Trained by an Old knight!

The Job:

James had been apart of Lamia Scale for some time, and had eventually advanced in power to the rank of C. Though his magical might may have grow his physical combat abilities had not. Once his guild master caught wind of him having no formal combat training, she shipped him off to Beanstalk village, a retirement home for old rune knights. James didn't know much of the rune knights aside from them being great soldiers once under the magic council. Long story short, his master demanded he train with the old rusty knights to increase his own skill and gain some discipline. James walked through the forests in the middle of the day, there was not a cloud in the sky, but the road was still dark, shrouded by the shadow of trees. James  let out a sigh telling himself, this was good for him, and he needed the training. Though these statements may both be true, James was still reluctant to rely on others for strength. He figured he should find his own way rather then barrow someone else's. As he walked down the path surrounded by forest land, he eventually came to the light at the end. Walking out of the tunnel, he could see the famous Beanstalk village and various residents scattered around. He gave a slight sigh and told himself "This will make me stronger, I might enjoy this..."

James walked into the little town, it was much more quiet than he had once expected. The small collective of homes and citizens was almost reverent. James didn't have time to admire the town's peacefulness however; he needed to meet up with a man named sir olrad, who ran the retirement home. James walked through the streets until he reached the largest building with a rune knight symbol on it. This was undoubtedly the place, so James knocked on the door. After a few moments of key turning, James was greeted by a young rune knight in uniform. James smiled "Are you Sir Olrad by any chance? I'm James Steel, you should be expecting me." the young man nodded "Ah yes, Mr. Steel. You were sent here to meet the retired rune knights and be trained by one or two yes? Right this way my friend. They young man ushered James inside the huge home. Looking around James saw a medieval castle style architecture, with various elderly knights, some were still even wearing their armor! James pulled a small list from his pocket, they were the people his guild master recommend train him. James asked the Knight escorting him "My master told me I should be trained by one or both of these masters: Pock, and Burt..." the guy's face lit up "Oh, excellent choices indeed! they are all masters of their weapons. They are all here currently, in the courtyard to be exact. Master Pock should be your first visit, as he could use the encouragement." The boy walked James through the halls until they reached a garden courtyard. There he was, Master pock laying back in a rocking chair.

James approached the man, he was dressed in Platemail and had a thick gray beard. As James walked near him he started to act as if he knew the wizard "Ah privet! Good to see you again, the dark guild alliance will make a move soon. We should ready ourselves in anyway possible." The old man saluted James before tossing him a sword. James first though this was some kind of joke, but he quickly realized this man had some kind of memory loss. The old knight walked out into the center of the court with James and began commanding. "Stance one!" he shouted while entering a duel bladed stance. James tried to replicate this form of stance and footing with the signal blade he was given, but Master Pock turned around shouting "Sloppy solider! Very Sloppy! You wanna get killed out there by some dark swords man." James didn't verbally respond, but he shook his head as the question. The old knight continued to shout "Now that's what I thought! Alright, Stance two!" The old knight entered yet another stance, but this appeared to be a defensive one. Again, James tried to replicate this technique, but it didn't seem to be quite right. Master Pock continued to shout about James' lack of talent or understanding of combat. Eventually the knight snapped "that's it privet! I'll whip you into shape before the dark guilds arrive. Drop and give me twenty!" James hit the floor and began doing pushups. While James was occupied, Sir Olrad walked out and spoke to the rusty warrior. "Master Pock, your grandson is here to take you out for the day." The old man gave an excited smile and followed Olrad to his son where he would check out for the rest of the day.

After James had finished his twenty pushups, he stood up and looked around to see the man training him was gone. Luckily, there was still one other person on his list: Master Burt. James left the courtyard to discover the location of the other retired knight, upon asking around a little James discovered the location of master Burt. He had been on the front deck of the retirement home the whole time, waiting for something interesting to happen. James walked over to the man and introduced himself "Excuse me, master Burt is it? I was sent here by my guild to gain experience from the best. I figured you may be able to help with that?" the old man nodded, "yes I'm burt master of the thunder spear! If you seek knowledge, I shall teach you what I know." James face lit up, maybe he would receive the training he desired! James took a step back, and took a deep breath before asking the old knight "Alright, what's my first lesson." the knight began, "ah yes, but before I can teach you you must first improve your physical body. You will start with basic training, should you succeed, you will train under me!" master Burt stood up and began making a slight speech "Boy, these next few days may be tough, but once your body is in shape, you'll be the greatest spear fighter in all of Fiore!" James nodded and persisted "I"ll do as you say master! Just tell me what I must do to become stronger and it will be done." the old man stroked his chin, and chuckled before commanding "To begin with, I want you to run from here to the forest. Pick an apple and bring it to me, then I shall begin the next part of your physical training. James looked confused, why would a master of spear fighting want James to run into a forest and hunt down an apple? Though he wanted to, James did not question his elder. He began running through the town and out of it's main gates, after two minutes James had already started sweating. "This is gonna be harder than I thought... I'm already getting tired." James told himself. After fifteen minutes of this running, James eventually reached the forest from which he had come to the village. James figured his speed was nothing impressive, and he had to do better in the future if he wanted to impress his master.

James began wandering through the forest, and found a signal apple tree. As he picked a fruit from it he could feel an unsettling presence watching him. It was a cold shiver down his spine, a shadowy figure was in the tree above him. James looked up and quickly spoke "To whom do I owe the pleasure." the figure looked surprised, as if it didn't think James would notice. Within moments it exploded into black dust and disappeared, with out a trace. James scratched his head but figured there was no harm done. With that, he turned around and ran all the way back to Master Burt on the deck of the home. "M-M-Master, I got the fruit for you." James was huffing and puffing, out of breath from all the running. the master smiled "ah, excellent now I can get that fruit that my doctor recommended." James' jaw dropped asking "What are you talking about!? Burt was chewing on the apple James had brought, but stopped to answer his question. "Oh, Right, About that... I'm not the real master Burt. That was my father... I can't really teach you anything." James was shocked, it seemed as if he had failed his mission. There were no well known knights left to train him after all.


Word Count 1,446/3,000