Return

The rose knight trainees marched through the plains, past the rolling hills and the seaside with numerous ships passing by.

As the rose knights got closer and closer to the training center their excitement rose as well.

Jason and the rest of the platoon marched on. They went up a large hill and suddenly stopped at the top under the command of Charlie.

The platoon gazed at the familiar forest that started at the foot of the hill. Its lush trees stretching for miles and miles. Jason could see a platform on the top of one of the taller trees.

Jason could see the large platform stretching out, with a small patch of trees that he remembered ever so clearly. A bamboo forest took over in the middle of the path and finally a large cliff.

Jason couldn't see the waterfall, but he knew it was there. Back at the platform which was the beginning of the agility trial, Jason could see some people being hurled into the air by a giant monster gorilla.

Some people were jumping off of the platform and swinging through the trees, Jason assumed it was the next batch of trainees.

At the very end of the forest on the opposite side was a large tower that seemed to stretch up to the skies. It stood alone on a hill with the mountains behind it like a tower of defense.

And finally, if you looked to the right past the forest and the strikingly red mansion was the crown jewel of the place. The city Herdita stood with large walls and a bustling city that could be seen miles away. A glistening sea was behind it and large ports stretched out into it. With numerous ships docked at it.

There was no real central point in the city of Herdita, as they were separated into districts with each having its own importance. The merchant's districts where most of the markets were. The blacksmith district or the industrial district where smoke and fumes could be seen floating up into the air.

The residential district with hundreds of houses lined up, and the noble district with its large and expensive gardens and houses.

The rose knight trainees stopped to look at the city of Herdita.

The bright blue sky and the numerous flocks of birds flying over the city only added to the picture of the city being the crown jewel of the sea.

Of course, there were other cities that were more deserving of that name, but to Jason currently, this was the best city.

Charlie turned to look at the rose knights who stood at the top of the hill breathlessly. The hot noon sun shone down on him. With a brilliant smile, he pointed to the city and said

"the next time you lay eyes on that city, we will be rose knights"

The rose knight trainees roared in happiness and followed Charlie who started to walk down the hill.

At the foot of the hill right where the forest started were some welcoming members.

Jeffery, Lance, and Asher along with the rest of the wolves smelled the air and quickly ran as fast as they could to the foot of the hill where the alpha wolf stood with the rest of the pack.

The alpha wolf seemed to watch the returning wolves run back with pride in his eyes, and he smilled and howled to the sun to welcome their homecoming.

The wolves sprinted to the foot of the forest and jumped onto their pack mates. A festive reunion was made at the foot of the hill with tails wagging and happy barks everywhere.

Jason and the rest of the platoon descended down the hill all smiling as they watched the wolves and their unbridled joy.

Jason was the first to notice something different about the alpha wolf and his pack.

"there's more?" He said to himself in confusion

Boops quickly counted them and said in a confused voice

'49, 50, 51,52,53? 53 wolves? the pack originally had less than 30? What's going on?'

The alpha wolf spotted Jason and walked over to him with a happy group of wolves jumping all over him.

He said to Jason with a gleeful tone

"thank you hooman for bringing them all back"

A sudden notification came up

[you have completed the side objective (keep all of the wolves alive)]

Jason looked around just to make sure that he was looking at the pack clearly

"umm are there more of you?"

The alpha wolf nodded his head and answered

"yes, a pack happened to roam into this forest and we managed to catch their scent, we almost started to fight with them, but their leader offered peace after seeing our strength"

Jason quickly analyzed the wolves again and saw that the original ones that were with Jason from the beginning were all nearing level 50 while the wolves that had recently been integrated with the pack were around level 30-40.

Jason looked at the pack leader and smiled. It was obviously good news to get more numbers and he didn't even need to do anything to get them. The value of the wolves increased in his mind.

After the wolves reunited with the rest of the pack and meet with the new members the platoon journeyed on.

They walked through the familiar forest again, the green barrack members gave off nostalgic smiles as they looked at the forest they had learned their skills from. Even Ardem smilled as he passed by a tree that had a suspicious talon mark on its trunk.

He nudged the falcon that was resting on his shoulder, while the falcon turned its head and pretended to not see the talon mark on the trunk.

They passed the clearing that they had used to get ready for the campaign, where they had also gotten their final trial and its requirements.

They passed through the dark tunnel that was light up by the mana crystals, which lead to the agility trial that Jason had struggled through a few times.

The group passed through the forest and reached the barracks where they had lived for most of their lives.

The platoon stopped to gather any belongings they left so that they could transport them to the cafeteria. Where they could take them with where ever they were sent to.

So the platoon set out after a few minutes of wandering around their barracks for the last time. Some of them were drawn to tears as they looked at their home for the last few years leaving their eyes.

They walked up to where the cafeteria/gym was, taking it slow and looking at each familiar step and tree that they had passed by countless times.

They finally stood in the cafeteria and the gym where the red barrack members lovingly handled the weights and equipment one more time.

The platoon dropped their personal belongings and walked to the training field. Where a group of people waited.

It was the people that had accompanied Lady Megra when she had given out the final trial.

A large group of knights stood there in shining armor lead by 2 women with pink and red hair. They were waiting for the trainee platoon.

The platoon marched up to them in formation and Charlie quickly walked up to one of the leaders he saluted quickly and said

"acting commander of the 56th rose knight trainee platoon is here to report miss"

One of the pink-haired leaders nodded in approval as she looked at Charlie and then at the platoon behind him. Even the wolves who accompanied the platoon had stood in a formation with each of them standing next to a barrack member.

The pink-haired woman with a bright smile on her face got off her horse and walked around inspecting the platoon.

A large amount of pressure was placed on the platoon as they watched her continue to walk through the uniform lines of the platoon looking at each one of them and even stopping to look at an intimidated Jeffery who was standing as still as a statue.

As the pink-haired woman walked through the ranks of the platoon, Jason noticed her placing a small delicate rose on the armor of the rose knight trainees. It had a short stem but a large flower that was about the size of a fist, as the pink-haired woman walked to each of the rose knight trainees and placed them on their armor. She looked deep into their eyes as she did so, her pink eyes seeming to look deep into them. She walked over to the Blue 2 team to give them the roses. She walked to Charlie and exchanged a smile with him while pinning a rose on his chest. She gave an amused smile as she gave one to Lyle who looked like he could jump up and start running around the field in joy. She acted normally with Colby, Mark, and Ethan but when she approached Jason. She seemed to stop and appraise him slightly.

Jason stared back into her mellow pink eyes and was able to look at her clearly. Her pink hair seemed to turn into a light purple at the ends of her hair. She had hair eyes and well-defining eyelashes that made her eyes almost sparkle. Small pristine lips and a cheerful smile completed her image.

A person who looked like what Jason assumed to be her sister, was sitting on the horse waiting for her with an emotionless expression on her face. Besides their facial expressions, they were almost splitting images of each other.

The pink-haired woman in front of him looked at Jason for a bit as if she was evaluating him and finally, after a tense 5 seconds, she pulled a beautiful rose and gently pinned it to his armor. Jason didn't even know how she was able to pin a rose to an iron amour like the one he had, but it stuck, and as he looked at the rose he saw a light red glow emit out of it softly.

Jason looked around slightly alarmed and saw the roses pinned on the rest of the platoon members' chest also glowing a light red color.

a notification came up to Jason

[you have equipped a (rose of sight)]

[the roses' innate ability is activating]

The light glowing from the roses got brighter as time passed and as walked back to the group of knights and what seemed to be her sister.

Jason looked at the hideous all-red mansion behind them. Everything was red and it made Jason's eyes hurt as he continued to look at it.

But as he tried to avert his eyes the refreshing scent of a rose washed over him. Jason breathed a deep breath savoring the smell, and as he did so a small red energy also washed over him.

As the energy passed over his eyes, an amazing scene happened in front of Jason. The hideous red mansion that he had avoided staring at for too long, the red color seemed to recede from the walls fading away as if they were an illusion.

What replaced it was pure white marble walls with a glowing red inscription of a rose covering the walls. The rose inscriptions seemed to emit different shades of red and even some other colors.

Jason saw a part of the mansion that had a rose that had sharp thorns with blood dripping off of it and a dark rose with red and black emitting out of it.

As Jason watched the hideous red fall off of the walls of the mansion and see the glowing inscriptions of different colored roses slowly appear. The rest of the platoon also stood in wonder at the hideous red mansion that they had avoided looking at, become a beautiful work of art in front of their very eyes.

Jason could see an inscription of a rose that had wisps of glowing green wind around it. One that looked like it was born in a fiery volcano and so many more that it looked like the mansion itself was a colorful mural. The only thing that was in common was the glowing rose and it took center stage every time.

The pink-haired woman seemed to smile as she turned to look at the mansion that was now revealed in all of her glory as if she had seen that reaction many times.

She turned back to the platoon and said in a clear and commanding voice

"procced to the main hall"

The entire platoon roared out a "yes ma'am" and started to split into a large line with two people next to each other.

They walked into the now beautiful mansion through a large door that was held open by one of the knights.

The platoon marched into a large hallway that could have easily fit the entire platoon if they had all walked side by side.

The carpet was red and the hallways now had a marble white on their walls and multiple beautiful paintings and sculptures on its side.

They came across a large golden door that went up to the ceiling. The door was adorned with a flying bird that had flames shooting from of its wings.

The two guards at the door nodded to the platoon when they saw them and slowly pushed the huge door open to reveal a large chamber.

The chamber reminded Jason of the chamber he had stumbled into back at the tutorial village. It was a magnificent chamber with tall arches and huge pillars, it was brilliantly decorated with golden inscriptions of roses carved into the white marble walls.

But the entire chamber seemed to center onto the seat that one figure sat on. Lady Megra sat on that seat, her ruby-colored eyes giving a bright glow as she looked at the approaching platoon.