Way of the Knights

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"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

An uproarious laughter was heard echoing through the Ice Dome. The sound of the old man's laughter was enough to cause the walls to shook fiercely as if they were about to break any moment now. 

The ferocious aura that could be felt all over the plane was gone. It was replaced by the jolly mood that the old man currently has. And since that's over, Raven also visibly relaxed and wiped some of the sweat that accumulated on his face. 

This old man was a bit much to handle, so much so that he caused Raven to sweat in a cold place. Nevertheless, he was glad that the situation didn't deteriorate into something that will force him to use his trump cards. 

"God damn, kid." The old man said after he finished laughing, he wiped some of the tears that accumulated on the corners of his eyes and continued: "You really are something else. I barely did anything at all and you managed to uncover my true identity. That's ridiculous!"

Raven merely smiled and didn't reply. To be completely honest, he didn't really know how he's going to handle this situation. 

This is the first time that he had been contacted by the Grand Ancestral Plane's Consciousness. He had imagined talking to it many times in the past but not even once did it show itself to him, not to mention that he's also not expecting it to take on a Human Form. 

The old man then waved his hand and suddenly the space around them twisted. All of a sudden, Raven found himself in different place. He was inside some kind of a jungle, the Guardian Yeti was nowhere to be seen and the cold atmosphere was gone. He found himself sitting on a chopped wood with the old man sitting in front of him. There is a small campfire separating the two whilst also keeping them warm at the same time. 

The old man was staring kindly at the flame, Raven didn't say anything but he knew that wouldn't be able to avoid conversing with this old man for long. 

"You aren't an ordinary child." The old man stated as he threw a dead tree branch towards the campfire. "I refuse to believe you just have a very good deduction skills since one would never be able to has access to these information just by speculating about the subject. Add the fact that you were so confident about your words, all of this are factors that shouldn't be possessed by a normal 19 year old like you."

Raven was silent and just like the old man, he silently stared at the fire. He was currently weighing out some decisions in his mind. He was aware that he wouldn't be able to hide much from this person, this was the Plane's Consciousness. It is aware of everything that's happening around it. And for sure, it noticed Raven already, else this meeting wouldn't have been possible. 

"If felt something, a couple of years back." The old man stated, causing Raven to listen intently to him. "A strange feeling that was."

"It was as if I've lost something that important that I couldn't remember…but at the same time gained something ever greater back."

Raven felt his heart racing as he listened to him. Still he didn't say anything and allowed the old man to continue to speak. 

"I am the Plane's Consciousness." He said, "I am old, and I've a tendency to forget certain things due to age, however none of those things I've forgotten, could compare to how much I was bothered by the things I've lost back then."

"I often found myself wondering just what in the world did I lose to bother me this much? What's even funnier is that, I don't even know about the thing I gained."

"Strange isn't it?" The old man asked in rhetorical tone, "I am no different from a god within this place, yes I have some restrictions but I could do anything I want. Hell, even making a human avatar is a simple task for me. But for reason, the things I mentioned before? I couldn't do anything about them? You should understand how I feel right?"

Raven nodded instinctively to answer him. Yes, he could very imagine what that feels. Having so much control of pretty much everything but suddenly having something you cannot control is a feeling that he felt many times in his previous life. 

"And so, I became curious. Because I am curious, I investigated." The old man stated, "But I was pretty much clueless for a good while until I suddenly witnessed something incredible."

"The heavens parted without my consent." The old man said in a serious voice. "A deity visited my plane, fused with the body of a human and smite the malicious tumor that's has been feeding off of me for a very long time. As far as I could remember, that deity was the Archangel Jubileus."

Raven sighed as he said this, of course he knew about the event he's talking about. It was him who caused that even after all so how could he not know?

"I am grateful for the help since I am helpless against that pest. But the visit of that deity was uncalled for. One wrong move and her presence alone could've destroyed me, along with my citizens. I am weakened by age, it won't really take much before I kick the bucket, but of course I don't want to die. So that sudden visit scared the life out of me. Thankfully, the process went smoothly and I had gained a little bit of my freedom due to that as well."

"But that raises some points that I don't quite understand myself." The old man continued, "Who in the world summoned her spirit? Who the hell knew how to perform the proper ritual to such a thing? I don't recall any existences that could've done such a thing, so imagine my surprise when it actually happened."

"What's more is that even I didn't feel when the ritual began, the whole visit was done before I knew it, and I didn't even have the time to formally welcome or bid goodbye to Her Majesty at all. She left without saying a word. I only knew about what she did after she left but the reason of her visit shocked me as well."

"She is a deity, normally she wouldn't even spare an ounce of attention on what's going on in the lower realms. But not only did she made time to visit a plane like this, she even personally descended and allowed someone to be her vessel for a short period of time just to deal with an ant compared to her status."

"None of those made utter sense to me. Not at all."

As Raven listened to the words of the old man, he was laughing wryly in his mind. He thought:

'Yeah, summoning a deity as a reinforcement is really excessive. I understand your conundrum old man, but I had no other options at that time.'

"I investigated once again. I even visited the place where it happened, but to my shock, I found no leads or clues to who the summoned was. I couldn't even find the vessel Her Majesty used! This bothered me to no end but alas, I couldn't do anything about it so I just had to let the matter go."

The old man paused and sighed, not too long after that he continued speaking: "Then I discovered yet another change that I wasn't responsible for."

"One treasures I have, a tree that rebelled from its path, suddenly turned a new leaf without me knowing. Again." 

'Oh dear…' Raven thought to himself.

"It was supposed to give dreams, not eat others' dreams. I've tried convincing it before but it never listened to me. Yet all of a sudden, someone came and did the same thing that I couldn't accomplish. How astonishing was that?"

"I treasured this tree for the longest of time. Even though it rebelled, I didn't have the heart to erase it. Yet it willingly corrected its ways and is now amidst a great evolution. I don't know about others, but this is a big deal to me. And what made me even more grateful is that, the one who's responsible for that change finally left a trail that I can follow."

'Oh boy…"

"I followed him and I could've caught him earlier but I decided to observe his actions. And I must say, his actions really surprised me. He even had the audacity to defy and threaten the Kraken Priestess! I was so impressed! She told me that he used her sister's life as a bargaining chip against her. What a man this person was! I don't know if he's an idiot that's not aware of the immensity of the heavens, or he just doesn't care at all."

"The Kraken Priestess even told me that he had no interest in the inheritances left by Ancient Sects of the Divine Realm as well as the chance to ascend. He was just there to capture an ingredient and then he leaves. At first, I didn't want to believe it but I got the chance to witness it with my own eyes."

The old man then faced Raven and asked: "You are a strange person indeed, Young Raven."