HBWnovel Chapter 86: Baladon’s POV
Chapter 86: Baladon’s POV
Chapter 86: Baladon’s POV
Baladon’s POV
Baladon was a prodigy among his family. His older brother, Abaddon, always thought directly and was unrestrained in his actions. Their father and uncle, Otieno, had to cover up a lot of Abaddon’s missteps recently as he was getting bolder. But Abaddon had a leader’s charisma that Baladon lacked. Even with Abaddon’s malice, he still attracted followers. For this, he admired his brother.
Otieno Bricio was the sitting member of the Three, and he brought the brothers in on a plan to weaken the Torrent family. Otieno wanted Keelan Torrent to replace Abbos Torrent in the line of succession. Keelan had a half-sister Tessa, who was a model of beauty, and they were extremely close. Their grandfather favored both Keelan and Tessa, and he had made public the knowledge they would be added to the line of succession when they completed their eight years of the academy.
Otieno’s plan was simple. Tessa would bring her brother to the Sowing Festival, and Baladon would conspire to get Tessa to disparage the Bricio family. Baladon would call for an honor duel, and Tessa would point out Keelan. Then Otieno would step in and raise his favored grandson, Keelan, to the line of succession to avoid dueling Baladon. Very simple.
It went well with a Bricio mage planting thoughts in Tessa’s head to choose her brother as champion and to disparage the Bricio house. Both thoughts would seed easily as they were well within her nature and feelings toward Baladon. Then, they would supply her with an Unfiltered Truth potion. This was extremely delicate, but the Bricio’s had enough agents within the Citadel to make it happen.
Everything proceeded smoothly until Tessa was to select Keelan as her champion. Her escort then stepped between Tessa and Keelan, professing he was selected! It was ridiculous as everyone could see she would have selected her brother, but Tessa could resist the truth potion enough not to voice an objection.
Abaddon knew the young man with Tessa. He didn’t remember his name but did know he had thwarted a plot to get Loriel Miaden to his bed forcibly. Baladon doubted his brother’s plan was very inventive, and if it had succeeded, it would have been another mess for the family to clean up. Abaddon remembered that the boy had wielded a staff in the pre-Annuals and was from a tiny village on Titan’s Shield. That told Baladon he was probably extremely poor but had some type of aptitude with the weapon.
At the Triumvertate table, Otieno looked extremely upset his plans had failed to come to fruition. His own father wanted to get what he could from this hiccup, which at this point was going to be embarrassing to Tessa Torrent. Abaddon even leaned in and promised to purchase Baladon a tier 3 spell if he succeeded in the duel. That alone was a reason to win. Baladon spent all his allowance from the Bricio dungeon on spells. His aether matrix was currently full, but he might be able to expand it enough to add another tier 3 spell in the future. He had his eyes on a few not in the Bricio library.
When they were summoned to the table to negotiate the terms of the Honor Duel, Pomore offered his apple orchards to Baladon to drop the matter. The orchards were worth a lot more than a tier 3 spell. But Otieno Bricio gave him a hard look, and he had to decline the offer. It is better to stay on the good side of Otieno and not let greed cloud his judgment.
The terms for the duel were a contest of spell and sword. This would be the easiest duel of Baladon’s life. He had five offensive fire spells at his disposal, and the young man before him probably only had magic for less than a year. He had also made sure that only bladed weapons could be used so the boy’s proficiency with the staff would not come into play.
After the first few exchanges, he was ready to kill Abaddon and Storme! This boy was trained in more than just the staff! The stupid aether shields made it difficult to get an advantage. He was losing—not only was he losing to an inferior but also to a crowd of his peers. He didn’t have enough aether for another fire halo or flaming cone spell. He started to exchange blows with the boy. Unlike Storme, he had to retreat and drink a healing potion to heal. Storme just healed immediately, almost like he had a regeneration ability.
Baladon used a variant of his fireball spell and cast a wave of sparks in the air to highlight the aether shields. Damn it. The boy was able to maintain three aether shields at once! His only weakness was to destroy the shields before he could recast them. Baladon pressed the attack in this way, seeking a victory that seemed to be slipping further and further away.
He had enough aether for one, maybe two fire arrows. He used a feint and cast the fire arrow aimed at Storme’s head, but the boy picked up on the movement and dodged. Baladon should have targeted the body after taking down the aether shield. Damn it.
Then Storme spoke, “I believe I have injured you. That means you can concede if you wish, correct?” The common boy was mocking him.
Baladon committed again to the attack, took many wounds, and used the healing potions as needed as they moved across the floor. The crowd loved the spectacle—Baladon did not. Storme seemed to focus and showed no signs of aether exhaustion or physical exhaustion. Was he even human? Before he realized it, he was down to just two healing potions. If this ended with his loss, he would have to give Storme his arms and armor. That was not going to happen. His father would kill him if he lost the mithril shirt to this boy. The shirt was not just one of his prized possessions but was a significant portion of his family’s wealth.
He tried a flanking maneuver after shattering an aether shield, getting close. The boy reached out with his free hand and grabbed the mithril shirt for leverage. Baladon braced, expecting to be yanked forward. Instead, the mithril shirt tore like paper. He stumbled back, shocked. The shirt had protected him from a dozen attacks and now barely covered his upper torso. It would be more of a hindrance in its current state. He might have one more fire arrow—no, he did not. He ground his teeth and spoke loudly, “I concede.”
His eyes burned into the boy as the shocked crowd had mixed reactions. Baladon was not spiteful, but he needed to rectify this slight. His information of this boy was incomplete. He had come into this match overconfident. He turned to leave, but Pomare Torrent yelled to him, “Baladon! You must leave your arms and armor.”
Baladon felt the stares of the crowd on him and returned before the Triumvirate huddled around the champion. Otieno had outrage on his face at Baladon’s failure. Baladon removed the mithril shirt and tossed his sheathed sword on the ground. That sword was a dungeon prize that he received from his father on his 14th birthday. Another sting to his pride.
Baladon was about to turn when someone whispered something in Pomare’s ear. Pomare immediately said, “Baladon, I have been told you also used the enchantment on the necklace gracing your neck. As per the accords, any item used in an Honor Duel is the prize of the winner.” Baladon thought about telling the crowd he had imprinted the invisibility spell, but he couldn’t prove it. He unclasped the necklace and tossed it at Pomare. Another dungeon treasure. Maybe Otieno could get it back for his father.
Baladon stormed off, unhindered now. His brother was going to get a piece of his mind for his poor information of the common boy—after his aether recovered.