It was still afternoon, and the sun was still shining brightly above everyone's heads. As the sun's rays fell upon Sundrin's figure soaked in water he felt a cool sensation upon his skin.
But right now, he couldn't enjoy this feeling, and the reason for that was the numerous gazes that looked upon him with a strange expression.
He looked around and saw that even the guards on duty were present, and even they were staring at him strangely.
For a second, he thought that something was on his face but after turning his head and looking at his own reflection on the surface of the water he threw that thought out of his mind.
His glance wandered and soon fell upon Torvyn, who was still standing in the same position he was before. Sundrin quickly stepped forward and approached his friend.
Walking forward, the gazes of the people still lingered on his figure.
Soon he was before Torvyn, who was also looking at him with a peculiar gaze, and finally not being able to hold it in any longer Sundrin asked whispering into Torvyn's ear,
"Is something wrong? Why is everyone staring at me?"
Torvyn just looked at his friend with a stupefied gaze and finally opened his mouth to speak,
"The one to exit before you was Surakar, and that was a long while ago. You have been in there since the sun was there."
He said with a wry smile as he pointed between the horizon and the sun which now hung just over their head.
Sundrin's expressionless face twitched a bit as he thought,
'No wonder they are looking at me like I am some kind of unique creature'
"Even the guards arrived thinking that something was wrong with you, but the third elder said everything was fine so no one entered the waterfall."
Torvyn explained further as he looked at the third elder, who was also looking in that direction but he still had that expressionless face,
"Welp, time to scram from here, i don't wanna stay here anymore, so let's get out."
Torvyn immediately nodded, and they started walking away. But before they had taken even a few steps…
"Wait!"
Sundrin almost cursed out loud when he heard the voice of someone calling to them from behind,
'I have a bad feeling…'
He thought as he turned around with much hesitation, and looked at the person who had called for them.
It was a boy of nine years old, he had common black hair just like the other tribe members and a muscular build that didn't suit his age,
"His name's Cazur, he is one of the strongest among the top fifties, sitting in the tenth position, he is from Surakar's faction."
Torvyn muttered into his friend's ear as he looked on with a suspicious gaze.
Cazur, who now had all the attention from the people around started walking in their direction with hastened steps.
As he got closer and stood in front of them, he stared at Sundrin, and a mocking smile couldn't help but appeared on his face,
'Here we go again'
Sundrin rolled his eyes, already expecting what the boy in front of him was about to say,
"You aren't powerful enough to be number one! Give up that position immediately!"
Hearing his words, Torvyn beside his friend got a bit irritated as he spoke up,
"Oh yeah? Are you questioning the third elder's decision? Or are you saying he is playing favorites?"
As soon as these words left his mouth the all the people looked at Cazur with a frown, in here the third elder was a person who everyone revered and respected, and even back in the tribe many youngsters were trained by the third elder so even they held immense respect for him in their hearts, so when someone questioned this person everyone was displeased.
Cazur panicked, looking at all the hostile gazes directed at him,
"D-don't twist my words! All I am saying is that he is unworthy, and if you wanna prove me wrong then defeat me in a duel!"
Cazur said, pointing at Sundrin with a flustered expression, it was clear he was not good at hiding his emotions.
Normally, in the Ignisar tribe, people remained peaceful with each other and only competed in hunting and showing off, but all of them were adults and knew when to stop, Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the kids who were always trying to prove their worth to the adults and impress them.
Sundrin couldn't help but sigh at this childish display, although he himself was a child as well, he wasn't interested in competing and only preferred to train and enjoy the feeling of progress.
Sadly not all of the kids his age shared the same opinion and had much less of a calm temper,
"Fine, I will accept this duel, Torvyn can you please get my bow and dagger from the cottage?"
He said with a defeated expression as he knew that ignoring the challenge would bring more idiots to his doorstep,
"Ay ay sir"
Torvyn said, and after giving Cazur one last smug and disdaiful glance he sped away like the wind.
The other kids watched on in anticipation of the upcoming battle, even the four strongest kids had an amused expression as they watched on and observed the scene.
The guards also didn't leave and laughed alongside their companions placing bets on who would win as a vein popped on the forehead of head guard Vailor who was also there.
The third elder watched on with a stern gaze, and before Sundrin knew it, his duel had become a full-on show for the others.
His eyes could help but twitch, somehow controlling himself he saw that Torvyn was hurrying along towards him with his wooden bow, a quiver and a stone dagger.
As soon as he reached him, Sundrin took his bow and dagger while putting the quiver filled with arrows on his back and strapping the leather belt to attach it to his body.
Cazur, on the other hand only unseathed his stone sword and looked at his opponent with a malicious glare,
"Get ready, I am going to beat you to a pulp."
Sundrin just smiled cooly and looked at him with a mocking expression as he got into his fighting stance.
Vailor turned his head to look at Survath and saw him nod in his direction. He bowed and jumped forward, landing between Cazur and Sundrin,
"I will be the observer of this duel so that no fatal injury is dealt, warriors get in your position."
Saying that he started the countdown under everyone's gaze filled with expectation,
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
….
"Begin!"
As soon as the word came out of his mouth, Cazur lunged forward with great speed, all his smugness had disappeared, and now he looked completely serious as he thrust his body towards Sundrin.
Sundrin also quickly took out a stone arrow from his quiver and let it fly across the grassy fields towards its target.
Cazur bends his body to the side a bit and dodges the arrow very easily.
As soon as he was close to Sundrin, he swung his sword aiming for his opponent's legs. Sudnrin quickly acted on his instincts and jumped to avoid the attack.
But Cazur didn't stop there, as the sword finished its swinging arc and Sundrin was still mid jump, he punched forward with his other hand and landed a heavy blow on Sundrin's stomach.
Immediately, Sundrin was sent flying back and crashed onto the ground, and for a second he forgot how to breathe due to the immense pain he felt.
Cazur, not caring at all rushed forward yet again and swung his sword down towards Sundrin's head.
Sundrin quickly contracted his body and rolled to the side, dodging the attack by only a hair.
But rather than retreating like any normal person would have he chose to recklessly advance. He swiftly strung an arrow on his bow and launched it towards his opponent at point-blank range.
Cazur's eyes widened, and he quickly moved his head to dodge, and although he was successful in saving his neck a small cut still appeared on his left cheek.
Taking this chance of a momentary lapse, Sundrin pulled out the dagger from his back and plunged it forward.
Cazur grits his teeth, and even though he was out of breath he swung his sword to defend himself.
The dagger and the sword collide as a dinging sound rang out through the surroundings.
But Cazur had the advantage of having a more sturdy body, thus he quickly overwhelmed Sundrin in strength and pushed him back.
Sundrin quickly stepped back and retreated to create some distance between himself and the bulky youth.
Cazur glared at him furiously as ragged breaths came out of his mouth,
"I am done warming up…"
He said, almost growling.
Sundrin couldn't help but smile slyly and retort back one last time,
"Do your worst'