The silence continued leaving the knight perplexed at Tohgi indifference to what he had just said.
Knight: Are you not going to ask why?
Tohgi: I assume there are not many people born in the north or central districts that would want to come to the south, we really don't have much to offer. The crimes probably aren't worth your time, there is nothing of note here.
Knight: (It's not that easy to grasp or accept one's situation so quickly) you certainly don't talk like a
kid, how old are you?
Tohgi: turning 15, what do you mean?
Knight: don't you have a problem with it?
Tohgi: With what? Being poor? Not like I can do anything about it right now
Knight: (right now?) And you don't care that knights do not patrol your village?
Tohgi: That's easy to fix, we simply need more knights from the south, well, the ones that would want to stay in the south
Knight: That isn't that easy to do
Tohgi: Then I would do it, introducing authority to Padure village would probably boost our economy and I would also be able to protect those close to me.
Knight: kid.. I would advise you not to.
Tohgi: Why is that?
Knight: There are things that are too hard to explain right now and you shouldn't experience them, it is
Practically impossible for you to become a knight, you should live a peaceful life with your family.
Tohgi: hmmmm… I am sure you have your reasons, but I will never know or understand until I try.
Knight: Some experiences are not necessary
Tohgi: My kid sister dreams of being a musician, I need a reputable job to support her. The southern district of the country has been suffering from poverty for too long, someone needs to do something
Knight: You think being a knight is the solution?
Tohgi: It might not be the solution, but it is a solution, or do you have a better idea?
Knight: (anything involving north and central is a bad idea, I wouldn't want to destroy his spirit right
now) well you have me beat
Tohgi: That's the station to leave the city, you should take this as a token of my gratitude, I never said thanks.
Tohgi removed a packed lunch from his bag and handed it to the knight.
Tohgi: You still have a long way to go I imagine. This should help replenish your energy.
Knight: Thank you. I was only doing my job and you helped me find my way, that was enough to return the favour. I have nothing to do with this boar, give it to your mum for me, as an apology for keeping you out for too long
Tohgi: You didn't have to kill it if you didn't want it
Knight: The poor animal was going to die from its injuries, it was just suffering.
Tohgi: Okay, but how is a 14 year old supposed to carry a whole Boar and walk home, you're just dumping it on me.
Knight: Oh right!
The knight tossed a bag of coins to Tohgi
Knight: You can get a carriage to take it home with that
Tohgi felt the bag of coins in the bag and blushed at the amount that was given to him.
Tohgi: Thank you, you don't have to give me this mu..
Knight: Don't spoil your appreciation with unnecessary comments
Tohgi: Right!
Tohgi bowed and properly appreciated the gesture of the knight.
Knight: That's better
The knight hopped on his wagon heading North. Tohgi opened the pouch and was astonished by what he saw.
Tohgi: Oi, these are gold coins, if anyone sees these I'd be robbed
Knight: I'm sure you can handle that... By the way, I wanted to ask, what does Tohgi mean?
Tohgi: It has no meaning, oh right, I never asked for your name
The knight smiled
Knight: I like Mr. Knight, I hope you don't make it to the capital
Tohgi: I hope I see you when I do
Knight: (I really do hope I never have to see you again, A kid as bright as you should not have to face our reality)
Tohgi: A very weird and interesting man, no doubt powerful, (is that what it takes to be a knight? How
can I reach that level with my Reiki being very limited. There are multiples ways to fight, I don't have to rely on reiki.) Alright, let's do this
Tohgi got a wagon back home. Upon arrival, he asked his father to pay for his wagon while his mother complained about him being out too late. He apologised and explained what had happened. He gave his father the sack of coins and told his mother about the boar he had left outside. Willow ran to give her brother a hug and brought the food she had kept separate for him. With his stomach growling he thanked his little sister and began to eat. Denver gasped from the shock of the content of the bag
Denver: These are gold coins
Tohgi: How can I become a knight?
An eerie silence filled the room and Tohgi noticed the tension even though it was short lived.
Denver: There has never been a knight from the south, we are not genetically capable of producing enough reiki to qualify for the position
Tohgi: I understand there are classes to reiki and traditionally only C-class or above are considered for the position of knight. As someone with so little reiki, I know I don't qualify, but there are special knights squads, those who don't flourish in magic casting but use reiki to boost their fighting styles, I believe I can flourish as a special class.
Denver paused for a moment and exhaled loudly
Denver: Yes you can, but if you can't, there is always a place for you here, you can take over my
trading and make it actually relevant
Wendy: Tohgi, can help me butcher the boar tomorrow?
Tohgi: sure, maybe I can become a swordsman
They all went to bed after Tohgi had finished his meal.
Denver: I always hoped his interests in nature and trading meant he had a defined easy path to take for his future
Wendy: Well we did say he would write his own future, this is just the beginning and we don't know what the rest of the book says.
A few days later, Tohgi left the house after breakfast and saw his father holding a sword while conversing with two men. He purchased a sword and hired a trainer in both martial arts and swordsmanship to teach Tohgi how to fight using the coins he got from the knight.
Tohgi: Dad? What's this?
Denver: well you said you wanted to become a swordsman
Tohgi: Huh? (wait, that was just a side comment, I hadn't thought about it, he took it seriously, shit!!!)
Denver: There is no establish sword style or martial art style in this village, but the basics of all
fighting styles remain the same, you should learn as much as you can from them in the next year
Tohgi: You hired them for a whole year??? How much was that?
Denver: It doesn't really matter, it was the money you earned, we are fine without it
Tohgi's eyes were filled with tears
Tohgi: I didn't think you would to do this.
Denver: Oh and here, this is the best blade money can buy in this village based on how you fight. I know these things, I'm a trader after all
Tohgi: How I fight?
Somver: Allow me to explain, I would be teaching you the way of the blade. Your father explained
to me that you like to set traps and lure your prey.
You can take advantage of that ideology in battles as well.
Tohgi: (I am going to fight without reiki, that makes things easier)
Somver: that method takes a lot of patience and is not one you see all too often. If you wish to wield a blade, the best one for you would be a strong blade that allows you to parry attacks and force your opponent into an opening. The reason why this
is not a popular fighting style is that you would be waiting for your opponent to make a mistake leaving you on the back foot, and if done wrongly at any moment you lose. I advised your dad to allow me to teach you a more offensive approach as that would ease the mental strain from always matching and reading your opponent but he insisted that you would not be suited to that. We went ahead and purchased a curved strong blade that would allow you redirect and block your opponents more effectively.
Tohgi: Hmm... So basically my dad came to you and asked you what blade would be most suited to purchase for me, you told him the exact blade to buy and he proceeded to take all the credit praising his knowledge in trading
Denver pretended not to hear anything his son had said.
Somver: Well... that is a very abrupt summary, moving on to you Groggy.
Denver: Oi, don't agree with him, I am the one paying you.
Groggy: I would be teaching you the basics of martial arts, as your father previously said there is nobestablished fighting style in this village
Denver: Oi, you lot are ignoring me, aren't you?
Groggy: based on everything that has been explained, I would focus mostly on teaching you defensive and counter martial arts, I believe offensive methods of fighting would be useless
to you. However, the concepts are still important as they form the basis of a counter, going straight from defence to offence.
Denver: I can see you hearing me
Tohgi: Father!
Tohgi bowed to his dad, shocking him into silence
Tohgi: I would learn as much as I can in this one year, thank you very much
Denver: I am just giving you the best fighting chance I can, the rest is up to, become the first southern knight recorded in this country's history books.
END!