Chapter 9: Gift of Emblem

Stare flopped down on Matthew's bed as he waited for him to heal him. They had failed to stop a lot of thefts in their area of assignment in the past few weeks. They had been berated several times by their superiors and had received some temporary pay deductions. They were also quite unpopular with the citizens in the market area.

Matthew finished sniffing the blue herb. He raised his hands and muttered a soft prayer. Stare's wounds were healed and his bruises disappeared.

Stare rose slowly. He sighed.

"Well at least we stopped that last one." Stare said.

"Yeah, well that doesn't redeem us yet. It bothers me how an accomplished acolyte and a trained swordsman can do so poorly against these amateur thieves." Matthew said, crestfallen.

"Yeah,…about that. I'm not exactly a swordsman yet. I learned all the lessons, mastered the techniques and did all the training but…"

"But…?" Matthew looked confused.

"But I never had the chance to take the test."

"Why not!"

"Well I was just going to in my home town but then there was the raid. I left for my uncle's town but then it was attacked, too. Keep in mind that these were small towns not even marked on most maps. The king wouldn't care for them."

"I see. Well, let's try to find some time for you to take it." Matthew said, smiling.

"Yeah, let's." Stare said thoughtfully. 'Seeing how we're doing I don't think we'll have much free time, though."

"Guess not. Well, we'd better rest up. Never know what we'll have to do tomorrow."

"Later." Stare said as he left the room

Stare flopped down on his bed and slipped into the silent realms of the subconscious.

Stare hastily put on his equipment. He had overslept. He was starting to get flustered so it took him a while to finish. He looked at Matthew's door there was a sign on it. "Meeting w superior. Morning." It read. Stare ran off to their superior's office, hoping Matthew was still there.

Stare could here voices from within the office. He knocked on the door softly. No one seemed to notice so he did it again, this time louder. The door opened.

"Come in." A gruff voice called.

Stare entered and stared around. Matthew was there and so was a knight along with their direct superior.

"Alright, let me put this quickly now that you're all here. You three have been doing…How do I say this…Oh, I know you all failed miserably! You three are going to be on suspension for one week! Feel free to tell me now if you'd rather quit the guild."

A silence then engulfed the room. No one moved. Suddenly the knight fainted and fell to the ground. His armor produced an echoing clang.

"All right. Seems you want to stay. We'll try to think things over, take this time to improve your skills. You're not allowed to use the dorms here for this week, though. Get your stuff and find some other place to stay. Dismissed!"

Stare and Matthew sat on a park bench, the fainted knight draped beside them on the bench's backrest. Their things had all been moved to the monastery. They were all pretty much in shock of the morning's happenings. Stare was munching on a piece of dried meat. He kept his sword with him. Matthew was staring at the sky.

"I'll go for a walk. I have to clear my mind. See you at the monastery." Stare said.

Stare walked around Prontera in some random directions, not really minding where he went. He soon found himself wandering the back alleys and hidden ways of the capital. He got the attention of many beggars and thieves who eyed him suspiciously. Stare ignored them and continued walking. He soon found himself at the market. He wandered around looking at weapons and armor. Before he knew it, it was evening. He decided to return to the monastery.

Stare entered the room where he, Matthew and the unnamed knight were staying. The knight was finally up and was eating something. Matthew was on his bed, reading a book. Stare sighed. He got ready for bed then flopped down on his bed.

"I've been thinking," Matthew said, not turning away from his book. "Why don't you take the swordsman test tomorrow? At least something will be accomplished while we're suspended. I'm returning to training here so then we'd both learn some new things."

"I suppose I should. Nothing to lose."

"Alright then. It's settled."

"I guess."

"Good night, then."

"Yeah, you too."

Stare got up. He scanned the room. Matthew was up, praying but the knight in their company was still asleep. He slowly got dressed.

"I'll be out now. I'm going to take the test."

"I pray for your success." Matthew said in reply.

Stare made his way out of the monastery and to the swordsman guild. The main branch was in Izlude but they had expanded and set up other branches.

He found it easily. It was near the main gate of the city. He entered it and looked around a guide saw him as he entered.

"Are you here for the test?" he asked.

"Yeah." Stare said.

"Don't get so worked up. It's simple. Just put those weights on," the guide said, pointing to some iron bands. "and run the course in five minutes."

'Cool. I can do that." Stare walked over to the weights and began fastening them to his wrists, arms and legs.

Soon he was running the course, balancing on the wooden bars and avoiding the gaping pits in the course. He failed a few times but eventually succeded. He emerged from the dark testing area and into the glaring noontime sunlight. He decided to return to the monastery first of all.

A little later Stare was walking through the halls of the monastery towards the room where he was staying. Lots of the inhabitants weren't even monks or priests. It seemed that the monastery housed dozens of otherwise homeless people such as retired knights and unlucky merchants.

When Stare got to his room only the knight was there. He figured Matthew was doing that training he mentioned earlier. The knight quickly spotted Stare's brooch which indicated him to be a swordsman. He jumped up.

"Aha! So you passed. This calls for a celebration!" The knight exclaimed.

"Yeah…except we're broke so that's out of the question." Stare said.

"Come on. Surely we can expend a little for this occasion! We don't need much."

"Whatever then. You're spending." Stare sighed.

"Very well! We'll have a little fun tonight. Let's wait till Matthew comes by."

Later that night Stare found himself in a tavern with a sober acolyte and a very drunk knight. He himself had a few drinks. All around there seemed to be some kind of dark aura. Everyone in the tavern seemed to have some kind of problem. Why the knight chose this place was a mystery to Stare.

A few tables from Stare's an alchemist and a very drunk and depressed archer were having one of the said problems.

"He was a jerk anyway. There are a lot of other nice guys out there." The Alchemist said, trying to comfort her depressed friend.

"Yeah…but" the archer grabbed a bottle of beer and drank its contents all at once. "Never mind…I'm hopeless."

"Look over there." The alchemist pointed at Stare. "He's got potential."

"You think so, Asah? He looks kinda young…" the archer said, sizing Stare up.

"He's as old as you are. Which reminds me, you shouldn't be drinking…"

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." The archer got up and began to walk over to Stare's table.

"You go, girl." Asah said as her friend got up.

Author's Notes

Sorry for the late update…Thanks to all who have reviewed! And, um…I'm still accepting character ideas.