"What did you think of them, elder sister?" Nebula asked, letting out a hum.
Lonian shook her head. "None of them caught my attention."
"Not even that commoner who joined the Shining Sentinels?" Newton asked, a smirk already on her face. "One of us is bound to end up in the same guild as him. It'll likely be you."
Again, Lonian shook her head and crossed her legs, one over the other. "It matters not. They weren't worthy."
"A lot of commoners made it in this year." Nebula let out a low whistle. "Two from other nations as well. One of the two is bound to turn evil, I bet. Should I just kill them before they come back to bite the Knights?"
Newton laughed and shook her head. "Don't do that, Nebula! That could get us all in big trouble." She reached out and grabbed her sister by the cheeks. "We don't want Mother scolding us again, do we?"
"I suppose not." Nebula trailed.
"Good girl." Newton patted Nebula on the hair. "I'll reward you later."
"Both of you sit down and behave." Lonian let out a sigh, already tired of her two sisters' usual banter.
Once all the captains and vice captains were gone, and all the exam takers had left, there were only three people left behind in the stands. Three women who were about to take the test of the soul. Unlike the others, they weren't required to take the other tests, just the final one, where they would be placed into a guild of their choice.
Typically, this is something that would happen to Magical Mutants who had been caught by Knights but pledged their loyalty. The Mutants would be brought in once everyone cleared out and took the final test, where they'd be placed into Phoenix Flight if they passed. This was so the Mutants could be used as weapons by the kingdom, but it would also be easy to deal with them since, eventually, the Mutants would become full monsters and have to be put down. The Cursed Life trait would typically ensure they died before they could fully turn, and even if it didn't, the curse would linger on them even after they became a monster, eventually leading to their death no matter what.
This act was reserved only for mutants who showed a lot of promise and were early in their transformation, though.
That's why it was odd when it came to these three girls, as not a single one of them was a Mutant. In fact, they were all perfectly flawless, holding a divine beauty about them.
The youngest was Nebula Helios. She was rather tall for a woman, with jet black hair and a pair of bright red eyes. Her skin was pale, and she wore a long black coat and a tall, pointed hat. Several badges of various colors were stapled to her jacket, and a saber rested on a belt hanging off her side.
The second oldest was Newton Helios. She was slightly shorter than Nebula and had skin that was on the darker side. Her hair was a wild red, and freckles dotted her face. She wore a black tank top and an open jacket, and her hands were wrapped tightly in bandages. Her fist was clenched tightly, and she had a feisty look in her eyes, which were filled with a bright purple color.
The oldest was Lonian Helios. She wore an expensive jacket, along with a button-down shirt and dress pants. Sunglasses covered her eyes, but they were tipped slightly, showing off a pair of bright yellow orbs. Within her gaze, a clock was present in her iris, its hands slowly ticking each time she blinked. Her skin was a lovely golden shade, and her blonde hair flowed down her back.
Each of these siblings was part of the strongest branch family. The Helios family had stood at the top for generations, having the closest ties to the king and his bloodline, which originated from Haru.
Why were they going to take the test after everyone else? Well, that fact was simple.
When you had to be as strong as they were, the rules no longer mattered. The other branch nobles were all granted a spot in the top three guilds, but had to take all the tests still. The Helios siblings were special, though. They simply got to skip straight to the end and would be picking which guild they'd be going into.
After all, it was their destiny to become vice captains and eventually captains. It was practically already set up.
"So what did you think of Phoenix Flight getting some new members?" Newton asked, casually dangling over the side of the railing, using her feet to stay up.
Nebula stood up straight, her eyes constantly darting back and forth, while one hand rested on her sword. "I don't know. What do you think, sister?"
"I still don't care." Lonian was seated on the bleachers and held a fan, using it on herself. "Trash is trash, and that won't ever change."
"You're being quite harsh, as usual." Newton's grin grew, and she used her legs to pull herself up over the railing so she could look her older sister in the eye. "You know, I hear one of them gained the attention of the Lance of Victory."
"That Knight in shadowy armor." Lonian leaned back in her seat and looked up to the sky, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What would someone like my older sister see in a guy like him? He was so pathetic and weak. Not even worthy of being called the Ebony Knights' spermling."
"Davi Hawker," Nebula muttered the name. "I think that was his name. Want me to kill him?" She cocked her head to the side.
"Nah." Lonian closed her fan and tapped her chin with it. "What's the point? He's already dead. We won't be seeing him or that snow-haired beauty ever again." The blonde-haired beauty took her glasses off, her eyes shimmering, as the clock within the iris began to tick quickly. "My eyes have already gazed at their death. They won't live to see tomorrow. At least that man won't."
Davi Hawker was going to be dead before the next sunrise.
***
"Hello! As I said, I am Pock! It's so nice to see new members!" Pock stood up and eagerly gripped Olivia's hand, violently shaking it. "Finally! I'm not the newbie anymore!"
"L-Let go, you're gonna yank my arm out of its socket!" Olivia winced and managed to yank her arm back.
Davi frowned slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Newbie?"
"That's right!" Pock gave a salute. "I've only been in this guild for a year and a half!"
"Shouldn't you just be a normal Knight then?" Davi asked. "I thought only titled knights could be vice captains, and that required five years to reach, on top of the first year it normally takes to go from squire to regular Knight?"
"Phoenix Flight doesn't have any title Knights," Laerton stated, and she casually poured a bottle of water over herself in order to wipe away the bird shit that was in her hair. "We're not allowed Knight gear or fancy titles since we die so often. Everything they said about the Knights, you can go ahead and throw it out when it comes to our guild. In fact, don't even think of us as a proper guild. I became a captain with zero years in the Knights. Pock here was the only member of the guild who wanted to be a vice captain, so he got it by default, even though there are members who have been in the guild longer than him."
"That's right!" Pock announced, and he gave a big smile. "The other members aren't fit to be the vice captain and don't care about doing missions, so I've taken it upon myself to be the one who helps the captain out! You see, when I was a young boy, I—"
Pock started to ramble, but he didn't get very far. Davi had been studying the Mutant for a while, and his attention was focused on the various zippers that hung around Pock's body. Eventually, his curiosity won out, and he reached up and grabbed the one on Pock's mouth and zipped it shut.
Pock kept talking and gestured with his arms, but no sound came out as he lacked a mouth. Davi then slowly unzipped it.
"-we did battle, and it was intense, but in the end I beat her."
Davi zipped it up again. Then he unzipped it.
"-that was how Father died. It was sad, but—"
He zipped it. He unzipped it.
"—So yeah, that was my third orgy event, and it was almost as crazy as the fifth—"
"This is fun." Davi nodded.
"Please stop." Laerton and Olivia both gave him a look. He had let his intrusive thoughts win. Davi nodded and unzipped Pock's mouth as the Mutant finally reached the end of his story.
"-long story short, I became a Magical Mutant, and because of the bodies they found, I either would rot in prison or could serve the rest of my life being a member of this guild." Pock gave a big smile and placed his hands on his hips. "That's how I became vice captain."
"Bodies? I feel like we seriously should have heard that story out." Olivia muttered.
"Well, sorry, I'm not repeating myself." Pock laughed. "Most of the guild members have a story like mine, though, to be fair."
"They do?" Davi said, a little surprised. "Even the bit with the orgy event—"
"No, that's just a me thing; I got mad rizz." Pock shook his head. "I meant the bit about prison or serving the guild. Most of our members are Magical Mutants!"
"Only two aren't actually," Laerton spoke up. Then the woman shook her head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Pock, let's head to the base. Go ahead and take us there."
Pock gave a salute. "Alright, Captain, you're the boss!" Pock twirled around and reached out with his hand. He used his pointer and middle finger, along with his thumb, and pressed them together as if he was holding something. "Vil Zipper Undone!" Pock brought his arm down as hard as he could, and the air suddenly cracked and unfolded, being zipped down, forming a hole in reality.
"Zipper magic?" Olivia muttered, and she reached up to the destroyed zipper that had been on her jacket. "Is that how he suddenly appeared in my clothes? What a weird magic type."
The air split fully open, and a black portal took its place, with a zipper connected to the bottom. Pock bowed and waved his hand in. "It's ready for you, Captain!"
Laerton finished wiping the bird poop out of her hair and was still grumbling when she finally entered the portal. Davi and Olivia looked at each other, then shrugged and followed behind. Like Jack's portal, Pock's was impossible to see through. It was like stepping through a doorway, and once they were both through, they no longer stood in Rose City. In fact, they weren't in any city.
Pock stepped through behind them and closed the portal, while Laer let out a sigh. "Home sweet home." She said sarcastically.
"Welcome to the Phoenix Flight guild base!" Pock announced proudly.
"This place is…" Olivia trailed off awkwardly.
"Utter shit." Davi finished.
"Yeah." Olivia sighed. "What did we get ourselves into?"
The guild base was worse than she thought it would be. Every guild had a base, which was the central location where all its members would stay. A base was meant to be a location where they could store their weapons, train, and receive missions. She expected Phoenix Flights to be bad, but this went well beyond terrible.
The Shining Sentinels guild had a massive, golden castle in which they stayed, which was said to float high in the heavens. Umbra Mortis had an underground city that was placed on a magical ley line, allowing a tremendous amount of mana to flow through it. Mourning Stars had a gigantic warship that could easily level cities, which floated near the ocean of blood and kept the great hydra in check. All three of these bases were well-known and considered holy places.
Phoenix Flight was a trash heap…
An actual junkyard. It was placed on a beach, separated from the city it was stationed near, since no one wanted the guild to actually be in a proper city. Large and rusty iron walls blocked off the entire beach, and trash littered every corner. Jagged metal formed piles that lifted toward the sky, and instead of a proper building, in the center of the trash heap was an entire train. There were a dozen cars, all linked together. No tracks were present, but the train stretched out past the piles of trash with the front of it nearly going in the water, while the caboose brushed the wall of the junkyard.
The train was rusty, and most of the colors had faded. It did have a flag that showed off the Phoenix Flight symbol, but that too was mostly faded and worn down, with holes throughout. Several of the cars were unfolded and open, with blaring music blasting out of some of them, while waves of black smoke billowed out of others.
"What do you think of our base?" Pock gave a big, beaming smile and put his hands back on his hips and stared at his two new juniors. "Captain found this! She likes trains."
"It's very…" Davi looked around at all the rusty metal. "Tetanus-inducing."
"Thank you!"
"That wasn't a compliment."
Olivia also looked around. "Is this seriously the base?"
"Yep." Laer stretched and yawned. "This is your new home. If you don't want to live here, you can also go into the city." She pointed her thumb past the beach, where a nearby city stood, connected to the ocean. "It's Oleander City. If you go in there, just make sure you hide your guild symbol. They hate us."
"How do you train here?" Olivia frowned. "Like, how do we get stronger?"
"Train?" Laer let out a loud snort. "Are you like Ragna? Ask him; he's always 'training'. The rest of us don't do that. We'd rather spend our time getting drunk. Speaking of which, I'm heading to my personal quarters. Bother me and I'll fucking kill you. Pock, show them around." Laer's body glowed with a faint white light, and suddenly she was gone, vanishing in a flash of light, catching both Olivia and Davi off guard.
It was the same sort of thing Sune had done during the third test. Could powerful mages just teleport, or were they just that fast?
"Okay! You heard, Captain." Pock placed a hand on both Davi and Olivia's heads, ruffling their hair. "I'll show you two around. Now that we're all guildmates, feel free to call me Big Brother Pock. By the way, what magic type do you have?" Pock asked casually as he began to walk to the train.
"I have blood magic," Olivia said hesitantly, but Pock didn't give her a look of disgust. Instead, his eyes filled with stars.
"So cool! And you?"
"Shadow magic."
"Rad!"
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Davi said in his usual blank tone.
"I got zipper magic, as you two saw." Pock shook his head, causing the zippers to jingle. "It's pretty useful in combat if I do say so myself. Besides Ragna, a lot of us don't go on missions, so if you two are going to be active and do missions, then you'll likely get to fight alongside me. I'm looking forward to doing some combos with you guys! Oh, but yeah, let me show you around! We should still have some members hanging out here! Some, like Ragna or Greenie, are away, but we still have some members hanging out here today."
Despite everything that happened, Olivia was actually feeling amped. It all felt real all of a sudden. The captain was a little aloof, but Pock was extremely friendly, which made her happy. The base might not have been what she expected either, but that was okay. She was going to get to meet her future guildmates. This was all real. She was an Arcane Knight, and she was about to see her fellow Knights who served the same guild that she was in. Even if that guild happened to be Phoenix Flight, that still wasn't enough to bum her out.
The little girl who dreamed of being an Arcane Knight had actually reached her dream. She did it.
Pock led them closer to the train, and Davi studied it with a critical eye. There were only twelve cars in total, and each one was far larger than a regular train. They were a lot taller, wider, and longer, taking up the entire junkyard and even piercing past the wall toward the nearby ocean. His scar ached slightly with every step he took, and he could feel small traces of mana coming off the metal.
Was this an enchanted item? Could the train itself be one magical artifact? If so, whatever magic once powered it was long since dead. It also didn't appear to be Magitech and lacked the usual Sini Corp logo most Magitech items had. Judging by its age, it was also a lot older than any Magitech item.
How old, he did not know, but he was a little curious. How did Laerton come across such a thing, and what possessed her to make it into the guild base?
"We have the train cars all numbered," Pock explained. "Car one is the front, and it, along with car two, is the captain's personal quarters. We're not allowed in there. Car three is my room! You can come in any time! I have a lot of beds, though no one ever wants to stay with me. Car four is Vlad's personal room. He's technically the one who should be the vice captain, but he never wants the position, so it got handed to me. Car five is the hangout room, six is the medical ward, seven is the workshop, eight is the vault, and then nine, ten, and eleven are used as bedrooms for the rest of you. Since you two are new, you'll have eleven all to yourselves! Ten and nine are already full. Lastly is cart twelve, which is the caboose, and like one and two, it belongs to the Captain, and we're not allowed to go into it."
"I see." Olivia nodded, processing what she just heard.
"What's in cart twelve?" Davi asked.
"Don't know, and I'm too scared to find out!" Pock laughed again. "Now come on! Let's go meet the others!"
Olivia felt another smile break out onto her face, and she eagerly followed Pock. She kept trying to picture what her future team would look like. She hoped they were all nice like Pock.
Pock led them to car number five. A large ramp led up to it, and the doors were the kind that would have to slide open. Loud music could be heard inside, and smoke was also filtering out. Pock grabbed the door and slid it open.
"Behold! Your new team—"
An entire table slammed directly into Pock's head and exploded into a shower of wood. It was followed by a large war hammer, which rammed into Davi's stomach, knocking him down, and a rope, which flew out and got caught around Olivia's leg, yanking her to the ground and causing her to fall nose-first onto the ramp.
The three of them all groaned and remained on the ground as Pock gave another laugh. "Welcome to Phoenix Flight."