2007-2010 (Early Game-Big Bang)

December 2008: Cygnus Knights

(A/N: Unfortunately, I don’t have any complete records as far as the Cygnus Knights’ original class story, as practically no one recorded the full storyline before Cygnus Knights got revamped in 2013. The most that I have are bits and pieces that I picked up from various people and sources, which I’ll do my best to include in my very brief narration.)

On the floating island of Ereve, a young girl named Cygnus was chosen by the Benedict - an organism of blessings, hundreds of times larger than humans, who used its power to choose the Empresses of Maple World and watched over them from above Ereve. Along with her tactician, Neinheart, and the Divine Bird, Shinsoo, Cygnus created the Cygnus Knights in preparation for the Black Mage’s imminent revival.

(A/N: The lore about the Benedict is extremely obscure and only exists in the Cygnus Knights’ books - a set of in-game books that contained information on the Cygnus Knights. The books were released shortly before the Cygnus Knights themselves became playable, with the information from the books being used for a special Cygnus Knight quiz that would give out a reward.

I have absolutely no idea what the Benedict is supposed to be, nor whether it’s meant to be Shinsoo. Its role is practically identical to Shinsoo’s, but it’s said to be hundreds of times larger than humans, which doesn’t fit Shinsoo’s description at all. I guess that we’ll just never know about what exactly it was meant to have been.)

To lead the five branches of Cygnus Knights - the Dawn Warriors, Blaze Wizards, Wind Archers, Night Walkers, and Thunder Breakers, Cygnus appointed five Chief Knights: Mihile, Oz, Irena, Eckhart, and Hawkeye. Armed with the power of the five elemental spirits - Sol, Ignis, Ventus, Umbra, and Fulgar - the Cygnus Knights led the fight against the Black Mages and his forces.

As her knights were tiring from the arduous fight, Cygnus halted Ereve, which orbited Maple World and let her watch from a far, in one spot and began recruiting brave heroes into the ranks of the Cygnus Knights. The Knight then began to investigate strange activity around Victoria Island with the help of the Cygnus Knights’ informants. They discovered that the monsters around Victoria Island were growing more violent due to the presence of magical puppets that controlled their behavior.

The Knight then discovered the secret hideout of Francis the Puppeteer, an officer of the Black Wings - followers of the Black Mage who were working in the shadows to revive him. The Knight fought and defeated Francis before returning back to Ereve, where they took an examination to become an Official Knight. The Knight then set out to train in Maple World in order to hone their skills.

Some time later, Neinheart contacted them and explained that it was unusual that someone who had been an Official Knight for so long would still be walking on their own feet. He wrote them a letter of introduction and told them to show it to Kiridu in the Hatchery, who would teach them to ride monsters. At the Hatchery, Kiridu scoffed that Neinheart didn’t need to write a letter, as it was obvious that anyone who was coming to see him had to be from Ereve.

He explained that the Knights rode Mimianas of the Mimi race, all of whom were native to the island. He urged them to consider their Mimiana as both a friend and a comrade, rather than just a mode of transportation, explaining that creating such a bond was the very reason why the Cygnus Knights grew their Mimianas themselves. He gave them a Mimiana egg and told them that it would develop by sharing their experiences with it.

Soon after, Mimiana hatched and the Knight brought it to Kiridu. He told them that Mimiana’s bones were too weak to handle a saddle, and so he told them to seek out Kenta in the Aquarium in order to obtain his Special Supplements. After paying a hefty fee, the Knight brought the supplements to Kiridu, who fed them to Mimiana and taught the Knight how to ride it, giving them a Saddle as well. (A/N: Kenta is the king of capitalism. I’m convinced that his research is just a front to avoid paying taxes.)

Some time later, the Knight received a summons back to Ereve, where they learned from Neinheart that an intruder had infiltrated the island and stolen an important treasure. Neinheart directed them to meet with their Chief Knight, who explained that Shinsoo’s power protected the island, making it easy to detect evil energy in Ereve. However, the intruder - the Black Wings’ Master of Disguise - had disguised himself as a Cygnus Knight, making it difficult for them to locate him.

In order to help, the Knight began searching the island and speaking with everyone whom they came across in order to determine whether they were behaving normally. Upon meeting their Chief Knight, however, the Knight immediately sensed that something was wrong. Their Chief Knight then revealed themselves as Baroq the Master of Disguise, whom the Knight defeated before reclaiming the treasure of Ereve.

They brought the treasure back to the real Chief Knight, who revealed that the treasure was called Shinsoo’s Teardrop, and that it was the crystallization of Shinsoo’s powers, which would have spelled doom for Ereve if the Black Mage were to have gotten his hands on it. To reward their heroic actions, their Chief Knight - at the Empress’ behest - promoted them to Advanced Knight.

(A/N: Shinsoo’s Teardrop was implied to be the Seal Stone of Ereve very soon afterwards in Aran’s storyline, which also revealed that the Heroes were responsible for creating the Seal Stones. Because the properties of the Seal Stones remained a mystery for several years after their introduction, Shinsoo’s Teardrop being a Seal Stone and also a crystallization of Shinsoo’s powers remained possible until future storylines explicitly established Shinsoo’s Teardrop as a Seal Stone and retconned the explanation about it being a crystal containing Shinsoo’s power.)

Soon after, Neinheart reached out to the Cygnus Knight and told them that they needed to upgrade their mount, explaining that it was unbefitting of them to still be riding a Mimiana as an Advanced Knight. He then sent them to Kiridu in order to learn enhanced monster riding. Kiridu told them that Mimiana could become a more powerful creature through shedding, though he added that it would require a special formula used for the dragons of Leafre. After obtaining the Concentrated Formula, the Knight fed it to Mimiana, which molted into Mimio.

As the Knight continued training, they soon learned that the fearsome Black Witch, who lived in a cave near Minar Forest, had spreading cursed black scales around Maple World, and that a veteran Knight named Dunamis had been investigating them. In order to assist him, the Cygnus Knight followed several leads about his activities and arrived at the Black Witch’s hideout, where they found a message from Dunamis stating that he had sent the black scales to Ereve, and that he requested the Knight to return back as well.

Back in Ereve, the Knight learned from Neinheart that despite Dunamis having solved the case, he had never actually returned back to Ereve. Fearing that something was wrong, the Knight returned to the cave and found Dunamis captured. After rescuing him, they returned to Ereve and found that everyone except Shinsoo had been turned to stone.

Just then, Eleanor the Black Witch appeared and revealed that while Shinsoo’s power prevented dark magic from entering Ereve, a resident of Ereve could bring it in with them, for which she had manipulated Dunamis into sending her cursed black scales within Ereve’s borders. She then laughed that the Knights and their child Empress were no match for the Black Wings, who had faithfully served the Black Mage for centuries. As the only person not turned to stone, the Knight fought and defeated Eleanor, for which Cygnus officially made them a new Chief Knight.

(A/N: The lore about the Black Wings having served the Black Mage for centuries was eventually retconned into them only having been formed in the present day. Personally, I sort of preferred the original vision of the Black Wings, especially since Francis, Baroq, and Eleanor’s unique abilities make them a much more formidable threat than the cannon fodder that we fight in the main story nowadays.

After the revamp to the Cygnus Knights in the Cygnus Awakens update, the replacement storyline is canonically set after the events of this original storyline, with the protagonist of this story being considered a different person from the protagonist of the revamped storyline. Although the events of this original version were made inaccessible with the revamp, the 4th job advancement storyline with Eleanor was later adapted as Chapter 3 of the Grand Athenaeum, which was slightly rewritten in order to explain the reason why the Resistance hates the Cygnus Knights.)

Soon after, Neinheart reached out to the Knight explained that Kiridu was looking for them, as there was a problem with Mimio. The Knight met with Kiridu, who explained that their advancement to Chief Knight posed a problem. Though Mimio grew stronger as its master did, even Mimio had its limits, and its health was quickly deteriorating as a result. Kiridu placed Mimio inside a special incubator, hoping that it would help it recover. To his shock, however, Mimio began weakening even faster. Realizing that there was no other choice, Kiridu instructed the Knight to take Mimio to Shinsoo, whose power had created every mount in Ereve.

Shinsoo told the Knight that Mimio had grown tired from its constant battles alongside them and asked them to let Mimio go. The Knight refused and began arguing with Shinsoo, claiming that they would not let go of their dear companion. However, Shinsoo soon helped the Knight understand that Mimio was in pain, and that selfishly holding onto it would only make it suffer more.

Reluctantly, the Knight agreed to give Mimio up, and Shinsoo used her power to send it back to where it came from. To her surprise, however, Mimio returned back to the Knight’s side on its own. Shinsoo explained that the Knight’s attachment to Mimio combined with its strong will had allowed it to manifest itself without her power. She then gave it the new name Shinjo, declaring that it no longer needed her power to stay in the world.