The Church of Solis was known to restrict its armies to only men. Women were simply not allowed to take a martial rank even if they could fight. But for some reason, opposite to all established ideas, there was a woman with a sword, smiling at Sylvester.
She wore metal armor that suited her body and had a white piece of cloth over the chainmail. She was tall, about six feet, and had brown hair and gray eyes. As for her age, it was hard to guess, as Knights and Wizards age differently according to their rank.
'Is she strong?' he wondered and tested the grounds.
"Keep your distance from her. We have no idea how strong she is. Only use long-range attacks." He instructed the team.
Sylvester then used the simple attack of Fireball by using visible runes and sent it the female Knight's way. Next, Markus sent a blast of air, and Felix also made his move.
Bam!—The female Knight simply waved her sword to extinguish Silvester's fire blast. She let Markus' air blast touch her and fade. For Felix's Earth elemental attack, she merely punched and obliterated the projectile.
Sylvester was not alarmed as he expected this much. "She's calm and collected. We can't surprise her with our moves as she's taller and has better maneuverability. This leaves us with only one option—confuse her!"
He had discussed the plan beforehand, so they quickly got to work on it. Sylvester and Felix had Knights' talent, so they took spears from the weapon's rack and started rotating them in their hands.
'I know we don't need to defeat the opponent but show our powers. And to get everyone from my team to pass, we must show our abilities.' Sylvester planned silently and slowly sidestepped.
Felix and Sylvester soon stood at a distance on the left and right of the female Knight. Markus and Gabriel stayed put. Augustus Steel, the Deacon with Grand Knight talent, was tasked with keeping their weakest member, Willis, safe.
The female Knight smirked and taunted them to test their patience. "Boys, no matter what you do or plan, you can't defeat me. Just fight me directly proudly."
Sylvester knowingly replied loudly. "We will not be fooled by your provocations, lady… Knight."
The woman smiled kindly at Sylvester and introduced herself. "You can call me Lady Aurora, Lord's Bard."
Sylvester ignored the pleasantries and focused on the fight. First, he looked at Marcus and winked to signal to prepare. Then he glanced at Felix on the other side and nodded.
Woosh!—With one swift motion, both threw their spears. But they were not aimed at Aurora. Instead, they flew past her face by a large margin.
Sylvester and Felix jumped and caught each other's spears. Seeing Aurora distracted, Sylvester whistled loudly.
Shhh!—Augustus used his water element to spray water on the ground to form a large puddle. Then he used his fire element to turn that water into dense white mist, effectively hiding himself and others behind it.
Everything went as planned, and Sylvester jumped to hide behind the mist, too, leaving only Felix behind to keep her distracted.
Felix smiled warmly as Aurora moved closer to him. "Hehe, please don't hurt me!"
Sad for Felix, he was the sacrificial lamb for the fight and got punched in his face quickly. His eye turned red in an instant as he got thrown away.
There was a reason why Sylvester jumped away by taking such a risk. He knew there was only one thing that could make the effect of mist amplify—light!
Being the master of Light Magic, he used his power and sent out an intense beam of light into the mist, illuminating it and even making a giant rainbow. It was unknown if they were strong, but their fight was visually stunning. At least that was the general consensus.
"TAKE THIS!" Next moment Sylvester jumped out of the dense mist by using Markus, Gabriel, and Augustus as stepping stones. His aim was Aurora herself.
With the solarium-covered spear in his hand, he went to hit her down on the head.
Clank!—But Aurora lifted her sword in time and blocked the spear. She then simply smirked and punched Sylvester in the stomach, hurling him up in the air.
"Ack!" Sylvester felt his guts come out of his mouth as the pain seeped into his mind as he, too, was thrown away like Felix.
But before he could land on the ground, he shouted. "NOW!"
Woosh!—All of a sudden, Marcus used his air element to push the mist towards Aurora so it would cover her senses. At the same time, Gabriel shot a light beam with his limited talent in the element to blind her. But that was not the end of their goal as they quickly sat down on their knees.
Augustus took a position in front as they once again acted like stepping stones for Willis Leroy this time. The boy was physically and magically weak with only one unique talent that brought him this far, which got him called—God's Favored.
He used all his strength to not disappoint the boys who selected him and gave him the chance to do something meaningful. He knew he would have been left behind normally for being so weak, but… this was his chance to prove himself.
'I can do it!' He reassured himself and used all the strength his legs could muster to launch himself toward Aurora.
He had no weapons in his hands, nor was there an incantation of magic. This shocked Aurora greatly when she faintly saw what was coming through the mist.
"Haaaaaa!"
Willis suddenly opened his mouth wide and roared like a dragon with a long blast of fire launching out. As he fell over Aurora, the fire finally hit her and burned a small piece of her Knight's gown over the chainmail.
'I will not be a disappointment.' Willis poured all his strength into this one move. Sylvester had planned it from the beginning, and this would be their little magnum opus.
"Graaa…!"
He was a dragon tonight, not a weak little boy with no friends.
Bam!—But every magnum opus gets one-upped eventually. To fight someone many levels above was like an ant aiming to bring down an elephant. It was strategically possible but physically nigh impossible.
Aurora butted her sword's hilt on Willis' head as he fell directly towards her. With that, the third group member was defeated, falling unconscious. But she didn't let him fall hard on the floor and caught his body first.
She then waved her sword with such speed that all the mist dispersed.
"I am truly impressed by your six. Who planned all this?" She asked with a kind smile.
All of them looked at Sylvester, who was panting from the hit on the stomach, his mouth appearing bloody as well.
"Lord's Bard? It seems the rumors I heard were right. I have high hopes for you, Sylvester Maximilian. May the holy light enlighten us." She put her sword back into the sheath and walked away, heading directly to the exit.
"The fight isn't over!" Marcus stopped her, brandishing his spear. Gabriel and Augustus stood at his side, nodding.
"Haha, but it is."
Clank!—She snapped her sword an inch out of the sheath for a split second. It resulted in tiny bloody cuts appearing on the three boys' necks.
They realized they could have died if she had wanted to kill them. This simple action made their legs go weak, prompting a fall.
All five could do was watch as she left with the same smile she first appeared. Clearly, she didn't even use a portion of her strength, or she could have turned their bones into a paste by now.
'I hope this was enough to get good grades.' Sylvester dragged himself to stand up and walk to Sir Baldfreak.
"Who was she?" He inquired.
Sir Baldfreak proudly answered. "Oh, she's Aurora Foxtron, 10th Sword of Light, the Thunderfall."
Sylvester silently gulped and glanced at the exit. 'Why did she come here to fight?'
All he knew was that there were ten Guardians of Light. Her being the tenth meant she was the weakest of all, but her being one of them meant she was among the top powerhouses of the Church.
"Thunderfall?"
Sir Baldfreak scoffed. "Deacon Maximillian, Lady Aurora is a Wizard by the main profession. Knight's talent is her weaker talent. If she wanted, she could have obliterated all of us by summoning a rain of thunderbolts from the sky."
"..."
"Did we pass?" He asked right away since comparing power was useless.
"You shall know that after fifteen days, Deacon. Now help your teammates off the field. The next fight needs to start."
He did as asked and walked away with his mind drowned in questions. 'Are all of these Knights Guardians of Light?'
However, at one glance, he could discern the truth. They were too blank to be so important. Not to mention, they didn't have the same prideful attitude as Aurora.
'I wonder when I will be that strong.'
Soon their little team rested on the sides while the remaining three fights went on. In the end, as expected, no group of Deacons won, but Sylvester's group lasted the longest… that with an opponent so strong. They even landed one hit, so it had to count to something.
All were tired, and the day soon came to an end. The first day of examination was harsh and unpredictable but also exciting. Willis quickly got back up, but Felix still had a swollen eye from the punch.
Meanwhile, Sylvester's pain and injury were gone. He somehow healed on his own, even shocking the healer a bit. But they reckoned the injury was not deep in the first place.
That night too, Sylvester slept with the boys in the dorms. He didn't have an extra bed for himself, so he had to put a mattress on the floor. But being so tired, they just dropped like dead bodies.
Not to mention, they made two new friends.
…
The second day came, and it was full of activity again. It was supposed to be the day of the practical examination.
For this, all mentors would sit in one hall together and interview Deacons one by one. Then, they would give a task to perform and evaluate right there.
This time, as there were other mentors in the same room, Bishop Norman could not give Sylvester an impossible Rune to perform. So the examination went well with ease.
But according to the rumors circulating around, the next thirteen days would be the crucial days of examination as the Church will test them in the real world. Accompanying Knights will record their actions, and their bad habits will be penalized. So it was going to be like living under constant surveillance.
This examination was to see their real-world application of talent and ensure there was no secret heathen among the God's Favored.
The rules were simple. There were a set of job notifications School of Dawn had copied from the Wizard and Knight's Guild. Each Deacon was to select one job and complete it while ensuring their behavior kept the name of faith and Church in the highest regard.
The jobs could range from helping a village with wild animals, an exorcism, water or food problems to fighting thieves.
His dream of buying a farm and a house to live a peaceful life was still in his mind. So, when Sylvester looked at the jobs listed on the blackboard in the classroom, his eyes were only fixed on the part that talked about money, as they were allowed to keep all the money they would earn.
"Fighting wild boars for 10 Gold Graces? No!—Fixing a village drought for 5 Gold graces? This is so cheap!—Stopping thieves from pillaging and blackmailing Blackrock Village for 300 Gold Graces? This one's good but…"
His eyes fell on a paper at the corner of the board. He picked the job request and read it with a greedy smile. "Exorcism in Goldstown for 1000 Gold Graces? Sweet! It shouldn't be a problem with my light magic and Holy Runes."
He took the job notification and registered his name with the class coordinator mentor, Archpriest Edmund. After that, all he had to do was gather Sir Dolorem and two other assigned knights and head out.
"They wouldn't put an impossible request on the board for a Deacon, right?" He wondered, reassuring himself.
LATE, BUT HERE IT IS!
**1069 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
