Chapter 1 - A New Path

His vision started to dim, and everything around him began to spin into a blurred warp as he jumped up from his bed, sweat curling from his face, and his heart pounding into oblivion.

"Hey Zack, bad dream again?" a boy sitting on a small bed next to his turned to him. Zack looked around the room before turning his gaze to the boy, realizing all the other rows of beds were empty and everyone else was gone.

"Ugh . . . yeah," he replied in a droopy voice.

Zack yawned lazily as he snuggled back into his sheets, but suddenly his bed was flipped over with him on it, and he fell to the ground. He looked up to see an angry middle-aged man looking down at him furiously.

"Wake up you piece of garbage! Every day you oversleep! You have school! Hurry up and get out of here! And when you get back, I want you to go clean Sir Richard's stables! And one more thing! . . . Don't dare let me hear about you getting into any trouble again boy! Or else this time, I will let them cut off those little hands of yours!" the man yelled in Zack's ear sending tiny drops of saliva flying onto his face.

Zack picked himself up and flipped his bed back on its right side, paying no mind to the old man who berated him mercilessly, nor the shower of spit coming from his mouth. Eventually, the old man left holding his chest, and the boy beside Zack's bed turned to him.

"Don't pay that old geezer any mind, you know he treats all of us like that."

"Hmph! I'm going to get out of this stupid place soon enough," he replied while wiping his face on his forearm.

"But how are you going to do that? No one's going to adopt you, plus you don't have any money."

"I'm turning thirteen today, so I can finally join the Altean Knighthood Academy."

The boy grew a sad countenance, sporting a disappointed mug, "Wow . . . I'm going to miss you. Promise you won't forget us, okay?"

Zack gave him an assuring grin, "Tch! I'll never forget you and the others." He looked at the old door at the end of the room down the space between the bed rows, "Take care, old friend. I better get going."

The boy forced a smile as he watched Zack head for the door, "Hey Zack, do well out there will you? I'll be rooting for you."

Zack paused before the door and looked over his shoulder, "You bet!"

Zack left the room to prepare himself and get ready, then went outside the building. With an earnest face, he took one last look at the rusty old orphanage, then turned around to proceed on his way to Eastbourne Academy. One of only four scholar schools in the Kingdom of Altea.

As Zack strolled through the town, he stopped walking abruptly to give way to several high-spirited children running around the streets, screaming as they chased each other. He resumed walking, looking on as the farmers and serfs drew their wagons and carts past him, and at the sides of the street, where various worn-down buildings stood, he saw carts of fresh fruits stacked on top of each other, attracting mostly women to stop at the vendors standing over them.

Suddenly, his ears were assaulted by the loud banging of metal, and as he walked by, he realized he had just passed a blacksmith shop.

He went around the corner of the shop, where he saw several rowdy-looking men standing by the entrance of a brothel across from him, armed with clubs and glasses of ale. One of the men who seemed to be the ring leader, nodded his head at him, and Zack nodded back then went his way. Whilst Zack acknowledged that he wasn't a saint, he knew full well it was wise to avoid the company of such men, even though they seemed to respect him for some reason.

While on his way to school his stomach started to growl, and it was at that very moment, a small group of guards were carrying a carriage full of baskets and trays of food across from him. He walked across the town to get to the guards, pushing through the hectic crowd of passers-by.

"Excuse me ,kind sirs. I haven't had anything to eat and I was on my way to school when I saw-"

One of the guards kicked Zack in the chest, causing him to fall backward unto his rump.

"Stop wasting our time stupid boy! This food is for the Governor of Eastbourne," yelled one of the guards.

The guards walked around Zack with the carriage full of food as he sat looking at the ground in anger.

"Fine then . . . We'll do it the hard way," said Zack under his breath.

Zack got up, brushed his tattered clothes off, and sprinted toward the guards. Upon hearing footsteps the guards turned around, but by then Zack had already made off with a loaf of bread that was hanging out of the carriage.

"Halt thief!!" Yelled the guard as they commenced the chase.

"Catch me if you can!" shouted Zack with a mouthful of bread as the guards chased him all over the town. Being small in body, he was able to squeeze through the busy crowd with ease, while the guards knocked over everything and everyone.

Zack ran into nearby woods as the guards chased him through the thick bushes and branches, but eventually, he stumbled upon a dead end as a cliff stood before him, under the cliff was a large lake. Cornered the guards eventually caught up to him.

"Nowhere to run now brat!"

"C'mon, all this for a loaf of bread?" responded Zack trying to reason with them.

"That belongs to the Governor! Do you know the punishment for stealing from a Governor!"

"The Governor is loaded. Surely he won't be a grumpy geezer over one bread?" he replied.

Zack then stuck his tongue out at the guard in a mocking manner which greatly angered all the other guards.

"How dare you you insolent brat! Since your father taught you no respect I will teach you myself!"

The guard drew his sword and began to approach Zack whose back was facing the cliff.

He backed away slowly from the guards, and with nowhere to run, he thought to himself, "(What now . . . Ugh, dang let's do it!!)"

Zack turned towards the cliff and leaped off, landing directly into the lake. To much surprise he survived, hearing the guards curse from above as he swam back up to the surface with puffed cheeks. He swam across the sky-mirrored waters to a rock and climbed up soaking wet, then looked back to see his reflection in the water, only to see a messy-haired, blue-eyed tween boy with earrings, staring back at him.

"Who's that good lookin fella? Ha! Ha! ha!" he chuckled to himself as the guards yelled at him from above. His grin faded to a gape in his mouth, when one of the guards raised a spear and held it over his shoulder as if he was going to throw it down. Not wanting to find out what would happen next, Zack turned around and ran through the woods with water flashing from his clothes to get to school as he gave the plants and bushes moisture.

Upon arrival at Eastbourne Academy, he saw a long line of students standing outside the large gates, with a group of knights checking them one by one. He gulped nervously, remembering that he stole from the Governor of Eastbourne.

Normally by those hours everyone would have been in class, and he found it strange some students were outside. It must've been the guards who were chasing him, but how did they get here before him? he thought to himself.

"These guys don't give up do they," he said to himself as he hid behind a tree.

One of the knights stood on a wooden stool and began to loudly address the passers-by.

"Attention! It is that time of year again! All students ages 13 to 18 may register for the Altean Knighthood Academy if they wish to become royal knights and serve their kingdom! Join this line if you want to become a knight! You will be taken to the Northwell province for a trial and if you are successful, you will be admitted into the academy to begin your Knighthood training!"

Zack gave a huge sigh of relief as he walked over to the line. The recruiting started earlier than he expected, but all the better. Upon joining the line a knight with pen and paper approached him. At first, the knight rose an eyebrow at his dampened clothes but proceeded to speak.

"Tell me your name, age, home, and province of birth!"

"Zackeus Hunter, 13, Crenshaw Village, Eastbourne, sir," he replied brimming with excitability at joining the Knighthood Academy.

"Proceed young lad!" said the knight as he scribbled his information on a long piece of paper.

After enough people signed up, the students in the line were led to walk to the province of Northwell while the knights traveled on horses. By the time they got to the Knighthood Academy, it was noon, and most of the students were out of breath, but Zack seemed to be unaffected by fatigue, strolling in line nonchalantly with a wide smile.

As he walked through Northwell, he looked around and saw lush plants, flowers, green trees and grassy plains, sparkling lakes, and ponds, plus leaves blowing all over the place. Much different from the mountainous and rocky terrain of Eastbourne. Zack looked on in awe as the knights led them to a wide-open field, where they stood before a great fort. He was ecstatic, as it was his first time ever seeing another province.

Upon looking further across the field, Zack noticed two other separate lines coming from the south and west, which he figured to be Westham and Southberry Academy students. The knights assembled the three lines side by side into three columns, each line representing their academy.

A tall knight unmounted his horse and began to walk ahead of the lines along a corridor into the fort, "Follow us to the hall but stay in line!" he commanded.

The students were led into a large hall lit by wall torches, where they saw a stern man in knight's armor and a blue cape, but no helmet standing upon a staircase. He was given extreme respect by the other knights, as they slapped their chests with their fists when they saw him.

"I am General Harris! A General knight of King Raul the 1st, and I am pleased to see so many young lads who yearn to serve and protect the nation of Altea! You are the next generation of royal knights and you should be filled with pride and joy at serving your kingdom!"

As General Harris went on with his speech, a young boy passing by bounced into Zack's back.

"Hey, look where you're going," said Zack ignorantly.

The boy who had dark ponytailed hair and dark blue eyes turned to Zack with an annoyed expression. His eyes were however cold as winter.

Looking into his eyes, Zack felt great hate and rage emanating from his aura. It was as if he was looking into the eyes of a tiger. Despite this, he felt they had something in common, but he just could not put a finger on it.

"You're in the wrong line idiot," said the ponytailed boy calmly, but his face spelled annoyance.

"What are you talking about, you're the one who's in the wrong line," remarked Zack.

"Are you from Westham Academy? I don't think so."

Zack looked behind him and realized he recognized no one in that line.

Reluctantly yielding, he said, "oh, my bad."

"Get out of my line. We don't want failures here," replied the boy rather unfriendly. Was he judging him based off his tattered clothing? This made Zack very angry.

Zack pointed a finger in his face with a scowl, "Why you! Who made you boss, you think you're cool or somethin! You think you're better than anybody!"

"At least I'm not the girl wearing earrings!" the boy replied, causing some of the students around them to laugh at Zack.

T-The audacity! Zack's eyes widened. The two boys began to bicker on, with Zack doing most of the bickering until a knight nearby stopped them.

"Hey! You two shut up and pay attention!"

After being reprimanded by the knight, the two boys glared at each other menacingly as they got back in their respective lines.

"You all might be too young to remember! But Altea has suffered much in the aftermath of the invasions eight years ago! Many lives have been lost, including the lives of some exemplary first responders! Our army ranks took a great hit from the clash with Ylise, and now we are currently suffering from a shortage of manpower! We are focused on rebuilding our forces, and your addition to the ranks once you complete your training, will draw us a step close to our goal!"

The general paused to place a hand on his hip, giving a stern glare across the hall full of young knight hopefuls, listening to their silence in attention to his words.

"I want you all to understand what you are getting yourselves into as I will not sugarcoat anything! If you want to be babied then go back to your families! Being a knight is not a game! It is not a theatre act or a clearance to play dress up! Men die out there! And if you do not take this seriously then you could find yourself bleeding out on the battlefield as well! Your duties will hold you hostage, and you will be required to live by strict protocols! You will not be able to do as you please or go where you please! And any decisions you make will need clearance from a superior officer! Your physical fitness will be tested daily with arduous training routines! And what you eat will be heavily monitored! If you feel you cannot handle this, then leave right now! You will not be thought of as a coward if you do!"

Zack looked among the knight hopefuls and saw several young boys walking back to the entrance, just a small number compared to the large quantity of students who remained standing. Zack chose to stay put. This was his dream, and nothing was going to scare him away from it. Not even the thought of death or boredom.

"If you make it past the trials, you will be required to spend a total of five years in training before you can be dubbed into knighthood! And even then, if you fail to keep up consistent scores you will be withdrawn from the academy! . . . "

After the speech from General Harris, the knights brought them to an extremely large room that had several divisions so they could split the students up into random groups. They were put to sit on the hard stone ground, as several knights walked around giving out blank scrolls and feathered pens to them.

Above the divisions near the ceiling was an upper inside balcony floor attached to a staircase, where an old grey-haired man dressed in a green gambeson jacket stood looking down at the students, listening to their crowded murmurs. A knight walked up the staircase and stood beside the man, then faced the students.

"Everyone be Quiet!! Listen as Sir Alexander explains to you the written exam!" The knight yelled as his voice echoed through the room, catching the students by surprise.

"Fare day lads, My name is Sir Alexander and thus commences the start of the trials. You will now sit a written exam to test your reading and writing ability, plus I will state some questions about our nation's history and current affairs, which I want you to write down the answers on the scrolls you have been given. Listen well, as I will only say the questions once," said the old man.

The old man started by asking basic toddler-level questions, then scholar-level questions, and then went on to ask questions regarding the kingdom which should've been common knowledge for every Altean. Everyone rushed to scribble down their answers before he spoke another question.

During the exam, Zack's face rained sweat from start to finish, but he held himself together and pulled through, making a few guesses as he went by, while struggling to keep up with Sir Alexander's voice. After the written exam came to a close, they handed in their scrolls to a group of scholars who were hired to quickly go over the answers and come up with a score.

The students were then led outside of the fort and back to the open field to commence the physical exam.