Way of the Knights

---

"I wonder just how many mysteries this Brush of Wisdom has..." Raven murmured as he stared at the brush on his hand.

Although he hadn't been using it for long, he already experienced just how many things he could do with it. 

The notion of his Intent flowing through the brush as easy as flowing water, was in truth a bit wrong. With his rising number of uses, he figured this out. 

The Brush of Wisdom just doesn't allow him to fuse his Intent to what ever he creates with it. It would be more accurate to say that the brush allows his thoughts to manifest in reality. 

Raven had tested this over and over again during his practice in the real world and inside the crown space. It is the very reason why he was able to create a unique set of skills using the Brush of Wisdom at it's core. 

'One Thought Creation' - this is the name of the skill he created. 

So far it doesn't have many iterations but it possess infinite potential. 

The Brush of Wisdom enables Raven to manifest whatever his thoughts are, meaning that if he was thinking about creating a Dragon, then the Brush of Wisdom will allow that to manifest to reality. Well, that's considering that he had an appropriate image of what he wants to create and enough energy to do so. 

His creations couldn't last for a long time for now but the more adept he gets at using the Brush of Wisdom, the better the results would be. 

"I wonder who created this thing?" Raven wondered as he stared at the brush. "It is said that Ancestor Zeus found during his escapades and not even him could unlock the full potential of the brush. How awesome was that? Where did this come from?" 

Raven sighed at the fact that he might not be able to find the answer for this question in his entire life. He put away the brush for now and decided to not linger on this thoughts too much since he had better things to do. 

Three weeks had passed since he arrived at Gaia's Secret Realm and met his army. 

Speaking of this, Raven finally managed to understand the whole reason as to why their situations were like this. It's all because of their previous Lord - the last era's 9th Chosen. 

It all begins from where did this soldiers came from.

Originally, these soldiers were mortals living peacefully on the Lower Planes that are owned by the Ancient Elysium Sect. Ever since the 2nd Generation's era, they started looking for people who had a strong potential, the sect then employed these people and made them soldiers who will be serving the Chosen ones of Zeus. 

Suffices to say, these people are considered as False Immortals. It's not like they couldn't die, it's just that the contract fused on their bodies won't allow them to. 

Raven had no idea what kind of technique was used to create to Contract Orbs but it is responsible for harnessing their souls and bodies to resurrected. 

They could die. There's no mistaking that. 

However as they were bound by the contract orb, once they did die, they will be resurrected once the next batch of Chosen arrives. This will go on and on until either the Ancient Elysium Sect falls or the Devil Emperor was killed permanently. 

In short, they are a bunch of pitiful slaves who's right to die got taken away from them as well. 

Raven didn't know what the 2nd Generation was thinking but he doesn't agree to it all. Nevertheless, even if didn't like it, he's still virtually a nobody and can't change this fact. 

Due to all of this, the fate of these men were inevitably tied to their Lord. 

The reason why this fortress and this army was at this state is due to the previous generation's 9th Chosen. 

From what he learned, their previous Lord was a huge asshole. An entitled son of a bitch according their description. 

Fame and status wormed its way towards his head. Due to him being chosen, he thought at all lives were beneath him, and thus he mistreated not only the soldiers but even the disciples as well. 

He didn't even spared any effort to manage his soldiers, he just left them suffering and demanded them to give him excellent results, he was incredibly unreasonable. 

It had to be known that the strength of this soldiers rely on how much strength their lord has and the opportunities given to them. The soldiers doesn't follow the orthodox cultivation chart since their very existence if different from the norm. 

The selfishness of the previous 9th was what doomed him to fail. Even still, he had the gall to pass the blame to his soldiers for not being able to succeed with the battles for candidacy. And with his final despicable art, he used the power of the contract and abused it. 

Using the power of the contract, he doomed the army to lose all of their accumulate strength, prevented anyone from the sect from helping them, stationed them at the north where not even a grain of rice could be found and prevented them from taking even a step forward from this dilapidated fortress lest they suffer a heavy punishment. He also made it so that only the appearance of his successor as the 9th Candidate could completely nullify this order of his, therefore even the Sect Leader and Grand Elder were helpless against this. 

That's basically the reason why they weren't stoked about his appearance and why they looked so gloomy. The previous 9th was extremely vicious to them, his final act was basically worse than directly killing them. 

Due to this, some of the soldiers were reminded on just how pitiful their existence were and it quite legitimately broke their spirits. This is why many of them jumped at the chance of freedom when Raven offered it to them. 

Learning about caused Raven to be puzzled as they why some people still chose to remain. When he asked, they answered him like this...

"Though we might be nobodies, we still want to contribute for the greater good."

"We understand why the sect was created to begin with. We've seen the horrible abominations we have to face and we simply can't run away from that. If everyone becomes afraid and run away, then the Divine Realm will truly succumb to the advances of the Foreigners."

"The Divine Realm is the last bastion for Humanity, abandoning it just because of fear will mean the extinction of Humanity as a whole. We simply can't let that happen."

It was then that Raven was finally convinced that he made the right decision. 

---

The Fortress was fixed within a week even though the deadline was two weeks. 

Raven was impressed and but in truth, it's the least his men could do for him. While Raven didn't say much nor react much, his actions were loud enough to pass the message. 

It isn't just because of runes he gave to them nor the food. It was more about his sincerity and generosity. 

The amount of daily necessities that Raven gave to them back then was enough to last them for a month, two months even if they were to manage it carefully. However, Raven didn't agree. 

The next day after that, Raven appeared before them and gave them just as much resources as before. When they asked why, he simply replied that it's their daily rations. 

That's when they realized that Raven was completely serious when he said 'Don't hold back'. He actually meant for them to consume the food without worrying about whether they'll have more for tomorrow since he's got them covered. 

This was a simple act to Raven. In fact, retrieving this much supplies didn't really put a dent to the overall amount of his Merit Points. 

However, what he considered as a very simple act, was a monumental sign of generosity to his men simply because none of their previous Lords were as generous as him. 

At most, those previous one's will give them a month's worth of rations, that's what they're used to. However to Raven, that's completely unacceptable. His daily rations was enough to feed them for an entire month or two and he gives it to them daily. 

Just the fact that they could have a massive feast every night after a day's work was enough for them to give it their all. Which is why the repair of the Fortress went smooth and fast, enabling them to finish it within a week. 

After which, Raven ordered them to make some renovations to the fortress and give them a month to finish it. The renovations were important for their future plans, therefore Raven didn't want them to rush and reminded them to be careful. 

As they worked, of course Raven wasn't idle. Right now, he was currently researching the unique method of the soldiers cultivation and making future plans in order to win this thing. As for those nosy neighbors of theirs, he doesn't care about them for now. 

Whether they discover the weird illusion he created or not, it won't matter anyway.