Bleh

Jason lay in the grass tired as frick. But satisfied as 60 or so full wolves lay all around him.

Jeffery and a few other wolves were already asleep even though it was still in the afternoon, Jason could hear Jeffery muttering the words hooman and snakoes over as if they were a ritual.

Jason smilled and checked his surplus of points. The alpha wolf walked over to Jason and sat down.

"Arch, you know that the rest of the hoomans are searching for you right?"

"really?" Jason asked "why would they be searching for me... ohhh that's right"

Jason remembered storming out of the rose mansion after Lady Megra brought up some weird things. Yeah, that was pretty stupid. He had run out into the forest and had only managed to calm himself down after a few hours.

He hadn't returned in a while huh.

Jason could already imagine what the Blue 2 team members would say and a cold shiver went down his back.

He stood up and said to the relaxing alpha wolf.

"I should probably head back"

The alpha wolf nodded and Jason set off into the forest again, this time heading straight towards the rose mansion.

As he walked through the forest, he asked himself how he was going to talk to Lady Megra again. He had obviously blown it with whatever outburst he had, his Blue 2 team members would probably ask him about his background.

Jason's mind started to race as he got closer and closer to the rose mansion. He emerged next to the cafeteria/gym and headed towards the training field.

A loud voice suddenly called out from behind Jason

"finally fricking found you!"

and then Jason got tackled to the ground once again. Lyle sat onto of him, his short red hair bobbing up and down as he shouted angrily

"Why the heck did you run away! we were searching for you this entire time!"

Jason turned his neck to look at Lyle.

Lyle was currently sitting on his back victoriously, he reminded Jason of his little brother both were tiny and had slightly fiery personailties. Well to say that Lyle had a slightly fiery personality was an understatement.

Jason noticed new black metal gauntlets and boots on Lyle. Along with his old gear like his signature black sword with red runes, inscribed with the platoon emblem, a luminescent rose rising out of dark filthy dirt.

"whatchu looking at?" Lyle asked as he cocked his head in confusion.

"Nothing," Jason said as he lifted himself off of the ground with a grunt causing Lyle to fall off and hit the floor.

Lyle looked at Jason suspiciously. He tried to make eye contact with Jason, but he was too short and had to look up at Jason. That pissed Lyle off and he promptly kicked Jason in the shins.

"Lady Megra wants to talk to you alone whenever you are ready she said" Lyle muttered to Jason

"the entire platoons has been looking for you Arch, Charlie was worried sick"

A slight warmness filled Jason's heart, these were still NPCs but to Jason, they seemed much more than that.

"Alright," Jason said as he dusted himself off "ill go talk with Lady Megra now"

Jason started to walk away. But Lyle placed a hand on his arm. Jason turned around and Lyle said solemnly

"listen, dude, I know you're going through something, I don't know what it is and frankly, I don't want to make you tell me, but you can power through this, punching stuff helps trust me."

Lyle ended his statement of assurance with a thumbs up and then did a bit of shadow boxing to show Jason just how it was done.

A big grin covered Jason's face.

"Alright, Lyle will do," he said as he finally walked towards the rose household

He got to the field when another loud voice called his name

"ARCHHHHHHHH"

Boops said in an annoyed tone

'oh not this again'

Jason turned around to see Charlie running towards him, unlike Lyle who had only gotten a few new gears. Charlie was dressed in a full plate of amour. With only his helmet's visor lifted up. He still ran quickly as if the weight of the amour wouldn't affect him.

As he ran up to Jason he looked at his eyes and said

"oh, somebody must have found you first if you are heading towards the rose mansion, judging from the dirt that's still in your armor it was Lyle huh?"

Jason just nodded.

"Alright, go on your way," Charlie said and made a small shooing motion.

Jason looked at Charlie in confusion

"You're not going to ask anything?"

Charlie laughed and answered

"We all have secrets Arch, and I believe we should all respect them"

and saying that Charlie departed, the blue sword hanging on his waist even though its sheath seemed to give off a small glow as he departed.

Jason reached the back entrance of the rose mansion looking around to spot all of the different emblems on the walls. The servants and guards of the mansion all let him in. And Jason strode into the office uninterrupted.

Their Lady Megra sat in her office. Just like last time, there was a mountain of paperwork on her desk, and as the afternoon sun's last beams shone through the window behind her. It made her look all the more imposing and elegant.

Her brown hair, mixed with red and her piercing eyes along with cherry lips and pale smooth skin made Jason feel like he was standing before a noblewoman. But the serious look in her eyes and aura of charisma she gave off made Jason feel like he was standing in frount of a mighty leader.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

Jason nodded

"Good" lady Megra said as she made direct eye contact with Jason.

Lady Megra didn't mention the incident the day before at all. Instead, it wasn't mentioned just like how Jason wanted it to be.

"I have given you the rose prodigy title, for a reason. I truly believe that you are a one in a lifetime genius, one that is destined for great things."

Lady Megra gave a small smile as she tapped the quill she was holding on the table.

"you may have not know it, but I knew of all that you have done, you cleared the agility and wisdom trial in your first run against Ovia herself, proving both your speed and wisdom."

Jason assumed by Ovia she meant the demon mage girl that almost screwed him over with a giant monster gorilla.

"you finished your intelligence trial in your first try also, and then befriended the wolves which had improved out security and morale immensely. You inspired the red barrack leader even when you didn't know it, and he managed to turn his life around from a bumbling fool, still stuck in the past, to a person who is a steady wall for people to lean against, you learned the rose knight swordsmanship in a week, that so many others struggle to learn in a decade"

Lady Megra continued pushing her seat back a bit so that she got closer to the window. The sun's last beams covered the city and ocean in the background in a hazy red glow.

"you started the final trial with your team members but split off to save a village, you took command of a team and managed to use them to plant enough traps to save many lives, possibly even the fate of the city. You fought against the former battle monk turned bandit leader Welf and defeated him and even those mysterious attackers. You traveled into the dark forest and fought the commander ranked monster. You helped convince the Blue 2 team to check out the villages even when you didn't have to and ended up saving 2 lives"

Lady Megra smiled and then looked back up at Jason.

"I think you deserve this title, it represents the hope that I have in you, I know that you can become somebody big, I just want to see it for myself"

Jason kneeled and said as courteously as possible

"Lady Megra, I cannot..."

Lady Megra interrupted Jason,

"being given the rose prodigy title offers many things, as I have tasked you with the mission of freeing an entire territory. There is no need to follow where your platoon goes, you can stay here and help your brother if that is what you desire, but always remember your original mission"

A big happy grin covered Jason's face. That was what he was worried about for a long time. Since he was recruited as a rose knight he probably would have had to follow their orders instead of doing what he, the twins, and Boops had planned.

Jason stood up and made a sincere 90-degree bow, something he usually would never do.

"Lady Megra," he said with his eyes closed and a grin plastered on his face. "Thank you, I will be sure to repay your grace 10 fold"

Lady Megra smiled back

"i hope you do"

[your affinity with (Lady Megra leader of the rose household) has risen by 1]