Greatness is not a mystery. It has two simple steps—the willpower to do something and the tenacity to see it through.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

Song Lin had kept to her word and gave Crow a pill every morning before they started. It helped regulate his mood. It stopped the crying, but because of Soul Burn, Gavin’s scarification, and Song Lin’s needles, he was close to collapsing from the mental strain.

The design on his back was taking shape, but Crow did not know how much longer Gavin needed. The previous night it sounded like he needed more ingredients. The body modification pulled harder on his Source, which improved his fire resistance but ignited Soul Burn. So the two canceled each other out. Deep inside, he worried Soul Burn was more potent than the resistances and told Gavin as much. Gavin laughed and explained that was a good thing. It meant they could determine if the design really built up his elemental tolerance permanently.

Studying formations had reached another bottleneck, but this time neither Elder Quinn nor Gavin could help him. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to, but that Crow lacked experience. Crow knew that all his learning, training, and improvements had reached a stagnancy that required inspiration to overcome.

Soul Carving kept advancing, but Crow recently switched to actual wood carving. He felt part of where he was lacking was his understanding of the basics—even Gavin approved. Crow didn’t mind either method because he found them both to be cathartic.

“Crow?” Mara queried.

“Huh,” Crow looked up, his mind still befuddled by his wandering thoughts. Everyone was staring at him by this point. “What?”

“Dummy, I’ve been calling your name for several minutes now.”

“Oh, umm, so… what’s up?”

“Elder Gavin said you need come to the study,” Mara explained. “A messenger from the Druid Council is here.”

“Tell him to leave,” Song snorted without looking up. “Every time a guest arrives for Crow, it’s always bad news, so why bother?”

Song Xue continued reading. By some unspoken agreement, they all gathered here in the private lodge’s sitting area during the early afternoon hours. It was a quiet time when they read books, debated topics in low voices, and meditated. Otto came too, but he usually laid on the ground with his eyes closed.

Crow was about to agree with Song Xue, but Mara spoke first.

“You can’t reject this.” Mara glared at Song Xue but practically read his mind. He was about to reject it. “It is an official messenger from the Druid Council. You absolutely cannot ignore him.”

“You’re right,” Crow sighed, giving up the idea of ignoring the summons. “If Elder Gavin is asking, it’s probably serious.”

Crow put his book down on the table and left. Otto followed, but the girls remained behind. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to go, but this was something they knew they couldn’t intrude on. Gavin was standing next to a man in the official garb of the Druid Order. Looking at the two of them, Crow grew nervous and knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Are you Crow Maddox?” The man asked.

“I am.”

“Very well, these are for you,” he said and handed over three fancy envelopes, which Crow took without giving it a second thought.

“What are these?”

“Those are official Honor by Combat challenges from the Druid Order,” the man said. “It might not be my place, but I think this is complete bullshit. I don’t mean to offend you, but the fact that clans are allowing their younger generation to officially challenge a cripple to rectify enmity with you… it's disgraceful.”

“I may agree with you, but it is our way,” Gavin said, but the frown belied his thoughts.

“Why am I being challenged?” Crow was confused, not sure what was going on.

“You are officially an Ovate, now,” the man explained. “It means you can be challenged to Honor by Combat so the offended party can resolve enmity and regain honor. The Arena is under the limbs of Father Oak, so death is forbidden, but…”

“Putting me in the infirmary isn’t out of the question,” Crow finished.

“Crow, this is an ancient Druid tradition, and anyone that builds up enough grievance can go through the council to initiate an official duel, which cannot be rejected.” Gavin paused to let that sink in. “In other words, if you offend someone, that is enough for them to issue an official challenge.”

“And if I refuse?” Crow asked, not because he planned on it, but out of curiosity.

“Exile,” the messenger said. “You know that killing is prohibited under Father Oak’s canopy. Before Honor by Combat was instated, people committed all kinds of crimes outside the Council’s reach. There is another rule just as old as the immutable no-killing law. Loosely, the rule says that the Druid Council and Father Oak will not interfere in affairs that happen outside the canopy. So heinous crimes were committed, and the perpetrators hid in Oiche, secure in the fact that no one would kill them.”

“So, if I don’t fight, I’m exiled outside the canopy, and murder becomes fair game,” Crow filled in. “And what? I have to fight these people back to back?”

“No,” the official said. “They can’t force that. You’ll have three days to recover between fights. If you ask me, that’s almost worse. Technically, they can’t challenge you for the same grievance.”

“And people have enough grievance with me to just randomly ask me to fight?” Crow asked, perplexed. If he had to fight every three days, it would significantly interfere with his cultivation and ability to train. “How am I to train under those conditions?”

Gavin chuckled. “Kid, you should be more clear than any of us how many people you’ve angered over the last year. The number isn’t small.”

“What happens if I want to fight but can’t?”

The messenger pulled out a vestige and reviewed the content. “If you are unable to fight, the council will send people to check your condition. Exceptions include injury, illness, or cultivation-related issues like enlightenment.”

“Why would they do this?” Crow snapped, his anger igniting the sleeping black flames within his body. He was frustrated, and every time he seemed to find an avenue of control, a way to peacefully grow for a time, people found a way to interfere. They wanted to suppress him? They wanted to stop his growth? He didn’t understand why people were like this. It was naive, and he knew it, but he didn’t want to believe people were this petty. “They know I’m a damned cripple. What can they possibly gain from this?”

The official stepped back nervously. “Is-is he manifesting Soul Energy?”

Gavin’s eyes glittered when he saw the black flames rising off the boy’s hands. “Crow, life is filled with disappointment, and people will fail to live up to the code you live by because they are weak. If you want to fix it, if you want to make sure people leave you and yours alone, then you know what has to be done.” Gavin put it down bluntly, not showing Crow any mercy or pity.

Crow raised his head and stared fiercely at Elder Gavin, an outlet for his anger.

“I know what I must do. I will not fail my clan. I may not win a single fight, but when I’m done, those losers will regret their victories. I’ll make sure of that.”

“Good lad,” Gavin laughed, and the official looked between the elder and Crow, and now he had a sudden urge to attend the boy’s matches. “I’ll take care of the challenges. Use these fights to hone your combat and skills. Work hard on your cultivation and training. The first fight will be three days from now, can’t be avoided.”

“Why not just schedule them all now and get it over with? I can—have to take it.”

“Because,” Gavin’s cold grin gave everyone a chill. Even the council’s official found it unnerving. “I plan on using these kids as stepping stones for you to train. Make no mistake, boy. You will suffer. You will be humiliated. You will lose. But if you go out there and fight, fight with every ounce of your strength, willpower, and soul—they will suffer worse. Tenacity turns hearts faster than power ever could. Tenacity is a cultivator’s Truth and contains the indomitable spirit. Tenacity is worthy of respect—trust your uncle Gavin on this.”

“Why do I feel like a lamb about to be slaughtered?” Crow smiled weakly, and Gavin let out a hearty laughed. The official watched all this with some trepidation in his heart and felt a real headache coming on. He had a feeling he was going to be coming to this manor a lot in the coming days.

“Come, Official Colin, let’s go see the Council and have a nice long talk about this. They want to challenge the boy, then I have conditions…” The two walked off, and Crow looked at Otto and thought of his friends. He still had anger in his heart, but he knew he had people supporting him. He’d endure.