Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave, with an abundance of electric eels swirling above his head, sent them forth not to attack but to exert pressure. It was like a pointed gun, ready to fire at any moment that Castro’s attention wavered. If he should attempt some retreat again, they would follow. The old spellcaster regarded them with his eyes briefly, and then focused back on Argrave.

Off to the right side, one of Argrave’s blood echoes prepared [Bloodfeud Bow]. He projected another echo far out to the left. He wouldn’t commit undue resources to this spar, but at the very least he wanted the old tower master to get a taste of what he could truly do. Castro observed the blood echo for a few moments, and then walked toward Argrave.

Argrave walked backwards with efficient, balanced footwork, thankful for the flat ground of the arena. All the while he prepared spells in his right and left hand, sending probing attacks of lightning to stall and sting if the tower master wasn’t paying proper attention. But the tower master… every spell Argrave cast, the old man seemed to catch it squarely in his hands.

“This is one of the virtues I discussed with you—experimentation,” Castro explained, his defense remaining solid despite that fact. “This ward I cast is large enough only to cover my hand, but it’s a B-rank spell nonetheless. I made it myself, to outlast opponents with pure efficiency.”

The explanation was so ridiculous Argrave couldn’t help but laugh, and in response he called upon a large spell Anneliese favored greatly— [Icebound Twinblades]. He hoped Castro’s answer might not be as simple as with the Bloodbriars. Twin arms of ice took shape, and in their hands gargantuan blades of ice spread out flat. They spun towards Castro with devastating force, impossible to block with one hand alone.

Argrave was anticipating the tower master to dodge as he already had, and prepared both the eels and his blood magic to fire wherever he ended up. Instead, Argrave saw a mana ripple from beyond the spinning blades, and instinctually called upon his enchanted ring prepare a B-rank ward. A blast of wind shattered the ice blades, sending fragments everywhere and obscuring vision for a brief moment.

In a moment of unnatural speed, Castro arrived at Argrave’s ward. With ice fragments shrouding him, the eels would have trouble getting a solid hit, and Argrave felt a fool. The tower master had something black in his left hand, and it was only once Argrave’s ward shattered did he realize it was a knife of Ebonice. Still, Argrave didn’t succumb. He knew the tower master sought to limit his ability to use his [Bloodfeud Bow] by getting close. As the tower master raised his empty right hand to cast a spell, Argrave finally called upon the blood echo he’d sent out to the left near the beginning of this exchange. Once more, [Nine-Tailed Bloodbriars] erupted as a potent assault. Castro’s eyes widened when he saw the surprise attack, but quickly changed his strategy, moving his hand from Argrave’s direction to the ground.

A wave of ice that seemed almost liquid erupted out of Castro’s hand, colliding with the floor and spreading outwards. Argrave stumbled over it, barely avoiding faceplanting in his haste. It kept him from retreating as he’d intended, and with that done Castro redirected the continuous wave of ice toward the whipping blood magic. The two opposing attacks balanced each other out. His spell was barely strong enough to block all of the attacks as they came, almost like it had been calculated.

Argrave tried to rise and back away, but Castro merely calmly dropped the Ebonice knife and started to turn his right hand forward. With Castro still too close to use the arrow of blood, Argrave called upon a seldomly used hidden card of his—Garm’s eyes. With them, he conjured a spell just before his face. Castro was surprised, but conjured a ward to meet the knight of wind that unleashed [Pavise Gale] with its tower shield.

called down the electric eels. As he did so,

some S-rank spells… Argrave wondered a brief second if he’d gone too far. As both hit concurrently, however, Argrave saw the [Bloodfeud Bow] redirected at an upward angle. Castro had fallen to the ground, creating a ward at an angle that minimized contact with the projectile. In turn, the

head. He came to the realization Castro had managed to attack even amidst all that. His vision failed him briefly, and when next he opened his eyes Argrave laid on the ground holding his hand to his head. He was replaying what had just happened when

ascension,” Castro commented. “But were this a true duel, I believe you would have far more difficulty preparing that arrow of blood you used.” He looked at the site of impact for the arrow, and Argrave followed his gaze. “If you were going all out… could

manage more than two blood echoes at the same time in active combat right

would be hard to prepare that attack,” Castro mused. “Doubly so against someone as monstrous as

generally don’t fight alone. Wait ‘til my wife gets here, I’ll

laughed pleasantly. “I think I was overly harsh in my assessment. I had no idea how adaptable you could

still lost,” Argrave pointed

talent only makes me all the more eager to teach you what you lack.” Castro focused on Argrave intently. “Battle is ever-changing. It is impossible to predict how things will play out, even with complete knowledge of your opponent. Total flexibility allows one to succeed in a variety of environments, since no single outcome can be

as you did.” He crouched down beside Argrave. “That’s a lesson in leadership as much as in battle. What has happened to

exist today, and the forces that influence it are in flux.

at the tower master, perhaps wondering if he

purpose in saying this?” Castro continued, looking around. “Leadership of an organization and doing battle, in my eyes, require one thing for prolonged success. Intellectual humility.” He looked back at

Argrave slowly

But even with all of the knowledge in the world, you must swallow the fact that you can be wrong, and that another method might be better or more efficient. I’m not saying that you are wrong, or even that you’ve made wrong choices… but it’s a change in

was open to adopting this,” Castro continued, walking to the discarded Ebonice knife and retrieving it off the ground. “I implemented it into my way of fighting. I think that you, Argrave, can teach me as much as I can teach you. What you think, and what you say—it has value to me. And because I think in this manner, I was able to improve up to this point. The ideal leader is not perfect, because perfection does not exist. The ideal leader recognizes