Preparing for the Warsportsgames: Calcifer Stein

"Sir."

Dr. Stein looked up from his desk without putting down his pen. Merce, along with the rest of his Students, were standing in front of his desk - had been, in fact, for almost half a minute before Merce had spoken. They were attentive, respectful, and for the most part, a little nervous. Nothing of note there.

"Yes?"

"The inter-school games are coming up, sir." Merce seemed to have been appointed cy'ree spokesperson today. "We were hoping you might have some advice."

Dr. Stein sat back, placing the pen down on top of his papers. "Of course I have advice," he said matter-of-factly, flicking a brief glance over his Students and waiting.

It took disappointingly long - almost three seconds - before any of them got past blank confusion. "Um, actually," Kevan said, "we were hoping you might give us some advice."

"Very good." The corners of Dr. Stein's mouth turned up in the faintest suggestion of a smile. "You remember my advice, 'know your team'?"

His Students nodded.

"Good. That is still my first piece of advice: know your team. Know how they think, how they feel, how they act and react. Where their metaphorical buttons are and how hard they need to be pushed. Know what strategies and responses your teammates will give before they know themselves."

He paused, glancing over them again to be sure they were still paying attention.

"My second piece of advice is: know your enemy, like you know your team. If you do - if you know them better than they know themselves - you are virtually guaranteed to win."

"But sir." Kevan spoke up again. "How are we supposed to know all that? We aren't going to meet them at all until the games."

Dr. Stein looked at him and smiled. (To their credit, only one of his Students visibly cringed.) "Well then, you'll need to learn very quickly."

Preparing for the Warsportsgames: Leofric

Leo looked at his oldest Students, kneeling patiently across from him, and took a moment further to collect his thoughts.

"As you know," he finally began, "the 'games' between us and the other schools are coming up. It's safe to assume this will be your first experience in real combat."

The students just barely avoided glancing at each other at that.

Leo smiled faintly. "Go ahead, you don't have to be formal today."

"I thought this was supposed to be some kind of sports competition?" Edie asked.

"A competition, yes," Leo answered slowly. "But the other schools have a different idea of what 'sports' means. You're safest assuming it's going to be a real battle."

"But in real battles they're trying to kill you," Blair protested, ignoring her neighboring cy'ra's elbow and muttered "hush".

"As I said." Leo looked solemnly at them all. "The other schools aren't going to play nice or fight fair. This is not the time to worry about good sportsmanship."

"But..." She frowned. "But surely killing another student would at least mean their team would lose. They wouldn't--"

Leo cut her off with a curt gesture. "There are lots of ways you can fight with murderous intent without the risk of actually killing anyone. Knowing your opponent is skilled or tough enough to survive, for example. Or being ordered by your Keeper not to kill anyone. They might not kill you, but they can hurt you - and your teammates - very badly. So again. Assume this is going to be a real battle."

This time, they all nodded, looking various degrees of apprehensive.

It was a good start, Leo decided.