Throughout the exam, Ritchie remained dazed but not unconscious. His awakened bloodline sharpened his hearing, catching every word.
The speculation about his parentage threw his mind into chaos.
Anyone would be shocked to hear their father might not be their real one. Ritchie couldn't believe his mother would betray his father with another man. His family was warm and harmonious, after all.
His thoughts churned, overshadowing the memory of the killings.
He didn't notice when he regained clarity until blinding sunlight hit his face.
Ritchie raised a hand to shield his eyes, realizing he was awake. An officer stood by his bed.
The officer, in a blue-gray wool coat, was bareheaded with a mustache, about twenty-five or twenty-six.
"You're finally awake. Get up," the officer said, pulling a chair and sitting, one leg crossed over the other.
Ritchie sat up, wearing only a patient's gown, nothing underneath, no shoes nearby. He perched on the bed's edge.
The officer didn't mind. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said, "You killed people. We investigated. Even though they were targeting you, it was excessive self-defense."
Ritchie exhaled in relief, but the officer continued. "Still, killing's killing. Wartime law gives you two choices: the gallows or army service."
"Do I even have a choice?" Ritchie shot back sarcastically.
"Don't get cocky, kid," the officer said, pointing the cigarette at Ritchie's nose, the glowing tip stinging his cheek. "You got lucky. They meant to kill you, but the drug they injected didn't. It triggered your knight bloodline instead."
The officer pulled out a document. "Sign this conscription order."
Ritchie had no choice.
The battlefield was dangerous, but better than the gallows.
He signed and asked, "Do my parents know?"
"You want them to?" the officer replied.
Ritchie shook his head.
"Then I'll list you as transferred to the knight regiment for labor duty," the officer said.
Ritchie stayed silent. It was likely the best option. Otherwise, he'd have to explain his bloodline.
"I'll have your clothes brought. Get dressed. I'll wait outside."
The officer left. A nurse soon brought a tailored uniform: underwear, a tight red jacket with dense double-breasted buttons, a belt, and high boots like the officer's.
Ritchie questioned the army's supposed inefficiency. This was too precise for an incompetent army….
Unlike the loose blue-gray soldier uniforms, his red one stood out, snug and striking.
Outside, the rain had stopped, the ground dry. He'd been out for a while.
A two-wheeled, one-horse cart waited. The officer sat aboard. Ritchie climbed up beside him.
It passed Jewel Street, Glendon Square, and Sist Street, once bustling commercial hubs, now patrolled by soldiers.
After fifteen minutes, they stopped at Star Square, a former upscale commercial zone Ritchie rarely visited. Its goods were too pricey, and guards chased off loiterers.
Now, it was unrecognizable. Shop windows were bricked up, iron railings melted down.
Star Square, an enclosed plaza ringed by shops, once had multiple exits. Now, only one remained, blocked by a wooden barricade.
Like any military camp, a sentinel stood guard. A woman.
Slender, her tight uniform hugged her graceful curves. Her oval face had long brows, large eyes half-closed as if sleepy, and wild red hair. The knight's red uniform matched her fiery locks, radiating boldness.
A stunning beauty. As Ritchie wondered who she was, he gaped. She single-handedly moved the heavy barricade that looked like it needed several strong men to move.
"This the new kid?" she asked, glancing at Ritchie.
The officer, showing no disrespect, quickly handed the woman a transfer order from his pocket.
Ritchie was ushered off the cart. The officer left immediately. Despite his staff role, he lacked clearance for this place.
...
Entering the legendary knight regiment for the first time, Ritchie felt excitement at being part of it.
But alongside excitement, fear crept in. Low-tier knights always felt pressure before higher-tier ones.
On the battlefield, high-tier knights used this to dominate their lesser counterparts.
The female sentinel exuded an oppressive aura, and Ritchie realized she'd been suppressing it earlier.
"You're fresh from awakening," she said, shaking her head. After a sigh, she muttered, "What's command thinking? Turning us into a nursery?"
"Follow me. Adapt fast, or you'll die ugly on the battlefield."
She moved the barricade back and led Ritchie inside.
The camp buzzed with intense auras, making his muscles ache faintly.
Suddenly, a powerful presence enveloped him. Looking up, Ritchie saw another female knight, hand on a longsword, staring from ten meters away.
She had shoulder-length blonde hair and a towering frame, so much so that most men looked small beside her. Her tight uniform strained, either from curves or muscle.
Ritchie recognized her as the one who knocked him out.
As he hesitated on how to approach, a chilling, sinister aura closed in.
Another woman appeared, her icy demeanor matching her presence. "Cold beauty" was invented for her. Her sharp, angular face carried a deadly edge, her silver hair glinting eerily, gray eyes piercing like frost.
Ritchie felt his blood freeze.
The cold knight glanced at him, then addressed the blonde. "Diana, you met him first. Train him."
"Why not me? I've always wanted an apprentice," the red-haired sentinel, who'd brought Ritchie in, protested.
The cold knight didn't spare her a glance, walking off. "Save your energy. He's just a kid."
"I'll show you around, introduce you to the team," said Diana, his assigned mentor.
...
The camp was large but sparsely populated.
To Ritchie's shock, only eight people were there, and they were all women, making this a female-only knight squad.
The cold knight was the captain. His mentor, Diana, was one of two vice-captains. The other, Marilyn, was gentle, her aura soothing like a spring breeze. Her beauty was maternal: soft eyes, faint brows, neat chestnut hair just touching her shoulders.
The red-haired sentinel was Lina. Though Diana said little, she hinted Ritchie should keep his distance. He learned from others that Lina was notorious in knight circles, changing lovers like clothes, sparking at least twenty duels. Once part of a frontline regiment, her scandals got her reassigned here. The squad's all-female makeup was no coincidence.
Ritchie soon realized Lina wasn't the only troublemaker.
The knight uniforms differed by gender, yet one woman in the squad wore men's attire.
This female knight, the youngest besides Ritchie at nineteen, had golden hair shorter than his. Her chest, either undeveloped or bound, was flat like a man's. Most unsettling, she radiated hostility toward him.
Ritchie recognized the vibe. In school, pretty girls often drew similar tension when boys got close. Popular in his class, he'd felt such animosity before.
"Her real name's Niss, but she prefers Robin," Diana warned. "Steer clear. I can't say she won't harm you."
Her words sent a chill through Ritchie.
But Robin wasn't the worst. Another knight relentlessly pranked him, pinching his cheeks, squeezing his arms, claiming to test his potential.
This woman, Rosa, drove him crazy, yet her aura wasn't intimidating. Soon, Ritchie realized she was the only one genuinely welcoming him. Over twenty, she acted like a child, her maturity questionable. Her short, slightly messy golden bob and bright green eyes were the squad's most captivating.
The least memorable was a quiet woman named Nora. When Diana introduced them, Nora barely grunted, head down. Not cold, just silent, her presence so faint she seemed to vanish. Her melancholic black eyes and long black hair reaching her waist were beautiful, but shadowed, like a dust-covered pearl.
Finally, Ritchie visited the logistics office, run by Randy, a bespectacled woman in her mid-twenties. She looked older but carried an intellectual charm. Not a knight, she was a formidable psychic, managing the squad's gear and serving as their medic.
Ritchie respected doctors, once dreaming of becoming one for their prestige and pay.
"You're a laborer here, so follow Randy's orders," Diana said.
Disappointed, Ritchie asked, "Aren't you teaching me anything?"
"Adapt first," Diana replied, releasing a faint aura. Ritchie's chest tightened, heart racing.
...