Chapter 11

Lycurgus was correct about her lineage, but he didn't realize it was Hana. Before the banishment, he had been arranged to marry Hana Akai, the fifth granddaughter of Chief Dynami Akai. Though he only met her once when they were very young, both had accepted the arrangement without much fuss. It would have been a chance to unite the Navia and Tiziano islands without bloodshed or force. So, he had to wonder why she was here competing in the Great Hunt Festival. Judging from how she was looking at him she was surprised that he was there as well.

"What are you doing here?" They both asked in unison.

Lycurgus gave a sly smirk "How about you answer first Hana."

She looked down at the floor "Well don't take it the wrong way."

Lycurgus was puzzled, was she competing to avoid marriage? He quickly spoke, "You know I've been banished?"

Hana's face was in complete shock "You were banished? How, what did you do?"

Lycurgus shrugged "I did nothing but follow my mother, I'm banished by association."

Hana's face softened "You threw away everything for your mother?"

Something in Lycurgus' heart fluttered; the way Hana said it instilled a different feeling than simply loathing but of honor. He just made all his hopes and dreams that much tougher to achieve. His being in the Great Hunt Festival was proof of that. Sure, he would have joined but it would have simply been to test his skills, not to regain his family's honor.

"I never looked at it that way, just had to be there for my mom."

Hana raised an eyebrow "Not very wise, are you? Couldn't you have been more helpful from a position of power rather than at the bottom?"

Lycurgus was starting to get annoyed, but he swallowed his pride and answered, "I suppose you're right, but let me guess you decided to participate to avoid the marriage?"

Hana blushed "It has nothing to do with you." Lycurgus wasn't convinced in the slightest and his face showed it.

"How does it have nothing to do with me?" Hana started getting slightly flustered "It doesn't matter anymore your banished anyway."

Lycurgus was annoyed at Hana and decided to drop the topic. They sat there in silence with Hana occasionally glancing at Lycurgus, who simply acted oblivious to her. This little game lasted for a brief moment until a man entered the center of the waiting room.

"Attention all participants, we will soon begin the competition."

He held up both arms, "Each half will be a team and compete in a mock battle to decrease the number of participants." Suddenly the vibe of the room changed, and everyone looked around to see who the members of their team were.

A group of hunters brought in a cart filled with black shirts. "Everyone on the left side will wear these shirts, and a black headband to prevent confusion." Hana whispered to Lycurgus "Good thing I look good in black."

Lycurgus raised an eyebrow "Really? That's what you care about, come on let's meet our teammates."

The people in the room moved to their perspective group. Lycurgus' undergarment was already black, so he just tied on a headband and another one around his right bicep.

He inspected the group, instantly keying on potentially strong members. Most would probably only be concerned with advancing, but for Lycurgus, this was a chance to scout out the competition. He had an inkling of an idea of a few techniques based on their weaponry. He guessed that the others would want to see his technique as well-being that he wielded a never-before-seen weapon. His technique wasn't too complex to figure out, but he still wanted to maintain a few surprises for later battles.

He looked over at Hana, even though he didn't want to admit she probably was strong as well. He had spotted a few others he knew, such as Kaji from the Axle family of Navi, Skorri from the island of Soren, Kilos from the Racin family of Yfantis, and a few others. Those three in particular he deemed his biggest challenges were they to win. He glanced to the other side only spotting one notable person, Calus of the Vermillion family from Soren. Anyone who was from Sokou and lesser-known people from the other islands, Lycurgus had no information. He made it his mission to watch them the closest and to talk to a few.

"Listen guys we need to get a good understanding of all our skills to formulate a plan of attack." Lycurgus turned back to see Skorri taking charge and trying to be the leader. He probably was also using this as a window to gather data on his future combatants.

"No need for abilities just separates us on weapons," Kaji said cutting in and stopping Skorri from taking the lead. Skorri shot Kaji a dirty look. Kaji stared back, his long wavy black hair still hanging in his face despite the headband.

Lycurgus thought about stepping up to help strategize, he figured the first half of the battle could be swung in their favor through the effective use of any archers. Understanding that the second half would primarily be a brawl and most people would be fighting in the most basic way possible.

"I figured I saw you over here Lycurgus." Said a voice to his left, he turned his head to see Kilos a mahogany-skinned young man, with short dreads, pulled back into a ponytail. He had violet, red eyes that seemed to always be searching for the truth. He held an ornate bow in his hand with a small blade on his side.

"You have a strategy to win?" Kilos said staring at Skorri and Kaji's debate. Lycurgus shrugged "I thought of something slight but I'm really trying to go unnoticed."

Kilos ran his hands through his hair "So I guess the rumor of your banishment has some weight."

Lycurgus sighed "Unfortunately yes."

Kilos turned his eyes toward Lycurgus with a playful smile "I spotted you talking to Hana though, are y'all still getting married?"

Lycurgus cut him a quick look not wanting to make eye contact. Kaji was the closest thing to a best friend Lycurgus had but Kilos always felt like the sage brother he never had. The way he could read him bothered Lycurgus and being from Yfantis he saw him often.

"It doesn't seem likely," Lycurgus said finally responding to Kilos.

Kilos smirked "I figured as much, I heard that she went against her father to be here in fact."

Lycurgus raised an eyebrow "Why are you here?"

Kilos looked him in the eye "I want to gain the right to rule Yfantis, aren't you here for the same reason?" Lycurgus looked him in the eyes.

He wasn't completely sure, part of him wanted to change the culture of the village but he didn't think he was fit to lead. Nor did he think his father was necessarily wrong for what he did, he understood that he had to maintain order. In all honesty, he felt that the whole situation was his mother's fault, and he hated that he thought that. To rule would mean that he faces his father. Even if he knew what he would change he didn't know if he could beat him one on one.

"I don't know Kilos."

Kilos stared at him for a second then turned back towards Skorri and Kaji "Well whatever your reason is, we gotta win this so I suggest you take the lead from these two."

Lycurgus looked over at Kaji, he thought Kaji was smart enough to lead them to victory, but his laziness may interfere with the cleanliness needed to organize their team effectively. He shifted his gaze to Skorri, although he was great at galvanizing and motivating, he wasn't the best strategist, for whatever reason he seemed to miss the key things when it came to strategy. He scanned their group and saw a few faces he knew but no one stood out as a leader. Kilos may have been the sharpest, but he lacked speaking ability and fell into more of an advisor role.

"Look you guys we don't have time; we need to split into range and melee groups." Lycurgus was surprised to see that the order was given from Hana. She seemed quick enough, but now he was curious whether she made the right strategy and formation.

"Interesting," said Kilos "I guess she beat you to the punch Ly." As he walked over to all the archers and range specialists, Lycurgus made his way over to the melee combatants towards the back of the crowd.

"Ok then Hana was the strategy?" asked Kilos, Hana seemed to not have thought this far, not realizing that she had made herself the designated leader. A young man stepped forward out of the range group, "I have a suggestion, why don't we lead with archers to thin out their numbers?"

Hana looked intrigued by this and asked, "Wouldn't that leave them open for a counterattack if the opposing side has more speed?"

Suddenly the crowd began agreeing with Hana, Skorri being the main one agreeing. Lycurgus shook his head, this guy's strategy was the right way to go, but he had no solution to counter that point. He had no intel on the team's general abilities or the opposing team. Lycurgus looked up and saw Kilos and Hana staring at him, they both wanted his opinion.

Lycurgus sighed, he looked up and shook his head no. Signaling that he didn't want the attention but also to not go against the young man's plan. He knew it was a lot to convey in one head shake but he genuinely wanted to stay incognito for as long as possible. He was tired of answering the question about being banished, and he didn't know what would happen if his father found him this early in the competition.

It didn't seem like the two understood what his head shake meant, and he sighed again. He had to advance to the next round and Calus was a great leader and his team probably already had a plan of attack. Lycurgus made his way over to the young man who had the suggestion

"What's your name?" Lycurgus asked, he heard the whispers from others that recognized him understanding his cover was blown.

"Taezu son of Lazu, I'm from Sokou." Lycurgus outstretched a hand "Lycurgus son of Taryu, I'm from Tiziano." Taezu shook it.

"May I answer the question they posed to you?" Lycurgus said with a warm smile. Taezu gave a slight chuckle before saying "Go ahead Lycurgus."

Lycurgus turned and faced Hana who was smiling at him.

"To answer your question, we'll go off distance, we're all hunters, we all know what danger close is and what is the safe zone. I surmise that we get along the edge of the wall to give ourselves the most distance."

Skorri stepped forward "That gives us no room to fall back."

Lycurgus turned towards Skorri, snapping back quickly "Better to fight like a caged beast than a free bird, a lack of retreat will do us good in the arena. We're trying to sugarcoat it, but no one wants to display their skills. Going with an archer volley on the front lines will thin the numbers allowing for a quick and effortless melee. The objective of the archers is to weaken their ranks, not defeat them entirely."

Lycurgus did a quick look counting all the range fighters. "We have 8 archers and 7 melee fighters almost an even split, we need to utilize our numbers as best we can, is that understood?" Everyone looked at each other and nodded their heads in understanding.

Lycurgus was surprised that it went over so seamlessly.