Chapter 13

The next day the sky ship arrived at Porti Hara along with several other sky ships that came from different towns and cities in Nation of the South.

A warrior came from each and every ship, each wanting to fight in the tournament, win and claim the wings of the Su Baera.

Ibaeran could not help but feel a bit intimidated by them as they were all men and looked stronger than the warriors, she faced in the tournament back in Ijawana.

The warriors were shocked and surprised by Ibaeran’s presence as they had never heard of a girl participating in the tournament before.

“What a fragile thing like you doing in a tournament meant for true warriors” asked one of the warriors.

Ibaeran though she felt insulted by what the warrior said did not want to give him a reply and so remain silent.

The warrior smiled, seeing her silence as a sigh of fear and weakness.

“See, she is too scared and afraid to speak, clearly she is not meant to be here,” said the warrior.

Ibaeran then noticed the other warriors as they began to whisper and murmur among themselves.

Ibaeran knew that they were talking about her and wondering how she could even be allowed to participate in the tournament despite being a girl and looking so weak, frail and powerless.

“I wonder if the men from the land you came from are so spineless and weak that they would allow a girl to fight in their place instead of coming here themselves,” said the warrior.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the warrior said could not hold herself back any longer.

The warrior had gone too far, insulting not just her pride as a young woman but the men in her land that was an unforgiveable mistake.

Ibaeran then went to the warrior, raised her hand and then slapped the warrior with some much power and force that the other warriors standing next them felt the fury and raw power in that one slap.

The man just stood there with his hand holding the cheek Ibaeran slapped, feeling immense pain from that one slap she gave him.

“Meet me at the tournament and see just how fragile I am” said Ibaeran looking at the warrior as if she was going to kill him at the very spot he stood upon.

The warriors that surrounded them said nothing and just stood there speechless upon witness the strength Ibaeran possessed in that one slap.

The warrior Ibaeran slapped stared back at her, enraged that a girl not only had the audacity slap him but also by the fact that it actually hurt him.

“How dare…” the warrior was about to attack Ibaeran but stopped himself when he noticed the few Uha Tamunaran men approach them.

All the warriors including Ibaeran froze up upon seeing the Uha Tamunaran as they all greatly feared them, Ibaeran felt more disgust for them though only fearing that they had the power to kill her if the wished.

The Uha Tamunarans looked at all the warrior examining them all before saying, “are you the warriors that are here to fight in the tournament”.

They all nodded their heads yes as they were too scared to speak to the Uha Tamunarans.

One of Uha Tamunarans walked to Ibaeran and examined her closely before asking, “Aren’t you a girl?”

Ibaeran just nodded her head yes.

“Then what are you doing here?” asked the Uha Tamunarans.

Ibaeran felt insulted about the question the Uha Tamunaran asked, so much so that she couldn’t stop herself opening her mouth and saying, “because I defeated all the warriors in the Ijawanan Tournament”.

All the warriors then looked at her shocked that Ibaeran had the guts to speak to an Uha Tamunaran so boldly.

Ibaeran closed her mouth immediately after she realized what she had done.

She hoped the Uha Tamunaran didn’t feel insulted or disrespected by the way she spoke to him because if he did there was nothing stopping him from ending her life where she stood.

The Uha Tamunaran just looked at Ibaeran with her looking back at him fearing what he might do to her.

The other warriors watch in anticipation, wondering what the Uha Tamunaran would do, the warrior Ibaeran slapped though wished he would use his power to end her life as he wanted revenge for her slapping him.

The Uha Tamunaran to everyone surprise just smiled at Ibaeran before he slowly began to laugh.

“A girl fighting in the tournament, I never thought I would see the day but well as the old saying goes, live long enough and you’ll see everything” said the Uha Tamunaran amused by that fact a girl was actually fighting in the tournament.

Ibaeran then sighed out of relieve, glad that the Uha Tamunaran did not feel insulted or disrespected.

The warrior that Ibaeran slapped however was greatly enraged by the fact the Uha Tamunaran did not do anything but laugh, he wanted Ibaeran to pay for that slap she gave him and hated the fact the Uha Tamunaran could have easily hurt or possibly kill her but choose not to.

After that the Uha Tamunaran took them to the arena where the tournament would be held but because it was not yet time for tournament to begin, they were kept in a small room inside the arena.

There they were served with food and water to give them the strength they needed to fight.

Ibaeran took as much as she needed to eat, learning from Bafuro the value of food for a warrior during battle and how eating the wrong thing can drain and slow her down but eating the right thing could tremendously increase her strength so while the other warriors filled their mouths to the brim with beef Ibaeran to the green leafy vegetable most of them chose to avoid.

Soon the tournament started and all the warriors made their way to the battle grounds.

Just like the tournament in Ijawana an Uha Tamunaran appeared in the center of the battle grounds holding a bell.

They all prepared themselves for battle knowing that the tournament would start once the Uha Tamunaran rung the bell.

The Uha Tamunaran then rung the bell and the very moment he did all the warriors charged straight for each other in a heated battle.

The warriors were far more skilled than the warriors Ibaeran faced back Ijawana but Ibaeran still managed to push through, fighting as hard as she could and even though the warriors were stronger than those, she faced back in Ijawana she still managed defeat all her opponents.

Now only one warrior remained, burning hot with rage and hatred for Ibaeran, the warrior left standing was none other than the warrior Ibaeran slapped.

Bitter and angry the warrior refused to be defeated as he wanted to face Ibaeran alone.

He wanted to make her pay for daring to insult him with a slap to his face and fueled by nothing but pure anger he charged straight for Ibaeran and delivered a powerful to her.

Before Ibaeran could recover from the first blow he delivered another and another, beating Ibaeran senselessly with his fist, refusing to give her chance to fight back.

The people watching the fight closed their eyes out horror and disgust upon witnessing the brutality the warrior was showing as he continued to beat Ibaeran.

Seeing such the way the warrior continued to hit Ibaeran without even giving her a chance to defend herself disgusted even the Uha Tamunaran who had enslaved them all seeing it a barbaric and shameful way to claim a victory.

The fight was hard to watch some of the people and even the Uha Tamunarans had to look away as they couldn’t stand the sorry sight of seeing such a display of brutality.

The warrior then, after beating Ibaeran senselessly like a mad bull stopped when he saw that Ibaeran was now lying down on the ground with blood sipping out of the wounds.

It seemed like the warrior had won as Ibaeran was down on the ground and seemed defeated.

“Let this be a warning to you, girl, nobody disrespects me and gets away with it” said the warrior bending down to look at Ibaeran lying on the ground.

The warrior then turned his back away from Ibaeran thinking he had won only to hear the people and even some of the Uha Tamunarans in the arena stand up and cheer.

The warrior raised his hands triumphantly thinking the people were cheering for him only to receive a blow from behind.

The blow sent the warrior down hard to ground.

The warrior then got up and saw Ibaeran still standing and ready to continue the fight.

The warrior’s anger grew upon seeing Ibaeran and he once again charged straight for her, delivering blow after blow to Ibaeran but this time she was ready for him.

Ibaeran blocked and dodged all his attacks.

The warrior became even more enraged as Ibaeran blocked and dodged all his attacks so much so that he used up very single ounce of strength he had to try to land a decent blow to Ibaeran but try as he may none of his blows could do anything to Ibaeran as moved too quick for him, dodging and managing to block every single attack he sent her way.

Soon the warrior grew tired and drain, having exhausted all of his strength in attacking Ibaeran, panting and taking deep breath uncontrollably, he barely had enough straight to stay on his two feet.

The warrior though weakened and exhausted did not want to be defeated by a girl as his pride would not allow him come to terms with the fact that a girl of all people bested him so the prideful warrior delivered one final blow to Ibaeran using the very last of his strength only for his fist to be caught by Ibaeran bare hands.

The warrior then looked at Ibaeran with shock and disbelief.

Ibaeran then smiled at him before saying, “congratulation you have just been bested by a girl”.

Ibaeran then delivered a single blow to him and then the prideful warrior fell to ground upon receiving that single blow.

Far too tired to get up the warrior look at Ibaeran defeated with his pride broken and shatter in to a million pieces as she stood triumphantly before him.

He then noticed the mark on Ibaeran’s neck and smiled.

“You are one of a kind girl and not just because of your incredible strength” said the warrior who was still on the ground, finally swallowing his pride and acknowledging Ibaeran as a warrior.

Ibaeran looked at the warrior, shocked and surprised upon hearing what he just said about her.

“I see now that you are the true Su Baera and the one who will set us all free from the oppressive hand of the Uha Tamunarans,” said the warrior.

“What?” said Ibaeran with surprise by the warrior said?

“I would never believe in a million years that a girl would be the next Su Baera but that was because I had never seen a girl like you, Strong and determined you have the two most important traits of a great warrior. You will make an excellent Su Baera…” with those words said the warrior closed his eyes exhausted and drained of all his strength leaving Ibaeran standing there to think about everything the warrior had said to her.