Uncle's Little Competition

We returned to Apium and had dinner. "I should go visit Tara. We can figure something to do together", I said after dinner. "You know where she lives, right?", uncle asked just in case. "Yes, I know… She actually has her own place already…", I replied and bid uncle farewell. Tara lived near the craftsmen area, mostly due to her parents being craftsmen. They were the ones who built the house for her. I climbed the tree on which Tara's house was, but no one was inside. 'Hmm, did she go somewhere?', I asked myself and climbed down. Instead of waiting around like an idiot, I decided to ask her parents about her whereabouts. It turned out that Tara left towards the Land of Sands not that long ago. Her parents also mentioned that it was for work, rather than any contests. Since she was not around, I wasn't sure what else to do.

"Huh? Back already?", uncle asked surprised when he saw me. "Yea, she's not at home. Tara went to the Land of Sands, so she will return in a few weeks... I think", I replied. Uncle proposed learning about farming, but I was not interested whatsoever. I began to realise something, Apium was actually really boring. Atols lived their lives rather plainly. They either worked, trained or crafted something. Not that it was a bad thing they were hard working, but to me it was a disaster.

Since there was nothing to do, I could only return to my training. "Uncle, mother said you guys can help me with my sword practice. Where should I go for that?", I asked. "Don't you want to rest a bit more? You can read a book, or just play around the lake", uncle replied. "I'm not nine years old anymore, uncle. With Tara around, there would be loads to do. Since she is not around, I will simply return to my training for now", I explained. "Alright, I will take you to the training area. They will be happy to help you, I'm sure", he replied and led the way.

The training ground uncle spoke about, was a simple open area where Atols could train. As we approached the clearing, we saw Atols practicing all sorts of things. Some of them were lifting weights, some practiced with their weapons, while others ran around the clearing. Uncle took me to one of the armoured Atols standing to the side, and shouting at others. "Apam, we need someone who can help Anna practice her sword. Can you find anyone appropriate?", uncle asked. "Anything for little Anna. You mentioned a sword, right? We don't use swords, but I'm sure we can work something out", Apam said and called over one of the younger Atols.

"Paman, you will train with Anna today. She uses a sword, so be careful with your spear. Take it easy at first, we don't want any accidents", Apam said. "Yes father!", Paman replied and faced me. "Shall we begin?", he asked. I took my sword out, nodded and we headed towards the middle of the clearing. 'I'm not sure how strong Paman is… He's probably weaker than mother, but stronger than me. He is a warrior after all… I shouldn't take it lightly', I thought, and rushed at him. Paman swung his spear at me, but I could easily evade it and closed in to strike. "Swosh", my sword stopped just in front of him.

"I underestimated you, and that is something a soldier shouldn't do. Let's start again", Paman said and distanced himself from me. This time though, Paman became serious. He thrusted his spears at me a few times, trying to prevent me from getting closer. Thanks to my mother's training though, his attacks were not that difficult to evade. "Pak!", I deflected his spear, while my sword appeared in front of him again. "You can stop there guys", Apam said. "Paman, you need to train a lot more. Anna is much stronger than you, and she could easily evade your attacks. Focus more, and train harder", Apam said.

Paman accepted the criticism and promised to work harder. "We will find you a stronger opponent. After all, if you want to learn something, fighting against strong opponents will be much better", he added. Apam called over another warrior. The next Atol I faced not only looked stronger, he also wielded a shield. This opponent was much more difficult to deal with, and he was faster than Paman. He attacked really quickly, which didn't give much opportunity to get closer. Even when I did, the Atols simply blocked me with his shield. The combination of spear and shield was really annoying to deal with.

I later learned his name was Mal. He made me realise how weak and inexperienced my attacks and defence were. 'Training with them was a good idea, I can learn so much', I thought. Since there was nothing else I could do, me and Mal sparred a few good times, each of us learning something in the process. After our sparring session, Apam introduced me to others. Everyone was really nice. They gave me tips on how to better work out, and even pointed out how to fight against opponents equipped with spears and shields.

I was quite tired at the end of the day. "Today was great, you guys helped me so much already. I will be back for more training soon. Take care for now", I bid them farewell and returned to uncle's place. "You must be hungry after a whole day of training", uncle said and prepared some food for me. "I ate some fruits with the others, but yea I could eat something", I replied. After the late dinner, I returned to my room and continued the book from the previous day.

I couldn't wait to see what happened at the end. Amel fought the battles to the bitter end. During the last and most decisive battle, Amel lost his life to an evil Formation master who burned his whole division alive. Although Atols won the war, they brought sad news for Kiki. She cried a lot, and vowed to never love again. Her heart was already broken. Instead of a happy ending, the author wrote a sad tale, but seemed so real. I almost cried when Kiki found out about Amel's death, which reminded me of my mother.

She was waiting for my father to return, but what if one day she gets the same message? At the bottom of the last page, I saw a name. 'Iriam… I wonder if she lives here. I'd like to ask her a few things. Maybe she has more books', I thought. She must've been the author, otherwise why would there be an unrelated name inside. Since it was already late, I decided to ask uncle in the morning and went to sleep.

During breakfast, I asked uncle about Iriam. "Iriam, Iriam… I don't know anyone called Iriam though. Why are you searching for her?", he replied. I showed him the book, and explained that I wanted to meet the author. "Oh! That book! As far as I remember, there was someone who visited us to write it. Although it was a man not a woman… Yes, now I remember. That was a few years ago, a certain Lizard visited us in order to write a book. He wanted to watch our daily lives and whatnot, to get inspired. He wrote this Love and Battlefield book here, and then left. Before he left though, he handed us a few copies of this book. In other words, he is not around anymore", uncle recalled.

That was a bit disappointing, but there was nothing I could do about it. "Do you have more books like this one? I only found three on the bookshelves inside my room", I asked. Uncle gave it some thoughts before replying, "I'm not sure, I can ask around if others have some books they could lend to you. If you like this one, you can keep it. The book belongs to me, but I'm not interested in such stories. The other two are yours as well, if you want them… By the way, what is your plan for today?". "I will probably practice my sword, I might visit the lake later on. Other than that, I have no plans really. Why do you ask?", I replied. "In that case, would you be interested in some contests?", uncle asked.

I wasn't sure what he meant exactly. "Well, you told me that there is little to do around Apium, so I organised some small competitions with others. There will be a few games for the kids and youngsters. It should be fun, right? You can take part if you want", uncle explained. That sounded really interesting, "In that case, I'd like to take part too. When do we start?". "We will be starting in about an hour or so. We can head there now, or you can relax for a while more", uncle replied. "Alright, I will take a small rest, but we can head there soon", I replied and went back to my room.

About half an hour later, me and uncle went to the gathering area where the contests would take place. There were a few Atols my age or older, as well as those younger than me. Their families were there too, but the amount of people gathered seemed a bit small. 'Uncle organised this so that we can have fun. I shouldn't complain', I thought. Uncle introduced me to a few people, and told them I would be joining in as well. They didn't mind at all, and even welcomed it. "There will be four competitions. The first one is a climbing competition. You are a bit disadvantaged, but taking part should be fun too, right?", uncle said. "You never know, I trained a lot with mother. Maybe I'm not that disadvantaged", I replied with a smirk. "Hoh! Seems you are feeling confident. Great, that should make it more interesting", uncle added. We conversed with others for a while, until more Atols gathered around the area. 'I was actually wrong. Loads of people showed up with their kids, this will be fun for sure!', I thought to myself.

"By the way, uncle. Are there any prizes to be won?", I asked curiously. "Of course! What sort of competition would provide no prizes? The person who wins the first competition, will receive a special medicine of mine. The amount was always limited, so no wonder so many people turned up. Of course there are those who came for fun", uncle replied. We waited until everyone who wanted to take part showed up. When uncle saw no one else arrive, he announced the rules.