Moons went by, the stbsk trained harder each day in preparation for their incoming quests and tournaments. They were taught how to activate their unique strength and skill the fountain endowed upon them. To some were bestowed the strength of sight, to some physical skill and combat strength, to some knowledge, to some animal linguistic, to some element manipulation, to some telepath skill and so on, each skill was given to the candidates to boost their living as natives of Kauoha not just to become soldiers and climb up the ranks.
The tournament comes before the quests, it is a pre-quest, it is held in stages and is participated in group of teams while quests is personal and participated individually.
After the tournaments, the stbsk would train for another long time frame then unlock their awumakhuwa(soul animal) that'll assist them during their quests. The tournaments and quests were not designed for personal competition or fights but it is set against forces, the stbsk competes against forces not each other.
On the fifth moon scheduled for the commencement of the tournaments, the stbsk were all in high spirit and mood, anxiety, curiosity and nerves could be smelt in the air, they've been grouped before the week to ensure more understanding of each other and how to cooperate well to achieve the goals of the missions ahead and they trained more after the normal day's classes. How they scaled through each test would play a huge role in their grading and anointing when they finally become soldiers and or knights.
The first tournament was a water mission, each team is to swim to the bottom of the ezuphrate river being the head river and is twice larger than a large sea, to get four gems from the tough scale of the water monster leviathan without disrupting his slumber.
The monster hibernates this period of the year and would destroy anything that tampers with its sleep. The monster is twice the size of a kraken, with eight large eyes and small ten eyes that serves as lens to the large ones, four huge horns that can be seen from miles away, a huge tail that can wipe off an entire island and thick impenetrable scale as armour that has all the gems found in Kauoha growing on it, though impenetrable there are some sensitive spots that when opened could kill the beast.
Leviathan is considered the god of the under water world, it is believed to keep and maintain order and is among the first gods that came to dwell in Kauoha. When aroused, it takes thirty two specially trained water, grass and desert soldier to perform a ritual and tame it back to sleep.
The mission looked almost impossible but if instructions are strictly adhered to, It's a really easy one. After the assembly in the compound the stbsk got into their mission gear, the mission gear is a satin-polyester skin tight overall, a head gear attached to a mask with a pipe infused into the throat through the mouth to enable breathing deep under water, and a back pack containing tools needed for the mission. When inside water, the overall sheds off into a longer flowing robe giving the swimmer a jelly fish appearance. The stbsk were taught prior to their mission day how to swim and move like a jelly fish under water, else the slightest disruption would awaken the beast.
"Remember your trainings and the instructions you've received thus far. Use it as guide to a successful mission" the soldier in charge of the mission advised them . The tournament begun, each team went in turn by turn, due to the trainings and practice they've had overtime, it was easy.
It came the turn for Diah's team, she was teamed up with Ross, Snow and two other candidates, they dived into the water and made for leviathan's dome. The swim was a steady but swift one, they got to leviathan's dome, the beast was deep asleep, they searched for gems on Its back but found just one, the previous teams had taken all the gems (the gem stones on its scale is usually more than enough for everyone to have dozens each but prior to the tournament, the instructors took out a lot of gem stones from its back, to make the challenge more difficult and left much on its stomach). They thought of what to do then Diah came up with a plan, the plan was to get the beast to turn and lie on Its back.
According to the studies about leviathan, the beast's behavior is similar to that of a cat in some kind of way amd Diah who grew up with a cat in a house is considered the best expert in this matter. She communicated to the team what to do, they used signs to communicate in deep waters, it sounded like a good plan and no one objected. Each member is to find the sensitive spot on the beast's back and strike it mildly, that'll get the beast to turn over without waking up. They did and it worked, it gradually rolled over, mid way they gained access to more gem stones and took the amount they each needed, while they swam away, Snow's cloth got stuck on one of its scale, she tried tearing it free but it wouldn't budge, she struggled with it but was careful enough not to wake the beast, it still didn't come off free. The rest of the team joined but the materials their uniforms were made of were strong and can't be cut by normal metal.
The beast had almost completely turned, with Snow stuck, it would crush her if it turned completely. Ross thought of something fast, they gathered twigs and formed a strong rope with loops that they inserted its horn into and tied the other end around a rock to stop the beast from completely turning. It worked, they continued trying to loosen Snow's garment from the beast's body, after much tries it came loosed. They swam to the surface and joined others on the shore. Their success was recorded and they ranked the lowest due to how much time they wasted. They didn't care cause they got the job done, even though it was extremely difficult. The next team were getting set to go when they felt serious vibrations on the face of the water.