Way of the Knights

Chapter 498 - The Flame

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Raven's consciousness left his body and arrived somewhere else. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw himself standing in front if a massive pillar of flame. He had no idea where he's at, all he knew is that everything that his eyes can see is blanketed by fire varying in colors too. 

The largest and tallest of them all were raging in front of him. It formed a massive pillar which seems to pierce the heavens itself. It color was a mixture of blue and jade swirling around each other. It gave off an impression of dominance, aggressiveness, nobility and purity all at the same time. 

Raven had no idea what this flame is, all he could remember was trying to commune with the Cleansing Fire and suddenly, he arrived here. 

"A visitor…how rare." 

A deep voice reverberated all of a sudden, jolting Raven out of his stupor. His eyes focused and realized that the voice seemed to be coming from the massive pillar of flame in front of him. 

"Greetings…uh, whoever you are." Raven said awkwardly, he honestly have no idea of what to do from here. Monica didn't say anything about arriving at this place. 

"What is the purpose of your visit here?" The deep and aged voice asked him, not even bothering about introducing itself to him. 

"Well…" Raven hesitated, but in the end he still decided to tell. "From what I can remember, I was trying to commune with the Cleansing Fire, but I ended up arriving here. I honestly have no idea what's going on. Wait, are you the Cleansing Fire?"

There was a long period of silence after Raven asked this question. Despite the his strange surroundings - which seems to appear like the surface of the sun, the atmosphere turned somewhat awkward. 

"Ha! Hahahahahaha!" 

The deep and aged voice coming from the depths of the large flame pillar suddenly burst into an uproarious laughter. It obviously confused Raven but he can't really find anything to say. He could only wait until…whoever this is, calm down and stop laughing. 

"Ah, so that's how it is…" the voice uttered, it would seem that its talking to itself. "Indeed, how very strange and also…"

As the voice trailed off, Raven suddenly felt a gaze landing on his body, causing all of his hairs to stand up and alarm. His expression hardened and he assumed an offensive stance. 

"…curious." The voice continued. The feeling of being stared down by a large predator suddenly disappeared, causing Raven to visibly relax. Still, he didn't drop his guard down. He just stared at the massive pillar of flame, confused as to what's going on. 

"You hold more potential than that…who is that again? Dio…Deo…Odor"

"Uh, you mean Theodore?" Raven interjected.

"Yeah, yeah. That guy." The voice replied. Causing Raven's face to turn downcast. What the hell is this situation? Is this really the Cleansing Fire? If so, then why can it remember Theodore's name? Wasn't he the one who cultivated this flame to reach this level? What's going on. 

'Wait…some things doesn't add up here…' Raven thought, but before he could think even further, his thoughts were interrupted since the voice talked again. 

"Your body's potential and foundations are firmer and overall better compared to him. In fact, he couldn't even be compared to you." The voice said, his words were flattering but Raven didn't appear to be excited or elated by this. He continued listening instead. 

"You seek the Cleansing Fire to use against that nasty prisoner don't you?" The voice asked. 

Raven's eyes gleamed as he managed to realize some things from this statement, he kept it to himself however and instead answered the question. 

"Indeed."

"Very well. I shall bestow you a Cleansing Fire Seed." The voice stated. Its words managed to cause Raven's expression to finally change. 

Out of nowhere, a hole appeared from the massive flame pillar. From that hole, a seed covered in white flames emerged and gently flew towards him. 

Raven brought his palms up and the seed landed on them. Raven felt the kind warmth pulsing within this tiny seed and felt somewhat in awe. 

"Fuse with it here. I shall oversee the process." The voice demanded. Raven had no issues about that so he immediately sat down and clasped his hands in prayer with the seed placed on the middle of his palms. 

He then focused his will and began fusing with the seed. As soon as he began the fusion, the seed on his palms dissipated into white fumes, which later then turned into pure white flames that covered his palms. 

White flames slowly crept up and swallowed him. Raven wasn't in pain for some reason, he could only feel the strange warmth surrounding his body gradually. 

His focus was centered on the white flames that were invading his body. It found its way to his energy network and even doused his blood vessels and his bones in fire but again, he didn't feel any pain from it. 

As the flames covered his body from inside out, it eventually seeped through his core. And is finding a place which seems to be extremely interesting, the flames suddenly invaded the place only to see the strange scenery inside. 

It was as if there was another universe inside Raven's body. The flames saw a swirling cosmos, sparkling stars and planets within Raven's core. It suddenly got excited and started charging towards the very center of the cosmos within Raven's body. 

The white flames experienced no obstructions upon getting there. As soon as it arrived at the center, the flames congregated into a single plume of fire and the seed that disappeared earlier reappeared in there. Sitting at the very center of the cosmos. 

It then started wantonly absorbing the abundant energy around it. This process was something that Raven felt and allowed to happen. This would be akin to the first feeding for the Cleansing Fire Seed, and so long as he does this, then the seed will germinate within him and he'll be able to use the might of the Cleansing Fire. 

'Just as I thought! This kid is…' 

Unbeknownst to Raven, the massive flame pillar in front of him watched the fusion process closely. Although it didn't manage to discover the hidden cosmos within Raven's body, it realized his compatibility with the fire. 

No one had ever showed this much compatibility to its flames, not until now. The kid didn't feel any pain in the process, the fusion was like a walk in the park and the seed didn't even release any sort of discontent to its current vessel. The seed fused with the kid, not the other way around. The seed even decided to germinate on its own, the kid didn't need to force it nor coax it into doing so.

This means that Raven was a perfect vessel, and this is something that had never happened before. 

'I need to observe him more...' the massive flame pillar thought to itself. 

Shortly after that, the Cleansing Fire Seed within Raven's body had firmly rooted itself in the center of the Cosmos. From this moment onwards, unless Raven dies, no one could even think about extracting the seed out of his body. This is a firm connection, and this bond will only get stronger as time passed and as the seed grows. 

Raven observed this process closely. Needless to say, he was somewhat surprised on how smooth it went for him. It was painless, quick and comforting even. 

As his attention was focused on the seed, he could see that some changes are happening to it as soon as it rooted itself to him.

The drain on his Cosmic Energy is negligible. The seed was absorbing his energy on its own accord and its not incredibly overbearing as to absorb everything in him. It was a gentle drain, and he could tell that at some point, the seed will be saturated and won't absorb his Cosmic Energy anymore. 

His energy seems to be a very nutritious food for the seed. Raven could several runic lines emerging on the seeds surface. The plume of flames seems to burn even brighter and clearer than before. Raven didn't even doubt for a second that the quality of the Cleansing Fire he could use right now is better compared to the one that he had seen before. 

'Once it's fully saturated, it only needs time and it will eventually sprout. By then, the quality and quantity of fires I can use will be boosted by several fold.' Raven thought to himself. 'For now, it seems that the fusion is a success. I'll let it absorb as much Cosmic Energy as it needed until its fully saturated.'

With that in mind, he withdrawn his attention from the seed and woke up from his meditation. He then gently stood up and saluted the massive flame pillar. 

"Thank you, for bestowing me such a gift."

"You're welcome." The voice replied, "Use this power well and render meritorious services for Humanity. I'm watching you kid."

"I'll do my best." Raven replied. 

"Mn. Away with you then." 

As soon as the voice said that, Raven felt a strong tug and he found himself flying back to his own body. Amidst his flight back, a smile appeared on his face as he thought. 

'I knew it! That's the Flame of Olympus!'