Zac and Mahon were the first ones to wake up and they went quietly downstairs to prepare and eat breakfast. A few minutes later, the other nobles joined them around the table and the atmosphere turned sour.

“Hey commoner, why didn’t you prepare my breakfast?”

Mahon clenched his teeth but said nothing as the nobles cackled and mocked him.

“Zac, why do you stay with this animal? Tiarsus bought marvelous pastries, come and eat some with us.”

Methild tried again to bribe Zac, but he stayed as stoic as Mahon and calmly ate his own breakfast. The two friends exchanged worried looks, but they endured. They should not fear anything from the nobles but empty threats and insults as Rym had reinstated on the banquet how they would chastise anyone trying to attack a student. And even the Pasys’ family would not dare antagonize the Pine Hill Officer Institute.

The mocking jokes continued the whole breakfast, but Zac and Mahon became better at ignoring them and even started their own conversation.

“Hey, what should we try today during the rings, oh mighty instructor Mahon?”

Mahon choked on his drink while laughing. “Mighty my ass. Let me think, hmm… Last time we were close to winning so we should try the same scenario.”

Zac nodded along. “So you try to take someone down and I win my 1v1?”

“Yes. As supplementary training, let's try to dodge for a dozen seconds first and then I will signal you the target.”

“Yeah, about that... I should work on these signals too. I still miss some of them. Especially when you throw fake ones around.”

“That’s part of the training, Zac. You can’t take everything as a signal!”

“Cut the crap, I know you’re just messing with me.”

“What? You know me! I would never do that!”

When the time came, they left for the training field, leaving the chatty nobles behind them.

“Expect the worst? Well, if everything that goes around is some insults and empty words, I think I’m fine for a few weeks.”

“I’m not sure it will stop at that, unfortunately...”

“You think they would ignore Rym’s warning?”

“Ah… No, I don't think so. But it was way too calm this morning, I don’t like it. Surprisingly these stupid nobles are quite resourceful when it comes to bend the rules. And Tiarsus almost didn’t say anything and had that creepy smile the whole time. He is up to something, I tell you.”

Mahon sighed deeply.

“I hope you’re wrong...”

The two friends arrived at the training field early and no more than ten people were running in a circle when they joined the warm up. After two months of Slander’s training, Mahon could finally run properly. His legs were moving in a decent way, and the strain of a dozen laps was not as incapacitating as before.

When Slander came and started the next usual exercises Mahon followed the pace with only a small ragged breath. He held the different stances as long as the others, but his legs were often seen wobbling. When that happened, he clenched his teeth and maintained the posture through sheer will.

Day after day, he felt his muscles grow, and he observed how he was less and less tired by the exercises. He was using the time he first fell during an exercise as his main metric to track his progress. And today he managed for the third time in a row to pass every stance without falling. It was not smooth nor painless, but it was easier each time he tried.

After that, Slander led them through a series of what he called stabilizing exercises. They came in multiple shapes, but the main goal was to stay firm and balanced on one's legs.

“Grab the bucket and come back with water. Go, go, go! If I see water spill out, ten burpees! If I see a bucket less than two third full, ten burpees! If I see someone walking instead of running, ten burpees!”

Slander moved between the students, carefully watching how they fared and distilling his precious advice as they exercised.

“Fada! I say carry the bucket, not drag the bucket! You become dumb as soon as you hearth pumps a bit faster or is it a natural condition? Oy!”

All the students jumped as high as they could while trying to not spill their water.

“Your feet didn’t leave the ground! Don’t you know what a frog is? You got the same face though, sure you’re not a cousin?! Drop that bucket and do ten! I want to see jumps! Go! One! Two! Three! Fou… By the Fada?! I said a frog, not a freaking worm!”

Exercises followed one after the others with the same frenetic pace. Slander made them sprint for a few meters before touching the ground and then sprint back to the starting position. Again and again.

Then they had to hold, seated against a wall, for excruciating minutes. The next exercise was about throwing a heavy ball at their duo while standing with one foot. If the ball or one of them fell, more exercises awaited them. At this point in the training, Mahon was way past his limit and he was more often doing the punishment exercises than the original one. But he persevered with Zac at his side, encouraging him.

In fact, none of the students were able to complete Slander’s training without failing at least once. As a measure of their physical exertion, the session always ended with running. It was just twenty laps, but it never was achieved by anyone. Instead, the students collapsed one after the other and even the most endurant couldn’t go past fifteen. Mahon barely passed five laps before falling. Zac often managed to go to eight, but he had never done more than ten.

There was a short break of ten minutes between the end of the exercises and the beginning of the sparring in the rings and most of the students were feeling tired, but it did not impede them too much. Mahon, however, could still feel his legs burning and past the first fight he rarely stayed in the ring for more than thirty seconds. He had so much work to do if he wanted to go back to his Nightmare’s level that he gave his utmost at each previous exercise and he was deeply exhausted at that time of the training.

“We’ll do three rounds with hands and seven with swords! It’s your first lesson since the opening of the duel, so stay within your rank for now. First Black and Last Green I will come soon to show you a more advanced exercise. Get ready!”

Mahon and Zac joined the First Red and met for the first time the three girls that had replaced their four predecessors. They were happily chatting with Tiarsus and his band, and that simple fact didn’t bode anything good for the duo. The groups formed and, as if it had been premeditated, Mahon and Zac were left facing Tiarsus and his minion, Travaran.

Mahon entered the ring under the suspicious smiles of the nobles, prepared for the worst. Slander’s whistle marked the beginning of the round and both duos walked in circles, gauging their opponents with careful attention. Tiarsus lost his patience first and dashed to Mahon. Travaran moved in tow but Zac was already rushing forward to intercept them.

Mahon calmly moved to the right and positioned himself near Zac’s path. As his friend passed at his side, he swiftly grabbed him, his arms circling his waist and his shoulder supporting his back. Zac took two more steps and Mahon followed, arching his legs to prepare for the impact. They were ready to withstand their opponents' charge and maybe surprise them with their own counterattack.

But contrary to their expectations, Tiarsus didn’t madly rush at them and instead deviated from his path to avoid them. When he passed them, he punched at Mahon’s unprotected stomach and moved away.

Mahon grunted in surprise at the hit. He had his hands around Zac, so he didn’t have the time to protect himself. And he shouldn’t have to.

The goal of the fight was to push the opponents outside of the ring and it usually involved all kinds of ugly wrestling and pushing, but punching had never been a way to victory. Mahon and Zac split and turned back under the provoking smiles of Tiarsus and his lackey. They exchanged a look as understanding dawned on them.

Finally revealing your true face?

The duos circled with slow steps, facing each other, until Mahon deliberately moved in front of Zac and gestured with his hand behind his back to go for Travaran. Shortly after, Mahon feinted an attack to Tiarsus while masking Zac's movements.

His decoy worked and Tiarsus was still focused on him as Zac reached Travaran with impressive momentum. He rammed into the noble, but the man had the instinct to stay low and Zac didn’t manage to push him out of the circle at once. Zac didn’t retreat, however, and tried to push back his opponent. Tiarsus glanced at his duo’s situation but he ignored him, instead taking a boxing stance as he faced Mahon.

Mahon raised his hands in a defensive guard as Tiarsus approached and punched at his face multiple times. Mahon avoided some while others crashed against his forearm as he realized Tiarsus didn’t care at all about the training. His goal was not about pushing his opponent out of the ring to win. Or punching to win, either.

No, the noble just wanted to vent his anger at Mahon by attacking him in the only place he could do so without too much problem.

Mahon clenched his teeth and tried to move away from the angry noble, but the man followed swiftly. Zac was still entangled in his own fight and he didn’t see the few signals Mahon tried to send him. At the price of a vicious punch in the chest, Mahon finally managed to reach Zac’s side and helped his duo escape the clutch of Travaran.

The duos started their circling game for a third time, but their silent footsteps were accompanied by ragged breaths this time. Mahon dismissed his burning legs and painful stomach as he focused on the fight, his brain trying to crack a solution to the present problem.

How can we get away from this?

Zac didn’t try any move as he knew Mahon needed the time to rest and plan a way to victory. But their opponents noticed it too and so they went on the offensive. This time Zac tried to stay close to Mahon, but Tiarsus didn’t care as he pushed his own duo into the fray while throwing vicious punches from behind.

Mahon and Zac still tried to play by the rules and ignored the blows as they pushed away their opponents. The fight went like this for long minutes. Pushing against punching interspersed by rest times spent circling and eyeing the enemy duo. In their final struggle, Zac and Mahon were aching in pain but persevered. Travaran was so focused on hitting Mahon that he didn’t notice how Zac positioned himself.

Mahon swallowed a heavy blow on purpose and swiftly grabbed the wrist of his opponent. He pulled an unbalanced Travaran at the exact time Zac jolted heavily on his side, ejecting the man out of the ring.

There was a tense silence following the fall of Travaran but Tiarsus smiled savagely and continued raining punches on Mahon. However, at two against one, the madman was swiftly led to the spot chosen by Mahon without his knowledge. Their trap set, the duo executed it flawlessly and pushed Tiarsus out of the circle. At the last time, however, the noble managed to grab Mahon’s collar and balanced himself at the edge of the circle.

Mahon reacted instantly and he elbowed the man in the face while pulling away the grabbing hand from his clothes.

Tiarsus felt out of the ring while holding his injured face in a deafening silence.

Mahon and Zac exited the ring without another look and went to rest on the side. It was their first victory in the ring, but they were in no celebratory mood. They stayed quiet while massaging the sore areas that had been heavily punched. They rested while others fought and when the time came for their second match, the First Red all moved away and they were again facing an angry Tiarsus with his faithful servant.

“We just fought you, we can’t go against you twice in a row.” Zac managed to say without real conviction.

Tiarsus evilly grinned and gestured for the others First Red around him.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Zac. The others are kindly letting us exchange more pointers. It’s important to trust each other and share, don’t you think?”

Bastard.