Ch.4

At the peak of evening, deep within the forest behind the Chamber estate, a lone wolf was hunting for a meal when it happened upon a small piece of cooked meat atop a rock. Being an unintelligent wolf driven purely by instinct, it of course didn't hesitate to approach. However, when it was mere steps away, it sprung a trap.

I rope hidden in the leaves wrapped around its ankles and dragged it through the dirt and fallen autumn leaves. It yelped as it was pulled into a black wall and disappeared.

Meanwhile, the house guards, tasked with protecting the estate, were sparring outside their barracks in the training area. They clashed blades and circled each other, while Erik watched them from the other side of the fence.

They moved with excellent footwork and had strong forms with both hands on their swords.

Vindor happened upon him watching the guards through one of the mansion windows.

Seeing this, he leaned against the window, raising his eyebrows in enthusiasm before rushing off down the hall.

He made his way outside to where Erik was, breathing heavily and already sweating.

"Erik!!"

He called out excitedly and with a large smile on his face while catching his breath.

"You, are you interested in the knights? Wanna... Wanna start practicing?!"

Vindor was excited about, what he believed to be, Erik taking an interest in swordsmanship since his eldest son, Oliver, showed none.

Though his eldest and only daughter, Noesse, practiced proficiently, the truth was Vindor wanted to pass on his teachings to one of his sons.

However, Erik didn't refuse and took the small wooden training sword made for children, that his father offered to him.

Vindor then positioned Erik's arms and legs.

"There. You just need to hold that form. Raise your blade, then swing down."

Erik did as told, raising his wooden sword and swinging down.

He then repeated and within Vindor's heart, pride welled up. His expression could hardly hold back his own happiness.

"Perfect Erik! You can do these basics, then we'll move on to footwork, then form, then strength!!"

"What about magic?"

Erik's question surprised Vindor, even disappointing him a little bit.

"Magic...? Ahh... Well, magic is something better left to mages and sorcerers."

"Do knights not use magic?"

Vindor pondered the thought while scratching his face.

"Uhm... Well, some knights who are capable of using magic, do. But it is often just a simple spell they would throw in for a small advantage, like blinding their enemy. However... There are magic knights who use enchanted weapons. But, mostly, we knights rely on our strength, endurance, speed, footwork, skill, and aura. These are the pillars of knighthood. Some will be better at one than others, but all knights should strive to obtain balance."

"What is aura?"

"Ah, well aura is kind of like magic, but for warriors. It is the power that we have to increase our senses or exert our will. A master knight, like your grandfather, can let out such a strong aura that they may bend the wills of others, or sense others from afar."

"Grandfather?"

"Ahh... Right. You haven't met him yet, have you? He is the Duke of Cezarch and lives all the way in the Ducal Palace of Cezarch. Our homeland."

"If you are his son, will you be Duke someday?"

"Me?" Vindor chuckled at the thought. "No, Erik. You see, the Chamber household has a custom of succession. As long as they are of Chamber blood, they may succeed if they prove to be worthy, and to do that, you have to win the dynasty bout, an event held every year. But, that's something you don't have to worry about."

He ruffled Erik's hair, much to Erik's displeasure, and moved on from the conversation, lifting up his own blade as he began swinging in practice.

"Enough of that Erik. Today is the first day of training!!"

Later, in the dead of night, Erik returned to the secret basement beneath the estate. However, he did not enter the basement through the entrance, but instead, he put on a ring made of copper with small symbols engraved into the metal. His shadow then warped and extended up the wall, with the only bit of light being the moonlight shining from the window. He then walked into the solid wall as if it were a liquid he'd submerged himself in.

He then came out the other side into the basement and made his way over to a nearby pit.

At the bottom was a wolf. He looked down at it as it lay exhausted on the floor. It was clearly tired from the number of scratch marks littering the wall from where it tried to climb out.

The pit it was in was inside the hidden basement beneath the estate, one of multiple, each side by side.

In the year since he'd discovered this room, he had amassed a small collection of items and stored them here.

Before, he was afraid to steal since if something went missing, it would draw suspicion. However, after observing his own family and the servants, he came to learn that no one seemed to really care or even notice when a few things went missing since they were rather wealthy and owned an abundance of the items he'd taken.

The kitchen ingredients and tools were easily snatched underneath the eyes of the chefs, and his mother had so much jewelry that she didn't even handle herself, as the maids would do that for her, that taking a few of the rings that stood out the least was of no issue. He also took a number of other items that even after months of having disappeared, no one had noticed: weapons from the barracks, tools from the gardening shed, lumber from the log store, and glass vials that would have been thrown away.

He had a collection of notebooks where he wrote with exquisite penmanship in common, writing his actions as opposed to his thoughts. It was less of a diary and more of a record, with pages being full text.

He opened one of the black leatherbound notebooks to the bookmarked page and began writing with a mechanical ink pen: 'Aura -'