How long has it been since I died, when my life ended and I found myself born into this new world? How long have I lived as a member of a royal house? How long has it been since I last saw my closest friends? Why is it that I feel like I don't belong? Whilst lost in thought, I was then struck by a softened wooden sword and brought back to the reality around me as I fell flat on my rear.
It was rather sunny this day, meaning the combat instructor decided to hold combat training outside in a monastery's courtyard. The students were paired up with another member in the class with the exception of a single kid who just got knocked onto his rear due to a lack of attention. The training sword he held was knocked over onto the grass where other students were practicing sparring.
"Try to stay focused on training, Griffon. Don't get lost in thought, otherwise, you'll be killed in real combat." A tall blond woman in armor, holding the training tool that knocked me over, was standing over me holding a hand out. She was an ex-knight that took up combat training at this monastery I was sent to for an education.
"Sorry, I had a hard time sleeping last night." Sadly, my insomnia stuck with me like a bad dream. Something that wasn't helped by the fact that I had to take an extra class in diplomatic writing and civilian economics. I was the next in line for a house that was recognized as royalty. I guess it wasn't as easy as I would have thought.
"Is it anything to be concerned about?" The ex-knight had a look of concern on her face, "you can talk to me about anything that is bothering you." She definitely cared about her students. This was just one of the many times she asked if I was doing alright at the monastery due to how I used to be rather pampered. She just wanted to make sure I didn't need any help.
"No, I've always had a hard time actually falling asleep, it's not something I can't deal with." Saying that made her worried face soften up, "I'd rather get back to actually training anyway. If I'm to be strong someday, I'm going to need to train like hell."
After I said that she started laughing, "I like your spirit kid, but you may want to go and rest, you can't get a good grasp on training if you're spacing out all the time." She then turned and told the rest of the students that class was being cut short but that they can train on their own if they wish. She then looked at me and said, "Go and take the rest of the day off to rest, I'll let the other instructors know about my decision. In the meantime, I expect you to at least try and make up for lost time for training in the future. You better bring your A-game when you next come for combat sparring."
I nodded and took my leave back to my room in the monastery's 'student living quarters' since my new home in this world was at least a day's travel away. As I was walking through the halls of the church, I noticed that someone had planted some new flowers in the garden in the middle of the dorm courtyard. I knelt down to get a closer look at the flowers and then got lost in thought as they looked quite similar to a 'Red Spider Lily' though it wasn't actually it.
Whilst lost in thought a young woman had snuck up behind me and said, "Hola, are you looking at the flowers?" Since I was lost in thought, I was surprised and had jumped accidentally hitting my head on her chin. The shock had both of us on the ground, she was holding her chin while I was rubbing where I hit my head.
"Sorry about that! You caught me off guard and I jumped back out of instinct. Are you ok?" After snapping back to reality, I got a look at who had come upon me. She was wearing a basic student getup with some personal touch to it. She had her hair in a braid with a few flowers in her hair, one of which looked like a hibiscus flower. The woman also had a noticeable Spanish accent and utilized Spanish words.
"Si, I wasn't expecting a sudden jump from you, but I'm sure my chin will be alright." She laughed it off as I helped her off the ground. We decided to chat for a minute and my suspicion of her being a new student was confirmed, "My name is Rory Elspeth, what is your name señor?" She held out her hand whilst introducing herself.
"Griffon Von Fulger, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Elspeth." I took her hand in greeting, then noticed she had an Aztec style sword and shield on her back. I gestured to it and asked, "I see you have a weapon, do you happen to be a part of the knighthood training? If so, it's nice to know that this will not be our only encounter."
"Oh Aella mío, it's nice to know I'll not be alone in that class! I joined this monastery recently and so I don't have many amigos yet, so I'm very glad to meet you!" She was rather excited and shook my hand rather hard. After she toned her excitement down, she explained that she was the one who planted the flowers. Her way of contributing to the monastery.
"I see, so you're from the southern tribes then, that would explain a few things." We had talked for a little while as we both were heading to our respective rooms. We went to the rooms that the monastery gave to us. These rooms were not themed nor were allowed to be decorated. Turned out that she was across the hall from my room.
"Bueno, I believe we should both get some rest, we want to be at our best, no?" I nodded and we exchanged goodbyes as I started making my way back to my room. As I was walking to my room, I changed my mind about just going to my room and started wandering the monastery. As I wandered, I got lost in thought as the peaceful atmosphere made me remember a time where something like this was only a dream. That walking through these halls was nothing but a fantasy, and it truly felt like a dream. After wandering, I decided to rest at a bench and drifted into a peaceful repose.