We used the bath in our dorm room to clean up in the morning, and were at the special dojo that was indicated in the welcome packet at the exact time we were scheduled for. Oddly, we did not see any other students. As we looked around, our instructor stepped out of concealment behind a set of paper blinds at the far end of the dojo. The room was huge. Easily over fifty feet square. The ceiling was twenty feet high.

“First year, Solan, first year Slaith. Welcome. We are here to determine your current level of skill. Step over to the circle in the center of the floor. Solan, start on the blue mark, and Slaith, I want you to start at the red mark. You are to fight at full strength and show no mercy. If either of you is injured, we have medical pods. I will be the one to signal the end of the spar.” The master stated.

We moved into position. This was a scenario we had planned for. I would put up a fair version of a fight, but I would let Slaith win. I entered the fight with a combination of air and water strikes and blocks. Slaith went all out with earth and fire blocks and strikes. Mostly fire for strikes and earth for blocks. I played weak as I blocked his fire with water as I wore down the earth defenses. I was sure that we had choreographed the dance of forces so that my water defense just barely failed in the face of his fire attacks. I sent him back to his starting point with a last push of water-based blocks mixed with fast and impossible to catch air strikes.

“Stop! Firstly, I wanted a real fight! Stop this foolish dance! A terrible fighter has an easier time faking competence than a good fighter imitates being a bad one. Sit on your marks!” He threw a small knife into the rafters. The blade struck a beam of wood in the rafters after it passed through a rope. Two banners, one on the right, the side nearest to the blue mark, had a tapestry like I've ever seen in our home. It was plainly designed but had clean lines that showed the beauty that comes with fine materials and attentive crafting. On a backing, the color of ivory was emblazoned a list in a rich, dark, blue lettering:

Earth = Strong

Fire = Fast

Water = Flexible

Wind = Untouchable

Will = Unpredictable

On the side nearest the red mark in the circle, another tapestry was revealed. It showed a list of the weaknesses of the five forces in blood red lettering.

Earth = Inflexible

Fire = Unrestrained

Water = Redirectable

Wind = Exhaustible

Will = Unreliable 

“I know that my student Stogar Standt would not have left you as helpless as you act. If he had, I would travel to wherever he is and beat him to death with parts of your bodies!” ranted the old man. “Now, give me a real demonstration, of I will beat you so hard your ancestors will feel it!”

This time, we knew better than to try to fool him. Slaith charged at me, combining his best fire attack with an earth blocking like before, but he used cleaner movements and his full strength. I used water-based blocks to wear him down and to set him up. I switched to air to get him to lunge at me in frustration. He never could tolerate being unable to get hold of me. I placed my palm on his forehead and used an earth-style strike to shove his head back as hard as I could, just as he was stepping forward into his lunge at me. This broke his balance and caused his head to go backward. His lower body was still going forward. The combination caused him to suddenly be horizontal and fall on his back. I followed the strike with a fire-style strike aimed as a killing strike at Slaith’s exposed neck. The master was instantly there, blocking my strike just as the wind from the fist brushed the prone boy’s neck, “That will be enough. I have seen what I needed to. Slaith, you will join the general class with the majority of the students. Solan, you will be assigned to a remedial class.”

I was astounded by this. “How is that a realistic assessment? I am not a slow student! I can reliably defeat Slaith in both armed and unarmed combat! Sorry, Slaith.”

“Boy, I can see your grandfather in you. When he got mad, he got stupid. Slaith is good enough to join the normal students. He will make friends, learn skills, and learn to fight as well as his father, and become a Stogar. A worthy goal.

“You are a different case. You are suited to seek the rank of Stolath, but the limitations of Stogar Standt’s abilities have handicapped you. If you only sought the rank of Stogar, you would be well and truly on the way to that title. I will not allow this waste. I have to unteach what Standt has put in your head and reteach you from the start. This is worse than teaching a child who has no instruction. Thus, remedial. You will be here an hour earlier tomorrow.

“Slaith, you have a one-hour class in this dojo two hours after the time you came here. For the rest of this hour, I require that you both practice every form for every source you know. I will be watching as you do it. BEGIN!”

 ---+++===+++---

Slaith and I threw ourselves into the forms. We began with the easy forms and progressed to the more difficult ones. Slaith had a hard look in his eyes. I could tell that the shame at being told he was merely ‘normal’. The master dismissed us once the hour was finished. We bowed to him and left. “Do not be late tomorrow morning! You both have much work to do!”

 We went back to the dorm and cleaned up just in time to barely reach our next class. We were studying ancient languages and learning how to break down unknown languages. The language tool that we had been taught about by Standt was not even mentioned. The introduction was grueling for the first day of classes. The instructor was a boring man of average height and a bookish look. He held himself with the air of a man who is never questioned when he makes a statement. Almost like the simple act of making a statement made it a truth. His uniform was old and worn, but showed expensive origins. The crest on the left side of the chest of the jacket indicated a lesser noble house that had been known for the acquisition of slaves.

Our next period was for lunch, a bit early for my taste, but we ate. There was no way the rest of our classes would be endurable without some food.

As we began our meal, Greah slid onto the bench right beside me. She really had no grasp of personal space. “Have you considered my offer? The women of my family make great mates! My mother has already approved any little ‘diversions’ needed to get genetic approval…” She did not seem to have any other focus when she was around me. She blathered endlessly about how well she and her sisters would be perfect wives for me. Over time, I was able to glean that this obsession was probably due to her family wanting every chance possible to produce a generation of grandchildren.

The little blonde was not getting a hint from my disinterest in her yammering. “We can talk about that whole thing at a later date, Greah,” I replied in hopes of stemming the verbal tide. “I’m not looking for wives just now. Why don’t we just have our meal and get to know each other? Maybe you can introduce me to other students.”

Her face had reddened, and her eyes had dropped to gaze at the floor when I told Greah that I was not in a marrying mood, but she looked up adoringly when I mentioned that she could introduce me. “I would love to help you get to know our classmates!”

The rest of the dining hall was either oblivious to what was going on or watching the whole interaction with a mix of disgust and amusement.

One of Sayleah’s thugs picked this time to sit down beside Slaith with a sneer. “So, little Lord, I see you are trolling the low end of the gene pool for wives. You should look for better options. Lady Sayleah could point you in a better direction. Just say the word, and she will accept your apology and your sword. She may even let you play with it every once in a while…”

A voice from some place to the left intrudes with its familiar disdain, “Miser Haleth! Did I just hear you suggest that another student treat the heirloom of his house like a bauble to offer to the disreputable young lady from house Racash in exchange for her dating services?” Stolath Zenash said with contempt. “Young Solan, your house would be dishonored by the lack of respect he just asked you to show. I hope you did not take it seriously.”

“I was not seriously making the offer, Master. I doubt a remedial student would be of interest to the lady anyway,” Haleth replied quickly with a flush of anger at being called out. I knew that this situation was only going to lead to more trouble with Sayleah’s minions. “In fact, I think our little group of friends should meet one night later this week to get to know one another better. That way, we can avoid any misunderstandings in the future,” he continued with a steady glare into my eyes.”

“I am glad you made that choice. Do not forget that you have an assessment for my class coming up in less than an hour, Haleth.”

The boy got up and bowed to the master before rushing away. I noticed that he hurried over to a table to the left that had a couple of the other minions seated at it. They also glared daggers at our table.

“Young Solan,” started the master. “I hope you know better than to associate with those people. She is a friend of the royal family. I very much doubt anything she proposes will bode well for you.”

“I have no illusions about her intent, sir. Thank you for stepping in.”

“It was no problem, boy. However, their actions may become more aggressive the next time I am not around.”

“Understood, master. I will take precautions.” I answered. He walked away at that point with a negligent wave. I would have to make sure certain items were on my person at all times now.

I had expected some confrontations and conflicts, but this was heating up much faster than I had expected. Slaith and I would need to plan our movements in more detail from now on. I could tell that Slaith was thinking similar things. I had a few items for him to carry as well.

Once we had finished our meal, Slaith had a history class to attend, I had a chemistry class, and Greah had a genetic design class.

Some of the other students in the halls would go out of their way to avoid me, as if I carried a deadly disease. Others would bump my shoulders in an obvious attempt to intimidate me. I just ignored both types of rude interactions. The rest of the day passed similarly. I sat with Greah and Slaith again for the evening meal, but Greah was pointing out people who passed and giving a short biography of each. Slaith had a tension in his muscles that told me he was on the lookout for threats. One balled-up napkin came close to landing on our table. Slaith hit it with a spoon from his tray and caused it to fall to the floor with a metallic ‘tink’ that everyone pointedly ignored.

By the time Slaith and I got back to our room, I was tired of the odd behavior of our fellow students. I washed up and went to bed early in preparation for the early start the next day. As I was drifting off, Slaith was sharpening his weapons. It reminded me of how his father would obsessively work on his own weapons frequently in the evening for many years.