Humanity's Hero Of Despair

Our footsteps echo against the walls of the Imperial Palace as the noise of the party dies down.

The hallways are dimly lit as I follow the Emperor to wherever we are going. I feel the silver and gold pin on my chest, the mark of an Oriventh Duke. Just thinking about it is wild enough. We take a few more twists and turns.

"Where are we going?"

I ask the Emperor, just in case he would say it.

"You will see once we get there."

At least I tried.

We continue walking for some more time. We pause by a room where Captain Daelon decides to join us on our journey. Apparently, he knows where we are going somehow. I wait a couple of minutes before asking Captain Daelon where we are going. That doesn't work out. It was worth a shot in my opinion, though. After a few more minutes, the Emperor says we are getting close.

I start to recognize some of the paintings on the walls as we pass by them. I have been on this route before. A lightbulb goes off in my head. The Imperial Training Grounds. I pause walking as I process this.

"Your Imperial Highness, why are we going back to the Imperial Training Grounds? You aren't going to make me perform more high levels of magic again, are you?"

The Emperor and Captain Daelon laugh together. The Emperor speaks up.

"No, not at all. I knew you would catch on eventually. We are going there so you can meet your personal military unit."

My personal military unit?

That certainly does sound interesting. My memory flashes back to the Emperor saying that if I won the Oriventh Hundred Trial, I would receive a military unit of magical knights under my command. As soon as I remember, I try to reason with the Emperor why I don't need them. However, that doesn't work. Well, it will be useful to have more firepower behind us for the upcoming war.

We arrive at the Imperial Training Grounds.

The mages of the Imperial Palace have done a good job cleaning up the destruction I created there earlier when I first tried out dual-wielding. Instead of anyone training, there are fifty magic knights standing in a line in perfect formation. Their battle armor is enchanted, with their swords and shields out, waiting to do whatever on the Emperor's command.

My eyes widen at the sight of them. All of these knights are under my command?

The Emperor seems to sense my thoughts.

"These are the fifty best magical knights under my elite unit. They are now under your command under the House of Lotus. Each of them has told me they would be fine with or would like to pledge loyalty to the House of Lotus. They all believe in you and your power to protect humanity."

I am even more in shock as all the knights kneel down in front of me.

Captain Daelon stands next to me.

"We believe you can truly be the one to lead all of Glozaria to victory against these evil forces. All of us are right behind you to support you in this goal. If it takes extensive training and extra protection, so be it. Not everyone is hopeful in this war with the magic beasts. We need to show them we have an actual shot at winning this," the Captain says, reassuring me that everything is going to be okay.

The Emperor has one more thing to say to me.

"As we mentioned before, we still need the official approval of the Seyloria Theocracy and Ryndoria Republic to join the Glozaria Alliance and approve of Duke Lotus as the leader of the GA. We need to prepare for war, not just against the magical beasts, but potentially against them as a last resort."

The mood turns slightly grim.

"On a happier note, take this time to get to know each of the knights as much as you can before we do what else we have planned."

I nod, and all the knights stand up. I walk over to them and greet them one by one, which takes a while. Many of them compliment me on my feats of magic. Others compliment me on the fact that I don't abuse my power.

A few others say they look up to me and hope to become strong enough, like me, to protect what they love. Some of them have families as well.

I really hope I don't put any of them in too much danger, even though they know their career is very dangerous. I know there are going to be many sacrifices in this war. I just wish it didn't come down to that.

I take the time to remember each of my knights' names and small facts about each. If I am going to lead all of them, and if they have pledged their loyalty to me, I might as well do the bare minimum for them.

Once I meet all of them individually, I have them all gather together and give them a simple announcement.

"I am truly honored to meet each and every one of you. Thank you for pledging your loyalty to me as a knight. I promise to protect you with everything the House of Lotus has to offer. Together, we will protect humanity and do our best to prevent too many casualties. We fight for the freedom of all of us and the freedom of future generations!"

All my knights cheer and raise their swords.

Captain Daelon is standing to the side and gestures for me to join him in the training corner. I tell all my knights to practice training with each other. Once that is done, I head over to Captain Daelon to see what he wants to tell me.

"Very impressive, Duke Lotus. You are a natural leader," he chuckles as he stops leaning against the wall.

He grabs a longsword from the wall and hands it to me. He then pulls out his own longsword from his sheath. He smiles and chuckles at me.

"We are going to be testing your true swordsmanship without any magic. By becoming a better swordsman, you will learn how to move, counter, parry, etc., against weapons. Once you get the basics down, you will be able to learn how to infuse it with magic. Not many, even high-profile mages, know how to wield a sword super well."

"Though they do usually have one weapon or two they know how to use very well."

Well. Here we go.