Chapter 24 The Masters Class
A knight was transporting oak barrels loaded on a freight wagon to some destination.
He was an apprentice knight of the Weisel Knights. As he surveyed the peaceful scenery of Weisel, he muttered to himself,
“I joined for honor, but what I do is nothing but the work of a slave.”
The apprentice couldn’t understand.
Why bother calling a knight for a job that a servant could do? And why dress him in the overly conspicuous armor with the knight’s seal and affix a flag to the cargo wagon?
The contents did not seem particularly valuable either. If the oak barrels had contained wine, he might have stolen a few swigs in a fit of annoyance.
As he rounded the corner of the hill, he saw a large mansion occupying a scenic spot in the distance.
The knight compared the location with his map several times and declared,
“There it is. That’s where I’m supposed to go.”
Humming a song, he guided the cart forward.
A couple of hours later, as he approached the mansion, he was met by a crowd of people outside.
At the center of the gathering was a tall, slender woman. Next to her stood a boy and a girl. Servants lined up to either side, waiting for someone’s arrival.
The knight squinted. There was something familiar about these silhouettes.
‘What’s this?’
Looking closer, he recognized the woman in the middle as the great mage Silveryn, whom he had seen not long ago. Beside her was her disciple and genius swordsman, Damian.
The knight was dumbfounded.
‘Incredible, I’ve been sent to the great mage’s estate!’
Now he understood why the knight’s seal was so prominently displayed on the flag of his cart.
The great mage herself was coming out to receive them!
Did the knight’s order have such prestige? His chest filled with pride.
With dignity, the knight entered the grounds of the mansion.
Silveryn stood a few paces away as the knight parked the wagon and rushed to kneel before her.
“A knight of the Weisel Order, also the third son of the Rahardt family…”
Silveryn frowned and gestured for him to move aside.
“For the great mage…?”
Confused, the knight looked around for reactions from the bystanders.
They showed no interest in the knight; their gaze was fixed on the distance.
When the knight followed their line of sight, he spotted a procession of black carriages with Eternia’s insignia drawing closer to the mansion.
“…!”
Damian, the disciple of Silveryn, quietly approached the knight to guide him.
“This way, please.”
***
I had finally brought in all the griffin blood and took a moment to catch my breath. In total, there were six oak barrels.
It arrived later than expected, making my heart race with worry, but the quantity exceeded my hopes. With so much, I could make a bottle’s worth daily and still have enough to last over a year.
This must mean the knights were very generous – several griffins’ worth of blood.
The problem now was that I had to use the potion immediately in real conditions without any time for trial runs.
Anything could go wrong. I had to be mentally prepared.
Liria followed me into the laboratory.
“Is this the last ingredient?”
“Yes.”
She picked up a flask and opened the lid of one of the oak barrels to pour the liquid within.
She swirled the flask, observing its contents.
Colorless, odorless, and with high viscosity – it almost looked like colorless honey. Nothing like the blood of beasts and magical creatures commonly known to people.
As Liria studied it, a look of utter bewilderment crossed her face, prompting her to ask,
“What on earth is this?”
“It’s griffin blood.”
“My goodness…”
She looked back at the oak barrels in astonishment.
“Anyway, this is the last ingredient, right?”
“Yes.”
“Phew, what should I do… I’m so nervous.”
“Why are you nervous, Liria?”
“I don’t know myself… why am I feeling like this?”
Liria had also seen the procession of Eternia carriages approaching the estate. Clearly, this was no ordinary matter.
I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket with the final potion formula written on it. The critical phase of the griffin potion was complete, and all that remained was the simple yet time-consuming tasks.
“Liria, I need to ask a favor of you.”
“Yes?”
I handed her the piece of paper with the formula.
“Could you prepare the potion following these instructions and bring it to me as quickly as possible?”
Liria glanced at the paper and nodded resolutely.
“Yes!”
If one were just to look at her determined expression, it seemed more like Liria was going to take the exam, not me.
A rush of urgent footsteps neared the lab.
A maid approached the laboratory’s entrance and announced the arrival of the examiners.
“The carriages have just entered the estate.”
***
I stood beside Silveryn, watching a procession of carriages crossing the main gate.
Out of the five carriages, the central one was particularly large, adorned with ornate decorations on its surface.
A pair of knights clad in golden armor escorted it on each side.
From my discussions with Silveryn, I knew who was inside.
As the carriages made their calculated entrance, a figure who appeared to be the captain among the escorting knights shouted,
“Positions, everyone!”
Simultaneously, the carriages came to a unified halt in front of the mansion. Soon after, the coachmen dismounted in a choreographed fashion and opened the doors of their respective carriages.
The world went silent for what seemed an eternity.
From the central, most prominent carriage, a woman alighted with the assistance of a knight.
Her golden hair was neatly coiled atop her head, and she wore small, round glasses on her tiny, delicate face. The dress with exquisite embroidery trailed all the way to the ground.
The maids couldn’t help but gasp in awe at her appearance.
Based on her attire and adornments, one might mistake her for a dignified high priestess or royal, but her countenance was fresh, as if she had just turned twenty.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Pointed ears I had never seen before in my life.
She was an elf, a member of a race that had long ceased to interact with humans.
Observing her, Silveryn commented,
“You indeed have an odd stroke of fate, my disciple.”
“…”
Silveryn was right; it was an uncanny coincidence.
Though I had been briefed, encountering her face to face felt completely different.
Erzebet Tears.
The very name that had me so tense.
She was not only the first magical engineer I had ever met but also one who had reached the pinnacle of that field.
Then there was the fact that she was an elf – something I had never even considered possible.
I recalled the titles associated with Erzebet in my mind.
Mother of Magical Engineering.
Queen of the Trees.
Ruler of Plantara.
The Heart of Eternia.
And the Dean of Eternia.
She, who seldom showed herself even in Eternia, had for some reason come to see me.
***
Gael stepped down from the carriage with Flynn, and the masked examiners began to exit theirs as well.
Aside from Erzebet, the identities of the other examiners were unknown even to Gael. The only information Gael had was that they were outsiders conferred honorary positions by the academy.
The long three-week journey was drawing to a close.
And the core objective of this journey, the Masters Class examination, would be completed in just one day.
Furthermore, the exam itself would only take ten minutes.
While the entrance exam for Eternia spanned an entire week, the far more critical Masters Class examination was allotted only a minuscule amount of time.
The duration might imply inferior importance, but in reality, a plethora of complex, detailed tests were only meant to filter talents from the general masses. It took no lengthy assessment to identify the singular genius among them.
Everything would come to an end within ten minutes.
Silveryn and her servants were already out to meet us at the mansion. She glanced briefly at Gael before returning her focus to Erzebet.
Beside Silveryn stood a young boy.
Ever since his arrival in Weisel, Gael had heard the rumors.
This boy was the one whom Silveryn, despite the many geniuses she had dismissed, had finally taken under her wing.
A disciple of a great mage, yet a child with a sword.
Gael couldn’t comprehend. Was it just a whim of Silveryn’s, did she see something in the boy that other geniuses lacked, or was there another intent behind her decision?
Silveryn was an unpredictable entity. If it suited her purposes, she was perfectly capable of using someone and disposing of them without a second thought.
Regardless, having come so far, Gael couldn’t simply let the matter slide.
On the pretext of the Masters Class examination and being Silveryn’s disciple, the boy was about to stand before a ruthless tribunal.
Gael turned and yelled to the escort knights,
“Raise the Plantara!”
The knights approached the massive cargo wagon at the end of the procession. They gripped the black tarpaulin that covered the cargo and stripped it off entirely.
Wooden puppets, until then crumpled and dormant on the wagon, began to stir under the sunlight.
Creak
As they rose, the swaying wagon eventually could not withstand the weight, and its wheels collapsed with a crash.
Thud-Thud
One by one, the colossal wooden dolls stepped out, with broad-shouldered knights barely reaching their chests, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
These were the creations of the grand magical engineer, Erzebet, and they had become symbolically synonymous with Eternia itself.
They were the Plantara.
Enshrined within Eternia’s main branch at Mount Grace, thousands of wooden doll legions stood guard. They shredded any threat that dared to approach Eternia, be it magical beasts or humans.
The independence of Eternia as a separate entity, not belonging to any empire, kingdom, duchy, or city union, was maintained through the power of the Plantara legions.
Upon witnessing Plantara, a fleeting terror flickered across the maids’ faces.
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