Journal of Ronald Peter Venendez ch.2

I hid behind the rock for over an hour. I finally got up and realized the whole town was on fire! Literally. The wooden bridge, the houses, even the fences! I went back down the hill to check on my dad at the smith shop and I saw him lying on the ground. I ran right to him and landed on my knees. He was barely breathing. I saw a stab wound on his chest near his heart; there, then blood had gotten on my hand. I felt my heart racing fast and I could barely breathe. I kept telling myself “He’ll be ok” and “He’ll be just fine.” I was scared stiff, All I heard from him was moaning and then he whispered "Stay out of danger." After that, he stopped breathing. That’s when I broke down in tears, I couldn’t stop crying.

Suddenly, I heard it again, the chains. I looked to my right and for that split second that felt an hour, I saw a sharp blade come closer and closer to my face. Just before the blade was about to slash me, another blade knocked it away. The sword that saved me was held by a huge, strong guy who looked like he was mad. I watched him as he took a step back, raised his sword high, then brought it down with mighty force, completely severing the bandits right leg. That's when I felt sick. All the gore and the sadness over my father being dead gave me a terrible stomachache. I started to vomit, but that didn't help much.

After killing the bandit, the huge man sat down next to me. He shook my hand and asked me to call him Maze. He said he knew my grandfather. I asked him if he knew whether my grandpa was okay, and he told me that the bandits had taken everyone else in my family. Since I had nowhere else to go, Maze said he’d take me with him.

Maze told me that he would be using special magic to teleport us to a place called the Champions Guild. I was about to ask what “teleport” meant when suddenly we were no longer sitting there next to my father’s body. Instead we were standing at a gate. There was a sign in front of the gate that said, “Champions Guild,” so I figured that we must be there.

Maze disappeared for a few minutes and then came back. He said he talked to the Guild trainer, and the trainer wanted to see me. Maze introduced me to a kid named Tommy on the way to see the trainer. I guessed that he had just wanted me to meet new friends. Besides Tommy was acting like he was cool.

Maze led me to the trainer who was in the outside part of the Guild. He was standing in a dirt pit with a hay-stuffed dummy. There was a deep narrow hole in the ground with a long post next to it. The trainer told me to first put the post in the hole and then fill the hole back in. We strapped the dummy tight to the post. That day, he started teaching me how to fist-fight with the dummy.

A month later, he gave me an iron longsword and I practiced with that. The month after that, I worked on archery, practicing ranging with the trainer, that was pretty fun!

Six months after I got to the Champions Guild, the trainer started teaching me how to use magic. I hadn’t ever used magic before; I didn’t even know there was such a thing. After a while, I got used to it and learned how to do a fire strike.

As I grew up, I became an apprentice, and it was harsh. I had completed many tests and quests, like the cooking quest. My goal was to cook ten apple pies in an hour. Or the Beetle quest. My new best friend Tommy and I got to go fight giant beetles and even weak bandits.

Maze was the Guild Master, which means that he was in charge. I knew Maze wanted me to graduate to first class, the Guild trainer told me; but Maze thought I wasn’t ready. Once I got first class, I would be able to get out of the Guild and into the real world. Maze wanted me to be the best at everything, just like my father would. I knew he wasn't my father. I could remember. After all, it was only three and a half years before that I’d come to the Guild.

On my seventeenth birthday, I started a new quest. Maze said it was a surprise. He told me to meet him in the woods at dawn. So once I had gotten into the woods, I yelled his name at least a dozen times. Finally he teleported right in front of me! He took a swing at me, I ducked and asked him “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He didn't speak and swung again. I ducked and he told me I was getting better. He asked me to hit him as hard as I could. I told him no, but he slapped me so hard upside the face, my face turned red! So that's when I felt the anger. I pulled out my sword and hit him with the broad side, whacking him to the ground! He stood up and that’s when it turned into a raging fight. I swung, he blocked, he swung, I blocked! Then he stopped to tell me I passed the quest!

At last I had finally realized why he did all that, just to see if I had the skills to move into the real world. He told the trainer that I was ready. My best friend, Tom and I went to the pub and Maze bought us each a pint of beer.

My graduation ceremony took place the next day. After the ceremony, there was a celebration held by Maze. There was so much talking, I couldn't wait to get out of there, I wanted to take off on an adventure of my own.