Walking into the building and off to the side, I stand still for a moment. Eyes closed, head up, basking in the sounds, smells, and atmosphere of the place.
Feeling a sense of calm and nostalgia, I stand there for longer than I probably should have. Before being pulled from my thoughts by a timid voice.
“Excuse me, but, I noticed you taking a moment to yourself and I couldn’t help but ask. Do you like books?”
Slowly opening my eyes and taking a deep long breath, I look to my side to see who it was that spoke up.
Seeing a somewhat short woman, with chaotic grey brown hair, and comfortable attire that you might see on a mediaeval small town librarian. I notice a few books in her hands and surmise that I might have hit the mark dead on.
“I do enjoy reading more than most people might, and the feeling you have when you are in a small bookshop or library when you’re huddled in a corner with a dim light and more books then you should probably have certainly pleases and calms me.” I say.
“Overall? Yes, I do like books quite a bit.”
The woman looks at me with wide eyes for a moment, before blinking a few times and slouching down.
“Ah, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.” she says.
“It doesn't bother me. Small talk can be satisfying, even if it serves no purpose when you find someone with a likeness to yourself.” I give her a light smile, breaking away from my deadpan look that I had been carrying the whole time so far, deciding to indulge the over-explaining side of my personality.
I catch a glimpse of a smile on her face, almost as if she had found something she liked that had gone missing.
Quickly removing her smile, she looks back up to me and says, “I agree. I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll leave you alone now sir hero.”
She fast walks away, seemingly to get back to whatever it was she was doing before. “Strange…” I say, “she didn’t even let me say hello or goodbye.”
I stop spacing out and wandering my thoughts, letting go of my proverbial mask. Looking towards Sir Roland, I see him and a few what I assume to be handmaid's sorting people towards different rooms so that they can receive their pair of clothes.
Sorting myself back into the group, I wait to be directed to a room. After waiting a few minutes, I arrive at the front of the group with a few others, interested in the type of clothes I'd receive.
“You, to the room on the left. You there, room on the right, you as well. You go to the room on-” Roland looks at me, stopping himself.
He looks me up and down a few times, before asking, “You, Hero. How old are you?” I look at him with confusion for a moment.
“I am 36 Sir. Is there a problem?” I get a knot in my stomach, my brain thinking up tens of possible reasons as to why he asked my age. Trying not to let it show on my face, and succeeding, I wait.
“Not particularly, but your size means you need different sized clothes then the other Heros.” he says.
I sigh a small breath of relief, ‘of course it was something simple like that, why did I worry so much.’
“Go to the room on the far right, you will be fitted for a set of clothes there.” He says.
“Thank you.” I respond. Walking to the room he pointed out before he calls out again at the last second.
“Do you mind if I ask what you did for work? You seem to be very confident in your movement and body.” he asks.
I turn around to face him, a bit of surprise evident on my face “I worked as a fisherman, I was quite often out on the open water so balance and coordination was a key component to success.” I say.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Hm, impressive. I look forward to seeing how you do in the physical evaluation. Off you go then.” He says, giving a slight look of intrigue.
I let out another breath. I don’t know why, but I have always assumed the worst in people and situations for most of my life, it’s an annoying trope, I know. Although I like it nonetheless, as it’s better to be paranoid and prepared then ignorant and sad in my books.
Walking into the room, I see a few people leisurely sewing and sorting clothes, all of which look up in surprise when I enter.
“Oh uh, hello Sir Hero. We weren't expecting anyone to come to this area! Please, step forward to this mirror and we will fit you for a set of clothes.” One of them says.
The others scrambling to attention so as not to be rude. I chuckle looking at their confusion and surprise that someone came to their fitting area.
I step forward to the mirror that the handmaid pointed out, and wait. She grabs a measuring tape and walks over to me, “Hold out your arms please.” she asks.
Doing as she instructed, she rolls my sleeves up, reaching up to a slightly awkward angle given the height difference, she measures my arm width and length.
“Please remove the robe you are wearing.” she asks me.
Caught off guard for a moment, I collect myself. ‘Obviously they would ask you to remove what you were wearing so they could measure properly, why was I surprised. That's twice in quick succession…’ I do as the handmaid asks, briefly checking to make sure I had an under garment of some kind so I wouldn’t be stark naked.
Folding the robe, I hand it to the maid, who then places it on a nearby table with what looks to be an old sewing machine. Impressed by the level of technology these people have, I turn back to the mirror and hold myself in a way that would be more convenient to the seamstress.
I wait a moment before realising that the handmaids aren't moving and just staring at me with shocked expressions.
“Is there an issue?” I ask, my question snapping the maid out of her reverie.
“No, there are no issues.” the handmaid who was taking my measurements says after a brief pause, giving me a strange, lightly concerned look.
I pay it no mind, thinking that there was no problem. Of course it would be to my surprise that after the measurements, I was handed a paper with my physical description and sizes that read,
‘Dark auburn hair, Shoulder length, provide a hair tie. Clean shaven, trimming kit recommended. Lithe strong build, loose mobile clothes recommended. Height of 6’1, tight weave clothes recommended. Arm size, Left…’
It fit my physical description to a tee, and there was nothing special about my appearance. So why were they surprised? Was it my height? I doubt it, as they were only particularly surprised when I took the robe off, not when I walked in…
I’ll never know I guess, though the way they describe my hair almost seems like flattery. I would’ve just called it brown.
After reading the note and struggling to figure out the handmaid's surprise, another one of them calls my attention.
“Sir Hero, your clothes.” a maid says as she hands me a set of clothes made of a linen like fabric and similarly coloured.
“Thank you.” I respond with one of my faked light smiles that I use when I greet someone or need to show thanks.
The maid doesn't seem to notice that it was faked, but she walks away briskly after telling me where I could change.
Slipping into the new clothes, I take a moment to appreciate the simple yet practical and rather comfy design.
The pants were a dark brown, but not like the colour of leather. While the shirt was as I said, a cream linen-like colour. A pair of simple low cut leather boots, and a woven belt.
Overall, not something I'd wear while going out. But definitely practical comfort clothes I’d wear while doing house or yard work.
Walking out of the stall I changed in, I am directed out of the building and to where the rest of the group is, along with Sir Roland.
“I see that everyone has gathered now, I’ll do a quick run through of what you shall be doing again before we begin.” Roland yells out after a few more people trickle into the group.
“A casual spar against the kingdom's knights overseen by myself and the knight captains. Followed by a agility and stamina course to see your flexibility and simple adaptability. Then finish off with a spar against the knight captains with skills so as to see how proficient you are with said skills. Any weapons or gear that is needed to use a skill will be provided, but if your skill uses a summoned weapon, or you have a weapon that is created by the skill, you obviously won't be given a test weapon. If your skill doesn't use a weapon, you will be paired against someone who also does not use a weapon for the first spar.”
A long statement, but a needed one. I spaced out and messed around with my system while he made his statement as I remembered it from before when we were being brought to get new clothes.
While I was experimenting with the voice, I didn’t really make any discoveries. But I did confirm a number of ‘commands’ for ease of use.
“Having said all that.” Roland yells again, “We shall now move to the arena to begin the physical evaluation.”
Snapping back to attention, I hold back my excitement and wait patiently for the test to start as we walk to the arena.