Davi Hawker wasn't the strongest person she knew. Since taking the exam, Olivia had gotten to see many Knights and other exam takers who were far above Davi. She was confident that in a fight against someone like Ken Yuan, Sune, or even that Jack Larison fellow, all three of those people would be stronger than Davi, and they'd likely win in the end.
It wouldn't be an easy fight, though. Gray Buster was a vice captain, and yet even he had a hard time putting Davi down. Davi was someone who got back up again and again. If it were something as minor as pain, it wouldn't be enough to break his fighting spirit.
He embodied the role of defense extremely well, so it was no surprise when the system labeled him in that role. Olivia also wasn't shocked to see Davi take a hard punch to the face and then punch Falco back just as hard.
The others were all shocked, though, staring in awe as Falco was the one who stumbled away after slapping Davi's hand out of his hair.
"What the hell?" Falco winced and rubbed his beak, which cracked slightly. "How did you do that? You hit through my Mana Skin? I was told you were a recruit; no way you know how to use Mana Strike! And what the hell is up with your durability? How are you still standing?"
Davi reached up to his mouth and spat out a glob of blood, along with a few teeth. "That hurt." He grunted. "But I've been hit by worse." Davi wiped the blood away. 'Holy shit, that hurt. Can Knights just hit that hard?' Davi kept those thoughts to himself and then shuffled into a boxing stance. "Bring it on. I can take whatever you throw at me." And then again, to himself. 'One more punch to the face and I think I'll lose… I think I broke my hand just punching him.'
There was one reason his strike had done so much damage to Falco. It was because Falco himself was strong enough to break past his own body's defense.
Davi had no idea what Mana Strike or Mana Skin were, but he knew that Falco possessed far more attack than defense. This was good for Davi because of something his mother taught him when he was younger.
Way of Self Iron was similar to Way of the Sky Cutting Sword. It was less a full martial art and more a concept or a singular technique. When metal is hit hard enough, it'll vibrate and disperse the kinetic force throughout it. Way of Self Iron involved the same principles. The user of it would condense and flare their mana, absorbing the damage, causing a drop in power, and would then carry that force into their next attack, returning some of the energy of the opponent's very own strike.
This technique would fail if the strike was simply too strong or the enemy wasn't hit fast enough, as the force of the strike wouldn't exit the body. It also couldn't fully absorb all of the energy. Davi wasn't bad with it, but he also wouldn't say he was that good, and as such, he only disrupted around twenty percent of an attack's damage, which was why he still took such a beating from Falco's one punch.
Still, Way of Self Iron was beyond helpful, as it had allowed him to combine his own striking power with Falco's, thus piercing Falco's defense.
Basically, he was cheating to make it seem like he could take hits above his weight class and deal out that same damage.
Falco rubbed his beak and actually smirked. "That look in your eyes, the feel of your mana, and the guts to take a punch from someone obviously stronger than you. You're batshit insane, aren't you?"
"I think I'm quite sane." Davi balled his hands into a tighter fist.
Falco shrugged, and his mana began to compress and filter out of his arms. It had been a plain white color before, but now it started to shimmer and crackle, and the heat began to rise. "I'm not good with hand-to-hand." Falco snickered. "So I'll go ahead and take it up a notch since you seem to be able to handle it."
"You don't have to do that—"
"Too late!" Fire suddenly surged. It was a bluish green, and it swam over Falco's arms, and his feathers grew larger and fuller. The fire crackled and began to shape and extend. "Row Inferno Saber!" From his hands, a sword of pure fire and heat formed. It set the very air itself aflame, and Falco let out a mad laugh as he twirled the sword.
"Falco!" Olem yelled out. "That's going too far! Put that thing away!"
"Not yet!" The fire only expanded, and the saber grew in size, its heat rising. "I'm having so much fun!" Falco blasted forward, vanishing again and appearing in front of Davi as he swung his sword down.
"Row Shadow Armor."
Everyone but Olivia suddenly felt an intense chill shoot down their spine. Davi's own mana surged up, and the shadows lifted off the ground, forming into thousands of hands and claws that wrapped around his flesh. In an instant, ebony armor formed around him, and blue fire-like mana surged out of his helm. The shadows screeched, and Davi raised his arm up, taking the sword strike.
The saber exploded into a wave of fire as it smashed into Davi's raised arm, and his armor steamed louder, the shadows struggling to absorb the force of the attack and the flames. Way of Self Iron was perfect for him because it worked alongside his armor. Evelyn had created the spell for him to go along with Self Iron and the Sky Cutting Sword styles. He didn't have a sword, but with the amount of kinetic energy and heat coursing through his veins, as his suit and martial arts struggled to contain it, he didn't need a blade.
Davi raised his other arm into the sky as hard as he could, his fingers pointed up into a chop, and all his mana gathered around his arm as he tore his limb down, using Falco's own force against him, ramming the strike into the top of Falco's head and sending out a massive blast of force that exploded the arena and kicked up an ocean of dust.
"Well," Clause said, stunned. "I'll be damned." He had watched the tests, which were livestreamed, but this was his first time seeing the suit in action. The fight between Davi Hawker and Jack Larison had managed to be blocked from the viewers, so no one had actually seen the armor besides those in the arena.
"Is that the Ebony Knight's armor?" Ghost squeaked out.
Olem shook his head. "It looks close, but it's not. The Ebony Knight's helm resembled the head of a hawk, and it had black wings sprouting from the back, allowing him to fly through the sky and reach the stars above."
"I guess if he has armor like that, it makes sense why the king put him here." Clause chuckled. "Think Falco is okay—"
The dust cloud suddenly erupted in even more fire, as Falco took Davi's strike and copied Davi, rebounding the energy into his sword, catching the armored man off guard. Falco was laughing and seemingly having the time of his life as he got ready to swing his sword again, but his mana grew even larger. "Vil Inferno Saber!"
With the rebound-rebound, Falco was basically forcing all his striking power into his sword twice, along with Davi's most potent attack, and then he further multiplied that by ten. It was a strike Davi knew he had no way of tanking, and his scar felt like it was going to explode as his Danger Sense screamed at him that he was about to die.
Falco went to swing the sword down, but it never reached Davi. "What the hell are you two doing?" Laerton sighed, suddenly standing between the two men. One arm was lazily raised, and her palm blocked Falco's strike, the force of the attack unable to pierce past her natural defense and instead causing Falco's sword to fade and vanish. Laerton's other arm lazily poked out, and she pressed her pointer finger into Davi's gut, shattering his shadow armor away. "You two are being way too loud. Knock it off."
Falco smirked when he saw the woman. "Captain? So you got involved to save the new rookie? Looks like my hunch was right, and he's someone special."
Laer flicked the man on the forehead, sending Falco blasting off the arena and through the wall of the junkyard. "Clean up your mess." She ordered. Then she turned to Davi. "And you, don't get into a fight on your first day, especially against someone stronger than you. You're lucky the curse didn't go off, and your head wasn't sliced in two. Olem, come heal this dumbass."
"Yes, Captain." Olem jumped up onto the stadium and used another spell. "Row Atomic Repair." Davi's body tingled, and his mouth stung as new teeth formed out of his gums, and his burn wounds, which Falco had given him, faded. "There you go." Olem patted Davi's shoulder. "You're lucky you have Fire Resistance as a trait. You would have been cooked alive otherwise."
"Thanks?" Davi said, a little confused. Usually people would be freaking out over his armor, but for once they were all casual and didn't seem phased. The only time people were cool with how his armor looked was when he saved them, since that was what it typically took for someone to look past another person's appearance. Was Phoenix Flight just that different from normal people?
"Captain!" Ghost launched herself at the other woman, hugging her, while Laer kept a blank look on her face. "It's good to see you! You shut yourself in your room again. What gives? Why didn't you come see us?"
"Why would I want to see you losers?" Laer said bitterly.
"Aw! You missed us, didn't you?" Ghost giggled.
Laer's eye twitched. "It's already sunset." The woman barked out. "No more loud noises! Pock!"
Pock and Clause wandered over to where Falco crashed and were helping him up, but Pock jumped when he heard his name and stepped onto a large shard of metal, stabbing his foot. He yelped and began to jump around awkwardly. "Y-Yes, Captain?"
"I told you to show these two around, not get them into fights. Take them to their room." Laer ordered.
"Oh, yeah, good idea. I'm sure they're both tired after the long day they had." Pock chuckled.
"I'll go too!" Ghost perked up and wrapped her arms around the still confused Davi. "I want to speak to my two new guildmates some more."
Clause picked up the still groaning Falco and threw him over his shoulders. "Aye, I think I'll take Falco here to our room and get him ready for bed as well." The old man looked up to the sky, which was now turning orange. "Time sure does fly by." He chuckled bitterly.
Laer turned away from the group. "Keep the noise down in the future. If you all want to kill each other, do it when I'm either not around or it's the middle of the day." Once again, she vanished, stepping away.
Olivia blinked, still processing everything she had seen of Phoenix Flight. "This place is weird."
"Liv!" Ghost dragged Davi down the stadium and grabbed Olivia by her arm. "Come on! Pock and I will show you to your room!"
"Wait for me!" Pock still hopped on one leg as he chased after them.
Olem watched them go before he walked over to Clause and Falco. He began to heal Falco and, with another spell, repaired the damaged junkyard, everything putting itself back to where it belongs. "So, what do you think?" Olem asked.
"Well," Falco rubbed the back of his neck and snorted. "I think I'll wait and let Ragna take a look at them both after all. That said, for the most part, I stand by my earlier statement. That guy will be a great member of Phoenix Flight, but that girl shouldn't be here."
"Really?" Clause asked, surprised.
Falco nodded. Olem let out a snort and folded his arms. "I disagree."
"You do?" Falco frowned.
Olem nodded. "I think you have it wrong. That girl belongs here, but that man, Davi Hawker. Not only do I think he shouldn't be in Phoenix Flight, but I also don't think he has what it takes to be a Knight at all. He's strong, sure, but the feeling I get from him reminds me of Sov in some ways. I've never seen a human who feels so robotic. His brain is telling his body what to do, but it's almost like his brain is being told what to do by something else."
"Is he a mutant?" Falco questioned.
"No, I have no clue what he is."
Over with Pock and the others, the zipper man led Davi and Olivia to train car eleven. "I said it earlier, but you two get your own room! Clause, Falco, Miranda, Merlin, Gormay, Mama Herta, Tea, and Dog all share ten, so they'll be your neighbors. The bedrooms are made to hold six people."
"Wait, but then where do you stay, Ghost?" Olivia asked. "And what about Olem, or that Ragna guy that keeps getting mentioned?"
"I sleep in the medical lab!" Ghost giggled. "Olem's mana helps me stay together and stops me from breaking down, and he doesn't sleep at all, so he has no bedroom."
"Breaking down?"
"I sometimes fade in and out." Ghost said sheepishly. "That's how I phased through Davi." She gave Davi a nod. "Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to, I swear!" Davi just grunted.
"To answer the rest of your question, Olivia," Pock began. "Ragna sleeps outside. He likes looking up at the stars. Greenie sleeps wherever the hell he wants, and Vlad, as well as I and the captain, all have our own single rooms. If any new members get added, they'll be placed in your room. I actually heard we might be getting two other members."
"Really?" Olivia asked in shock. "So it isn't just Davi and me?"
"Nope." Ghost shook her head. "Like Tea, Clause, and Ragna, you two passed the typical entrance exam, but if a certain mutant or powerful low-ranking criminal is found, they're sometimes given the chance to join Phoenix Flight and pay off their debt to society. They had their own test they take, and like all Knights, trackers are placed into their arms, making it impossible for them to hide from the kingdom." Ghost moved the sleeve of her nightgown back and showed the tattoo of the bracelets. "These things let the king hear and see all."
"E-Everything." Olivia squeaked out, her face going red. "E-Even like bathroom stuff?"
"Yep." Pock laughed and flashed his own mark. "The king's a big old perv!"
"Don't worry." Ghost laughed when she saw Olivia's increasingly panicked face. "There are hundreds of Knights. Nearly a thousand, in fact. That's not even counting the Estiria military, which the king also has to keep track of. It's impossible for him to watch and see everything. Even with his divine core, which works like a second self, he can't process everything. Because of that, these marks are actually recording everything, so at any time the king or his trusted forces can look back and view the footage. So if you end up getting bored and doing the nasty with someone, they won't actually look at it unless they become suspicious of you committing a crime, at which point they'll review all the footage and see all the times you did naughty things." Ghost winked. "So you better behave. The captain is always getting her footage reviewed because she gets in trouble."
"Is there a reason you call her Captain and not Captain Laerton?" Olivia asked.
"Well." Pock pondered on the question for a moment. "Laerton isn't her name."
"It's not!" Olivia said in shock.
Davi shook his head. "Of course it's not her real name. Did you even hear what her full name is?"
"What do you mean?"
"Laerton Eman," Davi said flatly. "Say it backwards. Name notreal. Her name is literally 'name not real' backwards."
Olivia felt like her mind was blown as she processed that fact. She hadn't even noticed. "Oh my Haru…"
Pock reached out and began to slide the door to cart eleven open. "None of us know Captain's real name, so we just call her Captain. Whoever she was before she became Captain, that doesn't matter. We met her while she was the captain, and so that's who she is to us. You can just call her Captain as well. She won't admit it, but she likes it." Pock grinned and gestured into the train car. "Anyway, here's your new home! What do you think?"
The entire train was around four times thicker than a regular train, and so the cart in question was almost as big as a medium-sized house. A ramp jutted out, leading into the cart itself, and after walking into it, Olivia let out a gasp. It looked like a fancy hotel hallway. The walls were painted, and there was a fine carpet on the ground. Two doors were placed at either side of the cart, one leading to the tenth car while the other led to the twelfth. There were other doors as well along the wall. Six in total. Each door would lead to its own bedroom. There was also one final door on the other side of the hallway, which led to a bathroom.
Pock walked over to one of the doors and opened it. Olivia poked her head inside and whistled. There was a bed, a desk, and a shelf, but that was it. The room also wasn't that big, but it was a lot better than she had assumed. She expected just a bunch of beds set up in a bunker style. This felt like she had her own apartment.
"You can have whatever room you want from these six," Pock stated. "It's your job to keep your room clean, and you put whatever you want into it. If you want food, go to the main area or look for Gormay or Mama Herta. Mama Herta cooks breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Gormay can use his magic to get you cheap burgers if she's not around.
Davi also entered the room and looked around. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he walked over to a chair. It was placed in front of the small desk and looked like a simple wooden chair. Without warning, Davi picked it up, and a loud screech filled the room, causing Olivia to stumble back.
The chair began to shake and bend and drip, as if it were a liquid, and tendrils fired out of it, slapping Davi's hands away. It crashed to the ground, now as a bundle of black goop, and green slime dripped out of it. It screamed again, a loud and raw, animalistic sound, and its tendrils jutted into the roof, and it blasted out of the open door and got away before Davi could grab it again.
"Oh, cool," Ghost clapped. "Greenie is back!"
"What the hell was that!" Olivia demanded.
Pock was laughing while Davi frowned and rubbed his hands on the wall. They were coated in green slime. "That was Greenie," Pock explained. "Do you know what polymorph is?" Olivia suddenly froze while Davi shook his head.
"I know some, but not a lot," Davi admitted.
Pock hummed and folded his arms. "Basically, it's a powerful trait some monsters have. There are different versions of it, and the ones who created it were the dragons. However, nowadays, it's mainly used by spirits, as all the dragons are dead. Polymorph allows one to change their own reality and alter their form. Greenie is a mimic. Like Olem, he's a full-on monster and was never a human. Ragna found him one day and adopted him as a pet. He scampers around sometimes and likes to turn into random objects to scare people. Don't worry, though; he doesn't bite."
"How does that work, though?" Olivia frowned. "Monsters can leave dungeons, but they always have to return back to their dungeon because the air out here is dangerous for them. Just like how we can only stay in a dungeon for a certain amount of time, a monster can only remain outside of it for a bit before they come undone. It's why they're always looking for new dungeons if they lose an old one and why dungeons are constantly being spawned in since they react to monster intent. Mutants are able to stay outside of dungeons because they used to be humans, but full monsters shouldn't be able to."
"Well, that's thanks to Olem." Pock rubbed his chin. "If you want to know more, you'll need to talk to him, but for the most part, let's just say he found a fix to that little rule."
"None of us are normal." Ghost laughed. "Even the non-mutants like Tea, Clause, and Ragna aren't all there."
"Clause isn't a mutant?" Davi raised an eyebrow. "I was told there were only two, though? That's three?"
"Well, Clause isn't technically a mutant, but he's been transformed by magic still." Pock suddenly sounded uncomfortable. "I don't want to speak on his behalf, though. You two are likely tired after taking the tests and the sparring match with Falco. Why don't you shower and head to bed early? If Greenie is back, then Ragna will likely return in a day or two more, and he'll put you both to work."
"A bath does sound nice," Olivia admitted.
Pock and Ghost got ready to leave, but Davi asked another question before they stepped out of the door. "Hang on." Davi held his hand up. "I need to ask before anything else happens. I'm a swordsman. Is there anywhere I can get a blade around here?"
Pock grinned. "Of course. Why didn't you say so? What kind of sword do you need?"
"Any would do, but I'm trained mostly in claymores and longswords."
Pock nodded and casually unzipped two of the zippers that were on his arms. He reached in, and his hand sank into his own body, going impossibly deep, causing Olivia to feel sick at her stomach. A moment later, he pulled out a simple iron claymore. He tossed it to Davi and then reached into another pocket and pulled out a second claymore. Pock repeated this until Davi held a bundle of five claymores. Davi picked one of the claymores and held it up, getting a feel for their weight.
"They aren't enchanted," Pock said. "They're as plain as they come, but I got plenty inside of me."
"Row Shadow Vault." Davi tucked the swords away, finally feeling happy now that he had weapons he could call his own again.
"Oh, you have a storage spell like Pock!" Ghost's eyes shone as she watched Davi place the swords away. "So cool!"
Pock opened more zippers and pulled out two duffel bags filled with various clothes. "I also have these." He announced happily as he gave one to Davi and Olivia. "Try on whatever you want. You can get more clothes later in Oleander City!"
"I also have a lot of spare clothes!" Ghost chirped. "I'm sure we're similar sizes, Liv, so we can share!"
"Alright, Ghost." Pock chuckled and placed his hands on the girl's back. "Let's give them their break now. I'm sure they need it."
Pock and Ghost finally left and closed the train door. As soon as they were gone, Olivia took the bag and found the closest thing to her size and entered the bathroom. After the long day she had, she was ready to relax and get some sleep finally.
The bathroom itself wasn't anything fancy. It had a tub, a shower, a toilet, and a sink. It was all plain white, and there was a single mirror and some lights that hung above. She had no idea how this place had power or how it had working water, but crystal-clear liquid blasted out of the faucet when she turned the knob, and she got undressed and jumped into the tub.
Davi waited outside the door and casually leaned against the wall. He'd take his bath next. "So," He called out. "What do you think of everything?"
Olivia poked her head out of the tub and rested her arms on the rim. "Well, nothing really went how I was hoping it would. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about being in this guild and all the members. They're very…"
"Odd."
"Yeah, nice also though." Olivia hummed. "What about you?"
"I don't really care either way," Davi admitted. He never wanted to be a Knight. He wasn't suited for this life. All he needed was to kill the dragon. If being in this guild gave him the power to do it, then it didn't matter if he liked the members or not. He'd do everything he could to get stronger. "I have a lot to learn." Davi rubbed the hand he had slammed into Falco's head. "Things like Mana Skin or Mana Strike."
"Mana Skin…" Olivia repeated the word and remembered her time in that weird red sea. "It feels like a new world has opened up or something."
"It has," Davi responded. "For the first time in a while, I think I can finally take the next step."
Just then, the door to the tenth car opened and someone entered. Davi narrowed his eyes at the person because it was someone he hadn't seen before.
The man had silverish hair and the same dull eyes Miranda had. His skin was pale like hers and had the heavy bags as well. Like Miranda, he was also in an expensive-looking suit. "New guy." The man said as he eyed Davi up. "You're Davi, right?"
"Yeah? Who are you?" Davi asked.
"Merlin, we've already met." The man said, clearly annoyed.
"We have?"
Merlin's gaze grew harsher. "Someone wants to speak with you. They're outside. Said they came all this way for you."
"Seriously?" Davi walked over to the sliding door that led outside, and Merlin followed. The two of them exited, leaving Olivia behind. "Who could be looking for me? It isn't Tori again, is it?" He shuddered a bit.
Merlin just grunted and led him to the gates of the junkyard. By now, the sun was fully gone, and night was starting to stretch out. Davi froze when he saw who stood at the gate.
It was a tall man with a plump belly. He had dark skin and wore bright purple robes. He had a bald head and a bushy beard, and when he smiled, he showed off a mouth with dozens of golden teeth. He held a blackened wand that had a puff of fire form out of the tip of it, and his eyes sparkled a bit.
Farkiss, the merchant he had met way back, was now standing before him. "Hey, kiddo." Farkiss chuckled. "It's good to see you again. Got a moment? We should talk."
Meanwhile, back in the train, Olivia got out of the bathroom and got dressed in a simple white dress that was cut off at the shoulders and had some ribbons along it. It reminded her of the outfit Davi had first given her, and it was warm and comfortable. She entered one of the rooms, claiming it as her own, and crashed down into the bed.
She was exhausted after the events that happened. Even if most of the fighting had been fake, it still left her mind reeling, and it didn't take long for sleep to claim her. At the last moment before everything faded, she activated her mana and spread it through her body.
Her plan worked because when she opened her eyes, she found herself back in the red sea.
"Yes! It worked! I'm back in the Determined world!"
'Welcome back.'
"Thanks?" Olivia frowned as the blue box appeared. "You know, you don't really act like how I thought you would. Are you… alive?"
'...No. I am just here to help, using the Determined trait to communicate with you.'
"Wait, so you're not the Determined trait itself speaking to me!" Olivia made a face. "Are you the system itself? The system doesn't talk like this, though? At least I don't think so? What's going on? What are you?"
There was silence, and then the blue box shimmered again. 'You can call me Maya.'