Author's note: Well...I was unsatisfied with the grammar the old version had, so I decided to give a try on making it better while I can. XD I promise, no more major edits, only did it because it's the 1st chapter yet.
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The sun rose in the horizon. The birds were chirping at the window. It was a simple morning...it was such a peaceful morning...so peaceful...I tried to get up, yet my body didn't move an inch, almost as if the body still wanted to rest, even if the mind wanted to do something...and the body won the struggle. Slowly, the world of dreams called me back, away from the harsh, cold reality.
Reality only returned with a harsh greeting: the scorching sun on my blanket, and my face.I quickly woke up, realizing a few hours had already passed ever since I fell asleep."...crap."
A minute later, there was a crazy guy running out of the house as if his life depended on it, with a bread in hand, and sweat on the forehead. As if he had seen the biggest disaster happening in his life. As if he was going to be killed if he didn't run. That man is me.
The citizens of the streets were startled for a few seconds, as they are not used to such thing: Often, the town was peaceful, quiet. most of children and adults constantly lived peacefully, without a worry in their life. Most of citizens didn't train under hell's teacher: Gerald.
“REYNALD, YOU ARE LATE!” I heard the phrase, almost as a trumpet from hell, announcing my fate. Almost as if the judge, the king, and the court mage had all agreed on me suffering the worst possible fate.
Soon I arrived at the place, where the aura was not unlike a graveyard, especially after the burial of a loved one. There were children of about 10 years old, up to people of the age of 16. I was 15 years old, two years away from being released frorm this suffering. But yet...as I stared at the red face of the biggest man in the place, easily twice my size, doubts surged on the chances of surviving this long.
"Uh...my excuse is that a warrior which lacks sleep is a warrior that will die in the battlefield!" I shouted, remembering one of his lessons. And yet it didn't give the desired result, as he only gave me a death glare. Even the beasts of the forest would die from heart attack, just from the strong killing intent.
“That's the explanation for 8 hours of sleep, not 14 hours of sleep.” A friend of mine, Arnold, said with a small laugh. He was the one who shared the house with me, as my parents had died when I was young, due to the wild beasts.
“I agree with Arnold. If you slept for 6 extra hours, you should run for at least 2 extra hours. And you, Arnold, for not reminding him, will accompany him on this quest to become a knight of Marigold, not a knight of sleep.” The teacher shouted, outraged.
“Wait, isn't that a bit too unreasonable?!” Arnold spoke up, flabbergasted at the teacher’s punishment. Meanwhile, I was astonished on something else. ”Yeah! I'm pretty sure most of the others don't even exercise four hours, let alone the five hours of exercise we'll deal with!" I protested.
“3 hours now! Get started before I increase it even more!” The teacher shouted back.
And so, we both began to run around the village. “This is your fault you know?” Arnold replied, slightly unhappy...yet I didn't say a word for now, as it was too tiring to run this much.
Unlike what the teacher expected, though, I did not do a full lap around the village. Instead, I just ran to outside of his sight, then made sure to come out on the other side, to trick him into thinking I walked all the way around.
It was a trick Arnold once taught me. “So, we have a 15 minutes break before we go out into the teacher’s sight, don’t we?” I said with a small laugh, managing to recover my breath. Even if it was tiring, it was hard to spoil my mood: this trick was always amusing to play.
“14 minutes and 45 seconds now. One second earlier, he suspects us, one second later, that tyrant will call us sissies.” Arnold replied, laughing as well.
I couldn’t help but laugh as well at the genius plan. That is how we always managed to run this long around the village, without even breaking a sweat. I wasn’t sure how things could go without his advice…but yet I knew one fact: most of the other knights were stronger than me, due to my negligence. Not that it matters, right?
After we were done with our running exercises, the other kids were also done with their own: one hour of push-ups, one hour of swings with wooden swords. Apparently the teacher was joking about the extra one hour...
“You two. Do the other exercises while I explain what we’ll be doing today.” The teacher said. Today the punishment was much harsher than normal, as he often left before we were even finished with our running. Maybe he didn't forget the extra hour of exercises, after all!
“We’ll not spar, and match the swords against opponents of the same level today. Instead, we’ll explore the forest. Only those who are experienced enough will be allowed in: 15 or 16 years old, and the rest is dismissed for this day.” As he said such words, I immediately froze.
“But isn’t the forest home to dangerous animals?” I replied, falling down to the ground, instead of keeping up with the push-ups. I'm glad I'm 14 years old... until last week, where I once celebrated my birthday. Now it was a cursed date that should've waited a week.
“We have three dozen knights-in-training, me, and a group of hunters will arrive soon to help us. There is nothing to worry about, the biggest risk is our numbers scaring the monsters away.” He laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well. There was no chance of anything going wrong.
With that, we finished the exercises, and soon after, a group of hunters came. Each of them were wielding a longbow, and had leather armor…except for one. It was a black-haired girl, about the same age as myself. Wielding a bow that looked closer to a toy than a dangerous weapon, she looked closer to a kid than a hunter. Unlike everybody else in the group, who looked a bit serious and concerned, she was just casually fiddling with her bow, absently-minded.
"Is she...is she really a hunter?" Words of doubt escaped my lips, as I looked at her face, to understand her age. Yet...she looked as young as me, even if she's one head shorter.
“She isn’t. But don’t let her appearance fool you, she is Larissa, the only daughter of the chef hunter of the village, Leonard.” Arnold replied with a small grimace. “Rumours says that her size is the only reason she’s not officially a hunter, since longbows are too big for her size, and shortbows aren't strong enough for some beasts.”
A grimace escaped my smile. Why the best-looking girls were also the most dangerous ones?
“So the plan will be the following: We, knights, will form a circle around the hunters to protect them, meanwhile the hunters will shoot the beasts. Because of such formation, the hunters won't be able to use longbows." Gerald explained, I could see the benefits of this indeed: anything that couldn't plow through the knights in seconds would become a pincushion. "Because of that, we'll stay far from the territories of the more dangerous beasts."
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“Alas, today falls inside the animals' breeding season. I am against the hunt, but alas, if I refuse I know this hard-headed teacher will send the group with other, less-experienced hunters." Leonard interrupted his own speech, to glare at Gerald. "Stupid fool..." He said mostly to himself, although his lips could still be read.
"Today, those who never explored the forest during this time of year shall know its dangers, and those who already did...well, I can only hope you learnt the lesson, of why no kingdom dares to explore, even with the strongest knights, during this time of the year.” The chief hunter, Leonard, was the one who spoke such words.
I couldn't help but blink at the warning from Leonard...i-it is even more dangerous today...just my luck. Yet I caught another glimpse of Larissa. “I’ll make sure to protect her.” Yet it was too loud for my liking, as my friend Arnold heard it.
“Oh, I guess the breeding season isn't only for animals in the forest. Sadly, the only thing she gives to people like yourself is an arrow at first sight, though.” He said, shaking his head, with a cocky smile. Only after a few seconds I understood the joke, and glared at him.
“Hey! I am not an animal, you idiot!” I shouted, to the point everybody could hear it. I was glared down by Gerald and Leonard. People were staring in silence at me. I was nearly dying from embarrassment...
Yet I saw Larissa, giggling slightly as she covered her mouth with her hands.
Did…she hear the whole conversation? This somehow got even worse...I could only hope that such incident shall be overshadowed by how interesting the hunt is.
Old version:
Spoiler :
Author’s note: Procrastination for the win! XD
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I ran out of my house. I ran. I ran. As fast as the wind could carry me, I ran. sweat formed in my forehead, as I ran towards the edge of the small village I live: the marigold village, known for its flowers, and above all, known for its etiquette. A place where everybody was nice, respectful and kind. A place where many people just ignore what would make others call for a death duel. A place where everybody knew the name of everybody else.
Except for this guy.
“REEEEINAAAAALD!” I heard the voice, coming from the direction I was heading. It was enough to make me nervous, but yet, I could not run away from my fears. And with that, I arrived at my destination.
It was the village’s training grounds, where those who chose to grow up as knights would go to. A hundred kids were there, sitting down with solemn faces. One that a normal person would make at the death of a fellow friend. Meanwhile, in front of the kids, there was the ‘Asura general’, known by his name, Gerald.
It wasn’t that far off from the truth, actually.
”You! Are! late! Again!” The teacher shouted. I could hear some whispers among the other students, but I couldn’t care less about that. I am a dead man.
“Wake up earlier from now own, lazybutt.” A friend of mine, Arnold, said with a small laugh. I didn’t have any family, I was an orphan. Arnold was the one who always took care of me, being 6 years older.
“And you, Arnold! You live with him, you should take care to wake him up! 5 laps around the village! Both of you!” The teacher shouted, outraged.
“Wait, why me?!” Arnold spoke up, flabbergasted at the teacher’s punishment. Meanwhile, I was astonished on something else. ”Wasn’t it just 4 laps yesterday? Why the sudden increase?!”
“6 laps now! Get started before I increase it even more!” The teacher shouted back.
And so, we both began to run around the village. “This is your fault you know?” Arnold replied, slightly unhappy, as I tried to run faster. Unlike what the teacher expected, though, I did not do a full lap around the village. Instead, I just ran to outside of his sight, then made sure to come out on the other side, to trick him into thinking I walked all the way around.
It was a trick Arnold once taught me. “So, we have 5 minutes of break before we go out into the teacher’s sight, don’t we?” I said with a small laugh, even if I was tired, it wasn’t a reason to be in a bad mood.
“4 minutes and 45 seconds now. One second earlier, he suspects us, one second later, that tyrant will call us sissies.” Arnold replied, laughing as well.
I couldn’t help but laugh as well at the genius plan. That is how we always did 6 laps around the village, without even breaking a sweat. I wasn’t sure how things could go without his advice…but yet I knew one fact.
After we were done with our running exercises, the other kids were also done with their own: Twenty push-ups, thirty swings with wooden swords.
“You two. Do the other exercises while I explain what we’ll be doing today.” The teacher said, calmly, although his voice was a bit frightening, due to how serious he sounded.
Without voicing a complaint, me and Arnold began to do our own exercises.
“We’ll not do the sparring match today. Instead, we’ll explore the forest. Only those who are fifteen or older are allowed in, though.” As he said such words, I immediately froze.
“But isn’t the forest home to dangerous animals?” I replied, falling down to the ground, instead of keeping up with the push-ups. W-was it really safe to go over there? I cursed under my breath, I just hit 15 years of age a few weeks ago.
“We have three dozen would-be knights, me, and a group of hunters will arrive soon to help us. There is nothing to worry about, the biggest risk is our numbers scaring the monsters away.” He laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well. There was no chance of anything going wrong.
With that, we finished the exercises, and soon after, a group of hunters came. Each of them were wielding a longbow, and had leather armor…except for one. It was a black-haired girl, about the same age as myself. Wielding a bow that looked closer to a toy than a dangerous weapon, she looked closer to a kid than a hunter. Unlike everybody else in the group, who looked a bit serious and concerned, she was just casually fiddling with her bow, absently-minded.
“Hey, are you sure she is old enough to be a hunter?” I mumbled, to my friend, Arnold…although he looked a bit shocked at my question. It…it wasn’t that bad, right?
“She isn’t. But don’t let her appearance fool you, she is Larissa, the only daughter of the best hunter of the village, Leonard.” Arnold replied with a small grimace. “Surely her size is the only reason she’s not officially a hunter.”
I grimaced. Just by the way Arnold spoke up to her, It already showed she is as skilled as himself. But that’s just even more reassuring for the hunting.
“So the plan will be the following: We, knights, will form a circle around the hunters to protect them, meanwhile the hunters will shoot the beasts…well, in the case we find one in the first place.” He said, scratching his cheek.
“Do not hear the teacher’s words. The annual hunt today matches the breeding season of the animals, they’ll be more territorial than ever. I am against the hunt, but alas, traditions shall not be broken easily, and today will show why there is little to no wars during the breeding season of the monsters.” The chief hunter, Leonard, was the one who spoke such words.
It was slightly scary, I couldn’t help but shiver slightly, but then I looked at Larissa’s eyes. “I’ll make sure to protect her.” I mumbled…only to make my friend smile widely.
“Oh, somebody got love in first sight. The only thing she gives to people like yourself is an arrow at first sight, though.” He replied…
“Hey! I am not an animal, you idiot!” I said slightly louder than I would have liked… and I received death glares from all the seniors for shouting that. Except Larissa, who just chuckled, before receiving a scolding from her father.
Did…she hear the whole conversation? Suddenly things only got worse for me... but yet I couldn’t help but look forward to the hunt.