Way of the Knights

---

"Elias, open your door." 

He was in the middle of calming his nervous heart when he suddenly heard the voice his big brother outside of his room. Elias shivered for a couple of seconds before he took a deep breath and braced himself. 

'Today is the day I die...goodbye world. I has been fun.' Elias inwardly thought in a semi-serious note to himself as he stood up, suppressed all of his 'flight' tendencies to face what's about to come.

He went to the door, opened it and saw what he was expecting to see. His Big Brother standing behind a man with a stoic expression on his face. 

All alarm bells rand inside Elias' mind but he managed to prevent himself from collapsing from fear. That being said though, he also don't what to say. He froze up entirely, and he's aware that he did. He knew that he should say something, greet the person in front of him and maybe invite them inside his room but for whatever reason, he couldn't utter a word despite him wanting to.

"You must be Elias Blueheart, I presume?" Raven asked formally as he saw Lorenzo's little brother for the first time ever. 

"Y-y-yes..." Elias replied stuttering, causing Lorenzo to almost want to slap his forehead due to embarrassment. 

"Nice to meet you, little troublemaker. I am Vendrick Valorheart, you can call me Raven." He held out his hand for a handshake and Elias, instead of accepting the handshake, stared at it for a little too long, causing an awkward atmosphere to descend between them before getting a hold of himself and accepting the handshake. 

The moment Elias grasped Raven's hand, was the same time that he nearly fainted from shock. 

It was a simple handshake, on the surface, yes. But when Elias held Raven's hand, he felt like he wasn't holding a hand but a universe. 

An expansive, majestic, mysterious and endless profound universe. He felt lost at it, as if he was sinking in a bottomless sinkhole where he would never be able to extricate himself out of. Elias never experienced anything like it. 

Although he is what he is, Elias had met a lot of people before be it people that his Big Brother introduced to him or people he met on his own, his superiors/elders, his friends and his family, however none of them, made Elias felt this way. 

Elias felt exposed. As if all of his deepest and darkest secrets are laid bare in front of Raven's deep and unfathomable eyes. Even the thought of mustering up any courage to resist was pointless since he can't even do that - well, no. It's more like he's not allowed to do that in front of Raven even if the latter hasn't said anything like that. 

"Heh..." Raven let out an amused hum as he inspected Elias closely. However his voice manage to return Elias to the present.

"A-ah oh!" Elias managed to extricate himself out of this very awkward situation. "I-I'm sorry about that...Y-Young Lord Raven. P-Please, do come in. You too Big Brother." 

Elias withdrew his hand and welcomed his visitors inside the room. The two of course weren't so shy and just waltzed in his room. Elias would've preferred to not do this but he simply can't cause...reasons.

When they got inside, Raven swept his gaze across room and found some rather interesting things. 

Elias's room was quite fancy, well nothing that Raven hasn't seen before but it's still impressive. There were crystals and gems everywhere. He has this chandelier that is made out of gem crystals that emits light illuminating the room. He has some unfinished sculptures on the corner of his room which is also made out of crystals. 

He has come gem figurines and vases which emits a calm and relaxing vibe, but what really caused Raven to smile was the more questionable things inside this room. 

At his, what would Raven assume Elias', desk there is this small item which was releasing some kind of fog every so often. He had seen this kind of things before and from he can remember it common on noble households, they call it 'Fragrance Diffuser' as it did exactly what the name implies. 

That cute and all but Raven wouldn't really call the substance he can faintly smell in the air as 'fragrance'. 

"Wild Fantasia." Raven uttered softly, which was of course heard by the two. Lorenzo was confused but Elias was surprised.

"A-ah! So Young Lord Raven knows that Fragrance Oil as well." He said as he approached his desk. "One of my friends gave it to me, it smells good and they said that the fragrance can cause relaxation." 

"Oh? That's what they told you? Interesting..." Raven made an amused face which gave Lorenzo a foreboding feeling and confused Elias. "I...didn't know that it works that. At least what I remember...huh, maybe they do it different here."

"W-what..."

"You see...there is this species called 'Fantasia Beasts'. These species are...wild, to say so the least. They aren't strong, in fact they're weak as hell. However even so, whenever there are sightings of them, most of the knowledgeable people would always set out missions to eradicate them as soon as possible because they can be quite problematic real quick."

"Now, although they are a pain in the ass, many people would risk their lives to slay them. One in order to get rid of danger but more importantly, its to harvest body parts of them which sells at a high price on the black market."

"O-Okay but..."

"The underground merchants would them create a substance called 'Wild Fantasia' out of the parts they bought and would sell them at a rather high price. According to the demographic, their regulars are nobles from all over the Divine Realm. Now ain't that weird?" Raven chuckled as he walked towards Elias' bed. 

"Well, according to what I found out, the reason why 'Wild Fantasia' is popular amongst nobles is because of it effects. Most of their regular said that having the 'Wild Fantasia' oil, made not only them but also many of their friends feel like they're freed from their inhibitions and experienced total bliss." 

Raven uttered the last few lines with a spice in his tone while also giving the two listeners a knowing look. 

"Wild Fantasia is best to be enjoyed with your friends." Raven emphasized, "The more the better. Do wanna know why, Dear Elias?" 

"W-why?" Elias gulped and Lorenzo who's standing behind him, already didn't like where this was going. 

"Because it deepens their bond." Raven crouched down and pulled a piece of cloth sticking out in between Elias' bed frame and mattress. 

He held it up, showed it to Elias and Lorenzo. 

When Lorenzo saw the piece of fabric dangling on Raven's fingers, he felt like his head was spinning. When Elias saw it, he felt his entire world crumbling as an expression of disbelief crept up to his face.

The piece of fabric that Raven pulled out of his mattress was a stained female's underwear. 

Raven's last words echoed repeatedly on Elias' head, making him realize a lot of things. 

All along, Raven had been hinting something at him but he's just too stupid to follow. As it turns out, the Wild Fantasia, which Elias thought was a normal fragrance oil, was in fact a 'sexual stimulant' which has a greater effect when it is smelled by more people.

The Wild Fantasia is often used by Nobles during or after parties where they'll have a mass orgy. Which Raven hinted at when he said that 'it deepens their bonds'. 

"I-I...I didn't..." 

The panic on Elias' face was visible and understandably so. He kept looking back and forth between Raven and Lorenzo. To Raven, he was trying to tell him that he's innocent and he didn't know. To his Big Brother, he wants to say the same but also ask for help, however he can see the sorrow on his Big Brother's face and it just making him panic even more. 

"Relax, Elias." Raven's voice sounded as if it was next to his ears. Elias stared at Raven and said: "Take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Calm yourself, you're in no immediate danger and don't misunderstand my words. I said all of that to educate you, not to embarrass you and purposefully cause trouble."

Raven's words were calm, unhurried and somehow hypnotic that Elias actually managed to calm down. He's still a little bit overwhelmed but now, at least he can feel his brain working. 

"Judging from how much oil you have, it means that you just got this recently. Am I correct?" Raven asked, to which Elias nodded. "You can't be blamed for now knowing, but I'll tell you that you got taken advantage of since there's proof." 

Raven emphasized but dropping the stained underwear on the floor. 

"The culprit will be found and punished heavily. As for you, get rid of that oil and all of the gems and crystals here. The oil I already explained it to you, these gems and crystals, they act as a monitoring device that people can use to watch your actions."

Raven dropped yet another bomb that completely shocked the two. 

"Elias. Remember this. Everything that is happening to you, happens because you refuse to listen and refuse to grow up.. Learn from these mistakes and you'll never be taken advantage off ever again."