Way of the Knights

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The group of friends left the Royal Palace in a jolly mood. Well, not all of them were jolly, at least two of them were rather stressed out. They were none other than Luna and Raven.

The Prince was relentless in his teasing. He literally treated Raven like a family in front of them. His royal bearing was gone and he acted like he was talking to his sibling. Of course, he wasn't the only one who teased them as the rest followed suit.

His act greatly exhausted Raven but at the same time, he truly wondered if he was serious about his claim. After all, it's not like he was deliberately hiding his affection towards Luna. He might be toning it down since he doesn't want to be rash and overwhelm her but him chasing after her isn't a huge secret.

Needless to say, he should face no obstruction from the Prince right? After all, he was the one who started all of this. And even if he does obstruct them, he could always place in efforts to change his mind.

Luna was speechless all throughout the ride, but her blushing expression was enough to send the message. 

"Oh, yeah. The prince told us that the Ancient Royal Grounds will be open for us right? Do you guys have any idea what's inside?"

Before leaving, the Palace. The six of them already received part of their rewards. They were given uniforms and badges to prove that they are now indeed, Core Students of the Heavenly Cloud Institute. They were also taken to the treasury to pick at least one treasure and were then taken to choose a least one cultivation technique from the Art Repository. 

They wanted to check out the Ancient Palace Grounds but they informed that it needs to be prepared first before they could enter. As a result, none of them saw what it's like inside.

Luna, as the princess, naturally was the one who answered their inquiries.

"I remember my brother telling me that it's a good place." She said, "He said that in terms of raising one's cultivation base, it won't be of much help. It was specifically made to raise one's combat efficiency. I'm not exactly sure what's inside though since he never told me anything and I never stepped inside. I guess we just have to figure out together."

Instinctually, all of them looked towards Raven at the same time. It was as if they were asking him the same question earlier. This made Raven smile wryly and said: "Don't look at me like that. I have no clue."

"Oh! What a bummer then." Ellen laughed shamelessly. 

Well, he was lying. He knows all about the Ancient Royal Grounds, he just didn't want to tell them since there was no need to. The benefits they will receive from that place would be greatly minimized if they knew what to expect prior to their entry.

What Luna said was true. The Ancient Royal Grounds a good place to raise one's combat efficacy. When the kingdom was destroyed during his past life, that place was one of the few places that remained intact. Since everyone was dead, there was practically no one stopping from using that place and he remembered spending at least years inside. 

The Ancient Royal Grounds is a large transmission gate equipped with discerning ability. It could identify one's potential and transfer them into a place where they could hone their abilities. No, it is not an illusion. They would truly be sent away to a place that could help them and there's bound to be potential dangers, but so long as one is careful enough, they could come out safe and sound.

The Transmission Gate will only open twice. During the initial activation and when the time limit was up. It requires tons of resources to activate the gate that's why it needs time before they could enter.

'Come to think of it. It functions somewhat similar to the Crown Space's Palace Grounds. Only, the places is end up to is completely random. Is there a connection between the two?'

'Well, I did receive the Divine Ancestral Crown near the Royal Palace of the kingdom. So there must be some sort of connection. But why would a divine artifact end up inside a lesser world?'

These questions had been bothering Raven for a while, specially the ones pertaining to the cause why this divine artifact found its way here. He had no answers for now, but one day the truth shall be revealed for him.

***

Once they were out of the Royal Palace, they went out their separate ways. For one, Raven decided to return to his cave dwelling under the pretense that he wanted to tidy up the place. Since they were Core Students now, they could no longer stay in this place. 

When he came back, he didn't start cleaning up his stuff. He sat down and reviewed the contents of the [Book of Chaos]. This matter had been pushed due to some reasons but now that everything had settled down, the time is ripe to tackle this matter.

Once he was done, he took a deep breath in went outside. He glanced at the pond of water where he used most of his time recovering. 

"This might be the last time that I will use you. We're going big this time, don't collapse on me now."

As soon as he said this, he took out multiple things out of his spatial ring. Multiple vials of S-grade Body Restoration Fluid, A-grade Energy Gathering Pills, and a vial of Thousand Leaf Sap. All of these high quality products aren't even available to the market yet but he unhesitatingly took them all out and threw them onto the pond.

Under his watchful gaze, the efficacy of each products started scattering to the waters. The sheer amount of energy contained in this is enough for anyone to be frightened out of their wits. With different sources of energies on the water, there's bound to be conflict and it may cause it to go berserk. This is precisely the reason why Raven was keeping a close watch of it.

Whenever he felt an intense fluctuation of energies, he would immediately douse it with his energy to pacify it so that the energies in the waters would be harmonized. After keeping watch for about an hour, the pond emitted a brilliant light and it became completely still. Raven heaved a sigh of relief, now the preparations are complete he jumped on his birthday suit and walked on the surface of the water.

His steps didn't make any ripples in the water. As soon as he reached the middle of the pond, he sat down and went into a trance. The [Book of Chaos] appeared in his consciousness and released a golden light. 

Raven's body visibly curbed under it's influence, blood dripped on the side of his mouth but he didn't care. His lips parted and chanted the mnemonics of the First Chapter.

Foreign energy howled and descended where he was. Raven could sense this and knew that foreign energy is nothing but a small plume, even so it carried a horrifying density that almost crushed his little body. The foreign energy showed itself. It was like a flickering candlelight, a small gust of wind might be enough to snuff it out but it carried on and cling desperately, unwilling to be extinguished. 

But all of that was just a mere metaphor for it's appearance. Once this energy appeared, the still waters of the pond immediately turned chaotic. It caved in and trembled visibly but unable to had any sort of impact towards the small plume of energy. 

The foreign energy slowly approached Raven's body. It's density was too astonishing that Raven felt like he was being crushed by an unknown force. Nevertheless, he knew that this a part of the process so he held on. The foreign energy went closer and closer until it finally crashed into Raven's body. 

Raven felt like a star fell on him once the energy fused with his body. His chest caved in, even his organs were badly ruptured. His energy network was left in shambles and his strength bled out of his body and left him permanently. Even after all this, Raven was still in control. 

It feels too painful and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. But Raven's will was firm, no matter how damaged his body was, his focus was entirely on the Book of Chaos. His badly mutilated body decayed in a speed visible to the naked eye but there are no traces of anxiety on his face.

At some point, Raven forgot everything. His surroundings, his identity, what he was doing, he couldn't recall anything. All he knew was that his mind arrived somewhere he doesn't know, and his consciousness is too hazy to pay attention anything.

Suddenly, the waters beneath him spurred into action. The waters ascended and formed a cyclone that encased Raven within.. Its size got smaller and smaller until it transformed into a large circular cocoon, incubating Raven inside.