Solo Day of the King

[Sulphor Rath]

Timestamp: 1st day of Spring, 513 AV A groan escaped from his half-open mouth as he grips his blanket tighter and rolls himself up in it, a moment before he realizes what day he just woke up in. Before he even had his eyes fully open and face washed, he quickly jumped out of bed and with a huge grin put on his clothes in a hurry. His boots were put on in a hop while moving towards the door. " Father! FATHERRRRRR! " The same groan that had escaped Sulphor's mouth now slurs out of his father's, as he rubs his eyes and looks at his franticson with a stern look on his face. He didn't like being woken this early and definitely not in this manner. As he looked at his son hopping from one leg to another, all happy and clearly excited about something, he couldn't help but feel the same grin creep up on his face. The resemblance to the boy'ish grin on the small child was uncanny. Regardless of the difference between the baby buttcheeks-smooth and sharp face of his son with his own old and stubbled face. " What are you waking me up so early for? Tiny rugrat! " An even larger and even sheepish'er grin busted out on Sulphor's usually calm and composed face. His father couldn't help but look at him in a tender manner, no matter how strict he wanted to sound. Sulphor, the keen boy that he was, quickly noticed that his father was anything but mad and without asking permission he hopped on bed and told his father: " It's The Day of the King!!!! You... Big Bear, you!! " " Haha, is that so? That's reason enough to act like a monkey, I admit! Now come, go ready the table for breakfast! " As his son happily hopped off the bed and continued his eccentric happy manner, he wobbled towards the door like an overly excited penguin. Meanwhile his father put on his clothes while involuntarily shooting glances at the picture of his deceased wife and son's mother. Today he didn't feel that sad, he felt proud. Their son was shaping up to be a wonderful person and he felt like he could feel her pride as well. " Comeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... " Whined his son from the kitchen as his father lashed on his belt before sliding the silk robe over himself. Today was going to be a fun day, no doubt; But before play comes work!

[Sulphor Rath]

As his father entered the kitchen, he saw his son being occupied with setting the plates and seemingly calmed down. He sighed, having hurried for no reason, knowing that his son is the impatient kind and hates to wait so he always tries to make sure he doesn't have to do so. Either way, his father sat down at the table and poured his son some milk. " Sulphor, today will be fun and exciting, but no matter what; Our responsibilities have to be met even if it's a special day. After breakfast we'll work on your phsyical stamina and rehearse what we practiced yesterday about Summoning. After that, you get the day off! " " But fa... " One look at his father and Sulphor knew it was a lost cause to try and argue, he also knew his father was right but that didn't help the gnawing feeling of rebelling one bit. He sucked it up though and nodded in response before drinking his milk and eating his bread. After a minute or so, Sulphor didn't feel like moping anymore and asked his father: " Today is the day we celebrate the birthday of Isengir Izurus Sultros, right?! The King who rebuilt Sultros after the Valterrian? " " Yes son, but we don't pay our homage or celebrate in his name alone; We also celebrate every King of Sultros throughout history, they all deserve our respect and today we memorize the sacrifices they made, the effort they put and faith that they had to one day have Sultros restored in all its glory. That is what today's all about. " Sulphor listened intently as he chewed on his bread, his eyes slightly glazed as if trying to picture every King there had ever been in Sultros. His father, amused and satisfied that his son showed interest in his heritage, not just of Pitrius but of the Kingdom as a whole, continued to elaborate as much as he could on the Kings, what they had established and how they changed Sultros in their own ways.

[Sulphor Rath]

It wasn’t until half a bell after they finished breakfast, that his father finished enthralling his son with majestic tales of ancient Kings of Sultros, each story spun in a more bombastic and heroic weave, than the one before. Of course Sulphor didn’t mind it one bit, he was enchanted with the legendary quests that the Kings all seemed to have participated in, the divine goals they were sent on by Izurdin himself and their own selfless desire to make Sultros the most prominent region in all of Mizahar. Eventually his father stopped his epic monologues though, and ordered Sulphor to take place in the living room, that functioned doubly as a training room for standard work-out exercises. On the verge of starting to sulk and mope again, Sulphor quietly and reluctantly pushed himself away from the table, got up and followed his father into the room. The room, cozy but large nonetheless, was installed with a one-seat couch, a larger couch, a table, fireplace and a few dressers, cupboards and closets. Every single time they trained, which was at least once a day, Sulphor had to move every object that would get in the way of his training. Sulphor’s father considered it a small pre-training exercise that helped him grow discipline more so than physical strength. Even so, the objects such as the closets and couches were still heavy, especially for a child. So as Sulphor crouched in the appropriate manner, back straight and through his knees, he shuffled the couch upwards until he could slide his fingers underneath the wooden frame and lift it up with a loud groan as he could feel his muscles flex in his arms, back and legs while lifting the couch as he arduously moved towards the wall before planting the heavy seat back down. Breathing heavily he rested a very short while on the edge of the couch, lowerarms resting on its armbar as he bent forward while trying to catch his breath. “ This exhaustion you’re feeling, from such a trivial exercise, shows how much you’re lacking in the physical aspect of your training! There’s no way you’ll pass your first trial as an Initiate in this state! Continue! “

[Sulphor Rath]

Sulphor didn’t retort, the exhaustion and its realization that it brought along with it, that his father was more than right, overtook his pride. There was no point in whining about it, he had to do something about it rather than get upset over it! Especially since his father mentioned the Sentinels, albeit indirectly, that alone gave Sulphor renewed strength. Now with more vigor than before, he did the same thing for the other objects that needed to be placed elsewhere, this time he paid attention to his breathing and the speed in which he lifted and moved the furniture. By the end of it all, he was drenched in sweat and left his tongue hang out of his mouth as he breathed in as much as he could muster. 'Atta boy.‘ Thought his proud father without showing it. After letting Sulphor rest a relatively long amount of time, they continued their training. Doing several sets and series of push-ups and sit-ups. Sulphor’s father knew his son’s weak point was his stamina, so he effectively trained it by letting him take breaks that were long at start but kept getting shorter and shorter until he eventually did push-ups and sit-ups for a longer duration than even his father could’ve held imaginable. It seemed Sulphor’s determination to improve was the real deal. Afterwards Sulphor’s father patted his boy and complimented him on his strength of mind and body, but made sure Sulphor realized there was still a lot of work to do. As he laid on the wooden floor, arms spread like an eagle, his father moved the objects back to their original position. Without breaking a sweat even, the difference between them was enormous, as Sulphor noticed. No matter that his father lost grace in the eyes of the Silver Tower’s Sentinels, he was far from weak. “ So, son, what would you prefer? Taking a break now and taking a step out into the festivities, or completing our training for the day before we go outside? “