On the grass covered arena, the furious winds of the early morning blew strong, as the sounds of beating drums filled the air all around. Standing across from each other, with only a few meters between them, a young slender human girl and a muscular young Orc stared at one another.

  It had only been a few seconds since the sound announcing the start of the duel had echoed in the arena, but in Luna’s mind it seemed like entire hours had passed as she observed her opponent. The young Orc seemed nervous, his grip on the sword handle seemed weak and unsteady, while his expression did little to hide the anxiety in his mind.

  “Take a chance if your opponent appears to be weak!” - the girl whispered to herself the teachings of her master, moving quickly towards her adversary while keeping her body leaning forward.

  Caught off guard by the girl's sudden movement, the boy struggled to correct his posture and assume a more proper battle stance, managing to raise his shield barely moments before Luna swung her glaive at him with a long attack.

  Knowing very well that she had little to no chance of defeating the Orc in a battle of strength, and not wanting to risk a battle of attrition so early on the competition, her strategy for the time being was to take full advantage of her size and speed to strike at the boy from a distance, hopefully unarming him.

  Barely avoiding being hit, the boy decided to make his move, charging forward with a yell meant to hide his fear of the battle. His sword came down in a heavy arc, his body unable to control his own strength during the fight. Sidestepping him easily due to their height difference, Luna used the pole of her blade to sweep low toward his legs, causing the boy to lose his balance.

  While still trying to regain his footing, the young orc barely managed to move his shield in time to block Luna’s following strike, aimed at his shoulder. Breathing heavily as his eyes darted around in an attempt to not lose sight of the girl, he took a step back, more worried now about avoiding the girl than looking good before the rest of the Clan.

  Despite being her first time using a real glaive, in a real fight against an unfamiliar opponent, Luna had never felt more alive. The weapon felt like a natural extension of her own arm, her eyes naturally aware of the reach of her strikes even before her boy could move. While her opponent seemed to be struggling to breath and losing his composure, she could feel herself becoming stronger with each passing moment.

  The girl kept pressing forward, her glaive dancing through the air, using her reach and speed to keep the orc off balance. Every time the boy tried to close the distance between them, she slipped away, slicing at the edges of his guard.

  Frustrated as he was being pushed back by such a weak looking human girl, the boy roared fiercely letting his anger overcome his fear. Blocking her glaive with his shield, he shoved her back, knocking her a few feet. Emboldened by the success of his attack, he lunged at her again, this time managing to scrape along her arm, drawing a thin line of blood.

  The girl winced for a moment, before grinning fiercely, spinning her glaive with renewed vigor. Not even noticing the pain starting to increase on her arm, a large smile spread across her face, as she struck her opponent even faster than before. Ducking under his next heavy swing and planting the butt of her weapon against his shield, the girl pushed upward with all the strength she could muster. The Orc’s shield arm jerked up instinctively, creating the opening that Luna was aiming for..

  In a blur, the girl’s glaive swept in from the side, stopping just a few inches from the boy’s exposed ribs. Both fighters froze in place, breathing hard and covered in sweat, both wide-eyed.

  “The combat is over!” - a loud female voice echoed in the arena, followed by the metallic sound of the gong, announcing the end of the first fight - “Before the eyes of the goddess, I declare warrior number one, Luna, as the winner!”

  The rhythm of the drums changed once again, as the crowd exploded in a mixture of excited cheers and feets being slammed into the ground. Feeling like she had just woke from a dream, Luna lowered her weapon, staring surprised at the boy she had just defeated in combat.

  “That was an honorable battle,” - relaxing his body, the boy didn’t seemed upset with the outcome of the battle, as he offered the girl a greeting with an awkward smile - “do all humans fight like you?”

  “I wouldn’t think so…” - trying to catch her breath, Luna could start to feel the wear of the battle, her body feeling heavy and the wound on her arm streaking blood down to her hand - “It’s a good thing you got yourself together, otherwise the fight would be a lot quicker.”

  “We’ll continue with the second combat.” - announcing as the sound of the crowd died down, the old orc woman stood talking, as the ceremony continued - “Numbers three and four, step into the center of the arena.”

  “Child, over here!” - gesturing for the girl to join the rest of the group on their designated spot outside of the arena, Kali called out to the girl, looking even more proud than before.

  “Good luck on your next fight!” - walking to his own group while looking sheepish, the orc boy left before waiting for Luna to reply.

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  “It seems I was right about your talent child!” - Beaming with joy as he held a cup with his hand, Yornush sat between his two wifes, pointing at Luna - “You fought like a true Orc warrior!”

  “What do you mean by that?” - confused by the man’s words, the girl carefully placed her weapon on the ground, as she searched for an open spot.

  “He’s talking about you smiling and seeming to enjoy trading blows with your enemy.” - pulling forward a nearby vacant stool, Solo looked even more proud than Yornush, his smile practically stretching from ear to ear - “Congratulations on your victory!”

  “Thank you…” - sitting down, Luna could feel her body relax as her muscles ached due to the sudden effort - “Was my fight weird?”

  “Not at all dear,” - patting the girl’s head, Solo felt happy to see that despite fighting so fiercely just moments before, the girl still remained the same child as always - “as a warrior, it’s only natural to enjoy trading blows with a capable opponent on the battlefield.”

  “You even gained some pride to yourself!” - without even the slightest hesitation, Kali gave the girl a slap on the wound on her arm, causing her to flinch in pain - “Just like I knew you would!”

  “Yeah…” - Luna exclaimed between grinned teeth, holding her wound with her hand. The cut was not deep enough to require urgent care, but being the first time she actually had been hurt by a real weapon, the sensation was still completely foreign to her.

  “Just try not to gain too much, alright?” - with a serious look in his eyes, despite the jokingly smile on his face, Solo grabbed a small pouch from his belt handing it to the girl - “Or else Maya will have my head once she sees you!”

  “I wish she could be here to see me fight…” - grabbing the pouch and opening it to see it was full of salve, she rubbed a bit on her wound, stopping the bleeding.

  It had been almost a month since Maya and the others from the caravan had left towards Port Vordo, and even if everything had gone smoothly, it would take at least another month before they could all be reunited.

  Living with only Solo was also fun, especially since the man was not as strict or demanding during their training. But having already lost her family once before, the fear of being left all alone once more still existed hidden deep inside her heart.

  “Look, it’s about to start!” - Aisha exclaimed, moments before the metallic gong echoed announcing the start of the second fight.

  Taking the center of the arena, the next fighters stood ready to begin. One was a red skinned female orc, a little taller than the boy that Luna had faced, wielding a hammer almost as big as herself. The other was a slender looking boy, holding a pair of curved swords that the girl had never seen before.

  “Uncle, what are those?” - keeping her voice down in order not to bother the other, Luna leaned closer to Solo, her curiosity triggered.

  “Hum? Those blades?” - without taking his eyes from the fight, which started as slowly as the first one, Solo rubbed his chin for a moment - “Those are scimitars. They’re quite common across the sea, at the beastial’s lands, or so I heard.”

  “Have you ever been there? Across the sea I mean.”

  “What for? There’s enough trouble for me here!” - the man replied, causing the girl to giggle - “But Maya has some experience sailing on a ship, you can ask her once she comes back.”

  “Yeah, guess I will.”

  The second battle continued for a little under ten minutes. It seemed that the boy with the curved swords had tried to stall the confrontation and tire his opponent, just as Luna had thought about doing. Guessing his intention, after seeing the boy only dodging for the first few minutes of the fight, the female orc charged at the boy.

  Being caught unprepared for such a straightforward attack, the boy tried to duck in vain, being launched across the arena as the heavy looking hammer made contact with his body.

  “The combat is over!” - the old woman exclaimed quickly, her voice sounding rushed as two orcs ran into the arena towards the motionless boy, while the girl stood still with her weapon in hand - “Before the eyes of the goddess, I declare warrior number four, Kaya, as the winner!”

  The crowd cheer was a little calmer at first this time, as many were worried about the estate of the young orc fighter. Once the orc healers started carrying his body back towards the audience, signalling that he was indeed still alive, the shouting was almost unbearable.

  “How are they so loud?” - Luna tried to ask, unsure if her voice could even be heard amongst so much noise.

  “It’s tradition amongst the Orcs that those who face death and survive must be celebrated!” - seeming almost unaffected by the cheers, Solo watched as the crowd competed to help carry the boy to his family - “That boy will be quite popular once he wakes up, maybe even have a few girls going after him.”

  “Because he lost and got knocked out?”

  “Hey, I said it’s tradition,” - looking at the confused girl beside him, Solo knew that simply explaining would not be enough to make her understand the difference in their cultures - “not that it made sense.”

  “Quite a few couples get formed every year during the festival, it’s a normal thing!” - holding Yornush’s hand, Kali could understand why the lack of knowledge about their culture could stop her from grasping the full meaning of the ceremony - “By the end of the day, you will probably even have a few young ones and their families aiming for you!”

  “What?” - feeling herself blushing slightly, Luna shook her head trying to forget the ideal of a bunch of young orcs kneeling in front of her, carrying flowers and weapons - “But I’m not an Orc.”

  “You’ve already proved you’re as fierce as one.” - watching as the next set of fighters began making their way into the arena, Yornush simply explained things without giving much attention to the topic - “And you’ve won your first battle.”

  “Great…” - trying to discreetly look around, the girl managed to catch a few people in the crowd pointing at her, while talking excitedly.

  As the signal for the third fight echoed loudly in the arena, Luna worried that she would have to fight a mob of eager orcs just to finish the day without getting married.