Leaving for a mission

Training knights and powerful warriors has always been an important task for any and all nations. Every country had its own unique way of training its forces and also its specific fighting style. There were also different classes of warriors in various systems, and even for the knights working under one ruler, different positions existed. 

In The Empire, one of the unique titles a knight can attain is the honorary position of Holy Knight. Holy knights are individuals capable of wielding both the sword and Aether, trained years to master the art of using and combining both in the most efficient ways. The whole process of becoming one usually took more than a decade, consisting of hundreds of exams, lessons, and hard work. The greater the efforts one puts into one's advancement, the greater their future salary and position will be. The only requirements were a basic amount of Aether and hard work. 

If so, why weren't his efforts paying off?

"Huff... Huff... Damn it!"

Clang!

Tossing the sword to the ground, the young boy gasped and fumed at the same time, unable to contain his frustration. 

"Why isn't it working??"

He'd done anything he could. Trying any method he found. Trained as long as his body could last. 

So why couldn't he perform such a simple move?

It's been months since he was stuck at the same spot. So close to breaking through yet unable to take that one step forward. He felt as if trapped in a swamp, drowning deeper the more he struggled.

"Hmm? Look who's there!"

Hearing a scornful voice, he turned around, only to meet another young man entering the private training ground. The newcomer appeared older than him. He had a head of light blue hair, so drained of color that it looked almost silver. His eyes were not much different, and his skin was also paler than other people. 

"...Brother!"

Jolting up, the boy ran a few steps closer and bowed his back. In the most polite voice and gesture he could muster, he welcomed the man.

"It's an honor to meet you, big brother-"

"First prince."

The man corrected his words; disgust clear in his voice. 

"...Yes. I apologize... It's an honor to meet you, first prince..."

By the time he looked up, the prince had already passed him and was walking around the training ground. 

"I heard you weren't able to ascend in the knighthood exam once again. Hm? Even though you're educated by the best of the best." 

Tak. The prince lightly kicked the sword that was on the ground. The blade flew in the air. 

"Makes me seriously question father's decisions."

Their father, The Emperor.

"Hm? You've got nothing to say, Mister Crown Prince?"

Lowering his head even more, the crown prince bit down on his lower lip.

"...Brother I-"

"First prince."

Once again, a disgusted tone that forbids him from referring to him as a family member, like how things have been from the first day.

"F-first prince I've been-"

"No. Actually, never mind."

The man stopped him midway through his sentence, shaking his head in disappointment. As silence coated the training ground, the first prince walked around the younger boy in a circle, inspecting him up and down as if he were no more than a piece. 

"I came for a visit after hearing you were being sent on an expedition, to see how much you've grown, but seems like I've only wasted my time!"

Hah! Scoffing once more, the first prince circled on his heels, striding over to the exit. It seemed he came there only to mock him. Even when he was about to leave, the crown prince could still hear his voice. 

"Not even a funny plaything."

"...."

It seemed that the first prince didn't see him as worthy enough to waste time mocking, thus he was leaving as soon as he came with the same disappointed, disgusted face he always had when they met. 

It didn't bother him much anymore. The crown prince was getting used to it.

Just as the first prince walked out of the training ground, another figure emerged from the other side. It was a girl with the same hair and eye colors yet a different bearing, smiling as she elegantly strode inside. As the first prince walked past, he neither answered the girl's greetings nor even glanced at her. The other party too, wasn't affected by his ignorance. Instead, she waved at the crown prince inside the training ground.

"Eliot! I knew I could find you here!" She hastened her steps, her smile widening. "I heard something. Are you going on a mission? Father is sending you out?"

Hearing the girl's voice, Eliot finally raised his head. Despite a frown still lingering on his face, his lips arched to a smile. 

"That's right, sister Celisa."

"Wow! My lil' bro is going out to execute The Emperor's orders as his legitimate crown prince! I rushed here as soon as I heard the news to congratulate you on that!"

"I..."

Eliot ran a hand through his curly dark blue hair, ruffling it to an even messier state. The princess' words echoed in his mind. The legitimate crown prince.

"I'm not really sure..."

The first prince was right. He couldn't even perform a simple movement of combining Aether and the sword despite having trained it for years. How was he supposed to become an emperor in the future?

"What's this about? Uh, I saw that first prince leaving, was he also here because of the news?" Seeing Eliot's head drooping down, Celisa softly chuckled, "Don't listen to him. How can someone who never tried to learn the Imperial Sword Dance even dare to mock you? He's so full of himself for no reason. I'm sure he can't even perform the first move, yet he looks down on you because you are struggling to learn one of the most advanced ones? He's just envious."

The Imperial Sword Dance. An ancient sword style that mixed holy power with swordsmanship, creating one of the most powerful techniques in the world. A least advanced version of it was introduced to the holy knights, while the Imperial Sword Dance was only taught to the descendants of the holy blood as per their ancestor, the first king's order. 

"I heard there are a lot of monster attacks these days, especially in the borders. Are you being sent there?"

The princess walked around as she talked. Carefully picking up the sword in the corner of the field, she dragged it back to where Eliot was.

"Yeah."

The sword was placed back in the young boy's palm.

"I don't know why they've increased so much these days. Shouldn't churches be able to predict their movements? Yet they seem incapable of doing so... Those guys, The Revolutionary Army are also taking advantage of that fact... I don't know how can they even know where a breakout is about to happen..."

"Yeah. I've heard they've spread their forces all around the borders, using this chance to infiltrate our border villages."

They both heaved a sigh.

The news was absurd.

Those people calling themselves The Resistance really thought they could use this momentum to harm their country? Instead of thanking the emperor because of how benevolent he was in letting them live their comfortable lives, they'd formed an army to go against him and were now using every chance they got to strengthen themselves, even at such a situation.

'One has to teach them a lesson.'

And that was another task he was assigned to in this mission. To go against The Resistance and push them back out of the borders. 

Remembering his mission, Eliot clenched his fists. A surge of passion ran up in his fibers. 

"I have to meet Father once he leaves the daily meeting, so I must leave."

The date of the departure was tomorrow, so he had to prepare everything by night.

Nodding her head in understanding, Celisa waved him goodbye.

"Take care of yourself. Don't come back all injured like the last time."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

After waiting for a while outside the emperor's chamber, Eliot was finally granted entry. As soon as stepping inside, he presented the man with a stack of documents.

"These are the measures that I've taken for the journey as you instructed me. We estimate to reach the destination in about a week's time and will stay at the borders for as long as you order us."

A brief skim through the papers, and then the emperor tossed them aside. Instead, he scanned the boy up and down. 

"And what about your own progress on your training?"

"Uh, t-that..."

Elliot opened and closed his leaps multiple times, yet no words were spoken. Lowering his head even more in shame, he took a few deep breaths.

"I-I'm still practicing to infuse my blade with Aether."

Even if he wasn't looking, he was sure his father had an eyebrow raised in dissatisfaction. Eliot bit on his lip so hard that it hurt.

"You haven't mastered that yet?"

No words, no response. The prince was too ashamed to admit his shortcomings. Seeing this, the silver-haired emperor let out a sigh. 

"It's alright. There is still time. You haven't even reached adulthood yet, am I right? Your birthday is in a few months... I hope you can achieve that feat and can be assigned as a holy knight by that day."

Before turning 18, master the sword dance. Elior had heard this sentence many times.

"I'll try my best"

Hearing that, the emperor stood up from his seat, circled the table, and strode over the young prince. After a brief pause, he patted the boy's shoulders a few times, a smile emerging on his face.

"No, not that, Elliot. I don't want such an answer. I want a certain, specific response. Can you do it or can you not?"

"I-I..."

Could he do it?

He was currently struggling with the first few advanced moves of the imperial sword dance. Could he master all the moves in a few months' time while out on an expedition and unable to train properly for the time being? 

"Seems like you are not confident yet in yourself..." 

The emperor's voice deepened the more he talked. Elior didn't dare look up at his face. He could only pray that his father wouldn't hear his racing heartbeat.

"Eliot, this is unacceptable for a crown prince."

"....."

Letting go of the boys shoulders and approaching his desk once again, the emperor continued on his words while taking out something from his drawer.

"You might not be sure, but I am more than certain that you can achieve such a feat and even more than that in this short span of time."

Shaking his wrist, the emperor showed the boy a small bag that seemed to be filled with some sort of medicine.

"But if you find it impossible to grow... Take these."

Tak. The bag was thrown on the table. Hesitant, Eliot took a step forward.

"...These are..."

"A secret recipe of our bloodline, something only a selected few are permitted to use."

"...."

Was that some sort of a secret method hidden by the royal family? 

Having lived in the castle all his life and having seen many things that the people outside could never even imagine, Eliot knew that the probability of such an ingredient existing wasn't zero. There could indeed be secret methods that the royal family used to boost their Aether.

Learning of this, a tiny spark lit up in his chest. Eliot hurriedly grabbed the bag and hid it in his pocket.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your gift."

The voice trembled ever so slightly. The boy's expression was a mixture of hope and fright. 

The emperor didn't point any of them out. He instead, ordered the boy to leave and prepare for his trip. 

"Fuuu...."

Stepping outside the door, Eliot took a few seconds to calm himself down. Leaning on the wall, he reviewed his short conversation with his father. Shivers ran down his spine as soon as he remembered the man's disappointed tone.

'I can't let father down this time.'

He had to do his best. He had to try even more.

'Uh... I should meet Mother as well before leaving.'

Suddenly being reminded of his mother, a tiny smile emerged on his pale face. As if finally having found a safe zone, Eliot rushed out of The Emperor's Chamber, running to her mother's residence.

'I hope nothing unusual happens in this journey.'