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Odd One Out
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The Throne of a Thousand Swords Bloodless
"Done with that already!? The day is about to end.""Koda, sir. This little rascal keeps slowing me down." "Liar! He was the one goofing off and leaving the job all for me!" Josiah shouted.Both him and Reeve were designated to cleaning duty. They had been mopping the room for the last couple of hours while the others went for physical activities. They were inside the men's room during the time they went there to get dressed for the bloodless training."You two still can't get along? I guess you're going to have to be the duo on the cleaning until you learn how to.""…""Finish that already and come to the bloodless training."Josiah felt a chill down his spine.The bloodless training was a modality where the holder didn't use the bloodbound power of his weapon at all. Aiming both for perfecting common-weapon wielding and beginning on blood control."Sir…" Josiah asked in a low voice as he went near Sergeant Koda."Say it.""I don't know how not to use my bloodbound powers."Reeve ove
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Mission
The soldiers inside the room had gotten up and were preparing themselves rushedly. Josiah didn't understand what the rush was about."Mission...?" Josiah asked, still sleepdrunk.One of the soldiers who were near his bed heard and explained:"The missions are held in town. It's a very long way of marching until there.""Wait! We 'walk' to there!?"Josiah understood he had to stay ready as soon as possible instead of keeping mumbling on his bed while rubbing his eyes. But that was hard to do. For starters, his body hadn't completely recovered from the day before. Not only that but he didn't get much sleep either.'Screw this. I need to force myself to go. It's no different than when I was under training with Thomas, tired like a pack donkey but had to wake up early for the lesson anyway since he had to go to work later.'Josiah jumped off his bed and started getting ready as well.Two of the mates were commenting while they were shaving their beard:"Today is the sixth? I forgot all abo
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Final test
The next months went by very fast. Wake up, train, clean, train, build-up, train, sleep. The routine was hard and monotone, it made the days pass too quickly. Yet the routine was rewarding. Josiah grew even stronger during the days he spent perfecting his sword-wielding style and controlling his blood to tone it down.He also learned to use the rapier's power for trivial matters, in the way Watt had taught him. Well… At least to a certain extent.Josiah's relationship with the colleagues got a little better. With time they started respecting him as a member of the team, despite his age.Even Josiah's relationship with Reeve also got better. No, they're not friends. But every time Reeve would set Josiah up, he'd answer right after, but on a more brand, less offensive way. That's the way he found of dealing with the nephew of the lieutenant. With time, causing trouble for the little kid lost its 'fun', and Reeve and Josiah just stopped talking to each other outside the matters of the arm
The Throne of a Thousand Swords First Phase
"They all left. It's just us now." Wall said blankly."The other guy who's supposed to monitor us is also very well hidden..." Josiah added.Most of the soldiers under test didn't begin moving at the spot; they had to take time to digest the situation first. It wasn't clear how they were supposed to descend."See that water all the way over there, filling the entire bottom area? It's sparkling. Looks cool right?""I bet it's highly toxic.""You bet…""…""Well…" Watt looked around. "Staying here won't amount to anything. I think I'm going to go and find some way out, good luck, Josiah." He left Josiah alone behind, following one of the downward spiral trails of the mount they were in.'I should probably do the same,' he thought.'It shouldn't be hard to climb down those mountains to approach the bottom. The problem is that the further down, the more I'm exposed to whatever mineral Watt said that was. I should probably strive to find the end which is closer to another end of the closest
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Hanging
Reeve was hanging on the cliff, being held only by Josiah's hand."Don't let go!! Please, pull me up!!" Reeve repeatedly shouted those words in a desperate manner."You sound way less cocky when you're on the verge of your life, huh?""Argh! My arm is getting numb!""Don't you dare let go you son of a…"It was somewhat fun seeing Reeve's eyes widen that much for some reason.'Stupid aristocrat. What do you think would happen to me if they knew some nine-year-old kid killed the nephew of the lieutenant during the final exam? Technically I'm allowed to, but in practice…' Josiah thought.Still… The weight was really too much for Josiah to deal with.It's true, he had lifted huge boulders for Lenny's cave in the forest. He had lifted stone tiles for an entire morning to help with the wall… But he always distributed the wight over all the muscles of his body. He never had to lift something from such an awkward angle using only one of his arms like that before.'I know! I'm going to use the
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Talpig
"At this rate, we're going to reach there in a blink of an eye," Watt commented when the sun rose again, after their first night."Yeah…" Josiah was still a bit sleepy."Hanging around in a pair is also good because we can just take turns on sleeping as we did. Let's go! We don't know exactly when they're coming back. If we can almost reach it today, we won't need to worry to be two of the thirty first ones after they arrive."Josiah was beaten. He used a lot of his rapier power when Reeve was hanging by the cliff, and after that, he had to use it several times, one for each attempt of placing the sword correctly above the floor from a distance.'My poor sword… It's all worn out. I should find a smith after this all ends…' Josiah thought, looking complacently to the blade of his mother's last gift.It took about half of the day using more and more his bloodbound power to build rope bridges until Josiah was all worn out and needed a rest. It was almost noon."Exhausting, huh?" Watt comm
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Second Phase
With Watt's preparations, it was fairly easy not to miss the arrival of the examiners. Watt had brought a lot of useful equipment for the trip, unlike Josiah who had nothing but his equipment, and even on that he was missing, since he lost the dagger after throwing it at the talpig earlier.Watt had brought something whose function reminded Josiah of the 'binoculars' he had in his own world, but they were a fairly small apparatus, more like just a small lens on a cylinder. They waited, observing from the distance until they spot the men arriving and followed right after. They were the fifth and sixth people to arrive at the destination."I thought for sure we were gonna be the first ones…" Josiah said."I told you everybody would have the same idea."They waited a bit longer, close to an hour, and more participants arrived at the spot during the period. But no close to thirty. After this period of waiting the examiner finally pronounced himself:"That's it. These are the people who're
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Wrong Hostage
'Screw the test and the evaluation. Albo is in danger and his rescuer is nowhere in sight.' Josiah thought to himself. He couldn't stand watching his friend be pestered in that manner.'Ok. Think. If I try to draw its attention it's going to turn against me. But can I win…? No. My best chance is to climb on the block and help Albo kick it down. I'm going to silently climb on the other side.'Josiah rushed to the other side of the block and started.'Hang in there, Albo.'As an equipped human who trained in the army for eight months, the task was way easier for him, so he got up pretty quickly."Albo!""Dude! Help!" Luckily the scene was still the same. Albo was kicking the things' front while his hands were tied up, and the creature hadn't managed climbing up yet."Leave it to me!""Don't you dare! He's MY hostage!"Josiah heard.Right next to the block where they were standing, there was an even taller block. Josiah saw the owner of the voice above it, he was sitting down, watching t
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The Throne of a Thousand Swords The Limitations of Magic
"Lenny!" Josiah shouted, seeing her being knocked unconscious on the floor. 'Damn it! Is she all right?' Josiah started getting worried. He had just freed himself from the flaming piece of armor.The whole scenery was now lit on due to the flames of the two balls the magician released out from nowhere, and also the last attack, which was some sort of energy wave."Hah! You kids are no match for this power. Come on. It's only me and you now, little brat."'This is not good,' Josiah thought. 'Lenny is already out and we don't even know everything he can do. Not only that I am also stuck inside this hole and can't seem to be able to climb back. He could finish soldier Ray on his own, which means without Lenny to distract him it's going to be very hard to fight him one-on-one. What should I do…?'The magician seemed to be expecting Josiah to charge in, with a malicious smile on his face. The last attack made his face now clear to be seen. He was an older man, with his pale face full of wr
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Magic
Fingers were snapped.The complete darkness was turned into an enlightened environment. Josiah's eyes went out of focus for a second. He could now catch the barren walls and the surroundings with his eyes. The light source was unclear, but it illuminated everything with a weak, yellow light. Over the ground, there were a lot of unknown objects scattered over. Dolls, metal tools, jewelry, curtains… The purpose of everything was mysterious. And to his left, Josiah could catch the silhouette of the owner of the voice of who directed to them a while ago: a short man on a dark blue robe, covering his head with a hood. The man didn't look very physically strong. He seemed weaker than the people he was used to sparring with inside the army. Josiah couldn't see his face because the light source seemed to come straight from behind him, rendering his face pitch black."You…""Witness the power of magic!"The man extended his hands to Josiah and a huge mass of fire came towards him. A concentra
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Chapter 52: Culprit
"You said what!? Soldier Ray? How? What happened?" Major Clockburn asked holding the messenger on the shoulders."I don't know! One minute he was following me for the interview, then when I called he wasn't there anymore. I searched everywhere, but…""It's the same thing that happened to the villagers..." Clockburn observed. "Change of plans. Everyone! We are going to divide and search for Ray. Each of you… Grab a tracking bracelet inside the vehicles!"A tracking bracelet was made with a bond of blood between two holders. It worked similar to Watt's bloodbound power, two people bonded to use the power: the holder and the vessel. They both cut a small drip on the wrist. The vessel wears the bracelet around his wrist and the blood of the holder reacts whenever he points his wrist in the direction of the vessel.Major Clockburn was the holder of several bracelets inside the carriages. This way he could track the soldiers of his squad.Too bad the soldiers weren't using the bracelet after
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Chapter 51: First Adventure
The experienced soldiers and higher-ranked officers were divided in squads. Each squad had a leader; which needed to be at least a three-star ranked person. The leader gave orders to four commanders which needed to be at least a sergeant, and each commander was in charge of up to a crew of fifteen. Squads were in charge of missions to protect and aid the kingdom. Things that couldn't be done by a crew of recruits. The missions often required dealing with criminals, creatures, or any other thing which required experience in combat.Josiah had spent almost the entire year in the reserve, helping with the affairs, instructing newer teams, improving his sword skills, and getting better on the art of controlling the blood flow. Then, one day on the eleventh month, Josiah's squad was called into the city of Bhule, one of the cities of the kingdom which were located most farther from the capital.The trip took a long day, even if the squad went by carriage instead of marching. After all, th
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Chapter 50: Conclusion
Lenny was crouching with both her arms and legs on the ground. It was the way she moved when she lived in the forest.Josiah saw her using that form only once and then never faced anyone moving like that before. He had no idea what to expect. In his experience moving in such a way is only bad for a human.'An animal also moves on four feet. If she is confident in her speed this means I should expect her speed to match at least that of an animal.'Lenny began crawling around Josiah, trying to find a weak spot. He swung the sword at her, causing her to stay back. They tested each other for a while and then Josiah got accustomed to her speed.Or at least he thought he got.Lenny charged at him with the speed he assumed she would but she dramatically altered the speed midway, causing Josiah's timed to swing to be a little late. 'What!? She can jump almost like a talpig!'Josiah had to switch his swinging to some plan to defend from her leap. He used a cross-blocking stance to protect his
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Chapter 49: The Promised Fight
Everywhere near the low number of buildings was a complete desert, whenever it was close to the dusk. Especially on the abandoned factories near the 40s. The soldiers were under training in the west side, the superiors who didn't work with the soldiers were preparing to move back to the central headquarters, and even the security moved further closer to the gates, as the streets around the 40s were completely devoid of the possibility of being targeted by trespassers since they were in the middle of the complex. At that time the whistling winds were the only visitors in the area. If somebody screamed there, he'd never be heard.Josiah's jacket flapped with the strong wind blowing at his body. He wasn't wearing any armor. He just had his sword; the gift his mother gave him and his dearest weapon. He was holding it pointing the blade down.Tonight was their promised test. They agreed on the rules. In order to prove her worth, Lenny needed to withstand a spar with him for two minutes. Th
The Throne of a Thousand Swords The Power of a Royalblood
The rest of the tournament took place in the afternoon and for Josiah, it was very underwhelming. Reeve didn't ever recover his condition in time so he had to withdraw, thus causing Josiah to be the winner of the tournament for abandonment.The overall results of the tournament were as follows:First Round:A) Josiah vs Greg — Winner: JosiahB) Watt vs Lawrence — Winner: LawrenceC) Ellis vs Douglas — Winner: DouglasD) Teagan vs Daniel — Winner: TeaganE) Quinn vs Reeve — Winner: ReeveF) Brooks vs Dave Johnson — Winner: Dave JohnsonG) Yvonne vs Will — Winner: YvonneH) Kyleigh vs Austin — Winner: AustinSecond Round:1) Josiah vs Lawrence — Winner: Josiah2) Douglas vs Teagan — Winner: Douglas3) Reeve vs Dave Johnson — Winner: Reeve4) Yvonne vs Austin — Winner: YvonneSemifinals:Josiah vs Douglas — Winner: JosiahReeve vs Yvonne — Winner: YvonneAfternoon:Third prize. Reeve vs Douglas — Winner: DouglasFinals. Josiah vs Yvonne — Winner: JosiahJosiah still doesn't know whet
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Unexpected Events
"Lenny?" Josiah almost couldn't keep the low tone as he asked for her, after entering his tent.There was nobody in.'Of course, she wouldn't be here anymore. If anything, she must have left and his somewhere…'Josiah stood silent for a moment so he could hear the instructor and Koda talking to each other outside the tent:"The infiltrator was last seen running to the west.""What's west?""Nothing. The fields proceed to the west up to two thousand miles.""Do you think there's any place to hide?""At this point just running on a random direction is hideout enough.""Do we send a group to…"With the duo walking away, the voices started getting to low to be heard.'Lenny… Where did you go? I hope she doesn't get treated as a deserter or something because of that… I wonder if the team is going to start searching for this so-called infiltrator?'Since there was nothing to do inside the tent, Josiah walked away and went on a quest to finding more information around.'Maybe Watt knows somet
The Throne of a Thousand Swords Prior Knowledge
"Next two!" Koda shouted.Reeve and Dave Johnson stepped up to the circle.Josiah was tired of his own fight, but he also wanted to witness that one. It could be that he'd be matched with the promising son of the lieutenant like they said, after all.The two young men were about the same size and had a pretty underdeveloped physique. Someone who didn't know them wouldn't give much to them. They stood still facing each other and waited until the whistling sound marked the beginning of the fight.And it soon started.Of course, Dave Johson knew all about Reeve's weapon. It caused the pain to be transferred to the attacker. With that prior knowledge, he charged in bare-handed, striking for disarming the opponent before he could draw his. Dave had all of his weapons firmly tied to the back and the hands-free. The whole way he carried his armor around was made for building up speed.They were taught how to disarm a man with a knife on the army. Theoretically, it was no big deal.'That's wh
