[You really thought you were strong enough to beat a mythic monster on your own?]
[I figured you were just an ant! How was I supposed to know?]
[I'm a tier seven, mythic ant! Probably the first one in the history of the darn Dungeon. Pay a little respect, man.]
Thankfully, my opponent wounded nothing but his pride in our confrontation. I think, for a moment, the crowd were considering rushing down and attempting to subdue the 'wild monster', which would have been a rather difficult scenario to navigate, but thankfully they relaxed when I sat down and didn't follow up on my strike. I mean… whose first instinct is to rush at the huge monster? The Folk are crazy, I'm telling you.
He rubs a hand over his furry head, disgruntled.
[If we'd known you were this strong, we would have gotten some higher ranked swordsman to guard you.]
[There's no way the brathians lied to you about my tier, right?]
He shrugs helplessly.
[They probably assumed the same thing I did. Tier seven, but an ant, so it's fine. As a result, you only got me and my apprentice as guards, and I hate to say it, but we aren't up to the job.]
[Oh, the rabbit girl is your apprentice?]
[What do you mean, rabbit?]
[I don't know… I was just getting rabbit vibes from her.]
[And what are you getting from me?]
[Dog or wolf, depending on your mood.]
I figure honesty is the best policy. If I'm being unspeakably rude, hopefully someone will tell me.
[That's unspeakably rude,] he says, placing a hand to the bridge of his muzzle.
Dang it.
[Hey, I didn't know! I apologise if I've caused offence. You guys don't like being discussed in relation to the animal you resemble?]
[No. We prefer to focus on the things that unite us rather than the things that divide us.]
He pushes himself to his feet and looks around. A lot of the crowd has dispersed, but there are still people in their seats, looking down at the two of us.
[We need to clear out, there'll be another fight soon, so we need to make space.]
[Oh. So these fighting pits get used a lot?]
That wolfish grin again.
[Around the clock.]
There isn't a fancy exit or anything, I just find a relatively empty part of the stands and climb right on over, my opponent hopping along beside me.
[So you aren't a blademaster?] I ask.
[What? Of course not! I'm of the fifth sword, not the tenth.]
So…
[You're halfway to a blademaster?]
[In terms of rank, yes. My student is of the fourth.]
[Oh wow. You're lucky I went easy on you then. I wasn't sure how much you could take.]
I can tell he wants to rebut my statement, but after being defeated so handily, there isn't much he can say.
[Can I get your name, by the way? It's getting awkward just to think of you as 'that guy'.]
[You were thinking 'that dog guy', weren't you?]
[I would never! Yes. Yes I was.]
He sort of ripples, and I realise it was an instinct, a dog raising its hackles. Although I make sure to think that thought quietly.
[It's fine,] he mutters. [My name is Barker.]
I carefully don't say anything.
Once we are out of the fighting pit and back on the road, heading towards the field the Colony were setting up in, the… not rabbit-Folk joins us again, grinning broadly at her teacher.
They speak to each other, she makes fun of him, at least, I think so, and then we're back to strolling along the path.
[So does this mean I'm going to get new guards? Stronger ones?]
Barker grimaces.
[Yes. I can't exactly help people feel safe if you can kick my backside whenever you want.]
[Oh, I definitely can. Like… I didn't even use my middle grade stuff… let alone the best stuff.]
[Alright, alright! We believe in a thing called graceful victory.]
[I don't.]
[Okay… I guess that's fair. Once we get back to—what in the name of the source?!]
[What?!] I look around, wondering what brought on the sudden exclamation.
Barker points a finger.
[What is that?]
I look where he's pointing.
[That's a nest.]
[It's massive!]
I mean… it really isn't. We've been gone for like… an hour, at the most, and there's only so much the carvers can do in that amount of time. It's barely fifty metres tall.
[You said we could build a nest, right? They aren't finished yet, but that's a nest. We sleep in them and stuff.]
[It looks like a castle!]
[Come on… this is pretty small, as far as nests go, but it does have to fit a thousand of us inside.]
Once again, Barker pinches his brow and sighs heavily.
[I probably should have checked what you were going to build. We're pretty lax when it comes to building code….]
I'd noticed.
[But we aren't this relaxed. You can't throw up something this big without checking with the council.]
[Well, you told us we couldn't go underground, which was smart, so they had to build up. Would it be better if it was wider rather than taller?]
[Maybe? It doesn't matter, I'll have to check with someone regardless.]
He turns and speaks to his student, who offers a short bow before she sprints off at impressive speeds.
[She's going to inform the school of what's transpired here and they'll send someone more suitable to guard you. When they get here, they can make a judgement on… that.]
He gestures towards the still growing nest.
[And you should probably expect a lot of challenges going forward. Every student of the sword loves to test their mettle against strong monsters, and word of your victory will be spreading quickly through Freehill.]
[We just came here to trade,] I sigh.
Barker shrugs.
[Winning duels isn't a bad way to advertise. We're the Folk, we admire the strong.]