Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Chapter 13: Knight's Virtues

After a filling lunch, Alicia went back out to the training area where Berlin and made some practice dummies. "Now, Alicia, before I see how well you swing a sword, I want you to have a seat here for a few minutes while I go over the most important part of being a knight. The seven knightly virtues. Now, do you know what the seven knightly virtues are?"

"Ummm..." Alicia tapped her chin with her little finger as she thought for a moment. She was not sure if the knightly virtues in this world were the same as the ones on earth during the medieval era. But she still decided to say them. "Courage, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, nobility, and hope? "

"Close! But not quite there. Courage, strength, no mercy, generosity, justice, nobility, and hope! Courage is to have the courage to charge into any dangerous situation! Even at the cost of your own life!

"Strength to overpower your foes and stand on top of those who try to do harm to your king, its land, and its people!

"No mercy to any of those who dare try to harm your king, its land, and its people!

"Generosity to help the people of your land and assist if there is ever a need!

"Justice to uphold the law of the land that is handed down by your king! To bring those to justice for committing crimes against your king, its land, and its people!

"Nobility to become a role model for everyone around you.

"And lastly hope. In the eyes of the people of this land, knights are a shining star in the night during times of need. You are a symbol that the king has not abandoned its people. " Berlin saw the shining eyes of the young girl in front of him and nodded. He felt it was good that she was taking this all in.

"Commit these virtues to heart, you will need to know them for the squire's test. I will teach you how to read and write these virtues later on. Now that we have gone over the virtues, let's see how well you swing a sword." Berlin wanted to know how well this young girl could swing a sword. Berlin took out a lighter training sword that only weighed about two kilograms and handed it to Alicia.

Alicia, whose eyes were sparkling, reached out to grab the sword but as soon as she felt its weight her eyes dimmed. She held the sword in her hand and looked at Berlin questioningly. "Master Berlin do you have anything heavier? This is umm... " Not finishing her sentence she balanced the sword on the tip of her pinky finger. She figured it would be better to show why she asking such a question than saying it.

Berlin let out a cough and looked at the sword and then took out one that weighed twenty times that at twenty two kilograms and exchanged it with the one in Alicia's hands. Alicia took the sword and felt its weight was just right. "I did not expect your strength to be so big. It seems your Magi Sack is bigger than I had thought."

"Master Berlin what do you mean?" Alicia was confused she did not know what her Magic sack had to do with her strength.

"It's simple, your Magi Sack boosts your physical abilities. I did not think of this when I handed you the first sword. A knight's sword can weigh well over five thousand kilograms. Also, do not ever judge the weight of a sword by what it looks like. A dagger as big as your palm could weigh just as much. This could be due to a lot of factors from gravity magic to the material it is made out of. Now that you got a sword lets see your swings" Berlin's words really excited Alicia for two reasons. One was because no matter the shape or design of a sword the weight would never be an issue. And the second was because a Magi Sack would boost her abilities by quite a bit. This meant that as she nourishes her Magi Sack she would grow stronger and stronger!

Alicia quickly got into her stance. It was the same stance she would always use when practicing her sword swings in her backyard. Alicia couldn't help but remember her family back on earth as soon as she got into her stance. Her father would always instruct her while her mother would watch from the side with a smile on her face. She wondered what they were doing now. If they were handing her death okay. She could only hope that they could still live fulfilling lives.

A few tears rolled down Alicia's face but she did not utter a word as she raised the wooden sword over her head and swung down. Berlin, who was at the side watching, was very surprised at how well formed the girl's posture was as she swung her sword down. Each swing of the sword was steady and straight. There was also a lot of power behind her swings. Each time the sword was swung down the dirt beneath her feet world scattered all over from the wind generated from the swing. Her whole being as she swung the sword was something only those who had been training for many years could accomplish but this girl... It was like she instinctually knew!

Berlin had no idea that Alicia had been training with swords for almost ten years back on earth. So to him he was seeing Alicia as a prodigy. Someone who was not only going to be at the top of the world in magic but maybe even swords! Berlin decided then and there he would need to expand Alicia's training to a point that would be even hard for a veteran knight.

"Alicia, after today we will be changing your training schedule. You said before you're not afraid of a little hardship, correct?" Berlin asked.

"Yes, Master Berlin, I am not afraid of hardship as long as it brings me closer to my goal of becoming a knight!" Alicia answered in all seriousness. The look of determination on Alicia's face pleased Berlin greatly.

"Good! Then tomorrow you will start the training from hell!" A big sly smile appeared on Berlin's face. He already had it all planned out.

Alicia saw the smile on Berlin's face and felt that she might have bitten off more than she could chew. But it was too late now and if it would allow her to get to her goal faster she had no issues suffering for it. As long as she could become a knight she did not care about anything else.

It was not until the next morning that she found out what Berlin meant by a little hardship.