Regraud City Hall.

Only the ranked soldiers are to join the meeting, this included the second in command of every squad. The leaders of the 5 squads gathered in the hall while waiting for General Escariot to arrive.

As Marcus was walking towards the hall, two soldiers approached him. "Well if it isn't sergeant Marcus.. Ho... I don't see your captain anywhere, is this thing such as small matter for him" Lt. Bryan sarcastically said. "Maybe their last mission really took a toll on their captain, hehehe", "Not only do they rarely do any mission, they almost failed their last one.". One of the soldiers said. "Good one! hahaha".

"With all due respect Cpt. Bryan, our squad only does missions which are appropriate of our squad's abilities with that said disparities in the number of missions given to the squads will be normal 'Sir'. " Marcus sarcastically said. Marcus was particularly annoyed, the last mission was indeed a close call.

"Are you implying that you squad better than us, you better watch your mouth Sergeant? Cpt. Bryan said in an angry voice.

"Enough! General Escariot will be arriving soon, I suggest the both of you stop your petty bickering and go to your places" a man with an eyepatch said. "Ugh. sorry, Colonel. " Bryan lowered his head and left. "And you sgt., you may want to encourage that captain of yours to attend next time, otherwise you squad will continue to receive hate all the time," he said in a stern voice. This is Col. Draug one the higher-ups in the force regiment, despite the hate their squad receives, this man still treats them impartially.

"I will keep that in mind sir" Marcus respectfully said.

In the Force Regiment, Cygnus' squad was hated because of the fact that they receive special treatment due to Cygnus' status as a knight. Compared to other squads, they were given a small number of missions, this incited even more hostility towards them. "Damn you captain, where the hell are you? I can't take these insults all day" Marcus was already having a hard time keeping his cool.

Bang!, the door in the hall opened, a middle-aged man with a large build and a serious face, walked through the hall in a manner with stern authority. Accompanying him were 2 Colonel rank soldiers. This man is Escariot, a General, he is one of the generals under the Chief of the military. As a general, he posses very high battle abilities.

As he walked to the front of the hall, everyone in the room saluted. "I see everyone has arrived, we will now commence the meeting". Everyone took their seats and assumed their places. There was an awkward silence that followed. Everyone couldn't help but look at the blank seat Cygnus was supposed to occupy.

An intense pressure surrounded the hall. "What arrogance! even if he is a knight for him to not attend this meeting is not only a disrespect to my authority, it is a disrespect to the royal prince!" Gen. Escariot, angrily said. "Your squad is in for it now Marcus." Lt. Bryan said with a smirk. "To think that he will have a sergeant attend in his place. No matter. The royal family will hear about this. Let us Begin!".

Escariot then discussed what will be the role of the military in the preparations and what is supposed happen during the tournament itself. "I will be assigning each squad with a role, the squad directly under myself will be in charge of managing the security in the area where the prince himself will be, this will include the viewing platform and the floor where it is situated. Next Lt. Bryan squad will be in charge of ....." Escariot continued to give each squad their roles. "Finally Cpt. Cygnus' squad will be assigned at the outside perimeter"

"Clearly this general hates us because of Cygnus. If not why would the squad with the only knight be assigned in the outside perimeter." Marcus thought to himself, but even he disliked it he has no choice.

The prince will arrive at the day of the tournament, now with that said I want to make it clear that this time each and everyone one of you must be there to receive the prince. A King's guard will be accompanying the prince' escort, despite this, you must all stay alert. Is everything clear?!" Escariot looked towards Seargent Bryan. “Gulp”. "Sir yes sir!" the soldiers said in unison. Afterwards, Escariot continued discussing the procedures and preparations in the stadium and afterward the meeting was adjourned.

"King's guard huh.. Who do you think it is?" a soldier curiously asked. "There's a good chance its the 'Titanic Sword', he's the prince' favorite". "If it's him I doubt anyone would even attempt to plot against the prince".

The 'Titanic Sword' Demetrius, he has been appointed a King's guard 20 years ago after his accomplishments in the War of Unification. He was part of the Main attacking force that leads to the fall of Avandier empire. Known to charge headfirst into battle, he would wipe up out his enemies with the 'Titan-Axis' sword. After the war, he was directly assigned to the King’s Guard.

—————————————

Days past and Azrael has gone through intense training every single day without much rest. After the completion of the stones, he had all the time to spend training. During this time his understanding of Magic has deepened.

A Magic spell can be successfully be executed with three requirements. The first is the “Magic Comprehension”, the ability to understand the magic formula and commit it to memory. Second is “Magic Control”, which allows the user to manipulate his mana to draw a magic circle to cast and control the spell. Once the spell begins casting it will draw mana from the 3rd requirement, which is the Mana Reserve. If the mana Reserve is lacking then the spell will not execute.

“This spellbook truly is amazing, the first spell, ‘Vantablack” allows me to to constantly gather Light energy indefinitely into my body, although the rate I’m able to do it is not that fast right now and there is a limit I can absorb, this will bypass the majority of mana needed to execute minor light spells. This is a truly an overpowered spell, no wonder Master told me to keep this a secret.”

“I'm guessing that this Spell Book is completely made of Light Magic, but it's really weird. I never figured master was a Light Mage, he mostly uses Healing and Summoning Magic.”

Only two more days. “I feel confident in gaining Excellent results on the Enlistment, it's too bad I was wasn't able to go through the 6th spell, it's really hard to understand”

“Well, I’ve done all I can.” With satisfaction on his face, Azrael went home to the shop.

“Grandpa! I’m home!” As Azrael entered he noticed a similar figure talking to his grandpa. It was Cygnus.

“That's right, he’s here to pick up his weapon, I forgot about that” Azrael thought.

“Oh, it’s you kid, I heard from your Grandfather that you’ll be participating in the Military Enlistment. A friendly advice, try to put on a good show, as someone important will be watching.” Cygnus said jokingly.

“It does not matter who’s watching, I will earn the highest rating on the Enlistment test,” Azrael said with a serious expression. “Hoo, quite confident are you?”

“Sir Knight, here’s your Rapier,” Ansel called as handed over the rapier to Cygnus.

“We have successfully re-energized it, however, we found that the sword has a small crack near its magic-core. We do not have the materials to mend the core completely. Unfortunately, we could only seal the crack to prevent further damage, so you cannot exert a lot of magic into this weapon” Ansel said embarrassingly.

“No worries gramps. I wasn't expecting it to be completely fixed anyway. So how much for this? “

“We wouldn't dare charge our benefactor, you have saved us last time. So allow us to repay the favor, this is the least we can do for you Sir Knight” Granpa Ansel said while he shooked his head. “Well If that’s the case it would be rude to decline.”

“We’ll kid, good luck! I’m rooting for you”. Cygnus then departed shortly.

—————————————

During the night, as Marcus and his squad were hanging out in their lodging they noticed Cygnus arriving with half-closed eyes. “Ah what a night..”

"Where the hell have you been these past days captain?! Do you know how much shame I bared during the assembly " he angrily said. "I went exploring the city and had my weapon repaired. Was it that bad?" Cygnus asked innocently.

"It is BAD! gen. Escariot will report you and our squad to the royal family, he may even report it to the prince directly". Marcus frustratingly said. “Let him report if he wants. It's not like anything will come of it, don’t forget that your captain is a Knight. I’ll be close to the Prince anyway, let me smoothen things out, so calm down”.

"That won't happen. The general assigned us to the outside perimeter in the stadium, due to your absence" Marcus said. "What?! damnnn.. If the prince tells this to my father.” Cygnus said as he scratched the back of his head.

Marcus thought to himself with a sigh, "This enlistment will be more troublesome than I thought"

—————————————

One day before the Miltary Enlistment.

In the morning, a man dressed in a military uniform came to Hayrain shop. "Good day, I came to pick up my request from the other day," he said as he gave the claiming slip to Azrael's grandfather. "Ah. Please wait a moment sir, let me fetch it for you".

He put all the High-grade magic stones in a bag and gave it to the soldier. "Thank you for your order". The soldier checked gave the payment, picked up the bag and left hurriedly. "He didn't even check the stones.. Well, it's not like there were any defects but still. Maybe he was really in a rush".

The soldier went into an alley near the stadium and met with a cloaked person. "My lord, here it is," the soldier said while handing over the bag. Carefully inspecting the stones, the cloaked person said "Good job. It might have been made in a 3rd-rate workshop but this certainly has a high-level refinement. This will do just fine".

"The stadium preparations will begin tomorrow after the assembly, hand these stones to this person, he is one of my subordinates who part of the group in-charge for the preparations. Show this medallion to him after which you are to return back to the capital, is that understood?" as he said these words an oppressive power engulfed the soldier which cause him to sweat involuntarily. "Yes milord, I will make no mistakes," said the soldier in a shaking voice. "There better be none, now go".

"Everything is almost in place for your arrival my prince... Hehe" the cloaked person said with a sinister grin in his face.