Way of the Knights

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It's been a month and a half since Raven lost consciousness.

The Kingdom and its residents had already moved on from the huge battle that occurred back then, their lifestyles experienced no huge change apart from the fact that they have something new to gossip on.

The Mort Family Estate is no more, their territory has been seized and has been off limits ever since. It was rumored that it is under re-construction. As far as who received the place and their plans about it, no one has any idea at all.

Back in Luis' office, him and his wife resumed their daily lives as well. Of course, they would check up on Raven from time to time but they know that it's only a matter of time before he wakes up so majority of their worries are now gone.

Raven's unconscious body is situated at one of the heavily guarded rooms which Luis specifically transformed for his use. He laid in a tub full of medicinal fluids that Richard concocted personally, his breathing was even and his face was in peace.

No one else aside from him was inside of this room. Thus, when he woke up from his long sleep, he was greeted with a somewhat unfamiliar ceiling.

*Groans*

A groan escaped from his lips. It sounded dry, probably because his throat was parched as well. His head was slightly throbbing, he tried moving some parts of his body but his joints were somewhat stiff, making it difficult for him to do so.

'I was probably out for quite sometime huh?' Raven inwardly thought.

A sigh escaped from his lips. With a few more efforts, he managed to lift his arms then his head and eventually he was able to sit down.

Raven blinked as he just now realized that he was lying in a tub of water. He inspected the waters and took a whiff of it, a joyful glint appeared in his eyes as he thought; 'Wonderful job Richard! You've learned Elemental Alchemy! Giving you the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture was truly worth it.'

It was precisely before the battle that Richard was able to achieve breakthrough. [Elemental Alchemy] is precisely the method that Raven used to concoct the Longevity Pills. In this stage, an alchemist no longer needed a pill furnace to concoct, he/she only requires the ingredients as well as the Heaven and Earth as a witness for their concoction.

Richard placed Raven in a medicine called 'Thousand Leaf Sap'. A highly concentrated medicine that has an immense healing properties and could heal even hidden injuries that one never knew about. And since it was concocted using Elemental Alchemy, there are no impurities in the medicine, so one could freely consume it without worries.

Without hesitations, Raven scooped the medicinal fluid around him and drank it. After taking in several gulps, he sat cross-legged in the tub and cultivated.

His stagnant Energy Network mobilized once again. Adding to his initial surprise from Richard's breakthrough, he also greeted with the fact that he had reached a 100% conversion of regular Energy to Energy Essence during his unconscious state.

Preventing glee from distracting him. Raven used his meticulous control of energies to help him dissolve the healing properties of the medicinal fluid. Not bad as his first drink after a month and half of being unconscious.

His body shivered in joy, during his unconscious state his body had been passively absorbing this stuff but was quite able to properly digest it as it requires his initiative. Now that he was personally taking over the task, he wantonly absorbed the remaining efficacy on the liquid even without direct ingestion. Now the recovery of his body went on full throttle. The medicinal essence flowed in every thread of his body, healing the remaining injuries and hidden ones at that.

It could even be said that some the longevity that he used using the 'Life Conversion Technique' was restored by the medicine. From the way his blood essence looked, it seems that he restored at least 20 years of longevity, the same amount of longevity he used to cast the Ruler's Vision.

Well, considering the fact that he exchanged another five years in order to cast 'Salvation' and a whopping 50 years to summon Jubileus, he still has a long way to go. A lesser Longevity Pill should do the trick.

'But still, 50 years of longevity to summon a Deity in a weakened state to deal with my enemies? I'd say it's worth the exchange. Hey! I already had a 50% discount considering the fact that I've helped her before so, yay.'

His Energy Network also greatly benefitted from this. Every single fiber of his Energy Network, be it the channels or nodes, were strengthened. They expanded and became more tensile, allowing them to hold in more Energy Essence and purify them to a great extent. Along with this, his energy reserves also received a boost. He could confidently say that his energy reserves alone could rival a Half-step Knight Stage expert.

However, it wasn't only his body or his energy that experienced a great benefit from this medicine. His soul also experienced one.

Some of the medicinal properties seeped in to his Spiritual Sea and rushed towards his soul. Raven felt his soul shiver in excitement as the 'Thousand Leaf Sap' did its magic and aided towards the recovery of his soul.

In normal circumstances, Raven wouldn't dare to casually allow some medicine to aid the recovery of his soul. Despite the depth of his knowledge, dealing with one's Soul is a sensitive topic, one that has to be carefully considered for at least a dozen of times. It was even more sensitive for him as he was a person who's soul experienced two lifetimes.

He initially relied on natural healing. So long as his cultivated his energy and body, his soul will naturally recover on the side as well. Yes, recover. Raven's soul is, in fact, an old soul that travelled back in time thanks to the mysterious power of the Ancestral Divine Crown. Hence, he called it Soul Rebirth.

His soul is currently severely weakened, hence it could only do so much. The first time it was healed was when he consumed the Ritual Waters after their graduation from the Outer Branch of the Heavenly Cloud Institute but it only healed his soul enough to a point where it was 'awakened'. There's still a long way to go before he completely heals.

Without a doubt, this medicine is a great help with the recovery. He could feel a deep comfort from the depths of his soul. Raven basked on this feeling as he was fully aware that it would be a while before he could feel this again. Medicines that could heal the soul will only be effective once. Another reason why Raven was reluctant to use regular medicines to help on the recovery of his soul. Thankfully, the medicine he absorbed was made using Elemental Alchemy, this allows him to consume it without worries.

Raven kept absorbing the healing properties on the water until it was completely sucked dry. Raven's soul recovered by quite a margin, however not enough to experience a breakthrough. Nevertheless, he was immensely satisfied with his gains today.

*Grumbling*

'Well…'

Raven smiled wryly. He placed a hand on his stomach and let out a dry chuckle. What can he say? Being unconscious for a month and a half sure has its disadvantages as well. Hunger is one of those.

He stood up and dried himself. After he changed into a new set of clothes, he took out some of his food on his spatial ring. Despite his intense hunger, he decided to take it slow and eat some light foods first. Thanks to a little bit of enchantment and care, none of the food from his spatial ring were spoiled.

Eventually, his slow manner of eating transformed into a ferocious consumption of food. Raven had a big appetite originally, and being unconscious for quite sometime isn't a great thing for someone like him.

Now is definitely not the time to be picky. At first he was eating his dried rations but it didn't satisfy him at all. In his hunger, he used his Soul Fire and skillfully displayed his fantastic control over energies by lifting the raw pieces of meat to roast over the fire using his mental control, since his hands were busy placing food on his mouth.

Raven was so busy in his feast that he actually didn't notice that someone got inside his room. Imagine her surprise when she saw the supposedly unconscious friend of hers, sitting on a table and eating his heart out. It was a fantastical scene in all honestly, never in her wildest dreams that she would see a raw piece of meat sending itself towards the fire to be roasted. It was quite hard to extricate herself from being stunned upon witnessing such a scene but the thought that he was now awake, was enough for her to recover.

Her vision turned blurry, she sniffed and saw him turn around upon hearing her. She saw him smile, that same smile that he always say that everything's fine and gave a gentle comfort in her heart. She saw him open his mouth and say…

"Hey."