As the stream of guests started to come in batches to join the festive spirit of the tribe, one batch of guests stood out on the first day.
It included a lanky middle-aged man wearing a heavy bear fur coat followed by a stream of hooded fur robes.
With a silent gait, they emitted an eerie aura as they walked in with their heads slightly bowed.
The jolly loud talking villagers started talking in hushed tones as they bowed towards Danulo who was walking together silently with the leading middle-aged man.
"Is that the Harita tribe?"
"Yes, so weak, even their leader is only a Low-Grade-4 warrior. Elder Danulo can beat 10 of him single-handedly."
"So creepy.."
Usually, the elders of the tribe should've come with their disciples or children in groups of 2 or 3 but the Harita tribe subverted the expectations of everyone when their elders came in a group and their disciples didn't even come on the first day.
Danulo had an impassive experience on his face as if nothing could faze him.
On the other hand the two elite guards and main gatekeepers, Rohilo and Raphael were kneeling once again at the bearded figure floating in front of them.
"We swear we won't cause trouble again." They spoke in unison.
Golver waved his hands and stopped pressuring their bodies with his overwhelming mana, "You may now do your jobs. I need you to start organizing your squads and report every single thing to me. Count yourself lucky that you got off with a light punishment. Remember, no mentioning of this in front of my disciple."
"Yes, Elder!" Their voices echoed together again, after which they looked in each other's eyes in horror when they heard the words 'light punishment'.
'It was supposed to be 'light'? Old Ghoul, aren't you afraid of giving people heart attacks at this age. Karma still exists, you know?'
While everyone was busy in the village, especially the elders that had all sorts of responsibilities, the disciples like Daney and Ryne were free.
Motivated by his recent breakthrough, Ryne was trying his best just outside his isolated sanctuary, Golver's wooden cottage, punching trees and rocks until his knuckles hurt.
But after the excitement began to drop, his abysmal talent waved its hands like a seductive vixen, making him want to cough up blood and stop right then and there.
'There's no way I can walk the dual path of being a mage and a warrior simultaneously if it goes on like this. Although I had a breakthrough, I wasted too much time. Why do I feel like it's easier to become a Grade-4 mage than a Grade-2 warrior.'
Unlike a certain someone obsessed with being a warrior, Ryne was not that obstinate. To him, being a warrior really felt like doing a task with double the efforts and half the rewards.
"Hey," the voice of that certain someone rang behind Ryne's back as he woke up from his reverie.
"Daney?"
'Is this idiot here to make a scene?' Ryne was confused.
"Although I don't believe you're a traitor now, you're still an outsider with uncertain motives. I came here to check on you. I'm sorry I didn't understand you back then." Already half a head taller than him, Daney peered down at Ryne's back as he stated his motive with a slightly pouting expression.
It might look like Daney was beaten to come to apologize to Ryne, but surprisingly, it was Daney's free will this time that led him to make that choice.
'There's no other way. He definitely possesses a 'Divine Martial Physique'. I need to teach this kid. He belongs to the tribe anyway. I'll help him and he'll be grateful to the tribe.'
Daney has always been a simple kid and it was always his raw simplicity that moved people around him. His logic has always been clear and transparent, it's either good or bad, and since Ryne wasn't as bad as he was useful, he could only have been good.
And if he was 'good', then Daney treated him 'bad', which of course was one of the reasons that prompted him to come forward.
But most importantly, Ryne's use of his exaggerated perception as he used the power of the Divine element of time in his fight against Daney led little Daney to be gobsmacked for an entire day until he came to a conclusion, surprisingly from his Master's taunts, 'Hey, only 4 years for a breakthrough, you definitely possess the Divine Martial Physique of legends hahaha.'
Another idea Daney had was related to his personal growth, since his growth was stunted as a warrior anyway, it would only get harder and harder to advance, but if he could guide someone with a Divine physique at the beginning of their martial path, then they would surely help him later in breaking through as warrior.
'That guidance would be more precious than anything.'
'Warriors with Divine Martial Physique possess the eyes to see through all attacks, wisdom to predict the future of a battlefield and predict an entire fight before the opponent even punches their fists. Too strong. Too domineering. But why is he an even weaker warrior than me? Are Divine Physiques that hard to cultivate?'
As Daney mused after saying his piece, Ryne almost jumped up in shock,
'This bastard... he... he... he can speak coherently now? Someone definitely beat him to come to apologize to me.'
"Congratulations on finally learning to talk with all the words."
Soft and seemingly naive words that came out of Ryne's mouth slowly sank in Daney's thick head as the plans that he was making started burning in a fit of rage.
"Don't be so cocky brat, if you weren't allowed to use mana—"
"I want a rematch as well, if you're healed up, I won't use mana this time."
"You sure are a confident outsider, but you just don't know." Daney revealed a smile, which although innocuous, looked like a cute version of Danulo's crazed expression, before he continued, "..that we're born warriors."
Saying this, Daney punched at Ryne's head, confident that someone with a Divine Martial Physique wouldn't lose like that.
Ryne raised his fist to meet the bigger fist coming right at his face and got pushed back a couple of feet. Daney on the other hand pushed forward in an attempt to finish the battle, which Ryne saw coming long ago and side-stepped to avoid.
'Confirmed.'
...and so, Daney's misunderstanding was confirmed.
In an otherwise silent and gloomy forest, the panting and shouting sounds of two young boys echo, with no one to witness the creation of something that shook the foundations of so many things
a budding friendship?
yeah that, and ...a misunderstanding
When the night finally set, the two boys had set a few of their prejudices aside. From their grueling exchanges, Ryne learned a lot as well, this time, unlike age, their similar talent was the primary reason.
'I can use him to break through to the Mid-Grade-1.'
Both of them didn't use even a single bit of mana in their exchanges, as if they didn't know they had it.
Because no matter how talented they might be as mages, currently, they were just rogues having the time of their lives
they were just fighting and training
as... warriors.