A small figure shuffled back and forth in the dimly lit temple. Somewhere between boy and man, dressed in simple brown robe, barefoot and armed only with a rude broom against the hordes of dust bunnies, he waged his war against filth on behalf of the temple.
It would be an hour after this before the earliest students rose, to find the temple immaculate as always. No one ever woke before Kelofun, except the abbot himself. When he first noticed it, he had been up meditating all night. The little boy had crept in silent as a snowflake, and begun to work in such a quiet and gentle way that it must surely take all night to sweep a single room.
“You are early. Who gave you this task?”
“The code states the temple must always be clean.”
“You are barely a student. What gives you the right to do this task? It belongs to the sweeper.”
“The code holds my tongue. I do the job as it needs done. The code requires it. The temple requires it.”
The boy went back to sweeping. Was it marginally less gentle now? The abbot was taken aback. His most ardent students wouldn’t speak like this, let alone a junior novice. He made a point to keep an eye on him, and observe closely the strict conduct of this ardent youth.
Years wore on, and at every turn the boy was the same, apart from the fact that he slowly grew to a man. He had few friends, and these were more novices assigned the same tasks at the same times. The code was his friend, and he devoted his entire life to the service of the temple.
One day, the abbot was walking by some of the senior monks, and happened to catch them speaking.
“Never heard so much about the code, not even from the code itself.”
“Strict as stone. The man’s got a sword arm to match that discipline. I’d watch my tongue.”
“His sword?! The boy’s gentle as a mewling kit. I’ve known dandelions more ferocious.”
“Lad’s a bit of a ghoul, honestly.”
It was unseemly, but the abbot couldn’t disagree. And it was true, Kelofun had indeed grown to be an incredible swordsman, with uncanny precision and efficient strokes that surgically penetrated any rivals defense- but just as true that his demeanor was that of a baby goat, and even baby goats didn’t fear him.
