" Wait so you're telling me that my dad was a weapon master" Cedric felt pride swell within him and he broke into a grin.

My dad saved the whole world, wow and mom kept this from he thought. " So what happened then, after the barrier was up?"

Marcus shrugged" Isaac the other survivor and I moved as fast as we could, but with our injuries it took us a whole week to return to the capital, once we arrived we found that the city was in a month of celebration, but to me that was meaningless" he said " the king even gave me a medallion, but it wouldn't bring my best friend back."

" So what happened next?" Cedric asked

" I later found out that the reason we few were sent was because a few influential members of the higher class felt that the weapon masters had become to strong and the power of the crown started to shift to a more ruling body and democratic, then a kingship, so they chose all those that held sway and were pushing to a more fair and less corruptible, they sent us to die" rage seemed to pour out of Marcus and his eyes seemed to glow green" they didn't even care that the cursed would kill millions, all they cared about was their positions of power, so there you have it Cedric those are the people who killed your father and they're the ones who also want to see you dead."

Cedric looked at Marcus “ why”?

“ Because before your father died he was one of the main driving forces against them and was almost successful before the war, and if you're anything like your dad they are afraid you might pick up where he left off.” Marcus sat back leaning into his travelers pack.

Cedric sat their in silence for a few minutes. "Who?".

Marcus looked up at the boy and he froze.

Cedric had blue waves of power radiating across his body and his eyes were completely blue and no longer had any white in them. Cedric was squeezing his hands and seemed to be crushing the air around him.

Marcus slowly moved to him and let out a bit of his aura to touch Cedric. He placed his hand on Cedrics shoulder and used his aura to place Cedrics back inside.

" Calm down, and I'll tell you more but right now you can't be having a fit" marcus said.

Slowly the blue receded back into his body and his eyes returned to normal. After a few moments Marcus sat back down.

“I don't know the names of the nobles who did this but I know who did play the biggest hand and who would know the names of the others"Cedric eyes sharpened a little and his eyes narrowed and he spat out

"Who?" Marcus gave a huge sigh.

" The bitch who runs everything behind the curtain and uses the king as a puppet, her royal majesty the queen Adeline".

Cedric nodded his head and stood up and grabbed his staffs and started practicing the ten forms of the mountain. Outside he seemed calm and collective, but inside it was if a beast was roaring against the gates that held it, but Cedric kept his inner rage in check.

Marcus watched the internal struggle and nodded in satisfaction at his self control. Marcus gathered his own staffs and faced Cedric.

" You have come along way, at the beginning you would've raged and let your emotions run wild, good job you are now ready for the real training." Marcus began to trace lines in the dirt and each time he finished a symbol it glowed green for a moment then faded back to normal. He traced all around them until a circle of patterns twenty yards in diameter surrounded them.

" this is the circle of masters , each and everyone who has entered the order has stepped in a circle like this, this is where you make your choice, a choice to become more than an avenger of your father but a person who will continue to do what is right even at the cost of ones life" Marcus stood in the middle and thrust both of his staffs into the ground and arcs of green energy spread around moving through the circle, illuminating the symbols.

Marcus stared into Cedric eyes and motioned him forward " you now must choose, to follow the path of revenge or the path your father would want you to walk."

Cedric gazed at Marcus for a split second before moving to the center near him " I choose to protect those against the darkness and the corrupted, I choose to give everyone the right to be free, and I choose to follow my father down the path of good "

Marcus gave a nid of approval " good now repeat these words and the rite of passage is done".Marcus then brought his hands together and clasped them tightly almost in a religious posture.

"I say this oath in the days of despair and darkness where all seems lost I shall prevail and cast out the dark, I will protect the people, the land, and the future. I will not cower nor flee but stand my ground and fight to my last breath, and in the last moments of my life I shall know that what I bleed and die for is righteous."Cedric repeated these words and felt his heart clench and a surge of warmth move through his body and settle on his chest. Cedric smiled and looked at the circle that now started to fade.

Marcus pulled his staffs out of the ground and walked back to his pack and removed the two axes. Carrying both to Cedric.

" Come here and kneel" without hesitation he moved in front of him and knelt." On this day you are now a pommel of the order and have sworn the oath, welcome brother" and with that Marcus used the axes to make two cuts on his cheeks, one on either side.

Cedric gazed up at Marcus and took his hand and jumped back to his feet. Marcus pulled some ointment from his jacket and handed it to him" this will stop the bleeding and make sure they scar, they will be a reminder of your oath." He took the paste and rubbed it into the cuts, they stung a bit and the smell of the ointment made him gag.

Cedric handed back the medicine. " So what is a pommel?"

" A pommel is the first level of the order, next is the hilt,the guard, the blade, and finally wielder." Marcus rolled up his sleeve of his left arm to show a forest green sword that had an intricate pattern on the blade, the cross guard had two ends jutting out and with points pointing up to catch any blades, and finally the handle was long enough to hold two hands .

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Cedric gazed at the beautiful design and looked up at Marcus.

" so what are you then?"he asked curiously

" I was a blade and a captain of the order" Marcus said " each time you complete a mission and are recognized for your achievements you move up and are given part of your weapon, this is a symbol of your status and experience".

Cedric nodded his head.

" so what's next then?" He asked

" Well I'm going to train you as much as I can and then we're going to the capital so you can go to the weapons school and integrate yourself within the city" Marcus stated

" Why do I have to go to school, can't I just train with you?"Cedric whined

" Well you see, I can teach you to fight and protect yourself but you need to learn the ways of the political world and how social status works, because frankly you have been pretty sheltered your whole life." Marcus moved himself in front of Cedric and took position.

Cedric stopped practicing and moved himself to face his master, he positioned his staffs and separated his feet. He grinned and motioned to Marcus, Marcus raised his eyebrow before smiling and then moving to him with his staffs swinging. Cedric sidestepped and blocked the first blows before swinging back at marcus, he blocked the staffs with one hit and countered with his free hand. Cedric saw the attack and stepped backwards to dodge.

Marcus chased him and kept swinging his staffs in what seemed like random patterns, Cedric blocked maybe one out of three of the hits, each hit making him wince in pain, but made him double his efforts. The sound of their staffs hitting echoed across the forest, marcus was slowly increasing speed and Cedric was able to keep pace except for now then a hit would slip through his defense, a hit to the midsection made him grind his teeth and made him increase his speed, soon enough he was matching marcus with every hit and even now and then a few were slipping through and making contact. They were moving around the camp in a flurry of movement, after a few minutes Marcus called for a break.

Cedric grabbed his water skin and drank deeply before tossing it to marcus. He took a quick swig before passing, Cedric chest moved up and down from the match and his hands were numb from the constant blocking, but his head was clear and he felt a deep satisfaction at finally making contact with Marcus. He gestured to Marcus" I think I'm finally as fast as you now."

Marcus smirked" kid you don't even know about speed".

Next thing he knew was that Marcus was next to him with his staff placed on his throat. Cedric eyes went wide in fear and his throat locked up.

I didn't even see him move not even a blur , it was like he just appeared like a specter, a deep fear settled inside Cedric as he gazed at Marcus.

"Your getting better but right now you are barely reaching the very beginning of your potential, you haven't even learned how to channel your aura into your weapons nor are you even close to channeling it into your body."

Cedric let this sink in and then slowly pushed the staff out from under his neck. He turned and faced marcus " teach me then" he said.

"What's the difference between channeling aura and merging your weapon with your soul?" Cedric asked

"Well for one thing you have to be strong enough and have enough experience and control to actually pull your soul out and fuse it with a weapon, secondly aura is the natural energy that you gather in life from the moment you're born, another name for it is life energy." Marcus raised his hand and a green flamed appeared in his hand.

" Now the big difference between aura and soul is that to gain more aura you can train your body and by doing this you strengthen the container to hold more aura". Marcus formed the flame into a green figure " but your soul is a limited resource that once depleted its gone forever." The green figure grew brighter and brighter with each word but by the end it was starting to fade and finally extinguished.

" Is that why we merge our souls with weapons?" Cedric asked

Marcus nodded with a smile." Correct we do this to not only strengthen a permanent weapon that can handle our aura but to utilise it to its full potential."

Cedric shook his head following along.

Marcus nodded his head. " Alright I think your ready, now I want you to think of your reason, something that you can think of in the future in any situation, something that fills your entire being with a purpose."

Cedric thought about it for a few minutes before closing his eyes and letting his mind relax. His mind was full of uncertainty over all that had transpired when finally he found it, it was like a light was lit and he was overflowing with the answer.

What gives me purpose, why do I fight, is it for revenge no, is it for the injustice that this kingdom has no, I fight for the opportunity that everyone has the same chance and value, I fight so that future generations will never have to worry about their social status nor how much they own, I fight so that lives will never be wasted because each one is priceless.

Like a wave, a blue mist moved through his body and filled him with a new feeling. He opened his eyes and looked at his arms and legs and noticed that their wasn't a blue mist, maybe I imagined it he thought.

Marcus looked at Cedric with disbelief.It takes years of meditation and training to find ones purpose and even then never this much aura at once. He stared at the boy as Cedric looked at his hands and looked up at him.

Cedric felt a new sensation in his mind, almost like a rushing water that seemed to have been spread all over his body and rotated around his heart. This feeling came with a deep calming and peaceful feeling, like he was missing a piece of himself and now he was whole, he grasped on this feeling and like a trickle of water it moved wherever he thought, he moved the power to his hands and down to his staffs.

Marcus sensed the power moving and watched as it lit up the staffs and turned their red wood into a bright blue. The power made the wood hum and filled the air with noise. Marcus was impressed, most people take at least a few days to be able to push even a drop of power into their weapons. Marcus grinned and reach for the power and let it flow into his staffs.

Cedric felt the wood hum in his hands and squared off with Marcus. He spun his staffs and watched as a little bit of blue was left in the air.

" Focus Cedric your letting your energy leak everywhere, contain it almost like your squeezing it, but not to tight you need to be able to direct it".

He closed his eyes and mentally compressed the energy and felt the hum decrease but the light brightened.

" Good,now you need to know that your aural well isn't bottomless and you have limits, search in your mind and find it". He searched deep in his mind, it was like stumbling in the dark and after a while finding a small hole in the wall, he touched it and like door pushed it open to find a wall of power that came rushing through the opening. It felt like his body was on fire and his body started to spasm.

Marcus ran to him and grabbed his arms" CEDRIC!!" He forced his aura into his body and pushed back against the wave of power, he gritted his teeth in effort.

By the gods I've never felt this much energy in one body, let alone causes one to feel physical pain. He pushed against this tidal wave and was able to shut the door only barely.

Immediately Cedric stopped shaking and he passed out. Marcus leaned back on the ground and let out a breath. " What the fuck was that."