The Witcher: My Own Path

(The day after, Castle Quarter, Royal Castle)

In a huge chamber, tens of metres long and wide with philatres as thick as mighty trees supporting an arched vault, the king resided. His throne room was the jewel of the entire castle, apart from the stone floor polished to a state where one could look through it, the exquisitely painted stained glass windows in the great windows spread throughout the room were breathtaking. The heads of old Temerian kings and queens adorned the walls to remind us of the heritage from which the current king descended. Blue and white curtains hung from small shutters placed near the very ceiling where a bored King Foltest currently sat leaning on his right arm, listening to his steward's report on events in the capital.

''Finally, an event that took place yesterday around the morning hours in the Temple Quarter. A monster left the cemetery, after fighting for feeding ground and territory with other creatures wreaking havoc and killing people near the municipal guard barracks, three guards, a gravedigger and a townswoman were killed, after a nearly half-hour battle with the creature it was finally killed.''

''It is quite unheard of for a monster to attack the people of a settlement in broad daylight, but it is not unheard of. If the guards took care of the matter, then there is nothing to talk about. Said the king, looking at his own fingernails not really interested in the whole event.''

''If that were the case, I would completely agree with you, your majesty, in this case the matter is rather... Other.''

''Hmmm... and why is that?''

''The monster was killed... Child!''

''What?''

Foltest's interest increased slightly and the once noisy throne room filled with courtiers, supplicants and officials quieted down, curious about unusual events.

''Cut the bullshit Velerad and by the way, what monster are we talking about?''

''I don't know if you have ever heard of a Graveir your highness it is a corpse-eater feeding on human carrion very dangerous, over three metres in size and extremely strong in short very dangerous.''

''If it is so dangerous then by what means was it killed by a child, and who exactly is this child?''

''That's what I wanted to explain...''

''Then cut the bullshit and talk!''

''As you wish my lord. The boy's name is Tyr, he is the son of a blacksmith named Dewin, he was born and raised here in the foothills, a very talented blacksmith by the way, they say a genius. At the age of five his father hired a prostitute to educate him in the written word.''

''A prostitute? And how is a whore supposed to know how to read?''

''Well, my lord, she is said to have been the daughter of a merchant who went bankrupt, but before that she was provided with a basic education.''

''Enough about her, I want to know about the boy.''

''Your wish is an order to me, as I mentioned earlier, the boy received his basic education from her and I think they formed quite a close relationship throughout this period. When he was ten years old, she took him to the captain of the guard in the district, asking him to take the boy as a trainee, and since the captain owed her a favour, he agreed.''

''And what did this captain owe her?''

''Apparently, she had helped his wife when a couple of common brutes were bothering her.''

''The captain hired the boy as a messenger, and since he could write it was also for small administrative matters, and this is where things start to get interesting.''

''Cut the bullshit and carry on.''

''The boy, after two months of apprenticeship, turned out to be a genius at wielding a sword, and on top of that his personality turned out to be so good that the officer even wanted to adopt him, but, as he still has a father, the captain had to let go, but decided to accept him as his apprentice. Then it gets even more interesting.''

''Wait a minute Velerad, who the fuck is this captain and what is his name?!''

''Captain Ryzz, commander of the guards in the Temple Quarter your highness. The old-timer has been serving you for a good thirty years, but why bother with someone like that...''

''Velerad don't test my patience!''

''Excuse me, your highness.''

''The boy in two years has not only won the favour of the whole troop, but the local population even non-humans respect him. When he is on duty, he does not avoid their neighbourhood, on the contrary, he has intervened many times when illegal things happen there, I don't think I need to say which ones. Currently, he is still under the care of the captain, even though there is no one in the guard who can match him in fencing. When a monster appeared and was murdering his comrades, he did not hesitate and immediately rushed to help, ordered everyone who was nearby to flee, and himself fought the monster until the arrival of Ryzza and a squad of crossbowmen. After dealing with the creature, it became apparent that there were more of them in the catacombs in the cemetery, so Ryzz gathered all the available men and together with young Tyr went to the cemetery and there they finished off the rest of the monsters, they had a few wounded, but none died and that was the end of the report.''

''Hm. what a fascinating story. I am very curious about this boy...''

''And what do you think of this steward?''

''I think he should be properly rewarded and brought up my king he is a great talent, if he shows such courage and strength at this age what will he be when he grows up. Besides, he has an impeccable reputation, I would recommend attracting him to your side your majesty. Rumours of this event are already circulating throughout the city; it won't be long before some noble takes notice of him. To let someone like that out of your hands would be a huge waste.''

''For once don't bullshit him, bring him to me and this Captain Ryzz wants to meet them.''

(meanwhile at the sub-garden site of Tyr's tavern)

''What happened yesterday my lord was terrifying. Who could have thought that such a fearsome creature would appear in the city if it wasn't for you...''

''I would like to take all the credit my friend, but I can't, two innocent people lost their lives and three guards gave theirs so the rest could escape. There were also those who tried to keep the creature as long as possible, doing their duty as city guards and as for me, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all!''

''But you killed it, and not only that huge creature, but you also went with Ryzz to exterminate the gules that nested in the crypt. The whole town is talking about it and your amazing fight, you distracted that monster from the others so they could run for reinforcements. You are a hero, you saved many lives that day, they even call you the 'sword of the warm morning'''

'''Sword of the warm morning' What kind of title is that?!''

''Many people who watched you at the time said that you fought as if you were one with your sword, people also say that your personality is friendly, no matter who you are with, even warm to those you talk to and to everyone in general. Your dreaded fight took place before noon, which is almost morning, I'm not here to judge what people call you, however for many of us it fits you, please don't be angry ladies.''

''Let's not talk about it anymore Gavorn. Better yet, how is your work going?''

''I can't say much as we only started the day before yesterday, however, my people are very eager to work as I am, if we keep up this eagerness we may finish before the deadline, but it's too early to say anything yet.''

''Tyr!''

Our conversation was interrupted by my calling father

''Yes, father?''

I noticed him standing by the forge and with him an unknown man.

''Don't just stand there, come over for a moment, this man says he knows you and wants to talk to you.''

As I got closer and closer, I began to think I had already seen him somewhere.

''Good morning my lord Tyr, I am Albert.''

Albert… now I understand why he seemed familiar to me, he finally decided to come, judging by his appearance he probably wants to join me; although it is better not to assume in advance.

''Hello Albert. Would you like to accompany me on a walk?''

''Of course!''

''Thank you, Father, I will take care of our guest.''

My Father nodded and returned to the forge.

''I had my doubts about whether you would come, I wasn't sure I had interested you enough given the circumstances.''

To be honest, I hadn't planned to come and it wasn't because I wasn't curious. I saw in you the intelligence and the great drive to make your dreams come true that you talked about, I was almost moved by you. The truth is that I'm already forty years old, I've seen a lot and experienced a lot and to climb to the top once again only to fall right off.... I didn't want to go through that again.

''So, why are you here today, Albert? Why have you changed your mind?''

''I... I saw everything yesterday. I went straight after you and I saw everything, from start to finish. I couldn't lose anything more and the life I had lived for the last years wasn't even worth preserving, so I followed you.''

He stopped, looked me in the eye and spoke quietly.

''I didn't tell you this yesterday, but in addition to my theoretical education, I've taken lessons in more practical areas, and while it may have seemed to others that your fight was hard and brutal I know that...you treated that monster like a toy. You were playing for time to avoid drawing attention to yourself to draw attention to himself.''

What I heard from him was disturbing, the thought crossed my mind whether to kill him sometimes, I guess he noticed that because he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and spoke.

''Please let me finish!''

I nodded in agreement, whether I kill him now or in fifteen minutes makes no difference to me.

''I know about the Conjunction of Realms, or at least I know more than the average person, I have also read a lot about monsters and I can even say that I have quite a lot of knowledge about them and the Graveir that you ''fought'' yesterday was, as far as I know, one of the more dangerous creatures. But yesterday there, near the barracks, he was not the monster to me, but you! Apart from witches and mages, there is no human in the world who can face something like that alone, and you are still a child. Then in that moment I realised that if I am to achieve greatness, I must follow someone great and I know you will be that! Therefore, I, Albert Trent pledge you my loyalty and vow to follow you Tyr, as my master!''

He has pledged his loyalty to me by kneeling at my feet!