Chapter Three: Selection

The examination hall was rather austere.

A knight held a crystalline jade stone and placed it on a table, while another knight set a half-human-tall device in the square. The examiner knight announced, “Those whose Stellar Source power reaches Rank Two, or whose punch force reaches 300 kilograms, will be considered to have passed the test. Now, the first examinee: Naike, son of the Hunter.”

Immediately, from the crowd, a big, horse-sized boy stepped forward and said, “I choose the Stellar Source assessment.”

He walked up, laid his palm on the jade, and murmured softly. Instantly a triangular mark appeared in his palm, emitting strands of starlight — the fabled Stellar Source mark. The jade’s energy resonated with his Stellar Source power, its brightness increasing until it finally stabilized.

“Star-source power, reached Level One — not qualified!” the examiner announced loudly.

Then the second, third, fourth followed—more and more children underwent the assessment—but only a few managed to cultivate their Star Source power to the second tier before turning sixteen.

Soon after, the examiner finally announced Loran’s name: “Next, Loran, son of the Hunter!”

For a moment, a burst of jeering laughter rose from the crowd.

Lorán glanced at them, and the laughter among the crowd immediately died down considerably. Only one young man dressed in luxurious white clothing sneered and said, “What are you looking at? A useless person who still hasn’t awakened the Star Source Power at sixteen—do you think you’ll pass the assessment today?”

“Rega!”

Loran gritted his teeth but didn’t argue with him; he turned and walked toward the examiner, saying respectfully, “Sir, I choose the strength test.”

“Fine, go on—use your full strength and land a punch.”

“Yes!”

Loran stepped forward and, as if practicing his drills as usual, slowly spread his legs and sank his weight. He then channeled power into his arms, gathered strength in his right fist, and struck the heavy strength-testing apparatus with a single punch!

“Poof—”

The crisp sound rippled through the wind. Lolan’s punch was powerful and heavy, jolting the device sharply; the marbles inside clattered against each other, and finally twenty-nine marbles settled into the grooves.

“Hmm?”

The knight serving as examiner flinched slightly and said, “Your strength reached 290 kilograms. Unfortunately, you are eliminated.”

“Still not enough?”

Loran stood there dazed and said, “Sir… a knight told me before that the passing standard for the test was 200 kilograms of strength. Why this time…”

The examiner looked at him with pity and said, “It was an order just issued by the Knight Commander. Knights who haven’t awakened Star Source power ultimately only possess brute strength and cannot wield the true might of the Light Knights’ various techniques, so the number of places selected based on strength has been reduced and the selection standards raised. Your 290 kilograms of strength is already pretty good; it’s just that your technique was a bit off. Go back, child…”

“Yes…” Roland left with a look of disappointment.

“Next, Reiga, the merchant’s son!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Rega stepped forward with a smug look and said, “Sir, I choose the Star Source power test.”

“Okay.”

The next second, Rega placed his palm over the jade and gently closed his eyes. Immediately, the star-source mark in his palm burst forth a dazzling light, and the examiner knight then said with pleasure a moment later: “Not bad, second-level star-source power. You passed the assessment. Stand behind me!”

“Thank you, sir!”

In the square, more children who passed the evaluation kept standing behind the examiner knights. In the end, out of 83 children, seven passed the assessment, including Reiga, while Loran was clearly among those eliminated.

……

In the evening, a carriage from Ailan City entered the village, taking the children who had passed the examination along with their luggage back to Ailan City, escorted by two knights.

Under the starlight, in the woods outside the village.

“Thud thud thud~~~”

Fists landed on the tree; Lorand seemed to have lost all sense of pain. The immense force made the trunk vibrate, and a crushing sense of defeat filled his entire mind.

On the Star-Origin Continent, power rules supreme. When the Sky Gate opened back then, countless demons ran rampant across the land. The battles between the empire’s humans and the beasts never ceased for a moment. Those able to stand against the monsters awakened the Star-Origin mark and possessed Star-Origin power — this was almost a prerequisite for everything. Whether one would become a knight, a mage, a warrior, or a hunter, it all had to be built on the foundation of awakening the Star-Origin mark, because Star-Origin power is the very root of strength on this continent.

Since he had lost the last chance to awaken the Star Source mark, he could only sink into being an ordinary farmer or huntsman—he didn’t even have the opportunity to become a mercenary.

…

He fought until exhausted, his fists covered in wounds. He slowly sat down, leaning against the tree and watching the distant village lights.

Originally, Loran wanted to become a knight, to use the handsome income of a knight to support his mother, never again making her gather wild fruit each day and also do backbreaking work washing clothes for the village. And even if he couldn’t become a knight, at the very least he could awaken a first-tier Star Source power and become a competent mercenary or guard, taking on the responsibilities a man ought to bear.

But everything before him had been destroyed; there wasn’t a trace of star-source energy in his body, and he had failed the power assessment as well. Long-term malnourishment had made his cheekbones slightly prominent and his arm muscles insufficiently full—he looked emaciated. If not for the sharpness in his eyes, he might have been indistinguishable from the beggars who passed by the village edge.

The weather was gradually turning cold, and winter was fast approaching. Without enough income, it would be hard for either my mother or me to have proper winter coats.

At that moment, Roland made up his mind. If he couldn’t become a knight, then he’d be a true man: take up a bow and a short sword, go into the mountains to hunt the beasts preparing for winter, bring back game to help support the household. At the very least, his strength could be put to use. In that instant, his gaze steadily hardened.

But at that moment, a sudden clatter of hooves rang out from afar, and then flames appeared here and there in the little village. It was not the glow of pine-oil lamps—no, the village was on fire!

Immediately after, from far away one could hear a woman’s cries and a man’s wails.

“Not good, something’s happened in the village!”

Loran sprang to his feet, ignoring his exhaustion and the wounds on his palms. His body seemed to follow a hidden thread, snapping first into a bend then straightening, and with a “whoosh” he shot off—heading straight for the little cottage where his mother lived. Could it be a fiend? No… the mountain fiends had already been driven off by the grand knights of the Order of Light; they couldn’t have come into the village. What could it possibly be?!

He ran wildly while thinking quickly. The brambles in the mountains kept slashing wounds across his legs, but by then Lolan no longer felt them. He sped back home in the shortest possible time, and just as his eyes fell upon his homestead, he saw the wooden cabin already engulfed in roaring flames, and by the fence outside the cabin, a body lay there.

That was… his mother!

“Buzz—”

For a moment, Roland’s mind went blank. Like a crazed little beast, he threw himself onto his mother’s body. When he looked up, he saw her head had been severed and lay on the nearby grass. It was clear she’d had her head cut off by a sword, and she died right here. Her body still twitched faintly.

The killer was not far away. A man clutching a sharp sword had plunged the blade into the neighboring carpenter’s chest; with a sudden pull, a gush of blood sprayed out. Just as the carpenter was being killed, another knight reached out, seized the carpenter’s teenage daughter, bound her hands with practiced ease, and placed her on the horse’s back.

…

A torrent of rage filled him, yet it did not make Lorán lose his judgment or composure. He knew the one who killed his mother was a Grand Knight, and a Grand Knight was not easy to slay — at least he had no chance facing him head-on. So from start to finish he did not even let out a cry; instead tears streamed down his face as he reached out and gripped the blade of the scythe. Like a wraith, calm and unhurried, he walked toward the killer who was still slaying others.

“Swish!”

Just as he closed in on his opponent, Roland suddenly leapt; his body fell swiftly like a falling leaf, the blade of the sickle clenched in his right hand. Every ounce of strength in his arm exploded, and the blade became a cold flash that slashed toward the man’s neck.

“Huh?!”

The knight spun around abruptly, only to see Roland’s eyes filled with rage and a strike as swift as thunder. The sickle’s edge hissed as it sliced the surface of his neck, but as Roland continued to press his attack, a layer of starlight spread over the knight’s skin — one of the Empire Knight’s defensive battle techniques: Starlight Aegis, converting star-source power into a protective force!

“Poof…”

With a deafening crash, the rusted blade of Loran’s sickle shattered almost instantly, even cutting his palm, but he seemed oblivious to the pain. His left hand snapped open, his fingers like eagle talons gouging for the opponent’s eyes—swift and brutal!

“What a wild brat!”

The knight barked, star-source power surging through him. His head snapped aside with a speed Lorand couldn’t have imagined, evading the attack, while the blade dipped. The heavy sword hilt came down with a thud onto Lorand’s shoulder, even producing a sound like bone breaking. The knight then suddenly opened his hand; iron-claw fingers closed around Lorand’s neck. A sneer curled his lips: “What are you even? With your strength you think you can kill a grand knight? What a joke!”

Loran stayed silent, his veins bulging as he struggled to breathe. He didn’t thrash about, but suddenly launched a vicious kick aimed at the knight’s helmet jaw. With a “thud” the helmet flew off, revealing a face scarred by crossed sword cuts. For a moment the knight, humiliated and enraged, spat, “You brat, if you weren’t worth a few coins, I’d tear you limb from limb right now!”

Saying that, he suddenly struck the pommel against Loran’s abdomen once more. The blow was heavy and carried the searing burn of Star Source energy. Instantly Loran’s mind went blank, and he fainted.

…

Under the moonlight, the village was washed in blood. A band of knights plundered the village’s meager wealth and carried off all the children, then left. Everything that had grown in the forest seemed to remain here, unknown to anyone.