I had gone home with Slava, unable to accept Mother’s blatant favor of that stupid civvie, and Slava listened to me complain the whole way home.

  “Mother thinks he’s this wonderful human that can do no wrong, but did you see what he has done? Have you seen how the crowd reacts to him? Everyone hates the stupid brute, why is she the only one who seems to like him?”

  “Well, you see your Mother is an absolute id—,” he started, but I talked right over his response.

  “And he just won’t fall! No matter what B ranker I throw at him. Zach alone should have beaten him. Why was he so stupid not to keep his distance, and use his ability to his advantage?”

  “Sofia,” he said loudly, interrupting me.

  “What?” I snapped, looking at him even as he came to a gentle stop at a traffic light.

  “You are spiraling. You are obsessing over this, what did you say? This stupid brute, when you should be focusing on your matches next week. What have you got planned? How are you going to beat Warren’s boy?”

  “Slava, first of all, I am not obsessing over that stupid civvie. I am merely focusing on it since he is my most immediate problem. Why worry about next week when I have a gun pointed at my face now?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, “So you have no plans for your tournament? You can plan for that while preparing for this… ‘stupid civvie’, you don’t have to do just one. You can multitask.”

  “Of course, I have plans for my tournament!” I was almost shouting, unable to believe he would think I was that short-sighted.

  “I was planning on talking to Johannes about building a new type of bomb that uses fire-extinguishing foam. It will not only be useful for the tower but also should be able to perfectly counter Calder’s ability.”

  “And that’s my girl,” he said smirking, pride in his voice, “you were only asking questions, not thinking of answers. So you want to beat this specific person? Okay, what is he like? Strengths, weaknesses? I know you probably have a book somewhere with every word that man has spoken you overqualified genius. Now… do you want my advice on how to beat him? Or have you got this?”

  I was annoyed with his response, as I sat back in my seat with a huff. But still… I immediately felt better. He just has a way with words I guess.

  “It’s going to take a bit of work… but I got this,” I said, turning away to watch the buildings go past.

  I added quietly, “Thanks, Slava.”

  He didn’t say anything, and when I took a quick peek back at him, he was still smirking, giving me a comforting pat on my leg as we arrived home.

  Sometime later, I lay in bed going over every match he had been in, making sure to see what had worked against him and what hadn't. I paid attention to Zach’s and Abigail’s fight since Liam had proved to be breathtakingly useless.

  I summarized what worked against him, close-quarters weapons made for stabbing since the man was too stupid to realize they would be used to stab him. Guns seemed almost useless so I would avoid using them in the future.

  But weapons that attacked his senses seemed to be by far the most effective. That was the only reason Abigail had done so well, after all.

  Feeling satisfied, I texted Bongi, letting him know to wake my unexpected host. I threw a coin from my pocket onto the floor, then pressed send to another message as I stood up, waiting. A moment later Viktor stood where the coin had been, his uniform still neat with bags circling his eyes. He scanned the room after a moment, then looked back to me and said, “Do you like working until one o’clock in the morning?”

  “Yes. Now, take me to him.”

  He threw a coin to an empty space in my room, before turning around and grabbing my shoulder. A moment later I was standing in front of Richard, who lay in his bed half-dressed, his eyes wide as his spear hovered towards Bongi, lounging casually against the door.

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  “Good evening Richard. I have something to discuss with you if you have a moment,” I said as I put my hands behind my back, scanning the barren room carefully.

  “Uhm, sure… no wait, yes ma’am, of course. Always ready to spare a moment for you, although I hope you don’t mind my indecency,” he said, standing up unashamed in his boxers, giving a sharp salute.

  “Tomorrow, I shall place you in a match against the civvie. The last three B rankers I have given this mission to have failed. And you will not fail. Now,” I turned toward Viktor and gave a slight nod, and he disappeared a moment later.

  Richard stood there silently, waiting for whatever instruction I was to give him. Viktor arrived a moment later, with body armor, a tactical vest with three flashbangs in the pouches that would go around his chest.

  He also held an MP5 rather than a pistol, hopefully the increased fire rate would negate Boris’s increased reaction time. And of course, a helmet with long daggers almost falling out of the bundle tucked in his arms. Viktor looked annoyed he had to do all this for a B ranker, muttering “runt” as he dumped the bundle on his bed.

  Richard stiffened at the insult but didn’t complain. My respect for him went up a notch. He accepted his place below his superiors without complaint, even when belittled for it.

  “Now, you will use these weapons to beat him. Out of his three matches so far, two of them he has rushed straight at his opponent. You must expect this in your match as well. And make sure to use the flashbangs often. And, most importantly by far, if he appears as if he has lost, you must assume he has not. Until his head has left his body, or your spear has stuck him to the ground, you will keep attacking.” I paused for a moment, watching the man standing at the foot of his bed.

  “You are awfully silent, do you understand the instructions I am giving you?”

  “Yes ma’am, loud and clear. Keep my distance, make sure he is dead, and use the weapons you provided to assist with those parameters. Am I missing anything?”

  “You are not. I assume I do not need to spell out the rewards you will receive if you accomplish this task?”

  He dropped the salute and I grit back the scolding, letting him explain himself first, “Sure, I know this is a great opportunity for me...but I know you’ve seen him fight… and as much as it pains me to admit, the guy is dangerous. I don’t know if I can beat him. And even if I do beat him, what’s to stop you from stealing my equipment away, let someone else win?” he said nervously, glancing at Viktor and Bongi even as both men glared at the man.

  “You have a healthy respect for his abilities, and this means you are far more prepared than the last two failures I have had to deal with,” I said nodding, before I took a step forward, my eyes inches from his, “But you doubt my word? Have I not provided proof of my favor already, given you weaponry that has allowed you to come this far?” I gestured to the pistol he had hidden badly under his bed.

  He held my gaze for a moment, then looked down, “Well, I suppose you have. If I fight hi—”

  “When you fight him,” I interrupted cooly.

  “...when I fight him, I shall try my best to beat him using the stuff you’ve given me. That’s all I can promise.”

  I stood there for a moment longer, before nodding, stepping back as I said, “That works for me. Goodnight.”

  I turned and walked out the door, Bongi and Viktor followed not a moment later.

  I felt more at ease now that I had sicked Richard on him. I was a bit worried that Marnus and Richard had to verse each other in the final match, and I was proud of myself for getting three of my four picks into the semi-finals, despite the civvie ruining my last pick's chance. Although he had proven the man incompetent, so there was a silver lining, at least. Nonetheless, if either Richard or Marnus ascended, it would suit my needs just fine. I did still have a favorite though.

  I turned to Bongi as we walked out the door, leaning in close as I whispered in his ear, “After he wins, steal that equipment tomorrow night and give it to Marnus.”

  He nodded. I must say, now that I had gotten my ducks in a row, so to speak, I felt far better than I had earlier. I turned to Zach and let him know to take me home.

  Zach took me back to my room. With a yawn and a half-hearted goodbye, he winked out of existence, like he hadn’t been here at all. I snorted to myself, he had never spoken to me that casually in our entire time of knowing eachother. Strange what close proximaty can make a man comfortable with.

  I climbed into bed and fell asleep, the exhaustion from staying up hitting me as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  I woke up to the crystals light flooding into my room, Slava singing badly in the kitchen, the smell of bacon wafting through the air. I don’t think even the civvie could ruin this. I sat up yawning as I thought of what I would get for Slava’s birthday, smiling at how he would react, lavishing me with praise most likely.

  I picked up my stream to put in some ideas for what he would like, and as always added singing lessons to the bottom of the list, even as his… colorful rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody floated through the large apartment.

  Then I checked the matchups and felt my heart sink. My wonderful morning now felt like a cruel trick, as if it had been specifically designed to make the information staring up at me as painful as possible.

  The Colonel had changed the matches. Richard was fighting Marnus.