Red struggled to open his eyes as light peered through the curtains of the room he was in. He looked around at his surroundings. Dingy furniture and ruined brick flanked him on all sides. Red looked down at the bed he was on. The bed was little more than a slab of wood with not a blanket or pillow in sight. He rolled out of bed and yawned deeply, stepping toward the window.
The room overlooked a narrow street, devoid of any life due to the earliness of the morning. Each building in the area was dilapidated and old, nearly ready to fall apart at any moment. The sun rose over the horizon slowly and illuminated a few individuals walking up and down the street. They seemed to keep their eyes trained on the path in front of them and ignored the crumbling structures around them.
"I guess the historic district never changes." Red thought to himself.
The expansive historic district encompassed a large portion of the Kingdom of Britannius. While some buildings were newer than others, the whole area was usually referred to by a more fitting name, the slums.
The kingdom was exceptionally large, stretching out for long distances with towns interspersed between large stretches of empty arid land. While some of this was used for farmland, the frequent appearance of strong aggressive monsters left most of it barren. The farther one strayed from the capital, the more the infrastructure shifted from hallowed and grand white and gold monoliths to old decrepit wood structures barely supporting their own weight. Further out, when nearing the neutral middle ground the old wooden buildings turn into crude huts and tents made from nothing more the sticks and animal hide. All pretenses are dropped for this area with it simply being labeled as the "Forsaken District."
Red readied himself in a hurry, making sure to carefully place on his leather armor and rushed out of the room of the inn.
As he walked down the narrow path leading to the capital of the kingdom, the Noble District, the architecture around him shifted slowly. The dingy wood was slowly replaced with polished brick, and then with towering white and gold in every direction. The lightly paved stone path turned to a spotless bronze. The capital of Britannius was built over water, with man-made foundations built and constantly maintained to keep everything in place.
Green vines ran up the white walls freely, and Red couldn't help but run his finger across them as he made his way to the edge of the kingdom. As Red made his way past the market district and toward the edge, he began to hear the rumblings and whispers of the individuals passing him by. They cursed at him and called him disgusting names all without meeting his gaze. Red attempted to ignore it and continue.
On the edge of town, large trees of myriad colors and vibrant green bushes stood undisturbed with passing citizens admiring their beauty. In between the fauna was an extremely narrow path, just large enough to fit one person, leading down to a large castle in the distance standing alone on the water. Arthur and Lanzel stood at the entrance to the path, donning their own sets of leather armor. Arthur waved at Red as he ran up to them and Lanzel only scowled at him.
"Arrive an hour before the time you're instructed to come, boy. We should be waiting on you, not the other way around!"
"I'm not -" Red started as he got into Lanzel's face but Arthur stepped between them.
Arthur turned and looked at Lanzel, "Stop with that Lanzel! Did you tell Lord Chamberlain Ban we were leaving already?"
Lanzel averted his gaze, "No my lord, I'll go inform him immediately," He ran down the narrow path, pushing past the overgrowth of shrubbery that lined it.
Arthur shook his head and placed a hand on Red's shoulder, "Red do you have to buck at him every time he makes a comment? You can't come to blows with your commanding officer you know."
Red shook his hand off, "I just roll with the punches, usually. Sometimes it just gets to me though. I've been hearing the same crap since I was a kid…" His voice trailed off, "What did the king want yesterday? Can you say?"
Arthur laughed heartily, "It was just bureaucratic poppycock. We have to do all this posturing and positioning to make sure we look a certain way to our allies and enemies. It's tiring, but father makes it look easy."
Red sucked his teeth, "This is all gonna be yours one day, King Arthur. You better start making it look easy too."
Arthur laughed again, "So when can we expect to see Setanta? You're friend sure does love to arrive at the last minute."
Red shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. And I don't necessarily think Santa is bad at arriving on time, I think he just hates the Noble District. But wait, how do you know Santa is going to report here rather than somewhere else?"
Arthur turned and looked Red into his eyes, "I told them to put the three of us on the same squad or I'd have them exiled."
Red stopped himself from chuckling, "Wow Arthur, why would you go that far to keep us together?"
Arthur stopped smiling and looked away from Red out towards the castle, "When I look at you and Santa, I see two truly strong people. Not just physically, although that's a factor, but you two have experiences in life that I just don't have. That I can't have. Despite the hardships you both keep pushing harder."
Arthur turned back to Red, "I've been teaching the noble kids a rhyme, to try to promote equality between the classes. It goes 'I'm just a drop in the sea of people just like me.' I don't think that applies to you two though."
Red stood with his mouth ajar, completely speechless. He went to say something, but no words would form.
They stood staring at each other for a long time both completely silent.
Santa walked up to the scene slowly and stared at them for a while.
"Are you two lost in each others eyes or what?" Santa said sarcastically.
Red turned to Santa, who now sported a large obsidian claymore on his back.
"So you made it right?" Red asked, "What rank are you?"
Santa smirked, "Accensus Third Class. Right out of the gate."
Red frowned, "I guess that makes you my superior."
Arthur stepped up to Santa, "Oh, so you're both Accensus? That's not bad at all! You both will be up with me soon."
Santa crossed his arms, "And what rank are you Prince Arthur?"
Arthur closed his eyes and smiled, "Me? I'm just a Aquilifer 2nd Class."
Before Red and Santa could even react, Lanzel appeared behind them shouting out, "Attention!"
Red, Santa and Arthur all turned to him and saluted. Lanzel paced around them as they held the salute.
"So the four of us have been joined together at the same squad at the young master's whim," Lanzel got into Santa's face and remained there, "While I am forced to accept, I do not have to take you with me and Prince Arthur on any missions if I deem you unfit. I can have you two remain here and suffer whatever consequences the unwilling may receive."
Santa kept us his salute as Lanzel practically spit in his face, "Setanta! You dare to grimace at me as I give you valuable information! Is there something you want to say sir?"
Santa still maintained his salute, "Do I have permission to speak sir?"
"You have my permission to speak," Lanzel said, lowering his voice slightly.
Santa dropped his salute, "I'm just wondering if I'd get your position if I were to beat you. Do you think its that easy, or would I have to jump through more hoops first?
Without a moment's hesitation, Lanzel bent down and then jumped. When it seemed he should start to fall down, he only went higher and higher, until he was no longer visible. He went past the skyline and became smaller than a speck. Then there was a whistling noise, extremely subtle at first, but then it got louder.
"He's using that?" Arthur's eyes were big with terror, "Quick Santa, you need to guard now!"
Santa drew his claymore and put the flat side up to the sky, still looking for Lanzel. A few moments later, Lanzel landed on the blade with a sonic boom, causing Red and Arthur to cover their ears. Santa dropped to one knee, as he still held the sword up and defended himself. Lanzel jumped once again and Santa took the opportunity to roll away from the spot he was in. He placed one hand on his chest and supported the large claymore with one hand as it began to surge with a dark aura.
Santa panted heavily as he brandished his sword and looked in the sky for Lanzel. His eyes darted around rapidly and he became more frantic, until he eventually screamed out and thrusted his sword into the air, shooting out a beam of dark energy.
Lanzel landed in front of him, with his altered appearance not fully visible. He was covered in silver scales from head to toe, his feet turned to sharp talons and he possessed a large spiked tail. Before Santa could react to Lanzel landing in front of him, Lanzel landed a strong uppercut knocking him up into the air and several feet away.
Lanzel grabbed his own wrist and shook it, "Peasant trash. Learn your damn place. Don't worry, I won't be letting you two out of my sight, in fact you'll both be front and center during every battle. Even if you can't protect the prince and I with your abilities, I'm sure your bodies will make fine shields."
Red looked at Arthur who was slowly walking over to Santa. Santa laid on the ground, motionless with blood dripping from his head.
"I could use the blood pooling by Santa's head and attack Lanzel right now while his guard is down," Red began thinking to himself, "But why the hell would I do that? Nobody told that moron to provoke an officer, I don't gain anything from that."
Santa slowly got up to his feet, assisted by Arthur and looked at Red. The look in his eyes shook Red to his core, it was something deeper than hatred or disdain.
The scales shed from Lanzel's body and he began to speak, "If you idiots are done playing around, I've been assigned a mission, and you all are coming with me. Someone is decimating our forces at the northern border, they're thinking it's one of the elite soldiers from Socotra. One of the Seraphim."
The hairs on Red's body stood on end. The children of Britannius were told bedtime stories about the elite soldiers from Socotra to scare them. The thought of facing them made Red anxious.
"There's not much other intel for us to go on, hell we don't even know how many soldiers there will be, only that we are to subjugate the Seraphim soldier causing problems. An advance squad was sent to the area while you all were taking your selection exam, and we're going to provide them backup."
Santa wiped the blood from his mouth and stood in front of Lanzel, saluting. Red and Arthur followed and did the same.
"Break!" Lanzel shouted out and the four of them ran deeper into the Noble District, toward the barracks. Lanzel and Arthur ran and got onto strong powerful white stallions. The horses neighed and kicked their legs into the air.
Santa and Red looked around at the other horses in the stable, half expecting Lanzel to them they'd have to walk.
"Saddles are hanging on that wall over there. Pick one, pick a horse without a saddle and get moving. I'm giving you thirty seconds before we leave you. If you're struggling or you can't find a horse, then you'll have to figure something else out."
Santa and Red both got onto horses in only a few seconds. These horses seemed to be significantly weaker and less agile than the ones Lanzel and Arthur rode.
Lanzel was visibly shocked, but only coughed and shouted out, "Let's go!"
The horses stomped between the tightly packed thin buildings of the capital city. All four soldiers remained completely silent as the afternoon light turned to a suffocating darkness and the paved stone paths turned to dirt roads.
The road was shrouded in complete darkness, there was no light present in any direction. The light from the moon was extremely faint and barely did anything to combat this.
"It's too dark tonight to continue traveling safely," Lanzel shouted out suddenly, "We'll rest up ahead for a few hours and continue on. Tie your horses to that post over there."
Red couldn't see Lanzel or the post he referred to, so he quickly jumped off the horse and began walking alongside it, placing a hand on its head to guide it.
As Red attempted to find his fellow knights through the overwhelming darkness, a pillar of light shot down from the sky, illuminating the area and creating a violent gust of wind that sent all loose items flying.
Covering his face, Red looked out into the distance and spotted a lone figure standing in front of the blinding light. The figure was nothing more than a silhouette, their features were completely obscured but their power was undeniable.
Red stared at the figure with his mouth agape for a while then quickly turned his head searching for the other knights. Lanzel stood a distance away and held his spear in his hand. He gripped the wood so tightly that he splintered it slightly.
Santa fell on his back and stared in the direction of the pillar of light in terror.
Arthur rushed in with his sword drawn, looking back at the others for a moment before jumping into attack.
____________________________________________________________
Moody held up a scroll, plainly asking, "What happened after that?"
Red looked out into the cloudy night sky and sighed,"I…I mean we…well we didn't exactly lose."
"But you didn't win either right?" Moody scribbled down.
Red looked around at nothing in particular, "No, we didn't win either. I put everything into that battle, we all did," Red looked down at his hands, "I mean, I discovered so much about myself and my power. My thought process was so limited before. That was the day I truly became Red."
Red finally looked at Moody, who only stared back at him with a puzzled look.
"I say all of this to say, a knight can only grow stronger in battle. Not sparring, not a decisive victory that you win without breaking a sweat, but a battle that truly tests your mettle and requires you to make use of absolutely everything."
Before Moody could write anything else, something exploded with a boom, cutting through the air and whizzing by the ship faster than the eye could track.
Moody immediately sprung up and ran to the side of the ship. He looked down for a long time before frantically writing, "BIG GUN" and showing it to Red.
Red stood up, his hand still on the drum and shouted out, "Come over here and put your hand on this for a second. Try to push a steady stream of mana through it, don't let it drain you but don't let it be too light."
Moody ran over and placed a hand on it, and immediately a pained expression spread over his face, "I know it'll probably make you feel like the life is being sapped out of you but just try to clear your mind, picture this ship floating in the air."
Moody closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. After a few moments, he became more relaxed. He slumped down until he was sitting with his legs crossed.
Red thought to himself, "This kid is some sort of genius with mana control. I probably couldn't even have done it that fast a few months ago."
He ran over to the side of the ship and looked down towards the ground. The ship was hundreds of feet from the ground, so high that trees on the ground looked like nothing more than specks. They were now considerably close to the Kingdom of Oldum and despite their height, the kingdom still appeared grandiose.
Red scanned the environment even more carefully. He looked through the sprawling green plains leading to the kingdom - nothing. He looked at the gate and on the castle walls - nothing of note.
Red closed his eyes and took a breath in and focused on the arcana around him. He could feel the arcana like innumerable grains of sand hitting his skin as it blew through the wind. In the distance, Red could feel arcana gathering unnaturally all to one point.
He opened his eyes quickly and darted his head to where he felt the disturbance and he spotted the source of it.
Despite not being able to see him, he recognized that the mana belonged to Ruiner, Olo's second in command. Ruiner stood a distance away from the gate, hidden behind a thicket of trees.
"Damn, this is the worst possible scenario. I can't kill or even injure the second in command even if I am a special member of the army."
Red looked back at Moody, who kept a composed face but was biting his lip so hard it bled profusely.
"Moody probably can't maintain this for even another minute or two, so there's not enough time for me to get down there and explain or subdue Ruiner. On top of all of that, his new gun is packing serious heat. If that hits that ship head on, there's no way either of us will survive the impact or the fall."
Red grimaced as he continued looking down at Ruiner's hiding spot, "Come on Red! Think, think!"
After a few seconds, Red's eyes opened up bigand he turned to Moody smiling, "Hey Moody, can you jump from here down to where the guy with the gun is?"
Moody looked up in the sky and squinted his eyes for a moment then nodded his head.
Red ran back over to the drum and placed a hand on it, "Good, I have something for you to do then. That guy down there is Lyle the Ruiner, as of right now he is effectively one of our bosses. It won't be that way forever…but for now it doesn't matter. What I want you to do is go down there and play with him until I can land the airship."
Moody took his hand off the drum and stood up. He slowly walked over to the edge as Red continued, "When I say play I mean play, I don't want you to hurt him, scar him, scrape him or pluck a hair on his fat little head. Just keep him busy until I can get there to you."
Moody rolled his eyes and nodded his head before jumping head-first off the side of the ship. He looked down at the thicket where a beam of light pulsated and grew brighter each second.
Moody rotated his arm for a while, his speed still increasing as he neared the ground. Moody reached his hand toward the ground as continued to descend, now close enough to recognize the scale of the thicket of trees. Each tree stood nearly a hundred feet tall and there were dozens of them all packed tightly together.
After a few seconds, as the light became truly blinding, Moody gritted his teeth hard and threw an explosive punch with his right hand toward the ground. The punch generated a deafening sound like a thunderclap and the force of it ripped the tops off of the trees. The punch threw him off course slightly and slowed down his downward momentum. With this motion, he managed to dodge a ball of electricity as it passed narrowly by his head in the blink of an eye.
Moody tumbled through the trees, slamming through branches as he sped toward the ground. He attempted to guard his face with both arms but found himself unable to lift his right arm at all, so he braced himself with the left.
Moody landed flat on his back and wheezed for a while, staring up into the thick blanket of green before struggling to get up.
Standing up slowly, Moody was met with an out of shape man dressed in a dark blue and black uniform with a shiny silver badge on the lapel. The man held an unusual weapon, it looked like a two pronged fork with copper wire wrapped around it.
"And you are?" Ruiner asked, pointing the giant fork at Moody.
Moody kept his eyes focused on the weapon and slowly attempted to approach him.
Ruiner laughed as he raised it up, gathering energy into it, "You interested in this old thing? This was a gift from the Commander Grand Officer himself, the mighty Mjölnir! If you're wanting to stay alive I suggest you turn around and go back the way you came."
Moody grabbed his right arm and snapped it into place with a loud CRACK! He put his hands and rushed in towards Ruiner. Ruiner attempted to thrust at him with Mjölnir but Moody kicked it away and continued his rushdown. While Ruiner fumbled to recover Mjölnir, Moody uppercutted him strongly, causing Ruiner to fall down to one knee and let go of Mjölnir. Moody backed away slightly and stood over Ruiner with his arms crossed.
Ruiner pointed his head to the sky and began to laugh manically before reaching his arm up and grabbing Moody by the throat. Ruiner stood up, lifting Moody's feet off the ground.
Ruiner wiped the blood dripping from his mouth before coldly stating, "You shouldn't be so eager to die young man! Show a little more fight, show some conviction!"
Ruiner kicked Mjölnir into his hand and held it at his side as he continued to choke out Moody, increasing the strength of his grip by the moment
Moody lifted his leg over Ruiner's arm and separated Ruiner's hand from his throat. In the same moment, he used his body weight to make Ruiner fall forward on his face. Moody now had Ruiner's arm completely trapped and kept a secure grip over it as Ruiner attempted to stand back up.
Moody increased the pressure on Ruiner's arms, causing Ruiner to yelp slightly, but he continued to attempt to stand up. Using Mjölnir, Runier propped himself up quickly and stood fully, his arm still tightly grappled by Moody. Moody increased the pressure even more until there was a slight crack, but Ruiner only pointed the Mjölnir at Moody who hung on tightly to his other arm.
"I admire your spirit kid." Ruiner sputtered out through pain breaths, "Now let go of my damn arm and surrender or I'll erase you off of this planet."
The energy from the Mjölnir began charging exponentially faster and nearly became blinding before Ruiner spotted a hand gripping one of the prongs tightly and sapping the energy from it.
Ruiner looked at the culprit and spotted a familiar face. He looked at the individual for a long time before shouting out, "Red?"