Chapter 13

Taryu watched as the announcer cleared out towards the side. He was sitting with the other leaders Toxo, Chief of Soren, Dynami, Chief of Navia, Kyden, Chief of Sokou, and Harika, Chief of Yfantis. His eyes truly only focused on Lycurgus. A sense of pride filled his chest upon seeing his son again. Despite the circumstances, he was glad to see him again.

To his eyes, Lycurgus seemed to have grown in that brief time since his mother's banishment. 'Shezira, have you seen our son?' he thought to himself quickly shaking his head.

"Seems your son and my granddaughter are on the same team," Dynami said leaning over Taryu's shoulder as his long curly red hair hung in front of his amber-colored eyes.

"Ah yes, maybe they will still be together despite all that's happened," Taryu responded casually.

It wasn't that Taryu didn't care it was simply the fact that Lycurgus was standing right there. "Taryu what's that thing on your son's back?" Harika asked leaning pasted Toxo to look Taryu in the face. Taryu scratched his great black beard. He wasn't actually sure himself.

"Looks like he's slain a Lancer-Fish and took its bill," Kyden said. Taryu eyed it much more carefully "I would agree with Kyden's eyes on that one." He stated answering Harika's question.

The battle began underway and Taryu watched Lycurgus closely, his poise and calmness intrigued him greatly 'Alright son you've always been the smart one let's see your strategy.' Taryu thought. He was surprised to see the archers come forward drawing their bows at the charging enemy. A volley of arrows released knocking out two of the oncoming force. Another volley released taking out a few more.

The opposing charge increased speed closing the gap quicker, but the melee units stepped forward bracing for impact. Right before the clash, Lycurgus swung his lance, perfectly timing it. Single-handedly knocking out three other warriors. Taryu stood up in astonishment as the rest of the crowd was silent.

Taryu smirked 'They expected a brawl, but my son's genius has placed this battle out of reach!' His fierce grip crushed the railing in his hand.

"Hmm, you seem a little excited there Taryu." Stated Toxo. Taryu glanced back at Toxo smile still wide across his face "Surely you see the genius of Lycurgus!" his voice filled with pride and happiness.

Laughter came from his right side, it was Kyden "Didn't you banish this genius? Don't get too excited his genius is up for grabs at this point." Taryu's smile faded and he regained his composure. For a moment he had forgotten his son's banishment and as he remembered he slumped back into his seat. Kyden placed a hand on his shoulder "There there Taryu no need to get upset."

Taryu kept his eyes on Lycurgus though he was now silent. He noticed something strange within the weapon as Lycurgus swung an overhead strike toward Calus. The weapon seemed to change shape if only slightly. The force and speed of the swing were astounding, breaking through the spear Calus held with great ease, dropping him to a knee. The other warriors quickly dispatched the remaining opposing team.

Calus looked around at his forces and admitted to defeat. The crowd was in utter awe. Everyone had expected a fearsome brawl, but the strategy implied had reduced the battle to be over in mere moments. Even Calus was defeated faster than anticipated. Silence overcame the arena, then a violent roar of cheers and applause erupted as the crowd acknowledged the greatness witnessed.

Toxo closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "I expected Calus to do a little more, guess Lycurgus is truly in a different league." He opened them slowly and smirked at Taryu "Eh Taryu?"

Taryu tried his best to not look pleased with his son's genius, but his pride was slipping through his hardened shell of stoicism.

Before everyone got too settled the announcer came and had the remaining fifteen competitors draw lots. The one who drew the shortest lot would immediately advance to the next round. Making the first round of seven matches, then the second round of four matches, the third round of two matches, then of course the finals.

Lycurgus decided to pull first.

When he reached into the bag, he expanded his tarmata to figure out which was the shortest bone, but the way they lay in the bag it seemed like they were all the same size. At first, it seemed pointless and better to just randomly select, but his brain was working in overdrive feeling like this was some kind of test. The announcer cleared his throat signaling for Lycurgus to hurry up.

He changed tactics, instead of sensing for the smallest bone he sensed for the one with the least tarmata, once he found it, he grabbed it. When the bone came out of the bag it began to grow to be about the size of his index finger.

Lycurgus stepped away as Hana reached into the bag, at first, he was looking into the stands and watching the crowd when he looked down and noticed the bone had grown in size. He surveyed the others and noticed he was still the smallest, but he wasn't sure it would stay that way. Once the last contestant pulled out their lot the announcer spoke.

"We will now wait fifteen minutes to determine the order of the tournament."

Lycurgus looked down at the bone, now the size of his hand, and began to panic slightly along with the other contestants. It wasn't that he thought he would lose, but with no real rest between battles having the shortest stick was a huge advantage. And even if one couldn't get the shortest stick. The size could still determine your placement.

Lycurgus thought to himself. He was trying to figure out how everything fits together. All the bones started out as the same size but had varying levels of tarmata, but once they exited the bag it grew and since then it has continued to grow, and the larger it gets the faster it seems to grow. He wondered if it was feeding itself off his tarmata, if that was the case the solution was simply to restrict his flow to prevent growth. But something didn't fit right with that notion.

He closed his eyes and focused on all the bones around him trying to sense if they were increasing in the amount of tarmata they had residing in them. He found that they did, almost all the bones had increased the level of tarmata present including his. Yet he still felt he was overlooking something. He released a sigh and looked up at the sky shielding his eyes from the sun when it hit him.

'The bones were concealed in a bag!' he thought to himself. He quickly took off his ryuche and covered the bone, now nearing the length of his foreman. He looked over at the other contestants, some were talking and relaxing and a few were trying to limit their tarmata flow, but none were paying him attention. Just looking at the other bone he realized a few were sizably smaller than his. He let out a sigh all he could do was hope his theory was correct and he was able to stop the bones' growth.

Fifteen minutes elapsed and some of the bones were the size of the actual contestants. Lycurgus had managed to not only keep the bone the same size, but it was now the size of his hand again. When everyone presented their bones, he had the smallest one.

He had gained the right to skip the first round of matches.