Nero was awakened by the sound of thunder.

He had fallen asleep in a guest room of the castle. It was storming hard and the sky was grey with light.

“What time is it?” Nero asked himself.

He began to fear he had overslept. He knew today was going to be very important. However, he saw a small clock on the wall across the room.

“10:30.” He thought to himself.

He figured now was the time to get up, knowing he had to find Stella. Surely their squad was going to meet up soon. Nero got dressed and headed out into the castle. He began heading towards the western tower.

Right before he entered the base of the tower, he was stopped by a familiar voice.

“Sir Nero? A delivery from the King.”

It was the messenger from the day before. He was holding a large crate.

“Could this be my new armor?” Nero asked.

“Yes sir, it was made last night upon your request.” The man replied.

Nero was shocked. Who could have made a full set of knight's armor in a single night?

“That was... fast.” Nero said.

The messenger laughed and handed Nero the large crate.

“Indeed, it was made by the best dwarf smith in the world. Fognem.” The messenger replied.

“Fognem? I’ll have to introduce myself later.” Nero said with a smile.

The messenger gave a bow and left in a hurry.

Nero was excited to try on his new set of armor. He hurried to a nearby washroom and opened the crate. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

The armor was black, like a shadow in the night. Yet it almost shimmered like the scales of a dragon. This set was one of a kind. The armor was not bulky like some of the other sets he had seen. It was a perfect fit around his entire body and somewhat thin, but it felt harder than diamonds. As he put on his gauntlets and boots, he realized how flexible it was. It moved and bent like leather despite being made of ebony sun steel. Nero knew he had to thank this blacksmith someday. At the bottom of the crate was a black silky cape that had a hood on it. It was similar to the other capes that knights had, although its color was utterly unique. Nero attached it to the back of his armor.

The king had really out done himself in spoiling Nero. He wondered how the smith was able to get the measurements for his body, but it mattered not.

Just before Nero was about to leave, he noticed a letter at the bottom of the crate. It had the royal seal on it and was addressed to him. He quickly opened it and began to read it.

Nero, your first mission begins now. Proceed to The Brave Cup, it is a tavern near the center of the city. You will get there by following the main road. You and your squad will be meeting with your captain, Joshua War-Song, for introductions and a mission briefing at midday. You will follow his orders to the letter, for as long as he is in command of you. However, do not forget that your main purpose is to see to my daughter's safety. You are the Crownsman now, so you must keep your title a secret to everyone. If anyone asks what you are, you may call yourself a “Black Knight.” Your captain knows what you are and will help keep your secret if necessary. This will be your first big adventure, enjoy it. Destroy this letter after reading it.

King Luce Solare.

Nero was excited, for once he actually had a known purpose. Plus, he was about to go on a mission with those he called friends. Were they going to another nation? Or perhaps collecting a large bounty? No matter what, Nero was going to enjoy himself.

He summoned night flame in his hand, and promptly disintegrated the letter. He had about an hour to make it to The Brave Cup, it was best for him to leave now.

Nero had exited the castle, and began to walk the main road while the storm raged. He put on his hood and began humming a familiar tune. The streets weren’t crowded at all. It seemed like the rain had inspired the citizens to stay inside for the day.

Nero walked for half an hour. He came to a stop when saw a sign on the side of a building. It was a cup wielding a sword, with a smirking face. It seems he had arrived. There was a lot of light coming from inside the tavern. He could hear conversations going on inside, as well as laughter.

Once inside, Nero looked around and noticed there were a lot of knights. Many were eating and doing paperwork, a lot of them were just conversing, but very few were drinking. This time of day the knights were probably on duty or just stopping to get some lunch. It almost put Nero at ease knowing that the knights of Hevaria were disciplined to this extent. When Nero looked towards the back of the tavern, he saw Joshua War-Song, his captain. He was sitting on one side of a long table, on the other side were four empty seats. Nero was glad he left early; it seemed the captain was an early bird as well. He approached the table and sat in one of the empty seats across from Joshua. The captain was reading what looked to be a notebook, and drank hot tea from a cup. He did not look up at Nero, who had no idea what to say.

“Uh... reporting for duty... sir?” Nero said awkwardly.

The captain looked up at him with a smile.

“Please, be quiet.” He replied as he looked back down at his notebook.

He turned to a new page in his notebook and scribbled something down.

Nero was dumbfounded following the captain's words. However, he did choose to remain silent.

Ten minutes had passed and the tavern door opened. When Nero looked over his shoulder, he saw Alexander approaching the table. He looked surprised to see Nero was there. Alexander sat down and addressed the captain.

“I’m Alexander Erikson, I’m honored to be serving under you sir.”

The captain didn’t even look up from his notebook, he just scribbled something else and continued drinking his tea. Alexander and Nero shared a look, both were very confused by the captain's behavior.

Eventually, Stella arrived at exactly midday and she sat next to Nero. She gave him a surprised smile and addressed the captain. She seemed to have forgiven him for his actions in their dual.

“I hope the day has found you well sir.”

“Your majesty.” He replied without looking up.

He scribbled something down yet again.

Nero knew what this was, the man was clearly writing down their times of arrival. This means Aria was completely screwed, she was now late.

Stella talked with Nero for a bit and began asking why he was there. When he explained he was a “black knight” now, Alexander protested by claiming he had never heard of a black night. Nero did not care about Alexander's opinions though; he was just happy to be there.

Eventually, a waitress approached the table. The captain looked up at her with a charming smile.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“What would you all like today?” The waitress asked.

“Four orders of the pork and cider stew, and tea for everyone.” The captain said.

“Of course, it will be right out.”

The waitress left in a hurry. Nero noticed that Joshua was wearing his normal attire now. He was wearing a unique set of grey armor that was scarred and dented. He had probably worn that armor his whole life. It seemed Joshua was old fashioned. He was also wearing his golden cape now.

“I can’t believe Aria is late. This is one of the most important days of her life and she is blowing it.” Alexander said with a disappointed tone.

“She seems to always be on her own time. Now that she’s a knight she might have to be a bit more structured though.” Stella replied.

After a few moments, the waitress returned with four bowls of stew and five mugs of hot tea. She gave three bowls to Nero, Stella and Alex. She then began to give one to the captain but he revealed the last bowl was for Aria, who was still late. Nero was hungry and was about to dig in, but Stella softly nudged his leg. It seemed they were all going to wait for Aria before eating.

The doors flew open and everyone in the tavern grew silent and looked towards the noise. It was Aria, she was drenched from the rain and was out of breath. No doubt she had overslept and sprinted from her home through the rain. She quickly walked to the table and sat down next to Alex. Despite being so late, she kept a cheerful attitude.

“Hey guys! Sorry I’m late.” She laughed.

The captain scribbled in his notebook once more. He then looked up at the four, and began looking them up and down. He seemed rather obsessive compulsive. Setting aside his notebook and pencil in a symmetric manner.

“Nero, first to arrive. 30 minutes early. Alexander, second to arrive. 20 minutes early. Stella, third to arrive. On time. Aria... 20 minutes late... last to arrive.” The captain said as he looked at each of them.

“I apologize sir, it wasn’t my intention-” Aria tried to say.

“I’m going to lay down some rules. You will memorize them. First, it is mandatory that each of you arrive early or at least on time to briefings and meetings. I will not accept you being late past this point. Second, you will do what I say when I say. My experience alone makes me smarter and stronger than all of you. Lastly-” The captain said before being interrupted.

Aria took a sip of the drink in front of her, and spit it out when realizing it was tea.

“Agh! I hate tea!” She exclaimed.

Her squad mates looked at her with fearful eyes, how many times could she mess up in one day? The captain looked visibly irritated now.

“Lastly... Never... Interrupt me. Also, tea is a gift from the gods and I will not tolerate the disrespect of such a thing. We will be drinking a lot of it during our time together so you better get used to it.” The captain stated.

Aria yelped a bit in embarrassment.

“Now. I want each of you to introduce yourselves. Give me your name, where you are from and your battle role. Starting with you, late one.” The captain said as he shifted his gaze towards Aria as he pulled out his notebook.

“My name is Aria De Sempre; I was raised here in Citta Della and I am a Frontliner.”

“I’m Alexander Erikson, I was raised in the country side of Eldrant and I am a Frontliner as well.”

“I’m Stella Solare, I was born and raised in Citta Della and I am a duelist.”

Finally, the captains gaze shifted to Nero, who had no idea what to say.

“My name is Nero; I don’t know my last name. I don’t know where I’m from either, but I did wake up in the catacombs a week ago. I don’t know what battle role I am, but I wouldn’t mind being something like Dread lord or Night Master.” Nero said with a childish grin.

The captain looked at him with pure disappointment.

“God's help us.” he said.

Alex and Aria were desperately trying to hold back laughter, but failed.

“What is a Night Master?!” Aria laughed.

“I... I don’t know it just sounded cool.” Nero said with embarrassment.

The captain shook his head.

“Anyways, I’m assuming you know how squads work, but I will explain anyways. There are level 1 squads, led by Lieutenant knights and level 2 squads led by Golden knights. Obviously, we are a level 2 squad because I am a Golden knight. This means we are going to be performing dangerous missions. I want each of you to understand that this is the level of knighthood where people start to die. Now, I am aware that you are all very capable warriors. However, I just want you all to be prepared to take risks. If you freeze in battle, I will personally strip you of your knighthood. Am I clear?” The captain spoke.

The four nodded in unison.

“Good. Now please enjoy your meals before they get cold. I will now brief you on our first mission.”

The four began eating their bowls of stew while the captain pulled out four copies of papers from his backpack, he gave one to each of them.

“We are going to Eldrant. We’ve been tasked with disposing of a group of bandits known as the Dead Eyes. They are one of the biggest gangs in the nation, but we have been informed that about a third of them are stationed at Fort Highpoint. Including their leader. If we dispose of those at the fort, it could cause the rest of the gang to disband. As well as give the fort back to the Eldrant military, which would give them better control of their southern countryside.” The captain spoke.

Alexander seemed to be restless after the captain briefed them.

“Erikson, do you have something to add?” The captain asked.

“That fort... it’s close to my hometown. I worry for my family.”

The table grew quiet, gangs were known to extort and kill innocents wherever they went. Aria tried to console Alexander, but the captain interrupted.

“Good, you should have extensive knowledge of the landscape which would give us an edge.”

Stella lost her patience with the bluntness of the captain.

“Sir. He is concerned for his family’s safety. He should be allowed to make sure they are alright.”

“No. If we don’t kill these brigands soon then many more civilians will be at risk. The mission always comes first.” The captain replied.

Stella looked away quickly. She had a look of anger on her face. She wasn’t used to someone being as uncompromising as the captain was.

“When do we leave?” Nero asked.

“Right after we finish up here. We will get on a boat that will take us out to the gulf and then to the southern river of Eldrant. We should arrive in the port town of Celshire very early in the morning. After that, it will be about a half day’s walk until we reach the fort. From there we will perform reconnaissance, then discuss a plan of attack.”

It seemed everyone had lost their appetites; the bowls of stew went cold and the captain left a handful of coins on the table.

“It’s time.” he said.

The squad left the tavern, and began walking to the harbor. Nero looked up and noticed the rain had stopped, but the dark clouds still lingered above.

Once at the harbor, the captain led the group to a sailboat.

“This is a sun sailor. The large mainsail is enchanted, when it is touched by sunlight it will move much faster than the average boat. Us knights use these all the time for missions that are abroad. The sea-captain is already onboard, so let’s be on our way.” The captain spoke.

As the group got on the ship, the captain noticed that Nero had no backpack.

“Nero, I’d advise you to pack some things next time. Tools for survival, dry meat, hell even books.” The captain said.

Nero looked at him and gave him a thumbs up.

“I have zero belongings captain.” He said with a smile.

“Oh... right. Well at least you’re travelling lightly.” The captain said with a chuckle.

“I don’t have any money to buy things either. So that Is also a problem.” Nero laughed.

“You will all receive a cut of pay from this bounty, so you don’t have to worry about that.” The captain said.

The group sat down in the hull after greeting the sea-captain and put aside their bags. Joshua spoke with the sea-captain for a bit before heading down with his squad.

“Captain? How much is this bounty anyways?” Stella asked.

“Well, like I said, since we are a level 2 squad we will go on more dangerous missions. This means the pay is higher. This bounty is worth 2,000,000 crowns.”

Aria jumped off the box she was sitting on.

“2,000,000?! What’s the pay cut?!” She asked with puppy-like eyes.

“That’s funny you should ask Aria; the pay usually goes six ways. 20% to the knight's guild and 20% to each member. However, since this is your first mission, I won’t be taking a cut. Consider it a welcoming present.” The captain said with a smile.

“So, each of us will make 400,000 crowns?! That’s four times more than what most people make in a year!” Aria exclaimed.

“Indeed, but because you were late to our meeting. Your cut will be halved. 200,000 crowns will be split amongst your squad mates.” The captain said with an evil laugh.

Aria sat down and sulked. It seemed she was learning the importance of being punctual.

“Don’t worry Aria, that’s still a lot of money.” Stella said.

“Yeah yeah...” Aria replied as she sat back.

Meanwhile, Alexander was silent. He had a hundred-mile stare. No doubt wondering if his family was alright.

The ship left the harbor, and began sailing quickly into the deep blue.

“Stella, when night falls, I would like you to use sun magic to power the sails. This will make our trip much faster. In doing so, we should arrive in about twelve hours.” The captain said.

Stella nodded and began reading a book.

The sound of the water around the ship and the bending of sails seemed to make Nero sleepy. He felt rather calm being around his friends. Plus, he knew he needed rest for the adventure ahead of them. He began to drift into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the captain began scribbling something new in his notebook.