"Not Phoenix Flight."
That was a sentiment most people taking the test all held. For many, being an Arcane Knight was a dream. Being placed into Phoenix Flight, however, was the equivalent of a nightmare. No one wanted to be in Phoenix Flight.
Members of Phoenix Flight weren't even considered real Knights. They didn't get Knight gear, and they were always given the scraps of missions no one else wanted. Being put in the guild was a death sentence. A sentence that had been shoved onto her.
She had wanted to be a Knight above all else, and the king's core could sense that, so it had placed her into a guild, but at the same time she wasn't worthy of being in any of the powerful ones due to the negative mindset the core said she had, so there was really only one place left for her.
It hadn't been out of a malicious intent, but the core had still signed off on her death by placing her into Phoenix Flight. Naturally, when she saw the cloak that was wrapped around her, the looks everyone was giving her made a lot more sense.
Unlike Davi, whom some people had been happy to see when he was in Phoenix Flight, people looked at her with pity. Instantly, her body did the only rational thing it could do.
Olivia Lot blacked out. In front of everyone, she collapsed and crashed face-first into the ground.
She should have known it wouldn't be easy. Of course, she wouldn't just end up in an actual guild. It was a cosmic joke. She had made a big deal about the fact she'd be content and settle for Phoenix Flight, but that had been an arrogant boast. The reality was that she was absolutely terrified of being in this guild.
Would a meteor fall from space and blow her up? Or would she suffer a fatal heart attack and die on the spot? Maybe the next meal she would eat would be full of poison that would get past her trait and kill her? It could even be something as simple as a dungeon appearing in front of her that had a monster that was way too powerful.
Being in this guild freaked her out. At the same time, though, she had done it. She managed to reach her goal, even if it wasn't done in a way she would consider ideal or good. She was still, technically speaking, an Arcane Knight.
Speaking of which…
"I blacked out, didn't I? Why am I able to think so well and process what happened?" Olivia blinked and looked around with wide eyes.
She knew for a fact she had blacked out. The shock of seeing the guild symbol had fried her brain for a moment, and her legs gave out. The last thing she had felt was the ground smacking her in the face as she dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Despite that, though, she was standing. Or rather, she was swimming. All around her was a sea of red. The liquid made it impossible for her to truly see anything, and despite being submerged within it, she could still breathe and move normally. At first, she thought that it might have been blood, but it didn't cling to her skin and instead went through her. It also wasn't as warm as blood, nor did it have the taste of iron.
It was mana.
Pure red mana. Her mana. Just like she had been in the realm created by the king's core, she was currently in a realm created by another core. Her core. The blood core.
"How the hell did I get here?!" Olivia questioned, and even though she wasn't expecting an answer, one quickly came to her.
In the sea of red, something shimmered in front of her. The bracelets the Knights gave them for the exam were super useful, as the status screen that was connected to their grimoire could even appear in their subconscious, just like it did when she had first used polymorph. It reappeared before her eyes, shimmering and glowing as text rapidly ran along it.
'Note: The trait, Determined, is being used. Mana will be continuously drained from you to keep this ability activated.'
There it was again! The Determined trait. With a growl, Olivia flicked her finger and caused the box to shift and change. "What the hell is this thing?" The box flashed, and it brought up the trait.
'Determined: Grade A'. The fact that it was already of grade A was shocking, considering she had only used it a few times. Most traits started off either as D-, D, or D+. Sometimes, through a bloodline ability, such as a clan, or a magical ritual or item, a trait could be gained of a higher grade, but that required making deals with powerful magical beasts or using an expensive magic item to force the trait into the body. As far as she knew, she had done nothing of the sort.
She flicked her finger again and caused the box to shift, revealing the description of the strange trait.
'Determined: Through blood, you aided our kin. You've sacrificed your life force to the one we love, and we took notice. A contract has been forged through mana. Determined to live, the ability to view the paths is yours to use as you please. You are an honorary kin.'
"What the hell?" That just made her even more confused.
From what she could figure out, she had healed someone or something. Her mana was all in her blood, and she used to heal, so in a way, it would sacrifice her life force. Giving up one's life was a big deal and was one of the reasons a lot of dark rituals were banned, as sacrificing life or stealing it was a big no-no in the world of magic.
By willingly giving up her life force through the use of blood magic, it was possible that a magical being of some kind viewed that act as making a pact, and in return for healing, it gave her the trait of Determined. What magical being could do that, though? And who had she healed?
The only one she could think of was Davi. She didn't have the trait after the battle with Garon. She had looked at her grimoire when she was showing the app to Davi, and it hadn't been there. After that, she hadn't looked at her grimoire again, being too distracted. She did heal Davi, though. After his battle with Tori and Gray, Davi had been on death's door, and she kept healing him over and over with her magic.
Nothing unusual seemed to have happened from what she recalled, and Davi never brought it up, so if it was him that did it, did he even know?
The main thing that made her wonder if it was Davi or not, though, was the fact that he had a weird trait. 'Loved by Mana'. She didn't know what it did, but the Determined trait claimed she healed 'kin' to the one 'we love'.
There were stories of people who were related to magical beasts or old bloodlines, such as the elves. The elves were all considered to be loved by mana, so could it be possible that Davi was connected to the elves? It wouldn't be that strange and could also explain why he was so powerful, since every now and then, elven mana would surface in a person, making them a lot stronger.
It didn't fit, though.
The elves were all dead. Not to mention, she was pretty sure that Bruno was connected to an elven bloodline. Not a big one or a famous one, but she recalled Rosco talking about it. Most people who were connected to elves never gained anything from it, but every now and then, someone like Bruno would appear who awakened their bloodline's mana. Davi was strong, but his strength was vastly different from Bruno's.
Bruno was constantly getting stronger and stronger, improving every second. Davi was already strong, but he had put the work in and never seemed to grow rapidly in battle. In fact, she didn't know if he had gotten stronger at all compared to the version she first met. Had he even improved a little?
So what was up with him?
In the sea of red, a spark of blue appeared once more.
'The trait, 'Determined' has been further activated. The paths will show you the outcome.'
"What?"
Suddenly, in an instant, everything seemed to twist and change. The sea of red faded, and Olivia found herself standing on something darker than black. A void of darkness stretched before her, endless and bottomless, and instead of a sea of red mana, she now stood in an infinite ocean of black energy. Her body shivered, and she felt ice start to cling to her. It was cold. Colder than anywhere she had ever been.
Her flesh instantly started to crack, and her foot snapped off her ankle as she tried to step back. She was shattering and breaking to bits, frozen a hundred times over. The last thing she saw before she crumbled to dust was a sword's hilt poking out of the ground…
'You no longer possess the mana required to keep Determined activated. The trait will now shut off.'
Everything went dark again. Then, she heard several voices.
"She's been unconscious for a while?"
"She'll wake up soon."
"Is she even breathing?"
"Quick, bros, give her CPR."
"Okay."
"Wait, why do you get to do it?"
"Do you want to?"
"Well… no, but—"
"Rock, paper, scissors for it?"
"...Sure. Shit! I lost!"
"Alright, Davi, you won. Kiss useless Olivia awake."
"It should have been me!"
"Quit sulking, Ken."
Olivia felt a hand cradle the back of her head, and another one gripped her chin. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes, staring into a pair of dull blue orbs. She was in the arms of Davi, and his face was extremely close to hers now.
"Oh, hey," Davi said flatly. "She's up."
"Kiss her anyway, Davi!" Bruno announced.
Olivia blinked and slowly stood up with the help of Davi. She rubbed her head and groaned slightly. "What happened?"
"You stepped out of the gate, screamed, and then blacked out," Ken said casually. The girl then flicked her finger out. "Row Flame Feel."
Olivia felt her body ease up, and she let out a relieved sigh as the pain faded away. "Thanks for that."
"We healed you a bunch, but you didn't stir," Ash spoke up. "You were out cold. Something happen?"
"I felt a little woozy when I saw the fact that I was in Phoenix Flight," Olivia admitted, and she reached up to grip the cloak that was around her shoulders.
"Looks like we're in the same guild." Davi offered her a nod.
"You know this guild isn't good, right?" Olivia said bitterly. Then she recalled what she had seen. That weird red ocean, the sea of black. The frozen sword. It was cold, like Davi's mana. If she wasn't sure about it being him, she was almost certain now. "Davi, I have a question."
"Yeah?" Davi raised an eyebrow, and Olivia frowned.
"No. Actually, never mind. I'll tell you when we have a private moment." She didn't want to bring it up in front of the others in case it was something serious. She could just ask Davi when the two of them were alone.
Davi stared at her for a moment and nodded. "Actually, I had something I wanted to ask you in private about your father. It can wait, though. No rush." His usual blank look was gone. "I'm glad we're in the same guild."
Olivia rubbed the cloak once again. "I still don't like that I ended up in this guild, but if I had to, then I'm glad you're in it with me."
"Are you really okay with this?" Ash asked, suddenly frowning. "You know this basically means you're going to die." He said, giving her and Davi worried looks. "You're basically cursed."
"Everyone dies eventually," Davi said casually. "Besides, nothing bad has happened yet. The captain of Phoenix Flight is also a strong woman, and she's been able to stay alive despite all the crazy stuff that has happened to her. I'm strong, and I'll do everything I can to keep myself and Olivia alive. It might even be a good way to get stronger. Being put through life and death, we're bound to grow if we want to survive."
"I don't really see it that way," Olivia muttered. "I'm fine with this, though."
"You are?" Bruno winced.
Failure and death were one and the same. Despite what the king's core said, her view and outlook wouldn't suddenly change overnight. She had reached her goal and became a Knight, even if it was a cursed one. Her life could end, and she'd still be happy, because at least for now, she had done it. She might die in the next few years from bad luck, but the her of today was at least happy and content.
"For now." Olivia nodded again. "Maybe when the shock wears off, I'll have a panic attack again." She hummed. "So what did I miss?" She looked around at the crowd, which wasn't focusing on her and was instead looking at the gates as more nobles stepped out. "What did I miss? What letter are we on?"
"Z," Bruno stated.
Olivia's eyes went wide. "What! I missed that many!" She spun around and took note of her group once again.
Irene was nowhere to be seen, the blind girl having seemingly vanished into the crowd. Davi and Ash both had their cloaks on, Ash with Pantheon's and Davi with Phoenix Flight. Bruno now sported a cloak as well, though. Her eyes nearly bulged when she saw that it was the symbol of the Shining Sentinels. Bruno was the first person ever to reach one of the top three guilds despite being a commoner.
Suddenly, it made sense why the rest of the crowd was ignoring her group. All that remained were a lot of the nobles who were refusing to look in Bruno's direction, likely all pissed off that he had done something they couldn't.
She knew Bruno was always awesome, but this level of skill was insane. She had been confident he'd make it into a guild, and he went ahead and blew past her expectations.
"Wait, if it's in Z?" Olivia turned to look at Ken, only to not see a cloak on her. "Ken! You failed."
Ken's smug look faded, and the biggest scowl appeared on the girl's face. "Of course I didn't. They're saving me for last."
"Doesn't your name end with Y, though?"
"Yuan is the family I'm from, but it isn't the sect," Ken said simply. "I'm part of the Zzhang sect, focused mainly on the rapid growth of a cultivator and their spirit through the mutual growth of yin-yang energy. To put it simply, my full name here would be Ken-Yuan Zzhang."
"Weird."
Ken's frown grew. "I think it's weird that you guys don't take pride in your community and put its name on yours."
"Well, either way, if we're in Z, then you're bound to come up soon, right?" Olivia turned to look back at the gate.
It glowed and shimmered, and stepping out of the gate was Rowan Zyne. Olivia wasn't surprised to see the cloak around him; she figured he'd make it in, but she was caught off guard by the fact that it had the symbol of Umbra Mortis on it. A noble, not of the branch family, made it to one of the three best guilds?
It was shocking, but not as much as Bruno reaching that point.
Nobles usually ended up in one of the four main guilds, while commoners would rarely get into any guild besides Phoenix Flight. The top three were traditionally reserved only for the branch families. A noble making it there was rare and impressive.
Had Rowan's mindset managed to impress the king's core? Just as she was wondering this, Pretty Face began to speak once more.
"Alright! We've made it to the end. One last name!" The woman declared. "Then we're finally done! Let's get this over with! Ken-Yuan Zzhang!"
Ken sighed and finally stepped forward. Olivia watched her, feeling a strange twist in her gut all of a sudden. Ken was strong, but would the woman pass the test? Did she have a mind the king's core would accept?
As it turned out, no.
It was barely even a full second. Ken entered the gate, stepping past it, and then in an instant, it erupted with a thick red light. It caused Pretty Face's smile to fade away in an instant, and the woman stood up, staring down just as Ken was spat out. The woman was on the ground, thick silver chains wrapped around her arms and legs.
Not only did Ken fail the test, but she had been utterly rejected and deemed a criminal by the gate…
And just like that, the final test came to an end.