67 Chapter 67 - Practical Test [1]

A/N: This was all I could do in the past bit because I have final exams, after these end I will be able to upload daily I hope.

I've also read some other series with chatacters with regeneration for ideas so you can expect some fun stuff and not so fun stuff with regeneration once we get further into the Novel.

***

The man claiming to be my cousin grasped my hand, shaking it before speaking.

"Abelard Schild."

'What is with all the men in this family having German names that have something to do with strength or combat. This guy's second name literally means Shield too, talk about unoriginal. What moron came up with these names?'

A/N: Spoiler, it was me.

"In any case, I've got a question. Why didn't you fight back? You're tough to handle a blow from me without feeling it, so why do you let yourself get hit? Have you got some sort of weird fetish?"

Smiling awkward, he spoke.

"It's too much trouble to fight a noble. You beat one of them up, they get their older brother, their cousin, someone from a higher grade who's a family friend and so on. Its just not worth it. If I stand still and they get hurt then it's not like they can just run and ask for help, that'll ruin their image."

What he said was making sense, it was one thing to get beaten up and ask for help. But even they had shame, they couldn't run to others for help when they got hurt from punching someone.

'Though, that's something only this guy can do.'

"I'd just beat them up, but you do what you want."

As I was speaking to him about more trivial matters, Arthur approached and asked for me to go talk to him one on one for a moment. And so, excusing myself, I left to walk with him.

"Your princess was looking for you, but found me instead and asked me to pass some information onto you. We first year's have a practical test coming up, the theme is 'survival.' Everyone else was told already, but we have to fight that insane woman everyday so we weren't told. It starts tomorrow, and lasts for a week."

Placing a hand on my shoulder, the regressor spoke.

"Considering your skill set, you're going to be ganged up on first since you're the greatest threat in a survival setting. And another thing.."

He met my gaze, the air around him changing entirely.

"If you want to fight another Demonic Contractee, then tell me by nightfall. I have.. a method of finding them. It would be reassuring to have you, and it'd be a good way to train."

'He knew it was me? Well, whatever. I was gonna tell him anyways.'

"How'd you know I did it?"

Smiling, he spoke.

"I was watching. I was going to kill that contractee myself, but then I saw a certain four armed monster beat and burn into a bloody pulp."

I felt as if time around me slowed down, as a simple realisation came to me.

'He knows. He knows things that he shouldn't know. He shouldn't have known where and when that contractee appeared until later on in the novel. In the original, the contractee was tortured for information and that's where they found where and when he became a Contractee. However, that didn't happen in this timeline as the contractee was found mere hours after their descent.'

That contractee was discovered much later in the original Novel, I don't understand. How does he know. How could he possibly know that information when the only reason that I know it is because I know of a future that he hasn't yet lived through.

"Arthur. I'll hunt Contractees, or even Demons with you. But, later I want your help. Once, just once, I want you to help me unconditionally."

Shrugging his shoulders, he walked away.

"One time. I'll let you ask for my help, in return, you work with me as a sword."

As he was leaving, I grabbed his arm.

"Your sword? Only one person has the right to call me their sword, and it's not you. Even then I still don't like hearing it. So don't call me your sword, yeah?"

I said, getting visibly irritated at his words.

I hated the idea of people claiming a sort or ownership of me, technically I did serve someone but I was getting paid for it so it wasn't a big deal.

'And... it's not like I took an oath. Not yet anyways. Though, taking an oath wouldn't be a bad idea.'

In this world, there was a concept known as an Oath. Typically, they were taken by Knights but anyone could take them.

An Oath both empowered the Knight, and became their weakness. An oath was something personal, and between the Lord and their Knight.

I'm only a Knight in name, and thus, I have nothing binding me to serve my 'lord', aside from a stable wage and some authority that comes with serving her.

In any case, an Oath could go something like 'Your duty is to guard me.'

And so, it would be that Knight's eternal duty to protect their Lord, in return, their power would grow exponentially.

A Knight could not defy their Oath, it wasn't even a case of them refusing to do so. They simply could not.

An Oath was not only eternal, but it took priority over ones own life. It was a binding promise between a Lord and Knight, enforced by Mana itself.

Oaths are also affected by the perspective of the Knight, although the Lord issued the details of the Oath, it was the Knight's understanding of their Oath that determined how they had to abide by it.

If a commandment wad 'You may not kill.' And the Knight's understanding was along the lines of 'If I kill you with a weapon, it was ME who killed you.' Then they would essentially be able to bypass the constraints of their Oath while retaining its benefits.

Oaths also had to be wholly accepted by both parties, one could not be forced into it.

An Oath is what separated soldiers and Knights. That is why Knights were used as guards, and were commanding forces in armies.

They were extensions of their Lord, they were inherently incapable of betraying their Lord due to their Oath, which typically contained a clause on betrayal.

The power boost that came from an Oath could take many shapes, from an ability to a boost in Mana Capacity to many other things that are typically considered 'Impossible.'

It's only fair, seeing as an Oath takes away or limits the one thing every human is given at birth.

Free will.

***

After the meeting with Arthur, the rest of the day passed without anything particularly interesting happening.

The following day, all the first years were rounded up in the assembly hall, and rather quicklt briefed on the practical exam that was about to take place.

In short, we would be allowed to take in one Artifact or Magical Item, and some supplies. The Artifact or Item could be your own, or borrowed from the school.

The school had a plethora of Magic Items. Magic Items were different to Artifacts as they were crafted by the hands of man, rather than being a gift from the World, God's or a weapon belonging to a Hero that attained the status of Artifact.

Normally, Artifacts surpassed Magic Items. However, Artifacts were terribly rare.

As far as I knew, I was the only one who was Artifact. Even the children of nobility couldn't take their family's sacred Artifacts to school.

As I was sat down on a chair, waiting for our sign to be deployed I heard a few thumps. Several students began falling to the floor, but I couldn't understand why.

My eyes shut for a split second, but before long I felt fine after using a burst of Arcane Healing.

Before I could even stand up, I felt a stabbing sensation on my neck.

'Damn... it. Why are these teachers.. like this?'

"The principal was right, you adapted almost immediately. How troublesome."

And with that, my eyes closed and my body limp as my consciousness drifted.