The earth was scorched by war. A crimson fire covered every inch of the ground with bodies, swords, and shields everywhere. Most of them died, and some suffered an even worse fate. They were burning alive. One man continually walks towards one sword that stood in place by the ground. It was gold and had gems in its hilt. The sword looked like a cross. The man was surrounded by fire, but it didn't touch him or his long golden hair. The man grabbed the grip of the sword lifting it out of the ground. The sword glowed as the man lifted the sword above his head. The fire around him disappeared. The words on that day are with us to this day. He said, "I am King! I will build a great nation upon this soil! A nation that will last forever! Everyone who died in this bloody war will be remembered, even my enemy. As I am King Arthur!"
The two suns are high in the sky while a woman in front of a group of well-dressed kids in a park, a stone statue stood. The stone statue was of the man lifting the sword above his head. She took a deep breath and looked at the kids. They were enthralled by the story wanting more. " Please, Miss Grant, what happened after that?" One of the kids announced. The woman smiled as she said, " Well, what happened was that he created this great nation, " The Kingdom of Nadejnite " that you live in and form the Round Table and the Order of Nadejnite. He is the greatest knight who ever lived and king." The kids screamed in excitement. " I want to be King!" All the kids exclaimed. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stood. " What are you guys talking about? I'm the most suited to be king out of every here, and I will be king. I have already manifested mana and can use a level 0 spell. And don't forget my father has already got me a knight to train me, and in 8 years, I can become a squire." The boy said proudly.
" Now, Garvish, that is very rude. A gentleman never shows off. No girl will ever like you if you keep showing off." The woman said, scolding and hitting him on the head.
" Sorry, Miss Grant. That really hurt." Garvish said, rubbing his head. All the kids started laughing at him. He started yelling at the kids as they continued shouting. Behind the stone sculpture, there were two little boys. They wore tattered clothes. One was five or so years older than the other kids with black hair and blue eyes. He had a sad look on his face. And the other kid was the same age as the other kids with black hair and light blue eyes. He had a glimpse of hope, want, and happiness on his face.
" Big brother, do you think I could be a king?" The younger boy said with a huge smile on his face.
The older boy looked shocked for a second, and with a big smile, he said, " Of course you can. You can do whatever you put your mind to. You know you are the perfect age to start your training to become a knight." He put his hand on the younger boy's head.
The younger boy looked down for a second, thinking then lifted his head. " Do I have to fight to become king?"
The younger boy said hesitating. With a smirk, the older boy said, " Yeah, you have to fight because of many strong people who want to be king also...But I believe in you. I will always be there for you." The younger boy smiled.
" Thanks, Big brother. You would be an awesome knight because of your magic. You can become a knight with me." The younger boy said.
" I can't become a knight I have already passed... I think it's time to get something to eat." The older boy said as he heard, the younger boy's stomach growled. He got up off the ground and helped the younger boy get up. They started walking away.
As the two boys walked past a couple. They looked at the boys. The woman was disgusted and held the man she was with. The man had a look of anger on his face. " Disgusting...How could they just let kids like them walk around the national park like that?" The man whispered to the woman.
" What did you say, old man?!!" The older boy retorted. The man had a look of surprise then rage.
" You little punk..." The man said as he was preparing to hit the boy. The boy flinched as the man fist came towards him. Then it stopped. A woman with short black hair and reddish eyes wearing armor grabbed the man's arm. She was grabbing a sheath sword on her hip with her other hand.
" What's the problem here... Sir?" She said, looking him down. He looked angry for a second; then he took a deep breath. " Sorry, Miss. I was just trying to get the kids away from my wife. She was scared, you see." He said apologetically.
The woman in armor looked at him then at the two little boys, one of them was hiding behind the other. She let go of the man. The man started holding his wrist. " Thank you so much, ma'am. I guess we will be leaving now." The man said as he grabbed his wife and walked away angrily.
" Thank you for helping my big brother, ma'am. His name is Alexander. Oh, You must be a knight with a sword like that." The younger boy said happily.
The older boy blushed and hit the younger boy with his shoulder. She kneeled with a smile and said, " Well, yeah, I'm a knight, and this is my sword. You want to see it."
The younger boy was shocked and nodded. She unsheathes her sword. She held it with both her hands on its flat side. The sword had a steel blade with a bird wing-like guard and violet color gem built inside the guard and a leather handle. The younger boy's eyes sparkled in astonishment. Alexander looked at the younger boy's face, and he had a look of sadness as he balled his fist.
" That's so awesome. What is that stone in the handle thing?" The younger boy asked curiously. " Well, this stone makes this sword have powers that make it stronger. Which makes this sword a magic sword." The woman said.
" I wish..." The younger boy said as he felt his hand being pulled and his body with it. Alexander was pulling the younger boy away as he grabbed the sword's blade, putting it up. He was running away from the woman.
She had a blank expression on her face. Did I just get robbed!!! I'm so FUCKING DUMB!!!!! I got robbed by two kids. I should have listened to my friends. NEVER TRUST PLEASANTS. She thought as tears welled up in her eyes. She took a deep breath and stood up, dusting her clothes.
" I guess It doesn't matter that much since I'm getting my "holy sword" in a couple of days, but I can't shake the feeling that little boy was different. Now that I think about it, the older boy felt a little off too but not on the level of him. It's not like he can use the sword without my permission." She said as she scratched her head.
" What are you doing, Alexander? Why did you take that woman's sword like that?" The younger boy said as he was trying to keep up with Alexander as Alexander was running, pulling the younger boy with him.
" Just shut...up...for now! I'm trying to run here. And you have no right to talk. You told her my name, Sirius!!!" Alexander yelled as he ran out of the park entrance. As he ran into the street, he saw a motor wagon driving towards them fast. Alexander stopped holding his hand out to stop Sirius from running into the street. When it passed, they ran across the street and passed many people looking at them weirdly. Alexander bumped into a couple of people as he ran. Sirius apologizes as he is being pulled away. Alexander still held the sword by its blade as he ran past different types of people. Some just had different color skin, and some were a different species entirely. Elfs, lizard-people, humans with animal features, and more. The farther they went from the national park the more different kinds of people there were. Then they slowed down as they reached an orphanage. It was a run-down building that was going to fall at any moment. They went to the side of the building to a window that was unreachable from the ground. Alexander let go of Sirius's hand, and he threw a nearby rock at the window. A minute went by before the window suddenly opened. A brown-haired girl with red eyes opened the window. She was about fifteen. She looked at the two boys as she held out her hand.
" Come on before Ms.Palmer comes back." She said. Alexander gave her the sword, then lifted Sirius to help him reach the window. When Sirius is in the window,
Alexander grabs her hand and gets inside the window to see a room with about 20 bunk beds. Alexander sat on the floor under the window while breathing heavily. Sirius was breathing heavily, standing next to the girl with brown hair. " Hey, Sirius and Alexander. Were you guys at the park again? You know that Ms.Palmer doesn't like it when you go out to that part of town." She said, walking over to Alexander.
"Does it matter?" Alexander whispered as he covered his hand.
" You can't keep doing this. I'm not going to be able to protect you guys forever. You know, in a few weeks, I'm leaving to start my training to become a nun." She said as she grabbed his hand. He had a massive cut on his hand, and it was bleeding a lot. She sighed as she covered his hand with hers. She closed her hand and said, " Healing light." A green light came from her hand covering his hand. The light disappeared, and she took her hand off his. The bleeding stopped, and the wound closed a little.
" You need to treat it before it starts bleeding again. It was only 1st level magic." The girl said as she got up, walking out of the room. " Remember, you need to grown-up and set an example for that kid there, Alexander." She said as she picked into the room.
" Thanks for your advice, Amy," Alexander said as he went to a drawer and grabbed cloth and alcohol. He wrapped his hand up in the alcohol soaped cloth. Sirius had a frown on his face as he looked at the sword as it leaned against a bunk bed. " Sirius, What's wrong?" Alexander said as he walked over to Sirius.
" Why did you take the woman's sword? She obviously needs her sword because she's a knight." Sirius said as he cried.
Alexander sighed and lifted Sirius's face. " You said, you wanted to become king, right? Listen, this is the only advice I can give you. You have to be able to make sacrifices to help others and yourself. This is something you can never forget!!!" Alexander said with a smile.
Sirius nodded his head as he cleared the tears off his face. "Are there any other ways to help others?" Sirius said.
" I guess, Only two ways exist: sacrifice or fight. And to fight, you need to sacrifice. So the answer to your question is no. That's why I took this sword. You need to learn how to fight to become a knight. " Alexander said, Sirius nodded with tears in his eyes. Sirius walked over to the sword and grabbed its handle. Sirius lifted it with little resistance and looked at the sword as its gem shined a dim purple.
Somewhere in a tiny castle, the woman sat in a wooden chair writing on a piece of paper then; suddenly, she felt as if her grip loosen on something deep inside her heart. She looked up from the paper and said, " How? I didn't expect one of those kids to be able to pick it up and use it. It definitely wasn't the older one's heart too cold for that. Maybe it was the little one; his heart was very bright. I still have more control than him, so he can't use the full power of the sword. I doubt he has enough mana to hold the sword for long." Then a voice inside the castle yells, " Bertha, I need you here now!!!" The woman ran toward the voice leaving the room.
Back to the room with Sirius and Alexander, Sirius looked at the sword in the light in astonishment.
He had a granted smile on his face. Alexander looked at him. Suddenly the sword weighed thousands of pounds. The sword hit the ground, but Sirius still had the handle in his hand. Sirius started to breathe more substantial as he tried lifting the sword. The sword barely lifted as Sirius rushed to put it next to the bed, laying it on the floor.
With a deep breath, Sirius said, " What happened, Alexander? It was heavy then became 100 times heavier."
Alexander was surprised and said," It's a magic sword, so it uses mana to lighten inside for you, and you ran out of mana. You need to get stronger to hold the sword without mana or train to get more mana."
" How do I get stronger?" Sirius said as he looked at Alexander with his fist balled.
Alexander looked at Sirius, and with a smile, he told Sirius how to train his body. Sirius nodded as his stomach growled. They went to dinner and after it was bedtime. " Thanks for helping me, Alexander. When I become king, can you be there with me?" Sirius said as he laid on the bottom bunk.
" What do you mean, Sirius?" He asked as he laid on the top bunk of the bunk beds.
" Well, Um... Maybe become my first knight." Sirius said, looking up.
" Your first knight? You mean you want me part of your king's guard, right? Of course, I would love to." Alexander said as he picked out his head down to look at Sirius and smiled.
" Really, You will always be here with me," Sirius said with a smile.
" Yeah, now go to sleep if you want to be a knight you need to get up early and get started with a daily routine," Alexander said while he laid in the bunk bed with a smile. As Sirius fell asleep, Alexander's smile faded, and he sat up in the bunk bed, throwing his covers off the bed. A look of determination came on his face as he held his hands together and in a whisper. Alexander said, "Freeze," then a shard of ice formed in his hands.
I need it to keep its shape but change its size without using another spell. Alexander thought as his breathing was heavy.
Five hours later, Alexander was lying down on his bed in a pool of sweat. How pitiful I don't have enough mana for 10 hours. I need to get stronger if not for me then him. I can only use 2nd level magic. Crap, the Suns, are coming up. Alexander thought as the sunlight approached their bunk bed. Alexander was the only one up in the room as he climbed down from his bunk. As he stays next to the bunk bed, he sees something from the corner of his eyes in the door. Alexander hastily looked over at the door to see that no one was there but, to the side of the door, he couldn't see a woman with brown hair, green eyes, and a huge devilish smile on her face.
I can't believe I've found such a gold mine, having that much mana to hold a spell for that long at his age. I thought he was just a twerp but, it turns out he's a prodigy. The green-eyed woman thought while she chuckled. She took a deep breath, straightened her expression, and walked into the room. She yelled, " Wake up, Now!!! You lazy bums, it's time for breakfast! Clean this room, then eat! HURRY!!!" as she walked out of the room, she glanced at Alexander. A drop of sweat fell from his face as he looked at her down with a severe face. All the kids in the room got out of their beds and started making them up.
" I wonder what we are having for breakfast." A fourteen-year-old boy said.
" You know it's going to be porridge as usual," Amy said as she finished making her bed. " Hey, Alexander, what's wrong, you look way too serious in the morning."
" Oh, It's nothing. Can I talk to you about something Amy?" Alexander said energetically as Sirius just got out of bed.
" Um, sure," Amy said as she followed Alexander out of the room. Sirius looked confused as he saw them walk out of the room. Then he got up.
" I guess it's time to start," Sirius said with a huge smile on his face. He ran to the dining hall and ate his porridge as fast as he could. He burned his tongue while eating but kept going. He started running around the building over and over again until noon then, he did push-ups, squats, lifting large objects, and swinging the sword until night came. He repeated it for days then suddenly Alexander disappeared. Sirius woke up and saw no traces of Alexander. Sirius didn't worry because he thought Alexander would come back in days, so he trained to pass the time. Days became a month of waiting and no signs of Alexander then, a day came that was going to be unforgettable.
On this day, it was sunny, and it was noon. All the kids and the green-eyed woman were outside looking at Amy with a bag with all her stuff in it. " Thanks for everything. I'm so thankful for everything you've done for me, Ms.Palmer." Amy said, and the green-eyed woman nodded with a smile. Amy walked over to Sirius and kneeled down, pulling two things out of her bag. She put one of the things into Sirius's hands and closed his hands so no one could see. " I'll miss you, Sirius. I hope Alexander comes back soon. Stay strong for me and remember No One can't be saved. I can't wait to see you become a king. Oh yeah, this is a Memento to remember me by. Don't lose it. It cost a lot of shils." She said as she put on a necklace with a gem with a rose engravement. Sirius opened his hands to see a replica of the necklace. Sirius smiled with tears in his eyes as he hugged her.
" Thanks, I'll become the strongest and best king for you and Alexander. I promise you that in my life. '' Sirius said as tears fell. She was shocked then, embraced the hug as she started to cry. As she got to her feet with a smile on her face wiping the tears off. She waived her final goodbye as she got into a car. As she was being driven off, Sirius found a new determination with a smile on his face. He started doing his training routine harder than ever before. He did it all day and night, but he uses a wooden sword because he could use the sword without little effort.
Then one day, Ms. Palmer told Sirius it was his turn to go to the market. He went out to the market, deciding to bring the sword, and started looking for the supplies that they needed. He found an old sheath in an old chest in the orphanage. The sword was bigger than him by a couple of inches. People looked at Sirius weirdly because of this. Then suddenly, a loud crash was heard, followed by an earthquake. Sirius fell down from this. Sirius looked to see the woman with short black hair from before punching a guy with blonde hair as he smiled. She had a new sword by her side. It was sheathed for the only to see was the handle. The handle was made of reddish metal and white metal. It was bigger than the sword that Sirius had.
The man tried to counter her punch with a punch of his own. She led back to dodge it and followed up with a kick to the face as she backflipped. " A swordswoman is skilled in hand to hand combat. I couldn't expect anything less from a royal knight. Why don't you use your sword?" The man said with a smile as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
" Do you think I'm dumb? I know you can use teleportation magic, Great thief Morrow. You would just teleport my sword to you. I'm not going to get my sword stolen twice in two months." Bertha said with a frustrated look.
He smirked and said, " You got me. I guess you have no intention of handing it over. I have to go, bye." As he teleported away. In minor seconds she was there, trying to catch him.
" Damn it!!! I wasn't fast enough." Bertha said as she stomped the ground making it shake. Sirius was looking at her in amazement. Without realizing it, Sirius was being walked upon from behind. Two men grabbed Sirius and pulled him to an alley nearby. Bertha noticed this and followed them.
Sirius's mouth was being covered so he couldn't say anything, and he couldn't get out of the hold of the two men. One had brown eyes and brown hair. And the other had a red beard and hair with brown eyes. They throw Sirius to the ground. The man with red hair said, " Hand over the shils, now." Sirius looked at them angrily and said nothing and did nothing.
" Don't look at us like that little brat." The brown-eyed man said as he kicked Sirius in the gut, then he grabbed a bag out of Sirius's pocket. " Oh look what I've found. 200 copper coins. What can I get with this? This is only 200 shil. Worthless! Guess we got this kid wrong; he's a peasant not some noble. Don't walk around with swords that don't belong to you peasant. You need to learn your place." The man said as he walked away.
I can't believe one kick to the stomach and I'm out. I really am worthless. Can someone like me really become king? I promised Alexandar that I will train hard, and I lost to a thug. I want to be stronger. I need to be stronger if not for me, then for Alexander. Next time I see him I need to be stronger. Because I want... no, will be king. Sirius thought as he got up off the ground. Sirius was looking down and grabbed his sword drawing it from its sheath. The gem glowed a bright golden with it. The sword changed into a slimmer and more concentrated blade. It keeps its bird guard and size. Sirius grabbed the sword with both hands while he looked up with his deep blue eyes as deep as the ocean with conviction. Sirius dug his feet into the ground then he launched forward, swinging his sword to hit the side of the red-haired man, but something stopped him from colliding into the man's hip. Bertha stopped it with her finger on the sharp side of the blade.
"It's okay now; I'm here." She said in a solemn tone. Sirius was shocked, realizing he was going to kill them. Sirius dropped his sword and fell unconscious from shock. She grabbed Sirius before he fell to the ground, laying him gently on the ground. Bertha looked at the two men and swung her sword faster than they could register it. They fall unconscious as she sheaths her sword. They were not cut by her blade but they were hit by it.
Hours later, Sirius wakes up in a bed with bandages on his head and body. The entire room was made of cobblestones. The door was wooden with steel reinforcement. Right outside the door were Bertha and a buff, black-haired man in the hallway. " Why did you bring him here? You know that pleasant is not allowed in this castle." The black-haired man insisted.
" Well, I had no choice. He was unconscious and I didn't know where he lived." Bertha pleaded as a drop of sweat fell from her face.
" What is so special about this kid that you wonder this much about him?" The black-haired man said as he looked at Bertha with his hands crossed.
" Well, I met him a month ago, and his brother stole my old sword. And today, I saw two men forcing him into an alley. After they robbed him, He was very distraught by this, and I could feel how much he wanted to fight back. Then he grabbed my old sword and he claimed it as his own without my permission. It changed to fit him. Also, that look in his eyes..." Bertha explained. The man was shocked by this statement.
" How?!!! He's a kid. It's unheard of a kid claiming a sword as his own." The black-haired man said. Bertha shrugged her shoulders, and the man looked at her blankly. With a big sigh, the black-haired man said, " Well, I guess we can ask the kid some questions?" as they entered the room. They entered the place to see Sirius standing in front of a window as the light shined onto his body. Sirius was practicing his sword swinging. Sweat covers his body from head to toe. His eyes showed determination but not the same as before but something new. A feeling of hope-filled his eyes. The bandages on his body were wet with every swing of his sword; a drop of sweat fell.
" You're not swinging your sword right," Bertha said, looking at him with a smile. Sirius stopped swinging his sword. He looked at Bertha as he was breathing heavily and sweat fell from his face. " You have improved so much in a month. Last time I saw you. I thought you couldn't even hold a sword. You need to straighten out your back and hold the sword tighter." She said as she walked over to him. Sirius nodded with a frown.
" I know you probably feel bad about what your brother did, but I forgive him. You can have the sword. I just need to ask you a couple of questions." She said as she sat on the bed and motion for him to do the same. Sirius looked relieved and sat next to her.
" I guess my first question is, Why did your brother steal my sword?" Bertha asked. Sirius said," He wanted to help me get my dreams to come true, and we couldn't afford an actual sword." Bertha nodded then asked, " Where are your brother and parents?" Sirius looked a little sad and said," Kevin said that mom died giving birth to me, and dad left us because he didn't want us. Kevin disappeared a couple of weeks ago." Bertha grunted as she heard this. " Who takes care of you now that Kevin is gone?" Bertha exclaimed.
" Well, This girl from the orphanage was taking care of me, but she had to leave to start her training to become a nun. So now I have to take care of myself." Sirius said as he looked at the window seeing kids playing in the street. " What is your dream that was so important to steal someone else's sword?" Bertha asked as her hair covered her eyes. " Oh, I want to become king," Sirius said as he looked at her with a giant smile. Bertha was shocked by that statement. " What, but you're just..." She exclaimed, being interrupted with a hand touching her shoulder. The black-haired man shook his head. She took a breath and said, " Well, you need to be a lot stronger to become a King. If you want to join the knight's squire academy, you need a Royal Knights' signature but, not just any Royal Knight going to sign for someone they didn't train or know." Sirius looked complex. Bertha smiled " Well, lucky enough you have a Royal Knight willing to train you and sign you up." Bertha said loudly.
Sirius was so happy, but this. He hugged her with tears falling from his face. " Thank you so much. Thank you. I don't even know your name, but thank you so much." Sirius said Bertha was shocked by this. " Wait, I don't know your name either. My name is Bertha, but you should call me, Master. And you." Betha said. Sirius stopped hugging her and cleaned the tears off his face. " My name is Sirius. " Sirius said with a smile.
Bertha got up off the bed and said, " Tomorrow will be the beginning of your training. Also, a doctor will be coming in later today for your aptitude tests." Sirius nodded as Bertha left the room.
A few hours later, a doctor came and examined Sirius. He used magic to scan his body and wrote something on a piece of paper and started moving Sirius's arms, and legs then looked at his eyes. He grabbed Sirius's hand and pressed a metal rod onto his palm. The doctor looked disappointed, shaking his head. He walked out of the room, and waiting for him was Bertha. He closed the door and started talking to Bertha. " He's MC cells are severely damaged, which is caused by a rushed birth and done by a novice doctor. This is very common in the lower class. I doubt he will be able to use magic beyond that of the 3rd level if he's lucky. He seems healthy other than that and some malnutrition. I would do his physical exam, but I think you would want to do that." The doctor said as he left Bertha alone. Bertha nodded as he walked away. Crap, She thought.
She opened the door to his room and walked to Sirius. Sirius was handing his necklace with his eyes closed. " Listen up before I tell you what the doctor told me. You need to promise me that you will never cry or feel bad for yourself ever. This is going to be my first lesson to you. A knight protects and helps. To help others, you can never feel bad about yourself. Face it with everything you have." Bertha said as Sirius looked up from the necklace. Sirius looked into Bertha's fearless eyes and nodded. " You will never be able to use magic on the same level of your peers. But before I can tell you that you have a chance of fighting with them. Fight me so I can measure your potential. Meet me in the ballroom if you want to continue this journey." She said as she walked out of the room. Sirius was shocked by this. He closed his eyes again and held the necklace up to his forehead.
Amy, what am I supposed to do? He thought as somewhere else in a church, Amy was there holding her necklace in her hands with a habit on. " Sister Amy, are you ready to meet your priest. Be warned that he's been fasting and meditating for months now. He hasn't said anything for the entire time." A nun said as she looked into a chapel with a man who was wearing no shirt. He was very muscular, with no hair on his body. He had a massive tattoo of a cross on his back. Then suddenly, he moved. His eyes opened. They were bright green. " I can see it now...I can see everything..." The priest said with insane laughter—this petrified Amy with fear.
Calm down, Amy. He's a priest, a follower of the lord. He wouldn't hurt me or anyone that wouldn't deserve it. Stay strong and face him... I need to face my problems head-on. No matter what happens. I need to follow my dreams. Amy thought as she walked into the chapel with confidence. He turned around looking at her and stopped laughing.
Sirius opened his eyes and realized what he had to do. Thank you, Amy. Now I know what I need to do now. I will follow my dreams without regretting anything. He thought as he walked to the ballroom, waiting for Bertha with two wooden swords. I will be king, no matter what. I will protect everyone and win every fight. He thought as Bertha threw a sword at him. He grabbed it and prepared his stance. Bertha prepared her position as well.
" Before we start, I need to tell you something. Once two swordsmen blade clash, there is no need for words. Remember this." Bertha said as she prepared to attack. Sirius nodded with a look of determination and prepared his attack. They both dash forward. This is the start of my journey to become king. He thought as he and her blades clashed. With this, she knew he would be king. Years passed in minutes as the battle raged with each clash he grew bigger and stronger until they were the same size then he was taller. And he was matching her with every blow. Smiles crossed their faces as the battle continued. Until he had his wooden blade near her neck.
Seven years passed in minutes, and he was ready to go to the academy. And a giant smile crossed his face as he walked up to a giant school with hundreds of kids walking into it.