Soon, more than a hundred people stood on the ground.
He must be Duryodhana. Karna thought, looking at the guy.
He was more than 6 ’5 feet tall, with a heavy build, strong like a bull, black hair and a bit of a beard and mustache. He was the eldest Kuru prince, Duryodhana.
Duryodhana stood holding a round-headed golden mace(Gada) in one hand. It looked very heavy. One hit could completely shatter the bones of normal people, and the sharp spike on the head could be used to thrust and inflict a deep wound like a spear.
Behind Duryodhana stood his 98 Kuru brothers. While on the other side of them stood a group of five brothers, the Sons of Pandu — the Pandavas. And in between, dividing them, stood their Guru Drona.
Drona’s appearance was like a normal Brahmin, with a long white beard and hair; his age was around 70 or 80. However, he still possessed enough strength and knowledge of divine weapons that he could single-handedly destroy armies after armies.
Drona raised his head toward the audience.
"Today Hastinapur will see what a Brahmin can make from Kshatriya blood! Let the display begin!" His prideful voice was echoed.
The crowd roared!
The drums rang!
On Drona’s order, the first one who came forward was Yudhishthira– the eldest Prince. His black hair was tied neatly. Between the five Pandavas, he was the tallest after Bheem at 6’2. He had a lean body with slightly dark skin and long arms.
Yudhishthira stepped onto a white chariot.
He showed chariot driving by perfectly controlling the horses, perfectly circling at full speed and stopping.
The chariot moved again. He picked up the bow from the chariot and showed Archery, while sitting on the moving chariot, hitting five marks hanging from tall wooden poles.
Then he stopped his chariot at some spot from where he started, and stepping down, he showed his swordplay.
Drona just nodded once.
The crowd cheered loudly, calling him by the title of Righteous Prince.
After that, Yudhishthira walked to his four brothers, who smiled at him and probably praised him.
"People of Hastinapura, just now you saw the control, and now you will see the strength!" Drona shouted.
It was the turn of Bheem and Duryodhana. Both held a mace in hand. Bheem was a little taller and broader than Duryodhana.
The crowd was excited as never before.
"Kuru prince! Kuru prince! Kuru prince "
"Bheem! Bheem! Bheem! Bheem!..."
People kept chanting.
First, Duryodhana came forward. He smashed three stone pillars with one swing each. Those stone pillars were earlier brought by more than a hundred men on a cart.
That way, maybe Half of the audience became silent after seeing the real power play of strength.
Dust was everywhere!
Then he thrust the spike into a wooden elephant - it went straight through. Duryodhana roared like a lion, raising both arms, one hand clenched into a fist, the other holding his mace toward the sky.
On the other hand, Bheem also did the same. He smashed three pillars. Then crushed the wooden elephant.
"Again!" Duryodhana shouted.
Bheem roared at Duryodhana. They ran toward each other, closing the distance; their maces clashed, creating a loud metallic sound and shock wave.
The ground shook from the impact, and the dust rose.
Karan smiled, excitedly watching an interesting show.
In mythology, they were rivals, and today their rivalry would be shown in front of Hastinapura.
If he remembered correctly, it was something like this. Duryodana and his other 98 Kuru brothers were the sons of Dhritarashtra— the current king of Hastinapura.
The five Pandavas were sons of Pandu— the younger brother of the current king.
At first, Pandu was king since Dhritarashtra was blind. But after the death of Pandu, Dhritarashtra became the king.
So, according to the rules, the eldest son of the real king would be the next king. So, Yudhishthira- the eldest son of Pandu would be the next heir to the throne.
However, Duryodhana also wanted to become king, as his father was the current king, so he thought he deserved to be the next king.
So here the fire in the hearts formed, dividing the one family into two parts.
Pandavas were on one side and the 99 Kauravas on the other.
And this would take the form of the big epic war... Mahabharata.
Well, at least that’s what happened in the mythology.
But now, Karna was a third person who wanted the throne for himself. As he was the real rightful heir.
Karna was the oldest of them, the son of the mother of the Pandavas and the Sun God... even if he was born before their marriage, according to the laws here, he would still be considered the eldest son of Pandu.
Should I jump in as original Karna did in the story?
Karna wants to know if they would hand over the throne to him if he told them he was the son of Kunti— his true identity.
But it won’t be fun if they just gave it to me in family love drama. neh, they won’t give it to me... they would probably make an excuse that I didn’t get a royal education or whatever.
And if they found out what type of life I lived, like fucking with married women, they would definitely banish me from the kingdom.
Karna chuckled.
Karna watched. Soon, a simple showcase event took on the appearance of a real battle.
Bheem kicked Duryodhana in the stomach. He fell at least seven meters. With a single jump, Bheem closed the distance and raised his Mace to smash him on his chest.
"Duryodhana!" Bheem roared.
Duryodhana rolled on the ground, saving himself. Bheem’s mace hit the ground with a loud thud; the ground cracked like a spider’s web.
Duryodhana pushed the ground, his strong hand driving into his feet.
Their maces clashed again with each other, creating a loud shockwave; Karna could feel the land vibrating under his feet.
Duryodhana got an opening and hit Bheem with his heavy mace on the head...