The Real Enemy [Klance]

Chapter 15

Keith was going into the last Blade course that he could take at the age of 15. Most of the other cadets there were at least 18, but he had excelled through the ranks at an unprecedented speed due to his raw talent and extremely high drive to become stronger and smarter.

It seemed, though, that no matter what he did, no matter how much stronger or smarter he became, he couldn't get people to like him.

Most could acknowledge his power and intelligence. They could sense his impulsiveness, despite his best attempts to keep it under control. His determination was shadowed by no one. And he tried to be nice to people, he really did. But they were blinded from all of his attempts by simple things.

All of them could see his impurities. The fact that he was a partial was hard for some people to look past and most didn't even make an effort to try. Half of the battle of making friends was fitting in in the first place, and to do that he would have to change the way people viewed partials as a whole.

Unclean.

Unworthy.

Trash.

Impure.

But they weren't the mindless, mislead soldiers that were under Zarkon's rule. They could be persuaded, he truly believed it. If at least one person who was against them could change their minds about partials, then maybe someday, everyone could follow in their footsteps.

It would just take some work.

Keith arrived to his training ten minutes before everyone else showed up. This was an advanced swordsmanship class. One that was exclusive to only the most adept and hardworking cadets.

They would most certainly be assigned partners based on the skill shown during the entrance exam. Keith knew for a fact that he held the highest score.

This was good, he would get paired with the next best fighter. Popularity comes with skill (Unless of course you weren't pure) so the person that he would be paired with was bound to be known by many others.

Well, they would have friends at least.

His plan was simple. Convince his new partner that partials were just as important as any other member of the Blade. Then become friends with them and get them to change others minds and lead by example.

So simple a child could do it in their sleep, right?

Wrong. So very wrong.

There was a screen on the wall that held the names of the partners and the ranks they had scored. The lowest score was a 425. Anywhere below 400 was not admitted into the advanced class.

Keith had scored a 612. Keith's partner, whose name was beside his, had scored a 610. His name was Chorrol.

This was a bad start. There are only a few things that you would think about the person who beat you for the top slot by only two points and Keith didn't think that it would be the positive side of the few things.

He must have been pissed when he realized Keith had beat him by two points. Keith hadn't even known that he had almost been beaten, but he did know that if it had been him he would have been driven mad at how close he had come just to fall short at the last second.

People were beginning to arrive. All of them older and much larger than he was. As people checked the board and partnered up Keith began to wonder if his plan would work after all with the scores the way they were.