His brilliance

Days went by quickly, and Iyare's performance was steady. She learned everything after the first try and took her training very seriously. The instructors in her group kept praising her, which made Osaze feel very proud. His only regret was that she was a girl.

"If only you were a boy," Osaze whispered to Iyare one evening as they sat in her grandfather's hut.

Iyare lowered her head, seeing the disappointment in her father's gaze.

Noticing her reaction, Osaze sighed before taking a sip of his palm wine. "Rest well. Tomorrow is the seventh day of training, and everyone will be allowed to rest for half a day. Let Efosa take part in the morning exercises himself. Father said he needs to participate with his peers to see his progress over the past few days," Osaze said before leaving the hut.

Iyare watched her father's figure disappear, then got up and went outside. She believed there was no such thing as talent—only effort. To perform better than the boys, she had to put in five times the work. She picked up her sword and began practicing the techniques she had learned that day.

When her grandfather returned, he found his granddaughter training alone.

"If only your brother were half as diligent," Efosa sighed. He had been training Efosa himself for the past six days. Although Efosa took his lessons seriously, he lacked exceptional talent and did not persevere like his sister.

Whenever Efosa was unsupervised, he would slack off. After practicing with her sword for a while, Iyare put it down and began training her physical strength.

---

The next day, Efosa woke up very early and joined the others at the training field. He refused to believe he was worse than his sister. Hearing the instructors and everyone else praise her every day irritated him.

He resolved to give his all during the morning exercises so his grandfather could witness his brilliance. As the running began, Efosa took the lead, leaving the others behind. Although his grandfather had advised him to maintain a steady pace to persevere until the end, Efosa focused solely on being ahead.

Nobody found it strange that Efosa was leading—after all, he had been ahead in the past six days. After completing the first lap, however, Efosa struggled to maintain his pace and had to slow down. He knew the consequences if he failed to finish the run—his grandfather's punishment would be severe.

By the second lap, a group of participants caught up with him, though he managed to stay slightly ahead. During the third lap, two runners overtook him. Efosa felt like he was running out of breath but had no choice but to push through.

When he finally crossed the finish line, he was the third to finish. Exhausted, Efosa collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

The two boys who had finished ahead of him were puzzled. In the past few days, no matter how hard they tried, Efosa was always several feet ahead of them. This time, they hadn't expected to finish before him.

"Are you okay?" one of the boys asked. He was from the third region and had been trying to befriend Efosa since training began, but Efosa only ever responded with a nod or a single word during training. It seemed as though Efosa's words were precious commodities, sparingly used.

"Of course, I'm fine. What could be wrong with me?" Efosa snapped. He knew the boy often ran near Iyare and saw him as a rival.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just noticed you seemed more tired than usual," the boy replied. He was surprised that Efosa had said so much.

"I don't need your fake concern. I know you just want to show off because you finished ahead today," Efosa retorted, turning away.

"Uze, leave him alone. Some people are just sore losers," the second boy said, laughing. Efosa, furious, stood up and stormed off.

"Efosa, where are you going?" Ohiomuwa, who had just finished running, called out to him.

"Back to my tent, of course," Efosa replied, stopping in his tracks. Ohiomuwa gestured for him to wait, catching his breath before saying, "Let's go." He was happy to meet Efosa at the training field that morning. After all, he seems to disappear after morning training and appear during breakfast.

"Look who we have here! I heard you didn't finish first this time. Lost your strength?" Osifo mocked as he joined them.

"Mind your business," Efosa growled.

Osifo laughed, noticing the suppressed anger in Efosa's voice. He had been feeling irritated lately, watching Efosa excel in every training session.

---

At Edosa's Hut

Iyare woke up early that morning and performed a set of exercises before gathering her grandfather's dirty clothes, along with her own. She carried them to tl Ugarige River. It was a large river, so she stayed behind a large rock to wash, ensuring the other recruits wouldn't see her as they ran back and forth.

By the time the morning run ended, Iyare had finished washing and carried the clothes back to the hut to dry.

When she arrived, she found her father and grandfather sitting outside, eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Grandfather," Iyare greeted, kneeling.

"Good morning," Edosa replied. Iyare then greeted her father before laying out the clothes to dry.

"How was Efosa's performance today?" she overheard her grandfather ask.

"Not bad, Father. Efosa has improved a lot. He finished third in the morning run," Osaze said, pride evident in his voice.

"You call that good?" Edosa said, looking at his son as if something were wrong with him.

"Father, why are you looking at me like that? It's normal for those boys to finish ahead of him—they're usually only a few steps behind, even when Iyare runs," Osaze explained.

"Really?" Edosa remained unconvinced.

"Of course, Father. I've watched them run every morning. There's no guarantee that those boys wouldn't be ahead, even if Iyare were running," Osaze replied.

Hearing their conversation, Iyare felt bitter. She had been holding back during training because her grandfather had told her not to stand out too much. If she wanted to, she could consistently finish half an hour earlier than the second runner.

"It's good if he's improving. Let him come over later and compete with his sister," Edosa said. He wasn't convinced his grandson was as talented as Osaze claimed. If Efosa had such ability, he wouldn't need Iyare to act as his double.