Black, pitch black is all the eye can see, blacker than the night, blacker than a shadow, all I see is the black of the void; then suddenly, there is a light, it's small, but it's there, then there is two, then four, then eight, until there are sets of eyes ranging from one to six, everywhere, it's a terrifying scene, inhuman growling, chittering, whispers, wheezing, among other animalistic noises that sound as if these... things are stuck between realms, like they should not exist, whose very existence is an insult to the gods can be heard in all directions. One set of two eyes glows brighter than the rest; it appears to close in on me, a visage of a weird; yet cool-looking human with some kind; of chitinous growths on most of its body; I cannot make out the face of this entity, thinking I hear whispers, it all dissolves into a simple Onyx Black, and then. Del woke up in his bedroom, which could be reclassified as a closet; with a terrified gasp, I; look, around my room to see that everything was fine and that my cat; resting on her bed. Everything is fine, I thought to myself. "What was that?" I say; my cat, Fluffy, perks up as; I, spoke "your alright, buddy?" referring to Fluffy, "Ugh, it's okay; Del, it was just a nightmare, nothing more." "What time is it?" I wondered. I get out of bed, and after stretching, Del could smell something, "pancakes?" He thought; as he walked not far from his bed to the door; grabbing the knob, he opened the door; once; the door; is; wide open; I could accurately recognize the smell, "Yea; that's pancakes." Entering the room outside his, Del sees the short banister keeping living things from falling, the wooden walls with thicker wood bracing covering all; walls, two glass windows with wood support, the; banister a hardwood railing, smoothed and soaked with a flame repellant chemical, that is commonly found in any alchemy shop. The doors are wooden in the fashion as the walls, also with the bracing, and a small glass window similar to such as the windows in the wall; I walk across the room, passing by another door, the same as the others; but with a symbol on it; in the shape of a shield, "my brother's room," I said, reaching the side of the room, opposite of my room, there is another door with several symbols on it, fire to signify that the kitchen is in here, a seed to signify; that the main room in the house or a, living room as some call it, and just some minor ones, probably meaning some things that don't necessarily matter in the grand scheme of things, opening the door, I'm met with a more potent smell of pancakes, I see the kitchen, the floor an orange hardwood, the walls, similar to the walls from earlier but with kitchen tool racks and various decorations, such as a shield with swords in an x formation behind it, a painting of some trees and a river, it is of the jungles of the southwest, a sign saying "Family before everything, not sure if that should always be true" I thought, and; a planter box hanging from the wall with small farm crops planted in it, "that probably doesn't help with the costs of purchasing food, but it's somewhat convenient" I thought , there is more decorations but they are the kind decorations you would expect from a home, along with all that, is my mother, Sarabeth, wearing a white dress with some kind of a vest that a peasant might wear, "she probably just like how it looks," I thought, and leather boots with cloth wrapped around said boots, with leather strips to keep the, in place. "Hello," I say, "morning," my mother says, "pancakes done?" I say, "Almost," my mother says. I hear boots hitting the ground at a walking pace; a man enters the room, wearing leather pants, a cloth wrapped around the waist hanging down the back, a leather belt with a sword sheathed on the side, some steel armor covering the torso above the belt with fists of steel "Morning," my father says, "morning dear," my mother says, spotting me, my father says "you ready for your big day?" "Big day? Oh crap, I completely forgot about that!" I say, today was the day I was; scheduled an appointment to hopefully get my membership at the adventurers guild, "That's ok buddy, we still got some time left to study up some skills an adventurer needs on the job." "I've been waiting years for this day to come!" I thought, "Well, your training will have to wait because pancakes are done." said Mother, "alright." Father and I spoke simultaneously. After breakfast, Father and I go out to a training slash sparring area; to help me warm up for the entrance exam. As we leave the house and start towards the sparring area; my friend, Orryn; notices us and jogs over, "Hey; Del, where you off to?" Orryn says, "To the Rheztia Fighting Grounds, for Del to practice for his entrance exam for the adventurers guild," my father says, "Oh can I join? tomorrow is my; exam, so I'll need the practice." Orryn says, "Sure thing." I say, "Bet," Orryn says. As we near the fighting grounds, a woman leaning against a; wooden support next to a door, who looks like a half-ling from looking at her height, perks up when she sees us and says, "Yanric, haven't seen you in a while; where have you been?" "Had a few jobs to work on," my father says, "ah, adventurer stuff; huh, cool." Said the woman, "So, who are these two, huh?" the woman continued, "This is my son Del and his friend Orryn; they are training to join the guild" My father spoke, "Awesome, some of the next generation; of adventurers, this will be great," the woman said. "Who was that father," I asked, "she's a friend," Father answered. As we entered the structure, I was in awe, the building was practically a fortress, the walls of the place were all hard, smooth rock, there were wooden supports with metal rings and bolts in them, and the roof looked like thick wood with even; thicker, supports with more of this metal bolts, just the bolts were; thicker, in the; top; than the ones in the walls, the front doors looked wooden from the outside, but they were thick; metal, there was thick; metal gates in each doorway instead of the usual wood doors, and lastly the guards there were heavily armored with metal plated armor and metal plated shields, this place was simply magnificent "in awe huh," my father asked me and Orryn, I had not realized that our mouths were low, "yes," Orryn and I said in unison, "well wipe that face off because you guys can come here when you want to train for something, whenever you want to" my father said "unless of course you're told otherwise," a new voice spoke, "of course my lord," father spoke, I turn around to see a man with plated armor with leather leggings with metal plates on the longer; parts of his legs, he had long hair and skin that without needing to feel, I could just tell were very smooth "now, who are these two Yanric?" The man questioned my father, "My son, Del, and his friend Orryn," my father said, gesturing towards us with his hands, "hello, my... lord?" I said, "Please, call me Aran," the man said politely, "Yes sir," I; tell; the man, "ok," Orryn said shortly, "So where we're you taking; them, Yanric?" Aran asked my father, "The sparring pit, so they may practice and study for their admission exam to the adventurers guild," Father; told Aran, "Ooh, an admission exam huh, oh I remember my exam, it; was during the last great plague, oh those were the days, easy jobs all the time due to banditry, oh but those days have passed, I'm too old to be an adventurer now," Aran spoke, "The last great madness?" When was this; I have never heard of a "Great madness" unless he's referring to whatever went around killing; people around a century ago. "Well, sorry for trailing off somewhat there, if; you will excuse me, I must leave you to your practice and "studies" young ones," Aran said before walking away with his surprisingly long and slender legs. After that conversation, my father escorted me; and Orryn to the sparring pits; the sparring pits' walls are a different material than common stone makes up walls instead; of wood planks, the ground; is; sand, and the walls; are stone, with thick wooden bracing with metal bolts impaling the wooden supports to provide extra support, "alright so, we will start off with sword combat, will you two tell me the first step in winning a sword fight?" My father asked us "to assess your environment, in the case that you don't, you could hit your blade into something, losing you the fight and possibly your life" Orryn was first to answer, "Good guess, close, however; in that context, you; are talking about before the fight, I am talking about during one, Del can you give the correct answer?" My father asked me, "Well, during a fight; you want to make sure that you are a smaller target and that you can use a bright light to obstruct the vision of your opponent, thus giving you the advantage, a natural barrier such as a cliff or the sea can also be used to your advantage," I said nervously at first, "excellent, that is a great answer and the correct one" my father told us, "now which of you can tell me what step two is?" My father asked us, "well step two is to ensure you are holding the sword in the right position with your dominant hand at the top of the handle and your other hand at the bottom, allowing for better grip?" Orryn said. "Dead center on the answer, just not the only reason having your hands in those positions will allow you not only stronger attacks; but also to allow the wielder of a sword; access to sword swings; you would otherwise be unable to perform; this will also provide better stability as you said, Orryn, now what is step three?"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.