The next morning, I was awoken by an intense pain in my abdomen. I curled in on myself and gave out a quiet moan. Luckily my new captor wasn’t in the hammock with me.
I kept shifting, trying to will my discomfort to stop, but the now remembered pains of hunger were too powerful.
I must have been overheard, because my captor soon appeared, carried me over to the firepit, and began to feed me stew.
To my shock, it had vegetables and meat in it, and I ate until I was almost certain that I would burst.
My captor and one of it subordinates, then held me upright and led me to a private area so that I could relieve myself.
The simple act of decency sent me into tears, and my captor took a minute to hold me in its embrace until I quieted.
Afterwards, I was placed into a sling and kept warm with blankets and animal furs. My captor walked beside me, holding his spear, and speaking softly to me.
His behavior was beginning to confuse me. Why did he torture me yesterday? Was it to make me compliant? Why go through all the effort to be kind to me today?
We kept moving through the dense foliage, but eventually my captor held up his spear high into the air and gave a shout.
The entire party stopped moving, and my captor pointed his spear tip down and spoke a short phrase.
Shortly after, the leaves began to move, and I screamed in alarm when dozens of dark-skinned creatures wearing plants appeared from nowhere.
My captor set a hand on me and tried his best to console me, but a couple of the dark-skinned creatures came to inspect me.
They looked similar to my captor, but with dark, almost black skin that reflected no light. There was no hair on their heads or chins, and their eyes had massive irises, leaving very little whites to their eyes.
They thankfully didn’t poke or prod me, but maybe my captor forbade them?
The creatures led us to a thicket of bushes, and we followed them inside to find a hidden shelter, lit with dozens of small flames.
Inside, I was taken from my sling and laid out on a cot for some of the Dark-skinned creatures to inspect. My captor stayed near, holding one of my hands, when possible, but allowed them to examine my naked body.
I was growing scared, it reminded me of a medical examination, but there was no way savages living between the mountain ranges would be intelligent enough to practice such a thing.
Eventually, an oil was rubbed into my skin, causing it to warm up. It felt quite pleasant, and I almost drifted to sleep out of sheer comfort.
I was prevented from doing so when they began to massage my limbs and forced what little mana remained in my body to activate.
I gave out a small shriek in pain, and gave a pleading look to my captor, asking him to stop them.
He ignored my pleas and leaned over to stroke my hair and speak softly in his foreign tongue.
Eventually, the torture stopped, and I watched as my captor gave what looked like monster cores to the dark-skinned ones. They gave him multiple bags, including one with additional flasks of oil, and then sent us on our way.
---
Arc
“… pool of mana!” Lancel’s brother shouted, then sent Lancel a glare, “Seriously Lancel, what the raging storm? Did you kidnap a spartan?”
Lancel, looking befuddled responded, “I know his mana pool is abnormally large, but…”
“Abnormally large!” Lancel’s other brother interrupted, “Are you honestly trying to downplay this?”
The table was interrupted by their father slamming his elbows on the table and burying his head in his hands, “I can’t believe I made such a fool of myself...”
“Wait, is that why you were acting so strange?” Lancel’s sister asked.
Her father nodded his head while still in his hands, “I mistook him for Lancel, scared the poor lad half to death.”
Rabiria placed her hand on her husband, “It’ll be alright, one embarrassing moment won’t be enough to send him running.” She turned to look at Lancel, “Now explain, I talked to Travis, and he’s just a farm-boy from some tiny Lakeland city. I thought Lakelanders exiled people with high mana?”
“They do, which is why Travis had to leave,” Lancel gave out a sigh, “Poor kid didn’t even have the heart to tell his parents. I knew he was going to leave the village on the first day of Fifthmonth, so I wanted to intercept him and bring him here. He’s essentially been training to be a soldier since he was 10, doing laps around the village, chopping down the entire town’s firewood supply last fall, and pestering all of the crafters in town to teach him.”
“I knew he’d do well if he joined the army and could become a knight even faster than me.” Lancel looked to his parents, “I haven’t asked him yet, but I’d like to make him a ward of the family. I’m not even sure if he’d say yes, he has a habit of always doing whatever he pleases. Despite my warnings about how difficult it will be to pass the Mage’s Academy exam; he’s been adamant about taking it.”
Rabiria gave out a sigh, “So that’s why you wanted to bring him to the party, it’d give you an excuse to ask him to become a ward and prevent the paladins from getting their hands on him when he fails the exam.”
Lancel nodded, then focused on his dad, “I already promised him that you and I could get him a recommendation for an advanced regiment in the army should he fail the exam, and he seemed appreciative. If you offered a wardship instead, there’s a decent chance he’ll take it, but maybe only after he fails the exam.”
“So,” Lancel’s brother summarized, “We have two days to convince Travis to become a ward before some paladin tells an impressionable horny teenager all about the ‘perks’ of being a Paladin of Apheros.”
Lancel’s other brother began to rub his forehead, “Should be easy, all we need is a miracle.” he stated sarcastically.
The family began to rise from their seats, deciding that the best course of action would be to treat him like family. Lancel began to head over to the guest house, but was followed by one of his brothers, “One last question Lancel.”
Lancel turned, “Uh, what is it, Tristan?”.
“You only learned how to activate your mana a few months ago, how did you know that Travis had a bigger mana supply than you before you returned from fighting the flood?”
Lancel, began to stammer, only now finally learning that Travis has a bigger mana supply than him.
His brother, clearly reading him like a book, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close to whisper, “Are you kidding me! You didn’t even know, and yet you bailed on a dozen parties.” Tristan began to breathe heavily, “How are you the worlds luckiest person alive!” He pushed Lancel against the wall, then held up his hands as if debating to strangle his brother.
His willpower held out, and he began to walk away, massaging his temples and muttering about needing a drink.
---
“…and that’s what happened.” I told to Travis after he turned in to his room for the night.
“So did Lancel really go through all of that trouble just to recruit me before he even knew about my mana level?” Travis asked while looking at his bed and then his evening robe, likely trying to figure out if he was supposed to sleep in it.
“You sleep in just the lower half.” Travis tapped his right ear and I continued, “My thinking is that he probably wasn’t invested in going to those post flood celebrations and knew instinctively that something was special about you. He probably just couldn’t figure out what.”
“And thus, he turned a terrible plan into an actual good one.” Travis looked around the room, “I’m pretty sure I’d say yes if they offered me a wardship. I know Knights will often work together with Mages, so it’d be a good alternative to the Mage’s Academy.”
“No interest in becoming a paladin? It sounds like they got a great sales pitch.”
“Ugh, no thanks. From what I’ve read, they don’t work with the Mage’s Academy at all. Plus, it’d be the worst aspects of a soldier and monster hunter combined. Random location assignments and lack of higher knowledge resources.”
I watched Travis put out the lanterns in the room, leaving a single [Fire Orb] for himself, before crawling into bed.
“So…” I mentally grin to myself, “How did your date with Caldia go?”
Not taking my bait, he tried to shrug it off, “A house tour doesn’t count as a date.”
“Oh, I was referring to the lovely light show that you put on to impress her…” I watched Travis squirm in his bed, “You even did the classic rookie mistake of trying to do something above your skill level.”
Travis let out a groan, turned over to his side, and began to tap his left ear.
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I gave out a hearty laugh at him, happy that he was finally acting like a normal teenager.
---
Travis
I slept in for far longer than I anticipated, Arc didn’t even wake me, and I was surprised at how long I had slept.
Guess those fortress keep beds aren’t as high in quality as the one I’m in. I take a moment to luxuriate in its softness; yep, I’d be willing to become a ward if I got to sleep in a bed this nice.
After changing into a set of my own clothes, I made my way to the kitchens and was greeted by the staff. They made me a delicious breakfast sandwich and mentioned that a few of the guards were asking during breakfast if I was going to demonstrate my weapon.
I decided to take the offered suggestion, and went out to the training yard, where I saw Lancel getting beat handily by his older brother with a quarter staff.
Not wanting to disturb the hilarious sight, I caught eyes with one of the guards, and he tossed me a staff so that the two of us could spar.
“You’ll need to adjust your stance more like this,” the guard demonstrated, “You’re not very tall, so half of your opponents will outreach you. Your best bet is to focus on a more balanced approach and keep those heavy swings for feints and finishers.”
We sparred for a good hour, and he was able to help fill in and fix the techniques Franklin taught me. Afterwards we started chatting while taking some time to cool down with some water.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you become a guard for a noble house?”
“To be honest, mostly for the perks.” He pointed around the area, “I’d be stuck in a small apartment, forced to work in a factory or sign on for a life commitment to the army.”
He continued, “Instead, my wife and I get to live here on the estate with our children, and she never has to cook a day in her life. Sure, she does the laundry for everyone here, but she’d go mad if she didn’t have any work to do.”
“Plus, my oldest son only has a few more years before he turns 15 and can become a ward. Maybe he’ll be able to do what I couldn’t and become a knight.”
I took in his point of view, and could easily see the upside, “There must be some downsides, right? What if he doesn’t make the cut?”.
He nodded his head, “He’d lose his wardship, be forced to become a guard if he wished to remain, and his children would have a low chance of being asked to become wards.” He turned his head towards the inner city, “The guards of the oldest families are completely composed of failed knights, subtle reminders to their children to not slack off or be disrespectful to the staff, since they may one day join them.”
“Well, that’s one way to keep your kids from being spoiled.”
Lancel and his brother began to approach us, his brother displaying the family grin, while Lancel trudged a bit behind looking slightly tenderized.
“Good morning Travis!” Lancel’s brother shouted, “Was Barry able to help you out?”
I nodded my head, “Quite a bit, although I doubt I’ll be able to remember everything when we spar tomorrow.”
Lancel’s brother gave out a short laugh, “It’ll come and go some days, but eventually you’ll have it down to instinct.” He held out a hand for me to shake, “Name’s Tristan, I’m Lancel’s oldest brother.”
I went to shake his hand and was startled when he pulled me in close and placed his left forearm over my back in a half-hug.
Lancel took a moment from lamenting over his soon to be bruises and started to laugh, “He’s a Lakelander, they don’t do shield-brother greetings.”
“Looks like they’re making their first moves. Did you decide if you wanted to make them sweat or not?”
I did my best to hold back my grin, then squirmed a bit in his hold to signal him to let go, “Sorry, my dad always told me not to man-handle the cattle or people, makes them agitated.”
Tristan, now with the grin wiped off his face, awkwardly started stepping back a bit to give me space, “My bad, just wanted to make you feel welcomed.”
I had planned to let the silence fill the air for a bit, but Lancel quickly put an end to it, “How about you show Tristan your weapon, maybe he’ll know what to help you with better than me?”
I went to the armory to retrieve it and noticed a few more guards and Lancel’s sisters outside when I returned.
I was a little nervous giving a presentation to so many people, but once I started going over the specifications of my poleaxe, I found myself talking like a salesman.
Well, at least until Caldia asked a question, “I thought halberds went out of style in the army since they required two hands and can easily break on monsters with tough hides?”
Despite enjoying the sight of Tristan and Lancel wincing at the question, I was a bit irritated, “It’s not a halberd, it’s a poleaxe.” I pointed to the langets that ran part way down the shaft, “A halberd is just a weapon head on a bare, easy to break, pole. This can take a beating and not even crack.”
I handed my poleaxe off to Tristan, and he began to play with the weapon a bit. A few of the guards joined him, and I decided to approach the two ladies while they tested a few stances and swings.
“Hello, I am Travis from the Lakeland city of Aelder Creek, it is a pleasure to formally meet you.” I gave a short, but formal, Lakelander bow.
“Pleased to meet you Travis, I am the future Matriarch of Clan Hopkins, Marcia. I believe that you’ve already become acquainted with Caldia?” She gave a similar bow, though not as low.
“Yes, she made a wonderful host.” I turned to the men all taking turns with my poleaxe and winced slightly when one guard almost hurt himself, “Did you come for the weapon demonstration?”
“No, we came to get you actually. We pulled out the old wardrobes and wanted to see if there was anything that would suit you.”
I looked down at myself, “I’ll need to bathe first,” I nodded my head to the women and then waved to the boys, “I’ll be back later, just hang it back up when you’re done fishing-around.”
---
Arc
Yep, Travis is definitely going to have fun messing around with these guys. The second he left the yard, all of the men inspecting the weapon began loudly discussing their opinions.
“How in the storm are you supposed to use this on a horse?”
“This thing is so top heavy.”
“You’d need to be fully armored to make up for the lack of defense.”
“Where’s Hector when you need him?”
“Not sure,” Tristan piped in, “Marcia’s been complaining that he’s been keeping her in the dark about a job offering, and as a result, rarely comes home for more than a few hours every day.”
Lancel groaned a bit as he massaged a forming bruise on his leg, “Not sure if even Dad would know what to teach Travis, he never trained with axes or hammers in the army.”
Barry the guard moved over to Lancel, “Has Travis ever used this thing in combat?”
Lancel nodded his head, “I can’t give out the full details, but Travis used this to fend off an attack in his village right before he left.” He took a second to shudder at the remembered sight of Travis’ victims, “That axe-head was able to cut through a creature’s ribcage and tear the heart, and the hammer-end was able to turn a skull into mush.”
Tristan looked up with a raised eyebrow, “I think I might have downplayed my description when I called it brutal-looking.”
Lancel nodded at Tristan, “Hey, could you check it with your mana sight?”
Tristan focused his eyes, and then almost dropped the weapon when he noticed the amount of embedded mana, “What the…!”
All eyes darted to Tristan, waiting for him to give an explanation.
Yes, do tell them Tristan… I darkly laughed to myself.
“We’re going to have to add blacksmiths to the list of people to keep away from Travis.”
---
After watching the men fumble around trying to come up with ideas to endear Travis to the clan for an hour, I decided to drift my focus over to Travis.
He was trying to put on a robe, but stopped before he put his arm all of the way in, “Umm, this feels a bit tight…”
One of the attendants inspected his arm, and then took the robe from him, “He’s correct,” she patted his bare torso, “He’s bulkier than some of our guards.”
Marcia and Caldia both began to laugh at what I must assume was Travis blushing at the compliment.
Marcia turned to her sister, “Mom was right, we’ll have to get something tailored last minute. The only thing we got that fits is pitch black, and…” she looks up at Travis, “that color doesn’t quite suit him.”
“Plus,” Caldia added, “he’s a Lakelander, so he should be wearing Lakeland colors.”
Travis cleared his throat, “He’s standing right here…”
Caldia held up a hand, shocking her older sister, “Shush, the ladies are playing with their new doll.”
The face Marcia made sent me into a frenzy of laughter. Travis, snuck in a grin to Caldia, and then began to visibly frown and give her a mild glare, “I’m not even sure as to why I’d want to go to a party with a bunch of snobby nobles.”
Damn, did Travis secretly collude with Caldia to have her help him tease her family? Hmm, don’t see anything in my memory, she must have simply noticed Travis playing hard-to-get, and wanted to join in on the fun.
Marcia, now getting double-teamed, visibly struggled to come up with an appealing reason, “Well… to flaunt off your humble origin, of course.” She continued with renewed confidence, “They may look down at you at the party tomorrow night, but when you meet them in the future, you’ll be able to flaunt your accomplishments in their embarrassed faces.”
Travis, pulled out a smile that he hadn’t used since he stopped bullying, “Hmm, that does sound like fun.”
---
The day continued, and the antics around the estate were getting downright hilarious.
Marcia pulled Caldia aside to yell at her for sabotaging a future prospect of the family, but Caldia countered that she refused to be married off to some random hick just because he had a big mana pool. Marcia tried to console her and state that she would never force her to marry someone she didn’t choose, but Caldia stormed off to her room so she could finally let out the laughter that she was suppressing.
Tristan and Lancel kept trying to come up with ideas to woo Travis, but not all of them were winners. Requesting supper to be Lakelander comfort food, good idea. Inviting him to the sauna with them, bad idea. Offering to take him to the mall in a few days, apparently they have those in this universe, good idea. Not giving Travis a moment to himself all day, bad idea.
Eventually supper drew near, and more of the family was present this time. Tristan introduced his pregnant wife and daughter, Varia and Silia. Percy, apparently that was the other brother’s name, also introduced his fiancé, Lucia.
The table grew quiet as food was served, and Rabiria offered to let Travis make the first dinner prayer. Sadly, Travis didn’t know any formal dinner prayers to Apheros, but the Matriarch followed up by using an informal one to Torbolt as well.
The table resumed its silence, and I noticed it was safe to [Message] Travis, “Ok, I think you’ve left them stranded long enough, maybe you should throw them a paddle?”
Travis idly tapped his right ear while he finished eating, once done, he scanned the table. To his surprise, he was the last one to finish.
“So... Travis,” Darius spoke, “I heard that I missed the poleaxe demonstration. Would you be willing to show it to me before you turn in for the night?”
“Of course, I’d be happy to.” Travis rubbed his chin for a moment, “That reminds me, I probably won’t be able to bring that with me to basic training if I fail the Mage’s Academy exam. Are there any advanced regiments that use two-handed weapons? I should probably strive for one of those.”
“There are, though most of them focus on search and destroy missions for high threat monsters.” Darius rested his chin on his hand, “A lot of nobles will push their children into those regiments, they have a high chance of producing Knights.”
Travis nodded his head, “Hmm, that brings up another question. How does someone apply to become a ward?”
Silence filled the room, and Travis had to slide his hand up to cover his escaping grin.
Darius had to clear his throat multiple times before he finally spoke in a clearly forced casual tone, “Would you be interested in becoming a ward of Clan Hopkins?”
Travis, overacting a tad, spoke in a casual tone as well, “Well, I’m going to need a backup in case I fail the exam, and it sounds like it’ll be tough to get a spot on one of those regiments. So, yeah, if you’re offering…”
Caldia finally lost her composure and began to giggle out loud, drawing the ire of quite a few people, but Darius apparently couldn’t hear her. He was too busy smiling at Travis.
“If that’s the case,” Darius stood up and gestured at Travis to join him, they both stood before his wife and Darius continued, “Matriarch Rabiria of Clan Hopkins, I present for your approval, Travis of the Lakeland city, Aelder Creek. Though young, he has shown great dedication to his self-improvement, and has even fought side by side with our own son Lancel. I request to have him be named a ward of the family, granting him full membership upon knighthood.”
Travis, no longer hiding his smile, was joined by the rest of Clan Hopkins.
Rabiria, still remaining composed, nodded towards her husband, “You have my approval, Darius, First Knight of the Hopkins Clan.” She turned to Travis, “Allow me to be the first to welcome you as a ward of our family.” She then stepped forward to give Travis a shield-brother hug.
Cheering erupted from the table, and servants quickly appeared unprompted, carrying celebratory drinks.
After being let go, Travis was patted on the back by Darius, and almost knocked him over. A few laughs were given at Darius’ expense, but he shrugged them off and handed a mug of ale to Travis.
The room went quiet as Travis held his mug, he looked around a bit before finally asking, “Is that it? I assumed there be some long overly ornate ceremony or something?”
Laughter filled the room before Tristan answered, “A good number of wardships are given out in the field, plus, I get the feeling you wouldn’t be up for the 2-hour version of the ceremony.”
Travis visibly shuddered and went to drink from his mug. Cheers from the room soon followed.