Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 28: Orientation

"What kinds of speeches signifier the Appetites, Aversions, and Passions of mans mind; and of their use and abuse, I shall speak when I have spoken of the Passions.

The names of such things as affect us, that is, which please and displease us, because all men be not alike affected with the same thing, nor the same man at all times, are in common discourses of men, of inconstant signification..."

- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651, 2nd Era)

Erec slept poorly. The entire night consisted of him jolting awake—each time, his eyes darted to the corner of his small room. As if he expected something to stare back at him—the red eyes haunting his dreams.

But no, there was nothing.

By the time he got up in the morning—it was nearly time for orientation. All of the initiates were to gather in the main hall of their respective Orders. While they all fell under the collective instruction of the Academy proper, at the end of the day, they were still Knights to their own Orders. Said Orders determined what they would learn to best benefit their ranks.

Erec put the thought out of his mind, expecting a relatively easy day of information distribution from the facility. He left his room. Garin reclined on the couch, and Olivia came out soon after him; the three agreed to hit the canteen early together.

As the two paced out of the room, Erec paused at the doorway.

He stared at Colin’s room. Since yesterday the haughty Duke’s son hadn’t left his room at all. Not for food, not for a walk to explore the campus. No, his fight with Olivia ended with him spooked and hiding away. It was hard to reconcile that with his image of the arrogant brat he knew Colin to be. Is he playing some game? Once they left, would Colin take the chance to do something unfounded? Their rooms were locked…

The paranoia carrying over from his nightmares was living in his head. Erec groaned.

Colin was sulking because he’d didn’t get into his chosen Order, probably. That and he lost face in front of all of the other big-shot nobles. The Duke likely had some choice words for his son after that trial.

If you asked anyone with practical sense, they’d say that bastard didn’t deserve to be in the Academy. Erec shook his head and closed the door behind him. No, he wouldn’t invite Colin along—

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Fuck.

Why? Why did that thought have to pop into his head? But there wasn’t any way Colin would accept him asking him to come. Not to mention he really didn’t want to.

Garin noticed he wasn’t following along. “What’s up?” he asked.

“Colin’s probably feeling… awfully alone.” Erec bitterly forced the words out. His friend’s eyes lit up, and his jaw dropped, replaced by a quick grin to Erec a second later.

“Oh, shit. Yeah, you’re right. Hold up, Liv,” Garin strode back to the room.

He gave her a nickname? Olivia crossed her arms and stopped just short of a frown. She failed to hide her unhappiness yet didn’t move to stop it.

Garin knocked on Colin’s door.

There was shuffling on the other side. “What is it?” Came a rather strained voice.

“Hey, we’re getting breakfast. Wanna come?”

Pure silence. And then… “Leave me be; I’ve to prepare for the day. Unlike you lot, some of us have to bother to put on a reasonable appearance…” Erec glanced down at his Academy uniform. Appearance? There wasn’t much to do when you had mandatory clothing to wear.

“Don’t bullshit. Just throw on your uniform and come. Stop sulking in your room like a child.” Erec called loudly, irritated at Colin’s response. There was something in there, the way he was acting. Erec had done the same damn thing the night before, and perhaps the fact Colin’s attitude right now made him feel that odd empathy that provoked his anger. That and realizing that he was being a massive hypocrite at getting angry over this behavior, but he’d get nowhere by not pushing back against Colin’s bullshit, such was clear from the trial.

“I am not acting like a child! If it gets you all to stop harassing me, I’ll grace you with my attendance.”

“Goddess have mercy on his soul.” Olivia shook her head further in the hall.

Soon after, Colin left his room, huffy but following along. Garin smoothed things over quickly, complimenting how he’d done his hair and asking for tips. Not that Garin needed any tips about styling his appearance, but you didn’t have to be adept at socializing to see that Garin was pandering to Colin’s ego.

The canteen offered a simple meal of potato pancakes and beans. For the most part, Erec kept himself involved in their conversation as little as possible.

Whenever he spoke up, Colin went quiet and looked away. Maybe he was offended by Erec’s presence or unwilling to provoke or test himself against Erec again.

Either way, Olivia steadily grew more annoyed. Not that it reflected in her tone—but after the second time she ‘slipped’ and slipped water on Colin, Erec had a good grasp of how the refined girl expressed herself.

He caught her staring at him across the table when he got distracted, usually with the barest bit of a frown on her face.

After finishing their meal, it was time for orientation.

— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —

The gathering hall in the Verdant Oak quarters was much smaller than the Academy’s great hall. In Erec’s opinion, their gathering hall was far more beautiful. It lacked all the garish display of wealth and accolade, including the history of the Knights that had been in the hall. Those were things of the past, tales, and people spun from the time before now. And while it was necessary to remember them, their decoration had left Erec with a weight on his chest. As if history levied its dead gaze on the present to judge in silence.

But the Verdant Oak gathering hall was a place of the present. Giant trellises framed either side of the aisle; the roof was a peaked clear glass that spilled in the morning light from above and left the whole place glowing with natural golden light, all the while revealing the beautiful blue sky above. As if the Goddess herself was looking down and blessing them.

Morning glories weaved their way through the intricate latticework of the black-steel trellises. A living wall of flowers and greenery. The whole place had a clean scent; even more natural and filled with life than walking outside in the wasteland yielded.

Centered at the end of the hall was Grandmaster Oak—his beard as unruly as ever, a big smile on his face as the hall filled with the first year and second years. He looked over them all, nodding slowly.

To either side mainly were an assortment of higher ranking Knights Erec had yet to meet. Aside from Boldwick and the Knight Commander, whose name he never did learn had pulled her dark hair back in a ponytail today. They lined on either side of the Grandmaster, faces far more stern and guarded than the head of the Order was. As the initiates took their places, Oak gave a long belly-filled laugh.

“Every year; It never gets old, seeing all of the new faces, all of you wondering, ‘What’s going to happen, what will I learn?’ Meanwhile, the second years look annoyed and anxious, like they’re begging me to get on with it! So, I suppose I will.” He let out one last laugh before smashing his hands together in one loud clap.

A wave of pressure crashed into the initiates; the morning glories rippled as a tangible force ran over them.

Grandmaster Oak had everyone’s undivided attention. “Heed my words! This is my Order, and this year we’re going to excel. You’ll be made into fine Knights, and if I find out any of you lads or lasses are fucking about, there’ll be hell to pay!” A grin spread over Oak’s face. “I’ll let the instructors and faculty give you their introductions, and then we’ll proceed to your exams. That's right. Your first exams are today. I advise you to try your best—since they will determine which courses we offer and which are assigned to you. I think I shall begin with Sir Boldwick.”

On that ominous and unexpected note, Grandmaster Oak nodded to Boldwick. Oak was content to step back and fold his hands on his stomach.

Boldwick strode in front, eyes scanning the crowd. “You won’t see me teaching a class. I might occasionally audit one and provide pointers, but I have more important things to do than waste my time on a bunch of unproven runts. If you want my attention, prove yourselves.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Aside from that, don’t screw up.” Boldwick nodded towards the Knight Commander from the battle yesterday. “Dame Juliana?”

“A pleasure.” She took the head of the hall, “I’ve already led some of your number into a battlefield. I instruct the Wasteland Survival course—which covers unconventional combat, among other essential skills. I must admit, I’m looking forward greatly to working with you more. I’ve seen promising things already.” She bowed her head, then introduced another instructor.

After that, the rest of the instructors made their introductions. All of them Knight Commanders, it seemed that everyone else of Boldwicks rank was out and busy performing jobs for the Order.

They led a variety of elective classes. Ranging from tracking to more unorthodox weapon creation and usage. It seemed the Order geared itself toward teaching their initiates self-reliant techniques and making them capable in the wastes. They wanted them to have what it took to survive in a world filled with hostile monsters.

The exact kind of instruction Erec would need if he were to leave these walls in search of his mother. He listened closely, trying to picture which electives would be of the most use, and then he wondered what the exam would change and qualify him for. And just what sort of courses the Academy proper offered.