Way of the Knights

Chapter 128 - Possession

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Raven patiently waited until the night was at it's peak.

The pagoda in front of him was still brightly lit but the people who are moving crates of medicines are now in their respective quarters, probably already asleep.

As for the Lord Mort, and Alfred the forsaker of the Pill Saint Pavilion, both of them nearly passed out from drinking. Zelor was long since gone to his chambers along with his maidservant. As for the guards who were patrolling the area, their vigilance visibly dropped. Some were even openly sleeping on their jobs. Raven had already learned their patrolling patterns as well as throughly inspected the interior of the pagoda.

He virtually had the entire map of Mort Family's land in his mind while none of them knew that he was there. After waiting for a couple more minutes, he saw the guards move from their positions. Seeing this, his eyes gleamed as he unhesitatingly ran from his cover and charged towards the walls. The specific side that he chose was the one that has the weakest defence since it was close to an open area. Whoever guarded this section either slept or did something else since they thought that none would be foolish enough to infiltrate their territory using this path. This mentality is something that Raven took advantage of. He had at least ten minutes before the next guard appears, he wanted to be inside before any guard arrive.

Though he needed to ran for quite a distance, he still managed to successfully infiltrate the territory before the next guard appeared. Once inside, he recalled the mental map and used the shadows from the infrastructures around to his advantage. And just to make sure that he won't be spotted, he used an auxiliary technique that mask his presence as well as making his body look like somewhat transparent. Add the fact that he's moving along the shadows, he's 95% sure that none of the guards will see him.

Once he got near the pagoda, he paused and waited for his moment. Not long after that, he saw a guard whistling a tune while casually admiring his surroundings. Raven's eyes shimmered as he saw the set of keys hanging by his waist. Without hesitation, he sat down where he was and performed a seal using his both hands.

'Spirit Body Possession!' An invisible light appeared from his forehead and struck the guard as fast as lightning. The guard froze in his tracks, his eyes dimmed and his consciousness blanked out. Like a puppet, he walked off course on his patrol path and went towards the spot where Raven was hiding.

The guard stopped and performed a seal in his hand, his body then dropped like a sack of potatoes, signifying that he passed out. As soon as the guard passed out, Raven woke up and panted heavily. He clutched his heart for a bit and controlled his breathing to calm his racing heart. The price for using the 'Spirit Body Possession' without having enough spiritual energy is that his heart will stop while the technique is active. This is why he let go of the technique as soon as he controlled the guard towards his body. After his breathing adjusted, he worked quickly and stripped off the guard's clothes along with the keys. He wore his clothing and performed a simple visual illusion that would make him look like the guard to those who sees him.

He placed a finger on the unconscious guard's forehead and murmured: "Soul Scry."

As soon as he used this technique, the whole life of this guard laid bare in his mind, all of his secrets, his thoughts, his memories, all of it was exposed to Raven. He didn't spend too much time learning everything and only read the memories that he had a use for. After that, he placed the guards soul on a temporary slumber as he withdrawn from his mindscape to continue his plans.

He arrived at one of the settlements inside the compound, he saw two more guards who were idling by but raised their head as soon as they saw him. Their eyes narrowed which made Raven's heart tighten, thinking that they somehow managed to see through his disguise.

"You're finally here! You're late for ten minutes! What have been up to?" One of the guards groaned as they stood up.

Raven placed on a wry smile and said: "My bad, got a little too much to eat. My stomach and I have been at it for a while now...hehe."

"Seriously now?" The other guard chuckled and said: "Just get on it, we're tired and want to sleep."

"Right away!" Raven replied as he hurriedly took out the keys from his back and opened the place that they were guarding. He inwardly wiped his non-existent sweat, thankfully it worked. He first thought that his cover was blown but it seems that the guards were only tired of waiting for their comrade. This guard that he abducted was an inspector, his task is to check that everything is in their proper place and check if there are some intruders hiding for potential sabotage. The guards of this specific warehouse was about to finish their shift and would be replace by new ones so they were irritated that he was late.This is why he became Raven's target, as he will have to check every warehouse where the Healing Salves are hidden.

"I'm fine by myself." He stated, "Just wait there, this shouldn't take long."

The other guards shrugged and was more than happy to rest, allowing him to have freedom of 'inspecting' the warehouse. Upon entering, Raven's eyes glowed and shimmered with golden hue. It only took the briefest moment for him to check if there are other people around and how many Healing Salve crates are in here. Seeing that he's the only one left, he walked towards the crate and engulfed it with his spiritual sense. This invisible force permeated and covered each vial inside the crate, and using his wonderful control, he opened their corks and infused them with a simple powder that he had taken out from his spatial ring.He placed the corks back and watched until the powder completely melted by liquid inside the vial, it disappeared with no traces and left no changes on liquid itself, but of course Raven knew better. Everything that's left for him to do is wait.

Before he exited the warehouse, he left one final mark on the corner of the warehouse, he chose a spot that that no one will suspect. This mark that he left will have it's purpose late, but for now it shall remain hidden.

"Alright, we're good!" He said as he stepped out of the warehouse, locking it behind him. "Let's go! I'm dying to see my wife."

"Ohoho....it looks like someone's looking for a long and sensual night." Jeered one of the guards beside him.

"Hell yeah I am!" Raven replied with a bit of longing in his voice, "She just came back from a long trip, and I've been left dry for a month! She even showed me the lingeries she bought and made a show before my shift started! How could I not look forward to that!?"

"

Oh yeah! Show her who's boss!" Raven continued acting until they went back to their office and updated their timetables, it was then that they went on their separate ways that Raven sneakily went back to original guard.

As expected, he was still drooling on the floor when he get back. He placed him on his back and sneaked once again towards his home. Once he's by the door, he used his spiritual energy to hold him up, make him wear the stolen uniform along with the keys he used. And for one final touch, he tapped his forehead and forged a fake memory. This new memories are based on what happened on his patrol minus the sabotage. After that's done, he snapped his fingers and moved out of the way. After a couple of seconds, the guard woke up, seemingly confused but found nothing weird, he shrugged and rubbed his palms while impatiently unlocking the door. As for what happened inside his home, that would be telling.

Technically, Raven's job is finished here. But he decided to do one final task just to really royally screw them over. He sneaked up the pagoda and hid amongst the shadows. He was on the eight floor when he stopped and sat down where he was. Concentrating his mind, he once again casted the Spirit Body Possession. His target was Alfred.

Alfred's body groggily stood up. He opened his eyes and searched the spatial ring for the formula. He took it out along with a pen and scribbled on it, making sure that the hand writing was the same as the rest. Moving quickly, he also invaded Alfred's memory and forged fake memories for him. Now everything was on their proper place. He controlled Alfred's body back from it's previous place and withdrawn from his body.As he returned back to his body, his face paled and he heavily gasped for air, but there was a brilliant gleam in his eyes and a grin on his lips.

"I can't wait for tomorrow."