Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 204: Anvil

ATTN: INSTRUCTORS AND TEACHING STAFF

Training is individual.

That is the stance we’ve taken historically, especially in context when moving onto the rank of Knight Errant. That stance is appropriate at that rank. There, the mentor of the Knight will set the schedule, determine the strengths and weaknesses of their Knight Errant, and develop them on an individual basis.

However, the path towards that individual training should not be based on individuality... There are standards that must be met; the truth is that some Knights fail the academy. As a general rule, we don’t like to speak of it to the Initiates. Yet, it does happen. The best method to get our initiates through the Academy is to teach to a standard and train to a standard.

Anyone accepted to the Academy is seen as a promising candidate and has a perceived future as a Knight. This is reflected by the fact that becoming an Initiate grants a rank of nobility in its own right.

The tragic truth is that people fail. If, within two years, an Initiate doesn’t meet or exceed standard metrics determined by a panel of qualified Knights of their Order, they will be honorably discharged from their order. From there, of course, they will retain this granted status of nobility, retain their Armor after it is stripped of affiliation, and then be given a written recommendation to the rank of officer in the military.

Sure, the number of Knights who fail is few. Only an average of ten percent of Initiates fail, with some years seeing more or fewer, but this is due to rigorous academic standards. That does not count those who choose to go no further in their Order after two years.

We must be aware of and work to counteract this reality, the chance of failure.

Every potential Knight represents yet another golden opportunity for humankind to thrive on the surface as we were meant to. Even if they don’t begin to shine in their career in the Academy, they may go on to become bastions of glory and save many in the future. It is our duty to give them this opportunity to benefit the individual, their Order, and the Kingdom as a whole.

- Sir Oflux, Memo to Academy Staff, Reminder of Duty (3rd Era, 295)

“Your issue is that puny body,” a gravely voice cut through the darkness of reality that Erec had sunk into. His eyes snapped open, and a pulsing green light ran around him. A woman leaned over, a concerned look on her face as she looked at Erec.

“What?” Erec called, the words he was certain he’d heard, but they couldn’t have been from this lady… And… Where the hell were they?

Everything, absolutely everything, was in utter and complete pain.

“Your body. It’s not up to snuff to deal with the kind of power you’re throwing around. It’s not fast enough, doesn’t hold up enough, and is not powerful enough to withstand the pressure you’re putting on it. It’s like me swinging around a steel sword. Pointless since the damn thing will just break. S’why I gave up on steel, and swapped to fists.

Erec focused on the speaker—the looming giant of a man was tucked in the corner of the… room? It looked to be a relatively simple living room; a pot on a small hearth above hung a slew of herbs; not too far away was a small bed tucked in the corner… The roof was patched, and a bit of light shone through, but if Erec had to guess… They were in a farmhouse on the surface.

And the lady frowning at him was wearing a plain dress, further confirming his suspicion…

“Matt, you should take it easy. I don’t think he’s got it in him right now to understand what you’re talking about,” the woman said softly, the green light increasing in intensity. Erec felt his wounds closing, the soreness of the muscle easing by the second. It was clear she was healing him, but the degree of potency he felt was something else entirely. This was clearly a practiced and precise skill, one that none of the priests had managed with their prayer.

“No need to coddle. Especially not this one. You know who he is, right Gem?”

The woman sighed, the green light fading away.

“Of course I do.”

“Then you know it aint his best interest for me to pull punches,” the man—Matt, given how the woman addressed him—moved forward, each step a quack on the house as he reached out his big meaty palm to grab onto Erec and yank him up from the mat on the ground.

“Hold up,” Gem said, stepping between Erec and the Knight of the Azure Tower, who had beaten him to a pulp… Goddess knows how long before.

Erec saw where this was going and got up of his own volition. His legs wobbled, but he was put enough back together to prepare for a fight. He rolled his shoulders and glared at the Knight beyond.

I lost. Unacceptable; he hadn’t burned away everything. Hadn’t dived deep—at the end, when he felt the sputter, he realized why. Part of him knew this man wasn’t out to kill him or his Kingdom; the silver flames had brought enough logic to realize it. Yet that didn’t make it any better. The loss left a sore bruise on his pride.

“You’re just going to wreck him again!” Gem accused.

The beady-eyed knight nodded. “Yeah, his body needs to be stronger. I’m the right hammer for the job.”

“I won’t just keep healing him if it means you’re going to take this poor boy outside and beat him bloody again and again—how many times? How many times until you’re happy?”

Matt shrugged. “Until Boldwick comes back to grab him. That’s the job today, hun; I know it isn’t pretty, and maybe its morality is a bit iffy. But I was told, ‘make him stronger the best you know how,’ and that fight showed me how.” He raised a finger at Erec, his cold eyes staring him down, “You’re swinging around too much power and don’t have the foundation to support it. Lucky you, I can get you closer. Assuming Gem here is willing to cooperate—don’t think you’d find a better healer to suit your needs; her Talent is Stasis. She heals you, I beat you, we make a weapon. Think of her as forge, me as the hammer.”

“Forge my ass. No way am I agreeing to that; look at him; he’s shaking,” the woman warned, glaring down at the big Knight, who was multiple feet taller than her.

Erec looked at his hands. She was right, but now wasn’t the time for it. He forced them to stop with great will, balling them into fists. The worst part was that this made sense. Even though his body no longer hurt, the memories of what remained burned through him. Erec felt his body heat, but the sensation of the silver fire was distant, spent. The pathway to it scorched.

That was the issue. Even if he could grasp that power, training with it went nowhere when he couldn’t properly utilize it with the current limitations of his body. If he ignored those limitations, he could drive himself into the grave.

He couldn’t deny that the results of the previous training had left a blinking dot in the corner of his vision.

Not breaking eye contact and still thinking through what he wanted to say, Erec willed the notification to appear.

Soul (Aspect: Fire): Rank C - Tier 3 → Rank C - Tier 4

Strength: Rank C - Tier 7 → Rank C - Tier 8

Vigor: Rank D - Tier 8 → Rank D - Tier 9

Agility: Rank D - Tier 6 → Rank D - Tier 7

Erec’s eyes bulged.

He expected something.

This was obscene.

This kind of push and strain on his body to cause such a difference should have been enough to wreck him for a couple of days. A vague memory of the fight ran through his mind, though he couldn’t quite picture how it ended…

“How did you heal me so well?” Erec asked, stunned. That kind of healing was the type of thing that even only the best among their healers might accomplish. Yet this woman didn’t wear red robes, was clearly not a Knight…

The big Knight looked away at this, rubbing the back of his head. “Hey, so listen. Gem—her house. Stays between us, alright? If you cause her trouble, I’ll be on you quicker than you can blink. And no, the goal won’t be to help train you, and no, your jaw won’t work anymore after.”

“Matt!” Gem shouted, grabbing a book nearby and hitting him on the shoulder, “No threats of violence in my home.” She then looked at Erec, her eyes wide but her mouth firm, “But I would highly appreciate it if you could… Maybe forget I exist, if you would, alright? I want a nice and quiet, peaceful life. That’s all.”

“He will forget you exist,” Matt pounded a fist into an open palm with a resounding meaty thwack.

Erec took a step back, chewed his lip, and then came to a decision.

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“I will forget you exist; I’m not here to upend your life or cause you harm. It’s obvious you have a potent talent for healing, and I’m sure you have good reasons for not spending that talent locked into service for the Kingdom… That said, I would appreciate it if you could let Matt beat me up more and keep me alive after.”

Gem’s jaw dropped.

[Wow. You sure you know what you’re doing with this business proposal? Are you a masochist, buckeroo?]

“You want him to beat you up more?” She repeated what he said, drawing out each word, second-guessing that he knew what he meant. “Did you give him brain damage? You know it might take more time to recover from those injuries.”

“No!” Matt said, then stopped himself, “I… I don’t believe so. Maybe? Ah, shit. I did clock him in the head.”

[Nope, no brain damage. Her healing covered that, combined with my nanites.]

“I’m fine, thanks to you,” Erec dipped his head towards Gem and then turned his attention toward Matt. “I have to be stronger. He’s right. And after I woke up, thanks to your healing, I saw an incredible result from our fight. If I could manage that, even a few more times today, that would go a long way for me to be able to wield my talent and save lives.”

“Kid, didn’t you slay the White Stag?” She asked.

“And else, yet it isn’t enough. Not with what this talent has thrown my way. It’s a potential to do a lot of good, but if the limiting factor is me, that is what I need to work on.”

“Well said!” Matt walked past Gem, setting one of his palms on Erec’s shoulder, nearly toppling him. “Well, Gem, you heard him. He’s asking me to beat him to a pulp. Can you keep him alive? It’s in the name of the good of the Kingdom.”

Erec decided to bite his tongue and keep it to himself, saying that he did not intend to simply roll over and let Matt destroy him without a fight. Though he didn’t feel at the moment that his silver flames, nor the ‘mantle’ which lay at its source, was available to draw upon, that wouldn’t stop him from trying.

With how ridiculously strong Matt was, it would be a waste not to try to go out and break more limits… Of course, that depends on this person who could keep him together.

Gem worked her jaw. “Insane. You’re both insane. All of you damn Knights are insane.” She shook her head.

“And?” Matt prompted.

“And what? You’re completely nuts. You’ve been since you first joined that damn Order, and it’s only gotten worse.”

“Annnd?”

“And fine, I’ll do it. Because I know if I don’t, you’re just going to wreck him and toss him to some other, worse healers, and the injuries might not go away. I can’t deal with this,” Gem said, stalking away and mumbling. She turned after reaching a door to go further into her house, “Get the hell out, and bring him back the second he goes unconscious, and keep your fists from his head—so help me if you kill that boy… One more condition: don’t you dare beat him to unconsciousness? I want him to be at least able to nod and understand what I’m saying when you drag the poor kid back here. Am I understood?“

“Yes, ma’am, and don’t worry about that. He’s in good hands!” Matt called, scooting Erec out. It seemed the giant knew when to beat a quick retreat.

“Insane,” Erec heard the woman mumble one last time before they were free of her domain and back out into the wasteland.

— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —

Erec spat up blood on the dirt and sand; in front of him was a vast swath of dug-out dirt and rock. The landscape was filled with pits and more blood than it deserved. Almost all of it was his blood, yet to his immense satisfaction, it wasn’t all his blood now. In this last bout, he’d drawn some of Matt’s with a wicked punch to the nose. The massive Knight had halted shortly after, rubbing at his broken nose and trying to clean it up. Citing that, ‘Gem won’t heal me like she’s been tending to you—she’ll say I deserved whatever I got.’

Which Erec found a little bullshit. Considering that he was fighting past broken bones in two of these rounds, Matt hadn’t let him call it quits then.

The training was paying off. Within their first spar, he’d already seen the notification appear. Part of Erec was tempted to open it when he healed back with Gem, yet he’d held off. Better to see the overall gains after this grueling hell of pain and combat was over, lest it demoralize him if the returns weren’t quite as good as the first fight.

After all, since then, he hasn’t been able to call the Silver fire. And his ability to fight without it fell quite short of what the massive beady eye Knight in front of him was capable of.

“Who are you,” Erec got out, finally having a reprieve from the battle.

It seemed Matt wasn’t much for talking, aside from with Gem, who he kept profusely apologizing to whenever he dragged Erec’s broken body back for healing.

“Matt,” the big guy snorted and then winced. “Damn, this hurts. Why’d you have to sucker punch me?”

Erec raised an eyebrow, looked down at his bruised arm, and could barely flex his fingers.

“Alright. Fair point. Fine, let’s take five. I think we got about another eight or so fights until we gotta turn in.”

“Not training through the night?” Erec asked, surprised.

“Hell no. I mean, I’m treating you harshly, but from what I understand, this is the second day of a whole five of this kinda training, right? I break you too badly and don’t let you rest tonight; what will you get from the other days? Gotta leave time for the body to adapt. Regardless of taking you to a healer with quite the talent,” Matt said, shuffling over to an upended lump of dirt he’d ripped clean from the ground earlier in the day. “Sit right here,” he patted a spot next to him.

Erec hobbled over, finding his left ankle weak and probably sprained now that he wasn’t in the midst of Fury. Maybe VAL would be able to correct that before they re-engaged.

“Right. Who am I,” Matt began, drumming his fingers on the dirt.

“Yeah, an Azure Tower Knight… But what rank… and why this? Who is Gem? How do you know Boldwick? How are you so damn strong?”

“Some of those are loaded questions, kid.” Matt pointed out.

“I’m thankful for the training, but I can’t help being curious,” Erec asked.

“Mhmmm. Let’s start with the simple stuff. I owe Boldwick we go back plenty of years, old sparring partners if you can believe that; I’m a Master Knight for the Azure Tower. As to why I’m helping—well, of course, Boldwick asked, but can’t lie. I was curious about the Kingdom’s fastest ‘rising star.’ Do you know that other Knights have noticed you and your friends? Mainly you, but given your involvement in some fast and massive changes… Stuff like that doesn’t escape the public eye, much less in the Orders. As to the two helping your friends, they aren’t Master Knights, but they are closer to what kind of Knights their paths might lead them on, and this, for them, is a way to gage if they can have a Knight Errant assigned, so it’s a double test,” Matt answered calmly, still rubbing at his nose.

“And your friend?”

“My wife, well. Ex-wife. We’re… It’s complicated; she wants a simple life, but I don’t think she has it in her to resist the call of what she can do for others. That is where we’ll leave that; you will forget about her after this is over; keep in mind, I’ve been holding back.” he said rather sharply, shooting Erec a glare.

That frightening thought made him wonder just how strong the scale went.

Maybe it was foolish to consider himself at the height of power with Fury, as it was… But, well.

“Well, maybe I had to let go a bit when you got the silver fire. Tell me, why haven’t you brought that out again?” Matt continued after a lapse of silence.

“Can’t, wish I could.” Erec said, staring at his feet, “It’s… The connection with it can appear, but the pathway is all burnt up after use. This time, I scorched it, but it’s not… Well, it was destroyed, like it was after coming back from the wasteland. I don’t know if it’s getting stronger, and I could force it further, but if I did so, Gem’s healing might not be enough.”

“Don’t know about that. Talents come in all sorts. Yours doesn’t strike me as a ‘one and done’ kind of ability, which carries a recharge. I don’t know if they still teach it after taking a priority of teaching instruction away from Talents and instead doubling down on flinging magic and prayer. Still, maybe you’ve heard the four basics—Shifter, Enhancer, Projector, and Skill.”

The categories did ring a bell; during the first couple of months of schooling, Boldwick had taken him and a few others with particularly potent talents and put them into specialized training.

Now, though, those courses had been all but canceled for him following his return from the expedition. Erec wasn’t sure why but knew his own talent development had far exceeded anyone else, aside from maybe Prince Soren.

“Tell me then, what category are you and me?”

“I’m an enhancer,” Erec confirmed right away; it’s what Boldwick had called him, and given the conditions of activating Fury, it made the most sense. It brought out more Strength, Agility, and Vigor. Mostly Strength, but the others were a consequence of keeping up with such a vast difference in Strength.

Sir Matt said nothing; he only put a smirk on his face and then asked, “Oh, is that so? Then what is that silver fire? It seems like using a Skill since you’re pulling it out of nothing for attacks. But then again, doesn’t it also give you regeneration?”

Erec wracked his brain to connect the dots. Skill-based talents leaned towards more specific external effects at the cost of stamina. The Silver Flame let him make attacks like that style, but it also amplified his Fury even more, making it an Enhancer talent.

At least, according to what he could remember.

Erec frowned. “Boldwick mentioned there are more advanced ones and that classification is just a loose representation of what is there.”

“It’s an outdated and flawed system,” Matt clarified.

“Then why are you asking me about it?”

“Because it gives a good foundation to understand the types of Talents you could run into. But it fails to tell you that many talents crossover or are too rare. Using that system, I might be considered a Shifter-Uncontrolled-Permanent.”

“Uncontrolled-Permanent?”

“Classifications with their system can add modifiers; in this case, it’s saying that my type of shift,” Matt indicated his body, which was far from human norm, “Is an uncontrolled talent. If I gave you one of their titles, I’d maybe call you an Enhancer-Abnormal.”

Erec leaned back on the rock, taking in the clouds above as the words slid off him. The terminology of what he could do thanks to his Talent was, in a way, meaningless. Given how it was affected by his Soul, he doubted it could even be split into its source of power to begin with. It seemed to be ever-evolving, too, given the linkage; that made him wonder.

“So, you’re saying the classifications don’t matter.”

“Pretty much,” Matt confirmed, “The reality is that I grew into my Talent. I got stronger, my body changed, and I was drawn to the Strength Virtue even before my Talent appeared… I was taller and stronger, and my muscles went far more than others from the start. What came first? My body? Or the talent? You see it now and again with the rare talent; it changes your body as you develop. Not that people like to talk about it, folks like us… The stronger we get, the closer we begin to remind them of monsters, then of other people.”

“And your faith virtue?” Erec asked.

Matt worked his jaw for a long time and then responded.

“Don’t you worry about that?” He said, standing up. “We have a few more rounds of beatings to get through before I’m comfortable enough to let you go after you broke my nose.”

As Erec climbed to his feet, nearly toppling over, he took in Matt’s eyes. There was concern there, as well as a mask.

He doesn’t have a Faith Virtue. Erec wasn’t sure why, but he was certain of it. The revelation came with just the barest spark of a silver fire in him, the first true spark since their first fight.

He, Colin, and Garin weren’t alone—and maybe if Matt and Dame Morgana had access to the Soul Virtue, they were far from alone.