Way of the Knights

Chapter 718 - Man With A Scepter

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Vendrick stayed in the Western Forest for two weeks, waiting for the spear to complete its transformation if there's even one. 

He was in the comfort of his own formation which gave him absolute protection and privacy, he relaxed to recover from his travels and battles recently. He knows that he will be on the road soon so he should rest as much as he could while he still can. 

Vendrick didn't train, that being said it doesn't mean he stopped growing within these two weeks. He has the Dragonborn Physique, even if he does nothing, he will become strong. It's an anomaly to be honest. 

During the time he was resting, Vendrick constantly replayed the scene of him trying to destroy the heart. It's been a while since he struggled to do something. He still have no idea what the heart is made of but what really made him a bit apprehensive was his attitude. 

By no means Vendrick thought that he was infallible in this world.. He knew that he was strong but not godlike...at least not yet. The fact that he struggled to destroy something was an eye-opening experience for him though. He couldn't help but think that he might've become too confident about his abilities. 

But see, the thing is, even the Tribulation Lightning - which is said to be the one of the most destructive elements in terms of Heavenly Powers, struggled to penetrate that thing. It's not like Vendrick was wielding a fake Tribulation Lightning either or else he would've noticed that. This is why Vendrick couldn't help but wonder about the origins of that thing. 

'Forget it.' Vendrick muttered to himself, 'It's gone, whatever that was. There's no point on wasting time thinking about it.'

He sighed and got out of his bed. He stepped out his tent and went towards the table. There's a simmering pot in there and judging how long it has been, the food should be ready. 

Vendrick got himself a bowl of soup and began eating. All of a sudden though, his meal was interrupted by the sudden fluctuations of the spear which was stabbed on the ground. 

The energy it was releasing was strong. Vendrick perked-up and completely forgot about his meal. He stood up and approached the spear. 

He was hesitant to touch it. He didn't want to interrupt the changes especially now that it's on the final stages. However, the spear itself began floating and releasing fluctuations even stronger than before. It floated in front of Vendrick, releasing a buzzing sound which asked him to hold it. 

Vendrick held the spear and suddenly, he felt his consciousness being pulled to another dimension. 

When he came to be, he found himself standing at a vast open space. Everything is covered in a velvety black blanket with beads sparkling brightly as if they're contending who's the brightest. His current environment completely resembled the starry skies, only this time, he felt infinitesimally closer to them as if he could touch them. 

Vendrick was confused, he didn't know why the spear or the Brush of Wisdom pulled him into this space, but his questions will be answered momentarily.

He felt movement around him which alerted him. He looked around and saw the stars moving in a strange pattern. Some where flying off course while others were fusing with the smaller ones. Streaks of light converged, explosions shook the space ensuing chaos all around. Standing at the very center of this chaos was Vendrick who didn't know what's happening. 

*Sigh*

That...wasn't supposed to be that loud. And it sure as hell wasn't supposed to calm down that on going chaos amongst the stars and space.

Vendrick was frozen on the spot. He too heard that sigh, it was quiet, soft even. But the way it echoed all over the starry skies was incredible, not the mention how that one sigh seemingly stopped all the chaos that's going on. What really caused him to be greatly shocked, was because that sigh sounded as if it came from his own mouth. 

Well, how would that be possible? He sure as hell didn't remember doing that or even having the power to do anything remotely close to the effects of that sigh. 

"How lamentable..." 

The same voice spoke. Again, Vendrick felt like he was the source of that voice. He turned around to look behind him but he didn't anyone in there. He looked above, below, to his left and right, and again behind him but he just couldn't see who's talking. He's the only living being capable of speech here so what's going on? 

Amidst his confusion, Vendrick suddenly felt like a pair of eyes landed on his body. He froze, he couldn't see anyone. Whoever this entity was, its something that is way beyond his imaginations. After all, Vendrick never felt so exposed before. Not on his previous life, or this one. This is the first time. 

"...I see, very well then." 

As the voice spoke, Vendrick felt the gaze leaving him. All of a sudden, the world seemingly resumed all activity. A silvery radiance erupted with Vendrick as the source. The brilliance encompassed everything, filling the entire space with a bright silver glow. 

In front of him, something formed. A silhouette which he couldn't see nor perceive. It was holding some type of a scepter which felt extremely familiar to Vendrick. 

The silhouette moved, he lifted the scepter and pointed it at the stars. To Vendrick's amazement, the silhouette began drawing lines filled with endless profundity that eludes him. The silhouette began connecting one star to another, he was drawing the Constellations!

Constellations that Vendrick knew and had no idea existed, was born thanks to the actions of this mysterious man. As he began drawing constellations, the chaos stopped. Slowly but surely, order was being restored. 

Vendrick could feel the endless charm of Universal Laws from the way the mysterious man formed the constellations. Unfortunately, Vendrick still hasn't reached the point where he could understand anything about this, hell even Divinity ranked experts might not understand this either. Still, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so he made sure to keep his eyes wide open to not miss anything. 

At some point in time, the man stopped. Order was restored and the space around them returned to its previous state. Vendrick stared at the man and he saw him turning around to look at him. 

"Child." Vendrick shook, he wasn't expecting this. He could feel the man's gaze locked onto his, its as if he could see him. "Fret not. We are separated by eons."

Now that's just absurd. It turns out that this man could see him despite being separated by eons of time, he's even talking to Vendrick as if they met in person. 

"...this isn't the first time this happened." The man said which as pained and exhausted voice. 

Vendrick was confused, he then thought to himself: 'Is he talking about the chaos earlier? Wait, should I say something? Can I even communicate with him? This might be a one way connection, I don't know.'

"With you being here...that means Time is almost up." The man said in a cryptic manner, which somehow made Vendrick nervous. "I can't see past through you, neither can I see what happens next."

"Though I know one thing." The man continued, "Your presence means that Destiny has elected you. What happens next is up to you." 

'Wait, what does that mean? I don't understand.'

"You have time, though not long it should still be sufficient." The man sighed once more, "All of this might elude you right now but that just because you're not ready yet. In time, you will know." 

"Time mustn't be wasted." The man paused and lifted his scepter. 

He then pointed it to Vendrick and drew a mark which got branded to his very consciousness. Just before Vendrick inspected what the mark was, he was shocked to see the scepter on the man's hand shatter into pieces. 

The shards scattered, flying towards great distances which Vendrick couldn't follow. What's left in front of him, was a mere fragment of what it once was. 

...a brush.

The brush slowly came close to him, fusing with Vendrick consciousness. The moment it did, Vendrick heard the man's voice booming on his consciousness. 

"The scepter that drew the Constellations, a mere fragment of it. Collect the rest and it shall aid you on your chosen path."

As soon as that was done, Vendrick felt something tugging his consciousness. He instinctively knew that he will be returning to his body shortly. He felt conflicted, he didn't want to leave just yet since he still hasn't confirmed if he could actually communicate with the man. 

"Words are of no use, Child." The man spoke with an aged and wizened voice. "I am not of your time. I won't be. By the time you can understand the world, I am long gone. My ways are my own, so is my path. You have yours to follow. Discover it and see it through the end." 

After that, the man slowly turned around and starts walking away from Vendrick. As he walked away and pull he felt grew stronger, Vendrick saw that the man's silhouette was vanishing slowly. 

As soon as the man the completely vanished, Vendrick stopped resisting the pull and allowed his consciousness to return to the real world.