'I'm a coward...'' The young Elf fell on his knees, holding up his hands which were trembling, stained with the crimson blood of his father. His beautiful, emerald, teary eyes widened, as he watched many of his kind get slaughtered ruthlessly by the vile beasts.
''Dad...'' Hopevyr's voice trembled, only a whisper, Thump Thump Thump
His fists struck the scorched soil of the once fertile farmland...
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The treehouse sat quietly among the thick branches, like a small wooden cottage tucked into the sky. When Hopevyr was born, his mother and his older sister had embarked on a journey to the Kingdom of Solace, the richest of all the Great Kingdoms. Hopevyr had not known the reason but his father never spoke of it, it had been sixteen years since then.
Elves were truly special in the fact that their lifespans stretched naturally across centuries, some living for over a millennium. Hopevyr naturally assumed that their journey would be a long one, and that he would have to wait until he had reached the young age of thirty, maybe even forty.
''Hope!'' His father yelled out from downstairs, Hopevyr when shortened would be Hope.
Hope, who was sleeping suddenly woke up, he slammed his head on the small roof of the second floor as a result. BAM
''Ouch!'' Hope, who had suddenly woken up after hearing his dad yelling out his name, held his hand over his head. His hand massaged his head, as well as his crimson red hair, which was quite short. His dad had made him cut his hair but he couldn't care less, after all today was a special day!
Hope hastily got out of bed and opened his closet, his emerald eyes darted everywhere, looking for something specific.
''Aha!'' Hope exclaimed, nestled among old coats and his favorite pair of pants, a sword rested quietly, its smooth, polished wood glowing faintly in the dim light. With a gentle tug, he slid the sword free, the subtle scrape of wood against wood echoing softly.
Today is the final examination of Junior Academy! Hope thought to himself, smiling brightly as he held the wooden sword in both of his hands firmly. Junior Academy is an academy for young Elves, this academy was the go to for many parents. From ancient lore to modern crafts, Junior Academy offered a rich tapestry of knowledge that could be taught to their child.
Hope was never particularly excited about the idea of going to academy, But the final examination held a special excitement for him. It included one of his favorite activities: anything involving swords, bows, hunting, or magic. The challenge wasn't just a test to Hope, it was an opportunity to showcase the skills he adored and honed the most for years! Hope was never thrilled about the idea of, in his words, ''Stupid History Exams!''
He hurriedly made his way downstairs, "Slow down there, kiddo," his dad, Aemon, called with a warm smile as he watched Hope's eager descent.
Hope hurriedly approached his dad, ''Your breakfast is on the table, good luck on the final examination!'' Aemon chuckled, ruffling Hope's hair and giving his back a gentle pat. He couldn't help but notice how strangely tall his child had become, he was one hundred and eighty centimeters, Hope was equal in height at only sixteen.
Hope smiled, ''Thanks dad, I'll be back by sunset, I love you!''
Aemon watched as his son hurriedly grabbed the bread and praised Mother Nature, by clasping his hands together and praying to her. Aemon let out a sigh, ''They grow up so fast...'' He massaged his temples and entered his room, grabbing his long white coat and heading outside.
Hope who had made it to the academy grounds, at an abnormally fast speed from solely sprinting there, was waiting gripping his sword tightly in his left hand. His face brightened as soon as he saw his friends finally arrive. He approached them with a friendly smile.
''Hey! Tristen! Lith!''
Tristen, a blonde male, with a small build and marvelous hazel eyes looked at the source of the voice, he smiled as he saw Hope waving at them.
Lith who was accompanying Tristen, a male with brown hair, which his eyes also followed the color of, had done the same.
They approached Hope, ''I bet you're excited about the final examinations, huh?'' Tristen nudged Hope's shoulder, his voice was a quite raspy.
He had known that Hope always bragged about going hunting with his dad, as well as going through extensive sword and bow training. Lith added, ''I am too, I very much hope that it will include magic!''
Lith had always exceeded in sorcery, one would say he was hand chosen by the God of Magic as his successor even!
Hope had said, in a sarcastic tone, ''Of course you are.''
Before they could continue conversing, a stern-looking instructor stood tall, arms crossed, eyes sharp, his gaze alone enough to silence a room.
''Silence! The final examinations shall commence now! Listen to me well, as I won't repeat this. Your names will be called, and you must come up and enter the gate. Inside the gate you will have to draw out a paper with your eyes closed, that paper will determine which door to enter from within the gate. Good luck. May Mother Nature guide you all.''
One by one, other elves had been called and entered accordingly, his friends were called before Hope. Hope had been dozing off, it had been at least 10 minutes and his name hadn't been called.
Whilst he was waiting he could hear other students talking about their farm animals going missing, as well as of something involving the ''Demon Lord's campaign'', but Hope just shrugged it off, it was probably to the great kingdom if the rumors were even real of the Demon Lord returning, which the Elven village was far away from.
I wonder what exam Lith and Tristen drew. Oh man, I can't imagine Lith having to do anything involving swords. Hope inwardly lampooned, before suddenly straightening, his name had been called. Hope gulped, and entered the gate. Inside there was a sealed wooden box, with instructors stood against the wall, with their hands crossed.
Hope walked up to the box, Mother Nature, I know you're tired of my prayers, but please, please grant me an exam of swordsmanship. He prayed to the Elves' God, took a deep breath and placed his hand inside, he drew a paper.
The paper read, ''Swordsmanship & Sorcery.'' There are two exams? Or are the exams combined into one? I have never heard of two exams held simultaneously...
He walked forward, he could see different doors leading to different paths, he looked up and read the signs until he came across the one the paper read. He entered, There are more for different ones, interesting... Did they add this just now? Hope couldn't help but ask himself.
As he entered the door he saw many other students at the academy lined up in a line, he assumed that he also needed to join, and he stood at the back. He recognized a few faces, some were the acing students of the hunting classes, he even saw the president of the alchemy club in here!
He could hear names being called and the students walking up. BOOM!
Goodness, do we have to battle a demonic creature, what is happening? Hope tried to peak from afar, but he couldn't see anything, the line was too long.
1 hour... 1 hour has passed... Goodness... I'm at least at the very front, my legs are hurting... If I fail, maybe I can finesse them and complain about the wait time draining me!
''Hopevyr Aemon!'' It was his turn. Hope gulped, then sighed as he walked forward.
''An instructor is waiting for you inside the building, you must survive for at least a few minutes, or land a fatal blow on the mentor. If the mentor lands a fatal strike you fail. Any questions?'' An instructor waiting by the side of the door explained.
''I'm assuming that magic is allowed? Can the mentor also use magic?''
''Anything goes.'' Hope gulped, and entered the building.
He instantly recognized the mentor waiting inside it was non other than the self-defense mentor, who had been teaching self-defense to Hope for months. He looked to the left and saw a student with a... Is that deep wound... On his chest? Goodness...
''Prepare yourself, Hope. I HOPE that you have been studying how to counter a defensive battle technique!''
Hope frowned. Old Man Blade's jokes were always bad... With a sigh, he unsheathed his wooden sword, the familiar weight settling into his hand. He dropped into his stance, wielding the sword with his left hand, his sword was stood still in front of him.
Hope's battle technique was quite barbaric and reckless to others. But to Hope it was beautiful in it's own way. He loved to overpower his foes taking the control of the duel and controlling the flow. His technique couldn't even be called technique, he just swung and won, but against someone like Old Man Blade he would have to cautiously maneuver around.
Whenever Hope had duels against others, he always moved around, jumping, rolling, anything really, there wasn't really a particular reason... It was probably his body trying to exert the amount of energy in his body, because of how excited he gets whenever he gets into a duel.
He smirked before surging forward, raising his wooden sword high above his head. With most of his weight behind it, he brought the blade down in a powerful arc. The mentor, naturally blocked the sword with ease.
Hope quickly rolled to the left and attempted to deliver a strike at the mentors left iliac.
''Skjól!'' Blade yelled out in Old Hermose. The language for casting spells taught by Mother Nature. Suddenly a mud wall rose from the floor, completely obscuring the vision Hope had of the instructor and deflecting Hope's strike.
Hope staggered back, confused, A smart use of sorcery, this wall sets him up with adequate defense and allows him to counter-attack well! Hope got ready to deflect the mentors blow, darting his eyes left and right. Whoosh!
Hope quickly dashed backwards, Old Man Blade had jumped into the air and landed down, striking the ground with enough force to make the building shake. Old Man Blade turned his head up, before he could react, Hope had somehow moved fast enough to punish him for missing his strike... But! The mentor thought to himself, You are leaving yourself completely wide open, you are putting too much weight and strength into this one strike. If your foe happened to be fast enough to react, he would cut you down before you could ever strike, you fool!
Hope had put all his weight and strength into this strike, he was pinning his hopes to land the fatal strike he needed to pass the final examination. Three minutes to the ordinary eye seemed pretty short, but in reality only twenty seconds had passed since starting this duel, and Hope was getting tired fast.
He's finished!
Hope's eyes widened as he saw the instructor move his left fist swiftly deliver a blow to Hope's right liver, blasting him ten meters away.
Hope saw the mentor quickly follow up and jump into the air to follow up on his attack, Hope could luckily dodge right before the instructor struck the ground. Boom
The strike shook the whole room, Hope held his right gut, it hurt like hell but he managed to catch his breath and recollected his thoughts. Okay... Landing a fatal strike is not possible... I need to survive. It's been forty seconds. I think.
"Rauðr!" The mentor chanted, his voice deep. A glowing red orb of energy began to swirl and envelop his left hand, pulsing with fiery intensity.
Hope quickly chanted one of the few magic spells he learned, ''Vatns skjöldr!'' Immediately, a shimmering veil of water sprang forth, swirling protectively around him.
The instructor threw the fireball towards Hope, luckily his water veil had been enough to protect him, but it still blasted him back as the water veil had been destroyed, his vision was obscured by the smoke, so he dashed back, but the mentor had swiftly struck him with a fierce blow that Hope could barely manage to block with his elbow, getting sent into the middle of the building again.
Even though I blocked that.. Urgh, it hurt like hell! That's got to be one minute! Surely! Hope took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. I'm not controlling the flow of the battle, I could lose any moment, I need to be taking control. He deduced that forcing the mentor to play by his rules was the only way forward. Getting pressured meant risking a heavy blow, one that could easily knock him out. If he wanted to win, Hope had to dictate the pace and keep the mentor on the back foot.
Hope smirked without realizing it, and sprinted at the mentor. This time he knew what to do.
He jabbed, quick and sharp. When the instructor blocked, Hope flowed immediately into a low strike, using his momentum to keep the pressure on. The mentor dashed back, his eyes widened as Hope dashed towards him, This crazy kid! He's trying to pressure me?! Clink Clink Clink
Their swords met at a very rapid speed, the mentor was on the defensive having to block all of Hope's strikes, whilst Hope was trying to dictate the flow of the duel. It makes sense that the instructor is the self defense mentor. He's not been struck once by me!
Hope eventually backed off, noticing that his attacks were only wearing Hope himself down instead of Old man Blade.
''That's three minutes over. You pass, good job Hope!'' Old man Blade sighed and congratulated Hope.
''Huh? It passed by very quickly...'' Hope was dumbfounded, whilst the mentor just laughed.