Tirsday, 7th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

And so came the first day of the quarterfinals. The council of Matanitao had seen fit to hold two matches a day for a total of four matches in two days. One match was held in the morning and the other match to be held in the afternoon. The latter days of the tournament week would also prove to be the most festive.

Dozens of locals had opened stalls near the tourney fields selling all sorts of trinkets and treats. Josias had promised his younger siblings that after his match, he'd buy them all food and souvenirs. Josias could only hope to win the tournament and use the prize money and gifts to reimburse himself after spoiling the little monkeys.

And as always, the Gorian team had been given the first slot of the day to fight their match. Well, it certainly beats having to fight their match under the scorching heat of the afternoon sun. With that in mind, Josias stood across his Hutaraja opponents alongside his trusted companions. He took the usual formation of standing in between Mateus and Johannes with Sadrach and Hesekiel standing at the flanks.

Unlike the previous matches where the elder would just give a signal for the match to start, the current match had been given more fanfare. Many offerings and prayers had been supplicated to Debata Mulajadi Nabolon. A ritual dance by a troupe of beautiful young women was also performed. It was called the 'tortor Sipitu Sawan' (dance of seven chalices) in which the women would methodically place seven cups upon their bodies, be it their hands, forearms, head, and shoulders. The dancers would then move their bodies along with the beat of the music all without letting a single cup – filled with blessed drinks – fall over.

Legend has it that long ago, seven divine bidhadharis had descended to the middle realm from the heavens above. All seven of them were aspects of values and traits like wisdom, culture, strength, social norms, sanctity, life, and spirituality. It was said that the seven heavenly nymphs had come down to take a bath in one of the springs of the island, making it sacred.

The water of the spring which they bathed in was believed to be blessed by the fact that it had graced their divine bodies. Whoever were to drink or bathe in the water from the sacred spring would take within them the divine properties of the women. The spring was at an admittedly beautiful location at the foot of the mountain complete with a beautiful waterfall.

Josias had visited the spring a few times and even bathed in it once. He didn't really believe in its purported miraculous properties but he was happy to take part in any cultural activity. It was a relatively clean spring anyways and he could sense that the water was indeed infused by a natural source of mana.

Stories didn't have to be real or make sense for it to have an impact on the people. Thinking about it too much would in fact damage the value of the story, in Josias' eyes. Why would seven angels from heaven even have a need to bathe? Was the heaven of the pagans filled with dirt or filth? And why would the ancients even think of drinking the bathwater of the women regardless of how beautiful they were? It made them sound like a bunch of perverted degenerates if one were to think truly deeply about it.

Regardless, Josias refocused his attention to the ceremony at hand. The women had systematically placed the cups on their arms upon the ground while the other cups remained on their heads and shoulders. They used two small lime-tree branches full of leaves to douse with the sacred waters of the cup. Like an aspergillum, the young women would then use the branches to sprinkle the waters upon the field and the warriors there to bless them.

Josias and his companions made the sign of the cross each time the water hit them as assurance that they were not committing apostasy by participating in the tradition. Josias had even averted his gaze away from the admittedly beautiful dancers of the Matanitao. Though this was more out of consideration for Serena than any particularly religious convictions. Josias wouldn't hear the end of it if Serena had even considered his eyes staying upon a dancer for but a second too long so he might as well just not look at them at all.

After the morning rituals and ceremonies were completed, finally the Matanitao elder stepped forward. With a final word of blessing, he unleashed his aura and gave the signal for the match to start in earnest.

When the match started, Maruhum had walked forward with his saber drawn, eyes trained towards Josias. Eyes that were more akin to a beast's than a man's with what rage that swirled within them. Maruhum had started walking slowly to approach Josias.

"...I have waited for this day of reckoning, Sigumogo! You shall feel the true weight of the sword that is carried by the blood of Sorimangaraja and the kings of old!" Maruhum had started, his voice deep like a growl. "With my blade shall I cut you and with your blood shall the ancestors be pleased! You look down on us whose blood runs purely from those of true kings! You shall-...!!"

As Maruhum was giving an impassioned speech, Josias visibly rolled his eyes and motioned his hand to mimic a mouth talking.

"Blah blah ancestors blah blah blood… Are you done, lae? We don't have all morning. Brothers, take a step back while I show these gentlemen how to fight." Josias drew his sabre as he walked towards Maruhum nonchalantly while slicking back the bangs of his hair.

Maruhum's face contorted as it twisted with rage at Josias' lack of respect.

"Y-you!! ARGHHH!!!" Not caring about anything else, Maruhum had unleashed his aura as he charged towards Josias followed by his companions.

The Gorians smirked at the incensed Hutarajans as they stood while crossing their arms according to Josias' will. It had been agreed beforehand that as long as Josias wasn't eliminated, the others were to not intervene with the match. It was a daring move and some among the audience shook their heads as what they perceived to be pure audacity and arrogance.

Josias had used a little bit of his aura to quicken his steps in evading each incoming strike from Maruhum. Maruhum's attacks were fierce, but they lacked any form of finesse and accuracy. Just blind rage.

"Stay still and fight like a man, you cowardly snake!" Maruhum shouted frustratedly as he unleashed flurry after flurry of attack against Josias. Josias only smiled and scoffed at the Hutaraja's attempts to land a hit on him.

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"Snake? You should be saying that to your friends from Hutanaga." Josias evaded the attacks seemingly easily as he even countered with a few strikes of his own. "It always disgusts me every time I see them take on those slimy, slithering scales… Yuck!"

"...SNAKES AREN'T SLIMY!! HYAH!" Maruhum shouted. Josias almost lost his balance holding in his laughter at the random comment. "What are you all standing there for?! Help me surround this fool!"

"Oh, whatever happened to fighting me honourably? Now you're trying to gang up on me 'cause you're too weak to fight me on your own?"

"Now you're talking too much! Just shut up and bleed already!"

Immediately the four other Hutaraja warriors had closed in to surround Josias. From an outside perspective, Josias' current situation seemed to be dire. But Josias' face remained calm as he had expected for this to happen. In fact, having that many people to fight at once would prove quite advantageous to him.

When the other warriors had reached him and tried to land an attack, Josias instead closed the distance between himself and another warrior. The warrior he had chosen to tackle gave off the weakest sense of aura. Josias immediately crouched his body low, swept the young warrior up with a kick but not before rolling on the floor and placing his body upon him.

One of the sabre swings that was about to hit Josias had instead hit the young warrior that now acted as his meatshield. The warrior who had inadvertently slashed his ally had jerked back in surprise, not expecting anything like that to happen. He was the only third star warrior besides Maruhum and had put a lot of force on his attack. This of course wounded his ally pretty seriously.

Josias capitalised on this shock and quickly hurled the body on top of him towards the other warrior, the blood smearing the third star warrior. By the time he snapped out of his short daze it was too late. Josias had already slashed past him and caused him to bleed from his torso. Maruhum spat out a few curses as he couldn't do much for his companions, his range of attacks being greatly diminished by his two other companions.

A short minute break had been called by the Matanitao elder to safely transport the bleeding warriors out of the tournament field to be healed. The gondang drums had played a different tune, signalling the short break.

The Gorian crowds cheered and roared with a great spirit as they started shouting Josias' name. ""JO-SI-AS! JO-SI-AS! JO-SI-AS!!"" everyone shouted, calling out to him like he was some sort of hero.

Josias felt absolutely moved, but he couldn't afford to acknowledge the praises that could lead him to lowering his guard. The match was far from over and Josias instead raised his sabre and pointed it towards Maruhum.

"Are you serious? All that hubris and talk of defeating me… and I managed to eliminate two of you? On my own? Pffft, hahahahaha!" Josias purposefully laced an extra amount of venom into his words as he glanced towards his allies. "Boys, there's no point of you lot being here! Might as well go and wash yourselves up now and get ready for lunch! I'll end this in a few moments."

"Grrr….!!!" Maruhum was so obviously tilted but he couldn't say much. Though his face was filled with rage, Josias could also see Maruhum's hands start shaking. He thought for a second on whether or not he should continue to taunt the man, but he decided against it. Pushing Maruhum too far would cause him to lash out like a beast without reason. It's much easier to deal with an opponent with an addled yet still slightly rational mind.

The Matanitao had given the signal to resume the match once more as the wounded warriors had been transported out. As soon as the elder had left the tourney field, Josias decided to no longer hold back and released all his mana into aura. He infused not just his weapon but also his body with aura as he moved for an attack.

Though it had only been a couple of months since his ascension to the third star, Josias was already very close to reaching the peak of the third star. His experiences from the expedition to Hutangali as well as the intensive training he went through had done wonders for his growth. It was a rapid speed and at this point, he wasn't very far from attaining the fourth star. He'd be the first one in his generation to do so as well as the first one to achieve the fourth star below the age of twenty in a long time. Even his grandfather had been at least half a decade older than he was when he achieved his fourth star.

With all that mana capacity and aura, Josias had moved with great speed, quickly dispatching the two-star warriors of Hutaraja before they even knew what hit them. Not giving Maruhum time to even process all of this, Josias had already appeared in front of him. His sabre brandished and a wicked smile on his face.

Josias' first slash was able to be deflected with a little difficulty, but he didn't let that stop him. Immediately, Josias linked his attack with another kick and a punch to Maruhum's face. Maruhum slashed wildly towards Josias to try and stave him off but his attack was easily deflected.

Josias finally aimed his sabre towards Maruhum's hand and he was finally able to disarm the man. However, Josias had to give Maruhum a little credit. Even when he was disarmed, Maruhum had refused to back down. He had resorted to using traditional mossak moves to try and stave off Josias' attacks. It was obviously a desperate measure on his part though.

There was no longer any way the Hutaraja were going to win the match. Only Josias alone was enough to obliterate their entire team. Continuing the match any longer was just unnecessary as it stood. There were only a short few moments left before the match would end anyways. Josias had had his full and was satisfied enough with the results.

And so, he put his sabre back into its sheath to walk back to his companions. For all intents and purposes, the match had been won and Goria would make it to the semifinals. Josias was even thinking on what treat he would get for lunch.

However, if there was ever a list of anything to criticise Maruhum Siparsangap for, lack of tenacity would never be on that list. In a fit of desperate rage, Maruhum had picked his sabre back up as he charged towards Josias one final time.

Josias had stopped in his tracks as he looked back at Maruhum's charge. With an exasperated sigh, Josias faced the Hutaraja warrior once more. This time, with a look of apathy.

As Maruhum was approaching closer and closer, Josias fixed his stance as he dusted himself off. He then crossed his arms and concentrated his gaze upon the charging Maruhum. When Maruhum drew so close to strike with his sabre, Josias had pulled off a quick sidestep away from the attack.

In the next moment, Josias struck at Maruhum's sword-arm. An audible 'crack' could be heard coming from it. This caused Maruhum to lose his grip on his sword as instead he was now roaring in pain.

Josias gave one final punch to Maruhum's stomach which caused him to bend over. He then proceeded to slam his elbow unto the man's back, causing him to fully kneel on the ground. Josias then casually grabbed Maruhum's sabre before nicking his back.

It wasn't the most grievous of wounds, but Josias had learnt from Saorma's match that he didn't even need too much blood. All it took was just a little amount of cunning. With that, the Elder of the Matanitao had appeared upon the field to assess the situation.

As Maruhum's back was technically injured and some blood did indeed smear it now, the Elder ruled in favour of the Gorians. With a loud and commanding voice, he had named Goria as the winner of the match.

In that instant, the entirety of the tribunes had roared – mostly in cheer – due to the match that they had just witnessed. Not only was it a show of Goria's strength, it was a testament to Josias' own personal martial prowess. He alone had been enough.

Josias unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the sky as he faced the roaring cheers of his supporters. With a loud voice, he shouted his warcry, "PUJI JAHOWA!"

It wasn't even the finals yet, but Josias had already felt like a massive winner.

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