Way of the Knights

Chapter 208 - Metamorphosis

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The rest of the day and night passed.

The cocoon in the middle of the pond showed no activities, it was peaceful and only emitted a gentle curtain of light. 

From the outside, one could make out a silhouette of a person. It was a teenager who was curled up into a fetal position. In one could see what's inside, they would see a sleeping Raven. His body was being reconstructed in a mysterious way. His body that had been badly mutilated earlier decomposed into the fluid present inside the cocoon but even so, the essence of those pieces of flesh and blood fused with the fluid and formed his new body. 

His heart was the first one to be reconstructed. Along with it's creation, there appears to be a foreign force accompanying it and sending tendrils to every single fiber of his being along with his heartbeat. As time went on, Raven's organs and bones were reconstructed, then his muscles came, his skin and his hairs. 

But even though he was practically reconstructed, Raven still didn't wake up. It was like he was stuck in a dream.

In his dreams, Raven walked through an unfamiliar environment with a hazy consciousness. Sometimes clarity will come back to him but he will slip into a trance once more. His surroundings flew past him like flashing lights, he could make out some of them but he would instantly forget them whenever he entered a trance. 

It's debatable whether his powerful soul helped him out on this process or not. He forgot most of the things he saw, well he was supposed to but in the deepest recesses of his memories, some bare outlines remained. 

It was like he was lonely watcher. Witnessing everything come and go, jaded and uninterested. If he was given a choice, it would be certain that he wouldn't choose to be this way. Even then, with the amount of things he saw, it was certain that he won't be able to remember each one anyway.

His mostly unconscious travel in his dreams eventually arrived at his destination. 

All that Raven could tell at this point was that he stopped and looked around. He wasn't aware where he was, why he stopped or what exactly he's looking for but all that he could really do is follow his instincts. 

The place where he's at is filled with nothing but absolute darkness. Him being there serves a stark opposition that says he didn't belong there and that he stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked like a fool, looking around trying to search for something, when in fact all that's here was nothing. 

Out of nowhere, two distant lights emerged from the darkness. If one looked closely, these two lights resembles that of a Phoenix's eyes. It was suspended above Raven, it almost seems like it was watching him with interest.

Slowly but surely, Raven looked up to the two orbs of light with dull eyes and stared at them for a good while. 

All of a sudden, a deep, formless and archaic voice echoed in the darkness.

"That's new." The disembodied voice said, there was a thick interest laden on its tone. "Though what remained is a tiny spark of awareness, it's still impressive that it managed to last this long. Specially considering that fact that it had been a long journey for you."

There was a brief period of silence that ensued before the voice spoke once again.

"I see. So it ended up in that place. What goes around, comes back around, huh?"

Raven stood in place, staring at the two lights with empty eyes. It wasn't clear if he could hear the voice or not.

"Very well." The voice said after a while, "I'll hide you for a bit. Hopefully, you're the one I'm looking for."

"Grow up quickly little one." The voice said in a very melancholic tone. "Hopefully, the next time we meet. You'll be ready to take up my mantle."

"Because if you can't… then it is very unlikely that I could wait for another one."

Once the voice stopped speaking, a third orb of light emerged out of nowhere and fused with the two that's been here before. They transformed into a one huge orb that is no different from a sun. 

The massive sun-like orb flew down and fused itself with Raven. His whole body emitted a divine glow before he disappeared from this place.

***

"Hmm…" a groan escaped from Raven's lips.

Still trapped inside the cocoon, his body shifted and his eyes briefly opened. 

The whole cocoon quaked as he opened his eyes. If anyone was staring at his eyes, they would find themselves captivated by it's unnatural beauty. 

His pupils were tinged with a golden hue while his irises had a rainbow colored glow in them. On his head, a silhouette of a golden circlet emerged, it formed a crown like shape with a golden gem embedded on the middle. 

Raven partially regained his consciousness. He stretched his body inside the cocoon but his minimal action caused it to explode. 

With a booming sound, shards of cocoon flew everywhere, revealing Raven's naked body. The time he spent inside the cocoon brought an astounding transformation on him. 

Compared to before, Raven was now taller by at least a few inches. His body became extremely compact and muscular, it was like his pearl white skin was clinging onto his sculpted muscles like its life depended on it. His black hair descended like a waterfall on his back only, now it has a faint turquoise glow in them that would be evident under the glare of sunlight. 

His facial features became more prominent, if previously Raven looked like a bronze-skinned warrior that faced death in many occasions, now he appeared to be a noble scholar who propagated peace over war. His aura radiated a calming air but was also heroic at the same time. Added the fact that there is a silhouette of a crown on his head, he could be mistaken as that of a Royal Blood.

As the crown image disappeared from his head. Raven finally regained control over his body. A deep sigh escaped his lips, he closed his eyes and concentrated. 

After a while, his eyes snapped wide open and everything within a hundred meters around him trembled. His body started levitating off the ground while his countenance remained impassive. 

His gaze fell onto his stuff and with a flick of his fingers, they flew towards him as if they were carried by a mysterious force. His spatial ring threw up some clothes even without him touching it. As if the clothes gained some sort of a consciousness, they wrapped they did the honors of covering Raven's body as if it would be blasphemy if he needed to lift his arms to dress himself up.

Fully clothed with an all black attire only lifted Raven's otherworldly charm into another level. 

With another sigh, Raven stepped onto the air and arrived at the edge of the pond. A wry smile appeared from his mouth as he asked himself: "What in the world was that?"

Bits and pieces of hazy memories surfaced from his psyche. All it contained were silhouettes and images. He had no clue on how he should discern them. They looked so unfamiliar to him. He knew that he was dreaming during his transformation, at some point during his dreams he recalled gaining clarity but will immediately fall into trance right away. 

He had no answers to this so he could search for answers later. What's more important is to gauge how was faring strength wise.

Cultivating the [Book of Chaos] is the same as abandoning the Three Known Paths for humans. This is something that became clear to him as soon as he read the contents of the ancient book. This means that from now on, his cultivation wouldn't resemble that of a Body, Energy or a Spirit Path. This path is knows as the Path of Chaos, and as far as he could tell, he was alone in this road in this generation.

His body was still the same structure wise, even his energy network was present. However, the truth is that he had no use for his energy network anymore. The only thing that he had to pay attention to is the [Chaos Embryo] that is located on the center of his chest. This is the source of his strength after all.

To make things simpler, the plume of foreign energy earlier turned into this. It is connected to his heart so as long as his heart beats, his [Chaos Force] will keep on circulating in every single fiber of his body much like how his heart pumps blood to the rest of his body.

The Chaos Path has no known stages as far as he could tell. Right now, his initial gauge of his strength is roughly equal to a peak Warrior Stage expert but of course he wasn't so sure just yet. 

All he knows is that, this is just the first metamorphosis.. He had to undergo eight more to attain the consummate level of the [Book of Chaos: First Chapter], which means that he still has a long way to go.