The Mechanical Era

A gigantic wooden ship with great white sails made a stop at the Villana harbor. There, men dressed in steel guarded the men in brown clothing who unloaded tons of wooden crates sitting inside the ship. After unloading the cargo to the carts, they were sent off to the castle, where their Queen Rose Villiana would have great use for them.

A man, about 6ft tall, with bright blonde hair and beautiful green eyes looked onward with curiosity, along with his friend, who in contrast was a little over 3 inches shorter than him, and had dull black hair, along with normal brown eyes. After loading a lot of cargo into the carts, the men took a break.

"Hey, Herrold. Wonder what those are about?" he asks as he wipes off the sweat from his face in one hand, and ate his lunch in the other.

"Don't know Carson, but we got to get helping soon. Otherwise, who knows what they will do if they caught us slacking."

"Yea. You right. Just gotta finish my sandwich, he replied." Herrold looked at him with a weird look.

"You are taking too long today. What's so good about it?" he asks, feeling curious as to why.

"There is chicken in here! Can you believe it?" he replied, leaving Herrold shocked.

"How the hell were you able to afford chicken? And most importantly, how the fuck did you even buy the chicken? I don't remember any place nearby?"

"Found a gold coin off the ground and went to the central district. Poor bastard. Must be wondering where it went." Carson smiled as he said it.

"Was it far?"

"Nope. Hehe," Carson replied. Herrold frowned a little, jealous of Carson's luck.

"Lucky bastard," he replied. There was a moment of silence between the two. Herrold turned his head slightly, to see that a lot of it was still left.

"Hey, mind if I have a little?" he asked.

"Sure bud. Here." He split the sandwich in two and gave it to Herrold. With a smile on their faces, they both enjoyed the chicken sandwich. After finishing eating their sandwich, they headed back to work.

They continued to lift the wooden crates and loaded them onto the carts. It took a few hours to complete it, but it was all worth it. With the sun still in the sky, they asked for their payment.

They lined up in a long queue, headed to a wooden shack. The shed wasn't always there. It was one out of many built. However, nobody understood why they didn't care all that much. Once someone goes inside, there seemed to be a pause every time, only for them to walk out safe and sound, with the promised money paid to them.

As the other person left the building, Carson walks in through the door. The shack had three windows, one on each side of the walls, with none on the wall holding the door. In the middle, was a wooden desk and chair, with a knight sitting on it.

He had long dark hair, with hazel-brown eyes on his square face. Rather than wearing a suit of armor, as the other knights did, he wore his silver gray uniform, with golden yellow threads embedded in it. On his chest, he can see a few medals beside him, indirectly pointing to the fact that this man was powerful.

Carson, although a little intimidated, walked over to the man and reached for his hand. The knight, however, looked straight at him in the eyes with a friendly smile.

"What's your name, son?" the knight asks confidently.

"Carson. Carson Williams, sir."

"Well, Carson. You look to be a rather fit man. How old are you?"

"19, sir. I am 19 years old."

"A young man indeed. Well, I would like to thank you for coming to help us out loading the cargo. It is an important shipment coming from the continent down below," he said.

"Say, would you like to... be like us?" he asks. This an odd question, considering one needs to have some sort of magical power of excessive before being able to enter the knight.

"Why of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"So why haven't you?" he asked. Carson knew the answer was obvious, but this was probably a test of some sort. After a few seconds, he decided to answer.

"Well, I don't possess the strength to join the knights. I would have joined when I turned 14," he replied.

"Well, I think I can help you with that." Carson's eyebrows raised in surprise. Carson immediately responded out of excitement.

"You can, sir?" he asked. Although, after he said it, he wondered what he meant. He might have to train all day, using his weapon of choice, the sword. After he fights off the demons, he will gain glory and the respect of everyone around him. At least in his mind.

But there was a lurking suspicion on him. If anyone could join the knights, wouldn't have his father already joined? He remembers clearly that he told him that it was his dream.

"Very enthusiastic I see. That is good. Now, you won't EXACTLY be a knight, but you will do a job similar." he said. Carson's dreams vanished as soon as the knight said that. However, he managed to remain composed in front of him and proceeded further in the discussion.

"What do you mean, sir?" Carson asked.

"Well, we are currently trying to find recruits to join the new army. We opened the position for a limited amount of people, but currently, we are about 24,000 people short. Considering your statue, you should be able to qualify," he replied.

"What will the army do?"

"You will mainly find yourself battling weaker demons. Though it won't be much, it will help the knights to concentrate on the more powerful demons lurking around. But, your help will be extremely useful to us. So, what do you say?"

Carson began to think. He doesn't have much work to do in the city. He always was the more adventurous type, compared to his shorter, younger brother who helped out with the family business. With this in mind, he replied to the knight's answer.

"I will think about it. Where can I join, sir?" Carson asked.

"In the downtown area, the building with the red banner, with a yellow crossword symbol threaded on it. Once you make your way there, they will ask you a bunch of questions, and send a message to your home to tell you if you got the job. Alright?"

"Alright, sir."

"Good. Now here's the money. You did a good job today." With that, the knight handed him a pouch consisting of a few dozen copper coins, adding up to a few silver coins. Good pay for lifting crates around.

Carson walks out of the shed and finds a place to sit. He finds a large crate, not meant to be sent off to the royal palace. He jumped on and sat on top of it. As he waits, he second-guesses whether he should do it. What would his parents think? Will he even survive? What happens if he gets killed Yet, the alluring thrill of adventure appeared too tempting to resist.

He continued to think about it till Herrold came by, and asked him a question.

"Did he ask you as well?"

"Yes. He did."

"Are you joining?"

"Are you?" Herrold asks. Carson was silent for a minute, before replying.

"Yes. I will."

"Then I am with you homie."