"Crkk, tsl ytsuljzyluov adlrevf."

"Cenn, dkf lksdfjk oew."

"Get the fuck up!"

The selective swearing snapped Cenn out of his sleep. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Uncle Hog standing at the entrance to the room with a candle inside.

"Well finally, I was about to fry your heels with that candle if you hadn't woken up. Hehehe."

Cenn only rolled his eyes and lay back down on the futon. He wanted to sleep very badly.

"I brought you some boiling water. Brew the remaining bright dandelion buds and start meditating."

"Uncle Hog, I'd rather sleep for a couple more hours, this training won't do me any good in today's fight." Aydor protested.

"You ungrateful asshole. You think you're so strong that you can refuse the resources your family gives you? How much qi you have directly determines your combat strength. So even the slightest increase in qi vessel will help you in battle. But on the other hand, if you've already given up and have no hope of winning, then it's okay to not waste this precious resource on you." Hog decided to play on his ward's pride.

"I haven't given up, just... Fine I'll drink the stuff."

Listening to this dialog Cenn finally found the strength to stand up.

...

Drinking the new potion, Cenn sank into meditation.

After repeating the cycle of fill the qi vessel, use up all the qi, fill the qi vessel again, Cenn was overcome by a familiar feeling. Spiritual energy flowed into every pore of his body, and he felt an incredible surge of energy.

Concentrating his attention on the dantian, he once again saw a transparent ball filled with liquid silver.

[That's it, 12 qi out of 12. Now I have a chance to take the enemy by surprise with the third sigil in the battle.]

Cenn was incredibly pleased with himself. But in order not to arouse Aydor's suspicion, he continued practicing.

...

"Good morning, boys." Velin opened the door and greeted the boys without entering the room. "The potion should have worn off by now, so I came to call you for breakfast."

"I thought you'd forgotten about us by now. And we're going to starve to death out here." Aydor got up and ran to his father.

"Don't forget your things, Aydor. You too Cenn." Velin reminded them.

After taking their things the boys followed Velin to the second floor where there was a set table in a large hall with Hog already sitting at it.

...

When everyone had finished eating and the servants had cleared the table, Velin decided it was time to talk about the upcoming fights.

"It's a shame the bright dandelion didn't come to anything. But even without it, your chances of winning are pretty good."

"Father, enough of this, tell us about the results of the draw." Said Aydor impatiently.

"Sorry, I didn't want you to be distracted from your training. You got Krinnel and Cenn got Ravina." Replied Velin.

"Damn! I knew it," blurted out Aydor in frustration and smacked the table with force with his head.

"Hey, hey! Be careful with that table. Your great-grandfather sat at it, you rascal boy. If you're so afraid of that kid, you can give up right now. Your father and I will come up with some not too shameful reason for not fighting." At Aydor's teasing, Hog broke into loud laughter.

"Aydor, you must believe in yourself no matter who your opponent is. And don't think that fighting against Ravina would be easier. In both fights she didn't let her opponent land a single punch. So maybe you didn't get the strongest opponent," Velin tried to reassure his son.

"Uncle Velin, how did she manage that? Well, it was so easy to win." Cenn was interested in his future rival's abilities.

"Well you have something in common. The girl has excellent compatibility with the Fire Sigil, and the Tesal family managed to find her a weapon that amplifies fire spells. So the fireball she fired sent her first opponent flying, after which he never got up again."

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"And what kind of weapon is that? When we were at the Temple, last night, she didn't have a weapon on her," Cenn asked.

"A battle staff. But she hasn't let it into battle yet, so I can't say how skillful she is with it," Velin replied.

"Well you can use the Shield Sigil, get close to her and not give her a chance to do anything. Like I did in the fight with Rehadal, and then she won't have the slightest chance to win," Aydor interjected.

"You think you're the smartest asshole in the whole city, Aydor? Your Shield Sigils are useless against her. I'm afraid even mine won't do much good." Hoge glanced at the boy.

"Unfortunately your plan really won't work, Aydor. The power of her fireballs does exceed the rank 2 level. Speed, explosive power, control, everything is top notch. The shield is useless, it's hard to dodge the first one, but even if she does, she'll fire the second one right away. That's what happened in the second fight. And from what I understand, she can control the timing of the explosion, so even if the fireball flies by, it'll still explode." Velin explained to his son the flaws in his plan.

"What about the force of the explosion? Uncle Velin, you said it sent the enemy flying, can you elaborate?" Asked Cenn.

"From what I understand the blast wave threw the guy into the wall. The impact rendered him unconscious and the fight was over. He managed to use a shield sigil before the blast, but it didn't help him. But I guess it's not that dangerous for you. You've mastered the Grasshopper Sigil to perfection and should have no problem dodging that fireball. I think she's already learned of your somersaults in last fight and will proceed with caution," Velin smiled sympathetically at Cenn.

"As for your fight with Krinnel." Velin turned to his son. " Unfortunately we have almost no information on him. He only used the Shield Sigil and his saber during the tournament. I spoke to a hunter who knows his family well. I found out that in the woods he usually uses a bow and a short spear. His father was in the prince's army, where he got this saber. So the technique he uses is most likely a basic army saber technique."

"I'm afraid I already knew that." Aydor replied disappointedly.

"You need not fear him, Aydor. His only advantage in combat is strength. You surpass him in talent, sword technique, your weapon is much stronger. Not to mention your compatibility with the Earth Sigil. Trust me you can defeat him if you utilize your strengths properly." Velin tried to cheer him up.

"I'll try."

"Okay, stop chewing the snot. Velin you need to tell them about your conversation last night." Said Hog.

"Yeah, sure. To begin with, when you and the other tournament participants left, many of the clan heads started to resent the fact that the information about the reward was given so late. And that if they had known what was at stake, the fights would have followed a very different scenario. That many of the participants would have fought to the death." Velin was silent for a moment looking into Aydor's eyes and then Cenn's.

"In general it is only important for you to know that Bishop Ardul wished for the fights to be friendly, which means that you should not try to kill your opponent. Knocking the weapon out of his hands, rendering him unable to move, or forcing him to surrender will be enough to win. The Bishop does not want war to break out between the clans after this tourney. That goes for us and the Tesal family first and foremost. But I'm sure the Krinnel family will have the Bishop's wish conveyed to them as well."

"And what did Elder Zanord say?" Asked Cenn.

"The Elder was under the bishop's wishes. Which means everything must be as before. Try to win without injuring or killing anyone. Deal?"

"But what if Ravina or Krinnel don't hold back? Then we'll be at a disadvantage." Asked Aydor.

"I'm sure Ravina won't disobey the bishop's will. As for Krinnel, it is more complicated. But I'm sure the ministers of the church will explain to him what's what. Don't worry." Replied Velin.

"No one in this city would dare disobey the bishop's will. Believe me, the bishop is asking you to restrain yourselves for a reason. Velin, do you mind if I tell them the story?" Hog cut into the conversation again.

Velin only nodded silently at him in response

"Well, the story goes like this.

Shortly before you were born. During the exact same tournament, not here, but in Solvindar. One of the participants belonging to a family, let's call it Green, killed the only son of the head of the family, let's call it Red.

In retaliation, the Red family attacked the caravan of the Green family and killed 6 guards and one of the elders guarding the caravan. They took the caravan and the goods themselves, of course.

The Green family did not tolerate such humiliation and decided to attack the estate of the Red family in response. They gathered all their forces, leaving only a small detachment to guard their estate, and under the cover of night attacked the Red.

The battle lasted from midnight until dawn. The Green family suffered heavy losses, but won the battle and destroyed the enemy's manor, taking everything of value from there. Although many of the family managed to escape, there was no place for their clan in Solvindar, so they had to flee and start from scratch elsewhere.

But it didn't take long for the Green family to rejoice in their victory. When they returned to their estate, they found that their manor was ruined, their treasury and storehouse had been looted, and many family members had been killed. This was a heavy blow to them, after which the family's influence in the city fell greatly.

As a result, Solvindar lost two honored families, whose place was quickly shared by others, and it did not have a strong effect on the lives of the townspeople.

But this story has an unexpected casualty.

Bishop Ardul lost two important doronors at once. Solvindar originally had 6 honored families, each of whom were required to donate 200 silver coins a year to the Temple. But after this incident, there are only 4 of them left. And judging by his actions yesterday, the Bishop has no intention of losing any more important donors in his territory."

"So the bishop is afraid of losing income again if someone dies during the tournament?" asked Cenn with bewilderment.

"You get the point. The old asshole only cares about his money. Or rather our money. After that incident, the Bishop completely banned duels in his territory.

Then he banned the Iron Fist Sect from holding a third ranked cultivator tourney. And he changed the rules for fighting amongst second ranked cultivators.

Previously, a fight used to end when one of the participants surrendered or lost consciousness. But now, the fight often ends when the referee decides that the contestant's life is in danger, even if he wants to continue fighting." Explained Hog.

"Your story has gone on too long, it's time to move towards the arena, I'm sure we're already expected." Velin stopped Hog's lingering story and stood up from the table.

Without wasting time Cenn got up from the table, grabbed his gear and followed Velin.