Chapter 13: The Quarterly Tournament
“The quarterly tournament was designed to rank all the students in the Academy, on the basis of their fighting skills. It is important to remember that this is still a warrior training Academy. The Academy values healers and crafters, but ultimately, it was created to train fighters to safeguard humanity from beasts and demons.” The Headmaster boomed.
“This method has sustained this institution as the premier cultivation institute in Tanga, by using resources to support the most capable. This tournament will help the Academy to determine the most capable fighters and thus provide them with resources for their advancement in the martial path. The top 16 warriors will be housed in the first cohort and will have specialized lessons from our instructors.” The Headmaster then invited Master Jalid to explain how the tournament would be conducted.
“The format of the tournament will be as follows; all students will be divided into 8 groups based on the initial ranking of aptitude. In each category, you will fight in a round-robin unarmed combat to determine the rank of fighters. The two top fighters in each group will join the top cohort. The next two will form the second cohort and so on. Any person will be allowed two challenges in the cohort above them. After the challenges are concluded, members of each cohort will have a tournament to determine who will be the first warrior of each cohort. We have our capable healers on standby to ensure that any injuries are promptly addressed. Fight honorably and avoid death blows. However, remember death as also part of a warrior’s path."
Uzman and Lady Vesta were placed in one group with 9 other students. Uzman assessed his competitors and realized that they were all between the early or middle stages of meridian opening. He was also surprised that most of them despite being nobles were poorly trained on the Martial Path. He won the first 6 fights without taking a hit.
In the seventh fight, he faced a commoner named Beloze, who used the earth affinity. Beloze was a veritable giant standing even taller and bigger than Ginger. Uzman dodged nimbly from the powerful blows knowing that any hit could cause him injury. He decided the match by baiting Beloze forward and then pivoting swiftly to move behind him and smash him using an open palm at the back of the head.
His fight against Lady Vesta was the most exciting albeit unchallenging. Lady Vesta like Uzman was at the late meridian opening stage. However, that was as far as the similarities ended. Uzman had been tempered by hardship and faced death. He had been training for more than 4 weeks without respite. Lady Vesta was a fire practitioner and moved nimbly while attacking. Uzman responded by meeting her with a similar alignment to make the fight more interesting. The two fighters bobbed and weaved across the ring, trading punches and blocks rapidly. Finally, Uzman decided to end the fight by transitioning to metal when punching. He left himself open allowing lady Vesta to punch him in the ribs. He struck at the same time aiming a metal-augmented kick at her shins. She toppled to the ground. Uzman mimed a killing blow by stomping next to her head forcing submission.
The first round of the fights ended on the second day. The students who qualified for the top 16 were mainly from the first and second cohorts. Prazard, Ishraq, Lady Tameria, Lady Vesta. Kenzo, Jurdur, Uzmin, Divash, Lady Zubiya, and Khalaf qualified from the first cohort. Three students qualified from the second cohort; Pieter and Lady Shalia, and a merchant’s son named Caleb. The other three students were each from the third fourth and fifth cohorts. Fatima finished third in her group.
The rules for the second round were such that the fighters would each use a weapon of their choice. After scanning the strength of the students who had qualified for the top 16, Uzman noted that 10 of them were in the final meridian stage while the rest were in the middle stage of meridian opening. Uzman advised Fatima to challenge a student from the fourth cohort named Jules as she had the weakest energy signature of those who had qualified.
Lady Suna stepped forward. “I challenge Uzman.” she stated loudly. Uzman decided to be brutal in his approach to forestall other challenges. He knew that many of the other students considered him to be weaker since he was from a small village. It was time to make a statement.
Uzman stepped into the ring choosing a glaive. It had become his favorite weapon and the one he was most competent and comfortable in. Lady Suna chose a double-handed longsword. The fight started with lady Suna assuming a defensive position using the longsword held in both hands. Uzman augmented himself with vapor combining the speed of air and fire. He exploded forward like a blur and aimed his glaive between the hands holding the longsword. Before lady Suna could react, Uzman had closed the distance and savagely disarmed her.
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Uzman stepped back and motioned for lady Suna to pick up her longsword. He then dropped his glaive and stood unarmed daring Lady Suna to attack. The other students gasped at this display of arrogance. Lady Suna's face was red with fury from the humiliation and the subsequent contempt. She gritted her teeth and decided to take the opportunity offered.
Uzman watched the sword, as Lady Suna used wide slashes from side to side. On the backswing, Uzman lunged forward raising his left arm. He timed his move to trap the sword between his hand and the side of the body. He used his right arm to punch lady Suna in the face who stood confused with her longsword useless due to the proximity of her opponent. This time, Uzman followed up with an earth-powered kick that sent Lady Suna flying into the end of the fighting ring. She dropped her sword to stop herself from landing on her face. She tried to stand up, her face contorting in pain, anger, and humiliation and finally decided to concede.
Uzman thundered “Who is next?” staring challengingly at the gathered students. His eyes met Ginger’s holding his until he looked down. Nobody responded. He moved out of the ring to stand next to his friends who eyed him warily.
Fatima followed Uzman’s advice and challenged Jules and won her position back in the first cohort. By the end of the second round, the students that maintained the top 16 positions were: Ishraq, Prazard, Tameria, Kenzo, Jurdur, Uzman, Divash, Vesta, Khalaf, Zubiya, Caleb, Vinko, Pieter, and Shalia. Fatima and Ginger won their places back by winning challenges.
The last part of the tournament involved deciding the ranking arrangement within the cohorts. Each position was worth 100 more points and the winner would receive the title of First Warrior. Uzman did not want to draw unnecessary attention and chose not to compete. He was content with his skills and was planning to spend most of his time in the forest training. After two days of fighting, Ishraq emerged as the First Warrior. The other ranks were filled with Kenzo, Tameria, Prazard, Caleb, Divash, Shalia, Jurdur, Vinko, Pieter, Ginger, Fatima, Zubiya, Vesta, Khalif, and Uzman in that order.
“Who can tell us the leadership and political structure of Tanga.” Several hands shot up. The instructor looked around before his eyes settled on a wiry boy sitting in the front row. Uzman was sitting between Lady Tameria and Jurdur near the back of the class hall in a Leadership and Governance class that was being taught by Master Elmore. He had decided to attend a few more classes before resuming his training in the forest. This was a necessary step to improve his knowledge about the world and build important relationships. He was succeeding in the former, but could still not extend his friendships beyond his current clique.
“The world of Tanga is demarcated into five major territories. The Silician Archduchy, The Amoria Archduchy, the Zeta Archduchy, and Imperial peninsula, and the free clans of the north. The Duchies are governed by an Archduke in trust to the Imperial family. However, no one knows much about the Imperial family apart from that they were part of the founding.” The boy answered with a haughty tone as if all this was common knowledge. The Instructor smiled showing a set of even white teeth.
“Ah! You have not answered my question. This is a leadership and governance class, not geography. Anybody with a map can spout similar nonsense.” Master Elmore admonished as he pointed to another student. This time, a girl with freckles was selected. The boy sat down dejected.
“There are three forms of governance in Tanga: We have the autocratic regimes of the duchies where the ruling family defines the law based on their interests, the Imperial rule enforced through the Army under the Crimson Commanders whose authority is similar to that of the dukes, and the consultative style of the free clans.”
"Thank you, Lady Tessia. For 50 ranking points who can tell me which one is more effective and why?”
More than half the class raised their hands gesturing wildly to catch the eye of the teacher. 50 points would be useful in the acquisition of training resources. Master Elmore pointed to lady Pinto grinning evilly. It seemed he enjoyed a good debate and had just set up one.
“The governance style of the noble clans is more effective as all people know their place in society. The consultative or democratic approach of the northern clans leads to chaos.” Lady Pinto answered.
“Do you agree with Lady Pinto?” Master Elmore asked Uzmin. “No. Lady Pinto seems ignorant about the northern clans. I come from a small village in Silicia. Commoners toil from sunup to sundown just to put food on their table. If lady Pinto would deign to move from her palace and visit some of the villages, she would have a modicum of moral authority to make a comparison.” Uzman answered.
“But the northern barbarians are savages and cannibals everybody knows this.” Lady Pinto shrieked, angry at being contradicted.
Jurdur laughed uproariously, even the instructor could not help chuckling as he tried to maintain a stoic demeanor.
“Lady Pinto continues to portray her ignorance. I assume she has never gone into the north. Never had dealing with them, or taken her time to research their lifestyles.” Uzmin countered.
The class devolved into a shouting debate every person raising their voice to be heard. “Enough! I asked that question to specifically expose the lack of knowledge about the governance structures of Tanga in people expected to take leadership positions. This class is aimed at rectifying that deficit. However strong a warrior becomes, his input will be wasted if they make decisions without the proper context and facts.” Master Elmore said as he ended the class.
Uzman attended a few more classes on herbology, bestiary, and leadership before deciding to go back to the forest to train. This time he prepared to stay for more than two months in the forest challenging the beasts and honing his skills.