"Do you have any other questions Apollo?" asked the scholar
"I don't have any more at the moment, mentor"
"If that's the case, then I will take my leave," the man stood up and walked towards the doorway, "Same time tomorrow lad, farewell".
"Farewell sire" replied Apollo as he bowed in a refined manner, he watched his mentor leave the hall whilst being escorted by Alfred.
Apollo sat back down on his chair and took a look at the book once more, 'this should be the start of my adventure' he thought. He was in dire need of some sort of translation skills for when he set off for the other continents in the future and the book just happened to fall into his hands which lessened his worries from language barriers. He figured that communication would be a big problem if he wanted to interact with individuals from foreign countries, with this book the only worry he has now is if the people he wishes to interact with know the language of Promethia. "Right this is also a concern", knowing the fact that only a certain class of humans study this language then he can only imagine that only a minority of races actually practice this language, 'If only my system could auto-translate for me' he thought, shaking his head,
"Now's not the time to complain" he sighed. Apollo had to be thankful for his system's already existing functions, it was better than having none at all.
Apollo stared into empty space until Alfred interrupted his train of thoughts, "Hot chocolate young master?", said the timely man as he offered a cup of warm hot chocolate,
"Thank you, Alfred", he said, gulping on the hearty drink. "Alfred, what is usually taught in a military institution?" asked the curious boy. He often pondered if it was anything like the American boot camps, perhaps he'll even meet his own gunnery sergeant Hartman, 'that would be nice' he thought.
"A range of areas are covered" replied Alfred, "The primary courses taught in such establishments include close-quarters combat, melee training, archery, military strategy, and perhaps horsemanship. It all depends on the focus of the institution, young master".
"Is that so, well do you know the focus of the institution that I will attend?"
"Forgive my lack of knowledge young master, but your lordship has kept the finer details to himself. Although, I have been notified that it will be built in the town of Trim rather than Hollevin."
'Trim? why would he build it there,' wondered Apollo. He heard from his mother that the town had only begun its construction roughly 5 years ago, perhaps this project, 'Jugend' isn't as important as he thought it would be. Unless he's trying to keep it under the sheets for some unknown reason. 'Father you are too cunning, I can't read you at all'.
"Alfred, you mentioned horsemanship, what's the deal with that?" he asked whilst drinking the cup of hot chocolate.
"That is a course specifically for elite candidates, young master" answered the doubtful man. "Only the top of the graduates ever experience horsemanship as it paves the way for knighthood, of course, you can entirely skip this process since you are of noble lineage". The noble families of Redania were entitled to become knights without the prior conditions of military service. This was one of the many privileges that came with the ruling class. However, only the truly powerful nobles had the right to employ knights as they were a symbol of power.
"Hmm....tell me, Alfred, how many knights does House Heimarch have?", Apollo wasn't entirely sure his family even employed any since he hasn't seen any of the soldiers ride any horses throughout his short life.
"In normal circumstances, his lordship, Count Tyranir officially does not employ any knights, however-" he trailed and looked outside the manor through the windows, Apollo followed his sight and noticed his father's elite regiment of soldiers patrolling the manor grounds,
"You mean...."
"Yes sire," Alfred quickly ended the conversation there.
'A secret force huh? just what could father be afraid of?' he thought to himself. Something was amiss and the young boy began to worry.
"*ahem*, Alfred, how well do you fare in archery?", the young boy swiftly changed the topic,
"It wouldn't be my specialty young master but I can hold my own," a humble reply.
Apollo knew for a fact that his butler was being secretive and low-key, he wouldn't be surprised if Alfred could do just about everything and excel at it. Alfred reminded him of the type of person that would be in the special forces back on Earth, 'an agent 007'.
Alfred has been with him since the day he began to walk on his little legs, he always knew that there was something weird about him, as a matter of fact, he's the only person he's ever met from the so-called 'Argon' family apart from the officers. He was very curious about this secretive branch of the Heimarch family and the 'pact' that his father talked about, but he was self-aware as not to overstep his boundaries. He did not want to be overly cautious with his own family as that would put him in an unfavorable position.
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"That's good enough, I'd like to learn the art of archery, so if you don't mind," ensued the boy.
Alfred often wondered why his master wanted to do all these different activities but he could only comply, "I understand, come with me, young sir".
Apollo followed Alfred towards the barracks, however before they could even enter the building, they heard incessant cheers and jeers resounding from the inner courtyard. Alfred looked back at Apollo dubiously as if asking for permission,
"Alright let's check what my sister is doing" Apollo sighed, he truly wished to ignore the actions of Ares since he always seems to get injured in some way whenever Ares looked for him.
When they stepped inside the courtyard, Apollo saw multiple injured soldiers on the ground being treated by servants and a crowd of soldiers around the perimeter cheering for a young woman who was in a melee fight with an officer.
The officer was a fierce-looking man that towered over the bold woman, he was at least two heads taller than her but that wasn't much of an advantage given his apparent slow speed. He wielded a long Warhammer which differed from the infantries spears.
He swung wildly at the woman but she was too fast and agile, she just ducked down and stabbed at his opening, quickly ending the fight as the tall man bent inwards from the strike thus falling onto his knees in pain, thankfully he was wearing armour or else he would've been impaled by the longsword. The fight ended just as it started, it wasn't even worth noting.
Ares sheathed her sword and beckoned for another challenger, "Come on you weak bastards, today is a good day!", she shouted aloud followed by another burst of cheers. Suddenly, a person of a similar stature entered the fray, surprisingly, it was another woman, she had short blonde hair and the bluest of eyes, "Lady Ares, I'll gladly take your challenge" she said in a resolved manner.
"Oh? what's a pretty girl like you doing in this den of wolves," remarked Ares, she was expecting another round of laughs but to her surprise, the soldiers around her all looked seriously silent, 'Interesting' she thought, It was her first time seeing this woman.
"I'm just another recruit" replied the blonde woman as she stood opposite Ares with a longsword at hand ready for a duel.
"Alright, I like your guts blondie, come let me have a taste of your blood" smirked Ares as she flashed her longsword towards her opponent, she was determined to beat down another recruit. A daily activity for the young maiden.
Apollo looked at Alfred and asked him, "Who do you think will win?",
"I'm not entirely sure young master, that woman seems to be hiding her skill" he replied as he grasped his left side.
The young boy became increasingly curious so he watched the fight with an intense focus, It was not everyday that Alfred became unsure of an outcome.
Hearing Ares' provocation, the blonde woman sprung into action, rapidly closing in on the stationary redhead. When she was within distance, she swung her sword horizontally, "Clang", the loud sound of metal collision reverberated throughout the courtyard. "You're pretty strong" muttered Ares as she blocked the slash and returning with it a diagonal slash of her own aiming for the woman's neck. However, she missed her target as the blonde woman stepped backward, and at that moment, she thrust her sword forwards targeting Ares' heart, *Clang*, another parry. A drop of sweat trickled along Ares' forehead as she glanced at the comfortable woman in front of her, 'this bitch' she cursed. Ares swung at her once again but this time she threw a feint waiting for the woman's retaliation and as expected, the blonde woman stepped to the right and slashed at her but Ares was prepared. She swooped downwards and kicked the blonde woman's legs knocking her onto the floor, *thud* thereafter, holding her longsword against the neck of the woman on the ground, "Got you, you sly fox" she laughed with a grin followed by a loud cheer from the spectating soldiers.
"What's your name recruit?" asked Ares, baffled by the way she moved, it was different from your average recruit.
"Joan, milady" replied the defeated blondie.
"A suitable name, you're now a servant of mine, isn't that right Marcus?", Marcus was the groaning man on the floor who wielded the Warhammer.
"...Y-yes..Lady Ares...not a problem at all". He truly did not want to mess with the girl after what just happened to him.
"Good", Ares clapped her hands signaling the nearby servants, "Show Joan to her new station".
"Your will is our command," shouted two servants in unison.
Apollo praised the woman for her keen battle instincts, she was nowhere near the level of his grandfather but he still congratulated her mentally for he knew how strong Ares was. He did not think he would win against her looking back at the way she dodged Ares' strikes, he knew that he wasn't as agile as the woman. Credit is due where credit is deserved. With time he believes he can easily defeat her just like Ares had done, he wasn't intimidated by her remarkable display of skill, rather she propelled him to try harder.
"Come, Alfred, I've seen enough", he made up his mind.
"As you wish", Alfred resumed his direction and Apollo followed after him leaving the noisy courtyard. They arrived in front of a reinforced room that had a barricaded window with a small opening and a locked door to the right of it. Inside the window, you could see the back of a man inspecting 'goods' as he wrote stuff down in a journal of sorts, he looked quite busy.
"Drebin" called out Alfred.
The busy man turned around and noticed the rare butler, "It's been a while mister Argon", he muttered, walking towards the window, he looked downwards noticing the boy following his old acquaintance, he stopped for a minute and immediately bowed, "Young master Apollo" he said resolutely. "What can I do for you's?", the man's attitude took a 180-degree turn.
"A shortbow and a quiver full of arrows" demanded Alfred,
"Understood, wait a minute," said the odd man as he disappeared into the confines of the inner room before coming back with a small wooden bow perfect for a small child and a leather quiver that contained about 30 arrows. "If you don't mind signing here," he said whilst handing Alfred a journal and an inked quill through the open slit.
Alfred signed the journal with his signature and stamped it using his noble stamp, then he proceeded to take the weapon and the ammo from the armorer, "Much appreciated Drebin".
"Wait!" shouted the man as he grabbed a leather piece from a nearby shelf and sliding it towards the slit, "For the young master".
"How thoughtful, right farewell," said Alfred as he took the leather item.
After saying their farewells, Apollo and Alfred exited the barracks and made their way towards a wooded area within the Heimarch estate. Apollo preferred to train in a place of quietness away from the constant chatter of others. He felt that he could focus better in quiet environments, unlike the noisy barracks which housed 12,000 odd soldiers.