Before the first rays of the sun shone upon the Ignisar tribe, people had already started coming out of their houses.
This was because today was a special day for the tribe that only came once every three years, so everyone had come out to prepare for the festival.
Those whose children were participating in the ritual were exempted from the preparations, but they had it even worse due to the worry they felt for their kids.
As everyone started busying themselves with their work, the sun finally peeked out of the horizon and illuminated the lands while the fresh morning air filled the surroundings.
The first rays of the sun entered a house located on the outer circle of the tribe through an open window and fell upon Sundrin's face.
His eyes fluttered a bit as he sat up on his bed with half-opened eyes. Rubbing his groggy eyes, he looked outside through the window.
Seeing that the sun had risen, he stretched his body and stood up straight.
Today was the day he would awaken, the day he had been waiting for ever since he could remember.
Smiling like an idiot, he quickly went outside and washed his face with some water, then chewed on a branch of leem to drive away the bad smell in his mouth.
Leem was a kind of a tree that they grew in the tribe It produced thin branches that had good smelling juices in them, so many people used these small branches to rinse their mouths.
As soon as he was done, he entered the house to see his mother cooking as usual and his father sitting there on the chair, carving out some wood.
His father had a hobby of making wooden statues, and he even bragged about it to others.
Sundrin quickly went to the table and sat down on his chair.
Soon, breakfast was served, and all of them started eating.
Today, no one spoke while eating, even though it didn't seem like it. Both Solara and Zoryan were quite anxious for their son's result thus, they tried to distract themselves as much as possible.
The breakfast was quickly finished, and the family started to prepare for the trip to the central part of the tribe.
Solara washed the dishes quickly and then wore a beast skin dress with some bone ornaments.
Zoryan also wore his hunting outfit, which was something he only wore when it was time to hunt or at some kind of official gathering.
Sundrin, on the other hand, wasn't wearing anything fancy, he only wore white pants made out of wolf fur, and his chest was wide open as he didn't have any clothes above his hip area.
This was the standard outfit worn by all the kids who go through the ritual.
Seeing him in this get-up, both of his parents smiled, reminiscing.
There was once a time when they too had to go through the ritual, and seeing their son like this only filled them with joy,
"Shall we go then?"
Zoryan said with a toothy grin. When he saw his son nod, he opened the door and stepped outside alongside Solara and Sundrin.
As soon as they exited the house, the sounds of people busily walking around entered their ears.
But one could see the joy and care of the people who seriously performed their tasks, this was without a doubt, what one would call a festive mood.
The family of three started walking towards the central part of the tribe where the altar was located with no hurry, they had enough time in their hands.
Along the way, they met many familiar faces who expressed their best wishes towards Sundrin for the ritual, and he also thanked them.
It was like there was a smell of joy in the air, even though the parents of the kids undergoing the ritual should be worried. The others in the tribe were trying their best to elevate their moods by joking around and casually talking about celebrating as if it were a festival.
This just went to show how deeply these tribesmen cared about each other. Even though there was some discord between the central parts and the outer parts of the tribe when it came to something serious, these people would have each other's backs.
"Hey! Zoryan!"
Someone called from a bit away, and the family looked in that direction to see a bald, black beared man in his thirties waving towards them,
"Captain Elion!"
Zoryan exclaimed with a smile and also waved towards him as the three quickly went towards him and his family.
Elion and his wife were standing there with their son Torvyn as the other family approached them,
"Hahaha! It seems like both of our brats' ritual is together. Oi Torvyn, introduce yourself."
He said with a laugh as his son just bowed towards Zoryan and said with a smile,
"Hello there Uncle Zoryan My name is Torvyn. I have heard a lot about your hunting skills Father always praises them."
Torvyn had long flowing black hair unlike his father, but his complexion was the same light brown colour like his father.
Upon hearing this, Sundrin's father nodded with a gentle smile and looked at Sundrin,
"Greetings, Uncle Elion and Aunt Ilvani, Thanks for always taking care of my father, he always talks about how much he is indebted to you."
Sundrin said politely while bowing,
"Hahaha! You have a polite kid. Come, let's go to the altar together since we are headed there anyway."
As he said this, both the families started heading towards the Altar while the men chatted with each other about the hunts and the women talked about some gossip. The two kids looked at each other.
It was Sundrin's first time talking to another kid like this, and he also wanted to make a friend, but he was quite awkward and didn't know how to approach this,
"Hey there, the name is Torvyn. I am nine, How old are you?"
Torvyn, as if he saw how Sundrin wanted to talk but couldn't manage out the words, decided to take the lead and start the conversation,
"I-i am seven years old I will be 8 this autumn"
Sundrin was quite happy to talk to another kid and said with a smile.
Both of them talked for a while, and soon they reached the altar.
Many people were there, but they were clearly divided into two groups of kids and adults.
The kids sat down in front of the ancient flame altar while the adults stood a bit far away and watched their kids.
This is where Torvyn's and Sundrin's parents bid them farewell and went towards where the adults stood.
Both the kids quickly went and sat at the back of the pack. All the young boys had the same attire, and it was the same with the girls, just that they wore a white cloth on their chests that covered their breasts,
"Hey, Sundrin…"
Torvyn called out to him from the side, and he looked towards him with a frown,
"Do you see those four at the front? They are this year's big shots."
He said while pointing with his eyes at the four who sat at the forefront of the pack and looked quite dignified,
"The one on the rightmost corner is the grandson of the first elder. His name is Thalvior."
He said while his eyes looked at a muscular boy who seemed to be twelve years old, but both of them knew the maximum age one could have here was ten, so the boy was too big for his age.
"The boy beside him is called Surakar He is the second son of the chief."
This time, it was a boy with a normal build but long flowing black hair and sharp eyebrows,
"The girl in the leftmost corner is called Helisra, She is the daughter of the third hunting squadron leader who is also the nephew of the priest."
It was the cute girl who looked to be a year or two older than Sundrin himself,
"The last girl sitting beside Helisra is called Solenya, she is the first daughter of the first hunting squadron leader."
This time Sundrin was a bit stunned, the dignified girl who looked to be no older than ten seemed quite charming. If Helisra was cute, then this girl could be called beautiful.
But he was only stunned for a moment as he quickly retracted his gaze and looked at Torvyn with a confused expression,
"I know what you're thinking. Why am I telling you this, right?"
Sundrin nodded his head at Torvyn's words,
"Because they are the big four this year, not every year will there be so many kids of prominent figures together during the tutelage period, that's why the kids will quickly form groups with these four in the leadership."
Sundrin raised his eyebrows as if he had a revelation,
"I see. So we too will have to choose?"
He asked, not quite liking the fact of being under someone,
"Not really If you want you can go independent, but be prepared for a rough time during the tutelage period."
Torvyn said with a smile as he gazed forward. Sundrin also looked to his front, seeing that the elders and the leaders of the hunting squadrons had entered the field.
Soon, the Priest also entered their line of sight, and behind the sages of the tribe who performed the rituals also followed.
The awakening ceremony had officially begun.