Way of the Knights

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The entrance that was blocking the hidden passage moved.

It was a circular door that parted in the middle, this also the same thing that prevented Raven's spying. This door opened as soon as the guy earlier disappeared, maybe he's the one who opened it for them or he contacted others to do it for him.

Nevertheless, the two entered the tunnel behind the circular door. Victor lit up a torch and gave one to Raven as well, he then said:

"No matter how bright or dim this place is, no matter how good your eyesight, remember that we are only allowed to use regular torches as a light source and nothing else. Anyone who enters this tunnel must light up a torch or else they will be treated as infiltrators. Keep this in mind."

Victor's tone was full of solemnness which meant that he was serious, Raven kept this information inside his mind, and with how good his memory is, it is very unlikely that he will forget about his warning.

Seeing him nod to his warnings, Victor smiled and the two kept walking. Eventually, they reached the end of a tunnel. Once outside, they were greeted by a sea grass and trees. Raven looked up and saw that there is a sun hanging at the sky, he frowned as told himself that this shouldn't be possible, it was night time when they entered the tunnel and it didn't took them that long to traverse it for it to be day time once again.

Raven narrowed his eyes and inspected this scene with his ocular technique, then everything became clear to him. He was right, it was still night time and the sun that he's seeing right now is man made one, created from a high grade array formation. He's guessing that this array should be connected outside, that's the only way that it could mimic the sun this good that it almost fooled him.

Victor was about to explain this to him but for some reason, he could tell that Raven already knew the answer. Well, he actually wasn't sure if Raven truly managed to come up with the correct answer but his instincts told him that he did so he didn't bother explaining.

They arrived at a tall metal gate, in front of the gate there are two hooded figures. These people blocked the way and prevented them from moving forward.

Victor stepped forward and greeted them, he showed them his badge and signaled Raven to do the same. The guards checked the authenticity of the badges and saw no fault so they stepped towards the side and opened the gate for them.

The gates then revealed a very expansive mansion. There are several people who roamed around the mansion, some are servants who tends to the place, others are similar to the both of them, here for the gathering. They made their way towards the main doors of the mansion, they were once again asked to show their badges and they did, then they were allowed in.

Raven inspected everyone here. Just like them, most of the people here are wearing some sort of a disguise, the only people who aren't wearing one are the servants that roamed around.

Raven followed Victor around and they ended up inside a spacious room with some people waiting.

"Goat's here."

"Took him long enough."

"Since when was he on time anyway."

The people around them suddenly became active and started talking about Victor. Raven inspected these people one by one and came to a realization that everyone here had a cultivation level of at least Knight Realm and above.

"Oh, he brought someone."

"A little Soldier? Why are you dragging a kid here Goat?"

"Will you shut up people? Why don't you allow Goat to explain first?"

Victor was a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the people around him that he was actually finding it hard to reply to each of their questions. Raven on the other hand wasn't paying attention to any of their words, instead he was focused onto something else.

'That's one scary dude.' He thought.

He sensed this person by accident, at first he was about to ignore it but he learned his lessons during the first trial of the crown space. When he analyzed the feed he received, he became incredibly thankful that he didn't ignore this guy.

This dude was a Golden Knight, which means that he's one of the most powerful human being in the kingdom as of this moment. What made this scarier is that if it weren't for his close inspection, he would've never noticed this guy among the crowd. His aura was very hidden, almost like he was blending with the surroundings.

'Laws perhaps? Yeah, seems about right. Either Mist Laws or Wind Laws. Whatever it is, he should be at an entry level since I was able to see him.'

At the same time, the man that Raven was inspecting felt his gaze too. Both of their gazes met and the man saw Raven bowed towards his general location, like a junior greeting a senior.

The man's eyebrow shot up, amusement filled his heart as he thought: 'Interesting, a little Soldier boy managed to locate me despite being covered with Wind Laws. How sensitive.'

The man laughed despite himself, he then decided to drop the Law concealment surrounding him which is basically an announcement of his presence. The air inside the room became solemn, everyone in the room turned their eyes towards the man who's silently placing his teacup down.

"Greetings, Elder Drake!"

"Greetings..."

The people around him immediately became wary and hurriedly greeted him. They were scared out of their minds, who knew that this formidable guy was sitting behind them? They began thinking that the Elder must've been displeased with their noises that's why he decided to reveal himself, all of them started bracing themselves.

The man named Elder Drake silently stood up and approached Victor. He then stopped in front of them which made Victor quite nervous. Victor immediately clasped his hands towards Elder Drake and said:

"Paying respects to Elder Drake."

Elder Drake received this greeting, on the other hand he became quite nervous when he saw that Raven was just standing there and doing nothing. He sent him a voice transmission which didn't elude Elder Drake's senses. Victor then heard Elder Drake spoke:

"It's fine Goat, the boy already paid respects before any of you did." His light-hearted words echoed across the room which shocked all people inside. "You've brought a good seedling, Goat. Meet Dragon in his office, he's been waiting for you."

Jus like that, Elder Drake disappeared from everyone's sight. The pressure he emitted was gone which made the crowd breathe a sigh of relief. A Golden Knight's aura was truly impressive, it's stifling, making it hard for them to breathe properly. It was like they were being stared down by an ancient beast.

Victor woke up from his stupor, Elder Drake's words still echoed in his ears. He glanced at Raven who wore a deadpan expression throughout, his heart still contained waves of shock. Elder Drake said it himself didn't he? That this boy saw him before any of them could. A little Soldier boy managed to sense someone who's a couple of realms stronger than him. Even if this was done by accident, this was still an amazing feat.

He didn't know why but he felt that bringing Raven here was the best decision he ever made. This is considering the fact that he haven't even done anything to contribute just yet.

Victor send a signal to Raven, they then strutted away from the crowd and arrived at the doors of Dragon's office. Victor knocked politely and patiently waited.

The doors of the office swung open and some guards allowed them passage. Raven gazed at the office and saw multiple things. There's a large shelf filled with old books on the side, there's board with a large map pinned on it. Raven looked up and saw that there is a majestic art on the ceiling, there are several type of beasts and races painted on it which makes one wonder what were the thoughts of the one who painted this.

In the middle of the office, there is a set of tables and chair. At the end of the room, there is a tall and stained glass window. In front of the window, a man could be seen staring at the view outside while his hands were clasped on his back. He was wearing a mask that depicted a dragon's face.

Without any hesitation, Victor lowered his posture and solemnly greeted: "Paying respects to Master Dragon."

Behind him, Raven also followed suite. While he was bowing however, he never stopped inspecting the man in front of him. He didn't even had to inspect him closely to know who this was.

Just from the way how Victor greeted him and from his position, he could already tell without a doubt that this is Crown Prince Balmung.