The Rithmatist

nothing wrong with doing your best, son,” Fitch said sternly. “Never be ashamed of aptitude. However, the comment you made in there … That was not the sign of a boy who was proud of his aptitude. It was a boy who was proud of being better than another. You disappointed me greatly.”
    “I…” What could he say? “I’m sorry.”
    “I don’t believe I’m the one to whom you should apologize. You are young, Joel. Young enough that you still have time to decide the type of man you would like to become. Do not let jealousy, bitterness, or anger be what guides that path. But, here now, I have probably been too hard on you in turn. Just promise me you will think about what I have said.”
    “I will.”
    The two of them continued across campus, Joel feeling shamed to the bones as he carried the books. “Professor, do you really think you can train her to be a great Rithmatist?”
    “Melody?” he replied. “Her uncertainty is her only true hindrance. I’ve looked into the girl’s records. It’s remarkable that she’s kept going, all things considered. I think that, with proper training in the basics—”
    “Why, Professor Fitch!” a voice called.
    Fitch turned, surprised. Joel hadn’t noticed it before, but a small crowd was gathered near the campus quad, where the grass was broken by a hilltop plateau of concrete. A man in a red Rithmatic coat stood there, arms folded as he looked down at Joel and Fitch.
    “Professor Nalizar,” Fitch said. “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”
    “We are having class out here today,” Nalizar said, nodding toward the top of the hill, where a large group of Rithmatic students knelt on the concrete, drawing. “The only way to learn is to do, and the only way to win is to fight. These students have had enough time of dusty classrooms and lectures.”
    It also lets him show off, Joel thought, noting the attention Nalizar’s display had drawn from the students and professors who had been playing soccer nearby.
    “Hum,” Fitch said. “Yes. Interesting. Well, have a nice day.”
    “Are you certain you wouldn’t like to come up here, Professor?” Nalizar called. “Have a little match, you and I? Give the children another glimpse of how it is really done? I let them each duel me in turn, of course, but they hardly give me a fair contest.”
    Fitch paled. “Um, I don’t think—”
    “Come now,” Nalizar asked. “Considering the rather unimpressive display you gave last time, I should think you’d be eager for a chance to redeem yourself!”
    “Go on, Professor,” Joel whispered. “You can beat him. I’ve seen you draw. You’re way better than he is.”
    “No thank you, Professor,” Fitch called, laying a hand on Joel’s shoulder and turning him away. That hand, Joel noticed, was shaking noticeably.
    Joel reluctantly allowed Fitch to pull him away. He could hear as Nalizar barked something to his class. It was followed by laughter.
    “Why?” Joel asked as they walked. “Why not duel him?”
    “It would be meaningless, Joel,” Fitch said. “I couldn’t earn my tenure back for another year. If I fought and lost, I’d be humiliated again. If I won, all I would do is make an ever bigger enemy of Nalizar.”
    “He’s a hypocrite,” Joel said. “All that talk about keeping non-Rithmatists out of his classroom, and then he comes out here in the open and displays his students for everyone to see?”
    “They will be on display at the Melee as well,” Fitch said. “I suspect Nalizar wishes to acclimatize them to drawing in front of a crowd. But, yes, I see what you mean. Regardless, I will not put myself in a position where I must fight him again. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly in this situation.”
    “Nalizar doesn’t deserve to be treated like a gentleman,” Joel snapped. He clenched his fists. If anyone was a bully, it was Nalizar. “You really should have dueled him again. Pride or no pride. You don’t have anything to lose—everyone already assumes that Nalizar is better. However, if you did win, you’d be making a statement.”
    Fitch fell silent for a time. “I don’t know, Joel. I’m just … well, I’m just not good at dueling. He defeated me, and deserved to. No. No, I should not like to duel him again, and that is that. We shall have no more of it.”
    Joel couldn’t help but notice that the professor was still trembling slightly as they continued on their way.



CHAPTER

    There! Joel thought with satisfaction,