The first round of the competition drew to a close as person after person was eliminated. The Hindel I had focused most of my attention on was one of the ten finalists. Not surprising, his diorama was a step above any of the other contestants. I was confident that he could have eliminated the other nine finalists if he had been given time.

Those who made it into the second round would be given two hours to restore their depleted energy pools. That would provide them with enough time to rest, meditate, and eat before fighting again. The two hours would give my people enough time for them to get the additional betting booth added to today’s event. There would be just enough time for the odds for each contestant to be posted, and the audience informed and given time to place bets.

The Hindel would monitor the odds and adjust them as bets were made. There was a tenet across species that the casino always won, and there was a reason for that. The establishment that knew how and when to adjust odds to respond to the influx of spirit stones made the most profit. The fact that the Hindel knew the participants, their strengths, and their weaknesses before setting the odds didn’t hurt.

“Will the next round of competition include battle?” Wu Chen asked, interrupting the Alpha, that was once again sampling some of the spicier offerings our Spirit Chef had prepared.

“The first test was a test of Will,” the Alpha replied. Our translation devices worked perfectly to decipher what she said, even while ignoring the mouth full of food she was enjoying. “The second round will be one of Spirit, and the final round will be one of Might.

“In the round of Spirit, the ten finalists will battle using spells. This bout tests their ability to create and use spells. They are barred from using martial skills or physical attacks during this round. Instead, they gain an advantage by proving their mastery over spells.”

“Do they attack each other or simply demonstrate their efficiency by casting spells?” I asked.

“They fight, they attack and defend using spells. As I mentioned, we don’t have inner seas as you know them. We use our secondary core in a similar manner. This round will showcase how well they have trained that secondary core,” Alpha informed us. “This is a double-elimination round. They dual each other, and if a person loses twice, they are eliminated.”

“Is there a chance of death?” I asked.

“Of course. Death is a part of life, and the Hindel know that cultivation is fraught with many dangers. We do not hide or protect our people from that truth. That seems to be a significant difference between our two people.

“You have protections in place during your tournament. Healers that will restore even the most injured and disfigured fighter. The Hindel place as much importance on survival and the aftermath of a duel as they do the fight itself.

“We need our people to be strong.

“We don’t use stone walls or deep caves to hide behind. Our lives are fluid and transitory. We are always moving. That means we are a migratory people, and although we do have a few places of power where we can craft, study, and grow, those places are few and not easily accessible for the average Hindel.

“The ocean is teeming with beasts, sea monsters, and Leviathan. We meet, fight, or run from them in a cycle of change that migration encourages. It is our way of tempering our bodies.

“A cruel life where survival is never guaranteed and only those talented, lucky, or strong enough live to pass on their genetic potential. That decision to test ourselves, to prove our abilities, has made us stronger, capable of surviving even the harshest environments and powerful enemies,” Alpha continued, her words filled with a certainty almost bordering on fanaticism.

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“There is no room for people who require healing or protection from others in our society. It is too dangerous, and we cannot afford to risk the survival of our pods by allowing the weak to use resources for little to no return,” Alpha continued to explain, not at all concerned about how we might respond.

She didn’t care if we thought her people barbaric. Or if we understood why they would choose to live on the edge of danger instead of building fortifications to protect their people. She didn’t need our approval. Her words conveyed what her opinion was about how we protect our people- even from themselves. And how the Hindel thought that limiting and damaging to our species.

“No one is ever healed? Do you make no effort to protect the young? Or the newly born?” Wu Chen asked, unable to hide his disbelief and horror.

“Healing requires resources, resources that may be hard to come by. A wounded Hindel is taught to expend their Qi and restore their body if damaged automatically. Even if they are unconscious, even if they are comatose, they have been trained to heal any wounds and destroy any infections automatically. So no, we don’t have people that only concern themselves with healing others.

“As for our children, they have protections until they from their Dantian. Because we do not have Spirit roots or inner oceans, we use our beast cores to serve that same function. That means that every Hindel who becomes an adult is able to cultivate. Like the Elves, the Hindel only truly awaken when they reach adulthood, so the children are placed in a protected space.

“We have a few enhancements to our evolution that allow us to safeguard our young. The first is that every Hindel, male and female alike, have a pouch, very like seahorses where the young can hide and grow,” the Alpha explained

“Our pouches connect to one another, expanding in size as more Hindel congregate. These pouches create an inner world where our children can live safe from the ocean’s dangers. Even if a parent is killed, the young being protected within a pouch will remain secure. His safety and well-being are the functions of an Alpha.

“As long as that inner world exists, the young live protected.

“Finally, we have a highly developed empathic ability and a rudimentary telepathic ability. Until our children reach their maturity, we are connected to them. I would guess it works similarly to the connection between a cultivator and their bond.

“The difference is that the connection fails as a young mind matures. The child creates a hardened barrier around their core that makes it harder for mental intrusion. The link between parent and child, the ability to know where they are, that they are safe, and the ability to speak to each other fades,” she said, a hint of sorrow and yearning reflected in her answer.

“The moment when the telepathic link closes is part of coming of age for our people and one fraught with danger. Our children are forced out of the inner world they have been living in. The touchstone and teaching voice of parents and the community is lost to them.

“For some, the loneliness and isolation are too hard to accept. Those unable to bear the loneliness use the Qi that they have gathered over their lives to create a Dantian in an explosive release of self-immolation. Almost three percent of our children die in that moment of confusion and despair.”

“Fascinating,” Patriarch Umbra replied. Her reply was the first time she’d shown any genuine interest in today’s events. She had watched and listened to our discussion concerning the competition but hadn’t seemed very impressed. But this resonated with her for some reason. For me, her words seemed harsh, the Alpha had described the death of a host of children, and the Patriarch had shown no compassion.

Maybe her lack of compassion was because of how Elf cultivators raised our young. Houses, Clans, and non-cultivators raised our children. Most cultivators abandoned their parental responsibilities as quickly as possible.

If we raised our children communally, perhaps more cultivators could be encouraged to reproduce more often. I’m not sure that would be healthy for the Empire. Resources were limited, the best earmarked for the gifted. If the number of cultivators increased substantially, there might be a war to protect and claim spirit herbs, metals, and spirit stones.

Of course, with so much of the planet left unclaimed, with the possibility of rifts opening and the world expanding, a population explosion might be a good thing.