Knight’s Pledge

Allen looked in the mirror wearing his new uniform. Satisfied with his look he walked out of his dorm room. There were no classes today to let the first year students settle into their new environment and get to know the other students attending the Academy. 

Walking out of the dorms Allen went to the main building of the Academy. Allen walked the halls of the building and when he was at a crossroads, followed a sign to get to the library.

Entering the library Allen saw a wide open area in the center with various tables and chairs and on the sides were bookcases. It certainly was larger than the library at his home at first glance, "Wonder what kind of books they must have in here."

"Hey!" An impatient voice shouted out, "If you're going to stand around how about not blocking my way?"

Allen jumped a little as his head swerved to the direction of the voice.

A German Shepherd with its arms crossed just looked at Allen with an expression that said "Well?"

"You mind saying that again? I couldn't quite catch that."

The German Shepherd scoffed and bumped Allen out of the way, "Asshole." Allen said loud enough for the German Shepherd to hear and then left the library

Allen didn't know what the guy's deal was and didn't care. His stomach was telling him it was time to eat, so after looking around he found the cafeteria.

It was quite lively in the cafeteria, even with the refined air of most of the students, there was soft chatter around. Allen went over to a line to get some food. After getting the food Allen saw some of the nobles he met at his coming of age party. 

"Eh? Hey it's Allen. So you did make it here after all. There is an empty seat for you." A leopard waved Allen down and Allen sat next to him.

"It's been a while Claude. Is your sister doing okay?" Allen made small talk with Claude

"Yeah she is doing fine. The doctor says that she is recovering well. It will be only a few more months before she can walk again."

"That's good."

"So. How have you been Allen?" Claude asked

"Hmm? Ah I've been doing okay, nothing major, just training and hanging out with my brother. I did go to a couple of parties after my coming of age, but the women there don't interest me."

"Still haven't found someone you like?" Another man asked Allen. This person was an Azure colored wolf with white and gray fur accents. The man had a small scar on his nose and had fur go around his neck, almost like hair.

"Nah. If anything it just proves that I have no sexual attraction to girls." Allen said in a neutral tone

"Damn...that is cold." The wolf offered a silent prayer to every girl that was into Allen

"Not like you will get any marriage offers Garner." The final one, who was another wolf, had fur color that was like burnt silver

Garner looked at the silver wolf, "Shut up. You're no better than me."

Allen smiled at the banter as he continued to eat, "So is there anything I need to know about this place?"

Claude thought about the question for a couple of seconds, "Not sure, we just got here so we are as clueless as you are." He then looked at Garner, "Doesn't your cousin go here?" Garner nodded

"He does, if I remember correctly he is in the same year as Leon. So...second year? Anyway he did tell me about a couple of things about this place through letters."

"Like the fact that there is a ranking system?" Allen started, "The top 100 students in the Academy get special previlages and can go to areas that the ordinary students can't."

"Yeah." Garner confirmed, "But he wouldn't tell me what the areas were. Apparently there is an unwritten rule among the 100 to keep quiet about what goes on in those areas."

Allen's romantic mind conjured up images of students having trysts...then there were the teachers. What were the teachers like?

"What about the teachers?"

"Cousin said it was a surprise. Considering what we saw at this school the teachers are going to be amazing...and handsome?" Garner muttered the last part of the sentence. He then cleared his throat, "Anyway. There are a lot of rumors surrounding the Academy. Like how every guy who comes here is secretly gay, or that if a woman comes onto the island then she will turn into a man the very next day."

Allen took one last bite of his lunch before swallowing, "Secretly gay?"

"What kind of spell would turn a woman into a man overnight?" Claude pondered how that would impact the population

Garner shrugged, "I don't know, but there is one thing I do know. This place is a paradise. A paradise only for men."

Allen tried his hardest not to laugh at Garner's decleration before the silver haired wolf asked Allen something, "Allen. Do you want to come with us to the library?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine. I want to explore the campus first. Maybe see those secret areas Garner was talking about."

Allen got up and said that he would see them later. He then went back into the hallways of the school and started to take a look around. Seeing students going to and fro classes. It was all so different to him since he had a tutor come to his home to teach him and his brother, but it was also exciting, being able to learn alongside these strong and capable men.

"Hey. Zerah can you help me with something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Allen ears picked up on bits and pieces of conversation going between students and some teachers who were not teaching classes. Making his way outside he saw a map detailing the island. Staring at the map he saw his position on the map and saw a beach not to far away from where he was. Curious he made his way over to the beach. If he knew there was a beach he would've brought a swimsuit. Standing on the wooden road lining the sand he looked towards the vast ocean in front of him. The sun was still high in the sky. Though judging its position it was 3 hours past noon. Allen saw other students and a couple of staff enjoying the beach. Made him want to join them.

"Since I don't have a swimsuit I'd have to ask my dad to bring one...if I ask my brother who knows what he would buy for me."

Walking along the wooden road he passed a pair of students holding hands. That confirmed his suspisions of students being able to date one another. That just left the question of if there were any student-teacher relationships at this prestigious military academy. Allen wouldn't be surprised if there were some cases since they were all of legal age...which got Allen thinking. He remembered a very old law, one that was passed before he was born. That forbade nobles to marry off their daughters to old widows. Even if said daughter's family was running low on money. Well, there were plenty of reasons for daughter's to be married off, whether it be money or power.

Most of the world treated women as second class citizens. Men were allowed to have multiple wifes, but not the other way around.

Men were the ones in positions of power, not that women couldn't be in positions of power, but there would be push back from the populace and surrounding countries.

Allen shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head. He didn't need to think about that when he was about to start his training as an Evean Knight. 

Allen saw a forest in the distance and made his way there. The wooden road fading into dirt as he left the beach behind. Walking along the trail Allen could imagine himself enjoying his 4 years at the Academy. Making friends, studying together, and playing with each other. 

Walking up to the hill that was on the edge of the forest, he heard more chatter between friends as they discussed classes, and how hard the teachers pushed them physically.

Entering the forest he walked along the path in front of him as the sounds of civilization grew further and further away, taking in the scenery of the forest, even if the trees werent as big as he would've like Allen still enjoyed it none the less. Allen then heard the faint sound of rushing water in the distance. Curious as to where it was coming from Allen made his way towards the sound as it got louder and louder. He came across a clearing where a wooden path replaced the dirt one. He heard sounds of splashing and male voices, soon coming across 100 lockers, all numbered.

This place must be one of the places that Garner mentioned. A place where the top 100 students can relax and recharge. Now that got Allen thinking as to how many spots there were on this island. Turning his attention to the sounds he was hearing Allen went into the glade. In front of him Allen could see a waterfall in front of him. His attention turning to the crystal clear waters of the lake, the magical feeling could be felt in his very bones. "This place..." He muttered before someone surfaced from the water.

It was a black tiger with white stripes, "Leon?" Allen called out

The tiger turned around and saw his cute little brother standing before him, "Hey Allen! It's been a while." He smiled

"Yeah. It has." Allen said with Leon climbing out of the water naked, "So...you finally made it to Evean Academy. What a gifted little brother I have." Leon sauntered over to Allen and kissed his cheek

Allen smiled and could feel that Leon wanted to pounce on him and wanted to make out with him, but restrained himself since he was wet and didn't want to ruin Allen's new uniform, "Now we can finally play again." Allen said as Leon circled around him to check him out in his uniform, "Wow. The uniform looks good on you little bro."

"So. This place. Garner told me its one of the previlieges that the top 100 get. Since you are here you are one of the 100?"

"Yup. There are rules to the top 100 though. Some quite strict ones, but other than that it's pretty nice here." Leon walked away from him and back to the lake, "You should go back to exploring the campus. There's a lot to see in this place."

"Well. Alright. See you later Leon." Allen said before leaving lake and continuing on to see the rest of the island. One of the places he visited was a marble statue of the founder of the academy. The statue measured 15ft in height and was standing on a black marble base with a height of 5ft. The founder was standing upright, looking towards the sea with a determined gaze. Paws placed on a cane in front of him. The statue felt as if it was a guardian protecter of the island, at least to those that saw it, and would make the island a peaceful place where men from all over the empire can train in peace. 

Looking down Allen read the writing written into the marble.

Ethan Blackfang

Ethan Blackfang...Allen could've sworn he heard that name before, but didn't know where he heard it from. He did recognise the name of Blackfang however.

Going back into the main building, Allen made his way back to the library again. Grabbing a book of a shelf, Allen sat down and looked at the cover.

History of the Argen Empire 5th edition

Allen started to read when Petro walked up to him with a book in his hand and sat down across from him, "Man the campus is huge." He sighed as he then was interested in the book Allen was reading.

"What are you reading?" Petro leaned in his chair

"History of the Argen Empire." Allen parroted back what was on the front cover

"I wonder what the classes are going to be like."

"Well from what I overheard of the other student's talking. Pretty tough." Allen idly responded

Petro paused for a moment, "I feel like I shouldn't be here."

Allen looked up from his book, "What do you mean?"

"Well. I know I got in due to my own hardwork, but now that I'm here, all I see are nobles who have gotten way more training than me. I don't see any people from my hometown, and if there are commoners I don't think I'll be able to relate to them since most of them are going through the Empire's military training."

"...You'll find friends here."

"I hope so. You're the only person I know here." Petro said before reading his book

"I can introduce you to some people if you want me to."

Petro thought about it for a couple of seconds, "Sure, lets do that."

Allen nodded as he turned the page to his book and sat in silence. The two apprentice knights sat there quietly while reading their respective books.

By the time Allen was finished reading the book it was almost dinnertime. He looked at the clock on the wall and closed the book he was reading and put it back on the shelf, "It's almost time for dinner."

"Hmm? Ah is it that late already? ...it's only 6:30."

"Like I said, almost time for dinner. Come on."

Allen made his way to the cafeteria with Petro on his heels. Arriving at the cafeteria Allen saw his friends flag him down and went over to them.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Allen asked as he flagged Petro down, Petro naturally sitting alongside Allen

"Nothing much. Me and Garner were talking to the second and third year students to see what lays ahead of us." Claude said as he bit into his steak.

"I was mostly tired so I went back to my room to sleep from the journey." Silver replied next before looking at Petro, "Don't you live in my family's land?"

"Huh?" Petro was caught off guard, "Well I'm from Roosen territory...so probably?"

"Yeah. I thought I saw you before."

"Sorry?"

"Ah. My bad. My name is Silver. Silver Roosen."

"Oh...It's nice to meet you um...Silver." Petro awkwardly replied back

"Same here, hopefully we make it and become knights."

'Wow. He sure is friendly.' Petro thought as he ate his food

The 4 chatted away as they ate and at the end Allen went towards the beach once more to watch the sunset. He had only been there one day and already he felt at place there. The staff were friendly and the students seemed to get along.

"I finally found you." Well...mostly.

Allen huffed and looked at the German Shepard while crossing his arms, "Do you have a problem with me?" Allen asked

"Yeah I do. You know, for someone of lower class you don't pay respects to your betters." 

Allen raised an eyebrow at that, "Let me guess. You're from a Duke family?" Allen took a closer look at the Shepard, "The Allisto's?"

"You got that right. Lupal Allisto. That's my name, so why aren't you paying your respects?"

Allen thought back at what his father told him, "Since you got into this academy I'll assume that you are skilled with a sword, but your attitude needs work. If you wish to become a knight don't insult other's willy nilly, that is a good way to get knocked flat on your ass. Or worse."

"You don't have to tell me. I knew what I was getting into when I signed up. But..." Lupal said as Allen walked closer

"But what?" Allen said in a low voice while stepping closer

"..." Lupal wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out

Allen stayed silent and moved passed Lupal. His face instantly softening as he walked to his dorm room and used the restroom attached to the main room, then stripping his clothes and climbing into bed. His head hitting the soft pillow and he drifted off into a blissful dream.

---

Samuel was sitting alone in the dining room as he quietly ate, his head full of thoughts, 'I wonder if Allen made it to the Academy okay.'