As I walked into Tillett’s house for the first time what caught my eye immediately was his familiar staring directly at me.

I instantly stopped in my tracks when both of our eyes met. I was transfixed by the two golden eyes locked on me. However, those eyes didn’t stop me from admiring the sheer beauty. Wrapped in brilliant blonde fur that seemed to pull me in, almost asking me to manipulate the perfection. as I inspected closer the four massive paws where actually slightly discolored holding a deeper hue of brown. Instantly with a quick flick of the tail I was reminded that those eyes where still locked on my position.

I had never seen this familiar in person, but I had read about it. Even though I am not permitted to have magic books till I am older, I am still given other subjects. I receive these after my father goes on long merchant expeditions as a way to make up for his absence, even though we all understand he is supporting us he insists on a gift from where he ventured. The book that held information about Tillett’s familiar was not a book from the red kingdom but in fact the gold kingdom. If I remember correctly this familiar is called...

“...is that a lion?” I said barely audible enough to hear.

With a raised eyebrow Tillett responded “Hmm..I’m surprised you know the name considering they are not from this region. How did you know?”

Without breaking eye contact from the lion, I answered back “Well I had read about it in one of the books father brought back, it had all known familiars that resided in the gold kingdom. But how is a lion here?”

“Well that’s simple, I’m from the gold kingdom.” As he said this Tillett went over to his familiar and placed his hand on his head, as if it was a small feline. The familiar purred and it felt as if the whole room vibrated.

With sweat condensing on my head “Tillett that’s not why I’m surprised, I’m surprised because I know that lions are only given to the highest official knights of the gold kingdom. How can you be an official knight?! And why in god’s name would you be here in the red kingdom hiding in this village?!”

Tillett could see me trying to comprehend how all this was possible.

“Neo how much do you know about the 5 kingdoms?” He said this as he motioned to a chair stationed to the right of me almost directly in the kitchen.

I followed his lead and found a chair to sit in, situated myself and answered “I have of course been taught the basics of the kingdoms, though I receive the more interesting facts after father goes on a journey to a specific region and tells us his experiences. I know there are 5 kingdoms they consist of the red, blue, green, white and the gold kingdom. Each kingdom usually represents one of mother nature’s blessings.

Red kingdom stands for fire,

Blue kingdom stands for water,

Green kingdom stands for earth,

White kingdom stands for air,

However, the gold kingdom is the only exception this is because they rely on physical attributes instead of only magical attributes.”

With a smile Tillett says “Well Neo you know more than I expected, however you are missing some key points. For the four kingdoms that rely on magic there only means of defense consist of mages while the gold kingdom on the other hand relies on knights. Therefore, the people of the gold kingdom have no physical attributes that you can distinguish from. For example, people of the red kingdom can possess red eyes, this actually shows their ties to fire magic. Most of the civilians don’t know that, they instead think you just received traits from their parents. While yes you will physically look like your father or mother there is no guarantee that child will possess the same blessings that their parents were born with. That’s why some siblings can have entirely different eye colors or skin complexion or possess no blessings at all and have no distinguishing characteristics. However, people don’t usually think anything of it because you usually receive the blessing from the region you are born in.”

With a shaking hand I reach up to touch my right eye surprised by what Tillett had said.

“So, are you saying my blessing is fire?”

“Well actually Neo your left eye is a different color entirely making me believe you at least have two blessings. Your right eye shows fire and your left eye is probably air if I could guess. However, the only way to truly know is with a high-level mage conducting a ritual.”

My jaw dropped I had always wanted to know if I had a blessing but hearing the possibility that I could possess two I was shocked.

“Does this mean you are going to teach me how to use fire and air?”

With a laugh Tillett said “No, like you already know I’m from the gold kingdom. What I can teach you is how to fight. Many warriors either become a mage or a knight, but you Neo will learn to master both.”

“You know you did say I would be your “magic” student….” a frown forming on my face.

“Well even though I cannot use magic myself that doesn’t mean I know nothing about it. In fact, I probably know more than a scholar studying magic, however we will not be learning anything about magic until you have mastered fighting.”

I was slightly disappointed by Tillett’s response, I had wanted to know more about magic especially after hearing that I could possibly possess two blessings. But I also know that learning to pick up a sword is something invaluable. This is even more so if I’m learning for an official knight, and a high ranked one at that.

“Okay Tillett I will become your student, I don’t exactly know what this entails but it’s something I have set my mind on learning.”

With the biggest smile Tillett says excitedly “Well this will not be easy to say the least, but I’m glad you have chosen this path. As a knight I will teach you all I know, then you will be able to protect what you love.”

Protect what I love? Couldn’t these knights come up with a better phrase to initiate me?

Tillett immediately stood up and said, “alright let’s see what your made of kid, grab a wooden stick and meet me in the back.”

“W-ai-t…NOW?!”

With a sudden serious tone Tillett responded “Yes Neo, now.”