Sign of the Zodiac: Aries
[Sign 1: Aries] Exams

Anaru and Airyung returned to the main village that day. Unlike the previous, their journey home was not too rushed. Airyung took a lot of time to train Anaru every morning and night. They only move after lunch until dusk comes. Five days finally passed until the two managed to reach the village where Anaru lived.

Ngaio welcomes the two of them. And although Kaharap continued to grumble, but Ngaio still forced Anaru and Airyung to stay in his residence. Anaru had tried to return to his own home, but his death instantly expelled Anaru angrily upon seeing him. In the end, Anaru must lower his self-esteem and agree to stay at his ex-girlfriend's house.

The news of Tangaroa's death has arrived in the main village. The uluwero seemed busy preparing for their leadership elections which were planned to be held in conjunction with the recruitment selection of new members. Anaru's time is ten days before the coronation ceremony. Morning and afternoon he practiced and little by little Anaru began to be able to compensate for Airyung's speed.

The day awaited also arrived. There were at least sixteen young people of the age of Anaru who registered themselves as uluwero candidates. And how bad Anaru is because it turns out Kaharap is one of them. The Kaharap family does produce a lot of uluwero. In addition to her brother, two of Kaharap's uncles are also senior uluwero in Khitai. But it's not a big deal. Anaru will defeat Kaharap on this occasion. He would humiliate me in front of everyone.

The exam was held in an arid field near the village. The field was on top of a ramps hill similar to a wide field. Bamboo fence is mounted in a circle in the middle of the field. Later inside the fence, the candidates will fight one on one until the remaining one strongest person will get the highest position among the other candidates. The position of each candidate is indicated through a diagram that they will get after passing the exam.

“How to determine whether or not these people escaped?” ask Airyung who also came to the test site with Anaru. The place was already quite crowded by the audience who were interested in watching the fight of the young candidates uluwero.

“Usually those who lost in the first round are considered not to qualify,” explained Anaru.

“Then you are definitely accepted to be uluwero. If you only need to win in the first round, it means there will only be eight people who enter. Isn't that too easy,” reply Airyung.

“I don't intend to just escape. I have to be the best,” said Anaru ambitiously.

“Your spirit can too. With your current abilities I don't think it's impossible. Your enemies appear weak,” Airyung commented while scanning some candidates who had lined up across the field to receive the headband of the uluwero candidate marker.

“That's all thanks to your help, Airyung. Thank you,” said Anaru while smiling.

Airyung grunts quietly. “Do not disappoint me,” he said encouragingly.

Anaru nodded then went across to march with the other candidates.

After all the procession is complete, the first round of fighting begins. Anaru got the third turn. The young man waited for his turn while looking at the first and second fight with Airyung.

“This doesn't make sense. Can something like this be called a fight? Those two weak people why fight for so long? This is very boring,” a variety of comments like that continue to be thrown from the mouth of Airyung.

Anaru did not refute the girl's comment. He now understood a little why Airyung always said that the Khitai people were very weak. After almost a month of training with Airyung, Anaru could see that the battle techniques of the people in his tribe were indeed very inefficient. Their defense has many gaps, their speed is also fairly slow and the strength of the attack does not have a significant impact.

When the sun was directly overhead, Anaru's turn arrived. He is called to the middle of the field to face a handsome young man whom Anaru knew named Tayn. Anaru did not know him personally, but had met several times while herding cattle. Tayn lives in the village across the hill. He was a family of shepherds who fell poor because they ran out of livestock due to the kinokambe prey.

Their fate was similar, but Anaru had no intention of succumbing to Tayn. As soon as the long whistling sign of the start of the fight rang out, Anaru immediately shot towards Tayn mercilessly. The movement is so fast that it is difficult to predict. Anaru lagsung's punch on Tayn's stomach. The stocky young man staggered back a few steps, but did not fall.

Anaru did not give up, once again Anaru attacked with a kick towards Tayn's head. Anaru's second attack was successfully repelled with Tayn's fat big arm. Once again Tayn managed to keep his body standing. For a while Anaru continued to launch attacks without giving Tayn a chance to counterattack.

Anaru's speed had considerably increased since a month ago especially since he had been practicing using weights all this time. His stamina also remained stable despite having performed many attack maneuvers. The attack finally reached its peak. Tayn who had been able to survive had finally begun to let his guard down. Anaru's speed is getting harder to keep up.

At one point, Anaru found a fatal crack open on Tayn's upper side. While jumping high, Anaru whirled through the air then smashed a kick directly into Tayn's head. The young man collapsed unconscious. Anaru won a landslide without receiving a single attack.

As he gasped, Anaru heard his name being proclaimed the winner in the first round. Anaru smiled with satisfaction. His breath was hunting but he was overjoyed because he was definitely accepted as uluwero.

Airyung welcomed the victory of Anaru with a bright smile. He looked so carefree that Anaru felt Airyung was holding back from jumping for joy.

“You should be able to defeat him faster. You're stalling too much time,” comments Airyung trying to make criticism. But with the face of the sumringah Anaru did not capture the impression of criticism in the sentence Airyung.

“The body is twice as big as mine. And he's pretty sturdy. Fortunately he was very slow,” replied Anaru as he was.

“But it's fun. Seeing you win somehow makes me feel enthusiastic. Is this what it's like to raise a student?” airyung smiled proudly.

“Test is not finished. I still have to fight the stronger ones, said Kaharap. His family is famous as uluwero ulung by generations,” said Anaru.

“Just calm down, with your strength now, you can definitely fight all those candidates. I've been watching their fight. No one is even close to your ability,” reply Airyung.

“I became calmer after you said it.”

“Of course, who was the teacher,” said Airyung while winking cheerfully. Anaru only gave a small grunt replying to him. He is more optimistic now. 

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