Chapter 11:BEFORE THE EXAMS.

It was a Sunday morning two days after the festival, and early in the morning was a Sunday church service. Many people who were dedicated performed in the church choir and sang many choir songs. The sermon lasted for an hour and thirty minutes. After the sermon, everyone went about their way and enjoyed their Sunday. Mikado was still at the church after everyone left, Ariah appeared out of the Sunday schoolroom once the children left. She spotted Ariah walking toward her, she then stopped her and said, "Oh, my gosh. Your dress is so cute, I love it so much! The Sunday dress and hat, I am super jealous of you." Ariah, overjoyed by her compliment, said, "Thank you, that's very kind of you to say." Likewise, with you, I love the makeup you have applied to your face. I'll admit it, I am quite jealous of you." Mikado accepted her comment but insisted, "I couldn't possibly be as pretty as you are though, but thank you." The two went outside the church and walked around the garden and discussed their time at the festival.

 The two began building a strong friendship with each other as they talked and discussed many things related to their favorite times as kids and about the present times. Mikado then asks her, "I'd like to ask you. How do you feel around Taski? I've noticed many times since him and you met at camp, you two have interacted a lot. Do you and him have a special relationship going?" Ariah reassured her, "We swayed to the last sleepy tune as we hit the festival." There's a special feeling around him, he was very sweet to me and even helped me up when the crowd of people pushed me. However, I feel that right now we should both focus on getting to know each other more and get closer, if things don't work well for us, then we'll just be friends. As of right now, I feel that I love him." Mikado's heart was caught in the middle, she couldn't decide on what she felt about her and him having a relationship, she then replied, "Well, I don't blame you. He is the cutest man alive in Asalikith, all we can do is wait and see. As you may already know about me, I have a massive love for him, I would hope that he would marry me one day." Ariah then said to her, "He may one day do so, after all, I feel that you're much better looking in terms of looks and personality."

 Mikado's respect for her went up sky-high, and she thought to herself, "(What? She doesn't seem hostile or even mad at me. I still make it obvious to her that I'm still trying to win him over and yet, she doesn't show any anger toward me.)" Ariah then asked her, "Are you okay?" After these thoughts cleared from her head, she replies, "Oh, yes I'm okay, just thought I heard something. Well, I do hope everything between you and him works well, you two are really close to each other after all, so that's a bonus for you. He told me he would love to have a family with someone like you. I won't try to interfere with you two." Ariah then felt excitement within her heart, she thought to herself, "(He wants children with someone like me? I want to have children as well.)" The two talked increasingly for forty-five minutes and afterward departed for the day. It was twelve-twenty-five in the afternoon, Taski was at the top of the castle viewing the wide and huge city. Diarmuid then approached him and asked, "Well, son, you seem confident here. Are you excited about next Friday?" Taski replies confidently, "I'm ready to become what I've been dreaming of, a knight of Asalikith." 

Diarmuid smiles in glee as the wind blew past their hair, he says to Taski, "Son, remember this, one day I won't be here to see you ascend onto the throne. I will be in the next life as well as your mother. All of Asalikith will be yours to rule my son, I will be watching you from above and I hope that you understand." Taski looked over at him with an uneasy feeling about the words that were spoken, he said to Diarmuid, "Father, I..., don't know how I feel about those words. To know that one day, it'll be up to me to protect all of this land. I just don't feel like I'll be worthy of that position." Diarmuid reassures him, "Son, it's not anything to be afraid of, many people will dislike you for the decisions you'd have to make for the kingdom, but never let anyone change who you truly are. You are smart, strong, brave, and worthy. This I know, my son." Later that day, The two then visited a close friend. They met a woman named Kianah Heitmann, she led over her corporation and was known for how well she could develop blueprints for structures. Kianah asked both of them, "How do you like this layout? I've laid out many mountains, and a huge forest biome, with the center having a rocky pillar that will act as a landmark to know where the center is located. Do you have any suggestions, disagreements, or complaints?" Diarmuid examines the blueprint data and says to her, "The forest biome could be shrunken down a bit, no need for too many trees around. Other than that, I feel that it is fine with me." 

Kianah smiles with great joy and says, "Alrighty then, I'll finalize it and get it all set up for you soon, if you make any last-minute decisions again, I'll cut off your nose off. Just kidding." She resumes her development on the battle map while Taski and Diarmuid left the room. The two walked in the streets toward another friend of Diarmuid, they visited the stadium where the Knights Exams were held and noticed lots of screaming around the entrance of the stadium. Taski heard what sounded like a woman screaming in anger, Diarmuid said to him, "Well I don't know who upset her today but just stay cool." A woman by the name of Emerald Nayner shouted at the employees, "Quit Screwing Around! Listen To Simple Rules, Would You!" There were two men who were frightened by Emerald, one of them quietly spoke to the other saying, "Hey man let's just get out of here, there are plenty of other jobs out there. We aren't safe around this maniac here. She's going to kill us." The man replied, "I agree, let's make a run for it." Before the two could put down their boxes of equipment, She grabbed both of them on the back and said, "Ahh, clocking out early? Sorry, that wasn't the contract you signed!" 

She then picks them both up and swings them out of the work area over the fence and shouts, "Don't Worry About Coming Back!" The two males then rush away from the work area fearfully. Diarmuid then walks up behind her and says, "Emerald, are you giving these employees a hard time again?" She then twisted around quickly and replied, "What? Giving the workers a hard time. What do you mean? I would never." Diarmuid excuses this one easily. Taski then looks around at the stadium and observes it, he is struck with awe at the new design of the building, he then notices a large poster hanging on the side that is advertising the Knights Army. He notices the man on it, he then said, "That's Hayamoto Genki. I really wonder what it was like for him to be a Knight with no ability." Emerald summoned Taski over to her saying, "Hey kid! Come here for a second." He approaches her calmly and looks up at her and sees an intimidating look on her, he becomes concerned as to what she had to say to him. With serious intentions, she asked him, "What can you bring to the table for Asalikith? Why are you joining? To be honest, you don't look like much to me."

Taski was slightly intimidated by her words and didn't know how to respond to her question, Emerald had noticed the fear in him and asked, "Well kid, why are you enlisting here? Don't tell me you're going to waste my time now." He responded, "Mrs. Emerald. I am enlisting into the Knights to serve, protect, and bring peace to our land as well as others. I hold within myself the ability of flame. Flame is known for being super rare to come around these days. I can do many things, you can trust me on this." She took a second to observe him, she noticed he wasn't very masculine built and didn't seem strong too her, she then asked him, "Kid, let me ask you, do you understand what it takes to be a knight, apart from just being called one? I hope that you can offer something good, I don't take cry babies, wimps, and I especially do not accept lazy people. If you truly are ready to become one, I better see it this Friday at the exams." Taski looked her in the eyes and stated with confidence, "I'll bring something to the exams you won't forget, I'll prove that I'm worthy of serving in the Knights." She takes delight in his words and smirks. Diarmuid informs him about the castle set up and tells him, "Son, why don't you go back to the castle and help your mother and sister with the set-up for me, would you? I'll be back there soon." Taski accepts this command and makes his way back towards the castle. Diarmuid stays back to discuss something with Emerald in private, away from him. He says to her, "Listen, my son can be of a great help, I promise. However, my son does have a few hard spots that he takes a while for him to master, he also is intelligent. All I ask is that you would give him time, and he will shine bright, I promise you that." 

Emerald looks at Diarmuid in slight frustration and says, "Diarmuid, I do understand where you're coming from; however, we aren't responsible if your son gets himself hurt or even killed. I'm just letting you know ahead of time, I do not play around, if your son doesn't pay attention, I will let him go. I mean no disrespect toward your son, but we can't hold his hand all the way through. Although I'm willing to give him a chance. Just remember what I told you." He feels a heavy relief after speaking to him, she then carries on asking him, "Tell me, is Maisie still the same as she was back then? I know she was very sweet and gentle, but, I know she has also changed much over the years due to the pains of life these years." He sighs and says to her, "Well she still is the sweet and gentle woman I met those many years ago, she can, however, drive me insane every so often. I still love her unconditionally." Both of them chuckled and carried on their talk more. Meanwhile, back at the castle was one of the elden knights, her name was Candy Cat. She was a western woman, who looked similar to Sharaletta, Candy was assisting with the set-up for the castle security, Taski arrived at the castle and was greeted by a man named Elijah Elter. Elijah was also one of the elden knights that fought along with Diarmuid. Elijah asked Taski, "Hey man, I got a question for you. Where is your dad at? He should have come back with you man, I heard from one of the staff members say that some supplies were snatched. Your dad needs to be aware of this." 

Taski wasn't worried about the situation as much as Elijah was, he told Elijah, "I'll make sure to inform my mother about this. For now, just hang tight, I guess." Taski remembered that he would help out Ariah with her forging, he then rushed to Maisie saying, "Mother. I just remembered that today I promised that I would help her with her forging. She will be busy with some important things later and only has until three o'clock today, she said that she wanted to focus on some important personal projects. Would it be okay if I could leave early to go to her?" Maisie felt that there wasn't any reason for him to help out, she then replied, "Sure son, just remember now, don't stay too long. Make sure you stick to your training routine. Other than that, you two be careful." He then left the castle and headed toward Lightspring in excitement to meet her again. He rushed to her doorbell and rang it twice, Ariah then heard it and dashed toward the door, she opened the door and was greeted by him in pure joy. She was filled with excitement, she then greeted him joyfully, "Great to see you again! I'm almost ready, just give me a few more seconds, and I'll be out and ready. Taski asked Ariah to step inside and make herself at home. Ariah rushed to her room to finish packing some emergency packs in case there were any problems. He noticed some beautiful quotes she had on her fridge, most of them were Bible verses. He also observed the delightful aroma emanating from the house, reminiscent of peaches and coconut. He pondered, "That scent resembles the snow cone I brought for her back from the festival." I wonder how she was able to get her hands on this air freshener.)" 

She then walked into the kitchen where Taski was waiting and said to him, "Hey, I'm ready now. I want to at least be back before two-thirty, I need to write my letters to my family and I want to get that done and over with. I hope that this isn't an issue." He looked over at her and asked, "I'm curious, how did you get this air freshener? It smells a lot like that coconut peach snow cone I got you at the festival." She smiled and replied to him blissfully, "Oh, my ability has a passive move that allows me to absorb any kind of scent into the palm of my hand, I can then transfer it to any plant of my choosing. I have given my flowers this scent because I love it, but I'm unfortunately not able to absorb the taste of it." They both laughed in amusement. They then left Lightspring and headed for Mableflower Lake, the two walked close to each other holding hands to protect each other so that they wouldn't stray from each other. The two arrived at Mableflower Lake, he took her bag off and laid it near a tree as she prepared her spot for forging, she took off her sweater and felt the beautiful wind brush against her skin. Taski asked her, "Alright, here we are. Do you remember what I told you last time?" She replied."I do, I'll make sure to listen to your voice carefully and keep it easy, I'm ready." 

She then cleared her mind of all doubts and fear of any kind, and she stayed still for five minutes straight. Once she was free of doubts and fears, she then pulled inward all her ability force into her body. He then informed to her, "Okay, looks like you've got step two down, just keep it still inside you until you feel it calm in you." Upon listening to his voice, she began to feel numbness pressing down on her. She then started to shake, he then told her, "Just keep it still, it's going to hurt a little but just trust me, don't force, let it decide itself." She then began humming in pain as she shook more and more, however, she kept holding it regardless of the pain she was feeling. Ariah only kept going as her pain became more and more severe. Taski moved closer and said, "Don't let this pain scare you, you're almost there, just keep on going." As her shaking got worse, his voice then became harder to hear. Then suddenly, she opened her eyes and gasped slightly, her eyes were glowing bright pink, as that was her natural eye color. An aura was flowing around her and was curious as to what was happening, she then asked, "Is this natural? What's happening?!" Subsequently, he placed his hand on her shoulders and advised her not to be alarmed. You're doing great right now, this is what's supposed to happen. Now listen to me, this is the third step which I think it as the fun part, simply imagine in your head the weapon design that you want it to look like. Take your time and remember to stay calm."

 She took her time and thought of a unique design for her sword, she imagined a sword with sharp thorns and vines wrapped all along the sword that could only be wielded by her. A sword that could lower defense with each attack, one that could heal teammates by sticking the ground and sending a shock wave of plant vines that could attach to anyone in need of healing. Attack boost, defense boost, physical resistance, mobility, speed, attack speed, element boost as well as many other boosters. She then thought to herself, "(Yes, yes. That's undoubtedly how I would want my weapon to be.)" She then asked with a stutter in her voice, "What's next? I..., I thought of how I would want it to be like." He then said to her, "Now the last step is simply to send that energy into your hand, guide your ability force, speak to it. Tell it what it is you're doing." Ariah spoke to her ability inside and tried to reason with it, saying, "I require your help, I need you to become my weapon, my defensive tool. Please, It's for the right reason, I need you to be a sword in battle. In case I was ambushed, I'll need a way to fight back." As she spoke to her ability inside, her ability approached her peacefully and said to her, "You only wish to help others out of your choice of love. I shall assist you now." 

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked up, and her sword appeared above her out of nowhere. It floated down as she gazed at it in awe. Taski looked up and was stunned with amazement at the design of the sword, he then congratulated her, "You did it! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you." She grabbed the sword with a strong spirit and observed it closely. She thought to herself, "(I will use this as my weapon of peace, may it never smite in the path of evil but to serve for the right cause. I shall name it Clover Just.)" He taught how to withdraw a weapon to her, she caught on to this quickly and mastered it in seconds. She then told him, "I can't tell you just thankful I am that you are in my life. It absolutely means so much to me. I am overjoyed that you and I met at the training grounds." She then came in and hugged him tightly and fluttered her wings wide and fast as she cried with tears of joy, Taski felt great cheer to see her big and beautiful smile express itself. She couldn't stop hugging him, she felt extraordinary happiness overfill her heart. Once she had all of her time of joy, him and her walked back toward the city to finish the training up, He then made the brave decision to ask her," Hey Ariah, I was wondering, would you like to go out on Thursday and have dinner?"

 Ariah looked at him assuredly and replied, "I would absolutely love to, if I'm not too busy that day I'll be down to go." The two were growing closer and closer as the days went by, they then arrived at Lightspring Suburbans. Taski walked her inside her house and helped her unpack, he then parted ways for the day and made his way back to the castle to return to his family. Back at the castle, Diarmuid and Maisie, as well as Darcie, were finishing with the party set for the Elden Knights as an appreciation for all their hard work throughout the years they have served. Candy asked Maisie, "Hey, where your little son be running off to this time? I thought he was here just an hour ago, then again I've been downstairs looking outside." Maisie replied with excitement, "My son, he has found a woman that he really likes and decided to go out with her and train her on weapon forging. I'm certain that he took her out for a date as well, I'm just so happy that he found someone that he really likes." 

Candy wasn't impressed, as she was more thoughtful toward the exams. Emerald walked in with Tolem and Elijah, asking, "Alright! when is this thing gonna start, huh? I'm ready to feel appreciated for once, just kidding, but I am ready." Everyone not within the Elden range was to leave the room immediately, as this was only for the Elden's. The Elden Knights had a remarkable party set up for them with many signatures, fan art, appreciation letters written by many of the loyal fans, and tons of prepared food for them. Taski then arrived back at the castle five minutes after the party had begun, and he approached Diarmuid and explained, "Dad, Ariah was able to forge her weapon today, I showed her how to do, and she nailed it." Diarmuid replies to him, "Well done my son, I see that you really like her since you have been around her very much. Anyway, great job teaching her." Taski then went to his room and laid down in his bed and started to think to himself, "(I wonder if she would like to stick with me long term. Either way things go, I will keep my promise to her and protect her with my life. Even if it came down to me having to give up everything, I'll do everything to make sure she is happy where she is.)"