CHRONICLES of a PC Gamer Stuck Inside an RPG (Book One: Duelist)

Chapter 22 - Misunderstanding

I walked southward toward the dojo, guided solely by intuition. While doing so, I quickly dismissed the pop-up message confirming that Kalistra's elbow to my ribs had inflicted "-1 Heath." I didn't see a map inside my head, per se. Instead, I felt a hunch pushing me to walk south for a few blocks. Then, I felt compelled to make a turn and a block later I found myself approaching the walled compound of the dojo. However, standing in front of the door and between the two stone statues was . . . Gendun!

The little boy's face was downcast and it appeared that he was crying! When Amelica's son noticed my presence, he quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

I approached my young friend. I ignored the pop-up that just appeared when I reached the stone statues. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked with great concern. I could see that Gendun's eyes were red and puffy.

Kalistra stood behind me but kept silent. Her eyes gleamed with great interest in our interaction.

Suddenly, the young boy's eyes turned angry. "Vern is a liar!" he yelled in a sudden outburst.

Pedestrians on the street turned their heads toward him. When they saw that nothing was happening to the boy, the people continued on their way, discounting this outburst as a mere temper tantrum from an unruly child.

"Whoa! Take it easy! Calm down! You don't want the Watch to come here and arrest you for disturbing the peace!" I said. I consciously made sure I was a step back from the boy and didn't make physical contact with him; I didn't want the common folks to think I was attacking or abusing the boy and then have them call the Watch to arrest me! "Tell me what happened," I said in a reassuring tone of voice. I figured that if I could get Gendun to continue talking, he will eventually calm down.

"Vern told me to come here. He had arranged for my apprenticeship at this dojo. I don't want to be a swordsman! I want to take over the tavern when Vern retires!" Gendun spat out his angry words like bullets. He stomped his left foot on the ground in a huff.

I knelt down in front of the boy and slowly grabbed his hands. "What did your mother say?" I asked.

"She said he's the boss. And she's perfectly fine with me doing an apprenticeship in swordsmanship," Gendun replied.

"Ahem!" the cat girl finally interrupted our conversation. It was about time for Kalistra to start discussing the details of the arrangement she had made with Vern.

We both turned our heads simultaneously to look at Kalistra.

Remembering our conversation during breakfast, I believed that she wanted an introduction as that was the proper decorum. And Kalistra was surprisingly old-fashioned in that way in keeping with decorum and tradition. I quickly rose to my feet and introduced my teacher. "Gendun, this is Kalistra, my teacher in swordsmanship. She is also the Heir to The Butterfly School of Swordsmanship," I added.

Kalistra approached the boy. "Vern made a request yesterday for me to accept you as my apprentice and I agreed. I will be your teacher as well," she revealed. "Also, I think you misunderstood why Vern made this arrangement. It's not that he doesn't want you to take over The Noble Lady. Instead, he is preparing you for that eventuality. Vern is respected as the tavern keeper because he is also a fearsome warrior. Any patrons who behave poorly at the tavern will be tossed out by him. No one dares to challenge him because of his fearsome fighting prowess with his battle ax. In order for you to gain similar respect from the patrons, you will also have to develop your fighting ability and be recognized for it. My dojo is among the finest schools for swordsmanship in the kingdom and our students are well respected as melee fighters. If you graduate from our school, the patrons will respect you. So think of this apprenticeship as Vern's way of grooming you to take over The Noble Lady," she suggested.