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Days had passed and the next full moon was approaching fast. A knock sounded on my door.

"Hello?" I opened he door to find a nervous Wesley.

"Bad news... the council over ruled my father..." Wesley explained. "They can out vote him... they think the attack is a fake. I don't know why... they might just not want to believe it- I don't know." He but his lip in distress.

"What!? How can they do that? We have the goblins as proof!" I cried in frustration.

"They escaped so any hope we had for proof is gone..." Wesley's voice trailed off.

"This means they won't do anything about it, they won't be prepared for an attack." I groaned in exasperation.

"My father begged me to at least stay in the palace." Wesley replied. "He believes us and knows what's happening but he can't do anything because the council won't let him."

What can we do? We can't protect everyone... but, they can protect themselves. The idea wasn't really an idea but it was something to build off of. Anyone who knew how to use a sword could teach others and in the end we could defend against the monsters. I told Wesley about my thoughts on the matter and he nodded along. If we hold free seminars people would surely come, after all, the word free attracts many. We would need help surely.

"We need help, can you ask your father to help? It could be put as his personal matters so that the council can't over rule!" I explained. "He just needs to get the word out that we are looking for teachers."

"Sounds like a plan." Wesley agreed, even if this was a stupid idea it was our only idea.

Wesley sent a letter to his father and got a swift reply the following morning.

"My father has agreed to spread word on recruits and even spoke of rewards for them to encourage people to join. Try outs are to be held at the academies grounds seeing as Coach Larkey has agreed to let us use the space." Wesley smiled excitedly. "The king will judge for the best of the best with his own free time. This could work!"

I smiled at the thought. So many lives could be saved.

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Tryouts for instructors was being held today. The whole student body was excited that the king was visiting the school. It was rare for the king to make any sort of appearance so this seemed more like a special occasion than a serious event. The whole school had been given a day off at the important time but many students came with the knowledge of the Ming being here. The only way to enter school ground currently was if you were participating which made the line way too long.

"This will take forever! I bet half these people aren't even here to really try out!" Wesley pointed out nervously. "At this rate things will never get done!"

"I have an idea but you will need to help me out." I replied. I walked up to the king with as much confidence as I could muster and said, "your majesty, at this rate I believe a majority of your time will be wasted. May I suggest the participants must duel against Wesley and I for entry?"

The king raised his eyebrows in confusion and amusement. He obviously didn't think I, a girl, could possibly fight anyone but he nodded his head in agreement anyways. "Very well then." He looked to the participants in the line. "Everyone in this line will have to fight against one of these two trained swordsman!" He gestured towards Wesley and I. "One of which is a girl." He pointed out. This was probably just for amusement but the reaction from the crowd seemed confused and laughing at the thought of fighting a girl. After all, everyone who came were men and a few girls who wanted to catch a glimpse of the king then swiftly leaving. "Let the first contest at step up!"

A rather large man stepped forward to the center of the field. We were both handed trading swords. The moment the signal flag hit the ground we began. I moved towards him with great speed and dodged every weak attempt at a strike. His stance was terrible, his aim was beyond disappointing, and his over all resolve was non existent. How sad. I struck him in the leg and he knelt to the ground. I stopped my quick movement s and ended with a jab at his neck that halted only centimeters away from his throat.

"Next!" I called with satisfaction. The crowd stared in aw and shock. A girl just beat a man in sword fighting. Bet they didn't see that coming. Apparently they really didn't because the crowd reduced to a third of its original size and the contestant size became much more bearable. Wesley and I would switch off with our assessing and fighting to avoid getting too tired but by the end of it we were still exhausted. Occasionally there were still a few people who couldn't fight and bravely came here just to meet the king but they learned their lesson. The people who did pass did. It necessarily beat either of us but they did know how to fight well enough. They would all be rewarded a coin for each civilian they taught which in this day and age was pretty good money making. They were all satisfied with the reward and got to work training people who came to learn. It took a week to get people done with the basics but it was enough. Many of the people attending just happened to have free time on their hands seeing as recently a lot of people were out of jobs. The ill fated full moon was only two days away and everyone who knew what would happen waited in anticipation. The recruited people along with their mentees had been sorted into groups along the border of the city like squadrons. So many people had learned that we had nearly an army. Granted many were rookies but they could at least fight off a small monster or two. The full moon started to rise into the sky.

It was time.

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