Way of the Knights

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Today, Raven took a break from his training.

He's sitting on top of a large boulder that's located on the edge of a cliff. A serene expression could be seen on his eyes as he gazed through the vast grass fields beneath the cliff and the clear sky along with the white, fluffy clouds on the horizon. 

Raven enjoyed the rare moment of peace and silence, occasionally taking a sip of warm tea in his gourd. This is how he usually spend his time when he's taking a break from the maddening training he created from himself. 

His thoughts were scattered. He isn't particularly thinking about anything right now, though occasionally some thoughts will surface on his mind from time to time. Whenever this happens, he'll just observe the thought until it disperses on its own. This way, the serenity of his mind will be preserved and he won't be burdened by unnecessary thoughts. 

Time was almost up. In just a few weeks, he needed to exit his seclusion and prepare to set out for the venue of the recruitment. 

Thankfully, Raven no longer had to feel pressed for time. If he wanted to, he could initiate his breakthrough anytime. He could already sense that so long as he wanted to, he could summon the origin energy clouds of the Heavenly Laws and forge a physique. Although this mysterious feeling is irritating him, he could tell that it won't stop him if he really wanted to breakthrough the next realm. But for some reason, he just can't. This something is very important.

And this something, is also very crucial…

Unfortunately, he don't know what it is. This feeling had been bothering him for quite sometime, and no amount of training could take his mind off of it. Which is why he stopped training altogether and sat down to think about it. Sadly, thinking about it didn't help as well. And this eventually lead to his current state…

Since actively thinking about the solution doesn't work, then he might as well not think about it, or anything for that matter. 

He didn't have any hopes of this working. After all, he's kind of wasting time right now. But it didn't bother him too much. He needed a break anyway. Additionally, if he really couldn't think about the critical factor of this irritating feeling until a certain time frame, then he'll just ignore it and make his breakthrough. 

'My strength is at an absolute limit of what I could exert right now.' Raven carelessly thought. 'My Destruction, Space and Time Laws are now solid, I even completely mastered the first concepts of each. I could also switch Heroic Influences on the fly, and the distance it covers is about 50 miles. The absolute limit of a territory.'

'My Chaos Force's purity is at peak as well. My body's toughness is at the peak for my current realm, and my soul is halfway done recovering. If I really wanted to, I could initiate the breakthrough from any moment but my gut tells me that I'm still missing a crucial factor for my breakthrough.'

'Just…what the hell am I missing?'

Raven sighed in frustration as he took another sip of his tea, then jumped from down from the boulder and lied down on the grass. His gaze dulled as he stared at the clear skies. 

Slowly but surely. His eyelids are turning heavy and breaths are becoming more and more shallow. It didn't take long before he felt the strong tug of drowsiness pulling him. 

Raven could've fought it, but there's no reason for him to do so. In the end, he allowed the sweet embrace of sleep with welcomed arms and dozed off.

Unknowingly, his body disappeared from where he was. When he reappeared. He was inside the crown space, floating inside a vast expanse of stars. 

Not too far from him, eight blurry silhouettes appeared. Each of them carried deep and unfathomable auras. It was as if all of them embodied the entirety of the world. 

"Isn't it a bit too early for him?" One of the blurry silhouette opened his mouth, saying words that contained uncertainty and worry. 

The rest of them were silent, after a bit of time. One of them spoke…

"Even if it is so, what can we do?" This voice contained some bitterness with it. "In the end, it is 'him' who decides everything. There's nothing we can do."

"He's just approaching his 7th Transformation. He hasn't even cultivated the Book of Chaos at it's acme, yet he's already being summoned." A female's voice echoed next. "I don't know if this is a windfall for him or a disaster."

"That 'guy' is probably on his last legs…" A deep and gruffly voice echoed. 

"Hey! Stop saying such things! What if you jinxed it? What will happen to us then?" Another guy rebuked. "And why would you think about something like that? All of us here knew just how tenacious that 'guy' is! He probably summoned this little turd for another matter."

"I agree." Another one voice out. "Still, I also couldn't help but think that it's really a little too early for this child to be summoned. All of us were summoned when we cultivated the acme of the first chapter, but this child on the other hand, hasn't even experienced his 7th Transformation yet this already happened."

"Maybe this is due to his talents?" Another one said, "I mean, he already has the capital to learn about the Absolute Beginning. If I were that 'dude' I'll summon him early as well."

"He hasn't even unlocked the entirety of his Chaos Force yet." Another guy helplessly said. 

"Well, that's because he was granted a lot of it." The previous guy rebuked, causing the atmosphere to turn silent once more. 

"Ah, that 'dude' is really a bit biased isn't he?" A mirthless laugh echoed not long after. "None of us were granted that much during our rule, yet this child on the other hand…" This person didn't continue his words, instead he clicked his tongue in dismay, feeling a little bit unsatisfied. 

"Whether this is a great opportunity for him or will cause his demise. We can't do anything but to watch." The person who had been silent this entire time finally said something. "But really…for him to be summoned this early. I'm afraid the upheaval this time around would be much chaotic compared to our eras."

As soon as he said this, the rest turned silent, as if they were reminiscing about their previous lives. One by one, then disappeared and Raven's physical body remained floating amidst the blanket of stars. 

***

When Raven's consciousness returned, he found himself in a foreign place. 

Raven's currently inside of what looks like a straw hut. He was lying on a wooden bed and his head is resting on a pillow that's stuffed with numerous straws. He sat up and looked around him. The floors were similarly made out of wood, there is a small bedside table with an oil lamp on top of it. The room he was in was small and simple. 

His sharp brows furrowed as he inspected his surroundings. From what he could remember, he was still inside the special zone inside the training room. He remembered falling asleep and for some reason he ended up here. 

He tried inspecting his surroundings using his Chaos Force, yet to his shock he was unable to. More specifically, he lost the ability to do so. Currently, Raven is nothing more than a regular mortal. Even a sneeze from a Knight would kill him due to how weak he was. 

This discovery astounded him, but due to his experiences he quickly calmed down. He first analyzed his body and found out that he wasn't injured or anything. This caused him to relax for a bit, unfortunately he couldn't muster even an ounce of strength nor he could sense any kind of energy around him. 

This place somewhat chilled Raven's thoughts. As a Knight, vulnerability is something that scares him. The helpless feeling of powerlessness is something that he didn't want to experience ever again yet somehow, here he was. 

He tried several methods, racked his brain for ways recover his cultivation yet everything failed, causing his mood to turn irritable. In the end, he could only sigh and try to figure out what's going on. 

Raven stood up and stepped out of the room, only to experience yet another astounding surprise. 

For some reason, he was currently stranded in an endless expanse stars...

There were no land, nor skies in here. Just a boundless sea of colorful lights and mysterious auras, including the occasional pulsating lights of the distant stars. 

Raven's brain seemingly stopped working. He had been through many strange places before but this one is probably the most unique one. He just didn't understand what is going on anymore. 

Where was he? Why is he here? How did he ended up here? How could he return to his world? What's going on? 

All of this questions revolved around Raven's mind but sadly, he didn't have any answers. And just as he when he was about to see if he's just dreaming about all of this, a forlorn and ancient voice echoed on his mind. 

"Child, come."