“Not exactly, your lordship. There are many very learned men who could not be Rhamdas; and there are many who have had no learning at all who eventually were admitted. The qualifications are intellectual, not educational; the mind is put to a rigid test. It is examined for alertness, perception, memory, reason, emotion, and control. There is no greater honour in all the Thomahlia.”
“And they are all athletes?”
“Every one, my lord. In all the world there is no finer body of men, I myself would hesitate before entering a match with even the old Rhamda Geos.”
“How about the Rhamda Avec?”
“Nor he, either; in the gymnasium he was always the superior, just as he topped all others morally and mentally.”
Did this explain the Avec's physical prowess, on the one hand, and the fact that he would not stoop to take that ring by force, on the other?
“Just one more thing, Jan Lucar. You have absolutely no fear that I may fail tomorrow?”
“Not the slightest, my lord. You cannot fail!”
“Why not?”
“I have already said—because you are from the Jarados.”