The rising breeze on the horizon made its presence felt in Vixkard's establishments, making windows and doors rattle and violently swing open, while Tawnylon remained in his bed, deeply asleep and dreaming of his wife.

A loose brick swayed in the wind until it fell with great force onto Tawnylon's forehead, startling him immediately and making him fall from the bed, confused by what had just happened.

He looked around and saw the fragments of the broken brick; he touched his forehead and, seeing the dust on his fingers, laughed a little at what had happened. He got up and looked through the window, hearing various gasps of extreme effort coming from the courtyard.

Curious about this, he looked at Thamuz's bed, noticing it was completely empty. He left the room heading towards the courtyard, observing that no one had woken up yet, and reached the doors, where he stood amazed at the sight before him.

Thamuz was hitting Bonkam's gigantic rock in a strange and unconventional way compared to what Tawnylon knew about shamonak: the fingers of Thamuz's palm were retracted and he was striking with his wrist.

This seemed to work somehow; the stone was slowly cracking, to the point of wanting to split in half. With each blow, debris flew and cracks appeared on its surface.

Thamuz's wrists were bleeding and bruised, but there was a slight smile on his face, as if he completely ignored the pain and only focused on making that rock fall.

"How are you doing that, son?" asked Tawnylon, with surprise in his voice.

Thamuz raised his head upon hearing his father's voice speaking to him, turning until he saw him almost at his side, at which point he stopped hitting the rock to face him.

"I don't know, father. I felt frustrated about not being able to bring down this rock, so I trained during the night next to it, until I discovered that if I position my hand this way..." explained Thamuz, showing him the characteristic way in which he retracted his fingers and then struck with his wrist—. "I can bring down this rock."

"I had never seen that type of strike," said Tawnylon, imitating the way Thamuz retracted his fingers—. "but I suppose that by hitting with the wrist, you're striking in a more precise and controlled way; perhaps that's helping you."

"In a way, you're right," Vixkard's voice was heard behind them.

Father and son turned to look at Vixkard, who was still wearing his sleeping pajamas and was yawning while rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"That strike that Thamuz is doing..."

Vixkard's explanation was interrupted when he tried to go down the stairs but tripped on a step and landed face-first on the ground, raising dust behind him.

Tawnylon ran to help him while Thamuz followed behind; both grabbed Vixkard's arms to lift him while dusting off his clothes.

Vixkard straightened up and gestured with his hands for them to let go. He cleared his throat and began to speak:

"That way of striking is a variation of the regular palm strike that we know, Droxias, named after the most loyal friend of shamonak's creator, Yhamataw. This variation is based on concentrating all the power of a strike into a single point, without the ability to disperse, to cause the maximum possible damage."

"I had heard something like that during my days as a fighter, though I had never seen it in person, much less with my son doing it," said Tawnylon, with pride in his voice.

"It's a technique that's rarely seen because modern fights are pure spectacle and to entertain people; there isn't the same feeling of danger and desperation as in the ancient shamonak fights. Although something interests me," said Vixkard, approaching Thamuz: "how you could discover such a forgotten technique overnight."

Thamuz related the same thing he told his father, with Vixkard showing surprise at his words. It was such a surprising coincidence that he couldn't help but think that in his hands was another prodigy student, as Tawnylon once was.

"So, what training comes next?" asked Thamuz, sounding somewhat tired from his efforts.

"Today won't be a training day, we'll rest in a way, but not Korro; he'll be doing something special today," said Vixkard, with a smile on his face.

"What will it be?" Thamuz asked again.

"Today the official shamonak fights begin; the winners of these fights will be seen and registered as certified fighters approved by the grand councils. Besides," Vixkard made a dramatic pause, "Korro once escaped from these fights under my tutorship, but with you two here, he'll never escape."

"What time are they?" asked Tawnylon.

"When the sun is at its highest," replied Vixkard.

Tawnylon looked back and observed how the sun was already starting to rise from the horizon, preparing to overshadow the moon that was slowly descending.

"Then he needs to get up," commented Tawnylon, crossing his arms.

"Don't worry about that, I set him a natural alarm," said Vixkard, with some malice in his voice.

Suddenly, screams were heard inside the house, followed by thundering footsteps as if someone was running away from something. Korro shot out of the house while behind him was a small animal, about forty centimeters long and fifteen wide. It seemed to have a shell on its back, followed by several legs around its body; its colors were a combination of blue, purple and white, with what appeared to be small protrusions sprouting from its head.

"No, get away from me!" Korro screamed while running.

Korro reached where Thamuz was and positioned himself behind him, hiding from the creature that was chasing him. Meanwhile, the small creature sat down in front of Thamuz's imposing presence, turning its head from side to side while making small sounds similar to whimpers.

Thamuz slowly crouched down and looked the creature in the eyes, then extended his two hands and carefully picked it up, as if it were a baby in his arms.

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"How cute you are," said Thamuz, rubbing the creature's head with a finger.

"What is that thing?" asked Tawnylon, curious about the strange appearance of this being.

"That's an orugadorun; it's small and harmless, but it terrifies Korro," explained Vixkard.

"Why did you put it on my chest, you damn old man? I was having a great dream," protested Korro, with fury in his voice.

"I hope that dream involved the official shamonak fights, because today will be the day you're going to enter them, don't you remember?" said Vixkard, with fierceness in his tone.

Korro seemed confused and tried to remember the old man's words, until finally that memory came to his mind; he opened his eyes along with his mouth, closing them immediately while moving away from Thamuz with his hands in front.

"I didn't know it was today; I haven't trained much. Besides, this happens every year, I could enter next year, when I'm more prepared," Korro tried to suggest.

"Sure, like you did that time when you escaped in previous years. I still remember it and it's very engraved in my mind, so we're going today or you'll see," protested Vixkard, with anger in his voice.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do then if I don't want to go?" said Korro, challenging him.

Vixkard seemed to take the threat very seriously; if he had eyes, everyone could see the way he would look at Korro, with a rage that can rarely be witnessed.

Vixkard whistled and the orugadorun raised its head, looking at Korro, then escaped from Thamuz's arms and made a great leap, landing where Korro was and starting to wander around his body, getting inside his shirt and pants.

"Alright, old man, I'll go!" exclaimed Korro, with desperation in his voice.

"You forced me to do this," remarked Vixkard, whistling again and making the creature stop its intrusion to walk towards him.

With Korro's participation secured, the four began to get ready to leave, bathing in a river near Vixkard's house and dressing in their characteristic clothes, until they were completely prepared to leave.

Vixkard and Korro went in a separate carriage due to the great size and weight that Thamuz and his father had, who had to go in a carriage with a beast of considerable size and strength to be able to carry them throughout the journey.

The roads were full and lively with people walking everywhere, especially because today was going to be such a big event as the official shamonak fights. These had a great influence on the economy and on the way people entertained themselves from the monotony of daily life, so much so that all official economic activity stopped in certain parts to be able to witness the fights; even some guards and soldiers of the kingdom specifically took that day off to leave their roles.

The four arrived at the gigantic combat arena, very different compared to where Thamuz was fighting, making him remember his previous fights and feel uncertainty about who his next combatant would be.

"Well, we're here," said Tawnylon, getting down from his carriage along with his son.

They paid the driver and walked towards the stadium gates, spotting Korro along with Vixkard, who also saw them and approached them.

"Just from the chorus of joy and the murmurs of people, I can tell this will be a good year for official shamonak fights," noted Vixkard, clinging to Korro's arm.

The four entered the stadium, which was almost similar in size to the one used for the shamonak to death tournament, only with the difference that it was more sophisticated and made for the visual pleasure of those who couldn't handle fights as brutal as the ones Thamuz had fought.

A woman of small stature but notable musculature was at the arena entrance, protecting and watching each person who entered, until she saw Vixkard and his group coming.

"Mister Vixkard, it's an honor to be in your presence," she said, kneeling before him.

"Leave those adorations that I don't like; stand up and receive my ticket. This will be the fighter who's going to enter to represent me," said Vixkard, handing her a paper with a blue line marked horizontally on it.

"Right away," she said, grabbing the paper and guiding them to the arena's interior.

The darkness became present and made notable how far they were from the main spectacle; they were actually heading towards the stables of the warriors who were going to participate in today's round of fights, in total more than a hundred, divided into a total of five rounds where only a maximum of twenty fighters would remain, or ten if this year's fighters were more fierce.

"This is where fighters prepare before fighting. Right now there are fights taking place on the surface, so your fighter has good time to prepare until his fight," explained the girl, showing with a hand gesture the different fighters who were preparing and training without paying attention to them.

"Alright, Thamuz, stay here with Korro," ordered Vixkard.

"Why? I'm not going to fight," asked Thamuz.

"It's just so you can train with him for a while, to help him prepare until his fight comes. Besides, you have the best view here if you want to see the fight up close," explained Vixkard.

"Alright, you go ahead, get the best seats," said Thamuz, starting to walk with Korro.

The woman guided Vixkard and Tawnylon out of the combat stables, disappearing from Thamuz's view until they were only shadows. Now he looked at Korro, who was obviously nervous.

"So, is this your first time in a shamonak fight of this type?" asked Thamuz, crossing his arms.

"Yes, I had never been here; the only time I had fought was in training fights, and the last time was with you," responded Korro, sitting on a nearby bench.

"Well, look at how you made me get serious for a moment; that means you'll do very well with any opponent they put against you. Besides, they said you had time to train, so let's start," said Thamuz, getting into his usual combat position.

Korro looked at him and gave a long sigh, standing up and taking the same position he had used when fighting Thamuz previously.

"Where did you learn this combat position?" asked Thamuz.

"I invented it myself; I strike more than I grab, so it helps me to deliver strikes with more speed and power," responded Korro. "Where did you learn yours?"

"I learned it during my fights; I first used it with my father, he gave me the beating of my life, then I got used to it in my shamonak to death fights. After all, I grab more than I strike," said Thamuz, with a small smile on his face.

As if they were two lightning bolts, both lunged at each other; Thamuz grabbed Korro's hips while Korro did the same, drawing strength from where he had none to win in the grappling duel, but Thamuz's overwhelming force was much greater and threw him to the other side, making him roll several meters.

"Try using your legs to unbalance me," said Thamuz, walking towards Korro.

"How?" asked Korro.

"Like this," said Thamuz, before lunging at Korro.

Thamuz grabbed Korro by the chest and used one leg to retract Korro's leg and slam him against the ground, making his back sound.

"This way," added Thamuz, extending a hand towards Korro.

Korro was panting from the sudden blow he received, raising a hand to grab Thamuz's and looking him in the eyes.

"I told you I wasn't that good with grappling," said Korro, still breathing heavily.

"You need to refine them very well. In our first fight, you were able to grab me in different ways and slam me against the ground, that I do appreciate," said Thamuz, lowering his hand. "But if that's the case, then let's work on your strikes."

Thamuz suddenly straightened up, crouching a bit and putting his arms to his side, taking a deep breath and making a great effort with his body; he was hardening his muscles.

"Muscle control?" asked Korro.

"Yes, hit me all you want, to warm up before you go in," suggested Thamuz, flexing his muscles with more force.

Korro nodded and started hitting Thamuz with consecutive palm strikes; the shock waves and sound made some fighters stop to watch Thamuz's resistance and Korro's striking power.

Several minutes passed like this until a voice was heard calling Korro's name; it was one of the combat stadium officials, announcing that it was Korro's turn.

"Well, it seems it's your turn to fight," said Thamuz, relaxing his muscles and giving a slight grunt of pain.

Korro looked at his hands and saw they were bloodied and somewhat sore, but closed his fists and began walking towards where the stadium official was.

"Wish me luck, Thamuz, I hope you watch the whole fight."

With those last words, Korro disappeared in the darkness of the halls.