Chapter 721: Son Of A Hunter

Kultai doesn’t know and doesn’t understand why his father didn’t want him to show his talent

He truly does not understand but at the beginning he did not object and listen. But this attitude only lasted a week

He asked his father why he should not do that

His father teach him a lesson that day.

That is the day he learned having talent does not mean that you could succeed in the world

His father told him that if he is talented, he would be the one doing the most work. And what work would a person with his kind of talent be doing?

To be sent to the frontline.

Kultai sees nothing wrong with that.

After all, when a tribe is attacked everyone should pick up a weapon and fight against the invaders.

Everyone have a responsibility to protect the tribe. And his father nodded. And he agree.

But he said a person of his talent would be grind into a dull weapon.

Then and only then could he be used.

His father told him, that he might be a hunter, but he did not want to raise his son to become a tool

And especially not a tool to such a mediocre chief. His father taught him two lesson that day.

The first lesson was that sometimes, it is very imperative that one should be low profile.

And then the second lesson was that everyone is a tool.

Everyone.

And that is not a bad thing.

A tool has uses.

And everyone has a use.

A hunter hunts.

A warrior fights and protect.

A soldier kill and defend

A weaver weave. The more things you could do, the more use you could have

His father did not said that he could not be used. His father told him, that even if he wanted to be used, at least choose the one who uses you. It would be better if the one that uses you know your worth, know your strength and know your weakness.

When a suitable tool meet a wise user, then the tool could show its brilliance. But his father also reminded him something else.

This is a metaphor. He said tools, but people are people.

That part of the words his father said, he still doesn’t understand.

But he understand his father.

So, he never shows any talent when he was in the tribe or the clan gathering.

At first he didn’t understand.

But as he grows up, he slowly understand the wisdom of his father and why his father is always wary of him showing his talent and becoming one of the chief warrior.

The more he saw, the more he understand. And the more he understands, the more he keep his profile low

And he saw for himself how the chief treated those warriors who came from a low background.

They were retained.

And they were the first to die.

Dying is normal in the Steppe.

But at least, one should know to appreciate those who have sacrificed their life for you.

However the chief treated the life of his men.....too cheaply.

And he thanks the gods that he listen to his father advice

And so a day before he went to wrestling arena, he told his father what he wanted to do.

He wanted to gain reputation and become a soldier in one the Khan army

His father listen to him and then he went silent and then his father nodded and Kultai knew that his father approve

So, he went to the wrestling arena and defeated many people.

Some are stronger than him. Kultai had always thought he was one of the strongest youths in the Steppe.

Below innate strength, he had the confidence that he would crush all those of the same age. And he could even challenge those veteran soldiers.

But then he enter the wrestling arena and only then he found out, that the Steppes are full of young heroes.

Some are not as strong as him but win against him using all kinds of technique.

So, he learns not to rely on brute force.

Then he fought someone and uses technique but then was slammed to the ground using brute force.

It is only then that Kultai learn to reassess himself.

He is not the strongest youth in the Steppe.

But the setback did not break his spirit.

On the contrary, it ignited his fighting spirit.

And so, he learn new technique, learns how to use his force appropriately, learns from his opponents and then he begin winning more than he loses

And one day, one of the ten men squad leader of the Khan army was in the area and decided to compete.

He was matched up against him and at first he hesitate to fight against such a man. Because this is a man of status.

But in the wrestling arena such a thing is not a hindrance.

But that is what they say.

In the real world it is not what the people in power says that matters.

It is on what they do.

They could proclaim a thousand righteous words but when one look at the action, it is not always the same as what they say

So, in the first round, Kultai feign defeat

But that officer is a veteran of battle.

When that officer realize that Kultai has been holding back and even feigned defeat, he insisted a rematch

And he insisted that Kultai fought him fair and square. Kultai then defeated him almost effortlessly.

Kultai thought that the officer would be angry but the officer only laughs and pays the bets.

And then he said to him " I have meet many more powerful and stronger warrior than you. Do you know what happens to them?"

Kultai did not know. So he shakes his head

"I kill them all"

At this answer, Kultai did not know how to answer

"Do you know how a man like me could kill people stronger and powerful than you?" Kultai simply nodded

"A bravery of a common man could not withstand the stampeding of ten thousand horses. Even a demigod could be killed under such circumstances. If you are tired of playing in the mud, then come to the barracks and meet me. If you do not mind the hardship, come and join the Khan army"

And that is how he got here.

He was going to the arena to show his talent, to gain reputation for himself as someone with strength and someone that could be recruited

He could not go there like some famous warriors swaggering about. In the Yan dynasty, they have this culture of "I praise you, you praise me" and each one of those scholars praise each other and elevated each other status

If the same thing is imitated by the common people, no one would know about it because no one would make it public and none of them would make it famous.

So, those filial piety stories are mostly just made up images meant to deceive the world.

In the Steppe, while it did not have such culture of literary men praising each other literary ability, there is something that could brandish one reputation

Only it is not that education matter that is being elevated here, it is the martial spirit. Maybe that is also why some warriors become so fierce and almost brutal to the point of insanity.

Just like how in Yan dynasty where a scholar could abandon their son and nurture their cousins to gain fame and fortune, the warriors of the Steppe also become fierce and almost crazy went they deal with their enemies because the fiercer they are, the more they are feared and famous in the Steppe.

In the Steppe, to show your worth and to become famous, there is some feats you must do. You either have to do great deeds or to do fierce and cruel things.

As for Kultai he had neither.

What does he did not have?

Reputation and lineage.

Lineage is very important. Blood, clans, tribe.

These are all everything that determined things in the Steppe.

Aeryon is not the fits chief nor he was the first overlords that have the slogan of giving merit equally. But out of the many, he is the most strict at implementing it

Out of many of his great generals, almost most of them were never even Brolgadhr in the first place

Burchu, Mukhulai, the Murong and Tuoba.

Whether it be the great generals or the generals that are rising in the military none of them were even of the same tribe as the Khan

Whatever they achieved in the battlefield, they would be rewarded for it.

Titles, fame, fortune, livestock.

But all of this is the grace of the Khan.

And those who dare defy him, would be swiftly handled

As of now there was never a major rebellion by any of the people under the khan. But some of the squad leaders once blurt out some old stories.

From what Kultai could gather in the past, there was someone who wanted to betray the Khan.

This was in the beginning when the Khan grip on power was not as strong as he did now

It was before he conquered the Kazan’s tribes

But even before they could rebel, the Khan had already got a wind of it and he and his tribe were annihilated.

The Khan is very generous to his men and his people but once these people turns into enemies, the Khan would hunt them befitting like a tiger

He would not spare them and he would not listen to their excuse.

It is this combined method of profit and loss, of benevolence and fierceness that made the Brolgadhr army one of the strongest in the Southern Great Steppe.

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