Levi yawned, rolling over in his bed. He misjudged the size of the small bed and ended up falling off the side, landing on the wooden floor. He groaned, sitting upright on the floor. Sunlight streamed through the open window and onto his face, making him blink.
It was morning. And today was the day the tourney began. He was going to go support Aldrich.
[That boy is going to need a lot more than words of encouragement, Abaddon commented snidely.]
"I believe in him." Levi responded, pulling on his cloak. "He and Veliona worked really hard over the past few weeks. "
[You humans can struggle all you want, but some power gaps cannot be closed through hard work.]
Levi didn't answer. He knew it would be hard for Aldrich if he came up against someone with a Virtue he couldn't get around. But still, this was something his friend was determined to do so he would support him.
He made his way through the awakening city. When he had first gotten here the place was alien to him and he had needed Aldrich to guide him. But now he had gotten a lot more familiar with the city and could get through on his own. Which was a good thing since Aldrich wasn't here to guide him. Levi had not seen him in a few days since he had been tasked with guarding some foreign prince.
[Watch where you're going fool, Abaddon chided.]
But it was too late. Levi collided with someone hard, causing him to fall back. He got up hurriedly and offered his hand to the person he had knocked over.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." He apologized.
"It's fine. I'm alright." It was a young lady with bright yellow hair tied up in a top knot. Her clothes were foreign to him. She was dressed all in black, with a fitted tunic and tapered trousers. A mask covered the bottom half of her face. She had a serious burn scar over the left half of her face as well. A belt around her waist had a few strange looking daggers attached to it. One of the daggers had dislodged when she fell and fallen on the ground beside them.
"You would think a high ranking ninja from Yoake would be a little less clumsy." A man beside her said, smiling smugly. He was wearing armor, although a lot different from what knights in Yves wore. By his side was a sheathed sword that looked similar to the one that Yasuo had carried. The man picked up the fallen kunai and handed it back to the ninja when she was back on her feet.
"S-shut up," She replied, snatching the kunai back and turning away from him, embarrassed.
The two of them were from Shinkoku, Levi surmised. "Are you two here for the Knight's tourney?"
"We are," the ninja replied, attaching the kunai back to her belt. She pulled down the mask of farbic over her mouth, revealing the full burn mark. "I'm Suika, a representative from the Yoake region in Shinkoku. And this smug bastard over here is Rin-Rin."
"Ringo." The samurai corrected, shaking Levi's hand. He had dark orange hair and two long red horns jutting out of his forehead. "From the Yumekawa region." He gave his companion a sideways look and added in a lower voice to her. "Stop introducing me with that nickname."
"But it's cute." Suika smiled. Suddenly she let out a low groan and clutched the burned side of her face. The pain seemed to fade away quickly, as she composed herself again and tried to brush it off.
Ringo sighed, exasperated. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know the way to the castle would you? This city is quite the labyrinth."
"We would be there by now if we had used my idea and traveled over the rooftops." Suika commented.
Ringo ignored her. Levi laughed, he knew from experience how easy the winding streets were to get lost in. "I was actually on my way there now. Why don't we go together?"
Ringo's expression lightened up. "That would be perfect." He looked back at Suika. "Let's get going. And try not to bump into anyone else on the way, would you."
x
"So... are you also participating in this competition?" Suika asked Levi as they walked.
Levi shook his head. "I'm not, but someone I know is. A knight from the Order of the Rose."
"The Order of the Rose you say." Ringo repeated, he had been walking a few paces behind them. "That was where that fancy smelling knight who we met when we first arrived said he was from wasn't it?"
Suika nodded in response. She turned back to catch Levi's eyes lingering on the burnt side of her face. "You keep staring." She said, smiling thinly. "Are you wondering how I got this burn?"
"Oh, uh..." Levi stuttered, embarrassed. He hadn't realized he was staring, there was just a vaguely familiar feeling emanating from the burn. He didn't know why.
Suika ran her hand over that side of her face, a distant look in her eyes. "It's from a dragon attack on our village, several years ago. I was one of the lucky ones, getting away with only this."
[A dragon..., Abaddon said. The word had caught his attention. Not one of my siblings, or else she wouldn't still be alive.]
Just a regular dragon then, Levi thought. Still, a dragon was quite dangerous nonetheless.
Once again Suika clutched her face, stifling groans of pain. Ringo placed a hand on her shoulder, worried. She gave him an assuring look before turning to explain to Levi. "Sorry, my burn aches whenever I get close to a dragon. Or at least it's supposed to. This is also the worst its ached."
"Are you sure it's not just a regular headache?" Ringo asked. There was no way a dragon was near so it couldn't be right.
Levi put a few steps of distance between them, feeling a bit awkward. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone about his situation, the king had ordered. "The castle is just up ahead. Why don't you guys go on in, I have... something to do beforehand."
"Oh, okay." Suika replied. Before the two could say anything else the strange boy had dashed away and was soon out of sight. Weirdly the pain began to fade away as well.
"Are you alright now?" Ringo asked, worried.
"Mhm," Suika said, nodding. "Let's go in. There's still a little time before the opening ceremony, I'd like to explore the castle a bit!"
Levi stopped running a few miles away from the two travelers. Abaddon was laughing in the back of his head.
[Running right into someone able to detect the presence of dragons. Your luck never ceases to amaze.]
"It's fine, they didn't realize." Levi sighed. So far the king had let him do as he pleased and live freely in the city. He really didn't want to do anything that would ruin that.
[This agreement has proved completely useless so far, Abaddon remarked. We aren't going to find any of my soul fragments from inside these... suffocating walls.]
"Psst... Levi" A voice called out.
He turned around, not finding anyone. But then a few seconds later a rift in space opened up beside him, a girl's hand poking through. It gestured for him to take it.
So he did, and then he got pulled through. Falling out the other side, he landed on his face on the floor. Veliona helped him up quickly.
"I thought that was you I saw all the way down there." Veliona said, she sheathed her dagger and sat down on her bed. "So, what have you been up to lately?"
Levi sat down on the floor next to her, crossing his legs. "Well, with Aldrich gone I've mostly been cooped up in his house where his father can keep an eye on me. But Sir Alastair's busy today with tourney matters, so I'm on my own for once."
"Speaking of Sir Alastair," Veliona aired. She jumped off her bed and onto her feet. "All the captain-commanders are meeting with my father soon. I asked if I could stay for it and he just laughed me off."
She was pouting at this point. "You haven't met most of the captain-commanders have you. It's quite rare they are all together like this."
She took out her dagger again and opened up a rift. She beckoned to Levi to join her. He got up onto his feet and settled in next to her.
Inside the space he could make out the king's form in his usual position on his throne. There were already multiple people standing before him, with more still joining.
They were all clad in metal armor, each having their own distinct look. Levi recognized Sir Alastair's dark red and thorny armor almost immediately, the rest he had no idea.
"Okay so that guy in the far right with the impossibly long black hair is Sir Noctisse, of the Order of the North Star." Veliona pointed out to Levi, then added to herself, "Quite surprised he actually came himself instead of just sending Ethos like he usually does."
Levi found himself entranced by Sir Noctisse's pitch black hair for a second. If he looked closely enough he could make out tiny specks of white dotting the black, making his hair resemble a cloudless night sky.
After that she told him about the five other captain-commanders in attendance, excluding Sir Alastair, Sir Andrius and Sir Kazuki Enya since he already knew them. There were nine royal knight orders in total;
The reputable Order of the Blade, their captain a stern and straight laced looking woman called Zetta Danwul. Who believed in the importance of a calm disposition, and a swift blade.
The Order of the Thunderclad, a band of boisterous meatheads led by the large and overly confident Sir Gallahan Baorak. He and Lady Zetta were always clashing because of their different views on how a leader should behave.
The Order of the Cross, mostly made up of medical practitioners who tended to the wounded knights from other orders as well as the average Yves citizen. They were headed by the shy and frail looking elf named Sir Edward Yin. He had short messy green hair and clutched his staff close to himself. Levi was surprised at how young he looked, even younger than him perhaps.
And finally, the Order of the Iron Codex. Formerly a research guild, a few years ago the king had knighted them for their astounding achievements. Their leader, Archmagister Aryn Ingram, adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses, unsure of why she was here when she could be continuing her research in peace.
Levi gazed in awe at all the new faces, they all had such distinct and conflicting personalities. But there was no doubt, every one of them was a cut above the average knights. He could almost feel all the power emanating from the room from where he stood. "Wait, I thought you just said there were nine orders... Where's the last?"
"Did I say that?" Veliona asked, looking genuinely perplexed. "My tongue must have slipped. There are eight orders... yes, that should be righ-..."
Just then her attention was drawn away by a knock on her bedroom door. It was her handmaid Arissa. "Princess, is there someone in there with you?"
"N-no!" Veliona shouted back, rushing to block the door which Arissa had started to open. She opened it herself slightly and gave Levi a look before slipping out to distract the woman. "Of course there isn't. I actually feel like taking a small stroll right about now, would you mind accompanying me?"
Levi listened to their footsteps receding and then he was alone in her room. The captain-commanders' meeting was still ongoing though, so he decided to listen in without Veliona.
"What I don't understand is exactly why the fell dragon still draws breath!" Sir Gallahan bellowed. "It should have been eradicated the second it entered the city walls."
Lady Zetta sighed. "I do not usually agree with Sir Gallahan, but this time he just might be on to something. Your highness, I believe allowing it to roam freely in the city is quite reckless, even for you."
"You see, if even this one deigns to back me up then it must be serious." Sir Gallahan roared with laughter, slapping Lady Zetta on the shoulder. She moved away from him, giving him a sideways glare.
Sir Alastair joined in on the debate. "I can assure you, as unconventional as it seems, this arrangement is working."
"Aryn, you are the smart one," Sir Gallahan said, turning to the Archmagister for assistance. "Surely you can see the fallacy in this."
Aryn took off her glasses, wiped them with her coat sleeve and put them back on before answering. "It is quite a novel situation we find ourselves in. So far the specimen has given us no reason to believe it will turn hostile all of a sudden, unless we do something rash... like try to kill it. Rather, I would suggest again that it is brought to my laboratory. I have some tests I would like to run."
"That specimen is a young boy named Leviathan." The king announced. "And dragon host or not, he has brought no harm to any Yves citizen so I cannot think of a reason to compromise his safety."
"I-if he does continue to remain amiable," Sir Edward Yin mumbled nervously. "From what I have heard, the boy's Virtue is quite remarkable for healing. M-might we consider delegating him to the Order of the Cross?"
The doors to the throne room flew open, and Sir Andrius entered. Just back from his journey to Shinkoku. "Trying to steal my honorary member from under me while I was gone Edward?" He gave the king a quick bow.
"N-no," Edward stammered. "I was just suggesting-..."
At this point all the captain-commanders had begun to speak to and over each other, drowning out Edward's voice. Levi leaned in closer, trying to hear better. But that probably was not his best idea. He felt himself lose balance and topple forward. The next thing he knew he was in the air, falling.
He managed to right himself in the air, allowing him to land on his feet. He let out a sigh of relief, before raising his head to find all eyes on him. The room was completely silent as the eight Captain-Commanders and the king stared at him.
"Uh..." Levi began, not sure exactly what he was going to say. "Hi?"