26 Announcement in the Zaputa Tribe

The main tent of the Zaputa tribe was very bustling today as people kept coming in and out of the grand tent that perpetually seemed to give off an empty feel due to how vast it was.

From the little children tugging along with their mothers and the old folks with burdened backs to the huge and stocky warriors looking down at everyone else, everyone formed small groups of 3 to 5 and entered the tent to await an important announcement soon be made by their Esteemed Tribal Chief.

A slightly elevated platform was constructed from earth magic in a hurry just a day before so that the leaders could be seen and heard by everyone that came there. As usual, 9 chairs, with three bigger ones in the middle, were placed in a disciplined manner.

What was strange though, was that all the chairs on the right side of Hans were empty, Senior Emertius included. This meant that there were no mages present for the announcement.

It was because either most of the mages were training their disciples coincidentally at the same time, or they were part of the reserve force or working elsewhere. Senior Emertius was in seclusion, and the last leader and mage was a Talisman Master that resided in Ro-han city as the tribe's representative and merchant.

Hans' popularity could easily be assessed by a random onlooker by the fact that a wave of his hand managed to calm all hubble-bubble going on as everyone perked their ears up and kept their mouth shut.

After clearing his throat, Hans began, "Everyone, I've gathered you all here today for an important announcement. I know it's been 7 years since we've last had it, but the urgency this time far outweighs the urgency back then. I have three pieces of information that might change the course of our tribe in the future."

Taking a long pause, he assessed the facial expressions of as many people as he could out of habit so that he could weed out the odd reactions and remember the untrustworthy people lurking within the tribe.

After making sure everyone's attention was hooked, he started throwing the bait slowly, 

"The first announcement I have for you, my fellow tribesmen, is that the Tri-division meet would be happening in Zaputa tribe this time, and this meet would be very special as unlike the previous times where only the leaders could talk, the warriors and mages of the other two divisions of the Rohanic tribes would also be here for the grand meet. So feel free to ask for their advice, chat with them and compete with them. Our brothers from the Conta Tribe are even bringing along their 'Goddess' for this purpose."

His tone revealed a hint of mocking when he spoke of the 'Goddess' there but only experienced people could see through such subtleties as by the time most people could have noticed, the chief already continued towards the second announcement.

"The second piece of information I have for you all is that we have a Legacy Disciple now. I'm sure most of you are already familiar with that naughty child, Hunting Chief Danulo's only child, Daney. For anyone doubting his qualifications, he possesses exceptional Dual elemental affinity of wind and water element and is now Esteemed Lumien's disciple."

Whispers were heard throughout the crowded tent as people discussed this stunning piece of news within them, especially those that knew Daney, his little friends included.

"Wow, Daney is a mage now."

"How is this possible!?"

"Ah, I hate that kid, stole my chickens once."

"Daney bro will come back flying now."

Another wave of Hans's hand shut the crowd up as he proceeded, "Also, I believe most of you already know this by now but Esteemed Golver has also taken a disciple. He's my recently adopted foster-son, Ryne, who was an outsider but not anymore."

Peeking at Danulo for an instance and finding that he was sitting with his eyes closed, Hans calmed down before he began reciting the third announcement, 

"The third and last announcement is a heavenly opportunity for those below 16 years of age. After the tri-division meet is over, we're organizing a competition for the three tribes where every kid below 16 years of age would get the chance to showcase his talent to a more varied and numerous audience. All the participants would be sent to a secluded corner of the Forest under the supervision of Grade-3 and higher mages where they would need to gather as many useful materials as they can."

Speaking till here, Hans took a halt as a kid standing somewhere in the back of the crowd, hidden by the burly adult figures exclaimed, 

"Eh, what materials?"

Although the kid didn't mean it, in absolute silence, his unintentional words made him the center of attention. The people standing beside him turned away as the little kid, about 8 years old, stood out like a deer in the headlights.

When the kid was about to panic, Hans looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile as he elaborated, 

"Don't worry, child, from interesting stones to pointed leaves, three elders here would personally judge the quality and potential of everything that you bring and would assign you points based on that. I'll personally make sure that the evaluation process is satisfactory. A ranking list would be made where your name and the points would be cited and the Top-10 participants would receive a Rank-4 magic spell, or a Rank-4 martial skill. Is everything clear now?" 

Hans looked around again with an encouraging smile as a 13-year-old girl couldn't keep her curiosity to herself, 

"Chief, What if I come first? Can I get a special prize?"

"Yes, the Top-3 participants would also receive outstanding prizes along with the prestige and honor they would earn for their tribe."

After answering a few more miscellaneous questions, the convention was dismissed. When only 5 people were left, Hans sat back in his seat as he looked towards the other 4 warriors and spoke, 

"Danulo, reassess the competition area for any abnormality and bring 50 Grade-2 beasts there for the kids to fight. I don't want a single complication there. The rest of you, go call the mages and their disciples, all of them."

One by one, all of them stood up, bowed towards Hans, and left the tent.

After he was left alone, Hans gritted his teeth and looked down at his right hand. It was shivering, 'I'm too excited. I need to be calm. I need to be patient. The time has come. Ancestor, why couldn't you have just given the treasured manual to your disciples or followers? Haha, I guess, I wouldn't have had that chance then.'

...

Around 50 miles south of the tent where the discussion took place, in a swampy region, a wizened hand crawled out from underground. Even before the body of the hand could be revealed, it was greeted with resounding cheers from a variety of people bowing all around.

Men with feather caps and burly, tattooed bodies, graceful women wearing heavy animal furs, and little children of all ages with little tattoos of their own, all released a strange howl from their throat to welcome the old hand that was crawling out from underground as if rising from dead.

This was the Harita tribe, the third division of the Rohanic tribes. This tribe had no mages, a tribe of battle-hardened physical warriors.

A tribe Daney had once mentioned for being 'weak', mostly because they merely had a single grade-4 warrior, considerably lower than the other two tribes.

An unassuming middle-aged man, with a lanky figure, dark eyes, and sharp facial features, remained the only one who didn't bow towards the mysterious old figure.

When the old man, that looked like a layer of skin wrapped around a set of ancient bones crawled out completely, the lanky man was the first to nod his head as he spoke in a baritone voice, 

"Welcome back, ancestor."