Way of the Knights

---

It is not uncommon for alchemical ingredients to become a certain part of a beast. 

The Fragrant Rainbow Flower grows on the head of a Swamp Demon Toad. It lures it's victims using the scent of the flower, and once they enter a certain distance, they attack and devour them. 

Raven dodged the incoming tongue by tilting his body sideways. He also used that opportunity to grab the tongue of the toad and give it a strong pull. This caused the rest of the toad's body to be unearthed and fly towards him. The Swamp Demon Toad weighs about 25 tons, but for Raven who could swing a hammer that's nearly 500 tons? This isn't much. He could crush this toad using his bare hands if he wanted to but he wouldn't. 

After the toad crashed in front of him, Raven jumped at its head and stomped using a little bit of his raw strength, just enough to gave it a concussion and cause it to faint. Once he achieved what he wanted to do, he crouched down and carefully plucked the Fragrant Rainbow Flower. 

The reason why he didn't kill the toad is because it could grow another flower in its life. Raven knew that this Swamp Demon Toad is still a juvenile so it could definitely grow another one. He's keeping this one alive just in case he needed another flower in future. 

After harvesting the flower, he ripped a piece of his clothes and used that to wrap the flower. Thankfully, the flower isn't that fragile despite what it looks like so it could tolerate a little bit of a rough handling. He then placed the flower on the inner pocket of his robes and decided to move on. Now that he got what he needed, next is to find what he wanted - the Soul Purifying Water Source. 

There's no way that he'll pass on a chance to recover the strength of his soul. Even if he could only recover the bare minimum of it, that will for sure allow him to ensure the safety of his loved ones. 

He pretty much ignored the rest of the ingredients here and bolted towards where he came from. After exiting the room, he was back at the second floor of the castle. The rooms are no longer switching so without any hesitations, he entered the next room of the one he just exited. 

Upon stepping inside the room, a sight of wide room filled with bunker beds welcomed him. 

A sigh escaped his mouth, he then muttered: "This must be the servant's quarters."

And he was correct. He caught sight of a servant's uniform near him which pretty much confirmed his suspicions. It seems that not all rooms were re-purposed by the 5th Sea Master. 

Seeing that there was no one else in this room aside from him, Raven was free to do a very thorough inspection of the room. He opened all drawers and lockers. He also flipped the pillows and bed in search for some trinkets that might be useful for him. But what he mainly focused on, is finding out if there is some sort of hidden compartments or entrances inside the room. 

Raven was of course searching for all possible paths or shortcuts that could lead him towards the place that he's searching for. To his disappointment, he found no such thing inside this room. Even after double-checking every nook and cranny of the room, he found none so he didn't waste any more time with this place and exited. 

***

"Good job reaching this place, Mortal."

A feminine voice reached Raven's ears. He looked in front of him and saw the statue of the Kraken Priestess floating in the air and glowing with a brilliant green light. There was a deadpan and slightly exhausted look on Raven face as he stared at the floating statue.

"You have shown great potential as someone from the lower realms. To be frank, I am not expecting your performance at all. You performed so great that I-"

"Okay, let me stop you there Kraken Priestess." Raven raised his hand and interrupted the monologue of the floating statue. 

There was a stunned look on the Kraken Priestess' eyes, before she could even say anything. Raven continued speaking…

"I'll ask you two things." Raven said in a tired voice. "One, release the restriction on me. And two, direct me towards the source of the Soul Purifying Waters. If you that, then we don't have to waste any breath on each other."

"This is…new." The priestess said in a quiet tone. 

She was stunned not because of his request, but because of Raven's attitude towards her. He looked like as if he couldn't care less about who he's talking to. The priestess couldn't tell if he was arrogant and doesn't know what's good for him or ignorant and just couldn't be bothered to ask. 

His attitude was refreshing to her. Mostly because not just anyone could talk to her like this. Forget about talking, if this was the Divine Realm, this mortal wouldn't even be able to get near him. It had to be known that some people consider hearing her voice as a miracle already, yet this mortal was having none of it. 

Raven attitude amused the Priestess. So she decided to test him…

An amused smile surfaced on her lips. She then replied: "Making two request all of a sudden, that placing me in a difficult position. I can only grant one of your wishes, Mortal. So choose one or have none."

The priestess could've sworn that she saw Raven rolled his eyes at her. Her lips unknowingly twitched, that was definitely the first time that someone ever had the gall to do that. 

"I'll also give you a choice, Priestess." Raven said in a slightly impatient tone. "Either grant both of my wishes and or lose your deformed twin sister and your connection towards your god. Choose one or have none."

A oppressive aura suddenly flooded the room without any warnings or whatsoever. The expression of the Kraken Priestess turned incredibly vicious as she glared at the audacious mortal. 

And even though she contacting Raven through a mere statue that cannot represent her entire power. Her power is enough to make a battle-hardened man to shiver in coldness. 

While she radiated a furious aura, she couldn't help but be inwardly shocked from what she heard. She kept asking herself: 'How is this possible? How did he know?'

She just couldn't understand how in the world did this mortal managed to see through her deepest secret. It had to be known that he had never met this mortal prior to today, and even if that wasn't the case there's should be no way for him to know about her deformed twin sister since she had never told anyone about it. So how come this mortal knew? 

"Who are you?" There was an unrestrained killing intent in the priestess' voice as she uttered these words. But what shocked her even more is that, the mortal seems to not be affected by the aura that she's releasing. 

This yet another surprise for her. In her doubts, she tried to check whether she's properly operating the idol and she was. Knowing this only meant one thing…this mortal isn't as simple as he appears to. 

"You don't have to know me, Priestess. All you have to know is that I didn't come here to be your plaything. You might be a dazzling star in that place but you are nothing but a mere statue in front of me right now. Don't worry, so long as you give me what I want then your secret is safe with me."

Raven replied in a tired voice, he really didn't want to prolong this conversation since he's just about had it with this place. He wanted to leave as soon as possible but he couldn't find where the source is. He was hoping that he could find it fast but he encountered a maze that trapped him for almost three days. It would've been fine if he wasn't in a hurry but he is, the Fragrant Rainbow Flower he has is close to wilting and he really didn't want to leave without consuming the Soul Purifying Water. 

In his impatience, he reduced the whole maze in to smithereens. He couldn't care less whether he pisses the guardian of this castle anymore. He was impatient and wanted the restrictions removed as soon as possible. 

"What are you staring at me for?" Raven frowned in impatience. "Hurry up!"

His voice was laid with Soul Power. He didn't want to use it for this purpose but he had to or else the flower will wilt. His Soul Power caused the consciousness of the Kraken Priestess to blur and unknowingly follow his command.

With a wave of her trident, a strange energy swept through Raven's body. He then felt some sort of liberation that made him smile. Without wasting any moment, he took out things for his spatial ring that would allow him to stop the flower from wilting and revitalize it. 

After seeing the flower radiating with vibrant colors once more, he smiled and placed on a jade casing where it would it would be safe.. He then sighed in relief and returned his attention towards the Kraken Priestess.