Seed Of Speed

As the auspicious hour grew close, Barru Telryn left the Bastion in his golden armor and his head held high. A red cape hung from his broad shoulders and fluttered lightly behind him as he walked. His savage, wild aura was pulled back in hopes not frightening those he passed, but there was no way to hide the suppressive feeling that a Peak Mortal Body cultivator gave off. Thankfully, there were few who were still on the streets as nearly everyone had long gathered around Simu Stage.

The stands were filled with nearly a thousand people, chatting and whatnot, but all fell silent as Barru stepped onto the platform on the edge of the center ring where his sons sat. Although his face did not change, he smiled in his heart, reveling in the power and respect he received. He stood in front of his prepared chair, flanked by his six wives and the four heads of the faction.

Barru looked over his sons, who had by now lined up by age and his eyes locked on Ishu. Finally, he had a son to be proud of! Only Ishu had remained true to the spear as he had, and now, he had even achieved Scarlet-Gold Skin!

"By right of the Patriarch, I have gathered the entire clan for the final day of the Days of Ascension!" Barru's voice boomed through the whole arena. "Ishu Telryn, my fourth son, has issued a challenge to each of his brothers, so I have gathered you all here to witness this great moment. To make it fair contest, I will allow Ishu to choose his opponents and have a rest period of one hour between each duel if he wishes, but no more!" And with the end of his words, he sat down then waved for Ishu to step forward.

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Diego felt a surprising amount of stage fright when he literally felt the whole crowd's attention shift onto him, but he still managed to step out from the line of his brothers. He took a deep breath then took a few more steps forward, so that he stood directly before his father and bowed.

"Lord Father, before the start of the duels, may I be so bold as to speak to you and the whole clan?" Diego asked while he continued to bow.

Barru chuckled as he stroked his chin and replied, "Very well, you may have a few words."

Only now did Diego rise and look his father straight in the eyes. He had been wracking his brain while he appeared to be meditating to figure out how he could convince his 'father' to repeal Patriarch Krutii's rule demanding the deaths of all the heirs. It was not until he watched Barru step onto the platform that he finally had an idea and he caught a hint of smugness in his eyes. Barru's pride was a weakness he might be able to exploit!

"For seven generation, our great Telryn Clan has stagnated, and it was all wrought upon us when a coward took the seat of Patriarch, setting down the rule of 'death to heirs'! Patriarch Krutii took his place after first losing the Days of Ascension then re-challenging his brother. He feared the same thing might happen to his sons, so he created the new rule, a coward's rule. Therefore, I ask a true Patriarch to revoke this coward's taint from our clan and let our clan flourish again!

"I do not fear my brothers rising in strength! That strength belongs to our Telryn Clan, and even if they managed to defeat one day, it will because my own power is lacking! But until that day, your sons, the strongest of our warriors, can fight for the tribe and bring it to new heights, conquering other oases!" Diego said loudly, but not yelling as his voice was easily able to carry in the silent arena.

Needless to say, no one had expected Diego to make such a declaration. Speaking in such a way about a former Patriarch would normally be met with a swift and painful punishment, but in the next moment he praised the current Patriarch, so everything was frozen in a momentary stunned silence.

Barru's eyes narrowed as his aura suddenly expanded to shroud the four men behind him. Ishu had great potential as a cultivator, but he would never believe those were his son's own words and the place and timing were too perfect. It had to been one of the men behind him, but to his knowledge, Ishu had only been to the Hovel and this was certainly not the old Shaman's style. Unforntunately, there was no way to pry into this matter as the whole clan was gathered, so he could only settle on making them uncomfortable. He knew the story of Patriarch Krutii and even agreed with his son's evaluation of the man, but he was still their ancestor.

::Wow, I don't know if you are brave or just stupid, kid::

(Well, we will see soon enough.) Diego thought in reply.

It felt like ages while he stood in silence, looking straight ahead, but it was only a breath's worth of time before Barru replied.

"Bold indeed… I know the event you speak of, but I can not let your words go unpunished. If you manage to survive, a punishment of a thousand lashes will be served and, if you are defeated, the victor is to execute you without mercy, but you must still make your bothers fully submit and accept their defeat if you are not going to kill them," Barru said with a stern glare.

"Thank you, Lord Father," Diego said with another bow, "I shall prove you made the correct decision."

"Hmph," Barru snorted.

Suddenly, the crowd broke into a hushed murmur, but Diego ignored them as he turned to face his brother. The younger ones looked confused while his elder three could kill if looks were deadly.

"My first challenge will be to Peyni," Diego said.

Peyni scoffed as he swung his hammer around and rested it on his shoulder while the others moved away to sit on the first row of benches. He took his position at the other end of the sandy ring as he looked down on his little brother.

"You talk a lot for a dead man," Peyni's voice rang in Diego's ears.

Diego merely smiled in response as he took his familiar loose stance with his spear in his right hand. In truth, he could not trust himself to reply as he was buzzing with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. He had fought a few bullies when he was still in school, but those were simple fistfights and never lasted longer than it took for a teacher to break it up. This was his first real fight, and if he lost, he would lose his second chance at life. He tightened his grip on his spear as he banished his fears away from his heart and charged forward.