The Challenge (1)

The Earth Clan Mansion remained outwardly calm, yet an unspoken tension lingered in the air, thick and suffocating. Servants and warriors alike moved with an unconscious wariness as if sensing an inevitable storm approaching. The usual routines persisted, but there was an undercurrent of unease, an anticipation of something about to break.

Deep within the mansion, in the private training hall of his chambers, Thutmose was engaged in combat training, his body moving with lethal precision. The hall was grand in size, lined with reinforced stone walls, its floor carved with intricate engravings to withstand the force of battle. In his grip, a gleaming khopesh—a curved Egyptian sword with a hooked end, designed for both slashing and disarming—flashed under the dim lighting. On his other arm, he bore a heavy shield, broad and reinforced, its golden inlays depicting the mighty earth itself.