Way of the Knights

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"Bwahahahahaha!"

"Oh! My sides! It hurts! Hahahahaha!"

"If should feel bad but - hahahahaha!"

"I can't! I fucking can't! Hahahaha!"

"Dear lord, I'm going to faint from laughing! Hahahaha!"

The lockers are filled with uproarious laughter. Some people completely disregarded decorum and could be found lying on the floor while clutching their stomachs since it hurts from their constant laughter. 

They felt bad…they really do, but it was just too funny. Some of the Cleansers were even shedding tears due to how much they've been wheezing from laughter.

"Haha, very funny guys." 

If there's one person who didn't share the same sentiment, it would be none other than Peter himself and maybe Raven. But just because Raven wasn't laughing, it doesn't mean that he didn't find this situation funny. 

"Hoo! Fuck!" Magna sat down, trying his best to stop himself from laughing. He wanted to say something however, he made the mistake of looking at the gloomy and embarrassed expression of Peter. That caused him to break into another fit of laughter. His fell on his back, clutching his stomach with one hand while slamming the other on the wooden floor multiple times. "I can't, this is so good! Ugh! Shit, my stomach hurts but…"

"Come to think of it, this isn't the first time right…" Vicky said while drying her tears. She tried her best to not look at Peter because she knows, oh - she knows that she does, then she'll roll on the floor laughing again. 

"Yes. Yes, it is indeed not the first time that he did something like this." Sam rose up from the floor, he too wasn't trying to look at Peter. "I told you guys, he's hopeless. But still, getting yourself lost in a daydream, even puckering your lips…pfft!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The lockers were once again filled with laughter. 

Meanwhile, Peter wanted nothing more other than for the ground to open up at this very moment and swallow him whole, never to emerge ever again. He sneaked at glare at Raven, who felt the glare but just smiled at him. 

Peter blamed this kid for everything. He's not sure if this is karma or fate just messing with him, however ever since the arrival of this kid, a series of unfortunate events repeatedly struck him. True, the kid didn't directly caused any of it but still…he blamed him for everything. 

He just doesn't understand why this was happening to him. Of all times that Monica could've visited, it just happens to be the exact moment when he's lost at his daydreams of her and was even caught doing something weird. 

This was no different from him being caught with his pants down and hands on his dick. He's pretty sure that Monica was cursing him right now and calling him a pervert. 

Peter didn't even had any time to explain himself. And even if he did, what can he say? He's pretty sure that he's totally incapable of lying to her anyway, so it doesn't matter anymore. Additionally, Monica already knows what kind of fantasies he's having, he doesn't need to mention it at all. 

"Hey, PJ. Stop glaring at the kid." Lewis threw something at Peter, earning himself a glare but Lewis couldn't care less about it. "If anything, you should apologize. The kid's probably suffering from second-hand embarrassment due to that."

"Shut up!" Peter fumed, but his embarrassed expression made it even funnier. "I'm out of here."

"Sweet dreams, dude! Hahahahaha!" Natalie yelled, causing Peter to stumble on his way out and earning more giggles from them. 

"Oh, man." Raven sighed as he took off his jacket. "He probably hates me so much right now." 

"Don't worry about, Kid." Garen weakly climbed on the chair, exhausted from laughing his heart out. "He's ashamed, true. But he knows better."

"He's right." Magna added, "And like what Vicky mentioned earlier, this isn't the first time that it happened."

"But its the first time that he was caught." Sam wheezed once more, weakly getting up. "Man, I don't remember when was the last time I laughed this hard."

"Anyways, our shift is done people." Natalie reminded everyone. "Let's go home and rest, we'll be having a lot of patients tomorrow." 

"Oh right! I just remembered something." Lewis looked over towards Raven and said: "You don't have to come tomorrow, Kid. We'll be extremely busy and we can't spare someone to watch over your training. Give me your Transmission Sign, we'll contact you when we're free."

Raven was a bit stunned but he gave him his transmission sign anyway, he then asked: "How many patients will come?"

"Who knows?" Lewis shrugged, "A lot probably, it's always been like that."

"Hundreds at least, if not, thousands even." Garen stated as he was removing his jacket. His words made Raven raise a brow. "We should be fine thanks to you." 

"Huh?" Raven tilted his head in confusion. 

"He meant the kiln." Vicky smiled at him and filled him in about the situation. "You strengthened the flames on the kiln didn't you?"

Raven nodded and Vicky continued: "Thanks for that. The flames we could use is directly connected to the kiln. Because you strengthened the fire, you gave us a massive boost. With that, we could cure as many patients as possible."

"Oh, I see." Raven nodded, he then asked: "But why the sudden increase in patients though?" 

"The Crusade will be returning tomorrow." Sam added, he then realized something and said: "Oh right, you probably don't have any idea of what the crusade is. The Crusade is…"

"…a group composed of the Top Performers from Tartarus." A voice interjected, causing everyone to look over. It was Monica, walking towards them with a tired smiled on her face. She was mostly looking at Raven as she continued her explanation. 

"The Crusade occurs Bi-annually." She said, "Their task is to enter the Devil Emperor's Pagoda and clear as much devils as possible. They would go as far as clearing every single floor, but that's a tough task."

"Each time they leave, it's like they're waging war. But whenever they return, the defeated look on their faces and the amount of injured people or corpses they bring back is a very tragic scene." Garen added, his voice sounding a little too solemn. 

  "However, what they do is very necessary." Monica stated in a plain voice. "If it weren't for the Crusades, the amount of Eruptions we will experience will surely rise. We'll be in an even more dangerous spot."

The whole room became eerily silent after that, Raven became lost on his own thoughts but it was interrupted by sudden claps from Lewis. 

"Alright, let's not dwell on that matters. Why don't we all just rest well tonight and deal with the wave of patients tomorrow?"

"Right, let's go home guys." Natalie smiled and looked at everyone. 

"Oh, and just because you're not needed tomorrow doesn't mean that you'll be slacking." Monica told Raven, "I'm hoping that when you return, you should at least be able to perform every single plume, you got it?"

"I'll do my best, Senior Sister." Raven didn't dare to slight her words but also didn't promise anything, only that he'll do his best. 

"Alright, you should return now." Monica smiled and waved Raven off. 

Raven waved goodbye at them and exited the chapel. Even though he only stayed for no more than six hours in there, it felt more than that. The people he met today are all nice and treated him like a close relative - Peter included. 

It's funny actually, Raven felt closer to the cleansers compared to his own team. It's a little absurd but it's the truth. Nevertheless, he could tell that each of them had their own baggage that they are suppressing within themselves. His ocular technique could pick up some signs of it, but he's in no position to ask so he remained silent about it. 

'Wait! I didn't get to ask how much Merit Points I could earn by becoming a Cleanser! Ugh, I'm so dumb.' 

Raven scratched his head and thought about going back but decided against it. 

'Ugh, forget it. They're probably gone by now.' He thought to himself. 'I'll just ask next time.'

Raven then looked at his hand and murmured: 'Still, a seed bearer huh? I need to explore more about this matter. This is the first time that I received a Flame Seed after all.'

Peter's lessons stuck to his memories. When he said that Raven was bound to trek on different path compared to them since a seed bearer, he couldn't help but imagine different things. Still, he's aware that he have other matters to attend to so he should take it one step at a time. 

'I won't be needed tomorrow. So what should I do then?' Raven thought to himself. 'It's pretty boring to remain in the base. I can't use the ticket stubs I have since I haven't gone to a Unit-mission yet. So? What should I do?'

Raven thought for a bit as he walked back to the sect, he suddenly had an idea. 

'Hmm, it seems that I would enter another seclusion again.'