Zyrell slept for most of the night. He was too tired from the rip. Too tired to even have nightmares. The next day there was a knock at his door raising him from the dead. Zyrell stumbled to the door and opened it. Zyrell saw no one standing there.

"Down here buddy," a small voice came from below him. Zyrell looked down and saw a small green creature looking up at him. It had large dark eyes and a strange phallic shaped head.

"The hell?" Zyrell jumped back.

"Alright buddy. We got a big day today. No training. Just administrative stuff and some pointers and advice. You definitely need a bath... or two. And then tomorrow we actually start drilling you in combat."

"What? Are you?"

"What wrong never seen a dryad before?"

"Nope. never."

"Damn. You really must be from the middle of nowhere." Said the small mushroom person.

"I'm from Huntville."

"Oh that explains it. Yep middle of nowhere." The mushroom creature hopped on Zyrell's bed. "My name is Oakley. Get it. Oak-ley. I'm a plant person. I know it's hilarious. My parents had a great sense of humor." Oakley said with sarcasm.

"You... you have parents? You don't just...grow? Like carrots or something?"

"Carrots? No! I'm a dryad I'm not a vegetable. Do you want me to educate you on the reproductive system of a mushroom person or do you want to get out of here?"

"Uhh... actually the first one. The reproductive thing."

Oakley rolled his eyes. "Oh you're hilarious. Comeon on funny man. Let's go."

***

They're first stop was the tailor. At least the emotions flowing through the tailor's shop were all neutral. No one was aggressively angry or depressingly sad or mindbogglingly happy. The man took measurements and sized Zyrell up from top to bottom. Zyrell kind of liked the feeling of being measured. It gave him a fun sort of tingle in the back of his brain. the tailor told them he'd have his clothes ready for him in an hour. Which was amazingly quick.

Oakley explained that everything the inheritors or the Four Swords would order would be expedited for speed. They would be served first, treated first, and if they entered a brothel they would be loved first. Zyrell's brain bounced with this information. Part of him didn't want to be served first. He felt he didn't deserve it. The other part of him was excited when he thought about the brothels.

The same could be said for their second destination, the bathhouse. The water-mages made sure that the Fort Kenshin had running water and pluming. Some of the richer residents even had private baths for themselves. Zyrell thought that being served first might make him uncomfortable but having his own private bathroom would be fantastic. In Huntsville he had to share the outhouse with several cousins and his aunt and uncle and the showers were worse.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Oakley mentioned that he'd be using the barracks showers and wouldn't have a private one until he was fully trained as one of the 4 Swords.

"Well, at least now I can dream."

Zyrell thought the showers were going to be fully open like the showers of a prison. To his surprise each shower was actually a stall with its own curtain. Some of them even had seats where one could sit down--Probably for older folks. Zyrell pulled back the curtain to one of the showers and what he saw shocked him.

Green moss had spread over the entire stall. Ugly black vines had wrapped themselves around a shower head. The entires growth stemmed from a pulsating mass in the corner. The mass of mold, moss, and fungus, moved and seeing Zyrell the entire thing quivered and shook. Zyrell felt a blast of rage flow into his mind from outside his body.

"What are you doing? This stall is occupied!" Spores shot into the air as the fungus screamed in anger.

"Wait... David?" Oakley said. "Is that you? What are you doing here?!"

"I'm soaking!"

"This is the human shower. Oh my Gods. Are you really germinating right now? How long have you been in there? Get out! You're gonna gross the human's out. You're grossing me out and we're the same species. I'm gonna throw up and I don't even HAVE a stomach."

The large mushroom monster moved and parts of its body were left behind, draining into the bottom of the stall.

"Awww, come on man clean that up!" Oakley looked up at Zyrell who looked back down at him. "Best we find you a different shower. This one is gross.

***

When Zyrell got out the shower his old clothes were gone and there was a new set waiting for him. A blue tunic and grey pants with new boots and socks. They fit perfectly.

"All done? The tailor delivered your stuff earlier. I had a pair of fresh clothes brought to the bathhouse. The rest of your stuff is i your room." Oakley said.

"Are all of my shirts blue?"

"Yeah, it's a Four Swords thing. So people know who you are. Like Tommy, Jason, Kimberly, Billy and Zack."

"Who?"

"Never-mind. You wouldn't understand." The mushroom sighed. "Come on we have one more stop."

Oakley led them down the streets of Fort Kenshin to an conspicuous looking building. Inside were just rows and rows of statures. There were hundreds of them. Each one was a different face and held a sword in their hands. The swords were all colored with a different jewel.

"What is this place?"

"The Hall of Swords. Each person you see here was originally a inheritor of of one the Four Swords. They were chosen at around 15 years old and served for 40 years. Sometimes more, but never less... Unless they, ya'know, died or something."

Zyrell walked through the halls. He realized they were separated into four sections. A section for each of the colored heroes. He walked through until he reached the section for the Azure Sword.

"The previous inheritor is supposed to bring you here for inspiration of some shit. but since he's gone and the one before him is gone. You get me. Honestly I don't know much. All I know is that The Azure Sword always chooses from lowborn or non-nobility."

"Do you know why?"

"Nope. No Idea. Some people think that the Azure Sword is broken somehow. Messed up. You don't seem broken. A little scrawny. A little ugly maybe. But not broken."

"You're calling me scrawny? I've picked truffles bigger than you."

"Whoa. I'm still growing. Before you know it I'll be as big as--"

"--As your friend David?"

They both looked at each and shuddered from the memory of David growing all over the shower floor. Then laughed.