Chris panted as he pulled himself up beside Sergetti. The now fit human was still much slower than his fit friend. A friend who was also his sponsor among the Nikos tribe.

When Chris had learned about the Nikos, he found himself compelled to visit. They were the epitome of what humans once idolized with the word Amazon. Strong, sleek, and deadly. He knew he had to come here to create his magnum opus.

Sergetti was the heiress to the chieftain of the Vulk-Toh Teranshera, or the Northern Star Tribe. The tribe that was friendliest with outsiders and they were also often hired out their warriors in the rites of Shuk’Sha. The rite of champions.

It was Sergetti who accepted Chris’s desire to document the rites of the Nikos. To immortalize their traditions and culture so that the lesser people could see for themselves the prowess of the Nikos.

Sergetti wasn’t even boasting, as Chris quickly realized. Their physical form was honed through countless generations of selective breeding. Chris calculated around 12,000 years of culture from their historians.

Nikos had a great memory, long lifespans, supreme physic.

When they entered the galactic whole around 2,000 years ago, they made a splash. Despite their primitive technology, they made for fearsome warriors. Almost without equal when given the proper tools.

The first group of warriors left and only half returned, bloodied, and enlightened. They passed on their experiences and since then, the Nikos were feared on every battlefield.

It was this legend that had Chris smiling every morning as he slowly was accepted into the tribe.

Compared to their lean, perfected bodies, Chris was made of jello with a greasy, and gravy-like bloodstream.

The first year was tough. He could barely keep up with the toddlers of the Nikos, who grew to his height by adolescence and beyond when they finally reached full maturity.

The average Nikos resembled humans, except for the second pair of arms, they would have passed for really tall people. A little more animalistic but passable.

Their life revolved around the warrior’s way. They trained, slept, ate, and repeated.

This lifestyle was the reason why they didn’t reach for the stars. Why head up when their reason for existence was to reach self-enlightenment.

Chris had a theory of the Nikos being some sort of bio-weapon that was forgotten by another civilization but the historians never said anything about it.

Sergetti placed a hand on Chris’s shoulder and he stopped, huffing and puffing from the gentle climb up the sheer cliff.

“You have done well, Christopher. Tonight you will be eligible for the rite of warriors,” she stated as she stared proudly on her ‘child’.

Chris nodded, excited but still winded. He made a mental note to update his audio files and took a deep drink of water.

Sergetti smiled at him. Her eight-foot height often had her mistaking him for a youngling and she often remind herself that Chris was a warrior of his people. A historian to be precise.

Chris caught his breath as he looked down the cliff he had just climbed and had repeated so for the last two years. His sweat rolled off and splashed into the mountainside.

It was insane that the adolescent did this every day for fun. The game of training was their focus and they played the game very well.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Nikos knew that they were among the most physically fit in the universe, Chris knew he would be even more heavily ridiculed.

Taking a deep breath, Chris proceeded onto their light morning jog. 20km to go.

The night was warm.

A heatwave was in effect and Chris felt awful. The second round of games had him wiped out and if it wasn’t the fact that he had waited 2 years for this night, he would simply crawl into bed and passed out.

The other younglings were beside him. The rituals usually had them all painted up, but tonight was different. Each child was naked, and by extension, so was he.

Each rite was generally in the nude, it was both fore safety and symbolic. Though there was usually paint, and or mud involved. Tonight, Chris felt the sharp stab of envy as he was ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ compared to the men.

Even though they were children, the younglings were already 2 meters tall and in perfect form. They sat in front of their parents as they were fussed over. This was an important night. It would separate the strong from the weak.

Chris found himself staring at what Earth considered models. Digitally touched humans were the personification of perfection. He ignored the fact that he was sitting on Sergetti’s lap as she fussed with his hair. She was deciding if a braid was more traditional then the ponytail.

The Nikos simply grew older and had reached the same shape if not better fitness. The adults were amazing and it made no sense that they were so attractive.

“You will all enter the chamber and you will not leave until the first gong,” Sergetti translated. “After a time, a second gong will resound. You will be able to exit for two sticks of time.”

Chris nodded. A stick of time was roughly ten minutes. So he was in there and then allowed rest for twenty minutes.

“Third gong, you reinter. Then you exit for a single stick of time. Enter again and if you stay awake all the way through, you will be warriors,” Sergetti finished shortly after the elder. The two years of communication had given her a near-flawless grasp on the earth's language.

The elder slowly stood. His grey hair was prominent before the central fire and even his ‘old’ body was probably still pure muscle. These Nikos were amazing like that.

The elder sang the tribe's anthem. A song of blood and rites. Of standing when one was hamstrung. Of reaching in and digging deep. For only there, was the path of the champions.

The ritual gong sounded and Chris was pushed up and he followed the elder into the ritual caverns.

They made it deep and were lead into a long, narrow cave. It was filled with long benches where the children would sit and learn. They all faced the front where the historians would bestow their great knowledge.

Chris had seen this place before. It was where the children were taught the basics of the tribe. The Nikos adored symbolism, and Chris could only infer that this was some sort of statement. A child learns, a youngling earns?

Hmmm. He would have to make a note of this and work on it.

There were almost a dozen fellow younglings eligible for this rite tonight. Chris rounded it off to an even 12 but wasn’t really included. He ranked bottom for every test and by quite the margin.

He was in the painting class since even the worst Nikos would shine compared to him.

The front door sealed shut, and the cave was cast into darkness.

Then with a fwoom, a fire was lit. Then another, and another.

The elder and the council were present as the fire burned brightly. The elder clapped and suddenly water was leaking down the walls as each flame also grew. Within moments there was steam.

The test was a sauna?

The steam filled the cave and some of it wisped up to the air vents and out. The steam quickly intensified, but everyone was lively. They were allowed to talk and chat and they all did so.

Chris made a note of his fellow Nikos on what job they had wanted after tonight. Only the Elder and his council remained silent. After thirty minutes, the Elder rang a smaller gong and the front door has opened a bit. Just enough for the younglings to squeeze out.

Everyone left, except Chris. He yawned but lazily leaned back ran his hand against the warm waterfall. The Elder narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He did not approve of Sergetti’s plan, but neither could he find acceptable reasons to decline it.

The Elder and council left.

Chris smiled as he cleared out his sinuses and used the water to draw out his name. It had been forever since he was in a sauna and the heat was great for his bones. Ironic that the simple world outside was killing him.

Then younglings returned. Their eyes were wide as they watched Chris childishly slide across the stone benches. The Elder and Council sat down and increased the flow of fire and water.

The next thirty minutes had them slowly fall into silence. The heat was more oppressive and it sapped at their strength.

Chris was giddy as he hummed his favorite tunes. The Elder and council stared at their guest with wide eyes, and their breaths were labored. How was he still so energetic?

The next gong had almost everyone sigh in relief as they once again exited.

Chris renewed his sliding game and managed to work out a full 360 spin by the time they all returned.

This time it was in complete silence. The Elder and council sat, once again turning up the fire and water. It was enough to obscure all almost vision.

The minutes crawled on and the air was only filled with the agonized pant of the younglings. Even the Elder and council were wheezing in the hot, hot room.

Chris went around to see each youngling. He often did for his thesis. He noted the expressions and agony of his fellow rite takers and noted how they were all dying. Truthfully he was starting to feel it, but he knew he would be fine.

The two that made him concerned where his sorta friends, the girl Argillia, and the boy, Sukphi. They were starting to wobble and Chris frowned. He knew that he couldn’t directly help them, there was nothing he could do. He had no cool water or soothing mud.

There were no real consequences of helping your peers, it was that each test was designed to break one's spirit, rendering you unable to do more than tough it out.

What he did was grab Argillia by the arm and lead her to Sukphi. There, he sat between them and held their hands. He hummed the North Star anthem poorly. This earned a weak chuckle from his peers but there was no animosity.

Eventually, a second voice joined him as he repeated the anthem. Then a third and a fourth. Within a minute, everyone was desperately holding hands and poorly humming the anthem.

The Elder and council stared at the odd group. In all of their years, they had never witnessed anything like this. The Elder nodded as his ears zeroed in on their ‘guest’.

The crowd gasped as the final gong sounded out and the front door was fully opened. Fresh, and more importantly cool, air washed in as the hot hair rushed out.

Chris was the last to leave, as he escorted Argillia out. Well, he walked with her as all four of her arms were squeezing him with all of her might. Impressive might as he the arms on his chest were doing more harm then the entire ritual did.

The cool air lured her out and she quickly ditched him with a kiss. Her flash was red as she ran to her friends.

Chris sauntered out to the applause of the other warriors. Sergetti was most proud as her hands clapped both the fastest and loudest. She rushed him as soon as he made it halfway to her.

Chris was lifted up and his face was mashed into her chest as she gushed out her joy. She was so animated that she had fallen back to her native Nikos and Chris could only pick out every third word.

Sergetti’s hug dug into his soft and squishy frame. Honestly, this hug was more harrowing than the entire sauna thing…

Wait.

Chris grinned. A harrowing trial. That sounded great.

Sergetti smiled at his grin and kissed both of his cheeks. A sign of affection amongst close friends. Something she had never done before.

Chris’s grin widened. Okay. The kiss was also great.