I am unsure how I should get away from the pile of guards congratulating me, I get no help from Sir Johnathon who just laughs as he watches my uncomfortable attempts to get away.

Finally Sir Johnathon stops laughing and says, “We need to get the boy a new set of Royal Guard clothes and weapons.” He pulls me out of the ring of Royal Guards.

“Thank you sir. That would be much appreciated.” I say, a little out of breath from my attempts to escape the evil horde.

“What will you need from the weaponsmith?” Sir Johnathon asks as he leads me back towards the barracks.

“A longsword, a Kuriman dagger and some throwing daggers would be very useful. If you don’t mind sir.” I respond.

“We will get them to you right away.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Do you have any questions?” He asks as we arrive at my new room.

“Yes, sir, I do. What will my duties be once I start? And when will I be starting?”

“For now, I will have you stationed under Captain Durno, as a recruit. He will assign you whatever duties he sees fit. You will be starting tomorrow at sunrise. Good luck, Royal Guard Damien.”

I slam my chest in a salute. “Thank you Sir.”

He responds to my salute and walks away.

I sigh and enter my room.

The room is sparsely furnished, with a bunk-bed to one side and two small chests underneath the window being all that occupies said room.

I look at the bottom bunk and find an empty name tag on it. The bunk above it has the name Damien on it.

I’m guessing I don’t have a roommate, which is perfectly fine with me. Not only does it give me some private space. But it also provides space for me to work with my magic.

I lay down on the bed for a moment, exhausted from my fight with Sir Johnathon.

I wake up to someone knocking on the door to my new room. I stretch and walk over to the door, opening it.

“Are you the Royal Guard Damien?” A young maid with blue eyes and hair hidden behind a cap asks me as I open the door.

“Yes, Ma’am, I am.” I respond.

She looks up at me, blushing a little bit when she meets my eyes. Her eyes quickly return to the sets of Royal Guard’s clothes, sitting underneath the pile of wrapped weapons in her arms.

She hands the pile over to me. “Sir Johnathon asked me to bring these to you.”

“Thank you.”

She bows to me and walks off.

I walk over to my bed and set the pile down.

I expectantly unwrap the sword first. It is a little ostentatious for my tastes, with the scabbard having dragons carved all throughout its length, but I will live with it. I unsheathe the sword and swing it a few times. It is a beautifully crafted weapon with near perfect balance.

I sheathe the sword and set it down, I unwrap the Kuriman dagger next. Again, the scabbard is rather ostentatious. I unsheathe it and hold it in a proper stance.

Ever since I first held a Kuriman dagger, I knew that they were perfect for me. Originally created by a warrior tribe known as the Kuriman, the Kuriman dagger has a wide blade and is only sharpened on one side, they are designed for slashing rather than stabbing.

I sheethe the Kuriman dagger and move to my throwing knives. They are all perfectly balanced, not that I expected anything else. It has just become a habit to check my weapons.

I look at The Royal Guard uniforms that have been given to me and unfold one of them, it is a beautiful black and blue which I actually admire for a moment before I pack the uniforms away for the next day.

I sit down after that, wondering what I should do next. I’m not used to having so much free time and from the light coming in from outside my window, I have at least an hour of time before it even gets dark.

I look down at the sword for a moment before I grab it and unsheathe it. I place the blade in my lap, before softly running my fingers down its blade.

I consider the sword for a moment and an idea that I had always wanted to test came to mind.

I reach towards the power inside of me and pull, once I have gathered enough of the power, I move the power to the hand I have caressing the blade and push.

My eyes close as my mind is filled with knowledge about the sword. It is an exhilarating feeling, sensing every part of the sword at once.

Once I am comfortable with the feeling, I start with my enchantment.

I make the sword Mine, making it much easier for me to work my magic through it.

I sigh, I have a lot of ideas for enchantments, but I believe that other Elementalists, or Mages will detect any powerful enchantments.

I set my new sword down and lay back in my bed.

A knock on the door brings me out of my reverie. I get out of my bed and open the door to find a Royal Guard with blonde hair, blue eyes and a rather good looking face. He looks to be around my age and I can see a silly grin on his face.

“So you are the person who fought Sir Johnathon. That was really impressive by the way.” He gives me the guardsman’s greeting by slamming his fist against his chest. “My name is Dean. What’s yours brother?”

“My name is Damien.” I say and respond to his greeting.

“So, some of the Royal Guards are getting together at one of the taverns in the commoner’s sector. They asked me to come see if you wanted to go. So, what do you say?” He says without ever losing his grin.

I look at his uniform “Are we supposed to wear our uniform there?”

Dean looks down at his uniform, then back up at me. “Most of us do, but you don’t have to.”

I bite my cheek for a moment and then nod at Dean. “Sure, give me a moment to put on my uniform”

Dean nods and I close the door.

It only takes me a moment to put the uniform on and quickly walk out the door to meet with Dean.

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Dean is a big talker. I don’t mind, I don’t talk much anyway. It feels good to just listen.

We leave the palace without any resistance from any guards.

“I’ve been meaning to ask. What is the difference between the Royal Guard and the guards at the gate?” I ask as we pass through the last checkpoint.

Dean looks at me as if my question is crazy, “Well for one, our jobs are much more important. We are charged with protecting some of the most powerful people in the world, while they have to guard a gate. In general, the Royal Guard is simply better. We have better warriors and more powerful mages.”

“I see.”

Dean leads me through the noble’s sector, pointing out various landmarks. A set of large buildings almost as large as the palace pulls my attention.

“That is the Mage’s Coliseum. Anyone who has magic goes to train there. To be honest, that place gives me the creeps. Sure, they say that our uniforms protect us against magic.” Dean pats his uniform unconsciously. “But the people over there, they can take control of your mind and body, summon demons and control the elements. I’m glad they’re on our side.”

I am rather surprised at his reaction to the mages. But after thinking about it for a moment, I find myself feeling grateful for my uniform’s protections.

“Come on. We don’t want to be the last ones at the inn.”

He leads me out of the noble’s sector and into a market square. Merchants are selling their wares to people and races of all different types. I can’t help but stare at a man with yellow, cat-shaped eyes and blue scales creating a ring around his neck.

He notices my staring, so I bring my gaze to the rest of the people in the market.

Most of the people smile at us, give us nods and respectively move out of our path.

“It must feels a little awkward, people making a path for you. You’ll get used to it eventually.” Dean says with his usual smile.

A pair of passing guardsman greet us with a salute and we respond in kind.

Once we leave the market we arrive at a group of taverns and inns. Dean leads me to a tavern called The Traveling Minstrel.

Inside, the place is filled with soldiers, mercenaries, guardsman and towards the back is a small group of Royal Guardsman.

Dean leads me through the crowd to their table and says, “Everyone, this is the newbie, his name is Damien and on the way here, he told me he could take all of you on in a fight, with one arm tied behind his back.”

I act shocked at what he said and the group of Royal Guards bursts into laughter when they see my face.

Dean introduces the group to me.

“That’s Jake, he is one of the finest spearmen in the Royal Guard. He works under Captain Jane.” Jake is a wiry man of twenty five or so winters, with brown hair and brown eyes. He smiles at me as he is introduced.

“That is James, he is a Fire Elementalist under Captain Coy” James has short red hair, with sideburns to match, brown eyes and is the oldest of the group, looking to be fifty winters old. He nods at me as he is introduced

“That’s Carla, she is a Spirit Mage, also under Captain Coy.” Carla is a normal looking woman with straight brown hair reaching her shoulders and soft blue eyes, she looks to be around thirty winters old. She waves at me and gives me a polite smile.

“Finally we come to the brothers Chris and Alex. They both wear heavy armor, and use tower shields. They are currently under Captain Jane” Both of the brothers are muscular and tall, with dark skin similar to Seven. They each appear to be twenty winters old, making me and Dean the youngest Royal Guards at the table. Both of them salute me as their names are called.

I salute them back.

“James and Jake are the two officers amongst us. And you are the only recruit here, the rest of us are ranked as guards.” Dean explains.

After introductions are finished, Dean and I pull some chairs up to the table.

“Is it true that you managed to land a hit on Sir Johnathon during your match?” Chris asks me as soon as we sit down.

“I did, but I lost because of it.” I respond.

Chris whistles in appreciation “That’s impressive. Nobody lands a hit on him during their first match.”

A waitress comes to our table with some alcoholic drinks. Handing them over to the other Royal Guards before she turns to Dean and I. “Would you two like anything?”

“I’ll take some of your house soup. What about you Damien?” Dean asks.

“I will take some soup as well.” I tell the waitress.

After that, the group turns back to the conversation they were having before we got here.

I listen to their conversations with a small smile. It has been a long time, almost before I can remember, since I felt as comfortable as this. Those memories take away my smile and I shake my head to bring myself back to the present.

A loud spurt of laughter from a group of men wearing the emblem from some noble’s house distracts me. They are laughing at a girl around my age who is hiding a young boy’s face from them with her hands.

I find myself a little confused about the situation and I am about to turn my attention away from them, when I see one of the men step menacingly towards the girl who backs up into a chair, still covering the boy’s face.

The Noble’s men burst into laughter again.

I don’t recognize the noble’s symbol, but it doesn’t really matter anyway. These men are most likely mercenaries who found some money in working for whatever noble they represent.

The men’s jeers and laughter finally start to get on my nerves.

I slowly stand up, stopping the conversation that my fellow Royal Guards had been in the middle of.

I walk over to the mercenary’s table. “Oy. Do you think you could leave the poor kids alone. They don’t look like they are enjoying whatever you are doing to them.”

A large man with scars covering his entire face stands up. “I don’t think that what we do is any of your business.”

I look the man over, the scars and his physique mark him as a warrior of the Tuman clan. I look over the other mercenaries, most of them look like fairly experienced warriors. Luckily, none of them are armed with anything more than a knife.

The young woman who they were picking on is staring at me with a thankful look. That is what decides me.

“I respectfully disagree. The kids look like they have had enough.” I say firmly.

The mercenary takes a step towards me. We both hear as chairs scoot. The other Royal Guards at my table and a handful of regular guards stood up.

The fifteen mercenaries behind The Tuman warrior stand up in response.

The large Tuman warrior smiles and shoots a fist towards my face.

I duck under it and a cacophony of sound breaks out in the room as people move out of the way of the fight.

I hadn’t expected the Tuman warrior to actually start a fight against a Royal Guard, but I had learned from The Hooded Man to always expect that someone will try and kill you.

The brawl lasts for a few seconds, before a ring of fire suddenly appears around every mercenaries neck. A mage amongst the mercenaries looks like he is about to respond, so I hold a knife that I had pillaged from one of the mercenaries against his throat.

James clears his throat. “You are all under arrest for the crime of assaulting a Royal Guard. Please stay still until the appropriate authorities arrive.”

A few minutes later, a large group of guardsmen arrive and arrest the group of men.

Meanwhile Carla is going around healing anybody who needs it.

I look around the room and find the girl slowly sneaking herself and the boy out of the tavern. I intercept them before they can leave.

I look the two of them over. The girl has brown hair and sharp blue eyes with a relatively pretty face. The boy, who I now realize is her brother, has the same brown hair. However, I can’t see his eyes because they were hidden by a scarf she had wrapped around his face.

“What were those men bothering you for?” I ask.

“Why do you care?” She responds in a hostile tone.

I raise an eyebrow at her. “Mostly because I just got in a fight over it.”

The little boy surprises us both by saying, “My face has some words written on it. My sister tells me that the words mean some bad things.”

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. “Let me see.”

The girl opens her mouth to deny me, but her brother places his hand on hers. “It’s ok.” He says.

She gives me a sharp look before slowly unwrapping the scarf she had woven around his head.

The kid didn’t say the whole of it. The words weren’t just written on his face, they were carved there.

A wave of disgust against whoever did this rolls over me, but I am careful to keep it from my face.

“I know someone who can do healing magic, I am going to call her over to look at your face, okay?”

He nods.

“Carla! Come over here.” I yell at her, getting her attention.

She walks over with an annoyed expression. “What is-“ She stops when I move out of the way, showing her the kids face. She kneels in front of the kid and I feel her magic activate as she examines his face, “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know.”