Clement was born in a tundra, in a training camp of Thasah, the result of one night of passion between a female knight and a mercenary captain. His father left the next day, and two years later, his mother was killed in a bandit raid. Grandmaster Knight Arthur Thibaut, who greatly respected Clement's mother, raised the parentless toddler.
Clement quickly learned to read and write, and soon he was inseparable from his books. He preferred textbooks to novels, and diligently studied tactics and strategy from sunrise to sunset. In his teenage years, Clement began reading on economics, and a few years later he branched into engineering and medicine. Every waking moment was spent studying. He gained admission into the Royal University, and after writing many manuscripts he became a recognized scholar of strategy, and to a lesser extent economics, engineering, and medicine.
Eventually, Grandmaster Thibaut requested that Clement became a knight. Clement reluctantly agreed, out of respect for the man who raised him. Clement trained hard, but still prioritized studying. As a result, while he became a competent soldier, he was not knight material. Thibaut taught Clement many different weapons, in hopes that, in order to compete with fellow would-be-knights who learned to fight from early ages, Clement could use his adaptability and cleverness to defeat them.
Most knights used swords (and, on occasion, shields). Spears were considered peasant weaponry. When tournaments for knighthood began, Clement entered, and chose a boar spear. He was not as strong or fast as his opponents, but his technique was solid, and he knew how to counter sword fighting styles. At first the other knights and would-be-knights derided him. Peasant weaponry? Ha! Entering a knight's tournament with a boar spear? Insulting.
Eventually, derision turned to hate. Clement fought efficiently with his spear. Ranging, zoning, jabbing. When his opponents got too close, Clement would execute a half swing, step back, and jab at the unbalanced knight. It was boring, but he was winning. It was very frustrating for his opponents. He endured insults from others. "No skill!" they shouted. At the time, Clement felt like laughing. That's the point, he thought. I won't let this be a contest of skill. That leaves a chance of failure. I will win by exploiting my enemy's weaknesses.
But he earned his knighthood. After winning five fights straight, Clement was reluctantly given his knighthood by the judges, and was sworn in halfheartedly by a noble. One judge spat at Clement's feet. It was in their power to refuse his knighthood, of course, but they did not dare harm the Grandmaster's adopted son.
Clement retired to the University after earning his knighthood. He returned to studying. He began designing towers and catapults. His designs were ugly but effective. Eventually, word of his designs reached the Royal Family. The Family agreed to use Clement's designs on the front lines, where aesthetics did not matter. This life was what Clement preferred—or, as it were, this life was what Sir Clement Motierre preferred. At the very least, University scholars were friendlier to him than his fellow knights were.
A year later, Grandmaster Thibaut was killed by a rogue knight and a magician. A Royal decree was made to avenge the Grandmaster. Not many knights accepted the challenge, however, since the rogue knight was none other than Master Knight Busal, and the magician was High Wizard Reza.
Clement dressed as a hooded monk, hiding a crossbow in his robes, with a spear slung over his back. He traveled discretely for two months, tracking down the rogue knight and the magician. He soon had his first taste of blood. He came across two in an inn who resembled his targets. Without skipping a beat he let loose his crossbow and swung his spear, killing the two instantly. The denizens of the inn backed away in fright. Upon further inspection, Clement realized that the two he had killed were not the knight or the magician.
Sick and furious with himself, he fled the scene. He had murdered two people. Clement wanted to bash his own head in. He suspected that the Grandmaster would prefer to remain unavenged if it meant innocent lives. Nonetheless, Clement smelled blood, and he would not stop until his intended targets were dead.
A few days later, he came across two travelers on the road. They were traveling on the outskirts of Thasah, near the construction site of a watchtower. This time Clement watched them carefully, hoping to avoid repeating the bloodshed at the inn. Unfortunately, his targets realized they were being followed. One of the targets suddenly turned and slung a bolt of white-hot fire. Clement dodged into the half-built watchtower, but was badly burned in the process. He staggered up some uneven wooden steps and hid in a hallway.
Clement was in pain, dizzy, and half-certain he was going to die. Nonetheless, as he heard footsteps at the base of the stairs, he realized that he knew this watchtower's design—he built it. He edged towards the top of the stairway and smashed his spear into a shaky support pillar. The stairs collapsed. Bang! Dust, smoke. Clement breathed a sigh of relief and peered over the mess.
One of the travelers Clement was following was partially buried under a pile of rubble and wood. It was High Wizard Reza. He was still alive, and yelling incoherently from underneath the mess. The wizard spotted Clement and tried to sling a bolt of fire at him. The bolt fizzled in his hands. Clement fired off a crossbow bolt, and ended the wizard's life. Clement then withdrew into the hallway, and wondered what he was going to do next. He looked out a window. The other traveler, who from this angle Clement could tell was definitely Master Knight Busal, was calling out to his dead partner.
Clement reloaded his crossbow, went to the stairway, and dropped down several meters onto the rubble. Pain shot up his leg. His side was numb from the burn, which must have destroyed his nerve endings. This was bad. This meant infection would soon set in. He got up shakily and stepped out of the watchtower.
The Master Knight stared in disbelief, but quickly drew his sword and shield. With a roar of anger he charged. Clement readied his spear and swung. The Master Knight dodged with incredible speed and jabbed with his blade. Clement moved just in time, but received a deep cut to his shoulder. This Master Knight was miles better than the other knights Clement was familiar with. The Master Knight's fighting style was similar to the late Grandmaster's. He was at least equally as fast and strong—more than enough to overcome Clement's advantage with the spear.
Heavily bleeding, burned, and going into shock. Clement did not like his chances. The Master Knight readied a swing. Clement stepped into the swing arc and pushed the Knight.
Simple, dirty tactics. The Master Knight dropped his guard and wobbled backwards. An awkward swing came, and cut Clement again on the same shoulder. Pain! Clement smeared the Master Knight's eyes with his blood. The Master Knight yelled incoherently, and flailed. He needed to regain balance after being pushed by Clement. Clement took this opportunity and smashed his spear right into the ground, through the Master Knight's foot.
The yelling intensified. Clement dodged around the Master Knight, who now could not turn on account of the spear, readied his crossbow, and fired point blank into the back of the Master Knight's head.
Clement recovered the Master Knight and High Wizard's rings and emblems, cut off their heads, and stuffed them into a wool bag. He checked in at a local farmer's house. He was losing blood very quickly. He asked the farmer to find some medicinal herbs and get some clean tools. Then, through gritted teeth, he instructed the farmer on surgery. Burning wine to sterilize wounds. Sharp obsidian to cut infected flesh. Analgesic morphine from primrose flowers. Codeine from poppy. Disinfectant from cinchona bark. So on and so forth. By the way, Clement remembered asking, dump salt and mud into the wool bag. Here's money for the salt. The farmer opened the bag and was horrified, but nonetheless did as Clement asked.
After two weeks, Clement paid the farmer in full. He rode back speedily to the capital of Thasah, and brought the partially preserved evidence of the rogue knight and magician's deaths to the Royal Family.
He was declared a Master Knight. Clement was then given a job by the Royal Family: to hunt down rogue knights and mages.
He never mentioned the incident at the inn.