Dark Wind, Icy Snow - RyuTar, YinYuan [BL]

RTYY 041 - Bravery and Dignity

They all stared at him in confusion.

"Are you sure? You don't even know who your adversary will be," the man that had guided the other group told him, a doubtful expression on his face.

"As if that would make any difference," GinWan replied, fastidiously waving his hand in the air. "The only way to claim victory over any of these two is by killing them. And I am sure uncle Yu wouldn't appreciate it if I were to go around, killing his men," he declared, to which MaoZao immediately frowned, his dark eyes burning with rage. The way he'd put it clearly implied that he would be able to easily kill them, if he wished to do so, and that the only reason why he refrained from doing it was because he did not wish to displease the Calzai.

Completely ignoring GinWan's declaration and MaoZao's fuming fury, FanSai resumed what he was doing and pulled out a red rock. Guess he was the lucky one that would win without a fight, ZaiWin thought. Which meant that the already riled up MaoZao would fight the other kid.

"Well, since GinWan has already forfeit his combat, FanSai, plus one. GinWan, minus one," the man still holding the bag declared.

GinWan shrugged nonchalantly and walked away, to sit down in the shade, beneath a tree.

"Blue ones, step forward."

MaoZao immediately obeyed, still throwing murderous glares towards where GinWan now sat, and ZaiWin silently shook his head. The poor kid that was going to fight him was in for a beating. MaoZao visibly belonged to the kind of people that would easily lose his temper and then take it out on other, unconcerned, people.

"I have a question!" the kid declared, his face unexpectedly serious, his expression set. Apparently he really intended to do his best and fight the huge man.

"Yes?"

"How will you be able to fairly judge our fight if you'll be standing out here?"

Well, that was a fair question, ZaiWin agreed, also wanting to know the answer.

"There are seeing crystals inside the cave and we will be using one of these," one of the judges replied, showing them what looked very much like a blindfold, the difference being that it was made of dark crystal.

So that how it was, ZaiWin thought, wondering if they had used something like that to judge the duels from the previous arena, where they'd been so high above the ground that all one could see were small, little dots.

The kid also looked satisfied with his answer and, thanking him for the explanation, firmly stepped into the cave, followed by his huge adversary.

ZaiWin took a deep breath. Now he knew that the judges could see what was happening inside the cave, but he couldn't, he frowned, feeling disappointed. And just waiting outside, with nothing to do, was actually quite unnerving, he soon realized.

Discreetly taking a peek towards CarFan and at his deranged expression, he wondered if he had even seen him standing there. He probably hadn't, he concluded, or at the very least he'd already been the target of a few derogatory comments.

As he'd foreseen, it didn't take long until a loud scream of pain echoed from the cave. And, just a few minutes later, MaoZao reemerged, looking much more relaxed and in a much better mood than when he'd went inside.

"Are you going to get him or do you want me to do it?" asked their guide, taking off his crystal blindfold, and the guide from the other group sighed with tired expression.

"I'll go. He is one of mine, after all."

They waited again, and then the guide finally emerged from the cave, carrying a sobbing kid in his arms. And yet, the moment he carefully set him down on the ground with his back against a large boulder, he immediately turned away, clearly not caring if the kid lived or died.

"MaoZao, plus one. MinNur, minus one."

ZaiWin looked at the poor kid and had to hand it to him. He was by far the bravest and more dignified contestant he seen the entire day. Holding on to his obviously shattered leg, he was doing his best to hold his tears back, using breathing techniques to control the pain. He knew those techniques by heart. ZenTar had hammered them into his head a long time ago. And so he immediately knew that MinNur was the child of some noble Clan from the Zai Province. A shame he would inevitably be left behind when they moved on the next day.

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Hi there!! ^_^

So sorry I couldn't update yesterday. It was kind of chaotic and I had to work extra hours on both my jobs, so I was dead tired when I got home. Thank you for reading and voting on my novel. Love you all! 😘

Language:

Daitai: Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or Holly Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They're the source of power.

Calzai: Literally cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it's own Calzai.

Yu: Literally yu (green). Referring to the fact that YuFan is the Yu Calzai.

Zai: Literally zai (blade). Where Zai is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province.