Knock knock
I woke up to the sound of echoing knocks.
"Sir, the lady is expecting you." Adrian's respectful voice came from behind the door.
I guess I must have been more tired than I thought if I dozed off like that.
"I'll be right there." Swiftly getting rid of my sleepiness I headed toward the door.
Before I fell asleep I took a shower and picked out some clothes so I was ready to go.
Click!
Opening the door, I was greeted by the old attendant wearing a suit.
"Hello sir, my lady is ready to meet you." His impeccable manners and attitude was truly praiseworthy.
"Lead the way."
The butler nodded his head before he started moving down the hallway.
As we started walking, I wondered how strong this butler truly was. He was capable of killing a Tier 3 without any effort.
I also couldn't sense his presence at all earlier. He was probably watching over us when we made our way to the Dawn Estate. After all, there is no way the star of the Dawn household would be left unprotected.
For him to do all that while remaining hidden…
What Tier could he even be?
'Tier 5 at minimum...'
Awakened are divided into Tiers. Each Tier the awakened reaches increases their power by a substantial amount. When you awaken, you start at Tier 1. The highest Tier that's ever been reached is Tier 9.
But only the world's strongest beings have reached that level. The amount of Tier 9's could almost be counted on one hand.
You can increase your Tier by 'meditating'. This act is when the awakened manually absorbs mana particles from the air into their core to refine it. It's an essential part of being awakened and necessary if you want to grow stronger.
But as you climb higher, you'll have more difficulty breaking through Tiers. Some even require special skills or rituals to reach…
"We have arrived, sir." The mysterious attendant announced as we reached two dark brown double doors.
He knocked a few times before we heard a reply.
"Come in." A sweet voice called out with authority.
Creakk
Adrian opened the door and we both walked in.
The office looked more mellow than the rest of the mansion. Instead of extravagance, simplicity seemed to be the main goal here.
The only things I could see in the room were a few bookshelves and a brown wooden desk in the center of the room.
Sitting at the desk was that same noble lady looking unperturbed. Het pale blond hair reflecting the light on her desk as she was writing something.
"Thank you for your work Adrian
"You may leave." The butler bowed his head before walking back to the door and closing it on the way out.
Scribble scribble
The sound of her pen scratching echoed throughout the room.
'Should I greet her?' Not knowing what to do, I decided to greet the lady.
But before I could, she suddenly put her pen down and looked at me.
"Good evening, how are you doing?" She asked me with an innocent smile.
Hesitating for a moment, I replied, " I'm doing fine, thank you for asking."
Since she seems to dislike too formal talk I decided to take it somewhat easy.
Her smile widened at my reply. "I'm glad to hear that."
She continued, "I spoke to Henry a while ago. He told me about all the events that happened to you guys these days."
I nodded my head.
'As expected, she's already had a run down of what happened.'
"I called you here to discuss your awakening." She finally brought the topic of the conversation.
"My awakening?" I echoed, not entirely sure of what she was entailing.
She chuckled for a moment before continuing.
"Yes, you're awakening. Awakened are sought after people in our society after all. Not everyone is capable of being awakened."
"Henry described your actions during the attack from Aiden along with your behavior while running into the Umbra members. He made you sound like quite the person." She laughed, seemingly thinking back about the talk she had with Henry about me.
'Is she..'
"Are you trying to… recruit me?" I asked in disbelief.
Her smile turned even wider. "Yes, you're correct. I would like to have you become a part of our knight order."
'The Dawn Order…'
Each noble family has some kind of armed forces under them. But even among the biggest nobles, the Dawn Knights stick out for being some of the best knights in the Kingdom. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that being a Dawn Knight was every awakened's dream.
'So, me being recruited is an amazing thing but…'
"Why?"
"Hmm?" Tilting her head at my questions, I reiterated.
"Why am I of all people being recruited into the Dawn Order? This is debatably the best Knight Order in the Kingdom, rivaling even the Royal Guard. I don't think the good word of a knight in training would be enough to get someone like me into the organisation."
I'm suspicious.
It just doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. Sure I helped take down Aiden but she doesn't owe me anything. Especially after saving me. And my skills as an awakened are also non-existent for the most part.
There is no logical reason for her to want to recruit me.
"Are you suspicious because this doesn't feel logical from my point of view?" She asked back in a confused tone.
Yes but it's not just that…
"Earlier today, you said that you observed the interaction between me, Henry and Umbra because you were curious about the knight Commander son's skill right?" I asked leading up to the next question.
She nodded her beautiful smile slowly twisting into something more intense.
"That was a lie." I stated confidently.
"Oh? How so?" The her twisted smile widened even more
I pushed through my discomfort and confidently stated my reasoning.
"There is no way you would risk the life of the Knight commander's son for a simple reason as "revealing his true self". If your goal was truly to test him, you would have let him fight the fake knights and saved him when it got dangerous."
"You had a different reason for drawing the situation out." I declared while looking at the lady's confident grin.
"And what would that reason be?" She asked.
It's quite simple really.
"It's me, isn't it?" I asked. Though it felt more like an accusation.
"…."
"Pff, hahaha."
She remained silent for a moment before bursting out into full on laughter.
"Ahh. That was good. It seems I was correct about you."
"The reason why I waited instead of saving you two was indeed because of you." She readily admitted.
So I was indeed correct, huh. I wasn't entirely sure about this.
"Shortly after the disappearance of Henry and the hunting party, I looked into each member of the group and one person stood out to me…"
It was obvious where she was going with this.
"...Kaelith Vayne, also known as 'Crow', due to his black hair, exceptional Intelligence and…
....being surrounded by death at every corner as an unawakened Rift Hunter."
She seems to have done an extensive background check on me.
"As a way to take care of his sibling, this young teen decided to follow one of the most dangerous occupations in the world as a regular human."
I could feel my knuckles tighten.
"Remember what I said the definition of true power is?" She suddenly stood up and walked in front of the desk.
"Technique, right?" I answered while frowning.
"Correct. But I wasn't entirely honest there either."
This woman seems full of lies.
"Technique is definitely the most important aspect to fighting. But do you know where true power comes from?" Her smile disappeared as she stood right in front of me.
"Where?" Her blazing red eyes urged me to answer.
She raised her white hand and slowly brought it up to my temple. "Right here. True power comes from intellect."
Her cold finger made me shiver.
She suddenly stepped back and a smile reappeared on her face.
"You, Kaelith, have quite a lot of intelligence." She suddenly held out her hand to me. "And not just that, you're cunning, deceptive and cautious. Exactly what I'm looking for."
"Become my knight, Kaelith. Not just a Dawn Knight, but my personal attendant."
The declaration left me in shock
"I don't want someone with power, influence or riches. I want someone is smart and resourceful." Her face started turning red from excitement.
"Money and power can be gained, but a cunning intellect? That's what truly sets apart the weak from the powerful." Her strong words made me realize something.
Her ambition is just like mine, to be stronger. But in a different way. Instead of dictating her own fate, she wants to dominate others.
"Join me Kaelith. Together, I believe you and I can reached heights no other could possible reach. Whether it's strength, protection or money..... I can give it to you. So become mine." Her fiery eyes willed with passion bore into me.
I'm sure that any person in the nation would love for the daughter of a duke to say this to them.
But...
"So what do you say? Will you join me as my personal attendant?" Her eyes seemed filled with confidence, as if she knew I wouldn't reject.
Silence filled the room as I contemplated my choices, knowing full well I already made up my mind.
"I choose...."
What I would say next, could change my life forever.