When the young people had left the field, one of the village elders got up from the bench walked forward, and announced in a loud voice.
"Thank you to everyone who came to witness the courage and skills of our young people! But this day is not over yet! Let us honor Venis, the great huntress, and Filon, the master of war, the Holy Ones, whose Light sanctifies and protects our sons and daughters! Now begins the first Ueki Tournament for all the strong and brave! Come and participate! Race with a prize of up to 30 silver coins for each winner!"
The horn sounded again, and the crowd cheered.
The Holy Ones appeared from time to time in people's conversations, stories, and songs, but Tao couldn't quite make out whether they were inferior gods, mighty spirits, or mortals glorified after death. As far as he knew, this was the first time the village had held a special event in their honor, as the focus was usually on the Eternal Father. In any case, it sounded like just an excuse to impress the guests with their fighting skills. Whether the others realized it was unknown, but several in the crowd immediately wanted to get into the tournament.
While the preparations for contests were going on, Sofra had a free moment. She picked up her youngest daughter and walked over to Indres, who was still looking after the animals at the other end of the field. At first, Tao didn't pay much attention until he noticed that the parents' conversation didn't look happy. It seemed that Sofra was insisting on something, but her husband was dismissive. Tao would have liked to know what was going on, but he knew that his enhanced hearing would be hard on his ears because of the background noises around him.
After a while, Sofra ended the conversation and went back across the square. Inya had started crying in her mother's arms and was inconsolable, despite Sofra's efforts. Although she tried to show restraint, Tao could see the disappointment on her mother's face. Instead of returning to her seat on the bench, Sofra approached Reyte.
"I think Inya can't take all this noise and crowd anymore. Can... can I ask you to take her home?" Sofra asked her friend.
She was trying to lull her daughter, hoping to calm her down.
"Dunno... I can take her home, but not sure if she will calm down with me." Reyte expressed her doubts.
"I'm sorry, I would do it myself, but... Indres can't replace me, and asking someone else to take on that duty suddenly wouldn't be right either." Tao could see that his mother felt uncomfortable.
"What about Abera? Isn't she here today?"
"No... I asked her to replace me earlier. She has to look after her own children and those of her relatives, so she couldn't..."
"You should have asked her to look after Inya then." Reyte shook her head.
"Maybe... but she's still... " Sofra seemed reluctant to talk about it.
Tao had seen a woman named Abera in the village and knew that she also gathered medicinal herbs and made healing remedies. Either because of competition or for some other reason, Abera did not have a good mind for Sofra.
Reyte did not ask her to explain further.
"Aye, I'll take the little one to your home." She sighed.
"Thank you, dear. I'm sorry to ask you this suddenly." Sofra seemed relieved.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine."
She gave the other woman her youngest daughter, who began to cry even louder, disconnected from her mother. Sofra tried to calm her down, but still without success. As people around her started to pay more attention, Reyte quickly said goodbye and walked with the loud baby towards the village. Sofra looked a little tired but still bent down and put her hands on Tao and Safia's shoulders.
"Mommy will stand by your side, but I may have to go and help if anyone gets hurt. If that happens, stay right here, yes? Stand so Mom can see you." She said, studying the children's faces.
Tao and his older sister promised to obey their mother's words, which seemed to make Sofra feel better. Tao judged that his mother was still feeling the strain of her responsible duty as well as worrying about Inya. He really didn't want to cause more problems for his mother.
The adult tournament was more varied than the youth test. While archery and dueling with weapons were expected, fist fights, races with hunting animals, and group battles were also organized.
While the willing guests and the village warriors and hunters registered their participation, Indres and other hunters let the game animals out of the enclosure. Although most of the animals looked like large dogs or wolves, some resembled huge cats or lynx. One or two even looked like a huge marmot or badger. Sigi, however, was the largest of all the beasts. The others knew it too and gave way to her.
Only local hunters took part in these races, as none of the guests had a hunting animal with them and time to properly prepare. The owners took the animals to one end of the field, while on the other side, further behind the archers' targets, pieces of meat were placed on the ground. At a signal, the owners let the animals loose and told them to fetch a piece of meat, representing the game. Indres also let go of Sigi's neck and urged the huge serene to throw herself forward, which she enthusiastically did. Tao had thought that Sigi's large size would make it more difficult to outrun the other beasts, but he was wrong. His father's hunting dog reached the line with the pieces of meat just as quickly as the others and, after shoving one of the pieces in her mouth, turned to run back to her owner.
"Faster, Sigi! Faster!" Tao heard his sister beside him shouting.
Silent encouragements came over his lips too. The boy noticed that his mother was also eagerly following the race, raising her hands into fists.
Indres and the other hunters called their animals back vigorously, but their voices were drowned out by the noise of the crowd. Sigi was in line with two other beasts, but still managed to show more strength and reached her master first, almost knocking Indres off his feet. The crowd shouted loudly and began to applaud. Tao also realized that he had raised his hands in joy and was a little ashamed, even though no one was paying attention to him.
"Hey! Hey! Don't swing me like that!" came a quiet warning from the doll's side, almost inaudible in the surrounding noise.
"Ah... sorry." Tao realized that the doll with Eleya's body inside was still in his hand and moved her to his chest again.
When Indres and Sigi were declared the winners, the crowd applauded again, as did the hunter's family. The village elder also gave Indres a bag with 30 argus, which was no small sum.
The next were fist fights, with more participation from the village warriors and some guests. Some stripped naked to the waist, while others left their undershirts on. Bandages were tied around the hands to reduce the force of blows, but no other protection was provided. The winner was the one who forced the other to surrender or rendered him incapable of fighting any further. Tao saw his mother tense, anticipating that this contest would not be without injury. She was right. Of the 18 participants, more than half ended up in Sofra's care afterward with cuts, bloody faces, dislocated hands, or other injuries. Fortunately, none of the injuries were so serious that Neter had to use the healing blessing.
Even though the injuries looked brutal, Tao judged that it was not as crazy as it could have been. Wrestlers used the spirit power to strengthen their defenses, move faster, and keep their opponent in their grasp, but not to deliver a direct blow to the other person's body. Victory was usually achieved by pinning the opponent to the ground, grabbing an arm or leg in a tight grip, or exhausting the opponent with blows until he could no longer resist and admitted defeat.
The winner was a big fellow called Trebe, who had become the village gatekeeper two years earlier. In his mind, Tao called him a gorilla because of his imposing appearance. Although the other contestants seemed more skilled, Trebe was able to beat them with sheer endurance and perseverance.
The next contest was the archery race, in which Indres took part again, much to Safiai's delight. The girl again started jumping and slapping her hands together in excitement when her father came out on the field. Sofra was still busy treating the injured from the previous races, she only cast a sideways glance to make sure that Tao and Safia were still standing at the edge of the field.
Instead of shooting at the static wooden targets, several thick cloth balls were tossed into the air, which the participants had to hit with their arrows before they fell back to the ground. In the beginning, everyone shot at their individual ball. The participants who managed to hit the ball with the most arrows while it was in the air moved on to the next round. In the semi-finals and the final, the participants shot the same ball, thus creating extra tension and intrigue.
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It was clear that this competition was not for beginners. The participants did not have much time to aim properly and they had to restrain their strength to prevent the arrow from moving the ball too far away, after hitting it. Having two competitors trying to hit the same ball meant that the first to hit could easily change the trajectory of the ball, preventing the opponent from hitting it at all. Despite these difficulties, Indres managed to hit the ball four or five times before it hit the ground and reached the final. The other finalist was Arwain.
Tao found it amusing that a disciple and a teacher were facing each other. As far as the boy had noticed, in the village this kind of relationship was not very strict. Arwain spoke with respect, but not excessive submission, as was often expected of martial arts apprentices in Tao's previous life. Arwain's determined facial expression showed that he was not going to make concessions to his teacher. Indres was calm, though there was a barely perceptible smile on his lips.
Both hunters took several arrows in their hands at once so as not to waste time retrieving them from their purses or the ground. They gripped the bowstring, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. The crowd fell silent, focusing on the upcoming finale. When the ball was thrown into the air, there was absolute silence. Indres and Arwain followed the ball with their eyes but waited a moment to let it fly as high as possible into the air. Both pulled back their strings and shot their arrows almost in unison. Tao could not tell which arrow hit first, but both men continued to shoot at the ball, pushing it farther away with each hit. Somehow, they also managed to keep the ball in the air longer than usual, causing it to spin on its axis like a spinning top, while the arrows that pierced it spun around like helicopter blades. When the ball finally hit the ground, more than ten arrows had pierced it. The referees walked up to it and started to count, but it looked like they were having difficulty.
"Some fletching have been broken off, we can't tell who they belong to." One of the judges confusedly stated.
Indeed, some of the last arrows managed to break off the shaft of other arrows with their colored fletching, making it impossible to identify them. The crowd began to murmur, waiting to see what would happen next.
"No, there's a mark on my arrowheads, a sign of power," Arwain stated, walking closer to the judges.
The judges carefully pulled a few arrows from the target and checked the tips. After making sure that Arwain was telling the truth, they also checked the arrows with the broken shaft and announced the result.
"Indres Riggi - 7 arrows. Arwain Desidar - 6 arrows. The winner is Indres!"
The crowd started applauding again, congratulating Indres on his second win of the day. Tao felt pride rising in his heart for his father, who proved to be the best hunter and archer in Ueki village. He also got the impression that this performance was not possible with ordinary strength alone, Perhaps Indres and Arwain somehow used the spirit power to enchant their perception or reflexes.
Indres briefly raised his hand to greet the crowd, then walked over to Arwain, apparently to encourage his disciple. Although the young man tried to keep his composure and smiled dryly, even from the outside Tao could see that Arwain was disappointed at his loss.
Sofra also applauded her husband, although Tao thought that his mother was more happy that this race had gone without injuries. It was clear that the next one would not be so.
The armored duels were the most popular event, with more than 30 entries. Tao was a little surprised to see that the participants included not only the village gate guards, and some of the guests, but also hunters who exchanged bows for spears. Among them was Arwain, whose face expressed determination. The contest itself was not much different from what the youth had done before, except that the adult warriors showed better fighting skills.
Nevertheless, Sofra was soon tending to the wounded. This time the situation was more serious and twice Neter came to the rescue to heal broken arm bones with a blessing. Gorilla (or rather Trebe), the winner of the fistfight, also took a hard blow to the head, which momentarily disabled him. Two strong men had to pull Trebe aside so that Sofra could help him recover. Eshea made it to the semi-finals but lost to the short guy with the spear who became a warrior last year. His name was Felis and he also won the final against Eshea's father Ascar.
Although Tao did not have much knowledge of weapons and martial arts, he was aware that Felis showed excellent control over his movements and weapon, always neatly avoiding an attack while finding the weak points in his opponent's defense. Given Felis' youth, it was clear that he was a real talent.
Once the winner of the duels had been announced, preparations began for the last race - the group battles. As some of those who had signed up to participate were injured in fistfights and armored duels and were no longer able to take part in group battles, new teams of three were formed.
Sofra, meanwhile, continued to bandage and care for the wounded, among whom was Arwain. His opponent managed to cut the young hunter's forehead and dislocate his shoulder, forcing him to withdraw from the race. Tao studied Arwain for a moment, who looked quite distraught at his second loss. Tao felt for him, considering that Arwain had shown a talent as an archer similar to his father. Unfortunately, there was no prize for the runners-up other than the honor of their achievement.
The group combat was similar to a duel, allowing the participants to freely choose blunted swords, shields, and spears as weapons. The difference was that cooperation between team members was more important than individual talent. Tao judged that the village warriors had an advantage here because they knew each other better and could train together. This is probably why participants from other villages were allocated one by one among the Ueki warriors. Tao also noticed that fewer young people were participating in the group fight.
The boy was ready to give his full attention to the contest when something else caught his attention. Sofra had started nursing Arwain's injuries and was talking to the young man. Although they were both near Tao, the boy could not hear what was being said because of the surrounding noise. But he noticed the young hunter's face, which expressed worry and nervousness. Arwain's dark eyes were looking closely into Sofra's face, there was a strange light in them.
Tao remembered the time his father's apprentice had shown a little too much interest in his mother long ago. It made him feel uneasy. Sofra had her back to Tao, so he couldn't see the expression on his mother's face, but he judged that she was tenser than usual.
Despite the voices of the crowd, Tao decided to enchant his hearing to try to understand what his mother and Arwain were talking about.
"...No, it's fine, we didn't argue, it's just... today's a hard day." Tao was able to make out his mother's words.
He tried to ignore the amplified voices of the people around him, which seemed to be loud and unnatural as if spoken with a megaphone to his ear.
"Really?" Arwain responded doubtfully, the expression on his face also expressing misgiving.
"Thank you for your concern, but it is unnecessary... " Tao saw his mother smear the ointment on the boy's forehead.
There was silence for a while, so Tao almost stopped amplifying his hearing. But Arwain's face still expressed something strange. Finally, the young hunter spoke again.
"Is he… hitting you?"
"What? No! What are you thinking?" Tao felt her mother's voice getting louder, her hands snatched away from Arwain's forehead.
"I just... I had a feeling... " The young man seemed to be confused.
"You're wrong. He's your teacher, Arwain, you shouldn't think of him like that. And he is also my husband. Don't talk about it anymore." Sofra's voice became harder and colder.
Arwain seemed very uncomfortable to hear Sofra's words. He pursed his lips and lowered his gaze. Tao, however, felt that his mother's words did not really convince the young hunter. But the conversation did not continue, so Tao stopped concentrating the spirit power on his hearing. Although he was relieved when the increased noises stopped, he was confused by what he heard.
What in the Abyss was that? Tao felt quite derailed.
He had a good enough insight into his parents' lives to know that Arwain's suspicions were unfounded. Tao couldn't understand where Arwain got that idea from, because Indres was also restrained in words and upbringing towards his apprentice.
The doll stirred in Tao's hands, so he turned his attention to it. The boy noticed a yellow eye in the doll's head’s back between the hair. Eleya had opened the seam to watch Tao.
"Did something happen? You look… Fidgety...?" the forest spirit asked curiously as the boy lifted the doll closer to him.
"No, I'm fine, just a little tired... " Tao had no desire to explain the situation.
"Don't show yourself outside, someone might notice..." he put his finger in front of the yellow eye.
After taking care of Arwain's injuries, Sofra went to care for another injured man. The young hunter's eyes continued to follow her. Indres, meanwhile, was on the other side of the field, looking after Sigi and other animals.
Gradually Tao managed to put Arwain's strange question to his mother out of his head. His attention was again drawn to the contest. Six teams of three people each were battling each other, cheered on by the crowd. As could be expected, there were more wounded, and three of them had to be healed by Neter and his assistants. Sofra was not short of work either, which did not make her happy.
In the final, Felis and Ascar fought again, but this time Ascar, who had more experienced soldiers on his team, won. The young man's comrades were disarmed first and, left one against three, Felis decided to surrender. Some found this ending anti-climactic, but the crowd seemed generally satisfied with the entertainment provided.
It was late afternoon when the village elders declared the tournament closed, congratulating all the winners. Neters also had encouraging words to say about the courage and skills of the youth and the tournament participants. Most people were in no hurry to disperse as new supplies of food and drink were delivered from the village. The music started again and people were in the mood to continue having fun.
Sofra, however, was not in a celebratory mood. After taking care of the last of the wounded, she bowed respectfully to the elders and selesti and asked permission to be free from her duties. She did not hesitate to take the children back home. Safia did not seem very pleased but gave in when she saw how insistent her mother was.
Tao could understand her mother's desire to return to her youngest daughter sooner, but he also sensed that Sofra was feeling something more. The boy did not believe that Arwain's words were the reason. Perhaps Sofra simply did not like violent sports.
But is it good to go so early without even congratulating father? Tao asked himself.
Indres was in the middle of the crowd, receiving congratulations and taps on the shoulder from those around him, so he would not have been easy to approach. Tao hoped the others wouldn't misunderstand, especially Arwain.
No, I have enough to worry about already... he decided not to think about it.
Taking his mother's hand, Tao obediently followed her home.
***