Jackal Among Snakes

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.

Even despite the ice on the floor, Argrave managed to get some distance. [Pavise Gale] had blown away the ice fragments, and so Argrave called down the electric eels. As he did so, his echo bearing the [Bloodfeud Bow] secured an angle that would not hit Argrave at the same time. It finally shot across the arena toward the tower master.

A swarm of electric eels, a spell of blood magic strong enough to be compared to 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 electric eels slammed against this largely undamaged ward harmlessly.

As Argrave stared in baffled shock, he was hit once again, and pain lit up his 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 Castro walked up to Argrave, looking down at him.

“Very good work. I nearly called upon my A-rank 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 you manage more of those bows?”

“Probably not,” Argrave admitted freely. “Hard to manage more than two blood echoes at the same time in active combat right now.”

“Hmm. With only two echoes, it would be hard to prepare that attack,” Castro mused. “Doubly so against someone as monstrous as you claim Mozzahr to be.”

“Yeah, well…” Argrave exhaled. “I generally don’t fight alone. Wait ‘til my wife gets here, I’ll show you…” he raised his fist and shook it in jest.

Castro laughed pleasantly. “I think I was overly harsh in my assessment. I had no idea how adaptable you could be. I don’t think that’s something that can be taught, truly.”

“I still lost,” Argrave pointed out.

“But knowing you have 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 accurately forecast,” Castro said, taking on a teacher’s affect.

“We can think about possible outcomes, and certainly adjust to whatever opponent we might face… but no one has the foresight to predict or the force to ensure a desirable future. Hence, you nearly humbled me, casting that spell from your eyes as you did.” He crouched down beside Argrave. “That’s a lesson in leadership as much as in battle. What has happened to date determines the probability of where things are going tomorrow, but probabilities don’t determine the outcome. Even if something has an eighty percent chance of happening… it could end up being one of the twenty.”

Castro rose to his feet and said firmly, “The future is not knowable. The future does not exist today, and the forces that influence it are in flux. The link between now’s circumstances and later events is a loose one. In simpler terms, it is what it is. Knowing and understanding that is key.”

Argrave stared at the tower master, perhaps wondering if he knew what Ingo had proposed to him all along.

“What’s my 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. “You have confidence. It’s in you—in the way you fight, and take action. Now, you should become intellectually humble.”

“What? Humility?” Argrave slowly sat up.

“Intellectual humility. There’s a difference.” Castro shook his head. “You know a great many things, Argrave. 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 mindset that allows you to be more.

“Because of that trait, I 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 his imperfections, and constantly smooths them out as he grows without end!”

Argrave listened closely, feeling that his understanding was just short of what Castro explained.

“It’s somewhat paradoxical, but you have to always question yourself while acting in total confidence,” Castro said. “You must cultivate a brutal rationality that pervades your mind. But in leading, and in combat… the only way to avoid the vicious circle is to separate yourself from your ego and your emotions. And like this, you may create a virtuous circle.”

Argrave tapped his foot against the ground, and then rose to his feet. “Is this just philosophy, or…?”

Castro smiled. “There are two types of people that predict the future. The ones that don’t know, and the ones that don’t know they don’t know.” He shook his head. “You can ignore me if you want. I thought you might appreciate these ramblings. I think… I’ll be able to better teach you in the future. I think I can help you more than I thought.”

The more that Castro spoke, the more Argrave thought he might know about Ingo’s proposal. But in the end, the tower master walked calmly for the exit. Orion walked back to rejoin Argrave, the prince looking at him in concern.

“Are you injured?” Orion asked cautiously.

“He never really used spells that could hurt me,” Argrave said. “That wind burst, maybe, but… no. I’m fine.”

Argrave lost. He could cope and say things would be different if he could use [Requite], or if Anneliese could be here with him… but strangely, that wasn’t the thing that bothered him. Instead, Castro’s words hung in his mind, chipping at something he’d built in his head to keep it together.

“Let’s go get things situated here,” Argrave said, looking at Orion. “I want to get everyone doing what they should be doing. I want to make it to the Burnt Desert tomorrow, secure the alliance. From there… the Alchemist waits.”