A Criminals Respite, an Officers Solace

Chapter 2 Pyrrhic Victory and Graduation Part 1

A/N: Some minor edits have been made, improvements to grammar as well as slight changes to wordings and progressions. Really just trying to turn this into the chapter it was meant to be.

The echo of a hard-soled boot on stone rang throughout the dueling wing of the fort, emphasizing how empty the building was during the early morning dueling sessions. Shawn was never out of his room early enough to see the light shine perfectly through the stained glass windows and how the light shone just right onto the tall banners made of many different colors, and outfitted with all kinds of symbols to denote which houses are which. Amongst the seven different banners one stood out, a large banner in the center towering over them all. The banner was a four corners checkered pattern with the upper right and lower left being a light gray, the remaining squares a dirty white. In the gray squares sat both a raised griffon and an unmarked shield outlined in a bright orange.

The early morning duels have been getting shorter and shorter due to Shawn and Darin being the final two recruits of their class. The others have been removed for one of various reasons, those being either a lack of progress while confined, or an inability to use the Art. That last one in particular washed out more than half of the class. With all the extra allotted time both Shawn and Darin would normally study manuscripts of Conqueror fighting techniques, and the various blunt weapons they can be seen carrying while in combat. They also spent a large amount of time in the library, learning commonly used Viking, Samurai, and Wu-Lin combat doctrine to improve themselves and get an edge over one another. However, today was not that day.

Shawn arrived at the dueling ring only minutes after Johnathan and Darin had, which surprised the both of them. Shawn normally took his sweet time adorning his armor and then finally arriving a good 30 or so minutes later. Today he had made it in only a fraction of that time and arrived in ten minutes, fully awake. He arrived in record time, eager to hear the news waiting for both him and Darin he assumed. Shawn was, however, stopped in his tracks as he noticed the room had vastly changed from the day prior. Along the wall of the room were tall banners starting at the top of the room and going to the bleachers that lined the edge of the room at the bottom. All of the banners were the same shape, each having a long rectangular body that ended in a steep point. The banners were all that of Fort Scutage, showing the same gray and dirty white color pattern, along with the same raised griffon and shield outlined in a bright orange.

Looking further inward Shawn also noticed that the Anchor has changed color and design as well. Normally the Anchor was a dark lime-green rounded crystal that stood 15 feet in height and 5 feet at its widest with a taper going down the body of the crystal. The crystal hovered over a large glowing rounded pyramidal rock named a lodestone. The loadstone had four hand holds for Art linking, two for the duelist, one for a referee, and the fourth for spectators to view the duel. This new Anchor however, had a glowing gold crystal of the same proportions and features, except with the addition of a crown bolted to the top of the crystal. The loadstone also had changes, the new loadstone had the same pyramidal shape and the same three hand holds. However the loadstone also had stone carved wings spread upwards, perfectly aligned with the edge of the crystal near the Anchors peak. The loadstone also had gold traces seemingly holding the rock together as if the loadstone was broken apart and repaired with gold.

"You done gawking, or do you wanna use the rest of the time youd normally take getting here to gawk some more?" Jonathan spoke up from the front of the enamoring Anchor, behind and beside Darin. His voice had hints of smugness, along with a sense of impatience. Shawn never got to answer as Johnathan took the initiative to speak again. "Doesnt matter, what does is that youre here now, and that I can now inform you and Darin why the change in scenery." Jonathan stowed his flail on his hip, and affixed his gold trimmed heater shield to his battle belt with frightening speed. Once settled he grabbed at a pouch behind him to produce a letter, wrapped in a red string that had a gold trim along the edge. The letter was pre-sealed with a red wax seal, ready to be sent by courier. "This is a letter of departure, and recommendation for Fort Harbor. They are in need of a new Champion to replenish their ranks, we just so happened to be the closest with Champions all but ready to reinforce."

Jonathan held the letter in his hand for a short while, allowing the two recruits in question to fully absorb the meaning of the letter along with what Jonathan had said in regards to the letter itself. After several seconds he stowed the message in his back pocket. Once done he reached his hands up to his bucket helm and undid the chin strap. Afterwards he removed his helmet revealing his short stubble beard, short but shaggy brown hair, and green eyes. His face had many creases, some appeared to be a result of his age, and others of stress. With Jonathan's helmet removed he fixed his hard gaze on both Darin and Shawn. "Due to this special occasion, and with how far along both of your trainings come, I and the other Headmasters agreed that you're both ready for your final test." He gestured to the golden anchor behind him with his right arm. "And this is your final test." The excitement was clear in his voice, this was obviously some spectacle if it got their mentor this riled up. "It's a special duel, with a tournament layout."

There was silence hanging in the room as Jonathan never lowered his arm. Darin decided it best to speak up lest he wants to suffer through more of Jonathan's round about speeches. His voice was gruff and deep, like most who came through this devotion in general but his even a step below the norm. "How does this duel layout differ from others? Not much you can change about a one on one." Both he and Shawn had ideas on what could be tweaked here and there, but surely it couldnt have been anything major.

Jonathan dropped his arm back to his side and re-donned his helmet, chin strap and all. "Come tether to the anchor and I'll show you how it works." He walked behind the anchor and grabbed onto one of the four handles, prompting the two trainees to also grab a hold of another two of the remaining three. The three could collectively feel their Arts connecting and interweaving on a level Shawn and Darin only partially understood. After a few short seconds Shawn felt his senses briefly enhance as a warmth enveloped him, the same kind of warmth you'd feel from taking your first swig of ale after a stressful day. Both Shawn and Darin let out the breath they had been holding and opened their eyes.

Once they had linked, the two Conquerors-to-be entered the arena shortly after Jonathan who stood at the entrance of the arena. The arena was nothing special, it consisted of a dirt floor, red fence postings and double layered rope fencing. One end had an entrance gate wide enough for multiple people to enter at once. Shawn and Darin walked to a corner each, opposite of each other and waited for Jonathan to explain the different set of rules for the tournament layout. "Now let's get to the bad news." Jonathan said. His voice now held a somber tone, a direct contrast to how he had sounded just moments prior to linking with the anchor. "This duel has shorter rounds, much shorter in fact." he held up his right hand only showing his index finger to the two. "Lightning rounds. Only one minute per round." he fully opened his right hand, exposing all five digits now. "Five rounds, that's unchanged. Highest remaining durability will be winning the round.'' He dropped his hand to his side and rested it on the fencing, mirroring what his left hand had already been doing.

Darin was the first to process the information and speak up from his corner in the lower right side of the arena. "That's dandy and all, but that doesnt sound like bad news, just a quicker duel." Jonathan nodded his head in agreement, as the point was valid. He stayed his response in case Shawn would like to throw in any input to the current situation. The moment given was not wasted as Shawn spoke up too. "Yeah, that's just giving me a shorter timer on taking down Darin." he followed the comment with a light twirl of his flail, resulting in a single full spin of the chained head. Darin gave his own response in a scoff before Jonathan spoke again. "The challenge lies in the fact that the loser is going to be sent off for another few months before being tried again with another initiate." he paused to let the two process the new information. "Try your best, no bars held and all goes. Good luck." he finished by standing up and leaving the arena, closing it behind him. Jonathan intentionally leaves no time to ask more questions. Once outside he began shouting at countdown, starting at 3. Shawn and Darin quickly entered their guard, locking onto one another and saluting each other in their own simple way.

Jonathan finished his countdown and the air was immediately tense as they both felt a mental timer start ticking, set for 60 seconds. Shawn felt his adrenaline spike, Darin could feel the time slow down as he was in focus. They both began their march towards each other and prepped their guards, Shawn opting to charge his flail, spinning it up in preparation for a heavy hit. Darin matched his guard and prepared to throw a quick light in order to interrupt him. Once in range they both released, Shawn with a left sided heavy, and Darin with a right sided light. Time froze for the two as their attacks collided, ready for the result.