Chapter Eight - The Birth of Mage-Knights

Queen Allythycne enjoyed chatting with the boys. She looked for her mother because of sudden disappearance during the ritual. She ran in the corridor and checked out her mother's room.

"Mother, are you the-"

"Nice to meet you, your Highness." I greeted.

"She is a friend of mine. I saw her rose from the riverbank at the backyard when I was taking a walk earlier. She is also friends with those boys." The dowager introduced.

"Is that true?"

"Yes, it is, your Highness. We got separated when I was caught by han gin hebi mushis and that's when and where I met your mother."

"Come on, let's go to the living room." The Queen invited.

After some walks in the marbled-floor-lighted-with-chandeliers corridor, we arrived in front of a wooden arch door. The queen opened the door silently and coached me to walk in silently so that I couldn't be heard by Brix and Reevahn who are taking a nap in opposite couches.

"Shhh… They are tired. Let's start the ceremony at the veranda. The elemental baptism doesn't need words. If my aura is released from my body, concentrate a lot and think that your sword is an extension of your body. Ok?" the queen whispered.

The dowager got the sword she ordered for me and gave it. "I hope you like it."

"Of course I do." I answered with joy

"Shall we start?"

I nodded.

Fronting each other, I held my sword like how reserved officer trainees hold their swords. Queen Allythycne gently closed her eyes and released a white aura. The tentacles of the aura approached me but it seemed they can't. The Queen closed her eyes harder but still the aura can't reach me. Suddenly, it became calm and stayed in its place while trying to suck out the elemental energy inside me. I can feel my body became warm then became hot. Suddenly, a blazing aura was released from my body. Because of the sudden aggression of the element, it throws the Queen and her aura. The Queen looked surprised and had a blank stare expression on her face. I have no idea what is going on. The elemental aura from my body was mixed from the invisible shield that covers me. It emanated to the sword that I am holding while the sword slowly looked like lava then melted into light. The melted sword suddenly entered the gem on my right shoulder.

I quickly run towards the queen to check if she is alright. Brix and Reevahn woke up from the noise. They were surprised with my presence. Before they ran to me, the queen said,

"I have never seen an aura like yours before. You are also the first person, whom his/her weapon is elementally baptized, to have a very strong bielemental aura."

"Bielemental aura?" We asked in chorus.

"Yes. The shield that protected you is the earth element which is already released in your body and the fire element is hidden in your body. It is like a core power of heavenly bodies that my mother told me."

"I don't know how I became bielemental"

"I gave you earth energy so you can easily protect us."

"Nymph Theta?" I was surprised to hear her voice so I looked where the voice came from. I checked the veranda where the river can be seen.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Brix

"Nymph Theta. She was the one who granted me earth energy, she said."

"Who is nymph Theta?" asked the queen.

"You mean, the mythical nymph Theta who is friends with the Elder?" squeaked Brix.

"Who is the Elder?" I asked.

"She is the oldest and one of the pioneers of Cazanette who was granted a power like you. She was granted immortality by the nymph." Reevahn explained.

"I think I need to meet the nymph also." Brix said.

The three of us stared at each other and suddenly laughed. The queen and the dowager smiled in our reunion.

"I missed this kind of conversation." Said Reevahn

"Yes, me too. It has been a while."

"Anyway, you owed us a lot of stories of your encounters." said Brix.

"Why don't we take a snack while you are chatting? I want to listen to you too." The Queen smiled.

"I already called a servant. I have some stories to say too!" said the dowager.

We also called Gaila, Grander and Globus to chat with us. The queen looks excited to hear our stories. We took a snack inside the living room.

"Yes! Those are dowager's pets" I said.

"Pet? I tamed them but they don't look like pets." answered the dowager. "Gaila befriended them already so you don't need to worry." She added.

"Anyway, Nina, I have your bag." Reevahn said.

"Thank you. Wait. Have you taken and seen your phone yet?"

"No, not yet. Why?"

"Speaking of HGHM while the dowager is here, you should look for the photos I took using your phone."

"And speaking of phone, your mother replied to your message."

"You received a reply from my mom? When and Where?"

"When we visited the cave." Reevahn said.

"Then, speaking of cave, I was surprised that you didn't request for an updated magazine." Brix said.

"I did request something like that. May I see them?"

Brix and Reevahn gave me the wrapped package – maybe they rewrapped it in case I don't ask for them. Inside the package are ropes, shades, binoculars, magnifying glass, slingshot, hourglass and my requested feminine hygienic things.

"There's no anime cd and watch. What is an hourglass doing in here?"

"Maybe that hourglass is the watch you requested for" Reevahn said.

"And there's no anime cd because they might think that you do not have a player, You should have also asked for a cd player." Brix said.

"Why don't you rest first? Stay in the palace. Since you have your sword, you should have swordsmanship skills. Why don't you practice tomorrow?" the queen suggested.

"Thank you for your kindness, but…"

"No buts. Stay here and study the skills. That is an order."

"Ohhh…"

We stayed at a guest room in the palace. It was almost like Master Ren's guest room. Inside the pale wooden door, there is a lounge with two couches and a coffee table made of wood on top of a lavender carpet. Behind the lounge are three doors that lead to the rooms. As the only female, they gave me the right to choose my room so I chose the leftmost one. I was surprised to see that the room has its own toilet and bath unlike Master Ren's villa. The room has indigo carpet and ceiling, ecru walls and a bed with lavender bedsheet and golden frame.

"Why are they so obsessed with indigo and lavender?" I thought.

Night has passed and I can't sleep yet so I went to the lounge. I've seen Reevahn and Brix staying at the lounge as well.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" I asked.

"Well, that's for you to answer too." Reevahn said.

"I don't know, it feels like I have a jetlag or something."

"That's the same for us." Brix said with a serious face.

"What do you think of our situation?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, where and when are we? You know, we tested if this is a shared dream and it's not. Are we in another world? Another dimension? Another time? Or are we still inside our world?" Reevahn asked.

"If this is our world, it is impossible to have elemental powers. Even Nina said she met the nymph and granted her power." Brix said.

"But if this is another world, why would they have the same literature like stories?" they wondered.

"If this is another time, how could my mother replied to my message?" I said.

"Maybe, let's just hypothesize that we are on a different dimension. Let us just learn swordsmanship so we can further explore Cazanette."

"What else do we need to explore? How far did you explore when I wasn't around?"

"We visited the Elder for some history and also visited the library." "We also read some of the king's journey. That would help us in our exploration." Brix said.

"After our training, why shouldn't we write down all our observations so that we will not forget our references?" I suggested.

"Of course, we should, then why don't we sleep already? Even if we can't we should because we have lots to do tomorrow." Reevahn said.

"We should also include our insomnia in our data." Brix said.

I didn't know how long I've slept but it feels like I'm still too sleepy during a noon-like-light that diffuses through the window. I got up the bed and checked if Brix and Reevahn are already awake. They were not on the couch so I guess they're still asleep. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is that?"

"I delivered your laundry."

I opened the door and the servant maid gave me my clothes. Since Brix and Reevahn aren't awake yet, I took a bath. I got the underwear from the wishes at the shrine. I soaked myself in the tub. I was surprised that the armor suddenly unlocked so I removed it. I wasn't really comfortable taking a bath with armor. After that, I wear the clothes that nymph Theta gave us. I went out of the room again and checked if they're already awake.

I could almost fall asleep while waiting for them to come out. Reevahn opened the door of his room and looked half-asleep.

"Nina, why are you up so early? That's unusual." He said in a lousy voice.

"The sunlight woke me up. It's shining through the windows."

"I do not have a window."

"Good for you."

A servant maid knocked on the door and told us to go to the dining area to have a breakfast with the queen and the dowager.

"Brix is still asleep. What should we do?"

"Let him sleep. We'll just be eating later. Nothing's important yet."

Reevahn and I went to the dining area. There is a white-marble-long-table with gold feet. The chairs are also gold. At last, I have rest in seeing indigo and lavender things.

"Good morning, your Highness." We greeted.

"Good morning. Sit down."

"Where's Brix?"

"I believe he's still asleep."

"Don't worry, he'll be on time during the training."

"I already called someone who will be your teacher in swordsmanship." The Queen said. "I'll call you again if he's already here." She added.

We finished eating and went back to our room. We can still hear Brix snoring at this time of the day.

"I think we're thinking the same." Reevahn said.

"About not waking up Brix and not telling him that we already had our breakfast?"

"I am right. He will panic if he'll know."

Bored of just waiting, I took the hourglass I got from the shrine. I put it in the table and quickly flipped it.

"1, 1001, 1002, 1003…" I counted.

"What are you doing?" Reevahn asked.

"Oh, geez. You disturbed my counting."

"Why are you counting?"

"I don't know how much time this hourglass has so I'll try counting into seconds while waiting for Brix to wake up."

Reevahn counted the time with me.

The hourglass has sixty seconds. It is a minute counter. While waiting for Brix and the teacher, we flipped the glass for twelve times. A servant maid knocked on our door and said the teacher is on his way.

"Let's wake him up." Said Reevahn.

"How? In a good way or in a bad way?"

We entered Brix's room. He also has his own toilet and bathroom. We filled a small basin in his bathroom with water and put on the bed's headboard. I get my ropes, tied the end at the basin's hole and the other end around Brix's wrist.

"Are we going to wait for him to move?" Reevahn asked.

"No. We will make him move."

I noticed a fishbowl filled with pebbles on a corner table of the lounge. I got some as my ammo. I loaded the pebble on my slingshot and aimed at Brix's shin. He got hit and he felt it. He suddenly touched the painful area and as he extend his arms, the water in the basin suddenly splashed on his face. Reevahn and I were silently laughing while running back to our rooms hastily.

"Sharks!! Let me out!!!" Brix screamed.

I can't prevent myself from laughing so hard that I can't breathe as I wanted. I accidentally laughed out loud inside of my room that Brix could also hear. Later, I also heard Reevahn cachinnated as well.

"Get out the two of you!!!" Brix angrily called.

Reevahn and I got out of our room to see Brix. I slowly peeped between the spece of the door while I open it. I saw Bric drenched in water and his gel-fixed hair became wet and messy. Even though Brix is already in bad mood, we approached him – with air inside our mouth, puffy cheeks, teary eyes – waiting for our laughter to explode.

"What?! Haven't you heard of the saying, play pranks on a drunk person but not on a just awoken one?!" Brix cried.

"S-sh-sharks… Hahahahaha!!!!" Reevahn laughed aloud and I also did as it was contagious.

A servant maid knocked on our door again to tell us that the swordsmanship trainer has already arrived. We went to the living room where the visitors usually stay.

"Why are you so energetic?" Brix asked

"Why are you so lousy? – That is supposed to be the question."

"Maybe he stressed out his body too much yesterday during elemental baptism. He has difficulty controlling the power within him." Reevahn explained.

"Maybe because of the thick fat in his body, his power has difficulty to see the outside world so that it became aggressive." I teased.

We entered the wooden arch door and saw a silver haired man standing at the veranda facing the river. Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming from the corridor. It was the queen who was smiling while entering the room.

"Come on, I'll introduce him to you." The queen said.

The man slowly turned his head to take a look at us. We were surprised when we discovered that this man is,

"Master Ren!!!" we cried and quickly glomped to him. "We missed you."

"I missed you too, especially you, Nina. You were lost for a long time unlike Brix and Reevahn who were still with me a few days ago."

"So, you already know each other? Master Ren is the heir of the swordsman clan who teaches the skills to the citizens. Now, I'm going to leave you. Master Ren, you have the freedom to choose your training venue."

"Thank you, your Highness. May I request to take them outside the palace?"

"Yes, you can. They are already elementally baptized so they can use it in case of danger. My mother already gave them swords from the blacksmith of Town of Knowledge."

"Thank you. We are leaving, your Highness."

Master Ren told us that we shouldn't bring anything during the training. He took us out of the palace and oriented us about the training.

"You wouldn't be training with swords alone. Before you use your swords, you should acquire some basic skills first. Everyday, we will have different lessons."

The first day of our training taught us to be sensitive in our environment using the elements we had. Master Ren asked his servants to throw things at us silently while in blindfolds. Everything they used are dyed and the dye will be counted in our body after the training. It wasn't just about dodging. We were blindfolded so we need to sense the environment. After our lunchbreak, Master Ren added earplugs to make us unable to hear. It was more difficult to have inability to see and hear during fighting situations.

"This isn't just about dodging and sensitivity, is it?" Reevahn asked

"Yes. It's also about your speed and agility. You need it." Master Ren answered.

"Spheeeed hhhaaand hhhaaagility?" Brix breathlessly asked

"What?! You're still breathless even though you are drenched with dye? You should lose weight! Even if you acquire more speed, you occupy space too much." I said

"Shuuuuut..up! You.. still.. owe me one prankhhhh…"

"Don't worry, I'll give you one later." Reevahn said.

"No! Just shut up."

Brix is really in a bad mood but we're still making fun of him.

We had seven days of non-stop training with Master Ren. Our training mostly doesn't need the use of our elements but most of physical skills like strength, agility, dexterity etc.

"Nina, does the earth element the nymph gave you is the reason why you can push that boulder of rock?" Master Ren asked.

"I don't know but I was doing that kind of stuff since I was young. Hahaha~"

"She is a delinquent since she was young." Brix said

"Shut up" I rolled my eyes.

"Master Ren, what are we going to do today?" asked Reevahn.

"Today, you will be baptized."

"Aren't we already baptized?" Reevahn asked

"What I mean is, you three will be given titles and royal ranks."

"What is that?"

"Cazanette citizens, hybrids and purebreds will gather for your inauguration so that everyone will recognize you."

"Are we having party? There should be a feast!" Brix exclaimed.

"Food again? Can't you think of anything else other than food?"

"Of course , there will be a feast. Tomorrow will be the day. The queen is preparing it since you started training."

"Who will be coming?"

"About that, you should ask for the queen herself. Usually, at banquets, she invites the leaders of every subgroup and it's low classes."

"The queen is so kind. In our world, the low classes are always not invited with the leaders. By the way, what about the middle class?"

"I can't believe there's a caste system here." Brix interrupted.

"According to the queen… why don't you ask her instead? You can also help her prepare. Go! Go!"

"Okay, okay."

We went to see the queen and asked her about the middle classes.

"You know, that class system you're thinking is not as what you think it is. The classes refer to the generation. The low class is the present generation. They will be with the elders to learn how to socialize while the middle class stays in their place to protect their territory. Someday, when the first generations are gone, the socially aware, leadership oriented middle class will take the lead."

"Ooooh…"

"What are you doing, your Highness? Can we help you?"

"I'm sending invitations for tomorrow. You can't help since it needs to use my own hands. You can go and rest now."

The queen waited for us to go back to our rooms before she continued what she was doing before we arrived. We had no idea how she sends out the invitations.

It must be morning again since we can hear the busy servants' voices roaming outside of our room. I immediately took a bath then knock on Brix's and Reevahn's rooms after. They left their room and rushed to the lounge's door.

"Where are you going?" I asked

"Aren't we already late?" Brix asked.

"I don't think so. Usually, they knock on that door if we are already needed."

*Knock knock*"Excuse me, are you already awake? The dowager is asking for you to go to the living room."

"Okay, we're going." Reevahn replied "just as you said" he followed.

We marched to the palace's living room. We were surprised by the dowager. There were three Victorian-styled-clothes in dark-version-of-our-color-fabrics.

"Do we need to wear that?" Reevahn asked.

"Yes. Don't you like it? I made that while you were training with Master Ren. The style should suit your title later."

"But isn't our title be related to our responsibilities to save ourselves and seek for the truth to free the citizens in this limited land?" Reevahn said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think of that. I'm just too excited for the banquet." The dowager looked gloomy.

"Well, I like it. I will use it." I said, considering the dowager's sadness in not appreciating her help.

"Are you serious? We should be a mage-knight warriors aren't we?" said Brix

"But considering it's a banquet, we should dress formally then return to our armory after the ceremony."

"Thank you, Nina" said the dowager.

Brix and Reevahn were convinced to wear the clothes but they requested the dowager to make something in our clothes to where we put the gem. They remembered that we cannot remove our armor so the three of us decided to put on the clothes with our armors underneath.

Before we went to the banquet hall, we can already hear the people chattering and enjoying the music played by different species depending on their sizes. Species with human-like hands play string and keyboard instruments. Percussion instruments were played by pawed species. Some species with gills play multiple woodwind and brass instruments. I was afraid to say that the rattles were played by reptile derived hybrids. We wondered how they learned to play the music. We entered the hall and the people went in silence.

"People of Cazanette, every fifty years, the gates of hope opens to bring us mighty warriors who will show us the truth about our tiny kingdom. The gift that the water nymph sent us and the mighty being who cheers us, should be presented to all of you in this ceremony. These are the mage-knight warriors of Cazanette who will help us seek the truth since the reign of the second king. Leaders and youth bow your respects to the heroes who will save us on our innocence and the heroes who will help us seek the truth.

Here in front of us, Reevahn, the Master of water next to the nymph, Brix, the Master of wind and Nina, the Mistress of fire and earth. May the power of Cazanette I bestow you shall be used accordingly." The Queen declaimed.

"May our service shall be of help." The leaders bowed in chorus.

"Now, I officially dismiss the ceremony and hereby commence the party."

Everyone was applauding when suddenly a voice that surrounded the hall made them instantly stopped.

"I, nymph Theta, cannot attend your gathering but I can still give my present to this three. I gave your horse partners the ability to fly and the powers within you can be linked to your partners, yet, you're the one to discover how. Good luck to all of you."

The people whispered about what happened. "That is the first time I hear her voice." "Me too. She only talks to the Great Elder." "Maybe this three are the real heroes who can save us."

"Thank you, nymph Theta." I whispered.

During the gathering, we met the different leaders including Alnah. We collaborated plans with the leaders to be discussed the day after the gathering. Now, a greater responsibility and a longer journey await us tomorrow.