Team Dylan had been in the village of Lak Point for a week before Aidan came after them. Just the night before Leon and Zain had finally managed to master the training Major Dylan put on them. Zain had joined her and Major Dylan on the bridge for babysitting duty as she had dubbed it. Leon was back at Anouk’s house recovering from exhaustion, both physical and magic.
However, the sight that greeted them at the bridge was not one Sophia was used to. The few workers that hadn’t quit on the old man in fear were injured.
‘So Aidan and his partner are here.’
Sophia took a protective stance in front of the bridge builder, gladly letting Major Dylan and Zain take charge of this battle. Her hand-to-hand combat still wasn’t good enough to fight Aidan in a hand-to-hand combat fight, even if she had a nearly endless supply of needles.
Hopefully, she would be able to let Major Dylan handle this and defend herself and Anouk if the need ar
“Hey, Sophia, you can release your barrier now.” Sophia sagged in relief when she heard her mentor’s voice as he rapped on her rock barrier. She released the magic and fell into Major Dylan’s waiting arms. She looked at the carnage that had occurred while she couldn’t see. Aidan and Eleazar were both dead, their bodies placed next to each other. At the far end of the bridge were more bodies she didn’t recognize, but she figured one of them was Richard. The citizens of Lak Point had shown up, hold an assortment of weapons. She gazed up at her mentor’s face. He was still wounded and there was drying blood everywhere. “Where are Leon and Zain? Are they okay?” Major Dylan gave her a soft smile. “Leon’s just fine. Zain
Major Dylan was once again late to the meeting he called at the bridge. Sophia was getting fairly annoyed by her mentor’s attitude. Why call a team meeting if he was going to be late every damn time?Of course he appeared just as tensions were running high and her patience was fraying thin. He completely derailed any possible breakout of a fight between Leon and Zain by announcing he had nominated them for the High Knight selection exams.Leon took his application eagerly and hugged their mentor until they fell on the ground. “I love you, Major Dylan!”“Anyway,” their mentor grunted as he got up, “this exam is dangerous especially for you, young and inexperienced Knights. It’s up to each of you if you want to actually participate. If you do, take those papers to the Head Office of the Knights Association tomorrow morning.” And then their mentor was gone.Sophia knew she was going to take the High Knight sele
A huge cloud of smoke formed in the front of the room. It dispersed to reveal Commander Hades and two dozen or so High Knights in sleek, white uniform behind him. Oh dear lord! Is he going to be proctoring this exam? Sophia panicked in her mind. “Thanks for waiting. I’m Commander Hades, the examiner for the High Knight selection exam’s first test.” Sophia wanted to bash her head against something hard. So she did. There was no way this exam wasn’t going to be torture if he was in charge. For Laera’s sake, he turned a simple D-rank painting mission into a nightmare with a single question. “There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated.” Was he trying to psych them out, because if that was his goal he definitely succeeded? Every Knight in the room swallowed their saliva. Were they going to be fighting already? “Those pigs that disobey
Team Dylan hurried to get their scroll and pick a gate. Sophia pointed out that the best gate to pick would be one that was close to the river. The map that Major Laina had shown them depicted the river going right under the tower at the forest’s center. They would be able to follow the river to the tower and would always have a supply of water on hand. As soon as the instructor threw open the gate, the member of Team Dylan dashed through and took to the trees. Sophia was surprised how quick flying their first two days in the forest were. From what Major Laina had said, she expected to never have a moment of peace from the second they stepped through the gate. But aside from some giant ferocious wolves, a colony of blood sucking bats, a patch of deceptively innocent man eating plants, vines that tried to pull them into the ground and strangle them, a colony of venomous spiders taller than the three of them, and a pack of horses with six legs that tried to stampede th
Sophia jerk herself upright when she realized she had almost fallen asleep again. She and the rest of her team were currently taking cover under the upraised roots of a large tree. Her eyes fell on her two unconscious teammates. She replaced the clothes on their foreheads with new ones she soaked with water from her canteen. Leon was still unconscious from magic exhaustion. Zain had somehow managed to get bit by a poisonous snake. His face was even paler than normal, contrary to the raging fever he had. She would let them rest for another hour in hopes that Leon would come around and help her with Zain. If not, she would use the earth magic to move them closer to the tower. However, she really hoped Leon woke up soon. She didn’t think she’d be able to handle it if they were attacked while she was the only one that could fight. She was weary from keeping watch all night. “Heh, up all night?” Sophia snatched up a dagger. How did people keep snea
Sophia spent the fourth day of the exam catching up on sleep. Leon and Zain had been seen to and the Healing Knight said they would both be fine, so Sophia finally allowed herself to relax. When she awoke, she found both boys seated at her bedside. Apparently Major Major Dylan had repeated her summary of what happened after the second day to them. Zain, even if it seemed somewhat grudging, thanked her for saving his life. Not that she thought he would have died from that snake bite, just suffered a lot of pain until it was properly treated. Leon had congratulated her on winning the fight against the team of Knights and even robbing them of their weapons. “How exactly did you manage to take on those three Knights all by yourself, Soph?” was Leon’s first question, which he added quickly, “and what the hell happened to your hair?” Sophia subconsciously raised her hand and ran her fingers across her short hair. “I had to cut it because it got tangled in some bram
Sophia grinned happily when the proctor announced her as the winner. Just by looking at the watching crowd, she could tell that only her three mentors believed her capable of winning. Everyone else thought the poor little brown haired girl was going to be crushed by one of the strongest Knight left in this competition. But she had shown them. She went to the upper level to watch the rest of the preliminary matches with her team, quite glad she had gone first. Now she wouldn’t have to wait and bite her nails worrying about who she was going to be paired up with. The brunette reached her teammates. Leon tackled her in a bear hug and spun her around in circles, yelling at the top of his lungs. Major Dylan rescued her, setting her on her feet. He ruffled her hair and gave her his signature close-eyed smile that said he was proud of her. Even Zain, still mad that she had finished the second exam for him, awarded her a small smile. Sophia leaned against the railing
Sophia knew she had a lot of work ahead of her as she prepared for the final part of the High Knights selection exam. She needed to learn more long range magic, increase her magic reserves, and keep up her training in illusionary magic and hand to hand combat. She was waiting on the platform for Major Dylan along with Leon and Zain. She still couldn’t believe all of Team Dylan had made it to the finals. Just thinking about the tournament made Sophia anxious. Leon and Zain would be fighting each other in the first round, and the intensity of their rival made her worry. One of them would have to lose, and the loser would probably be bitter. Or at least Zain would be if he was one to lose. It also made her wonder what Major Dylan would do about their training. There was no way he could train both Leon and Zain, and it would be completely unfair for him to pick one over the other. She briefly thought that he would train her, so as to not favor one boy over the other, but