The First Week of the Festival

During the first day of the festival we wandered around the area. The competitions were more like small games, some of them were very much like carnival games I remember from fairs back on Earth. There was the ring toss, dart throwing, stone tossing, even ones like the Scottish caber toss.

For each you could register your name and rank. There would be winners for E, D, and non ranked participants at the end of the week. Considering my true strength was closer to at least the middle of the C rank, I chose to just play them for fun like the rest of my companions.

The food and drink were very amazing. Everyone that entered the festival grounds were handed wooden tokens that could be deposited in boxes by some of the food and drink stalls to vote on your favorites. You could even purchase more of the tokens or win them through eating and drinking contests. We saw Sundri at several of these.

I was a little taken aback when I saw a stand for flugalanr mead. Family members of the previous owner were hoping to recover from the losses they experienced in helping make the beverage. They didn't hide the aphrodisiac nature of the drink and that didn't seem to stop adventurers from trying a mug or two. I even saw Floriana ordering a few kegs to be sent to the Jagged Tankard. She gave me a wink when she saw me.

There was even a part of the festival set aside for the showing of livestock and produce. Farmers from the surrounding area were competing like a county fair. It was still about a month before the main harvest, so it was mostly livestock.

The second day was the beginning of crafter demonstrations that would go through the whole week. We watched Uhtric and Vegaror compete. This would be decided by older retired members of their respective crafts.

By the third day more formal competitions started, many that I would expect from a lumberjack competition; axe throwing, log rolling, tree climbing. These had four divisions, E, D, and C ranked, then one division for people that didn't have auras or magic. I competed in the log rolling for the fun of it and got 4th place using my Sturdy and Speed spells in the C ranked division. The others had a fun time laughing at me whenever I was rolled off the log and into the water.

The fourth day had hedge mage competitions. With their power level I wasn't expecting much but was surprised with the creativity behind the contests. They involved keeping feathers a loft, egg balancing, knocking hats off trees, along with magically grown produce.

The next three days were focused on more traditional competitions for E and D rankers and those that didn't use aura or magic; sparring tournaments, archery, wrestling, foot races, along with horse races. While I could have joined these I would have been disqualified from the second week's competitions. As you were allowed to compete up one rank, I could enter the C ranked tournament.

Over the course of the first week more and more adventurers, nobles, and others arrived filling the camping grounds. It was on the fourth day that I ran into Vesta who was with Fulvia, Kalfr and a few other young members of the Rainbow Blades. Our exchange was brief with Lariss and Vesta giving each other tense stares and Kalfr giving me dirty looks. Kalfr did get a wry smile when he saw how the look Vesta gave me as I was surrounded by three other beautiful women. I got my own smile when I learned from Fulvia that he failed his B ranked examination, so was stuck at C rank for a while.

It wasn't until the night of the fifth day that Floriana made her way to my tent. She spent a while giving me some pointers on how to improve my spiritual senses, along with how to make subtle manipulations to spiritual ripples. We then spent the rest of the night in the pleasure of each other's company. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to see me again as the Night Mistress wanted her to gather information from prominent people that usually didn't come to Torinheim during the festival.

On the sixth day Adalgard decided it was time to get serious about the coming week and took us for some training.

"The single competitions have three main categories; the melee tournament, ranged competitions, and magic exhibition. And while they are individual events, adventuring teams get points based on how well each of their members do. It looks like we're going to have four in the melee and one for each of the others." Adalgard said.

"Do you really think it's worth training at this point? We're not going to have breakthroughs in the next day or so." I said.

"Those that do well in the individual events will get a head start during the hunt. But I agree, we're not going to improve much before they start." Lariss said.

"Our training isn't for the individual competitions but for the team events. I don't really know how the rest of you fight and, other than Lariss, you don't know what I can do." Adalgard said.

We then spent a few hours of the sixth day on the far side of the adventurers camp displaying our skills to each other. There ended up being a few different groups with the same thoughts as us. While it would have been nice to train more in secret to prevent spying, no one was allowed to enter the nearby forests to prevent people from getting a headstart on the Hunt that came at the end of the festival.

After an hour of training together, the others had begun sparring separately and it was just Adalgard and me by ourselves. I was excited as she began to explain how the blessings of a paladin worked.

"For each circle I'm in, I'm given one major blessing from the Elder Watchers. Since I'm in the fifth circle, I have five major blessings. Mine come from the Lady of Twisted Fates, the Man of Strengthened Resolve, the Monarch of the Ivory Winds, the Sundown Knight, and the Master of Silent Keeping.

"The ones from the Lady of Twisted Fates and the Master of Silent Keeping are passive and I don't have control over them. You've seen the blessing from the Monarch of the Ivory Winds in the form of my spectral chains. The last two are conditional blessings. From the Man of Strengthened Resolve, I get more powerful when engaged in a cause that I wholeheartedly believe in. And the last one is a bit of a trump card that shouldn't come into play here since it involves life and death situations." She said.

"Why'd you choose those blessings?" I hoped to get an insight into her character.

"You don't choose your major blessings, the Elder Watchers choose you." She said.

"If there are major blessings, does that mean you have other blessings?" I asked.

"I do. Each of these trinkets on my armor represent a medium or minor blessing that I acquired. Any member can learn minor blessings, and if you have the aptitude, they'll evolve into medium blessings on their own." She said.

"So what's the difference?" I asked.

"Major blessings don't require much effort to use and most don't even require my spiritual energy. They are a part of who I am. The other blessings require me to actively control the spiritual fluctuations around me and overall are weaker." She said.

I found it interesting that both paladins and witches referred to them as fluctuations and the Followers of the Holy Light called them ripples.

"Do you have to be a Member of the Court to learn the minor blessings?" I asked.

"I don't think so. I heard of someone that tried to learn spiritual magic from both the Church of the Holy Light and the Court of Masks. Not sure how successful they ended up being. However, the Elder Watchers have the ultimate say in who uses their blessings, even the minor ones. I've known paladins that can't use certain blessings no matter how skilled they were. Those blessings just weren't meant for them." She said.

"Who are the Elder Watchers exactly? What do they want?" With her being so open I thought I'd try and learn a thing or two.

"If you're interested in becoming an initiate, I can sponsor you. Until then, I can't really go beyond what I've already told you. The deep mysteries of the Court are reserved for the higher circles." She said with a smile.

"I follow the spirits." I said.

"The two aren't mutually exclusive. Who do you think created the spirits?" She said.

It made sense. When I was among the Elder Watchers before my birth, the main entity said the Walker of Ancient Woods that gave me my last blessing sometimes doesn't appear for the span of entire worlds. If they were that old, they could easily have a hand in the creation of a world.

"Does the leader of the Elder Watchers have a name?" I asked, thinking of the being that looked at me like a caring parent.

"If they have a leader then sure. But that is a mystery for a higher circle." She replied.

"How many circles are there?" I asked.

"Technically ten but only one person is ever in the tenth at a time. They lead the Court in this world and it's rumored that they can directly interact with the Elder Watchers when the need arises." She said.

"So being in the fifth circle, you're about average ?" I teased knowing that probably wasn't the case.

"Hey, you're only allowed to look down on me because I'm shorter than you. The average is actually the third and fourth circle. That makes me slightly above average." She replied.

"How about you? What type of special abilities do you have?" She asked.

"I have the Osgar Lineage through my grandfather. I didn't know him and he most likely deserted from their house, so I've had to figure most of it out on my own." The standard lie.

"Other than that I have a few different spells I use in combat. I go by the title of Eldritch Blade but I'm not really sure how much I qualify to be called that." I took the title because Raginhard thought it would help me get quests but after I fought Kalfr who used a variety of spells I wasn't sure how much it applied to me.

"Yeah that title can be confusing since most aura users will have at least a bronze mana core with a few spells that compliment their fighting style. I think it's about how creative you get with your spells. If you really want to be called an Eldritch Blade maybe you just need to think more outside the box." She said.

The two of us then joined the others in sparring, getting used to each other's fighting style in preparation for the team competitions in a few days.