Each of my religious training illusions challenged my character and my faith. I was never super religious, I didn’t even know anyone who was. Everyone was aware of The King and his will through the appointment of Titles but I had never seen someone actively worship The King.
My first training changed everything about my life and made me rethink my resolve and thanks for the Title I was given. It taught me how to fight and when to fight. It taught me what to fight for and the sanctity of life. It also taught me to understand those who held no sanctity for said life and the evils they could inflict.
My second training changed me more. It taught me humility. I always thought of myself as a smart person but the setting both showed how far behind others I was in my studies as well as what comes with overconfidence in oneself. It made it extremely clear to me that Believing in oneself was a path to hubris. It made me understand that I didn’t have to believe in myself, The King believed in me and that was enough.
My third training showed me how to use the authority I was given. I was made a soldier of an army and forced to take orders. The commander forced my platoon to do unspeakable things to our enemies and once I understood that leaders could be abusive, I was thrust into the role of the commander as well.
It was in my third training that I began to experience a weird recurrence. I had noticed at certain points in all of my training that a sword appeared that was as incorporeal as me before I took action but seemed to be watching me. I could not grasp said sword and other illusions passed straight through it.
I spent about three months completing these puzzles and I thought that I would finish the others just as quickly. In my hubris I found myself stuck on the fourth for a whole year. I received no hints from Ronik or Mairi and was told that this lesson was one I both had to learn for myself and one of the most important.
After a year of attempting this trial and being stalked by an invisible sword, I stumbled upon the solution to the trial by sheer coincidence. I found myself tripped up at one moment and the task I thought was my duty to complete was finished by another person. I sat and watched the event unfold.
The simulation went on and task after task I just sat and watched. I watched guards catch a thief without intervening, I watched charitable acts take place over and over again without my intervention. Most of all, I witnessed many individuals make mistake after mistake. They each dealt with the consequences themselves and at the end, I passed the fourth illusion.
I sat confused in the white void for a moment before it struck me. Free will. Each of the people I watched and didn’t interact with showed how each of them was Free to do as they wish and it was through that Free will that they acknowledged The King.
I didn’t have to be down each and every person's throat that I came across. I didn’t have to be the one to catch every little petty criminal. Sometimes, the actions of others should remain their actions without me stepping in.
I was greatly humbled by this trial and it had been nearly a year and a half since I began. My magic and physical training never ceased but the thinking that I did between each trial continued to change my life.
My fifth trial was where everything started to change. During the 5th trial, the sword that I had been seeing in each of my trials before suddenly rested on my hip. It was sheathed in leather and gold and yet the hilt that stuck out of the scabbard remained incorporeal. I could not grasp the sword that hung at my side and yet the weight remained.
My fifth trial took me four months to complete but taught me how to tell the truth when I needed to and when lying could be better than the truth. I used lies to save multiple lives throughout the simulation but when in front of those I came to love, I needed to speak the truth. I needed to be open about my struggles so that I was not alone in my burdens.
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In my sixth trial, the sword weighed even heavier on my belt. It was heavy enough to be annoying but not something to struggle with. This trial took me another five months and I learned about patience. I didn’t have to rush things that aren't urgent and I most certainly don’t have to force someone to do something before they are ready to do it themselves. I can wait if necessary.
My seventh and eighth trials were even further weighed down by the sword but lessons of Self-control and Gentleness made my body feel light knowing that I had a greater understanding of myself. These trials took me another 5 months and 4 months respectively.
I had turned 17 when I started my eighth trial. I was much taller than I was when I started training and had filled out nicely. My control over earth magic was incredibly precise and Ronik had stopped treating me as a trainee and more like a peer. I still wasn’t able to beat him in a race but I made him work for it.
“Mairi, I know I should have probably asked a long time ago but the sword you guys are providing me in the simulation just keeps getting heavier and heavier. It’s starting to really drag me down.”
Mairi froze and Ronik stroked his beard with a rugged palm and muttered quizzically. Mairi turned to me and squeaked out, “Oli, we aren’t providing a sword with you in the illusions.”
“There was a sword in all the illusions but in the fifth illusion it attached itself to my hip and just keeps getting heavier.”
Ronik grumbled to himself a little longer before finally speaking out, “Boy, yer not going to like that I can’t tell you what is going on but hopefully things should be made clear when you finish your training. You only have two training left and you turn 18 in 8 months so just hold out a little longer.” He turned and as he walked away I heard him grumble under his breath. “Where on Gaea am I supposed to find a sword teacher for the damn know-it-all? Aye, I think I’m gonna need ma wife’s help with this one.”
My ninth Trial was unlike any other. The sword at my hip was nearly heavy enough to stop my normal gait and slowed down my progress through this trial much more than I wanted. I found myself in a library surrounded by mile-high bookshelves as far as the eye could see. It smelled of aged oak wood and old but cared for pages. Each book on the shelf looked well cared for and well-read.
The amount of knowledge kept in the library was nearly infinitesimal and I had no idea where to even begin with the trial. As if responding to my thoughts, the sword at my waist leaped out of its scabbard and zoomed down a row of shelves.
I followed to find the sword floating in front of a bookcase filled with similarly bound books that were numbered by volume. The weight of the sword returned to my scabbard and it was as if the sword was telling me to not run in the library. I pulled the first, of what must have been 200 numbered books from the shelf and began reading.
The start of a 200 book series that ended up being filled with the story of the previous knower, His story filled my mind night after night. His rise to power. His fights with Grot. His marriage. His relationship with his kids. And most of all, how he never considered himself wise, even with all the knowledge in the universe.
I finished the last book two nights before my 18th birthday. Ronik laughed joyfully at how exact the King’s plans were for me that he had even known exactly when I would finish all my trials.
On the eve of my birthday, I thanked Mairi for all the work that she did. We both knew that this would be the last time we would talk for quite a while as she needed to rest after three years of working non-stop.
I faded out of the white world only to find myself in a place similar to my heart space. In front of me were the braziers and the throne. However, the throne was not empty this time.
I found myself bowing on the ground from the weight that overtook the room. My eyes refused to lift off the ground.
“Do not look forward, Oli, my Knower, for if you do, you will fall blind.”
The figure stood from the throne. At his hip was a sword similar to the one that rested on my hip. The scabbard, the same as my own. “Oli Vestwood, In my name, The King, I give you the authority of the Knower, my knight, the one who will do my will. I bestow upon you The Prince as well, A sword that will rid the world of that which rots it.”
I felt the King’s sword touch each of my shoulders gently and finally the weight that had been hanging from my hip vanished. The sword was now solid and fit perfectly to my preferred weight as if it was both beside the King and a part in itself at the same time. One that he had granted me to wield.
He turned and returned to his throne where he sat once more. “Oli, you are asleep right now outside of this space. Once you awaken in the morning, you will be a fully-fledged Knower. The knowledge will likely give you the greatest headache of your life. Let Ronik help you meditate so that you can explore your knowledge and Live knowing that I am here for you and that I love you and all my creations.”
The King’s voice boomed in my ears and shook my heart. I felt my essence swell to me much stronger than before. It became as dense as elvish honey and as bright as the roaring sun. This rush of power shook me to my core and within moments my vision vaded and I entered the deep sleep that was promised to me.