Before the war.
Before the command.
Before the weight of thousands of lives rested on his shoulders—
Caelum was simply a boy.
Yet even as a child, something about him was different.
Leadership came naturally to him.
When the village children gathered to play, Caelum was always the one they followed.
Not because he demanded it.
But because they wanted to.
When bullies harassed the smaller children, Caelum would gather his friends and play tricks on them until they left in embarrassment.
When someone needed help repairing a roof or carrying water, he was the first to step forward.
Others followed his example.
He inspired people without trying.
Even the village chief once said with a smile,
“That boy was born to lead.”
Traveling merchants.
Passing officials.
Even soldiers who stopped in the village often noticed him.
A strange thing about Caelum—
People trusted him instinctively.
He never sought praise.
He simply did what felt right.
The Village Militia
When Caelum came of age, he joined the village militia.
The frontier was never truly safe.
Bandits lurked in the forests.
Wild beasts occasionally wandered too close to farmland.
Most militia members were simple farmers with spears.
But Caelum quickly stood out.
He learned faster than anyone else.
Tracked bandits through the forest.
Led patrol groups through dangerous terrain.
When wolves attacked livestock, he organized hunters and drove them away.
Soon the militia captain often said,
“If Caelum is with the patrol, nothing goes wrong.”
The Knight Who Saw Him
One autumn afternoon, a traveling knight passed through the village.
A man in polished armor.
A veteran of many campaigns.
He watched quietly as Caelum organized a group of militia to drive away a bandit scout hiding near the road.
No shouting.
No confusion.
Calm orders.
Clear thinking.
Efficient action.
The bandit was captured without a single injury.
The knight laughed softly.
“Boy.”
Caelum turned.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re wasting your talent in a village militia.”
The knight later wrote an introduction letter.
A recommendation for the Royal Knight Examination.
Before leaving, he handed the letter to Caelum.
“You have the makings of a true knight.”
“Don’t let that potential rot here.”
The Knight Examination
The capital was overwhelming.
Thousands applied.
Only a handful would succeed.
Yet Caelum passed.
His swordsmanship was solid.
His lance work exceptional.
But what truly impressed the examiners was something else.
His leadership.
Even among strangers and competitors, people naturally listened when Caelum spoke.
He wasn’t arrogant.
He simply made people believe in him.
He was accepted into the Common Knight Academy.
Years of Training
The training was brutal.
Combat drills from sunrise to dusk.
Weapon mastery.
Formation tactics.
Mounted combat.
Strategy.
Many trainees dropped out.
Many failed.
But Caelum endured.
He mastered both traditional knight styles:
- Lance and cavalry charge
- Sword and shield formation combat
In mounted combat he was exceptional.
Few could match his control of a warhorse during full-speed charge.
More importantly—
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Other trainees trusted him.
When exercises turned chaotic, Caelum naturally took command.
Even instructors began assigning him leadership roles.
One instructor once remarked:
“Some men learn to lead.”
“Others are born with it.”
“Caelum… is the latter.”
The kingdom’s military structure was strict. Graduates of the Knight Academy were not automatically granted prestigious positions. Instead, commanders from the various legions arrived to observe the final trials and select the cadets they wished to recruit.
For commoners like Caelum, this was the true test.
Royal Knights—the elite guardians of the crown—rarely accepted those without noble blood.
But talent had a way of attracting attention.
During the final evaluations, Caelum demonstrated not only exceptional combat ability but also a natural gift for command. His simulated platoon maneuvers were executed with precision, earning the respect of even veteran officers observing from the stands.
By the end of the trials, several legion commanders requested him.
Thus began Caelum’s true career as a knight.
The First Campaign
After graduation, Caelum was recruited directly into the Royal Knights.
War soon followed.
Bandit coalitions.
Border conflicts.
Monster incursions.
In his first battle, Caelum held a collapsing flank long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
In another, he led a night charge that broke a siege surrounding a frontier town.
During a beast stampede, he personally rode ahead to redirect the monsters away from civilians.
His reputation grew quickly.
Not only for his skill—
But for the way soldiers rallied around him.
Men fought harder when Caelum led them.
They believed they would survive.
And most of the time—
They did.
Rise of a Commander
Years passed.
Battle after battle.
Victory after victory.
Caelum rose through the ranks.
Squad leader.
Platoon commander.
Knight captain.
Eventually—
Knight Commander.
His record was spotless.
Brave.
Just.
Disciplined.
Inspiring.
When soldiers spoke his name, it was with pride.
When citizens heard it, it was with relief.
Because when Caelum arrived—
Hope usually followed.
The Sacred Relic
The day he was appointed Head Knight of the Royal Order, the king summoned him to the inner sanctuary.
There, an ancient weapon waited.
Resting upon a stone pedestal.
A sacred relic passed through generations of champions.
Its name was spoken with reverence.
Aurelia Tempestum.
The Tempest Lance.
The weapon appeared simple at first glance.
A long silver shaft.
A polished spearhead.
Yet faint currents of wind constantly flowed around it.
When Caelum stepped forward and grasped the weapon—
The relic reacted.
The shaft shifted.
The blade lengthened.
Its structure reshaped itself.
A weapon that could adapt to its wielder’s preferred fighting style.
A lance.
A spear.
Even a polearm if needed.
It obeyed the knight who held it.
The relic also granted command over wind.
With a swing of the lance, storms could be unleashed.
Gales that shattered enemy formations.
Tempest winds that carried cavalry charges like thunder.
Yet the relic’s greatest power was something else entirely.
It could never break.
No matter the enemy.
No matter the force.
No blade could shatter it.
No magic could damage it.
But the relic had one condition.
It would remain unbreakable—
So long as the will of its wielder continued to burn.
As long as the knight holding it refused to yield.
The Tempest Lance would never fall.
When Caelum lifted Aurelia Tempestum, the winds of the chamber stirred.
The ancient weapon had chosen its bearer.
And from that day onward—
The kingdom gained a legend.
The Knight of the Tempest.
-----
Caelum’s life as Head Knight was anything but peaceful.
The title carried honor, but it also brought endless conflict.
Not long after his appointment, the kingdom faced a growing problem in the southern forests. The Amazon tribes who lived deep within the wilderness refused to recognize the authority of the Pinta Kingdom.
For years, previous commanders had suggested crushing them by force.
Caelum refused.
Instead, he marched south with a royal force and approached the tribes’ territory openly.
When the warriors of the forest appeared, they came in dozens—tall women clad in leather armor, bows drawn and blades ready. At their center stood their champion.
A towering warrior with bronze skin, braided hair, and a siege bow nearly as tall as she was.
Her name was Mira.
The tribes expected slaughter.
Instead, Caelum stepped forward alone.
“I do not wish for needless bloodshed,” he declared. “Send your finest hunter. If I lose, we withdraw. If I win, we negotiate.”
The Amazons murmured among themselves before Mira stepped forward.
The duel that followed became legend among both the tribes and the kingdom.
Arrow against lance.
Hunter against knight.
The forest rang with the thunder of Mira’s bow as arrows flew like spears. Yet Caelum advanced through the storm, deflecting, dodging, and finally closing the distance.
The duel ended with the tip of Aurelia Tempestum resting at Mira’s throat.
Silence fell across the forest.
Caelum did not demand surrender.
Instead, he offered alliance.
“The kingdom does not need more enemies,” he said. “Stand with us instead.”
The Amazon warriors watched their champion.
Mira wiped the blood from her lip, stared at Caelum for a long moment, and then laughed.
“You fight well, knight.”
That day the tribes did not kneel.
They joined the kingdom as allies.
And Mira, their strongest warrior, chose to follow Caelum back to the capital.
His next mission proved… far less straightforward.
A noble family had a problem.
The daughter of a powerful duke had run away from home.
Repeatedly.
Each time she vanished, she returned with new stories of monsters, ruins, and distant towns.
The culprit was eventually found living under a different name among adventurers.
Lysette.
When Caelum confronted her, she crossed her arms and stared him down.
“If you want me to return home,” she said boldly, “you’ll have to beat me first.”
Caelum accepted.
The duel did not last long.
Lysette was talented—but Caelum was a veteran knight commander.
By evening, the stubborn noblewoman had been decisively defeated.
And thoroughly disciplined.
Lysette cried loudly with every spank she received as punishment for causing chaos across half the kingdom.
“THIS IS ABUSE!” she wailed.
“You ran away three times,” Caelum replied calmly.
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”
Despite the lesson, however…
Lysette did not stay home for long.
A few weeks later, she quietly snuck out again.
But this time, instead of vanishing into the wilderness—
She appeared outside the Royal Knight barracks.
Not long after that, another mission arrived.
A powerful crime syndicate had taken root inside the capital.
Smuggling, blackmail, assassinations.
The operation had eluded the authorities for years.
Then one night, an anonymous message arrived.
A map.
Names.
Meeting locations.
The information was precise enough to dismantle the entire organization.
Caelum personally led the raid that destroyed the syndicate’s leadership.
The informant waited on a rooftop overlooking the aftermath.
A quiet woman with sharp eyes and almost no expression.
Her name was Sylra.
When Caelum confronted her, she offered no explanation for betraying the syndicate.
“Why help us?” he asked.
She simply shrugged.
Later he learned the truth.
Years earlier, during a border skirmish, Caelum had spared the life of a captured scout rather than executing her.
That scout had been Sylra.
She had never forgotten.
From that day onward, she followed him.
Silent.
Watchful.
His shadow.
Despite these victories, something continued to trouble Caelum.
From the capital’s walls he could see the vast kingdom stretching beyond the horizon.
He had protected many people.
But only those within reach of the Royal Knights.
Beyond the capital…
Countless others still suffered.
Bandits.
Monsters.
War.
Injustice.
And his duties chained him to the capital.
One evening, the four of them sat together in a tavern.
Caelum spoke quietly.
“There are too many people I cannot help.”
Lysette leaned back in her chair.
“Well obviously.”
He blinked.
“You’re the Head Knight,” she continued. “Your job is protecting the capital.”
“That’s the problem.”
Lysette thought for a moment, then waved a hand casually.
“Well then just quit.”
The table went silent.
“If you want to help everyone,” she added, “become an adventurer or something. Travel the world like I tried to.”
She laughed.
Mira and Sylra did not.
The next morning—
Caelum submitted his resignation.
When the news reached them, Mira and Sylra slowly turned their heads toward Lysette.
Both stared at her with identical deadpan expressions.
And Lysette shout to Caelum face straight.
“YOU DUMB HEAD,”
“YOU HONEST HEAD KNIGHT,”
“YOU COULDN’T TELL THAT WAS A JOKE!?”
The king personally summoned Caelum to the throne room.
“Why do you wish to resign?” the king asked.
Caelum bowed.
“There are too many people beyond the capital who need help. As Head Knight, my hands are tied. I wish to do more.”
The king studied him for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
“You were always like this.”
He approved the resignation.
However, he made two conditions.
First—the position of Head Knight would remain open to Caelum.
If the kingdom ever needed him again, he would be summoned through the Adventurer Guild.
Second—
He would keep Aurelia Tempestum.
“The Tempest Lance chose its bearer,” the king said. “It belongs with you.”
And so Caelum left the capital.
Not as a royal knight.
But as an adventurer.
Their newly formed party needed a name.
Lysette immediately raised her hand.
“Dragon Piercer.”
Mira raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“It sounds cool.”
No one had a better suggestion.
So the name stayed.
At first it was nothing more than a dramatic title.
Then, during their travels, they encountered a lesser dragon terrorizing a mountain pass.
After a brutal battle, the dragon fell to Caelum’s lance.
From that day onward—
They were Dragon Piercer in both name and reality.
Lysette laughed dryly.
“If someone told me we’d one day kill one of the Eight Demon Generals, I’d say that’s impossible.”
Right?
Right…?
Years passed.
Then one day, news arrived.
A Great Demon General had appeared.
Mira and Sylra slowly turned toward Lysette again.
“…why do your jokes always become real?” Mira muttered.
Lysette paled and turned toward Caelum.
He sat quietly nearby, polishing his lance.
“Caelum…” she said nervously.
“You wouldn’t actually go fight a Demon General, right?”
“Right?”
Caelum simply smiled.
He gave no answer.
And a few days later—
He faced Silva.