It wasn't enough to have just run a gauntlet undermining every belief he had grown up with. Nor was it sufficient to be forced to kill people just doing their best to get through life, the same as him. No, the Meristan special forces liked to add a special layer to the trauma by making their operatives stand in front of a panel of officers to justify every action they took. Or make leaders like Reina justify herself. George and the others had mostly been left to stand and listen, and told off when he tried to interject in response to some criticism.

Two days passed during their debrief, during which he was not allowed to even announce that he had returned to the country, let alone sleep in his own bed. Nor were they given anything to fill that time. For the long sessions where the other teams were enduring their own questioning, George was left alone in a barracks room. So he stared at the wall and stewed. What if he had turned left instead of right? What if they had snuck into the Core room when there was no one there. What if he had better ways to break the Core when he did get there?

All of it swirled through his mind until he could barely remember what actually happened.

He couldn't even cultivate to kill the time. His meridians were still stressed, the fight after fleeing the supply depot hadn't helped matters. Every time he tried to do any sort of sustained cultivating, racking pains stopped him after a few minutes..

Well past dark on the second day, they were released. That's it. Just go back to their normal lives after everything. The soldiers were on leave, and he had been told he was free to go. George was unbalanced from the harsh change. At least the others had the comfort of their familiar routine and beds close by. He stumbled to the entrance of Fort Sarken in a confused haze.

"Ahem."

George jumped as one of the shadows moved and resolved itself into Martin's imposing physique. Something loosened in him at the sight, his legs almost collapsing from the wave of relief that washed through him.

A strong grip on his shoulder anchored him when he felt he could have drifted away..

"Bad?"

"Yeah." There were a thousand other things he could say, none of which he wanted to look at just then. "What about here?"

In the dark he couldn't quite make out Martin's expressions. But the grimace in his voice was clear.They started walking back towards the sect house while he got his own rundown of the last couple of months. "Bad. We've caught a few infiltrators, which just means there's plenty more not stupid enough to attack the sect. Lost a handful of Village Cores, though none near a larger City."

George felt his own face contort in sympathy. "The people who need the support the most you mean."

"Yeah. At least we have a smaller area to cover than the Empire. The Guild is working overtime sending people to check on everyone, so is the army. So am I. Laurel took a minute to talk to a storm eagle that showed up to attack. It's got free rein to eat anyone it finds misbehaving.

"Half our best assets are locked down with the Cores most of the time. And we actually give a shit about the rest of the country which means we can't just fuck off to cultivate like the Order does when they aren't needed for a wave. Its just bad all around. Made some new friends though so that's something. "

"That's it then? We just go back and forth trading sneak attacks until someone gets lucky?" Hearing how the rest of the conflict had fared in his absence was giving the lurking regrets an opportunity to rally their troops. He had done terrible things. They had to be for a reason or he would go insane.

"Not quite." The older cultivator took a long pause, perhaps deciding if George was ready to hear what was coming. "We've got some plans in motion. And everyone is working on making the Cores more secure. The Order hasn't sent anyone else straight at Verilia either. Laurel is so close to making the place a Capital. Once we have the teleportation network up and running, sabotaging individual Cores won't work as a strategy."

"Isn't that true for the Empire too?"

Martin sighed. "Yeah. It is. But we don't have much of a choice. If we had a few more people on our side, we'd risk taking the fight to the Order. But as it stands, if we do that we'll lose. So we beat them at their own game instead."

It was a long walk back to the sect house.

*********

Their formal sect officer meetings were beginning to look suspiciously like the Royal Council. Laurel wasn't sure how she felt about that, looking across the wide table, littered with reports and notes and cups of room-temperature tea. All they needed were personal troupes of assistants lining the walls while clutching reference materials, and they would be ready to rule a country.

A pointed throat-clearing brought Laurel's attention back to the matter at hand. Though in her defense, they had been going for two hours already and there was only so much she could take. Annette would probably like having a whole country to keep in line.

"The tournament," Annette announced to the table. "Are we sure it makes sense to go through with it? Bunching so many of our most potent assets like that seems risky."

"It is," Laurel acknowledged. "But we're at a stalemate. We do nothing, we lose the race. George and the others bought us time, but not enough. The Order set up the game board, we need to overturn it."

"There's opportunity in bad tactics," Martin added. "The army is on board. We'll set up some ambushes for anyone trying to take advantage. They've been working hard to train up enough cultivators to make a difference, and we're almost there. The soldiers still have their guns."

"More importantly," Laurel picked up smoothly, "it gives us a believable excuse. If everyone's together, then it's a lot easier for them to leave together too. Otherwise, if Masters started disappearing from their Cities, Laskar would hear about it."

"I don't know," Adam spoke for the first time in a while, looking up from his notetaking. "Seems thin."

"It is," she admitted.Again. "All of this is thin. If I had a better idea, I'd go with that. But I don't. All I know is at this point, inaction is going to be worse than doing something. Honestly, anything to get us out of the rut at this point."

Martin was nodding along, though the other two remained unconvinced. It would do for now.

"Very well," Annette said. "Next topic. Invitations."

This one, Laurel was prepared for. She pulled out a sheaf of papers, dropping them in front of her.

"Excellent. Adam can add the final touches for the calligraphy. Now advertising for the public bouts."

And on it went.

**********

Leander blinked at the bright light as they made it out of the tunnels and into their seats. The Arena was packed for the opening kalsa match of the season. Growing up, the area surrounding the stadium was one of the best places to snag a warm meal when someone tossed their half-eaten wraps to the beggar kids. Once he had become an initiate in the sect, with plenty of time to himself, he had become a proper fan. It was surreal to be able to see the games, and not just hear the roar of the crowd from outside.

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"Hurry or we'll be late!" Cooper urged from behind him.

"For what? The first speech from some boring old person?" Instead of following Cooper's instruction, Gabrielle slowed down.

"It's part of the experience."

An obvious mistake from Cooper. You didn't tell Gabrielle to do anything, she would fight back on principle. You just pushed ahead and forced her to follow. Leander did just that. Shouldering through the crowd to get to their seats. They were way in the back, high above the gamefloor below. Perfect, in his mind. They could see the whole arena from up here. It had nothing to do with being the only section where they could find eight seats together.

"I was right. They haven't even started the speeches yet," Gabrielle said as they filed into the two top rows.

Eric and Rebecca caught up to them, passing out the armfuls of sugar-spice popcorn they had fought through the concession lines to buy.

Leander cupped his carefully in his hands, making sure none of his friends accidentally jostled or spilled while he surveyed the Arena. Nothing stood out as overtly magical, despite Laurel having turned the stadium into a special City Perk. No impressive light shows or fake monsters to fight. Even without any of that, the air thrummed with the mana seeping through the stone.

Two teams assembled on the field below, balls and sticks arranged in the traditional starting pattern. But Gabrielle was right, though at least Cooper knew enough not to admit the fact. They had a while before anything started. An old man had stepped up to a podium, where he began to shout.

Leander had no idea what he was saying and didn't care to find out.

"Why aren't they using the announcer feature, do you think?" Natalia asked.

"Needs a cultivator," Eric answered. "I saw the job in the guild hall last week and asked about it. I guess the Council was worried that if they let anyone use it, kids would come in and start shouting stuff. So Master Devon did something to lock it into a developed mana signature."

The group nodded, except Cooper who looked mystified. Rich people didn't know how pranks worked, at least not the funny ones. Leander had picked up quite a bit about theupper crust over years of the man's acquaintance.

"We won't hear anything?" Natalia had missed the last two years' opening games when she went home to help her parents with the planting. It occurred to him that maybe he should have asked for input before claiming these seats.

"Don't worry," Eric continued. "The job was gone when I went back this morning. Someone took it. Probably just don't feel like projecting the speeches."

As they watched, the first old man stepped down only to be replaced by another. From this distance, they could have been twins.

"Who do you think is announcing when it's our turn next month?" Rebecca was bouncing up and down. Flint was just as excited, chittering on her shoulder. The kalsa were one place where crowds didn't bother her, something about the violence. Another reason they attended whenever they could.

Cooper cleared his throat. "Traditionally it would be a leader of our sect, as the hosts."

"That is…" Gabrielle trailed off but Leander could fill in the blanks.

Not good. Laurel and Martin were amazing, but maybe too harsh for the visitors, since they wouldn't be as strong as the sect. Annette would freak out and try to script the whole thing, and Adam would rather live for a month alone in the wilderness with no books than announce a fight.

"Maybe Devon will do it? He did a good job when Martin and Laurel had that display a few years ago." Natalia bounced back easily enough from the let down.

"Maybe." Cooper said.

"I don't know," Gabrielle countered. "Do you think he'd be impartial? Some of his people are competing, right?"

"Do we think Laurel would give us a leg up?"

A chorus of 'no's met Eric's question. No one questioned the universal truth, that Laurel would watch them all lose fight after fight in order to teach them a lesson. Mostly because she had done just that. To all of them. Often.

It was a good lesson, cultivators had to be persistent. Though the others usually argued it was more down to a twisted sense of humor on the part of their sectmaster.

Leander made sure no one outside their group was paying attention and pulled out his speaking stone. He relied on it less these days, but shouting through the – he glanced back up – third speech of the day might get them kicked out.

"A master cultivator would never sully their honor."

"I guess we'll find out." Gabrielle said.

At a gesture from Helene, they all looked and realized the game was about to start. A hush fell over the crowd as the players took their places. One team wore a deep royal blue. He was too far up to make out the crest but he knew from experience a white fish was emblazoned across the backs of their uniforms. The Markfins were sponsored by the Fisher's Collective, and were his favorite team last season.

Across from them were the Hunting Hares, in green uniforms with a rabbit on the back. Both teams were championship contenders, and the anticipation leading up to the match had sparked more than one argument in the sect house.

A whistle screeched into the silence and both teams were off. Balls started flying as half the players reached for ammunition, while the others picked up the long staves to defend.

The crowd roared as one of the Markfins made a diving leap to protect her teammate, taking the deduction of her own time to give them the leg up.

"What a save folks, what. A. save." The announcer's voice came through crystal clear, like he was standing only a few meters away, rather than at the base of the arena several stories below.

Leander took just a moment to scan the stadium and saw a member of the guild he recognized, but had never spoken to, with her hand on a control panel. That was as much attention as he could spare until the first third of the game ended and the teams walked off for a well deserved break.

"And the Hares are ahead, again. What can I say, I know how to pick a winner," Gabrielle boasted.

"Boo!" Rebecca made a blowing noise with her tongue and lips. "You wish. The Markfins are going to pull it back, just you watch."

The girls laughed and shoved each other as they walked off for the next round of snacks. They were far away from the vendors but the scent of fried dough was wafting all the way up the stands, and the group agreed they needed some to fortify through the next round.

"Who all is competing in the tournament?" Natalia asked.

Leander puffed out his chest before using his speaking stone, "I am going to win."

"Big talk," she replied. "Who's playing for second place then?"

"I'm doing the unarmed combat bracket," Cooper said. He shoved a hand through his hair, now down to his shoulders, pushing it back in agitation. "The Forest Monarch helped, but I'm apparently still a little too dangerous for the technique matches." He shook himself off. "Or rather, everyone else is still too delicate, to quote Laurel. There's a knowledge competition too."

"The test?" Natalia was aghast. "You're willingly signing up for taking a test? In public?"

"It's not that bad," Cooper defended. "But also yes."

"Alright, who else?"

"Not me," Eric ventured. "Though I'm looking forward to the healing practice."

"You'll be disappointed then," Cooper cut in. "The Arena has a similar effect as the Training Hall. Most of the healing comes just from being in the building."

"Knowledge. Test." Cooper reiterated his goal when they all stared at him.

"Oh." Eric didn't seem all that upset about it. Maybe because he had spent all spring working in the Hospital.

"Wait you're doing that?" Gabrielle said as she and Rebecca returned.

That prompted a recap of the discussion, along with Leander's statement of intent. It wasn't bragging. Not when it was true. A cultivator didn't need to brag. They tore into the sugary fried dough while the announcer called their attention back to the second round.

"Would you look at that folks! Going, going…caught by magic. The neighborhood couldn't be happier about the upgrades I'm sure."

The reaction to the ball that had been batted over the entire seating area getting caught and transferred to the control panel was mixed. Some folks jeered at the loss of a potential souvenir. Others cheered because they cheered for everything that happened in the stadium. Leander was mostly glad it meant they could go all out next month without worrying about hurting any spectators.

It was the Hares who walked off disappointed after the second round. Which only made the tension that much better as they anticipated the third and final portion of the game. Staff were already rearranging the obstacles and moving the scoring hoops to their final configuration.

Because the rest of his friends were weak and couldn't handle any more sugary snacks, they all waited around for the final round. Which naturally brought them back to the topic of their own competition.

"Solo combat, of course. Look out Leander. And teams. Fire and water, get ready. Me and Helene are going to sweep it." Gabrielle was standing, too excited by the prospect to remain in the hard wooden stands.

"You wish," Rebecca snarked. "Flint and I will be unstoppable."

From her shoulder, Flint raised both hands in the air and squawked his agreement. The picture was slightly ruined when Natalia reached up to rub his furry belly, and the lemur fled into her arms for more attention.

"Are you sure he's ready for that?" Cooper asked. Flint had abandoned Natalia and was now going around the group begging for more pets.

"It will be great! He's fierce."

"Okay. Sure." Privately, Leander agreed with the skepticism so obvious on Cooper's face. Flint was better at sneaking than he was at fighting. But he was resourceful and brave, so he wouldn't count them out.

"Do we know who else is coming?" Helene asked. She had made no comment about Gabrielle's claim, though a knowing smile flitted over her lips.

"The list is not publicly available," Cooper said. They all paused to watch a spectacular shot from one of the Hares. Then held it longer until the cheering died back down. "However I've asked around and it sounds like most of the usual suspects will be there. A few I hadn't heard of. I guess the army isn't letting most of their cultivators compete. And the visitors, of course. I tried asking, but if Laurel knows about them she isn't sharing."

"Wow. You're really going for it, huh?" Natalia said.

"I was curious. And my family said they were going to watch. Trust me, with a mother like mine you need to prepare as much as possible."

"Aww, that's sweet. My parents aren't coming, too worried about the new seeds so they need to keep an eye on the farm. What about everyone else?" Wide eyes marked when Natalia realized exactly which group she had just asked the question. Not a lot of loving family members to go around.

Leander was unbothered. It had been a long time for him, any sting was long forgotten in a childhood of unpleasant memories. He shrugged and shook his head, gesturing to the whole group to remind them who he considered family.

"I'm not competing, but maybe I'll ask my aunt to come with some of her friends.

She'll get a kick out of it." Eric saved the moment, to Natalia's grateful smile.

Most of their attention turned back to the game for the third and final period. It was close, both teams determined to win the season open and declare their dominance for the rest of the summer. In the end the Markfins eked out a win off a daring play from their newest member. Just as he knew they would. A good sign for things to come.

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