20 minutes later.
It has been 20 minutes since I arrived and the tournament selection is about to begin. The sun is still up and it is around 2 pm at the latest but both the chief and Pakku are missing. The other water benders are here and you would think that the chief and head water bender would be present on time.
I walked a bit Towards kinto and put my hands on his shoulder before asking.
"Hey Kinto, do you know where the chief and Pakku are?"
"Oh yeah, both the chief and Pakku will be skipping a few rounds and start directly in the fifth round. Normally you would also start with them but avatar kuruk started the tradition for the current avatar to start from the bottom and head to the top because he believed in equality. Oh and speaking of equality, I just wanted to let you know that weapons are allowed as long as they are blunt. No killing at all. No serious injuries either."
Sigh. Kuruk, just why?
"Well I guess the slots are about to be determined. Since there are at max approx 500 warriors. There will be 9 layers in total. Right?"
I gave him my approximation based off the amount of people I had seen and their appropriate levels. He smiled in surprise, so I guess I was accurate.
"Well, you are almost correct. We have a strength of 352. 352 contestants in first wave, 176 in the second, 88 in the third, 44 in the fourth, 32 in the fifth, 16 in the sixth, 8 in the seventh, 4 in the eighth, 2 in ninth and final wave. The elders and chief will join in the fifth wave. There will be a break I'm between the fourth and fifth wave where the losers will fight and a break between the eight and ninth wave where the ones who lost in the final rounds will fight. And ending the tournament will be the final fight."
"Attention all contestants. Your placements have been determined. Here is the result."
As the announcement ended, a large grid of nearly 500 people was shown in the center of a military Barrack. Each fight had a number on top of it. Each number was between 1-9, so I figured that this was the field that you would fight in. The grid was massive and I saw that I was in a bracket with very low leveled fighters. I could see Kinto on the opposite bracket so we wouldn't meet. I traced a path of highest probability to see that noteable people I would face off against would be, Sokka in the 5th round, Chief in the 7th round, a really large and muscular dude with a high threat level in the eight round and Pakku for the last round.
Well. Not bad at all. It will a great way to clean out any kinks or flaws in my more modified water bending style. I saw that my first fight was against a guy with a spear and a lean build. He seemed almost sad that he was faced against me.
"Everyone. Gather to your designated field for the first fight. Do not worry if you are not in the first few rounds. There will be 20 rounds in the first wave."
I watched as a bunch of cannon fodder fought it out in a generic battle. A few had swords or daggers or were unarmed but almost all the people had Spears as weapons. It took a while for the first round of end and since all matches had to end before a second wave would begin, I was bored out of my mind seeing a guy with sword go up against a guy with a spear.
It was finally my turn to get in the ring and I had observed the other matches enough to get the basic gist of a fight. Get a few feet away form the opponents and start when the round starts.
I was in the 13th round of the first wave against a spear guy who's name I couldn't be bothered to remember. I walked down into the field with my staff tied to my back and I saw my spear opponent already in the field with an almost depressed face. The moment our match began, he said.
"I surre-"
"Wait."
I cut him before he could surrender and I could feel the attention of the entire tribe's warriors on me even though there were other matches going on. I looked him in the eyes and asked.
"Why are you surrendering?"
"Well, it is just that all the benders just sweep all the non benders away and I engaging a bender with a weapon is the easiest way to earn a one way beat down."
"Well what if I don't bend. Will you fight me if I go hand to hand?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. How can I be the savior of the people when I don't know about the people themselves. Plus I must know your strengths and weakness for future reference. Plus I am a bit of a battle fanatic."
By now I could see a few of the elders look at me like I was an exotic animal while great respect manifested from the non bending population of the military.
The spear guy smiled and charged at me with determination in his eyes. I just smiled and jumped into the air in a massive leap. I arced through the air and landed straight on the far side of the spear held by my opponent, To push it down and kick him in the face and out of the ring.
"Avatar Aang wins."
The outcome was predictable but seeing my CQC skills was a surprise to the water tribe members but a welcome one since they respected warriors as much as benders.
I proceeded to walk away from the battle area.
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Author here. Extra chap. Enjoy!
