Tynesday, 5th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

Josias stood firmly between Mateus and Johannes. His frame had appeared small next to his larger friends, but that didn't matter. It would actually work better for him if his opponents underestimated him because of that. It's always much better to appear weak but actually be strong than the other way around. Well, it was an ancient saying he had heard somewhere before. 'You must appear weak when you are strong and strong when you are weak'... Or something along those lines.

Across from the Gorians stood the team from Sombanaria. Five warriors clad in cloth armor and short tunics with eastern turbans and the like wrapped around them. Josias clicked his tongue. At least western clothing had some form of finesse. Regardless, Josias could never understand the discrepancy in treatment between these Moslem Halaks and that of the christians.

As far as Josias was concerned, the fools in front of him were just as much followers of a foreign religion as the christians were. Yet, why is it when his realm had promoted the cross of Christ, all the followers of the Old Ways were determined to stamp out the nascent new faith? What was it about his own religion that the sipelebegu (pagans, lit. 'demon/spirit worshippers') found far more threatening than the moslems? Was it because they're scared of a war with the neighbouring sultanate? Cowards the lot of them then. Only brave enough to threaten defenseless missionaries whose homeland was an ocean away.

Perhaps that was what the old saying meant. To appear strong when you were actually weak. And if the neighbouring Banuan realms were enough of a threat towards the kings of the Halak, they truly were weak. Hypocrisy at its finest. Practical political concerns hid behind a veneer of idealism and so-called 'adherence to the old ways'.

As neither Sombanaria nor Goria were followers of the old ways, the Matanitao elder didn't bother with a prayer to start the match. Josias exchanged a glance with his family at the stands. His father raised a fist of encouragement. His grandfather gave him a smile and a reassuring nod. Josias nodded back as he returned his focus towards his opponents. And with that, the match had started.

The young warriors quickly charged and engaged their counterparts in a fierce bout of melee. All of them were only equipped with long cloth pants and headbands while their torsos were bare. This would make it easier for the judges to determine who was eliminated or not from the match.

None of the Sombanarians were of a level higher than the second star. Though this might seem like an advantage to the Gorians, in reality it wasn't so simple. It would mean that the performance of the Sombanarians during the first round were the result of pure dedication and skill at arms. They had an impressive technical skill and prowess that wasn't reliant on aura or any factor of that sort.

This was a slight problem because Josias had agreed with his companions that for the first round, they would not be using any aura or mana. Josias wanted as best he could to conceal any advantage his team might have had for the tournament. He didn't want to reveal the fact that all the Gorian warriors were third star warriors just yet. Lord knows a discerning eye like Silua's would be able to come up with a dozen plans and countermeasures to deal with them if they did.

And so for the first few minutes of the match proved to be quite a struggle for the Gorians. They had to contend with a relentless onslaught of aura-infused attacks from the Sombanarians. Because of that, the Gorians had focused on evading and dodging more than deflecting their opponents' attacks. To deflect an incoming blow infused with aura without aura yourself was a dangerous proposition.

This continued on for a few more minutes. It had seemed at first that the Sombanarians were of equal footing with the Gorians in terms of skill at arms. Yet as the match progressed and the Gorians became nimbler in dodging and evading, something became more apparent for all to see. The Gorians were far more flexible than their Sombanarian counterparts.

Josias had already caught the basic attack patterns of his opponents. They were skilled, yes, but they were also far too rigid in their execution of attacks. They had quickly gotten used to the pattern of dodging and evading the Gorians had employed and were seeking to capitalise on their perceived aura advantage. The moment after the fifteen minute mark was hit, things took a turn.

When the Sombanarians had to release the use of their auras to conserve their energy, the Gorians wasted no time launching a counter attack. They were still not using their auras but the Gorians had seemed faster. More brutal. More relentless.

Josias himself had pulled a feint attack on the captain of the Sombanarians. He had baited the captain with a strike towards his left side – as Josias had conditioned him to think up to that point – but the strike never came. When the captain raised his left arm to defend, Josias instead swept the man off his feet with a slightly aura-infused kick.

The captain lost his balance and Josias used that time to nick him on his sides with his saber, drawing blood. The main coordinator of the Sombanarian team had been eliminated. Josias wasted no time after that to quickly lend support to a struggling Sadrach. The two of them together then more easily managed to thwart another warrior of the Sombanarians. Even with aura, a second star warrior couldn't easily deal with multiple skilled opponents.

The slightest tilt of the balance of numbers in favour of Goria was enough to spell doom for the Sombanarians. With their captain gone – meaning a disadvantage of numbers as well – the Sombanarians had to contend with a potentially undefended flank. True enough, pinned by both Josias and Sadrach, the Sombanarian they both faced soon was eliminated as well. Josias had knocked the man's sabre from his hands while Sadrach launched a strike to his forehand.

Now being outnumbered five to three, the Sombanarians no longer had any chance of victory against the Gorians. Skill at arms and aura weren't able to offset a disadvantage like that especially when they were only at the second star level. It wasn't even five minutes before the last Sombanarian warrior was defeated.

The Matanitao elder had appeared on the field and assessed the situation. The wounded Sombanarians were currently being treated by the healers of Matanitao while the Gorians stood proudly. With a smile and a nod he raised his hand towards the Gorians and declared the victory of the first match of the day as theirs.

Josias and his companions raised their sabers and roared triumphantly. Not only had they won their opening match, but they had done it without even using aura. Such was a testament not only of their skill at arms but also of their cunning. None of their potential competitors could gather anything besides the fact that they were skilled. The mystery of their aura levels was still a wildcard factor that their opponents had to factor into any strategy.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

As Josias and his companions raised their sabers, he led them in a warcry to celebrate. "JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!" the warriors shouted.

""JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!"" All the christians among the crowds roared with zealous fervour at the cry. Their shouts and cheers rumbling the entirety of the field. It could be seen as an obvious provocation from the part of the Gorians, but Josias would convince everyone that it was out of his pure zeal for his religion.

Josias felt even prouder when he saw his beloved family standing and cheering. His father was always spirited in his encouragement but seeing even his grandfather stand and cheer in his weakened state comforted Josias. The Gorian warriors wasted no time rushing towards their loved ones in the euphoria of victory.

Josias had approached his grandfather's chair first as he knelt towards the old king. King Parhal nodded as he placed both his hands on Josias' head and gave him a blessing before ruffling his hair. Parulian spared little effort grabbing his son up in a bear hug before spinning Josias around.

"Argh! Father let go of me!! I'm still terribly sweaty!" Josias said as he laughed, a smile still plastered on his face. Parulian put his son down before exaggeratedly taking a sniff from his son. He then made a funny face towards his younger children.

"Eughh! You're right, son. You damn stink! Get yourself clean!" Parulian said as he vigorously slapped Josias' back. He then laughed and pointed Josias out to his younger children. "Your abang needs a bath! He's smelly!"

"Hahahahah!! Smelly abang! Smelly abang!" The younger children jumped around and teased Josias. Josias shook his head and chuckled before he started chasing the little children. Julia, Janus, Tigor, and Tiur started running circles around him while screaming and laughing. It was adorable but after the earlier match, Josias couldn't spare any more energy to chase the little monkeys around.

But, his father was right about one thing. He felt smelly and sticky and was in dire need of a bath. With that in mind, Josias and his companions had decided to wash themselves first before returning to the field to witness the rest of the matches. There were to be four matches for the day and though they might have to skip the next one between Hutaraja and Hutanaga, Josias wanted to support the Hutangali in their match.

***

When Josias and his companions returned to the field from cleaning themselves, the second match was still ongoing. They had quickly taken their seats among the tribunes to witness the match in its final minutes. Apparently, it had been a close game the entirety of the match. On the field, the amount of warriors between the two teams were still equal.

There were now two warriors on each side of the field, all of them being of the third star of aura. Hutaraja and Hutanaga – being the close allies that they were – were evenly matched in terms of power and skill. The warriors of the two teams seemed equally matched blow for blow and it could be anyone's game at that point.

This particular match was an important one because whoever won from the match would be facing Goria in the round of eight. Whether it was Hutanaga or Hutaraja, the Gorians would be hard pressed to maintain their earlier strategy of aura conservation.

Josias had to give it to the two teams. Despite them having to go through two matches from the losers' bracket, they still had quite the energy to spend within this particular match. Hopefully they lose at least half of their energy for their match with Goria.

After a few more bouts of melee and a couple more trades of blows, a single fighter stood triumphant between the four. Maruhum Siparsangap stood on the field as he unleashed a roar. The Hutaraja had managed to claw out a victory after fighting tooth and nail against the Hutanaga. However, the ragged captain of the Hutaraja still stood there before his gaze turned towards Josias sitting upon the tribunes. Josias raised an eyebrow at this.

Maruhum then raised his arm as he pointed towards Josias.

"BEGE AU, ALE JOSIAS PARGORIA! (Listen to me, Josias of Goria!)" The cheer of the crowds had died down as they turned to listen to what the young warrior had to say. With all the attention now on him, Maruhum continued his words. "When we meet on this field tomorrow, EXPECT NO MERCY FROM ME!! I SHALL RETURN ALL THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN WITH INTEREST! Mark my words!! You shall have hell to pay!"

Much of the crowd had their attention now turned towards Josias, awaiting his response. The young Gorian warrior merely sighed out before chuckling. Josias then stood up as he met Maruhum's gaze. With a loud voice infused with aura, Josias gave his reply as he shouted back.

"YOU TALK TOO MUCH! LET OUR BLADES DO THE TALKING TOMORROW, O SPAWN OF THE SIPARSANGAP!" Josias shouted. "Also, try not to get your head kicked in next time, okay?"

The Gorian crowds responded with jeering laughter and cheers at Josias' reply. Maruhum's expression only grew more flushed as he frustratedly threw his saber aside. Josias laughed even more at the sight. Enemies who lent themselves to fall to taunts were always the easiest to run circles around. Too much pride, not enough skill and levelheadedness. Though to be fair, when it comes to an insult towards Serena, Josias didn't have much patience either.

And with that, the teams had exited the field as a short break commenced before the start of the next round between Hutangali and Tanohisar. The two realms were traditional rivals over dominion of the Northern Halaklands. Much pride was at stake in that match.

Unfortunately, when the third match had ended, Hutangali was forced to suffer a defeat. Josias clicked his tongue at the match as it was a very close one as well. Had his allies displayed better teamwork and coordination, they could have come up on top. As it stood, the Tanohisar had won the match with two warriors surviving.

Prince Panghirimon was the final warrior of the Hutangali to go down with a fight. The match had started relatively evenly and for the early part of it, Hutangali even held the advantage. Prince Hasianta had defeated the opponent he engaged with earlier but instead of pulling back to regroup and refocus an attack, he fell into a trap set by the Tanohisar.

Panghirimon had warned his younger brother to step back in line, but Hasianta was filled with hubris. He had thought the other warriors of Hutangali would follow suit with him in a pincer attack for glory, but instead he was surrounded by the Tanohisar warriors.

The other Hutangali had attempted to rescue him and provide support but by that point, their formation had been compromised. It wasn't long after their stance was compromised did the situation cascade, culminating with their loss. It was unfortunate, but Josias was determined to avenge his allies in the competition.

The final match of the day was between Goria's catholic rivals in Tanjung Naria against the warriors of Aek Rantau.

Josias watched the match with interest to gauge the skills of the Tanjung Narians in a fair team duel. It would seem that besides Alvaro, everyone else was a two star warrior. Josias rolled his eyes when he realised the Tanjung Narians truly weren't as skilled as he expected them to be. Not that the warriors of Aek Rantau were any better.

The Aek Rantau's performance was almost as bad as the teams within the losers' bracket yesterday. The Tanjung Narians made short work of their opponents accordingly, thus securing their slot within the round of eight. They would be fighting the Tanohisar there and whoever would win that fight would then square off against the winner of the Goria-Hutaraja match.

It was a small dilemma for Josias. On the one hand, he wanted to avenge Hutangali's defeat against the Tanohisar. On the other hand, he really wanted to obliterate the Tanjung Narians and their pride from the face of the earth. Regardless though, the coming rounds are looking to be more and more interesting to say the least.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.