Even from a distance, the capital of Reidock was huge, much larger than Shiena, let alone Lifecod. Most of the buoldings were made of stone.
I walked up towards one of the gates. A guard stood in front.
"Do you have a pass?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied. I gave him the pass, and he looked through it.
"You may enter," said the guard. "We have a lot of folks coming in enlisting in the Army."
I then walked in. I immedaitely noticed all sorts of people in town, either walking or riding in carriages. The streets were wide and paved with stones. This did not surprise me, since this was after all the kingdom's capital.
Talking to the people living in thge city, I heard that Reidock has been at war with Mudo's troops. I also heard that Mudo always manages to escape whenever Reidock's troops catch up to him.
The castle itself was huge, a massive fortified stone structure, and was clearly the centerpiece of the city. It looked familiar. It was possible that I visisted the castle during a field trip, but I could not remember going on any field trips to Reidock Castle. Maybe I was very young at the time, and the memories have faded.
I saw a wooden sign just a few yards before the castle's entrance. It was a recruitment sign, asking people to enlist.
I thought it over for a few minutes. I then decided to join. I was on a quest to find my true identity, whatever that was, and I figured I could be all I could be.
I approached the guard at the gate.
"I saw the sign," I said. "Is this where I join the Army?"
"You mat eneter once the church bell chimes," said the guard. "We've a lot of people coming in to enlist."
I took a walk around the city, familarizing myself with the layout. It did look familiar to me. I definitely visisted this place before. But when?
I walked inside the church. It was empty except for the priest on duty and this young man.
"Couild you hurry up?" asked the man. "I have to be somewhere soon."
"Be patient, my child," replied the priest.
Then I heard the church bell ring. The young man walked out the church. It was time for me to go, so I left the church and walked back to the castle.
And so I went to the first floor lobby of the castle. Another guard told me to go to the second floor where all the recruits were gathering. As I went to the second floor, I noticed it looked familiar.
Over a dozen young men were gathered on the second floor lobby of the castle. Uniformed soldiers watched over us. I figured we woulkd sign up, and then join a caravan to take us to where new recruits are trained. I saw the young man from the church here; he was obviously a recruit.
"Attention!" yelled one of the soldiers. "General Soldi will be addressing you."
We all stood tall and straight as we could. A man in his larte forties with blond hair walked in. He had all sorts of decoarations on his uniform.
"Welcome volunteers," he said. "I am General Soldi, supreme commander of the Reidock Royal Army. I am glad to meet all of you new, eager recruits. To prove your worth, you must pass a test. You are to go south, to the Tower of Trials. There is an item there you must retrieve."
"What is it?" asked one of the recruits.
"That is for you to find out. Soldiers must be fit in both body and mind. Now go!"
"Yes, sir!" we all said.
And so I headed south out of Reidock Castle. I was a bit surprised by this induction method. I thought the Army would ship us to a camp in the middle of nowhere and have drill instructors yell at us for the next few weeks. Aby way, about half an hour after leaving the castle, I could see a tall stone tower rising in the distance.
That must be the Tower of Trials. I was there before I knew it.
A guard stood at the entrance to the tower.
"This is the Tower of Trials," he said. "Good luck."
Holding my club, I stepped into the tower.
It was a fairly simple tower corridors and rooms. I noticed tiny spikes covered parts of the floor, so I avoided the spikes.
Suddenly, I was ambused by some monsters. They appeared to be dogs brandishing bows; I guess the Army had trained monsters inn the tower to do battle with recruits. I dodged the arrows and then bashed those dogs with my wooden club. Soon I had those monsters beaten.
I continued up a flight of stairs. Walking along a hallway, a soldier stoof in the way.
"You must beat me if you are to pass," said the soldier.
And so we engaged in a fight. The soldier had this mean axe and I had to do some fancy footwork in order to avoid being cleaved in two. I cast the spell Sap on him to lower his defense.
I saw an opening, so I bashed him with the club. I soon had him on the ground.
"Okay, okay!" yelled the soldier. "You can pass now!"
And so I did. I went through a door to the balcony. Waling along the balcony, I went through another door into the tower's interior.
I suddenly found myself being moved. I then noticed that the floor had these arrow tiles on them. Stepping on the arrow tiles and looking at the floor, I noticed I shifted to where the arrow was pointing.
I looked over the floor and did some geometry problems in my head to figure which tile to step on to continue onward. It took a few minutes for me to figure it out.
I stepped on one of the tiles, and was pushed around the floor. I ended up ion the center of the room, surrounded by the arrow tiles. I then stepped on another tile, and again was pushed along the floor. I looked and saw a clear pathway to the stairs, so I walked up.
Coming out on a blacony, there was a gap. I could jump to the ledge below. I braced myself and leaped down.
I saw another of the recruits.
"Huh?" he said. "I feel as if we met before."
"It must have been back at the castle when the general was addressing us," I said.
"Oh yeah. Anyway, time for me to get the item."
And so I continued. Heading into the tower interior, a soldier addressed me.
"Three people will tell ytou where to go," said the soldier. "But only one is telling the truth."
"Uh, sure," I said.
And so I spoke to the three people in front of the three doors.
"There's nothing behind me that you want," said this man on the left door. "The third door is what you want."
"Don't go any further, young man," said this old man standing in front of the middle door. "You'll just get hurt."
"You can believe me," said this woman standing in front of the right door. "The only of of us telling the truth is the man on the far left."
I stood there, trying to figure this out. If the man on the left was telling the truth, then the other two were lying and I take the door on the right. This would mean that I would not get hurt if I took the middle door, and that the man on the left was ...was lying?
That made no sense, so the man on the left was lying. If the man on the left was lying, then there was something behind him that I wanted. The right door was the left door!
So I headed into the left door and climbed the stairs. It led to the balcony at the very top. I could see Reidock Castle, and even farther ahead, the mountain where Lifecod stands.
A soldier stood in front of the door leading to the top chamber.
"Congratulations on making it this far, recruit," he said. "I am your final challenge."
"Let's get it on then," I said, brandishing my club.
I cast Sap to slow his defense. He then took a swing at me with that axe, which I just barely avoided.
I suddenly fell to the ground; he must have tripped me. I rolled away to avoid being killed.
This was insane, I thought. They shouldn't be trying to kill their recruits!
This guy was better than the last. He managed to block a few of my blows with his shield that had this skull emblem on it. I used my own buckler to block some of his blows. It was a pretty intense fight.
He then tried to kick at my legs agaiin, hoping to trip me. I barely avoided it, saw an opening, and then I pummeled him with my club.
"I yield!" he yelled. "You win! In that room is a treasure chest. Open it and take it back to the general."
I headed into this small room, smaller than my house in Lifecod. I opened this wooden treasiure chest and there was this jewel shaped like a broken heart. I headed out to the balcony and threw the Wing of Wyvern into the air. Minutes later I was back in Reidock Castle.
I met General Soldi on the second floor balcony.
"You are the first to return," he said. "What have you brought for me?"
"Is this the item, sir?" I asked.
"Yes, it is recruit. You have won. Now, by the authority vested to me by the Crown, I hereby appoint you as a soldier in the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Reidock! Welcome, soldier."
I stood up and saluted the general. "I won't let you down, sir."
"I grant you leave for the rest of the day," said Soldi. "You may stay in the common areas of the castle, or you may go out to town. Just be back by morning. I do not look kindly on those who go AWOL."
"Yes, sir."
I decided to explore ther vastle. As I did, it felt familiar, a lot more familiar than I should, considering I just got here today. I did hear some news from the guards and the castle staff. There was more talk about the war with Mudo, and I did hear the king never sleeps. I thought that was inhumanly possible.
In the castle courtyard was this old man standing in front of a covered wagon.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"This wagon hasn't been used in a long time. You see, we don't have a horse."
"That doesn't make sense," I said. "How could the king not have a horse for his wagon?"
"It would mean a lot to me and the king if we had a horse."
"Maybe there's something I can do," I said.
I left the castle and headed into town. Maybe there was a horse dealer somewhere.
"Hello there," this male voice cried out.
I looked towards the castle gate, and I saw this young man coming out. I remembered meeting him back at the Tower of Trials.
"I was one of the recruits," he said.
"I know," I replied. "The castle doesn'ty seem to have any horses to pull the wagon, and I was goona see if I can get one."
"Listen, you're going to need my help," he said. "If you will accept."
"Sure," I said. I felt as if I met him before the Tower of Trials. I introduced myself and told him I was from Lifecod to the north.
"My name is Hassan," he said.
"And where do you hail from?"
"I...I don't know. How about we go about finding a horse."
"Sure," I said.
Hassan and I both went to the inn. The Watyfarer's Inn in Reidock was busy, as this was the capital. We starrted asking where we could get a horse, hopefully cheap.
"You know, I had an encounter with this horse in the woods a few miles west of the castle," said this merchant, whio was probably traceling either to or from the bazaar in Shiena. "That horse was a wild one. Couldn't tame him."
"Thanks," I said.
"This is a great opportunity for us," said Hassan. "If we can tame this horse, we can get it for free. Who can trust a horse dealer these days anyway."
"You're right, Hassan," I said. "To the western woods!"
And so we headed out of town towards the west.