CHAPTER 38

SETTING A HIGHER AIM

Hera’s words of agreement sounded really encouraging to Hans. He got all excited and started talking about the knight rankings. “I’m not sure about all of them,” he counted his fingers.

“First is Alliance head and the former king of Grimgar, Norwin.”

“Second is the current king of Clandor, Eleanor.”

“Third is Homar Garuda, the knight commander of Parv.”

“Fourth… I don’t know who he—”

“His name is Adrian and he is the youngest and only dominion knight in the top ranking. He uses imperial bloodline and is the second captain of Eclipse.”

“Darn, these shady people are keep charting top. Now a ranked knight is in them—”

“Eclipse’s strength lies not in individual kiddo. I’ve told you, didn’t I? Everything is useless in front of overwhelming power. But Xandor is an exception to that rule. You need to use your head if you want to take him down permanently. Sure, I can overpower him any chance I get, but killing him is an entirely different story.”

“Oh, he’ll die. Believe me.” Hans was resolute, but there was no murderous rage around him. Xandor wasn’t his enemy, so his emotions weren’t enraging. He was only someone who played him, and Hans was just demanding his life as a payment, nothing more.

“So where were you, fifth—”

“Yes, yes,” Hans interrupted her, feeling like a student who knew the answer and was eager to shine. "The fifth is the Knight Association chairman, Kansas. A real annoying piece of work," Hans stressed, and Hera sensed his emotions, which were even muted when he mentioned Xandor.

“You really hate this guy, don’t you?” She teased him.

"Yes, he's incredibly irritating," Hans replied, taking a deep breath as if releasing his anger and calming down. "Who are the sixth to eighth?" He asked Hera.

“Sixth is the templar knight of Indu, Manar. Seventh is the current king of Sunfall and… eighth is my own twin brother.” She responded, and Hans sensed her feeling wasn’t good when she talked about her brother. She didn’t even say his name. “She really must not like her brother.” Hans kept this thought inside.

“I know the rest.” He raised his hand instantly so Hera couldn’t tell what he already knew. “Ninth is Grandpa and tenth is Dijkstra…” Hans realised something, “woah, there isn’t a single woman in the ranking.”

“Knight is a barbaric discipline, women are more minded than men. All powerful mages are mostly women.” She said staring at Hans that made him flinch for a second. “But it wasn’t always like this. Rudolf was not in top-ranked knights several years back. He was promoted because of the vacancy.”

“For real?” Hans didn’t know, he always thought Rudolf reached the ninth position by himself.

“Don’t misunderstand. Every knight convention allows you to challenge any knight if you are deemed worthy. He challenged eleventh and beat him when he was just a dominion knight. He just chose not to climb higher.”

“Eleventh, that means there were two vacancies?” Hans asked to confirm.

“Yes. The only woman knight ranked in the top ten was Reina Clandor. She was at eighth position until my brother replaced her by using the same means as Rudolf. She was crippled in the elven War, and that little asshole used that chance to replace her.”

It was the first time Hans heard her saying something foul. Till now, only good things had come from her sweet mouth. “Guess profane words corrupted her too.” He laughed inside.

He had met Reina Clandor, and he really never felt anything powerful from her. But the fact that she was the only one capable of injuring his undead father hammered home the fact that she would’ve been really strong in her full power.

“So, what rank did she fall?” Hans asked carefully with his words.

“She is at 21.” Hera answered without any emotion. “There was another, knight commander of Utar, who died in the red demon invasion, and your father who fell in the Elven war.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“So that’s why Gramps is at ninth. Haan!” Hans thought a little, but her thoughts were broken by the anticipating stare of Hera. “What?” He asked.

“I thought you’d at least show anger when I mentioned your father’s death.”

“Why would I?” Hans asked perplexed. “When you point your blade at someone, you should be ready to get beheaded yourself. He died because of his actions, pursuing what he wanted.”

“Ooh! That’s some cold heart you got there, kiddo.”

“I’ve got to be, or else, I’d be enraged and might burn your home to ashes, ma’am.”

“Whatever, keeps you calm, son.” Hera gestured. “So which one is your target?” She asked.

“You are more experienced. Whom do you suggest?” Hans asked, interrogative.

“Hmm.. you should avoid the faster one, Dijkstra. Your styles are just a bad match. You should also avoid the Rudolf and Norwin, their raw power will chew you down. Eleanor is also a bad match until you find a way to bring down his defences. Even I have to put my very best to break his turtle shell. Adrian, you can’t fight him since he is not insane enough to participate in knight convention as a wanted man.”

“With that respect, everyone in the top ranking is a powerhouse, so whom should I target?” Hans didn’t want to listen to whom he can’t defeat. It hurt his pride as Hera kept speculating about it.

“Then your answer is Homar Garuda. The man who tasked you with this acknowledgement thing. Isn’t beating him the best answer and you are both long-ranged fighters. He probably asked you thinking you’d reach the same conclusion as I.”

“Then I should train with him in mind, right?” Hans asked to confirm.

“Yeah, you have around two years to prepare. You should beat that bow maniac in the knight convention which everyone watches. That would give Homar a lesson not to belittle you.”

“I’m a mage, how can I participate in knight convention—”

“Easy. Every knight takes too much pride in their honour, so they will comply when you break that pride. So, go there and do that. You must’ve better ideas in that department than I, right?”

“Woah, you are more reckless than I. Rubbing a ranked knight’s pride for everyone to watch” Hans chuckled.

“What you do is reckless, but what I do is confident, kid. There’s a difference.” Hera said confidently, and Hans couldn’t refute her because he knew she was right. Suppressing himself, he asked her, “Knight convention, how does it work?”

“You haven’t heard about it from Rudolf? His was very fun to watch.” Hera commented. “Every five years, those honour-hungry knights call upon every knight in the world to test the new generation. And every unranked knight participates in a battle royale until ten strong survive.”

“Cool. I wish Mage had that ranking.” Hans said with disappointment.

“Then your Hera mother will be at first spot.” She shamelessly said.

“Don't add title to your name, ma’am. That’s not going to happen.” Hans sighed. He couldn’t even show a relaxed expression around her. “So ten survivors, what then?” He asked to hurry the answer.

“These ten knights are given tokens to challenge the ranking board and climb until defeated. The last portion where they won will be their ranks. Rudolf was the unique knight who challenged straight for eleventh position and won, followed by his close friend Dijkstra. But for some reason, they stopped at that place.”

“Aw man! This sounds exciting—”

“It is.” Hera put salt in his wound when she confirmed it. “It’s a global event like Glory wars but on a very different scale because unranked knights are not noobs and children as it is in Glory wars. They are veterans who failed to beat their selected target and were forced to compete in the next convention.”

“As you’ve said, it’s the method for unranked knights. But how does ranking change for ranked knights?” Hans was curious about knight-ranked battles.

“You just need a noble witness, and you can challenge the higher-ranked knight whenever you wish. But both opponents were given time of one month to prepare for the battle, and every duel becomes a grand sport to watch.”

“I’m really excited to watch one myself.” Hans couldn’t hold his excitement. After two years, Chris and Delimira probably will participate in the convention. He was somewhat jealous but wanted to see them climb the ranking board.

Hera saw him with excitement and a mixed feeling, “So you chose to make him a mage so he didn’t fall on his destined path, Samson. He was the powerful knight, isn’t he, you stoic bastard?” She kept staring at him and eventually embraced him.

“Don’t worry, there will be several moments for you to shine. Being a knight is just useless. You can just go around beating one by one, and I’ll broadcast it all over the world.”

“I appreciate the offer… but can you lose your hold… it’s suffocating.” Hans was flustered, and even when she let him go, he could still feel her gentle warmth. Rolling his eyes sideways, he asked her, “So, how can I become a Red monk? It’s a test given to me by the chairman. I must fulfil it.”

“Okay. Okay, stubborn kid. Next year, when you come for the graduation test, hunt a half-god, and we will accept you in our team. That is the rule I set for recruitment.”

“A half-god?” Hans’s extensive knowledge was pretty useless when it concerned red demon since their history was just a few decades older, and there were no books about them in the Ghost Isles.

“That is not your concern right now. You’ll know in due time, but if you really wish to succeed. You have to be strong enough to beat Zephyr. He is the youngest prodigy of Concordia, and the same is true of the Red Monks. He hunted a half-demon god in the graduation ceremony too.”

“Hmmm. So my things are in order,” Hans mumbled his thoughts out loud.

“First: become strong enough to defeat Zephyr.

Second: hunt down a half-demon god.

Third: achieve the status of a Red Monk.

Fourth: defeat Homar.

Fifth: raid Xandor's base with the Parvian knight army.”

Hans counted all five objectives on one hand. “There are few business matters I need to take care of along the way.” He showed a confident smile, curving his lips up. He had his aim set; now what remained was gruesome grind.