They went to the Veneto capital in the morning. The road was a long one, and the journey took more than a day on their own, but the knights had their own horses, which took them only half a day. When lunch was over, they had already entered the suburbs of the capital. The city itself was located on islands in the Venetian Lagoon and on the mainland. Unfortunately, ancient Venice went underwater during the apocalypse and only some ruins towered above the water. A few more islands remained, but the former greatness was irretrievably lost. Modern Venice was built on the site of the municipality of Marghera, which became part of the new city, as a residential area. A citadel was built on five large islands near the city, and a port area was also located there. On Isola Delle Tresse and on the neighbouring north island, defensive fortifications were built in front of the entrance to the city from the sea. Further north is the island of Porto Marghera, where the shipyard and defensive fortress were located. Then there was the island of San Julian, on which the fortress of the Hospitallers was located. In the west – in the neighbourhood, there are the remains of an ancient fortress, which was not used in any way. In the centre of the Venetian Bay, there was a central island, on which the Dosha Palace and the entire administrative department stood. There was a trading port to the south of it.

Due to geography, the city seemed to stick out a little from the mainland, so it created a strategically successful location. In the south, there were marshes near the coast outside the city walls, and in the northwest and northeast, it was surrounded by fields and farms. Venice was protected by powerful city walls with a large moat with water. Do not forget about the fortresses that were part of the defence. The city was repeatedly tried to take, but each time the siege was unsuccessful. Defense from the sea was generally considered "impregnable". No wonder, because it is one of the most influential and richest capitals in the world.

After passing the city walls, the knights immediately headed to the fortress of San Julian, where the magistrate was located. Upon arrival in the stronghold of the Hospitallers, Marzio was almost immediately drawn into the maelstrom of events. As it turned out, the letter did reach his father in Hungary and he immediately sent a reply with a messenger. However, Mr Fermo did not know exactly where Marzio was and about his entry into the order. Therefore, the messenger rushed to the capital of Veneto, so that the general's son could already be found in the magistrate. For the luck of the messenger, Marzio himself came to him. After giving the letter to the recipient, the messenger with a clear conscience rushed away, and Marzio wanted to reveal the long-awaited answer of his father, but he was not allowed. As soon as everyone found out that Marzio was the son of Von Fermo, he was immediately escorted to his chambers so that he would clean himself up before meeting with the master of the order. A little stunned by such a course of affairs, the knights did not contradict, and there was nothing to argue about. Apparently, the order already knew Marzio's situation, which is why they treated him so leniently. While Marzio was led by servants to separate rooms, the squad headed to their restrooms, taking Lily with them.

A little confused, Marzio entered a small room inside the castle, where he had to change into clean clothes and wait for the magister to summon him to himself. The young man, with pleasure, took off his soldier's robes and put on a ceremonial doublet, which, although it did not fit perfectly on Marzio, looked quite decent. Then the young man with trepidation tore the seal from the envelope and began to read his father's answer:

"My dear son! I am very saddened by your news and I grieve bitterly with you. I hope that you are well now. I would really like to see you in person, but the service does not allow it. I'm busy in Hungary right now, and only God knows how long it will last. Therefore, I do not know when we will be able to meet in person. However, I cannot leave you without support, so I am sending you several gold bills, and I have already ordered the papers to be sent to the order. They need to know who you are, so I hope you will be treated with dignity. In addition, I officially recognize you as my bastard and give you every right to be considered my son. You can also go to my castle in Trieste. You should be accepted and provided with everything you need, if necessary. I hope the letter arrives on time and without any problems. I am waiting for your letter with an answer about my health. I fervently pray to God for our speedy meeting."

Marzio was delighted with his father's answer. Now his soul was a little calmer. At least he had fulfilled his original task of informing his father of what had happened. It was worth getting used to the world somehow and not falling into the dirt face because now he can shame his father's honour. The fact that Dad sent the money was also a nice gift. They could use, especially in such quantities. It remains only to find out what awaits him in the order, and how it will affect his future life.

It didn't take long to wait. Just ten minutes later, Marzio was summoned by the master of the order. Servants escorted him through the corridors and halls of the castle to the upper floors, where the master's office was located. In front of the massive oak doors. They left Marzio, saying that he should continue to talk to the master himself. Noticeably nervous, Marzio knocked loudly on the doors, and then timidly opened them. Only then did the thought occur to him that he should have waited for the invitation first, and then come in. But it was too late.

A large rectangular room stretched out in front of him. Opposite the door, in the distance, there was a large table, at which a man was sitting, but he was not visible. Marzio shone from the window, which was located behind. It had a round shape in the entire wall and looked partly like cobwebs because of the construction of the beams. On the sides of the room, there were large bookcases with decorative elements: paintings on the walls, laths on special pedestals, vases with flowers and so on. There were a couple more doors on the left and right. The room was dominated by purple: curtains at the round window, carpet on the stone floor - everything had a purple hue in one way or another. Marzio took another awkward step and asked:

'May I?'

'Of course!' a man's voice answered him from the darkness.

The young man walked to the middle of the room. As Marzio's eyes adjusted to the light, he was finally able to make out the man at the table. In appearance, he was an elderly man with an elegant beard, moderately long purple hair, blue eyes that emphasized elegant thin eyebrows and large eyelashes. He was dressed in a luxurious black doublet. Marzio stopped in front of this man, waiting. In turn, the magister stared intently at the young man, waiting for something.

'So that's what Fermo's son is like...,' the magister thought aloud.

'Come in, Marzio, make yourself comfortable,' the magister invited him good-naturedly.

Marzio awkwardly approached the table, opposite which there was a chair. Then he sat on it and listened to the master.

'I already know everything about you, Marzio Variatle, but you don't know anything about me, do you?' Marzio nodded.

'Then let me introduce myself...,' said the master getting up.

'My name is Flavio Ricci, I am the master of the Order of the Hospitallers, as well as a representative of the caste of seers. You probably already know their differences,

Marzio nodded again. Flavio sat down and continued.

'I understand that you are uncomfortable and uncomfortable in such an environment. Life has spun too fast, and you can't keep up with it in any way. Especially since you're after a fight and you need to rest, and not go through half the country, but such are the circumstances. I hope you, Marzio, will forgive us for such haste and inconvenience caused,' The young man nodded again.

'This is our informal meeting, so you can relax for now. The initiation ceremony will start soon, so you have a little time to ask me questions. I am listening?' Flavio sprawled in his chair and waited, but Marzio just fidgeted nervously in his chair and tried to ask at least something. As to spite, everything faded out of his head, and the awkward silence continued for some time.

There was a fencing lesson, everyone worked in pairs. Initially, Marzio was engaged with a rather pleasant young man, Gino Serra. He was an adequate young man, pleasant to talk to. Slightly let down brown hair and blue eyes. With him, Marzio was able to find a common language the fastest, but it could not be said that it was friendship. Gino maintained good relations with the entire team, even with Batista, who seemed not to pay attention to that.

He and Marzio showed how they mastered the defence technique: first Marzio attacked, and then Gino. Both showed a good result of mastering the technique and the teacher showed them as an example to others. Apparently, this hurt Batista, as he snorted disdainfully, and then during fencing with a partner, volunteered against Marzio. The teacher did not object, but the young man understood how it could end. Although they fought in defence and with wooden swords, even so it was possible to get injured.

"Well...," Batista began.

'It's time to find out what a jerk you are!'

'Great cry and little wool,' Marzio quipped.

'Ha! Then let's get started!'

They fought with all their might. It could not be called simple sparring, because the partners were trying to harm each other. During the duel, Marzio realized that he had a worthy opponent in front of him: Batista skillfully wielded a sword and had remarkable pressure. However, Batista, in turn, realized that Marzio is not one of those people who can be broken immediately. During the fight, they made fun of each other a couple of times, but the rest of the time the duel took place in silence. They did not notice how a small crowd of people gathered, who watched their fight with interest. It turned from a duel into a spectacle. But none of the opponents had mastered the situation. When the teacher called for the sparring to stop, Marzio and Batista managed to run out of breath, but none of them won. It was a draw.

'And you... are not so bad... as you seem,' Batista said loudly after catching his breath.

'And you... are not a chatterbox as you seemed,' Marzio retorted in turn.

'Heh! Well... then we can draw... for now.'

'We can...'

After this fight, Batista's relationship with Marzio changed a little. He still remained bullying and rude, but without bad rumours and open disgust. In addition, by that time, rumours about Marzio's past and his path to the academy had reached the students. From that moment on, Marzio was no longer a simple upstart, so Batista even had to admit it, which he reluctantly did. In the following days, he also molested Marzio, but it was something like a sports challenge: who could run longer, who could squeeze more, who could answer better, etc. Then their relationship turned into a kind of rivalry, but without the former aggression. It was even amusing for Marzio to argue with Batista, which was also observed in the latter. It so happened that they even seemed to be friends in part, just with a specific manner of friendship.

The study took place as follows: in total, there were one hundred and nineteen students at the academy, not including Marzio, who was divided into four classes, differing only in the number of students and the name – A, B, C, D. They were engaged in classrooms: students sat on long benches with desks and the teacher at a separate table in front of them. The structure of classes depended on the subjects and their orientation. There were also classes in special buildings and classrooms where special teaching methods were required. There were also training on the street: there the students were engaged in sports, fencing and horse riding. There was also an indoor swimming pool on the territory of the academy, where they taught swimming.

One of the main subjects was a story on which a real chain of events was told. For Marzio, it was one of his favourite lessons, and perhaps not only for him. Each student was given a textbook in which the past was told in detail. They were supposed to learn the story gradually, but Marzio was so enthusiastic that he read the whole book in just a couple of days. There was something to marvel at, but the understanding was hampered by incomprehensible ancient concepts and words, the meanings of which were explained on a separate subject - Metrology. However, even so, Marzio understood the point. It turned out like this: almost one and a half thousand years ago, the world was mired in an all-out war that ended in atomic war. Marzio did not particularly understand how the atomic one was different from the others, but it was clear to him that its scale and degree of destruction. As a result, the war ended without leaving any winners, and civilization was almost destroyed. Nuclear weapons have caused irreparable damage to the environment, and for many years the earth's surface had become dangerous. Until now, some pockets of that "invisible pestilence" remain in this world. Due to a long life, or rather survival in extreme conditions, humanity has degraded and lost the knowledge it possessed. Further, the textbook described in detail the course of the formation of each state listed rulers, wars and crises. Also, for the first time, Marzio saw a map of the entire Mediterranean – it struck him with its scale. However, the tradition of the second coming also remained unchanged. The textbook explained the origin of the new Christianity, which was called "post-Christianity" in almost the same formulations. Even in the textbook, separate chapters were devoted to Liechtenstein, about how it was able to restore civilization, preserve technology and save people from darkness and horror. It looked more like propaganda, but even if it was so, Lichtenstein's merits were enormous. Marzio was most surprised that during that very nuclear war Liechtenstein was only a small principality, which was barely noticeable on a map.

Another one of the most interesting subjects was shooting training. During this training, students were told about firearms and taught how to use them. In this case, absolutely everyone was amazed. Classes were held at the shooting range inside one of the buildings, where excellent sound insulation was. In the first lessons, they told only the history of the creation of this weapon, its types, device, and only showed how to shoot. In the future, the students had to master all types of small arms that have been preserved at the moment. Marzio saw in person how effective it was in comparison with the same pistols, which now seemed antediluvian and primitive. Obviously, cold weapons were nothing compared to cold firearms, but they were taught to fence too. Students at the academy also needed to own standard weapons, since firearms could only be used against particularly dangerous demons or just mutants. Here, Marzio earned respect among the students, as he was good with a short sword. However, it was still necessary to master other weapons.

The hardest part was the training, where students were exhausted to exhaustion. Almost everyone had a hard time here: they were forced to perform special exercises, run marathons in full ammunition, were also taught to swim quickly in the pool, etc. There were also horse riding classes. Since Marzio had never mounted a horse, he had to start from scratch here, but in this case, he was not alone – more than a dozen students studied with him. The rest were sent out of town for training.

During one of the morning runs, Marzio met a very strange classmate. Her name was Carla Guerra – she was a tall brunette with a long ponytail, brown eyes and a very well-coordinated athletic figure. Carla was distinguished by her agility and strength, even in comparison with the boys. She repeatedly overcame the training standards, and no one had ever seen her tired or exhausted. Carla stood out from the general background, to put it mildly. Because of her strength, few people communicated with her on the same wavelength. Many shunned her or held on, no more than formally-officially. Personally, Marzio was not looking for friendship with someone at all, but there was no other way in that situation.

There was a standard run - thirty laps around the field. It is worth noting that this is quite a lot and many students were exhausted in the middle and slowed down the topic. Marzio always took the lead for a few laps and then slowed down. It seemed that he was running behind everyone, but in fact, he was two laps faster than them. But at the same time, there were those who ran without stopping at the same speed, for example, Batista. It was quite a sultry morning, and Marzio was panting, running his twentieth lap. Then, out of nowhere, a cheerful female voice asked him from behind his back :

'Why are you depressed?!' Marzio turned over his shoulder and saw Carla, who cheerfully, without a shadow of fatigue, ran after him, simultaneously finishing a piece of bread. At the same time, the young man did not remember that she participated in the start.

'How did you overtake me?' Marzio asked, puzzled.

'And I didn't overtake,' Carla answered, chewing bread. I overslept today. Well, see you!'

Then Carla instantly accelerated and overtook Marzio. Surprised by this, Marzio wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand and continued running. But less than a minute later, she again heard Carla's voice behind her:

'What's so slow, huh?' she winked at him and overtook him again.

Marzio was able to run three more laps, and at this time Carla managed to catch up with him and overtake him. However, her face remained the same cheerfulness, it seemed to her that it was like an easy warm-up.

When Marzio had completed all thirty laps, he stopped next to Carla, who was combing her long hair alone. At this time, the other students were still running.

'How do you manage to run so fast?' Marzio asked, catching his breath. Carla grinned and answered.

'I grew up in a family of artists. You know, theatre, circus, acrobatic performances. All this since childhood.'

'Wow! And ... how did you manage to get here?' he asked with interest.

'Well ...,' Carla smiled mysteriously.

'Let's just say I hit someone whom I didn't have to hit, and the one, who did have to see it, saw it.'

'I don't understand.'

'Oh, well, how can I put it for you?... Let's say it's all because of my physical features,' by the way, Carla wore a special sports uniform in training with a bare stomach, on which the abs were clearly manifested.

'Interesting... So are you a noble or what?' Marzio continued to be interested.

'Nope!' Carla answered cheerfully, doing a warm-up.

'I told you, a man from the order noticed me and invited me to study.'

'And you agreed?'

'And why not?! It's nice and fun here. Much better than to amuse the public all my life.'

'That's also true...'

After that conversation, Carla and Marzio got together somehow. She herself came up to him every time and started a conversation. Not that Marzio was happy about it, but Carla was still a pleasant companion and much politer than Batista. He found out that she had previously performed at the theatre, and an explosion occurred at the big premiere, which gathered all the influential people of the city. It so happened that she saved the offspring of the richest count of the region and for this, she received patronage and security. At least, it was easy to communicate with her and she did not cause antipathy. Many times Marzio helped her with assignments in the classroom, and she, if it was possible, worked in training with him, which sometimes made the situation easier for the young man.

Marzio had another acquaintance by chance with Valentino Conte. He was a young man, blond with slicked-back hair so that they formed a parting over his left ear, and all the other hair lay in a dense layer on his head, forming a small bang. Valentino was from a noble Veneto family - the Conte family was among the most important in the country. He was quite a sociable person and did not cause rejection, if not for one harmful and annoying habit - Valentino was constantly whistling. Sometimes, instead of answering, he whistled a certain melody, which annoyed many. Also, during almost any class, he whistled different tunes. Sometimes it distracted people a lot, and his neighbours complained about the eternal whistling in his room. Because of this, Valentino was treated coolly and asked to refrain from his habit. He tried, but it wasn't always possible to control himself. But often the whistle was produced involuntarily.

One day, Marzio came across Valentino wandering in the courtyard of the academy. It was already evening and all classes were over, but for some reason, Valentino wandered aimlessly along the stone paths around the buildings. Marzio was just wondering why he was here at such a late hour.

'Valentino!' he called out to him. He looked up from his aimless walk and his whistling.

'What are you doing here?'

'Me? Just walking. I can't remember one melody and I'm desperately trying to hum it.'

'And why here, and not in your room or in the garden?'

'In the garden? I don't know... I've been thinking something. Is it evening already?'

'Actually, yes.'

'Oh! Well, then let's go to the dorm, aren't you from there?'

'Yes, let's go.'

The young men went to the dormitories.

'And why are you here at such a late hour, Marzio?'

'I was delayed in the laboratory.'

'Oh! So you're a medic. I understand, but I'm more into art.'

'So why at the academy, and not at the conservatory?'

'My parents sent me here. The Conte family is obliged to give one of their sons to serve the order. It was so unfortunate that I got this honour.'

'Aren't you happy?'

'Not at all. This is a good excuse to make a career, besides, I learned a lot of interesting things here. I can't say for sure yet whether it's useful to me or not,' here Valentino began to whistle the tune of some song again. Marzio was not annoyed by this, so he asked quite amicably.

' Why do you like whistling so much?'

'Oh! This is not just a whistle, but an artistic one! As a child, I studied a lot of music and somehow by myself I developed this skill. It calms me down and helps me concentrate.'

'But it annoys many people.'

'I know, but I can't help myself! When I was learning to play various musical instruments, whistling helped me find notes and find the right tempo. Apparently, this has become a habit,' here Valentino began to talk about his childhood and how he played at home concerts. But Marzio did not hear – his thoughts were somehow in a fog after a hard day.

Soon they reached the dormitory, and Marzio stopped next to the building where Valentino lived, but he continued to walk on, telling and telling.

'Valentino!' Marzio called out to him. The man stopped and looked at him in bewilderment.

'We've actually come,' Marzio said, pointing at the building.

'Oh, really, and I'm talking about something. Thank you, Marzio, for the company,' They said goodbye, and Marzio went to his room.

The very next day, Marzio met Valentino again, who kindly decided to accompany him. At first, Marzio thought Valentino was just looking for company, but then he guessed what had been going on. Valentino could literally lose his way in broad daylight. Many times he forgot how to get to some building in the academy and unobtrusively asked Marzio to help. Maybe there was another factor that Marzio was not annoyed by Valentino's whistling, and he could communicate with him normally. As it turned out, Valentino was an interesting and pleasant person. Marzio noticed that they could be called friends.

Marzio met another of his new friends in the refectory. Anastasio Mancini was a quiet and reserved man. He was a sickly-looking young man with light green hair and bangs covering his right eye of a light maroon colour. The young man was quiet and as inconspicuous as possible. You could even say intimidated and gloomy. He rarely spoke to anyone at all and tried to stay away. It was even surprising that such a person was studying at the academy because he did not differ in special combat skills, but rather on the contrary. In training, he was chased the longest, but in the classroom, he kept up with the level. However, no one talked to him at all, and he himself did not let anyone in. But it just so happened that there were no empty seats in the refectory that morning. Marzio could have waited for someone to make room, but he didn't want to wait. He looked for a long time with his eyes, where he would sit, until suddenly he saw the lonely figure of Anastasio. Marzio decided that one short breakfast would not interfere with Anastasio in any way, and even more so with him, so he decided to sit down with him.

Anastasio reacted sparingly to this, hardly paying attention to Marzio. The latter, in turn, politely greeted him and began breakfast. Everything was calm: both young men ate their breakfast in silence, not paying attention to each other. However, at some point, the peaceful meal was interrupted by a hubbub that arose in the dining room. Since Marzio was far from the epicentre of the screams, he could not understand what was happening. Finding nothing more reasonable than to ask Anastasio about it, he asked in a polite tone:

'Do you know what the hype is going on?' Anastasia seemed to have just woken up, blinked and answered quietly.

'Today is some kind of local holiday, but I don't understand.'

'Me too,' Marzio watched the actions of the other students not without interest: they exchanged various objects, smiled, laughed and looked quite solemn. In their background, Marzio and Anastasio looked like renegades. Apparently, the latter was quite satisfied with this, as he continued to calmly finish the meal. Marzio decided to follow his example, but as ill-luck would have it, a group of students paid attention to them and approached them in an organized manner.

'Are you going to give gifts?' one girl asked.

'What gifts?' Marzio asked, puzzled.

'Today is a holiday – you couldn't forget!' she immediately objected, but she was interrupted by one guy from the company.

'Leave them alone! They are not local, how do they know?!' there was irony in the word "not local".

'Indeed! Then it doesn't concern you!' the girl continued and the company left them. Marzio breathed a sigh of relief to himself.

'What a sticky...,' Anastasio muttered discontentedly.

'Come on! They have their own traditions and customs. We don't have to know them all,' Marzio replied good-naturedly.

'I'm not talking about that...,' Anastasio continued.

'I'm talking about their temper. They consider themselves smarter and stronger than everyone here as if they are the cream of the kingdom,' Marzio listened.

'They don't think much of themselves, and now they're showing off. You probably saw yourself how they looked at you and what they said.'

'So what?'

'What do you mean "what"?' Anastasio was surprised.

'Is it unpleasant for you?'

'No,' Marzio replied calmly.

'So you don't care about their opinion?'

'If I listen to everyone here, then I might miss something really important. I pay attention only to those people whom I respect. Here Anastasio's face changed noticeably. The irritation passed, and his skin seemed to smooth out.'

'Indeed, someone else's opinion is not so important if you are aware of yourself. Paying attention to everyone is not enough time, yes. If a person thinks, then he exists, and this does not mean that he should rely on the thoughts of others.'

'Yes, but the person imitates. He also imitates others, so he learns, this is life. That's what Aristotle said.'

'That's right. And a person also needs to be reprimanded, since we cannot live without society.'

'But he is great, and we are free to choose our own company, right?'

So Marzio met Anastasio Mancini quite by chance. Outwardly, Anastasio seemed quiet and inconspicuous, but behind this mask, there was an interesting personality. As it turned out, he was an educated young man with his own views on the world. His detachment was explained by his timid nature and pacifism. He wasn't one of those who liked fighting and guns. His father forcibly sent him to the academy, as this was the most promising opportunity for a good career. Anastasio was not happy about it:

'My father said that this is the only opportunity for me to get settled in life,' Anastasio once told me.

'He is generally rude and straightforward by nature, but I must have taken after my mother. How do you get along with your father?'

'We don't really see each other,' Marzio began.

'In my whole life, I've seen him fewer times than the fingers on one hand.'

'I see. And still, you have a good relationship, and you feel an attachment to him.'

'I wouldn't say "attachment". Things are usually attached by force, and I love my father, just because he is. Moreover, he really helped me with the academy and with the settling in life.'

'That's curious about you. And how about the mother?'

'Mom? ...,' here Marzio thought for a long time and fell into memories. Anastasio noticed this, and he was a little worried.

'My mom... she's gone. I ...,' here Anastasio interrupted him.

'I understand you.'

'Do you understand?' he nodded.

'I don't have the mother either. More precisely, she was but died in childhood. An accident.'

'Me, too, it can be said that an "accident" took place.'

'Let's not talk about it,' Anastasio suggested.

'I'm rubbing acid into your wound, and I would just like to get to know you as a person, that's all. You don't have to tell me about all your experiences if you don't want to.'

'That's not the point! You see, I myself somehow thought about it and was horrified. I'm hardened.'

'Excuse me, what?' Anastasio did not understand.