After Deacon slipped off his Tribal Anklet and placed his newly crafted bracelet on, the group didn't hang around long on Floor Nine – clearly having their moods put out by the sudden change in attitude by Pope Pug.
On their way to the Floor Nine Waystone, Deacon noticed that Bonehead had received a Mana Crystal instead of a potion, like everyone, including Bonehead himself, had expected. But that didn't dampen his mood. The crystal was better than anything he could currently make, providing a substantial amount more mana as well as a longer shelf life, even if he had plenty of experience in concocting Crystal Consumables.
Getting something he couldn't yet create, and that surpassed his own work, just meant he now had something new to study and refine during their time on Floor Ten.
With everyone having received their respective items, Sam having gained a necklace similar to Esmerelda's, one that empowered all of his elemental spells with an additive benefit of heightening his elemental resistances, and after a quick round of reorganizing their gear and making sure that everyone had what they needed, they placed their hands on the Floor Nine Waystone, which had shimmered into existence where the fountain in the center of Frontier Town once stood.
It only took a brief flash of pale light for all five of them to be standing somewhere completely different.
They arrived on Floor Ten, The Kingdom of Knights, and immediately the scale shift hit them.
Compared to most other Floors where they were teleported in some random location within the Floor, they had been teleported into a polished courtyard of white stone tiles etched with crestwork and inlaid patterns that spiraled into a massive sigil beneath their feet.
Towering buildings rose around them; Fortresses of the Knight Orders, training barracks that had stood for centuries and honed millions of cadets and top-ranked melee fighters, and armories stacked atop one another like someone had taken every depiction of medieval military architecture and cranked the scale up by three.
The banners were the first thing that caught Deacon's eye. Enormous cloth standards hung off every main building wall, each dyed in deep, bold colors that didn't look like they'd ever fade: scarlet, cobalt, ash black, ivory, evergreen, gold. And they were all marked with varying crests with words of wisdom and encouragement below them: swords, shields, wings, helms, every symbol of every kind of knightly ideology stacked in orderly displays across the city skyline.
They could even hear the sound of steel hitting steel along with thousands of voices shouting almost immediately, despite the training grounds being a far distance away from them.
It set the hearts of Deacon and Jass ablaze in anticipation of what was to come for the both of them.
After turning to look at each other with smirks, the Ravenlight Party stepped forward, naturally falling into pace with each other as they walked toward the massive central structure in front of the plaza, a fortress so large it made academy lecture halls look like storage sheds in comparison.
And right as they approached the marble steps leading toward the main gate, they received their Floor Ten Quest.
Floor Ten – The Kingdom of Knights:
You have arrived in the Kingdom of Knights, the first Unique Floor within the Tower that remains unchanged across every Generation. Here, countless warriors from past and present converge, each seeking to earn the title of Knight. The Kingdom is vast and disciplined, its cities, fortresses, academies, and grand arenas governed by the Fourteen Knight Orders.
The Grandmasters of these Orders form the Table of Knights, the ruling council that upholds the creeds of their Orders and oversees the Trials.
When a new Generation reaches Floor Ten, the Knight Order Trials begin — a five-month rite to determine aptitude, discipline, and worth. Each cadet must choose one Order to study and undergo its Trials before they are permitted to continue climbing.
The fourteen Knight Orders are: The Sovereign Blades, The Arrows of Justice, The Demonic Standard, The Jousting Voyage, The Verdant Pine, The Stone Bulwarks, The Wings of Purity, The Falling Stars, The Lanterns in the Fog, The Ossuary Vigil, The Twilight Wardens, The Veiled, The Sun Sentinels, and The Mage Bozos.
Floor Completion Criteria:
▸ Choose one of the Fourteen Knight Orders and undertake its Trial.
▸ Complete the Trial and accomplish the goals that the Knight Order's Grandmaster assigns you within the five month period.
Floor Completion Requirements:
▸ Choose one of the Fourteen Knight Orders
▸ Complete that Order's Trial and accomplish the assigned objectives
Time Remaining: 3642:47:35
"… Five months," Deacon exhaled slowly through his nose.
"I guess we know which Order Bonehead, Sam, and Esme are gonna be joining," he said after a moment, head tilting slightly toward Jass. The corner of Jass's mouth twitched up as she tried, and failed, to hold back a laugh.
Sam made a face like he smelled something sour. "Wow. Hilarious. So funny."
Sam's words only made the smirks on Deacon and Jass's faces widen.
Esmerelda didn't respond, but she was already staring straight ahead at the massive banner bearing a crest of a book and a staff crossed over a shield, The Mage Bozos. The Knight Order that existed specifically for cadets who couldn't fight in melee to save their lives. Mages, artificers, healers, alchemists, blacksmiths, builders — basically the academy's population majority, as most of them were not mages, were Support Classes or Production Classes.
It was known as the easiest Order as well as being the most overcrowded.
"Har har har," Sam muttered, mimicking earlier, "Yeah, laugh it up while you two enjoy swinging swords with people who eat raw steel for breakfast. Let's see how you're feeling on Floor Fifteen when ya'll get fucked by the tables turning on you two."
Deacon just smirked. "Yeah, but it's forever until then, this is now, Mr. Inspiring Mage Bozo."
Sam flipped him off without looking, already walking into the great hall ahead of them.
They followed him in through the towering archway, the doors standing open like the jaws of some ancient cathedral. The interior ceiling stretched so high it disappeared into shadow, banners of each Knight Order suspended like floating constellations overhead, unmoving despite the faint breeze that swept through the hall.
The walls were carved with murals that showed off great battles, duels, triumphs, failures, knights standing above piles of corpses on a battlefield with their respective Knight Order Banners as their cloaks.
Looking down, even the floor beneath their boots was polished enough to reflect everything like darkened glass, making Esmerelda and Sam pat their own shoulders for having worn leather armor beneath their robes, while Bonehead's smoking flame-like eyes danced within his sockets as he attempted to make the most out of the reflective flooring.
The Orders were separated like miniature courts across the hall, each banner planted above its representative registration dais.
Jass peeled off first, but not before she paused long enough to glance back at all of them, her thumb hooked over her shoulder toward a blood-red standard stabbed into a raised brick platform that had the crest of a massive black and red glaive — The Demonic Standard.
"That one," she said simply.
Bonehead blinked once. "You're going with the demon order?"
"They have the Grandmaster who uses glaives," Jass replied, shrugging like the answer was obvious. "If I want to get better at using one, I'll learn from the best glaive user in the Kingdom. I don't care if they're mostly comprised of demons or if they make things harder for me because I'm a human."
"You all know me, I only care about getting better, because that's what matters if we are going to climb this Tower and get into this so-called Multiverse. Come find me when you guys get a cool quest from your Knight Orders to go on," She said with a wink before peeling off from the group and weaving through the hundreds of other cadets rushing to enter the trial rooms of the Knight Orders.
Deacon watched her go, his lips pulling into something almost… proud as she disappeared into the crowd, uncaring about the unfairness and discrimination that would come her way.
But that was Jass — stubborn, straightforward, and unbothered by fear so long as the growth was worth it. She truly had grown leaps and bounds since their first meeting back when he joined the academy.
The others didn't say anything for a moment before Deacon broke the silence, "She's probably cringing so hard right now."
Bonehead snorted at that before being joined with laughter by the remaining members of the Ravenlight Party in agreement with Deacon's words.
With smirks lining their faces, they continued walking down the hall, passing the banners one by one:
The Jousting Voyage Knight Order's banner displayed a centaur wielding a lance while charging up a grassy hill. Just as the Demonic Standard consisted primarily of demons, Jousting Voyage consisted entirely of centaurs — no exceptions.
The Verdant Pine banner bore a vibrant green pine atop a hill. They were composed solely of pure-blooded elves. Similar to them were the Stone Bulwarks, whose crest showed a daunting mountain, and who were made up entirely of pure-blooded dwarves.
The Wings of Purity banner depicted a pair of angelic wings unfurled around a golden sword, and the Order was comprised of angels. In contrast, the Falling Stars Knight Order's banner showed fallen wings wrapped around a dark blade, and they were comprised of fallen angels.
The Lanterns in the Fog banner depicted a lantern glowing with warm orange light. This Order consisted of humans and Murim-trained swordsmen. The Ossuary Vigil banner showed a skeletal knight clad in dark armor holding a sword and shield — the Order was made up entirely of undead.
The Twilight Wardens bore the crest of a full moon. Their ranks were composed of demi-humans, half-elves, half-demons, and others of mixed lineage who didn't fit neatly anywhere else.
And finally, the Sovereign Blades' crest was a workshop board displaying a spear, axe, sword, hammer, glaive, dagger, and bow. Their ranks consisted of only six known members, and they had no inclination toward selecting any particular race — they accepted only those with skill.
"Good luck," Bonehead said, giving him a pat on the back as they all knew where Deacon would be attempting his Knight Order Trial. "Five months in that Order is going to be hell."
"What?" Deacon said with a smirk. "Ya'll aren't going to make a jab at if I can even pass their entrance trial?"
They all rolled their eyes.
Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose, expression somewhere between annoyed and resigned. "There isn't a single person in our Generation that can match your swordsmanship or skill with blades, dumbass. When you climbed the tournament bracket using just your sword skills, my father made a remark about how you had a bit of skill with blades. And from that asshole, that's high praise.'"
"Well damn," Deacon murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.
Sam shrugged. "Yeah. So just don't die in that Order. That'd make his opinion of you extremely awkward."
Esmerelda finally spoke up, arms crossed, voice dry.
"And don't come crawling back begging to join the Mage Bozos when the Sovereign Blades get too tough on you."
Deacon's grin sharpened. "If I'm crawling anywhere, it's to come drag you three out of your cozy library circle and remind you that fighting is best done up close and personal."
Sam opened his mouth to argue, stopped, realizing Deacon would actually try to break into their barracks and kidnap them so that the five of them could go on an adventure within Floor Ten, and just walked faster toward The Mage Bozos' banner along with Esmerelda and Bonehead in tow.
"I'll see ya'll in a month at the latest!" Deacon shouted at them as they rushed towards the line of cadets lining behind the Mage Bozos banner.
Not waiting on a response from them, Deacon turned on his heel and began walking towards the closed doors of the Sovereign Blades Knight Order.