“H-how dare you!” Jefferson raised an accusatory finger toward Erec, then thought better. A moment later, he slammed his Armor’s helmet back on, though it did little to disguise the shake in his voice or his wide eyes before. He was afraid. Afraid of a boy at least two years his junior.
The crowd was silent. They should’ve protested Erec’s arrival and how he strode into the platform; as an initiate, he certainly had none of the qualifications to lead, especially as a first-year. It wasn’t like he had the personal skills either. Scarcely anyone here knew him.
But as they looked one, only one thing was in their eyes. Excitement.
Why?
“Act like a coward, and I’m not going to bite my tongue.” A fire burned in his chest as the words came free like the wind. Each second, a balance to maintain that inner flame and keep it from exploding into an inferno.
Even if it was ‘okay,’ by Garin’s standards, he refused to let go as long as he could help it.
“Y-you have no idea how we’re suffering.“
“I received the reports, same as you. I scout more than you. And I’ll lead us to safety. Not to some Goddess-forsaken cave to die.”
“That's not true! If we take the time to regroup—“
“We don’t have the food, resources, or willpower for such a weak strategy. If that's the best idea you have, I suggest you shut the fuck up. Your input is no longer appreciated. Hard times require resolve.” Erec almost growled but stopped himself just short.
Around him, the faces of the men and women paled and then hardened. Hard to tell if they were responding to Jefferson’s words or his. At the moment, with adrenaline starting to pump through him, it was difficult to see what side they were on.
But it didn’t matter. Erec would make them follow.
“I am the Senior Knight—you—you spoiled initiate. What makes you think you can tell me what to do? Let alone that you have any authority here. Go back to your friends and do what I say! You have no idea what it takes to survive in these wastes!”
“Strength. That’s all you need in this world.” Erec said, the fire inside swirling in a column of annoyance. This conversation was too circular, and the words ground down the same worn path this spineless coward trod for the last hour. Sickening. How could someone call themselves a Knight yet be so pathetic? Fury burned its will into him to teach this useless worm a lesson, and that desire was hard to disagree with.
“I’m strong, far stronger than some initiate!”
Erec broke into a laugh before gesturing for Jefferson to come at him.
“Show me.”
Whispers ran through the crowd like electricity through a wire. Sir Jefferson visibly took a step back at the challenge. Duels had a long-standing tradition in the Kingdom; though they didn't occur outside of the walls, if Erec had to guess, doing so was probably illegal.
But what did that matter? A law was only as good as the will to enforce it and the power behind the enforcer.
“I—we can’t!”
Erec opened his arms wide, indicating the ring of people and their hastily made encampment. The inferno grew, demanding that he consume this pathetic excuse for a Knight. If he didn’t act with honor or true grit, then could Jefferson even really be considered a human?
No, he was a waste of space.
Better to take care of this now, once and for all.
“What’s stopping us?” Erec asked.
“We’re—there are monsters all around!”
“Do you see a monster? I don’t. If I did, it’d be dead.” Erec said with a surety that ran deep to his core. It’d be a non-threat, or Erec would die in combat.
And have a glorious bout before he did.
“You’re—you’re an initiate!”
“What, afraid? How will you lead these people to safety when you’re too scared to fight an initiate?” Erec continued in, sensing blood in the water. The crowd's emotions fed him over him, only stoking the anger inside, fueling his inner fire.
They mirrored him; the taste for blood surged as those around called for the fight as much as he did. Sir Jefferson reeked of hopelessness, and everyone picked up on it, ashamed to ever felt swayed by his words.
This wasn’t a world for the weak, and those like Jefferson didn’t have what it took to lead them anywhere; they saw it now.
It took power. A hand that had the Strength to enforce its will on the world and take what it wanted.
Jefferson wasn’t a man like that.
“I—“ Jefferson turned tail and ran from the circle; a chorus of jeering and insults followed his wake as he fled. Erec stared at his back, the beast inside shouting for him to pursue his prey and tear them in half. A cold shock ran through him as icy fire burst inside, burning out the anger and killing it.
Erec looked at the gathered crowd, using the last bit of diminishing fire to let out a few words.
“Follow me or die.”
He walked away, calm.
— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —
Erec sat in his tent, fingers steepled against his forehead as he let out a big sigh.
“You honestly had the gall to say: ‘If I saw one, it’d be dead,’” Colin shook his head and turned up his nose. “Mighty arrogant of you, rust-bucket. Borderline impudent and delusional. Far too excessive.”
“It was a little dramatic, but the point of that was to put on a show to usurp Jefferson. Honestly, I’m surprised Erec didn’t just start smashing his fists into the man, but this works better for us in the long run. Gives us more legitimacy,” Garin said.
“I hesitate to say this, but I agree with Colin.” Olivia pouted and then broke into a snicker. “The lines were a bit much, truly terrifying, Sir Erec. If you go on that way, when people write about you, they’ll scarcely believe your speeches.”
“Hey, I didn’t—“ Erec wanted to say he didn’t exactly choose what came out of his mouth, overtly dramatic or not. But, the fact was, he suspected that if he fed any more into the mocking, it would only lead to more. “It’s over, alright? I didn’t want to be the one who went up to deal with that anyway. Besides, I didn’t harm Sir Jefferson, so it worked out alright, right?”
“You are correct. He’s hiding away outside of camp, I suspect in a day, or so, he’ll make his return and keep his head low.” Olivia clarified. “…Speaking of which, we should assure the soldiers of any issues they have now that we no longer have one of us contesting our goals so verbally.” She gave Garin a long look, who shrugged. “Leave it to us.”
The two left the tent. Colin moved to follow them out and let Erec sulk after his public speaking opportunity.
“Wait,” Erec said, pushing past the embarrassment to look at his friend. “I, uh, I need a favor.”
“Ah?” Colin asked, a glint coming to his eye as he puffed up his chest. “So it is that the small landless second son has finally come to his better with a request. Do share, and perhaps I shall find pity and grant it to you.”
“This is serious.”
Colin remained quiet.
“How do I—“ Erec put his helmet back on—the glyph VAL composed flashed onto his visual display. It seemed they had an understanding. “Er—I need you to take a look at something.”
He got to his feet and began tracing the glyph lines into the dirt in front of the Duke’s son into the ground of the tent. Colin followed him along as Erec worked.
“I wasn’t aware you could even make a glyph. I have yet to see you even use magic.” Colin said as the shapes began to take form.
“I…“ Erec thought over an explanation but found nothing that came to mind that could explain it away. “I don’t. That’s why I need your advice on this.”
“How is it you have this memorized then?”
“I—err, came across something. I wanted you to try it out; I have a hunch it might be useful to track down the White Stag.”
“Is that so? Why does this emit mana in a certain pattern and composition, then?” Colin seemed more bemused. Which, Erec supposed, was a positive sign. “It is not any sort of detection glyph. Besides, do you think that others in the Army haven’t tried?”
“…It uh. Well, maybe they have. But it’s more about how it works with radio waves… then…” Colin got quiet again and began to shake his head. Yeah. Selling this wasn’t easy. How do I get through to him?
Erec traced out the rest of the glyph. And then the answer came.
“They don’t have anyone quite like you—they might have others who are good at Mysticism, but you’ve got so much natural talent. A genius. Of course, if anyone can cast this and figure out how to find the White Stag, it’d be you.” The words almost hurt to say, but appealing to the boy’s ego was the only way forward.
“Ah.” Colin stopped moving, his helmet only twitching slightly as he stared at the glyph. “At last. You realize my true worth. Prudent of you, rust bucket—though this glyph is faulty. Several flaws would result in a rather violent explosion, as expected from such an utter novice when making his first glyph. Or perhaps it’s your nature to cause destruction. Whatever the case, I see that you’ve chosen to invest your hope in me, a wise decision I shall reward.”
Erec stared at the glyph, wondering just how or where VAL messed up the design and made it explosive, and far too relieved he’d taken it to someone else to figure out instead of just trying it. “…Right, thanks, Colin,” Erec said, trying to clip his words and not say anything to ruin the mood.
So self-obsessed with himself, it seemed the duke’s son wasn’t interested in digging into how or why Erec knew this glyph design. Let alone the idea of tracking the White Stag with it.
He slipped into silence as Colin went over his pedigree and pointed out every single flaw in the glyph. Colin took great delight in finding the mistakes, and VAL appeared pleased with each new flaw. VAL even asked Erec to press in and clarify some of its questions.
Every time, Colin gave a condescending explanation that worsened Erec’s headache. But after two hours, and with significant revision from Colin, they had a workable and adjustable glyph.
One that Colin agreed to test with Erec for the next couple of days.
Especially since he saw the glory on the off chance, they managed to create something that could help find the Stag.
Little did he know that he’d just signed himself up as another victim of the rigorous and thorough scientific process.