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Chapter 100: Squire's Test Begins

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

A massive training ground was laid out in front of Alicia, Starla, Rose, and Claire. There were at least one thousand people here all around ages ten to eighteen. They were all here with one purpose in mind. To become squires! Alicia had been anticipating this day since she first found out about the squire's test. She had had many dreams of what it would be like but now that she was seeing it with her own eyes she couldn't help but feel her heart pounding with excitement.

The first thing Alicia had to do was register. Right now she was standing towards the back of the line. From what she could see there were only two registration areas. Alicia figured it would be a few hours before she would be able to register. "Prin… Young miss, if you just let his Majesty say a few words you would not need to wait in line." Rose whispered. The past two weeks Rose has changed the way she addressed Alicia when they were at the estate, from Young Miss to Princess. Only when they were outside, did she call Alicia, Young Miss.

Although now Alicia knew she was the Third Princess of Alastine, King Augustus and her, decided to keep this a secret for now until she had a proper foothold within the kingdom. King Augustus wanted Alicia to understand the politics of the Kingdom, proper etiquette, and many other things that came with being a princess. All of this was to be taught to her after she finished her squire's test and finished her three month squire training. Only then would she have the free time to learn everything that was needed as a princess of Alastine.

At first, Alicia was worried that her being a princess would stop her path to being a knight but King Augustus reassured her that whatever path she wanted to take in life was her decision. This made Alicia feel very happy knowing she would be able to continue the path in front of her.

"Rose, it's fine. Remember I am not supposed to be known right now so be careful with how you call me." Alicia whispered back.

"My apologies Young Miss." Rose said apologetically.

"Alicia, what will happen to the city we found?" Only Starla still acted the same after finding out Alicia was a princess. This made Alicia happy because she was still not used to the whole, princess this and princes that, while she was at the estate.

"Mas… Father said that he would send a research team to investigate it thoroughly. When all is said and done we will also go back. I still have to return that person's bones to his final resting place. What I do not get is why that person's bones did not turn undead..." Alicia had noticed that the people in the sealed off room and the man in the warehouse did not turn into undead. But the skeletons on the second floor did.

"That is a good question… Maybe the Undead have something to do with the Darkness that they had spoke of." Claire gave her own thoughts on the matter.

"If that is the case then the Undead might have all been tainted by the darkness which allowed them to give birth to sentience. Maybe one day we will uncover this mystery. For now, it is probably only the leaders of the Undead race who know the truth." Alicia couldn't help but be curious. So many things were different in this world. Maybe one day she might uncover the mysteries of this world.

"Next!" A loud voice rang out. A tall burly man with a scar over his eye stood tall in a full suit of metal armor. A large broad sword on his back.

Alicia smiled as she ran forward. 'This is the beginning! My journey to knighthood is going to finally start!'

"Name?" The burly man asked.

"Alicia..." Alicia did not give her full name. But this was normal for most people who came to become squires. Even Blake only gave his first name when he became a squire.

"Age?" The burly man had yet to even look at Alicia.

"Ten years old."

"Fighting style?"

"Um, Magic Swordsmen!"

"Current residence?"

"Capital!"

"Registered with the Adventurers Guild?"

"Yes!" With each question, Alicia answered excitedly. She really could not contain her excitement.

"Rank?"

"B Rank!" It was only now that the Burly man looked up astonished. He had heard that there was a little girl who was promoted to B rank after taking a F rank mission that jumped to S rank plus in an instant. He did not know all the details but for her mission to raise that high meant the dangers were not simple.

The Burly man gave Alicia a smile and said: "I expect good things from you! Take this number and wait to be called. The First test will be explained in a bit."

Alicia nodded her head, gave her thanks, and joined the rest of the people waiting to be called. When she walked over to the group that was already waiting. Each and every one of them looked at Alicia trying to figure her out. The main reason was that although this was a test to become a squire it did not mean that everyone passed. There were only one hundred spots. And those hundred spots were the best of the best of the squires that registered. So in a sense, everyone here was a rival. This was also a good way to push everyone to their fullest while taking this test and allow the people overseeing the test to see these youths full potential.

Chapter 101: Illusion World

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Alicia did not have to wait long before a knight in light leather armor with metal plating came to stand in front of everyone. They had a small stage for this knight in light armor to stand on built so that he could be seen by everyone present. Alicia was in a very good mood since she was getting to see all these different types of knights up close. With eyes shining she looked up on stage at waiting in anticipation.

Clearing his throat the knight in light leather armor looked over everyone and began speaking. "Ahem… Today a lot of you have come to try your luck to make it into the top one hundred to become a squire. I wish we could allow all of you to join but if you do not pass you can always try your luck again next year. Our tests are not like normal testing. We do not test the same way the Adventurer's Guild does. Knights differ from Adventurers! Although as squires you will still work out of the Adventurer's Guild to gain experience, make some extra Cors, and some merits at the same time. But the main thing you want to gain is merits! Some of you might have already gained a few merits before you even registered today. Those merits are also counted towards the sum that is needed to be promoted to a Knight and assigned to an order.

" Knights live by a code of honor! We have seven virtues that we live by! These virtues decide our decision making while out in the field! By following these virtues we have a better understanding of what our comrades are thinking! These virtues are Courage! Strength! No Mercy! Generosity! Justice! Nobility and lastly Hope! Can anyone here tell me what each of these seven virtues mean?" The knight in leather armor asked.

"Me!" A small angelic voice rang out from within the crowd. Alicia had her hand raised and was jumping up and down. Just this sight of this made the knight in light leather armor chuckle.

"Alright, then Little Lady come on up and tell us what they mean." Pausing for a second a light flashed in his eyes as he continued: "For each one, you get wrong you will need to do one hundred pushups!"

Alicia paid no mind to what the knight said as she pushed her way through the crowd and made her way to the stage. "Excuse! Let me through please!"

Alicia jumped up on stage and stood in front of everyone, her golden blonde hair swayed in the wind while her bright blue eyes gazed out over everyone present. She took a deep breath and began speaking. "Courage is to have the courage to charge into any dangerous situation! Even at the cost of your own life!

"Strength to over power your foes and stand on top of those who try to do harm to your king, its land, and its people!

"No mercy to any of those who dare try to harm your king, its land, and its people!

"Generosity to help the people of your land and assist if there is ever a need.

"Justice to uphold the law of the land that is handed down by your king! To bring those to justice for committing crimes against your king, its land, and its people!

"Nobility to become a role model for everyone around you.

" Hope, In the eyes of the people of this land, knights are a shining star in the night during times of need. You are a symbol that the king has not abandoned its people." Alicia proudly stated her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

"Haha! Little lady, you are good! Not a single mistake!" The knight in light leather armor said as he clapped his hands.

"It was the first thing I memorized when I first learned to read and write!" Alicia stated.

"And it's a very good thing to memorize! As you heard the virtues the little lady just spoke of are what knights live by in order to maintain order and keep a clear state of mind no matter what the situation!" The knight in light armor explained. He then looked at Alicia and said: "You can go back down now. The first test will begin soon."

Alicia nodded and trotted back to Starla and the rest. She was in an even better mood now that she got to recite those virtues out loud like that. Just hearing them made her body shiver with excitement.

"The virtues that the little lady spoke of will be used throughout the tests. There are seven phases each phase will be graded on how well you reacted to the situation. If you fail one phase you fail the test altogether. Alright, I have said enough. The first test is the test of courage!" After finishing speaking, the knight in light armor nodded his head to a few people dressed in robes not too far away.

These people in robes raised their staves to the sky and started to chant some kind of magic incantation. Intricate lines began to appear in the sky slowly forming into a massive magic circle. After a few minutes, a void seemed to open up in the sky and a large white object came out of it and floated down to the ground. Alicia stared wide eyed at the scene in front of her. She wondered what this white object was. It was milky white and round almost like a pearl you would see in a piece of jewelry. But it was massive about half the size of the training grounds. It slowly landed on the ground silently not even kicking up any dust as it did.

"This object is called the illusion world!"