"There's too many of them! We need to fall back!" A woman shouted.
"No! If we kill them all then we'll be able to increase our adventure's rank." A man responded, rushing into a group of beasts.
Upon seeing the man rush in, the woman cursed him internally before rushing his way. As the leader, she bore the responsibility of their group and if one of them died, it would lower morale and decrease their efficiency.
While they were fighting against the beast, Sebastian was high up in the sky. He quickly assessed the situation and immediately knew that the man who rushed in was a greedy individual and only cared for himself.
'He's crazy! Why did they open a portal in the sky?!' Sebastian showed his dissatisfaction with transportation.
Getting closer to the ground, Sebastian pulled out his giant sword and equipped his black suit of armor. It wasn't until now that he realized it wasn't gonna be a smooth landing.
"Help me!" The greedy adventurer called out as a beast was about to pounce on him.
BANG!
In front of the man, Sebastian had landed on the beast and swung his blade around. The landing created a huge dust cloud for the adventurers and created a disadvantage for them. The beasts, on the other hand, came rushing toward the adventurers as they weren't affect by the dust cloud.
'Aura Whips'
Behind Sebastian, red whips were formed out of his red aura and began to lash out at every incoming beast, including the beasts that were gonna target the adventurers. Soon the entire area was destroyed and the blood of every beasts was spilled on the ground.
After the dust cloud settle, the adventurers all looked at Sebastian and were amazed by his display of power, all but one that is.
"Hey! These were our kills!" The greedy man shouted, angrily.
Swoosh!
Before the man could react, Sebastian gripped him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. The other adventurers couldn't do anything but watch it. They may have had numbers but after seeing the corpses of beasts on the ground, they knew they were ants compared to the person in front of them.
"Incompetent and weak. Your greed for ranking up in the adventurer's guild is suffocating and ruining my mood… I should kill you for putting the lives of your allies in danger but I'll let you live since you all are close."
Letting the man go, Sebastian walked away and sat on the bigger corpse of all the beasts. Hesitant, the group walked to each corpses and started to collect specific parts from the beasts. Amongst the beasts, a cheetah-like beast was alive and waiting to strike one of the adventurers.
Before the beast could make its move, Sebastian glared at the beast and its natural instinct took over. As he stared at the weak beast, he gestured for it to leave and it did.
Eventually the adventurers were done collecting parts of the beasts and decided it was time to leave. Seeing this, Sebastian followed them as he knew they were heading toward a city.
"So… Black Knight sir…. What ability do you use? You know, the whips?" A young female adventurer asked.
"..."
"Not much of a talker, huh? We'll take you into the city since it seems like you want passage into it."
______
Fifteen Minutes Later…
"This is the city." The female adventurer said.
"Thank you." Sebastian replied.
Flash-stepping up the wall, Sebastian stood on top of wall and looked over the city. The city was lively compared to other previous cities and had different species.
Sebastian knew behind all the liveliness and happiness, the city was corrupt and had slave traders throughout the entire city. Sadly, he couldn't do much about the slave traders as they had connections to the Dark Guild.
'The baroness… intel suggests that she's protected by B-Ranked and above guards.'
Appearing amongst the crowd, Sebastian pulled up the hood on his cloak and slowly made his way to one of the many Dark Guild hideouts in the city.
______
"Jack! Is this the city? It looks amazing!" A female asked.
"Natalie, it isn't nice to be loud. Remember, this is just a part of your training to see what's like to become a guard. Just bare in my mind though, some of her guards will be hidden in the shadows and watching your every move so you'll be fine." Jack replied.
A convoy of carriages were heading toward a city and soon they arrived at their destination. A woman came out the city walls with her guards behind her. One of the guards approached the carriage and opened the door.
"Welcome! It's nice to see you again!" She said.
"Baroness." Jack bowed.
One by one, multiple kids stepped outside the carriages and kneeled to the baroness. Surprised, the baroness looked at each kid and could tell that they were all the same age, seven.
"We'll proceed with the training program, then?" Jacked asked.
"Yes, my guards will ensure nothing goes wrong and besides, no one would dare go against me, an A-Ranked individual."
All kids stared at the baroness with admiration after they heard about her impressive strength. The only one that wasn't staring at her in admiration was Jack as he was about to burst her bubble
"Baroness, I'd refrain from trying to impress these kids. Keep in mind that you're an A-Rank in magic while your physical rank isn't even Peak E-Rank." Jack said.
Just like that, all of the kids were left to defend the baroness and unbeknownst to the kids and Sebastian, they would meet but as enemies.
_____
One Day Later
"Wake up." The baroness whispered.
Immediately, all the kids woke up and got their gear on. They then proceeded to get in a single-file line and stood still.
"Poor children… Jack's training must have been harsh."
The baroness walked down the line of children and stared at each child. She knew deep down that they nervous but their faces didn't show it since it would be bad for their appearance.
"Follow me. I'll show you around the mansion so you may get used to the layout and post, each of you will be at."
Walking outside, they arrived at the court gardens and she began to explain the history and the jobs associated with the court gardens. They then arrived at the cafeteria and breakfast was prepared.
After they sat down at the breakfast table, they started to eat and chat as if they were still the children back at the village. Only this time they talked about getting stronger to avenge their family and friends.
A man appeared beside the baroness and whispered some information into her ear.
"Is that so? You may be dismissed." She told the man.
"Is there something wrong, baroness?" A kid asked.
Looking at the child, the baroness realized that it was Lycaon of the royal family and kneeled down in front of him. Lycaon then made a gesture for her to stand up.
"Yes, but it shouldn't be a problem. My guards will deal with them. May I ask something, your highness?"
"You don't need to include the formalities. You're my employer so don't call me that."
"Very well. Is it true that the emperor has been dead for the past two years?"
"Indeed, it is true. My grandfather passed away while fighting a curse and father is going through the process of becoming the next emperor."
The two continued to chat while everyone was watching their conversation. It wasn't odd to them to see Lycaon talk with a high-ranking individual but it did feel weird since he was like them.
Ding!
A bell rang and everyone stood up, and lined up behind the baroness. They continued to explore the mansion and learned many things about becoming a castle guard, including a personal guard.
Swoosh!
In front of the children, a guard appeared and kneeled in front of the baroness. Whispering into her ear again, the guard told her more information, which Lycaon could hear.
"An assassin is roaming the city and they're trying to find him." Lycaon told the other children.
BANG!
A loud explosion was soon heard outside the mansion. The guard quickly disappeared to check the situation about the explosion.
Within a few seconds, five guards jumped from out the shadows and created a circle around the baroness.
"Watch and learn, children. A knight's purpose is to protect those who need protection and attack those who invade." The baroness said.
BANG!
Another explosion happened, which caused the baroness to worry about her people. Instructing a large group of guards, the baroness sent them into the city to ensure the safety of its citizens.
Remembering their jobs, each child surrounded the baroness while James erected a barrier around her.
"Barrier magic? You'll be a great addition to our forces." The baroness spoke.
BANG!
"Lycaon… correct me, if I'm wrong but doesn't the explosion look a lot like a red aura?" A girl asked.
"Now that you mention it… it does look like a red aura but why would our own kind go against their own kind? It just doesn't make sense." Lycaon replied.
The baroness' guards from inside the castle, all came out with gear and proceeded to walk outside the mansion's outer walls. Although the baroness' guards were strong, they had to be careful as to not to destroy the city.
The moment the last guard left the mansion's outer walls, a dark veil covered the mansion and enclosed the city from the outside world. The sudden change in the situation surprised the baroness greatly as not many people would target her due to her guards but now as different.
"It's a trap!" The baroness shouted.
The children immediately got into position and readied themselves for combat. The sound of something whistling through the air was heard and everyone looked around for the noise.
BANG!
A person, donned in black armor, slammed hard into the ground. The dust cloud created a smokescreen for the person but they just stood still. From the children's perspective, they caught a slight glimpse of his armor and noticed red whips were forming behind him.
"Stay behind us, baroness!" Lycaon commanded.
Multiple swords of light were summoned into the sky and a giant earth golem was erected. Walking forward, Lycaon was prepared to engage in combat against the black knight.
"You're foolish, if you think you can take on all of us." Lycaon spoke.
While Lycaon was walking, multiple spells were being casted and remained stationary near the baroness. Unbeknownst to all of them, Sebastian was surprised and didn't know how to attack without harming his friends.
Bang!
The sound of someone crashing behind them was heard. Turning to the noise, they noticed it was one of the baroness' personal guards. It was then that they noticed three individuals were fighting against baroness' last two personal guards.
Noticing the distraction, Sebastian flash-stepped forward and appeared beside the baroness before swinging his sword for her head.
Bang!
Surprised, everyone didn't expect the black knight to be fast. From the looks of it, the armor looked to be extremely heavy because it was heavy armor. The good thing from the surprise attack was the fact that the barrier remained unbroken.
Stab!
Everyone was surprised again by the black knight. The person who had been stabbed was responsible for the barrier and it was as if the black knight knew who it was.
As Sebastian was about to decapitate the baroness, multiple swords were stabbed into the ground around him, locking him in place and preventing him from moving. Staring at the one responsible, he was surprised to see who it was as never in his wildest dreams did he think it would be her.
"Great job, Katlynn!" A girl said.
'They've gotten stronger…' Sebastian noted.
Black runes appeared around Sebastian and slowly, he felt his strength being sapped away. Soon his body became heavier and slower until he could barely move.
"So, shall we see who's behind the helmet?" A girl said, smiling.