The sun hung low in the sky, casting long orange streaks across the cobbled roads of Vaelond. A hush seemed to drape the city like a veil. Even the market square, usually bustling with merchants and town criers, carried a strange stillness, as if the whole kingdom knew what the next day held. The Knights Academy Assessment.
Ethan stood in the backyard of the merchant's estate, his bare feet buried into the dry earth, sword held still at his side. Sweat rolled down his temple, stinging his eyes. Across from him stood the merchant's daughter, Velina, holding her wooden blade firm. Her breathing was steady now, a stark contrast to the first day.
"Again," Ethan muttered, stepping forward with sharp precision.
Velina raised her sword defensively, bracing for impact. Their blades met with a dull crack, and again, and again. Sparks of motion flickered between them like flint and steel. Velina twisted low for a sweep, but Ethan anticipated, sidestepping and tapping her shoulder with the flat of his blade.
"Good feint," he said, lowering his sword. "But you lead with your hips before you move your foot. It gives your intentions away."
Velina groaned. "How do you even see that?"
"Experience and instinct I guess, Years of needing to," he replied quietly, stepping back into stance.
She frowned, her eyes on his face. "You talk like someone who's seen war. But you're not even from any Academy."
Ethan said nothing. The ghosts of Licia, the howl of the Abyssal Jaw Bear, the blinding rage in his veins, they sat silently with him, even now.
"Again," he said.
They clashed once more, movements cleaner now. She ducked, pivoted, parried, he followed, corrected, blocked. The sound of practice echoed into the night.
From the stone steps of the estate, the merchant watched them. His arms crossed, his eyes tracking every movement.
"He's not just skilled," he murmured to his wife, standing beside him. "He's burdened. That kind of fire doesn't come from ambition. It comes from loss."
His wife nodded. "Then the Academy may not be ready for him."
---
Later that evening, Ethan sat in the guest chamber, looking out the window into the silent streets. He wore a simple tunic, a cloth wrapping still tied around his chest and right forearm, beneath it, a reminder that he wasn't thesame, a reminder of what is coursing through his vein, a reminder that the further walk in this path, the more he would be consumed but that wasn't going to happen on his watch as long as he masters it. On the wooden desk beside him sat the armor the merchant had gifted: well-forged steel greaves, darkened chainmail, and a leather chestplate etched with the Vaelond crest. Beside it lay a blade, not ornate, but sturdy, sturdy enough to keep him a life but not as sturdy as that which he got from his village.
He reached out, fingers brushing over the weapon. It hummed faintly under his touch, and for a moment, it felt like the Abyss within him stirred.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WEAPON RESONANCE DETECTED]
[COMPATIBILITY: 63% - Blade Sync Not Achieved]
He pulled his hand back, exhaling.
"This is the third time it does this"
"So you don't like this one, huh?" he muttered.
The System did not respond. Not this time.
A soft knock came from the door. Velina stepped in with a cloth in her hand, hair slightly damp from a recent wash.
"Tomorrow," she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "You ready?"
Ethan nodded. "I will be."
"You know... you never talk about where you come from," she said. "Or who you are. The others will ask. The Academy, they care about lineage."
He looked at her. "What will you say when they ask you who I am?"
She thought for a moment. "I'll say you saved my father, trained with me like a knight, and earned your place more than any blue-blood brat."
A corner of Ethan's lips curved. "Good answer."
She smiled, then handed him the cloth. "You should sleep. Tomorrow might not be fair. But it will be the first step."
Ethan took the cloth, nodding. She stood and left, the door closing softly behind her.
----------
Morning came with the roll of distant horns and the scent of dew on stone. Ethan stood at the threshold of the estate, fully dressed in his new armor. The leather straps dug lightly into his shoulders. He adjusted the sword belt around his waist.
The merchant approached, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"You are not just representing yourself, Ethan. You are representing everyone who's ever been underestimated, you are representing everyone who's ever been ignored because they have no lineage, you are the first pillar to stand tall and ignore all that they say, go, be brave and show them Knighthood isn't about bloodline or lineage, skills and blade come first." Kael explained as if talking to his own son. Giving words of encouragement.
Ethan nodded. "I won't forget."
"And if they ask who you are?"
He looked up, eyes hard. "I'll tell them I'm the storm they'll never ignore."
As they left the estate and joined the long procession of young men and women marching toward the towering walls of the Knights Academy, Ethan's heart beat steady. No fear. No hesitation.
Only resolve.
"Are you ready to take the assessment" Ethan asked Velina, who wasn't talking for too long, since they left
"I... I don't know... But don't worry I will be ready when he reach the gates" She explained. Ethan paused for a second, looking at her with piercing eyes
"You know...you don't have to be worried. You know about these more than I do, maybe that's why I ain't worried but I can say something about you. We've trained for over 2weeks now, my swordmanship was brutal, It was only forged through instinct and physical strength, but you help me sharpen it. I have more precision and faster reaction, combined with my instinct, it made a wild beast... You are strong and skilled Velina, you just need to trust in yourself, keep your head up and move with your blade tight in your hands, and be sure that you will slay all the obstacles obstructing your path"
Ethan wasn't that of a great philosopher or one that has the right words to encourage someone but he tried his possible best to instill a flame of determination in Velina.
"Thanks for the words, Ethan" Velina said with a smile.
Ahead, the towering obsidian gates of the Academy awaited. They were forged with rune-iron, covered in golden engravings of past knight-kings, Leviathan hunts, and abyssal wars. And above it all, a single phrase carved into the arch:
"Through Pain, We Rise. Through Discipline, We Endure. Through Oath, We Become."
Ethan stepped into the shadow of the gates.
In not too long, the test would begin.