Way of the Knights

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"It's just like what Senior Brother said…" Jason stated in front of his teammates. "Devil's Cradle had become off-limits to us for a whole month. In addition the that, Sophomores and above were required to serve as guards during this time period."

"We're Freshmen so we're exempted from this. However, this also meant that we won't be able to earn Unit Merit Points altogether." Jason added. 

"Well, that shouldn't be much of a problem really." Michelle stated, "I mean, we've accumulated a good amount of Unit Merit Points. I don't think we're behind the other Units of Senior Brother, in fact I'll be surprised if we don't come at first place."

"Yeah, for now at least." Jason replied, "However, even if we're ahead, that's not an excuse to slack off. In fact, we have to accumulate more in order to solidify our position."

The whole team nodded in full agreement with Jason's words. 

"Next month is basically a vacation for us." He added, "My suggestion is to use that time wisely. Those who were planning on switching cultivation methods, consult Senior Brother as soon as possible and if you can, ask him for recommendations. We have a whole month to earn Merit Points for our personal use. There are ton of missions in the hall, feel free to browse and pick whichever you think is suitable for you."

"For those who doesn't plan on switching, don't fall behind. Your Laws, techniques and instincts shall remain sharp. We are surrounded with numerous places to practice so don't make any excuses."

"Also, I think it's time for us to upgrade this base. What do you guys think?" Jason brought up the idea. 

His suggestion sparked strong reactions from the team. All of them pondered when Nelson asked: "Do we have enough?"

"For a 1st-tier upgrade? Yeah we do. For a 2nd-tier though, we fall short by a few hundreds." 

A Base Upgrade is a unique service which could be purchased by a Unit. Depending on the package, the base will be upgraded to ease up the living conditions of the team. The packages available is represent by Tiers. The higher Tier upgrade they purchase, the better their base will be. 

"We should be able to purchase the 2nd-Tier upgrade." Raven commented, "The rewards for harvesting a Bloodstone Slab will arrive in a few days, remember? Let's just wait for it. That way, not only we could have better living conditions, we'll also have some Unit Merit Points to spare."

"I support the idea." Franklin stated as well as some other members. 

It didn't take long before everyone agreed onto that so they moved-on with their meeting.

The team ended up discussing more things regarding to what they should do next. Since the next month is going to be rather relaxed for them, they'd be able to catch their breaths and tackle several things that they've been postponing so far. 

After the discussion, everyone was dismissed and went to do their own business. 

***

"Excuse me."

"Yes? How can I help you Junior Brother?"

"Are you the Supervisory Deacon here?"

"Yes, I am."

"Great. Uh, my Senior Brother give me this. He told me that you'll take me somewhere when I show this to you."

The Supervisory Deacon of the Enlightenment Hall raised a brow and received the token that Raven passed down to him. Once he saw the token, his eyes widened as he looked incredulously at Raven, eyeing him from head to toe. 

Raven was puzzled by this and similarly raised a brow as well. The deacon noticed that and cleared his throat. 

"Sorry about that Junior Brother, I just…wasn't expecting this situation." The deacon explained. "Did His Excellency explained anything to you?"

"He didn't."

"I see." The deacon nodded, he cleared his throat once more and explained: "Before we move on Junior Brother, I suggest you to buy some supplements that will aid in your mental state. What you're about to experience is something that will only happen once during your entire Outer Disciples career, you mustn't waste this chance."

"Uh, I should be fine. I did make ample preparations just in case." Raven replied. 

"Fantastic!" The deacon smiled, "Well then, follow me." 

It's been a couple of days since the announcement was made and the team meeting occurred. Everyone on Unit-17 had been relatively busy. Some were now making preparations for their switch while the others are doing some missions to earn merit points. 

Three days earlier, Raven got a surprise visit from Henry. 

He told him about the results of the meeting but left out the private matters. What gave Raven a pleasant surprise is the fact that he was truly rewarded for his act of preventing a massive disaster from occurring. The leader of the Merit Exchange Market decided to reward him with 500,000 Merit Points. 

That astounded Raven so much that he couldn't help but to be speechless for a good while. And to make things even more absurd, Henry told him that the telepathic device that he submitted to Henry was currently being tested and if everything went well, then it's quite possible for him to earn more. 

Raven's heart jumped in jubilance. As soon as Henry left, he practically dashed towards the market bought the necessary materials he needed to create a seal that would help him hide his presence from those who were targeting him. 

The materials were rather cheap so he was left with more. He then unhesitatingly purchased some materials he needed for the 5th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture. He only purchased some since his Merit Points aren't enough, he only needed to buy three other materials and he could create more avatars once more. 

Raven originally desired to purchase the Lower Plane Official Writ which cost 500,000 Merit Points. This writ is something which he can use to bind the Grand Ancestral Plane to him. Unfortunately, he realized that now's not yet the time to do so since he had other things he needed to prioritize before that. 

Thankfully though, Raven managed to succeed on creating the seal which he needed to avoid being sensed by the Devils. He didn't know if it's working but he could only hope so. 

For now at least, whether its working or not, his priority is to get stronger. Power is the only capital he can rely on if he wants to survive. Therefore after he's done settling his immediate matters. He finally paid a visit to the Hall of Enlightenment. 

Currently, he's following the deacon through a series of tunnels. Eventually both of them arrived at a relatively unassuming but heavily guarded gate. 

The guards who were there didn't even hesitate to bar the deacon's way. However, the deacon didn't raise a fuss and instead stopped on his tracks and looked at Raven and returned the token to him. 

"I can't accompany you past this area. As you can see, even I am not allowed to go any further. Take the token and show them to the guards and they'll let you pass. They'll open the doors for you but before you step inside, consume all the supplements you have."

"Remember, the better your mental state is before entering, the better your results will be." The deacon explained solemnly. "Take my advice Junior Brother. Don't hesitate to go all out. You'll never encounter this chance again unless you're promoted as an Inner Disciple. Bolster you mind and endure. The longer the better."

"If you can last for the full duration. Then I'm confident to say that you'll transform from a carp to a Dragon." 

Raven's mind shook from what he heard. He looked at the deacon and found no traces of ill intent coming from him. What he said was quite unreal but he wasn't lying. The deacon just wanted Raven to make the most out of the experience. 

"Thanks for the reminder, Senior Brother. I'll definitely do my best." Raven replied, giving him a curt salute. 

The deacon smiled and gestured for him to go. Raven took a deep breath in and walked towards the guards. 

As usual, they barred his way but when he showed them the token, they made way for him and even gestured for him to make way towards the doors. 

As Raven approached closer, some guards were opening the doors for him. The moment that the light from the other side seeped through from the gaps, Raven instantly felt a rumble on his mind which shook him silly. 

He was astounded. He might've had this doubts but all of them had completely disappeared when he experienced that. Instead, Raven started feeling excited. That feeling couldn't be any clearer for him. Just from sensing the light from the other side, he could already feel his Laws rioting. 

That was an unprecedented thing, it never occurred to him before. 

As the guards continued opening up the gates, Raven unceremoniously took out several things from his spatial ring. He didn't forget the deacons advice for him so he readied it, planning to consume them once he was given a go signal. 

Moments later, the guards nodded to him and Raven unhesitatingly swallowed the supplements he has as well as drinking and entire bottle of Moonshine.. Once he did so, Raven stepped in and disappeared from their view.