Way of the Knights

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Everyone was momentarily silent upon hearing Henry's words. They all waited for him to say more about the matter itself.

"I assume everyone remembers the creatures you fought during the Second Part of the Exams right?" Henry asked, earning several nods from his Junior Disciples. How can they easily forget about it? Aside from the memory being fresh, their experienced all sorts of misery under the assault of those things. 

"To those who aren't aware yet, those creatures you fought are called Lesser Imp Devils." Henry stated, "However, although we call them devils. They are actually artificially raised."

His words caused some disciples to be alarmed, before they could say anything, Henry continued explaining: "Those creatures are created using the remains of actual Imp Devils. Lesser Imp's strength and skills are the same as what the actual ones could use but the power behind it were much weaker compared to the real one. I'd say, a real Imp Devil could kill at least one hundred Lesser Imps with no difficulty at all."

This revelation caused varying reaction to the Junior Disciples. For one, they were shocked. As the memory of their battle against Lesser Imps was still fresh, they could easily gauge how much trouble a really Imp Devil would give to them. 

Henry looked at each Junior Disciple intently before saying: "The history of our sect is rich, from what I discovered we were actually one of the first of few sects that was established since the early days of Divine Realm itself. I've been a disciple here for centuries but I still can't confidently say that I've uncovered the entire story of how the sect was founded."

"All the respect and preferential treatment that outsiders gives to us, aren't there because of our sect's longevity." Henry smiled with pride as he continued: "We get all those kinds of privileges due to the cause of our sect."

"The Ancient Elysium Sect was made in order to suppress the creatures that had once threatened to ruin our home." The pride on Henry voice became thicker as his chest puff out a little more. "Our duty, is to prevent Devils from ever stepping foot on the lands of Divine Realm ever again. And since you are now members of our sect, you are now bound to the same duty and responsibilities."

Henry then gestured around him and said: "Look around you, look beneath you, look up! All of this are caused by a single devil." He stated to everyone's shock. 

"More accurately, this happened due to a single devil standing here." Henry revealed. "Yes, you heard me right. A single devil stood at this area, and that alone caused all life to loathe this place. Not even a blade of grass grows here. The trees around you? Those were mere husks of what once towering trees."

"It would've been fine if that's all but it's not even close." Henry spoke with a thick loathing in his voice. "Our Ancestors challenged the same devil to a match that lasted for years. It was one against many, yet the devil was so powerful that not only some of our ancestors died in the battle, they couldn't even kill the Devil at all."

"Out of fear that the Devil will regain strength and lay waste on our home, all except one of the ancestors that fought the devil, sacrificed their lives in order to create a powerful seal in order to imprison it."

"And that seal is called: Mount Olympus." 

That information rang on each Junior Disciples ears like thunder. Even Raven lost his composure upon hearing this. 

The revelation was just too astounding - nigh unbelievable even. It was hard to believe that such a powerful foe exists. To be able to withstand the assault of numerous masters and still not only able to kill some of them but also remain alive at the process? Just what kind of monstrosity was this Devil? 

It even forced them to sacrifice their lives in order to only create a seal, which means that the devil was so powerful that even the cost of numerous lives of masters was only enough to seal it. 

Just how absurd was that? 

"As you guys saw earlier, the location of Mount Olympus is hidden from the outside world. That is yet another safety measure that our ancestors created. However, even all of this could only keep the said Devil in check."

"The power it holds is something that no one could fathom. The Devil remained powerful and is still capable of sending out some of its incarnations out of the seal in order to do its bidding, which ultimately leads into unsealing it from the prison."

"Ultimately, it lead to the formation of our sect and the duties that we now share." Henry stated, he paused in order to allow the disciples to get a clear understanding of their cause and duty. 

"But of course, I also understand if some you doesn't share the same passion and sense of duty as us." He sighed, "After all, power remains supreme. Needless to say, our sect will definitely has almost everything that you'll need in order to become powerful yourselves."

"So long as you hunt devils, you'll earn merit points. In fact, it is actually the fastest way in order to earn merit points." Henry informed, "Sure, there are also other tasks that you can do in order to earn Merit Points but its not as effective as going out there and slaying devils."

"Additionally, if you want to become an Inner Disciple, it's almost impossible to do it without slaying droves of devils. Even more so if your goal is become a War God like me and Logan." 

Raven recalled the time when Henry told him that if he wanted to become a War God himself, he needed to become an Inner Disciple first. And with the looks of it, after hearing Henry summarization of the sect's history, it would seem that the whole purpose of their stay here, is to slay devils. 

The Junior Disciples saw Henry smile and heard him clap his hands. He then said:

"Alright, with that out of the way. Let's get into the main thing." His words caused many disciples to be confused, "I'm talking about how the sect's Merit System works and the important rules you have to adhere to if you want to remain as a disciple."

All attention was now focused on him, Henry smiled and continued:

"What you see behind me, will be your homes from now on." He stated, "Like always, don't be fooled by what you see on the outside. You'll know what I mean once you enter it."

"As of right now, all of you will now be officially referred to as Unit-17, and each of you will under my jurisdiction. Which means that your actions will either boost my reputation or ruin it. Remember, if worse comes to worst, I'll be left with no other choice but to expel some or all of you. So be mindful of how you act."

'Oh, so that's why he doing all of those things. I should've known.' Raven silently mused to himself. 'And now that were officially his subordinates, he could now give out additional Merit Points under the name of the sect.'

"Aside from you, there are other units who also falls under me. There are five of you in total. And while you guys are fellow disciples and thus are not allowed to ruin each other, it wouldn't hurt to have a little competition right." Henry gave them a knowing smile, causing some of them to feel a foreboding sense of unease. 

"Within the five units under me, there will be a ranking system. And this is decided by the collective efforts of each members of your Unit. The amount of resources your unit will receive from me, will depend on your ranking."

Hearing this caused some disciples to grumble inwardly. Of course, there are some who felt rather excited about it but some started discerning their teammates. 

"Of course, I'll also be taking notes of your individual contributions. However, I'll inform you now that I could only recommend one unit under me to participate in the Inner Disciple Trials. Which means that I would most likely pick the unit which has the highest contribution."

"A quick warning though. Remember that in under no circumstances were you allowed to kill your teammates or others for that matter. Should any of you were proven guilty, forgive me but you'll face immediate expulsion."

"I also recommend that when you out to hunt devils, you do by groups. It would be easier and safer that way." Henry added. 

"All in all, so long as you guys rack in merit points. Not only will you be able to afford the resources that you need for yourself, you'll also receive one from me. If you perform above my expectations, then I might even decide to give you guys bonuses."

"Now then, since that's out of the way. How you guys check out your abodes and get to know each other better.. Three days from now, I'll take you all out for your first hunt."