The morning after the celebration, all the recruits were summoned to the main hall and told to wait there. As Sol stood in the crowd, two people approached him from behind.
"Hey Aron. Hey Nataly. How are you both holding up?"
Aron, as energetic as always, gave him a thumbs up. "Doing great! I'm excited to do knight stuff!"
Nataly, on the other hand, appeared to struggle to stay standing. "How are you both alright? Didn't you guys even have a drinking contest?"
"Wait, you remember that? Do you know who won?" Sol asked. Even after waking up, he still didn't know who came out on top.
"I remember it happened..." Aron admitted, but he also didn't know who won.
"You both puked! Nobody won. Can you tell me how neither of you are hungover?" Nataly demanded.
Aron offered his solution. "Hangover potion. You should always keep one on you."
"Do you have any more?" she asked hopefully.
"Sorry, I did say keep one on you, not two."
Nataly turned to Sol, hoping he could help her.
Sol asked, "Don't you know any spells to cure it?"
"I can't cast any spells. Something is preventing me from doing so," she replied.
Aron interjected, "Oh yeah, I heard about that. Magic here is restricted by some kind of array. You need special permission to be able to cast spells in places outside of the training area."
"Here, put this on for a second." Sol handed over his Immunizer Belt, which was his hangover cure. The moment Nataly wrapped it around her waist, a refreshing feeling coursed through her body, expelling all the toxins she drank last night.
Feeling alive once more, she energetically spoke, "Wow! That works fast. Thanks!" She handed the belt back to Sol, who quickly put it back on. As he finished adjusting his belt, he realized a tanned man in full knight armor had appeared in front of the crowd of recruits.
Behind the man were 20 more knights who formed an orderly line behind him.
"My name is Lawrence Redrand, one of the five Grand Knights. I will be overseeing your training and making sure all of you are prepared to become full-fledged knights. Any questions?"
Lawrence scanned the group of 186 recruits, which no longer included Victor. One person in the crowd raised their hand.
"So we aren't knights yet?"
"Hahaha!" The knights behind Lawrence laughed at the question, not because it was a stupid question but because they remembered when someone asked the same question the year they joined.
Lawrence raised his fist, silencing the knights behind him, and answered, "No. Currently, all of you are decent combatants, but there is much more to being a knight than fighting. You must learn to work together as a team, accomplishing things you couldn't accomplish alone. You must also learn our traditions and values that you must uphold. And finally, you must learn to behave as a knight, which includes court etiquette, among other topics. So, to reiterate, no, none of you are knights yet, but I know all of you have the potential to become one."
He gestured to the knights behind him.
"These men and women behind me are all Knight Captains. All of you will be divided into squads to train under them for the coming weeks."
Sol's eyes widened. 'WEEKS?! Will I be able to meet the saintess as a recruit?'
He hadn't realized there was a training process to becoming a knight, which, looking back on it now, was a complete oversight on his part. At least he wasn't the only one surprised by this, as it seemed almost no one knew this was part of the process. The only difference between the other recruits and Sol was that he didn't plan to stay long; he hoped he would be able to leave soon after joining.
Lawrence went over a few details before wrapping up his speech.
"Besides the large training sessions, which I will be leading, you will follow the commands of your Captain. Your squad has already been decided beforehand after taking into consideration your abilities. Knight Captain Lisetta will call upon her squad first."
A knight took a step forward, lining up with Lawrence, and began calling out the names of 10 recruits. After she was done, the next Knight Captain called for their group, and the process repeated itself, thinning out the crowd.
Aron was eventually called up. "Welp, that's me. See ya around."
Nataly was also called up for a different squad. "I don't know anyone in my group..."
The Knight Captains began to take their completed squads away, each heading in different directions depending on where they intended to begin their training. Sol waited for his name to be called, but even as the last Knight Captain called his members, he wasn't included.
Sol and Lawrence were the only two left in the main hall after everyone had left, leaving him very confused.
"Umm, Sir Lawrence, am I not part of any squad? Am I training under you?"
"Normally, yes, but not this time. You're learning under someone else. Follow me."
The two made their way through the large headquarters, eventually entering the area of high-ranking knights. The four knights that stood guard parted ways.
'I never got to explore this area. It doesn't look much different from the rest of the headquarters.'
The only noticeable difference was the lack of knights, and the few he saw he assumed were at least Knight Captains. Eventually, they reached a door with a metal emblem adorned on it.
Lawrence gave it a knock. "It's Lawrence. I brought Sol."
A familiar voice came from the other side. "Good, let him in."
Lawrence gestured for Sol to go in. Opening the door, he saw Commander Zaman standing by a window overlooking two squads that were already training outside.
"Welcome, Sol. Take a seat."
Sol sat down on an unbelievably comfortable chair and stayed silent, not knowing what to say. This was the first time they were actually meeting each other, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression by saying something rude.
Zaman chuckled as he took a seat as well. "No need to be so stiff, young man. Hmm, we already know each other's names, so there's no point in introducing ourselves… What's your favorite food?"
Not expecting to be asked an icebreaker question, Sol had to ponder over it. He had eaten a lot of food in his short time traveling, but if there was one he wished he could eat again, the answer was obvious.
"Porras."