Disclaimer: Stella Glow is not mine, they belong to imagepoch.
[Location: Unknown]
A town was ablaze. Citizens ran in panic, trying to escape the flames. Some decided to fight the interlopers that were the cause of it. They charged towards a child in a pink hoodie with bunny ears and big white gloves. The child stabbed them with a chainsaw and katana before ripping it out. Blood splattered everywhere while the child laughs and moved to the next victim that dared challenge her. She revved her chainsaw and sliced another person in half, stabbed another, and ripped apart the remaining challengers.
The child giggled as the noise from the chainsaw died down. "That was so easy~" she said. "These idiots think they can stand a chance!"
A grown man, with a very bulky build and blonde hair walked up next the child. A gruff look painted his face as he looked at the child's "work".
"Dorothy," he scolded, "stop messing around. Killing is not our goal here." He furrowed his brow as he continued to look at the corpses littered in front of Dorothy.
"Hilda said I can kill anyone who gets in the way." Dorothy said, "Those idiots were doing just that, so I turned them into mince meat!~" She giggled again.
"In that case, don't let a single one escape!" the man said as he took out a battle axe bigger than him.
"Yeah, yeah! Got it, beardy!" she said, continuing her slaughter.
After a few minutes of killing and capturing, the two managed to seal the town.
"Now, let us wait for Hilda and Dante's arrival." The man said. "They should be here in a few minutes..."
It was taking longer than expected. They stood around for quite a while, fending off the odd person that tried to fight. Dorothy pouted as she grew impatient. She occasionally kicked at the dirt or dragged her weapons back and forth across the ground. The man, simply stared at the sealed town, now with the fire dying out and leaving burned and broken-down buildings. People hid in the buildings still intact or took cover in rubble, hoping that the two wouldn't come closer.
Dorothy's patience had grown thin, and she stomped her foot on the ground. "Ugh, where are those two?" She complained, "I wanna go home already!"
The man quickly glanced at her. "Patience, Dorothy," he said, furrowing his brow once again. "They'll be here soon." Looking at Dorothy again to see she was still pouting, he noticed two figures in the distance. "Speaking of which, here they come." He said, looking at the approaching figures. Dorothy stopped her pouting and turned to look at them as well.
Hilda didn't want to believe what she saw: burning buildings, charred and demolished homes alike, corpses scattered across the town, and people looking on them with fear. After meeting with Elc, it felt like a completely different situation to her now as she began to feel more conscience of the consequences of her actions. Before coming to this now-desolate little town, she worried about what those two would do when they were away. She mentally steeled herself as she approach them.
"Hilda, you arrived," the man said. "Shall we get started with the crystallization?"
"Finally!" Dorothy chimed with renewed energy. "What took you guys so long?"
"Dorothy… Hrodulf… I… " Hilda spoke slowly. "I'm sorry… we were just taking care of a few things… "
The way Hilda spoke to them was setting off a red flag. She never seemed to be so in dismay. She was always so calm and direct, never worrying about anything that gets in her way. Now, her changed mood seemed a bit unsettling.
"Is something the matter, Hilda?" the man, now known as Hrodulf, asked. "You aren't acting as your usual self."
"Hey, Hilda, what's wrong?" Dorothy pitched in, quickly looking over to Dante. "Did edgelord over here mess up the mission?"
Dante clicked his tongue. "Oh, shut up! I didn't mess up anything." He paused and looked away, wondering if he did before turning back to them. "Anyway, that's not the point." He turned to Hilda. "Hey, do you want to tell them?"
How was Hilda supposed to tell them? Everything they did up to this point seemed meaningless, now that Elcrest appeared. With him just being here, and by personal request, they have to stop everything. The goal she and her Harbingers are trying to achieve has been completely changed.
"..." Hilda continued looking at the town, not sure of what to say. "We… can't do this…"
"What!?" Dorothy blurted. "Hilda, what do you mean!?"
"What?" Hrodulf said, admitting some shock in his tone.
"Hey!" Dante shouted. "Don't start barraging her with questions, she's got a lot on her mind."
Hrodulf looked at Hilda. "Is this true? Has something happened?"
"Yes...something did happen," Hilda began. "Do you remember the times I have told you about my time with the hero, Elcrest?"
Dante quickly realized where she was going with this. "Wait, you don't mean-!"
"I do mean what I'm about to say," she said. "That boy we met just a few hours ago, that was him."
"So… the hero has returned," Hrodulf said. "What does this mean for the Harbingers?"
"It means we no longer have to fight a losing battle." Hilda replied. Some hope filled her voice. "We now have a fighting chance."
Dante looked at the relatively destroyed town and started counting the corpses littered in front of them. "One..two...three...four… damn it, Dorothy. Did you even keep anyone alive?"
"Hey!" Dorothy said. "They were the ones who started getting in the way!"
Dante sighed. "Great, this just makes it harder for us. We have even more blood on our hands, and crystallization won't get us out of this one."
"Why can't we just have Hilda sing and move on?" Dorothy said, pouting at Dante. "I did all this work for nothing!"
"You idiot," he yelled. "did you not hear Hilda just a minute ago, or do have dekurins stuffed in your ears? She just said she's no longer doing it!"
"Urgggg…" Dorothy grumbled, before accepting the change of plans in a defeated tone. "Okay, okay… but what now?"
"We head back to Fahrenheit. We tell the rest of the Harbingers, our forces, that we will change accordingly." Hilda explained. "We help Elcrest now, that is what we'll do." She distanced herself from them and stood firmly in front of them. "Any objections?"
The three looked at each other, then Hilda. "Hilda, there is no need to act as such. We swore our lives to you, and we will continue to aid you in every way till the very end." Hrodulf spoke. "Do not fret over the thought of any of us betraying you."
"Yeah! Well spoken, old man!" Dante commented. "As if we'll ever leave you, Hilda."
"Yeah! Yeah!" Dorothy perked up. "I'll never leave you Hilda! You're everything to me!"
Hilda couldn't help but smile at the three. After being together for so long, how could she even think of them betraying her? She saved Dante and Dorothy from disaster a long time ago, so they're practically her children, and Hrodulf especially swore his allegiance to her after that one huge incident, but now's not the time to remember that. Still, she couldn't help but feel like something's off. Not about them. Clearly it wasn't them but rather something else.
Deciding to think about it later, she turned her attention to them.
"Well then, shall we be heading back?" She asked, turning to the north and starting to walk. The trio followed after her. From this day on, the Harbingers will no longer crystallize and terrorize the citizens of Regnant, as they will contribute their efforts to help Elcrest and his quest to finally stop the moon once and for all.
[Location: Unknown Forest, East of Lambert]
Elcrest and Lisette have been walking for about half an hour through the forest, toward the Royal Capital. After meeting with Veronica and going separate ways with Hilda for a time, he and Lisette are told to go there, for a program of sorts to gather the Witches. He wasn't sure why they would need to, but he assumed that they needed as much power as they can to stop Hilda. Though, thanks to him, Hilda is no longer a threat, so he wonders how long until they realize this. Maybe then, he can enlighten them on the looming threat above them. That is, if they aren't so stubborn to believe him.
"Hey, Elcrest," Lisette spoke up. "Don't you think you should go by a different name?"
"Why is that?" he asked. "I think we should be fine, other than be given a few weird glances…"
"Well, I don't think going around as Elcrest will help us," Lisette started. "Imagine some guy named Elcrest, going around telling people that the moon will end humanity in a few weeks." She paused, putting her hands on her hips. "People wouldn't take you seriously."
"E-erm...well…" Elcrest tried to reply. Is that what she initially thought of me?, he thought. He sighed in defeat, "I guess you're right…what do you propose for a name?"
"Hmm…" She paused for a moment. "How about Alto?"
"Alto..?..." Elcrest said, a little bit confused on the name. "Isn't that a clef sign?"
"Huh?" Lisette was also confused, "What's a clef sign?"
"You mean you and the people of this time period don't know what one is?" He asked, wondering how people would forget about the basics of music. "It's a symbol that you use in music sheets and such."
"I don't know, I guess not…" she said. "There's not a lot we know about music other than that witches can sing."
Elcrest sighed. "Alright, let's… just go with Alto. If you what you said is true, then it'll be a good alias."
"Alrighty, now we're set." Lisette said before pausing another time. "What should we do when we get to the capital, though?"
"Hmm…" Elcrest thought for a moment. What should we do when we get there? We know that we need to recruit ourselves into the program...but how exactly? The capital doesn't just let anyone in if it's anything like it was 1000 thousand years ago..." He looked at Lisette for a moment. "I think I got it."
Lisette, wondering why he's looking at her, decides to ask. "Wait, does it have to do something with me?" Realization hit her. "Oh wait, it's because of me being a witch, isn't it?"
"Correct," He said. "Veronica said the program had to do with recruiting witches." He began to explain. "And since you are one, it should be easy for us to get in if we tell them."
"Well alrighty," she said. "Let's go with your plan then."
"Then we're set. Just a few more minutes till we get there." The pair had fallen into silence again as they continued their walk to Lambert, with only the sound of birds chirping and bugs buzzing.
The walls of Lambert stood proud and tall between the town and duo, reaching about 25-30 feet high with towers and gates reaching about 15 feet higher, complete with beige cobblestone and black steel gates. Knights patrolled the top of the wall with even more patrolling the grounds right by it.
The duo just recently came out of the forest much earlier, reconnecting to the main road and now standing just fair distance between the gate, people walked by as they were entering and leaving the city. Elcrest felt a bit nostalgic. Even after one thousand years, things seem to haven't changed much, with the exception of a few buildings here and there being more up to date with this era. Lisette stared in awe, looking at the ever standing walls and tall buildings behind it. She never seen such memorizing structures. They were about as 3 times as tall as the houses in in Mithra.
Elcrest stopped staring and looked towards the gates. By them, knights that appeared to be gatekeepers stood under the arch of the gate. If he could just speak to them about the program, it would help them get started. Then, the gathering of the witches of will be underway.
"Come, Lisette," Elcrest said, beckoning her to move along with him, snapping her out of her stare. "Let's talk to the knights and see if they know where to sign up." Beginning to walk ahead of her.
"O-oh, okay…" She replied, snapping out her stare and shaking her head a bit. She followed after him.
He walked closer to one of the gatekeepers and spoke up. "Excuse me, sir."
The knight turned his attention on him "Yes? What is it?"
"We like to enter a program the capital is holding to gather the witches?"
"A program? Hmm…" The knight thought for moment. "Oh! You mean the Anthem Program?"
"A-ah, yes. That one." Elcrest answered, uncertain if that was the right one. "It's the one where you gather the witches, correct?'
"Why yes," The knight confirmed. "That is the one, I assume you're here to be recruited into it, yes?
"Yes," Elcrest nodded, he then turned to Lisette who was a little behind him. "And this is friend of mine. She is a witch."
"Oh… Oh!" The knight realized. "Excuse me for a moment."
He moved over to the other knight standing at the other end of the gate and exchanged a whisper to him. The other knight nodded and went inside the city. The first knight returned to Elcrest.
"Wait here," he said. "A Royal Guard will take you to the castle."
The duo nodded before walking a fair distance from the gate and stood by the wall.
"That didn't take long." Lisette spoke up. "I thought it would've taken longer…"
"I thought so as well," Elcrest crossed his arms, looking back towards the gate. "Now we wait for the Royal Guard to retrieve us."
"Speaking of them, why do they need us to go to the castle?" Lisette asked.
"My best guess is that we're having an audience with Lambert's king or queen, or perhaps both. Usually you are only escorted to the castle if you have business with the ruler or the other way around." He explained, looking back at Lisette. "Well, you're quite lucky. You get to see the king...queen...both...you know what I mean." He sighed.
"You two!" A voice interrupted the two. "Come with me, and I'll take you to the castle." They turned around and saw a knight with fancier armor with the crest of the Royal Family; a Royal Guard has finally come to escort them to the castle. The two followed and entered the gate into the city.
The city streets were full and busy. People moved up and down the streets. Their voices carried up and down the streets as they gossiped, haggled, and debated. Children were playing around the alleys. Their high laughs and tall tales filled the city. Carts and stands had set up shop on the side of the streets, selling either fruit or trinkets, varying from stand to cart to stand.
Elcrest and Lisette took in their surroundings. The nostalgic feeling once again returned to Elcrest as memories of the capital from his time began flowing. He felt like he was finally home after a long journey. Lisette looked around in wonder, forever memorized by grand city of Lambert.
The two finally made it to the castle entrance after going to the other side of the city's main street and up a few grand staircases. The Royal Guard turned and gestured for them stop, before going ahead of them to entrance where more guards were waiting.
"We have brought the Witch and the boy," The escort said to the one of the entrance guards.
"Alright, bring them in."
And with that, Lisette and Elcrest entered the castle.
[Lambert Castle, Interior]
The central room was quite large. A huge red rug and stands with candles were laid in front of them that lead to another doorway on the other side of the room. The floor tiles were checkered like a chess board, and several balconies could be seen above the other doorway. Green drapes were tied at the ends by large ropes that hang from the ceiling and were tied to an archway above the other doorway.
As grand the room was, the knights and Elcrest were unfazed by it. Lisette, on the other hand, was amazed at the size of the room. Something this big could fit her entire village.
"Keep going," the escorting told them, pointing to the opposite door of the room. "The Audience Chamber is just ahead."
A man who looked like in mid 20's was waiting for them at the archway, he wore a green dress uniform with several badges pinned to the left side of chest, small glasses that look like they don't support his eyesight, and his hands behind his back and was making stern face. Elcrest felt a very serious and strict attitude radiate from him.
"So you have brought them?" The man asked, with a tone ever so serious.
"Just as you ordered Regent Elmar," the Royal Guard said.
"Good. Bring them into the audience chamber." Elmar said, before looking at the two. "Please refer to the Queen as your majesty and do not speak unless you are permitted to." He leaned in a little closer. "You will answer the questions she will give and answer the with the utmost respect, understand?" He sounded more stern at the last part.
"Yes sir." Elcrest nodded though he felt a little off with Elmar's tone and movements.
"O-okay." Lisette stuttered, she was put off by him as well.
Elmar looked at Lisette and squinted. "This goes double for you, witch. Do not take me for a fool who believes you witches aren't deceitful."
"Y-yes, sir…" She nervously replied. Elcrest was a little peeved and twitched his mouth a bit. They continued to the audience chamber.
[Audience Chamber]
The audience chamber was surprisingly small compared to the village-sized room they entered from. The red rug from before now ended at a throne, spreading out in a half circle. Green drapes as well hung from the ceiling as well as chandeliers and more balconies were on the sides of the room. At the throne stood a fairly young woman with blonde hair and emerald green eyes. She wore a vanilla white dress and roses hung from her neck, complete with the crown.
So this is the queen... Elcrest thought upon looking at her.
He felt the room become very warm. He could tell Lisette felt the same. She visibly became less nervous upon looking at her as well. Upon reaching a few feet from the queen, Elmar spoke up.
"Now…" He began. "Stand on one knee and bow your head. You will then announce yourselves and say where you are from."
Elcrest obliged and announced his name, remembering that his name is Alto to all but Lisette and Hilda. "My name is Alto, from the village of Mithra."
Lisette did the same but was a little more slow on getting on one knee. "My name is Lisette. I'm also from Mithra."
"You may rise," the queen said, her voice was soft and welcoming. As they rose, she spoke again, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anastasia, Queen Anastasia III."
"So this is the queen," Lisette said. "She looks very beautiful."
Elmar spoke up from behind them. "Witch! You are speaking out of term, wait till you have been granted permission!" His tone was clearly annoyed and forceful.
Lisette flinched. "Y-yes, I'm s-sorry!"
Elc's mouth twitched again at Elmar's stuffiness.
"Elmar," Ana began, a little saddened. "There is no need to be so critical. Look, you have scared her."
"This is a formal audience, and it must be performed properly," he replied.
"Then there can be no objections if I am the one to speak first," she said.
"That is not-" Elmar was cut off.
"Lisette… Alto… " She gave a warm smile. "Thank you for coming." She gestured toward Elmar. "This is Regent Elmar, he and Military Officer Klaus are my most trusted advisors." Anastasia then made a little confused face. "However, it seems Klaus isn't here at the moment. Where could he be?"
"He is returning from a mission as we speak," Elmar said. "He will be here in an hour or so."
"Oh, is that right?" Anastasia said. "Well, i'm sure we can continue without him." She turned back to the two guests, specifically Lisette. "Lisette, I have long awaited for the Water Witch to finally appear."
"O-oh," Lisette said, a little bit confused at the title. "I'm the Water Witch…?"
"Indeed, you are." Ana confirmed. "We haven't seen or had any reports of someone like you nor the Water Qualia for a long time."
Elcrest mentally sweatdropped at this. Oh, right. Cause it was with me the whole… time.
"Do you know what a Qualia is, Lisette?"
Lisette remembered what Elc told her when he first tuned her. "Oh, y-yeah. I sorta do know what one is. It's the reason why i'm a witch isn't it? And it's why me and Alto are here because you're gathering witches who are like me?"
"Correct," Ana said. "If you know this already, then it saves time from explaining."
Elmar, curled his lip, clearly showing signs of doubt of her being a witch. "Though, be that as it may, you have no proof." He turned to Anastasia. "Your Majesty, we must confirm that this girl is indeed a witch." Again, Elc twitched his lip, clearly starting to get annoyed by his doubtfulness and stuffiness.
"C-confirm?" Lisette felt her nerves return in full force.
"Medea, enter!" Elmar called out before turning to doorway.
….You know what, I don't need to describe a half naked women in robes and a blindfold over her eyes somehow making her way to the room. I'm sure you can't miss that detail with her. Anastasia turned to Medea. "Thank you for coming, Medea."
"I had to rush over when I heard our little bluebird was found." Medea said.
"This is Medea, our court musician," Anastasia said. "She is a music specialist."
So wait, they just leave all the music to one person? Not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Elc mentally commented.
Medea turned to Lisette, somehow knowing just where she is. "So this is the girl," Medea chuckled. "What a lovely little thing." Lisette blushed a little at the compliment. "A witch can perform magic through song. Think you can sing for me?" She asked.
"S-sing?" Lisette felt her nerves shake a bit. "I can't… I don't know how…"
"Oh. But you can." Medea reassured. "Close your eyes and dive within. Empty the depths of your heart."
"...A-alright…" She sighed nervously. She joined her hands and closed her eyes. "Close your eyes... Dive within…"
You can do it, Lisette. Listen to her advice, and you'll be fine. Elc thought to her, not wanting to disrupt but still wanted to support her.
Lisette opened her mouth and, suddenly, was singing. Light particles surrounded her, giving her sort of glow as she sang.
"So this is song… how bizarre." Elmar muttered under Lisette's singing.
"This Melody is truly superb, I can feel it reaching out to my heart." Anastasia complimented.
Excellent work Lisette. You managed to pull it off flawlessly.
Well… almost. Medea spoke up again.
"Yes, Lisette... Now, bare yourself-"
She was cut off when the glow started turning purple, a white noise could be heard as Lisette's singing turned raspy. She stopped and started coughing, holding her throat. Elc felt alarms go off in his head, this was something new, something he doesn't know how to fix or know the cause.
"Lisette!" Elc went to her, still alarmed. "Are you alright?"
Lisette was panting as she used Elc as support. "Can't...sing...it hurts…"
"N-no, this can't be..!.." Elc started feel dismayed. If Lisette is a witch, she should be able to sing. But now, why can't she?
"If she were a true witch, she'd be able to sing flawlessly!" Elmar said, clearly annoyed.
Ana turned to Medea. "What are your thoughts, Medea?"
"Well I never heard of a witch who can't sing." She admitted but paused before speaking again. "However, she did sing for a moment. There is no doubt Lisette is a witch."
"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Elmar said, doubting like always.
Medea felt a little offended at his question but had hint of playfulness in her voice. "Regent, are you suggesting I am lying to Her Majesty the Queen?"
Elmar, realizing what he said, went red. "Hmph. Th-that is enough! You may go!"
Medea giggled at him before looking at Anastasia. "Well then, I guess I'll be taking my leave now, Your Majesty." To which Anastasia nodded as she began to walk off and exited the room. Elcrest felt a little satisfaction at Elmar's response.
"The current situation regarding Lisette must be dealt with…" Ana began. "But now, let us rejoice in the birth of a new witch." She turned to Lisette with a reassuring smile. "Lisette, there is no doubt you are the Water Witch. And… you are the only hope we have to save this Kingdom."
"Mm." Lisette nodded.
"You have my thanks, Lisette." Anastasia said. "Now then... By the names of the Hero Elcrest and Queen Anastasia. I hereby declare the Anthem Program officially launched."
"Your Majesty," Elcrest started. "If I may, what will you do once you gather all the witches?" Elcrest knows they're doing this to stop Hilda, but they never said by what means specifically.
"Oh?" Ana looked a little confused by the question. "Oh! I never told you two what would happen if we did. It is simple. We have the witches perform the ensemble to undo the crystallization." She explained. "Then, we will deal with Hilda, the perpetrator and witch behind it."
"Oh, okay." He replied, a little dumbfounded that he didn't think about them singing to undo crystallization, an unexpected win-win on his part. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"The pleasure is mine, Alto." She smiled, before looking to Elmar. "Elmar, you will continue to assist me here in Lambert."
"I will do as I am commanded."
"Though, while Klaus isn't here yet," She said, her attention now on Elcrest. "I think he wouldn't have minded if we sent you to 9th Regiment's selection exam."
"Selection Exam?"
"Yes, think of it as a sort of test. The 9th Regiment is an elite group of knights who will help gather the three other witches," she explained. "While Lisette is placed automatically in the roster for being a witch, you, however, must take the exam to prove you are fit to join alongside her." She frowned a bit. "Please understand. Again, the 9th Regiment is an elite group, so you must take it if you wish to join."
"It is alright," Elcrest said. "I think I am capable of proving myself to be with the 9th Regiment."
"Then good luck," Ana said. "Elmar, take him to the training grounds. The next selectiom exam will start in 30 minutes."
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Elmar lead Elcrest out of the room.
"Good Luck, Alto!" Lisette called out, shortly before he was out of the room.
[Knight Training Grounds]
Elcrest was given a wooden sword and met up with other recruits on the grounds. Little dummies were placed to practice with while the Regnant Knights that were going to test them come back from their break. While he practiced on the dummy, others seem to either chat or do some practice before taking breaks in between.
I said before that I needed a little work on my swordplay. He thought back to the fight with the gelatin monsters. I think my problem is that I get carried away too easily, not paying attention to what is happening around me.
It was then he heard two new voices from afar. He heard it approach the grounds.
"Elites? You mean the rejects?"
"Are you referring to yourself, Rusty?"
"Shut up, you know what I mean, tightybald."
Elcrest and all the other recruits stopped and turned to the pair now walking within the area. One was bulky and tall, wearing a suit of armor with only his head exposed. He had a shield and a large metal gauntlet. His head was shaven at the sides and his brown hair was combed back. Like the stuffy regent, he had a stern face.
The other one was not so bulky but he was fit and lean. He had orange long hair, blue eyes, and dark skin. What? You think a person who was possibly born and raised in the desert doesn't have dark skin? Preposterous. Anyway, unlike the first guy, he was wearing a vest with brown pants and combat boots. He had several small bags tied to his thighs and one on his waist and wore braces. He pretty much had a resting bitch face if you know what I mean, like, there's no better way to describe someone's facial expression of not wanting to be there. Anyway, the two by first look seem to be opposites of each other. The range-haired man spoke up as he looked upon the recruits.
"So, these are the ones who will be tested today, huh?" He said. "I can tell none of them don't seem to know what they're in for, eh, Archibald?"
The bulky one, Archibald, replied in a annoyed tone "Stay your tongue, Rusty! You clearly are the one to talk!"
The Archibalds, huh? Good to know they're still around. Elc thought. He remembered that the Archibald family specialized in weapons and served the Royal Family for generations. Even after a thousand years, it seems like they are still around.
Rusty sighed. "I didn't come here to be a babysitter, okay? You, on the other hand would clearly do a good job at it, considering your stuck up ass…" He muttered the last part. "C'mon, let's just get this over with."
The recruits lined up on the opposite end of the training grounds from Rusty and Archibald. Rusty now has taken out wooden knives as he tossed and caught them while they waited to start. Archibald stood forward.
He announced, "The Selection Exam will now begin! Prepare for battle!" He quickly walked back to Rusty as they both got into a battle stance.
"Alright! It's time we got some hack n' slash action!" One of the recruits shouted. The other recruits seem to agree, as they all let out a battle cry and charged toward the two.
One recruit proceeded to target Rusty. "Hraaahhh!" He said as he brought his wooden sword down.
Rusty sidestepped with ease and kicked him away before making several blows with his wooden dagger on his head. The recruit was knocked back a bit before falling back unconcious. Rusty let out an annoyed sigh. "Geez, he's more meat head than you Archie." He looks at Archie who was in the middle of charging at someone.
Archibald proceeds to ready his metal "fist" and brings it up in a uppercut fashion. The recruit yells in pain as he is launched several feet and passes out on the floor. Archibald then yells out. "You think you can carry the honor of the 9th Regiment with such little skill!?" This intimidates the other two recruits, while Elcrest is somewhat impressed on taking them out with such little effort.
"M-monster! Monster!" One of them yelled, but it was tuned out by Archibald as he launched the gauntlet's projectile at him, he screamed before hitting the ground, defeated.
"Hrk..!.." Another knight that Rusty was dealing with muttered, Rusty had kicked him in the stomach and made few blows at his head. This knight was sure to at least get a blow on him. He went forward, sword raised and lazily swung the sword. Rusty just stood aside and watched him miss by several inches before giving up and lying on the ground, accepting his defeat. "Okay...I...give up…"
"Easier for me," Rusty replied. He and Archie turned to Elcrest, who was now the only one standing, wooden sword drawn.
"Hey!" Rusty called out to him, he prepared another wooden knife. "Let's see you dodge this!"
He threw the knife at Elcrest. Just as it was about to hit him, he tilted his head. The knife flew past him. It hit the wall behind him as it made a thunk! and fell to the floor. Elcrest looked at the knife, then Rusty with a deadpan face. Looking him in the eye, he prepared his sword and rushed forward with surprising speed. It caught Rusty's shoulder.
"Wha-..!" Rusty jumped back to avoid the second swing. He felt a stinging pain on his shoulder. His jump gave him enough room to process what just happened, even Archibald was a little shocked to see that someone landed a clean hit on Rusty.
"Heh, not bad kid!" Rusty complimented.
He looked calm but was freaking out over how carelessly he dodged his knife before attacking him with surprising speed. Just who is this guy?
Rusty moved forward with one dagger in hand. He opened up with an upward slash. Much to his annoyance, Elcrest jumped back. Upon landing, Rusty closed the distance between them and prepared his dagger again.
He swung to his left. Thunk! He swung to his right. Thunk! His left again. Thunk! Then finally, to his right, with more force than the last. Swoosh! A miss.
He looked at Elcrest and saw he's perfectly fine. Rusty took a deep breath before letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Look, i'm not saying you should go down already." He pointed the dagger at him. "But you should go down already."
Internally though, he wanted to keep fighting him. He wanted to go all out for once. He wanted to go all out on him.
"Let's see you try then."
"Fine, be that way." Rusty snapped. He turned to Archibald. "Archie! Would be nice if you helped out a little!"
"Right!" He came over to Rusty and readied his fist. "Take this!"
He began to aim his fist, ready to fire the projectile from it. Elcrest realized this and zigzagged to Archibald.
"Hold still!" Archibald complained, still trying to aim.
Elcrest jumped on his fist. He whacked Archibald on the side of the head with his sword. He jumped off. He was hit in the side with a wooden knife. He lost a bit of his footing. He looked at Rusty, who had smug look on his face.
"You didn't forget about me, did ya?" He teased.
A shield came down. Elcrest just barely blocked the shield bash through instinct. He wasn't focusing on the giant knight. He slid back a few feet. He saw Rusty coming at him. Elc moved to his left to get Rusty between him and Archibald.
Rusty began swinging his dagger at Elc. There was more force and speed than before. Elc had to dodge, block, and position all at once. If he let the dagger hit him or Archibald get around Rusty, he'd be in trouble.
He avoided the strikes. Rusty was getting angry. So were his attacks. Archibald was trying to get around Rusty. Elc moved horizontally to keep Rusty between them. Still, he needed to make a move and take down one of them.
Rusty was getting fed up but, at the same time, felt giddy. He continued to dodge everyone one of his strikes so far, and Archibald had only hit him once. If that weren't annoying enough, Elcrest had constantly reposition himself to keep Archibald from getting through. He could just stop and let him through, but he's too pissed to think. Too pissed because he's putting in this much effort to beat him. Too pissed because he's impressed. Too pissed because of Elcrest.
He hit. It landed on the side of the abdomen. "Ha! Gotcha!" Rusty cheered, as Elcrest flinched and halted.
He pulled out another dagger. He struck again. He hit his chest, his arm, his head. He made the each strike to the head stronger than the last. Rusty smirked, he finally did it. He beat this kid who showed up to the exam all high and mighty when that knife missed. He final-
A wooden sword went straight to Rusty's face. He felt intense pain across half of his face. His body shuddered. Right before he was smacked away, he saw Elcrest with a determined expression and an intense stare. His right cheek and forehead were badly bruised.
"It'll take more than a few swings to take me down." Elcrest muttered, enduring the pain.
Rusty fell to the ground. He tried to register what just happened. He quickly collected himself and rushed Elc again. They were about to clash weapons when a voice called out.
"That is enough," it said.
A certain blonde knight in white armor walked in. Lisette walked alongside him.
"Huh!?" Rusty spoke up, looking towards the blonde knight was. "Commander Klaus!? How long were you there?"
"Long enough." He said simply. "It seems the new 9th Regiment member is giving you trouble, isn't he?"
"He is not!" Rusty barked. "I was just about to beat him an- Wait… New 9th Regiment member!?" He pointed at Elcrest. "This kid didn't lose or beat us yet!"
"But he is quite skilled with a sword, isn't he?" Klaus said. "I think he's capable."
"Ugh… Alright. If you say so." Rusty complained, realizing he had to stop the exam now. He muttered to himself, "Just when I was having fun…" He walked out, and Archibald followed after.
Lisette waved at Elcrest, and he waved back. He walked to where she and Klaus were as he lightly touched his bruises.
"You did a great job Alto!" Lisette cheered. "Congrats on getting in."
"Thanks," Elcrest said, still touching his bruise. "Damn, he can hit hard."
"Oh! I can fix it!" Lisette realized, before raising her staff up. The staff gave a brief green glow, and suddenly, the bruises began to disappear and spread relief.
"When did you learn that?" He asked, knowing Lisette has never performed magic before.
"Medea helped me while you were at the exams." Lisette explained. "She said it's like trying to sing but channelling it using the staff I have and telling the magic what to do."
"Oh, well that's great!" Elcrest said. "You can perform magic!"
"Sorry to cut this conversation short," Klaus spoke up. "But we're not quite done yet, you still need to be introduced to your rooms and given your knight's uniform."
"Oh, alright," Elcrest said. "Let us go then."
"Right," Klaus said. He then paused as if he was trying to remember something. "A moment though." He cupped his hand and spoke louder towards the courtyard. "Rusty! Clean up the courtyard and wake up the recruits!"
A distant groaning came in response. With that, Klaus felt satisfied and walked off with Elcrest and Lisette.
[Knight Barracks]
The barracks were pretty simple in design. It had a meeting room, storage, kitchen, and bedrooms. The three stood in what looked seemed to be where all the hallways meet.
"So this is the barracks, huh?" Lisette said, looking down each hallway and staring at the fancy carpet and doors. "It's looks pretty nice."
Elcrest, however, didn't seem fazed by it. He lived here before, and the only difference is some renovations with a new decoration or two.
"Yeah," he said. "It's a fairly nice place."
"Indeed," Klaus said. "The barracks provides for the 9th Regiment's needs and is where we hold our meetings and mission reports." He turned down the hallway with all the doors. "Now... Alto, Lisette, your rooms are the last ones toward the end. Specifically, the second to last on the left for Lisette. And the last door on the right is Alto's." He turned to Elcrest. "I do apologize in advance however, as your room is more or less a storage. Because of the rush of the exams, we have not been able to clear out a proper room for you. While it does provide a bed and a table, there are weapons and crates stored in the room."
"Oh, It's alright I guess…" Elcrest trailed off. "I mean, as long as I have a bed I'll be fine."
"Mm, alright then," Klaus nodded. He turned to Lisette, and in his hands, was a set of clothes. "For you, Lisette, your uniform."
"Oh, my uniform?"Lisette was little confused at this. "I thought I was just here because I'm a witch."
"While your clothes are indeed fashionable, they're not very practical in battle," Klaus said, holding up the robes and armor to Lisette as he urged her to take them. "Here, take these, and put them on when we go on missions."
"O-oh, okay." Lisette took them while also realizing she has to fight too. "Thank you Mr. Klaus."
"No need for the mister part," Klaus said. "It's just Klaus, or Commander Klaus."
"Well, i'll be going to my room then," Lisette said. "And maybe change into these clothes. Cya Alto!" She walked down the hallway before opening then closing the door to her room.
Klaus then handed out Elcrest change of clothes to him. "Here's your uniform, Alto."
"Thank you, Commander." He took them from Klaus's hands.
"Tomorrow, you and Lisette will start your first mission," Klaus said. "I expect you two to wear your uniforms. My apologies, but it's part of the code of conduct."
"I understand." Elcrest began to walk to his room. "I'll be in my room then."
"See you then, Alto," he said.
Klaus waited until he was finally alone in his room. He looked around a bit and paused, as if checking if anyone was there with him. Satisfied, he began muttering quietly to himself. "Don't think you can fool me with your pathetic alias." He spoke in a menacing tone. "I've been at this longer than you. Soon, I will make you pay, Elcrest...!"