Luna's current quest was to pass the Royal Knight Selection. It was an event held twice a year and lasted for an entire week. Everyone was allowed to participate in the event as long as they passed the background check. However, in the end, only those who could survive the training for a full week without dropping out voluntarily or being forced to drop out passed the Royal Knight Selection.
"He looks as stern as ever, huh?" Jay chuckled.
"And his armor also shines as bright as ever." Erik added, shrugging his shoulders.
Ignoring the stares from others around them, the two men made some laid-back comments about the captain of the royal knight order. Said captain was standing on a podium at the front. He had long silver hair reaching his back, and his golden eyes were sharper than they were round. His sharp facial features also made him more beautiful than he already was, surprising others that he was actually the captain of a knight order.
With an upright posture and his spotless sword stabbed to the ground, he signaled the start of today's training.
"We will start with 50 laps around the field!" he announced firmly, without changing his indifferent expression. At his words, the cadets dispersed and prepared to run, albeit some of them were not pleased to hear that they had to run so many laps so early in the day.
And because it was a daily routine for the knights to begin the day with a run, some were still exhausted and sore from yesterday, adding to the overall gloomy atmosphere. However, among them, there were still a few that did as the captain said without complaining—some even excelled and were already on pace to overtake others.
"Can't you relax?" Luna reprimanded them. However, she was the very first person whom those two overtook. Her endurance might have been higher than that of others, but she was still slow. Thus, she had a hard time keeping up with the other cadets who were a lot faster than her.
"I heard that the training here was harsh, but if this is what their training looks like, then we'd have cleared the quest easily!" Jay claimed, feeling unchallenged by the 50 laps, even though one lap around the training field was equal to one full lap around a running track in Luna's world.
"Don't be so sure yet. This is just the warm-up." Erik chided him lightly, ignoring the out-of-breath Luna as well.
Luna pulled on their shoulders as they were about to let her eat their dust.
"Could you two shut up for now...?" she begged, sweat rolling down her face. Luna scanned her surroundings and noticed the glares the trio received, although she did not do anything. Still, she could guess why Erik and Jay were annoying in their eyes.
"Why are you even here...? What kind of plan did you two have in mind?"
"We're here to catch the Jay from yesterday." Erik replied, slowing down his pace.
"We assumed that he was also a cadet who had to pass the Royal Knight Selection, so we just smuggled ourselves into your ranks." Jay added bluntly. But when he looked around, he did not find their target.
"But it seems like he dropped out." he said.
"Every individual inside the tower gets different quests based on their stats and skills. It would have been too easy for him if he were to take this quest." Erik explained.
"What? The quests are personalized?!" Luna yelled in surprise.
"Yes, didn't we tell you? Erik and I had to fight and win against the captain to clear our third quest." Jay said nonchalantly.
That statement, however, shocked Luna even more. She glanced over at the silver-haired man who was observing the cadets. From his looks, he appeared like a formidable opponent—someone who could even potentially handle an opponent like the other Jay.
Erik told her to look at him and Jay as abnormal beginners, but it was easier said than done, especially when they were overtaking one candidate after another. She was sure that there was more to it but also decided not to pursue it anymore.
"Are your quests the same then?"
"Because we're a party." Jay responded, pointing at Erik and himself.
"You can form a group with a limited number of people and then take on the same quests. However, the quests you have to clear are based on the individual with the highest level. Jay and I formed a party after clearing our second quests and are now on our seventh quest." Erik elaborated.
Luna recalled seeing their party on Jay's status window.
"I see! You can also see who's in the party in the status window, right?"
"Yeah, you can see both the party's name and members there."
"Name...?" Luna muttered pensively. Jay's status window only displayed the members.
"Didn't you see ours when you checked my status window, Luna?"
"I did, but I didn't see the name."
"Really? Usually, the name is displayed first things first in a party." Erik said.
[Party: [Erik and Jay]]
"Here. This is our party." Jay stated, showing Luna his screen again.
"This... is your party name...?" Luna wondered with a wry smile plastered on her confused face. She saw that already, but she thought that it was just displaying the members. Never did she think that it was their actual party name.
"Are... Are you kidding me?!" she yelled.
"W-what's wrong?" Jay asked.
"What's this lame name?! You only listed your names!" Luna scolded them. In games and stories, a party full of adventurers often had a cool name that was stuck in people's minds. So seeing those two opting for this party name was like throwing food away in front of her eyes.
"Then, you want to change it?" Jay suggested, smiling widely.
"Huh...?"
"Hey, what are you suggesting?" Erik reprimanded Jay, understanding what he implied to her with that question.
"Cadet Luna Park! You're slacking off!" the captain shouted from the training field's center. For one moment, he spotted Erik and Jay, but he ignored them since they only brought back bad memories.
"I-I'm sorry!" Luna shouted back with a squeaking voice before picking up her pace.
She went ahead of Erik and Jay for now.
"Don't make her join us, Jay. You know that it's better for her, don't you?" Erik told him. His tone was sincere and gentle.
"I know..." Jay replied, albeit reluctantly.
After everyone finished their laps, the cadets collapsed to the ground with their backs leaning against the walls. But of course, Erik and Jay were not exhausted yet.
"What are you guys doing here again?" the silver-haired captain asked the two when he approached them with a frown on his elegant face.
"Sir Vander, how are you doing?" Erik greeted the captain politely.
"Hey, Chris, what's up?" Jay said, less politely.
"You never change, do you?" the captain, Chris Vander, sighed. His gaze was especially on Erik, who pretended like he would not notice.
"I assume you aren't here for the Royal Knight Selection?" he asked. Chris knew what they were capable of and would therefore be happy if they were to choose to join their ranks. However, he also knew what they were like, and becoming a knight was definitely not where their goals lay.
"There's nothing to worry about. We're merely here to experience your training."
"We promise we won't hinder you, Chris!"
Again, Chris let out a sigh. Dealing with them always gave him a headache. Even more so because they were the ones who beat him in a fair fight not too long ago. Letting them do as they pleased was the wiser option for the time being.
"Do what you want..." he said, shaking his head before returning to the other instructors of the event.
And when he left, Luna shyly appeared.
"He really is like a different person when he talks to you..." she remarked. The captain in her mind was a lot stricter and more intimidating, scolding everyone the moment a single person slacked off.
"Try winning against him. He will surely change the way he acts with you." Erik joked.
"Real funny."
Jay, in the meantime, gazed at a certain group of cadets. They were in Chris's blind spot, thus he could not see the group of four to five people surrounding a person. Rather than a group of merry friends, their faces were malicious even though they smiled.
Only one person did not smile—the one surrounded by them. He was lowering himself, not saying anything back to those who apparently harassed him.
"Jay, where are you going?" Erik asked, before he also spotted the group of people.
"Just making new friends, I guess."
As Jay approached them, he heard them clearly.
"My girl told me that you shot a few lustful gazes at her body while we ran the laps." one boy of the group stated. His smirk was wicked, and his tone arrogant. He made himself look bigger than he was.
"For real?" another guy laughed.
"What a creep..." a girl muttered in disgust, protecting the girl in question.
However, the girl whom they said was a victim did not behave like one. Instead, she was smiling in the arms of her friend as she looked down on the cornered person.
"I-I didn't do th-"
But before the individual could defend themselves, the girl's boyfriend slapped their face.
"We didn't ask you if you did it. We said that you did it." he stated threateningly. He raised his hand once more, not noticing that he had gathered everyone's attention due to the sound of the previous slap.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jay said sternly, grabbing the guy's arm.
"And who are you now?" the guy asked, vexed. He tried to shake off Jay's hand, but he did not budge one bit.
"What's this strength...?!" he whispered, perplexed.
His three friends grabbed their training weapons and pointed them at Jay, who would not let go.
"So you're all people who act before thinking?" Jay remarked, glancing at the wooden weapons and the boy who was their victim.
From the lack of sincerity in their words and actions, it was obvious to Jay that they were purely bullying the boy who was pressed against the wall. The boy was shorter than average and appeared frail in comparison to other cadets. He had short brown hair and brown, round eyes. At first glance, he seemed like he was barely 18 years old.
His armor and weapon already looked beat up, although the equipment given to the cadets was lent by the knight order and maintained after each day.
"Take your weapon. If you want to fight, then I'll indulge you." Jay declared, pushing the leader of the group to the others.
"Jay!" Luna called out to him. Not because she was worried about him, but rather because she thought that there could have been another option instead of fighting it out.
"Leave him be. Some people only learn this way." Erik stopped Luna. He looked over at Chris, who was patiently observing Jay, indirectly giving Jay permission to fight them.
Soon, a crowd gathered around them.
"So you like to bully those weaker than you? Not even alone, but as a whole group? Aren't you embarrassed?" Jay scoffed, picking up a random wooden sword.
"Didn't you hear? He was looking at my-"
"Is that true?" Jay cut him off, sharpening his gaze.
The group's leader did not say a word. While still trying to smirk through this situation, he unconsciously took a step back.
"Let's attack together!" the other guy in the group shouted, leading the charge with his wooden ax. Behind him were the two girls, each wielding a wooden spear.
However, they were beginners just like Luna. Some of them even had lower physical stats than hers. Thus, they posed no challenge for Jay, who needed only one swift swing per person to knock them out.
"G-guys...?"
Only the leader was left. His lips trembled—just like his grip on his wooden sword.
"Is what you said true?" Jay asked once more as he raised his sword above him.
"I-it's..."
He took one more look at Jay and the sword that blocked the sun.
"I'm sorr-"
And before he could apologize for his false accusation, Jay struck him down, putting more weight into it than he had with the others. The leader was smashed to the ground with Jay's sword shattering into pieces.
"That felt good." Jay commented, feeling satisfied as he swiped away the non-existent sweat on his forehead. However, that satisfaction disappeared instantly when he turned around.
Chris patted his shoulder and stared at Jay with a smile that did not reach his otherwise kind eyes.
"Shit."