Way of the Knights

Chapter 13 - Lavender Field (I)

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Midnight came and it was peaceful. Ocean of sparkling stars could be seen in the night sky, the moon was round and showing it's full beauty.

As the noises of the crickets echoed everywhere, one person could be seen in the middle of a vast field of grass. He was sitting on the ground on a lotus position and even though the night was cold, his body was soaked in sweat and there's a look of pain in his face.

This person was of course, Raven.

The original plan was that he was only going to meditate through the night, he's been replacing it for sleep ever since he rebirth. This would help his mind to stay as peaceful as he wanted it to be. However this night was a bit different.

During his meditation, he suddenly felt his body became extremely saturated. Normally, he would use his full efforts to suppress this feeling and condense the energies on his skin, but now he had no other choices, his skin can't hold the energies anymore therefore he needs to breakthrough.

He swiftly rushed outside when this happened and that led to the current situation.

On a microscopic view of Raven's body, specifically his skin, one could see the Qi he stored up being restless. They vibrated all at the same time and was drilling towards the second layer of his skin. This process was incredibly painful, yet it was also the most effective way to increase the toughness of his skin.

As the process took longer, every single Qi particles on his body reaches the second layer of his skin at the same time and wrecked havoc in there. Raven's body suddenly emitted black smoke, and this came from every pore on his skin. This process took about ten minutes until there are no smoke left, instantly his skin started respiring and sucking Qi everywhere. Since his previous reserves went through the second layer and cleaned it, most of it was spent during that process.

Now that the process is finished, he needs to absorb more to replenish and settle down his breakthrough.

It took him another five minutes before his body was saturated and his cultivation base stabilized. He heaved a sigh of relief since the pain had already subsided. He wore a serene smile and went back to their bathroom to clean himself once more.

While the impurity discharge in his body aren't as abrupt and forceful like Paul and Mark was at least it was less messy compared to that. The only reason why he was dirty is because he was still wearing his clothes and the gravity suit, those trapped some of the impurities that should've vanish onto the air.

After cleaning himself, he washed his clothes and left it to dry. Thanks to the materials of the gravity suit, he didn't need to wait that long before it dries.

Raven was way too energized to calm down and continue meditating for the rest of the night, he figured that this must because of his youth. He walked outside of their house once more and ran up to the nearest hill on their property and lied down. He gazed at the stars and admired it for a while.

He roamed his gaze down, he managed to get a wonderful view beneath him. When his eyes landed on the patch of forest not too far away from their place, he noticed a faint light in it's depths. Unfortunately, even after activating his ocular technique, he still didn't manage to see it clearly, so he figured that he might as well go.

After running down the hill, he entered the general direction as to where that light he saw was. On his way, he was also trying to remember if he has a memory of anything that is related to this and so far, he can't remember any.

His movement was like that of a phantom, no sound nor any ripples could be felt, even his breathing was extremely faint that it's almost unnoticeable. After some time of wandering inside, he unknowingly stepped outside of the forest and ended up in a mysterious place which oddly enough, unfamiliar to him.

This place was filled with fragrant lavenders. Wherever his eyes landed was covered with a violet tinge. He took a deep waft of this heavenly fragrance and felt relaxed, he immediately thought 'How could such a beautiful place exists in here without me knowing?'

Thankfully, there was a paved road of stones available or else he would have no other choice but to step on these beautiful lavenders. He followed the stone path and eventually reached a place that shook his serene spirit.

The place where arrived must be the center of this place. There was a vast altar made out of crystal, under the light of the moon, this altar shone like a placid lake of wonder. There were also four pillars erected on top of the altar. As he walked closer, he could see that there is a silhouette lying down on the middle of the altar.

He moved in closer to see if his guess was right and he found out that it is. It was really her.

She who had a long hair that gently draped towards her back like a waterfall. She who had the face that could melt the hearts of millions. Her figure that could even cause the downfall of a nation and a charm that could tempt the gods.

'So that's how it is. This was the reason huh?'

It finally dawned into Raven now. Some of his deep and unanswered questions melted like a snow under the bright sun. He couldn't help but to have mixed feelings as he looked at this fairy looking maiden. His heart thumped furiously in his chest but he didn't let it get through his sanity.

Feeling his gaze, the fairy maiden's lashes trembled a bit. Her eyes opened and Raven saw that deep onyx eyes that captivated him from back and then and even now.

He saw her eyes widened as she hurriedly sat up and backed away. She gripped her hands and asked: "Who are you?"

Raven's heart thumped wildly as he heard this melodic voice, a crimson shade appeared in his cheeks but his expression didn't change. He replied to her question: "My name is Vendrick, Raven's fine."

The fairy maiden's face looked like she was pondering, her face lit up showing that she finally remembered and said: "Oh so it's you. I-I never thought I would see a classmate here but. . ."

"I don't mean to offend you but this isn't a place where you should be. I don't know how you got here but it's best that you leave and stay far away as possible. . . Please." She sounded very afraid. She did her best to send him away as gentle as she could, but when she looked towards him, she only saw that his eyes were glued at her.

There was something in his eyes that captivated her, causing her to stare back at him. Her heart searched for that mysterious 'something' but was unable to do so. But she knows one thing from that gaze, this man is different.

It was at this moment that something occured deep inside her that cause her expression to twist. She let out a soft yet painful moan as she gripped her chest tightly.

"Please. . . Leave while you still can! Hurry! I. . . Can't. . . I . . . Don't want to hurt you!"

She sounded very desperate as she tried her best to squeeze out every single word. Suddenly, the altar beneath them shook, the pillars suddenly brightened as chains suddenly appeared connecting her limbs to each pillar.

With a loud rumble, a shrill scream escaped from the maiden's mouth. Her body was suddenly pulled by the chains and erupted with a flash of brilliance.

Raven watched as the golden lines appeared at her body, it formed some strange tribal signs and thumped with a golden brilliance. Her black hair transformed into a golden color, her eyes turned completely golden as well. Wings of light unfurled from her back and golden halo emerged just above her head.

Her countenance became extremely cold and uncaring. She floated above the platform while the ethereal chains from the pillar prevented her from escaping. Her eyes suddenly lost brilliance as a shrill scream escaped from her mouth again.

Her energy skyrocketed and suddenly, golden swords and chains appeared all over her body. Her screams became even more demented that Raven could almost liken it to a raging siren. It sounded pained, furious, unwilling, and sad all at the same time.

Raven stared at the figure before him, unknowingly, he was already biting his lips so hard that it was starting to bleed. Everything was clear to him now. It took him a total of two lifetimes before he finally understood what was going on.

Raven was so focused on his realization that he was unaware that the golden swords and chains was aiming for him already.

"Look out!"