A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 129: The Fruit of Struggle - Part 7

Dominus was already waiting. Beam smiled to see it. The old knight was living proof that there were far greater heights to reach. Even with Beam's new speed, pushing his body to the very limits, Dominus had still easily overtaken him. He was sitting down upon a fallen tree, drinking water from his flask, looking at though he had been sat there a while.

Upon seeing him, Dominus glanced up at the sky. Beam glanced up too. The sun was high indeed, nearly at its highest point – but not quite.

"Mhm, well, it would seem that you made it," the old knight said in acknowledgement. "You've passed the rest of your tests – congratulations." He worked his way to his feet with a sigh as he said those words. "Since you've kept your end of the bargain and succeeded in the tasks I set you… I suppose now it's finally time for me to do the same."

Beam nodded seriously, struggling to keep the smile off his face.

"But I warn you boy – things will only grow tougher for you from here. A knight's apprentice is a position of the utmost seriousness. More than a few knight's apprentices die in training – such is the honour of the position. The kingdom cannot afford to allow the incompetent to make it into the ranks of its elite. Despite that, are you sure this is what you want?"

"It is," Beam said firmly. "I want to get stronger still – I need to. The distance between you and I is still far too great."

Dominus raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, so it's me you're competing with now?" He said, before reaching out to flick Beam's forehead. "Don't get so cocky, boy. It'll be many years before you can catch a glimpse of my shadow."

Beam rubbed his forehead from the pain of the flick, but he smiled anyway. "I'll have to catch up regardless. I'm going to slay the Pandora Goblin after all, aren't I?"

Finally, Dominus' own lips broke into a smile at that. "Aye… I suppose you are. Well, with that, I'll make you my apprentice. Your duties begin tomorrow. Take the afternoon off and do with it what you will. I'd recommend collecting your coin from Greeves whilst you have the chance though – if you leave it too long that merchant will probably hope that you've forgotten about it."

"Right!" Beam said excitedly, his energy high, despite the arduous morning that he had endured. "I'll be off then!"

"Go on then. Finally leave an old man with his peace," Dominus said, waving him away with a motion of his wrist.

Beam went into the village at a jog, unable to move slowly now, from his taste of true speed and his body filled with excitement. His first destination was Nila's house – he wanted to thank her and her mother for tending to him whilst he was unconscious.

He gave a knock on a door that was now growing familiar, and it was answered a moment later, seemingly by an invisible force, for once it was open, there was no one standing there. That was, not until he looked down and he saw Nila's little sister Stephanie, standing on her tippy-toes as she reached for the handle. She was looking at him with big, round, curious eyes.

"Hello…" he said awkwardly as she stared at him. "Uhm, is Nila in?"

Instead of a response, all he got was a shake of her head, as she tossed her blond pig tails to and fro with the rigorous movement. Apparently curious about what was going on, her twin brother David came to the door a moment later, his eyes lighting up upon seeing Beam.

"Oh! More wood!" He shouted in delight.

But it was Beam's turn to shake his head this time. "Sorry. I don't have wood with me today. Is Nila in?"

"Mm… Nope!" David declared after thinking about it for a moment, not looking too disappointed about the lack of wood despite his earlier excitement.

Just as Beam was beginning to grow exasperated, Nila's mother made her way to the door. She, just like her children, had a similarly animated reaction as she noticed him. Her eyes softened and her mouth widened into a smile. It seemed expressiveness ran in the family.

"Hi, Miss Felder," Beam said, a little awkwardly, still unused to speaking politely. "I just wanted to come by to say thank you for tending to me the other day. Is Nila in too?"

"My, you're most welcome – you've helped us out so much as of late, it's only natural that we'd return the favour. Though I do wish that you'd look after yourself a bit more. Nila said it was goblins again? You're a brave boy, aren't you? But you musn't push yourself too much – you've only just recovered your leg, you were lucky not to be injured more," she said.

Beam nodded in agreement, her worry warming his heart. He noted that Nila had kept her promise to Dominus, about not revealing the true extent of his battle the other day, and he found himself once more grateful for that. He didn't know how he'd be able to explain voluntarily confronting a hobgoblin in the state he was in. "I'll be more careful.

I'm feeling a little stronger lately, so hopefully that means I won't be getting injured as much for a while."

But Nila's mother sighed at that. "That just worries me even more. Knowing you boys, you'll be out the second you get the chance to prove your strength… Ah, but you were here for Nila, weren't you? She isn't in at the moment, but I expect if you head over to the marketplace you'll be able to find her.

She made a big fuss when she carried you back the other day – said she was finally going to go all the way with her hunting. She's rarely been inside since."

"Got it, I'll check the marketplace," Beam said with a nod – he'd planned to go over there anyway, since had had to pick up his quest rewards from Greeves.