9 The Heart Of Knighthood (1/2)
The grandiose water fortress sheltered hundreds of individuals. Be it the pampered and capricious bearers of the Thornfield name or the knights, who obeyed every single order they were given, even the most despicable ones, there were plenty of reasons behind the frightened and anxious stares in maids and butlers' eyes, empty gazes which traduced terrifying traumatisms.
Although Drodosis lived his childhood in this water fortress, he couldn't help but feel a sense of alienation. He was no longer weak and useless, he was now an elite knight, and a beginner acolyte. Be it strength, knowledge or status, he was now a worthy member of the Thornfield family. However, he was seeing things which went against his principles, things he never noticed until now, maybe because he was too young or because his perception increased greatly since his successive breakthroughs.
From a distance, he could hear a commotion: mixed screams of horrors and m.u.f.fled gasps of agony. Running to the scene, he could see his cruel cousin Hannah, a true devil, now fifteen-years-old, and even more diabolic than she used to be.
'People here are afraid…Even knights are s.h.i.+vering at the thought of a war! What is she thinking?', he cursed in his mind. Drodosis had adapted to Alphen, its customs, and how to live as an acolyte. However, there was one thing he still couldn't bear to watch: cruelty.
Ruthlessness was fine. In fact, it was even necessary in most situations. If not ruthless, you would be a fat sheep in the eyes of others, especially in these lands where strength is everything, where a.n.a.lphabetic and ignorant individuals have power. This time, a servant was being beaten up by his own cousin: Hannah.
Her long hair and jade-like skin should suffice to call her a 'beauty', but she lacked the grace and feminism of women. She was akin to a demon, with eyes radiating madness. A servant was entrapped by a hand made of water, but not any kind of water. It was a spell, which Drodosis happened to have in his data base, one he scanned right before heading back home: Water Grasp.
The servant couldn't breathe, as a force of several men was pressing down his throat.
Before Drodosis could react, someone interrupted this ridiculous madness.
”That's enough!”, another woman said, while unsheathing her sword and cutting down the hand made of water, freeing the servant from this terrifying torture.
She was the ant.i.thesis of Hannah, with a beautiful yet fl.u.s.tered face, red hair, and a mature body covered in a light armour. Her strength could easily be deduced, and Drodosis didn't need his biochip to tell him she was a knight. The fact that she could wield a heavy sword with only one hand was proof of her physique.
”Who the h.e.l.l are you? Why would you ruin my fun?”, Hannah mumbled in a hateful voice.
Since he was born, there were a few people Drodosis never managed to get along with. Hannah and her little brother: Fang.
The two of them were respectively son and daughter of the Ice Elder (Lilly) and the respected Elder Hugo, the two advanced acolytes within the family. Pampered, feared and spoiled, they grew up to be terrible beings. While Fang was on the way to redemption, Hannah was…a true genius. She had already broken through the intermediate realm, at the age of 14. It was a year ago, and until this day, she had never experienced a setback.
”I am the Knight Commander Selene Dawn. I respectfully ask you to stop…”, the redhead woman said in a clear voice, but was interrupted by several spells.
It was a brilliant combination of Ice amplification, which added ice damage to the next spell, and water bullets, which were basically droplets of water condensed from water elemental particles, sent flying at such high speed that they were deadlier than arrows, hence its name: water bullets.
However, the spell wasn't cast. Surprisingly, this ingenious display of skill was childish in the eyes of the veteran knight Selene. The latter closed the distance in half a second, and landed a heavy knee strike at her opponent. A defensive spell absorbed most of the damage, but wasn't enough to fully nullify the damage. Hannah tried to get up, but a roundhouse kick smashed her against the wall. Hannah dropped on the ground, desperately trying to catch her breath, and shed tears for the first time in her life. She had been humiliated! In front of everyone!
Drodosis couldn't believe his eyes. Hannah had showed a flawless performance, using a combination of skills which synergised quite well, and she even manage to cast a barrier. Her intermediate acolyte cultivation should have been able to deal with any kind of veteran knight! Yet, Drodosis seemed to have underestimated the power of knights in melees.
Seeing Selene sheathing her sword, Drodosis picked up the collapsed Hannah, and apologised in her stead.
”I am sorry for the disturbance…I will make sure she engraves this lesson in her memories. Thank you for standing up for the servants. I am relieved to see someone of your standard in our family. This virtuous character of yours is praiseworthy, Selene Dawn. I will remember this name”, Drodosis said
People were quite surprised. Most of them didn't recognize Drodosis, who had not only grown up, but also grew muscles and lost an eye.
”Who are you?”, she said in a surprised tone. The kid in front of her was even younger than the infamous Hannah, but he seemed...dangerous. There was only one genius in the younger generation within the Thornfield family, wasn't it?
”Oh? How rude of me! I am Drodosis Thornfield. At the age of 8, I was sent to the Ivory Tower, where I studied. Since times are difficult for the family and my safety in danger, I was asked to return to the Water Fortress, where I would learn a few things before heading to the Arson Barony, in order to help the baron Rio.”, Drodosis explained.
Selene suddenly understood. She indeed heard of a heir coming home…So this was the heir!
”Thank you for your help, then!”, she said, ”we shall meet again, Drodosis Thornfield”, as if she acknowledged him.
[Beep! Selene Dawn is the daughter of Philip Dawn, Viscount of a territory next to the Elysian County, managed by Hubert Thornfield. He is an Elite Knight, and it seems that his daughter, Selene Dawn, is a veteran Knight quite near to breakthrough.]
Drodosis explained everything to Elder Gale, who had nothing better to do, since the library he had to safekeep was empty, most of the time, and could probably comfort the stubborn and unyielding Hannah.
After this impromptus and unexpected event, Drodosis headed to the training grounds, and realized for the first time how badly he was putting his scimitar mastery to use. He had seen a veteran knight beating up an intermediate acolyte, something which completely upset his view on the incoming war.