A Bored Lich

"You're shaking again," Frey said as he pointed to Doevm's shaking hands with his fork. A piece of food fell off it and back into his soup, splashing onto the floor of the commoners' dining hall. While some water went everywhere, since the amount of people staying were cut in half from twenty to ten, there was no one close enough to get hit; no one but Doevm.

"And you're clumsy," Doevm dabbed the stuff away with his napkin. "Don't worry about me. It'll go away soon enough. You on the other hand, I doubt will be fixed anytime soon."

"Sorry," Frey pulled his serving closer to him as he slurped it down. "But aren't you excited for the noble tournament today? We can go see Thomas in action."

"You also suck at changing subjects." Doevm shook his head and downed the rest of his gruel. "But I am a little excited though. The noble fights should be interesting. I want to see how they use life essence compared to us."

"Isn't it the same?" Frey took Doevm and his own plate and put them in the pile of dirty dishes none of the commoners had bothered to wash. "I mean, there was that guy who could blow you back and he could heal himself, but that should be all right?"

"I hope so," Doevm looked at the Colosseum. "But I know that we're both wrong. Everything since getting here has been strange. I think after the tournament, I'll go find answers in the academy."

"Well duh," Frey pulled him away from the window and towards the exit. "academies are supposed to teach us about how to use life essence and fight. By the end of it, we should be able to do what those nobles can do."

Doevm laughed as the two left the building: "Frey, you have much to learn, and the academy can't teach it all to you. Knowledge never comes from a single source, no matter what you want to learn."

Before Frey could say anything else, a familiar voice called out: "Hey," They turned around to see Wade. "I took care of the business with the nobles, but now I'm free. Sorry I missed your matches. I assume you both won." They both nodded. "Great, now let's go watch Thomas's match before I have to go."

"But you just got here," Frey said.

"I know," Wade sighed. "it's just that the nobles gave me an important task to do. I can't even say goodbye to Thomas so you guys will have to do it for me." They all walked to the Colosseum but they were stopped by a long line which extended around the Colosseum. Many workers were rushing around, making sure that everyone remained in line. There were even squads from the king and Sir Marble walking around with weapons at the ready.

"Wow," Doevm heard one of the people in line say. "I didn't realize that the noble tournament would get so much more people than the commoner one. I think they're even doing inspections towards the entrance."

Doevm looked ahead, and sure enough, there was a guard station at the front. People were pulled behind a curtain and he assumed inspected much like what Doevm almost had to go through right before they arrived at the capital, possessions searched, back of the shoulders inspected, the works.

Those guards, covered head to toe in thick armor, weren't the same lazy guards as in Scrap City. They wouldn't look out of place on the front lines. They had their weapons in their hands and gestured with them. They kept their expressions neutral, not angry nor made, just authoritative. Things moved orderly in a repeating pattern. Guards stopped the people, took them behind the curtain, and sent them on their way after handing their possessions back. Complaints were met with stares and gestures to weapons. The people in lines kept their heads low.

Doevm, Frey, and Wade walked around the mass of people to the line at the noble entrance, however even that entrance had a line, albeit a lot shorter than the commoner one. An hour later, their things were inspected even though Wade showed them the Virility symbol. After, they were in the Colosseum and seated.

Doevm practically melted in his simple wooden seat. While they had used the noble entrance, they only had slightly better accommodations than a commoner, since they were only servants of nobles, not nobles themselves.

They were a little under a dozen rows back because they had been late. If Doevm leaned back far enough, he could see the outside of the Colosseum and the hundreds of people still waiting to get in. There were almost more nobles than commoners in the stands, since they were the family of the competitors and had special privileges. Even though they had privileges, some nobles were put seated next to commoners simply because space was running out even in the massive Colosseum. The rooms the nobles used were stuffed full. The staff suffered through verbal and sometimes light physical abuse.

There were more guards hanging at the top of the Colosseum and the bottom arena part. 'Did the commoner tournament have so many guards?' He almost hadn't noticed the nearly one hundred guards because they weren't moving except for their eyes, which search through the crowd in an infinite loop. Every time a commoner would make a sudden move or act in the direction of a noble, the guards' hands flickered to their swords. Around each of the nobles were more guards disguised as citizens. Doevm only recognized them because of the glints of metal below their awkwardly shaped shirts.

Even though all of the seats had been filled, the commoners did not leave, instead opting to sit down and set up food. People walked around the lines with baskets, presumably to sell them food or water.

Doevm turned his attention back to the stage, which Alexander ran to. Even though he had probably slept as little as Doevm, his slightly wrinkled eyes were wide open as he announced that there would be the same rules as in the commoner tournament: he was allowed to interfere, he was the referee, the generals oversaw all his decisions, killing was allowed but not encouraged, but there was one major difference.

"For the nobles, we have mages that can act when there is about to be a fatal blow. They can use their mana to protect the opponents to prevent most deaths. They are not miracle workers so I encourage the contestants not to rely on this measure." As he said this, two mages walked out on the opposite sides of the arena. The crowd ooh-ed and awed while Doevm frowned and sealed his mana.

"How come we didn't get mages?" Frey complained as Wade and Doevm facepalmed.

"Because we're commoners," Doevm said. "And if one of us dies, it doesn't matter to the academy, since we would have lost if we died, and therefore just another commoner. If a noble dies, however, it could be the start of a feud which can even escalate to a civil war."

"But," Frey wrinkled his brows. "If they have mages, why don't they just use them on us as well. Even if we lose, we are still valuable as men in the war."

"The cost of paying the mages exceeds the price for losing one of us," Doevm said. "Mages won't just donate their time. Human mages from this country have a deep divide between themselves and knights. It is a miracle they're even here at all."

"Now," Alexander said. "Let's get the first round started!" He pointed to the glass in front of the three generals, which turned into a bracket with many more rounds than the commoner tournament.

"Place your bets," the clerk ran around the seating area. "Place your bets. Power stones only! Who will win? In the commoner tournament, someone made ten times their bet. Will you win as well?"

Doevm looked back at the clerk and, in the corner of his eye, saw the outside of the Colosseum, which was now uninhabited. The items of food and the blankets that had been set out were still there, yet the people were missing.

"What's wrong?" Frey asked.

"Nothing," Doevm said as he spotted Sir Marble's and the king's men running around the area at a full sprint. "There should have been screams or at least some other indication of a fight.

He cupped his hands around his eyes and used his blue life essence to enhance his vision. While he couldn't see much else, he didn't see any blood on the soldiers' spears, nor any on the ground. It was like the people had all just gotten up and left of their own accord. Even if the guards shooed them out, the commoners should have taken their food and blankets with them. He turned his attention back to the board and scratched his chin. 'There are so many guards, yet they are so worked up over something like this. I wonder if…'