Way of the Knights

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"You're guess is right…" Geezer chuckled as soon as Raven came into conclusion. "I want to raise someone who will fulfill this dream of mine."

It is precisely as what Raven thought. Such a thing is something that he didn't find weird, however it he's being honest, this task is a little too hard to accomplish. 

"Relax kid." Geezer softly called, "I know how hard this task is, and naturally I'm not forcing you to it. At the very least, I want you to try."

"Well, a little too late for that." Raven smiled wryly, "Aren't I already committed?"

Geezer sighed and said: "I know. And to be quite honest, that's entirely on me."

"It's fine." Raven laughed, "I similarly had plans on traversing this path anyway. If I follow the orthodox paths, I'm afraid I won't have a chance."

"Uh, that's the thing…" Geezer's facial expression was blanched. "About this path of yours…It's actually uh…incomplete…"

Raven's mouth widened upon hearing this from him. He stared at the embarrassed expression on Geezer's face and could feel his mood darkening. 

He couldn't believe it. He was conned by this fellow! And here he thought this guy was a super-awesome expert who naturally disdains to play tricks with juniors yet he met just the right guy. Oh terrible his luck must've been! 

"Oi brat! That's too much! I am naturally a super-awesome expert that disdains to play tricks with juniors! I'm not a con artist! If you want to blame someone, then blame it on fate!"

Shameless, this old No Eyes fellow is too shameless! Blame fate? How could he blame fate? As if fate would give two shits about this grievance! He was the one who created this crown, he was the one who summoned him here and forced into this incomplete path! How could fate be blamed on this!?

"Aish you brat!" Geezer was incensed, "How about letting me explain first huh?" 

Raven forcefully calmed down his troubled heart, but his face was still dark. He could feel the respect and awe on his heart gradually slipping away as he looked at him. 

Geezer coughed repeatedly and said: "I didn't mean to con you."

"Yet you did."

"Let me finish damn it!" Old Man Geezer coughed once again, forcefully trying to erase the embarrassed expression on his face. "Like I said, I wasn't planning on conning you."

"Believe me damn it!" He yelled once again after seeing Raven's unconvinced face. "Listen to me."

"Like I said, I want to raise someone who will achieve the realm beyond Divinity for me. Which in turn caused me to do some research. This research then led to the creation of Cosmic Energy which I was banking on to transform into a true Origin Energy."

"I abduct-ahem, invited some people to try cultivating Cosmic Energy. I search for multiple methods and with numerous experiments, I eventually discovered the proper way to cultivate it."

"My success made me feel rather proud, initially I only needed a bit more time and I'll eventually succeed in making a unique cultivation path which may lead me towards discovering Origin Energy. Unfortunately, disaster struck."

"One of my discarded experiments was found by those maddened Divinities. Seeing how Cosmic Energy closely resembles Origin Energy, they hunted me down and forced me to hand over my research."

"Of course, since I could understand their dilemma and obsession, I naturally shared it. I originally wanted to succeed first then tell them later, causing them to owe me a favor, unfortunately it didn't go as planned."

Geezer's face became twisted as he hatefully spat: "Those selfish bastards! I whole-heartedly handed over my research to them and told them everything I knew, even explaining how I still needed time to complete my research! Yet instead of helping me with my research, they actually suspected me of hiding more things from them! Some of them even got into the conclusion that I already knew the method of breaking through and I was just keeping it from them!"

"Their greed knows no bounds! I poured my blood sweat and tears with this fucking research so that it'll bore fruit while them on the other hand, sat on their balls and twiddled their thumbs! I was generous enough to share the results to them yet they still had the gall to get angry and even suspect me!? What kind of concept was that?"

Seeing Old Man Geezer's twisted expression caused Raven to sigh in pity. 

"They hunted me down like a degenerate. I tried asking my friend for help yet they either turned on me or ignore my pleas since they didn't want to entangle themselves with this mess. I am rather powerful and manage to take down some who chased me, yet their numbers just keeps on increasing. Their mad! Mad I tell you! Their obsession runs too deep!"

Geezer sighed and dejectedly slumped over. "In the end, I manage to escape but I am badly injured. I am rather confident that they won't pursue me up until wherever I currently am. But at the same time, I am in a constant danger. I need to stay alert all the time, so I don't have time to sit down and finish the Book of Chaos."

"I only manage to create up until the second chapter, which is enough for you reach the Immortal Knight Emperor Realm. As for the third chapter, I'm sorry but I haven't even started it. Everyday, my life is in a constant danger. I just don't have time to be relaxed."

Raven let out a long sigh, feeling a great headache looming over him. 

"Let me guess." Raven massaged his temples, "The previous inheritors also tried their best to finish your work?"

Geezer let out a lamenting sigh, which was enough to confirm Raven's suspicious.

"I never forced anyone in this path." Geezer said in a guilty voice, "I have given them a choice before, if they truly didn't want to then I could reconstruct their bodies and direct them towards the orthodox paths. But none of them agreed. All of them took the challenge and tried to finish what I started."

"Unfortunately, none of them succeeded." Raven added, causing Geezer to sigh once again. Speaking up to this, he remembered something. "Is this also the reason why their remnant souls are within the crown?"

"Exactly." Geezer nodded, "In the end, they also have desires to reach the realm beyond Divinity. All of them are waiting for the chance of someone to succeed on what they couldn't."

Raven sighed. He could already feel the pressure on his shoulders. Not to mention this old fellow in front of him, just Certinos alone, who already lived for millions of years, are expectant of him. So much to the point that he even used his saved up energy to send him back in time with his memories intact. How lamentable that would be if it turns out that Raven fails in the end. 

Geezer could tell what Raven was going through right now, and to that he feel extremely guilty. He originally didn't want to evangelize this incomplete method yet his enemies forced him to. The Ancestral Divine Crown was taken from him and when the thief saw that it was useless, it was thrown somewhere and was picked up by the first inheritor. That's how this all began. 

After staying silent, Raven let out a long sigh and said: "Fuck it. Might as well. It's already too late anyway, I already grew so fond of using Cosmic Energy."

"In the end of the day, if it weren't for this crown, I wouldn't be able to achieve all the things I have right now. I at least owe you this much." Raven stated, causing Geezer to sigh. 

These meetings with his inheritors had never been an easy thing for him to handle. 

"Since you've made your decision. Then its time for me to pass down the Second Chapter of the Book of Chaos to you. I'll also pass some of the inspirations that I was planning to use to create the Final Chapter."

Geezer then tapped Raven's forehead to pass the inheritance to him. A wave of foreign details gushed over Raven's psyche. He organized it for a while and kept it at the corner of his psyche. 

"I'll suggest you to not view the Second Chapter just yet. Wait until you're at the peak of your 9th Transformation before viewing it, that way you won't necessarily get distracted."

"Additionally, you don't have to worry about my enemies. I used a technique to hide your existence from them. So long as you won't enter the inner world within the crown in front of them, they'll never be able to connect the dots." 

"I know that you have some enmity with the Abyssals, and you probably won't rest until you eradicated every single one of them. To this, you have my support. But let me advise you to investigate more. Don't allow yourself to drown in anger and be reckless."

Raven nodded, feeling a bit strange inwardly. He stared at this old man and asked: "Is your name really Old Man Geezer?"