Book 4 - Chapter 41

"Really, Aeron? I thought better of you," said Cid, exasperated.

"Do not seek to order them to surrender, or the Rite of the Crucible is invalid," warned Caradawg.

"I'm not ordering him to surrender, as much as I'd like to," said Cid.

"With my apologies, I just want to know if I can beat him," said Aeron.

"Don't apologize. It wasn't fair of me to put this on you guys," said Brin, though he was starting to worry. Aeron had [Blade Mastery]. He'd be a tough nut to crack, especially if Brin wanted to save some Mana for Hedrek.

Cid said the words. "Take heart and fight bravely! Remember always that the eyes of Anshar are upon you. Let the light cast away darkness. Let truth prevail and let justice be done."

Brin pressed in first, hoping to end things quickly, but Aeron defended perfectly, always putting his body in the ideal position to avoid Brin's strikes.

Still, Aeron wasn't used to fighting with a top-heavy mace, and Brin was able to find openings to poke a few scratches on his armor and nick the skin at least once.

Battle Fury: 55%

Aeron dropped the mace and drew his arming sword, and immediately his defense improved. Brin fought, using all of the new power that [Battle Fury] was giving him to try to overwhelm the [Squire], but Aeron fought economically, using the perfect parry every time to redirect Brin's strikes while not using too much of his own energy.

Brin's arms were starting to burn, his breath starting to come in heavy. If he was this tired, shouldn’t Aeron be wearing down as well?

Brin changed up his moveset, using the unusual moves that he’d learned that day with sir Crost. He struck from the side, moved in directions that shouldn’t be possible, reversing his momentum in ways that only someone with hundreds of points in Strength could be capable.

This finally made Aeron start to sweat. He gave up completely on any counter attacks and put his whole energy into defending. Where before he parried carefully and preserved his strength, now every swing of his sword carried his full strength.

No one could carry on like that forever. His hands started to shake, his movements lost their refined edge, and Brin got a few more lucky cuts in.

Aeron stumbled, and Brin thought he finally might have the surrender.

He stepped back, and watched Aeron fall down to one knee, gasping for air. He wedged his sword into the ground to keep himself from falling to his face.

“Give up,” said Brin.

“No. I don’t think so,” said Aeron.

“You can’t seriously think you can keep going,” said Brin.

With titanic effort, Aeron pushed his leg up, and then rose to his feet. “This… is your… fault you know.” He gasped with every word. “Without… all that training you made us go through… I never would’ve lasted this long.”

Aeron seemed to recover in real time, and by the time he finished speaking, he was almost breathing normally again.

He lunged. Brin put his spear into place, but Aeron lurched unnaturally, copying one of the moves he’d just seen Brin do. Brin missed his parry. Aeron's sword flashed, and Brin didn't move fast enough to stop it from slamming against his breastplate. It clanged and bounced off, but the result was clear; if Aeron had a better weapon, he would've won just now.

Brin backed up and Aeron didn’t press. He noticed the [Squire] favoring a leg. Had he sprained an ankle or something by doing a move his body wasn’t ready for?

Brin had wanted to win this with pure hand-to-hand, to make sure they knew that he was more than his magic, but now he decided that Aeron deserved better than that.

He summoned his magic, casting four Mirror Men in a circle around Aeron.

Aeron was quick, even favoring one foot. He shattered his way through the glass Brin's in a matter of seconds, but that's all the time Brin needed.

He summoned a ball of glass and threw it like a shot put, empowering it the way that he normally would a javelin. “<Biting Sphere, Enemy, Destroyer, Hurting Blow, Flashing Wind. Seek and Destroy. Fire!>”

The ball of glass slammed into Aeron's breastplate square on. It didn't shatter when it hit, but created a huge indent in his armor and drove him to the ground.

Aeron still hadn't moved when Brin stood above him, holding him to the ground with his spear.

"I surrender."

You have defeated: Aeron

Opponents remaining: 4/9

Battle Fury: 70%

Brin was startled by the sudden eruption of cheers from the surrounding townsfolk. He supposed now that they'd seen Brin spare four knights, they were losing their fear that they were going to see one of the heroes who'd saved their town die today. Also, that had been quite the spectacular finish. In the pure light of Eveladis, all the quick movements and strong blows seemed even more epic than normal. While he couldn't use light magic, he could still do things like paint his glass to make a splashy burst of color when it exploded.

He helped Aeron off the ground and said, "You would've had me if not for my magic."

Aeron laughed. "I would've had you except for your entire Class? Well fought, Brin."

Cid said, “Tell me that you at least–”

Anwir was next. "I'd like to try," the archer said simply.

Cid didn't bother to argue further, just shook his head and spoke the words of the ceremony.

Instead of squaring off nearby like all the others had done, Anwir elected to back way, way up, starting the duel from nearly twenty yards away. Brin didn't know if there was anything in the rules that said he couldn't do that, but no one complained so apparently it was fine.

Anwir, then Rhun, then Hedrek. He was tired, and bleeding, but still doing good on Mana. He could do this.

Anwir loosed an arrow as soon as the fight started, and since Brin was expecting it, he dodged easily. He returned a javelin, which Anwir promptly dodged.

The obvious solution was to try to close the gap, but what fun was that? He wanted to beat Anwir at his own game.

What followed was a high-stakes version of dodgeball, with the both of them sending projectiles and stepping out of the way of their enemy. Anwir tried to lead the shots, but Brin stayed on the tips of his toes and moved in unpredictable directions. Brin tried to use homing glass javelins, but Anwir was seriously agile and slipped out of the way of them all.

Brin split his mind, and while half worked on dodging, the other half prepared a trap with glass. He created a flat piece of glass on the ground, and then used the remains of his missed javelins to ready a Mirror Man behind Anwir.

Anwir loosed three arrows in quick succession, and Brin only had an instant to register what was happening. The first two were to hem him in, and the last had a Skill behind it: [Power Shot], strong enough to break through his armor and then some.

Brin flipped up the glass shield he'd prepared, letting it block all three arrows, though the last one shattered both shield and arrow, and a few fragments of the explosion pierced straight through the cloth portion of Brin’s armor.

Anwir put another arrow to his bow, and gave Brin a look like he was giving him a chance to surrender.

Brin pointed at something behind Anwir. At the same time, the Mirror Man that Brin had summoned there reached over and tapped Anwir on the shoulder.

"Gah!" The [Squire of Arrows] jumped a foot in the air and dropped his bow in surprise. He reached to pick it up again, but both he and Brin knew that Mirror Man could've stabbed him in the back just then. Anwir cleared his throat. "I surrender."

The crowd laughed a bit, and Anwir smiled, too, seeming unoffended by their reaction to the result of the match. 

You have defeated: Anwir

Opponents remaining: 3/9

Battle Fury: 95%

Ninety-five percent. Just a bit more and he’d be at full power. That last five percent didn’t mean much, but it was aggravating.

"You're great with a bow, but you need an answer for when your enemies get close," Brin told Anwir.

"That's why I have all of you," said Anwir.

Everyone's amusement soon quieted as Rhun stepped forward. He didn’t make any overt displays to put a damper on the mood, but there was a weight to him today. 

This man was different from the others. Everyone could see that, and it wasn't just a matter of levels. He was more serious than the rest, and walked with purpose. He walked like a man.

"I need to know how far I've come," Rhun said simply.

"You're all using me as a yardstick, but who am I supposed to measure myself against?" Brin whined, but his heart wasn't in it. He’d already resigned himself to this.

He pulled away the shards of glass and arrow that had lodged in his armor. A large chuck of wood in his stomach had a bit of blood on it, but nothing too bad. Compared to the 95% [Battle Fury], his wounds were nothing.

Brin pumped his arms to keep his pulse up, and jumped on his toes to keep limber. "Whenever you're ready."

Cid said the words.

Rhun [Charged].

Brin went all out against Rhun from the beginning. He created Mirror Men as quickly as he could, summoned javelins in mid-air and fired them using Split Minds to enchant the power. His Mouth Manager never ceased in filling his voice with the sounds of Language, and every time Rhun drew close, he lashed out with his spear, putting every ounce of his strength into his attacks.

Rhun was relentless. He spammed [Charge] over and over, methodically destroying the Mirror Men as fast as Brin could make him, leaving no chance that he'd get surrounded. He [Charged] shield first, destroying the Mirror Men and leaving his sword arm free to parry counter attacks or press his advantage. 

It was stunning that Rhun didn’t have [Blade Mastery] because he was as smooth as Govannon and as perfect as Anwir. No wasted movements, no hesitation, just smoothly flowing from defence to attack, from one move to another. He blocked every spear thrust and javelin with his greatshield, and his sword always seemed to be where Brin least wanted it.

This wasn't even a Skill, nothing but the result of discipline and practice.

Soon, the glass remains of Brin's broken javelins and Mirror Men littered the ground. Brin hadn't managed to score a single hit against Rhun, but neither had Rhun managed to tag him, not even his armor.

Still, he couldn't do this forever; he was running low on Mana.

He made six Mirror Men, making his Mana pool drop dangerously low, but gaining himself a few precious seconds. The directed threads guiding the mirrors fought as well as they could, but Rhun's flesh was faster than Brin's magic, and he soon broke them to pieces.

Brin used that time to harden all the glass on the floor, making it flat and smooth. Especially smooth.

Rhun and Brin met eyes, and Rhun nodded, sensing that the fight was nearly through. He [Charged].

Brin feinted left, then moved right. He prepared to trip Rhun as he passed, but Rhun ended his charge early. He readjusted his shield and then put his leg back like he was going to [Charge] again.

Brin swung his spear like a baseball bat with desperation-fueled strength. He struck Rhun, who easily blocked with his shield, but Brin kept pushing. Rhun moved a foot to stabilize himself, and his metal-clad foot slipped on the smooth glass.

He fell on his back, hard, and Brin jabbed his spear under the armor of Rhun's stomach until he felt flesh, using the magic in the glass to prevent it from penetrating.

"I... surrender," Rhun said, still stunned.

Brin helped him up like all the rest, and Rhun said, “Is that my last weakness? My footing?”

“The last one I can think of right now,” said Brin.

You have defeated: Rhun

Opponents remaining: 2/9

Battle Fury: 100%

Brin honestly didn’t know where that last five percent had come from. Had he hurt Rhun somewhere? Had he gotten injured? It didn’t matter. His physical stats were fully doubled now.

Hedrek was tough, but he fought like a wild man. Good against lots of enemies, but bad in a duel. All Brin had to do was–

“I surrender,” said Hedrek.

All Brin had to do was stay fast and light, wait for an opening, and then… wait, what?

“What?” he said aloud.

“Thank you! If I had been the only one to surrender, I would’ve felt like a right coward,” said Meredydd.

“That’s not why I did it. Did all of you forget what we’re doing here? This Rite of the Crucible is to determine if Brin is an [Illusionist]. Well, I’ve never seen nor heard of an [Illusionist] that can fight like that, not under the light of Eveladis. Brin is no spy, he’s no deceiver, and he’s certainly no [Illusionist].”

Opponents remaining: 1/9

“Thank you, Hedrek. That’s very mature of you,” said Cid.

Brin looked around. Had he actually done it? Had he really finished the crucible? He’d started this because he had no choice, but it was hard to believe he’d really done it. And not a moment too soon. His hands were shaking, bruised from repeated strikes. His magic was near empty and his brain felt foggy from pushing his limits for so long.

All that was left was Cid, and he would definitely… he would…

Brin met Cid’s eyes. Oh no.

"Brin isu Yambul. You have defeated my Lance and now only I remain. Take heart and fight bravely! Remember always that the eyes of Anshar are upon you. Let the light cast away darkness. Let truth prevail and let justice be done."

“You’re really going to fight me?” asked Brin.

“Our duel has already begin,” said Cid. “But by all means, take all the time you need to gather yourself and prepare. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Brin wanted to sit down and sob. Cid? He had to fight Cid? He’d never seen him fight anyone; he had no idea what his moveset was. The only inkling he had was when he’d seen Cid execute that gangster. How was he supposed to counter that?

Well, if Cid wanted a fight, Brin would give it to him. He’d come too far to give in now. He didn’t waste Cid’s offer to take some time to prepare. Using the last dregs of his magic, he pulled glass from the ground and formed them into Mirror Men. He split his mind into five, so that each Mirror Man would have a conscious mind guiding it, all of them working with perfect coordination. 

His Mana was empty, but he pushed, giving as much power as he could to his weapons. “I’m ready.”

There was a tinkling sound like the ringing of a bell. A disorienting moment as his split minds all retreated and came back together in his body.

As soon as it began, it was over.

Cid was standing in front of him, sword pressed against his neck. Behind him, four glass heads split off their bodies and fell to the floor.

Cid smirked. “You asked before, who you might use as a measuring stick. I volunteer myself for that position.”

Brin’s mouth was suddenly dry. He didn’t respond.

“Well?” asked Cid.

“Well what?”

“Are you going to surrender?”

“I surrender,” Brin said numbly.

Alert! The Rite of the Crucible has ended.

You have failed to defeat all other members of your Lance.

Opponents defeated : 8/9

You have proven yourself and brought glory to your Order. Your honor is boundless this day. Knightly has grown.

Alert! You have upgraded Hide Status. 22 -> 25

Alert! You have upgraded the achievement: Knightly (Epic)

Knightly will now upgrade one of your Skills.

Athletic Training becomes Advanced Knightly Training

Advanced Knightly Training

Increases your ability to learn the duties of a knight, including combat, armor wearing, and riding.

+100% [Advanced Knightly Training] Skill growth

+3% increase to physical attribute growth rate per level of [Advanced Knightly Training]

Upgradeable.

Level up! 39 -> 40

+5 Strength +1 Dexterity, +2 Vitality, +2 Magic, +3 Mental Control, +1 Will, +2 free attributes.

You have two new Class Skills available. See the options now? Y/N

You have two free General Skill points. Spend them now? Y/N

That was an incredible advancement. If he was reading that right, he had basically just gotten [Riding] for free, without needing to spend a Skill point for it. Not to mention that he now had the combat learning Skill that had turned Govannon into such a monster.

But none of that mattered if he was still going to be arrested.

“The Crucible has ended and Brin has failed. But be not dismayed; I’m exceptionally proud of each and every one of you. Now, does anyone have anything to say before I render judgement?” asked Cid.

Govannon spoke up first. “Whatever else he is, Brin is a true man.”

Cowl nodded in agreement.

“Brin has the soul of a warrior,” said Brych.

“Brin is innocent,” said Meredydd.

“Agreed,” said Aeron.

“Not a warrior, though. A knight,” said Anwir.

“I once thought as you do, sir Caradawg. That he had a few Commoner tricks, but couldn't truly be called strong. I learned the truth many months ago, before I ever came to the Lance,” said Rhun.

“You all know what I think,” said Hedrek. “Brin stays with us.”

Cid said, “There you have it. If you mean to take my man, you’ll have to go through all of us. I have no doubt that you could. After all, with your strength, sir Caradawg, the only thing stopping you is your honor.”

Brin had to blink several times to try to catch how Caradawg was reacting to all this. His vision was blurry for some reason. It was so annoying that the Eveladis was still in the air, because he couldn’t do anything about it. He was sweating from the eyes; that was it. He was just sweaty and tired. He definitely wasn’t getting weepy because a bunch of idiots were stating the obvious. 

He blinked a few more times, and finally Caradawg’s face came into focus. The man looked a lot more solemn than he had when he arrived. All bluster was gone, and Brin thought he could finally see hints of the kind of man that knights would follow into battle.

“At the very least, I can say that Brin isu Yambul is not at all the way he was described to be. You there! The big one. Come, lend me your back,” said Caradawg.

When Hedrek realized Caradawg was talking to him, he walked forward and Caradawg spun him around. The [Grand Master] of the Order of the Broken Stone pulled a piece of paper and a pen from his storage bag, and then used the plate of Hedrek’s armor to write out a letter.

When he was done, he folded it up and handed it to Cid. “Please give this to sir Galan the instant you return back to your Order. Within, I have requested that Brin immediately be questioned by your Order’s [Interrogators]. I have also included an apology for my conduct today.”

He gave Brin a single nod, and then strode away. His armor shone in the sunlight as he retreated, showing not a single speck of dust.

His departure was like a dam breaking, and the people of the town rushed forward to celebrate the heroes of their town. Omhar got them all out of their armor to check their injuries. No one was more injured than Brin, and when he admitted that he had a Title that would heal his injuries on their own, Omhar had decided to use his limited magic to focus on the horses instead. Eneuaw took that as an invitation to dote on him instead, and always seemed to need to lean all over him while dressing his wounds.

Brin let the day happen, resting and recovering, and decided that he’d deal with his Skills and everything else later. He was excited to choose them, but his brain was feeling a bit weird after splitting his mind so much, so he decided to wait until he had a clear head to look at them.

They rested in town again that night, and departed the next day.

It wasn’t until they were far away from town, walking beside their horses, that Brin finally asked the question that was on his mind.

“Gurthcid, sir, I need to know. Why didn’t you surrender?”

“Because these things still mean something to me. I am the son of a Count; I had many paths open to me, but I chose to become a [Knight]. So no, I won’t surrender against your accusations when I know them to be accurate. Even if I’m the last person in the world to do so, I still care about the truth. You’re obviously an [Illusionist].”