A decade is not instant, but to the Knight two just flew by just like one.
"Commander Knight! The activity of the monsters around the city have stopped. Should we keep patrolling the area?"
This is Yrik, the strongest in the bunch, now sitting at level 166. He was supposed to be Commander for their squadron in due time, but after the Knight came, he no longer obsessed on training to reach level 170, which is the minimum to apply to be a Commander.
Mugaw interrupted, "You should really get me a vessel, hanging around these plebians will make you one of them, boss."
Just like usual Mugaw gets impatient, 'I did offer it a level 120 vessel, it had refused it passionately.'
Good thing no-one can hear a soul speak, the Knight would probably not be able to either, without the pendant translating everything. "That means the northern wall is clear for passage, set up a perimeter, patrol it in shifts until next week, when we are sent to the southern wall."
"Yessir!" With that he was gone. Living in and around so many humans, the Knight had realised the whisper of darkness only announced the encounter once. The Knight had grown used to it as a primary warning, so the humans without much of a presence like Zuri often appeared out of nowhere, almost as if she could teleport. "Knight, you have been wearing that armour of yours all the time, almost like you were born in it. Can you take off your helmet at the very least?"
The Knight gave her a long look, prompting her to add, "If you do, I have information about ancient swords that fit your description…"
Starting ten years ago, the Knight started asking and probing around about the sword. Those who knew started rumours about why. The biggest being that the Knight is still looking for a worthy sword. Although this is not too far off the mark, it is just that the Knight has a worthy sword, it's just that it won't let it wield any other in the meantime, they all either fall off the hand, or turn to dust.
This however made it easier for the image of the Knight to take root, while also guiding information about the sword towards the Knight. Zuri is the slender, vibrant skin, dark brown-haired official who has better things to do, but ever since officiating the Knight, she was given a better position, supervising the new commander. She was also curious about the Knight as the Knight was about swords. It did not mind, but it would make it harder to convince them that it is human if they saw, Tyun's senses can only go so far.
"I would like the information, but my helm stays on. Instead, I will make you an object of your choosing."
Her calm carefree attitude had long disappeared, she did have to talk with the Knight a lot, so she had become more expressive, like now, she was showing a slight disappointment.
"You really are no fun. Anyways, that is what I came for today. One of the officials from the headquarters learned about your strange tools from those of craft and would like to commission more. They said something about how it is a piece of technology that could revolutionise the electric and pattern industry.
I know that you would usually say no, that is why they asked me. So, if you do give them some, it would go a long way in helping me. Also, they are the ones in possession of a strange book about swords and their wielders, I said you would be willing to trade for it."
The Knight did not mind giving them away, it was just that these were made from the souls of monsters, and even though they have been eradicated, the Knight did not want to make them commonplace, but Zuri's offer was worth it, this is what the Knight came here for anyway.
The Knight agreed and pulled out a bunch of then, about ten, and Zuri walked out with them but not before saying, "Thank goodness, I had already promised them I could get them, thanks, anyway here's the book, I knew you wouldn't say no."
The Knight took the book. It was nothing as majestic and complete as the book of souls, but it would do. The Knight went through it easily, with knowledge stats sitting at 250, it was child's play. In the end it was all still useless, even whisper did not think it was enough to form a seed of knowledge to build upon. The Knight would think the sword is no more if it was not still labelled as equipped. Things have hit a stand still though, on the knowledge front.
Another thing is that once a being reaches level 250, it cannot grow any stronger, seems like there is something missing, which is why today, the Knight was visiting Banneret Vice, she said had she would be free today.
The Knight entered and waited, its duties had been completed, teleportation really is an irreplaceable skill, especially considering that all of the vile army could use it. The Knight had just finished feeding the followers souls before coming here. "Knight! You have come early I see."
"Vice. It has been two decades since this strange darkness appeared, and in all this time headquarters have decided that they need you elsewhere, due to the place facing a similar danger. You will be leaving in a weeks' time, right?"
"Yes, they said that with you here, there is not much need to worry, Originally, I was supposed to come and hold out until the city was evacuated, but instead I was kept here because the city was not in immediate danger, and there was little to no place for the rest of the evacuees. I would leave one of my knight Bachelor here but there really there is no need, even the people are sure that you can protect them, are you worried?"
"Not at all. Just thinking, since you are leaving me with this city, I was just checking to see if you were finally willing to tell me how you made it through level 250?"
She looked down for a while, her neck was not sore from looking up, she just felt like what she was being asked was something she could not say. The Knight might be trusted by the people, but the officials still have their reservations. It seems there was an incident where someone got so strong, then they decided they would rule over all humanity, it had been a costly battle. The conversation then diverted to other matters. The week passed and she was gone. The time had finally come. After all this time, the Knight had never cared about that information, the whisper of darkness had consumed slaughter points and explained.
The Knight was not human or any of the other species. The Knight was a void creature, its skills did not evolve with levels, but with slaughter points. It did not share their soul; thus, the Knight could never need to learn about their secrets of how to gain power, what the Knight needed was information. The whole ruse about the swords was just to divert the knight's attention from the fact that it never used a sword or picked up one to use for practice. The part about asking questions about things, was to create a balanced level of suspicion, directed towards the Knight, nothing is more suspicious than something completely free of any.
The Knight had come to Vice, to actually confirm it. It had come out of nowhere and became a knight, so the Knight had cultivated just enough suspicion to warrant caution but also built enough repour to be trusted to look after half of a liable city. The Knight had always known that the amount of information it could scrounge up about the swords would be useless. The Knights actual search happened when patrolling the inside of the city, the clear part, and the part with the void. The Knight could see clearly, but it still took a couple of years to fully check out every antique store and related buildings.
"Commander Knight! Commander Knight! Commander…"
The Knight had looked back to face the noise; it already knew who it was. 'Jack!'
"I have finally become one of the knights, squires technically, and me and Dart were wondering if we could join your squadron?"
The Knight looked ahead once more and continued saying, "Just ask Zuri, even Yrik could help. Bothering the Commander with such things is not becoming of a soon to be knight such as yourselves." The Knight then disappeared into the void for patrol, soon followed by its squadron.
***
The things the Knight had learned about humanity was that the knights might be venerated by all and the central defence, but there are soldiers to do the other duties. These were those who could not become knights but were still useful. They were sent to handle mundane things like thievery and such. They could also be used in warfare, even though it was rare.
The soldiers were the second line of defence. Lower than them is the police, which handles investigations and other non-violent things. A level one being could topple the buildings of the ancient times before patterns, with a punch, so the officials had decided to monitor any human that had chosen to unseal their power.
The whole things is just a mess. You first have people who have not chosen strength, these are not even on any power level. The second group is those who grow in strength becoming adventures, then there are those who just chose strength for personal reasons. On the official side of things we have the police, those with either a power lower than 10, or none at all, handling simple tasks. Then there are soldiers ranging from level 20 to level 200. The Knights are the spear head, the main force, ranging from level 120 and above. Not all of them are fully documented so it makes it hard to get a sense of their true power. They are not aligned with anyone, they are simply for the sole protection of humanity, nothing else. The Bannerets sit at the top, and most of their power levels are top secret.
Then there are the adventures, strong people ranging randomly in power, all having to do with power. Their story is linked to the knights. They are from a wide range of power; some rumours say that one of them is at the level of a Banneret. The guild here in the city was filled with those weaker than an average knight. Adventurers handle tasks for clients and earn value points through these tasks, known as quests.
The police assess the people, the soldiers handle military fixtures, and the knights are those plunged head deep when disaster strikes, the shroud of darkness. This is why the Banneret was sent here, to prevent this disaster. Humans have really changed. The Knight knew this because most of everything around the city did not resonate with it, meaning it was all new, things that are not part of its buried human memories.
There humans interact with other species but barely. As the Knight had learned from the book of souls, there are mix breeds too, but they cannot produce offspring, so they are rare to come by. This city, Maroon city, used to have all this extensive culture. Police, soldiers, knights, dignitaries, mix breeds, and a vibrant array of enterprises to help them thrive. But in the end, when half of the city was submerged, the police and soldiers were told to evacuate the populus to another city, the range of species disappeared, all heading to their hometowns.
This place was filled with just the humans and the knights. The plan during a disaster was simple. The Knights come and hold off the line, the soldiers evacuate, while the police handle safety during this travelling. This process was supposed to take time, one batch at a time, because the roads between places are often filled with monsters. One squadron and its Commander would be sent with the evacuees to help support the soldiers should they run into more dangerous monsters.
But after the first couple of years the evacuation was stopped. The police and soldiers were not returned, to help with the defences of the city that housed the evacuees, some had come back to help reestablish a temporary hold though. This decision came because the void had not done anything. This city was placed on hold. There were logistical matters still being handled, the plan was to evacuate the whole city. Instead, they decided that until full accommodations could be made no further evacuation could be made.
It's actually ironic. Usually when the darkness comes, so many lives are lost that the evacuation centre is not stressed. Other than just minor encounters with monsters, everyone was well. They were literally suffering from the most successful evacuation ever. They could not take all these people, so they were making a plan for their lodgings. This would take another decade. That is why the order to remove the Banneret, and knight Bachelor had been issued. The city has been designated safe, and with the knights here it was even better off. Some people were starting to think that they have been abandoned, left here to die.
This is how Maroon city, a once thriving capital, with merchants, interspecies relations, a knight academy, a guild, an officials post, had come to be a city populated by humans and knights, barely any police or soldiers, and the adventurers were few and far in-between.