Infinite Jump

Seeing the castle for the first time in a week makes me want to jump into her arms again. The worthwhile trip has already ended and we are now back in the protection of Daromelania Castle – one of many strong fortresses of the Daromelanian Empire. The castle’s very white existence makes it almost fit for a god to house. As we head for the main gate, the drawbridge was lowered, letting us in. Behind us are very busy townspeople who, in the pinnacle of their duties, still managed to bow down in honor of the prince. I do admit it – royalty is something everyone wants at the end of the day. The huge, white gate was being slowly opened by working levers. As it slowly opens, the view of the castle from the inside stuns me again – the first time it stunned me was when I first arrived at the castle when I was just sixteen. I’m the youngest guardian then. Three years have passed, and I still am. Everybody just keeps telling me that I’m too young for everything.

Finally, the gate completely opened and everyone bowed their heads in honor of the prince. The prince is getting bored at this, though. He starts to talk with me as we straddle down the path towards the king’s fort.

“Do you think Kara will be happy to see me?” He asked.

I left out a chuckle. “No.” Then I laughed.

He starts to get annoyed. “You’re just jealous because I have someone who cares about me.”

I just continued to laugh even more because I know what to say but I don’t want to because I know that it will completely ruin his day. Instead, I poked him on the shoulder. ”When will you tell your true feelings for her?”

He started to blurt words.”…err, later? Agh!!! I don’t know!” His face blushed. This made me laugh even more.

“STOP IT!” He commanded. “You’re making me as red as an apple. What if Kara just appeared here!? I’ll be screwed for sure!”

Then out of nowhere, Kara appeared.

“Hello, you two.” She greeted. “I heard about what happened at the jungle. Nice work!” She tapped Alexander’s lap.

I tried to tease the prince after his face turned out red. “Looks like someone is a steaming apple right now!” I can’t help myself laugh. Alexander, can’t seem to bear my words, decided to dash off back to his room.

“Oh. What is with him?” Kara said.

I sighed, just to inhale enough oxygen again from laughing too long “Oh, the usual ‘Butterflies when Kara’s around’ Syndrome.”

“Oh. Hehe.” Surprisingly, Kara blushed!

“Oh. I see what’s happening here.” I teased her as well.

“No! It’s nothing! It’s just that… I don’t know… fatigue or something? “She defended, but she can’t hide her chemical reactions to me.

“Eh... uh... Anyway… you should head to the king’s court right now. He’s very anxious to see you both.”

“Oh. Yes. But I’m afraid the boy already ran to his room.”

“That’s not my problem anymore.” She winked. “Okay then, I have things to do. You take care!”

We then parted ways. For now.

I knelt down in the presence of the king himself, Anthony the first. A very young king. He started to rule the crown when he was just twenty, after he successfully lead the rebellion against the ruling Arkamians in the vicinity.  Fifteen years have passed, and he just went on to become stronger than any king ever was. He expanded the land of his ancestors by nearly triple, eliminating nearby monsters and ensuring a long lasting peace for the empire. Beside me was general Humabon, the Royal Paladin general who helped us earlier.

“I owe you a debt for saving my son in dire trouble.” The king greeted us with power and warmth in his voice.

“All in a day’s work, your Majesty.” Humabon gladly replied.

“Please, refill your energies. We shall talk more about matters tomorrow.”

We all stood up, bowed to the king. But as I turned around, he followed up with something.

“Wait. Young guardian, follow me.” He started to walk towards the second floor of the throne room, past two rooms, then we are standing at the royal message room’s door. I was in his tail. He carefully removed a sealed long wooden box. It’s almost as long as my blade. “Take this. It’s a gift from the Shogun of the fire country.”

I carefully retrieved the package. It was not as heavy as I expected. I thought it was a new cuirass but my common sense quickly told me that there is no cuirass in this world that is as light as this.

“Thank you very much, your Majesty.”

“Don’t thank me, thank the Shogun.” The king bolted back.

“Well, at least you safekeeped it for me. I need to thank you for that, my lord.”

The king laughed. “Oh don’t you flatter yourself boy. Now run along, I’ve got things to sort here.”

Well, I need to flatter myself. The message room is the king’s private storage room. All properties there are his. It’s a surprise to get a package from there.

“At once, your majesty.”

I left the room and journeyed to my own room. I’m kind of excited to know what the shogun has brought me.

I carefully removed the seals of the wooden box. After I have done that, I carefully removed the top lid of the box. There was still some cloth cover so I have to remove it as well. At first I thought that the gift was the cloth but that is just stupid. Clothes are more fashionable here in Daromelania. Anyway, after removing layers and layers (and layers) of cloth, I stared at my gift. I never dreamt of having this, but now it’s mine! Okay, this gift, is only given to the noblest people in light country. These people represent a huge honor to the person itself. It means that if you have this, you can run as the shogun of Fire country. But all I know for now is that for that to take effect, you must undergo a ceremony where I and my gift will be blessed and be recognized as a noble. I discovered a scroll just hidden inside the box. It’s the formal invitation letter.

 

Greetings young man and welcome to the noble circle of honorable sword masters. Your bravery and honor both in and out of the battlefield is truly a sight to behold. Therefore, we commend you to attend the Holy ceremony on the first count of Heartfire. We shall be expecting you.

 

-Fire country Sword masters Circle committee

 

That’s only ten days from now. Oh no. I better talk to the King.