The Village Champions

After a while, they called the first person.

"DURAAN, come! You're first!"

DURAAN, with complete confidence in himself, stepped forward with his chest out, showing no fear whatsoever.

Hiroshi, curious, asked Rania: "Oh, but what powers and abilities does DURAAN have?"

She smiled and said: "You'll see for yourself now, but I'll tell you just this: he's considered the strongest in our village's history."

"Okay."

DURAAN positioned himself in front of the barbarian Gudakas. Even though the barbarian was taller and more massive, DURAAN didn't give in to fear.

"Well then, OBROI DURAAN, show us what you can do!" said the barbarian with a smile.

A smile appeared on DURAAN's face. He began reciting some words under his breath, and as soon as he finished, his body started releasing smoke. His eyes became darker, and he took a fighting stance with his left leg forward while his body leaned back.

"GO, YOUNG ONE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

DURAAN launched himself forward with a swift movement and delivered a punch to the barbarian's stomach. The sound was very loud, but DURAAN didn't stop there and gave a kick to the back of the barbarian's head.

How did he do that? Only he knows.

The two impacts were so strong that they echoed throughout the arena, but the barbarian hadn't moved even a millimeter from his position.

"Good, boy, good! I must tell you that you have power. If someone else had received these two hits, they would already be dead from the first blow because their heart would have stopped from the impact. But not in front of me—it felt like a mosquito, though the heaviest mosquito I've ever received so far. Your power and agility together create a nice combo, but don't you use weapons? You do everything just with your body. This makes me wonder if you know how to defend or not. Now we'll find out right away."

The barbarian took his immense axe.

"Are you ready, boy?"

"Always."

"Excellent, let's find out!"

The barbarian raised his axe in the air. DURAAN recited something again, and his body changed from hot to pale, releasing cold smoke and clearing his eyes. As soon as the barbarian brought down his axe, DURAAN grabbed the blade with his hands! With all the strength he had, he tried to stop it. For a second he succeeded, but then he had to move aside because it was too strong.

"HAHAHAHA! STILL TODAY THIS OLD MAN HASN'T BEEN BEATEN!" yelled the barbarian.

"But boy, your move was beautiful, though it wasn't strong enough to stop me. Your test is over, you can go. But first tell me about this ability that's interesting."

"I've worked for years, since I was a child, on this technique. It's based on two purposes: attack and defense. In attack mode, I become stronger and more agile, but with much lower defense—however, I substitute that with agility. In defense mode, I have high defense and blades can't penetrate my body, but agility and power decrease. I can switch modes whenever I want, without restrictions, and I don't need any weapon for this," said DURAAN, proud of himself.

"HAHAHHA! GOOD, BOY, GOOD!"

Then the three judges discussed, and after a while, they called the emo guy who showed his blade game, also against the barbarian. The emo guy had about 5-6 blades in the air with which he attacked. He didn't rely much on strength or speed, but more on accuracy and silence—he made no noise. He had sharp hearing and sight, so he could also strike from a distance without problems.

Then came the turn of the three twin girls, but against old Tyli.

The specialties of these leopard girls were that each of them was an elemental user: the oldest used earth, the middle one water, and the youngest fire. Since they had leopard features, they were fast—the fastest of all—and they also used swords. So they had speed, magic, and close combat: it was an insane combo.

But Tyli wasn't such a simple matter either. A master of all martial arts throughout all his years, he could easily fight against those three. He alone was faster, and each of his strikes was precise, sending the sisters back while remaining calm and doing everything without too much effort.

All three used magic, but the main source of attack was hand-to-hand combat. These were the best warriors of KOPOTO village.

Now it was nobody else's turn but Hiroshi or Rania's.

The general was about to call when Hiroshi approached and told him to come speak privately. The general, somewhat doubtful, accepted. There Hiroshi told everything: what abilities Rania had, what he had, how they came there, etc. He told him the whole truth, since he knew that hiding would make no sense and sooner or later it would be discovered, so he said everything himself. And he said not to spread this stuff, and that if he wanted, they would leave tomorrow in silence without being noticed.

"Do you know what you're saying?" said the general while looking him straight in the eyes.

"Yes, general, I know perfectly well. It was just my mistress's wish to come here, so I did all this. If you want, we two will leave tomorrow morning early in silence."

The general began to think.

"You know well that the punishment is quite different from what you've done, you know that, right?"

"Yes, I know. We should be executed immediately."

"Right. But since you've been honest, I'll give you this chance: tomorrow morning you leave and I won't tell anyone anything."

"That's perfectly fine, general. Can we stay at the hotel or not? And do we have to pay for the hotel?"

"No, it's fine, you can stay, but tomorrow you leave in silence."

"Certainly, sir, and thank you for this kindness."

After that, the general closed the tests and sent everyone back to the hotel. Hiroshi explained everything to everyone and told Rania to get ready. She was sad too, but she knew it was better since they had turned a blind eye.

Night came and everyone was sleeping peacefully.

...

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"I TOLD YOU TO BECOME A MAN, AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, ENJOYING LIFE? WAKE UP AND HELP THOSE WHO NEED IT!"