Halisar is ultimately a game meant to train a gnome in the proper use of the finer points of earth magic.

In order to use earth magic, one has to first infuse their own mana into the stone they intend to manipulate. The stone can only respond to a single person's mana at a time, so it you already have your mana permeating the stone it makes it significantly harder if not impossible for another person to manipulate it.

In gnome terms, stone that has been infused with your mana is referred to as your 'territory,' and the first step to using earth magic always involves claiming territory.

For this reason, Halisar is ultimately a game of claiming and/or maintaining territory.

It takes several formats, each stressing a different aspect of territory control. The format this woman has just decided upon is known as 'snatch and protect.' It is, by far, the most lop-sided of all Halisar formats, and it is meant to be used in cases where there is a massive gulf in terms of the pure brute power of one participant over the other. the more powerful, in this case, takes the role of defender while the destroyer gets to start the game having already claimed the territory of the stone that is to be destroyed.

There are two standard methods for the defender to overwhelm the destroyer and snatch the stone before it can be anihilated. One is to simply hit it with pure brute force and overwhelm the destroyer, taking it from them as quick as you can before they are able to act. The other, if you lack for adequate power, is to harass the destroyer by challenging their territory from multiple angles at once, hoping to disrupt their focus and make it more difficult for them to use their earth magic for destruction because they're too busy fighting you off.

In this case, I cannot assume this woman is weak enough to allow me to take the instant win, and she does not strike me as the type to be easily distracted by having to fend off my attacks either. So, instead, I use a third method I have been playing with lately. I have, indeed, played this format before with the guards, and I have had plenty of time to consider this angle.

In order to give commands to her mana, she needs a connection. I would attack that connection itself. I send my mana through the ground, and I rush all of it to one single location. The place where the woman's feet touch the ground.

She smirks and glances in my direction the second I do this, and then immediately tilts into a run for the mountain of stone. Of course, if I claim the territory directly under her feet, all she needs to do is move. Games of Halisar usually do not involve moving from one's starting position, but there's really nothing in the rules against running and jumping around. It's just that usually it disrupts your concentration to be moving around while using earth magic, especially considering running and jumping both disrupt your connection with the ground since there are moments where both feet are in the air. According to the guards, you usually have to be at a pretty advanced level to pull that off. I don't know whether this woman is that advanced or not though. After all, I'd just put her in a position where she'd be useless if she stood in place anyway. And, once she's in direct contact with the stone itself, then she has a direct connection and will not have to worry about me disrupting the connenction through the ground.

That means I have to get it before she does! I push my mana into the stone. Since she is not connected to it directly, she has no ability to contest my claim and I begin forcing her mana out of the stone without being contested. By the time her hand hits the rock, that face of the boulder is already contested territory, just as much mine as it is hers.

I focus an especially strong spike of mana in the area directly around her hands, and I begin forcing it through the stone and into her body. The woman makes an unpleasant face and hisses at the physical sensation accompanied by this form of mana attack.

[This cheeky brat!] She growls and glares over at me. Suddenly, she removes her hand from the large boulder and leaps straight at me, fists raised in something of a flying super-man attack.

The hell! Attacking an opponent physically in the middle of a match?

I raise a wall of stone between me and her in a panic, and the next second her form vanishes from my vision behind the obstruction. I reach out with my earth senses and discover she'd effectively disappeared. The last thing I felt was the seismic vibrations associated with her leaping off the ground, landing on my wall, and then jumping off that and toward... the stone? Oh no!

I glance up in time to see her landing on top of the boulder, and the very second her skin makes contact with it, it begins to crumble like a heavy object had landed on a giant hot air balloon, and from there the destruction just continues to ripple outward until all that's left is the tiny slice off the front-facing portion of it where I'd begun to contest her claim.

The woman stands up from the dust cloud she had created, and then with a gesture of her hand, all the dust falls straight out of the air as though pulled by a sudden much heavier gravity.

[Hmm... not bad at all kid,] the woman said as she walked out from behind the jagged fan of remaining stone. [You actually managed to protect a small portion of it from me, and you even managed to react in time when I came at you. It looks like these useless rejects here managed to at least teach you right. But then, maybe it was just instinct. I can't see these weaklings having the time or presence of mind to attack you in the middle of a match. Have you ever at least had a rock thrown at you in the middle of playing Halisar kid?] she asks.

Useless... rejects? Is she referring to the guards?

At any rate, all I can do in response to her question is shake my head in the negative. None of the guards have ever actually tried to attack me physically during a match. Was that how Halisar is usually supposed to be played?

[I am sorry, ma'am. We are not of a level where we can show Terlue the true nature of the game of Halisar,] Ehdust says.

[I thought not. He did look a bit too panicked to see me coming at him. Well, if that's the case, it's all the more reason... Send the kid back to the cell he shares with the prisoner who birthed him. I'll be talking to the warden and giving a recommendation to the church. it's unusual to bring a kid this young into the program, but we can hardly leave such a talent in the hands of you worthless lot.]

[Yes, right away ma'am!] Ehdust barks and then scampers over toward me and takes me by the hand before rushing out of the room like the place is on fire. The moment he was given an excuse to be out of there, he just couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

I'd seen this exact kind of behavior before, so I recognize it for what it was. This was the very same way the women prisoners acted when around the guards. Fear that makes them want to be away from the person as soon as possible, but respect enough to stay around until they are given permission to leave because they know things will only go badly for them if they leave without permission. And while in the superior's presence, they act with the utmost respect possible, while sweating bullets the entire time.

I have no idea who that woman was or what kind of position she has, but looking at the way she talked about the guards and the way Ehdust is reacting here I can figure out most of what I need to know, and I could find out the details by just asking questions. 

[Who was that woman?] I ask Ehdust as he pulls me along through the corridors.

[That was one of the acolytes of Iuutel,] he said. [Don't show her any disrespect. She may be a low rank, but the church has a lot of power. You do not want to cross them.]

[She was a lower rank?] I asked.

[Yes. If you're confused about how good she was at Halisar, her skills are actually considered pretty basic. She was right when she said we were useless. The reason we're here guarding this camp is because it's more or less all we could do. We're all rejects from the program, we can't give you the education you need. It sounds like they plan to put you in the program early. You should be ready to go, I would say the church is going to be back for you soon, or maybe they'll send someone from the program. You should probably say goodbye to whoever you want to say it to, we might not be seeing you again. I bet you're gonna be in a pretty high position, maybe you'll even get to serve the high priest himself. Soon this camp's gonna be beneath you to even think about, let alone visit.]

That seemed like a pretty harsh assessment. I mean, yeah, the whole idea of this basically being a birthing camp for gnomes, who are elves distorted through a ritual for the purpose of giving us earth magic, is pretty darn barbaric. When I think about it objectively, this is the last place I would have wanted to be in my previous life. But, while my mother has been understandably distant from me considering the circumstances, a lot of the guards have been pretty nice ever since the found out how strong and capable I am with earth magic. It's a little hard to think I might just forget about them entirely after I'm gone.

[No, I'll visit,] I said. [If you're still here, I'll make sure to say 'hi.']

[Ehh... hehe. I think you'd better not. You might be in so high a position by then you'll make the warden piss himself from fright,] Ehdust said. [Anyway, here we are,] he gestured toward the cell I share with my mother. [Just stay here for a bit, yeah? Things are going to be pretty crazy for a bit until the acolyte leaves, it would help if you could just go back to sleep or play quietly here or something. Maybe practice a bit more with the stone we gave you.]

Treating me like a kid, huh? Well, I guess I am technically 3 years old, so I must be a kid from their perspective. An exceptionally well behaved kid, but still a kid.

Whatever. That's the kind of thing where getting upset over it will really make me look like a kid. So, I guess I'll just go along with it and play the obedient role here. Even with this much talent and ability making me stick out, I have learned from watching others that the best way to get along in this world is to keep my head down.

God I do hope Ehdust is right about what kind of future I'm destined for here. I hope I get the kind of power I'll need to bring this whole F-ed up system down on it's head.