In the bustle of the main street, a masked man walked with confidence and vigor, behind him a nun followed with a sullen expression that accurately portrayed the suffocating air that surrounded the two, yet the knight simply moved forward seemingly without care.
'Dammit this is awkward…'
Not letting it show, Cael was the most uncomfortable of the two. Elyra had always followed Arlen around, the reason for her expression was Cael's harsh tone with her. Cael on the other hand had only been tailed by people that wanted to kill him so having someone he didn't trust follow him so closely was taking a toll on his psyche.
"Excuse me Arlen but can I ask where we're going?" Her voice was quiet and subdued.
"…" Cael looked back at her trying his best to not ignore her completely, "I'm paying a visit to my teacher."
"Sir Corren? Why?"
"I can't heal my body, getting used to it like this is my best bet."
"I see…" Her expression darkened even more as she remembered last night's conversation.
Seeing that she had nothing to add Cael turned his head bac–
Thud
"Ouch!" A little child fell to the floor.
"Arlen!"
The little kid ran into Cael while playing around with his friends.
"I'm sorry mister…" He froze as he looked up to the armored knight.
"You should watch where you—" Before Elyra could lecture the boy Cael raised his hand to stop her and knelt down to meet the boy's gaze.
"Are you okay little one?" His hoarse voice had a note of warmth behind it.
"A-are you the Hero?" An excited expression flashed across the child's face.
"Yes, that's what they call me." He nodded slowly and picked up the boy from the ground.
"I-I'm sorry I ran into you!" He repeatedly bowed down as he apologised.
"No, I should have been a little more careful, this armor is pretty tough so I could've gotten you hurt. I was a little distracted, sorry little friend." The Hero patted the kids head as he reassured him. His little cheeks got red and a smile filled his face.
"I always wanted to meet you, Mr Hero!"
"Yeah me too!"
"Can we brag to our other friends about meeting you?"
The boy's friends ran over when they knew that none of them were in trouble.
"You can tell them that you met me but bragging isn't good."
"Yeah!"
"Okay!"
"We will never brag!"
"Good. Well I have business to attend to so be good." Cael stood up to leave, wincing a little behind the mask and waved goodbye to the smiling children.
"…" Elyra stared at Cael with a silent question on her face, "I didn't expect you to still be nice to the kids…"
"Why wouldn't I be? The people are the only reason I'm doing this. My problems are with your people." His voice turned chilling cold once again.
'At least that's what I think Arlen felt like.'
"Ah…" And the mood turned sour again.
***
The street to the knights' training grounds was one that Cael knew too well and not by choice either. It was so close to the adventurers' guild that some knights would enter it, often trying to throw their weights around, which only worsened the adventurers' image of what a knight should look and act like.
Cael couldn't help but stare at the old building that stood out in the middle of the extravagant street, the sign read; 'The Heart Guild' the Heartland's branch of the guild and the main one, its size would make one doubt that status but most of the building hid underground and what is shown outside was just the tavern and reception.
He felt a little nostalgic at the smell of the guild's food.
"…" Elyra's eyes narrowed at the building's sight.
"You're staring quite intensely. Do you want to take a look inside?"
"Skies no! It was just…" She lowered her gaze and looked guilty.
'She was probably thinking of me.'
"Anyway we're here." Stopping just after the guild, Cael stared up at the massive arch leading inside of the training grounds. "Are you joining me inside too?"
"I-if you don't mind…" Her voice was hushed and timid.
"Suit yourself." Giving the ok Cael took his first step inside of the knights' training grounds, usually no one can enter but the king's knights and the trainee academy graduates, Elyra is a special case allowed to the Hero.
Clank Clash
The sound of metal hitting metal filled the surroundings as Cael and Elyra passed plenty of duels and spars, Cael's crimson eyes swept the surroundings in search for the knight fanatic but no trace of him was found.
'…Where could he be?'
"Will we be able to find him today?" He asked, trying to glean any information from Elyra.
"I am not sure but if he is not here he could be at the Cathedral."
"Or on a mission, but I wasn't called so that's unlikely."
"Right. We can ask one of the knights here. Hey you!" She turned to a random knight training on his own and called for him.
Visibly confused as to why a sister was doing inside the ground's let alone why she would be calling him, he was going to give her a piece of his mind before taking a look at the figure beside her and froze in place.
"S-sir Hero!?" He quickly heeded Elyra's call and bowed to show his respect for the Hero. "Then you must be Sister Elyra, I was admitted to the knights five months ago so this is my first time seeing the two of you! It's an honor."
'It's true, she would have no reason to come here without Arlen.'
"I was planning on meeting sir Corven."
"Oh! You're in luck, the general just returned from a meeting with the advisers. He should be in his office." He pointed his finger towards the room at the end of the hallway.
"Thank you for your help. By the way, what is your station?"
"I have just been assigned as the captain of my own team!"
"Captain? You must be quite exceptional to achieve that in five months."
"Hehe…" He smiled shyly at Elyra's compliment.
'He couldn't even be considered a silver adventurer and they're giving him the captain position?'
Cael could tell at a glance that he did not possess great skill nor potential, he saw many bright eyed adventurers like him die in simple silver-ranked missions.
'It seems the state of the knights is even worse than Arlen thought…'
***
A giant sat on his desk, the small table making his size seem even bigger. It was full of papers that he had to look over and sign, the knight's mood was foul his earlier meeting did not go in the way he wanted.
"They are cutting our funds again…" A sigh blew over the stacks of papers as he pulled them closer, his tired blue eyes lacked a shine and a strand of his white hair fell to cover it.
He came from a long line of knights, The Rells have always taken the role of mentor for the Heroes and he was no different; his great grandfather was the previous mentor. His father and his father weren't born in the age of the Hero so each one trained their son as hard as they could as young as possible.
That's how his nickname came to be.
The Knight Fanatic.
He was told stories of knights and the Hero before he could speak, he was shown training techniques before he could walk and he witnessed death before he could learn what it meant.
His whole life was for the knights, they were the face of the country. As important to Valis Thorne as the Hero himself.
Yet the king didn't seem to care.
Each meeting he attended ended with his pride trampled.
He didn't care for the money but without it the number of knights slowly dwindled and their weapons rusted.
War was on the horizon. Corren was not blind to the signs but his warnings fell on deaf ears, each time he tried to convince the advisers they would respond with the Hero as their crutch.
"I am concerned for the Hero as well…" His student's state was not reassuring.
Knock knock knock
Three familiar knocks sounded from the door.
"You can come in."
***
Opening the door slowly Cael took a quick look of the small office, it reminded him of Arlen's room bland and empty, it smelled of leather, iron and ink.
"Hero? What brought you here?" Said the giant knight in a pleasantly surprised tone.
"Hello teacher." Cael bowed slightly as he greeted him.
"Teacher? Haha it has been a while since I heard you call me that." His deep voice made Cael's ears perk up.
"I thought it would be appropriate for what I'm about to ask of you." The Hero's voice turned serious.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"…" Cael took a moment to find the right words, "I need your help." He removed his helmet revealing his golden hair and the white mask.
"This is the first time you ask me for help." Corren's eyes widened at his student's words then they narrowed again, "What can I do for you?"
Cael raised his hand and removed the mask revealing his face to his teacher and the sister that accompanied him.
It was their first time seeing him without a helmet or mask from up close, Elyra averted her eyes from him covering her mouth to stop her stomach from turning. Corren's expression remained the same but a hint of regret flashed across his eyes for a fleeting moment, he is a veteran knight such a sight was not new to him.
"This curse of mine poses a greater threat than I imagined."