new beginnings
Ser Ansel wasn't a nice man, no that was something the ten-year-old Leonel learned the hard way. the "light training" as the old knight put it was simply hellish for him. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, constantly running next to the knight as he himself rode the only horse. All this on top of the thousands of sword slashes he made him do with a rusty sword they found on an old battlefield. Truthfully when he was offered to become a knight serving the royal house of Caria, he thought it would be more along the lines of getting some cool armor and a flashy sword not this training.
Nevertheless, the thought of eventually becoming a powerful gallant knight spurned him on every day. " C'mon boy what are you? a golden order worshiper? put your back into it for the moon's sake" ser Ansel said as he trotted beside the boy. " Hah... yes.... ser.." the boy barely whispered out under the strain of running with a large log on his back. "Mhmm where almost there just another day if I remember correctly, tell me boy do you miss your home yet?" ser Ansel asked the dark hared boy who looked up to him with his cerulean blue eyes. "A... bit ser... but I know... that if I become a knight... I'll get to see them whenever... I want" the boy said with strong conviction in his tone.
"Mhmm good answer boy, fret not by the end of the year you'll be squire material after I'm done with you, set the log down boy it's time to teach you a technique all knights use whenever outside of combat" ser Ansel said as he dismounted his horse and landed in front of the boy. Leonel did just that and roughly dropped the log to the side as he took big gulps of cool air greedily. "Now pay attention very clearly, what distances an enchanted knight from a simple sorcerer is our control over glint stone itself, now sorcerers can do some of our abilities to respectable levels, but we spend all our life's pushing our techniques to the limit" he said as he sat atop a boulder and explained this to the ever-curious boy before him.
"You see boy all living things have mana, some may call it differently, but this mana allows us to perform feats of power, whether they be ashes of war, sorceries or incantations, all living beings use it for something" he said Leonel now sitting before him enraptured over this. "The knights of Caria use it to empower our bodies and weapons and to perform simple sorceries, but we enchanted knights do that and more, you see glint stone has two origins, one is the passive absorption of mana from the stars and the other is the enrichment of personal mana" he said as he placed his hand onto the stone and turned a portion of it into blue glint stone.
" This is our prized ability boy, the art of glint stone combat, with it we can suddenly transform the earth below an enemy into glit stone spikes or even create a living glint stone golem, the possibilities are endless yet our art has one major flaw, the consumption of mana is absurdly high, that simple reason is why there are so few enchanted knights for those who wish to become one need a large reserve of mana to do so and you just so happen to have it" he said.
"Now don't get a big head, the amount of mana you possess doesn't even come close to a fifth of mine, that is the reason I'm going to teach you this technique, the glint stone synchronization technique is one of many, but it is the most basic that will allow your mana to grow unhampered and without magical bias, follow my steps exactly to the point if you don't want to explode" he said scaring the shit out of him and getting's good chuckle out of it. " First get comfortable no matter what position, next close your eyes and touch the ground then feel for a little sliver of something in you, normally it feels like a little snake slithering around, but you need to catch it then send, oh? that was quick, alright then open your eyes" he instructed the boy.
Leonel opened his eyes to see little pieces of glint stone surrounding his hand emerging from the ground. " What you just did was one part of it, next you are to suck up any residual mana from the glint stone making it brittle in the process but doing so will replenish a bit of your reserves" he said. Leonel did just that, feeling for that trace of energy he never knew he had, he pulled it from the glint stone on the earth as he watched it lose a bit of color before ultimately crumbling down to smaller pieces. He felt the energy string within him enlarge a bit but loose a bit of luster before refilling again.
"Mhmm good job, by repeating this simple exercise over and over you'll be able to grow your mana reserves in both quality and quantity, your goal is to create a glint stone sword out of the earth, that will serve you better than any random stick we find on the ground" ser Ansel said. Leonel only nodded then proceeded to keep on practicing, each time getting just a bit better at snatching his mana and manipulating it. Ser Ansel watched him working hard with a soft smile, melancholy upon his eyes as he thought back to the old days. shaking his head, he got off the boulder and proceeded to walk into the woods, dinner wouldn't serve itself. His horse, roach would protect the boy of that he knew. roach laid down next to Leonel as he struggled to shape the glint stone, he formed into anything resembling a simple knife yet all he got was a malformed crude piece of glint stone.
Roach watched him work before nudging him slightly getting his attention then infusing a bit of its own mana onto the ground with its hoof tracing the outline of a sword. "Hah even horses have better proficiency than.... wait, ROACH YOUR'E A GENIUS" he yelled out as he saw what the noble steed did then tried to do it as well. The first attempt was rather crude, but the shape was there all he needed was control. He kept refining it for another hour until ser Ansel came back, a deer on his shoulder. He looked towards Leonel with astonishment as he saw him create an almost perfect glint stone sword but then grew suspicious as he saw roach desperately try to not make eye contact. Sighing he decided to give the boy this win lest he gets depression or something.
He walked next to him and dropped the deer right before him breaking his concentration and destroying the sword in progress. " I see that you've finally gotten it, in fact such a thing took me mere seconds to get but your proficiency could be said to be rather high either way" he lied trying to hide the fact that it took him a full week. roach gave him a nasty look but chose to not expose his master. "Mhmm well then boy come over here ill teach you how to cut and skin a deer so that you don't die out here on your own" he said as he conjured up a perfect glint stone knife and began to carve up the deer before him giving instructions as he went.
Soon enough a pleasant smell of roasted venison wafted out from their area. a small cozy campfire and two logs to sit on was all that was needed to camp. Liurnia wasn't a cold continent it in fact was rather warm and humid. If it weren't for the large swathes of swamp and rives then it would be a haven for its denizens, but they made do. Leonel had just finished his portion as he laid back onto his log and stared up to the night sky. "Hey, why aren't there any stars? mom told me that when she was little her favorite thing to do was to lay down like this and count the stars..." he said.
Ser Ansel looked up and smiled fondly before a slight scowl became present upon his aged face. Dark blue eyes turned to the boy. " that could be blamed on the scourge of the stars, Radahn the famed red lion, he is the foremost master of gravitational sorceries, he placed a veil strong enough to keep them away and cut off the Carian royal family from one of their greatest weapons, boy should you face him in the future make sure to cut him one more time for me" he said although Leonel had long fallen asleep before he could finish his story.
He stood up from his log and sat down next to the boy before pulling him closer and draping a blanket over the two. He gave one last glance towards the starless sky then let the Hypnos take him just like he took Leonel. The night passed peacefully, and they woke up bright and early ready to make the final trek towards his new home. Leonel walked beside roach, Ansel atop the horse watching over the horizon then periodically watching the boy's progress. Every step Leonel took left behind brittle glint stone as he sweated deep in concentration. "Were here boy, take a good look, this is the land you will risk your life to protect at all costs" Ansel said. Leonel looked up as his jaw dropped, before him the manor, no a city stood.
The gate easily able to fit several trolls side by side. The walls humongous in size easily dwarfing hills. Large spiraling towers pierced the sky almost as if reaching for something that was there before yet gone now. Before it two large imposing guards stood. Made of glint stone and iron, the gate guardians stood proudly. One with a bow and a sword at its waist the other with a large halberd at its side. Below them two simple guards stood paling in comparison to the two giants of might and magic. They approached the gate quickly before Ansel picked him up and threw him on the back of the horse.
"Ser Ansel, it's good to see you back, we got a hawk not long ago to expect your arrival alongside your new protégé, please enter the manor, lady astra called for you as soon as you were to enter" the female knight said as she saluted the legend before her. She spared a glance towards Leonel and nodded in praise, the boy would likely become an enchanted knight and it was best to curry favor with such people. "Very well, send a hawk to her and let her know that I'll be right over once I get this boy some proper clothes" Ansel said towards the guard. "Of course, ser, OPEN THE GATES" she yelled out as the gates slowly opened enough to allow passage.
They entered quickly, Leonel marveled at the free use of magic, glint stone torches levitated all around them illuminating all. Guards and civilians went about their daily business within the large streets of the manor. They trotted along the cobblestone leisurely, guards would salute Ansel whenever he passed as he nodded in response. " Wow you're really famous here, are the enchanted knights that renown?" Leonel asked from behind him. " Yes, we are, enchanted knights are the epitome of knighthood, each of us wields power comparable to demigods and thus fear and respect is all but guaranteed, what you do with such power will earn you more of the two though I much rather see you earn respect boy" he said, Leonel nodding in understanding behind him.
Soon enough they stooped before a large store with the "madame Petley's tailoring store" before it on a large hanging sign. "Come, this store will get you any and all clothing you ask for as an enchanted knight candidate, behave yourself the owner is a very good friend of mine" Ansel said as he led a curious boy inside the extravagant store.