Phoenix Flight

Children, no matter where they grow up, are always bound to have dreams. For many, life will rear its ugly head and snuff out these epic adventures before they can even begin, but for the lucky few, they may find themselves able to march forward even after a numerous amount of hardships are thrown their way.

Today in the Estiria Kingdom, a special event was being held. Kids from all over the nation, be they city folk or country bumpkins, all came to Rose to do one thing.

Become Arcane Knights.

Olivia was still amazed that she got to be one of those kids.

"Name."

The colosseum was directly up the set of stairs, and standing in front of the entrance to it were several tired-looking guards. The entryway sort of looked like a tool booth, with a slab of magical metal that was thin and round floating in the air in front of the doorway, and all the guards were dressed in heavy-duty SWAT gear and had large magitech firearms strapped to their backs. They also had mana that was practically dripping off of them. Not as much as Gray or the woman at the dome's entrance, but enough where it was clear they could take down normal people with ease.

Olivia stood directly in front of the guards, and she nodded her head. "Olivia Lot- Oh, actually my name is Mary Lot, Olivia is my nickname, and was my mother's name, and-"

"You're rambling," Davi said flatly, and he placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder. He stood directly behind her and kept his calm and collected look, which he usually had, while Olivia was basically having a mini panic attack.

Olivia let out a sigh and tried to force her heart to steady. She reached up and placed her hand over Davi's and gave it a slight squeeze. "My name is Mary Olivia Lot. I'm here to take the Arcane Knight's exam."

The guard let out a low grunt and stared down at a tablet he had in his arms. He typed a few things on it, and the web page turned and shifted. "Mary Lot, daughter of Arthur Roads and Olivia Lot. Age eighteen and holder of blood magic." The man said, reading off a list. "Your current residence is Fri Village, and Rosco Moore is your current guardian. Is this all true?"

"It is," Olivia stated.

"Let me see your grimoire app." Olivia pulled out the phone Gray gave her and turned it on. She flashed the screen to the guard after booting up the grimoire. It showed her name and age, as well as the pages she could click on for her stats, traits, and spells. The man's eyes roamed over it for a moment, and he clicked something else on his tablet. "I need you to sign this. It states that you're of sound mind and acknowledge the risks that can happen when you take the exam." The man turned his tablet over to her.

Olivia looked down at it and quickly scanned it up and down. It was mostly a bunch of corporate words saying she couldn't sue if she got harmed or died while taking the test, and all results were final and couldn't be changed in any way. She ignored most of it and hit the accept all button, and then used her finger to draw a very poorly done signature on the page. When she was done, a small prick jutted out of the bottom of the tablet and cut her thumb, just like when she first turned on the phone Gray gave her.

The devices always did that because mana could be found mostly in blood, and so by getting a drop of a person's blood, it could be used to figure out how their mana and magic type worked. This method was also used by the police whenever they were dealing with a crime that had left DNA evidence at the scene of a crime.

The guard took the tablet back, and he muttered a quiet spell. Metal twisted and formed in the air, millions of tiny iron particles fusing together. It formed into a thin bracelet that wrapped around Olivia's wrist and squeezed down on it tightly. It had the number 'Eight hundred and eighty' carved into it.

"Alright." The guard said. "You're good to enter. Follow the hallway straight down."

"I'm with him, so I'll go when he's also done," Olivia explained, and she stepped to the side, letting Davi pass her.

"Name?" The guard asked Davi, still bored out of his mind.

"Davi Hawker."

The man typed on his tablet, and the screen turned red and let out a loud beep as the message 'no results' popped up on his screen. The man's bored expression faded and became a frown. He typed again, but the results were the same. The screen flashed red and beeped. "How do you spell it?"

"David minus the final D and Hawk like the bird, but it's visiting the ER."

"Who describes it that way…" Olivia snorted.

"Do you go by a different name?" The man asked, getting a little more frustrated when the name still didn't pop up.

"Not that I'm aware of." Davi cocked his arms to the side and folded his arms. "Try Mister Handsome or Sir Badass. That might do it."

Olivia looked a little worried and leaned in to whisper into Davi's ear. "Is this because of the Lance of Victory?" She asked. "Gray mentioned she did something that stopped people from being able to look your name up?"

Davi shook his head and whispered back. "No. I think this is different. Whenever someone tried to look up my name or search for me, they'd just be kicked out, but he seems to be getting no results. Also, I don't think that Tori lady is still doing that since I was already captured."

"Can I see your grimoire app?" The guard asked after the fifth attempt yielded the same results.

"Sure." Davi pulled the phone out and flashed the screen toward the man. Just like with Olivia's, it had his name, age, and the other pages all listed on it.

"So your name really is Davi Hawker…" The man rubbed the back of his neck. "Give me a moment." He reached up and pressed a button on his earpiece. "Sir, we have a six-sixteen." Then he looked back at Davi. "Just a moment, my boss is coming."

Davi let out a sigh and pocketed his phone. "Always something."

It didn't take long for the man's boss to arrive. She stepped out of the hallway that was past the guards and ducked down under the metal rod that blocked it off. She was quite the looker, with long, raven-black hair and a pair of deep green eyes. She wore a white buttoned-up shirt that was obviously too big on her, along with baggy pants that were only held up thanks to the three belts she had on. Her hair was a bit messy, and bags rested under her eyes, and she was chewing gum. At her belt was a silver rapier which kept bouncing back and forth since it wasn't properly held in place.

"Wassup?" The woman asked tiredly.

"Sir, this guy's name isn't in my system." The guard explained, and he handed the tablet over to the woman.

"Name?" She asked, looking even more exhausted at the fact that she had to do work.

"Davi Hawker. I like your sword, can I have it?"

"No, my sword is mine, now is Davi Hawker spelled like David minus the last D and a Hawk that has to go to the ER?"

"Yes, exactly." Davi nodded, and Olivia just sighed. "Can I please have your sword."

"Still no." The woman typed the name into the tablet, but just like with the other guard, the screen buzzed red and the words 'no results' appeared. The woman hummed and clicked on something near the top of the tablet. "What nation do you come from?" She asked.

"Mordheim." The other guards all jumped and stared at Davi in shock, but the woman didn't look surprised and typed something else in.

This time, the screen flashed blue. "There we go. We were looking for names only in the Estiria kingdom." She hummed. "Finally got a result."

"You can't actually be about to let him enter, right, Sir Sune?" One of the guards said in horror. "He's from Mordheim!"

"So?" The woman, apparently named Sune, made a face and cocked her head to the side. "I'm from the land of Gallenth, yet I'm still an Arcane Knight since I moved to Estiria. Additionally, at least a few dozen people taking the test this year are from Rossum. Anyone can become an Arcane Knight, should they be willing to work for the kingdom."

"What if he's a spy, though?"

"Are you a spy?" The woman asked Davi.

"No. I don't think so, anyway." Davi looked down at himself and frowned. "I'd tell you I was one if you gave me your sword, though."

"Davi!" Olivia exclaimed with wide eyes.

"What? It's all silver and stuff, what if I have to fight a werewolf, I want it." Davi shrugged.

"He's not a spy." The woman nodded her head. "Besides, even if he does take the test, that doesn't instantly mean he'll become a Knight. There are several tests, many of which weed out those who are not worthy or hold ulterior motives. It'd be impossible." The guard looked like he wanted to say more, but knew that it wouldn't matter. Sune was always difficult to talk to, and she wanted to minimize the amount of paperwork as much as possible. The woman finally looked back down at her tablet. "Still, it is kind of odd. Are you really Davi Hawker?" She asked.

"Again, last I checked." Davi looked back down at his hands and then pinched his cheek to make sure he was still him and not someone else. "Yeah, still me."

"Estiria keeps files on all of its citizens since they're all connected through the king, but looking up information on people from other nations can sometimes be tricky." The woman explained. "Especially when it comes to Mordheim. It's not impossible to get in or out of the country, but it's difficult, so only a small amount of information is made public knowledge. I still haven't found any name belonging to someone called Davi Hawker, but I did find some reports on something called the Hawker clan."

"You did?"

"Yeah, but it says that particular clan died out hundreds of years ago." The woman said as she read over the file.

"I guess in a way that is true." Davi rubbed his chin. "I don't know everything, but my dad said most of his clan was wiped out during some political incident. He never knew any members of his clan and grew up on a little island that was at the very edge of Mordheim. It wasn't even connected to the mainland and was so insignificant that I doubt anyone knew we were living on it, so the kingdom probably just assumed the clan died out." With the death of his father, that likely meant he and Sieg were the last two people on the planet who were part of the Hawker clan.

"Can I see your grimoire?" Sune asked. Davi showed it to her, and she nodded. "Well, you are named Davi Hawker. You couldn't be able to fool the king's mana." The woman switched to a new page on the tablet and held it out to Davi. "Go ahead and sign your consent form."

Davi took the tablet and began to read quietly. And read. And read… Seconds passed, which then ticked to a few minutes, which then ticked to several minutes-

"You don't actually have to read it!" Olivia spoke up after a full ten minutes had passed, and she saw that Davi was still on the first page. "You can just skip straight to the end, hit accept, and sign!"

"Shouldn't I read through this all carefully, though, and know what I'm accepting?" Davi asked, still scanning over the words with his eyes. "This looks like serious stuff, talking about lawsuits and how I could get harmed."

"Davi!"

"Okay, fine," Davi grumbled a bit and sped his reading up, quickly skimming everything. It took him another five minutes, but he finally reached the bottom and clicked 'confirm'. Then he wrote his name, erased it because he didn't like how it looked, wrote it again, erased it again, and-

"That's enough." Sune yanked the tablet out of his hand, and she motioned for one of the guards. The man still looked a little uncomfortable, but eventually used his spell to create a bracelet around Davi's wrist. This one had the number 'Eight hundred and eighty-one' on it. "Alright." The woman nodded her head once it was done. "That should be everything. Go on now; you've wasted enough time here." She pointed behind her with her thumb, and the metal pole began to lift up and move out of the way, finally allowing them to step into the hallway. "Oh, and good luck."

"Thank you so much!" Olivia eagerly took Davi's hand, and she began to drag him into the colosseum.

As the two entered, the guard turned back to his boss. "Sir? Are you sure it's wise to let him in?"

Sune rolled her eyes. "Don't be racist."

"I'm not—"

"If he is bad, the Captains will figure it out. If they don't… Well, there's always 'that thing' that will do the trick." The woman's lips curved upward slightly. "If he is a spy, letting him take the test will actually be the easiest way to figure it out."

"And if someone gets hurt?"

"Literally every Arcane Knight Captain is going to be present today." The woman looked up to the sky, where several magitech airships flew around, all carrying large banners showing off the eight Arcane Knight guild symbols. "This is likely the safest place in the entire world right now."

"I don't know about that." Another guard snorted, and he pointed up to one of the banners. This one was a red banner with a golden outline of a bird forged out of fire across it. "After all, Phoenix Flight is here today. Things always go wrong when those bastards show up."

Sune gave a lazy shrug. "I guess only time will tell."

Inside of the colosseum, Olivia walked through the halls at a steady pace. She kept her hand on Davi's and squeezed it tightly. It was a single straight line, one that went all the way to the end, where a set of heavy metal doors resided.

Now that she was actually walking toward it, though, she found herself slowing down. Was this actually happening? Was she really about to take the Arcane Knight entrance exam? Her heart was pounding so fast that it hurt, and she could feel her blood burning in her veins.

What if she failed? What if she wasn't good enough? She hadn't really improved all that much. Besides, she hadn't passed any combat tests at her old school, and all the Captains were going to get to see that.

Each year that the Arcane Knight entrance exam was held, the tests were different, but there were always four, and they all had a theme. The order of the tests would always be random, and what they contained would constantly change, but they would always have a particular theme. They were the test of the soul, the test of courage, the test of skill, and the test of knowledge.

Several Knights were going to be present for the tests, along with the eight guild Captains who would be watching. Each test would be observed by the Captains, who would have records on every person who was taking the test. That meant having good scores before the exam was important. The more combat lessons you took and passed, or the more noble deeds you were known for, would help boost your final score. People like her, who failed every test, or someone like Davi, who had no record, were at a significant disadvantage and would have to hope they did well in the exams and impressed the Knights.

The exam was the most crucial part, and so in theory it was possible to get into the guilds by just taking the exam, but it was much harder.

It didn't actually matter how well you did in the exam, as they didn't have a traditional points system. When all the tests were done, the Captains would all place their vote on whether a person could join their guild or not. If a person got at least one vote, they would go into that Captain's guild. If they got more than one vote, that meant that person impressed several Captains and would be placed in the guild that was best for them. If a person got no votes, then that meant no Captain wanted them, and they wouldn't be placed into any guild. If that happened, it meant a person had failed.

Captains only had a limited number of votes they could distribute, which was intended to prevent a Captain from simply sending a guild invitation to every member. Since a Captain only had so many votes, they would often spend all of them on people who had the best records before the exam and then spend the rest on people who impressed them during the actual part of the exam. This was why so many nobles became Knights, since their record was so grand, they were basically given the pass before the exam even properly started.

These tests weren't just about doing well; they were also about impressing the eight strongest people in the kingdom.

Olivia stopped once she reached the doors, and again her mind raced. She could only cast three spells a day. Would that be enough? She trained and exercised, but it had only been for a week. That wouldn't be enough to get stronger. Also, even if she did make it to the end, it didn't matter if she didn't impress any of the Captains. Would a Captain even let someone with blood magic in? What if they knew who her father was and-

"Olivia." Davi let go of her hand and placed it on top of her head. He turned her and forced her to look at him. "You've got this." Davi raised his leg up and placed it on the door. "Let's show them all what we can do."

Olivia stood there for a moment but then managed to give a grin. "Right." She lifted her own leg up and placed it next to his. They both kicked out as hard as they could, and there was a loud creak as the door swung open and slammed against the side of a wall. Light poured in, allowing them to see out of the hallway they stood in, and Olivia stepped forward, trying to be confident.

Davi had his moment earlier where he made his declaration and promise to become a Knight, and he didn't even care for them as much as she did. It was her turn. She was going to do this. No more hesitating and no more being scared. She'd give it her all, and no matter what, she'd be proud to do it.

"Let's do this!" Olivia declared. "My name is Olivia Lot, and I'm going to become an Arcane Knight!"