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Chapter 7: Apprentice Knight’s Test

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It was early morning.

Sunlight filled the city as the cool wind filled with birds flew above Antolich Naval Base.

A lot of people were there, a square by the entrance of the base. Some stalls opened in anticipation of the Apprentice Knight's test as well for the Imperial October Festival. Busy with their business, the sellers had happy expression, while young ones with their guardians had anxious anticipation.

The test was important, and it would not be easy to pass.

Krone and the three beside him arrived quite early. After walking past the front gate, another smaller gate was in front of them.

“I’m sorry Sir, Ma’am. Only candidates or staff can go from here.”

A young, lightly armored soldier blocked their way. Krone and those around him had to stop. Beside him, Kristine and two elderly couple came along.

She frowned, putting aside the long parcel she held before.

“What do you mean? I thought the guardians can come inside with the candidate?”

“I’m sorry Miss, not here. You may enter through the two doors over there or further there, as audience. There’s a grand stand prepared.”

The young man pointed the directions.

Krone was wearing simple white tunic with brown boots. Looking around, more parents or guardians leading their child were instructed the same.

“Audience? So we can’t stay beside him?”

“I’m really sorry. Entry from hereon are forbidden.”

Kristine was a little reluctant, but the old man beside her held her arm.

“It’s fine, Kristine. It’s nothing big. Let’s not make things difficult for our young man here.”

Knowing her personality, the elderly lady beside him consoled her.

“This is as far as we go. He’ll need to go by himself.”

“I guessed you’re right. Aunt, Uncle,”

Her uncle patted her shoulder, turning to Krone.

“It seemed you’ll have to walk alone from now, Krone. No problem?”

“None at all Uncle. It’s just a test.”

“You’ll have to be strong. Show those Knights your mettle!”

“I will, Aunt.”

The pair encouraged him, while his sister had that worried look. She made fun of him at times, yet during these kinds of time she was actually the worrywart.

“Krone.”

“Sis, I’m already fourteen. It’s just simple tests. Didn’t you say I’ll have to grow up?”

“I, yes, I did say that.”

“Worry not. Whether I pass or not, I won’t be defeated. I’m the son of Kozak, afterall.”

“…Yes, you’re our father and mother’s son. I guess I should,”

She sighed, placing the long parcel she held onto his hands. It was almost 2-metre long, with a sharp pointy edge on one end.

“This is?”

He remembered clearly what it was, but he thought it would ruin the occasion had he not asked.

“It’s our ancestor’s spear. Mom told me to give it to you when you’re ready.”

He slowly unbundled the spear, revealing a short, silvery-tipped spear sparkling with green crystals. It looked ancient yet magnificent, one would not think of a family living in a village would be able to afford it.

“A spear? This looks really, amazing.”

“It’s from our mother’s family. It’s a short spear, but it should fit your style well.”

“Yes, of course. Thanks, Sis.”

“You just do what you always do, alright?”

“…I will.”

He turned the spear around, noticing the emblem of a Knight holding a spear, on a horseback.

He took the spear with him the entire way till the tenth year of the war, where the spear surprisingly grabbed General Shurran’s attention. The old man almost teared up right then and there when he learned that he was its rightful successor.

He did not know what to say, deciding its best if he did not actually told her.

That, and the test actually already prepared their own weapons of choice; blunted weapons to minimize injury. The only time they could use their own weapon would be during the personal Arte Exhibition.

‘Well, at least it looks nice. I can relive that experience again, better.’

With that, his family bid him good luck.

They would watch him from the grandstand.

Should he pass the second screening, he would stay in the temporary lodge for the next day, the day of the third screening.

The test could very well take a whole two days.

He lined up along the many young participants. He showed his bracelet to the officers waiting within the second gate.

They took his attendance and gave him a number.

‘I failed my second screening that time. I was devastated, but this time,’

“I make my own calls.”

With confident gaits, he walked alone into the testing ground.

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After entering, he was directed to a wide square within the base. Beside the square, was a large field equipped with five obstacle courses.

His number was 114.

He was among the earlier quarter of people, as he remembered there should be over five hundred candidates here. Aside from soldiers, there were slightly armored people walking around here and there; squires, helping the knights to keep the candidates controlled.

On a platform directly opposite to the crystals, stood a bearded knight and his squire.

The veteran knight was wearing white armor along with red mantle, seemingly overlooking the entire place. He had quaint eyes, wrinkles on his face. His expression was that of firmness, yet his eyes soft as they landed on the youngsters.

The squire had light green armor, sword on his waist.

Both were quiet, making the candidates felt the eeriness.

The presence of that single knight put pressure on them.

Of course, there were others, but they kept themselves hidden for now.

Krone turned his attention to the Grandstand.

There, a few hundred people gathered, coming in and going around. He shift his attention to three people who had just come in, then waved his hand toward them. Noticing him, they waved back.

The girl there was estatic.

“Alright, enough childishness,”

He turned to the middle of the square.

Here, his eyes admired a water fountain, with five sea dragons blowing out water into the sky intermittently.

Next to it, there were five lines with five floating crystals. As big as a toddler, the crystals were colourless, hovering on a golden platform. The crystals were the Mana Evaluator, a crystal that could help telling one’s magical affinity and its strength.

For each person, each had different colours; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Beside each crystal, two evaluators were sitting by a table, taking the candidate’s information as they came. The common knowledge was that each colour represented magical affinity, while the intensity represented how strong the affinity would be.

That knowledge stemmed back to around 150 years ago, when the function of the crystal was first discovered.

Krone caught sight of the middle crystal.

As a candidate placed his hands on one, the colour changed. He was wearing white, blue-lined full body coat, seemingly high quality. From white, it turned itself to light blue, then brighter.

The examiner was wide-eyed.

“Ron M. Shamanov – Water, high affinity!”

The knight present smiled and turned to look at the boy.

He was fifteen and had a good height; around 180 cm. His muscle was hidden by his clothes, yet one could guess he was well-toned.

He noticed the gaze, promptly turned to him with a salute; a fist slanted to the chest.

A salute of the military, but civilians often used it to show respect and appreciation to them.

The knight nodded.

“Good sense, not arrogant. He reminds me of you, Padre. It seemed this year there’s quite a lot of excellent candidates.”

“Indeed Sir.”

His squire acknowledged his comment.

The boy quickly went away, as though nothing happened.

Krone was observing the whole area, and had noticed the boy Ron as well.

“At least there’s one. I must have five. Hm? Felt like I’m forgetting something. There should be a few who stood out back then. Who? Hm, Ju, ju… Juanna? Geh!”

He murmured.

He continued to look around, with considerable interest for the candidates. There were some wearing obviously expensive clothing, with jade and crystals shining on their shoulders and chest.

Their shoes were brand new, and they held their head high, mouth and nose as though bigger than most.

‘Children of the Conglomerate, most likely?’

The Conglomerate.

It was the simplified call for those who had made enourmous profit during the time of revolution. These people used to be the leaders of the poor, yet they managed to take advantage of the time when the trust of the people to those in the noble family was terrible. Shaky, at best.

“Spoiled brats.”

Funny.

It was funny that such people even had interest to try out this test. He was thankful that the Supreme Guardian put these people’s parents in their rightful place, banning them from influencing politics.

Of course, not all of them were bad though.

His interest with them was short, so he turned away.

Meanwhile there were those who wore thick, long tunic, divided at the end for their legs along with boots.

The tunics were almost identical to what knights or squires wore during their free time or when they were travelling. These were children from the military, as per tradition they wore such clothes.

Half were likely sons and daughters of knights.

Krone had similar attire on, thus he was not out of place.

His spear however, had garnered some attention. Of course, others had pretty-looking weapons as well. Thus the attention was short-lived.

More people came in.

To his back, more candidates had entered, and their numbers continued to grow.

Among the candidates, there were a few unusual ones around.

Krone paid special attention to them, observing their demeanor. Some were socializing, while some were quiet at a corner. While most wore tunics, they wore small emblems on either their chest, or a cloth on their waist or their gloves.

Each had its own meaning, but they were of similar indication;

‘From old noble house huh. Didn’t notice they were this many that time, I wasn’t paying attention.’

They were roughly twenty percent of the current candidates. Noting that these scions would likely come earlier than most, he estimated the numbers won’t go further than, hm, fifteen percent of them all.

The noble houses had lost their special status almost two hundred years ago, from the terrible upheaval.

Since even the Emperor perished, not many dared to voice their loathing to the change that was happening back then. However, many still retained their knowledge, wealth and some sway.

Thus, though the house itself had no direct say to the government, the invisible hands still had influence. Many of their family members worked with the government. Even if the Supreme Guardian wanted to suppress them, he had to do it carefully – within the scope of the law.

‘Many of their scions are capable, well-trained, but still most couldn’t shake their old way of thinking.Their ego made them a bit difficult to handle, hm?’

He also took note of another kind of people.

They were a bit pressured by their surroundings, and some was clearly nervous. Most wore simple yet brand-new tunics, mostly of either grey, pale blue or green. The colours were not so bright, hinting on the common traits of commoners not showing off their clothing, except during festive or special occasion with their family.

‘This should be a special occasion, ah, not their very own special occasion, so not many dared to defy the status quo.’

As he was thinking, he remembered he ought to line up.

The numbers were his registration number, not the number of order yet. In order to get the best view of all candidates, he opted to line up in the middle.

There were a few announcements here and there as the evaluator found people with high affinity.

In front, a particular girl caught his attention.

She had brown, braided hair with thick, long purple tunic similar to those military children. The vibrant colour she wore signified that she was not anxious to stand out, so she was likely not a commoner.

However, her demeanor was strange, a bit like those of old noble house, but not quite. He could not sense arrogance, just pure, plain old discipline.

‘Strange? Was there one like this before?’

As he was at the back, her face was not in full vision. With his keen eyes, he could see her movement had grace, while her gazing around was purposeful.

‘With knowledge, you really able to see things others couldn’t huh? This girl is well-trained.’

As her turn came, she put her hands on the crystal. The colourless crystal started to shine, filled with violet. It was not dim colour like a few other candidates, but shining violet.

“Ah,"

The evaluator was flabbergasted. In all ten years of his experience, it was his first time actually witnessing this. The knight, standing straight on the platform, jerked. The squire beside him was wide-eyed, yet he managed to catch his master before the old man actually fell.

“Ul-Ultima. Ultima, at peak affinity!”

“How can this, be?”

The two stuttered in disbelief.

Finally remembering her, he shuddered.

‘My memory’s somewhat unreliable! How could I actually forget? She’s a commotion back then. I couldn’t see her well since I was worried about myself and failed the second screening, but people were talking about her!’

It was her.

“Julia S. Garde."

A once-in-a-decade prodigy, first appeared in Ancient Capital Aurenburg. She went on to become a Knight at eighteen and led a brigade much later in the war. She was not even thirty then.

Not even near.

‘Too bad she perished fighting the Northern Campaign, a few years before the fall of Imperial Capital. If not,'

“Ju-Julia S. Garde. Ultima, Peak Affinity!”

The evaluator, recovering from his confusion, announced.

The candidates generally were confused, hearing the word Peak-affinity, especially so when it was after the word Ultima. From afar, the audience could not really hear him, but they could sense the commotion.

“It— it’s Ultima, at Peak Affinity!”

Some clear-headed ones, noticing the shining purple crystal as well as the coming commotion, managed to draw the right conclusion. The information shook the audience, bursting them into a range of discussion. Some even tempted to jump from the grandstand, stopping only after the guards warned them.

Krone, being as close as ten metre from her, was trembling in excitement.

She had turned her face, revealing a tender, yet firm face of a girl, mature for her age.

It was quite a sight.

Last time, he was quite late coming to the testing ground, thus he missed this rare sight.

The expression “Early birds get the worm” appeared in his mind. This expression, he agreed whole heartedly.

‘Julia S. Garde. I absolutely must have her!’

A sinister smile plastered on his face.

========= Chapter 7 End =========