10 Chapter 9 - Ankunft

Three days since the train departed from the capital, Qrist, and Robert did not leave his compartment even for a moment after the...*ahem*.

"What's wrong with you? You haven't left the compartment in ages!", Damien inquired of Robert, who was trying his best to meditate. His face turned as red as a ruby.

"Bobby, are you all right? Your face is getting redder by the second!", a concerned Damien asked. It was fuel to the fire.

"Shut it !!! Leave me be! You go do some work of your own; good for nothing idiot!"

"Okay, okay. I'll leave. Crazy guy, shouting unnecessarily. Hmph!"

Robert struggled yet again to focus for his thoughts flowed freely to embarrassing corners and crevices. The result of the interruption was that now his body twitched from head to toe, rather uncontrollably.

In her compartment, Katherine was looking out of the window and enjoying the beauty of the forest outside. It reminded her of her mighty husband and she felt the feeling of sorrow take over.

(O: lonely mommy lol R: kys)

"Oh, Lawrence. Why must you test my patience all the time..."

There was a knock on the door.

"Mother, it is Damien. May I enter?"

"Come in, my love."

The door slid open to reveal a boy dressed in blue overalls. His hair was ruffled, and it seemed that he had just woken up from a satisfying sleep. The appearance of this young boy was medicine to Katherine's pierced heart. As she looked at him, she was overcome with motherly love.

"Good evening mother!"

"Good evening Damien, did you sleep well last night ?"

"I did, although I think Robert is not... He seems to be worried about something."

"Don't worry. Had it been something that pestered him, he would have told me already. Nevertheless, we shall arrive at the Citadel in 4 days' time. Until then, you may roam around and explore the train as much as you like."

"I did, Mother. In fact, there is a Count's daughter in the compartment next to mine. Emily told me that her father serves the Marquis of Arenhal, and she is visiting her grandmother who lives in the Citadel. She also said that she wishes to become a scholar."

"My little boy is making friends already! If you require anything, just ask me and I shall get it arranged."

"Yes, mother!"

***

A day later in Damien's coach.

"Robert! What are you doing in the washroom? Emily and her sister have come to meet us!"

Damien knocked again at the washroom's door.

"Umm, I have a bad stomach. I will stay here for a while.", Robert replied from the washroom.

"So that's what you were hiding!", Damien said, laughing.

"Will Master Damien join us now?", asked Emily while looking in Damien's direction.

"Oh, sure..." Damien sat down with two girls. "Hmm? Erza are you a Herald?" Damien looked at the taller of the two. The sisters looked quite alike, except that Erza was a few inches taller and had long hair that went down to her waist.

"Y-Yeah I just advanced recently... it has been a week to be exact," Erza said and looked towards Damien. Her cheeks revealed a light blush in them.

(O: Damien has got some class R: which you don't)

"Ah! I could feel a higher concentration of mana from you.", Damien said, unknowingly. He picked up his cup of tea.

"So are you going to give the mage exams?" asked Damien.

"Yes, indeed, I wish to become a battle mage one day," Erza replied.

"I am sure that you will serve under Master Damien, won't you Erza?", Emily said, teasing.

"No need for 'Master'. Just call me by my name. And yes, I too wish to enlist in the army and serve my country!"

"I see. And what about Master Robert? Is he unwell?"

"He... H-He is taking a bath.", stammered Damien.

"But, I thought that the bathroom was over there." Emily pointed at the door in front of the washroom in which Robert was hiding.

"Yeah- I mean no, that door is umm... It is that-", Damien flustered. The two sisters looked at Damien with a suspicious eye. Damien had never been a man of the moment. He was thinking to himself...

'What should I say to them?! What?!..... What?!?!' Suddenly, a light bulb flickered open in his head...

"Let me check. He was feeling sleepy today, so I guess he slept in the washroom!" Damien smiled, and gave a sigh of relief, while Emily burst out laughing, and Erza giggled.

'Was that too stupid of an explanation? Mother is gonna kill me when she hears about this.', Damien thought, scratching his head as he stood up.

(D: Damien...smh)

"I am not sleeping!" The door opened, and out came Robert, smiling his widest.

'This Damien will drown my reputation in their tears of laughter.', Robert had thought to himself and it was on an impulse that he had barged out of the washroom.

"Oh, Robert you are out! Well, I- oww!"

"Forgive my Brother; he is a little eccentric at times.", Robert said, and smacked Damien on his head.

"Sorry for keeping you ladies waiting!"

"It is nothing, Master Robert.", chuckled Emily. Robert looked at Erza and his mind went blank. Scenes from that fateful night replayed in his head.

'ROBERT CONTROL!', he bellowed in his heart.

Emily and Erza excused themselves after some time. Robert, whose face was still coloured faint red, looked outside the window and noticed that the night sky was filled with the cosmic entities. He began to feel sleepy.

"Danny I'm going to sleep now, good night."

"Okay, good night. I'll sleep sometime later."

Damien sat on the couch and picked up the book he had been gifted by Katherine, which described the Citadel and the mage exams.

It said that the Citadel was the largest territory in Triston, which was also the capital for commerce. The mage exams took place in the Holy Draconic Association of Magical Arts, the primary institution of the empire and it was a necessity for young mages to be certified by the association.

The association was created by Emperor Maximus' wife to show respect and build a pseudo-church for the Dragon Emperor, which later transformed into an organization which acted as the legislature of the empire, working under the King. The leader of the sect is the Supreme Pontiff, currently held by His Holiness Jaden Àmidari, who resides in the empire's capital Eden.

The other priests - Hallowmen - are the supreme pontiffs of the territorial capitals. They are second in the hierarchy. Under them are the priests, service mages and the rest of the clergy. Damien closed his eyes to take it all in and slept then and there.

The last few days passed by in a similar manner. Damien finished reading the book, and Robert was hesitant to talk to Emily and avoided her as much as he could. When they finally reached Citadel, Robert was the first to leave for their residence. On Damien's insistence, Katherine took him to see the association grounds.

"Now remember, we are to only see and then we shall return. Your exam isn't until the day after, so we will rest after this. Tomorrow you can roam around the city."

Damien nodded in agreement.

The carriage arrived at the sect and Damien walked out to see the majestic site. In front of him stood one of the oldest monuments in the empire - the great Aestas Exedra - which literally translated to the great summer hall.

The names of all the association grounds in the country were the same, except for the one in the capital, which was known as the Ecclesia Draconis.

Damien saw the holy sanctum, made from black iron and bricks. It was a black beauty, but the oddity was that it had no dragon sculptures. On it, instead, was something written in the ancient draconic language, which nobody except the emperor had the ability to translate.

It was said that the church formed by the association's members did not have an image of their God, but of this draconic inscription, which was the Dragon Emperor's will. High above Damien in the sanctum, was a black pagoda with golden poles over it, signifying communication with the heavens. As Damien entered the Church, he saw that there were candles everywhere, lighting up the section. The stained glass windows allowed only faint rays to light up the long corridor, at the end of which was a stone, carrying words that made Damien's head swirl. He averted his gaze and slowly went to the first floor.

The room appeared old and archaic, filled with antiques on display. Here, Damien found were the artefacts of the great heroes of Triston, including his father's gauntlet. As a token of respect to the sect, all great personalities had given one of their weapons. It told everyone that they stood united.

In one corner of the room, a stage had been constructed. On the pedestal right in its centre, a circular magic formation was craved about 2 feet in diameter. Above the magic formation, a black ball floated. Occasionally, ripples were formed on the ball, making it look like a floating blob of dark liquid.

"Mother, what is that?", asked Damien. She had been following Damien at a leisurely pace, taking pleasure in watching Damien's reactions.

"That is the place where your elemental affinity test and spirit aptitude will take place and your innate ability test will take place on the second floor, where only Heralds are allowed.", said Katherine. "However, right now, the Hallowmen are arranging the apparatus for ability testing; we can not go there."

Damien, the ever obedient child, nodded. He, with Katherine, returned to their residence after some more inspection of the grounds.

After a while, Katherine said, "And also, nowadays they have combined the elemental affinity test and sprit aptitude test. I don't how but that is what I have been told."

Two days later.

"So the day is finally here, eh?"

"Yeah, Danny. We are going to be certified Heralds now!"

"You two, do not make noises. No chitchat; be more poised, and, for the sake of heavens, act like noble-borns."

An hour later, the troop reached the association grounds. Damien had told Robert all about his visit, so Robert's blue eyes were darting all around; narration and first-hand experience always had their differences.

"Nice..." Robert seemed to be amazed by the architecture. Unaware to Katherine, what Robert was thinking was, 'Woah! Assassins will have a hard time hiding over here. And there, there is the blind spot!' As for Damien, he was too nervous to say anything. A lot of people were gathered here, but all stepped aside when they saw the royal family come forward; the guards did not come since they were forbidden on the association grounds.

(D: Robert finding more places to hide lol)

"Good Morning, Lady Katherine.", a man in white silk robes said and bowed as he moved in front of Lady Katherine.

"Good Morning, Hallowman Gregor!" Katherine readdressed the man. "Would you mind leading us to the first floor?"

"Not at all milady. I see young masters are already Heralds! They must surely have some talent. However, if my memory does not fail me, they are thirteen years old, aren't they?", he asked.

"Indeed, but this year in the month of Nix, they turn fourteen.", Katherine smiled.

"Ho! Then there is no problem.", assured, the hallowman smiled, and turned.

The Royals were led to the very same hall which Damien had discovered the first time he had come to the grounds. On seeing Katherine enter, all present bowed in respect. Despite the infamous Earl Lawrence's absolute disregard for formalities and traditions, he was quite popular among his subjects. Needless to say, his kin were to receive the same respect.

"So, Master Damien, Master Robert, which one of you would like to present first?" Gregor asked.

"I think Robert you should try it first.", Damien said, with a tremor in his voice. He was trying his best to sound as casual as possible, resulting in a moment evidently awkward for everyone present around. Robert broke through it with overconfidence.

"Fine then. Hallowman Gregor, please instruct me towards my actions," said Robert. He could be the most formal if he wanted to.

"Ho ho! What a bold young child!", Gregor exclaimed with surprise. He gestured Robert to follow him to the pedestal.

A white flame burned in the air above the magic formation. The flame, about the size of one's fist, flickered irregularly. The magic formation glowed and emitted blue light, while the black ball floated over the flame in a leisurely manner.

"Now, Master Robert, what you have to do is: touch the magic formation with your hand, and release all the mana in your body," Gregor said, pointing towards the circle on the stage.

Robert nodded and bent down. When, after taking a deep breath, Robert touched the formation with the tips of his fingers, he felt a slight suction force. He took another deep breath and forced all the mana in his body into the formation. The formation released intense light while the floating white flame turned golden yellow, with brown and green hues twinkling in it. The flames grew higher and licked the black ball.

The black ball distorted and twisted with huge ripples continuously changing its shape. Its top-half tuned golden, while the bottom changed to brown; a thick green strip occupied the middle.

"By God! His divine elemental affinity! The order of its ratio is greater than his both of his basic affinities combined! He can become a Paladin!", exclaimed Gregor with amazement.

The entire hall went abuzz with gasps and murmurs. Katherine's eyes were shining as they had never before; she was thinking, 'I knew it, Robert! My son! You would make your parents proud one day!' She noticed the awe and admiration that radiated from Damien's face; she smiled, and asked him in her thoughts, 'Will you follow your father's footsteps too?'

"A Paladin, eh?", Robert said as he got up. The ball was still shining. 'Sounds boring', he thought.