More lush gardens filled with colorful flowers, and bushes surrounded the stone road. Occasionally, a group of priests walked by with their scepter as they chanted words that were hard to understand, making it seem as if they were speaking an entirely unfamiliar language.

But Konnor put little thought and shifted his attention to the path again, catching sight of a metal fence in the distance and as they got closer, he saw a large metal gate with two small watch towers to each side.

When they were close enough, Konnor quickly saw two guards dressed with long dark gray jackets that covered most of their bodies but still able to show off their shiny black leather boots. Each one had one large spear resting on their shoulder, but what caught his attention were their silver masks. They had engraved an expression of unaltered anger. They were stationed at each side of the gate along with guards, dressed exactly the same, on top of the towers, carrying something between their hands; he couldn’t tell what it was, but the best approximation that came to mind was a strange stick.

But his thoughts were pushed away when Mars stepped forward and pulled out something from his clothes, which was quickly presented to the two guards, “Greetings, may the light of Lidae guide your path.”

One leaned closer for a better look, but the hollow eyes hid any sort of expression.

They didn’t say a thing as they walked up to the gate and opened for them and held the gate as long as necessary with their free hand.

The two friends quickly passed through the entrance and the guards immediately closed the door before returning to their post and remained as statues, silently performing their duty.

The duo walked farther away from the gate before Konnor stopped and turned to the priest with doubt in his eyes, “Why didn’t the guards stop us?”

Mars pointed at his silver necklace that was outside for the first time, “Only legitimate members of the trinity church can only wear this enchanted medal.”

“That necklace is enchanted?” Konnor asked with wide eyes. Even with the little knowledge he possessed, he knew how expensive enchanted items could be. But what surprised him even more was his friend possessing an enchanted necklace with him all the time.

Mars carefully hid his necklace under his beige alb, “Is not a powerful enchantment, my friend, and neither is as expensive as you believe. Besides, I do not fear those with ill intentions since whoever tries to steal or sell this holy accessory faces a terrible fate at the hand of our peacekeepers.” He stopped for a moment and looked at the sky, watching the sun getting closer to the horizon, “However, that’s isn’t important. We have a schedule to keep.”

As they ventured further, the duo found small groups of the famous holy knights marching in different formations, while other groups were on stone platforms fighting each other with their fists while on other platforms another pair was fighting with great swords.

Konnor was quick to pick up the bulky armor design, showing them as impenetrable small walking fortresses, “I’ve never seen so many holy knights in a single place. They look a lot like Jahir.”

The only differences he could see was that none were carrying those gigantic tower shields, instead they held enormous weapons and few were as tall as Jahir. There were some knights with the same height as him but still carried themselves with pride in their chests and gaze up in the sky.

“They might look like his excellency’s bodyguard, but they aren’t the same rank. If you remember correctly, the Divine shields had wings attached to their helmets that differentiate them from the average holy knight.” Mars commented, his eyes scanning the scene as well, trying to find a specific individual from the military crowd.

Konnor tilted his head to the side as he thought the helmet wings were a decoration more than anything, “Really?”

The priest gave him a smile and opened his mouth to reply, but a pair of loud steps caught his attention and turned to see the source of the noise, along with the novice spearman. Together they saw a man with a large frame approaching, wearing an indigo tunic under a white tabard embedded with a large golden symbol of the trinity church. The closer he got, the more details he saw about him, as his long rugged brown beard covering all his jawline, a clean smooth surface of his head and sporting one long scar under his green eyes and over his long upwards nose.

The man gave a gentle bow and his gaze locked with Mars’, “Greetings, brother. For what reason have you brought an outsider to our training grounds?”

Mars cordially bowed as well with a smile on his face, “Uteus protect you. Is my utmost honor to be in the presence of one of the sacred instructors of our holy knights and defenders of our faith. We came with our minds open, as my friend requires help with his training with the spear to protect our home.”

Konnor forced a smile as he weakly waved his hand at the hardened veteran, who leaned closer for a better look. His eyes hardened in a second, releasing a powerful aura, causing the boy to step back in surprise.

The bearded man let out a long sigh and straightened his posture, “I see your pure intentions, but we cannot train just anybody who asks for our help. You should go to the garrison barracks, since they offer training to the common folk.”

The priest gave a reassuring smile and extended his arms in an inviting manner for his friend to step forward, “I understand, but my friend is no ordinary citizen. He has been blessed to carry out the light and hopes of our future.”

The instructor sharply turned to see Konnor again, his eyes with a different light and renewed interest, “Please come with me.” 

He walked away with his hand behind his back.

The blessed boy turned to his friend, “Is everything going to be okay?”

Mars rolled his eyes and gave a reassuring smile before grabbing his friend’s wrist, “Of course, you shouldn’t be worried. I’m sure he just wants to confirm your status.”

The priest, like many times before, took the lead and guided his friend to catch up with the instructor, who kept walking in a single direction.

Konnor didn’t resist but the explanation only created another doubt in his mind, “I thought that the ceremony already did that.”

Mars let out a short laugh, “And it did. But the ceremony was quite recently, the news hasn’t spread that far.”

“Will the whole Empire know about me?” He sharply turned to look at his friend with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. There was no way for him to predict how he would react with the pressure and so many eyes on him.

The young priest was surprised at the assumption and a hand covered his mouth, “Goddess no, it would be dangerous for you. We mostly reserved this to the upper levels of Saintiò and the high-ranking members of the church.”

“This is so confusing.”

The instructor came back with an iron spear between his hands as the duo were taking longer than expected to catch up.

He presented the spear to Konnor with both hands, “Grab the spear, young one.” 

The novice reached for the spear and the second his hand touched the surface, the same golden glow enveloped the weapon. As he was already accustomed to the reaction, he took a firm grip on the shaft with both hands.

A faint smile graced the veteran’s face and spark in his eyes as the priest spoke the truth, “Magnificent! Come with me, young one. There is a lot to learn.”

The old man turned around and walked in a different direction than before.

Konnor quickly turned to see his friend wearing a reassuring smile, which he promptly returned in kind and followed the instructor wherever he led him. They had to cross between the sparring platform; he took the chance to give another glance and saw other pairs of trainees fighting with shields and maces, every strike resounding across the place. None bothered to glance at them, as they were more focused on the ongoing fight.

They soon arrived at an empty building but it turned out it was entirely empty as it had a couple of wooden weapon racks placed close to the frontal wall and a couple of simplistic wooden training dummies in the middle of the room standing like scarecrows.

The Instructor quickly stepped in front and turned to look at him with his hardened eyes, “Show me your hands.”

Konnor first rested the spear on his shoulder and used his chin to keep it in place, then without hesitation revealed the palm of his hands to the man who grabbed one to bring it closer to his view. The boy felt uncomfortable about the lack of personal space, recalling those deacons once again, but he calmed himself, as the instructor didn’t take it too far with his actions.

The veteran nodded in approval as he released his hands, “I can tell you have been working the land for a long time. This gives you an advantage we can exploit to unlock your true potential.”

The new trainee took hold of his weapon again and tilted his head to the side, “How did you know?”

“You have calluses, they only form for working the land for years without rest. And the way you carry yourself, you clearly are from East Ulsvania, one of the few towns close to the capital.”

Konnor was taken aback, his mouth hanging open since the veteran was entirely correct with his deduction and his mind thrown into chaos, trying to come up with an explanation, “You are correct…”

The instructor quickly placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a light squeeze, “Don’t be afraid boy, I only need to know what we will work with. I do not read minds, if that’s what you were afraid of. I’ve lived for a long while and met many people from all over the empire.”

Konnor looked the man in the eyes for a moment before looking away with his face flushed. He was overthinking the obvious. 

“Back at the Capital, Holy Knight Jahir trained me.” He bit his lower lip for a second, “He taught me how to take a solid fighting stance at least.”

“Jahir? Member of the Divine shields?” The instructor pulled back in surprise. Such a famous name was given. Many would kill for such an opportunity.

The embarrassed boy nodded.

“Many in the empire wish to learn anything from Jahir. Do not feel embarrassed for your knowledge as little as it may be. You are special, never forget that. Grab your weapon and take your fighting stance.”

Konnor quickly shifted his footing, one foot in front of the other, his legs slightly flexing. One hand grabbed the bottom of the shaft while the other had a powerful grip in the middle, the blade pointing directly at the head of the dummy.

The old man stepped closer and with his right hand applied pressure to Konnor’s shoulder, but he didn’t budge. He tried to kick his foot, but it got the same result. 

As a last resort he used both hands to shove the boy, but much to his pleasure Konnor remained like a statue.

“Yes, indeed. The great Jahir gave you a solid foundation. However, the way you grab your weapons shows me you haven’t decided your path.”

“My path?”

The instructor placed a hand above the trainee's head, “It fills your mind with so many images and phantom movements, doesn't it? It will remain until you decide your path as a warrior. You are like a moth surrounded by multiple sources of light, lost and confused.”

“I didn’t know.” His words made sense. He had no direction. It was the only explanation for his lack of progress in all those weeks. He had been forcing himself to be an amalgamation of styles. Konnor wanted to kick himself for such an obvious blunder many times over. He could have used such time much better and been more productive, especially under the guidance of Jahir.

The old man let out a loud cough to get back the sulking boy’s attention, “You had a peaceful life. It is understandable your lack of knowledge. Don’t beat yourself over it,” He walked up to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder while the other grabbed the spear,  “Just close your eyes and take deep breaths. Think what do you want to do with your weapon. Strike at the enemy with all your strength? Or perhaps follow a different approach and exhaust your enemy? Or perhaps you see combat as a performance, so your enemy may never be able to land a single hit on you?”

Konnor closed his eyes as he told and envisioned the future, his future as a blessed one protecting his home from the monsters and traitors. He saw how every single one of them fell with a single hit and no one could stand his way. “I want to destroy them with a single hit.”

“Now focus. If this is truly the path you want to follow, take deep breaths and open your eyes.”

Konnor followed those words with a rational mind. No longer phantom images were whispering about him to act like a headless chicken. His mind had a single objective, and his heart was filled with determination.

Nothing else was there to hold him back.

His eyes focused on the dummy in front of him, his arms became tense and pulled back a little before delivering a thrust right at the center of the wooden object with all the strength he could muster.

The effect was almost instantaneous; the object had no chance as it shattered into multiple pieces, flying all over the room.

“What?” I didn’t mean to…”

“Magnificent!” The captain clapped in joy, “With your path unlocked, you can finally begin your training. Follow me. I know the person right for the job.”

Konnor looked at the remains of the target dummy spread all over the floor one last time before catching up with his new instructor, wondering what was going to happen next after choosing his path.

However, he was sure it would be different.

“I realize that I haven’t introduced myself until now, you may call me Bernard.”

It was exciting.