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Chapter 28: The Day of the Duel

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"Come on! We don't want to miss it!"

"It's not really to start this early, right?"

"Who knows? We only know it's gonna be today."

It was first hour in the morning.

A team of young trainees walked up Tiger Back Mountain's trail, to where the Backdoor's Forest lay.

Arriving to the summit, they quieted their chatter, but still walked toward the forest's entrance in a spirited manner.

"Heya, Uncle!"

Reaching the entry post, one of the trainees, a tawny cat, greeted one of the guards.

"Lil' Ne," greeted back the snake guard, his stern and fierce expression breaking into a grin.

The group of trainees stopped, in consideration to their companion. Then they all showed their respect to the seniors with a slight bow, while the latter only nodded back.

"You all coming today to train some?"

"Yes," responded the tawny cat youth.

"Is that so?" the snake guard asked mysteriously. "You sure there's nothing interesting happening in the forest right now?"

The cat was inwardly startled, and he threw a knowing glance to his teammates, who were also glancing at each other.

"What does Uncle mean?"

"Since three days ago, quite number of teams has entered the forest, to the point that each day's entry limit was reached. Unless something's going on inside, it doesn't really make sense. So, you brat, cough it up!" the snake said with a fangy grin.

The tawny cat could only feel bitter inside at being caught and coerced by his uncle. He looked back to his teammates and they revealed similar expression, but still nodded toward him.

"Don't worry. We won't stop you from entering. If the Paper Hall has noticed but not interfered anyways, then it's not our problem."

The group of youths felt their biggest fear dissipate into nothingness, especially the tawny cat, who quickly spoke.

"It's a duel."

"Hoh?"

The snake's interest was piqued, and even the other two guards as well, who listened with attention as the young tawny cat told them what had happened.

Inside the Backdoor's Forest, full teams of trainees could be seen advancing, each heading in the same general direction.

This direction, was toward the wild lake located relatively close to the entrance of the forest.

At the wild lake, a mass of young theriopes had already gathered, astonishingly reaching the number of a few hundreds.

They were all dispersed on the area, some in groups, some actually by themselves, but an atmosphere of bubbling excitement and expectation covered the place in general.

They chatted among themselves, some were eating and some appeared to actually be doing some sort of business. From time to time they would glance in a certain direction.

There was only a spot next to the lake where the crowd gave away a wide space, where a single young theriope sat waiting.

This youth was a cat, wearing a bright green long robe.

This cat sat there silently and with his eyes closed. From his unperturbed and calm expression, it was as if he hadn't even noticed the hubbub all around him. The air of nobility and stability that clung to him, he was like a king sitting meditating in his own garden.

This cat youth was Kyu Cao.

While sitting, Kyu Cao was only meditating, trying to keep himself at his best state for what was to come.

None of the surrounding trainees had tried to approach him.

While many were intrigued by this cat, who dared to stand against one of the descendants of one of the Great Clans of the Wave Breaking Empire, no one was actually willing to get entangled in this.

This was because, although this noble looked quite calm and sure of himself, no one actually thought he stood a chance.

It was already widespread that this cat seemed to simply have appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't even part of the army. As such, it was uncertain what kind of background did he have.

But could it be on par with the might of the mighty Goldcloud Clan?

Unlikely.

Even those that thought before that the cat might actually give them a surprise, were currently disappointed, seeing him there all by himself.

This was supposed to be a duel of teams, but where was his?

It was then that some individuals broke into the empty area around the cat.

It was a group of four young theriopes, donning the brown armor of the trainees, while one of them actually was red.

Quickly, some of the present recognized them, surprise filling their faces.

Kyu Cao opened his eyes and glanced to the side, and he saw some familiar faces.

"Brother Cao!" greeted the tiger, Wonlai, his whiskers quivering with his smile.

Ti Ping, Li Ling and Bi Gong followed closely, also greeting the cat amiably.

"Nn," Kyu Cao nodded back.

Pragmatically speaking, Kyu Cao was glad the group had managed to come before Bon Sa, as now they could talk a bit before the main event began and things get tense.

At least, he figured they would like to.

"I apologize for not being able to meet Brother Cao last time Brother came to the trainees' barracks."

"No, it is all right."

Although the cat indeed most likely did not think anything of it, Wonlai felt quite regretfully over all the events that had transpired recently.

He felt the most responsible for this mess, as it was him who had tried to stand up to Bei Bingxao.

He hadn't been able to contain himself, as the bastardly tiger had just done something unforgiving, but that was not an excuse.

Not only had he invited trouble for Senior Brother Cao, but his followers as well.

And now, he couldn't even help the cat.

Someone with so little power as him, couldn't be of much assistance in this.

Wonlai didn't let any of this show on his face though, nor did he want to bring down the mood, so he continued to smile, albeit wryly. "It seems something extraordinary happened back then."

"I suppose it could be described as that," said Kyu Cao dismissively.

Honestly, this was more of a chore than anything.

"Is... How confident is Brother Cao in this?" asked the tiger somewhat hesitant, not knowing if this question would offend the cat's pride.

But Kyu Cao did not mind all this, and he responded with his usual noncommittally tone. "I think I will manage, somehow."

"This guy..." thought the four, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I guess indeed Brother Cao will be fine."

"By the way, Big Bro Cao," chimed in Bi Gong, "are Big Bro's subordinates still not here?" The bull looked around, only finding empty space around the cat.

"That..." Kyu Cao stopped a moment to think his words. "Will be a surprise?"

Hearing this, the four had a foreboding feeling that made their three pairs of ears twitch.

They were discovering, that this senior had a too arbitrary sense of humor.

Suddenly, the chatter and rattle around them quieted down, followed by the emergence of hushed whispers that drone the ears like an insect's buzz.

Certainly not missing the change, the five turned around, and quickly found the source of the change.

There, they could discern the crowd stepping back and parting ways to allow a rather eye catching group walk toward here.

This group contained a total of ten individuals, all young theriopes not older than eighteen.

However, the reason they stood out, besides the overbearing manner they made their way forward, was because they comprised a somewhat colorful team.

At the front walked a monkey donned in golden clothes, immediately followed by a completely black goat and a cyan armored monkey.

Behind them, the others wore either yellow or brown, with a single one red-clothed tiger.

It had to be said, in the army the standard armor for the trainees was brown. This is because most recruits come from a commoner background, and this was the basic armor that the Bloody Army would provide.

Only those with some resources would instead choose to don their own equipment. There were no restrictions against this.

However, apart from the Bloodstripe Clan's members, who could be considered to be in their own turf in the army, only those who were pretty confident of themselves would choose to wear a too different color, lest one that stood out.

Seeing this eye catching group, many understood the message.

The monkey at front was understandable, as well as the red, and black was a common alternative for the standard scheme.

But for the followers to wear something like cyan and bright yellow, it was clear that this group had come under the full banner of the Goldcloud Clan.

Obviously, this was Bon Sa and his team.

Bon Sa's group strode forward with a heavy pressure that made the surrounding trainees sigh in awe.

The monkey quickly noticed the spot where the cat was, and led his people in that direction. His expression was both serious and domineering.

Kyu Cao observed them approach without revealing anything, but Wonlai and the others had taut grimaces. Especially when they recognized the tiger in red clothes, their eyes lit with flames of fury, and their jaws clenched till they teeth hurt. Wonlai's paws were clenched so tight that his claws might dig holes on them.

When Bei Bingxao noticed their stares, he just smiled a smile that was not quite a smile.

Before long, under the stares of hundreds of young theriopes, the two groups stood directly facing each other.

Everything turned silent, and even the forest itself seemed to go still.

Time stretched, drowned in the quiet, as they just stared at each other.

Bon Sa observed the cat's still expression which seemed to never change. It was very much the same as the previous time they met, and he found it a bit creepy.

Looking behind the cat, he remembered those four too. However, he frowned a bit.

After listening to his big bother, he was skeptic about those four being the cat's subordinates that would participate in the duel. They simply did not look very extraordinary.

This situation ended being dragged for full seven hundredths of hour, grating on everyone's nerves like a worm crawling among one's fur, before someone finally made a move.

"Well, let's go," said Kyu Cao.

He spoke in such a carefree manner, that many of the spectators were left a bit dazed. Then, he simply turned around and began to walk away.

Bon Sa only narrowed his eyes, before following, quickly arriving at the cat's side and walking at the same level. Bon Sa's team followed closely behind.

As for Wonlai and the group, they hesitated for a moment, interchanging glances, before deciding to follow some distance behind Kyu Cao.

The cat's team was nowhere to be seen, and not wanting to leave him all by himself they had decided to fill in the empty for now.

Space to walk was laid in front of the two groups like unfurling a carpet, and many were confused as to what was happening.

The reason so many trainees had managed to come was, because Bon Sa had allowed the information to be leaked.

His big brother had already made the affair public back at the barracks, so now it was better to simply continue this way.

Not that he'd ever wanted to deal with this in secrecy anyways.

And with this many spectators, everyone would see him paying back the debt fair and square, because the Goldcloud had no need for petty tricks.

However, he'd only released the information about the gathering point, and not the actual place of the duel.

"It seems Big Bro Cao was not joking with that place," whispered Bi Gong to the others, receiving back solemn nods.

The mass of theriopes moved not too slowly nor too quickly, following the pace of the two leaders.

After some time, some began to notice the general direction they seemed to be heading to. However, none really believed that the place ahead could actually be the place of the duel.

But as they came closer, many more began to notice this too, and not few were confused.

Before long, they arrived at the edge of the Tiger's Scar.

Venturing just a few paces in, meant an instantaneous decrease in level, going down a full third of circle.

This was nothing; but one only needed to go further in a couple of dozen paces, and the steepness would become such that one might think that just a little more and the mountain's floor would become completely vertical.

What were they doing here?

The two groups at front didn't stop, and went into the Tiger's Scar area.

Kyu Cao took the full lead this time, passing the less steep part of the Tiger Scar, and continuing into the more dangerous, ridiculously sloped part, jumping from tree to tree to quicken the pace.

Many of the ones following to watch the show became filled with disbelief, finding the idea which had appeared in their minds too ridiculous to be the case.

After some time, Kyu Cao saw an area where a group of rocks jutted out from the slope like platforms and he went that way. Noticing this, he rest followed, having the feeling that they had finally arrived to their destination.

"So, this is the place of the duel?" asked Bon Sa looking around, standing on one of the rocks.

These rocks were varied in size, but none was particularly big. They were arranged haphazardly, and thanks to the terrain movement between them would not be that fluid. But it beat having to fight on the steep slope with no stable foothold at all.

But seriously, what did this cat have inside his head, to have chosen the Tiger's Scar as the duel's place, wondered Bon Sa.

The trainees closer to the two groups were shocked when they heard this, and soon the word spread.

The duel would be here, in the dangerous Tiger's Scar!

"I confidentially found this place, and I thought it would be useable. Since these rocks can be used as foothold, it should level the advantages a bit."

"Oh, so you say you choose the Tiger's Scar because it will give you the advantage?"

"Yes. That is the case." Kyu Cao didn't find the need to evade this question, since this point should be obvious for the other party.

"So the duel field will be this rocky area?"

"No," Kyu Cao turned around and signaled toward an area up the slope, where a tree with a bright red cloth tied to it quickly stood out. "The boundaries of the field are marked by those trees with red clothes."

Bon Sa glanced around, and indeed he found various trees with a red cloth wrapped on them. They seemed to form a squaed field that was at least ninety paces long, only a bit shorter on the other side.

Although it was the same size as the sparring rings at the barracks, taking into account the type of terrain this was, the actual area should be smaller.

Bon Sa took all this with an arrogant and confident expression, but inwardly he was cursing this crazy cat.

Fighting in this kind of terrain wasn't impossible, but it would indeed be difficult.

And more importantly, if the cat was not bluffing about it giving him an advantage, then one of the rules now worked best in the cat's favor.

"We will be following the standard duel regulations for each match, I presume?"

"Both parties will continue to fight until one of them is knocked unconscious, no longer can fight, surrenders, or is driven out of the duel's area," confirmed the monkey. "However, since we are not having a judge preside over the duel, I say we leave the terms for incapacitation to each captain's judgment."

"All right." Kyu Cao had no objections, so he promptly agreed. "And about my terms for the bet..."

Damm cat, Bon Sa was thinking that this cat acted more like someone from a merchant family, rather than a military one. "I have no problems with them," he huffed.

"All right. And what would Young Master Bon Sa would want if he wins?"

Bon Sa stared straight at the cat's eyes, waiting for a moment before saying, "I want you to become my subordinate."