"Marbles?!", Ilis said. They wouldn't be talking about the magic stones right?
Someone came back with a handful of the blue pebbles, 21 pieces to be exact.
"You guys want to trade these?", Harkon asked with an expectant gaze.
Ilis' left eye twitched a full second before it calmed down this time, but he didn't care about that as he stared at the magic stones.
"Yes, I would love to, but I don't have the money to buy these right now. Since we know that you guys agreed to a partnership, I'll go back and get the funds for the trade.", Ilis said.
"Alright then, its decided!", Harkon said happily, "Let's have a feast tonight in celebration of newfound friendships!"
"YES CHIEF", all of the surrounding villagers answered excitedly. They didn't feast that often, so this piece of news was straight from heaven after the terrible storm that happened to them a week ago.
That evening, the village proceeded to have a feast with the 10 men, where the newcomers found out that a feast for the villagers meant food, a bonfire, drinks, dancing and laughter, which was all good and well. That is, until they saw the villagers stand up and challenge each other to a fight. Both men and women would stand up and fight each other with smiles on their faces.
Harkon, Leigh, Adamas and the 10 newcomers were sitting around a bonfire of their own. Legolas, the father of Adamas and leader of the Kowa family, was sitting with them as well. Legolas was a man befitting of his Kowa leader title, a 1m98 tall man, muscles that were harder than steel, and a body so big that it provided a nice shade Harkon would oftentimes use on a sunny day.
As they were talking, Ilis looked at the fighting going on in his surroundings.
"Shouldn't we stop them?", Ilis asked Harkon, as he found it weird how people would exchange blows with smiles on their faces.
"No way! They are just showing their friends how good they have become in their skills.", Harkon said happily, "They aren't fighting seriously."
The villagers indeed didn't use any energy in their strikes, so the hits were harmless and were only a show of skill.
"They wouldn't be able to handle prince Ilis if he stood up though, because he is a man blessed by the heavens, born with the full 27 accumulation points that a normal human can be born with!", the short haired soldier said smugly, "Only freaks with heavenly bloodlines would be able to best him!"
Adamas almost chocked on his drink when he heard what the short-haired soldier said. Harkon and Legolas tried to hold their laughter in as they had never heard something so funny in their lives. Before the three could voice their thoughts, Leigh took the wheel.
"How interesting, mister Ilis, how many accumulation points have you already filled?", Leigh asked while pretending to be amazed by Ilis' achievement.
Happy with the attention he was getting, Ilis answered with confidence: "20 points!"
"Amazing! A little bit more, and you will achieve the peak of human strength hahaha", Leigh acted.
However, it was Ilis' and his men's turn to try and hold in their laughter.
"I believe there is a misunderstanding Leigh, although it is understandable because your village has been secluded from the world", Ilis said after calming down, "When we accumulate enough energy in all our accumulation points, the next step would be to form a core in de abdomen points formation."
Harkon, Legolas and Adamas stopped what they were doing that instant and turned serious. Leigh was no different, because what he just heard was nothing short of impossible.
Their best warriors reached their peak state a long time ago, but no matter what they did, their energy accumulation never showed any signs of improvement after they filled all their accumulation points.
"How do you do that?", Legolas asked. He didn't say anything until then that evening, because just like his son, he was a simple man. But when it came to the matters of strength, he would turn serious.
"I afraid it is as simple as keeping on accumulating even more energy after filling all your points, until your abdominal formation is activated because of the steady stream of energy.", Ilis answered.
Angry that it seemed like the newcomer was playing with him, Legolas was about to stand up and do something. Strength was the ultimate identity of his family, and he took that very seriously. So when someone tells him he can become stronger, and then takes that hope away from him, he would naturally take that personally.
Before he could stand up though, Harkon put his hand on Legolas' shoulder, which quieted the giant down.
"Pardon my friend's excitement, he tends to get invested when it comes to making his muscles look bigger hahaha.", Harkon said. He caught onto what Leigh was trying to do, so he played it cool. If not for this fact, even before Legolas, Harkon would've done something himself. He had seen many of his friends despair over the fact that they couldn't get any stronger, and it always weighed on his mind.
Seemingly unperturbed, Ilis continued: "It is really as I say. Our bodies naturally form a core after we accumulate enough energy. I mean, the scholars most likely have a more detailed explanation about these matters, but everyone down to the last child knows that all you have to do is accumulate energy. The hard part is to actually accumulate enough, as it takes one a long time to fill up even one point."
"This is called one's energy talent, and together with the amount of points they were born with, dictates the extent of ones maximum power. I say maximum, but I've never seen or heard of someone who actually reached the pinnacle of strength yet. The most I heard, was an expert that reached the condensed core stage somewhere south of Hezra, in an far more magically advanced country."
Leigh listened very intently. All he was hearing right now was worth more than any amount of gold Ilis could offer him. It was a question that plagued his people since before he was born.
"What is the condensed core stage?", Harkon asked.
"That I'm not too sure of.", Ilis answered honestly, "After we fill up all our points with energy, we then proceed to form a core in the abdomen formation, and in this formation, we start to gather mana, which should be like a gas contained in a box. I don't know any more than this."
Harkon and the guys were about to ask more about the subject, when they were suddenly interrupted by someone.
"Look at these husbands, not asking their wives to dance with them or even sparing them a look.", Lina said, while looking at Harkon and Legolas.
"Its because they are already satisfied by looking at the meat and drinks this evening, maybe they should just do that everyday then.", Merolin answered Lina, as the two women walked towards the group of men.
Harkon the chief and Legolas the Kowa family leader began sweating buckets when they heard their voices, and tried to plead innocence.
Although the wives-duo were smaller then the men, they were still powerhouses in their own right. Leigh had his silver eyes from Lina, but not her blonde hair, while Adamas didn't inherit any of his mother's traits, other than her tanned skin.
"Lina love, I was just entertaining our guests as the chief. Isn't that my duty after all?", Harkon said while taking Lina in his arms. Her silver eyes looked angrily at him for a second, then softened while saying, "We haven't had a feast in so long, yet here you are instead of dancing with me."
While that was happening, Legolas had a way harder time with his wife.
"We were just talking about some boring stuff honey, you wouldn't have liked it anyway.", Legolas told Merolin.
"I do not care what your excuse is, no business takes place on a feast.", Merolin said while pouting, "You even brought Adamas here instead of letting him spar with his peers. Why not just cancel the feast and sleep instead, if you are not going to enjoy it anyway?"
"Mero, it's not like that"
Legolas grabbed Merolin closer by her waist, while he whispered something in her ear, making her calm down.
As the couples were bickering, Leigh took it to himself to soften the tension in front of their guests a little.
"Don't mind the drama, it doesn't happen a lot, but when it happens, it's always funny to see how those big men cower like little kittens hahaha."
If Leigh saw the looks his father and Legolas gave him, he would sleep with one eye open that evening.
"Don't worry about it, please enjoy yourselves and don't let us hold you back", Ilis said while waving his hands to gesture that its alright.
"I agree! Leigh come spar with me, I have this new move I was working on and wanted your opinion!", was the first thing Adamas said during the whole time he was there, not waiting for Leigh's reply and dragging him to an open space.