I was breathing heavily as I put myself at a certain distance against Alfred who was still sitting as calm as ever on his wheelchair. This was my third time facing him already and I was no closer to beating him then I was when I first tried. I was still wearing the stupid braces that limited my powers as Alfred was insistent that I hone my raw skills and sword art first. The problem being that fighting someone empowered by elemental attributes was difficult in and of itself let alone when I’m powered down to normal. It didn’t make me feel better that Alfred wasn’t even on his wheelchair as he was sitting down on a stool yet I still couldn’t make him budge,
“Come on now, Charles, you’re still too slow!” Alfred said as he acted like the wind, dodging every strike I threw at him masterfully. His legs were limp, but his movements with his arms still strong enough to move his body around wasn’t a joke. He even used his wind attribute to give his legs limited motion to avoid my attacks. However, if there was one thing that I managed to improve in the past two days of training was my stamina and energy as at the very least I could put up a somewhat mediocre defence against Al’s counterattacking. “At the very least you could try to aim for my legs-...! Whoop!! Not so fast, hahahahahah!!”
I had lounged at Al’s legs but he noticed the trajectory of my blade and quickly parried my blade and gave my sword arm a harsh strike. I reflexively dropped my weapon at that move before Al struck me harshly across my face, sending me tumbling to the ground, groaning in pain. “Ay, Dios!!” I shouted as I spit out some blood from my tongue being clenched by my teeth. The pain got me real angry but that was where Al’ had stopped the sparring session. “Can’t you be at least a bit more gentle with me, Alfred?”
“Aye… If you were like any other person I had trained before.” Alfred said as he rested his hands and chin upon the hilt of his training blade “But your healing abilities make you that much more special and I know none of the damage I did to you was in any way permanent.”
“I can still feel it!” I protested. I may have had a healing factor but that was no excuse to endure the practical abuse I was subjected to.
“Pffftt… Walk it off, boy!” Alfred said as he laughed and drank from a water canteen. He then threw the bottle to me as I caught it and drank it to relieve my own thirst “But, you’ve at least improved a bit since yesterday. Your footwork was more firm and you weren’t as much of a pushover.”
“Well, thanks I suppose.”
“Welcome as always, my boy! Now... If you wouldn’t mind carrying me back to the wheelchair, Charlie.” Alfred said as he motioned towards his wheelchair parked quite a few feet away.
I got up and was going to help him, but not before I blurted out a joke. “I mean, come now, Alfred. It’s only a few feet away… You can crawl there yourself, I’m sure of it. I mean…”
“Charlie, I may or may not be able to move myself from this point to there, but let me be clear with you, boy. If you help me, you’re a good lad, and if you don’t, you’re an ass who wouldn’t help a paraplegic old man.”
“Whelp, you got me there… I got a reputation to uphold here now, hahaha…” I said. In the past few days, besides training my combat skills and intellectual pursuits, Alfred had also gotten me to help around the village and ingratiate myself with the locals, helping them with the occasional tasks and whatnot. I had let Alfred climb on my back as I then moved him to his wheelchair. I was always taken aback by how light Alfred was. One would think someone who can punch as hard as him would have a bit more weight in him.
Putting Alfred on the wheelchair, I pushed him back to our home. Rosie was already waiting at the front door before I turned to leave.
“You aren’t going to have lunch?” Rosie asked. It was a tempting offer, no doubt about it.
“No, I have to help out the boys repair the northern palisade walls.” I said before eyeing Alfred a bit “But it would be nice if I can get some food to pack…”
“Oh! I can pack some bread for you right now, just hold on a second…” Rosie said before quickly going back into the house. Alfred only shook his head with a smile.
“Girl’s really growing used to you, Charlie.” Alfred said “She’s usually real quiet, y’know.”
“At her age, I’d expect half the young men in the village to have asked for her hand already. A good cook, nice temperament. What more could you ask, right?” I said in a matter of fact way, not immediately noticing Alfred’s grin.
“Well, not just any old bloke could ask for my granddaughter’s hand in marriage y’know. We might be living in a village, but Rosie’s no base nor bastard-born girl. She is a lady of the Royal House of Feldonia. Why? You finally interested, Charlie boy?” Alfred laughed as he clasped his hands together
“Erm, it’s not that I don’t like Rosie but…” Just as I was starting to talk, Rosie had come out of the house with a leather-packed lunch. She went out and handed the lunch pack to me and I immediately stopped the conversation and headed out to avoid talking about an awkward thing. “Thank you so much, Rosie! Well I guess I’m heading off! I’ll be back by dinnertime.”
“Oh you’d do anything to skip out on lessons now, wouldn’t you, boy.” Alfred said “You’d better be back while the sun’s still up or you’ll see it’s not only wolves that can hunt down their prey.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, ahahah!” I immediately ran to the northern area of the village where repairs were being carried out.
Making my way there, I saw Jasper leading the repairs. The man greeted me and pointed me towards where the Palisades had been most damaged by the wolf siege. I had helped with the cutting of the wood yesterday and today we were just placing the palisade stakes into place, with the old palisade wood to be sent to the villager’s houses as fuel for kindling. We worked quite a bit and after a few hours, the job was almost as good as done and most of us took some time to relax. I had almost forgotten I skipped out on lunch as I took out the lunch pack and found a place to sit amongst the unused logs to eat. I was soon joined by several of the young men who were working alongside me.
“Well, I’d be, Charles…” A young looking man with dirty brown hair and freckles said as he sat next to me “That be fine looking bread right there! Must be one of Lady Rosie’s making…”
“Don’t be a stranger, Jack, you want some?” I offered the man one loaf as I laughed
“Oh would I ever!” He said ecstatically as he took and ate it.
“Oy now, Jackie, that’s not fair! You best leave some for me.” Another man said as he took a piece of the loaf from Jackie.
“Oh piss off yer arse, Jamie! Sir Charles gave it to me!”
“Now, now, men. Fighting over a piece of bread is unseemly for men of your stature… Here, have another one, there’s plenty to share!” I said as I shared some more with the other man and in fact I called in several other people to share in. Nevermind the fact that I was still hungry, but as they say, sharing is caring. We started laughing and eating.
“Oh but you’re a real lucky one, Charles.” Jamie said as he moved to sit next to me “You get to spend so much time with Lady Rosie, now there’s a beauty.”
“Pffft….” I had almost spat out the bread in my mouth as I saw the lovestruck expression on his face. But not to mention the looks on almost all the single young men there as they laughed too and looked at me with joking envy “Lady Rosie seems very popular here. But didn’t you all grow up together?”
“Oh yea, I guess you could say that.” Jack was the one to answer “Though, she was always a quiet girl, y’know and rarely did she play with us. But, she was always there to help out the other girls in chores or what not.”
“And unlike the rest of the girls, she doesn’t have a temper…” Another gruff looking young man said “Especially compared to Beatrice, that stupid cow.”
“Bastard! You wanna start a fight?” Another man took offense to the insult “You say that again about my sister?! I’ll have your arse for that, Nigel!”
“I’ll take you on any day, cross-eye!” the man responded as the two were about to go at each other.
“Alright, that’s enough from you shits!” It was Japer who came in and slapped both the young men on the back of their heads and grabbed them by the collar like you would a stray cat. “What’re you trying to prove in front of Sir Charles there? He can kill ten of you two blindfolded with one hand behind his back! Now calm down!”
As Jasper said that, the two men calmed down but went opposite directions as they still stared and glared daggers at each other.
“But, regardless, I am hard pressed to call Dansville a mere village…” I said as I overlooked the sheer size and number of people there “Alfred said this village is shy of a thousand souls, and you have fortifications and palisades and watchtowers and all that…”
“It’s only because of the designation, Charles.” Jasper started explaining “Dansville is a newer village compared to others. Most of these lads here are actually the second generation to be born in Dansville.”
“Really now?”
“Aye. Most of the families here aren’t originally from the area…”
“Then where did you all come from?”
“My grandma and grandpa were from Rocksleigh down in the Southlands.” Jamie said
“Mine were from a village near Gleanndoire in Blairbeth…” Jack said
“Aye everyone here would most likely be from the former provinces Feldonia lost during the war with Loweria.” Jasper said “When Alfred was enfeoffed with the County of Talltree by Ironfist, he was the one who settled many of the displaced refugees into these lands. Didn't he tell you that?”
I gave a weird smile. Ever since the incident two days ago, I had avoided asking any further about Alfred's life. He definitely went through a lot, and I wanted to avoid any unnecessary prying on his past. “Ah, he must’ve skipped those parts. I don’t really seem to recall.”
“Well, this particular village was originally set up by my father, Daniel. He was one of Alfred’s lieutenants during the war, though he’s been dead for over a decade now. But, yes, with all the refugees coming about, Ironfist had allowed Alfred to settle them in his new demesne. Hence why we’ve had explosive growth recently. In fact, it might not be too far off for good ol’ Dansville to be elevated to the rank of a township under a mayor, hahaha! Who knows, maybe I’ll be mayor Jasper next.”
I and everyone else laughed at the joking notion. I enjoyed the story but it only served to raise more questions. Why would the Count of an important domain within the kingdom be stuck in a remote village? And on that note, couldn’t Alfred just rely on any of his own retinue to deal with this issue? Regardless of the questions in my head, I continued to pipe down on those issues as I enjoyed my meal.
After enjoying the rest, we worked for another hour before the job was considered done. When the final palisade stake was put into place, I had excused myself from the rest of the men to return back home. When I opened the door to the building, again, the pleasant smell of food entered into my nostrils. It seemed that Rosie was cooking something up.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Ah, you’re back!” Alfred said as he was hunched over the desk, reading a letter of sorts.
“Yes. The defenses of the settlement should be back to top condition, Lord Count-Royal.” I said teasingly as I made a bow
“I’ll be sure to give you a real good thrashing tomorrow, Charlie.” Al said as he jokingly put up his fist towards me
“Please don’t. I was merely joking, hahaha…” I said rather unconvincingly “But, I’ve noticed that many of the older folk in the village still refer to you by your royal titles…”
“Aye, that they do. Most of them were raised during the time of the Empire and followed their predecessors’ custom of greeting members of the royal family. I told them to cut it out but they insisted. Regardless, I told the youngins’ to just call me Al. Anyways, regardless of any of that, I have just received a response letter from the Guild at Ashfall and they have dispatched a competent party of adventurers along with aids of supplies and extra soldiers to guard the settlement here. They’ll arrive by the 27th…”
“Ah yes. Of course. The 27th…” I said as I did my best to act like I remembered what date it was. Alfred caught on to this as he looked at me with an exasperated frown.
“Which is in… how many days?” Alfred asked as he folded his arms and raised his right eyebrow while reclining on his wheelchair
“How many days it is needed to get from now to then obviously.” I gave a stupid grin.
“Après-demain, monsieur Charles.” Alfred said
“Of course, which makes today the 25th of… Janus…?”
“Well at least you still know the names of the months. But even that I’m not sure of, actually. How many months?”
It was quite easy actually, because it was similar to Earth’s. “12 months, and about thirty days to each month!” I answered.
“Alright, then name them.”
“Okay… So we have Janus, then Febrinna, Marcia, Aprillia… Maia, Juno, Julius, Augustus, Septimus, Octavius, Novus, and Decimus! Hahaha. You tried to get me but you couldn’t.”
“And what of the days of the week?”
“...I just remember that yesterday was Tynesday…”
“The seven days of the week are: Solsday, Lunesday, Tynesday, Odesday, Tirsday, Freeday, and Sabatsday.”
Ah yes, they were basically alternate versions of my own world’s too. “So that makes today Odesday.” Alfred continued, “But regardless, we’ll begin today’s lesson.”
Just as he said that, Rosie came out with a plate of delicious-looking marinated meat.
“Mrs. Smyth came by earlier with two rabbits. She said it was a gift from her family to you, Charles, as thanks for helping them clear out their field.” Rosie said as she put a plate down in front of me.
“Ah, I’ll make sure to thank her and her husband if I see them tomorrow!” I said with a smile. Rabbit meat. Now that was real food. However, I instinctively looked to Alfred as he had just said that we would be continuing with lessons which I wasn’t quite thrilled with especially on an arguably empty stomach.
Alfred looked at me for a good few seconds before finally sighing and relenting.
“We’re still going to continue with the lesson…” He said “But you can listen in while eating as long as you pay attention.”
I made a salute as I grinned and proceeded to dig into the food with the utensils. I made sure to swallow first before I asked Alfred anything. “What would the lesson be about today?”
“The Adventurer’s guild and the basic concept of adventuring.” Alfred said matter-of-factly
Now that was indeed a topic I was keen on learning about. The concept of guilds during my time as Emperor was far removed from the concept I saw in RPG games or novels of the modern era. Back in the day, guilds were just associations of tradesmen or artisans in an area which while it did hold substantial power in some cases was still for the most part localised to certain areas. However, in the stories I read, the guild seemed to be like this multinational monster of a corporation… But regardless, I was looking forward to Alfred’s explanation.
“So what do you know about the concept of adventuring?” Alfred asked
“Well, evidently not much. In my world, adventures were just that. Adventures. There isn’t really a special meaning behind it. I mean, we had something akin to it with groups of people going far and wide to explore new lands et cetera.” I explained “As I said before, my original world doesn’t have a concept of mana, beast monsters, or any of the sort.”
“Hah, sounds like a peaceful world.” Alfred quipped
“Sounds like you’re not familiar with human nature.”
“Pffft, brat. You got me there.” Alfred chuckled “Alright then before I explain the concept of the guild, I need to give you the basic concept of what adventuring is in this specific context and the underlying cause of why it even is a thing to begin with.”
Alfred once again got out a large rolled parchment which he drew out into a decent-sized map of what I already know to be Feldonia. On the map I saw dozens of places being marked with ‘x’ symbols, some black and some red in colour. As if noticing the curious expression on my face, Alfred wasted no time explaining.
“These cross-marks represent all the known active manapoints in the territories of the Former Archioric Empire. The black marks signify all the dungeons that are under the management of the Adventurer’s guild of Feldonia while the red ones mark the ones under private ownership.”
I nodded my head as I looked over the map. I rubbed my chin before asking Alfred, “I think you have to start by explaining to me the concept of ‘manapoints’ and ‘dungeons’, Alfred. I’ve heard you mentioning these things in passing in earlier lessons, of course, but I’m still lost on the concept.”
Alfred gave me a smirk as he rolled his eyes, “You obviously haven’t been reading up on all the books I’ve given you.”
“Yea, unfortunately, recovering from having myself beaten up everyday while also helping with rebuilding the village leaves me precious little time to enjoy reading…” I said as I raised my shoulders as I chewed on a mouthful of the delicious venison.
“Pffft, always an answer from you, smart-mouth. Alright, at least tell me you remembered my lessons on the basic concept of what mana is?”
“Some form of mystical energy that allows you to do… ‘magical’ stuff…pffftt” I said as I wiggled my fingers and widened my eyes towards Alfred while holding in a laugh. Alfred breathed out a sigh in resignation before chuckling at my stupidity.
“I don’t even know why I bother, honestly. Charlie, you’re smarter than that.” Alfred placed his face on his chin as he continued to look at me with an expectant smile.
“Oh Alright…” I put down the piece of venison I was bringing to my mouth before wracking my brain to remember the concept of ‘mana’ from one of the books Alfred gave me before reciting from memory as best I could a passage from the book “According to the book ‘On the Nature of Magic’ by the so-called Archmagister of the Redtower Collegium, a Lord Christophorus Anselburry, ‘mana is the innate thread of magic that flows in abundance upon the world. Stemming from the Old Aurian words ‘Magica Natura’, mana is an equally important and essential life-energy, similar in degree to the air that which we breathe’...”
“See, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Alfred said
“Maybe not, but it just makes it more confusing. For one, what even is the basic concept of ‘magic’ in this world? In my previous world, everything about life had a logical and natural explanation to it and magic merely an explanation for things that we were not yet able to explain the concept of.”
Alfred nodded his head as he stroked his chin, pondering my question a bit before starting his explanation, “It really isn’t that much different here, though, Charlie. The world has natural laws, of course. Fire burns, the wind moves, water flows from one point to another. However, though these laws are stated upon the natural order of things, nothing in this world save for God Himself is immutable. Everything temporal is subject to a natural order, but that natural order itself - like any other law - is subject to change. God had created this world like a brilliant engineer creates a machine, everything being a part of His grand and master plan. The concept of magic now therefore is God allowing us mortals here to look into and alter the temporal ‘accidents’ of those plans. Be it causing flames to ignite spontaneously, the wind to flow where we want it, all these things are akin to paintings and the natural divine essence that we call mana is the colour palette we use to create or alter those paintings.”
I merely nodded my head despite the fact that whole philosophical spiel Alfred prepared might as well have gone over it. Once more, as if sensing my mind being melted, Alfred merely shortened his explanation to “Magic is what it is, and mana is the fuel we need to use it. That clear?”
“As clear as the sky on a sunny day, Al.” I nodded at the more short-form explanation.”But can we now return to you explaining to me the basic concept of dungeons?”
“We were getting there, Charlie. Patience is a key virtue. Now, while mana is ofcourse an infinite source or ‘fuel’ for magic, mana in and of itself is still a very curious thing that ebbs and flows in a path that only so very few of us can track. Think of it this way. Mana flows like water along the riverbank, however due to any valid reason, the waters of the river can grow turbulent, restless, causing floods and become overall, a destructive force of nature. And the thing about mana is that because of this somewhat turbulent nature, the flow of mana can gather and become pooled in a few select locations where it is more abundant and can more easily affect and distort the reality around. These phenomena are called manapoints. Now, manapoints that have been left to pool and develop on their own can turn into small ‘manarealms’. These manarealms are some-what small and enclosed areas in a seemingly separate plane of existence…”
“So they’re like portals?”
“Manapoints that have developed a manarealm have portals at their center to which you can access this separate ‘space’... These spaces can range from being the size of a few small rooms to the size of a fortress.”
“I see. So these manarealms are what I’d guess are the things we call ‘dungeons’?”
“Precisely. In these separate realms, you can find all sorts of mutated creatures and monsters as well as even a plethora of rare or seldom-seen materials. Hence all of this is what motivated a great many to form guilds of adventurer’s and what not to venture into the dungeons for loot and riches.”
I continued to nod as I let all that explanation sink into my brain. It was easy enough for me to process as regardless of whatever strange phenomenon that were to plague a world, making it a part of day to day life would only serve to showcase the tenacity of human beings to adapt. None more so than the Adventurer’s Association that Al had mentioned.
“So these adventurer’s guilds you mention. They specialise in dealing with anything related to manarealms, dungeons, and the like?”
At my question Alfred only gave a wry smile as he scratched the back of his head, “Sure the concept of the adventurer’s guild might have started out that way, but the reality is they’re just an association of a bunch of glorified mercenary bands. And this is coming from a former adventurer, mind you. Well perhaps we’re a little more official than your common bandit mercenary, what with the set of tests and examinations you have to go through to be recognised as an adventurer within the guild.”
“Examinations and tests?” I raised an eyebrow
“Oh you’ll get to that eventually Charlie, there’s no need to worry. The examinations are to determine the so-called grade of your prowess in battle as well as your competency in finishing missions.”
“Yes but what would the selection process entail? Are they physical examinations? Practical tests in completing quests, or-..?”
“Charlie, I joined the guild almost 60 years ago and I haven’t been active in any of the recruitment processes in over 30 years, so I unfortunately wouldn’t be able to give you any useful information.”
“Ah, forgive me then. I must have gotten a little excited.” I chuckled “Perhaps I should ask the adventurers themselves when they arrive here.”
“Aye, that would be best.”
“But, I actually do have another more general question that’s been gnawing at me in regards to the adventuring guilds.”
“And that would be?”
“What is the relationship between the Kingdom and the Guild? From what I can gather, the adventurers’ association seem to be quite the powerful paramilitary group, complete with what are by all accounts powerful one-man-army warriors and mages. Does the crown not feel threatened by the mere presence of the guild? And what of the other countries?”
“Well for starters, each sovereign state generally has their own guild subservient to the state or the crown and-... y’know Charlie boy, the question you just asked me would take me a further 12 hours to just begin to explain the basic politics of Feldonia, let alone the background of the association and its roots in the ancient Collegia Advenia of the Aurian Empire. Are you sure you want me to start this? Because you know for sure I will see to it that you are not going to get an ounce of sleep…”
“On second thought…” I said sheepishly as I put my eating utensils down on my plate “It looks like I’ve finished my food and clearly I need to catch up on a lot more studying, hahaha… self-study of course…”
“It’s barely evening and you’re already planning to hit the hay? Have I been too lenient on you Charlie?” Alfred smiled as he reclined back on his chair “Ah well, I’ll be nice just this once, but you’re in for more pain at the break of dawn.”
“Noted.” I let out a sigh as I got up to ready myself to enter into the chambers
“Also here, to help you sleep!” Without warning Alfred had thrown another large book at me as it hit my back. I didn’t have time to dodge it as the force even made me stumble and nearly fell. I glared back at Alfred when I regained my balance.
“You really are getting insane, old man! Do you realise how expensive these books are?” I complained as I picked up the book which read at the cover, ‘The Adventurer’s Guilds: Our Mission and Duty’.
“Well then maybe you should’ve caught it properly. Hahahaha.” Alfred chuckled as he took a sip from his cup of tea “All that training and you still can’t even dodge that at least? You’re making your teacher look bad. Anyways, off you go!”
“Good night, Alfred.” I shook my head before I breathed out a sigh and smiled at the jovial old man. I really needed to start getting used to his antics. “I’ll be sure to give this a good read.”
And so with that I headed to close off another chapter in my days of training.