A Legend Reborn

Prologue: Rite of Passage

It was a bright, clear day. The sun was high in the sky, lighting up the Vale countryside, painting a beautiful picture of the green, lush land surrounding the city of Vale. Far to the east of the capital resided a harsh canyon where the wind blew harshly, the heat of the sun was intense, and the only things residing there were very powerful creatures of Grimm. A lone young huntsman-in-training stood at the entrance to the canyon, readying himself for the trial ahead of him. After a few more minutes of mental preparation, 16-year-old Roland Rigorm entered the tough and dangerous Victory Canyon. He was light-skinned and had a rectangular face, a slightly pointed chin, and sturdy jaw line. His face was slightly narrow and oblong and his cheekbones weren't that prominent, giving him a serious look. His eyes were an upturned shaped and were brown in color. His eyebrows were straight and slightly curved around his eyes, further adding to his serious look. His royal blue hair was short and combed to the left while covering his forehead. He stood six feet tall and had a skinny yet muscular build. He wore a black tunic as well as jeans with armored combat boots. He also wore an armored breastplate and armored gloves that were silver and outlined with blue that was the same color as his hair. His armor on his boots extended up to his ankles and had the same silver and royal blue style as the rest of his armor. He had a standard steel sword and shield he forged himself: both the sword and shield were a typical metallic gray with the hilt colored royal blue. His shield had the ability to transform into a scabbard and bore the royal blue colored insignia of his hometown Crealot: a castle with a sword in the foreground. Roland drew his sword with his left hand and took his shield with his right hand as he entered the canyon, his armor clinking with every step.

Only a few minutes passed before he was attacked by the indigenous Grimm of the canyon. Due to the harsh climate of the canyon, the Grimm there grew very powerful over the ages, making the canyon to be a very dangerous place, and each Grimm had the appearance of an Alpha. Roland however, countered the Alpha Beowolves that attacked him, timing his strikes for quick finishes. He continued through the canyon, being constantly assaulted by the Grimm, by the heat of the sun on his head, and by the harsh wind that blew through the canyon. Despite growing tired, Roland fought on, no, he had to fight on. If he stopped, he most certainly would die. In addition to Beowolves, he encountered Creeps, King Taijitus, a Beringel, and finally a Deathstalker that blocked his path. Exhausted from fighting such powerful Grimm all day, he could only dodge the attacks of the Grimm, and his counterattacks couldn't even scratch its tough shell. He then dodged a strike from the stinger of the Deathstalker, seeing it decimate a nearby boulder. Seeing the destructive power of the strike gave Roland an idea: he swung his sword at the stinger, attempting to cut it off. His sword managed to pierce the flesh of the Grimm, loosening the stinger. It swayed as the Deathstalked withdrew its tail and prepared for another attack. Before it could strike again, Roland threw his sword at the stinger, slicing it off the tail of the Deathstalker and caused it to impale the Grimm's head. Roland's sword impaled the tail, adding to the pain the Grimm suffered. Roland advanced and jumped to retrieve his sword, and once he grabbed it, he swung himself around to propel himself into the air. He then landed on the stinger stomping down onto it, and caused it to fully penetrate the shell of the Deathstalker. The Grimm writhed in pain once more before it ceased moving and faded into black mist. Roland stood there, out of breath and allowed himself a short respite before continuing through the canyon.

Night fell and the howls of Beowolves were clearly heard. Roland had to seek shelter for the night or he was a dead man. He looked around and found a small hollow in the canyon wall that offered excellent protection from the Grimm. He blocked the entrance with a nearby boulder and made camp. After he set up camp, he quickly laid down, completely exhausted from the day of fighting, though sleep didn't come easily due to the howls of the Beowolves. He kept his sword close and thought of his family, his father Dak, his mother Lilina, and his two younger twin sisters, Scarla and Ella, to quell the fear in his heart. The night passed without incident much to Roland's relief, and he quickly got up and left the hollow after a quick breakfast of survival provisions. He covered the entrance with another boulder and left a landmark of where he spent the night for possible future use. The day continued as the same as the previous day: endless skirmishes with Grimm. Roland continued on, his iron will not even bending from the pressure, and made it out of the canyon.

He then started seeing trees along the path as he approached his next obstacle, a massive mountain surrounded by storm clouds that were constantly lit up by lightning. It was a dreaded mountain called the Mountain of Thunder: home to even stronger Grimm than Victory Canyon and was said to have a monstrous Grimm sealed away at its summit. Roland continued to think of his family and proceeded towards the mountain. He arrived at the foothill of the mountain and found a survival cabin nearby that the people of his town built for travelers, and spent the night there. The following morning, Roland left the cabin and began the long, tough climb over the Mountain of Thunder.

As he walked up the trail, he could see several trees that were scorched by lightning and heard thunder all around him that followed flashes of lightning. Just like in the canyon, Roland was quickly assaulted by Grimm as he travelled up the mountain. The Grimm were even stronger than those in Victory Canyon, proving the circulating rumors. Roland fought on as he climbed, encountering more Beowolves, Ursas, and a King Taijitu. The Grimm had a slightly bluish glow to them, as if they were beginning to feed off of the electricity from the lightning. Roland then approached a fork in the road and looked at the two paths: one lead to the side of the mountain where the land around could be clearly seen, and the other continued through the trees and looked steeper. Roland took the path on the side of the mountain that was clear but realized he made a big mistake. Lightning struck ten feet in front of him, causing his vision to go white. When he came to, he was on the ground and his ears rang from the deafening thunderclap that followed the strike. He noticed his sword and shield were on the ground and realized he dropped them when he fell to the ground. As he began to get up, a Beowolf attacked, pinning him to the ground. All Roland could do is hold the Grimm's jaws away from him in order to not be ripped to shreds. As he struggled, he looked and saw the cliff behind him and pushed the Beowolf off of him with his feet, causing it to tumble down the cliff. As he staggered to his feet, his hearing returned but an Ursa appeared before he could pick up his sword. Roland dodged and punched the Grimm but his attack had little effect. Roland then saw the spiky bones protruding from the Grimm's back and had an idea. He dodged another attack and leapt onto the Grimm's back, snapping off one of the bones before being thrown off. Roland hit the ground hard and the Ursa charged at him, roaring at him as it approached. As it roared, Roland threw the bone he snapped off and impaled the Grimm through its mouth. It fell to the ground and faded into black mist, and Roland staggered over to his weapon, picked it up, and continued on the other path, clearly seeing the danger of the path he was on.

He continued his climb, still encountering Grimm, until he approached a clearing in the trees. He then noticed a supply cache left for him and took an opportunity to rest. He noticed that the air was calm in this clearing and no Grimm showed up. After about ten minutes, he got up and continued his climb. He noticed the path got steeper and the weather grew harsher. Grimm continued to attack and Roland began to take damage from each assault. The Grimm stopped coming for a little while, bringing both relief and concern to him. He knew something big must be coming.

He found another small clearing and soon felt the ground shake beneath him, like footsteps coming his way. Shortly afterwards, a Geist with a rock body burst out of the tree line. Roland stood ready and analyzed it for a weakness and found its face. He dodged attack after attack and tried to go for its face, but to no avail. The Grimm was conscious of its weak spot and guarded it at all costs. Roland's attacks also had no effect on its rock body, and he realized that he must deal with its limbs first. He continued to dodged and found a weak joint in one of its legs where several small rocks were collected. He observed that the Geist was unaware of this weakness and he attacked its face once again. The Geist put up its defenses but saw Roland change direction and attack the weak joint. The leg gave way and crippled the Geist, and it began to limp towards a tree to replace its now missing limb. Roland then used this opportunity to jump onto its arm and ran up its body. When he reached the shoulder, he dodged one last attack as he jumped to its face, impaling the bony mask of the Grimm. The mask faded into black mist and the body crumbled into a pile of rocks. Roland caught his breath and continued his climb.

As he continued, more Grimm appeared and the path grew even steeper. After hours of fighting and climbing, Roland at last made it to the summit. He looked around and saw boulders broken apart by the lightning that flashed around him. It was as if he was inside the perpetual storm cloud that stayed over the mountain. He passed one giant boulder before he found the path that descended down the mountain. The descent was far easier than the climb, despite running into more Grimm. Scraped up from battle and exhausted from the climb, Roland made it home to Crealot. The town looked like the city of Vale but far smaller and looked like a modern medieval city. All the huntsman and huntresses of the town awaited his return and cheered him on as he walked through the city. Some donned armor and possessed some sort of medieval weaponry like he did and others wore robes like a mage. The women also dressed in the same attire but wore a dress of some kind with their combat outfit. He passed by the avenue that led to an old ruined castle under restoration that housed a king at one time. He then passed by the town library and its two sanctums that each held numerous books and tomes containing spells, historical records of the town and of Vale, and other secrets that the land had, sensitive secrets that required guarding. Roland then made his way to an arena, where the end of his trial was.

When he reached the arena he looked around at all of its glory. It was shaped like a coliseum but the battleground looked like a giant table and had twelve royal knight statues around it holding their swords downward, each stabbing the ground. The table was divided into twelve sections that had different emblems representing each knight with a dragon head in the center, the emblem of the king. Each shield of the knights had a different emblem to represent each knight. In the stands there was a single, decorated seating box like it was fit for a king that had a pair of nice seats for the king and queen. Beside the seating box was another nice seating box for the knights that had twelve seats for each of them. Overall, the arena had a medieval look to it save for the box for commentators and the big screen at the top. People were filing into the stands to watch as Roland approached the fighting ring. There his father, Dak, was waiting for him. He was tall, muscular, and had a rugged face. His hair and goatee were dark blue, darker than Roland's hair, and he had brown eyes. Roland made it to the ring, completely exhausted from the tough journey he took and looked at his father. Dak smiled confidently and said, "Good job Roland! You made it! You make me proud son!"

"Hah… Thanks dad…" Roland said, out of breath. He looked and saw his mother and sisters standing outside the ring cheering and waving to him. He smiled upon seeing them and looked back at his father. Dak's face then grew serious and he said, "Now young knight, are you ready for your final trial? You must face me in battle and bring my aura down to 50%."

Roland also grew serious and readied himself. His journey was a three-part trial that all aspiring huntsmen and huntresses of Crealot must take when they turn sixteen. They must pass through Victory Canyon, climb the Mountain of Thunder, and face on of their own parents, a full-fledged huntsman in battle, and reduce their aura to at least 50%. This was their final test to graduate from Watchtower Academy, the knight academy of Crealot like Signal Academy of Patch. It was located between the arena and the library but didn't even compare to Beacon Academy, despite graduating strong and talented students. To date, no one from Crealot has completed this trial the first time around. Roland, despite being tired, trembled with excitement to be fighting at the Round Table Arena. The arena was only used for tournaments and training for those who at least completed the Graduation Trial as it was called. Roland would finally be able to fight in this arena. He composed himself and said to his father, "I am. It is an honor to spar with a huntsman as esteemed as yourself."

"Very well," Dak replied. The big screen then showed both of their auras, fully charged, and the knight statues around the ring began to move. They raised their swords and swung them to either side, clashing with the knight's swords next to them and raised their swords skyward, all of them joined at the top, as if the battle had received approval. Roland and Dak then raised their weapons and clashed them both to wish each other luck. Dak wielded a mace that transformed into a shotgun, adding to the medieval-modern feel of Crealot. Silence fell over the crowd as the two stepped back and readied themselves for battle. The two of them then came at each other and clashed for real this time. Roland then recoiled from Dak's superior strength and took a big hit from his mace. Roland staggered to his feet and narrowly dodged another strike from his father. He countered only to be blocked and hit by Dak's mace once again. Dak followed up and Roland blocked the attack with his shield, still recoiling from the attack. This time, Roland dodged the next attack, and landed a blow with his sword to his father's torso. The attack had some effect and Roland followed up with another stroke only to clash with Dak's mace again. This time, Roland surrendered the lock to escape and land two more blows. When he struck for a third time, Dak changed his weapon to a shotgun and blasted Roland at point-blank. Roland flew back from taking the shot and raised his shield to block more shots. Dak then changed his weapon back into a mace and came at Roland again. Roland barely kept up and could only dodge.

He then saw a pattern in his father's attacks and began to find openings when he dodged and landed a few more blows, much to Dak's surprise. He's doing a lot better than I thought, Dak thought. Still, this fight has just started. Let's see how he handles THIS. Dak then let Roland strike him and used that opportunity to deliver a heavy blow. Roland was knocked to the ground and was slow on getting up, his aura almost gone, while Dak's was at 75%. Roland blocked the attack that followed but was losing ground. As they exchanged blows once more, Roland thought, This is bad… My aura's almost gone and I'm completely spent… My attacks also aren't doing enough damage for me to win… Wait, MY attacks aren't having much effect but HIS will! Roland then pretended that Dak's most recent attack broke his defense and staggered backwards. Dak then changed his mace to a shotgun and intended to end the fight with a shot at point-blank range. Roland then quickly recovered and raised his shield from the shot and the rounds deflected off of his shield and back at Dak, causing the shot to hit him. Dak then changed his weapon back into a mace and attacked but Roland blocked and deflected the attack, causing Dak's own mace to hit himself. Roland then jumped into the air and delivered one more powerful blow on Dak's torso. However, the strike wasn't enough to end the fight. Dak staggered but recovered and directed one more attack to finish Roland off. Roland was completely spent and could only watch as his father's mace fall.

However, rather than take the final blow, Roland felt his father's hand on his shoulder and the crowd grew silent. He looked up to see Dak smiling at him and saying, "Good job son." Confused, Roland looked at the screen and saw that his father's aura was down to 50%. "You're officially graduated!" Dak said. Roland was speechless and could only smile upon his victory. The knight statues lowered their swords and returned them into the ground like they were before. The crowd then cheered in celebration of Roland's victory. For the first time ever, a student cleared the graduation trial of Watchtower Academy. Roland waved to his mother and sisters who raced towards him to hug him. Before he could say anything else, he felt faint and fell to the ground, dropping his weapons. His mother and sisters caught him and were initially worried about him until they noticed that he fell asleep. He grew so exhausted that he could no longer stand. His mother smiled and carried him home, just like when he was a child. His father and sisters also went home to help the triumphant knight to get the rest he earned.