A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Another volley came in from Dominus' archers, destroying yet more of Beam's pieces. But by now, his attack had finished turning, and with precious few spear units left on Dominus' side, Beam's army looked mighty imposing indeed. He sent them rushing forward, with his remaining cavalry unit running alongside.

Dominus rushed his last spear units in front of his archers, attempting to buy time so that they might fire another volley off. But as the two armies met, Beam's cavalry unit crept around the defenders and attacked the archers in the back, killing another two, whilst the remaining two managed to get off another volley.

But with that manoeuvre, the battle was over. With both their front lines caught up in battle, unable to turn lest they reveal their backs to the enemy, it was Beam's single well-placed cavalry unit that made all the difference.

With no pieces free to stop it, it went on a rampage, finishing off the remaining archers, then attacking the line of Dominus' spearmen from the back, punching a hole through them.

Dominus looked at the board in a daze. "…Now isn't that something?" He said quietly, staring at his defeated army, as they stood surrounded by Beam's pieces. "To think that today of all days would be you'd manage to best me."

Beam was similarly shocked. He hadn't gone into the game with any particularly new kind of vigour. In fact, it had been the opposite – he'd gone in with a casualness, knowing that the outcome of the board would do nothing to help him when he was confronted with the real problem tomorrow. And yet, by some law that he didn't understand, the conditions had been met and victory had been achieved.

"…Did I win?" He asked, hardly able to believe it.

Dominus nodded slowly, before smiling and extending a hand out to the boy. Beam stared at it dumbly, before taking it and shaking it. "Well done, boy. You've passed the strategy test."

As he shook his hand, Dominus looked carefully into the boy's eyes, searching for signs of change, searching for reassurance. He knew what the boy needed to do – that he needed to integrate the light and dark within him, but had the boy made any progress towards understanding that himself? He couldn't tell. He puzzled over how to assist him without stealing the importance of the process from him.

"…I have?"

"Indeed. The conditions were that you defeat me, were they not? Despite all the trouble it gave you, you've managed to do that, and before the deadline, too. You finished this particular test five days early, congratulations. Now there are only four tests remaining, or five, I suppose, depending on how you count them," Dominus said.

Beam was still sat there in a daze. "I can't believe it… In strategy of all things? But I was so bad at it before getting injured – I hadn't improved at all."

Dominus just shrugged and smiled. "I've said this many times before – but such are the whims of the Goddess of progress. Attempt to understand her as we might, most men will fall short."

"Hah… This is something else," Beam said, shaking his head, feeling the warm thrill of victory. "If only there was some way I could use this…"

"Well, I'm sure there are ways to use it. But, inevitably, since you do not have men of your own to command, there is no one who can slay the Hobgoblin but you, meaning it comes down to your own strength more than anything else.

Of course, you could be cunning as you were when you first fought the Goblins, and lure it into a disadvantageous position, but something tells me that will not be enough for you," Dominus said.

Beam shook his head in agreement. "No, it wouldn't be. I want to show that I'm strong enough to beat it without that."

"Well, as things stand now, you almost certainly are not strong enough to beat it without some amount of cunning, but, I view this passing of your strategy test as a good omen nonetheless.

Often – as I'm sure you'll find – when we reach a plateau in one thing, be it swordsmanship or anything else, that plateau can be breached by extending our efforts outwards, and achieving competence in the areas around it, so we can return to our initial pursuit with a wider base, and thus build it even higher," Dominus said.

"That makes sense," Beam said with a smile, sensing the hope that Dominus hoped to convey to him.

"Now – shall we get back to training?" Dominus said, getting to his feet and drawing his sword once more. Beam nodded eagerly.

They trained for many hours from then, for there was much to learn. Before Greeves had given him a blade, he had practised his swordsmanship with a stick. And whilst they were the same in shape, nearly everything else about them was different.

The weight and balance were one thing, but merely the knowledge that the weapon you were holding was sharp enough to kill, that inspired a different relationship with the weapon and a different way of moving.

"Weak, far too weak," Dominus had told him relentlessly all afternoon, until well past when it had gotten dark. They continued to train by the light of the fire when the light of the sun could no longer be seen.

"You need more than that," Dominus had told him more than once, "you've been swinging a sword all day, and you've been swinging a weapon for weeks now. Beyond the moves I've taught you, piece all that information together and draw something from it – something unique, something personal, something that grants you strength."

But even with that advice, Beam had failed to find what Dominus meant. His moves did indeed grow sharper. His slashing attacks wasted less energy, but according to Dominus, there was more to swordsmanship than that, and he said as much to the boy, as he finally declared that they should rest for the day, having done all that they could.

"You've improved, no doubt. In the space of a day, you have done remarkably well, yet it's still far from enough. The Hobgoblin is the first level of opposition that separates you from ordinary men – it makes sense that you would not be able to take it down by ordinary means, with ordinary ideas and with ordinary strength. In some domain, you need to surpass it," Dominus said.