In a large castle somewhere in the capital, a girl with short blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes practices her sword skills near a window as sweat drops from her face. A determined look in her eyes as each swing makes her more exhausted. Then with the final swing, she took a deep breath as she looked at two ladies at the door.
" Miss Alice, it's time to go. Your first day is today. Your clothes and sword are prepared in your room." The older lady said with a smile. Alice nodded and walked to her room.
She entered her room and started getting dressed with a sigh. Once done, she was wearing a red tartan skirt and black suit jacket on top of a white button-up with an emblem of a cross and sword chasing. She had a necklace with a cross on it. She put it inside her shirt and looked at the mirror.
" I'm leaving for four years. I'm scared, mother. Please, watch over and protect me." She said as a tear dropped from her eyes. She wiped her tears and smiled as she nodded. She walked out of the room and closed the door.
Somewhere else in the capital, a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing similar clothes as Alice, looked at a picture of an older man and two little kids sitting on his lap. " Dad, I will make you proud and become the best knight ever and then king. That's what I'm going to do for you." He said with a confident smile on his face.
The door to the room opened and a lady who looks similar to him steps in and says, "The car is ready, Garvish. Wish you the best of luck at the Forge. I can't wait to see how much you grow in the time away."
" None needed, sis. " with a giant smile on his face as he walked out of the room, and his sister closed the door on the now empty room.
In an assembly hall at least one hundred people are standing in the building as three people stand on the stage. " Welcome students and instructors alike. I hope everyone is excited to start their journey of knighthood at Kenneth's Forge. Over 200 years ago after the Great War of Fire, King Arthur created Nadejnite, and Kenneth the greatest knight and friend of King Arthur made this academy to protect this country from monsters and humans alike. He called it his forge because he wanted to refine the spirits and bodies of the future. That was his wish. I hope everyone has a wonderful four years at our academy and even if it gets tough keep going until you break through your limits!!!" A man with grey hair and brown eyes said invigoratingly. A woman with red hair stands up and says, " Wonderful speech Headmaster. Now everyone please head to your class and if you don't have a class assigned to you yet please stay in the assembly hall!!!" As everyone rushes to their classes, ten students are left in the assembly hall.
As the students started looking at each other confused. The Headmaster cleared his voice as he prepared for another speech as a tall, slender man walked into the hall. He walks onto the stand while he glares at all the students closely and stops on a blue-haired boy with many objects and rings on him.
" Why are you here, Loc?" The man said with annoyance in his voice. The blue-haired boy smirked as he said, " Professor Brown, I only wanted to see the new class of gems. Maybe skip a class or two…" while shrugging.
The man raised his eyebrow and ordered him to leave. And with that, the Headmaster started speaking, " Hello everyone, I know you guys are probably wondering why you are here, right? You have been chosen for a "special" program, Unit S. This program was made by the first king himself because he felt like talent needed to be forged in a fire hotter than the stars so he made a four years course to make the strongest knight team, Unit S. Everyone here was specially chosen by the strongest of the holy knights like the class before. If you have any questions please feel free to tell me."
Almost everyone had serious expressions on their faces and only one person had a smile on their face. A tall, black-haired, light blue eyes man with a sword on his waist, Sirius was filled with excitement.
" This is your teacher, He will be teaching you and helping you throughout the course. Don't think you can bully him. He is the third strongest knight in the country. Now I will let him take the lead in this conversation." The Headmaster said and walked out of the assembly hall.
" Well, I guess it's time to get started. Let's get to our classroom, so I can tell you your assignment. Oh yeah, my name is Amory Brown. You can call me, Professor Brown." Professor Brown said and motioned them to follow him. He leaves the hall and they follow close behind.
As they approached a door saying, " Class S", Professor Brown said, " Welcome to your classroom for four years. " opening the door.
Inside was a room big enough to fit 20 on each row. There were five rows and two decided to sit on each row. Professor Brown waited until everyone was sitting and said, " Alfred Brassard stand!!!" as a brown-skinned boy with black hair and red eyes stands, sighing. Professor Brown nodded as he wrote something and said, " Alice Bogdan!!!"
Alice stood and looked at him. " Emma!!!" Professor Brown called. A red-haired and brown-eyed girl stands and smiles. " Garvish Allison!!!!" Professor Brown said, Garvish stood. " Harry Brassard!!!" a boy who looked like Alfred with glasses stands nervously.
" Isabella Nielsen!!!" Professor Brown said and a girl with long brown hair and purple eyes stands. " John Erickson" Professor calls and a boy with greenish-white hair and brown eyes stands. " Oscar Bogdan" Professor Brown calls and a boy with blonde hair and green eyes. " And lastly Sirius" Professor Brown proclaims. Sirius stands with a serious look on his face.
" Everyone here is a team. And every team needs a leader. Your first assignment is to pick your leader. Tomorrow, I expect you guys to pick someone. Bye, everyone should know where the living quarters are. " Professor Brown said as he walked out of the classroom.
" I can't believe it. He just left us without explaining this "special". I thought Professors were supposed to tell you about the course but he just left us!!!" The big with greenish-white hair named John yelled. All of the boys were in a common room type area that looked like it was connected to 10 different rooms.
"Can you shut up? You are really annoying. I can't believe I have to stand in the same dromations as you." Gavish said as he covered one of his ears. As he says the girls came out of a room that looked like a big bedroom. Most of the girls were cleaning their hair and fixing it.
Alice walked up and said, " Maybe he did it on purpose."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked with interest.
" Well, as we know we have been chosen for this "special" course most likely because of our status. They probably lied to us about this being a course created by the first king and just want us out of the way." Alice explained. Most of the people agreed.
" That can't be true because I doubt everyone here is nobles or high government figures," Garvish said looking at Emma.
" Why are you looking at me just because I'm half-dwarf doesn't mean I'm not noble," Emma said embarrassed and under her breath, she confirmed she is not noble. Everyone looked at her confused.
"I'm not a noble too. You don't have to be embarrassed about it." Sirius said smiling. Everyone started looking at Sirius.
Sirius was fairly handsome compared to many other commoners and nobles alike because of his radiant blue eyes and his nicely kept hair. He didn't smell that bad also.
"You don't look like a commoner," Alice said as she walked to a seat in the room.
" I didn't know commoners have a certain look to them but thanks I guess," Sirius said rubbing his head.
" What she meant to said, is that you looked too hot to be a commoner?" Harry said teasingly. Alice started bushing and Sirius laughed it off.
" Harry, that's not funny to make fun of someone," Alfred said, annoyed. Harry ignored him. Everyone was silent for a few seconds.
" Let's get back on topic. So, Sirius right?" Oscar said almost like he was going to vomit just by saying it. Sirius nodded not noticing what he did. " Well since we have at least two commoners in this group we can assume that what the Headmaster said was true only people selected by holy knights can join by I doubt we are the only ones chosen by a holy knight which means there are probably more requirements than that. I suggested we just do what they say and choose a team leader and we can find out later. I'm so tired of thinking."
Everyone nodded. " So who wants to be a team leader?" Three people yelled out at the same time. "Me!!!" They were Sirius, Alice, and Garvish.
They glared at each other and each demanded that they would be the team leader. They argued for hours and everyone besides them left the room and went to bed as they continued to argue for even more hours until the morning light hit their eyes. Alice, Garvish, and Sirius looked exhausted as Professor Brown opened the front door with a bored expression.
" So, have you found your leader?" Professor Brown said, yawning. With a sudden burst of energy, they all said, " I will be the leader!!!".
" Perfect. You three will be the team leaders I guess. Everyone can decide groups later. Wake up, everyone else, and meet me in the classroom in 10 or so minutes." Professor Brown said, smiling. Sirius, Alice, and Garvish looked confused as he walked out of the house.
Did he want this to happen? How could he do that just by meeting us for an hour at the most? Alice thought as she went into the bathroom.
Damn it. He played us!!! I can't get caught up in his games. If I'm going to be king. I need to show that I'm capable of myself. Garvish thought as he clenched his fist in a fit of rage.
I guess that works. I can't fall behind no matter what. I'm going to be king even if it kills me. Sirius thought as he walked towards the bedroom doors.
Sirius yelled, waking everyone and as everyone walked out of their rooms. He explained what happened and everyone went to get ready. Everyone went to the room and was a few minutes late but Professor Brown probably didn't notice since he got straight to the point.
" I hope you guys had a good sleep because I know I did. Usually, today would be your tour of the academy but sadly your assignment has been assigned. And this is kind of a special case." Professor Brown said twirling around in his chair.
Everyone was surprised to hear that they had a "special case" but Oscar was the only one who seemed visibly annoyed. Then out of nowhere, Oscar yelled, " Why the hell are you playing with us. "Special case" my ass. You probably want to see us look like fools while you laugh. If you don't tell me what this "special case" is, I'm leaving." standing out of the seat.
Professor Brown stopped spinning the chair and had a serious look on his face looking down. Everyone was silenced looking at Professor Brown wondering if he would answer. Professor Brown looked up with the same serious look on his face and said, " A serial murderer has been killing people around the city. He's on his 4th person and shows no signs of stopping. Last time, I checked a serial murder case is pretty special."
Why would he want us to find a murderer when we barely know the first thing about finding a criminal? What is his goal here? I guess we will find out sooner or later but, what matters now is that we need to find this monster? Alice thought as a large building with many different smaller buildings around it got smaller and smaller as four cars drove away from the academy. Inside those cars were the students and Professor Brown.
No one spoke a word since Professor Brown told them about the assignment. Oscar didn't seem bothered after hearing the assignment as if he was thinking of something totally different. Garvish seemed angry and Sirius was looking out the window. Harry looked distressed while he opened and closed a pocket watch. Alfred seemed worried about his brother, Harry. Emma was just sleeping. Isabella looked disgusted as if she was holding back her vomit. John seemed angry but determined at the same time.
A few hours later, they were in the main district of the capital city, Sabbager. The capital city was made of two outer districts and one inner district. The inner district was where most of the nobles and high ranking officials lived and worked. The buildings are tall and castle-like with some small businesses where they sell food and supplies. The Forge was in the inner district of the capital city near the outskirts. The inner district is called Mandon. In the center of the inner district, is the king's palace where every king since King Arthur has lived.
The district between the innermost district and the outermost district is the main district, Sabbager. Most of the trading of goods and many awesome markets are in the main district. The Middle-class, commoners, and many merchants live in Sabbager. Lots of people look at the beautiful statues of previous kings and priests. Many kids are standing near the statues being told stories about the city. Most buildings were made of wood but some were stone.
The outermost district is called Birchwood. The lower class people live here. It's the most dangerous place to live in the capital because of the high crime rate and near the border of the capital. Most who live here can barely afford food let alone nice housing. Most were old wooden houses that looked like they were going to fall apart at any point. Sirius lived in an orphanage in Birchwood. Everyone was grooming and looked angry at all times.
The students finally arrive at a building with knights in a white with gold cross uniform guarding the front doors. The students are standing outside as Professor Brown walks inside the building telling them to wait outside. Minutes later, Professor Brown walked out of the building with two people with black uniforms with a gold cross, and one star. They had white gloves on and they both had this nervous expression on their face. One was a woman and the other was a man.
As they walked towards the students, Professor Brown signals the students to introduce themself. Everyone introduces themself easily. Then a man walks steps forwards and says, " Hello everyone, I'm Officer Robertson and my partner here is Officer Reid. We are from the homicide department of the Order and we are in charge of the "Jack the Ripper" case. Sir Brown, we will take care of them from here." As he nods to his partner, Officer Reid. Officer Robertson and Officer Reid both salute as Professor Brown nods and leaves. Once unseeable, Officer Robertson and Reid take a deep breath and lower their hands exhausted.
"Thank god, he's gone. Can't believe we have to deal with these rookie squires" Officer Reid exclaimed as she ran her hands through her short red hair. Officer Robertson stood up straight and said, " Yeah, Sir Brown did say they were the "Elite Class S" and they should be of help. What a joke." as he glances at the group of unimpressive students. " Inexperience squires are the worst. I remember when I was trying to become a 1-star knight and had to mentor two squires, it was a pain. Oh yeah, we had a "Class S" in our year, didn't we? I don't remember what happened to them. That's weird. Yeah, I remember now, they'd... Never mind ." Officer Reid said with a nervous smile on her face.
" Hey, have you guys forgotten we are here or something? I'm getting really tired of being ignored." Garvish said furiously. Officer Robertson looked at Garvish up and down then said, " We didn't forget, we just didn't care. Let's go to the crime scene since some people are impatient. Have you guys been brief yet?" As he put his hands in his pockets and started walking. Officer Reid started to follow not even acknowledging them. Everyone except Sirius seemed bothered by this and followed them.
" We, only know that this is a serial murder case and he's on his 4th person," Sirius speaks up as everyone just follows quietly or whispering to each other. Officer Robertson signs as he complains that they don't know anything and starts explaining what they know about the case. " We call him Jack the Ripper because he leaves his victims "unrecognizable". His first victims were a noblewoman and a servant boy; they were both killed on the same night with high-level wind magic and slices and had no witness about three months ago. We still can't ID the victims but we may be getting IDs for them in a few weeks from now. The second victim is a woman who we can't ID because she was on the side of the street with no witness, this happened about a month ago. We are on our way to the third victim right now. She was killed late last night and still hasn't been investigated."
A grim silence came across everyone then Gavish asked, "Why haven't you guys found anything on this case? Is he that good?" Officer Robertson shrugged as he said, " It wasn't considered a high priority until this third body was found. We were just assigned to this case early this morning so shut up and watch as you see the investigation."
As they walked Alice noticed that Officer Robertson and Reid both had a sword on their hips and a strange wooden thing with metal with carved runes on it. "What is that wooden thing that you have, Officer Reid?" She asked with a cute smile on her face.
Officer Reid was shocked by the question and grabbed the wooden object. It had a wooden grip with a small lever on it and looked hollow on the inside. Officer Reid explains, " Oh this, It's one of the best magic engineered weapons. It's called a magic gun. It makes us not as skilled knights compete with skilled knights. It shoots out a magic bullet using wind magic without using the user's mana. The magic bullet has different types of magic in it depending on the type of bullet. Magic engineering sure is useful without it. We wouldn't have anything this advanced. The running water from the cars we drive. I'm surprised you didn't know that. I thought nobles were smarter than us commoners." Officer Reid said as she put away the magic gun and started talking to Officer Robertson. They both seemed very close to each other as Alice watched. I guess I wouldn't know that because of him. He really didn't want me to know anything.
A few minutes later, they were finally at the crime scene. They were knights everywhere as they looked around. Most of the knights didn't care but some looked annoyed when they saw the squires entering the crime scene. It was a small wooden house, It's door was gone and there was debris everywhere of wood. A knight was standing where it was supposed to be. Seems like the door was destroyed. Everyone thought at the same time of seeing it.
As the squires and Officer Robertson and Reid walked to the door. The knight looked at Officer Robertson and Reid and stepped aside allowing them to enter. He gave them a look of warning for the inside. They nodded as they walked in and saw a horrifying scene. Blood was everywhere on the walls, floor, and ceiling. It smelled an awful metallic smell. The body seemed like a woman. It seemed like a woman because all of the flesh wasn't there and the body was deformed with parts missing. You could barely recognize the bumps that were breasts. It was truly unrecognizable.
Somewhere inside the academy, Professor Brown is looking through a window that looks down at a courtyard as the headmaster walks in. He has two red liquids in glass cups in his hands with a smile on his face. " It's been a while hasn't it, Amory," he says as he sits on a deck.
Professor Brown nods as he grabs his drink and starts to speak, " The new students just got their assignment. Why did you want them to find a solve a murder case of all the things?" The headmaster smiles as he takes a sip of his drink. " Because I wanted them to see how humans can be sometimes scarier than monsters. If they can't understand that, they will die.."