A whole year had passed, and nothing had changed. No void returned, no retaliation from the Council of Chimeras – and this is probably why the Knight was summoned.
The Knight had mainly been crafting, completing its duties – including training the knights and squires. It had also had to 'house train' Kitrino. Her status as general was incomplete, but once completed, she would become an invaluable asset, for now she was just a high maintenance soldier.
"I can't believe that when my mother calls you come, but when I ask for a moment of your time you always say you're busy, maybe I should make it a royal summons." – she pouted.
As with any other pointless conversation, the Knight didn't respond.
She kept pouting and added. "I really have to show you around Elleria. They told me you never go sightseeing. Even that spy of yours has seen more of this place than you have."
The Knight wanted to retort and add – 'This is technically the only place she has seen.' – but it felt that that would make the conversation even longer, so it didn't bother. And just like this she kept going.
Until they finally reached the doors to the palace throne room. Upon entering, it found the council gathered around the table busy, not even paying heed to the Knights entrance. Around the queen stood all her living children. Only half of them – the rest having died in battle. Princess Forg went on to join her siblings.
The whisper introduced the new arrivals, and the Knight recognised those it already knew. The queen gestured for the Knight to come closer.
"It has been a year since you not only helped defend against the void, but you also rescued many of my citizens including my dear daughter here. And since Elleria has not faced a disaster since, I will oblige your request."
The children then all looked at their mother. They had all been summoned here from out of nowhere, not only that, but to the presence of a mere knight Bachelor. And now she speaks about requests, having explained nothing prior.
She continued despite their obvious staring – "I will allow you to have access to the royal archives of Elleria…"
This even shocked the council members who had been diligently working peacefully until now. Actually, she had protested this after the knight chose it as a reward a year ago – refusing anything else.
"But, in return for that, I want to make a simple request of my own. Take one of my children with you on your travels."
Now it was the Knights turn to be shocked, but it didn't show it.
She first explained to the council members. "First this is the only thing he requested. Refusing the glory and fame that came with having rescued the princess, even choosing to supress this news."
She then thought. 'And this also happened to help with a problem I already had in mind. Traditionally, every century, one of the heirs to the throne is sent on a journey to learn and grow. And usually, we send the head of the guards with them. But seeing as that we have lost her in battle, I was contemplating on who to send and with whom.
And whom better than a distinguished Knight Bachelor.
I still didn't know who to send, so instead I chose to leave that decision up to the Knight. And as a trade for access to the royal archives, I thought it would make the whole deal seem fair to both sides. But even then, I actually had trouble deciding if I should do it. I could refuse to share knowledge but then, this would show our lack of appreciation.
I could also send the eldest, but he will be essential in the defences of the kingdom. But should he take him, I guess I could deal with that eventuality when it comes.'
The knight looked at her and said. "I am honoured, but as a Knight, this means one of them here, might be forced to face the darkness. I could keep them away, but a guarantee cannot be made."
"That's okay."
"I will never prioritise their safety or their objectives."
"That's fine, otherwise they wouldn't grow."
"I will never let them take a path that I myself will not follow."
"I don't think that's a problem."
These were the Knight's only concerns. Initially, the Knight had expected either a decline or even a conditional like now, that is why it had waited for her reply. But this condition was more on the strange side. It made sense coming from her though. The knight saw this differently. It was not that the heir it took would actually be safer out there anyway.
The truth was that, even with training, the journey would serve to ensure that one of her children is at least kept alive. This probably stemmed from the realisation of the sheer number of losses experienced a year ago that could have been even worse. One of them may be put in peril, but she doubted there was any peril the knights could not face.
And for knowledge, the Knight did not mind this minor inconvenience. Afterall, even after gaining more knowledge levels, it didn't actually get any greater with its crafting. The skill [Crimson Smith] and [Soul Craft] were already maxed – they did not come with ranks, meaning the Knight was the one who had to improve.
"If that is, then I shall take Forg with me."
'I figured as much.' Thought the queen.
Forg however, jarred her head away from her mother and looked at the Knight. No-one wanted to hear their life decided without their consent, so quickly even. She wanted to speak up but was disturbed by the chatter in the room as everyone expressed their shock.
The Knight had senses everyone in the rooms' desires, except the queens. And from the heirs, all really had no intention of going with the Knight. It was just Forg who had a small part of her that didn't mind. The eldest son was bracing to be picked but had a form of relief knowing he had been relieved of the burden. And some shame.
This was not a hard decision, after all, there already was a certain princess who was already bothering the Knight about repaying a dept. The Knight was also looking for babysitter for Kitrino anyway, even if she couldn't actually handle her.
***
With that out of the way, the gathering was concluded. Everyone was sent off. Forg was sent with the Knight, to the archives. Since she already had access, and the Knight asked them to send it now. This time however, things were awkward as she just walked besides the Knight, but not speaking.
She was about five hundred years old – a normal age for a young forest folk. If she was human and had the same level, she would have been closer to two hundred years, with these looks. In this world, everyone who had broken the first seal and unleashed, actually lives to over a millennia, but forest folks live over three times that age easily.
So, she was not childish in the least like Kitrino. She wasn't being shy right now; it was just that the whole situation caught her off guard. She actually kind of feared the journey ahead. She had read the reports about the destruction left in the Knights path. And even though she had become familiar with him – the guy still scared her. Right now, her thoughts were on those three statements she had said to the queen.
After reaching the Archives, she told the guards to let the Knight in. The Knight then stopped after being let inside and looked at her.
"You can leave; I'd rather not have you looming above me."
She then scampered away, leaving the Knight. The Knight then looked in awe of the Archives. Most of all this was already topped by the knight archives at HQ and Maroon city, so it would barely learn anything.
Even worse, it had not gained a single level the entirety of the past year. Going any further would require more information that it usually did, similar to how training needed more work the higher the level one was at.
So, it ignored the other books and looked for any detailing the souls. The Knight knew more about souls than any being in all of existence due to the book of souls. But the book of souls did not magically give it instructions on manipulating them.
The Knight could tell at a glance what type of compositions were in a soul, what these compositions do. It could tell what the shape and form did. But it could not identify what the compositions themselves were or what causes them and the instrument at which makes their souls gather these compositions.
Imagine you were a doctor. And you knew how the body worked down to the last detail. This did not mean you could create a personality for someone based on that knowledge alone, because at some point there lies a boundary between the neuron (electric signals) and conscience that has nothing to do with the hardware.
This is the information the Knight was hoping to find in here. It didn't know where the boundary between souls and skills lay. And so, the Knight as hoping to discover such in here. For whom else but the forest folk to possess this information.
And after searching through multiple sections, it began reading in a section aptly labelled: So, you want to learn about nature.
This included a variety of books ranging from the first conceptualisation of nature to the more improved version of today. It gave a brief history of the forest folk ancestors and why they chose nature – but it was put more like a children's tale. Then the advanced books had information about how hereditary skill could help utilise more out of a power.
These books had been made out of the same essence. Making them as sturdy as the woods of the trees themselves. It would take a very high level being to even scratch of the pages – showing their incredible desire to preserve these books for future generations. The Knights books were tougher, but these made for worthy contenders.
The books were even getting some details wrong, which made the Knight frustrated, since it had taken a disciple just to access this information. Surely, even now, not even the wise ancestors knew as much about souls as they led on.
But the strange thing is the amount and scale of the things they still accomplished with this limited information, struck the Knight as profound. So, it moved onto the next section, and the next after that. At some point it had begun reading unrelated books – since it had learned [Paced] reading skill from Kitrino – she had not shared it.
These books didn't burn away, considering how fast the Knight was paging through them – a testament to their creators' determination. The Knight then moved on to sections it had initially wanted to avoid.
Even with paced reading the Knight was reading extraordinarily fast due to its knowledge stat. This was because it knew, a bothersome someone was coming soon. Sure, the excursion she had gone with would take a few weeks on their task, but she could teleport, so she would come back as soon as she was bored. And by her usual nature, that wasn't going to be long.
So, the Knights goal was to read as much as possible before she came back. The Knight had thought about locking her up somewhere, but it knew she could easily escape. And it also tried manipulating her desires, but because of the void that has no desire within her, it made it more work than the Knight felt bothered to do.
And just as it thought about an impending intrusion, it heard loud footsteps from the hallway.
'why would she be running?'
Then it heard the door violently open. In, entered the princess, Forg. She was breathing very heavily. Due to how fast things happened earlier and her desperate need for a breather, she had forgotten something.
The Knight stopped reading and looked at her as she breathed – 'She must have ran quick – someone at her level doesn't find it easy to lose breath.'
She raised her finger and pointed. "I'm so so-sorry, the ro-royal archives a-are down sta-stairs."