Tag Archives: Sons of Sword

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #3

The Stream Quarter Training Center was not very far away from the cafeteria by ground.  The blistering winds however dictated that the young Crisho stay inside as much as possible.  Instead, she chose to traverse the buildings using the tunnels and bridges between them.  These paths were only meant for connecting two or three buildings for ease of class access.

The trip ended up taking much longer but was worth it.  Being a creature only a few centimeters high, she would freeze without proper precautions.  Metcalf walked the halls with her game face.  She had no need for war paint.  Her face was naturally split down the middle with red and white.  A slight tint of the adolescent’s green still covered most of her skin but that would fade.

Up two floors and a bridge, left turn and a hallway, right turn, down the long ramp, down three floors and a tunnel, up a floor, halfway through the hall and an elevator, she had traveled this path for many winters.  She had no reason to question where she was or where she was going.

Usually, the center was a place of genuine training.  Students would use this facility to hone skills; to practice and eventually eliminate faults others had discovered in their fighting styles.  Not today.

When she reached the three double-door entry to the training center she knew what Koh was talking about.  The roar of activity was unmistakable.  The training center was large enough to house sporting events from professional teams.  However at this time of year, it seemed more packed than ever.  When she entered the training center, she saw students everywhere in their various, armor styles and colors.  Many were either competing fiercely in drills or waiting in line to challenge other students.  Full of hope or simply naive, they all looked for their chance to get more Academy Points.

There were even more students standing at the walls or sitting in the bleachers, some studying their handhelds.  The holographic image of the school rankings and the red zone was all too familiar.  Some looked at the image happily and relieved.  Others were very worried.  No one wanted to take the Final Exam, but in the end everyone knew that some of them had to face expulsion.  They had less than a week left to adjust their fate.

Quite a few of the students seemed to be from other Quarters of the Academy.  She did not recognize them.  Perhaps they were embarrassed and did not want to be seen gambling points.  Either that or this was the place with the most action.

She looked at the battling pairs of students for a while, picking her targets.  She cared little about how good they were; she was better.  The ideal target had little to do with whether they won or lost.  It was all about how they won or lost.  Selfishness was self-defeating and she watched the students for signs.

Proud winners and sore losers always made the best targets.  They took the outcome personally and often wanted a rematch.  The proud thought they were unstoppable and wanted to go again even when it was unnecessary.  Losers often thought too much about the outcome.  Vowing not to make the same mistake again, they would make a different mistake and dig themselves even deeper into a hole.  Too late, they realized they could not escape The Red.

She saw Naoh in her plain looking white armor with aqua highlights.  She was competing in a three strike drill with her dual short strait swords.  She moved effortlessly, countering all of her opponent’s attacks with parries, strikes, and stabs.  She hit him much more than three times; the second to score three hits ends the match as the loser.  The penalty was determined by how many more hits the winner landed.

Even with his face covered Metcalf could tell that he was getting frustrated.  Apparently, he did not expect a girl to have such powerful strikes.  It seemed that he could not land a single strike with his dual canes.  To lose a test of strength against a petite lady with everyone watching had to be embarrassing.  Not to mention the amount of points he was losing.

Just then Metcalf felt a tap on her shoulder.  She turned to find a female student in armor with a crossbow.  She seemed to be older with a look of a predator.

“Hey kid,” she said as an introduction, “You wanna do a target drill?”  It seemed as though she already knew the answer before she asked the question.

“Why sure.”

#1 – Lost and Found #2 – Lost and Found #4

 

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #2

Bacon, bacon, more bacon; strips of fresh mango, pineapple, and strawberry; add in blueberry syrup with waffles and breakfast cannot get much better.  Of course, there is the company.

Metcalf sat with about nine other students.  She had known most of these girls since they were children; they met at the dorms.  A few were newer friends that once challenged her in the training center.  By now, they were all good friends and did almost everything together.  They were all fierce warriors.  They were also teenagers.

The friends sat at a long table on the lowest level of the dorm’s cafeteria, a grand elaborate cafeteria with three semi open levels.  Each level was larger than the one above it.  All around there were lifelike paintings, carvings, and sculptures of things and animals found around rivers or streams.

The levels were connected by a double stairway through the center.  At the bottom of the stairway were the larger tables and the window.  Visible from the top of the stairs was a great window.  It took the entire area of the unused three story wall.  It curved into the side walls as well but didn’t take them over.  It provided a wonderful view of the mighty Thousand Flower River which was currently frozen over.

While admiring the view, the ladies talked and joked about everything and nothing.  Dreamy young men in dramas; homework and reports due; clothing; possible trips into town; rumors of heavy snowfall; impersonating teachers; no topic was off limits.

In the middle of all this, Metcalf’s handheld rings.  She answers in a way that does not display the image of the caller.  Answering the call, she gets up and turns away from them.  Her friends already knew who it was though.  It had to be Naoh or Koh.

“Metcalf, what’s taking so long?”  It was Koh.  Apparently Naoh, his older sister, did not find the situation urgent enough to call Metcalf herself.

“What do you want,” Metcalf said with a hint of annoyance.  They knew not to bother her in the morning.  “I’m eating.”

“The Center is filling.  You’re going to miss out.”

“You can do a few drills without me can’t you?  I‘ll be there when I’m done.”

“Naoh says hurry up.”

“Yeah sure,” at that, she hung up.  She really appreciated what they did for her after her first test but Noah and Koh were slowly getting more and more demanding.  She felt a little less sorry about planning to leave them.  They can get their own points next year.

Her demeanor was completely different when she turned back to the table.  Watching her this whole time, her friends knew exactly what was happening.  They didn’t like her going to the training center to gamble with the Lai Siblings, but it was how she stayed in the academy.

“You don’t need them,” Haruna Huai said.  Though not the oldest or the strongest, she was the shortest and most outspoken of the youths.  “They’re using you.  I bet you could go much further without them.”

“I was thinking about that myself,” Metcalf was relieved that she was not the only one that understood her situation.  “I’m going to Master Fu next week to see what training I can do.”  The conversation continued for a short while.  After that she excused herself and left.

Lost and Found #1 – Lost and Found #3

 

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #1

Leave a comment

Glory City: Stream Quarter Dorms

Metcalf Luo woke to the sound of soft music and a calming water mixer that served as her alarm clock.  Sunlight poured into her room signaling late morning.  Her bed and blankets, soft and warm, left behind for the day’s work.  Dreams slipped from her head as she frowned remembering her tasks and what must be done; what she must do to stay at Sword Mint Academy.

Happy plush toys lined the dressers and tables along the pale orange walls.  They were as close as they needed to be.  Most activities were done outside anyway.  All the same, she would have preferred to have a larger living space.

After her shower, she checked her handheld for the student ranking.  The holographic image displayed a transparent image of all Sword Mint Academy students ranked by their Academy Points.  The rankings changed ever so slightly as she looked; that happened constantly.

She focused the image on the lower forty percent.  The lower half of her focus was covered in a red hue.  These students would be the ones most desperate for Academy Points.  The final exam was dreaded by all students.  If they didn’t find a way out of the red zone within the week, they would have to take it.  Her own portrait was just above the red zone, her rank slipping as she slept.

She looked all the way to the bottom.  “Hm…  Still hasn’t moved yet,” she said to herself.  Lance Da had been accepted to the academy a month or so ago.  There was a little fanfare at his arrival but she paid little attention.  Metcalf recognized him differently now.  He was at the very bottom of the pack since he arrived, still with zero Academy Points.  Most new students rest for a week or so before they start trying to advance, but Lance?

It could be easy enough for him to pass the test.  The Quarter Masters would not expect him to learn enough to warrant a strict grading curve.  However, everyone takes the same strenuous test.  It was difficult enough that even the newer students try to learn as much as they could to prepare for the inevitable.  Lance wasn’t even trying.

She hoped he did well.  It would be embarrassing to fail in the first half year.  For new comers, the test was more of a wake-up call.  A heavy reminder of what Sword Mint Academy expects its students to be able to do.  She took the test once and passed, barely.  It was as horrible as she expected.  She never wanted to take the test again.  Since then, she managed to stay above the red zone with Naoh and Koh’s help.

It worked well but she did not like what they did.  It had to be a perversion of the Academy Point System.  Thankfully, Mid Term was coming up soon.

Now sixteen years old, she had been at the academy for most of her life.  She started realizing her niche a few months ago.  Her type of combat was not the type that warriors crave on the battle field.  She attacked from the shadows.  She was getting good enough to stop gambling with her Academy Points.  She would miss hanging out with Naoh and Koh, but they would have to get their points without her.  Perhaps after Mid Term she could speak to Master Fu about getting a new training regimen.

She stretched and put on her armor.  She grabbed her weapons; Blue, her short bow with barbed bolt arrows; Rasz and Black, her weighted aluminum nightsticks.  She took a count of her throwing knives, making sure she had all twenty of them.  She put the lot into her traveling bag and went out for breakfast.

She still could be a great warrior.  Stealth warriors have a good place in their field.  She would need more training to be useful but that was for another day.  Today, she needed to ensure her own survival at Sword Mint Academy.  To do that, she had to play the swindler; again.

“Here we go again.”

Lost and Found #2