36 The Choice

After the voice said enter, I looked around for a moment unsure if he meant me or not. Seeing the servant, she was looking at me then the door, implying for me to go in.

I took one step forward, as I did, the tent flap opened on its own, revealing the insides of the tent to me, Or at least part of the insides of the tent. From what I could see, there were a few chairs scattered about, around a fire, on which there was an animal being roasted.

As I walked further in, I was able to see more of the inside of the tent. The duke was sitting in what looked like a small throne. Around him, were a group of generals, one of which was the general in charge of the fort where I was stationed and was the one who sent me off, on the escort mission.

The throne looking chair was black mainly, with its arms looking like red dragons. Who were roaring. There was a plain looking sword leaning against the dukes chair as well. The only thing that made it look different than the other swords, was the red jewel encrusted into the pommel.

The duke himself was a broad shouldered, giant of a man. He seemed quite blunt as he was speaking to the generals. Then he saw me, standing awarkdally in the door.

"Come on in, know one here is gonna kill ya. Well unless you try to kill me or them, but that is a different matter completely. Let me have a look at you. Adoh, is your name right. Come here."

I was stunned for a while at how he was speaking. He was a high noble and sounded more like a commoner than me. As I went into the room itself, I saw servants, around the hall seemingly waiting for something to do, or some orders to be given for them to do.

"So you got a magic sword huh. You better be able to use it well. I will give you one offer, it doesn't matter if you accept or not. But I will want you to decide on the right decision for you and for the duchy and the kingdom as a whole."

'What kind of kind offer will he be giving me? What does he mean by what is best for me? It is obvious he wants me on his side, with his help though I will be able to gain lots more strength and power quickly.'

"Anyway, the offer is this. I will let you skip the normal procedure and give you the choice now of the three paths. The ranger academy, the knight school, or you can go into the officer training camp. I would like you to pick the knight school, I can give you the most support but as I said it is up to you."

'What the! What kind of offer is that.'

The sword spirit then spoke up. "This is a good chance for you. So think carefully about what you want to do. Don't make a mistake here that will haunt you for the rest of your life."

'Ok, so I have to make a decision right. Well, if I choose the officer training, I will become a high ranking officer, which will give me lots of troops to command, but my own personal strength will not be affected that much, in fact in my decline. The choice of choosing to become a knight is good for my strength and I will get the duke's support whatever that is. So chances are I won't fail the training program and be allowed in, but I will only become a reserve knight until a knight dies and I can replace them as a full fledged knight. Then there is the last choice, the rangers. I would get stronger, and will become a ranger fully quicker but it has the highest chance of death out of all three of the choices.'

"So what do you choose, Adoh." The duke started to speak to me again. I realised that I had been standing there silently for a few minutes and I was getting odd glares from all of the people in the room, including the servants.

"Ah, well to be honest sir duke, I am not sure what I want to do. This is so sudden, I am so happy that you are giving me this opportunity. But I am just not sure what to do at all."

The duke just looked at me for a minute. "I need a decision now, if you don't. They will snatch you away, which can not happen at all costs." After he said this, he seemed to be thinking of something.

"Who will be taking me sir duke?"

I was confused as it sounded like he was worried about someone kidnapping me if i didn't take his offer, which is a really odd thing. I am still a solider, after all, sworn to serve the duke.

"Ah, umm,you don't have to worry about that. Just focus on making your decision. It will affect your life forever. So what will it be; ranger, knight or officer."

"Before I say sir duke, what did you mean by helping me?"

"That's simple, I would give you monetary support and make sure you have the best teachers as well as giving you the best equipment. Support like that. Now decide, there is no more pushing the decision back."

Just before I said that, I would like to go for knight training. I remembered Erebus and the power and respect he had. He said he was a ranger before, his current job.

"I would like to attend the ranger academy. Also sir duke, would I be able to take my squad, if they are still alive, along with me?"

"You realise I can give you no help at all if you choose to become a ranger and that you have the highest chance of death, if you become one."

I nodded, showing that I knew what he meant.

He let a breath which I hadn't realised he must have been holding in. "Ok then, you will go to the ranger academy. Yes, if your squadmates are alive they have to go with you. The rangers value their squad above everything."

"Thank you sir duke." As I said this, I bowed towards him.

"Don't bow, now go. You are not needed here any longer. Someone will come find you later."

Turning around promptly, I left the tent. Allowing the duke and his generals to carry on there meeting