It was early morning, the sun had barely risen as Alexander dashed from rooftop to rooftop, heading to the Eastern Guard Outpost. It was located on the opposite side of his home on the west of the village. So, he had to go straight through the village.
He was still eating his breakfast as he caused a ruckus on the roofs, making husbands shout, wives sigh, and children laugh.
Luckily for the village's beauty sleep, It wasn't long before Al saw the outpost -- a wooden building built into the village's wooden barrier, located next to the eastern gate.
Butterflies fluttered in his stomach.
In front of the outpost, twenty sweaty young men and women were lined up in five neat lines to practice their swordplay. In front stood Dorian, supervising and correcting their form.
After Dorian noticed Al running over, he stopped the practice. Soon after, Al reached them still chewing his food and a little out of breath.
"Well, boys and girls, this is the new recruit," Dorian said to the guards he was training. The guards turned around to look at him.
"The weirdo from the hill?"
"He's so short. Is he even old enough?"
"He's not going to last."
Al saw derision in their faces. He looked to Dorian, but he didn't stop their comments. Instead, he looked at Al, "This is the Nientel Guard. We protect our families and neighbors. Weakness is not an option. If you want their respect: earn it."
"Yes!"
Al had never gotten much respect from the villagers, so it didn't bother him. 'You do you. I do me' has always been his mentality. And, Dorian had a point as well. Weakness as a guard would leave the villagers defenseless.
"Good," Dorian said as he threw him a wooden sword. "Let's see what you can do. Hey, Rocky, you're up."
Al sucked in a deep breath as a two-meter tall mountain of muscle stepped up from the guards. His black hair and tanned skin were dripping with sweat and a menacing smile covered his face.
"Yes, captain!"
"You'll fight vice-captain Rocky. Don't hold back or you'll regret it."
"Yes."
Al breathed heavily as he observed his opponent and felt his heart pound. Way too big! He clasped the sword handle tightly in his hands but didn't dare approach.
"Attack. Don't make me come over," the giant spoke.
'How am I supposed to come over? To fight?' Al thought. The top of his head just barely reached his waist. He would be crushed.
"Damn it! What'd I say?" said Rocky as he unsheathed his sword and took a step forward, followed by a second, and a third. In those three steps, he was on top of Al. He raised his wooden sword and swung at him, sending him rolling through the air.
Al hit a hard landing on the ground four steps away from Rocky.
"Poor kid," Al heard one of the guards say while his face was planted in the ground.
However, the only thing he could think was, 'That wasn't that bad.' It was painful, yes, but Al had worse. He got up slowly, a smile on his face. "Is that it? I have gotten worse spankings."
The guards gasped at his guts, while Dorian buried his face in his hand, "That abusive she-devil…"
Most of all, Rocky was slack-jawed. Using that surprise, Al darted forward slashing at his stomach. However, Rocky was experienced and quickly reacted, using his sword to parry the slash.
But, right before colliding with Rocky's sword, Al's sword zigzagged and hit his Crown Jewels with full force.
"Owwwww!!!!"
"Hehe."
Rocky curled up in pain while Alexander snickered, revenge is a sweet thing. But, it wouldn't last him long.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
He roared charging at Al at lightning speed. He had no hope of dodging. Al knew he had messed up. Luckily, out of nowhere, Dorian appears between the two, his fist burying itself in Rocky's stomach.
Rocky coughed up a bit of his lunch. Then, Al saw him fall into Dorian's arms, unconscious.
"Good job, Al. But, try and be a little more honorable next time," Dorian said with an amused expression.
"Yes!"
"From now on, it's 'Yes, captain'."
"Yes, captain!"
"Ummm, Anthony could you take over training since the vice-captain is .. uh.. napping?"
"Of course, captain," said a lanky young man with mediums length blond hair, and a mutilated ear.
The training resumed under Anthony and Al was taken inside the outpost by Dorian. Inside, there was a large lounge with a bar, six sofas, and ten tables with chairs. It smelled strongly of alcohol and meat.
On the black-painted walls, he saw an emblem in the form of a shield. Painted on it was a rose-covered castle gate with three towers, a giant, grey grass snake was coiled around the middle tower, and a ghost floated in the entrance.
"That's the emblem of the Guard," said Dorian.
From behind the counter of the bar, Dorian took out a glowing orb.
"What's that?"
"A waylight. It's a magical light source. We use it for expeditions into the forest. Follow me."
He was taken to the basement where a large vault door stood. Dorian quickly put in the combination, Al couldn't even follow his hands. Afterward, He pulled the safe open, and a breath of cold air came out.
"What are we doing here?"
"You're going to choose," Dorian said stepping into the vault.
Al stepped in after him. "Choose what?"
"Your weapon," Dorian said as Al stepped into the cold vault filled with arms.
Cold steel was everywhere. Swords, axes, machetes, spears, and halberts were held in stands all around the seven cubic meter room. "I can choose any?"
"Yup."
It was overwhelming. Al couldn't even take in all the options much less make a choice. Every single one of the weapons looked awesome. He especially liked the big ones, a giant great sword like the man on the tiger would be great, he thought.
"So, what are you thinking?"
"What weapons did my father use?" Maybe he would get some inspiration this way.
A surprised look flashed on Dorian's face, but it quickly settled into a smirk. "He used that halbert," said Dorian pointing at a long metal halbert inscribed with an intricate drawing of a snake.
Big! Just his type. Al walked over to it and tried picking it up. He grasped the cold metal handle of the halbert and lifted it.
"Clang. Cling. Clang. Clang." It was too heavy. He couldn't even hold it. It had fallen to the ground knocking over many other weapons. "Damn! I'm sorry." Al quickly scrambled to clean up his mess.
"Don't worry about it. We'll clean it up late. Choose for now," Dorian said.
Among the rubble, Al saw a small box made of dark wood. Etched into it was a skull.
"What's this?"
"That... I didn't know we still had that."
Al opened the box. Inside was a pipe attached to a handle. Within the pipe, was a thick cylinder with six holes inside it, and, next to the weird object, was a bag of round metal objects.
"That a revolver. It's an invention of a county called the Hana Dynasty in the East," Dorian said after bending over to see it better.
"What does it do?"
"It's a deadly long-range weapon," he thought for a moment. "You are very agile, aren't you?"
"Yup."
"Well, then this weapon would suit you."
Al thought for a moment. It wasn't as cool-looking as a great sword, but if it made him stronger then maybe he should choose it. He repeatedly looked at the cool weapons and then at the tiny cylinder. 'Those big weapons are sooo cool,' he thought, 'Still, I'm not training to be cool.'
"I chose the revolver,' Al said.