Starlight Chapter 5 (Part I)

Marthan, Shayla, and Kiaan met in one of the smaller dining halls of the Bastion for breakfast. The trio were still wondering what their masters had installed for them, but following Marthan’s advice from the day before, they did not draw any conclusions. After finishing their breakfast, they made their way to the main training hall to meet their masters.

When the trio arrived at the main training hall they were surprised to see that their masters had already gathered there. They were not alone however, they were also joined by other Paladin Masters. The masters just stood there, silent and stoic. Soon, other initiates began pouring into the training hall. There were already a few initiates who had gathered in the hall before them. I guess we weren’t the only ones, mused Marthan to himself.

A young man who was around the same height as Marthan approached the group. Like the trio, he wore the silver robes given to initiates. He had short brown coloured hair and dark brown eyes.

“Did your masters ask you to wait here too?” asked the man.

“Yes they did,” answered Marthan. “Do you happen to know why we are here?”

“Sorry, not a clue,” replied the man. “I’m Jinn Ken-Wan by the way, but you can call me Jinn.”

“I’m Marthan,” said the young Paladin initiate before bowing his head slightly. He then pointed to Shayla and then to Kiaan. “This is Shayla and Kiaan.” The two bowed their heads slightly upon being introduced. Jinn bowed his head slightly as well in return not long after they had introduced themselves.

“So, who are your masters?” asked Marthan’s new acquaintance. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

The trio told their fellow initiate and new acquaintance who their respective masters were. Jinn was impressed by the fact that Marthan had gotten a member of the Paladin High Council as his master. He noted that to get a member of the council as one’s master is a huge honour.

“So who’s your master?” asked Marthan in return.

“Master Doorian,” replied Jinn as he pointed to a tall man whose brown hair and beard was greying. Upon seeing Jinn’s Master, Marthan guessed that the Paladin Master was perhaps in his late fifties or early sixties. He also appeared to have an air of nobility. Perhaps it was the way in which he stood and the stoic look on his face that gave Marthan the impression. The training hall began filling up with even more initiates.

“Attention all initiates!” called out a voice with authority. The authoritative voice caught the attention of all the initiates in the hall. Marthan turned his attention towards the direction of the voice. What he saw was a big, humanoid figure who had purple coloured pachyderm-like skin. The figure also had a bovine nose, a large jaw and two medium sized spiral horns on its head. Marthan did not recognise the species of the huge and intimidating figure he saw. “I’m quartermaster K’vorg Vix,and I bet you all are wondering why you all have gathered here.”

Marthan, Shayla, Kiaan, Jinn, and many of their fellow initiates nodded their heads. Finally we’ll get to know why we’re all here, thought Marthan to himself.

“You’re all here to take part in a little friendly tournament pitting you against your fellow initiates, so that your masters can assess your current skill level,” announced K’vorg to the initiates. Initiates in the hall began speaking with one another upon hearing the quartermaster’s announcement. “Silence!” The initiates stopped talking amongst each other, and silence descended on the hall. “Now, the tournament will be divided into two separate halves. The first halve would be a test of your ability to use your chi. The second halve would be a test involving your martial skills. Now when I call your name, step forward.”

Marthan took in a deep breath and tried to centre himself. He was nervous, especially for the second half of the tournament as his martial skills were not the best. Marthan looked over to Shayla, a nervous look plastered on her face.

“Don’t worry Shayla. It’s just a simple test,” said Marthan as he placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

“I have a bad feeling I’ll embarrass myself up there,” Shayla said. “I’m neither that skilled in the use of my chi or in the martial arts.”

“I think we might be embarrassing ourselves up there to some degree,” opined Kiaan who was trying to reassure Shayla.

Marthan nodded in agreement with Kiaan’s statement. “I know I’m going to embarrass myself when it comes to the martial arts part of the tournament,” remarked Marthan. Throughout the conversation taking place between the three, Jinn just listened silently and nodded his head in agreement with some of the statements that were made.

The first pair of initiates that K’vorg called out was Marthan and a male individual with blue skin and white hair. Marthan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before stepping forward.

“Good luck Marthan,” wished Shayla encouragingly to him. Kiaan and Jinn also wished him good luck.

Next to K’vorg on each side were three stone columns of increasing height. Marthan and his opponent stood in front of K’vorg. “Alright initiates, whoever moves all three of these stone columns past me the in quickest time, progresses to the next round,” instructed K’vorg. “You two understand what has to be done?”

“Yes master,” acknowledged Marthan and his opponent almost simultaneously.

“Then begin!” barked K’vorg to the two initiates.