Canaan: My World To Live
Chapter 36 - Seven - 2 || A Knight's Oath
The guard bobbed his head at Essairyn. "Yes! All aspiring Knights receive free training before becoming official Knights! Of course, they can continue their education for free after too. For especially excellent students, they can study at the main campus in Neu'arth!"
"Hmmโฆ" Essairyn inclined her head thoughtfully. No matter one's circ.u.mstances or relationsh.i.p.s, one had to join the Knight's Order in order to receive the free training. "Then how do you join the Order?"
The guard proudly thumped his c.h.e.s.t. "Anyone can become a Knight! You simply must swear to serve the people and help all those in need of your services! The Knight's Oath encourages furthering one's education, pushing their personal limits, and giving back to the community!"
"Errrโฆ" One of Essairyn's eyebrow winced at the guard's passionate statements. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต'๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ข๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉโฆ A Knight's Oath and Order sounded appealing in terms of designation.
But it also sounded restrictive in being obligated to assist others upon request. While good for the community, and Essairyn applauded the integrity and mission of the Order, the notion of helping everyone that asked anything of her was highly undesirable. ๐๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
On the other hand, Essairyn's concerns mostly flew over the head of Darren. The guard was almost comically impassioned in his eyes, but the idea of joining a Knight's Order and taking on an oath enticed him.
"What kind of training and education? Do we get to live in dorms or something?" he asked the guard with repressed anticipation. Darren didn't know whether dormitories existed in this world, but it was likely since it was an Academy.
"Yes, you get free board if you reach middle-upper D rank as a human after taking the entrance ranking exam! But we offer discounted rooms and food for trainees and Knights."
"Sweet!" Darren grinned. He was positive that was a doable feat for him. And the discounted board and room were tempting offers. With this he could live a life close to what he was used to while figuring out the world and his next course of action. He also wouldn't have to rely on Essairyn anymore.
At his enthusiastic response, Essairyn furrowed her brows. ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ? ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ถ'๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉโฆ In the brief time that they were together, it made the journey more enjoyable.
Even though she had Akari, a solitary journey without another human seemed daunting now. Additionally, he also had the same Earth experiences as her, so they could relate. Or at least, that's what she had presumed. She had gotten used to his presence, just like with Akari before him. But perhaps he wasn't so keen as she was on staying together.
Seeing the quiet girl, Darren prodded her gently with the back of his hand. "How about you? It sounds pretty cool right? And we won't have to be too worried about expenses or anything. It'll be like attending school, but even better probably."
The arrangement was ideal. He would be safe from any demon disturbances like the wolf encounter back at the Welforts' farm. And he could live easily while improving himself. ๐๐ฆ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ.
The zealous sensation he had after first jumping onto the rooftops had largely evaporated. He opted to live securely at a pace he could control rather than the whims of the world or Essairyn. Darren felt like the oddball out between her and Akari.
He wasn't even certain how the fox felt about him. While she seemed innocuous enough, Lachlan had said she was dangerous. If even ghosts were hazardous through possessing animals, then it wouldn't be far fetched for Akari to be a significant threat too.
So coupled with faint suspicion, he was starting to despise the feeling of losing control and not knowing what the day would bring. The known world had capsized into an unknown abyss. This sinking realization that had been partially hindered by Essairyn's calm presence was slinking into the recesses of his mind.
Essairyn's eyes narrowed a bit at his encouragement and ambiguous expression. She did want to train and learn more about the world, but she didn't like being tied down again. Not after she finally gained her freedom.
So instead of responding to him, she turned to the guard. "What if I don't join the Order, how do I receive the training and education then?"
"You must pay the tuition in order to train and study at the Academy. The dormitories and food are also an added expense. In total, for one year, it's one hundred plus fifty eleuars," answered the guard who was well-rehearsed in such questions.
He was actually a Knight himself as the majority of the staff and teachers were at the Academy. Although he wasn't ranked much higher than cadets, he still took pride in welcoming newcomers.
"Hm, that's expensiveโฆfor now at least." Essairyn could only pay just a fraction of the cost, and even if she sold her demon beast drops, she still would be far from the necessary amount. Hunting beasts for their potential drops was also too inefficient.
Although, with Akari around, they appeared directly in Essairyn's path like moths to light. So she felt a smidgen of gratitude toward the apparent danger which was actually advantageous.
"You're not going to accept the offer?" Darren pursed his lips in a frown. He initially hadn't expected her to ignore his earlier suggestion, but Essairyn was just being herself again and doing what she pleased. His words were ineffectual and disregarded.
"No, I'd rather not stay in one place," she replied curtly before continuing in a gentler tone, "If you want to join that's okay. I'll stay and wait for your results."
Darren's gut twisted slightly. He wasn't sure why, but her words had an accusing undertone that made him feel strangely guilty. Although he was dragged around in the process, she had helped him forge a new path. He was no longer clueless about the world and his circ.u.mstances because of her. So he could only force a smile in reply before heading inside the Academy. Essairyn and Akari trailed after since the school lobby was open to the public.
The vanilla marble floored lobby was spacious and fluctuated with indistinct wavelengths of light, of magical illumination. Essairyn had not yet seen electricity in action because the air was naturally lit by magic from the atmosphere.
However, various lamps and lighting were scattered in the room. She assumed they were turned on during nighttime. With the Andelrins and Welforts, they had both used candlelight instead of electricity. So electricity appeared to be confined to towns.
Before she could ponder how electricity was created in a magical world not bound by Earth's natural laws, Darren was being escorted by a lightly armored man to the entrance exam location. She instinctively started after him, but then she halted in remembrance of their agreement.
The escorting knight noticed Essairyn's actions, so he addressed her. "Do you want to come along? You can still watch even if you're not taking the exam." She instantly brightened up, nodded, and hurried after them both.
The ivory colored corridor led to a rotunda filled with aspiring young trainees, knight personnel, and curious spectators. An engraved ring painted in gold encircled the sparring area, and the examinees watched the matches on the sidelines while waiting for their names to be called. After Darren registered, they too joined the small crowd.
A trio of knights were the main examiners. They rotated the task of testing a trainee by fighting one-on-one with wooden weapons, and then together they would evaluate the trainee's skills.
Afterwards, a magical device embedded into the wall would read each trainees' regular m'u amount when they placed their hand on its glassy surface. The knights' evaluation and the regular m'u reading were evenly weighed and comprised the final rank of the trainee.
"Which weapon are you going to chose?" Essairyn gestured toward the weapon piles outside of the ring. The majority were various types of swords and blades. Other weapons included spears, clubs, bats, axes, poles, and hammers. Long distance weapons like bow and arrows were not permitted as spars were strictly hand-to-hand combat.
"Longsword," he instantly answered. The slice of a sword was smooth and sharp. In Darren's mind, it was the most dignified weapon of choice. The others felt too barbaric and didn't suit his image. He was also the most confident in being able to maneuver it over any other weapon.
Essairyn merely bobbed her head in acknowledgement. ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ค๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฉ? The piles of bladed weapons all lacked anything reminiscent of a proper scythe. For a split second, she felt a tinge of disappointment.
But ruminating it over a bit, she resolved it was better to be unique. She could create her own signature style of fighting. Already she had employed a hybrid battle style with magical and physical attacks against demons. While it was still crude and far from perfected, she enjoyed being able to utilize a variety of weapons. She didn't see why she had to limit herself to just one type.
After several trainees finished their spars, Darren was up next. He retrieved a longsword and stood up to the knight examiner. Seeing his determined gaze, the knight was pleased. He felt a slight pressure in the boy's aura that signaled underlying potential.
"So your name is Darren? A fine name. I hope you can live up to it," the knight with ash-auburn hair remarked as he readied his stance.
Darren momentarily was puzzled. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ? But he had no time to think as the knight struck first.
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