Bookworm Gladiator

ACTA DIURNA

Dear Citizens and Free Men of the Realm,

Here Cicero engraves, consigned by Suetonius (who is very much alive and healthy!)

Second Bracket of Our Lord's Tournament in Palmyra, and the Primarch-ship at stake herewith.

Hurek of Rank XIX, Slave and Champion of Gaius Julius, will face Shams of Rank XVII, Champion of the School of Vipers, under the tutorship of Mars' Tribune Flamma the Saved.

The Father of Fortune "Baba Haza", slave of Balash, Champion of Tiridates, will face Ibn Ghassan, Slave and Champion of Chief Abed, the illustrious Merchant King of the Bedouins.

Furthermore, it is decreed that the unranked bout of Lictor Brutus of the Vigils, facing slave Septimus Merkov, will be in contendor-ship for the rank of a Roman Primarch.

This bracket is sponsored by Gaia's Rope and Tack: Channel the tensile strength of a true Roman cavalier. Buy one stirrup get one free! (Designed in Rome, made in Egypt).

***

"Paco and I chucked stones at Hurek's face and body and had him react in different ways, mimicking his usual maneuvers when dodging incoming strikes. Then another lap around the burial ground, which was almost the length of Palmyra's inner city wall. We did this constantly for hours until the Merkov brothers arrived from the kiln in the evening. Then it was another couple hours of intense wrestling and fist-fighting. I can't remember the last time I'd been this sore and aching all over. Hurek was still fresh, though, despite his rugged appearance - body caked with dirt and blood and sweat.

We've been following this schedule for a few days now, but something isn't sitting right with me. I can feel the slow dread of the unknown building in my chest. I'd gotten the chance to speak with an old easterner fighter called Baku, who had enlightened me to the feinting maneuvers that Shams had been using against Jirikoy. He neither confirmed nor denied that reflexes would save Hurek from Shams' trickery. In fact, he spoke of feints as just a single piece of a larger sense he called mushin. And a warrior's mushin was tied closely to his reflexes in complimentary ways, but it could also become a great detriment. What had he meant by that? If better reflexes and hand-coordination wouldn't help Hurek against Shams' mushin, then what could?

I feel like a child swimming in the ocean and Hurek, my boat, is slowly...

Not sure where to take that analogy exactly. Regardless, the day is a night away, and I have the intention of perhaps choosing another boat to ride."

- Cicero, Fighter Journal