The day was blazing with heat, men cladded in gold armour are marching with each step, heading towards the broad horizon. As the pieces of armour are reflected by the sun, they had intricate symbols and markings on their gold armour platings adorned with red velvet cloth.

On a bright day, there is a large city bustling with folks selling fruits and vegetables, stores selling baked goods such as bread and cakes on the cobblestone streets.

A man cladded in darkened stainless steel plate armour, walking with power and presence appeared in the streets, the people in these streets gazed at him with respect and admiration.

“Hey that’s Marquess Hawkens!” A male citizen shouted, looking at the young knight with admiration and respect.

“Is he about to go on another expedition? He is so much like the duke.” Another one spoke.

And to add to that, he had a red cape that had a purely bright yellow coloured bird; a hawk with only its head and broad wings shown. It was shrieking. This is the symbol of the duke family.

“Well he is the duke's son and the pride of our kingdom after all.” This time, it was a female citizen in her fifties, joining the conversation with the two men, smiling. Everyone in the streets looked up to him, and he was their hero.

The Marquess is the Knight-Banneret of Brenda’s knight order and he is second to none when it comes to horsemanship and leadership but in swordsmanship, he is below the Grandmaster.

He waved back to the people while he was on his way to a bakery store to buy cake.

“For your little brother right? That’s wholesome.” A young woman with brunette hair is wearing an apron. She smiled at the Knight as she found the brotherly love adorable. In Marquis’ (French variant of Marquess) perspective, her smile was charming.

“Yes. Dash has quite the sweet tooth himself.” He chuckled, amused at the fact that his younger brother likes to eat sweets a lot. “Though, my mother often tells him not to eat so much. Even I tried to keep the sweets away from him but that boy..” He shook his head.

“Vannessa, I can’t tell how astonished I am when it comes to his smarts. He always manages to find them. He can also be quite a handful if I don’t bring him any.”

“Hehe, I see.” She chuckled. While it's nice that the bakery is selling well and on top of that, the Marquis’ little brother loves her cakes so much, it's also nice to show such genuine care for another’s well-being.

“So how are the others?” Her smile narrowed as soon as she asked that question.

“Gerald and Lois? They are doing well, although sometimes they can get into heated fights because of their rivalry. There’s never a quiet day with those two.” He made a long, tired sigh.

“I see! It’s great to have a lively group.” Vannessa said.

“You think so? They are a handful though..” Dominic replied.

:”Nevertheless, those two are great members and my best friends. Without them, the Knight Order wouldn’t be what it is today. Of course, the Grandmaster is an amazing person too.”

“You really like the Grandmaster, huh?” She noticed that he admires the Grandmaster more than anybody else. He never excludes his mentor in any of the conversations.

“W-What are you talking about? He’s just a great teacher.” He had his helmet on but the young knight became flustered and a drop of sweat on his face came down like rain.

“Even if I can’t see your expressions, I can tell you are blushing. Hehe.”

“Alright I’m leaving.” He turned around, not listening to this any further.

As soon as he turned, Vanessa felt sorry, as she extended her hand with a plea.“W-Wait!I’ll stop teasing you!”

“Nope!”

This is the european continent, the land of warriors- which are dominated by knights and christian faith. And this is the captain of the kingdom; Brenda. It's a relatively small yet, ever-growing nation. For  many years, it has farmers continuously pumping out hundreds of thousands produce, the knights are able to maintain order and peace with little to no problem. And the reason for their long term prosperity and health is their love and worship for God, the Most High; The Father of Heaven and Earth.

Fifteen minutes later, the marquis was walking towards a mansion, built with brick and dark oakwood often used to decorate the house to make complex patterns and intricate designs on the walls, including the door. It even had a road leading to the fancy fountain with a large hawk statue sitting on top of it, as the structure looks like a roundabout except there is only one road. Guards were standing in front of the door, guarding the main entrance, however the two knights saluted to the Marquis before he turned the knob on the door and swung the door to the left and then closed it immediately afterwards.

Inside the room, the texture of the floor is smooth stone, white snow colour with a rhombus shaped pattern. The ceiling is also snow white with prominent almond coloured wooden beams, with a chandelier in the innermost centre. There are identical arched stairways on the opposing corners with a large painting of the Marquess family in the middle. The stairs are painted creamy white with gold linings that lead to the second floor. There is also a long family sized table with six chairs of intricate designs, as all of the furniture is made out of dark oak wood. This inexplicable, luxurious living room was designed to show off the wealth and status of a Duke.

Dominic walked further inside and before he knew it, he gasped, his heart skipped a beat, his right hand holding onto the hilt of his sword. As he felt a weight suddenly pressing against his back before the knight turned his head to see a boy in the corner of his eye.

“Come on Dash. No need to surprise me like that!”

“Hehe. Why not? It’s fun scaring my big brother!” From the knight’s view showed Dash, a short young boy with sky blue eyes, dark brown ruffled hair and a clear and bright european complexion, his most prominent feature being his chubby rosy cheeks. He is wearing a majestic attire, too expensive, too high quality, one you would never find in other noble children that are of the same house rank and below. He is wearing a pair of stylish black leather shoes, white socks, tight-fitting brown hose, leather belt and a tucked in dark green tunic with blue and yellow diamond shaped patterns on the tunic itself, along with white frills on the collar, and on the end of the sleeves. The most attractive feature of the outfit is the piece of jewellery; a blue heart-shaped necklace pendant with gold chains and outer shell holding the blue gem together. This type of clothing is what you would normally find in events or special occasions.

“I am quite sensitive, you know! Surprises are the best way to make me draw my blade on reflex.”

Dash let go of Dominic, putting his arms behind his back and replying with, “But you know me well enough! So no need to worry about a thing Dom!”

“You are just too smart..” It’s true that he is already familiar with his brother since he’s family. However..

The knight moved his hand at the boy’s height, the palm was flat and open, it looked like he was going to give him a pat, but it's the opposite: He flicked on Dash's forehead with his index finger. “Even so, I would appreciate it if you tone down the surprises and pranks. Doing so will keep away trouble, understand?” It never hurts to discipline him once in a while. After all, it's not good to allow a child to play rampantly, otherwise the boy will make a mess and get hurt.

“Yes sir! Now where are my sweets?” He said that, giving little attention to his speech. For a brief time, he had his arms intertwined together before he uncrossed them, extending his hands to Dominic as the boy expected that he had bought cake from the bakery just for him.

Dominic breathed in and released that air into a sigh. “Are you even listening to me?..”

“Come on, give, give!” Dash quickly motioned his hands, his eyes glittering with excitement and his mouth drooling when he saw that Dominic had something in hand.

“Alright sugar man. Here’s your treat!” He handed the paper bag over with gentle movement.

The boy grabbed it and opened the paper bag; inside, there are six cakes. It is plain and basic just like every other bakery store’s product, however this kind- He took it out with his left hand, then he chewed on it slowly and it melted in his mouth. It had balanced sweetness, a burst of citrus and creamy flavour to it.This was the kind he liked and its number one. “Thanks brother! You are the best!!”

With the two brothers in the midst of a conversation, the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the room. They were swift, yet poise.

This caught the brothers’ attention. The moment they shifted the view, they would see a tall woman lifting up her dress lightly to prevent herself from tripping. She has braided blonde hair with blue eyes, rosy pale skin and is wearing a fancy yellow frilly dress with white linings. It’s long and heavy, corresponding to her size.

As soon as Dash saw her, he was eating so fast that his face looked like a squirrel munching on food while he ran like he committed a crime.

Dominic fails to notice Dash fleeing from the living room while he and the woman are close enough face to face. The Marquis hollered, “Mother..-”  

“Dash! I told you not to go back eating sweets and you dare defy me?!” She is Duchess Gardenia Hawkens, the Lady of this house. Her vocal cords reached the entire manor, even the knights outside were trembling at hearing the madame’s voice. As soon as she saw her youngest son eating sweets, her vision tunnelled, her forehead popped a vein. She was furious, hence she failed to notice Dominic.

“Ugh that boy is a handful..” She let out a breath of sigh.

“Ah..” Dominic expected this. Whenever Dash was eating something sweet, especially too often, their mother would always burst in with rage. He rubbed the back of his head even though his helmet is still on.

“Oh!” She exclaimed softly, as The First Lady Gardenia’s hands flew to her mouth, surprised that her eldest son was already here.

“Heavens me! I didn’t know you were here. Since when did you arrive?” She continued, ending this with a curious question.

“I believe it was about three minutes ago..”

“Then my dear son, how was the expedition?”

“Fine.”

“That’s all?” She expected more, but that was too dry. 

“Well-” He paused for a brief moment to gather his thoughts.

“It was fine but the reclamation of one of the lands was too easy. The enemy soldiers are weak and smaller in number. This isn’t even the first time we had an expedition like this.”

“Well shouldn’t you be glad that the expeditions went well? The weaker an army is, the better chances of winning the battle. God must be showering you with favour!”

  “Yes, but that’s not it mother. It felt strange, as the armies I knew had strength, vigour and as well as the numbers to match our kingdom.”

“So you wish your enemies had a higher chance of winning?” She may be the mother of Dominic but Gardenia is carefree at times and she is an expert in management and loves to do charity. She’s not a warmonger nor is she as knowledgeable as her son is. So the Lady failed to understand his perspective.

“No…” He replied.

“Then I don’t see what the point is!  If you have won, then we have nothing to worry about.” The First Lady pouted, as she saw only the good in this expedition. Gardenia thought that his son must be talking nonsense.

“Anyway Dominic, your father wants to see you. He told me that when you return, I should tell you that.”

“He must have predicted that I would come back with a landslide victory. Sharp as ever, huh?”

“My father wasn’t the legendary captain for nothing.”

[Father is the head of this house and the former captain of Brenda’s knight order, he had over a hundred victories and he was the spearhead in every war, just like me.]

The knight was walking in a straight hallway with a red carpet with golden lining and markings. In his view, there are two large doors that would lead to the house head’s room.

He stood in front of the door, nervous about having a conversation with his father. Once he moved closer to the door, he leaned forward slightly and held the two doorknobs with his hands to open them, however..

His body stood up straight as he felt a pricking pressure from his behind, causing him to gasp and let out a high-pitched, yet short-lived scream and covered his buttocks.

He turned around to see it was Dash poking him with a stick. “Come on man! Enough with these silly pranks!”

The little boy laughed out so hard after seeing his older brother’s reaction. “I couldn’t help it. The opportunity looked too irresistible to take, brother!”

“Well it isn’t the time for that. I am about to have a serious meeting with our father, so shoo!” He extended his hand and flapped it to tell Dash to go away and stop bothering him.

“Whatever. Bleehhh!” Dash stuck out his tongue at Dominic before leaving. The little boy walked in a hasty and aggressive manner, stomping on the ground and swinging his arms wildly as he was upset with his brother for not laughing at his jokes and the pranks he would pull every chance he got.

Dominic sighed and shook his head, “I seriously hope he doesn’t pull pranks like that when he gets older. Any girl of marriageable age will slap him for it.” Indeed, it would be problematic if those traits of his become permanent. And he is counting on his mother to discipline him and have his attitude change in the future.

But that’s irrelevant right now. What matters the most to Dominic is his serious conversation with his father.

“Here we go..”

His attention was now on the entrance, as he opened the doors with a slow, steady motion, causing it to make it seem like a continuous creak coming from the hinges.

What plunged through his vision was a brilliant light that blinded the view for a second, as the light faded away to reveal that there were a lot of windows. At the centre of this place is a desk with his father, Duke Rodrick Hawkens seated. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and is wearing a simple black tunic made with the top notch wool and linen material. He is swiftly writing on each paper with a quill before dipping it into the ink.

“I’m here father.”

The house head had a rigid expression, he was stoic and serious, as he continued to write without a reply. In Dominic’s perspective, it felt like awkward silence coating the room.

“Um?..” Even after making a sound, Rodrick doesn’t seem to be paying attention. He was far too focused in his work, whittling down the number of the paperwork to almost zero which would feel like an eternity. Although that was for Dominic, it's not for Rodrick because he is swift in signing, stamping, and writing.

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And in reality, it would take thirty minutes for the Duke to finish dealing with all of the paperwork until there was only one left. He was tapping his fingers next to the paper, the last remaining work he had to do. However, he was pondering and he finally noticed that his son was here.

“So you have returned from your expedition? It must have been easy, I presume?” Rodrick spoke as soon as he stopped tapping his fingers.

“..Yes.”

"What did you find?"

"Nothing special in particular. It's the same as always."

"So the army was under-powered like the ones you fought previously? How strange."

"Indeed, it is."

"Hmm..."

"It's the same pattern. I suspect that there's a mastermind behind the weakening of armies across the continent. It seems our neighbouring kingdom, Fonta is affected as well."

"I thought so. Even our rival Maysh is experiencing a similar situation. "

An hour would go by as Dominic and Rodrick engage in a long discussion.

Rodrick propped both of his arms and locked his hands together, going into deep thought. “Is an unknown force working behind the scenes or..”

“..Is this the doing of the empire?”

“...”

The empire, better known as the holy nation, Ceres. It’s the greatest superpower on the european continent- it has over 200,000 soldiers, 5,000 knights and 100 commanders. It also has the emperor, Ferdinand Ceres IV sitting at its centre. His swordsmanship is top-notch, given the environment he grew up in. After all, it isn’t just a country that worships our Most High. It’s a land of spartans- People who train and train for days and nights with no end. For a holy nation, the place sounds like hell though.

But that’s why it's hailed as the greatest superpower.

Compared to them, Brenda is a small nation, it has 150 knights, 35,000 soldiers and 7 commanders.Just one attack from the empire and it would be devastating. Of course, we are not going to go down without a fight. But we do our best not to get on their bad side a s well.

“Surely you jest! There is no way the holy nation would be involved in any of the wars.”

“You never know son, you never know.”

“Well, let’s say I agree that the holy nation isn’t a part of this in any way. For now, I will send spies to gather information about the current state of things.”

“It never hurts to be cautious, son. Remember that.”

“Yes sir.”

“Before you leave the house, how about we have a round?”

“You don’t mean..”

“Yes. Let me see how much you have grown over the past few years.”

Outside of the manor, the two men stood at the training grounds, as they were holding steel swords that would have the sun rays bouncing off to give them an even greater shine. A crowd of people were also watching, they were servants such as butlers, maids and guards, with the family members such as Dash and Gardenia included.

“Mother!”

“Yes?”

“Why is big brother and father holding real swords?”

“I am not sure. Maybe that’s normal in training?”

“I only see people carrying wooden swords though.”

“True! Then what are we looking at? I hope it's nothing dangerous..”

“Rest assured Lady Gardenia. It’s not a fight to the death.” A butler engaged in conversation with the family, he had white hair with dark highlights in a ponytail style and he had hazelnut eyes. He is also wearing expensive servant clothing and the Hawkens family symbol as a badge on his left breast pocket. He is a very important servant.

Gardenia looked at the butler, “Well you know more than we do, Ford. You are Rodrick’s aide after all.”

He nodded in reply. “To answer your question young master Dash, it's to give rise to tension and excitement; it's a test that challenges one’s ability..“

“...And this is one that has been arranged for master Dominic.”

Blades would cut through the air and meet each other by contact, a clash that would make sparks fly off as a result of friction.

Rodrick and Dominic’s faces are close in the midst of the clash, the house head was showing a broad smile on his face.

Dominic on the other hand is still wearing his helmet. [Behind this helm, I can’t help but grin with my father too. And he’s a formidable opponent, so defeating him won’t be a walk in the park.]

Their blades slid off and would meet again, however this time, it’s low on the ground. The two men try to overpower each other from there to gain the upper hand.

[It won’t be easy but.. win or lose, I know this is going to be a fun match.]

The swords started to slide again but only for a brief moment-

The next minute, the men were constantly hitting each other’s swords; exchanging blows. Neither were backing off, nor could they find the opportunity to counter.

[He’s skilled! I am not seeing any openings in his defence.]

After a while, they would still be stuck exchanging blows with their swords, with little progress made.

“Ford! Who do you think will win?” The Lady inquired.

“That is a difficult question to answer. Master Dominic and Rodrick are certainly not subpar in any of their techniques.”

“And they have been on the battlefield for years and have always come back with victories. They were the spearheads whenever war occurred.”

“..But if I were to wager, I would bet my month’s worth of salary on Master Rodrick.”

“Hmmm.. What are you trying to do, Butler Ford? You know I’m doing my best to abstain myself from gambling.”

“Haha, my apologies Lady Gardenia. I can’t help myself! I figured it would be great to have an extra penny to buy ourselves a little something that would reward our hard work, don’t you think?” He said with a grin.

“...When you say it like that. I can’t seem to hold back.” She grinned back at butler Ford as well.

“Uhm..” [Why are mother and Fordie smiling like that?]

“Fine. I’m betting my month’s worth of salary on Dominic. I believe my son is going to win since he has been on the battlefield longer than my hubby. And he’s young too!”

“Well, you aren’t wrong about that. After seeing Dominic, he has grown well as a swordsman and as a soldier that protects the people.”

“And factoring in age, he would have the physical advantage since Master Rodrick is way past the age of retirement.”

“Despite them having similar skill and strengths, which undoubtedly puts the two at equal footing, I believe Master Rodrick is going to win because..”

“...He can read every move.”

Dominic realised that the longer this fight lasts, the more energy he is going to expend. He attacked aggressively and in return, the house head was caught by surprise and he is being pushed back.

However the former knight captain’s eyes were darting, moving up and down, and moving left to right as if he scanned an entire picture in seconds.

Next, Rodrick saw the opposing blade coming from below and swung his sword vertically with increasing momentum.

The swing was almost lightning speed- And it sent Dominic’s sword flying across the field until it came crashing down onto the ground before it created a little cloud of dust.

He didn’t stop there. The man was following up with another swing that clearly came with the intent to kill.

When everyone witnessed that, everybody’s hearts jumped and their faces went dark as they were terrified of what was going to happen. Butler Ford on the other hand had his eyes closed, smiling with confidence.

Dominic in response quickly put up his hands, “I surrender.”

The blade stopped; it was an inch away from lopping off the young knight’s head.

The  Duke smirked, “What a surprise. You didn’t flinch from that one.” Rodrick put away his sword, pushing it down into his scabbard.

“Of course father! What do you take me for? I am the kingdom’s protector and I knew from the get go that you had no intention of harming me.”

“Besides, it was a test to see how I would respond to a dangerous attack like that one, right?”

“Good observation, son. You pass.”

[Wow! Father nipped it in the bud!] He had thoughts on how the match ended.

[But the way he moved the sword.. It’s abnormal. How did he move it like that despite having the same weight as mine? And he’s a middle-aged man on top of that! Just how?]

“I won the bet. Now a portion of your salary goes to me!” Butler Ford had a twisted grin on his face, his cheeks reddened, steam came from his heavy breathing, and so did his nostrils. He was in ecstasy imagining the amount of money he would get by just taking a small portion of her annual income.

“Ugh! I will get you back for this!!” She popped a vein when she saw Ford’s happiness. Gardenia was frustrated to no end.

“You always say that, but have you ever won?”

“..No.”

“Pfft~” Ford ran while covering his mouth with his hand, as if he wanted to laugh his head off.

“You!” 

“Come back here!! I’m going to kill you!”

The noble lady who is usually kind hearted, law-abiding and caring is now an angry madwoman chasing after Ford who’s also laughing hysterically, as she tried to hit him with a bat, but in return he dodged every move.

Everyone looked at the two with a sweat drop on their heads. They stood there, anxious and confused at this situation..

“What are they even doing..” Rodrick facepalmed before letting out a breath of sigh.

“Anyway, you must be wondering how I did that right?”

“...”

“Sure, it's fast, but it wasn’t speed. It’s a technique.”

“How long did it take?”

“Thirty years.”

“..What?”

“You heard me? I said thirty.”

[But how can a technique take that long to master? That’s insane!]

“Of course, it was since I started learning swordsmanship. I just happened to see a master who used that same technique and I stole it.”

“His skills were.. Otherworldly. He didn’t just cut the air, he broke it.”

“I am quite sure that if I fought against him, I would be killed in seconds. It wouldn’t even matter if I learned the technique. He was just on another level.”

Dominic’s inner thoughts, [He doesn’t sound like he is joking..]

“I call it the weight distribution technique. He has slaughtered armies single-handedly with that alone.”

He recalled the memories of the sword master, the original user of the technique as he cut down soldiers and knights alike causing blood to splatter everywhere on the battlefield.

“So terrifying… Anyway, no one knows the name of the great master, so we call him the Iron-Blooded Swordsman.”

“How come I have never heard of him? This is news to me, father.”

“Well it was a long time ago. So I don’t fault you for not knowing.”

“However, if you must know the technique, then I will show it to you as many times as you like.”

“Please show me!”

Rodrick nodded in reply and entered into a sword stance, making a series of movements with the blade. He slashed the air hundreds of times while his feet, including the rest of his body coordinated with his level of swordplay.

[Each swing packed incredible power. It feels like just a single attack could tear a knight apart..]

In Marquess Dominic’s perspective, he had imagined a scene where this technique would be used and he foresaw his father cleaving a knight with a full set of armour in half.

This lasted for two good hours and the Duke's movements were slowing down and they were becoming a little shaky.

“The fatigue is catching up to me.” He sheathed his sword.

[Well at this point, I have been watching a sword expert practise their swordsmanship,]

“So have you burned the technique into your memory, just like I have?” He put his hands at his hips.

“Yes.”

The young knight nodded in response.