I had no idea how much chaos my adventure with Ariel had caused at the bottom of the sea, at which point I was wearing my knight's armor.
An armor made up of shiny silver metal plates covering the chest, shoulders and legs, with deep blue details. Underneath, I'm wearing a royal blue cloak with gold details, the colors that represent Miralune, reinforcing my noble image.
This armor was Eric's old royal armor, an armor that was only worn on special occasions, acting more as a symbol than a real object of protection, since Miralune hasn't gone to war with other countries for centuries.
Surprisingly, the design of this armor was very similar to that of the Arthur Pendragon Prototype armor, a style that I felt suited me very well.
Today will be the first time that the metal of this armor will be scratched by claws or blades, and I was very excited about it.
Off course, I wasn't excited about being scratched, but about the battle it would bring.
My training today had been interrupted halfway through by Ariel, so I was counting on today's battle to further elevate my assimilation of the character cards.
Leaving my room, I walked calmly to the castle's exit gate.
There, my father and a group of 10 of the castle's elite knights were waiting for me with my horse.
"Are you confident, Eric?" My father asked worriedly, seeing his son go into battle for the first time.
"Yes, Dad." I said in a firm voice.
"Very well, these 10 soldiers are the best men under my command, they've all received the best training our royal force can give." My father told me, his voice leaking with excitement as he turned to the soldiers. "And men, do you remember what I said about having found the salvation of our kingdom? Very well, salvation is in front of you!"
Despite my father's confidence, I still noticed doubt and confusion on the faces of the soldiers, who despite remaining quiet in respect for my father, failed to hide their suspicion as to whether I really had the power that my father was boasting so much about.
Knowing that leaving the castle with soldiers suspicious and unsure of me could cause chaos when dealing with the monsters, I decided to show them a little of the reason for our trust.
"Someone bring me a log used for training soldiers." I commanded in a firm voice.
This being a simple command, one of the men left the group and ran to get what I asked for, leaving the other soldiers doubting, suspecting even more that I might be crazy.
I just kept quiet, waiting for the soldier who had left to return.
In a few minutes, the man returned from the training camp, carrying a large wooden log used by soldiers to train endurance.
"All right, leave that log lying there on the ground and move away." I commanded again.
Although a little tired, the soldier just nodded and got back in line with the other soldiers.
Drawing my sword from its sheath and concentrating my power from Percy Jackson and the Breath of Water, real water began to condense on the tip of my sword, responding perfectly to my command.
That was enough to make the soldiers around me gasp in astonishment.
"Is that magic?" One of them couldn't resist asking.
"I think so..." Another replied.
"If Prince Eric really has learned to use magic, our mission could be a great success!" One of the soldiers got excited.
Even the soldiers who had remained quiet clearly showed that they were shocked by what they were seeing.
"Water Breath, First Form." I said in a low voice.
As soon as I said that, I jumped forward and the water channeled at the tip of my blade began to move with my sword.
This made the soldiers even more excited, wondering what would happen to the log that would receive my attack.
When my blade hit the wooden log on the ground, instead of a thunderous and destructive attack as everyone imagined would happen, only a thin line appeared where I made the cut.
"That... the attack failed?" One of the soldiers asked uncertainly.
The other men didn't know how to react either, until the captain of the group snorted. "Are you blind? Look at the point where the Prince landed his attack."
With that warning, their gaze focused on the point I attacked and they were shocked.
"Oh my god, such a grand attack caused such a concentrated and precise attack?!" One of the men commented incredulously.
"That really is like water... when water decides to attack you, the attack is lethal and precise, but it hardly leaves a trace!" The captain commented in surprise.
Sheathing my sword again, I smiled in satisfaction at their reaction and mounted my horse.
Before we left, my mother arrived with a backpack.
"Eric, take this... I made your favorite childhood cookies myself, I hope this will give you energy during the battle." She said as she gave me a strong, worried hug.
"Thanks, Mom." I received the backpack with a smile, giving them a final wave goodbye, and left the castle with 10 confident soldiers behind me.
As it was night, the town was very empty.
In a world without electricity and with candles being too expensive for some families, many people chose to go to bed just after sunset.
Hearing the sound of our horses' hooves, many windows opened out of curiosity, causing me to smile warmly and wave to the confused people looking at us.
The funniest thing about it was that I realized that despite returning my wave, few people recognized me, apparently thinking I was just a noble knight.
And considering it's the first time I've worn this armor, that makes a lot of sense.
In a few minutes we arrived at the gate of the city wall.
As it was already dark and the monsters were coming out of their hiding places in the forests, the gates were closed, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.
"I'm sorry Prince Eric, even if it is you I can't open the gate and risk the safety of the whole city without an order from the king with these monsters on the loose." The gate guard explained a little embarrassed.
Shaking my head to indicate that there was no problem, I took out a parchment exactly prepared for this and handed it to the man.
At first he read the parchment with a little skepticism, in the middle of reading it he looked at me several times suspiciously, but when he saw my father's official signature at the bottom of the parchment, despite not being confident, he still ordered the opening of the great city gates.
Through the small gap that appeared in the opening of the gate, I could already see some Goblins approaching.
Quickly getting off my horse, I ran to the gate and drew my sword.
With my attitude, the soldiers who had accompanied me, and even the soldier who had ordered the gates open, drew their swords and came with me, to make sure that no monsters got past me and into the city.
Their concern was worthy, but futile.
When the first goblin to take advantage of the gate opening ran towards me, I just said in a low voice "Water Breath, First Form." and attacked him.
The monster, only 1.2 meters tall, didn't even have time to understand what was happening before my sword went through his neck and separated his head from the rest of his body.
Before fighting these monsters, my biggest concern was about the resistance of their skin, whether my attacks would be able to penetrate enough to be useful, whether my mastery of Water Breathing would be enough to pierce through their skin and bones with my sword.
But after that attack, all my worries vanished, leaving only a great thirst for battle to take hold of me.
Activating [Hunter's Night Vision], one of the cards I had won and not yet tested, I smiled.
[Power - Hunter's Night Vision (2★)
Origin: The Witcher
Description: Allows you to see clearly in total darkness up to 50 meters.
Usefulness: Useful in night missions or underground areas. No impact on direct combat].
"Soldiers, finish off any monster that passes me alive." That was the only order I gave before I started walking out of the city and attacking any monsters that came within range.
--- Cat Notes ---
Please, comment your toughts about the story!