The next morning, Alucard wakes up before the sun rises, going through the mantra he repeats to keep himself calm.
Through strength, I find purpose.
Through victory, I break my limits.
Through my power, I am free, and I choose my path.
Although it was not much, it had helped keep him somewhat sane throughout his many lives. Most seemed to end in his death right before he could complete his goals, which sucked, but he took everything as a learning experience.
Now, as he made his way to the main hall, he wondered if his new squad mates would be stuck-up or not. He could certainly sense them, their mana signatures much fuller than the others around base. Upon entering, he finally got a look at the people he was about to fight alongside.
Four men and one woman were waiting with brooms alongside them as he picked up the pace. "Are you Alucard?" The leader asked gruffly as he nodded, "Let's go then, no time to waste." They picked up their brooms as a bigger guy tossed him one, and he raced after them.
"I'm going to make this short," The lead mage shouted over the wind as Alucard caught up with them. "We're not the most respected despite coming from the Dawn, expect the worst jobs and most arrogant nobles to push us around. Also, tell us your magic now so we can plan now instead of later."
He nodded as he listed his magics, "All four base elements, plus lightning, Space and weapon creation magic. I can heal or do damage, all-arounder." The leader nodded as he filed that away for later. "I'll be sure to use your skillset well. My name is Carter, I'm a 5th-class Senior Knight. I'll be your direct superior for now."
The rest of the trip was silent as they raced high above the Clover Kingdom. Alucard was silent, as were the others, as villages and towns zipped by below them.
After a few hours of travel, Carter led them lower as they stopped in a town full of Magic Knights. They were still a few hundred miles away from the border, so Alucard guessed this must be the one rest stop they'd get. "Alright, go take some time to stretch your legs while I get our orders. Cat, you make sure our new member doesn't get jumped. The rest of you get the usual supplies we'll need."
As the other left to go do what they needed to do, the sole woman of the group came up to me. "So you're our new number six? How old are you, kid?" She said while sizing him up, "I'm 15, just joined the Dawn yesterday." She looked very surprised at that.
"Why are you here with us? I'm the youngest, and I'm 20, why'd the Captain send a kid to the front lines!" She looked somewhat agitated as he shrugged, "Because on my first day, I almost killed another squad member, Langris had to save the poor guy." Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull hearing that.
"That was YOU! I thought someone else did that to Striker!" She nearly yelled as he wondered if he meant something to her, "Good job, kid! That guy's been bothering me for months, saying I need to go out with him because he's a noble. That should keep him away for a while!" She grinned maniacally as Alucard grinned as well.
"Anyway, let's go get you some clothes. I'm sure you got something stashed away, but you'll need extra crap just in case." She then led him into the town to the shopping center. As they passed the food market, another squad member came up to them. "Hey, you have a space thing, right?" The man asked as Cat introduced him.
"This is Emanuel, he's a front-line mage. You got the supplies?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yeah, and I'm wondering if the new kid's got somewhere we can store it to save space for more important things." Alucard nodded as he opened a portal right there. "Go in and organize things. I should have enough space left for whatever we get. I'm planning on expanding it later."
They froze at the idea of just entering someone else's storage space, but Emanual just shrugged and went in. He came out a few moments later with empty hands and a bag of Yul. "You have mountains of coins lying around, I'm going to buy things we've been needing for months! You'll thank me later!"
Alucard let him go since he really did have a small hill of Yul inside, as well as whatever provisions Emanuel had just put inside. "You have money! Let's go shopping then!" Cat then dragged him by the arm as Alucard felt his world fall apart.
Thankfully, Cat was much more focused than Mimosa was when she dragged him out to the shops. She focused more on clothes for whatever weather they'd get. She also bought a few magic lamps and heating devices. As well as blankets and plenty of other miscellaneous items.
"You may hate it now, but when Command refuses to let us resupply, you'll be happy to have spent this money." She said as they finished organizing the last of the things Emanuel had brought as they finished shopping.
By now, the sun had started to set as they met up again with the others, and Cat introduced everyone. "So you've met Carter and me; we're in command. Emanuel and Jorge will be upfront with you, most likely."
Emanuel nodded and elbowed the much larger Jorge. "Nice to meet you, don't know why the Captain sent you with us. I'm sure he's got a reason, you'll do great!" Emanuel rolled his eyes as Cat continued.
"I'm more of a mid-range caster, and Michael over here is our ranger. He'll keep anyone from sneaking up on you." Michael nodded but remained silent as he kept scanning the people and rooftops, looking for something.
"As for Carter, he's more support, but he packs a punch when it counts! So how about you, kid? What's your name? Where are you from?"
Alucard looked around and decided not share everything about himself just yet. "My name is Alucard, I'm a noble, but don't want to share my surname just yet. I can do basically whatever is needed. I can deal damage, heal, and support from range. We should get along."
Emanuel whistled upon hearing he was a noble. "You from a fallen house? As long as you don't try to stick anything in our faces, we should be fine." Alucard shook his head, "No, my father is just a bit too important. I'd rather not share his name when anyone could be listening."
They nodded at that. Even inside the Clover Kingdom, not everyone was an ally. Carter chose that moment to return as he approached with a frown. "We got our orders. We're supposed to reinforce the border team in the plains. We leave after dinner." He briefly ignored the loud questions from the others as he looked at Alucard.
"I know who you are. Don't start anything with the people around us, and we'll be fine. I don't care about politics, but you'd better pull your weight."
The others stilled at his tone as they turned to look at Alcuard, who crossed his arms. "As long as some fool doesn't try anything. We both know it'll happen, though, and you know what I'll do."
Carter sighed as they then went to dinner. The mess hall was full of other knights from almost every squad; only the Black Bulls had no members present, but that was due to their low numbers.
After getting their food, Carter led them to their benches, where they dug into their meal fast, as Alucard noticed everyone around them glancing at them, and the few members of the Golden Dawn present sneered at them.
He ignored it as he ate quickly, and as the others finished, they left the mess hall as fast as the conversations restarted with their departure. "Did you get everything we need?" Carter asked as Emanuel and Cat nodded. "Yep, everything is stored inside Alucard's storage space, safe until we need it."
Carter nodded, and they returned to their brooms and took off into the night. "Why did they react that way? Why so many faces?" Alucard, as the light from the town got farther away from them.
"We aren't the most popular squad; even the other members of the Dawn don't have anything to do with us," Emanuel said with a smirk as Carter and Jorge frowned. "It's because of our name, we're known as the Gravewatch." Alucard found the name strange, "Why the name?"
"Every mission we're sent on kills everyone but us; we're the ones watching others enter the grave," Michael spoke quietly for the first time as Carter sighed. "It's not our fault, we're just the only ones who made it when a battle went south a few years back. Now we're the ones who get sent to the worst fights; they don't even try to hide it anymore."
Alucard nodded calmly as they rode in silence for the rest of the night.
They continued riding well after dawn when the forests gave way to plains and farmlands. A few more villages were present, but they ignored them as they continued for another few hours. They finally reached the plains base at lunch time, where the base commander was already waiting for them.
"It took you long enough. What a waste of my time." He spat as they landed, as Alucard already felt like ripping his head off. "There are reports coming in of Diamond Kingdom mages to the south and east. Go check it out." He ordered before spinning on his heel and leaving.
"Can I kill him?" He asked bluntly as Emanuel laughed, and even Michael grinned at his blunt attitude. "No." Carter sighed as he realized Alucard would be exactly like Cat and Emanuel, another noble hater.
"Let's go, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we sleep." Carter then led the way as they flew over pastures and fields. A few children waved up at them, but most ignored them as Alucard let his mana lose, looking for any signature.
The others felt the hair on their necks prickle when he did that as they turned to him. "What are you doing?" "I'm looking for mana signatures, anything the size of your mana or bigger." He said as if it made perfect sense.
"Stop that," Carter ordered as he withdrew his mana with a frown, "When you do that, you also expose us to anyone that might be around. We're on patrol, not looking for a fight." Carter explained as Alucard obeyed.
For hours, they patrolled, finding nothing but more farms. It was getting increasingly clear that there were no enemy mages and that the commander had just wanted them out of the base, but why? "I think we should be ready for a fight upon our return." He stated as Carter looked at him.
"Why?" "That commander wants us tired for some reason, I'm guessing, so someone can pick a fight and we get into trouble so they have an excuse to overwork us."
They all just looked at each other, then back to him, "That was scary, man, not Cat scary, but very close." Emanuel said as Jorge chuckled, "We got another good find." Carter didn't find it funny, however, as he nodded.
"That's exactly what's about to happen, and when it does, I don't want you lashing out and getting us screwed even more." Alucard shook his head mockingly, "You already know what's going to happen. It comes with the name and title. Those slimy nobles did get something right."
The other wondered what he meant, but neither Carter nor Alucard shed light on anything until they returned to base, heading straight for the mess. Though smaller than the one back in town, the food was just as bad as they took their seats.
"Oh, look, another stray has joined the pack." A slimy voice cackled as Alucard glanced over. The man was barely his height, and he was the shortest in his squad; even Cat was taller than him at 6 '1, the others were all giants at 6' 3, with Jorge being a mountain of a man at 6 '5.
'This idiot doesn't have the mana to fight with me.' Alucard promptly ignored the man as he sat and ate his food. He sensed the man get up and walk over, but he ignored him. "Let me give you a customary greeting, trash!"
He froze as a basin of water was dumped on his head. The rest of them froze as Alucard calmly stood up and set himself ablaze.
BAM!
The man went flying as Alucard punched him right in the face, and the water covering him turned to steam instantly as his clothes were flash-dried. "HOW DARE YOU STRIKE A NOBLE! ACCEPT YOUR DEATH!" One of the man's goons shouted as he started casting a spell.
BAM!
Another hit and the man folded like cardboard. Alucard let go of his mana completely as the noble stood up, "How dare you strike me! The great Grant Milan!" He cried as Alucard took a step forward.
"Alucard, stop it!" Carter shouted, but he didn't listen as he stood up, only for Jorge to drag him back down. "Don't let him learn." They watched as Grant and five other mages started casting spells.
Alucard did nothing as the spells hit him and evaporated on contact with his flaming body. "How pathetic. You insult the Wizard King with such a weak attack; you are nothing but useless trash."
The base commander chose that moment to barge in, flaring his mana, which did nothing but cause ripples in the storm that Alucard was holding back. "How dare you strike a noble! You shall be flogged and your squad court martialed for this offense!" He shouted as Grant added, "This boy even dares to claim the Wizard King would find offense to us!"
That set the commander off even further as he started shouting and berating Alucard and the rest of the Gravewatchers. Alucard listened to him for a moment before calmly reaching into a pocket and bringing out a communicator.
"Ah, Alucard! What a surprise, you almost never call me, it feels nice to be wanted by my son for once!" Everything froze when Julius answered. He then looked around and frowned. "Explain."
Alucard explained, in great detail, as the Commander and Grant struggled to rationalize what was happening. "Hmm, what a shame. Oh well, kill them. I'll send you to the front like you should have been. I thought I'd already weeded out those foolish nobles still in command, seems not."
Alucard nodded as his grimoire flashed open. "Kneel." The commander, Grant, and his goons fell to the ground as the Gravewatchers and the other knights froze. 'He wasn't really going to kill them, was he?'
"By order of Wizard King Julius Novachrono, I, Alucard Novachrono, pass the judgment of death, for the offense of interfering with orders from Golden Dawn Captain William Vangeance, and for abuse of authority. Such actions have no place in the Clover Kingdom, and the land will be safer once you are dead."
He then cast a spell, as seven dark swords materialized above the heads of the men kneeling. "Justice Magic: Slaughter of the Unrighteous!"
The swords then fell as their blood sprayed out, any that got close to Alucard burned up as he burned the bodies to ash.