Crimson: born as noble lived as phantom

 KNIGHT EXAM BEGINS

Since you asked, I’m giving you this,” Grim said, handing me a silver locket.

I frowned, inspecting it. “I asked you to build me a disguise artifact, Grim. Not jewelry. And I expected you to put up more of a fight about me taking the Knight Exams.”

“On the contrary,” Grim grunted, turning back to his workbench. “The looming war with the Blood Kingdom can't be resolved by someone hiding behind a faceless mask forever. The Crimson Card needs a legal shadow. Now, put it on.”

“Why?”

“Do you honestly think the royal family and the Knight Order are fools? Do you think they believed I died fifteen years ago just because I vanished?”

“Well, yes,” I admitted. “I assumed they did.”

“Incredibly foolish to assume things,” Grim scoffed. “They found a heavily mutated corpse that matched my biological profile. These lockets channel your internal mana to completely restructure your physical frame—altering your face, your voice, even your height. I used one to walk out of the capital as a simple merchant. You can use it to become a flawless cover for the Crimson Card.”

I snapped the latch around my neck. “Grim, you’re the best.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Now get out of my sight.”

“I am here,” I announced, stepping into the courtyard.

Lord Gurberr turned around, his eyes scanning me blankly. “Forgive me, sir, but I don't know who you are.”

“You don't even recognize your own adopted son, Lord Gurberr?” I asked, a completely foreign, deep voice vibrating from my throat.

Gurberr’s jaw dropped. “Erik...? I mean... Will?”

The artifact was flawless. I had transformed into a towering, 6'4" blonde youth. My frame was slim but packed with dense, coiled muscle, making me look deceptively lean and harmless.

“Do you see that massive colosseum over there?” Gurberr whispered, quickly recovering his composure. “That is the testing grounds. I’ve handled all the falsified paperwork. Just head to the waiting area and sit tight until your name is called.”

His dismissive tone irritated me. I leaned in close, letting a fraction of my cold authority seep into my words.

“Lord Gurberr, do not forget that your son’s dream rests entirely on my shoulders. I can march into the Blood Kingdom and stop this war without a badge. But your house cannot climb the nobility without me. Watch how you speak to me.”

Gurberr paled, his throat clicking as he swallowed his pride.

“Lord Gurberr!” a sharp, aristocratic voice called out.

We turned. Approaching us was Lady Neria, a prominent royal princess and the high-ranking captain of an elite knight squad.

“Greetings, Lady Neria,” Gurberr bowed instantly. “Are you scouting for recruits today?”

“Naturally,” Neria replied coldly, her gaze briefly shifting down to me. “And who is this peasant boy accompanying you?”

“He is my adopted son, Will,” Gurberr lied smoothly. “He was incredibly sickly as a child, so I kept him isolated in the countryside to train him until he fully recovered.”

“Hello, ma'am. It is an honor to meet you,” I said, extending my hand for a polite shake.

Neria openly sneered, ignoring my hand entirely. “You reek of filth and common blood.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away.

The tension inside the waiting hall was suffocating. Thousands of rookies sat sweating, clutching their weapons.

But my eyes were locked onto a crowd across the room. At the center stood a young noble surrounded by fawning sycophants—the Seventh Prince, Prince Nickel.

“I assure you,” Prince Nickel announced loudly, flashing a charming, political smile. “Anyone who assists me during the trials is guaranteed a direct scout into a premium squad. My word as royalty.”

“Long live Prince Nickel!” a noble rookie shouted in response.

Boom!

The grand trumpets echoed through the stadium, and a massive voice boomed over the magical speakers:

“Welcome, applicants! This year's Knight Exams boast an unprecedented thirty-six thousand participants! The first trial will be presented by Lady Neria!”

Lady Neria stepped up to the podium, looking down at the massive sea of rookies with cold indifference.

“Your first task is a survival race,” Neria commanded. “Upon entering the staging tents, you will be assigned a randomized, anonymous identity. The rules are absolute.”

🏆 [FIRST TRIAL: THE CHRONO-RACE]

🎯 [POINT ALLOCATION SYSTEM]

“You must cross the finish line as a team,” Neria’s voice echoed dangerously. “But remember... in the later rounds, you will be forced to duel the very teammates you choose today. Step into the tents one by one, and claim your destiny.”

I stepped inside the dark fabric of the staging tent.

Resting on a wooden pedestal in the center was a glowing, magical glass plate. The proctor signaled me to press my palm against the surface. The moment my skin touched the glass, a sharp white light flashed, and a heavy, iron token rolled out of a slot.

Engraved sharply into the metal was a single word: KNIGHT.

Perfect, I thought, slipping the coin into my pocket. An unassuming role.

Walking out into the staging courtyard, my eyes immediately began scanning the crowd, calculating the variables. Amidst the sea of thousands, my gaze locked onto a petite girl huddled against a stone pillar. She was actively trembling, her hands shaking so violently she could barely hold her training blade.

She’s an Assassin, I analyzed instantly. And she’s terrified out of her mind.

“Hey! You over there! Join our team.”

I turned around. A sharp-eyed noble girl was waving me over. Standing behind her were two burly male rookies. It looked like she had already secured three members.

I leaned against my practice sword, acting casual. “Why choose me?”

“Because you look both confident and weak,” she replied, crossing her arms with a smirk. “If you’re confident, it means you drew a Knight token and you're ready to run. But if it turns out you lied and you’re actually an Assassin... well, you look fragile enough that the three of us can easily knock you down. It’s basic logic.”

I smiled behind my blonde disguise. A good way to build a vanguard.

“I'll join,” I said, stretching my 6'4" frame. “But only on one condition. We let that girl over by the pillar join us as our fifth member. I assure you she’s just a Knight who is shivering from pure stage fright.”

The noble girl looked over, scoffing slightly at the trembling figure. “Well, she looks completely harmless. Fine. Go grab her. We only need one more after that.”

I walked over to the pillar, my long strides making no sound. I stopped right in front of the shivering girl.

“Wanna join our team?” I asked, my voice low and smooth.

“H-Huh? Me?” she gasped, flinching backward as if I had pulled a dagger.

I leaned down slightly, dropping my voice to a whisper that only she could hear. “Don’t sweat it. I already know you’re an Assassin.”

The girl’s face drained of all color. Her knuckles turned white around her sheath. “T-Then why are you asking me? Are you planning to betray me for points?”

“No. Absolutely not,” I replied, flashing an unassuming, friendly grin. “On the contrary, I’m going to help you secure your ten points. You aren't planning to stab us in the back, are you?”

“No! I wouldn't do such a thing!” she whispered frantically, desperate for a lifeline.

“Then it’s a deal,” I said, straighting up. “From this moment on, you’re one of us”

_____________________________________________________________

Our six-member team entered the dense treeline of the testing grounds. The proctors had given us exactly two hours to navigate the small, beast-infested forest to reach the colosseum's main gates. To preserve our stamina, our leader decided to keep a slow, steady pace.

A few hundred meters into the thickets, I intentionally stumbled, dropping heavily to one knee against a mossy tree root.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Shina came running back to me, her breath hitching in a panic.

I grabbed her arm to steady myself, leaning close and dropping my voice to an absolute whisper. “Just go with the group and wait outside the main finish gate. I’ll meet you there with your ten points.”

Before she could even gasp, I looked up at the other three teammates and waved them off. “You guys head on ahead. I twisted my ankle pretty bad. I need a minute to stretch it out, but I'll catch up soon.”

The noble girl rolled her eyes. “Typical. Well, don't get eaten by a magical beast, Will. Let's move.”

I watched their silhouettes vanish deeper into the dense fog of the forest. The moment they were completely out of sight, I stood up perfectly straight, rolling my shoulders. The fake limp was gone.

It's time to hunt.

Closing my eyes, I extended my sensory aura through the damp air. At a distance, I picked up the active mana signatures of three distinct rookie teams—two navigating the southern ridge, and one moving through the northern valleys.

I blurred into motion toward the south, my 6'4" blonde frame moving with an unweighted, silent speed that defied physics. Within seconds, I dropped out of the canopy directly behind the first squad.

Flash.

Using nothing but raw physical strength to conceal my phantom mana, I struck like a phantom. A rapid succession of heavy palm strikes to the neck sent five of them collapsing instantly into the dirt before they could even draw their steel.

“What... what are you?!” the final knight choked out, his vision swimming in pure terror.

Before the sentence could fully leave his mouth, my fist clipped his jaw, knocking him out cold. I calmly knelt down, stripped all six of their participant IDs from their armor, and immediately pivoted toward the second southern team, repeating the exact same process with flawless, surgical efficiency.

Twelve points secured.

Intending to harvest more, I sprinted toward the northern sector. But the moment I arrived, I skidded to a halt in the shadows. The northern team was already lying unconscious across the stone tiles. All six of them were missing their IDs. There was no signs of teammate betrayal—they had been systematically wiped out by an external force.

Looks like someone else had the exact same idea as me, I thought, inspecting the heavy, unrefined scorch marks on the ground.

Abandoning the empty sector, I bolted straight toward the destination coordinates. Reaching the grand iron gates of the colosseum, I spotted Shina standing near the stone pillars, nervously biting her lip as she scanned the emerging rookies. The moment her eyes locked onto my blonde disguise, a massive, breathless smile broke across her face.

I walked past her casually, subtly slipping a heavy stack of twelve iron participant IDs directly into her tattered pouch.

“T-Thank you... thank you so much,” she whispered, her voice trembling with immense gratitude.

“Don't mention it. It was seriously nothing,” I replied, stepping back into the ranks of our original team, who had just arrived a few moments prior. They didn't suspect a single thing, assuming I had simply jogged to catch up.

As we officially crossed the finish line to register our squad's survival, a frantic, hushed conversation among a nearby group of high-class nobles caught my attention.

“Hey, did you hear? Prince Nickel already accumulated one hundred and eighty IDs! His private faction has expanded to over three hundred and sixty rookies inside the forest!”

I narrowed my eyes beneath my blonde bangs. Three hundred and sixty.

The Seventh Prince hadn't achieved that score alone. He had illegally forced dozens of separate teams into a massive, cooperative syndicate to harvest the weaker commoner squads. The scorched bodies I saw in the northern valley were undoubtedly the victims of his forces.

I didn't help Shina out of pure pity. I did it because I remembered Lady Neria’s exact phrasing back at the podium: The main goal is to stay as a team.

In a massive, multi-stage royal military exam, the proctors would always reward squads that maintained their complete operational capacity. To survive against a corrupt prince commanding a 360-man army, I needed my fated pawns fully intact.

The first race was officially over. But the curtain was only rising on the final two stages.

author's note: if  you have skipped chapters to read this then i will kindly ask just go back and read  those chapters because without reading them you can't understand erik's true motives to  join knights hurry 

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