Chapter 19: A Chance To Grow Stronger

As soon as Ken was gone, Zad approached Arthur and asked him a question.

"Can you train me, sir?"

Arthur knew that this question was coming but still hadn't prepared the right response.

"How should I put this. I'm not sure if I can even train people that can't wield a sword correctly..."

As soon as Arthur had said that he realised how bad that sounded and sat there in an awkward situation.

"Please sir, even if it's just once! I want to become a great knight, just like you."

Zad saying that piqued Arthur's interest.

"Tell me, what drives you to become a knight, is there an end goal you have?"

Zad didn't know how to answer that question and started to question himself. He then came out with an answer no one would have expected.

"Does there really need to be an end goal? As a knight, I want to be able to protect the kingdom as well as the people around me. The stronger I can get, the more I'll be able to fulfil those goals!"

"For someone that lacks strength, you say a lot of interesting things."

Arthur stood up and walked behind the counter, which was now in pieces from the incident with Cra. Behind it, there was a trapdoor beneath he opened it up and under it lied a sword. Arthur kneeled to grab the sword and equipped it to his belt. He got up again and walked towards the door leading outside.

"Let's see if you have the actions to back those words up. Follow me."

Zad had no other option but to follow at this point.

They arrived at an empty spot of land with a few trees nearby. It was in the middle of the night, so not much could be seen.

Arthur drew his sword.

"If you're able to impress me enough, then I'll consider training you."

"Wait, where are we? The whole time I've been in the village I have never seen a place like this."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about how you're going to fight me?"

Arthur was right, Zad didn't have time to worry about anything other than the opponent standing before his eyes. Zad grabbed the sword on his back with one hand, and in a single swoop pulled it out of his scabbard, gripping it tightly. The blade shined brightly in the darkness.

Sweat dripped down continuously onto the ground from Zad's face; he couldn't shake the feeling of being up against someone so great. Arthur stood there with his sword tilted towards Zad. He raised his hand that was free and taunted Zad.

Arthur started to grow impatient of waiting for Zad to make a move and said

"What's taking you so long, if you can't find a way to get through my guard then just breakthrough. Hesitating and cowering in fear will only get you killed in battle, if you can't read the situation and act upon it, you'll end up being a burden on everyone around you."

You could see the seriousness in Arthur's eyes, but it was the only way to let Zad know that being afraid shouldn't be an option in this situation.

From that moment Zad ran towards Arthur disregarding anything else. Zad's eyes were deadset on his opponent with not even a moment to blink. Was it from newfound courage or perhaps an attempt at acting tough?