I wanted to leap and cheer at Iona’s victory over the Shining Shrine jackasses, but I maintained discipline and composure.

The idiots had sent a freaking [Assassin] after Iona, and compounding onto their sheer stupidity, they tried it right in the middle of the School’s living quarters!

It was almost stupider than me trying to sneak into Lun’Kat’s lair! Okay, so she had better disguises than I did, and the uncapped team had a lower level than the dragon, but there were 18 of them healthy and hale to the single injured Lun’Kat.

She had met a swift end at the hands of one of my high level Immortal schoolmates, who’d ended up disintegrating her so thoroughly that we didn’t have any evidence to bring to the administrators.

Whoops.

Instead, some quick detective work had determined that Team Shining Shrine had gone after Iona. We were all here as a show of force. A reminder not to fuck around by sending assassins in the night, and that bad things happened to people who tried that stunt.

We weren’t saying anything, but attracting quite a lot of attention. Shirayuki was responsible for planting a few well-timed and well-placed rumors, and the interest should do the rest.

Or something like that. I left all the people manipulating nonsense to others. I was just doing what Shirayuki said.

Crossed my arms and glared at the losers. The message was extra-potent by Iona winning out, although it’d been a close one. That Radiance mage almost got her.

“Team Iona versus Team Shining Shrine. Winner of the singles portion. Team Iona! 14 to 0.” The [Referee] announced to cheers.

“Wait for it.” Shirayuki ordered, and we continued glaring.

“Well [Lords] and [Ladies], what a show! The One Hit Wonder continues her undefeated string! Will we finally get to see a team fight out of her?” The [Announcer] wondered.

“I concede the team match portion.” Iona promptly declared.

“Team Iona concedes the team match portion.” The [Referee] repeated. “Team Iona versus Team Shining Shrine. Final score, 14-11. Victor. Team Iona!”

The team from Nippon-koku quickly slunk off as the crowd roared in approval.

“Team Iona secures one of the coveted spots for the finals!” The [Announcer] confirmed.

“They’re gone. Thank you everyone for your participation. Break.” Shirayuki commanded, the teams rapidly dissolving so they could go have some fun.

“Elaine. Can you and Iona meet back in our rooms in a few minutes? I’d like to speak with the two of you. Mainly her.” Shirayuki asked.

I nodded.

“You got it!” I turned and went down the field, meeting Iona at the end. She was murmuring quietly with Fenrir, patting the beast on his armored helmet. His oversized pipe continued to smoke.

“Having fun, Auri?” I asked.

“Brrrpt!” She replied from her little hiding place inside the pipe.

“Shame you never got a chance to pop out.”

“Brrrpt…” She sadly agreed.

Fenrir and Auri had cooked up multiple wild plans together, including Operation: Dragonbreath. I’d nixed that one on the very real possibility of Fenrir swallowing Auri, and that ended with one of them dead, shields or no. I was also concerned that they were going to completely ignore me, and do it anyway.

Iona stopped her discussion with Fenrir, and I jumped in.

“You did it.” I quietly said.

My girlfriend nodded.

“I did. Just one more fight.” Her hands clenched and relaxed. Her armor started flowing off her body, forming into the solid block she always kept on her back, revealing the wyvern-scale aketon underneath.

“Let’s head back? Shirayuki wants to talk.”

Iona gave a curt nod.

“Sure. Let’s get Fenrir out of his armor first.”

“Please.” The wyvern grunted with difficulty. Part of his bond let him speak, just a word or two at a time.

“Brrrpt! BRPT!” Auri conjured up a bunch of [Mage Hands], and they started to fly over Fenrir’s armor.

“Ooooor I guess we can let Auri be his [Squire].” I said.

Iona shrugged.

“Works for me… although, Auri, if you do this now, how are you going to get all the pieces back?”

“BRPT!” The swarm of hands paused, then started rebuckling everything.

Iona and I traded a look, then a laugh. I watched the solid rod of tension in her shoulders melt away, relaxing as the adrenaline slowly left her system.

“Let’s go see what the fox wants.” Iona said.

“Valkyrie Iona. A stunning performance. Let me congratulate you on a blazing undefeated streak. Come, sit.” Shirayuki greeted us in one of our suite’s living rooms.

Iona nodded and took the offered seat. I debated sitting on the best seat in the room, but decided that I should follow some measure of proper decorum. Plus, the sense I got from Shirayuki was she wasn’t amused by public snogging.

“Thank you for your kind words.” Iona replied. The conversation was mostly between Shirayuki and Iona, but I couldn’t help but get a cheeky, shit-eating grin on my face as I thought about how we’d had the chance to get Iona on our team, passed on it, and she’d just proven herself as one of the strongest combatants on the field. “I heard you would be able to help me arrange a match with Rolland next round, during the seeding meeting?”

Shirayuki nodded.

“I can, but it’s not quite so simple. See…”

I knew this was somewhat important, but the interpersonal relationships, their management, and the politics involved quickly made my eyes glaze over. The long and the short of it was: The ‘big name’ teams all got together with the organizers and hashed out the bracket for the ‘finals’, aka the single elimination for the remaining 64 teams. Small teams - like Iona - didn’t get a seat in the meeting, because politics was a bitch. Shirayuki was going to help Iona get what she wanted… but wanted to see if she could get anything in return.

The whole thing was a headache, and I loved Iona, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be interested. We’d fight whoever it is we fought. Having all the brackets be drawn out of names in a hat seemed perfectly fair and reasonable to me, but noooo. That could have two powerhouses meet in an early round, and that wouldn’t be ‘exciting’ enough for the organizers, who wanted…

Honestly, it was almost enough to put me to sleep.

Iona and Shirayuki finished up their meeting, then Shirayuki went off to continue doing gods-knows-what before the big seeding meeting.

“Hey, want the details on the Rolland team?” I asked Iona.

She frowned.

“Is that allowed?”

I snorted.

“Duh. I can guarantee that they’ll be buying information about you as soon as possible. Plus, you’re going to peek at their stat sheet anyways, right? What’s the problem in learning about it a little early?”

Iona nodded.

“Makes sense. Help me get out of this?” She gestured to her aketon.

I gently shook my head and laughed at her utterly shameless ploy. We ended up in our bedroom, Iona facedown on the bed as I massaged her back.

“You know, I have no idea how we get all this information about people.” I remarked. “Most people keep their skills close to their chest, but we’ve got tons of details about them.”

“Are you serious?” Iona asked. “You’re wondering how the School knows about nobles and their classes?”

“Uhh… yeah?” I moved down from Iona’s shoulders to her back, digging my fingers in to loosen her muscles. “Most people keep it secret.”

Iona scoffed.

“You say things like that, and it’s such a stark reminder that you’re not from around now. Alright, yes, people do try to keep their skills secret, but nobles have to be visible. People need to see them. People need to see them working and protecting them. Nobody respects the [Lady] who spends her days locked away in her castle. If nobody knows who she is, she has no influence, and no power. They need to be seen, and more than that, if they want to be halfway competent, they need levels. That means doing stuff, usually in front of dozens or hundreds of people, and being highly visible while they act. It’s literal child’s play to know what the local noble family has for elements and a few skills. Most will be able to keep passives or rarely used skills under wraps, but everyone knows their elements and bread and butter skills. That’s before we start talking about [Information Brokers].”

I’d never really thought of it that way. Rangers had kept moving, an anti-corruption method that also meant they never stayed in one place long enough for people to get dossiers on them… not to mention the high fatality rate. Sentinels were a little more visible with their skills and classes, but even then we’d kept a solid smokescreen on our abilities. Magic and Mirage were two examples that instantly sprang to mind as Sentinels who deliberately went out of their way to claim different elements than they truly had.

“Yeah, alright, fine.” I stroked a finger along Iona’s side in a way I knew was particularly ticklish on the woman. A tiny bit of petty revenge… for honestly no good reason besides making me feel bad.

She twitched and bucked under my ministrations.

Success! I could do this ‘people’ thing every now and then! It just took a few years of dating! I switched tracks to useful, productive information.

“The Rolland team. In no particular order, we’ve got Elric Morgans.”

“The Shining Prince?” Iona interrupted. “I haven’t been around for a few years. Did he finally hit 512?”

I paused, reorganizing my thoughts.

“Yes, but only recently. Not quite sure what it is yet.” I replied.

Iona let out a pleased noise as I hit a particular knot in her muscles.

“Oh yeah, that’s the spot. Shining Prince. Youngest brother to the Queen. Speedster. Groomed to be one of the royal family’s Champions.”

The idea of Champions had been novel to me when first introduced, but they made a ton of sense thinking about it. In short, nobles and royalty of all stripes didn’t need to be the biggest, baddest, strongest fighter around. Being good at killing things was no indication of governing or administrative ability. It also wasn’t a good measure of leadership or military strategy.

However, it was greatly in the Crown’s interest to have one of the strongest personal fighters under their direct control, and what better way than to have a close family member who’d taken to fighting? Everyone called them something different, but the generally accepted term was Champion. They didn’t lead the nation, but they were a deterrent against someone getting a really big stick and trying to overthrow the monarch.

“He’s nice enough according to rumors, but that could just be the royal family paying off the [Bards] to say that.” Iona said. “I’ll bet fifty coins to your one that he’s brought Ruination with him.”

“I have no idea what Ruination is, and I’m not taking that bet. What’s the point of my intel if you already know it all?” I asked in exasperation.

“You massage me. That’s the point.” She replied into her pillow. “There’s literal thousands of nobles. I don’t know who’s come, and I might not know them all. Ruination is one of the Morgans’ famous greatswords. The entire blade is Ruinite, then it’s enchanted to the high heavens and back.”

I grumbled a bit to myself.

“Isabeau Lakewood?” I offered a name up.

“Obsessed with hunting. That said, that’s the only thing I’ve ever heard about her. Up and coming hunter, will be a [Huntmaster] one day, too far down the line of succession for anything else.”

“She’s triple classed now.” I added in.

Iona swore.

“Mantle, Forest, Dark. I’d tell you not to try to run and hide from her, but that’s not a factor. Expect large arrows, and don’t try to rely on your armor to protect you from them. They’ll punch right through, she’s got skills around it.”

“Ah yes. All I have to do is dodge dozens of arrows.” Iona sarcastically replied. Her words were technically true, along with there being no intent to deceive, letting her get around her [Vow] restriction.

Weird how language, words, and tone worked like that!

“Grimwald Dragonfly.” I offered up the next name on the team.

“I know of Count Dragonfly. Never heard of Grimwald.” Iona said. “Also, lower please?”

I shuffled down on her back a bit, and started massaging her lower back.

“Sorcerer. Highly mobile, likes Fire a little too much.”

Iona grunted.

“Eira Barnett.” I gave the next name on the list, frowning as I remembered a detail. “She seems low level to be participating here.”

“It’s political.” Iona instantly replied. “Barnetts are a dukedom, and there’s more to this event than just winning. I don’t expect much out of her. What’s interesting is her level.”

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t think she was the heir to the duchy.” Iona said. “But a noble staying at 256 is a public declaration that they think they’re in line to inherit. Most of the nobility will publicly class-up when they take their position, showing they’ve taken the [Duchess] class, etcetera. Classing up before taking the role is a sign that they’re not interested in succession, removing them as a threat to their siblings who should inherit. Of course, it’s more complicated than that, and keeping a second or rarely, a third class at 256 to potentially grab the [Count] class if they’re given a lucky opportunity is a thing they’ll do.”

My head was spinning at the politics and complex interpersonal interplay, and I just knew Iona was giving me the short, simple version. I decided to change topic away from interpersonal politics of damn nobles, and back to easier stuff.

“She is a wizard.” My change of topic was about as subtle as a mango to the head.

“All the Barnetts are. It’s what they’re known for. They’ve got some logic behind it.”

I shrugged and carried on.

“Annora Argent?”

“That jackass!?” Iona half-bolted up, before remembering that I was on top of her.

“Uh?” I dumbly replied as Iona settled back down.

“The Argents are the duchy that controlled most of the area around the Valkyrie’s.” Iona explained. “I’ve met Annora a few times. She’s cute enough, but every time I thought about dragging her off to my bed she opened her mouth and I remembered that she’s completely insufferable. I do have standards, you know.”

I flicked Iona’s ear.

“Well, you clearly don’t need the intel report on her.” I primly replied.

“Just tell me if that damn griffin is here or not.” Iona grumbled back.

“There was a griffin mentioned, yes.”

“Ugh.” Iona complained. “The two are as bad as each other. Let me guess, someone from the Connor family is the last member?”

I shook my head, before remembering that Iona couldn’t see me. Derp.

“No, Godwin Peacevale.” I answered.

“Eh, close enough. They’re one of the counts sworn to the Connors. The team is nice and politically balanced among the six duchies. How convenient.” I could feel the disdain dripping off of Iona’s voice.

“Easier for you to beat them up though, right?” I asked her.

“They’re only sending one dud, but yes.” Iona said. “The Peacevales, by all accounts, have the right idea as nobility. That they’re there for the good of their people, and it’s a noble’s job to empower. They’re just so sanctimonious and annoying about it. Are the maces here?”

“Uhh… yeah, the intel report said Godwin’s using two maces, how’d you know?”

“The family has a pair of weapons called The Twin Sisters. Hard to know if they’ve given him the real ones, or he’s on a training pair. That’s good to know ahead of time. They’re made out of Phasite. They go straight through metal, trying to block them is a sucker’s bet. At the same time, the Peacevales tend towards large-scale buffs, so they’re practically wasted in his hands.”

“He sounds easy enough to beat in a one versus one?” I cautiously offered up.

“Should be. Right, flip over. My turn to massage you.”

The ‘massage’ didn’t last that long.

A few dozen of us were hanging around the School’s quarters, waiting for Shirayuki to get back from the meeting. Those of us who were here were the ones that really cared about the brackets.

Shirayuki stormed into the room, her tails lashing angrily. The temperature of the room plummeted as the Ice [Elementalist] stomped around the room.

Mormerilhawn walked in behind her.

“Disqualified!” She shouted, throwing her hands up in the air, and my heart skipped a beat. “Those no-good, rotten, blasted…” She went along in that vein, cursing the judges, the fauns…

No.

What did she mean?

“You gotta say more than that!” One of the elves promptly shot back. “Did we all get disqualified? What for?”

Shirayuki stilled.

“You’re right. Let me clarify. Morning Breeze has been disqualified from all teams she was a member of. Under the disqualification rules, she can’t be replaced, and all six teams are going to be fighting down a person.”

“Not fair!” I protested, my voice just one among the chorus objecting to this turn of events. Iona slipped her hand in mind and gave me a quick squeeze.

“If I may explain.” The Black Rose spoke softly, but he had a way of cutting across the entire room, everyone silencing themselves to listen to the [Judge] speak.

“As you should all know, I am one of the premier [Judges] of this event. Neutrality, and adherence to the rules and laws is my calling, regardless of my affiliation with all of you. I will now attempt to explain the rules and policies that came into play here.”

He slightly adjusted how he stood, and suddenly, he had presence.

“As an elemental, Morning Breeze’s exact age is impossible to determine, even by our experts. There is no way we can verify that she is within the age brackets given. Further, elementals tend to exist in one way, shape, or form, before springing into existence. What is the proper age metric? From the time the wind first started to blow, or from the time Morning Breeze was created? That was the first concern. The second concern is a shielding and protection one. While all combatants in an event may choose to forgo shields, I am the only one who is able to even begin to form a protection for Morning Breeze. This places her at great risk… from a rules and philosophy perspective. That said, a number of [Judges] did agree that common sense could apply, since she is an elemental. No, the last, great point came from the Silver Clause. Shirayuki, would you care to explain the Silver Clause?”

Our coach stopped storming around so much, and walked over to the Black Rose.

“The Silver Clause. In a way, it’s what I wanted. Just not quite like this.” She explained. “When a team shows up with a way to flat-out win the entire event - multiple events even - and there’s simply no hope for anyone else to win, and the organizers are concerned for how the event is going to be viewed, they invoke the Silver Clause. In a nutshell, our secret weapon gets banned, but we get generously compensated, both with money, favors, and influence. I don’t like it. I’d much rather have Morning Breeze make our point for us instead. But I should be able to use it to crack down hard on all the other shenanigans that are going on. That idiot [Poisoner] who tried to sneak in last night will help us make our point.”

“Boooooo!” I called out, and I wasn’t alone.

“Pathetic.” The Black Rose’s voice cut across us. “Are you not members of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft? Do you not have anything better to do? In many senses, you have already won this year’s events, in all categories. Do not be such poor sports. Lastly. You are the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. It would be to my eternal shame if you are unable to entirely sweep all of the events, even down a single person. Think!” Mormerilhawn ended his speech with a derisive snort, and teleported out of the room without another word.

He did manage to shut us up though. Shirayuki seized the moment.

“Mormerilhawn is correct. This is a chance for us to show the world that we are the best. I expect nothing less than total victory. Now, for the brackets. I will start with the unrestricted singles. Anyone interested please meet me in my room.”

I filed into Shirayuki’s room with Pascal, Sarama, and Iona.

“Elaine. Pascal. Sarama. Excellent, please take a seat.” We did as Shirayuki asked.

“We pulled some early round luck.” Shirayuki said without preamble. “The seeded Lithos team met with disaster on the way over. They had three trolls with them, and something about an overly large tree, a rabbit, and the fact that they had imported Aerie wine meant the three trolls encountered sunlight.”

We all gave a sympathetic wince. The troll’s curse was nasty. Instant death when sunlight was involved?

“They asked to meet against one of the powerhouses in the first round, and with some negotiations, I managed it to be us. Their one request is we take them out fast and hard, to minimize their time in the spotlight. That’s the first round taken care of. Second round’s going to be against the Yellow Jackets, unless the team that won through the preliminaries can beat them, and it’s possible that the Yellow Jackets don’t want us to beat the stuffing out of them. On a larger note, Hapensburgs is on the other side of the bracket, along with Chanlarr and the Wizard’s University. Calador’s and the elf Academy are on our side. Round 5 and 6 respectively. Round 3 and 4 are completely up in the air. Questions?”

Iona looked like she was physically in pain, and I had enough information to start.

“With the whole Silver Rule nonsense, does that mean I don’t need to worry about potion smashers anymore?” Sarama asked.

Shirayuki gave a curt nod.

“In theory, and the fauns know we’ll be quite cross with them if they let any shenanigans occur after the Silver Clause was invoked and we specifically asked for skullduggery to be reduced. They know we’ll be extra annoyed with them if anything happens to us specifically. I expect dramatically increased security. All this to say, no. Your potions should be safe.”

“I’ll have to remove the traps then…” Sarama muttered to herself.

Iona was slowly dying in the background while all this was going on. Shirayuki turned to her.

“Yes. You’re against Rolland in the first round.”

Iona’s triumphant shout almost burst our eardrums, and got people running.