Klyde wandered up to the castle of Coneria. As he walked up to the gates, one of the guards began to chuckle.
"Well, I saw you at the festival last night, Klyde. Think you drank enough?", the guard sneered sarcastically.
Klyde approached the guard wordlessly and punched him in the face. Then he continued walking.
The other guard stared in disbelief. Then reality kicked in. "Hey! Get back here!" He helped up his fallen comrade and the two began chasing Klyde. Klyde ducked into a room and slammed it shut behind him. The two guards began to throw their weight against the door. Klyde listened carefully to the sounds, and then just before they rammed the door again, he swung it open and the two guards fell into the room face first. Klyde began laughing loudly. Suddenly a voice boomed through the room.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The King of Coneria got off of his throne and looked at Klyde and the guard. The guards stopped and kneeled down. Klyde just turned around and smiled.
"Hey! Highness! Whats going on?"
The King rolled his eyes. "Oh, its just you Klyde. You best watch your tongue with me. The only reason I haven't sent you to the dungeon yet is because you're the only fighter in town. But keep it up and I might just change my mind."
Klyde began laughing. The King's tone suddenly went from a playful scolding to seriousness. "But I still want to know why you two busted in here. Is not my privacy even sacred?"
So the guards explained their taunting of Klyde and Klyde's reaction. The King looked sharply at Klyde, who grinned, and then turned back to the guards. "You knew I had an urgent summons for him. I should have you thrown in jail for going against my wishes. Both your pays shall be witholded this month for insubordination."
The guards bowed. "Thank you for your mercy, oh Lord." And with that they dejectedly walked out of the throne room.
Klyde yelled after them, "Thats what you get for fucking with me!" he turned around and saw the King's expression. He decided not to push his luck and kept his mouth shut. "So what's this high priority assignment you called me down for?"
The King's expression turned to one of sadness. "Do you know the Dark Knight Garland?"
"Yeah, that spooky guy who left the kingdom a few weeks ago. What about him?"
"He invaded the castle last night and kidnapped the princess."
"What? You mean the guards didn't stop him?!"
"Couldn't stop him. You know as well as I that we are not fortunate enough to have class-gifted guards. Which, by the way, leads me to enquire when you will become Captain of the guard?"
"That's if. It's not my fault I'm one of the only class-gifted in this city."
There were three ranks of people in the world. There was royalty, commoners, and class-gifted. The royalty was formed by the great families of the past, and the title was handed down from generation to generation. Class-gifted people were born with an innate class. Some were born with the power of magic, and some had great fighting prowess. Class-gifted were born from both the royalty and commoners, so some family's ranks were upgraded by the birth of a gifted. Then there was the commoners. These were the fodder of the caste system. People who lived at the bottom of the food chain. Sadly for them, life offered no means of elevation ,short of birthing a gifted, so upward class mobility was rare. Klyde had been lucky enough to been born with the makings of a fighter class, a class with exceptional swordsmanship and strength. Klyde was the only of his kind in Corneria. The dark knight class was much rarer, and incredibly more powerful. While also lacking in magic, the class gave it's possessor unnatural strength with a dark blade, and this class was highly sought for guards and mercenaries. Unfortunately, as their namesake, they tended to be very mysterious and dark people, often untrustworthy as well. You watched your back around a dark knight. Sadly, the King neglected to be wary around Garland.
"So you need me to go rescue Princess Sara, huh? Easier said then done. Still... what's the fee?"
"I'm willing to pay 1000 gil. I'll give you half up front if you wish to buy equipment, and half upon my dearest Sara's safe return."
"1000 gil, huh? Not bad, figure 300 for equipment... 700 should hold me for a few weeks..."
The King's face looked troubled. "Actually, you will only be getting 500..."
"Why?!"
The King's voice began to grow softer as he spoke. "Well, you'll have to split it with your partn..."
Klyde spun around. "My partner?! You didn't say anything about having help!"
"Well, Garland is a dark knight, after all... And you are known to hold your abilities in higher esteem than necessarily true..."
"Grrr... fine. So who's my partner?"
A young man stepped into the throne room. He had on nothing but a simple fighting robe, much lighter than Klyde's own leather armor. He had a black strip of cloth around his waist, and no weapons. He had an innocent look to him, which went well with his messy brown hair. He nervously looked at Klyde and tried to smile.
"Hi. My name is James."
Klyde scowled slightly and looked at the King. "He is gifted, correct?"
"Yes. James was born into the black belt class. They are known for their stamina in battle as well as their ability to fight with their fists nearly as well as you fight with a sword."
"Yea, so I've heard... I'll have to see that one for myself though, I suppose. Oh well. So where is this Garland located, anyways?"
James spoke up. "I spoke to one of the guards that witnessed the kidnapping, Sir Klyde, and he reported that Garland headed northwest."
"First of all, don't 'sir' me..." then he began to rub his chin. "Well, the only thing up that way is an old abandoned castle from the days of yore... I'd bet a few gil he's holed himself up in there. Well, ok. Just hand us that money, and we'll be on our way." Klyde grabbed the pouch of gil and walked out of the room without ceremony. James turned and smiled nervously at the King.
"By your leave, my liege..." he said as we bowed.
The King just sighed. "Well, at least one of you has manners. I just wish Klyde didn't know enough to realize he doesn't need them..."