Derek spent the day gardening with his Granny again. A few hours after lunch they cleaned up and headed to the front of the Cathedral’s grounds to wait for Diana and Anthony to return. When the pair arrived Diana excitedly approached their group, “Derek, your grandmother is amazing. Her grasp on holy magic is fierce!”

Reginald sighed and looked like he was ready to say something, but Penny cut him off, “I would hope so, she was taught by me when she was your age, just like your mother.”

The little girl hugged her Pappy and cheekily smiled over to the old lady, “Oh, so that’s why. Granny Penny is so fierce!”

“You girl! Quickly come give me a kiss and take Derek to go watch Anthony’s weapons training.”

Pecking the granny on the cheek, the petite girl turned to Derek, “Ok, it’s kind of boring to watch, but I like to cheer Tony on. He tries so hard but that Reynald bullies him so much. I just want to punch that guy in the nose, but Pappy and Momma won’t let me.”

She led him to a courtyard where many young men and women were practicing various weapons. She sat on a bench in one of the covered areas of the courtyard while Derek leaned against a nearby pillar. The majority of the youths were practicing forms in lines in the center of the courtyard while the instructors had pulled Reynald and Anthony to opposite corners and were training them individually.

After a while of watching, Derek had a troubled look on his face. As the students were starting to pair up for sparring, he heard a voice from behind him, “Oh, it looks like we have a visitor. What do you think of my students so far?”

Derek turned to see a man in green and red doublet and hose approaching him. The amaryllis on his blouse signified who he was. He bowed politely to the man, “Grandmaster Fiore, I did not realize that the master instructing here was you, but it makes sense that the Cathedral would hire the most famous Weapons Master in the city.”

The older man smiled magnanimously at him, “Of course, of course. Though, the majority of the training is done by students. I train very few students these days but I do take the time to visit the Cathedral to see how the training is going. It is always good to see how the next generation is doing.”

The students were now broken up into pairs for sparring and the two watched as Anthony and Reynald sparred. Finally the Grandmaster spoke, “Tsk, so much wasted talent, why is his stance so poor, and why is it he is not using the Contra-Contrario at all. Reynald’s skills are solid but he lacks imagination and talent, this Anthony should absolutely be his better. What would I tell his mother if she were still alive?”

Derek turned to him, “Oh? So you had just arrived when you approached me? That would explain your confusion.”

“Yes, I saw you when I walked in and was impressed with how calmly you were assessing the students so I approached you directly. Why do you ask?”

Derek shook his head, “They are teaching him this way on purpose. I watched the majority of the practice time and Anthony truly would be a prodigy if trained by someone of your caliber. You can tell because his body kept finding the best stances naturally. The issue is that his instructor was specifically coaching him into these awkward ones you are seeing now. None of the other students in this room have been taught like this.

“As for the Contra-Contrario training he should be receiving, I watched them instruct Reynald with those techniques, but none of the other students have been taught this. I can only imagine they specifically want to create a group of students with fundamental weaknesses in their training for them and their preferred students to exploit.”

The older man had turned his gaze towards Derek, and it burned with anger, “You are making bold accusations young man. Why would a Master of my school intentionally sabotage one of his students?”

Derek met his gaze, “That would be for you to find out as it is the future of your school that is at stake here. If you allow this to continue, it will not just be Anthony that is harmed by these corrupt instructors, but your school’s image in the community as well.

“It would be a shame too, because Anthony’s instincts towards how to wield his weapons align more perfectly with your style than anyone in this room, including these instructors. If you have been seeking someone to truly inherit your mantle, this young man would be it. These instructors seem hell bent on denying you that.”

Giovanni Fiore stared at Derek for a while, his emotions easily visible on his face. Derek met his gaze, unflinching before the much more powerful man. Finally the Grandmaster broke eye contact and strode out into the courtyard, drawing the attention of all of the students in the space. They all bowed courteously to their Grandmaster as he walked up to the chief instructor.

The instructor had a worried look on his face, he had never seen his master so furious since he had met him. “Master Fiore, what can I do for you? The lesson isn’t quite complete for the day…”

“Giancarlo, stand aside. Students Reynald and Anthony, come demonstrate your form before me.”

The instructor’s face turned slightly red at being dismissed in front of his class like this but he dutifully stepped aside for his master. Reynald and Anthony both took up positions in front of the Grandmaster and began showing their forms. Reynald’s was near perfect but unimaginative as if learned by rote. Anthony’s was terribly flawed, but he would occasionally transition well as he allowed his body to move in the way that felt right to him.

After watching for a short period of time, a placid emotionless mask had settled upon Fiore’s face. Finally, he spoke again, “That is enough, stop. Reynald stand aside. Anthony, I want you to relax and start over, this time forget how your instructors taught you and remember the moves as they are written in the manual. I want you to perform the forms in the way that feels the most natural for you.”

At this point the instructors’ faces paled. Anthony nodded his understanding and relaxed his body. He closed his eyes and stood perfectly still for almost a full minute before he began once again. This time his moves were more fluid and his stances were more stable. His form was not perfect but it was far better than it had been and it demonstrated his natural potential to the fullest.

The Grandmaster nodded as he watched. Then he turned to the three instructors. “This is more like it. You three almost achieved something rare here. You almost wasted a talent who had come to my school for teaching. I would love to know why, but I am unsure of your integrity so I will not ask. I feel ashamed that it took an outsider to reveal this farce to me, but now that he has, it will no longer stand. You three are excused from instructing the students here for now. We will talk later to determine fault and whether you can be trusted to instruct my students in the future. Now leave”

The lead instructor stepped forward, “Master, may I know at least who it was that impugned my honor like this so that I can demand satisfaction?”

The older man’s mask broke as rage became visible before he spoke, “Oh, are you going to duel yourself? It is a fact that you have been teaching my students incorrectly. The person who made me aware of it is not at fault for that. Would you like to disgrace yourself any further today or are you going to leave my sight first?”

The area around him erupted in mana as his anger reached its peak. The greys, blues, and yellows of wind, water, and earth twisting in the air around him. The three instructors were quickly cowed and left the room. After a moment the Grandmaster had regained control of his emotions as the Guardian walked into the courtyard trailing a few guards.

“Giovanni, it is rare to see you so enraged. Is there anything you need me to do to keep the peace.”

Fiore smiled sadly to the man before pointing to Anthony, “Ah, Andre, today has truly been an embarrassment for me. I am sorry to have alarmed you, but I am glad you are here. I want to take this boy as my personal student, can you do me this favor.”

The Guardian smiled back, “If you want to take him as your student that is fine, but as the future Guardian he will still need a diverse education and is expected to finish his education at the Academy.”

“That is fine, I can’t be bothered to teach him those boring things anyways, but I will want him for the rest of his time then.”

“Then as long as the boy is fine with it we will not interfere.”

The Grandmaster turned to Anthony. “So what will it be boy? I wish for you to be my student. If you accept my teachings I have no doubt that one day you will advance my art beyond even where I have brought it. So what do you say? Will you be my student?”

The Anthony was quite surprised, he looked around. He got a nod of approval from the Guardian and a glare from Reynald, but the most important was Diana’s response. She hopped on her bench and shouted, “You can do it Anthony! So fierce!”

Smiling, he turned to Fiore, “Grandmaster, if you will take me, I will be your student.”

The Grandmaster smiled back before turning to the other students, “Good, I expect you to work hard from here on out. As for the rest of you, your training is complete for the day. Take the rest of this time off. I will arrange new instructors to come here tomorrow.”

As the rest of the students filed out, Fiore had a short talk with the Guardian before making his way back to Derek. “Thank you young man. I owe you for this.”

“I am glad it worked out,” Derek responded before turning to the petite Priestess hugging her future Guardian. “I will see you two later, I should probably go find Granny Penny now.”

Anthony nodded while the girl stuck her tongue out at him. Waving them off he headed out of the courtyard. He had barely made it ten steps from the courtyard when a man stepped in front of him. Derek recognized him as Giancarlo, the instructor who the Grandmaster had reprimanded just moments before.

The man moved to strike Derek, but a hand snapped out to stop him. The Guardian spoke up, “I don’t care why you feel the need to slap someone in public, but I do care that you were planning on doing so on Cathedral grounds. I would remind you that you are on sacred ground and that you would be breaking the law if you were to act on that impulse. You should think twice before taking your next action.”

The man looked at the Guardian and his face drained under the pressure of the man’s aura, “Of course, Guardian, but this man has impugned my honor. I demand the right to duel him.”

“If you wish to demand a duel, you may do so outside of the Cathedral grounds, Giancarlo.”

The man glared daggers at Derek, “Then come out if you dare, boy.”

Derek watched the man walk out into the street then grinned in his direction and turned on his heel to go see if his granny had dinner prepared. A commotion from the street caused him to turn around again only to find that the man had fainted in his rage. The boy laughed, "Guess I won the duel."