Way of the Knights

Chapter 215 - 6 Months: Man And Weapon As One

---

*Boom!*

An earth shattering explosion occurred. From a distance, one could see a strange looking waterfall where the waters that flowed in, were dyed with a bloody tinge of red. 

Beneath the waterfall, a spectacular scene unfolded.

A man, coated with a heavy and unnerving dark cloak surrounding him, stood. He was clutching a huge black hammer. His gaze was dull, as if he was bored. But the aura he gives off was extremely suppressive. The head of the hammer he held was almost as big as a human waist, it looked a little bit unnatural due to it's narrow 12 foot handle. 

With a disdainful snort, he took a step forward and the stone platform beneath him trembled fiercely. He held the huge hammer using one hand and performed an upward swing. 

*Boom!*

In his hand, the huge hammer glowed with a fearsome black light. He waved the hammer like a stick but there is no mistaking it's sheer density. His strike evoked a boulder sized black projectile that made the air screech as it tore through the cascading currents of the waterfall.

The projectile flew against the current, quickly reaching the halfway mark of the 100 meter tall waterfall. It was only after reaching that mark when the projectile showed signs of slowing down, but under the watchful gaze of the man beneath the waterfall, it was still persisting and resisting against the crushing force of the waterfall currents.

Astonishingly, the projectile was able to reach the 70th meter mark of the waterfall, it stayed there and prevented any water from falling for about a minute before it dissipated into smoke. After it dissipated, the pooling water it blocked came crashing down towards the man yet he did nothing to stop it nor evaded it. He allowed this huge volume of water to crash onto his body while he himself reveled on the feeling of his previous strike.

Of course, this man was none other than Raven who was training in the Bloody Mary Falls.

As the heavy water came crashing down to his body, Raven felt refreshed instead of pain. He sighed in satisfaction as the black aura surrounding him disappeared and receded inside his body. He smiled and jumped down from the waterfall and went back to the shore. He sat down in front of the camp he made a while back and checked if his food was ready.

The waft of freshly cooked food made him shiver. He impatiently took out some wooden plates and utensils to serve himself a portion of his meal. He then sat down and happily ate his meal.

'Six months huh? Time really does fly when you're occupied.' He thought as he ate, 'I got so absorbed into training that my birthday slipped by without me noticing it.'

Raven turned 15 just approximately 3 weeks ago. Due to his intense training regimen, he didn't even notice it until now. Besides recovering, sleep, eating, and meditation, the rest of his time was spent under that waterfall so no one could blame him for not remembering his own birthday. In fact, the rest of his friends might've forgotten theirs as well. 

Raven had achieved many things during this past six months though. 

The first and most obvious one is his weapon proficiency. In terms of proficiency in wielding the hammer offensively, there might not be anyone in the entire kingdom who could rival him, in fact no one might even come close to him at all.

The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer eventually reached a whopping weight of 15 tons. Not to mention wielding it, even lifting the damn hunk of metal would already be a challenge on its own. Nevertheless, Raven was able to wave it around like it's just some random stick. 

If it weren't for the fact that the hammer got heavier, Raven might've already cleared all of the tasks left for him. 

Speaking of which, his task continuously changed as he trained. Now he just finished reaching the 70th meter mark of the waterfall, thus once again changing his task. Now he had to reach the 80th meter mark. 

He was able to reach this stage due to the valuable experiences of the previous wielders of the hammer. That along with his own interpretations and enlightenment and constant practice enabled him to really become proficient in wielding the hammer.

On a side note, Raven never stopped visiting the Crown Space even with his hectic schedule. He always made sure to reserves some time specifically for that and as a result, he was able to venture even further to the Palace Grounds of the Crown Space. 

Due to him switching cultivation techniques, his body transformed and became stronger, eventually allowing him to endure a greater pressure there. In fact, on the 200th step, he encountered another pocket dimension and managed to clear it as well. 

The pocket dimension sent him to place of carnage. Basically, everyone on sight was trying to kill him, therefore giving Raven no other choice but to kill them. He wanted to know more about the place but despite his efforts, everything lead into the same result, the same task if you will. And that is to kill everyone on sight. 

His enemies were demented criminals. As soon as he got in, all he saw was a sea of dead bodies and rivers of blood. None of the humans he saw there were sane, even for a little bit. All they wanted to was kill. It was the reason why they exist, it is the reason why they breath, so Raven had no qualms in ending this madness. 

But there was a deadly trap though. Thankfully he noticed it early. The trap was that, the more he kill, the more the madness in the air was attracted to him. Raven had to be constantly on guard with his enemies and the atmosphere which was trying to pull him down to depravity. 

Eventually, Raven managed to succeed in his task there. He received good remarks but no concrete rewards. He didn't mind this since he already got more than what he could possibly ask for; a valuable combat experience and the materialization of his Weapon Intent.

Weapon Intent, also called as Man and Weapon as One. 

It is a mysterious realm that could only be achieved by dedicating one's effort and efficiency in wielding their chosen weapon, in Raven's case it would be the hammer.

Weapon Intent is different from Will. 

The 'Will' is manifested through the desire of a cultivator, it feeds on their beliefs and way of living, it will then materialize and bloom in splendor as one followed their heart and remain true to their virtues.

'Weapon Intent' on the other hand is the ultimate condensation of one's Fighting Style. A hammer is mostly used in forging, only a few dared to use it offensively as it's an unconventional weapon. Offensively, a hammer could flatten, destroy, crush, push back, shatter, and etc. Only by completely gaining enough experience and understanding of these factors, will one's Weapon Intent materialize.

Weapon Intent has several effects that makes one yearn for it. One, it doubles the force of any attack made by the weapon by a least twice without any addition consumption. Two, is the at the word 'Intent' itself. If Raven flared his Hammer Intent, anyone around him would feel a heavy and suppressive force that will suppress their actions. This will prevent them from being able to exert 100% of their combat capabilities. Third and probably the most important reason why 'Weapon Intent' is highly sought after, is because it is the nest primer for gaining enlightenment of Laws.

Weapon Intent is the purest form of an individual's 'fighting spirit' per se. In a sense, their intents could create some sort of a resonance with nature, therefore allowing them to perceive Laws which also resonated with their intent. So long as one kept on nourishing their intent, its almost impossible for that chance to never arrive. This is why many people place a heavy importance with it. 

Raven's Weapon Intent made its debut in that pocket dimension. The constant slaughter was too much for his body to handle, he couldn't even catch a wink of rest due to the sheer volume of enemies running after him. Nevertheless, Raven placed all of his fate to himself and the weapon he was handling. In his mind, so long as he could swing this hammer, he will never die. 

He didn't even notice when it appeared. All he could fell was that time was that, the Hammer felt like a part of him. An extension of his body. He was able to wield it in the best way possible due to his familiarity with it. He only realized that he awoken his Weapon Intent after the last enemy died under the crushing force of his hammer and when he saw that he was covered with a dark and heavy blanket of strange aura.

Despite his achievements, Raven knew not to be complacent. This is just the beginning, he still have the waterfall to tackle and he could already tell that reaching the 80th meter mark would still be challenging. 

But like he always said: 'We have time.. One step at a time.'