He wasn’t really sure where he was going or what he was going to do, he just knew he didn’t want to spend his only half-day off stuck in a room studying for a test.

A few turns later, he was out of the dorms and into the main square, where the assemblies were held. A few groups of Seers were here and there. None with red hair.

He strolled around the campus, sticking close to the buildings. At one point, he noticed a cluster of Humusi mages that he recognized. One saw him and shouted a greeting. He waved back.

Rounding the corner, he entered the back part of the campus, which contained expansive grassy areas as well as a pond, a small copse of trees that nearly qualified as a forest, and some hills.

“Hey!” someone yelled, from the direction of the trees. It was a young man.

He saw someone there, but couldn’t identify him.

“Xerk!” he yelled again. “Come here!”

Xerxes walked across the grass toward the trees. Moments later, he realized it was big-nosed Enusat.

“Enusat!” he said.

“I was actually running out to find you. Hurry up!”

He ran the last few cubits. “What’s going on?”

“Come with me,” the shorter mage said, then ducked into the trees.

Xerxes followed. At first, the trees were too thick to spy what lay beyond them. But before long, it became obvious that a short distance into the small wood was an open space. It was a meadow of sorts, filled with well-trimmed grass and a few boulders around the edges.

Stepping out of the tree line, he saw small-headed Jad, along with bearded Kashtiliash. There was another mage present, a hawk-faced fellow named Teucer that Xerxes had teamed up with during one of the practical training exercises.

All had wooden swords in their hands, with Jad and Teucer facing each other in standard guard positions.

“Look who I found!” Enusat said.

Everyone looked over.

“There you are!” Jad said. “We looked for you after the lecture, but you vanished.”

Xerxes ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry. Tried to do some studying, but I couldn’t concentrate.”

Enusat hurried over to one of the boulders, where three wooden swords lay on the ground. He grabbed two of them. “Getting together for sword practice was your idea, Xerk, but we didn’t want to lose the chance to ‘ave our first meeting.”

He tossed one of the swords to Xerxes, who caught it easily.

“Where’d you get the practice swords?” Xerxes asked.

“You can check them out from the armory. They have just about every kind of weapon you can imagine there.”

Xerxes swung the sword in a few circles to get a feel for its weight and balance. “I’m glad we’re finally doing it. I haven’t done any practice for weeks.”

“We’re just warming up,” Kashtiliash said. “Want to trade a few blows?”

Xerxes smiled. “Sure.”

He started with some basic movements to get his blood flowing, and then some stretching. Then he crossed swords with Kashtiliash.

For the next few hours, they traded partners, doing very light sparring and practicing some basic moves. As it turned out, Teucer, who was also an Asgagu mage, didn’t have any experience with the longsword. Kashtiliash had convinced him to come learn a bit.

Jad and Enusat were both good. However, it only took a bit of back and forth before it became obvious neither of them were on the same level as Xerxes, especially Enusat. Xerxes found himself going slower than necessary and explaining his moves about half the time.

At one point, Xerxes landed a very light blow on Jad’s midriff. The tall mage stepped back, rubbing the spot where the wooden sword had touched him. “Damn, what was that?”

“The Squinting Slash,” Xerxes said. “You’ve never seen it before?

“If it’s a slash, why did you end up stabbing me?”

Xerxes rested his sword on his shoulder. “Good question. Anyway, the key is how you sort of flip the sword around into a different grip. Like this.”

He showed Jad a way of gripping the sword by using the thumb to stabilize the blade. Then he went back to the Skyward position and went through the Squinting Slash a few more times to show him how it worked.

Jad made an attempt at the move.

“Not bad,” Xerxes said. “Try it on me now.”

Everything was different with Kashtiliash. When he and Xerxes finally faced off in the second hour, it became immediately obvious that the bearded mage knew what he was doing.

After feeling each other out for about fifteen minutes, Kashtiliash said, “Let’s do some actual sparring.”

“Sure,” Xerxes said.

That was when Kashtiliash really went all out. He was careful with his blows, but it only took about five exchanges before Xerxes had a sense of the bearded mage’s skill.

Backing up a few steps, he saluted Kashtiliash with his wooden sword and said, “You’re my superior.”

Kashtiliash saluted him back. “You’re no hogdown swordsman yourself.”

Xerxes grinned. “Thanks.”

“Kash is good, but this club was your idea, Xerk,” Jad said. “I think it’s fair that you’re the leader. Do you agree, boys?”

Off to the side Enusat, and Teucer all voice their agreement. Kashtiliash grunted and nodded.

Wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, Xerxes tossed his wooden sword back onto the pile.

“No way,” he said. “The best swordsman should be in charge, and that’s Kash.”

Kashtiliash flipped his sword around and rested it casually in the crook of his arm. “I guess I can do it.”

“What about you, Jad? You good with Kash being the leader of our little sword club?”

“Sure,” the tall mage said.

“I’m fine with it,” Teucer added.

Enusat nodded. “Same.”

“Then it’s settled,” Xerxes said. “Kash is the new head swordsman of the… the Humusi Swordmasters!”

“Humusi Swordsmasters,” Kashtiliash said. “I like it.” He lifted his sword into the air. “Swordsmen, salute!”