The initiate was a kind of slow torture for Robert Quintana. Trained by a former royal knight, being grouped with the young and mediocre casters that made up the initiates felt like an insult. A waste of his time, without a doubt. But as his teacher said, every knight had his trials to bear.

His trial approached its conclusion with the qualifiers nearing their end. The current test had been the first thing to capture his attention in months. A monster hunt, something worthy of his talents. Though he still had an overwhelming advantage.

It wasn’t his first time hunting manabeasts, though admittedly his teacher had been overseen all others. He was well trained, well learned, and well equipped. As soon as he heard the test would take place in the Beast Sanctuary, he guessed they would be hunting a monster of some sort. Many casters spent their lives as hunters. It made sense that the Hall would want to test their compatibility with the life.

He and his team, a group of the talented youths from the capital, knew what to expect. They immediately gathered their camping gear and he retrieved Thorgood, the roc his teacher got him before he enrolled in the Hall, from the stable at the Grand Market. Luckily, while carriages weren’t allowed, tamed beasts and mounts were. A sensible decision as hunters often used monster companions to track their prey.

Then, the test became a cakewalk. Rocs were intelligent. He showed Thorgood the drawing and they took to the air. There were a few predators in the sky but instincts kept them away from the stronger predator. He simply had to relax and wait for his mount to find their prey.

“Oo! Bobby, we have to land! There’s a ruspearadon.”

Suppressing a sigh, Robert looked over his shoulder at his teammate. Lanston Lorriette, a talented young caster from a long line of knights. Born with two affinities, earth and water, he could be a talented knight that would do his family proud, if he had the temperament for it. He had the resources commoner boys dreamed of but rather than fight for glory, all he wanted to do was stick his nose in books. Even now, as they flew in what was hostile territory, the bright-eyed young man was entirely unconcerned, peering through his spyglass with a wide grin.

“I’ve told you, call me Quin. And we’re not stopping. We’re in the middle of a test.”

Further back, another of his teammates, Sebas Hoffen, scoffed. Robert didn’t have to turn around to know that the dark blue eyes were glaring at him with barely restrained hatred. “We may as well. This qualifier is a joke.”

“We should take it seriously.”

“Oh? And how seriously is the Hall taking this? We’re hunting weasels, for saints’ sake. Besides, we could do absolutely nothing and pass this so-called test. The initiate year was a formality. Our tutors have already been selected. There’s no one to impress. I say we land somewhere shady and relax.”

“Not going to happen. As future royal knights, we have to set an example.”

“An example for who? We didn’t even receive a guide, the ones meant to keep an eye on us. I know your education is lacking, being of common blood, but that is called a subtle hint. Your act is impressing no one.”

Robert’s lips curled in disgust as he prepared to launch into one of their usual arguments but another voice beat him to it.

“Shush! Saints, every time you open your mouth it’s to complain about something.” Cecile Guiness snapped shut a handhold mirror and turned to him. “Are you any kind of man? How do you expect to look after a family if you can’t complete a simple job?”

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“Thank you for the support,” Sebas said sarcastically. “Good to know my future wife will be there to support me through the good times and the bad.”

“Cheh. Dare to complain when you’re engaged to me?” she said, flicking her light brown hair. “As if a depressing bastard like you could catch my attention if you weren’t blood of the king.”

“Don’t have any delusions, my dear. I agreed to our marriage for your wallet, not your looks. I’m looking forward to our wedding night with all the anticipation of a man receiving his execution sentence.”

“Hmph! Hopefully your seed isn’t as pathetic as you are so we only have to deal with each other once.”

“You shouldn’t be so crass. The future Harvest Hero won’t want a mistress, let alone a wife, who has a mouth like a horse’s ass.”

“You!” Robert pretended he didn’t know she had looked at him as she paused. “Well, too bad this isn’t the capital. No one here gives a damn about your tantrums.”

“As the highest ranking—”

“This is the Hall. Who your uncle is means nothing. We were all there when Sir Quintana warned us that status meant nothing here. We’re all equals.”

“Equals.” Sebas said the word slowly, as if his mouth had trouble forming it. “Equals then. As equals, I say we take a vote and let the majority decide. My vote says we land, find ourselves a decent meal, and sleep away this farce. Lanston? Lanston!”

“Hm?” The young scholar put down his spyglass. “What are we saying?”

“We were discussing landing and letting you have a look around.”

“Oh! That’d be fantastic!”

“That’s—”

“Two votes for landing,” Sebas spoke over Cecile. “I know where you stand, my gold. Bobby?”

Robert sighed, lamenting he wouldn’t escape his childhood name anytime soon. “You know where I stand. We do the job.”

“I’m with Quin~” Cecile said. He turned around to flash her a grateful smile but turned before he could be drawn into her flirtatious gaze. As someone who aspired to rise through the ranks, he couldn’t afford flights of fancy.

“That leaves it to our mascot. Orphie, will you grace us with a few words?”

Robert looked back at the last member of his team, Orphelia Yemen. To be honest, he didn’t understand why she was here. He expected the last member of his five-man team would be another apprentice of someone reputable but just before they left for the Hall, his teacher introduced them to the quiet girl with the prettiest hazel eyes he’d ever seen.

Her petite body didn’t look like it’d seen a day of training and she had a common water affinity. She wasn’t a future scholar like Lanston and didn’t have a strong family background as the daughter of a baron. She spoke little but firmly, never flinching in the face of her ‘betters’. She didn’t belong, but she was too heavy a stone to be pushed out.

“We do our job,” she said with finality.

“There’s no need to impress anyone, girl,” Sebas said. “We—”

“Do the job,” she repeated. “If you can’t handle the responsibility of finishing a simple quest, you can forget ever managing a territory of your own.”

He scowled but didn’t engage in his favorite pastime, scolding. It never worked against her. Every compliment or insult rolled off her the same as the water she controlled. “Fine. Let’s waste our time hunting overgrown weasels.”

Robert shook his head. Sebas was the classic noble, manipulating others to get their way and acting personally wronged when things didn’t work out in their favor. He had to put up with it for now but one day, when he had the power to make the king heed his words, he would no longer have to indulge the boy’s whims.

“Kraahhhhh!!”

“What is it, boy?” Robert asked, patting Thorgood on the head. “Did you find them?”

“Krah!”

“Get ready.” The idle chatter behind him stopped as his team grabbed the roc’s saddle. Robert glanced back at them, making sure they were all prepared, before shouting, “Dive!”

Thorgood screeched and turned to the ground. Robert grit his teeth as he endured the harsh wind as they rocketed downward. Close to the ground, the roc threw out its wings, gliding the rest of the way. He could feel his mount using the wind affinity to slow its descent, making their landing smooth and gentle.

He immediately saw what his mount spotted from way up on high. A pile of mamaroons, enough that if they took possession of them, Sebas might get his wish to spend the test lazing. There was only one problem.

In front of what might as well be a pile of treasure was a creature he’d never seen before.