Wagner's Decision

The Collins family's Crimson Castle is a large castle built of ruby-colored stones with flecks of black. It has 4 floors where each floor is a big square bigger than the other. The higher the floor, the smaller this square.

Since the Family Council came to an end, Ferdinand, Jason, and Jennifer wasted no time as they went straight to military barracks to recruit their Knights' retinues and, after making other preparations, were now in their rooms on the castle's third floor while receiving the same news.

Jennifer looked very pretty with her long black hair tied back in a ponytail and her tight silver black leather armor that made her look like a brave young woman. At that moment, she had a frown on her face as she doubtfully asked her subordinate before her, "Are you sure about this?"

"Young Miss, this subordinate is sure. Young Master Makai is now at the Apprentice Knights' military barracks..."

After listening to her subordinate, Jennifer was still confused, 'My younger brother doesn't seem like a stupid man. Why did he enter the Apprentice Knights' military barracks? Don't tell me he intends to recruit them...'

After trying to figure out what her brother was planning to do, Jennifer looked at her subordinate as her face became indifferent again, "Forget it. I don't care what he does anymore..."

"You should also go to your family and make preparations for moving, as we are leaving tomorrow morning..."

She hadn't finished her words when a dragon's roar interrupted her causing her to go to her bedroom window and her face was shocked as she looked up to the heavens.

...

In another adjoining room, Jason had a contemplative look after hearing the news from Makai, 'This little brother of mine is very interesting. It seems he values ​​loyalty over strength...'

There was a gleam in his eyes that added the charm of a Silver Elf as he lost himself in his thoughts. Unlike his other siblings, he seems to be the smartest and likes to spend his free time reading books.

For Jason, nothing was without reason, everything had a cause and effect. As soon as he heard about Makai entering the Apprentice Knights' military barracks, he very quickly realized his younger brother's intentions.

Recalling Makai's performance at today's Family Council, he laughed amusedly, 'Big brother, it looks like your long-awaited title is no longer guaranteed...'

Suddenly, the smile on his face stagnated to be replaced by a frown as he heard the dragon roar and, curious, went to his window and was mute as he gazed up at the heavens.

...

Ferdinand was still wearing his luxurious black gold clothes topped with a red cape where his long dark red hair rests when he heard the news about Makai and was scowling, 'Apprentice Knights? Does he think that just because he's waiting for the winter to pass before entering the Mystic Valley, he won't find danger there? Has he suddenly gone stupid or is there some conspiracy...'

After asking himself several questions, he looked at his subordinate before him, "Go, keep an eye on his actions. I want to know exactly how many Knights he will recruit..."

"Furthermore, he is likely to recruit in the other barracks after leaving the Apprentice Knight's barracks and you should get these results in detail."

"Yes, young master."

As soon as his subordinate left, Ferdinand pulled out a crystal ball very similar to the one his father used to talk to the Old Fox, and he was about to pour his vital energy into her to contact someone, but he was interrupted by the sudden roar of Dragon...

...

'Hmm?' Duke Marvin had just climbed the stairs of his castle and had closed his bedroom door when he seemed to notice something, 'Why does it seem that the vital aura has suddenly become much stronger?'

At the same time, a strong gust of wind came through the windows of his room on the top floor of his castle.

Curious, he walked to the window, 'That's... Knight's Aura. Is a new Child of Fate being born or is it the Child of Fate of the next generation of the royal family?'

'No... Every new Child of Fate in the royal family is born once in at least 300 years and the First Prince isn't that old... Also, why do I feel that this aura is concentrated in my duchy?'

While Duke Marvin was still filled with doubts, he was stunned to see the figure that appeared in the skies after his dragon roar had dispersed all the black clouds.

'Is this what a Superior Aura looks like? This is many times stronger than the aura of the 1st Prince... This Child of Fate that is being born is definitely no ordinary person. Maybe it's those people from the Temple of Wealth or the Temple of Light who have always been mysterious...'

The dragon in the skies roared a second time and disappeared after diving towards the pavilion of the Apprentice Knights' military barracks.

When the Duke saw this scene, his heart raced and it took a while for him to react, "Rui!"

His voice sounded low, but it echoed urgently and, between the castle complexes, what appeared to be a shadow moved at an impressive speed until it arrived in front of Crimson Castle and she took only 3 jumps to reach a balcony in front of the Duke.

This shadow is actually a thin middle-aged man. He wears black leather armor, and at his waist is a red-handled, sharp-edged dagger.

After reaching the balcony, Rui bent his body in a 45° arc with the right hand on the left chest while the left arm was on the back, "My Lord."

"I've said it before, you don't have to go through these unnecessary formalities. There is an urgent matter now. You saw it too, right?"

Rui understood the Duke's intentions, after all, a Child of Fate is born when a Knight is going through the swearing ceremony when receiving Sworn Knights and, today, only the duke's children are recruiting knights at the military barracks, where the silhouette of the aura had disappeared.

It is very likely that the Child of Fate is among the four.

"Yes, my lord. It seems to be the young Makai master, as this change began to happen shortly after he entered the Apprentice Knights' military barracks."

'Makai went to recruit at the Apprentice Knights' barracks? Wait... The Child of Fate that was just born is my child, Makai?'

The duke was shocked and his heart started to beat even faster as too many thoughts were processed in a second, 'Does this have anything to do with your mother in the upper world?'

'It's very likely...'

Soon, the duke thought of the consequences this could bring if the news that Makai had become a Child of Fate got out, so he ordered, "Rui, It's possible that some mice also saw him..."

"Go, lead our men, it's time to unclog the sewer."

"Also, send Ashley to stand guard at the Apprentice Knights' military barracks until Makai ends. If someone tries to force their nose in, she knows what to do."

After a series of orders and seeing Rui's figure disappearing, finally, the duke looked up to the sky and then laughed, 'Hahaha... Even the heavens are helping me...'

'At a time like this, my child became a Child of Fate, and with a Superior Aura on top of that...'

'Teresa... Looks like it won't be long before I see her again...'

...

At the Apprentice Knights' military barracks, the atmosphere was a little strange at the moment.

When Makai opened his eyes and saw everyone looking at him as if they were hungry wolves in front of a fat sheep, he felt a shiver run through his entire body.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Lionel had a happy smile as he replied, "Young Lord, congratulations. You are the first Child of Fate of the Starfall Kingdom to be born beyond the royal family itself."

"That's right. And it's still an aura of a Black Dragon. Even the royal family's Griffin Aura is not as strong as the Young Lord's Aura." Salazar added.

Listening to Lionel and Salazar, Makai finally understood, 'So this is it. They saw the manifestation of my aura... I hope I didn't cause too much fanfare outside, or I'll be in trouble. After all, the royal family will not accept the existence of a second Child of Fate among their subjects...'

'Unfortunately, there are many young people here who have witnessed it and I cannot guarantee that they will leak the news...'

'Unless...'

A strange thought crossed Makai's mind that there were two ways to stop the news from getting out by one of the 1,495 young men present, which are, to have them visit the reaper in the underworld, or he must accept them all as his sworn knights.

Makai was not a maniacal tyrant, so he discarded the first option without hesitation.

As for the second option, he wasn't sure he could accept them all, after all, a Child of Fate has a limit on how many Sworn Knights he can accept.

Its limit depends on which realm of the Knight is the Child of Fate and what is the degree of its Aura. However, Makai had some confidence and decided to give it a try, after all, your aura cannot be placed on the same level as a random Knight's Aura.

As he thought about what he would do next, Instructor Wagner stepped forward and knelt on one knee before Makai as his voice echoed leaving everyone stunned, "Young Master Makai, long ago I encountered a bottleneck and I don't have much hope of advancing to the next realm..."

"That's why your father allowed me to be a military instructor..."

"However, as a war veteran who served alongside his father in the War of Kings, this old man craves adventure and I feel that serving alongside the young master Makai, this old man will not be bored..."

"Please allow me to take the ancient sacred oath and serve alongside the young master."

Seeing this scene and hearing Wagner's firm tone, Makai was still a little surprised by his decision, as he knew that Wagner was one of the few to obtain military merits alongside his father in the War of Kings and that he had not done the former holy oath of the Knights.

Every Knight had his own honor, and even if he is trained by a noble or military family, he cannot be forced to take a Knight's Oath, as the oath will be invalid if that happens.

For a Knight, taking an oath is not a decision that can be taken lightly, after all, this is the same as giving your life to the Knight to whom he has sworn allegiance and any thought of betrayal could make him perish.

Makai quickly put his surprise aside as he said, "Uncle Wagner, it's my honor that you want to be my Sworn Knight..."

"Please proceed with the ceremony."

Wagner could not hide the glint of anticipation in his eyes and his voice echoed even louder than that of Lionel and his brothers while he took the oath, "I, Wagner Collins, willing to cross laminated mountains, I follow the ancient holy oath of the Knight, and surrender my life to the young master Makai Collins with this blood pact."

After receiving Wagner as his new Sworn Knight, the same procedure that had happened to Lionel and his brothers happened again and Makai didn't hesitate to allow Wagner to also be a part of the Castle Lord System.

Soon, Wagner was stunned as the system's voice echoed in his mind along with a strange panel, and he quickly sat cross-legged.

Seeing this scene, young people's hearts were in turmoil as there was a limit to how much bonus a Child of Fate could provide upon receiving new Sworn Knights and, those who are the first to follow the Child of Fate benefit the most. If Wagner, who had found a bottleneck in a Silver Knight's kingdom, was promoted, that would be great news.

As expected, the silver aura that surrounded Wagner was gradually replaced by a golden aura and it didn't take long for it to be fully golden.

Wagner had finally broken his bottleneck when there was no more hope and now he would be a man given a second life, as not only has his lifespan been increased by another 100 years, but his talent has definitely been enhanced.

After Wagner was promoted to a Gold Knight, he was still processing his body's internal changes when Makai opened the system panel to see his data, as he was curious.

[Name: Wagner Collins]

[Age: 290 < 400]

[Kingdom: Gold Knight (Progress < 1%)]

[Path of the Knight: Swordsman (Mastery: Master < 1%)]

After seeing his age, Makai was surprised, 'No wonder he was eager to swear loyalty to me, after all, he only had 10 more years to break his hold from Specialist to Master and enter the realm of the Gold Knight...'

Suddenly, the system's voice echoed in his mind snapping him out of his thoughts and the on-screen data about Wagner changed.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host on getting your first sworn Gold Knight]

[Reward: 1,000 system points]

Makai was already immune to the surprises brought by the system and he just watched the panel with interest while he seemed to remember something, 'This reminds me, I haven't looked at what's in the system store...'

He wanted to open the system store to check it out now as he was curious, but he felt like he was being stared at by 1,495 pairs of fervent eyes and had to put his curiosity aside while looking at the young people with a smile.

"Who wants to be next?"