Fell watched Ryu fight below with a small grin. He had chosen well. This was a family and a brother-in-arms that would see him to strength. Perhaps they were even strong enough to keep his own family away.

He did not believe he was manipulative, but he would be lying if his offer to become brother-in-arms with Ryu came solely from pride. In fact, Fell was the opposite of prideful. He was a coward, a wasted-

No, that was the Shard talking. Fell was strong and prideful. It was the only way he could overcome the whispers. The doubts. The expectations. He would be the best simply because there was no other way to live happily.

Now, he had a rival. He liked Ryu, and he was strong enough that Fell would really be challenged. Yes, if there was any person he was okay with losing to, it was this man. Fell was a man of his word.

“Do you think Ryu will win?” Emiko and Den sat to his left, and Fell inclined his head. They sat in the large viewing box of House Ishida, whose platform rose high above the other seats. Dozens of other conversations played out around them, gray-haired elders talking to well-dressed competitors, guards, and powerful Classers around them. Lord Ishida sat at the very back, watching the fight below with an intense expression. That was a hard man there, one who seemed about as sharp-edged as the blade he carried.

“Yes,” Fell said, looking back down to the fight. “Marcellus is relatively new to the dueling circle, but most of the brokers have figured out his Technique. It seems to work mostly on fear, respect, or really any sort of intense emotion directed at him. It’s effective since the Aureate has such a formidable reputation, and his skill is high enough that he can enforce those emotions very quickly. Ryu, though… His reaction is probably very muted, meaning it will take much longer for the Technique to grab hold. And his Technique seems to be a Feeder, so…” He shrugged.

“A Feeder?” Den raised an eyebrow on the other side of Emiko.

Fell smiled. “You’ve heard that the Seven Rankers are the Classers with the most potential, yes? That has little to do with the classical power of their Techniques. Every Technique can be strong in the right situation. In practice, Techniques are divided into two, even the crafter ones. You either have a Feeder Technique or one that works on a specific set of conditions. Marcellus’s is the latter. He needs emotions directed at him for his to work. Feeders require something to be consumed for them to work. Sometimes it’s knowledge or memories. Other times it’s lifeforce. Conditional Techniques have a wide range in power, while Feeders are nearly always consistent, meaning they never reach the highs a Conditional might or sink to the lows.”

Emiko tilted her head. “And which one is yours, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Fell’s Rune Caller consumed engravings, tattoos, or carvings to summon various creatures like the giant serpent his spear had turned into against Ryu. “It’s sort of both,” he said. He shrugged. “It’s mostly a Feeder, but its effects vary.”

His Shaman Class had impressed his father all those many years ago, but that had faded when Fell took to fighting and dueling rather than supporting the tribe. Now, his Master Rune Shaman Class probably disgusted the man. Not to mention his grandparents. Oh, well. Love was free, so he spared them some anyways.

Suddenly, the fight below ended. Ryu had won. The whole viewing box rose with hearty cheers and celebratory cries, and Fell clapped with a smile on his face. At least he had lost to the winner, right?

You still lost.

Fell ignored the voice. Soon enough, they had erected a stand in the center of the pit for the awards, and Emiko readied herself to go and accept her Title. Then a servant bursted into the viewing box and whispered something into Lord Ishida’s ear, a Skill concealing the words from his enhanced hearing.

Lord Ishida stood, and his voice sliced through the box’s chatter. “We are leaving. Now. Quietly gather up your families and meet me at the south exit. We ride to our fortress. The Bugs are about to attack this place, and the Aristocracy fears we are about to be fully invaded. We must defend our territory.”

Fell’s heart skipped a beat. Then he was up and out of his chair. “My lord,” he said, dropping to a knee. “Is there anything I can do?” Action was the easiest way to beat the thoughts, the doubts.

Haru frowned down at where Ryu stood in the pit. “No,” he said. “Nothing save for guarding the families here. We may encounter resistance on our way out.”

Lord Ishida dismissed a servant to try and retrieve his son as quietly as possible, and then they left, funneling through the empty halls of the arena in muted silence. Many of the elders wore thoughtful expressions, while those who carried weapons held them in white-knuckled grips, their eyes darting around the hall. They encountered a few other well off families on their way. Fell frowned. What of the other people? Would they be abandoned? He asked Den as much.

The woman shrugged. “Chances are that the Bugs’ target is part of one of the Aristocracy's leading families. It’s better to ensure our exit instead of trying to get past the hordes of fleeing people. Is it selfish? Perhaps. Is it pragmatic? Undoubtedly.”

In moments, they were out onto the streets of the district. Many mounted horses, and those who did not kept up with cultivated steps. They fled.

Fell held his spear in one hand, jogging beside Emiko’s tall horse. His eyes searched for the enemy. Was Lord Ishida the target? How had the Bugs gotten past them? Would Ryu escape? His mind bulged with questions, but he tamped them out with a thought. He searched for that state he needed, the calmness that overtook him in a fight.

The boom seemed to shake the ground, and even from some distance away, Fell heard the screams. He looked over his shoulder. Smoke and dust rose from the arena. Dark figures flooded into its entrances, meeting a wave of fleeing humans.

He stumbled. His mind refused to accept it, refused to hear the screams. The war with the Bugs had always been a thing, but it had never seemed so real. No, it hadn’t been a war. It was playing before, merely a series of skirmishes against static defenses. He saw that now. This was war, and it surpassed even those he had witnessed on the First Ring.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, and Emiko pulled him forward. A group of Bugs exploded from a building to their left. Fell stumbled, taking a piece of debris to the shoulder. He heard a moan. A cry of pain. He locked his teeth.

Kindness was free, his mother had told him, but violence was even cheaper.

His spear took a Bug in the chest, and he ripped it free, ducking under a hammer-like weapon and stabbing into the chitinous forms. Dust clouded the street around him, no doubt enhanced by some Skill.

[Lance] carried his spear forward with a red glow. [Spirit Call] sent a bolt of purple flying into the dust, the body of a falcon at its head. He charged into a Bug attacking a fallen woman, dropped his spear, drew the shortsword from his side, and plunged it into the attacker again and again, viscous yellow ichor staining his hand.

A silver glow rose in the dust, causing it to split in half. Fell headed that way. Haru Ishida stood there, his pale, scarred sword unsheathed and faintly glowing. A great chasm ran through the street in front of him, several Bugs having been split in half in the wake of the silver glow.

“To me!” Lord Ishida called, a smile splitting his face. Fell saw the resemblance to Ryu then, the madness clear in the man’s eyes. “Rally to me, men and women of House Ishida. Let’s kill these fuckers dead, yeah?” He laughed.

Then the man was in their midst, hacking and cutting and splitting Bugs as he went. Fell shook his head and plunged his spear into another Bug. For a moment, he wondered what sort of people he was involved with, but then the thought was gone, lost beneath the press of bloody madness.

Some time later, what remained of their group jogged down the street, the infirm and injured on the backs of the young and healthy. Haru took point, his pale sword bared, and Fell was at the back with Emiko, his head on a swivel.

The residence of the Ishida family loomed ahead, and Haru quickly set up a perimeter, ordering the castle to be evacuated. “We need to reach the fort,” he said. “Send orders to the rest of the troops. Everyone loyal to House Ishida must head to the fort. We will head our defense there.”

Emiko walked up to him. “Any sign of Ryu?”

Fell shook his head, spreading his aura out as far as it would go. “I’m afraid not. But I’m sure he survived. He’s too strong not to.”

“You’re right,” she said, her mind seeing a memory he was not privy to. “Do you still intend to stay with us? Surely your family must need you at their side.”

He cleared his throat. His father’s letter had said otherwise in no unclear terms. “It’s a bit too late for that. They will be fine.” He hoped.

“Well we’re all glad to have you.” She smiled. “This debt will not go unnoticed.”

“Ryu is my sworn brother. There are no debts between us.”

You’re only using them because your own family doesn’t want you. His Shard Twin’s voice ripped through his mind, and he winced. Insufferable bastard.

“Then I appreciate your help regardless.”

A lot of help you were.

Fell suppressed a grimace. War had started, and the world would never be the same.