"I would say that I have great expectations for you, but I wouldn't want to cripple your ability by piling on the pressure," Karstly said, laughing, with a touch of maliciousness. "Let's say… if you can make it past the first round, you'd have my compliments, and if you can make it past the second round, you'd have my respects. If you can make it that far, then I'll consider you to have grown – though the matter would still remain to be seen whether you could employ that level of strategy successfully on the battlefield, for it's an entirely different beast, I can assure you."
"Yes… well, thank you for that, General Karstly," Oliver said dryly.
"Do not mention it," Karstly said. "I ever strive to take care of my trusted subordinates."
"I do not recall the fact that I was your subordinate…"
"How can you say that, comrade, given all the service we did together?" Karstly said, feigning hurt.
"Blackwell remains my liege Lord," Oliver pointed out.
