Way of the Knights

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"4th Sea Master huh…" Raven murmured as he rolled the scroll and placed it back on the bookshelf. "Never heard of him."

"But from the language used here is extremely old. And from the contents, the promised land that they speak of must be the Divine Realm."

"And this Master Sun, he actually brought a Dragon here. Now it makes sense how Vit'hum was capable of staying here indefinitely."

How this Pale Bastard was able to remain here for the longest of time, was one of the mysteries that Raven hasn't solved up until now. 

He knew that Dragon's aren't a native of this plane. This plane is too weak to handle the power of the dragons, and it also doesn't have the resources to raise one. That's not to say that a Dragon can't enter this place either. With their strength, they could rip off this entire land into pieces. Of course the plane had some counter measures should that happen, but this all proved that this plane shouldn't have any dragons or any of its kin. 

Now, it all made sense. It turns out that someone brought a Dragon here. That information alone is enough for Raven to theorize the rest. 

Albeit that the Dragon was a mere child when it was brought here, it should've mated with some of the beast here in hopes of continuing its bloodline. The Dragon that was brought here can't stay for a long period of time since it wasn't a native of this place, but the seeds it sown on this land were a different issue. 

Raven didn't know how many managed to give birth but at least one survive, and that will be the ancestor of Vit'hum. 

"I don't remember this plane having more of the Dragon Kin aside from Vit'hum. So long as we deal with him, we should receive the favor of this plane. Dragon Kin's are no worse than pests here. They were the ones who caused the energy of the plane to drop by a massive degree, which also caused it to become a low level plane. Without them, then little by little, this place should recover. Us humans won't be able to drain much anyway since upon stepping on a certain realm, we have to ascend."

"And even then, its not like I'm don't have any plans for this place. What matters right now is for me to get stronger, and all of my plans will eventually fall into place."

Raven sighed and shook his head. He then picked up another scroll and unfurled it to start reading it. Without being aware of how much time had passed, Raven became too absorbed on reading and studying the records. 

He started reading the scrolls first and discovered a trend. The scrolls contained musings and entries of the 4th Sea Master on his life. Almost like a diary in a sense. These scrolls gave him a brief glance of the old civilization, back when humans had just discovered the entrance to the Divine Realm, the era when almost all humans migrated to that place and conquered it.

***

"So I was right…" Raven murmured after he finished reading the last scroll, "Those who chose to remain here in this plane, were the servants of these people. Swearing to guard this place and keep it safe should they return."

"Well, they must've known that they will never come back. They probably just said those words as a lip service. The moment those people migrated, were also the same time that they were freed from their service and could start new lives. Why would they wish for them to come back? And why would they come back?"

Raven sighed and placed the scroll back to its place.

"Those who ascended the Divine Realm are the main force of this plane. They took their ancient knowledge and arts with them along with their inheritances and powerful bloodlines, leaving scraps for the people who remained here. That's where the decline started."

"Without the Masters, no one was capable of keeping the beasts in check. The servants are too weak to interfere so they set them free in the wilds and gradually forgot about them and focused on their new lives as free people. Freedom caused them to become complacent and made them weak. On the other hand, living in the wild, the beasts were granted resources and a place to build their lairs. Not too long after that, the first Beast Horde occurred, I assume."

"And since Humans became so weak, the reign of Demonic Beasts has started, which also caused humans to struggle and suffer. One thing lead to another and then were here."

Raven shook his head and felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Although the entries of the 4th Sea Master didn't contain anything that happened to their servants after they left, his assumptions weren't too far fetched either. In fact, he was confident that his assumptions were correct. 

"This is why I do the things that I do." Raven's face became a bit rigid as he uttered this.

Freedom causes complacency. Too much peace will cause one's weapon to accumulate rust over time. Should the people left remained vigilant and kept close watch, then the situation of the plane might've been different. 

This is also why Raven didn't plan on eradication all demonic beasts in this plane. Not only will that upset the balance, that will also cause humans to feel too safe. He only planned on eradicating those that will really threaten his work but the rest will remain. 

He can't save everyone, nor that he plans on doing so in the first place. Despite of his contributions to the Kingdom, he wasn't all that hands on towards their training. He has his own matters to attend to and he already provided them the methods to become stronger, getting there will depend on their own effort. 

Not even once did Raven treated himself as a hero or as the caretaker of the Kingdom. He was merely their guardian due to the fact that this place was his home, and this is where his family and loved ones all reside. The matters of his own ascension had been giving jitters due to the fact that he won't be able to bring his loved ones with him. This is why he provided all sorts of inheritances and started the Knights System Reform.

Cleaning up the Mort Family and trouncing the plans of the Black Curtain Guild. Eradicating the danger zones inside the kingdom and defending it against the beast horde. Expanding its borders and raising its military strength. Starting the Knights System Reform, building the academy and agreeing to be one of the instructors. Even befriending the Kind Ent and the Moonlight Butterfly…

All of his actions and his words might've sounded nice on their ears but he had a very selfish reason on why he did so. Everything leads to a single point, the very reason why he was never ceased on pushing himself to become stronger…

He wanted to raise warriors that will defend his home - his family, once he ascended. This is the true purpose of all of his actions.

Of course, he cared about the well being of the citizens of the kingdom but he cared more about his parents, in-laws, his friends, lover and associates. The rest are all negotiable.

All of this sounds ugly. Anyone who figures this out will call him selfish, tyrant, manipulator, and so on. But would he care about what others say? 

No.

Raven doesn't live for them. They weren't the ones who raised him nor provided him his strength, warmth, clothing nor care. They weren't the ones who gave up their lives to save him. They weren't the ones that suffered alongside of him. They weren't the ones who believed in him nor were they the ones that had given him genuine kindness. For all he know…

The same people who respected and preached about him now, were also the same people who disdained him, insulted him, ignored him, and abandoned him during his past life.

For those people, Raven doesn't owe them anything. Not even an explanation nor a glance.

The pain of losing his loved ones...he never moved on from that. He swore that he will never lose them again no matter what happens. Everything that poses even the slightest threat to those he care about…

He will eradicate them, no questions asked. 

Raven was no hero, nor a savior. He's just as selfish as any human beings could be. The only difference is that he has the strength to back it up while the rest doesn't. This is harsh truth. 

Everything that he achieved so far, he achieved using his own hands. All of his efforts and hard work is for the sake of those he cares about. In order for him to ascend in peace, first he needs to conquer the Four Extremes and cure his in-laws. 

Of course there are still more to his plans but these are the immediate plans that he has to take care about.. After his in-laws are cured, that's the time where he will focus on the remains threats around him.