Chapter 1: A Weakling

Pathetic.

That was the only word he had said to her.

It was the only one he had needed to say. It was still ringing in her head.

His insult wasn’t unfounded either, unfortunately. The only thing Sophia Marshall had been able to do during the torturous three-hour survival mission was fall for a rather obvious illusionary magic, or what should have been a really simple illusion and a walk in the park to release, and faint upon seeing Zain Anderson – her teammate, and long-time crush – talk while he had been buried in the ground up to his chin.

The brown-haired Knight-in-training sighed, rolling onto her back to face the dull pink ceiling of the bedroom of her rented apartment in the Nightpoint City.

She had contributed absolutely nothing to the survival exercise the Laera Knight Association’s 28th squadron gave them. The only advantage she had on the team was her brains.

But what good was knowing without the skills to use it, though?

On paper, Sophia was an excellent student. Written tests, no matter the subject matter, were the one area where she positively excelled, shining brighter than the rest of her classmates before. She came out on top where her test scores were concerned, beating out even the supposedly genius Zain Anderson; the rookie Student Knight of the year.

She had listened to anything and everything their professor in Knights Training Academy to teach them, her brain absorbing the information like a sponge, but lacked the necessary skills to apply her knowledge.

Both of her teammates had shown more skill than a normal fresh out of the academy Student Knight should be capable of, even Leon Harris – her idiotic friend and another teammate – was dead last.

Sophia groaned and proceeded to close her eyes and cover them with her forearm. If she failed another physical exam, she would be dropped out from both the squadron and the Knights army. She wouldn’t be able to go out and slay those dragons.

She wouldn’t be able to get her revenge.

A knock on her door made the young woman flinch. She removed her forearm from her eyes and looked at the door of her bedroom. It was already opened wide, a woman with blond hair and sky-blue eyes leaned on the doorframe with her arms crossed.

“You looked like you’re going to bury yourself under your bed,” the blonde teased with a small smirk playing on her lips.

Sophia sighed and closed her eyes once again. “If only the ground can just open up and swallow me, Jen. Just leave me alone.”

There were shuffles heard and the bed dipped. When the woman spoke, she was close. “Don’t dwell on it. Just do your best next time.”

“I am doing my best all the time, Jen,” she deadpanned.

Her friend was silent. Jennifer Francis – or Jen, for her friends – was a Wind Knight from the 28th Squadron, just like her. Jennifer passed the survival mission with her three-man team yesterday, gaining the title of a Wind Knight, according to her ability.

“Did Zain insult you again?” Jennifer asked.

Sophia frowned, but she didn’t bother to respond.

“He’s a foul-mouthed bastard but you still love him, huh,” she continued with a huff.

Sophia moved to sit and faced her friend. “He called me pathetic…”

“And he is an asshole.” Jennifer always had that smirk on her face, as if she was an arrogant fool but Sophia knew that Jennifer was just confident.

She couldn’t help but smile. “I just realized that… he is not going to see me as… you know, me.”

“He loves you, Soph,” Jennifer reminded with a soft smile, “but only as a friend.”

Sophia rolled her eyes as she plopped back on her pillow. “Thanks for such a piece of hateful advice. Get out of my room.”

Jennifer laughed as she stood up and walked towards the door. “Come to the training field tomorrow. I will tell you a secret, so you have to get your ass off your bed and stop moping around.”

Sophia didn’t respond and by the time the information sunk in, Jennifer was already gone. She sat back up and rubbed her eyes with her hands. The brown-haired girl looked up at the clock on the opposite wall. Seeing that it was still four in the afternoon, Sophia decided to continue with her self-assessment.

Her mind trailed back to her teammates and team mentor: Zain Anderson, Leon Harris, and Major Dylan West.

~O~O~O~

The Laera Kingdom was a beautiful place, with lush green trees bearing fruits half of the year and water as clear as the sky above them. Nightpoint City, the capital city of Laera Kingdom, was more beautiful at night. Magic wielders, known as Knights, roamed around the streets during this time to witness the nightly performances in the center of the city’s Aisle of Music.

Sophia was one of the people who regularly strolled the Aisle to relieve her stress. She sat at the empty bench at the edge of the park where the Aisle of Music was located and gazed at the stars glittering in the night sky.

“You have to stop being a pathetic loser here, Sophia,” Zain told her after their embarrassing failure in the second survival mission training in the Knights Association’s training grounds. “You’ll just get yourself killed and become a burden for us.”

Sophia had her tears at bay that moment as she stared at the dark-haired boy. She couldn’t think of something to retort. She wasn’t one to defend herself when it was all true.

Leon had come to her rescue at that time. The two beat each other up to a pulp if she hadn’t stepped in and doused them with the water from the nearby lake.

“Marshall?”

Sophia turned her head to the side, directly towards the awfully familiar voice. “Sir Dylan…”

The middle-aged major of the Knights Association’s 28^th squadron was a lanky man with black unkempt hair. He wore his casual clothes for this night outside the association: a white T-shirt topped with a black leather jacket, black ragged pants, and shoes. His dark eyes looked at her with genuine curiosity, probably wondering why she was here all alone.

Sophia averted her gaze and looked at the people on the other side of the park. “Zain and Leon decided to rest for tonight.”

She took a glance at her mentor and saw him nodding slowly. “I see. Can I sit here?”

Sophia shrugged and scooted further away to make space for Major Dylan. “About your practical earlier–”

“It’s okay, Sir,” she cut him off. She can’t bear hearing another sorry excuse from anybody right now. “I know I am incapable to become a Knight. The Association will probably assign another capable one to the squad.”

Major Dylan nodded slowly. Sophia was almost certain he was agreeing with her. She had to control her tears from escaping her eyes.

“I heard from Leon. You and those two were classmates.”

Sophia couldn’t talk, afraid her voice would crack and give away her real feelings, so she nodded.

There was silence, enough for Sophia to gain control of her emotions. After a while, she spoke, “Ever since we were kids, Zain was the most talented in magic and while idiotic he was, Leon was a natural.”

Major Dylan chuckled and agreed with a grunt. “Zain had certainly surprised me with his above-average control over the magic channel in his veins and his ability to produce viable fire magic,” he said as he looked down at their feet and the ground in front of them.

Her eyes caught him clenching his left hand. That dark-haired boy from the Anderson Family had managed to get close enough to burn the Major’s hand when he tested them during the individual assessment.

“Leon is talented, too,” Sophia said. “I know Multiplication Magic was harder to control and maintain than the elemental magic because our magic channel will be divided between the clones so that the clones were solid. Even our professor in the Knights Training Academy said it was a rare ability.”

But that was exactly what Leon had done. The so dubbed loser of the class in Knights Training Academy in Nightpoint had consecutively managed to make multiple solid clones of him and even his targets. According to their professor in the academy, it was magic that required enormous amounts of magic in their magic channel, way more than a student should have, so Leon must have unnaturally large reserves to perform that magic more than once when he was only twelve.

“You know basic magic, right?” Major Dylan asked.

Sophia shrugged. “Just what the academy taught us. The most basic among the elements, Water Magic.”

“What else can you do? Leave a surprise for yourself,” he urged.

She shook her head and sighed. “There’s no surprise in me, Major. I can create one clone using multiplication magic, but it was not as perfect as Leon or anyone in the Knights Association can. I can use any weapon as taught by the academy but that was just for defense.”

“You are thinking you probably didn’t have the magic channel reserves needed to perform most magic, aren’t you?”

She looked at her mentor. “Well, yes. That is true.”

“And you have a skill for mind control.”

“No, I would not dare think about it.”

Major Dylan chuckled. “Leon said you were pretty good in it during your practical back in the academy.”

Well, after today, she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t actually know any illusionary magic, aside from the one that could make people sleepy, but she was really good at realizing she was trapped in one, usually, she was the first to notice, and dispelling it.

She shouldn’t have fallen for Major Dylan’s trap earlier. The only reason she had was that it had involved her crush, Zain, severely injured and asking for help – which should have made it obvious because he never asked for help – causing her to react instead of thinking logically.

Her physical combat was rudimentary. It was good enough to scrape by the academy standards, barely. But Sophia knew it to be her greatest weakness. She had no stamina, strength, or speed to speak of. Any sparring at the academy was quickly and embarrassingly lost.

In reality, her skills as a Knight were nonexistent, and Sophia knew her quiet teammate was right. The brunette had absolutely no skill and cared more for her appearance and her crush on Zain than she did for her training.

And it showed. The gap between her and her teammates was cavernous. She honestly wasn’t sure if she could bridge that gap and catch up to her teammates.

“But Zain was hot-headed and every Knight is intimidated by him. Leon was also too rough and loud,” Major Dylan said before looking at her with a smile. “No one could put up against the two of them and control their extremities except you, Miss Marshall.”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she stared at her superior seated not far beside her. She didn’t expect him, of all people, to say that.

“What’s your goal, Miss Marshall?” Major Dylan proceeded to ask.

Sophia looked down and stared at the ground in front of them. What was her goal? Should she tell him? She shook her head inwardly.

“I was bullied for my weakness in physical attributes when we were in the academy,” she started, “Zain and Leon had come to my rescue that time. I had vowed then that I would always stand by their side and offer them my support and whatever else they might need or want.”

It was not the true reason why she wanted to join the Knights Association, but it was the closest to the truth. She wanted to join them in their dreams.

She knew Zain’s dream was to prove himself to his strict father. To step out of his mysterious older brother’s eclipsing shadow and be acknowledged. Zain had said so himself during his introduction in the academy, the first time she saw him.

Leon wanted to slay the dragons that killed his parents. Those dragons were still in the Dragonae Kingdom. They were still at large, killing people from nearby kingdoms. Leon wanted to finish his parents’ duty once and for all.

Her display today had proven she was useless to them. How could she help her two friends achieve their dream if she was weak? Her own dream was to make sure that they succeeded, especially for Zain to succeed in proving his worth to his father, and from what she knew of the man, she knew impressing him was beyond difficult.

“What do you think is the solution, Miss Marshall?” Major Dylan asked. “Will you quit or will you move forward, despite your weakness?”

The obvious answer was to take training seriously. The only way to help Zain and Leon was to help herself. Currently, she was only holding them back, dragging them down. She was a liability to both of her friends and their goals.

When Sophia turned to Major Dylan, he already had his knowing smile. His eyes reflected the determination on her face. Something she never saw in her.

She needed to get stronger to help her friends, so that’s exactly what Sophia would do.