“I’m confident. I’m actually a Nightmare veteran, so I don’t need to feign anything. It’s also normal that I lack knowledge of Ratho. I will just need to be me.”

“Fighting conditions?”

“I can handle most cultists alone. I still have some problems, but for a cultist level, it shouldn’t matter.”

“Good. This is a very interesting lead. The best we got, actually. But let’s not paint in the air. It might turn into nothing.”

Jorik went silent for a second, shuffling around his papers. When he found what he searched for, he looked straight at Mahon.

“Here is what you’re gonna do. Go to that first meeting on your own and try to learn as much as you can. Chances are, you will start low and they will not trust you, so you’ll get nothing important. Your goal is two folds.”

Mahon held back a sigh of relief as the noble confirmed he’d indeed let him try something and followed with rapt attention the following instructions.

“First, assess how likely you can infiltrate their ranks deeper and access vital information. It’s important to know if we should expect something from this if you invest time with the cultists or not. Second, our current hypothesis is that the cult is backed up by a powerful organization. And by that, we mean a noble house.”

Mahon lacked the context to react appropriately at such a declaration, but at his side Zac gasped loudly. He was too disciplined to say anything in front of Jorik, though. The First Black glanced at him before continuing.

“Although you may never learn which house it is, or what their purpose is, it will be easier to confirm if our hypothesis is true. So search for anything related to nobility within the Fada cult, and you’ll have already helped us. Do you have any questions?”

“I’m really lacking when it comes to the noble world, so I’m not sure I’d be of much help there…”

Jorik threw him an annoyed glare, as if to say he was really stupid.

“Isn’t it why Zac is with you? Just learn from him.”

Mahon and Zac exchanged a quick look before turning to Jorik.

“Yes, First Black.”

“Good. One last thing. This mission is a secret for now. Don’t talk about it to anyone and come back to me directly after that first meeting.”

“Yes, First Black.”

“You can go.”

Without further ado, Jorik dived back in the dozens of documents scattered on his desk. In the meantime, the two friends escaped the office in silence. In the corridor, the First Green woman eyed them with contempt as they moved past her. The duo didn’t exchange a word before they got back to their shared room in their First White house.

Zac jumped on his bed and sighed heavily. His head found a comfortable place on his pillow, and he sighed again, looking at the ceiling.

“What a day…” He then turned his head to look at Mahon, similarly laying on his bed. “Why do we always get entangled with the Fada cultists? Are you actively looking for trouble in my back? The fireworks night, Tiarsus ambush, and now that. I swear you’re doing it on purpose.”

Mahon chuckled and turned his head to look back at his friend, a teasing grin on his face.

“I always thought you were the jinxed one, Zac.”

Zac threw him an annoyed look as Mahon continued.

“Actually, if we look at it on a larger scale, it might not be so bad. Sure there are increased risks, but that also means bigger rewards. And in our current situation, it’s exactly what we’re looking for. We deal with the cult, get a promotion and make a name for ourselves before joining the war.”

“Oh, don’t try to make it look like it’s good for us. I’m trying to get a name on the field, after years of training, not to die a stupid death while at school.” Zac flashed a predatory smile at Mahon before continuing. “And now I’ve been ordered to babysit you and teach you noble stuff… As if I had nothing better to do…”

Mahon chuckled. “See, it’s still business as usual.”

In a swift motion, Mahon jumped back to its feet from a crouched position for what felt like the hundredth time when Slander’s voice interrupted his torture.

“And stop! A few minutes of rest and into the rings! Today’s teams will be…”

Massaging his sore legs with barely less sore arms, Mahon slowed his breathing to a less frantic pace. Shaking his body to chase away the strain, he walked to a still breathless Zac.

“Nice training, isn’t it?”

Zac glared back at him with false annoyance. “Shaddap.” He took a little pause to catch his breath before continuing. “I can tell I’m still stronger than you, so why are you so jumpy when I’m almost dying after the training? Tell me your secret!”

“Uh… I thought you’d have figured that out already.”

“And he dares add salt to injury… Just tell me how you do it. I want to progress too!”

Mahon sighed. “The key is efficiency. It was so hard and tiring to move in Nightmare that you had to optimize every gesture you made. After twenty years there, I optimized every motion to do exactly what I needed it to do. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s second nature to me, and it transposed to Ratho. You still have stronger muscles, but you’re just wasting them.”

“Just that? You’re using your muscles better than I do, so you got more power for less fatigue?”

“I don’t think you realized what I meant. Your body is very strong, but it has always been free of any constraint. I trained for two decades in a world where even lifting your foot is hard. You’re so restricted that only getting stronger isn’t enough. You have to perfect your motion so as not to waste a single ounce of energy. In comparison, you’re using twice the strength needed to complete a move. No wonder you got tired faster.”

“So unfair… I knew you would beat me fast enough at fighting, but I admit, I thought I’d still have the advantage for the strength and endurance training.” Zac pouted.

“You trained for what? Five years? I trained for twenty. When you were so tired you couldn’t move, you stopped to rest. When I was on the brink of exhaustion, I still had to fight to survive. My world was a dozen times more restricting than yours. Now I’m constraint free, and train without any risk. You really wonder why I’m progressing faster than you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Stop bragging. Just tell me how to learn that.” Zac grinned and Mahon mimicked his friend’s smile.

“It’s not that easy.” Mahon paused to ponder. “Hmm… We could try something with shackles, water and thousands of repetitions.”

“I didn’t know you were into shackles… Unfortunately, I already have Ash, so…”

Mahon chuckled. “Shut up. Let’s talk about it later.” He pointed to the teams already assembling in front of the rings. “It’s time to fight.”

The two friends walked to their ring while gauging their opponents. Because of Mahon, they had climbed fast to the top of the First Green, but after he suffered from his Flow problem, they lost more fight and started going down. Their opponents for the day were among the last to middle First Green.

Although Mahon was theoretically better than this group, Zac was still at the frontier between First White and First Green, meaning these opponents were most suitable for him. As he pondered about the fights to come, Mahon adjusted his mindset.

Our opponents are a bit stronger than Zac, so it’s perfect training for him. I should let him do most of the fighting. No reckless rush to the top, or I’ll risk leaving him behind.

“Ok, Zac. You got the lead for the fights. Don’t be hasty or rely on my abilities to win. I want clean fights, clean victories, by your calls. Even if it takes longer, I don’t care.”

“Yes, sir! Finally realizing my genius at leading?”

“More like speeding your training so you’re not left behind when I’ll climb up ranks.” Mahon chuckled.

“Haha... Funny. You will see my power!” Zac bragged, taking a ridiculous pose to make his friend laugh. Mahon smiled at his friend’s behavior.

We really lived in different worlds. I hope one day I will be as lighthearted as you are.

Mahon followed Zac into the ring for their first fight. Their opponents were two girls among the middle of the First Green ranking. They had fought them a few times already in the last weeks, as they had climbed the ranks. They were pretty swift and agile, with amazing coordination. What they lacked in strength was balanced by their aggressive fighting style, a fast ballet of rolls, jumps and deadly attacks from impossible angles.

Zac gestured behind his back for Mahon to lure the girl on the right while he took care of the other one. As always, a part of Mahon’s mind was laser focused on his opponents, while another constantly analyzed the situation and possibilities.

Good choice, Zac. Best to split them. They might be too strong for us if left together.

Mahon sprinted ahead and swung his sword horizontally, aiming for his assigned target. The girl reacted at the last instant by lifting her own weapon in a parry. However, Mahon’s sword missed its target and passed harmlessly only two centimeters away. Seeing how Mahon was now in a precarious posture, the First Green immediately counterattacked.

She stepped forward and executed complicated attacks, one after the other, forcing Mahon to retreat. And just like that, she had been lured away from her duo. When Zac started his own duel, Mahon switched from defense to attack and moved to prevent the First Green from regrouping.

Mahon didn’t try to win his own fight, choosing to let Zac carry his own duel to the end instead. He positioned himself so that he could see his friend’s fight and give him advice once the practice ended. In the meantime, he countered every attempt from his opponent to join her duo.

After two minutes of fierce exchanges, Zac fell for one of the First Green ruses and got stabbed in the stomach.

Uh, you could have seen this one coming… Mahon mentally sighed.

With Zac out, Mahon stepped back to let the girl in front of him join her duo for the first time since the beginning of the fight. He carefully observed the two girls reuniting. They exchanged a quick glance before starting to circle him from opposite directions.

Time to start my own training, I guess.

Seizing the opportunity to unfold their own pace, the First Green attacked at the same time from two different angles. Mahon swiftly moved between the swords, stabbing his own weapon at the face of one First Green. The woman stepped back, but Mahon immediately followed and rained fast stabs at her.

The other First Green didn’t stay idle, and she rushed after Mahon to attack his back.

Giving an opportunity to attack someone’s back, you will stab right at the spine.

Without even looking back, Mahon swiped his sword behind him and parried the stab from the second First Green. In the same movement, he pivoted and, increasing his momentum, struck at the First Green initially facing him.

When you’re agile, a roll is the ideal repositioning move.

The girl rolled backward to dodge his sword, but Mahon was already stabbing at her new position. This forced the other woman to rush in to block, placing the two girls in a weird defensive posture.

Mahon was in control. Each move predicted and restricted. Attacks were allowed only under his conditions. The girls danced at his sword without any chance of switching the dynamics.

But the girls were still First Green. And they were two. Abusing their agility and swiftness, they managed to both speed up and complexify the fight. They wanted to make it so much harder for Mahon to predict their next move that he would fail often enough they could take advantage of it to win.

Unfortunately for them, Mahon was a monster.

For a long minute, the fight remained a stalemate. Mahon was still in control of the fight, always out of reach of the girls. But at the same time, the two were too coordinated for him to deal a fatal blow. Not wanting to lose at two versus one, the women let loose and reached yet another level in speed. Pushed to his very limits, Mahon had no other choice to concede. Or…

Changing his pace, Mahon took a step back from the fight. He barely got a second of spare time. But it was enough.

Breath in. Breath out.

The Flow welcomed him in a warm embrace.