Stars and Swords

Shining Star

Many years have passed since young Holos entered school for the first time. A new king has since then succeeded the outcoming one, citing old age as the reason for his resignation from the post. The new King was named Covigo, eldest son of the former King Covaki. There the young man stood, in the same suit of armor as many beside him, only identifiable by his blue eyes and silver brows.

"Today, we are gathered here to bear witness to an end, and a beginning." the castle priest began. "For decades, King Covaki has served Polaria well, as his forebears did, keeping the peace earned during the great strife of long ago. Now, the old king has requested respite, and has called on his son Covigo to carry on the illustrious legacy of this great nation." the castle priest went on.

"Prince Covigo...soon King." Holos muttered to himself.

"Quiet down." the recruit to his left chastised him, scoffing underhis breath. His friend, Tennor, had been made a full knight the year before this day, and he hadn't heard of neither Soura nor Asuka's whereabouts, aside from the fact that they are still close together. Among the crowd however, are a pair of women who vaguely had the same hair and hair color as those two girls from his childhood. Holos internally did a double take, but he reigned in his thoughts to keep his poise.

"It is my honor, to call upon our new King. King...Covigo!" the priest called out. Spears can be then heard stomping, followed by the sounds of boots marching. Their owners then soon came into view, with the king-to-be in the midst. A little later, Covigo is sitting graciously on the throne, with his father, wife and small sons all watching with a smile.

"On this day. by the power vested in me by the Polarian people and the Celestium, I bequeath this crown upon thee." the priest said, receiving the crown from the crown bearer, a young boy with black hair and an average build. He then placed the crown on the new ruler's head, to much cheer from the crowd present.

"Covigo, son of Covaki, do you swear to uphold Polaria and its laws, its legacy, its people?" asked the priest.

"As with my forebears, I will represent, temper, and protect everything Polaria stands for and value the welfare, safety, and devotion of its people." declared Covigo.

"Long live the King! Long live the King! Long live the King!" chanted the crowd. Holos would have joined the chanting had it not for the strict instruction of the training officer to be disciplined at all times. The resulting celebration lasted well into the night, but Holos and the rest of the recruits have another training day tomorrow.

The next day started early, as per routine in the Polarian Knights Academy. Bells clanged nonstop to summon the trainees up from their beds. Soon enough, groans of trainees waking up can be heard up and down the halls of the trainee quarters. Soon, doors opened to reveal trainees ambling by to the baths to get prepared for the day. After some time, Holos got his turn in the showers, taking a little time to let the running water soak all over him.

Later' he got dressed up in his recruit attire, complete with the training chest plate they don everyday. He then joined the rest of the recruits in the mess hall for breakfast. He then chatted with some of his fellow trainees over breakfast; oats of varying flavors with bread and jam. A little later, it was time for class, with Aurorai history up first, much to most recruits' boredom. But for Holos though, history was one class he actually enjoyed.

"I gotta ask Holos, how do you not bore of history of all things?" inquired a blue-haired boy.

"I do like stories. You can't spell history without a story after all." Holos quipped.

"He does have a point, Alec." another boy quipped.

Soon, it was time for class, which was presided by an elderly scholar. Most were yawning off as the class went through its usual motions, much to the professor's chagrin. It was an uneventful class, save for a few bright moments when Holos and some others competed to get the correct answers to the professor's questions.

"Now onto a more interesting class!" drawled a burly recruit. "One where nerds like that Holos cant run their mouth and be top dog in class." he rambled on. "Show 'em who Polaria needs as knights!" he proudly declared.

"Prepare to get beat, raghair!" said one of his cronies.

Holos and his companions could only scoff at the boorish behavior those other recruits were showing. combat lessons were up next, which explains the boorishness of some of Holos' classmates. The class was to be in the training grounds, where racks upon racks of training weapons were around the area. The class soon lined up in two neat rectangles in front of a gruff instructor knight, who was wearing rider armor.

"Greetings whelps!" began the instructor. "Today, we begin with sword basics! The lightest among the three melee weapon classes, swords allow for easy attack and defend maneuvers." he said, brandishing a training sword. "The simplest thrust can prove effective in a fight, but you will need more than that to be assured a victory." the instructor went on.

He then went on to make the recruits do basic sword exercises, starting with the basic two-hander strokes. working up to the more complicated single-hander thrusts.

"Now that you learned the basics, why not apply it...in a match!" declared the instructor. "You will face a random member of this class one by one, and everyone will take a turn." he reminded them. "Duel ends when one has a clear shot over the other and calls yield" The duels began, starting with a freckled redhead boy and a dark-skinned brunette. The instructor called the duel to begin. Already, the burly boy and his lackeys were leering at Holos in particular, eyeing him down. His lackeys were called up one by one, and only won against another of the lackeys. Soon, it was the burly guy's turn.

"Oren!" the instructor called. "You face against Holos!, he called out, facing both boys.

"Nervous yet?" sneered the boy apparently called Oren. Holos didn't dignify his taunting, opting to just go into his battle stance. "Heh, prepare to be crushed, little babby." he mocked the silver-haired boy. "What you gonna do, tell mommy and daddy about big boy Oren beating you too hard?" he mocked him.

"Better back up that taunting Oren." reminded the instructor. "Well then...BEGIN!" he signalled.

As soon as the word was uttered, the two recruits immediately crossed swords, eager to pull the decisive strike against the other. The wooden swords clattered hard as both Holos and Oren parried the other's strikes. Oren was already giving it full force, repeatedly swinging his sword only for Holos to catch it every time. Oren then attempted a thrust, which Holos narrowly avoided. Holos then attempts a side strike, only for it to be violently parried by Oren.

The match was intense, victory hanging uncertain as both attacked, dodged and parried fiercely, desperately trying to cover any weak spot or unattended side. Oren looked more and more furious, his strikes getting sloppier and sloppier. Holos then went for the deciding strike: an overhead counter-clockwise strike that got Oren right on the torso.

"Yield Oren!" Holos shouted.

"You think?!"Oren responded with a manic swing, which Holos didn't avoid in time. He then readied up another swing, coming from his side this time. Oren parried it, but was not ready for Holos' quick follow-up: a quick semi-circular stroke to the neck.

"Now...yield." Holos declared stonily. Oren grudgingly dropped his weapon, declaring the end of the fight.

"Excellent showing Holos." praised the instructor. "You earned your victory today, boy." he continued. "Alright, next match..." he went off as both came back to their positions, Oren giving him leering looks as they walked back.

"You got lucky, BOY. You'll get what's coming." he snarled under his breath.

"No, you got sloppy." he countered.

The rest of the class after the duels was spent recapping today's lessons, and soon concluded with the professor reminding to practice the stroked learned today. As the students cleared off the courtyard to their next class, the knight instructor smiled, thinking back to the match between Oren and Holos.