The trio reported the Firebirds sighting as soon as they were safe behind the camp walls again. Alex was slightly nervous. So much power, so much strength. He wanted that for himself, too. Not by all means in an animal companion, as Althea was hoping, but for himself, directly. The teenager went to sleep with visions of him fighting sea monsters dinosaurs and dragons.

The next morning, the three hunters met again at their training area and after their round of archery, Alex asked the other two, “By the way, why aren’t we hunting in the mornings and training in the afternoon. Wouldn’t we find even more prey during the early hours?” Leon nodded and explained, “You’re right, but with our search and sensory Skills it doesn’t change much, and in the afternoon the guards are training so the whole camp is in an uproar. We just want to avoid the ruckus.”

“We have enough meat for the next few days, don’t we?” the teenager asked rhetorically, “What do you think about joining their training for once? Show them what we can do, see what they can do and have a tiny competition?” Alex grinned. He wasn’t normally that competitive, but their training had lit a fire in the youth and he wanted to test himself against more people.

Althea slowly nodded and her smile grew bigger and bigger, as the idea caught on. “Come on Leon, you’re the leader of us Hunters, you have to propose the idea to Theo. We’d love to have a small competition.” Leon took a bit longer to convince, but was finally swayed by his two colleagues.

“That’s a pretty good idea Leon, showing off a bit, strengthen the community and the bands of friendship,” Theo gushed. Vivien glanced at her younger sibling and sighed, “Did you read those books again? I don’t know what you find in them…” Theodore looked away bashfully and mimed ‘silence’ to Leon.

“Viv and I are going to have a short planning session. In the meanwhile you can drum our people up,” Theo send the hunter outside the hut. Leon did as he was bidden and soon the whole camp was gathering at the central plaza. It was an inconspicuous field of grass, slowly trampled to dirt, in the middle of the camp. It had been an unused space before. Left alone for more huts to build, if the community grew even larger. At the moment more and more people joined and only a token force was left at the walls.

Theodore and Vivien soon joined the people and with his deep basso, he announced, “A friendly competition was proposed and my sister and I completely agree with the idea. We can encourage each other to train harder, to work better while showing off our Skills. The entrance fee is five coins and will build the price pool for first to third place for each category. My sister and I will try to double the amount, so please join.”

Murmur and exited shouts spread through the crowd. Alex grinned to his four friends, standing around him. Jane and Lin had joined the hunters after Leon had informed everyone. “Pity, I could have used a bit of the prize money,” Lin moaned, “but I am no fighter, and can’t participate.” Vivien, who was standing nearby had heard the boy and grinned mischievously at the group. “Don’t be so hasty, Lin.”

Theodore cleared his throat and continued, after the crowd had calmed down a bit. “The three categories are, crafting, solo-fights and teamfights. As the teamfighters would probably need a bit more of a planning phase, your turn will be last. Also, maximum of five fighters per team.”

After the camps leader had stopped his proclamation, Vivien hold both hands around her mouth and shouted loudly, “All of you interested in the crafting section, please gather in front of me, so I don’t have to yell.” Shoving commenced and it only stayed civil, because most people knew each other. Soon a sizeable group had formed before the tiny camp leader.

Vivien counted them quickly and began to speak again, “Eleven people, not bad. To make it an even twelve, I’m going to join.” The others groaned, but nobody dared to voice a complaint. Theodore and a few others had soon build a small fenced area in the middle of the plaza and after the competitors entered it, he explained the rules. “There are three different games and depending on your performance in each game, you earn points. Those are added and we should have three clear winners in the end. The first game is relatively easy. All you have to do is create mass with your element. We have the basic resources here, so you can easily expand on them.”

Lin nodded, so far it sounded easy. He wasn’t that confident in his skills, but copying earth should be a breeze. Sometimes the youth wondered, if someone could really create their own element. He had spoken to the other crafters and everyone needed at least a bit of their element, some source material, he called them inwardly.

Vivien coughed quietly and Theo went red in his face, “Ah sorry Cho, nearly forgot you. Your essence is a bit special and disadvantaged in this game. We have a few logs standing near the wall, which are not in use right now. The more often you can carry two from the wall to here and back, the more points you get.”

A black haired girl next to Vivien abashedly voiced her agreement. “What’s with her,” Lin asked the boy standing next to him, quietly. “That’s Cho. She has no real Element. She has a seed of Strength and is mostly responsible for our palisade. They are strengthened by her, so they won’t break that easily.” Lin nodded in understanding.

“So,” Theodore yelled again, “Get set, ready, go.” The crafters quickly spread in the fenced of square and got their source material out. Lin knelt down and held his hand on the ground. He activated his duplicate Skill and a small amount of dirt appeared beneath it. The boy took a deep breath and reactivated it. Fortunately the Skills had no cooldown, as he knew it from video games. So he could do it without pause.

Lin risked a quick glance to his sides. He stood to the back of the group and could see most people at once. Nearly all of his competitors were in a similar situation and had easy to grow elements. Vivien was clearly in the lead and Lin assumed, that her Duplication skill was already Tier 2. He didn’t resent her. She took care of the huts and had build them nearly single-handedly.

Yue, with her water seed, had started with a few drops of water and was creating irrigation channels, showing her ingenuity and her element in one test. Dave and Jamal had a similar problem as Cho, as they didn’t have a tactile element. Though both boys made use of the pile of wood. Dave carried a few logs at a time with his wind seed and Jamal was burning them from top to bottom, showing off the heat of his fire. Lin shook his head and refocused on his task.

A loud yell broke through the whooping crowd. Lin had been so lost in his test, that he didn’t even hear them, until Theo shattered his concentration with his bellow. “The minute is over. So let’s see your results,” the teenager said as it had calmed down again.

The camps leader a boy and a girl were walking through the rows of crafters. The three judges compared the different piles of material and quietly spoke to each other. After a few minutes, they reconvened and Theo quickly asked one of the crafters, “Hey Lucas, could you get me a plate please? It’s easier to show the results and I don’t have to yell that much. My voice is already getting hoarse.” The boy nodded, grabbed a piece of metal and tugged it on one corner, than the other. Soon he held a more or less rectangular plate of metal in his hands.

Theodore concentrated for a moment and then carved twelve different names into the plate. “How…How is he doing that,” Lin whispered to his neighbour. “No idea, though I’ve heard he has an essence of stability. So it’s probably a Skill.”

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A minute later, the campleader held the plate up and Lin could make out the twelve names.

Vivien Mud 3

Lucas Metal 2

Cho Strength 2

Dave Wind 1

Daniel Stone 1

Leif Wood 1

Jamal Fire 1

Yue Water 2

Sabrina Sand 1

Tony Wood 1

Mareike Ash 1

Lin Earth 1

“Vivien made the most, as is expected. She always loved Mud,” a big pile suddenly decorated the back of Theodore’s head, “closely followed by our second places Cho and Lucas. We couldn’t decide how had done more without any scale, so you two have to share. Yue earned an extra point, because of her creativity. All others share the third place.” It clearly wasn’t the best way to decide the rankings, but Lin held his tongue, otherwise he feared, he would be deducted his one point.

“On to the second test. Toolbuilding. In this test, you work as a team of four and you have twenty minutes to build weapons or tools. They will be evaluated on durability, form and quantity. I propose, that first place invites the three last places into her team, Lucas seven to ninth and Cho fourth to sixth. I think that’s the most fair.” As nobody was against it, Lin joined the other two and they walked up to Vivien.

“Ash, Wood, Earth and Mud. Not the ideal lineup for this game, but we’ll still win, right,” Vivien grinned fiercely at her teammates. The three others nodded mutely, clearly intimidated by the small woman. “We have a few minutes to make a plan, and then the game will start,” the leader informed her group. “Mareike, is your ash cold, or can you also use embers?” The girl nodded, and Vivien sighed. “So embers?” Mareike nodded again and Vivien laughed, “Perfect!”

“If you are done with your discussions,” every crafter in the square nodded, “then we can commence.” Theodore yelled and the crowd went wild, as the different teams split up.

Lin quickly dug down and formed a few crude molds in the dirt. The team had decided to build a spear, shield combo. They had no really hard materials to make anything more robust, like a hammer or a saw. Instead, Tony could quickly grow the pieces of wood she brought. Lin’s casting molds helped her, as she didn’t have to concentrate that much on control and could therefore focus on speed.

The girl soon had filled the first mold with a wooden circle and began working on a spear. She laid the small piece of wood into the oblong dirt indent and started growing it. Meanwhile Vivien spread a thin layer of mud onto the wooden shield. Mareike, who had borrowed the embers from Jamals controlled burning, then carefully dried the layer of mud. A pearl of sweat dropped from Vivien’s forehead, the girl was extremely focused to spread the remaining mud, so it would dry evenly.

The group was successful on their first try. As Mareike removed her ash, a thin wavre of stone lay atop the wooden shield. Lin added a small amount of fine dirt onto the stone disk, so that when the shield was hit, it would dull the force a bit. At last, Tony grew another wooden disk on top the composite shield. The girl then connected the two layers of wood, compressing and binding the contraption.

Lin watched, as Vivien coated the tip of the spear with mud, holding it in position. He had covered most of the weapon with dirt, so that Mareike’s embers didn’t damage the shaft. The group had high hopes, that their spear would earn creativity points, as the hardened mud tip could break inside the enemy, soften due to the blood and then lead to further bleeding as it dripped out of the wounds.

But Vivien’s concentration wavered, and a quiet tink sound showed their failure. The spear tip had cracked and only due to Mareikes immediate reaction, could the rest of the weapon be saved. The girl had removed the hot ash in seconds and the spear was still whole. The girls repeated their procedure and were eventually lucky.

The only boy in the group had continued to make his molds and Tony was quickly filling them with wooden fighting implements. They had three full sets and Mareike and Vivien were scrambling to finish their work. At long last, Theos yell announced the games end.

Each Team met in the squares centre and the Captains presented their work. Lucas, the metalcrafter, carried a handfull of copper nails, two copper hammers and a crooked saw. The three judges grabbed them and tested them on a piece of wood. Three nails went in without problem, but two bent. The first hammer showed some slight indents, after Theo gave them to Cho, who used her strength and hit a stone. The second hammer sadly shattered in her hands and Hugh, the resident healer had to knit her up again. The saw was completely unusable and was left to the side.

The second team with Cho as their Leader had build a few weapons. A blowgun with stone darts, a composite bow, made possible by Cho’s strengthening skill and a few fibres of wood. Unfortunately, the stone darts were to heavy to use for everyone but Dave and his Windskills and Cho’s Skills had run out and the bow broke when Leon pulled it back for a shot. The arrows were still fine, but not enough to perform better than Lucas and his team.

Finally Vivien hefted the shield and spear and demonstrated them in front of the crowd of onlookers. The fierce leader coughed once and began to praise the weapons merits. Theo tried to step in, but his sister evaded him and continued. Eventually, the mountainous leader caught the girl and took both shield and spear. The weapon worked as described and the tip broke inside the wooden target. The spear still had its normal wooden tip and the judges nodded excited.

To test the shield, Theodore gave it to the camps strongest defender, Jason. The bald man grumbled, being called to work, though still held the shield, while the judges tried to break through. Jason praised the layer of dirt, as he felt, that less force vibrated through the shield. Theo took the shield, clearly unconvinced. Though when Cho hit the shield, he changed his opinion quickly. The judges soon gave their verdict and the group earned a point for creativity besides the first place. Lin was excited to raise up to second place.

Vivien Mud 7

Lin Earth 5

Mareike Ash 5

Tony Wood 5

Lucas Metal 4

Yue Water 4

Sabrina Sand 3

Jamal Fire 3

Cho Strength 3

Dave Wind 2

Daniel Stone 2

Leif Wood 2

“For the last test, we shuffle the teams and you have an hour to build a hut,” Theo told the crafters. “As before, first place with the last three and so on.”

Lin soon met up with Cho, Jamal and Sabrina. He had seen them a few times before, but they hadn’t met in person yet. He shook each hand and introduced himself. Cho smiled and spoke chinese, but Lin shook his head, “Sorry. Born and raised here. I don’t understand a word.” The girl flushed and apologized profusely.

The four discussed their Skills for a bit and began planning their construction. Theodore soon gave the start signal and each group went to a pre determined place, where new huts were needed.

Lin dug a foundation, while Sabrina controlled her sand, and Jamal, supported by Cho, tried to smelt it. The group had split up and Lin soon finished his work and began to raise small earthen walls. The three others continued to create windows, until Lin tipped on Jamal’s back. The teenager went with Lin and the windows had time to cool down. Jamal and Lin tried to harden the walls, while Cho strengthened them, so they didn’t just crumble. It was hard work, as Lin’s earth only held a bit of water and wasn’t as easily hardened as Vivien’s mud.

Sabrina, as soon as she had regenerated enough Mana, filled the foundation with sand, creating a barrier, so water wouldn’t undermine the floor. The four worked in concert and soon Lin raised a second wall, leaving a tiny space between them, for Sabrina to add isolating sand. Jamal and Cho took care of the stability and soon the group could fit their windows.

Unfortunately, the first one broke as they picked it up, but the second, third and fourth window were, while cloudy, usable. Finally they created roof panels with a tiny layer of glas between two layers of hardened earth. The group hoped, that water wouldn’t leak that easily through. They had covered the huts first half, as Theo called for the end.

Vivien’s group went first. They had a simple wooden hut, layers of mud to insulate it a bit and two huge plates of stone on the floor. The judges murmured a bit, but withheld their decision.

Lin then presented their house and Theo laughed at their roof. Their windows earned appreciative nods, but still, nobody said anything. The crowd meanwhile was walking through Vivien’s hut, examining it.

Finally the three judges walked to Mareike’s hut. The girl explained how they build it and the different layers of wood and ash as walls, the supporting metal structure and finally the paper thin privacy screens. The cream of the crop was the underfloor heating. Metaltubes filled with water, which could be heated by starting a tiny fire in a corner of the room. Sadly the group hadn’t finished it yet.

“Aaaand we have our winner. Mareike and Tony are in the lead. Sadly we have four people on third place and are running out of time for a new game. So you two earn 40 coins each, and the last 40 are split between our third places,” Theo proclaimed after the judges had given their final verdict.

Mareike Ash 9

Tony Wood 9

Vivien Mud 8

Lin Earth 8

Lucas Metal 8

Yue Water 8

Sabrina Sand 7

Jamal Fire 7

Cho Strength 7

Dave Wind 3

Daniel Stone 3

Leif Wood 3