The sunlight beats down upon the assembled cadets. A trickle of sweat drips down your face as you stand at attention, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Two years of training have led to this moment. Two years ago, you set out from your village with the intent to become a Defender of the Realm. For two years, you've worked day and night to learn your profession. Now, on the day of your graduation ceremony, that hard work was about to come to fruition.
In front of you, a small knight-to-be wobbled in place, the heavy plates of his knight armor making a slight clanking noise as they rattled.
"Seth! Stand still and be quiet, you runt! Don't tell me you're going to screw today up too!" The loud voice of your squad's mentor, Captain Morace, shattered the tense atmosphere.
"Y-Yes sir." Seth replied shakily.
Oh Seth, what am I going to do with you? You restrained yourself from shaking your head at your longtime friend. Even when you were children, he was always a bit clumsy. Still, you wouldn't trade his courage and loyalty for anything. Two years ago, when you told him your plan to leave for the capital, he made the decision almost immediately to join you. Perhaps more ironically, he volunteered for what had to be the most physically-demanding job there is. Knights are strong fighters who are able to withstand almost any physical blow; however, the tradeoff in this case is being forced to wear extremely heavy armor, which poor Seth still struggled a bit in. The fact that he made it through the training could be said to be a small miracle in itself.
You snapped out of your musings as a well-built, handsome man dressed in royal blue armor approached. This is the first time that you've seen him, but he could only be Prince Straug, commander of the armies of Tarin and the sole son of King Astor. He was renowned as being an excellent warrior as well as a loyal and obedient son.
The man ascended the small platform that had been prepared for the event. As he reached the top, Captain Morace's voice boomed out once again. "All hail the Crown Prince of Tarin and your Commander, Prince Straug."
Everybody present immediately got on one knee and bowed their heads. After a few seconds, the prince spoke. "My friends, please rise." He waited with a small smile on his face until this was done. "I would like to congratulate all of you for making it to this point. Through your efforts, our beloved kingdom will be kept safe for many years into the future.
"I understand how difficult the training was. For some of you, if was probably quite a challenge." To your surprise and mild amusement, he was looking at Seth when he said that. "However, if you can use that same effort and perseverance once you begin your work as Defenders of the Realm, there is little for our kingdom to fear."
Well, he certainly seems to know his way around a speech, at least. Still, having your hard work acknowledged is always gratifying. You and Seth did work extremely hard these past few years, after all.
You focus your attention again. "…some of you will do great things for our kingdom. Some of you…" he pauses, looking at you, "...have already done our kingdom a service. Safe to say, we expect great things from all of you."
You struggle to keep the surprise off of your face. He could only be talking about when you saved the life of the ambassador from Gramia shortly after becoming a cadet. The prince was out of the capital at that time, but he heard about that? Did he know your face, despite never meeting?
"…and now that your training is complete, you have one last job to do as cadets. My friends, it is time to go home. You've been away for two long years, not having seen your friends, family, and loved ones. Tomorrow, I want all of you to honor this last duty as soldiers-in-training. It has always been tradition that our cadets return home once their training is complete, returning not as boys but as men. Let your family and friends see the effect of two long years of training. Let them see the pride and self-confidence that you all now have. Show them the faces of Tarin's new Defenders!"
With that, everybody gave a loud cheer. You found yourself cheering along with the friends that you've worked so hard with the last two years. Surprisingly, even Captain Morace had a smile on his face.
The prince waited for the commotion to die down before continuing. "You should be indeed be proud of yourselves, my friends. Return home with that pride in your heart, and once the month is done, return to your new home here in the capital. We'll be waiting for you.
"That all begins tomorrow, however. Today is a day of celebration, a day of accomplishment. Today, you will be well rewarded for your efforts. In recognition of the end of your training, there shall be a feast tonight. There will be all manner of food and drink to be had, enough so that if you wish, you can feast and drink until morning! Enjoy yourselves tonight, my soon-to-be soldiers. I'll see you in a month."
Prince Straug descended from the platform amidst another loud set of cheers. He smiled and waved farewell before walking back into the castle.
"Alright, whelps, calm down," said Captain Morace. The cheers died down almost instantly. "Today is the last day of your training. Do not do anything tonight that will cause me to regret passing you…I promise you, if you make me regret it, I'll sure as hell make you regret it too. For now, meet back up in the mess hall in 0600 hours. Dismissed!"
With smiles on their faces, everybody begins to go their separate ways. Seth comes up to you, panting a bit under the weight of the heavy armor but still smiling. "We're going to have a party!" He said. "For the first time in forever, I can eat all the food I want. I'll get to eat chicken, ham, roast, turkey, lamb…" A bit of drool slipped out of the corner of his mouth as he continued listing off various meats and other foods.
For some reason, you got the strangest image in your head of him diving into a sea of food with a look of ecstasy on his face. You shook your head to clear it, and found he was still happily listing all the food he was going to eat tonight. If you didn't stop him, he was going to be at it all afternoon. "Alright, alright, that's enough, Seth. Instead of talking about all the food you are going to eat tonight and making yourself hungry, let's find something to do in our last day in the capital."
Seth's face reddens a bit. "Haha, yeah, I'm sorry about that. It's been so long since we had good food, after all. I can't help but be excited!"
"I know, but you're making me hungry by going on and on about it," you replied with a smirk. "I'd rather not be hungry for the next six hours, thank you."
Seth nods. "Alright, then what do you want to do? We could walk down by the kitchens and see what they're cooking for our party."
You groan. "I just said I don't want to be hungry. Gah…How about taking a walk around the city? We haven't had much time recently with the final tests, after all."
"Yeah, we could do that," Seth replies. "What about going to a bar?" You raise your eyebrow at him and glare a bit. Is all he thinks about food? He waves his hands in front of him to stave off your glare. He continues, "It wouldn't be a bad idea to relax a bit. Keeping an ear out for rumors and gossip, especially those that might affect us during our journey back home, wouldn't be a bad idea."
"That's...also a good idea," you agree. Hmm, what to do?
What will you do?
[] Check out the kitchens and see how the party preparations are going.
[] Walk around town and see what shows up.
[] Relax in a bar and hopefully catch up on the latest rumors, gossip, and potential travel problems.
More importantly, who are you?
[] Male
-[] Name (Write-in)
[] Female
-[] Name (Write-in)
And finally, your class? You'll be locked in for a long time. This might change in the future, though...if you earn it.
[] A Soldier, the lance-wielding warrior that makes up the bulk of most armies.
[] A Knight, the heavily-armored tank that never dies…except to magic.
[] An Archer, the bow-wielding marksman who takes enemies down from afar.
[] A Myrmidon, the sword-wielders who pride themselves in their high skill and speed.
[] A Mercenary, the balanced sword-wielders that are a bit sturdier than Myrmidons.
[] A Fighter, the axe-wielding warrior that hp tanks hard and hits harder…if they hit.
[] A Mage, the tomb-wielding magic-users that utilize elemental magic to annihilate their foes.
[] A Bride, the overpowered class that….haha, yeah, right.
*Sorry folks, horses are expensive, and the Defenders won't let you take their horses from the capital for this trip. No horses = no Cavalier class availability…unless you want to be "classless" until the tutorial ends…. Go ahead, do it. Your deaths will be swift and your tears plentiful.