A Scholar Without Magic

by Guy Antibes

  The fourth round was against another Writer’s Guild swordsman. This one was as old as his first opponent, but he was thinner and much faster. Sam fought as valiantly as he could, but he succumbed to the older man’s experience and lost five to three.

  He looked up where Mito and Banna sat to see empty seats. Sam shrugged and left the ring.

  “See the healer,” Drak said, “You are bleeding.”

  Sam hadn’t noticed how many cuts he had sustained, especially in the last bout. He went to the healer’s office, which was set up a like a real clinic. He could imagine in a real tournament with experienced fighters on both sides, what the place would look like.

  The healer noticed Sam’s shoulder. “This wasn’t from today,” she said.

  Sam shook his head. “Two days ago.”

  “My, you heal quickly, but some of your new cuts require stitches,” the healer said as she began to get to work.

  Sam didn’t care if they were pollen stitches now that his matches were over. The second bracket had already started, so Sam would join the rest of those not competing out in the spectator seats.

  He sat by himself on the other side of the aisle from mostly Level Twos and Level Threes. A person sat down on the other side of him. Sam gasped, thinking it was Banna, but he turned to look into Mito Nakara’s eyes.

  “You didn’t do too badly,” Nakara said. “The last person you fought shouldn’t have been in that bracket, and I’ll bet your coach knows it. You were a bloody mess after he got to you.”

  Sam snorted. “After everyone got to me. The cuts are cumulative, and most of them weren’t enough to score points for them.”

  “I noticed. Do you want some additional training in Lashakan swordsmanship? You could upset some of the more traditional fighters.”

  Sam shook his head. “I tried, but I kept returning to my more conventional style.”

  “Not the marauding swordsman?”

  “I call it Baskin Brawling. It really doesn’t work in the dueling ring,” Sam said. “I would need more space if I wanted to use that, and that style doesn’t protect from touches.”

  Mito observed a match and nodded. “I see what you mean. I can work with you. Banna and I will be in Tolloy for a month or two, but she doesn’t want to see you.”

  “Is she embarrassed?”

  Mito laughed. “Is she! Mortified when she realized we had to return to the capital from Ristaria. But she also doesn’t want you spotted with her. I am significantly less notorious, and there aren’t any orders to have me arrested.”

  “I can talk to Professor Grott. Maybe we can work at the university practice hall.”

  Mito nodded. “A good idea, Sam. I was going to suggest it, actually.”

  “You are establishing contacts in the city?”

  He nodded absently as he watched the swordplay. “Banna hopes she can re-establish a few, but she burned quite a few bridges when she left Tolloy.” He turned to Sam. “But that isn’t your problem. I’m not here to recruit you, Sam, but we both would like to move your development along while we are here.”

  “How is Banna going to improve my development?” Sam asked.

  “I am in charge of that.” Mito rose from the seat and brushed off his pants. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Sam watched him walk up the steps to the outside and disappear. Norna sat beside him.

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  “A friend from my voyage from Wollia. He is a Lashakan.”

  “Like in Lashakan sword.”

  Sam nodded. “He offered to help me improve my Lashakan style swordsmanship.”

  Norna snorted. “It needs improving, especially if you want to use it in the ring. That is me talking.” She frowned. “I didn’t make it as far as you. Won one, lost one. I didn’t see your last match, but I heard that your opponent was in the first bracket last year. He had long hair then and cut it to disguise himself, I heard.”

  “It is all experience for me,” Sam said. “I made it to the final match, and that was more than I expected.”

  “Where did you think you would place?”

  Sam shrugged. “I didn’t give it a thought. I just fought my best.”

  “We both proved that we belong as Level One students,” Norna said. “I’m happy enough with that.”

  ~

  Sam waited his turn for an interview with Professor Grott. He didn’t know what to expect, other than getting a mix of encouragement and criticism.

  “Smith, your turn,” one of his classmates said as he exited Grott’s office.

  Sam sat where Grott pointed.

  “Who was the Lashakan that sat next to you in the arena?” Grott said.

  “We practiced swordsmanship a bit on the voyage from Wollia to Tolloy. He offered to tutor me in the Lashakan style.”

  Grott nodded. “That is very good news. He can teach you here if he wants.”

  “I suggested it to him, and he thought it was a good idea.”

  “I’d like to watch a few sessions. You never know where you might pick up something new. Consider my permission given; just clear time with me.”

  “I can do that,” Sam said.

  “Now, your matches. You didn’t disappoint, but you could have fought with more effort,” Grott said. “I could tell you didn’t thirst for a win. That is fine with lesser opponents, but you didn’t have the edge I’ve seen in you before.”

  Sam could only nod. Grott was absolutely correct.

  “Did someone tell you that you fought a first-bracket opponent for the win in your bracket?”

  “After I lost. Norna said he cut his hair to sneak in.”

  Grott gave Sam a grim smile. “And he changed his name. I protested to the Writer’s Guild, not that that would do any good, other than to let them know that we will look for other cheating when they fight in one of the big tournaments. You fought him well. The judges were so impressed by the match that they let little touches slide by, just as they did in the first bracket. He was as cut up as you were.”

  “I didn’t even notice,” Sam said. “I did try to do my best.”

  Grott nodded. “I know you did, but you have to develop a more aggressive instinct. Once you got going, you gave him a real match. I don’t have any major issues with your dueling, but you will need something extra to make up for your strength this year, like I said. Next year, you should be much better. There is a rookie bracket in the city tournament at the end of the season. I think you could use that as your goal.”

  “Rookie? But I’ll be more experienced by then.”

  Grott smiled. “It isn’t a club tournament, like our three majors, but is an open tournament open to all comers. Rookies are those who took up dueling for the first year. Participants need documentation to qualify in the bracket.”

  “You mean I’d be fighting against grown men?”

  “You fought against two yesterday, Sam” Grott stood up. “I don’t need a long session with you. Start on your work with the Lashakan. We won’t have another tournament for a month.”

  Chapter Nine

  ~

  S am sat at the library table. Since it had been nearly three weeks since his encounter with the thief, he decided he could use the same technique one more time. Norna studied with him.

  “Don’t look over there,” Sam said, “or you’ll scare the culprit away.”

  She growled. “I’m not patient enough for this, after all.”

  Sam sighed and shook his head. “You promised.”

  She put her hand up. “I’ll be a good girl,” she said.

  After returning to his studies, he caught movement by their table on the other side.

  “Sam!” Tera Barako said. The Lashakan girl grinned. “Can I sit here?”

  Norna raised her eyebrows. “I’m with Sam, but I’m not with him if you know what I mean. By all means, sit.”

  Tera’s eyes flashed with delight. “I haven’t seen you for some time.”

  “Where is Glory?” Sam asked.
“I thought you two were inseparable.”

  “She is taking a challenge test. We both are encouraged to move quickly through our classes. All of Professor Smallbug’s chicks are.” Tera eyed Norna.

  Sam realized he had to make an introduction. “This is Norna Hawkal, one of my fellow duelists. She is a Second Year student.” He turned to Norna. “I’d like to introduce you to Tera Barako. We traveled to Tolloy from Wollia. Tera is a Lashakan clan chieftain’s daughter.”

  Tera emitted a nervous laugh. “I’m probably banished now. So I heard the dueling team had their first tournament of the season. Were you able to fight someone?”

  “I was in the third bracket, and Norna was in the second.”

  “That is good, I suppose?”

  “For our first year on the team, it is,” Norna said. “We will see how everything works out this year.”

  Tera kept her eyes on Sam.

  “How are your studies?” Sam asked.

  “We are starting on advanced wards. That is what Glory is being tested on right now. She is better than I am and may test out of the course.” Tera looked at the clock. “I have to get going. I’m next!”

  She left in a rush, leaving Norna and Sam looking at each other.

  “I think she likes you,” Norna said.

  Sam nodded, but said, “Even if she does, I can’t return her feelings. Tera is headed down a different path than I am.” He finally had a chance to glance at their bait.

  Sam sighed. The book was gone, and so was the thief.

  ~

  “Maybe you should buy a used textbook,” the clerk at the university’s bookstore said to Sam when he brought another new book to the counter.

  Sam shook his head. “They keep getting stolen. I don’t know why.”

  The clerk pursed her lips. “Then you should keep better care of them.” She took Sam’s money and moved to help a waiting student.

  Norna laughed behind Sam’s back. “You should do what the woman says,” Norna said as they walked out of the bookstore.

  “I’m working on it. If it wasn’t for Tera—”

  “Your girlfriend?”

  Sam shook his head. “She is pretty enough, but as I said, I’m not interested in someone who will be laying out wards to kill people.”

  Norna frowned. “What is the difference between that and using a pigsticker?”

  “Are you a proponent of walking up to someone and sliding your blade through their back?” Sam said. “Wards are indiscriminate weapons.”

  “War is indiscriminate, so I’m told.”

  Sam sighed. “I’ve been in battle, and it is different, but I still don’t like wards.”

  Norna didn’t say another word as they walked across the campus. The pause in their conversation gave Sam some time to think. Was he being too naive about not liking wards instead of swords? He decided he probably was, but that still didn’t mean he had to like damaging people without risk to himself.

  He had read about battles where the field was full of traps, and Sam didn’t like traps either. It didn’t seem fair to him. He guessed what bothered him was that the soldiers could not defend themselves.

  Sam and Norna set a different kind of trap at the commissary near his dorm. He couldn’t observe for very long since he had an appointment to meet Mito Nakara for training in the Lashakan style. They set up the books to look like someone was studying, taking care to arrange it differently than the arrangement at the library.

  Sam sat with his back to the table, with Norna watching the books over his shoulder. They waited about three-quarters of an hour before someone paused at the table to bend over to pick something off the floor. Sam observed the thief snatch his book.

  “The bait has been taken, and there is no Tera to bother us.” Sam rose from the table just when Hint Balkal, one of the students and a Trakatan just like Norna, stopped at their table.

  Sam gasped. “I have to go. You can talk to him, Norna.”

  He rushed out of the cafeteria, hoping he hadn’t lost the thief. He looked both ways and spotted the man heading towards the south gate. Sam ran towards him but slowed down as he approached. He continued to walk faster than his suspect until he finally reached him, just before they reached the gate to the outside.

  “Stop right there,” Sam said as he grabbed onto the man’s coat.

  His quarry turned around. Sam recognized the thief who had evaded him weeks ago.

  “What are you doing, kid?” the man said.

  “You just stole my book.”

  The thief stopped. “I didn’t steal anyone’s book.”

  Sam was certain that he had and pulled out the university guard’s whistle and blew. Two guards chatted at the gate, and they came running.

  “What is the matter?”

  The thief pulled his arm away from Sam. “This boy seems to think I stole his textbook.”

  The guards looked Sam over when he presented his authorization from Lieutenant Kelch.

  “Sam Smith, eh?” the guard said. He waved the paper at his compatriot. “He’s got permission to do what he is doing.” The guard looked at the man. “If Smith said you stole a book, we’d like to see the books in your bag.”

  The man’s eyes widened. “You can’t do that! I’m an adult.”

  “And so am I,” said the guard. He held out his hand as the other guard grabbed onto the suspect’s arm. “Let him look at your books. He isn’t going to burn them up.”

  The man looked trapped, as far as Sam could tell.

  “Look at the one on Engineering Sciences. I can prove it is mine,” Sam said.

  “By the way, aren’t you a little old for a student?” one of the guards said.

  “Learning is a blessing at any age,” the suspect said.

  The guard pulled out Sam’s book. “Is this the one?”

  Sam nodded. “Watch this.” He scratched the pollen patch that he had Plantian Plunk put on the inside cover. “That is my name.”

  The thief began to struggle, but both guards held the man. “Get the iron manacles in the guard office under the gate,” one of the guards said to Sam, who ran into the office and returned to see the two guards moaning on the sidewalk.

  “He made a club and thrashed us before running under the gate. We got a good look at him. Punt, here, thinks he knows him as someone who supplies the used bookshop.”

  Sam grinned. “That’s the kind of lead that we need.” He took the guards’ names. “I have a class to get to, but after, I will get over to the guard’s office and make a statement.” He handed his book to one of the guards. “Keep care of that. It is our evidence, and both of you are witnesses.”

  The guards nodded. Sam hustled to the practice hall and was taking off his coat when Mito Nakara walked in with Professor Grott.

  “You already look out of breath,” Nakara said.

  Sam grinned. “I was doing some snooping and caught a serial thief today. Unfortunately, he got away, but one of the guards identified him.”

  “Still at it?” Nakara said. “Well, let us get started with our Lashakan forms. Professor Grott wants to watch. Is that acceptable?”

  Sam shrugged. “I suppose.”

  Nakara and Sam worked for nearly an hour before the Wollian called a halt.

  “I have to leave, but I’ve corrected enough parts for you to work on. Keep up with the forms, and we will meet again in a few days.”

  Sam and Grott watched Nakara leave.

  “You shouldn’t abandon trying to incorporate that in your dueling. Let’s spend some time going over transitions. I think that is what gives your opponent the chance to take the advantage,” Grott said.

  Sam wanted to head over to the guard office, but Grott kept him for another hour. As he hurried to the guard office, Sam reviewed the day’s lessons. First of all, he thought that guards should carry weapons and manacles with them at all times. Sam guessed the two men couldn’t produce defensive pollen articles before the thief had them on the ground.

&nbs
p; His other big lesson was that he had been using his own imitation of the Lashakan style, and it was a poor imitation at that. What he ended up using was a weaker style than any he had learned on the way to Tolloy, and even the basic dueling style that Professor Grott taught. Only through the reactive swordplay, he had to use sparring with Baskin constables, did Sam rise to win or lose less than gracefully. He admitted as much to Grott, who had laughed and nodded when Sam shared his insight with him.

  Grott wanted him to stay after practice tomorrow to continue what they had started. And that thought finally brought him to the guard office.

  He found Lieutenant Kelch talking to the guard who had recognized the thief. Sam’s textbook was in Kelch’s hands.

  “Good work, Smith,” Kelch said. “Your thief was just spotted entering the used bookshop. I’ve already sent men with weapons and manacles to greet him when he comes out. What is your opinion on what happened when my men tried to apprehend him?”

  Sam looked at the other guard, who looked a bit embarrassed. “I went to get the metal manacles in the office, but the man created a club before I returned, and then he escaped. Perhaps your men should be armed, trained to quickly make armor of some kind, or make pollen manacles. That is what constables used in the Baskin constabulary.” Sam remembered the feel of pollen manacles softening on his wrists. “If they can’t, then they should carry some at all times.

  Lieutenant Kelch nodded and looked at the guard. “I think we will make it mandatory for them to carry manacles.”

  That meant that the guards weren’t the most talented of pollen magicians in Tolloy. Maybe they didn’t pay them very much, Sam thought. “What happens now?” he said.

  “We question the man to see if he will admit to anything. If he doesn’t, we have this.” Kelch slapped his hand on the textbook and three witnesses. “We can at least ban him from campus.”

  They were leaving Kelch’s office when there was a commotion in the main room. The three of them ran out to check. Sam looked at the man the constables were fighting with. Sam shook his head, feeling defeated. “That is not the man,” he said. “He is the clerk at the used bookshop.”