A Bright and Shiny Life

"You've been spreading rumours about me, Riley!" I half shout, slamming my open hands on the desk in front of him for emphasis.

I managed to focus on the history lecture, but had to excuse myself from the following Lucas/Preston debate (Lucas once again argued that history is a process, while Preston denied this), citing overwhelming anger towards another person making it impossible to meaningfully contribute. I simmered in the nexus chamber until it was time for math class, then stormed in and went straight to Riley, who had arrived before me.

The several dozen students in the classroom all turn to stare. It does not deter me.

He reacts with a calmly raised eyebrow. "Have I now? Is it spreading rumours to state the truth?"

"The word is agnostic to the concept! Moreover, it is not mere rumours you are spreading, but actual slander."

"Slander? Now that does require falsehood," he says, still calm with a faint tone of amusement.

"Did you not say that I lack all sense of propriety and honour and that I hate mundanes?"

"That… wasn't exactly what I said, but it's close enough not to quibble as I don't disbelieve it either."

"Your belief does not mandate you to share it to everyone who'll listen."

"I'm hardly shouting it from the rooftops. I merely stated my opinions to some friends when they asked about you."

"And how many others were in the room when you gave your opinion?"

He shrugs. "Oh, quite a few, it was a party after all, but I can hardly be held accountable for eavesdroppers."

I twitch in rage at his smug absurdity. "Then I say to you, and only you, that in war, the best way to keep the greatest number of your mundanes alive is to win. To do that, you need to keep your mages alive. Your tactics failed to do this on two occasions, and the only reason it didn't fail more was because Adrian happened to be unreasonably competent at compensating for your failure. I saved you during the breakthrough test and was a large factor in Adrian and the mundanes you're so obsessed with slipping through. So, I can only conclude that your utterly backwards understanding of tactics makes you completely unsuitable for any sort of command posting which you are so obviously seeking. I am saying this only because you elicited a response. It would be unfortunate if this affects your reputation, but I can't be held responsible for eavesdroppers."

He finally loses his calm, growing increasingly red and then twitchy as I continue. A few people giggle at my finish, causing his head to snap to them which cuts the sound abruptly off. He turns back to regard me then speaks icily. "Do you intend to challenge me to a duel?"

Do I? I mostly want him to apologize and undo the damage he caused, but that doesn't seem like it'll be happening. So, if redress isn't an option, satisfaction will have to do… Though technically, as of his utterance, I don't need to challenge him.

"According to imperial duelling law," I state, "if party a suggests to party b that party b challenges party a to a duel, then that is the same as party a challenging party b directly. This makes me the challenged, and so gives me the choice of weapon unless you wish to back down." Which of course he won't as he would look ridiculous. Thankfully, Allan made a point of familiarizing me with these rules, and I never learned the Caethlian ones to confuse me.

"…As you say." He grimaces, having clearly hoped I didn't know that detail of the law. "Choose your weapon then."

"Plethora Magicum," I say the rules which allows the use of any and all magic or weapons.

He nods slightly, having clearly expected it. "Plethora Magicum isn't a single set of weapons though, but a category of them. By invoking it, you give me the right to add a caveat. As such, I say you can't use your crossbows." Like him, I had hoped he didn't know about that rule, though this is still the best course.

"Restrictions cannot be unilateral," I counter. Otherwise, he could just bring his own magic bow and I'd have very little I could do to counter him.

"…All right. No ranged weapons."

"Define ranged," I say, exasperated at his vagueness.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, will you be bringing a bundle of spears saying they're melee weapons even though you can throw them?"

"…I would say that a singular spear would be acceptable, but a bundle would not. So, to refine the criterion, only weapons that are primarily melee and whose aggregate carry do not impair one's ability to fight in melee are to be allowed." As expected, he doesn't want me to have my best weapons, but he also doesn't want to completely eliminate throwing as a possibility as that might give me an advantage. So, he compromised in the way I wanted, which allows me to bring and throw my daggers. Though doubtlessly he'll bring his own.

"…Acceptable," I state. "But you adding a caveat allows me to add a caveat too." And so on and so on until one of us declines to. "Therefore, I say no armour."

"Does that include clothing with resilience symbols sewn in?" He asks, pointing to my own clothes. I had hoped he hadn't noticed, as I've used the clothes' enchantments to change the symbols to match the colour of the rest of the outfit. But there's still a faint glimmer detectable by the observant and augmented eye.

I can't find a reason to get out of the restriction, so I nod. "Agreed. Your turn."

He considers briefly before shaking no. "I decline to add further criteria," he says smartly.

If he had said anything else, I would have countered with no magic items at all, which would have given me a significant advantage. As it is, he'll almost certainly purchase a ring or something similar that'll grant fire resistance without technically violating the no armour rule. I could have stopped this by saying 'no magic protection', but that would mean no shield spell, and also allowed for mundane armour, which would likely be more useful for him anyways. Since if I had said no magic items last turn, I might have lacked the means to penetrate his mundane armour before he killed me.

…This would have been so much easier if I decided to learn the lightning spell last night and managed to finish.

I nod to him. "Very well. I agree to the rules if you do." He simply nods back.

"That's well and good," the dry monotone voice of our teacher who has apparently come in during our discussion, says from behind me, "but students are forbidden from duelling each other. If you want to fight, you can apply for a session in the shadow chambers." He uses the semi-official name of the large underground cavern where we had the team tests.

I glance to the teacher, then back to Riley. I do so much want to kill him, but I suppose it's not worth getting expelled. "I'm fine with that, if you are. Assuming same rules."

"Agreed," he nods.

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"Although," I start, thinking as I go, "this does change things from a contest for satisfaction to a contest of skill. It would be appropriate to add stakes so to gain redress that way."

"What do you have in mind?" he asks, suspicious.

"If I win, you give me a public apology."

"That would be…"

"I'm not done," I cut him off. "After the apology, you will track down anyone who may have heard your inflammatory remarks, which means everyone who attended the party, and recant. Finally, you are to write a statement, approved by me, making your apology, recanting all harmful remarks and swearing not to make similar ones about me in the future, then publicly post it on the main school nexus where it will remain until it naturally decays."

"Is that all?" he asks ironically.

"…Yes."

"Fine, but if I win, you leave the school."

I laugh with one sharp exhale. "Don't be absurd, that's not even close to being equivalent. My stake for you would only be socially damaging, and then only to repair the harm you've already done. Your stake for me would not only be socially damaging from me having to leave the school in disgrace, removing the potential of forming connections here in a far more total manner, but would also deprive me of the best education in the world. Try again."

"…Fine, I would be satisfied if you make similar apologies and statements to me for what you said today."

"Agreed."

"Great." The teacher says to everyone with witheringly dry wit. "Now, if you two would be amenable, I would like to start class."

A faint giggling is heard throughout the room at our expense.

…

I knock on the door and wait. I'm about to knock again when it suddenly opens to reveal Ser Terry's smiling face. He's moist, in his undergarments with a towel hanging from his neck.

"Malichi!" he says in pleasant surprise, "What brings you around?"

"I um, need a second."

"Yeah, sure. As much time as you need. My roommate's out and I'm not in a rush."

"No, I mean, I need a second for a duel."

"Oh, um… who with?"

"Riley. He's been spreading unacceptable rumours about me. I confronted him about it and things escalated."

"I see…" he's strangely still, clearly wanting to say something, but remains silent.

"Sigh, don't worry, it's not a real duel. It'll be in the shadow chambers, so we won't be killing each other even though I want to. Though we will be following all the forms."

"…That's good then. Best to get it out of the way safely, I guess." I give him a questioning glare. "I mean, you two really did not get along. I suppose this was bound to happen sooner or later, with him or someone else." He speaks dejectedly, though tries to force positivity.

I wave him off. "I had hoped to never think about him again. He seemed content to do likewise until I found out about this… You still haven't given your answer." I end with slight nervousness.

"Oh, right. Of course I'll be your second. I'm honoured you came to me… Happy even."

I smile at his response, feeling comforted by it. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you."

"…If you couldn't, who would you have gone to?"

What? Does he want me to say he's the only one I can depend on? "I don't know, Bart probably."

"…I see," he says, and I instantly regret my outburst.

"Sorry…It would help if you would tell me what's going on with you two."

"…I know."

I exhale slowly with my eyes closed. It's not the time for this. "Probably not Bart – he'd be a lousy second…No, he'd probably be a really good second, just in the wrong way… So maybe Emily?"

"Emily?" he asks, surprised for some reason.

"Yeah, well, her dorm is across from mine, and having the genius ice mage lending her weight would almost be as good as having the genius knight."

He pouts. "Is that the only reason you came to me? To get the genius knight?"

"…Of course not."

He smiles. "Good… But Emily? She'd make a lousy second. At least against Riley. She'd just go into a long rambling analysis of the situation from which she'd assume, without actually making an argument, it would be obvious Riley would capitulate when really, it'd just egg him on."

"Yeah," I laugh, "you're probably right…Adrian then. They seem more diplomatic about things at least, and it would make sense to get someone from the team."

Ser Terry nods in a way that suggests I completely misunderstood the intent of his question. Like he's relieved I came up with someone who meets his standards. "Yeah, Adrian would be good."

"…Thanks for doing this."

"Of course, no problem."

"…Would it be alright if I stayed here for a while. I don't really feel like going back to my dorm."

"I mean, my roommate might object when he gets back, but sure, at least until then… Anytime."

…

The sound of rain dances on the roof of the small shack they put me in to wait, its cool rhythm leaving me nothing to do but stare out the window into the darkness.

The door opens to admit Ser Terry. I smile at his presence, but he responds much more coolly.

"…Is everything set?" I ask, trying to intuit the cause for his expression.

"Yeah. I spoke with Riley's second and everything is still agreed. You're set to go down together a half hour before your appointment at midnight."

I nod. "Odd that they wouldn't give us an earlier slot. It doesn't seem like there's enough people using it to fill it up." Fortunately though, the scheduling people gave us permission slips for staying out past curfew when we complained.

"Well, midnight is more fitting for a duel, and they probably wanted to give you more time."

"Time for what?" I ask.

He doesn't answer, instead turning inward before finally speaking. "…I also saw Riley."

I give him a suspicious look. "…You weren't supposed to, not yet at least."

He shakes his head. "I didn't talk to him, he was just in the background when I talked with his second… He seemed cornered."

"Good."

"Is it?" he asks.

I give him a questioning look. "He tried to corner me too. I mean, what do you call trying to trick me into being the challenger?"

"Yeah, you were both cornering each other, but you were better."

"…I fail to see how that's a criticism."

"It wasn't meant to be, I was just…" he inhales sharply through his teeth. "Look, are you sure you want to do this?"

I scoff. "Are you saying that because you think there's no chance I'll win?"

He shakes no. "I am saying that because I think there's no chance you'll lose."

I laugh. "I know you're supposed to be supportive of me as my second, but you're overstating things a bit; don't you think? Riley is a capable squire after all…Well, a squire at the very least."

"Don't be coy, we all know this duel was decided the moment you said 'plethora magicum'. Riley may have extended it a bit by denying you your crossbow, but without his armour he'll be simply too vulnerable. He would have had to restrict your spells to have a chance, but he couldn't do that because they're an essential part of the rule set. He'll try to prepare with his family's assets, but you'll have some trick, like you always do, and you'll win. You know it, I know it and he knows it."

"So what's your point?" I ask, very pointedly.

He exhales as if letting out tension. "My point is that nobody is going to believe he means an apology that you beat out of him in a contest that he didn't have a chance in."

"He'll mean it, when I'm done with him." After all, we requested the pain settings to be set at triple realistic – the highest setting allowed for our age. Though I know it's possible to get the illusion system to exceed that by having it simulate structural damage.

Ser Terry opens his mouth as if to speak, closes it, then opens again. "I don't understand why you're being like this. I've never seen you so upset as they say you were with Riley."

"They?" I ask.

"Riley's second was in the room, and I encountered a mutual acquaintance who said the same."

The frightful youth, most likely…He still hasn't given me his name despite complaining that I don't remember it, but he was in the class. I shrug. "Wouldn't you be if someone were saying such lies about you?"

"Maybe? I don't know. But I didn't think you'd care about what some blowhard says about you."

"I don't care about what he says, I care about what people hear… I…I need to get a good post when I graduate, my… family situation, it requires it. But I won't get a good post with the reputation he gave me hanging around my neck. If random strangers tell me I'm 'the gloomy mage' and I lack propriety and honour and I hate mundanes. It's why I said what I said – to attack his future prospects in the same way he attacked mine."

"…Okay, I get why you're upset; but are you sure this is the best way to deal with the problem? That it won't just give you a different bad reputation? If it will even end the reputation at all instead of feeding it?"

"…No, I'm not sure at all, I'm just…" dealing with so many nonsense problems "… I don't know how to deal with this except directly." I sigh in admittance, my body going loose all at once.

"Then let me help," he says, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly and looking into my eyes with a smile. "He'll apologize if you do. People will believe that a lot more easily than something forced out of him, especially if they hear about how easily you beat him."

I shake my head. "An apology wouldn't be enough. It might slow the spread, but it won't reverse the damage. He needs to do his full stake… but if he does, I'll do the same."

He smiles, hopeful. "Alright, yeah, that makes sense. I'll let him know and see what he says." He makes towards the door.

"Wait… Terry, um… thanks," His smile broadens, emboldening me to continue, "and um, if you want. I mean, the permission slips for the curfew, I don't think they'll know we didn't do the duel, so, if you want, we can stay out for its full duration. I don't know, just walk around or something."

His smile takes on an unidentified tone. "You don't have class in the morning?"

"Eh, it's just basic medicine. It'll be review for me, so I can afford to be a little sleepy."

"Then I guess I'd better do my best to convince him, because I think I'd like to do that."