After the rounds of friendly matches, Mwana and his friends finally left the field as the morning sun slowly got brighter. In his hand, Mwana had a token that he got from Jua Umeme. With this token he could visit the Lightning Pond of the Thunder Bull Martial School a single time.

Umeme was indeed trying to scout Mwana and her words had indeed been convincing. ‘She was right. Ever since my bloodline awakened I have been relying on fire techniques more and more. I barely have any lightning element techniques. Heck, even my wood techniques surpass my lightning techniques.’

According to Umeme, Mwana’s main lightning element had been significantly left behind. She had successfully convinced Mwana to visit the Thunder Bull Martial School. However, beyond the first free visit provided by the token, martial schools were not like the village academy where learning was free. They were private institutions for those who wished to pursue the path of martial arts as their future career. Most people in the village would train under blacksmith masters instead as this was a village known for the arts of forging. Mwana understood that if he was to join a martial school, he would need money for the private tuition; something that neither he nor his family had now.

“Let’s go to Berry Hotel, I will treat you guys to breakfast. Or it is lunch now?”

“Brunch.”

Mkata-mwezi invited Mwana and his friends to eat at a hotel and as they walked there, he started telling them about the upcoming competitive event known as the Steel Bone Gauntlet.

“Is what you said about the gauntlet true?” Cheza asked in a serious manner. The Steel Bone Gauntlet was something they had to think about now as before the end of the year most of them would have stepped into Bone Forging.

“It is true. There are 3 victory slots in the competition held within the Silver Steel Pyramid. At that time almost everyone who has recently attained Bone forging will participate but only the top 3 will greatly benefit. These 3 slots are for (1) steel bones, (2) iron bones, and (3) copper bones.”

These descriptions of the slots were not the actual elements of steel, bronze, and copper. Whoever was in charge of naming just borrowed these names but in actuality these ‘blessings’ were actually much stronger.

“If you can win the first position, you will receive the Blessing of Steel Bones which will allow you to completely disregard most of Bone Forging and reach the peak of the realm nearly instantly. As for the second Blessing of Iron Bones, you could get half way, with the third taking you a third of the way.”

“No way, that’s crazy!”

“Right.”

“So many will participate but only the top 3 get this type of benefits?” Kia could not help but ask. While the benefits for the top 3 would allow them to soar, especially the first blessing, there would be many participants in this trial. Their class alone had 23 students and several of the students a year ahead of them and a year behind them would have the chance to participate. In total, she could estimate that the numbers could even surpass 50.

“Of course the top 3 get the best rewards but that does not mean that everyone else is left in the dust. Even just participating in the trial is a benefit that will get you at least a sixth of the way in Bone Forging realm. For every level conquered in the Silver Pyramid, a wave of purified energy is released and this energy can be directly absorbed without any need to refine it. You don’t even have to meditate in order to purify it, just absorb.”

Hearing this, the group could not help but be excited. The top 3 might be hard for most to achieve but as long as one got rewarded after every level they cleared, they would still benefit as long as they were not weak enough to be eliminated on the first level.

The venue of the Steel Bone Gauntlet was usually at a plain 5 kilometers away from the Jua village. A silver metallic pyramid was built in that plain and it had several levels where the participants would undergo different trials. This silver pyramid was no ordinary structure and it was in fact a Spiritual item.

The group walked in the streets of the village while dragging their feet with Mkata-mwezi mostly doing the talking. He had been outside the village for almost half a year so he had countless interesting stories to tell. His listeners were glued to listening by each of his words.

“Did you guys hear the rumors concerning the people of Oyo River?”

Naturally someone like Cheza was more up to date with the rumors and happenings of the outside world so he was the first to answer. “An entire tribe with over 100,000 people disappeared in thin air. ‘Snap’, just like that!”

Hearing this, everyone was shocked. Little Pendo who was perched on Mwana’s shoulders couldn’t help but shiver. “Disappeared? Why?”

“The rumors of demons have started flying around.”

“Demons!” Everyone could not help but exclaim at once. Was there a world where demons were not feared especially among children? The answer was definitely no and it was the same in the Zika world.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, I will meet you guys at Berry hotel, just give me an hour. No, less than an hour.” Before they even reached the hotel, another intermediate warrior called out to Mkata-mwezi. It seemed he still had some unfinished business so he had to leave. He clasped his hands and apologized while promising to meet up at the hotel in an hour.

The group now had an hour with nothing to do. After all it was not a school day today.

After parting with Mkata-mwezi, Mwana, Kia, Fury, Cheza, Jana, Vitali, and Pendo continued walking around aimlessly. Mwana had his little sister on his shoulders as they walked through the village browsing things here and there. However, as Mwana was walking, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a hand on his clothes.

“Big sis, Kia what did you see.” Pendo asked Kia who had suddenly stopped Mwana.

Kia was pointing towards a colorful shop at the end of the street. When Mwana turned to look, he could not help but almost sigh. ‘It seems that even Kia has such interests.’ This type of shop or establishment usually carried out ‘nature’ tests. They had Affinity Readers who would read the ‘nature’, affinity, personality, and relationships of a person. They claimed to be able to foretell your future after analyzing these aspects. These types of places basically peddled beliefs similar to the Zodiac and Astrology. These were the kinds of things that girls in the Zika world were obsessed with.

However, the boys were obviously not as excited. They each had their own daydreams about how to waste the next hour.

Mwana the training maniac wanted to go back home and start training immediately. ‘No time to waste. Free time is training time! My strength may have improved recently but there is no time to rest. Recently, I have been resting a bit too much. Yesterday I even slept for a full 4 hours! I must be going mad to waste that much time sleeping.’

Jana the sleeping expert wanted to go back to his bed and sleep. ‘I still have time to clock in a short nap. It is a crime that I have not broken my previous nap record. Things have been too busy lately. I can’t even sleep in peace anymore!’

Cheza the ‘gamer’ still had enough energy left in him to play around even after fighting several rounds of matches on the fighting stage. ‘I know these guys won’t agree to play Hookball right now; maybe in the evening. What game can I play today? I want to go to the Sky Faring Illusion Center but do I even have enough shells to pay for the rides there?’

After some pestering from the girls, the boys reluctantly gave in to go. Everyone entered the shop to take a look.

Within the shop, a woman was seated behind a translucent red curtain. She wore thick colorful robes with multiple multicolored beads and necklaces. Her ears had huge piercings that almost hang to her neck and while her face was covered with a veil, everyone could see the glistening teary eyes behind the veil. It looked like her eyes constantly released tears as if she had a medical condition. Looking closely, the kids could even pick out a slight shiver from her body. This woman who was also of foreign origin was an Affinity Reader.

“What do we do next?” Naturally, Mwana was clueless on how these types of things worked.

The woman retrieved 6 blue balls that floated around her body and asked to check the hands of all the children there. After the palm reading, the woman wrote down some characters in thin air which condensed and shot onto the balls scorching the characters onto them.

“We will buy this week’s providence card.” Vitali was the one to speak up. It seemed that she understood the process best. These types of shops were part of the culture of Vitali’s people. She and the Affinity Reader were of the same ethnicity as immigrants from the Eastern continent.

After they paid, the rest followed Vitali’s instructions and they put their hands on the football-sized purple orb set on the table. The orb produced a whirling purple light which transformed into a stream of energy circulating above the ball. The six engraved blue smaller balls were caught up in the rotational power of this energy causing them to revolve around the bigger purple orb.

The children were mesmerized by the entire magical process which lit up the entire shop in various beautiful colors.

Pop.

“Ooof! That shocked me.”

With a pop, a huge sheet of paper the size of an A24 popped out from the circulating multicolored energy. This was the Providence Card and on it were a string of statements.

Fire: You are brash and hotheaded and also extremely confident.

Do not let the brightness and closeness of the sun dim the beauty and brightness of the stars.

The sun is not the only star hanging in the void.

This message was clearly directed at Fury who had a fire element affinity.

Earth: You are calm and steady but maybe too calm that it borders on laziness.

You shall find your true strength in what you love.

‘What is this card trying to tell me; to sleep more? That’s what I love the most.’ Jana’s part left him stumped. He could not sink into laziness but then again what he loved was sleeping. What a conundrum.

Water: You are calm and collected. Sometimes you are cool, sometimes cold, and sometimes destructive. Wind: Your nature is equal parts calm and equal parts flighty.

If you do not slow down, you will not even be able to see what’s right in front of your eyes.

What is important can easily slip through your fingers.

Naturally such an ominous message could only be directed at Cheza.

Thunder: The color of thunder is regal. Wielding thunder is wielding the mighty feeling of dominion like rulers. With this power comes: fast and decisive actions, an authoritative might, and a great potential for destructiveness. Providence shall come in the form of the green.

Mwana already had an idea of what the last line in his card meant. ‘As for the rest of the nonsense about becoming some ruler who could lose themselves, I say bullshit.’

Light: The representation of the Holy, the Saintly, and the Wise-men.

Your wish shall be the command of the universe.

Seeing such lines Pendo could not help but be excited. She started shouting out absurd wishes then and there.

Darkness: Usually darkness is known for its ‘darkness’ but that is unlike you. Your calm is like a pond whose depth is unknown... [Cannot evaluate further]

Everyone felt stumped when they saw Kia’s card. “What does it mean, ‘cannot evaluate’?” No one had an answer, not even the Affinity Reader.

Wood: The bonds of life are a blessing but also a chain. A great trial can only be weathered through great perseverance.

The last to read their card was Vitali who possessed the rare wood element affinity. However, her card was just as ominous as some of the others.

Apart from these ordinary elements, the cards could be produced to represent elemental combinations such as Earthfire, Icewind, and etcetera but usually one would have to pay more in such cases.

After they left the shop, the group met up back again with Mkata-mwezi at the Berry hotel. Mwana was eager to hear more about the upcoming Steel Bone Gauntlet from Mkatamwezi. To him who did not come from a well off family, this competition would be his chance to rise up quickly otherwise he might find himself stuck at Bone Forging for a few years like everyone else.