Previous Chapter: none Next Chapter: working on it! Chapter One: I drew my sword as a swarm of Bokoblins hurried towards the fortress. I was ready; this I what I’d been training for. I moved to slash through the first line of them, but as my blade connected with them, my eyes flew open. I wasn’t a knight fighting at Hateno Fort. I was just an ordinary villager lying in bed. I had wanted to be a knight ever since I was little, but I was stuck in Hateno Village. Instead of fighting, my job was to farm. I grumbled as I got out of bed. I got dressed in my usual work clothes and grabbed an apple for breakfast. I headed out back to our little farm where we grew wheat and carrots. I finished my morning chores and headed back inside, where Aryll was just getting up and Mom was making real breakfast. “Morning,” I said, plopping down at the table. Mom shoveled eggs and rice on my plate. “Thanks,” I said before diving in. I scraped every last grain off my plate and brought my dishes over to wash them. “Do you want me to work on the farm today?” I asked Mom. “It’s Sunday,” she replied. “You go have fun.” “Thanks!” I called over my shoulder as I jammed my shoes on. I headed out past our farm to where I had set up a dummy and carved a wooden sword. I practiced whenever I could, but it wasn’t that often with the farm needing me most days. By the end of the hour, I was sweaty and decided to take a break, walk through town. I stopped at the creek to drink a bit and splash water on my face. When I got to the main road, I noticed two men on horses. They were both wearing armor, the armor of knights. Many people had started to gather around them, me included. “The last battle we fought took us of some skilled warriors,” one of the knights announced loudly. He had cropped, brown hair and a small mustache. “We are in need of more soldiers in our ranks. We have come here to recruit as many as possible.” “Is there anyone here who somewhat knows how to fight?” the other asked. He had blond hair and blue eyes. I made my way forward, along with a teenage girl. She had red hair and green eyes with lots of freckles. I couldn’t quite recall her name. A young man stumbled forward, appearing to have been pushed. He had black hair and a slight beard. It was Tokken, a farmer and new worker at the general store. “You three,” the dark haired knight said. “How do you know how to fight and how good are you?” “My older brother taught me before he left to join the army,” the teen girl said. “I’ve tried to keep up my practice with some friends and a dummy.” She must be talking about my dummy, unless she made her own. At least it’s getting a lot of use. “There used to be Bokoblins in the forest,” Tokken said. “I taught myself to fight and slaughtered all of them.” A few people laughed and one called out, “Barely!” “I also taught myself,” I added. “I practice on a dummy behind my house. I used to practice with my friend, but we’re both busy now.” “I think we need an evaluation,” the other knight suggested. “Do you all use swords?” We all nodded. “I’m good with a sword, but I can also use a spear,” the girl added. The knights exchanged a glance and a nod. “How about we find that dummy, do some practice on that and then some real fighting,” the brown haired knight added. The other nodded. The crowd started to follow, but the blond knight held up his hand. “This is private.” The knight with a mustache weighted my wooden sword. “This is good, did you make this?” I nodded. He held it out to me and I took it. “Let’s see what you’ve got,” the blond one said. I attacked the dummy over and over again. My dull blade slashed and stabbed it. After a while, the blond nodded and I gave him the blade. He passed it to the girl. She was good. She hit it in lethal areas, she moved quickly and precisely. Both knights looked impressed. Tokken, but a bit slower, less honed. He was still attacking well, it just seemed . . . worse compared to the girl. “Alright, take a little break and then you can go up against one of us,” the blond told us. The dark haired one ran back to his horse and returned holding another wooden sword. I went first, against the one with a mustache. He blocked my attacks, and I blocked his. I dodged an attack, but quickly was able to get an opening. His blade came up almost out of nowhere and hit mine. We battled for a few more minutes before the point of his blade was aimed at my chest. “Good job,” he said. I nodded, panting, and handed the girl the sword. Her footwork was good, significantly better than mine. She moved with ease and blocked every attack. She was able to strike multiple times. All were knocked away, but she held her own for a while before the knight overpowered her. “You’re good,” he said. She smiled a bit, thanked him, and handed the sword to the last opponent.
Tokken’s footwork was kind of sloppy and he barely managed to defend himself. Soon, his blade clattered to the ground and he scrambled for it, tripping. The knight’s sword was pointed at him. He extended a hand to Tokken and helped him up. Tokken looked at his feet as a blush crawled over his face. “I think we take them all,” the brown haired said. The other nodded. “The more, the merrier. It’s better than taking someone with no experience.” A smile crept its way across my face. I would finally be a knight. “Go tell your family,” the knight with a mustache said. I’d never sprinted so fast.
