As the sun set, and the world became quiet, Onigas burst into celebration. It was not often that a Noble was wed, even less so to a commoner. Even is Astrid was not an Onigarian by birth, the commoners were just happy one of them was progressing.
The Nobles were not as much. Most of them saw it as the Noble house of Lewale falling into ruin. Alaster understood their problems with Astrid, at least from their perspective. But even from their perspective, Alaster did not really see the issue.
Arthur was the heir to the Noble House. Astrid would not truly have any official say in the House’s business. Even more so since she was a Commoner. Of course, even if Alaster knew how to best make use of it, he never understood the pride of Nobility.
Despite their many objections, no one would dare to object to the wedding now. Not only was the Lewale House quite influential, especially in the economy of Onigas. But they knew Alaster, the hero of their City, was close to the bride, and he had already proven to not hesitate to use force to get what he wanted.
As darkness took hold, Alaster’s Minions got to work. They flooded out of the forest in unimaginable numbers, but their backs were to the city. Within moments, the guards lost count of how many there were. But the Undead did not simply stand there, facing the forest, instead, they began to build defenses.
Their numbers made short work of the trench, berm, spikes, and fragile wooden wall. None of which would stop any moderately powerful Monsters, especially the larger ones, but it would help deal with the vast numbers of weaker Monsters.
Once his Undead army was set up, Alaster appeared before the Commander in charge of the wall tonight, “My Undead have instructions not to let anything past them, not a bird, not a goblin, not even other Humans. They will stay there throughout the night, regardless of your decision, but if you wish, you could allow your men to enjoy the festivities. If nothing else, seeing so many guards should keep the people in order even as they get drunk.”
“I can’t possibly allow that.” The scarred and gruff man huffed, “I have orders to protect the city wall. We thank you for your assistance, of course Sir Alaster, but my orders stand.”
Alaster shrugged, uncaring, his army would remain regardless, “Your choice. Though I do believe your men will be bored out of their frozen minds. If there is any threat that my Undead can’t handle, I’ll know it and can appear there instantly. But it’s your command. Good night.”
Alaster was about to turn around when he heard a familiar voice, “It’s alright commander. Let your men enjoy themselves tonight.”
The commander and all the nearby soldiers stiffly saluted, and Alaster turned to see the City Lord reaching the top of the battlement stairs, flanked by his own personal guards.
“Good evening, Lord.”
“And to you Alaster. Come, everyone is wondering where you are.”
Alaster walked over. He could have easily teleported to the wedding; he left a Shadow behind for exactly that reason. Keylan knew of his capabilities, yet still insisted he walk with him. Alaster joined Keylan’s side and together, surrounded by the most elite soldiers in the city, they descended the stairs.
They walked in silence for some time, the crowd parting to allow their Lord and Hero past while cheering for them. Alaster suspected that seeing the two together would raise the city’s morale even higher than it already was.
Alaster even recognized the spot where he had been ambushed by Tarian Assassins. An ambush that went very poorly for them. It was also the first time Alaster truly saw his Dread Knights’ ferocity. Their crude but powerful attacks, their joy at being drenched in the blood of their enemies.
Of course, back then, he only had a single Dread Knight and it took several hours to create another. Now, he was able to create one in mere seconds. He truly had grown in power quite quickly.
“You know,” The City Lord spoke, just loud enough to be heard over the crowd, but only to the nearby Alaster, “I once thought that you and my daughter would have a day like this.” He motioned to the festival around them.
“Even when you were both but children, I saw that she had a fascination with you, but even more so, I saw the respect she had for you. She saw you as a rival, but she also saw you as an equal, one of the few.”
“She never thought herself above others.” Alaster countered.
“That is where you are wrong. She never treated others as less than, but she did, in fact, see others as either above or below her. She was quite isolated in that regard because all of her peers thought similarly but saw her as above them. Hard to make a friend when they think you are better.
But then you came along. A young boy, who had protected young Isabella, her little sister’s only friend, even after she snuck away from her own guards. A boy who was taken in by someone she considered to be her uncle. A boy, who despite being a Commoner and remained respectful of her Noble Status, treated her just like anyone else.
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You were the first to treat her as an equal, and you were also the first see saw as such. Even when the two of you competed in practically everything, constantly trying to out do each other. As she matured, so too did her view of you, even if you remained oblivious to it.
But then you vanished during an attack. She fell into a depression then, only coming out of it when Colius confirmed that you were alive. Convincing her of that was difficult, especially when you didn’t come back.
But when she believed it, she stood right back up and thrust herself into training. Every moment she could spare was spent training, to the point that I had to hire two more specialists to train her, and heal her when she got hurt.
Then when the city was threatened, you miraculously returned, quite literally falling out of the sky. Her fascination with you almost instantly turned into a crush, and yet, by the time you left once more, it was gone. She still liked and respected you, but it seemed as if the blind romance had left.”
By now, they had entered the Noble Quarter, as such the noise around them became quieter, but not even the Nobles were above a reason to party, even if the reason was something they disagreed with.
“Once again, she threw herself into her training, but even more so, she began begging me to allow her to create an Order of Soldiers. She claimed that she now knew that regardless of how powerful she was herself, in a true conflict, she would still be powerless without reliable comrades. And for some reason, she wished to create those comrades herself.
I eventually relented. It was not a hard decision, there were no real downsides to creating an Order, I simply hesitated at making my daughter the commander.
But I gave her chance, expecting that she would fail, and that I would have to appoint another, more experienced, commander to take her place. But I never had the chance. Out of the nearly three thousand that applied to her order, Commoner, Soldier, even a couple of Noble brats, she cut them down until she was left with only two hundred.
Two hundred, not of the best, but of the most stubborn. The ones who stood back up no matter how many times or how hard they had been thrown down. Yet even when she selected them, they quickly realized that being selected was the easy part, because the training she subjected them to was quite hellish.
There were even a few close calls where if the healers had not been quick enough, her two hundred, would have become smaller. Yet the training had the desired effect. Slowly, every member of her Order gained at least one ability to heal themselves, and another to heal another. Now, many of these abilities are quite weak and ineffective.
But imagine just how potent such a force could be? An elite unit, each powerful in their own might, but capable of healing not just themselves, but each other! Theoretically, they could be unstoppable so long as they had mana. Her Order, if they all worked together, might even give you a run for your money.”
Alaster smirked, “I hope not, I already have more than I know what to do with.”
Keylan burst out laughing, “No such thing! Money is a great lubricant in any social interaction! Keep that in mind. Everyone likes a person willing to throw away money. And being well liked it’s a powerful tool.”
“I know, but at this point, I think I might need another Ring of Holding just for my coins.”
“Oh, the struggles of the rich.” Keylan teased.
“I think I might need to stop by Colius before I leave.”
“Make sure to say your goodbyes. He has not been doing well recently. Had he reached Expert Tier a few years earlier, he might have lived to be a hundred, maybe even two hundred. But age had already taken ahold of him, and its only continued to tighten its grip.”
Alaster nodded in understanding.
“But back to what I was saying. Her Order has become a beacon to this City. Children are training harder in hopes that they might one day join her Order. Her focus is no longer merely staying equal to you, but now on becoming a stronger defense for Onigas.
Of course, I am no fool. I know that recently her eye is caught somewhere else. Someone else. And judging by the lack of surprise on your face, I suspect you and I are the only ones that know of it.”
“I have not had much time to watch him, but from what little I’ve seen, he seems to be a good man who truly cares for her.”
“Good. Its even better that he is a more than capable soldier than, even among the higher expectations of the Order. Just by his own accomplishments, I was already considering granting him the rank of Knight. But perhaps I should give him the rank of Lord, maybe give him a piece of property?”
Keylan seemed to be asking for Alaster’s opinion, so he decided to simply give it.
“I would hold off on giving him any property. No reason to give the young couple another place where they could hide away for ‘official business’.” While Alaster did not have anything against the young man, he did care deeply about Iris, like a sister.
Keylan’s face turned stern, almost angry, “Good point. Let’s see how he faces the responsibility of Knighthood first. And, being given a rank of Nobility, no matter how minor, would also allow the two of them to be more public.”
“What even are the responsibilities of a Knight?” Alaster asked, his lessons had been more about how to interact with them, not what their duties were, especially since different cultures had drastically different roles for the same titles.
“In truth, its just a higher servant role. Each Knight is given a Lord that they will serve, in this case, I would put him under Iris as he is a member of her Order. He would become more of her right hand man.”
The rest of the walk, the two men talked about the various responsibilities of the different ranks of Nobility. A lot of it was simply a refresher course for Alaster, but it still helped create baseline.
But their conversation was cut short as they arrived at the Lewale Estate. The wedding would be later still, but most of the guests had already arrived.
‘Here we are.’ Alaster thought.
‘Remember, you are here for Astrid, to witness the next stage of her life and support her.’ Sedall recited for the twelfth time that night, sounding almost like an excited Uncle.
‘By the Primordials, will you shut up already?’ Belgroth whined.
Alaster rolled his eyes and walked into the mansion. It was a special day for a dear friend of his. A part of him was excited to see her so happy, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness.