Williams conception

As the sun rose in the morning, a rooster was heard crowing on a tree stump. Hearing the rooster's crow early in the morning, William knew he didn't have much time. He rushed out of bed and got dressed before running downstairs. As soon as the lad entered the kitchen, he began to cook, making Gohan with a side of salmon. Once he was done fixing food for his master, he ate his portions before putting his master's food on the table.

As soon as he washed up, he ran outside to chop wood, knowing his master would wake up in minutes. When his master wakes up, he is cold and requires warmth, or he will be mad. After chopping eight wood blocks, he ran inside to start the fireplace. Michem, his master, walked in, and William immediately stood up.

"William, we will begin your shin dau training as soon as I finish eating."

As he finished his food, Michem walked to the fireplace with four holders. He tosses William a sharu. For an hour, they practiced on William's shin dau form. Each time he messed up, he would be whipped on his hands twenty times.

"No tears. If you say anything, we will restart. Understand?" Michem said.

"I understand, sir."

This would happen 5 times every time they trained and is far less from when they began. He has gotten so used to the whippings over the years that the most that would happen were a tear.

After finishing shin dau, they ventured into the woods to a clearing 50 meters in length, where they set up an archery range. William would practice his archery there, shooting arrows for hours. Each time he missed the bullseye, he was told to find the needle before drawing the bow with the arrow. He would be whipped on his hands for missing the target, and michem would say,

"If you fire the arrow prematurely while I'm whipping you, you will find the arrow and restart."

Once archery training was complete, William was told to venture into the mountains at high noon on horseback to hunt. He would use this time as his free time to prepare for tomorrow, fishing, hunting, and collecting herbs. In the mountains, there is a waterfall where he likes to sit under and meditate. The ice-cold water on his skin would numb his feeling allowing him to tolerate the whippings. After a successful hunt killing four rabbits and gathering five fish, he sat in the shallow under the waterfall. An hour passed before he walked out of the waterfall to dry off and head home, bringing his almost fresh kills.

William Bruhi and Nital walk through the door with their food to begin cooking for Michem. After dinner, Michem teaches William Bruhi and Nital, making them proficient in the two languages. After an hour of learning, it is already dark out, so they set up eight candles to be stationed in a circle in their yard, each one being lit in order of gods. Zerous, Ashi, Bai, Sirious, Thora, Friha, Dorj, and Exaldera are the gods they shine for. Once the candles are lit, children from all over the village come to their yards to witness something spectacular. They take out their kendau and stand on opposite sides of the circle. Then, they pace around the ring. They are performing shin dau sparring; using the kendau becomes dangerous.

The warrior's pace around the arena, circling each other warily. They know that each second is precious, and each strike could be deadly. After five steps, they suddenly rush at each other, clashing swords with a shower of sparks. As their swords are crossed, Michem swipes William's legs out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. As soon as he drops, he stretches out his arm and brings his legs up, flipping MIchem over his head. Immediately William stands up and swipes Michem's legs out from under him. While he's down, MIchem jumps up and puts his sword to William's neck. The matches continue through the night, with each warrior trying to take advantage of every opportunity.

"This match is over," he says. "The point is in my favor."

At the end of the night, the score was 28/0.

William and Michem did this every day from the age of three till William became fifteen. On the first day of fall, William woke up late due to a headache from sparring the other day. He put on his clothes to walk downstairs to the kitchen and noticed the lack of spices. As William was checking the sacks of spices, Michem walked behind him silently.

"Today, and this month, I will teach you the element of surprise and combine it with your speed."

William jumped out of fright, surprised that he had let his guard down.

"OH!"

Michem looked over the shoulder of a frightened William, seeing an empty spice sack.

"Well, before we do that, why don't we go to town and get some spices."

They took their horses and latched their heavy-duty work saddles to carry bags and supplies. They journeyed through the high hills and valleys alongside rivers, and after six hours of riding, they made it to the port city of Leipborn. To be allowed entrance to the walled part of the city, they pay 2 copper coins per person. After spending the four copper for admission, they go to the market. Although the market is in the center of the city, stalls and shops line the road, all selling foods, weapons, clothing, and spices from imported goods. They purchased spices from a man in the central market.

"OK, because we rarely come to the city, have 6 silver and 8 copper coins. Go splurge on supplies you think you will need, and let's meet back up mid-day," he said while giving money to William.

William was walking down the street, looking through the shop windows, and as he passed an alley, he heard a scream. He turned to look at two people who were robbing a young lady. Before William could say anything, a large man jumped from the roof of a building.

"What yall doing with that woman?"

"We are doing nothing to her. Now leave us alone."

As this sizeable mysterious person stood, looking at the thieves, a dark purple aura lit up as a flame surrounded him, lighting him aflame and scaring the thieves away. The lady thanked the man before running back into the crowded streets.

As the lady left, he turned to look at William.

"You enjoyed that performance, boy?"

"Indeed I did, but who are you?"

The man walked over to William, where they stood side by side facing the crowded street.

"I am B rank Adventary Liam cyphera, hired to defend today's market. There will be a parade today with A through Silver S ranked Adventary's."

Liam placed his hand on William's shoulder and squeezed it slightly before saying,

"Be careful next time. It's a good thing I noticed you walking down this alley. You could have been badly hurt."

Liam released his hand before disappearing into the crowd.

As the day went on and the sun set over the horizon, a vast parade of six Adventary's and the kingdom's army walked through the adoring crowd lined the streets. As they walked past, William looked over to a man cheering to ask,

"Hey, what is the big celebration?"

"Apparently, these Adventary's were the first ones to completely explore the 'dungeon of Madera,' and it's said they cleared the boss's final room in the dungeon."

William stood there staring in awe towards the Adventarys as they stood on the carriages waving at the crowd. The leader was a man who stood in front of the other five with his helmet off and blond hair waving through the wind. His bold posture but soft smile and wave made him admirable as, of that day, he thought of getting to those heights of popularity and strength one day. Tapping Williams' shoulder, Michem said,

"Hey, we will have to rent a hotel to sleep in. I can't ride home if it's gonna get dark soon."

"Oh, my, you scared me. Stop doing that."

"Well, let's get a hotel before they run out of rooms."

They walked to the Ivory tusk hotel, where they checked in for the night.

As the light from the sun cracked through the window seal, William rose from the bed where Michem slept. He walked down the stairs to the tavern, where he sat at a table near the window. He raised his hand to order wine and bread, with bacon and meat on the side.

"Hey, sir, you're his guardian. What's his age?"

The tavern clerk asked as he looked over at Michem.

"He is 13, so no wine, please. Maybe give him water."

"Ok, sir, then what is your order?"

Michem smiled, saying, "I would like what he is getting."

After the tavern clerk left to fix food, he stared at MIchem in wonder, knowing that a minute ago, he was asleep.

"I know what you are thinking, William. I told you I would teach you the element of surprise this month and combine it with your speed."

"Yea, but I didn't expect you to do it here. Why didn't you just walk downstairs like a normal person."

Michem broke out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You think I would stop teaching you even if we aren't home? William, you are my son and student. I will teach you whether you like it or not."

The tavern clerk walked up to the table to give out their food.

"Hey kid, here is your food: water, bread, bacon, and meat. Sir, here is your food: kisu, bread, bacon, and meat. Hope y'all enjoy."

"OK, let's eat, William."

"Yes, let's eat, I'm starving, and I'm glad I don't have to cook."

After eating, they paid before walking upstairs to pack their bags and begin their journey home. On horseback, they started their journey back to their town of stagsbourn, through the six hours their horses ran. Through the forest, along the rivers, and the hills, they crossed all of stagsbourn's natural boundaries, reaching their house by midday.

As they walked through the streets that separated the houses, they were greeted by the kids and parents. People ran out to William and Michem as they rode back, being that they were the only people able to journey that far. Horses were not as common in Stagsbourn. Only one person out of twenty people had a horse. Most people worked in the fields, did carpentry, did blacksmithing, or hunted, so the majority were poor. Even though they were a poor community, they were united as a family, each contributing something to the community.

William and Michem bought twenty sacks of spices to distribute to the local families that would last a month. This stayed the whole day, from mid-day till sundown, where they retired to their separate beds content with the days. The next day came early when the rooster was in their yard, crowing loudly and earlier than usual. William walked out of bed before heading downstairs. Once he was done getting dressed to fix food for Michem before he could wake up. As Michem woke from bed to the kitchen, he sat at the table with a bowl of Gohan and fish. Sitting in front of MIchen, William begins to speak softly,

"Hey Michem, would it be possible if I can join the Adversary guild."

"When you turn 16 and master six more skills, you will be allowed to join, deal?"

"Deal and I will do it before I turn 16, so I can become the greatest Adversary."