Today's the day, after months of applying myself i finally earn the right to assist tryouts to be a paladin.
Only twenty out of the whole country get this honor, and out of those twenty, only five make it into the force.
It's a little discouraging, but I believe in myself!
"Akin breakfast, sweety!"
I hear my mother yell out for me.
"Also, wake up your sister for me, will you!"
Standing up from my bed, I made my way to my sister's room, and as I made my way inside, I was suddenly struck by a pillow that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"What the hell was that for Madari?"
I grabbed the pillow and tossed it at her with double the initial strength.
"I told you to knock first, idiot!"
She looked pretty pissed at me for some reason.
How odd, she's normally more relaxed.
"Fine, fine, I'll knock next time, it's breakfast, so get up."
I make sure to leave her room as fast as I can before she could throw anything else, jeez, what's her problem?
I quickly made my way downstairs.
"Good morning sweety, sweetie, today's your big day."
She talked in such a sweet voice, I almost didn't mind how she pinched my cheek like a grandma.
I sat down at the dinner table, where Mom had prepared a full feast for my sister and me. I'm not gonna lie, it smelled incredible, divine even, looking at those beautiful and succulent pancakes already buttered up and the steam still completely visible, but also the sausages, eggs, and even waffles for God's sake!
But isn't it a little too much for only three people
"I know, but I think you went a little overboard with breakfast. I mean, we can't possibly finish this."
I'm concerned about how sure she is that I'll make the cut to be a paladin.
I kinda feel morally obligated to make it.
"Let momma worry about that, all you need to have in your mind right now is the tryouts."
I nodded to her words, still a little worried, and I then tried reaching for a sausage, but I quickly got turned away by a slap on my hand.
"Not yet, young man, we still gotta bless the food."
I give a loud sigh, but it's not like I can do anything about it.
About ten seconds pass until I hear the loud thud of someone walking down the stairs,
"Took you long enough."
"Keep it to yourself, dumbnut."
My mom didn't take that pretty nicely and quickly raised her voice a little higher than normal.
"Language, young lady, we don't wanna curse the food with those foul words."
A minute later, we were all seated at the table.
As a routine, we started chanting in unison.
"May the God of miracles bless this food for your loyal servants, devote ourselves to you, Goddess of all good and fortune, bless your followers with your divine presence, and allow us to see Akin's success in his upcoming trials, we believe."
As soon as we finished, i grave a bunch of pancakes and made sure they were completely soaked with syrup before I started eating. It was like a cloud in my mouth, and the sausages weren't far behind either, they were smoked to perfection, although I was eating as much as I could, I made sure to eat at least a little out of everythin,g savoring every bite.
Somehow, my mother got better every time she cooked.
After I had completely stuffed myself, I excused myself to my room so I could get ready.
As I walked up the stairs, I felt a shiver down my spine.
I felt how my skin got goosebumps, but the reason why was beyond me, a tingling in my toumage quickly followed.
I had a bad feeling, but not one out of sickness or eating too much, more like a dejabu.
I paid it no mind and went to my room.
I looked at the clock, and it was exactly 8:46 AM.
The tryouts were to be held at 12:00 PM.
Ring ring… ring ring.
My phone was ringing, but who would call at a time like this?
I gave the phone a quick glance; it was my good friend Karon, whom I met at the Paladin selection, where the people who were to participate in the tryouts were announced. The guy is really skinny and shorter than me, although I do admit I'm quite tall at a height of five feet eleven.
Even though he looked weak and fragile, he is actually quite strong and a quick thinker, as a matter of fact, I would say he is the most talented out of the chosen
Twenty and most certainly has an assured spot as a paladin.
I grabbed the phone and answered the call.
"Akin, where are you?"
He sounded like he was out of breath
"I'm at home now. Why do you ask?"
"LEAVE NOW!"
He sounded distressed
"What are you talking about? The tryouts are in a few hours, I need to get ready."
"DONT ASK QUESTIONS, JUST LEAVE, AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DONT GO TO THE TRYOUTS."
He sounded really serious, but then again, he could probably be trying to sabotage.
"Look, man, I don't know what you take me for, but I'm not stupid."
Out of nowhere, I could hear a grown man scream out something along the lines of where are you.
Karon then whispered to me
"Meet me at the northern border at eleven."
As soon as he finished his sentence, the call ended.
"Yeah, right, like hell I'll go."
quickly got changed, honestly, I didn't think Karon would stoop so low, but I guess it is a stressful time for everyone.
Before I could even take a step on the stairs, I heard two people arguing,
"It's not fair, everything is always about him."
It was my sister; she sounded pretty irritated.
"Sweety, you have to understand today's your brother's big day."
"My brother this, my brother that, when is it ever about me? Today's a big dI looked at myself in the mirror. I, of course, went for something comfortable and easy to move in, that being some brown sweat pants and a white loose top, although it's not like I would wear this for very long, after all, we would have to use the standard battle gear.
I looked at the clock in my room, and it read 8:51 AM.
Five minutes had passed since I had this strange sense of dejabu and for some reason, it only grew stronger and stronger, again, a payed it no mind.
Thud thud
Did I just hear footsteps in the roof?
It must have been my imagination playing some tricks on me. Honestly, this stress is gonna get me killed.
I grabbed my phone and wallet, stuffed them in my pockets, and made my way downstairs.
A way for me too, you know, I'm graduating today, even if I'm not becoming a paladin i would still like for my mom to be at the ceremony."
Honestly, I feel responsible for this.
I knew my mother would attend my ceremony no matter what, but I felt bad for my sister its not her fault were in this situation.
Ding Dong!
Before my mother could say anything else, the doorbell rang.
"Well, finish this another time."
Mom quickly went to answer the door, where a man in a suit was standing.
"Is this the Alpin residence?"
The man sounded really serious.
"Yes, who's asking?"
They kept talking, but I didn't really care. I'll probably ask her later; instead, I focused my attention on my sister. I didn't know she had such things bottled up; I had to say something to her.
As I made my way downstairs and into the dining room
I started feeling awful, my head felt like I had just been shot, and my stomach wasn't helping.
The pain was such that I took a step back, trying to stabilize myself against the wall.
As soon as I took that step, an incredibly loud noise came; soon, my ears were ringing.
The next thing I knew, everything was dark.