House of Licorne

Aure knows it's early morning because he can't hear the bustling people around the castle yet, and because his heart is beating right out of his chest. Aure adjusting his eyes by looking around his dark room. There is a silence to his soul; as he is a bird falling under desolate ground. Aure sighs.

The castle was an old country mansion that had been extended over the centuries. It is now had four sides around a central quadrangle and over five hundred rooms. Aure dwelled in only one corner on one floor and rarely stepped foot in the rest of his dwelling. He stood on the balcony gazing out across the grounds, the green blocks of grass by shrubs and wedges. Aure was intrigued as the castle offers a wonderful panorama of Lapis Kingdom.

A royal retainer came and knocking on his door three times.

"Sire Licorne, are you up?" said a shaky, timid voice.

There's a moment of hesitation before Aure decided to answer the retainer. He recalls the puzzled face of the royal retainer last night, when Aure asked the retainer to alarm him in the morning and Aure knew why. A nobleman generally accompanied by one or two retainers wherever they go, but not Aure. He didn't bring any single person of his family retainer. Aure just wants to make sure he doesn't oversleep, especially on an important day. That's why he made a small request from one of the royal retainers.

The royal retainer gives a little bow when he saw that Aure was awake. Aure curled up his dry lip and greeted him politely, "A lovely morning, isn't it?" The retainer gulped and his eyes shocked over Aure's graciousness. He nods timidly as he had never been treated well by other nobles before. Most of the nobles are demanding or arrogant.

"Would you help me changed? Um…" Aure paused as he tried to remember the retainer's name.

"Bill…is my name, my Lord" answer the retainer slowly while staring at his feet.

Aure called him over and changed into a gentle and formal outfits. Aure is standing in front of the mirror, his hands on his hip, his body appears relaxed. He stood two inches over six feet tall and had a lean, athletic build that even loose-fit white pants and a beige linen shirt couldn't conceal.

Aure takes off as soon he done with his outfits. He climbs down the stairs, noticing that the stair rails were ornate mahogany, carved and polished so that it shined. The air was scented with fresh flowers but it doesn't make him calm. The closer he walks to the ceremony, the more sensitive he is. The corridor ahead seems incredibly long and ends in a huge, ornate door carved with roses. No matter how attractive the corridor or the door are, they look bland to him. After passing a few corridors and stairs, he now reaches the arch that led to the main events of the 'Magic Knight' ceremony.

With no friends, no retainers or whatever you call them, Aure feel so lonely even though there's a crowd ahead of him. But right now, he doesn't have time to think about all that. His slender fingers pressing into the skin of his forearms, thirst kicking in his throat, he's anxious. This year he turns 16 years old. It was a tradition in his country that the chosen young nobles would receive their first heirloom from the orb. The chosen one has to go-through certain tests in order to be chosen. Aurelius had just barely passed all the test, enough for him to be chosen.

Aure departs early from his homeland and arrived at the castle about two days ago. Most young nobles leave home with their parents begging them to stay, Aure's show nothing but dull indifference. It wasn't like that when Patch left, the precious first born. For Patch there were tears, parcels of food and promises to send money to ease his transition. Aure guess it's also his fault he never done any achievement to honor his family like in a mock cavalry battle, or pageantry of family heraldic design (by the way his family crest was unicorn) – and he finds it's hard to grasp the meaning behind the crest.

Aure's family never expects something big from Aure as if they were embracing the fate of his low bloodline. His father, Theodore, was married to a noble family, by that time, his mother already had Patch and Fresia. Theodore's achievement makes him a Magic Knight as the King rewards him by marrying his mother, Iris, the daughter of Licorne family.

When Aure told his family that he was chosen, they were happy to get rid of him. After 16 years, to them Aurelius still just another mouth to feed. Literally, his family's name also means 'unicorn' as, according to the record, unicorn signifies purity and grace. Crests with such design are deemed to be a mark of high social rank. Well maybe his 'ancestors' has achieved great things but some point, there's a 'dark unicorn' – his father who brings it down – this is what he thought. He once asked his father about their crest and his father's response was this; why bother asking a past that cannot be made into a present? Hearing the answer, he believe his father was right, and since then he never pursue about it further.

The only sound he heard when he left his mansion was the door banging behind him, it punctuated his exit, the biggest full stop of his life, nothing but a blank page ahead. Despite all that, he has a dream, which is to become a Magic Knight. He's been waiting for today the most but at the same time he prayed he could summon an usable heirloom. Yes, the orb will grant the user their personalized heirloom by pouring their mana into the orb. Once you get the heirloom, you might apply for Magic Knight (depending on your heirloom and your attribute, of course!) or travelling freely around the world. The heirloom may act as your tickets or protections.

"O Sire and Dame! It's about time!" announced a royal retainer from the middle of courtyard. Aurelius becomes more uneasy as the retainer continues his speech. "There are three types of Magic Knights; soldier type, paladin type and alchemy type" explained the retainer. Aurelius cannot concentrate on any single word spoken by the retainer. He already knew all the information. His heart started to pound so hard against his ribcage that it would popped out anytime. Aure is not good in physical fight or being a tactician as he lack the brain – he never like the 'military tactics subject' but he is best with magic. He mastered all the basic magics in no time. That's why he aims for alchemy type of Magic Knight.

In simple terms, a Paladin is typically a holy knight, proficient with heavy arms and armor. Yet at the same time, a Paladin is gifted with blessings or magical capabilities such as healing, protection and countering evil magic, albeit to a lesser degree than a true priest or cleric. A Soldier type of knight is one who fights as part of an organized, land based, sea based and air based military force. A Soldier type may be an enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or a military officer. Meanwhile, the Alchemy type would specialize in a particular class of magic, making them a hybrid of scholar and soldier. Instead of the wide range of spells, a normal spellcaster can use direct attack spells. Other common abilities for this Alchemy type may include infusing their bodies or weapons with mana powers (just like Soldier type).

Consequently, it is the duty of Magic Knight to preserve peace across the Lapis Kingdom and enforcing the will of the Knighthood. Magic Knights who display exceptional loyalty and valor are promoted up the ranks, gaining more power along the way. The Magic Knighthood comes from various backgrounds, uniting under one flag. Their ranks are (from lowest to highest) Baron Knight, Viscount Knight, Count Knight, Marquess Knight, Duke Knight and lastly Star Knight. The three famous Magic Knight – Sire Atlas, Dame Lisa, and Sire Roy are all the Star Knights.

The ceremony begins with the other nobles (those who are not chosen) to determine their genuine attributes. All the citizens of Lapis Kingdom may guess their attributes, but at some point one may confuse about his/her attribute as they learn the basic spell. Not all attributes are hereditary. For example, if a male who has flame attribute married to a water attribute female, their son or daughter is not explicitly inheriting their parent attribute. Sometime, the children may have an attribute of wind or earth, other than the parent. This also applies to the peasants, the differences is they doesn't celebrate it in the castle. The ceremony continues until the only left is the twenty five of us.

"Now, I shall declare your name, first Sire Vil Fabian!" the sudden call of the royal retainer makes Aure jumps a little. Aure could feel his pulse were pressed outward, jerking the veins within. A proud tall boy came to the stage with his head held high, his violet eyes narrowed unhappily when they landed on Aure. Vil then places both of his hands on top of the orb.

POFFF!

A blue smoke exploded out!

Everyone present squinted their eyes closely to study his heirloom. Beyond the blue smoke, reveal his heirloom – a stunning ocean blue cloak with golden thread. The crowd gazing back at him with oohed and aahed that full of admiration. Fabian beams with satisfaction as if he had expected something like this would happened.

"Hmm…Vil has water attribute, huh," Aure muttered in a slow tone. In order to counter them, he has to observe his enemy power.

"Next, Dame Frey Adler!" yelled the royal retainer. The crowd is offering a way to the blonde girl with a freckle on her face. "She's cute" praised Aure before the girl heard him and rolled her eyes. Nevermind, he thought. Frey gracefully laid her hand on the orb and poofff, another smoke blast, this time yellow in color. Frey was gifted with an earth attribute and a topaz gemstone necklace as her heirloom. She cried hysterically and was overjoyed when she told her friend, Aurora that she had a matching jewel alongside her crest.

There are four main attributes; red (flame attribute), blue (water attribute), yellow (earth attribute) and green (wind attribute). Even though each person has their own unique magic, the orb will categorize them into the four main attributes. The royal retainer keeps calling out a name one after the other until his name were finally called!