Way of the Knights

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Inside a large, and illuminated room. Five silhouettes blurred into motion.

Sparks of battle scattered all over the place as their weapons clashed. Screeching steel, whistling winds, flashes of lights and grunts as well groans created a lively scene inside the room.

If one would look closely, four out of five silhouettes aren't actually humans. Sure, they appeared like humans, but they more like puppets. Only one of them was an actual human, and this is none other than Luna who's battling inside the True Light Monastery.

If one saw her in this state, they would probably think that she had seen better days. 

Her sleeves are in tatters, so much so that she just ripped them apart since they were getting in the way. She had several wounds on her arms, legs and even on her cheeks. She had long since dropped her usual disguise, her hair flew with the wind, the spear in her hands blurred in motion as she defended herself from the attacks of the puppets. 

Luna's gaze were fierce and determined, her eyes glowed with brilliant fighting intent. Every time she wielded her spear, air will scream and the room will shake due to the sheer force behind her strikes. Despite her ferocious strikes though, she could still control it to some extent to perform a feint or respond to any counterattacks.

The past six months of constant battle, really did a number on her though. Luna has lost count on how many cuts, wounds and broken bones she had. If it weren't for the medicines she kept with her, she wouldn't even be able to stand here today, much less hold her spear in this manner. 

Of course, Luna didn't receive these injuries for nothing. The six months of constant battle deeply ingrained the basics of fighting down to her marrows. Now, no one would say that she's just a pampered princess, anyone who dares to do so, would suffer from her sheer prowess.

"Haat!" Luna yelled as she held her spear using both hands while stomping forwards with a force that shook the pillars of the monastery. 

The ground cracked under her strength while her body flew forward with an astonishing speed. She raised her spear and delivered a devastating smash on one of the puppets. The thing raised its weapon to block her strike but its arms gave in from the sheer weight of her strike. 

Loud snapping sounds ensued, the spear tip severed the puppet in two. Luna withdrew her spear and stepped back just in time before the rest of the attackers reached her. 

She then twisted her spear and delivered a fierce thrust towards the nearest puppet to her. The puppet managed to block but the force behind Luna's attack sent it flying. 

Luna twisted her body around and performed a wide sweep using her spear. The puppets blocked but one of them had their arms severed by that attack. Luna stepped forward, her body blurred then she instantly arrived in front of the puppet that was crippled. 

Her body twisted mid-air, the spear came crashing down like a meteor and severed another puppet into two. 

Once again, the puppets caught up to her but instead of stepping back this time, she raised her spear and performed multiple thrusts in quick succession. The spear blurred in her hands as several sharp spear tips poked multiple holes on the bodies of the remaining puppets. 

With that done, the puppets were all defeated and disappeared like smoke. Luna then heard a faint jingle on her ears and an archaic voice saying: "True Light Monastery 7th Floor: Cleared!"

Luna then sighed and supported herself using her spear. Grimacing in pain, she took out a basin from her spatial ring and filled it with water, after that she took out a vial containing a Body Restoration Fluid and infused the waters with it. 

After waiting for a couple of minutes, she saw that the bath was ready so she unhesitatingly jumped on it and rested. 

"Ah, Body Restoration Fluid! You're truly a godsend!" She exclaimed as she felt her body slowly recovering from the injuries she received. She could feel her body relax and grow stronger. Her spirit was being lifted as a profound sense of satisfaction filled her heart.

'I wonder how's he doing right now?' She thought inwardly, 'I know that he's a miracle worker so I shouldn't be worried, but still…'

Luna couldn't help but be worried. She knows that he could truly handle himself no matter what kind of place he ends up with, but she just couldn't get him out of her head. With all of the things that he did for her, he inevitably became someone extremely dear to her.

'Maybe I'm just missing him. Yeah, that might be the case.' Luna slapped her face and thought, 'Calm yourself down, girl. He will be fine. Focus on your task, you couldn't afford to be left behind.' 

Luna then removed her worry from her thoughts and started reflecting on the previous battle. This is how Luna endured loneliness during the past six months. Even when she's resting, she was using it to review how she performed and iron out the flaws on her style. 

She constantly simulated the battle on her psyche. The puppets that she defeated just now won't lose out to a Knight Realm expert by prowess and speed alone. In terms of toughness, these puppets are a bit tougher than usual most knights. 

This meant that Luna was strong enough to compete with a Knight Realm Expert by herself. This is an astonishing achievement specially after the fact that she reached this stage in mere months. Now she totally understood why her brother said that this is a good place when it comes to raising one's combat capabilities. 

During this time, Luna hadn't made any progress in her cultivation. Just like the rest, she firmly stepped foot on the Warrior Realm after completely converting her energies into Energy Essence. 

In terms of her Spirit Path however, she received a huge boon after that huge battle when the Black Curtain Guild tried invading the kingdom. 

When Raven performed the ritual that allowed Jubileus to descend, Luna became her vessel and that solidified her connection with her. Before she departed, the memories of how she manipulated the Light Laws and the sheer purity of her spirit, stayed with Luna.

Of course, she knew that Jubileus did this on purpose. With her strength, how hard would it be to alter or erase one's memory right? But she left Luna with a gift, maybe her compensation for using her body? Who knows? 

But Luna carved this graciousness in her heart and decided to learn from it. In exchange, she managed to have a breakthrough with her Spirit Path. She is now at the Spiritual Communion Realm, the rank after the Spiritual Awakening Realm.

In this stage, her spiritual sense covered 150 meter around her. It also allowed her thoughts to be clearer and be processed in a more efficient manner. It even enabled her to simultaneously think about two things at once. 

Her breakthrough happened during the first month of her stay inside the True Light Monastery. With the benefits of her reaching this stage, her martial prowess experienced a great change. In fact, the simulation battles in her psyche were only made possible by her breakthrough. 

This undoubtedly boosted her confidence to the roof. She felt like she was starting at least catch up with Raven, which even fueled her desire to improve even more.

As for Light Laws, she was clueless where to start. 

Even with her enhanced perception, figuring out Laws is still something too profound for her. 

The insights that Jubileus left behind was still there, it won't be forgotten by Luna. For now, she thought that all she needed was more inspiration and maybe she could truly touch the entrance to the wonderful world of Laws.

'Anyone could lose faith in you, but you must absolutely not allow to lose your faith to yourself. You are extremely talented. In fact, you might be one of the most talented people that ever graced this kingdom. Have faith in yourself and your talent, give it your best shot and you won't fail.'

These words were once said by Raven to her, which she kept close to her heart all the time. 

'That's right. I'm doing just fine. We have time. Take it one step at a time. Sharpening the axe won't delay the task of cutting the wood. Be it battle prowess, cultivation realm or Law insights, everything is within reach so long as I build a steady foundation.'

Luna's eyes snapped open. She jumped out of the basin and quickly changed her clothes. Her determined gaze landed on the stairs leading towards the 8th floor of the True Light Monastery. She took a deep breath and tightened the grip on her spear before walking towards the stairs. 

"I swear, I will conquer this place. Throw whatever you have at me, I'll make sure they'll end up at the tip of my spear!"