Three days had passed since Osian's party safely returned from District 38. Osian gathered the members of the knight order in a large training hall.
There were seven in total: Asmer, David, Jonathan, Anthony, Jerey, Perkin, and Pers.
"Well. Congratulations on officially becoming knights."
Osian gathered them all and offered words of commendation. Through this battle with the Battle Trench, they had all properly grown as knights.
Of course, that was because all members of the knight order became able to handle Starlight. Naturally, not all of them. Among them, David was a special case.
Instead of mastering Starlight, he awakened to Moonlight by himself. He had been experiencing considerable confusion as the only one with lower Starlight sensitivity compared to the other members, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"But it's too early for everyone to be overly happy. As knights, you're now standing at the starting line. If you understand that, you now need to take steps to utilize what you've learned."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Osian's words. They were happy to have awakened to the power of knights, but they knew this wasn't the end goal they so desired.
The road they had to travel was not yet over. It would be a very long journey that might continue indefinitely. But with the sense of achievement from crossing one important gateway, they would gladly walk that path.
"We'll check how each of your abilities manifests. David.""Yes."
The first to step forward was David, who had awakened to Moonlight. Though all the knights had awakened to their powers, the methods differed according to each individual's tendencies.
David's Moonlight was the same.
As David made a light gesture, a bluish cold energy formed at his fingertips and began to scatter into the air. The Moonlight, like a blue cloth being spread out, wriggled and formed a certain shape.
It resembled the automaton that David usually handled. The shape was somewhat crude and difficult to recognize in detail, but it was clearly Ronald and Reginald.
"This is my ability."
"Indeed. Using the power of Moonlight to summon the automaton you previously handled."
Moonlight can create illusions and doppelgangers. David used this aspect to create the beings he was most comfortable handling, automatons.
"And although I can't show you now, it's also possible to infuse vehicles with Moonlight energy."
Osian crossed his arms and nodded with satisfaction. Though not enough to summon his own "war horse," enhancing an existing vehicle with his power was still impressive.
All the knights applauded joyfully as if it were their own achievement. Though David hadn't awakened to Starlight, Moonlight was also a knight's power. So it meant his comrade was properly progressing, and how could they not be happy about that?
David went back, and next came Jonathan.
"Jonathan. Show me your Starlight."
"Yes, sir."
Jonathan raised his Starlight with a sharp inhalation. A flame mixing white and sky blue flickered over his skin, which was dressed in comfortable attire for activity.
The Starlight covering Jonathan's entire body became a solid armor protecting him.
"Excellent."
Osian expressed his honest admiration. Who would have thought he'd awaken to Starlight Armor before Starlight Sword? The large, rough full-body armor befitting Jonathan's size exuded an impressive presence just by looking at it.
"Can you manage a Starlight Sword?"
"I'm sorry. That's still..."
Jonathan answered in a slightly shrinking voice. He could now wear Starlight Armor, but he still couldn't draw a Starlight Sword. Instead, he could readily reinforce his shield with Starlight.
"Starlight for protection."
Jonathan, as a mutant, had the ability to harden his body. Perhaps his awakening to Starlight Armor first was possible because his mutant ability was a prerequisite.
"You don't have to be disappointed. That's also an excellent development."
Rather, Osian had such thoughts. Although it was Starlight, Jonathan had awakened to the power of protection. If he could awaken to his power a bit more, perhaps he might master the First Ring.
"Whew."
Jonathan exhaled deeply and deactivated his Starlight Armor. Even with just this brief demonstration, cold sweat was flowing down his forehead.
"It seems quite burdensome to maintain. But it was excellent for something just awakened. Now focus on refining it and increasing your endurance."
"Yes! Understood!"
Next was Anthony, whose distinctive feature was his protruding teeth.
"I'll show you!"
He didn't stand out in any particular way, but conversely, he didn't have any sharp edges either. His Starlight Sword was adequate, and applying Starlight to his shield was also sufficient. And although limited, creating parts of Starlight Armor for vital areas of his body was also decent.
"Overall, you're a well-rounded type with no sharp edges. Good compatibility with Starlight. Now you just need to train and develop each technique."
"Thank you!"
Next was Jerey. Although he liked to put on airs, Osian knew he was more diligent than anyone else.
Of course, Jerey’s efforts were driven by his very personal desire to realize the airs he put on. Whatever his intentions, his efforts were never false.
"Haaah!"
As Jerey gripped his sword with a shout, the most brilliant Starlight Sword seen so far among the knights surged.
-Oooh.
When his comrades exclaimed in admiration, Jerey showed off his bright white teeth with a smile.
It was a talent, if you could call it that, that his cool appearance immediately looked disagreeable once he smiled.
"An offensive type."
Regardless, Osian coolly analyzed Jerey’s Starlight.
"Starlight Armor and reinforcing shields with Starlight are still ambiguous, but your attack power and cutting ability are the highest. It would be quite useful if you leverage this advantage."
"Hehehe. Is, is that so?"
"However, excessive aggression can lead to danger. Since your ability is biased towards one aspect, you should focus more on defense and protection."
Next was Perkin. With his squared jaw set in a straight line, he was usually of a taciturn nature. Perkin silently and stoically showed his Starlight.
His Starlight Armor covered his upper body. His Starlight Sword was moderate. Instead, the Starlight he applied to his shield was stronger than expected.
"Overall, you have good balance, but you're a bit more inclined toward defense."
However, this defense wasn't like Jonathan's, meant to protect everyone, but rather of a more personal nature. It was meant to surely defend against an enemy's attack in one-on-one combat. It was also the most stable type in single combat.
"A strategy of stoically receiving the enemy's attacks with your shield and then finishing them off with your Starlight Sword would be suitable. However, to do so, you'll need to continue training your Starlight Sword to sever the enemy's breath in one strike."
After Perkin’s evaluation, the last one was the youngest, Pers.
Being the youngest and most gentle, he was somehow treated like a younger brother by the other knights. Pers showed his Starlight with a nervous face.
Surprisingly, the Starlight Pers demonstrated was something even Osian hadn't expected.
"This is."
The Starlight Pers showed was neither a Starlight Sword nor a shield reinforced with Starlight. What he deployed was a flag. In other words, what Pers had awakened to was the power of a standard-bearer.
"Starlight Standard-Bearer."
"Is, is there something wrong with it?"
Pers asked, looking at his fluttering flag of starlight. He became anxious without knowing why, as Osian's reaction was different from that to the others.
"No. It's not wrong. Rather, you've awakened to what is considered the most excellent ability."
In the game, while knights are strong in one-on-one combat, they naturally also possess skills suitable for party play.
The [Golden Field] used by Paladin players is the same. It's a kind of domain declaration, where planting this flag in the ground creates a buff within a certain range.
Considering that flags are used to raise morale, it was a natural effect.
'But it was a skill that was never invested in within the game because it was inefficient.’
Even if you invested in the skill, the buff an individual could receive was minimal without party play. The user's Starlight is strengthened, but the efficiency is abysmal. With skill nodes already limited, using such a skill was far less efficient than others.
However, that only applies to solo play; if everyone moves together as a knight order like Pers, it actually provides the greatest efficiency. Moreover, the more the number of knights increases, the more its performance will soar to levels not seen in the game.
"It's a precious ability. Never neglect your training."
Pers' expression brightened.
With this, the confirmation of the knights' abilities was complete. Without a single dropout, everyone had become proper knights, which was certainly something to celebrate.
"But I have a question!"
Anthony raised his hand and asked.
"Yes. What are you curious about?"
"To continue honing these powers we've awakened, do we need to keep training like before?"
"Physical training should be done daily. However, handling the newly awakened powers requires more than simple physical training. What's important is practical experience."
"Practical experience...you mean."
"Yes. From now on, you need to move around the entire city, continuously using your abilities and honing them in real situations."
Upon hearing this, determination filled the knights' expressions. Their shoulders twitched as if they were so eager to rush outside that they were getting restless.
Just then, with a knocking sound, someone knocked on the training hall door.
"I'll go check!"
Pers, being the youngest, quickly ran to open the door. As soon as the door opened, the visitor entered.
"Is this the place?"
Familiar pink hair. Speaking in a businesslike, stiff tone, it was Shaloni from Antique Gear.
"So this is the training hall. Quite a rugged place."
Osian approached Shaloni, who was looking around the interior with curiosity.
"What brings you here? Do you have business?"
"Of course I have business. But before that, congratulations on successfully completing the request."
"I merely did what had to be done."
Osian said that while checking beyond the door Shaloni had entered. People were moving busily outside.
"It doesn't seem like you personally came just to congratulate us."
"Thanks to all of you, our Antique Gear has encountered quite a favorable situation. So I came to offer a small gift in addition to the request reward."
"A small gift?"
The knights' ears perked up at the mention of a gift as they eavesdropped from behind. They had already properly tasted Antique Gear's special suits.
Wearing the suits allows them to easily do things they normally couldn't do. Of course, they had no intention of neglecting their physical training by becoming addicted to them, but they couldn't help occasionally thinking about them.
Therefore, even though it was called a "small" gift, from their perspective, anything from Antique Gear would be quite significant.
"It looked spacious so I thought about bringing it inside, but I guess I'll have to leave it outside. How did you manage to fill this spacious place with these chunks of metal?"
"They're tools necessary for physical training."
In fact, the training hall was somewhat excessively large for just five or six people. But considering they were training knights with superhuman physiques, not ordinary people, Osian thought this size was just right.
"Move it this way."
Following Shaloni’s instructions, workers began moving things from the truck and placing them in front of the training hall. Especially for heavy items, a large automaton moved and effortlessly carried them.
The knights' eyes gleamed with intrigue at the items placed on the ground.
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