Way of the Knights

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Raven continued listening to the stories of the ent. Despite its language being somewhat old and confusing, he still managed to piece out details of what it is trying to say.

Basically, the Ent was just a regular Oak Tree before but somewhat special since it has a tiny consciousness inside. By his guesses, this might be because of exposure to wild and untamed energies of the Wilderness. This tiny consciousness longed to walk the planes and go to different places, however it is an Oak Tree, and trees can't walk. That's why even if it really wanted to go adventuring, it can't. As the Oak Tree aged and nearing the end of it's natural lifespan, it made an exclusive decision to take one step from it's position, it didn't care it will die after that one step since it's longing was that strong that it refuses to go without even trying.

And because it defied the Natural Laws, it experienced Demonification and evolved into an Ent, still a tree but can walk and go to venture other lands.Raven asked for more stories, deep down he truly wanted to know more about the ent since it's not just everyday where you meet an intelligent and ancient lifeform.

Of course, the ent would be more than willing to tell him more. Based on Beastiaries he read somewhere, Kind Ents are the most talkative type, like a grandfather who always reminisce on their youthful memories, Kind Ents loved imparting knowledges specially to those who thirsts for it.With the continuous story telling, Raven eventually found out that this Ent is about 5000 years old. Which is mind blowing for him since that basically means that this Ent already existed long before the Previous Era ended!

It's currently Year 1720 of the Dawn Era, the Lighshield Royal Family had been ruling for about 500 years so far. The previous era, which is the Dark Era lasted for only 20,000 years! This means that on the last stretches of the Sunset Era, this ent already experienced Demonification and roamed the grand ancestral planes! And when the new era was ushered, this ent was there as well! This Kind Ent is even older that the current King! How awesome is that? With this new found knowledge, Raven was even more eager to hear the stories of the ent. 5000 years is no joke! Specially for a mentally aware Ent, the loneliness that it has to bear could drown anyone in sorrow, but to think that it's still arrive and settled down near his home, maybe he could do something with this new found information.

Raven did ask why it chose to settle down near the Kingdom, and this is what it said.

"I am old Little One. This is not the first time that I met your kind nor the first time that I've talked to humans as well, there were times that I was forced to deal with your kind as well."

"I've experienced far too many things in my 5000 years of life. I've faced many dangers as well as many opportunities which I often find myself reminiscing to whenever I can."

"It was a time when dear old me encountered a difficult situation. Some of your kind wanted to hunt me in order to harvest my core. They said that my core is useful to them so they went after me a couple of times. I tried pushing them away without harming them, but they endanger the ones I protect as well, so I had to deal with them. It then came to a point where I was pushed to the brink of death when someone, a Little One like you, saved from their clutches."

"His name is Arthur, and he befriended me and kept me safe and offered me solace and peace near this current civilization of yours."

'Wait! Arthur? You don't mean…'

"Come to think of it, he's an impressive one. A wise little prince who prefer to seek understanding with other races in hopes to co-exist, unfortunately some of your kind see this as a weakness and deemed him unfit to become a ruler. Nevertheless, he saved me and in return, when he was exiled I provided him home. Yes, this is the place where we stayed, the tunnel that you came out from was something that he personally made in order to sneak in to his home and gather intelligence."

'Holy crap! It really is Him!'

"Even though he was exiled from his home, he still deeply cared for it. Despite the unfairness he received, he's still willing to die for them in order to ensure their safety."

"With his hardwork and kind heart, your people started looking up to him, so much so that they started trusting him again and officially made him their ruler. Despite that, he still goes out of his way to visit me and tell me how his home was doing."

"Eventually, old age caught up to him. And during his last visit, we reminisced about our friendship and everything that had happened. In the end, he asked a small request to me and that is too watch over his descendants, and if possible provide them help If I could."

"To honor his request, I stationed here, constantly asking the Birds visit them and ask how they are doing. I'll see through it that so long as his bloodline remained, I will watch over them. I will honor our karmic ties to the best of my abilities."

Knowing this unknowingly made Raven smile. "It seems that I should bring her here to pay respects to you. Come to think of it, you could be considered as her great godfather."

"Hmm? What do you mean little one.

"Raven didn't say anything, instead he opened his mind and sent a mental link towards the core of the ent. As this link connected, the Ent captured images of Luna. Raven showed the ent of her childhood, the experiences she suffered, her training, and their moments together as friends.

As the Ent viewed these memories, it's core faintly shivered. After a while of silence, it then talked.

"She looks just like Melissa." The orb sighed, "Poor girl, forced to abandon her home to carry a heavy burden with her. She is very fortunate to meet you, and on behalf of Arthur and Melissa, thank you looking out for her."

"Don't mention it." Raven smiled and waved his hand, "It's something that I should do."

"Lucas, Arthur's son. Balmung and Luna, his grandchildren. It's a pity that he didn't have the chance to meet any of them. But I'm sure that he will be proud of them."

"Yeah…" Raven whispered, "He sure will."

All of the sudden, the orb shook fiercely and shot a glob of green glow towards Raven. Having caught unprepared, Raven's eyes widened like saucers as he felt a majestic and rich energy trying to invade his Energy Network.He looked up with difficulty, wanting to ask the ent about it's motives, but he was unable to talk due to the sheer density of the energy invading him.

"Don't fight it, Little One. I mean you no harm." The ent said, "Consider this as a little gift for looking out for her."

Raven was a bit confused but he decided to trust the ent. He lowered his defences down and allowed the invading energy to his own networkA flood of vibrant energy threatened to drown him, nevertheless he could also tell that this vibrant energy doesn't have any malicious intent at all, he's just having a bit of difficulty handling it due to it's sheer density.

The viscous energy seeped into every pore of his body, Raven felt his spirit become incredibly lively, this is also happening to his real body which is miles away from where his spirit right now. If Raven absorbs all of this energy, he will inevitably waste some of it since his energy network can't handle all of it. This is the time when he remembered that he could redirect the excess energy to somewhere else.

With a firm command of his will, a circle formation with several ancient markings appeared on his back. One of the said markings appeared to be especially brilliant as of this moment.

Great Elemental Gates of the Body Path. Raven decided to redirect the excess energy to the Wood Gate on his back and coincidentally, the gate also hungers for that viscous energy as well, which is why it is emitting a wild glow right now.

The gate shifted and opened wide, it then greedily swallowed the invading energy wantonly like a whale. Raven felt himself growing stronger and stronger as each seconds passed. As the Great Wood Gate opened, he felt that his lost lifespan was returning to him plus some extra. His hair was being lifted by a mysterious sources and was also growing by inches as time passed. His whole body vibrated and a layer of old skin was being peeled away revealing a toned and fairer skin. His muscles are also tightening up and hugging his bones closer, he could also feel that all of his sense were being strengthened along with his organs. With one final gulp, the viscous energy was gobbled up and mark for the Great Wood Gate disappeared from his back.. It was also the time when Raven felt an intense closeness towards nature.