The lookout saw his kin from a long way away, covering the distance with faltering steps. In his ears, the sound of exhausted to clumsiness footsteps came to him. From the original grey and brown of the clothes the stranger had left in, not much could be seen from it anymore... Instead, the black and purple of blood replaced it, covering him from head to toe. Even his skin was partially coated with it !

With a loud voice, he called out down the fortification :

“He lives ! He survived the Gnorlat... Go fetch Master Carnail !”

The lookout himself was astonished. The gnorlat who lived at the top of the mountain next to their homes, were fiercely territorial beasts as well as tough creatures to kill. And the howls they heard a few hours ago meant that someone was crossing their territory... Almost everyone in the village expected the stranger to die up there. It seemed they were all wrong.

Avo crossed the last meters to the gate and the lookout watched him as he pressed his back against it, obviously spent. Observing him for a while, the local nodded, satisfied to see that this too-soft brother of theirs had finally toughened up. Even from up there, he could feel that the atmosphere around him was different... like an unsheathed blade ready to strike.

Mentally, the battle mage was going through his spoils... Another perk of his bag that he could visualize its content by using his sight on the gem. It was filled to the brim... A few days ago, he hadn't expected being able to fill it and yet... here he was. Hopefully, his master wouldn't take too much of it and let him experiment with most of it.

Contrary to his other encounters, he had kept the giant gorillas almost whole... Almost because he had to chop them up. Otherwise, they wouldn't have fit even inside his pocket space. The pricks were that massive ! Besides, he wanted to study their corpse and learn how to make his skin as tough as theirs, his bones as unbreakable. A small wonder he managed to defeat so many of them and escaped. He half expected them to pursue once he left the summit... They didn't, only inanely screaming their lungs out as their prey slithered out of their clutches.

A few moments later, the gate next to him opened wide. He wearily turned his head to see the few magic users of the village, Carnail and Escar in the forefront making their way to him. In Escar's arms, he saw clothes folded and laid ceremoniously on his open hands. From the colors, he guessed they were some form of symbolic recognition in the tribe since most of them wore them.

The group stopped several meters away from him as one. A couple seconds later, Carnail took a step forward and intoned :

“Avo Cado of Earth, for your success in your last trial, I, Carnail, appoint you as a full-fledged battle mage !” Escar followed suit, approaching the newly designated Battle Mage and handed him the robes. In a lower voice, his master said in a teasing tone : “I wasn't expecting your passage through the Gnorlat's territory... You really like to make an impression, huh ? Just surviving them earned you the mantle...”

The young namekian accepted the clothes. His voice seemed dead tired when he asked :

“Hm... Can I give your bag back after I unload its contents on my ship ? It shouldn't be more than a couple days away, now...”

“Give it back ? No ! You earned it ! As well as everything you gathered on your journey. This trial is an... initiation of sorts for our mages and warriors. Reaching your destination makes you pass, but what you bring back serves to determine your potential and social status in the tribe. The more you bring back and the more difficult the kills (or harvests), the more respected you are ! So... How much did you manage to scavenge ? Considering how long you were gone, I guess not much, huh ?”

Without a word, Avo theatrically overturned his bag, dumping its contents on the floor. Soon, a small mountain obscured the foreign namekian from view and silence fell on the crowd. Suddenly, someone exclaimed in a loud voice :

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“Are those gnorlats ? So, many of them...”

“He killed them ? Alone ? How the hell did this pipsqueak do it ?”

“Stabbed them in the eyes... Or mouth... Damn, the kid has nerves !”

“That's a Battle Mage, alright ! He still feels weak, though...”

Carnail recovered from his stupor, grinned broadly and told his people :

“Avo managed to kill enemies more powerful than himself by using every advantage he got. Because it's also a way to win a battle. Maybe not very honorable but... on this world, who cares about honor ?”

It was true. This world and its inhabitants were so harsh that concepts such as peace and honor were useless. In some dialects, they didn't have the words for them... This was the way of survival !

* * * * *

The entire village was watching as the spacecraft slowly landed outside the gates. Apparently, they had all come to see their Battle Mage off. As he saw Sala descend with the platform/door, Avo felt a peculiar feeling. It was a mix of happiness to see her and sadness that he would leave his people. At this moment, every grudge he had against them, his anger toward his treatment and Carnail's training disappeared. After all, he was the one to ask for this training. And their methods, although brutal, were effective !

Always scatterbrained, Sala was fiddling with some device, completely oblivious to the namekian tribe amassed near her ship. When she finally looked up, she exclaimed in awe :

“Wow... So many Avos !” She perked up and waved her hand to the crowd : “Hi, guys ! How's it going ? Avo ? Where are you ?” She scanned the crowd for her hooded friend but couldn't find him. A namekian with the same robes some members of the tribe wore addressed her :

“I'm here, Sala ! Can't you recognize me ?”

She did a double-take, looked at the young namekian and frowned. Finally, she said :

“It's been a while I didn't see your face... Is that really you, Avo ?”

A bloodthirsty smirk graced his lips (that gave her the chills). He nodded and told her to assuage her doubts :

“Remember the North City's heist ? How you almost died in the garbage disposer ? And what I never told the guys about what happened ?”

Sala blushed fiercely at the mention of one of her greatest shame. She ordered :

“Quiet, you ! Dammit, you had to bring that up ?!”

The Battle Mage shrugged :

“Easiest way to confirm who I was, right ? I can't believe earthlings have such deficient memory...”

“Oh ? You've met your people and suddenly, humans aren't good enough, is that it ?”

His smile broadened and softened as his teasing still had the same effect on her. She huffed, realizing she'd been had, crossed her arms and turned her nose up in an arrogant attitude. However, her serious attitude was spoiled when she spotted a couple of namekian children in the crowd. She squealed and made her way over, screaming excitedly :

“Mini-Avo ! So cute ! I could eat you up !”

The warriors around took her at her words, arming their weapons. A threatening aura suffused the atmosphere as the oblivious woman was pinching cheeks or rubbing her face against theirs. Fortunately for her, Avo had already explained to Carnail that Sala was pretty... enthusiastic. As for the figure of speech she used, he explained that humans were like that, often using threats to show their love. With a gesture from him, the warriors lowered their spears.

Once she got her fill of cuteness, Sala came back toward the ship, glancing around looking for her friend. Avo smiled seeing that she just couldn't recognize him in this crowd.

“Here !” He called out. Sala turned around, seemingly upset with him for some reason.

“Stop hiding ! We're not playing ! Have you made your goodbyes ?”

Avo nodded and turned toward the assembled namekians. He bowed to his master and declared :

“I shall remember your teachings, master !”

In turn, Carnail nodded and told him a last bit of wisdom :

“Remember, Avo Cado of Earth : the ways of magic are innumerable. There's no one way of doing things and a true Arcane Master must always work on his repertoire, be they spells, rituals or something else.”

“Yes !” He agreed loudly.

As he waved goodbye to his people and the door rose in the air, Sala drawled on and on about what she learned, the amazing world of crafters she came from and how she hoped her tinkering would now reach new heights !