The Water Body Refinement Adept 16 The Ironcloud Knight Order

In the surrounding darkness, the Water Fortress was akin to a star in the landscape, and as the sun was rising, its brightness faded away, slowly but surely. In the training grounds, two hundred preparatory knight powerhouses and a few knights were waiting for a hero, both a tactician and a fearsome acolyte: Drodosis!

Sandy was one of the many preparatory knights who came here with high expectations, hopeful and eager to join the order. He was a Caucasian man, with blond hair and a small beard: he was already 30 years old and he knew that becoming a knight would be very difficult in the future. Joining the order was his way out of a boring and ineffective routine.

The Thornfield family offered many resources to preparatory knights, in the hope they would breakthrough and become loyal to them. However, some people just lacked experiences as well as life and death battles. Sandy was a coward, or at least he used to be in his prime, wasting his youth chasing after girls instead of enlisting in the various armies in war. After losing his family at the hands of bandit, he had changed. His eyes were radiating with killing intent, and his mind was driven by a sense of duty purer than anyone in the training ground.

He didn't succ.u.mb to a quest of revenge. Instead, he swore an oath to serve the Thornfield family with all his heart, so that his tragic story would not repeat itself in the future in the vast lands owned by the Thornfields'. Sandy's background wasn't out of the ordinary here.

Among the group of people who came to the training grounds, more than a quarter of them had tragic history. Coming here was an opportunity for them to start anew, follow a leader and earn glory, maybe so that they would move forward, once for all. Fang had indeed emphasized on the saying: "In the Ironcloud Knight Order, you are judged based on your skills."

The rest had different motives: the will to become a knight, strength, fame. There were plenty of benefits to follow the strong.

Since Sandy was born, he had received lessons from novice and even veteran knights. The Lark viscount himself had sparred with him back in time, but even though his swordplay was quite good, his internal energy was not dense enough to allow him to breakthrough.

When Drodosis arrived, Sandy and the other preparatory knights was flabbergasted. They had heard the rumours, read the reports and listened to the bards in taverns, but they never imagined Drodosis to be so young and overbearing!

While his body seemed immature, only being 150 centimetres tall, his body was well built, with ripped muscles, and his left eye was glowing, making it clear he had already gone through his share of battle. This was truly a breath-taking sight. A teenager, half their age, had seemed to be twice the men they were! Humiliation, envy, admiration, anger, frustration…The crowd experienced a myriad of feelings.

His voice was not childish. It was a low, clear and charismatic voice, "Hi, everyone! I a.s.sume you all came here to become a member of the Ironcloud Knight Order, is that right?"

"YES!", everyone said with fervour, and Drodosis nodded at this sight.

Behind him, four acolytes arrived in rhythm: Ofaris, Maria, Rolf and Jon, the four bodyguards sent by Elder Gale to protect him in the war, four acolytes who became Drodosis' closest subordinates, people he could trust as friends.

"You are here because of many reasons, I suppose. Money? Strength? Status? Revenge? Finding a purpose, a goal to fight for?", Drodosis said in a calm voice, "Well, joining the Ironcloud Knight Order will not be easy. Even if you manage to join it, the dangers will be numerous. We will fight monsters on a daily basis, we will do the dirty work, we will behead our enemies in cold blood. This is why, before you attempt to pa.s.s this test, I must warn you. Becoming a member of the Ironcloud Knight Order is a life-changing decision which shouldn't be made hastly. You might lose your life anytime, you might not survive my orders. If you are not ready to die, then do not bother trying to join us!"

Drodosis' speech, which was meant to deter these preparatory knights, had the exact opposite effect. Their fighting spirit had been lit up. Seeing their determination, Drodosis sighed, before continuing, "The test will take seven days and seven nights. You will not sleep and you will be pushed to your limits. Are you ready?"

"YES!", this time, the crowd shouted in unison, and it seemed to echo through the whole Water Fortress.

The first day, Drodosis' trial was simple-minded. It was meant to push the men and women to their physical limits. Drodosis used the biochip to scan every single man and woman, and he gave them individual workout plans, based on their current physical status. The five veteran knights had to complete a workout ten times more difficult than that of the weaker preparatory knights!

Drodosis had made up his mind. He wanted strong subordinates, but more importantly, he wanted trustworthy subordinates. By making so many orders, the crowd would think he had no ways of telling if they cheated or not! Drodosis wanted to purify this crowd, eliminating liars and cheaters.

As expected, after this one day of workout, out of the 228 partic.i.p.ants, only 180 survived this ordeal. The rest either collapsed, lacking determination, or were banned for cheating. This was a huge shock to everyone.

Sandy was relieved, 'thank G.o.d I didn't cheat! This Drodosis is no average character indeed! He perceived and evaluated all of our movements and actions! This is terrifying!'

Only one day pa.s.sed, and their whole body was hurting them. They could barely stand on their two feet, and from a distance, one could see they were trembling from exhaustion. Had this been a normal day, they would go to their bed, and collapse. However, they looked around them, and they realized they weren't alone.

Drodosis rewarded them with ten minutes of rest. Only ten minutes. But it was enough in his opinion.

The next day, Drodosis gave them spears, bows and arrows.

"I don't want swordsmen. I want spearmen, and bowmen. If you never trained in this weapon, then today is the opportunity. Today, I will test your potential. The Ironcloud Knight Order accept youths and untrained people, but it won't be stained by those who have no potential. The world is unfair, so you'd better pray to your G.o.ds, if you believe in them!"

Drodosis didn't set overwhelming requirement. With the help of the books he had read, and especially the spear technique he had studied in the past months, he could be considered better than most of knights already. He didn't need to be a spearman master to teach spearmans.h.i.+p. His knowledge and a.n.a.lysis' function of the biochip sufficed him.

As for archery, it didn't require the skills or talent of a genius. To Drodosis, it was only a matter of accuracy. As long as you trained hard, your muscle memory would suffice to fire arrows accurately in any circ.u.mstances. Spears and bows were two different weapons, ranged or melee, but both were easy to use, yet difficult to master.

"By the end of the day, those who didn't successfully reach the minimum requirement will be eliminated. Is that understood?"

The second day of test didn't push them to their physical limits. It pushed them to their mental limits. Exhausted, learning a martial art was increasingly difficult.

Drodosis immediately spotted eight geniuses among the group: the five veteran knights, over thirty of age but still talented and full of vigour, as well as one novice knight, a woman called Lara Coldwinter, and two preparatory knights, Serius and Siegfried, who happened to have a 95% hitrate with long bows!

The five veteran knights had trained for their whole life, and were used to military environment. While Drodosis' test was uncommon and unbelievably harsh, they had both the spirit and physique to go through it with ease.

Lara Coldwinter was a 22-years-old woman, with no more than 10 points of strength, 5 points of agility, and 6 points of physique, low attributes considering her knight status. Her face was burnt, and to be honest, she was hideous because of her scars.

However, her talent was unbelievably high; which is why Drodosis put her in such high regards. He didn't distinguish the crowd for their skin colour, their background, their origin, or their s.e.x. He evaluated them based on potential, talent, attributes and more importantly, their character.

The woman Lara Coldwinter had obviously suffered a lot, she probably has been gravely injured. Becoming a knight is praiseworthy, but being injured and standing up right after this experience, rising to become a knight, is extraordinary!

By the end of the second day, only 138 people were still in the race. The others collapsed, not being able to bear the thought of going through 5 more days of h.e.l.l.

The third day, Drodosis decided to march with the soldiers around the Water Fortress, the whole travel being 50 miles long. It tested the soldiers' endurance and willpower. Those who didn't follow would be eliminated from the test. Only 14 people collapsed.

The fourth day, Drodosis duelled everyone, one after the other, adapting his power according to his opponent. He beat them up thoroughly, all day long. While it was difficult for them, it was even more exhausting to Drodosis, who had to be on guard at any time, and physically take on hundreds of knights and preparatory knights all day long.

The fifth and sixth day, Drodosis ordered them a near-impossible task.

Sandy was barely thinking anymore. His mind was urging him to sleep, but no matter what, he couldn't afford to fall now! Sandy was currently carrying several dozens of bricks on his back. Drodosis had asked them to construct a tower outside the water fortress. Lara was overseeing the preparatory knights here and there. The veteran knights were supporting other soldiers while carrying large number of brinks on their back as well.

Everyone was hardworking, no one was fooling around.

Of course, they weren't architect, so Drodosis handed them a handmade blueprint, but the tower had to be done in two days, and it was 6-meters-high, three-story building! Eventually, they succeeded.

To achieve this, they had to cooperate, the weakest were allowed to rest more, and the strongest did more. Solidarity. He knew Drodosis was teaching them the Ironcloud Knight Order's essence: the power in numbers. In this army, they were obviously different in age, strength, gender, background…but they all shared one common ident.i.ty: they belonged to the Ironcloud Knight Order.

They wondered what kind of task Drodosis would give them on the seventh day. After everything they went through, they became accustomed to each other. They didn't want any of the remaining 112 contestants to drop out! This was rare! Normally, in a test, people would wish for their compet.i.tor's misfortunes, especially when the opportunity was big. In difficult times, you could indeed see people's true colours.

Only the most honourable and worthy individuals remained. They weren't the strongest, they weren't the most intelligent and by all means, they weren't geniuses. However, Drodosis, as their commander, as the Ironcloud Knight Order Leader, he knew he had struck it rich. These people, standing in front of him with prideful and grateful gazes, were his subordinates. They all shared a mindset unique to this Ironcloud Knight Order, they were united, something quite rare to find in this age of individualism.

Even the so-called 'disciplined' Water Troop commanded by his rival Selene Dawins lacked this perk. Drodosis had been acknowledged by everyone, be it through his pure achievements, or the past week in the tests. He worked out twice harder than everyone else, while evaluating everyone at the same time. His skills and experience couldn't be questionned. Moreover, he had this unique leaders.h.i.+p aura that only great characters possessed. In everyone's mind, Drodosis was worthy of being soulbound to.

"Congratulations to everyone who lasted this long! As the one and last task…I will ask you all…to eat! Eat to your fill, members of the Ironcloud Knight Order! You overcame my expectations, and fulfilled my wildest requirements. To be honest, when I first saw you, I was doubtful. Most of you looked grim, old, and empty! I was wondering whether I would be able to turn you into anything worth calling a warrior. Now, look at you!", Drodosis exclaimed while showing them a gigantic mirror.

They were dirty, covered in mud, exhausted, but they were all grinning. Their eyes, once lacking life, were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy despite their exhaustion!

"You are not an heir of the X family anymore! You are no n.o.bles! You are Ironcloud Knight Orders! I want you all to treat this order, as your family! I am confident to make you all breakthrough one day! Times will be tough, but seeing your performance, I am confident in the future! Now…as your last day of test, I ask you all to feast! You deserve it!", he said.

People cheered and the weird sight of a whole army sitting in a circle could be seen in the training circle. There were no groups, only a ma.s.s of 117 men and women, with 6 acolytes among them, 5 veteran knights, 9 novice knights, and 95 preparatory kngihts.

One by one, they voiced speeches, introducing themselves to their new companions and to their leaders. Each one of Drodosis' new subordinates made a speech. Some were vulgar, others tragic, but they shared one single sentence, or more accurately, an oath: a soul oath offering a fragment of their soul to Drodosis.

116 people were now bounded to Drodosis' soul. 116 individuals Drodosis decided to lead, and together, they would make the Ironcloud Knight Order the most brilliant and strongest force of the Thornfield family. It was a simple-minded and almost childish goal. Yet, this single goal was the only thing that mattered to these 117 people, Drodosis included.

For too long, he had been alone. Back on Earth, he never really fitted in parties and unhuman society, where machines were omnipresent. Pollution made it hard to breathe, and his family's expectations were akin to a sea drowning him. When he reincarnated, he was alone. His parents abandonned him for some spying mission outside the house and whenever he asked about their whereabouts, he was only getting some vast and unclear answers. His grandfather was close to him, but he had too many things to worry about, and too little time to spend as a grandfather.
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As for elders, they were quite prideful or too old to be his friends.

All in all, these 116 individuals were now linked to his own soul. He could feel their trust, their loyalty towards him as well as their uncertainty, which was normal. For the first time since he reincarnated, he felt truly safe. He was surrounded by trustworthy people.

They only met 6 days ago, but they looked like a group of soldiers who fought together for years. Was it too quick? Was it too abnormal? Probably, yes. But did it matter to them? No!