There was a loud bang on my door, followed by my father saying “Wake up. Breakfast is on the table and we are leaving soon.”

I did not want to get up, as the blanket was warm and the air was cold. I just responded with “No, cold.”

In the next second, the door was flung open and the blanket ripped off and the cold air rushed in on me. My father just said “If not, you will miss your first day of training. Your breakfast will also get cold.”

I instinctively curled up in a ball and let out an “Eeeeee” as it was so sudden, I was not ready for how cold the room was. I quickly got dressed, as my father left the room.

I went the table and had breakfast. It was the normal breakfast, bread and some mountain boar. After we finished breakfast, we left the house and started the trip to the guild hall. As we left the house, I noticed it was still quite dark out and that it was much colder outside than in the house.

We made our way through the commercial district. There where many stores getting ready to open and many food stalls preparing. As we continued to walk along the stone path, I noticed a store that sells weapons and armor. I ran up to the window, to watch them getting all the swords ready.

My father came up behind me and said “When you turn five, we will get you a sword meant for you. Along with some leather armor to go with it.” He then waived his hand at me to get a move on. Then said “If we do not keep the pace, you will be late and so will I.” We then headed to the guild hall again. Nothing else notable was along the way, other than different types of businesses.

We arrived at the guild hall and my father looked at me and said “I hope you are ready for today. You did not stay up to late, right? I also hope you are ready for how many more people are in the hall, compared to yesterday.” Then he opened the doors

We then went inside, I noticed immediately that there are a ton of people inside. People seem to be gathered at the request board and the reception desk. There were a few people at the tables talking about various things. We walked past everything and to the hallway leading to the training area. We passed the dismantling area, which was actually open. It smelled, but there was no one inside. We kept walking and got to the door for the training area and then entered.

Once inside, there was a few people in there. Not many and they where spread out looking at books. As we where standing at the door, we head Marv call out to us “Good morning, Artemis and Alex.” I looked for him and found he was helping someone find a book.

My father said “Good morning Marv. When you have a minute let me know.” We walked to a table and sat down.

After a few minutes, Marv sat on the other side of the table from us. He said “Sorry for how busy we are this morning. A few new requests went up for the wild lands and people are trying to get as much information as they can on the monsters there.”

My father said “Don’t worry about it. So where do you want Art and I will be back at noon for him. Also Art.” My father started looking at me “You forgot to say good morning.”

I shyly said, “Good morning.”

“He can just wait here at the table until the other trainee gets there. Once they are both here, we will begin with some exercise. Also, noon is fine.” Marv said while glancing around the room. It looked like he was stopping his glances for a second on anyone getting books or putting them back.

My father nodded at Marv, then looked at me and said “Okay Art. I will be back later for you and make sure you listen to Marv.”

I nodded at my father and replied with “Okay” He then left, it was just me and Marv.

Marv had told me to just sit here and wait for the other to get here. I was looking around the room at the different people. They all looked like adventurers. Most had leather armor one, with some of them having a metal plate over the chest. There where only a few with all metal armor. After looking at what they where wearing, I was looking at their weapons. They varied greatly, from bows to swords with shields and even spears and hammers. While looking around, I was just thinking that it was not nearly as noisy as it was at the front of the guild hall. When a girl about my age sat on the other side of the table. My attention went to her and she was staring at me.

A man standing next to her started to talk “Hey Marv, did you want Wendy to sit here?” He was looking at Marv on the other side of the room.

Marv responded with “Yes, I will be with you in a few minutes.”

The man sat as well and just said “Okay.”

The man then glanced at me and just said “Hello there boy.” I just sat there looking at him, not saying anything.

Then Marv came over and sat next to me. He said “Sorry for the wait. Its busy in the morning and with the new requests for the wild lands. It is worse than usual for how busy it is.”

The man said, “It is fine, we did not want long. Also, who is this boy?” The man was looking at me again, as he was trying to figure me out.

Marv just said “Ah, this is Artemis. His father is a guild staff member and a gold plate adventurer. I have not had time to tell you since I had seen you last week. He will also be receiving training from me, I hope that is okay with you.”

He chuckled and said “Of course that is fine. It may even help with Wendy’s social skills. As that is very important for a merchant. I will be back in a few hours to pick her up.” He smiled at me and started to get up.

“Thank you and we will see you then. Well, the two of you should introduce yourselves. After, we will head onto the training field. There is no one in there and we will have it till noon.” Marv said, as he gestured to us to talk.

She spoke up first “I am Wendy.” She seemed shy and fidgeted some.

I then spoke “I am Art.” I glanced at her, then back at the table.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Marv smiled and said “Let us head to the training area.” We then headed into a large room. The floor seemed to be made of dirt, with some scratches and what looked to be burn marks on the walls. There was also a single wooden chair in the corner of the room. We headed to the center of the room.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Once in the middle of the room, Marv said “You two will runs laps around the room until you are tired. I was to see where you are at with your stamina and how far you can run. This is not a race. I will be sitting on the chair in the corner. Now you can start when you are ready.”

Me and the girl look at each other and then back at Marv. We then both said “Okay!” at the same time and started running laps around the room. I had finished about twenty laps and started to get really tired. At this point the girl has lapped me a few times and is on about twenty-three laps, but it also looks like we are getting tired. We both slowly stop and then lay on the ground from being too tired. Marv sees this and starts to head over.

He says “Looks like you are both done. We will take a short break.” He then looked at me “I thought you would have run further and faster, with your father being a gold ranked adventurer. It does not matter, as you will get there either way.” He said while chucking to himself.

After about 10 minutes of rest, he tells us “You will sprint from one wall to the other, going from the shorter walls. Once you reach that wall, you can start by running to the other wall.” He pointed to the wall to our left. “Once you have run from one to the other, take a few second break and then run back to the other. You will do this till you are tired again. Okay, begin.” He said that and we walked right over to the wall and then ran to the other wall.

We ran back and forth about ten times, then where both tired. This time we both ran about the same amount. This time, after finishing we did not lay on the ground. The reason being is that we both got really dirty the last time. We walked over to Marv and she said, “We are finished.”

He responded with “You both did good, now we will do a few other exercises. We are trying to work out your bodies and see where you are at. As adventurers need to be fit enough to run around while fighting or in some cases running away. We will start with pushups and sit-ups.”

We started with those two exercises, until tire and then before starting the next exercise. We did a lot of different exercises and did so for just under and hour. When we finished all of them, Marv said “We are done with the physical part of training. Now you will learn about some basic geography and about some local monsters. I will also teach you some basic information about magic, but I will not teach you magic itself.” He looked at both of us and we nodded. He then pointed to the door and said “We will do this at one of the tables in the other room. Follow me.”

We followed him and after we entered the other room. He directed us to one of the tables. We sat there while he went and got a map and two books. When he got back, he spread the map out on the table and then set the two books off to the side. I glanced at the books, one looked to have monsters on the leather cover and the other had some magic looking symbols on it.

He stood next to us and then said “This is a map of the three kingdoms and the wild lands that surrounds all of them. The southernmost country is the Rulon kingdom, also known as the dwarven kingdom. The country on the upper left is the Prunem kingdom, the human kingdom and the one we are currently in. The country in the upper right is the Apritis kingdom, ruled by the last of the three races, the elves. The first kingdom covers the mountain range to the south and the range is known as the Granador mountains. Dungeons are found all the time in those mountains and just to the south of them as well, in the wild lands there. The second kingdom is mostly in the Kario plain’s region, with a few forests here and there as well. The far southwest side of the kingdom touches the ocean. The last kingdom is in the giant forest of Hasia. The trees there can get extremely large. Are there any questions so far?”

We both shook our heads in a no gesture. He continues “The city we are in Oxbury is in the northwestern most part of the Prunem kingdom. As you know, this city is next to the wild lands, with a small forest south of us and the rest is just plain’s areas. The is a small mountain just to the north into the wild lands. I am making sure to mention all of this, so we can start talking about some of the monsters. If you have questions at any time, please let me know. Now we will move onto the monsters.”

Before he could put away the map and grab the book, Wendy blurted out a question “Where is the magic academy?” She sat there staring at the map, trying to find it.

Marv looked at her and said, “It is the city here, in the middle of all three kingdoms.” He pointed at the map, showing where the border of all three meet. “I am surprised you asked with your father and him only wanting you to be a merchant.”

She fidgeted and look around at us then said “I want to go one day, but father does not know. Mom knows though, she supports it. She also wants me to start learning water magic soon, she will convince father.”

Marv started to laugh and then stopped when she started staring at him. He said “I understand and will not say anything to him. I will not be able to teach you much about magic, but I will make sure to teach you about the basics and the differences in the main types of magic.” He then put away the map and got out one of the books.

He opened the book and told us “This book covers quite a few monsters that can be found in the local area.” He opened the book in front of us and then he showed us the picture of a small boar. “This is a mountain boar, they are fairly small and the main meat source for this town. They are a monster that will generally run away from people or hide. They are extremely fast for their size. When most people hunt them, they use nets and surround them. Let me state their size again, they are small compared to other boars. They are still larger than both of you.” He flipped the page and continues “The next monsters are not as shy or harmless. We have the glimmer owl and the red eyed rabbit. Both are low ranked monsters, but they can still hurt you if you are not prepared. The glimmer owl uses wind magic and can make itself almost invisible. Its name comes from people always saying they caught a glimmer of it as it moved. It will not attack unless attacked. Next is the red eyed rabbit, it uses a fire magic. It loves to burn things when they get near them. It is best to use a ranged attach and have people who can use water magic with you. Any questions so far?”

We both said “No.”

He said “Okay, we will go on to the sunglow snake. This is the second most deadly creature in the area. They use a type of light magic to coat their body. They like to wrap themselves around their prey. They will sneak up on anything and attack, even if they know they are going to lose. They do not seem to care about losing. The final and most deadly creature is the horned lynx. They are a large cat like creature with a single very sharp horn on the head. They do not have magic, but their horn can pierce iron armor. It is always advised to just avoid them. They also get extremely territorial. That is all for the monsters, today that is. We will move onto the basics of magic understanding unless there are any questions?”

Wendy said, “No questions!!!!” very enthusiastically. Then she glared at me for a response. I just shook my head no.

He put the book down and pulled out the other one. “We will discuss the 4 types of magic. The first type is the most important magic for an adventurer, water magic. This magic is used for getting water to drink and putting out fires. The next is fire magic, which is used to cook food and fight enemies. The next magic is wind magic, it can be put into blades and then cut just about anything easily. The final type is earth magic. This one is mostly used to make traps. Those are the basic four types, I will cover them more at a later date. There are also special types of magic. However, to use those special types you must be fairly adapt at them. Most people can use magic, however not many people are adept at any of the types of magic. Those who are adept usually go to the magic academy at some point. I am assuming there is some questions?”

We where all looking at Wendy and knew she ask questions, as she was getting extremely excited when listening to him. She then asked “How will we know what types of magic we are adept at, if any.” She stared daggers at Marv after she asked that question.

He just stared for a second and said, “When you turn five years old, you can get tested by the guild or you can just try different types if you can find a teacher for them. However, they only check for the main four types. Only the magic academy will test for anything other than the major types and they are still fairly limited on what they test. I am hoping that answers your question.”

She nodded her head and said “Yes.”

“We will cover more about all of this later, we are done with what I had planned today. You two can sit here and look at the pictures in the books.” Marv said.

We looked at the books for some time and all the different monsters. Then the door opened and the man that brought Wendy this morning came in. She jumped up and ran over to him and hugged him. While yelling “Father!”