find people willing to make bets.”

I said a final goodbye and watched the giant lumber across the room.

Athena. They were an interesting organisation. Zodiac members didn’t like them, but they respected them. When their armies fought over monster parts, they knew they could both respect each other not to pull any sneaky moves.

They wouldn’t be a bad ally.

I wonder if Kerle was only here to make sure I understood the gravity of my situation. The fact that he had come over despite my social isolation spoke volumes for what his stance on me was, and Athena’s stance too. They had gone out of their way to support me because they were interested in me.

It felt like sending out resumes, and attending networking gatherings, all over again. I had to show my wife before anyone would pay attention to me. The easiest way to do that was to make a big impression with a single success.

William’s demonstration was starting to sound like a good idea. Even if I don't win, I’ll make an impression on the people around me.

Being ignored hurt. It also fuelled my passion.

“That guy was huge.” A voice called out beside me.

“Gah.” I turned around to see empty air. “I forgot you were here.”

“Some friend you are.” Gerial spoke.

I could hear his smirk.

An idea crossed my mind. “You were supposed to fight William, right? Does that mean you did your research on him?“

“It does.” Gerial’s voice was beside me now. “Let's see, you’re my friend. He’s also my friend now. It kind of feels like I shouldn’t get involved. Is this what popular kids feel like?”

I opened my mouth to respond when I spotted a familiar figure walking towards me.

“Young Master Silver.”

Letitia stopped in front of me and curtsied.

“Master Wilhelm would like to speak with you before the demonstration.”