Way of the Knights

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News of Eva being pregnant caused a great stir inside Luis' office. 

Many people congratulated the family and looked forward to the birth of the child. The matter of Eva carrying twins were kept as a secret as the family agreed upon. 

After considering the matter properly, Raven decided to accept Morel's service but there are some changes to it. Instead of protecting him, he want Morel to protect his mother and eventually his siblings. Due to both him and Luis having matters to attend to, Raven would feel more at ease knowing that there is a formidable person by her side protecting her. If Morel agreed to his proposition, then his siblings' situation would be somewhat similar to Balmung and Luna since they have Old Lee by their side.

As a father himself, Morel didn't oppose this idea. It was then that he took an oath of service to Eva.

Raven was thrilled by this, as a result, he personally called over Joanna and gave her instructions to make her a future powerhouse. He identified her spirit entity and gave her cultivation arts as well as body arts. Joanna only reached Bone Tempering Stage, due to her being young, she was more than capable on restarting her cultivation, which she did without even batting an eye.

After giving her clear instructions, Raven left and decided to enter the Crown Space to train himself.

***

As soon as Raven woke up, he received news that the Prince required his presence. He had a light a breakfast and took a quick bath before going over to the Royal Palace since the Prince wanted to meet him there.

Come to think of it, this is the first time that Raven visited the Royal Palace after his Soul Rebirth. 

Upon arrival, he noticed that nothing much had changed from what he remembered. The Royal Palace is still the sign of the highest authority for the Kingdom. It's still as grand and as majestic as ever. 

Once he arrived at the Palace Gates, he was stopped by the Royal Guards. After confirming his identity, he was granted entrance and was guided towards the place where the appointment will happen.

He was surprised to see that it wasn't just him who were waiting at the Prince's office. His friends were there too! They obviously arrived earlier than him. And of course, Luna was there too and she wasn't wearing her regular disguise. 

Raven's heart sped up for a bit, no matter how many times she see her in her true appearance, he will always be left in awe from her beauty. 

Luna also felt his stare but all that she could think about was her boldness back then. A blush crept out of her face which made her break eye contact with him. 

"What's up with this pink atmosphere?" Ellen teased, which rendered a reaction from the two. Both of them acted awkwardly around each other which somewhat raised the girls' suspicions.

"You girl! You just have to go ahead and ruin it don't you? Ai!" Anne dramatically said, which again invoked reaction from the two. 

Paul, being nosy as he is, scooted towards Raven's side and whispered the question: "Hey! What's up with you two? Why are you guys acting strange? Wait! Don't tell me…holy shit, you two did it-Ow!"

Before Paul could even finish what he was about to say, Raven's left palm found its way on to the back of his head. He then said: "Oh! My bad, dude. It's just that my hand automatically reacts whenever I'm faced with a perky idiot. It's very instinctual you see?"

His sarcastic remarks was more than enough to silence Paul. Mark just chuckled seeing this happened but he was quite curious too so he asked: "But really, what's going on?"

Raven sighed and looked the other way, he then answered: "Nothing much, just…I'm not used to it."

Mark tilted his head and replied; "Not used to what?"

"Her not wearing the disguise and…" Raven paused and cleared his throat, "…being that pretty and all."

His voice wasn't particularly hushed and was heard by the rest. Luna for one, immediately blushed hard and looked away, pretending to not hear his words. However, she was screaming inwardly. It was now clear to her he was staring and became conscious.

Ellen and Anne practically squealed which taking turns poking Luna's sides, much to the annoyance of the young princess who could do nothing but to slap their hands and glare at them.

It was then that the jolly atmosphere was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. All of them looked up and surprised when they saw Victor stepping out.

"Good morning, Director!" The children greeted upon seeing him, it was obvious that they weren't expecting him to be here. 

"Good morning to you as well." Victor greeted back. "Come, Master is waiting for you inside."

The children nodded and followed him inside. Once they arrived, they saw the Prince eagerly waiting for them on his table. The rest sat down in the chairs arranged for them and waited for the Prince's words.

"Good morning, Your Highness." The children greeted politely.

"Good morning as well." Balmung nodded and continued: "I know that this summons came as a surprise to you but there's a good reason behind it."

"In fact, I should've called you out sooner than this but I've been pretty occupied during the past month and half. Settling down the commotion that was caused by the invasion, reconstructions and all. But that's not why I called you here."

"The purpose of this meeting is to hand out the rewards for your service."

The children's eyes brightened when they heard his words. Sufficed to say that none of them were expecting to be rewarded from that battle.

"The Kingdom won't turn blind eye when it's subjects render a meritorious act. All of you fought valiantly and unhesitatingly during the invasion. Your actions of freeing the captives and preventing the enemies from creating more damage to the kingdom, had a great effect towards our kingdom's recovery and well being. If we didn't award such actions, then we might as well demolish this entire place." The prince jeered towards the end. He then looked at Victor and nodded.

Victor received the signal and continued from this point. "All of you. I hereby announce that from this day on, you are now promoted as Core Students of the Heavenly Cloud Institute."

This news stunned the six of them. They looked at each other in awe. They graduated from the Inner Branch? Just like that? Are they dreaming?

"No need to be surprised." Victor smiled, "Even in the Genius Class, you six are the cream of the crop. Talent wise, skill wise and attitude wise. You being promoted as Core Students shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Even without this early promotion you people will eventually become Core Students anyway."

What Victor said was true but there's more to this than what he told them. It was true that these kids are practically monsters even compared to the 'so-called' Genius Class of his. Having them stay there would just repeatedly smash the confidence of his students and it's something that he couldn't afford to see. They might as well promote them into Core Students so that it would just be a one time blow for the rest of their classmates, maybe this will ignite their competitiveness.

"Nobility titles are useless to you guys so we decided to change your graduation rewards." Victor said, he then took out several cases out from his spatial ring and handed it to them. The cases differ in sizes but the kids were able to distinguish what's inside. 

"Your hunch is correct." Victor nodded, "These are weapons, more specifically A-grade weapons which were forged for your own use."

Paul received a spear and a shield. Mark received two short swords. Ellen received a sword. Anne received a bow. Luna received a spear and Raven received a better hammer.

The children happily stored their new toys. This weapons are more suitable as a reward to them compared to a Noble title. A-grade weapons are expensive, even with their backgrounds, buying one would still hurt their purses. 

"From now on, you six are the 77th batch of Heavenly Cloud Institute's Core Students. Congratulations." Victor smiled which brought a joyful atmosphere inside the office, but of course this is just the beginning.

"My turn." Balmung said which caught the attention of the children. "As rewards for your bravery, I am allowing each one of you to pick at least one treasure from the Royal Treasury."

That alone caused the children to breathe heavily.

"Not only that, you guys are also free to choose one Battle Arts from our Art Repository Hall. As well as have access to Ancient Royal Grounds for a whole year."

The children didn't know what to say anymore. The rewards that the prince handed out were truly generous. They almost couldn't wait to go and receive their rewards. But it seems that the Prince isn't done yet as he casted a complicated stare towards Raven.

"Honestly, I don't even know what I could give you." Balmung said with a helpless sigh, "You were the one who sacrificed the most."

"You don't have to, Your Highness. The rewards that you handed out is already too much for me." Raven replied courteously, but the Prince isn't satisfied.

"That won't do either." He shook his head, out of nowhere his eyes suddenly brightened. "Aha! I have an idea."

"Your additional reward is a welcome." 

"A welcome?" 

"Yep! Welcome to the family!"

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*