It took 2 days and 2 nights to prepare for the match between the clan headmaster and the challenger. At the break of dawn, all beasts had gathered crowdedly at the training ground's field. They had left the main stadium cleared out and emptied for the main event. All beast from young to old, all sat in lines, circled the walls of the place.
Porsogon, the challenger, was already sat in the middle of the circle. As a tradition, the challenger must show respect by being present before the headmaster arrived. The clan master, however, could show up anytime during the day, no matter early sunrise or late at sunset, though he must show up within the day or else the challenger would claim victor by default.
Normally, being challenged was a casual thing since any beast who deemed capable could challenge the clan's master for his position. And so far, Psamtik had won over 100 matches with 0 losses, so the number of attendance to these matches had dropped significantly as time passes. However, today they had much more to anticipated.
First, Porsogon had significant influence over the clan's well-being since he was controlling most of the hunting force, an important aspect of the Boar's clan. Second, Porsogon had never lost a fight in his life, though he was only 19 turning 20, he sparred and fought many beasts older and more experienced than him. As many might say, he was a genius in combat. Finally, every beast in the clan knew how loyal Porsogon was to his father, he showed any wills of taking over the master's title, therefore, when the news got out, every beast was surprised, at first they even thought it was a cruel joke. But after seeing Porsogon and Neo prepared for the match, it all came to clear.
Porsosgon now sat at the center of the circle of beasts, his view faced the entrance of the training ground. With his cross-legged pose and his eyes closed, it looked as if he was calmly sleeping.
Neo who stood at the top of the gate, anxiously watching for his uncle's presence, he couldn't possibly sit still like Porsogon. His heart and mind would explode if he didn't do anything to calm his nerve down. In the crowd of people, Sabal and Viosus also calmly watched Porsogon's back.
Sabal acted like he didn't care and joked lively with the bunch of males he had made acquainted in the past few days. The females, however, were much more interested in Viosus, some of them were coming over to Porsogon's house just to take a peek at the handsome beasts. Some of them shamelessly brought him gifts and at the current moment, 3 or 4 were fighting over the open spot next to him. Within the small amount of time being there, both Sabal and Viosus had gained quite a popularity within different groups around here.
"I was here first!"
"No, I was here first!"
"Who cares about who was here first, I'm the prettiest, this seat is destined for me!"
The bickering nonstop didn't faze Viosus, he was too focused on watching Porsogon's movements. Saba and the young single male beasts on his right were annoyed. The single males were jealous of all the attention the strange beast was having therefore they were complaining about it to Sabal. To please his new friends, Sabal used his caster arm to nudge Viosus and whispered close to his ears.
"Tell those annoying brats to shut up will ya?" He also chinned up their direction to subtlety signal the fox.
"Do it yourself."
Viosus, with his eyes still glued to Porsogon's back, refused to move from his post. If it didn't concern him, why should he help the snake beast, he thought.
"Tsk!" Sabal annoyedly rolled his eyes at Viosus, but a bright idea flashed before his eyes. Sabal slyly held back his smile and turned to his new friends, speaking to them in a dramatic manner.
"Haizz... I honestly don't see why my female like that foxy so much, look how he seducing every female he sees! You guys here better be my witness, remember to tell my female all about his flirty behavior, maybe then she can kick him out of the house..." 5-6 male beasts simultaneously nodded their heads in agreement.
At the corner of his eyes, Sabal saw Viosus got angry. He got up from his seat and politely said something to the females next to him before moving to Sabal's right seat. Sabal unabashedly laughed and patted Viosus's back like a proud comrade. He wasn't sure what Viosus had said to the females but they seemed to have backed off for the time being. But if they were to snatch the fox away from Yilas, his competition would be reduced. Sabal thought about it some more but imagining how devastating Yilas would be made his heart throbbed so he abandoned the idea.
"What if the headmaster didn't show up?" A young bear beast-man asked another beast-man next to him, a jaguar legged beast. The jaguar beast shook his head from side to side.
"He will turn up, just in a matter of time."
"But Porsogon is his son after all..." The young black bear tried to persuade the bunch to his opinion.
"Pff...What kind of beast do you think the headmaster is? There's no doubt he is going to show no mercy." Another weasel beast joined in the conversation, he half-jokingly butted in.
"My bet is on Porsogon though, he is younger and stronger." The jaguar beast continued.
"Pffftt, NO WAY! The headmaster will win for sure." The weasel man laughed hysterically at the comment.
They continued the debate while Viosus and Sabal exchanged looks, they were of course, nervous about the result of this match. If Porsogon didn't succeed, their chances of saving Yilas could be close to none. They needed to do whatever it took to make sure Porsogon became the victor today.
*KeeAkkkkk!!"
The call came from Neo who was circling in the air above the stadium. Altogether, every beast in the place raised their head high and started howling, screaming at the top of their lungs to signal the arrival of their headmaster, welcoming him to the dead match.