4 Young Cipherus

Cipherus awoke at 6AM that morning. It was time for morningly chores at Ruth's Orphanage.

Boys age 12 and younger were allowed the luxury to sleep in until 7AM. Cipherus, however, had recently turned 13 and was now responsible for doing dishes and laundry.

"Alrighty boys! Get on up we got work to do! There is still a pile a' dishes on the counter from last night and plenty of clothing to wash!" screamed Mrs. Ruth in an oddly southern style accent. "I want those dishes sparkling clean and afterwords I need to talk with Cipherus and Joseph!"

Joseph, similarly to Cipherus, had also recently turned 13 years of age. Neither child ever knew their parents and they were as close as two brothers growing up in the orphange together.

Joeseph was much darker compared to the pale Cipherus and his eyes were a golden brown color. His hair was a dark brown color and both He and Cipherus stood at 5 foot 6 inches tall.

"Ah, back to the good ol' grind again today. I wonder what Mrs. Ruth wants to talk to us about today." remarked Joseph.

"I'm not sure. I just am hoping we aren't in trouble. You never know what could go wrong if God forbid we leave a spot on a dish or fold some clothes incorrectly," muttered Cipherus.

"You got that right. With those beaty almost-red eyes Mrs. Ruth has she will never stop being as intimidating as always." said Joseph.

"Seems this is the last dish, Joey. Let's go see what Mrs. Ruth has to say," mentioned Cipherus.

Part of the orphange industry had strong ties to The Citadel government. If Orphanage owners were able to raise kids into possible knights for the Citadel, they would receive a large sum of cash, and The Citadel agreed to find means of boosting reputation.

Mrs. Ruth took this opportunity to make any extra funds if possible. Starting at age 13, she would test all boys and girls to decide whether they had any special qualities that would be useful to The Citadel.

She raised the children to believe that becoming a knight was the most honorable occupation they could be a part of for their society, and if they passed her tests, they would be able to be a successful Knight known far and wide.

Cipherus and Joseph found their way to Mrs. Ruth's quarters, sat down, and Cipherus asked, "So, what'd you need to talk to us about Mrs. Ruth?"

Mrs. Ruth responded, "Well, you two, you have come of age. You're past 13 years old and it's time to see if you have the potential skills to become a Citadel Knight."

Both Cipherus and Joey became flustered. This was their chance. Being a knight for The Citadel was the most honorable position in all of society. They both began day dreaming about what they could become one day.

Ruth lead the local training grounds and began explaining to the young teenagers.

Mrs. Ruth began to rant, "Aside from basic physical training and dieting, there are two major components to becoming a powerful Citadel Knight. Any guesses to what they are?"

Joseph thought about it and responded "Probably being quick enough and knowing where to hit your enemy. That makes sense to me."

"Not quite. Both of those would go under normal physical training. We are going to need to start at step 1. That is, finding your weapon," Mrs. Ruth said.

Ahead of them, before the training ground's main area lay six crates. Each crate contained a different type of weapon that knights commonly used.

From left to right, the weapons read:

"Swords; Battleaxes; Maces; Whips; Bows; Misc."

Mrs. Ruth gestured to the boys to start testing some weapons. She told them to get the feel of them and if any felt right to try to train with with it.

Cipherous and Joeseph both made their first attempt with swords. It was with this weapon that their initial impressions of a great knight had been made.

However, for neither of the boys had it felt right. They attempted to swing at eachother but either way it felt too heavy in an odd way which Mrs. Ruth assured the boys it simply meant that it wasn't the right weapon for them.

Mrs. Ruth then began to explain "It's okay if you do not wield the weapon you always thought about. It's known far and wide that the perfect squadron will have atleast one user of each weapon type. That is, atleast 5 to 6 users."

Both Joseph and Cipherus continued testing out the new weapons. Surely there was something that ought to work for them. They went through battleaxes, maces, whips, with none feeling like it was right for them.

Feeling somewhat down, Cipherus and Joseph started to believe that maybe, they were not meant to be knights.

However, Joseph got up and grabbed a bow and arrow.

Quietly, he whimpered, "This actually feels just about right... I'm going to go and test this out. Come with me, Cipherus."

They made their way to the portion of the training grounds meant for archery, with Mrs. Ruth following them.

Joseph picked up his bow, pulled the back the string, and let go. The bow string rubbed against his arm, he let out a weak scream and mentioned that he had felt a small burn.

However, to his suprise, without ever shooting a bow before he managed to hit the outer ring of the target.

"Amazing..." both Cipherus and Mrs. Ruth exclaimed at the same time.

"Hey, it's my turn! Give me a shot, I'm sure I'm just as good!" Cipherus said anxiously, partially out of desperation and also because he was given a new hope.

However, the moment he picked the bow up and took an arrow out of the quiver, Cipherus understood. This felt even worse than the previous weapon to him. Still, he decided he would give it a try. He shot the arrow.

The arrow missed by about 5 feet from the target. Cipherus sighed in disbelief realizing that it was true. Out of all people, he was one of the few unlucky who had no right weapon for him.

Without the correct weapon, a human would never have the chance to become a Citadel Knight. Mrs. Ruth had explained earlier that without have the weapon meant for them, enhancements would be terribly weak and there would be no chance for them.

Out of partially jealously and frustration, Cipherus screamed "I'm going to look in the miscellaneous box!"

Mrs. Ruth then began to explain, "You must understand...it's true, not everyone can become a knight. I'm so sorry but this is just the unfortunate truth. There are plent-"

She was cut off by the sound of Cipherus rummaging through the miscellaneous barrel.

Joseph and Mrs. Ruth agreed to give Cipherus as much time as he needed. They wanted the best for him. However, Mrs. Ruth doubted that he was suited for becoming a knight after what she had seen. If someone was meant to use a weapon, 99% of users would fall into the categories previously tested.

Suprisingly, however, after around 15 minutes of taking new weapons out, Cipherus stood up. Holding a new weapon, he held a huge grin on his face.

He slowly spoke, "This...Now this...feels just right..."