Chapter 7

Mash Burnedead and the Game of Brooms is the seventh chapter of the Mashle series and the seventh chapter of the Intro Arc.

Summary
The Duelo match between Adler and Lang dorms begins. Mash stands rooted to the ground, staring up as the other players begin playing in earnest.

The crowd begins to jeer at Mash and throw things at him and tell him to stop playing if his heart was not in it and Mash thinks to himself how he wished he could do so. Adler Captain Tom Knowles touches down and begins to speak with Mash. Tom furiously asks Mash if he was fired up and trying to make his dreams come true though Mash does not understand his metaphors. He then tells Mash to be like bamboo, strong and supple in any environment, though this only furthers Mash's impression that Tom is out of his mind.

Tom then explains the rules of Duelo to Mash, saying that the players simply fought over control of the ball and tried to get it through the hoops on their opponent's end of the field and that magic was forbidden. As he takes off, a Lang player slams into him, injures his shoulder, and sends him crashing to the ground. The Lang player excuses himself by saying it was not on purpose and flying off. Lang begins to take a big lead in the game as they have 50 points to Adler's 10. As Mash goes over to check up on Tom he sees that the Captain is unable to continue playing but says that it was not about winning but doing your best.

Seeing this, Mash launches himself off the ground and stays in the air by kicking with both legs furiously. The crowd stares at this in disbelief and incredulity, seeing that he is not actually flying. He asks for the ball and throws it with ferocious strength, scoring easily. That is not all, as the ball suddenly swerves back to Mash who repeats this cycle until Adler overtakes Lang's score. The match ends with Adler having scored 999 points to Lang's 50 and Mash receives a Silver Coin for setting a new scoring record.

Tom is extremely grateful to Mash, who remarks that he is not good with Tom's type, and in the interview after their victory Mash credits the result to Tom's exuberant encouragement. Lance Crown reads the interview in the school newspaper and ignites a spark of flame at the picture of Mash in it. As he slowly opens his locket and looks inside, Lance declares that they would be next.

Chapter Notes

 * The game of Duelo is introduced.
 * Mash earns his first silver coin.
 * Lance Crown is introduced.

Characters in order of Appearance

 * Mash Burnedead
 * Tom Knowles
 * Lance Crown