Rhaomak held the tournament as part of his wedding celebration.
That grand ceremony would later be practiced by future leaders of the alhamera tribe.
It also marked the first time an alhamera wedding became sacred and was celebrated with a grand festival.
And when the first winner emerged, no one expected it to be a woman—one of his cousins, even. She had a large, stout body but an unattractive face.
The girl, named Aulithea, requested to stay by Rhaomak's side forever. Rhaomak interpreted it as another marriage proposal.
Since Rhaomak didn't want to break his promise halfway, he take her as concubine.
The practice of having relationships with multiple women was not a new sight. Rhaomak had learned that long ago, before the First Extinction, the first magic user married up to ten women and had over a dozen children.
However, this was the first time the alhamera clan considered themselves bound in a formal relationship when they had been together.
Believing it to be part of the divine mission of repopulation planned by God above, Rhaomak agreed.
Moreover, in the following years, Rhaomak would take at least one of the most beautiful women ready for marriage and make her his concubine.
Rhaomak's developments were not only about the sanctity of marriage but also technical advancements.
Animal domestication also progressed. Sheep that had been bred began to grow exponentially, now numbering around eight. Additionally, they successfully captured other animals that reproduced more easily—wild boars and flocks of red chickens.
The alhamera lands, located near a water source, became an agricultural paradise, eventually leading to the creation of a simple irrigation system.
Trees were cut down again to build structures, fences, and fortresses, combined with the increasing production of metal.
After ten years of Rhaomak's leadership, the alhamera had nearly matched the success of the previous generation, if not surpassed it.
They had utilized almost all available resources, leaving only one goal remaining—the demonic species inhabiting the area beyond the mangrove forest: the tyrannosaurs.
At that time, people understood they were not facing a mere hunt but a full-scale war.
Thus, Rhaomak first sent scouts to gather information.
Everything was done with such systematic care that no detail was overlooked.
Rhaomak collected data on the tyrannosaurs' main lair, its condition, their food sources, hunting frequency, and the location of their eggs.
He discovered that the tyrannosaurs had not significantly increased in number since the First Extinction—there were only about ten more than before. The cold climate of the plains had caused many of their eggs to fail to hatch.
Their prey mainly consisted of mammoths, massive elephants living far east, and several herbivorous dinosaurs, hunted in small packs.
This was encouraging news, as Rhaomak realized he could systematically eliminate them through continuous, targeted attacks on one group at a time until it was wiped out.
However, manuscripts written by his grandmother also mentioned that the tyrannosaurs possessed a magical form of communication, enabling them to unite as a single coordinated force.
This communication was triggered by the death of their broodmother.
Though it had died long ago, Rhaomak could not risk such a disaster happening again.
Therefore, Rhaomak continued to conduct intensive and patient surveillance.
His patience eventually paid off. The communication among the tyrannosaurs turned out to be purely a form of magical transmission unique to the species.
The T-rexes would send out massive magical waves when they sensed a threat capable of endangering their entire species.
This meant the only way to defeat them was by launching a simultaneous attack on all T-rex groups or developing stronger magic to block the signal.
Learning from the knowledge passed down by his grandmother proved highly effective. Rhaomak documented all his findings and compiled them into a series of manuscripts.
He even built a separate structure to collect and store these manuscripts in an orderly manner.
All this knowledge was obtained through years of patient effort.
So patient, in fact, that people began to question whether Rhaomak would ever take action.
These doubts sparked a controversial belief that grew in popularity—that Rhaomak had been possessed by the dark power of the T-rexes and was now cursed by the God himself.
Though it sounded absurd and few believed it, one of those who did was his own son, Zhaldrekh.
Convinced he was a divine messenger, Zhaldrekh stabbed his father in his sleep and seized power.
Shortly after Rhaomak's burial, Zhaldrekh, as the eldest son, was crowned the new leader. He declared that their first mission would be to attack the tyrannosaurs.
Though he disagreed with his father's overly cautious methods, Zhaldrekh could not deny the value of the knowledge Rhaomak had gathered for battle.
However, Zhaldrekh had been raised as a warrior, more accustomed to wielding swords and weapons than dealing with words.
To filter through his father's findings, he gathered several cunning yet experienced hunters into his inner circle.
It was the first time a formal war council was established.
Two days later, Zhaldrekh launched the first assault—not a destructive open attack, but a clever strategy.
Several Alhamera moved in unison, transporting livestock and even the bodies of their dead to poison the tyrannosaurs' water source.
They moved stealthily under the cover of darkness, sneaking among the tyrannosaurs and contaminating their drinking water.
Not stopping there, Zhaldrekh personally led an expedition into one of the T-rex habitats, planning to capture and tame at least one with his troops.
However, Zhaldrekh was surprised by a revelation: the tyrannosaurs were far weaker than described in the manuscripts.
His taming magic, which was mediocre at best, managed to hypnotize two T-rexes in a single attempt.
The remaining two were easily slain with fire magic from four mages.
Upon discovering this, Zhaldrekh wasted no time. Even as the sky darkened, signaling the end of the day, he issued a new command.
A command that ignited a generational blood feud filled with vengeance:
"Kill every tyrannosaur on the face of this earth."