Ascension of the Nephilim

"What's that?!" Faye exclaimed.

The champions had been immersed in the book and were arguing and bickering. The book was about elemental affinity. And the elements being mentioned in the book were very bizarre, and the basic knowledge that they were already being strained.

The introduction itself showed them that they were all not moving according to their elemental affinity. And doing so would undoubtedly hinder their cultivation.

Faye raised her head and turned to Kyros, hoping to clarify something. But then she saw a peculiar creature standing next to them.

Demerus had seen the entire act. Martha Steele summoned the creature from a strange portal. The fluctuations were clearly dimensional magic.

"She-She has a dimensional space!?" Demerus was agitated.

"That's a dragon!" Triona identified the beast.

"What kind of a family is this?!" Demerus asked again.

The Steele family, however, welcomed the dragon-like any normal thing that they faced on Tuesday. 

Kyros was quickly recounting the abilities of the Coven and what they were capable of doing.

"So your Coven has those abilities, huh? I wonder just what's your limit, son..." Branze was amazed at the power of the Coven.

"Shared growth and evolution at each snack! That very, very envious! It makes me want to join your little Coven, Kyros!" Aron laughed.

"Now for Martha's report. You have something to share of what you learned about Fate?"

"We learned it at the price of two knights and several brave slaves." Martha began.

Hunter had a pained expression as he heard this.

"The Path of Foresight is quite different to the level of us humans. Granted that Lord Kyros is a freak and he cannot understand or even explain how or why Fate moves, Hunter, Hems, and Hemsey discovered how to use Foresight." Martha explained.

The rest gave Kyros a strange look.

"What? I'm still in the process of understanding it!"

"But sister-in-law is right. You are unable to explain how to use it clearly. Like a prodigy who doesn't understand how or why his miraculous acts are difficult for common people, so do you thread in Fate not knowing that every single action of yours is naturally aligned in it." Branze explained.

"The same can be said of you, Path of Molding." Aron laughed.

"Your such a genius that you can't explain how or what to do to help others grow."

Branze raised his eyebrows.

"Aren't you the same in your Path of Combat? How the fragment did you understand Force and meet Hyperion Steel?"

"Anyway... You Steele freaks are so monstrous that's it's up to us common folks to learn and explain how it works." Martha interrupted.

"The Path of Foresight is grounded on the will and wish of the user. The bigger the wish, the harder it is to see through Fate. The truth was, I didn't understand it until Hunter pointed it out to me. If the Fate Challenger focuses their thoughts on achieving a specific goal, Fate will help them. This is how Fate helped us in the battle against Puff dragon cells." 

Martha then quickly summarized the events of the battle.

She pointed out how she could determine the precise locations of where the cave could collapse through her attack. Finally, she explained how Hunter was able to find a source to restore their magic.

"Through that simple goal, they were able to figure out how to get a magic restoring potion and led them to Myas's group."

"So it has to be a simple will or desire?" Aron mused.

"It depends on what 'simple' is. If Myas was not in that area, would Fate have led them to sources of dracanae ghouls and forced them to fight?"

"I think Fate is smart, and it won't act against a certain limitation. It takes into consideration what the Fate Challenger is willing to sacrifice. When they searched for a source of magic for the battle, they found that aside from the magic-restoring potions, those slaves were another source."

It was only then that Scarlet and some of the members of the Coven realized what had happened.

"You drank the blood of the slaves?" Kyros confirmed.

"At first, we drank some of their blood to restore it. But Destiny forced the evolution of the dragon cells. In contrast, Destiny seems to have no concern about the user. If we had Fate Challenger, the dead cells of Puff might have been affected by the Blood Calamity and became people of Destiny. They didn't know what they were doing when they evolved into stronger forms. From a dracanae ghoul, they became an actual dragon. A Thane Dragon!"

"A Thane Dragon?!" Kyros was shocked.

"Yes. Five Thane Dragons. Destiny forced their evolution somehow. But they were doomed the moment they stepped into that form."

"Right. The energy of a Thane Dragon is likened to a Commander. The fact that you all survived is already miraculous." Kyros added.

"Because of Fate. Hems and Hemsy were willing to sacrifice their life to save me. They used their life as a token to allow Fate to get me to safety. I fought and used the powers I gained from the dragon and with the help of the Fallen Kyriachos."

"So that's why I could sense his darkness in you." Kyros nodded.

"Yes. He was the one who brought me back from a Separated Realm. Puff ate a descendant of Kyriachos, and that created a Separated Realm in that cave. My soul fell in there from drinking too much of the dracanae's blood. He gave me this power." Martha revealed the power of the Space core.

"A Space core? I see Kyriachos collapsed the Separated Realm and used Puff's original heart to create a Core." Kyros deduced.

"Yes. But I was out of mana then. And that's when I had no choice. But to feast on the slaves to regain my magic points." 

Gregory froze up as he heard this. Avary covered his mouth in horror.

"The slaves gave their life willingly. I killed six of them and used their very life to restore my magic points. I couldn't understand how that happened."

"It was Tribute." Kyros recalled one of the many things he learned through Mechiel in his past life.

"There is nothing more potent than life and soul willingly given. So it seems they did give their life willingly. It doesn't make sense. But I'm sure Fate had something to do with why they became so willing." Kyros sighed.

Gregory wanted to answer. But he couldn't bring himself to say it. 

Hunter simply kept quiet.

The two of them had spent some time with the slaves for a time and had an idea why they were willing to give their lives so willingly.

"This information is very important." Kyros turned to Hunter.

"You should be proud that your brothers gave their life for this. We are all Fate Challengers or will be. And this will be our strongest weapon!" Kyros declared. 

"They will be remembered." Mezal began.

"Now that we know that our family is caught in the conflict of Fate and Destiny, the reason why we can stand here today is because of these people. I hereby declare, not just these recent ones that died. But all who have served our Steele family and died will be among the people we will remember as the first Champions of the Steele Family. Before Mezal, Aron or Branze became Champions. We have them. The Champions of the Steele family. They are our foundation, and we are their legacy." Mezal decreed.

"They are not slaves or knights. They are heroes of the Steele family. We shall immortalize their names in the Temple, and thus shall they be remembered as.." Mezal smiled.