B2 Chapter 4: Concerns

    High Lord Recindril Tostral stared across the practice yard at his opponent with intense focus, never blinking both eyes at once, for losing sight completely even for a literal eyeblink could be fatal in combat at his level. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the courtyard around them, the racks of practice weapons and a few trophies hanging high on the walls, and a part of him was alertly watching for any hint of danger from any direction. The bulk of his attention, however, was squarely on the younger man facing him with drawn swords at the ready.

    It was remarkably similar to looking in a mirror. The young man in front of him had the same strikingly red short-cropped hair, the same alert brown eyes, the same angular chin, the same well-muscled but wiry frame, strong without being overly bulky. Even the youth''s stance was identical to his own; right foot forward, knees bent, feet ready to dance like the wind across the ground, right-hand longsword extended forward to threaten an attack, and left-hand longsword held closer to parry. The family resemblance with his firstborn child and heir, Recindren Tostral, was unmistakable.

    The younger Tostral finally made the first move, a short step forward and a lunge, but the high lord could tell it was only a feint. The movements of muscles and mana gave away his opponent''s intentions to his finely tuned senses, and he responded with only a minute shift of his left sword, prepared to slap the strike away if Recindren tried to convert it into a genuine attack mid-lunge. Recindren withdrew his feint and shuffled to his right, trying to find or create holes in the elder''s guard.

    Lord Recindril rotated in place to stay facing his son and continued watching closely, analyzing for even the slightest flaw in the young man''s movements. He fended off a rapid series of thrusts and slashes, practice swords ringing almost musically as their dulled edges clashed repeatedly. Soon, it would be time to counterattack and test the boy''s defenses as well, but for now he merely played at being a hard target. That was an exceedingly scarce commodity for his son by this point, as only another noble would ever be able to stand up to the hurricane of steel the young man was unleashing on him. Most commoners, even high level adventurers, wouldn''t even be able to see the attacks, much less block them.

    His son needed a sparring partner he couldn''t instantly overwhelm, and Recindril was happy to fill the role. It gave him some much-needed practice as well, though he still had to hold back. His heir may have been empowered by their mana wellspring, but Recindril himself had received that power as well, and had developed further beyond that point in the years since then. He had an advantage of 8 more levels of compression in his mana, and the additional speed, skill, and strength from that could have ended this fight decisively in fairly short order. Neither of them would learn much if he pushed that advantage as hard as he could, though.

    The lord watched his son commit to a double lunge, one sword stabbing at his eyes and the other at his right shin, which was his most exposed body part. The move was superbly timed, with the eye strike coming just enough before the other to potentially distract from defending the leg. Against an opponent less able to keep calm, it likely would have scored a wound, maybe even a crippling one. Recindril just leaned his head a few inches to the side to barely dodge the eye stab and swung his right sword low to deflect the other. In the same movement, he smoothly pivoted forward, moving inside his opponent''s guard to bring his left sword forward in his first attack of the bout.

    He moved a bare measured hair less quickly than he could have, turning what could have been an instant defeat for his son into an opportunity for learning and recovery; a kindness he would never show to an actual enemy, such as those upstarts, Carlos and Amber. Not that either of them would be an issue much longer. Their souls should be dissolved already by now, and he was expecting a report of mission completion from the Black Blades very soon. That report is actually overdue at this point. Could something have gone wrong?

    Recindril''s mind was suddenly forced back to the sparring match by a stinging vibration in his left hand, accompanied by twin clangs of his son''s swords hitting his left sword on opposite sides, trapping it between them and twisting it out of his hand. An instant too late, he realized that his son''s attack, while genuine, had also been intended to bait exactly the response he''d made. He immediately stepped back and held out his empty left palm. "I yield."

    Recindren backed off, lowering both of his swords, and frowned. "What''s wrong, father? That move should not have worked that well against you. You seem unusually distracted."

    Lord Recindril sighed, then walked over to the side and placed his remaining practice sword back on its storage rack. "Your sister''s incident in Dramos should have been tied up neatly by now, but the report is late. The Black Blades are usually very punctual and professional. An unexplained delay from them is concerning."

    The younger man pressed his lips together in silence as he put his practice swords on the rack too. "Concerning, yes, but it''s unlike you to let any incident with a mere minor house weigh on your mind like this."NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

    "Yes, but... which house is it?" The lord retrieved his disarmed sword from where it had fallen and added it to the rack. "At first I attributed Jamar''s ignorance of that detail to merely her not having memorized every minor house''s children, but I do not recognize them either, by name or description, nor have I found them in our records. I find myself wondering exactly what house we have come into conflict with. Their ignorance of the rotation agreement also seems strange." He sighed again and shook his head. "There are too many oddities in the situation for comfort, and Jamar''s report is light on detail."

    "They included a sample item as proof that they truly could make things that I had believed were impossible. Their message directed me to leave my response, with a sample of my mana signature, in a specific location where their own arrangements would get it to them. They wanted to be kept informed of what jobs I took and for what payment. In exchange, they offered to sell special items to me, for very reasonable prices, as needed to enable me to successfully complete jobs that suited their purposes and that would otherwise be impossible." Granlan raised a hand to ward off the mage''s response. "And before you ask, no, I have no idea what their purposes are. They refused to say, and I see no apparent pattern in which jobs they have offered to help with."

    "Hmm." The royal mage tilted his head in thought. "I take it you can''t just request to buy an item, then. You have to tell them about a job you''ve been offered and wait to see if they''re interested."

    "Correct."

    "What did you tell them about the job that brought you here? You were not aware that the guards you faced were the Crown''s, I believe."

    Granlan cracked his knuckles. "I wonder if perhaps my client was unaware of that fact as well." He shrugged. "In any case, I gave them all of the information that my client gave me. I told them the objective, that the targets were young nobles named Carlos and Amber of an unknown house, that they had two competent, professional, and well-equipped guards, and that they were staying at a high-quality inn in Dramos. My mysterious supplier responded with an offer of two soul decoys that would adjust to match their designated targets, plus an item that would subtly disrupt the sensing and communication capabilities of the guards'' equipment. No idea how, that''s just what they told me it would do."

    The mage raised an eyebrow. "Soul decoys that can adjust to match a target after being made? And that do so without an enchanter working on it?" He shook his head. "Are such things typical of this... supplier of yours?"

    "Honestly? Yes. After all the things I''ve seen from them by now, I didn''t even blink at this one."

    "Hmm." The mage chewed his lip. "We will have to be cautious. How would you suggest attempting to find or identify them? Have you given the matter thought over the years?"

    "Send them a message about a new job, try to track it, and pray that my stealthy tracking capabilities can somehow beat whatever their countermeasures are. I considered my odds of success, or even of my attempt going unnoticed, to be rather dismal." Granlan crossed his arms and smirked challengingly. "I''m sure the Crown will have better odds, of course."

    The mage laughed. "We do have rather considerable expertise available for the problem, even if it''s not the Crown''s specialty. Very well, we will prepare for that."

    Granlan rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, the Crown''s specialty of utterly overwhelming force is undisputed and unchallenged. Now if you want to try the same sort of thing for proving that my client was House Tostral, we do have an opportunity for that too in a report I''m supposed to send, but time is running low for that. We''ll have to get me back to my company before they declare me lost and my second-in-command sends his own report in my stead."

    It was the mage''s turn to smirk this time. "That will not be a problem. Just tell me where I need to teleport you to."