Chereads / Dance Of A Thousand Blades / Chapter 3 - Oak Town

Chapter 3 - Oak Town

Every Knighthood has a range of codes they abide by, the rule they followed in their daily lives. Some knighthood might have similar codes but the application of these codes might be deeper.

The more a person followed these knight codes and understood them, the more he could comprehend the technique and skills of his Knighthood.

Every Knighthood that existed will have one or more codes that hindered the use of their power. The code the kid recited was one such example.

~So, the blade shall never strike without opposing force~

The kid shall never attack anyone except that person who is doing something that might serve as an opposing force.

The code was a weakness imposed on the knight of the Shifting Steel and it meant less bloodshed against the neutral party.

Holding his mother's necklace, the kid doesn't know what to think but he held his tears and removed his necklace, they were all glowing and pulling each other.

The moment he let them touch each other, they vanished. Suddenly, he felt weakened considerably to the point he felt dizzy.

"Miracle. How?" 

His mother gave him the necklace on his 10th birthday as she made them with a twin magnet that she can use to call him. And she had a lot of time. Whenever he saw his necklace pulling him, he knew his mother had activated the magnate in her necklace and she was calling.

She also used it to track him when he was lost in the forest.

But now what he was seeing was beyond the realm of some magnet. It was an ancient power that has been lost in history, Supernatural.

At any other time, he would have been happy to see his mother was connected to Supernaturals but now, he was not really happy.

[Peace be upon your blood, Noah Ark]

A voice sounded in the air. The kid jumped up and looked around. 

[Calm down. The stamina I took from you is very insufficient for me to reveal myself]

"Who are you?"

[I'm the treasure of your family. Your grandfather wanted me to guide you if you survive]

"What about my mother? What happened to her? Where is she?"

Noah doesn't care about anything but what happened to his mother. 

[Hmm. Are they not knights? Why do you care?..]

"What happened to my mother?"

[I don't know. But I'm sure your grandfather make sure she was among the survivors that went underground to escape]

[I'm an item that was passed from….]

"So she is alive. Isn't she the owner of the necklace?"

[Allow me to introduce myself]

"I don't care!" 

Noah hated his grandfather with passion, the fact the necklace didn't come from his mother, he was already disliking it.

[You matter is a good engineer to make the necklace. And no, she didn't make me. I fused with her necklace due to your grandfather's request after he learned where you were hiding…]

"I was forced to hide," Noah screamed. The sheer shame he felt for not participating in the war was enormous.

[Okay]

The owner of the voice thought and concluded the mentality of the boy. He cared only for his mother and not his grandfather, so he changed his approach.

[Shifting Steel Knighthood is destroyed, and you are the only one that made it to the main continent.]

[Draining Petal Island and all it inhabited will be annihilated which also includes the remnant of your family.]

[Your Grandfather…]

"Is my father dead!" Noah purposely interrupts the voice.

[...ask your mother to leave her necklace back after I fused with it. And for her to send you a message]

The voice sounded like a broken old man but then a feminine voice appeared.

[I'm sorry my boy. Please forgive your mom, I don't know it was a full invasion that aimed at wiping us all. Please survive! Live your life, grow up, be a good man but be a strong man, have a family and have many children. My only request was that you have a child named after me. But be strong and do what is right but above all be safe]

Noah felt his heart smoothened and he felt like crying but he didn't. 'Be strong!' His mother might not be a Steel Knight but she can be scarier than his grandpa, himself.

However, she was soft and never asked her child to face mortal danger. Her message was a mishmash of him taking everything as fate and finding a new life, at the same time becoming powerful and doing what is right.

Noah's eyes closed as he waited for the next part of the message from the cantankerous old man.

[Good for nothing genius, heed your mother's words, live like a coward, just like how you let a woman trick you into the closet, I bet you want that. She is alive, all Tender Knights will live, I will make sure of that. But they will die, and the whole island will be erased unless you take back what was stolen from us. If not, just go and have a family and left your Tender family to rot in the cold cursed underdark]

Noah hates this old man with passion. There were never kind words from him. The old man treats the whole family as a tool for his gain, he crushes everyone, including his parents whenever they are against him.

And, Noah has the misfortune of being his only squire which was the most horrible experience he had ever since he was born. 

Everyone was proud to be a genius and happy but Noah has never considered his abnormal talent as a blessing but only a curse.

Sadly, Noah wasn't just a genius fighter but also a genius when it came to cognitive ability. He matures faster than all his peers and can reason and make relative decisions that most adults could do.

For that reason, he knew, if he removed all the annoying parts of his grandfather's message, he, Noah, was truly required to embark on obtaining whatever that was stolen to save what remains of his family.

"Underdark! The one I knew?"

[No. That was a replica Seven Leaves made. The real one was worse!]

[Who's mission will you take? Your Mother or Grand Father?]

"What kind of question is that? my mom, of course…"

[Well, I guess I'm not needed]

"... The old bastard just emphasized what she said!" Noah said as he made a fist. His stamina was recovering but he can't fight without taking a pill. But fighting wasn't what worried him, it was how he could go about finding the whole damn thing.

[Hmm. What do you mean!]

"Your brain, if you have any, can't read between the lines of that magnificent woman. So shut off and tell me how to do all this''

[Even your Grandfather shows me respect, kid]

Noah just then turned and went back to the town. He began to think of ways to gain information. 

He might be strong but unnecessary killing might not be the answer to finding the items. He doesn't even know what it was!

[You are hard to deal with]

Noah ignore the voice

[Fine. I'm no human, and I don't care about pleasantries, it's just that your grandfather has ethics and I presumed you might have some. Anyway, I know the stolen items and I can feel them from miles away]

Noah stopped moving and said, "Don't talk about him."

[Oh! Okay! And I want you to listen to my advice. I have no power to force you, even if I have I won't. My job is only a guide]

"Okay!"

[The first thing I wanted you to do was to help me. You can do that by sitting in place and recovering your stamina.]

Noah didn't do that but just threw a pill in his mouth. All his fatigue vanished and his stamina returned full.

At the same time, he felt weakened considerably. That was when something appeared out of thin air. After a closer look, Noah's eyes widened in surprise and said, "Are you a portable tower?"

[Yes, I'm]

"Woah. I never thought we have something like you. I only read you in books!"

[If others knew, do you think your family will be safe for long?]

Noah will have said his grandfather was strong but then he hated the man.

[Your grandfather isn't the strongest in the Knighthood. He was just an Elder with countless experiences that help him out of trouble]

"Hmm!" Noah lost interest and just walked away.

[You are going the wrong way. My scan shows me we are in the City Of Squire. It's a border city that has many towns under it, and they specialized in one thing, training squires. The next thing you should do is to get to Oak town]

"Why?"

[Because in that direction I felt a strong connection with one of the items]

Noah nodded and then asked, "What will I do if I reach there?"

[Join a Knighthood!]

"Over my dead body!"