Unofficial

Sigh- argh- The man barely contained his annoyance-

"Fine…" He finally managed. "Albert- go take care of it." he whisked them away-

The butler though- "Unfortunately- the knight hall requires masters to formally register their apprentices- it is the new law to prevent forgery."

The other two chaos knights in the background were too busy… one was busy crying while the other, consoling.

Grinding his teeth- the very air shook and yet- "F-fine…!" Archivis managed.

"Yesh-" Albert celebrated behind the man- "Ahem- then- let us get you both dressed!"

"Wait- me too?" Flint asked- slightly concerned.

Meanwhile- "I'll get back to the academy then. Be sure to come back home right now-" Erveine said- eyeing the woman next to her.

Who in turn smiled- "Later, 'MY' lil Fil-" And with a wink, she was gone.

Making Erveine clench her teeth hard but she swallowed it anyway. "Later Fil-" She emphasized, grounding her teeth.

Leaving, "But of course, you're the one and only apprentice of my lord!" Albert grinned- showing that wicked smile of his.

'Wait, those two weren't his other pupils?'

Flint sweated… nervous sweat- yet-

"Alright."

***

Albert redid Flint's bandages-

And- brought in-

Dark and purple armor-

Heavy-

Yet- not that hard to move around.

They didn't give him a shield but rather a dark buckler. Instead of a typical sword he got a dark blade.

Standard stuff- the same stuff the other two had worn but… slightly lighter.

And Albert even gave him a healing potion that dulled all the pain-

"But aren't these really expensive?"

And they all fit him- almost perfectly.

Too perfect.

Had the man taken his measurements?

When?

How?

What?

"Yes- that's why we had you bring those trolls."

Oh-

Flint understood now. "But I didn't bring one-"

Changing room.

White curtains-

"Albert shrugged. Meh. Mah lord's not that poor-" he shrugged.

"What a drag." Similar but the lord's armor had… more flavor for the lack of a better word. And he was next to Flint but they were separated by a curtain of sorts-

Jagged- spikey- and even darker.

He had two swords and no shield.

No helmet-

And though really heavy- it didn't hinder his movement even a little- if anything he moved too easily.

"You look amazing Sir-" Flint said, poking his head through the curtain.

"Manners kid, manners. And flattery will get you nowhere. Let's go!"

"I meant that though…" He mumbled.

And got a suppressed snicker from the butler.

With that-

The three-

In a carriage-

Headed for the Knight hall-

***

Steps-

It was kind full-

"Is there any special occasion or something?" Flint whispered.

Dozens of knights and their pupils.

Chatter-

Kind of loud.

"It's the end of the month- responsible masters have come to report the progress of their pupils at the hall. It's important for licenses later on."

Large room.

Shiny floor.

Fragrance in the air.

'Oh yeah-' He also went through this in the past… he forgot all about it though.

No-

Actually.

He just didn't want to remember those days of his master just beating the shit out of him in front of others…

Yeah- he didn't want to remember that-

"Heh- worthless-" the lord said- walking ahead.

And Flint agreed.

It was worthless to him.

He just wanted to be stronger anyway.

Swish!

The air changed- something- wasn't right.

And though Flint's eyes and ears reported nothing unusual-

"Something-" Before his mouth could move-

His hand- and his buckler- quickly moved over to his master's face- in one fluid motion as he glowed in a faint light blue-

Clang!

And blocked an incoming sword-

A black scimitar-

But that's when Flint realized-

He'd been wrong.

It wasn't that his master hadn't noticed-

Rather-

His master already had a sword over his head- pointed straight at the perpetrator. "Impressive but unnecessary." He snorted- shoving Flint back at Albert.

"Have a bit more faith in your master-" Albert whispered. "After all-"

"Yeah- my body just… moved-"

Albert's eyes- flashed for a second but- "I see…" A faint grin at that too.

"Long time to see ArchiPig-" Feminine- sharp.

Black and golden armor.

Flowy Auburn hair, slit lips; kind of muscular.

"Likewise, DaBitch."

Aura-

Intense-

Murdering aura-

And yet-

At the same time-

"Knock it off you two-" A man walked this way- white hair- red eyes- dazzling armor.

The town holy knight; Paladin 7.

"Hmph- that bitch attacked me first. I'll move back if she begs on her knees-"

"Huh?" The woman glared- "Your dumb pupil got in the way or today you'd have been minced meat!"

"They're old rivals- my lord is stronger if you're wondering-" Albert answered, though Flint hadn't asked the question.

"Al-Al- stop spreading fake news!" She yelled.

"She also has a crush on my lord."

"Al-Al- you bastard!" Flushed-

Grinding her teeth- she launched herself but-

"Sacrace-" The paladin declared- shining- and engulfing the whole place-

'My body- paralyzed?' Or was it that the white aura just- didn't let him move?

Flint couldn't believe it-

But-

Then he saw-

He saw that man move-

Straight to Flint- "You- you have sense… meet me here at midnight." Barely a whisper.

The light ceased-

'When did he-'

The paladin was still way behind the other two knights- almost as though he hadn't even moved an inch.

The aura also disappeared-

Snorting- Archivis glared back. "We're leaving."

"But sir- the registration?" Albert paused… sighing. "I see."

And with that-

They just left hall. "You're okay being unofficial- right?" Archivis gave Flint a glance.

"As long as I can grow stronger- I'm fine with anything."

And he got a snort from his master as a reply.