45. Knighthood Ceremony
Otr had met izel at the exit of his master's workshop, they went to the reception to have access to their mailbox. This mailbox was placed in the association to collect various letters, of course for urgent messages they had an artifact but this had too big a cost for normal messages. Reading the letters he had received izel found a summons from the ducal palace, he was invited to go to the palace to receive his reward. The reception in his honor was for the following weekend, a private reception with about thirty people. The Duke knew that he didn't like receptions with too many people, so he made sure he didn't feel uncomfortable. The Duke had always been quite considerate with izel, he understood the reason only recently, but he didn't understand why he had been so kind until he saved his life.
With otr they decided to do a training fight to see their mutual improvement, a friendly fight that had no consequences. Otr had his own way of fighting, having the ability to change shape he has a tendency to surprise you. During their separation he managed to learn partial transformation, thanks to this he can transform a single part of his body into an animal. During the fight he transformed these legs into tiger legs to increase his speed, izel was not used to such strange fights. The fight lasted a good half hour, kicks were thrown, countered and then thrown again, the friendship between these two young men was deep, the knowledge of each other's martial arts did not allow them to deliver effective blows. All the blows that one threw was countered by the other, their strength was extremely similar, izel was a little jealous because Otr was born with a constitution superior to him, but she was his friend so his jealousy was not very great.
During the days that followed izel and otr spent time at their occupation, izel went to the forest to get some grass for a pill that otr wanted to make. A pill that allowed him to breathe underwater for an hour, it was to allow him to do his next mission with izel. The two had taken a mission that would lead them to the elf kingdom, the rift that would lead them is located in an underwater cave. Where he could turn into a sea mammal, but izel could not breathe underwater for that long. They wanted to take advantage of this underwater exploration to recover endemic species, many medicinal plants are found underwater. Both young men were very excited for their first mission together, as it was a bit childish but it was refreshing.
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There is not much time left before the reception, izel had put on his ceremonial dress and he was in front of the palace. The butler was waiting for him in front of the palace door as he does every time he visits the palace, he was getting to know the palace because of all his previous visits. The art exhibited in the corridors of the palace was magnificent, the moldings and gilding of the walls make izel want to live in this kind of house one day. The servants were made of wire on the sides of izel, he was not fond of people who served other people but he didn't know their lives. For them it was perhaps an honor in view of what the Duke had done for this city and this duchy.
They arrived in front of the door of the reception hall, the butler announced it before he entered "Izel the sorcerer of care, the discoverer of fault and announced" once it was announced the butler opened the door for him, izel did not forget to thank him for that. In the room was a lot of people in evening dress, ladies in beautiful dresses and men in suits. Everybody was looking at him, observing the slightest reaction he could have. Some people he didn't know came to congratulate him for his discovery, the Duke approached him to help him, saying "Ladies and gentlemen, give him some air, this young man doesn't know such an evening, for you it's usual but for him it's only his first ceremony and don't forget that Mr. Izel helped me". The evening continued in a joyful mood, discussions were made between izel and people who were interested in his life, many questions were asked to him. The glasses of wine helped izel a lot to relax, and fortunately, izel was not used to all this attention.
The Duke tapped his glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention, once everyone looked at the Duke, he started talking:
"My friends, we're all gathered here tonight for two things, the first thing is to congratulate this young man on his discovery which could be of great benefit to the duchy and its subjects. The second thing is something that I wanted to do since he helped me win the battle that was at our doorstep, I hereby bestow upon izel, by virtue of my rights as Duke, the rank of Knight of Honor, all the honors of that rank and also a residence in the citadel. I ask you to welcome this young man into the community of the Duchy, I predict a great future for him among the vanir. For a young midgardian, he has already done much for the duchy and this is admirable."
Once his speech was over, the Duke led them all into the dining room to proceed to dinner. In front of them was set up a large table with silver cutlery, everyone had his place, and the guest of honor of the evening was seated on the Duke's right. Servants served a drink to each person at the table, everyone was waiting to drink, izel looked around him to know what to do. After a minute everyone was looking at him, and the Duke then kindly said to him, "They are waiting for you to take a sip from your glass so that they can do the same thing, don't make them wait.
A feeling of embarrassment was present in him, so he hurried to drink from his glass of red wine and as soon as it was done everyone did the same. The evening dragged on and the alcohol began to have an effect on izel, the wine on the palate was made for the bodies of the vanir, so it had an effect on izel's body. At the beginning he had been careful not to drink too much so as not to embarrass himself in public, but the longer the evening went on the less his moderation worked. The Duke saw izel's condition and it made him smile, it reminded him of his own adolescence when he could let go and not think about his responsibilities. He asked a young maid to kindly guide izel to a guest room, and to ask the butler to fetch izel's children so he wouldn't worry.
