Sparring
Slightly surprised, Caminus did not expect them to be so unwelcoming but took it as them being cautious to protect themselves. He decided to use this as an opportunity to show off his speaking abilities, "yes." Succinctly, he wasted the chance of saying more.
As a dragon, Caminus knew a lot, dragon had good memories and did not need to repeat what they had heard, and even considered it wasteful. Dragons had a vast amount of knowledge and to remember it all even with their long lifespans, they had to be able to be succinct in communicating it. His mastery of speaking as a dragon led him to be instinctively succinct and not to waste words, but that was not how humans always were, they would repeat things, sometimes adding extra details, as humans did not have as powerful memories. Caminus made a mental note to make an active attempt to be less succinct sometimes and to tailor his speech to human memories.
Caminus moved on from the village to some odd stares. The village people seemed to be amused looking at him. Caminus found this odd since they had seen other children pass through already to go to the valley. When he got to the valley he understood. The children in the valley were all wearing neat clothes and even armour, while he was walking around in just bracers and a loin cloth. The children in the valley ranged from ages eight through ten all of the orange level of cultivation. They all seemed to come from some level of wealth as their clothes were much different than those of the people in the village. Caminus took some solace in the fact that he arrived 5 days early and had time to try to get proper cloths to at least not stand out too much. As he approached the shelter area in the valley the children gathered to meet him, they formed a battle formation and entered into martial stances, "You picked the wrong group to mess with bandit!"
Caminus was once again caught by surprise; he stopped to consider what to say to such rash beings. After he stopped one of the members of the children's group fired an arrow past his head. Seeing that it was a warning shot, Caminus did nothing and then spoke out, "I don't want to fight you. I need some cloths."
His succinctness failed him again; the skittish and imaginative children got the wrong impression. They thought he was a desperate bandit driven to steal even clothes that was scared of their might. Four children broke off from the group to attack, one wielded a spear, another a bow, and the other two were bare handed. Two fireballs were sent flying with an arrow that shone with lightning. Caminus prepared to dodge the attacks when they were stopped. An adult woman appeared, blocking the attacks with ease, "There will be no fighting among applicants on the recruiting grounds. This is an open recruitment for anyone of ten years or under who has reached the orange level of cultivation regardless of appearance or background. Now put away those weapons. The recruitment will start in 5 days' time."
Caminus took this opportunity to carefully recite an introduction, "Hello, I am Caminus. I have come for the sect recruitment and will be staying here for the preceding time." Finally he was able to give enough information to avoid confusion. The other children lowered their guards somewhat and began to look at Caminus in a non-threatening manner. One who appeared prominent among the rest and was previously at the center of the formation spoke out, "I am George, you can join us for some light sparring later, just set up your tent anywhere," he looked at Caminus' possessions and added, "or you can build one, there are some trees with suitably large leaves just on the other side of the valley by the water."
George was trying to be helpful, Caminus appreciated it and responded, "I will settle my shelter then, and I look forward to some sparring." Caminus was sure he could beat them all in a fight; he just wanted to get a better understanding of their strengths.
The sparring ground was a small area of flat rock off to the side of the sparring grounds. Upon getting to the sparring grounds Caminus found that two of the children were already sparring. One of the children was a boy using a spear that had a layer of ice covering the tip; it seemed that he was an ice type cultivator. The other was a girl using a sword that was covered in orange flames. The boy had superior technique but the girl's fire was stronger. His spear almost pierced her defences but he managed to block it and melt the ice on the spear tip. Taking a step back the girl stabbed the air in front of her sending a stream of flame straight at the boy who could only block with the remaining essence energy he had before he was exhausted and admitted defeat. Most of the sparring lasted longer than a few exchange, but every time that girl with the fire went forward she would win in a few exchanges.
Caminus was unsure of how the proceedings went. After every battle another two cultivators would step forward to battle, there were no challenges or discussion about who would fight. George noticed Caminus standing off to the side and moved around to encourage him, "Caminus, be the first to step forward next fight, let us see if you match up to us."
Following George's challenge when the next battle ended Caminus stepped forward and someone stepped out to match him. His opponent was a ten year old male with a thick green hide shield and a thick short sword, sharpened on both sides. Caminus was still bare handed, and the shield would counter his fire breath so this was the perfect time to gain battle experience with his human martial arts and techniques. His opponent introduced himself as Percival, knowing Caminus' name from the morning.
Caminus opened up the combat with a feint clawing attack at Percival's head. Percival chose to meet the hand with his sword. Caminus smiled and adjusted his feet, bringing his other arm up he locked Percival's sword between his bracers and twisted, disarming Percival. Percival stepped back, grabbing his shield in both hands and launched a poison technique slamming the shield against the ground. A cloud of smoke surrounded the battlers. Caminus used a fire cloaking technique to protect himself from the smoke, burning it before it could touch him. Caminus then rushed in with another claw attack, which was met with Percival's shield. Percival was pushed back a step, then Caminus' foot met his shield pushing him back another. A round of attacks brought them both out of the poison cloud.
Percival took a step back and admitted his loss. With Caminus' ability he would not be able to launch another poison attack and he had already lost his sword. Caminus had impressed the children, especially George who had not expected a savage child to have such good technique. Percival rejoined the crowd, but Caminus stayed in the center, he wanted another fight. After the crowd realized he was staying for another round, the girl that cultivated fire stepped forward, "My name is Adolet, I saw your fire cloak and I hope I can see more."
When cultivating an essence the body and essence would adapt to each other, this meant that Caminus and Adolet would resist some of each other's flame attacks. As they prepared to spar Caminus took notice of her sword's length, it was 160 centimeters long, which was a long sword for a nine year old. The sword had thin red lines running down it indicating an enchantment. Caminus in response prepares a defensive stance, watching Adolet's sword.
Adolet strikes first, testing Caminus' defenses, but is easily deflected. Striking again, Adolet uses an illusion technique, masking her real strike. Caminus moves to deflect the strike and misses, seeing the real attack he uses a fire essence shield to protect himself. Caminus fires out a stream of fire from his mouth at Adolet, who dodges back and to the side. With the distance between them reset, Caminus is disadvantaged having used some of his essence already. Caminus rushes in to close the distance, diving beneath Adolet's sword. Caminus pushes his hands down to kick Adolet's lower body, launching her back. Adolet, hurt, stabs the air in front of her, sending a stream of fire at Caminus. Caminus breaths out his own stream of fire to match Adolet's stab. The streams collide, Caminus barely wins out and the remaining fire continues towards Adolet, who uses her own essence to shield her body.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Caminus rushes forward to keep up the pressure. Adolet's inexperience shows and she is not able to react in time as Caminus' fist stops inches from her face. "I have lost." the words echo through her mind as she speaks them out loud; not having expected to have met such a young genius who could win with only bracers equipped. Adolet stepped back from the fight, hardening herself to grow from this experience.