Ventrillia, Starport.
Planetary Governor Justin Wattara watched the black Aquila Lander descend gracefully from the sky.
As the landing gear deployed, Justin walked towards the Knight Lord.
Seeing Thierry descending the ramp, he halted abruptly, stunned.
Justin was astonished to see that the Knight Lord was more than half a meter taller than when he had last seen him.
Other nobles, following the Governor's gaze, also looked up at the Knight Lord with awe and admiration.
They all froze, staring at the giant figure.
Justin recovered first. Suppressing the doubt that lingered in his mind, he stepped forward as usual.
Walking into the giant's shadow, he said gratefully,
"Knight Lord, thank you for accepting our invitation, for taking time from the front lines to attend the coming-of-age ceremony."
Thierry had transited through the Abyss Port teleportarium to the Kalium Gate and then, using the fully repaired Kalium Gate, had traveled from the Segmentum Obscurus to the eastern fringe in just three weeks.
"It is my duty," the Knight Lord nodded slightly. "Besides, I am quite interested in the creature in the magma lake."
"I trust there will be no disaster this time," Justin joked, referring to how the ceremony had been altered three years prior due to the Knight Lord's warning of calamity.
"I think..." Thierry paused deliberately. "Not this time."
Justin laughed heartily, then said,
"My Lord, the coming-of-age ceremony is ready. Please follow me."
Outside the magma lake.
As the black-armored warriors of Shadows of Order arrived, the gathered Ventrillian nobles erupted in thunderous cheers.
They still remembered the warning from three years ago. Had they not received it, many of them would have perished in the erupting sea of magma.
Justin and Thierry boarded the elevator together, ascending to the platform.
A slight hiss of static came from the vox-system. Holographic projections across Ventrillia simultaneously displayed the scene.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we gather here for the glorious coming-of-age ceremony."
"Unlike the past, the great Shadows of Order will also join us."
The holographic image switched, displaying Second Captain Ghurgur and ten "Pugilist" Honor Guard members.
The scene shifted again, showing the fourteen hundred and eight tall Ventrillian candidates for Shadows of Order.
"Not only that." Thierry stepped forward, his giant figure appearing on the screen.
His commanding voice echoed across Ventrillia through the vox-system.
"The armor I once wore." The image switched again, displaying a black Huntress-class suit.
After consideration, the Knight Lord had decided to offer his former armor as a prize, to deepen ties with the Ventrillians.
"The one who performs best will receive this armor."
"The recipient's body will be enhanced, and they will gain eight years of my combat experience."
The image froze on the black armor. Over a hundred thousand Ventrillian nobles participating in the ceremony had gleaming eyes, which then quickly dimmed.
They had no confidence in defeating the superhuman Shadows of Orders, even without their armor.
"Limited to Ventrillians only."
The moment the Knight Lord finished speaking, the eyes of the Ventrillian youths, both male and female, lit up.
Their opponents were not Shadows of Orders, but the other nobles participating in the ceremony, and the Shadows of Order candidates.
Though the candidates were the best among them, the gap was not insurmountable.
Omari McCarty, ranked three thousand and fifth in the candidate trials, clenched his fist. He had missed passing the first selection stage by just five places.
Chris Anderson's hand rested on the hilt of his jeweled sword. After his father's unexpected death, he had abandoned his dream of becoming a Shadows of Order to take over family affairs. Now, he had a new opportunity.
'I will win this suit, make it an heirloom for House Anderson.'
Under the nobles' gaze, Thierry left the platform and headed for the Shadows of Order encampment.
Apothecaries, preparing for the ceremony, saluted as their Lord passed.
Thierry walked on, entering a room decorated with longswords and gems. He removed the newly crafted suit Vulkan had made for him.
He donned a black robe woven from fireproof material, black fireproof composite boots, and picked up a training chainsword sized for his frame.
Thierry strode out of the camp.
Entering the black lava canyon, he immediately felt a wave of heat.
His gaze swept across the canyon walls, layers of rock, different colors, interwoven and disorderly, piled upon each other.
He stepped onto the raised, hot rocks at the entrance to the magma lake.
On the walls carved inside the canyon, he saw over a thousand members of the Noble Council, in groups of dozens, looking down.
Above, "Pugilist" rode hoverbikes. Apothecaries with assistants piloted Land Speeders.
Servo-skulls floated higher, their auspex casting green light upon the lake, projecting images across Ventrillian.
Thierry looked at the lake's surface. The ceremony had begun. Ventrillians, standing on rocks, fought creatures wreathed in flames.
Omari McCarty led dozens of noble candidates, charging at a group of catfish-like creatures with meter-long tentacles.
Over a dozen agile noble youths had gleaming runes on their ornate armor.
Splashed magma struck their protective fields, emitting piercing shrieks.
The catfish creatures lashed their tentacles, reaching for the youths.
The youths agilely leaped to pre-chosen rocks. The tentacles struck empty air, crackling.
The creatures twisted their bulky bodies, raising their arms to grab at the youths.
"Attack!" Omari shouted, leading the others in a charge.
The noble youths, in groups of three or five, attacked the catfish creatures. Their ornate noble swords gleamed.
Combat training since childhood, countless practical drills, allowed them to perform reasonably well even under stress.
Slashing bellies. Stabbing arms.
Omari charged a catfish creature alone. A three-step run, a leap, his sword piercing between its eyes in an Otsberg-Vaya 1st Form.
Omari flipped and landed, charging the next creature.
In the candidate training camp, he had practiced the 1st Form until it was extremely skilled.
Omari leaped and landed among the rocks, stabbing again and again.
Plop, plop...
Catfish creature after catfish creature crashed into the magma. Soon, no more creatures surfaced near the edge.
He rallied his excited followers and immediately pressed forward.
Catfish creatures were low-value; killing a hundred would allow one person to pass the trial. They needed to kill higher-value creatures.
He saw Chris, who practically managed House Anderson's affairs but was not recognized by the nobles, had already single-handedly killed over a dozen scorpion-like creatures.
Chris had already passed the trial, but he was still fighting towards the center of the lake.
Omari knew no noble would be satisfied with just passing.
The Knight Lord's wondrous armor was coveted by all, a relic no gem mine could buy.
Using Otsberg-Vaya 2nd Form backhand thrust, Chris pierced a scorpion creature. He planted his boot on its burning body.
With a piercing crack, he leaped forward with all his might.
In mid-air, he saw the Shadows of Order candidates had already pulled a hundred meters ahead of him. They had entered the periphery of the central zone.
The creatures there were more dangerous, and their value higher.
Chris's eyes stared intently. Scenes from the past flashed through his mind: on the training field, he had defeated candidate after candidate.
'In the past, most of them didn't perform as well as me in training. Now, they're far ahead. I missed my chance indeed!'
Chris decisively pulled a combat stimulant from his belt.
He jabbed the needle into his neck, the finest Ventrillian combat stimulant, worth ten thousand gems.
His speed surged. His ornate sword flashed. Scorpion creatures, meters long, crashed into the magma, their bodies sliding in.
Chris's gaze locked onto the tall back of a Shadows of Order candidate. The distance closing fueled his belief that the cost was worth it.
He injected a second stimulant. He sped up again. The gap was less than ten meters.
Just as Chris lunged forward, he felt a surge beneath his feet.
A crocodile, five meters long and three meters wide, burst from the lake.
Chris's gaze was icy. No one would stop him now.
He raised his sword high with both hands and brought it down in an Otsberg-Vaya 7th Form cleaving strike.
The blade struck the crocodile creature's left eye. With a crack, Chris leaped into the air.
Suddenly, he felt the magma surge below. Another crocodile leaped.
Chris struggled to evade, but he was in mid-air, unable to move freely. One of the crocodile's fangs caught him in the ribs.
His ornate armor shrieked as it was pierced. Several ribs were torn away.
Flames seared Chris's side, now missing part of his ribs. He tumbled and fell.
Just as Chris thought he was doomed, an engine roared.
Through blurred vision, he saw a Shadow of Order catch him.
The "Pugilist" caught the noble youth, then hurled him towards a Land Speeder before gunning the throttle to evade the crocodile creature.
An assistant secured the youth with medical clamps while spraying white medical gel from an appendage.
Chris's body trembled in pain. An Apothecary poured a bottle of blue-green potion down his throat. His pallid face gradually flushed.
The Apothecary's scalpel then descended, beginning treatment.
Justin watched from above as noble youths in danger were rescued. He said admiringly,
"In every past ceremony, over ten thousand died in the magma lake, bodies never found."
"From now on, deaths will number less than a hundred."
As the Planetary Governor marveled, Thierry had already raced towards the center of the lake.
With speed defying his size, he caught up to the candidates, who had undergone various implantation surgeries.
Thierry's eyes suddenly lit up. In the center of the lake, he saw cylindrical objects with barbed hooks.
At first glance, they resembled scorpion tails.
But the Shadows of Order saw clearly, those were just the parts of something emerging from the lake.
'There are plants living in this lake!'
As Thierry pondered, he saw a Shadow of Order, dodging dozens of fire snakes leaping at him, step onto one of the objects.
The barbed tip, like a scorpion tail, instantly pierced through his boot sole.
The candidate, over two meters tall and nearly fully augmented, was instantly riddled with holes.
Countless fire snakes, like sharks scenting blood, shot from the lake, lunging at the dozen or so nearby candidates.
Thierry accelerated instantly, reaching the fallen candidate in a flash.
His chainsword spun rapidly. Fire snake after fire snake was severed.
"Fall back!"
Hearing the Knight Lord's command, the candidates immediately retreated.
More and more fire snakes erupted from the magma, lunging at Thierry.
The "Dawn Paladin" was unfazed. A suit of refined full-body armor rapidly formed on his surface.
He wore a crested helmet. Gauntlets encased his hands. A breastplate covered his torso.
The gleaming "Dawn Armor" attracted all the fire snakes.
They lunged crazily at the "Dawn Paladin," thudding against the "Dawn Armor" one after another.
Seeing the candidates had retreated, Thierry hurled his flame-wreathed chainsword.
He grabbed the fallen candidate's body and tossed it to a "Pugilist" rushing to help.
Then, he grabbed one of the objects in each hand. The "Dawn Paladin" pulled with all his strength.
An object nearly a kilometer long, its roots anchored in the lake bed, was torn completely free.
Fire snakes battered against him. Flames licked his gauntlets.
The "Dawn Paladin" felt his psychic energy drain rapidly. He pulled back sharply.
The "Dawn Armor" had no weight, not hindering his swift movements at all.
The Ventrillians rubbed their eyes, stunned to see the fire snakes attacking the Knight Lord, yet his steps remaining swift.
He even retreated calmly, dragging the flame-wreathed objects with both hands.
The Knight Lord had actually crossed the magma fire waves and left the lake unscathed.
Four days later, the coming-of-age ceremony celebration.
Justin announced loudly, "On behalf of the Ventrillian Noble Council, I congratulate all ladies and gentlemen who have passed the trials and become new noble members."
Omari McCarty, standing with the fourteen nobles beside him who had also passed, held his head high, pride on his face.
Chris Anderson, bandaged, had passed the trial but showed no joy.
He looked enviously at the tall figure in a thin, black bodysuit. Justin's proud voice echoed.
"Finally, let us congratulate the winner," his voice paused deliberately, "Joe Wattara. He will inherit the great Knight Lord's armor suit."
Justin watched his son, with the assistants' help, don the black armor suit.
He surveyed the nobles, 'Sending my heir to the candidates was wise. House Wattara will be sung of for generations, ruling Ventrillian forever.'
Justin's thoughts were interrupted by the nobles' exclamations. He looked at his son.
Joe felt his body being kneaded and stretched. He grew hot and swollen. His skin, muscles, and bones seemed to melt.
The adaptive evolution lasted nearly a week. Joe's body gradually expanded, fitting the originally oversized black armor.
His brain felt like it was being pricked. Something seemed to be added to his mind.
Apothecaries constantly monitored Joe's physical indicators.
A week later, the 8th Company had a new recruit, taller than any other Shadow of Order.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu