Knights Apocalyptica
Chapter 234: Industry And Science

In eloquence and warlike achievements, he equalled at least, if he did not surpass, the greatest of men. After his prosecution of Dolabella, he was indisputably reckoned one of the most distinguished advocates. Cicero, in recounting to Brutus the famous orators, declares, “that he does not see that Caesar was inferior to any one of them;” and says, “that he (36) had an elegant, splendid, noble, and magnificent vein of eloquence.” And in a letter to Cornelius Nepos, he writes of him in the following terms: “What! Of all the orators, who, during the whole course of their lives, have done nothing else, which can you prefer to him? Which of them is more pointed or terse in his periods, or employs more polished and elegant language?” In his youth, he seems to have chosen Strabo Caesar for his model; from whose oration in behalf of the Sardinians he has transcribed some passages literally into his Divination.

-Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete (2nd Era, 121)

Everyone was riled up for the whole day after the premier wrestling match of the tournament, especially within the Academy. When Erec got breakfast in the dining hall with his friends, he kept overhearing nearby Initiates who were not so quietly discussing his victory. While not all of them had attended the serendipitous affair, enough had that the rumor went out that he had annihilated the competition and was going to go on and win the bracket in the tournament.

Which was unfair.

In his opinion, that wasn't exactly true. He’d run against a few very strong competitors who gave him a run for his money, and even more sat out on the wrestling contest. A realm that relied on pure strength was, of course, going to be where he excelled.

Even with those opponents, there were those he still felt like he hadn't won fairly against.

Still, the rumor went on, unconstrained like the wind, and people began to bet on whether he'd win the tournament. After all, if you see someone win in a technically ‘fighting’ contest, you are bound to assume that they will then go on to win a tournament about fighting, which is folly.

But Erec ignored their talk. For the longest time, as a young, landless noble, to where he was now, he knew one certainty: people loved to gossip.

They would talk and talk and talk as if their lives mattered and revolved around whatever the hot discussion of the moment was, but the truth was that their opinions and thoughts held very little weight compared to the reality of the world. They would be better served by burying their heads and working on their own problems. But they never did.

Erec did his best. The wrestling match had been fun. Both from the thrill and nice gains, but mostly since it had whetted his appetite for fighting. The next big looming game remained, and he still didn't know what to think of it, since it seemed impossible for him to attend. But today was dedicated to something else.

He rolled his shoulders as he looked around the dining hall, landing on Enide, and she smiled at him. After this, they would be going into the Cavern. To take care of a matter of business that Val had been pressing him on.

[Stop making googly eyes at your girlfriend and finish your food already, Buckeroo.] VAL buzzed.

Erec rolled his eyes and then poked at the eggs on his plate. He'd doused it with a healthy amount of hot sauce, loving how the peppers grown in the bow caverns below gave a nice tang to the otherwise mellow flavor of eggs and cheese. He grumbled to himself as he spooned another forkful and then downed it. After such an expenditure as yesterday, a nice hearty breakfast was everything he needed.

Over to his left, he saw Garin joking around with Olivia. To his right, Colin barely acknowledged his plate; instead, he focused on reading a book and scribbling notes into a journal next to it. This morning, they had been joined by Colin's betrothed, Alexandra, who was currently having a discussion with Enide across the table.

Erec sighed, feeling the warm light of the day as he took in the hall around him. All of the gorgeous vines and ivy grew across the open ceiling. Big panes of tilted glass above them letting in light from the sky made it a perfect place for various plants to grow. It felt more like a greenhouse than a dining hall, but that was the nature of the Verdant Oak—an embrace of life and all that it brought, and the outside.

He hadn't toured the other dormitories much, having spent much of his time outside the walls rather than in them, or focused on his training. He wondered just what life was like for other Initiates, not in what he considered the best Order.

After poking around at the eggs for a bite, and taking a couple of more savory bites, he gave VAL what it wanted and picked up his pace.

Within two minutes, he’d finished, got up, and gave Enide the nod; she’d already finished, being a voracious eater. She said something to Alexandra, then vanished only to reappear at Erec’s side, grabbing his hand.

“Now’s the time?” she asked.

"Yeah," Erec agreed.

Truthfully, he didn't want to do this. He'd much rather spend the day looking over the upcoming games, picking out what he wanted to do. Or maybe talking strategy with Garin and Colin, but no, Val had demanded he go down.

Colin seemed to know what they were doing based on the glare he shot them as Alexandra’s attention turned from talking to Enide to harassing her betrothed. Undoubtedly, his friend would much rather be in the confines of his lab downstairs in the Vortex Industries’ newest branch. Studying and conducting his magical studies. But Erec hadn’t invited him along, mostly because he wanted to enjoy the day with Enide, and stop at his manor with her afterward for a romantic meal.

The two bid goodbye to their friends, put their plates away to be cleaned, and then departed. There was one quick stop at Erec’s dorm to grab his Armor, and then they were fine to go.

They walked through the long dormitories and beautiful Verdant Oak corridors, basking in the sun and plant life that seemed to decorate every nook and cranny in this place. Vines and potted plants were flushed and vibrant in the day until they found the exit after being intentionally lost for thirty minutes, much to VAL's annoyance.

Together, they left the Academy and cut through the city more lively than ever. It was packed with enough people that Erec was shoulder to shoulder with them, having to be careful in his Armor not to knock anyone over.

All these people were buzzing above ground to see the tournament and outsiders. By the day, the draw only increased.

This meant that when they reached the Great Lift to take them down to the caverns, they had to wait quite some time before they could finally get down. The wheels turned, and slowly, they were lowered back under the earth, miles down, going deeper and deeper.

It was here and on every stop therein that Erec noted something rather peculiar. People were protesting. They had signs and complained loudly about the tournament, chanting phrases such as “Send them back outside the wall!” and “Heathens belong in the wastes!”

Most of them posted up near the elevator, trying to intimidate and harass those getting off and on, to no doubt go and participate in the tournament these people were condemning, which made up just as many as those protesting; nearby, the military watched, but didn’t interfere. Amongst the protesters, Erec saw several red robes.

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The priests were stirring up trouble.

Down the elevator went, and they arrived at his Cavern and saw the hard-working people therein. Here he saw fewer protests; any that dared spawn would be pushed back by his people's love of their hero competing in the tournament.

It was hard to even go twenty steps without someone ducking a head out of their house and congratulating Count Audax on his victory in the wrestling match—one kid even ran up with an axe to sign, which Erec, bewildered, and at Enide’s insistence, did. It was a long journey just for them to be able to walk through their home, but eventually they arrived.

Erec entered the Vortex Industries laboratory and let out a deep breath as the door closed behind him and Enide.

[Cheer up, buckeroo! There are no more people to go and harass you. Only some work to do.]

Right. That makes it better.

He set up Enide with a comfortable chair, left his Armor, and then went and did his tasks—grabbing a journal and a pen to take notes and then collecting the various flasks and vials that had been stored away in cabinets.

VAL left the Armor and began to run tests on the vials, having Erec unstop them so VAL could analyze them.

All in all, about 20 stock chemicals were added to the cabinet, which were made at the request of the laboratory staff director, in his name only, since this was actually at the behest of VAL.

[This is good.] VAL buzzed, as Erec sorted through the different vials, handling them carefully under what VAL called a fume hood. VAL popped to and fro since they were just alone here with Enide.

[As new research assistants, this is exceptional work. Vetting quality candidates inevitably leads to this result, but still. I’m pleased. Though this one has some quality issues with impurities. Note that down… And this one is disappointing, it will need to be remade.] VAL hovered near a vial with a thick brown sludge at the bottom and another layer of milky yellow above.

Erec scribbled down his notes, marking down the ‘names’ as labeled on the vials.

He had no idea what he was looking at, but if VAL was pleased, then things were going well.

“Once we begin production of useful chemicals, we can move on to automation and hiring staff for that next.” VAL ran a red light over an oversized transparent jar as it buzzed out loud.

"Automation," Erec said, shaking his head. "You do realize we have a whole lot more going on than this."

[Industry and science are everything, Buckeroo,] VAL replied in Erec’s head, still hovering between the different vials. [You cannot just go through life killing things with an axe and hoping everything works out. Think about all the people who don't have your anomalous powers. Think about their lives and the quality of life that can be improved through the innovation known as science.]

Erec shook his head as he recalled his first dabble into the world of science, the way it had felt walking through the almost alien and foreign halls of the Vortex Industries Laboratory. He noticed Enide quietly in the corner, looking around at everything.

“Everything?” he asked her, even as he struggled to keep up with VAL’s notes.

"I still can't believe that you guys started this," she said, her hand running over a pristine stainless steel tabletop. "To think my uncle was trapped in a place like this, and here we are bringing it back."

"Your uncle was trapped by the deranged and psychotic failure of an artificial intelligence," VAL replied vocally, its voice robotic as it moved away from the fume hood and floated before her. "That said, you will never see such irresponsible and ethically violating directives being performed by the new and improved Vortex Industries."

"I still don't even understand what you are," Erec sighed and leaned over, looking at VAL.

At this, VAL didn't reply, instead going back into Erec's armor. It seemed that they had completed the examination, and Erec, with VAL buzzing in his head, began to leave a pile of notes for the scientist to examine later.

Given that he was busy with the tournament, this was the best method of communication. He would inspect work, leave notes and further research for them to pursue, and they would be expected to follow up independently as they did their jobs. He wasn't the type of boss who would sit there micromanaging them, and he could not even manage his schedule, so the fact that they were meeting deadlines and were diligent enough to get by on their own was impressive.

And, at least from what he knew, the people they'd hired to help were rather enthusiastic about the opportunity, proclaiming it to be some of the most innovative spaces and creatively fulfilling science they'd done since working in the biocaverns. Not surprising, since if word got out what they were doing here too soon, the Church would probably be pissed.

The further they progressed along their first fundamental steps in this branch, the further Erec realized he was not made for this kind of life. Colin was more drawn to research and science methods. He just wanted to swing his axe and enjoy his days with Enide when he did not have to fight. The need to discover why things worked was often at odds with who he was, as he would rather accept things as they were and then adapt around them.

Still, rather quickly and with tight notes that he was already getting bored of writing, he finished. He left the journal of instructions in the middle of the steel table next to Enide, and rubbed at his eyes.

"So," Enide said, pacing behind him. "Have you heard about the upcoming game?"

"The hunt," Erec said. It was to be one of the longer games, eagerly anticipated as they led up to the tournament.

“That’s the one,” Enide confirmed.

The hunt was less of a game and more of a ‘clean-up’ task that would be ongoing throughout the games. Other, smaller ones would be ongoing up until the day of the tournament, which was rapidly approaching. Some bigger competitions involved magic, music, and others that hadn’t caught his eye.

This is what made the hunt the most appealing. It was the only game during the tournament that took place outside of the walls of the kingdom of Cintdus. It was more or less a glorified monster-hunting tournament, where the participants would go in groups and then hunt down monsters identified by the Kingdom and put them on a map. The difficulty of the monsters in the nests was given different point ratings, and the corpses brought back earned their team's points. The winner was whoever got the most points.

The only issue was that Erec didn’t think he’d get to do it.

The Academy had issued orders that Knight Initiates were only allowed to participate if they were in the presence of a Knight Protector or a higher-ranked Knight. Boldwick and Dame Robin were too busy to play escort on that mission. Many of the other Verdant Oak higher-ranking Knights were also equally busy. There was a certain irony in that.

“So, I’d like to go,” Enide confirmed, twirling her hair, “And I’d like you to be on my team. I’d also like Garin and Olivia—I’d asked Colin… But he said there wasn’t any way he’d miss the magic contest. Especially with all those people from Vega… So I figured…” She kept twirling her hair and smiled with a way that made Erec feel weak… “That I should recruit one of the biggest, baddest knight initiates and bring him along so we can rack up many points."

Erec laughed. "I would love to go, but I can’t.”

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"For Initiates to go, we must ask for a superior knight in order to do so." He trailed off. "With everyone so busy, it was going to be hard to find someone of the right rank in order to escort us.”

He saw the light leave her eyes and a frown form. Her mind was already churning on what to do, since that pathway to fun had been cut off.

Erec paused for a second and tapped his chin. “Wait.”

“Yeah?” Enide asked, her eyes brightening.

"I think I know someone we might be able to ask. He's really strong, but from what I understand, he doesn't have much to do with the day-to-day activity with the Order… If I can get him to agree, then maybe."

Enide beamed, as she ran over and grabbed his hands. "Oh, would you please? I can't imagine not going out there with you, and it seems like it will be fun. And it’s been far too long since we’ve been on the road. I've also heard that no matter the amount of points, you can buy certain rewards."

Erec didn’t care about reward, but she was right. It had been too long since they’d been out ‘on the road’ together, and the prospect of going and hunting monsters was as exciting as always. He smiled, pulled her close, and said, "I'll go ask after this and see if he’ll agree.”

“Wonderful!” Enide clapped her hands and then leaned in to kiss him.

It took about ten seconds of that before VAL popped back out of the Armor and started to lecture them about workplace romances, and how it wasn’t appropriate. Erec laughed it off and then took Enide home, though a question ran through his head the entire time.

How would he convince Sir Matt to play escort for a bunch of Initiates outside of the wall?

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