Way of the Knights

---

"Now that I think about it, I actually don't want this anymore. Can I like...you know...undo this?" Raven asked, causing the heirs to chuckle after seeing his uncomfortable expression. 

"Well, it's not like you can't but - "

"If I extract the growing World Tree in me, I'll die, yeah I know. I was just wondering you know." Raven groaned. 

Of course he knew that this process cannot be undone. As soon as the World Tree Sprouted within him, the idea of extracting it with the expectation of keeping his life was pretty much gone. 

In all seriousness, Raven was really feeling quite conflicted at this point. He just wasn't expecting that the World Tree holds a power like that. He had genuinely thought that he knew everything there was to know about the world tree but it turns out that he didn't. 

"Well, since I can't really undo this process, then I'll just deal with it when time comes. Thanks for reminding me by the way." Raven said, "Is there anything else I needed to know?"

"Nothing much." Poppy replied, "Although we already warned you to be careful about how you're going to use the power of the World Tree, you still have some time to prepare yourself. After all, fostering a World Tree to its full maturity isn't simple, and it takes too much time to do so."

"If you become an Heir, then its pretty much guaranteed that you'll live long enough to see the day when the World Tree matures. If no accidents happen, then we should still be with you to remind you just in case." Myleene added. 

"I appreciate it." Raven nodded his head and was really thankful for the early warning. Now that he's aware of the devastating power brewing within him, he had to make sure that his ego will be kept in check or else he will abuse the hell out of this. 

"Well, since that's over. It's about time we return." Inos stood up along with the other Heirs. "We still can't stay out for long, that's why you have to work hard partner. The closer you are in becoming a True Heir, the more freely we could move about." 

"Understood. Rest well." 

As soon as he said that, the Heirs disappeared, leaving Raven alone in his thoughts. 

He stayed in his position, thinking about the sudden revelations he just found out today and couldn't help but feel rather complicated. He already met four of the eight previous Heirs of Geezer. 

Every single one of them could be described as a relic of the past due to how much time passed since their deaths, yet their remnant wills still remains here and they are still holding on. 

Raven didn't really know why these people are sticking around. If one were to ask him, attaining an eternal life isn't really an attractive thing to have. Sure one gets to live for a very long time but it's not like the world can entertain them forever. At some point, living for far too long becomes a burden. Although time cannot erode the lifespan of someone who has an eternal life, it doesn't mean that it can't erode their sanity. 

Raven had met some people before who lost their mind because they had lived for far too long, heck just now they talked about the Bored Immortals! They might as well be included in that group. 

The only guess Raven had as to why the Heirs chose to remain here is due to the prospect of achieving the realm beyond Divinity. Aside from that, he had no idea. 

'Well, thinking about this doesn't benefit me at all.' Raven thought to himself. 'I still have a long way to go before I could even be genuinely called as an expert in the Divine Realm. For now, I should just focus on improving my strength. Towards the Scripture Graveyard I go then. Let's see if I could receive some more blessings.' 

---

Raven visited the Scripture Graveyard and he was pleased to know that he managed to acquire some blessing from the place. 

He received a blessing called: 'Font of Life'. Something that he got due to him fostering the World Tree. The blessing increases his recovery speed by a lot and it also improved how fast the World Tree filtered his Cosmic Energies, making it purer as time goes on. 

After receiving the blessing, Raven visited the Hall of Stars and sank his perception to it. He wanted to find out if he could receive the acknowledgement of another constellation. So far, he only got the acknowledgement of Extreme Yang Illumination and Elusive Yin Silhouette. 

This time, he got lucky and receive the acknowledgement of a constellation called the 'Observer'. Although Raven had no idea why he got it, he was thankful he received it. 

Just like with his previous experience, when he integrated with the 'Observer' it felt like he saw through the constellation's point of view and witnessed eons passed without his interference. After that, he woke up and had mostly forgotten what happened but he felt as if the world around was changing. 

After this encounters, Raven returned to the Cultivation Eden. He rested for a bit and began fortifying his foundations once more. He also practiced creating new runes that he had got insights from and expanded his Rune Arsenal even more. 

Raven fell into a routine once more. This time, he decided to use all of this week's entry. Meaning that he stayed within the Crown Space for a whole year. Fortifying his strength and improving his techniques and Laws. 

Time passed just like this and his time inside ended. Before coming out, Raven made sure to cut his hair and shave the beard he grew. He also changed his clothes and used a few days to completely relax, he didn't want to get out exhausted since he won't be able to explain that to Kyrie. 

Once it was over, Raven exited the Crown Space. He returned to the real world where only two days passed. He lifted the seals on the room and went out completely refreshed. 

---

"...that is impressive." Theo couldn't help but say as he saw two Raven look-alikes breezing through mountains of paperwork in front of them. 

"I know right?" Raven, the original one, proudly said as he calmly sipped his tea in relaxation while he entertained his guests. 

"Man, I should look for a Cloning Technique as well. That way I could also let them handle the paperwork I have." Logan grumbled, feeling slightly envious when he saw how Raven was taking it easy. 

"Correction, those are Raven's Avatars, not Clones." Henry interjected. "I highly doubt Clones can be used like that." 

"Listen to him." Charles said, "He would know since he already tried that method." 

"Hey!" 

The group laughed at their bickering. Today, Raven's teammates at the True Olympian Climb visited him after they received word that he regained consciousness. 

When they got here, they initially had the purpose of checking Raven's current condition. But after seeing him sipping his tea while calmly waiting for them, was already a convincing indication that he was just fine. They were even more convinced after they saw two of his Avatars furiously rushing through the tall stacks of paperwork as if they met their mortal enemy. 

"Oh, I just thought I'd let you know. Good job on the Rune above by the way." Theo said after peeling his gaze away from the Avatars. 

Raven then recalled about the rune he was talking about and asked: "Are the disciples showing signs of recovery?"

"Recovery? More like completely cured already." Logan stated. "I've been monitoring them for quite sometime and as far as I can see, none of them could even remember that horrible event." 

"I see...that's reassuring." Raven sighed in relief as he heard that. 

"Sect Master also made a public appearance multiple times while you were unconscious. Seeing as how he looked just like before, if not, even better than last time, really helps on pacifying the belief on the disciples. Now they whole heartedly believe that our sect will never fall and we will win this war." Henry added. 

"Mn. You did an incredible service to the sect, Raven." Charles smiled and complimented him. 

"Thanks. At least I could do something." He said while looking quite pleased. "Well, how about you four? How are you doing?"

"Oh, same old." Henry replied while waving his hand. "Paperwork, patrol and occasional practice. It feels like forever since we last did it but it also indicates that we're finally home."

"Is that so?" Raven said while looking at Henry with suspicion. 

Henry of course noticed his gaze and shivered inwardly, however he did his best to not react, lest Raven escalates this even further. Inwardly however, Henry was cursing his luck. 

"Eh? Why are you looking at him like that Raven." Theo asked after noticing it. 

"Nothing much." Raven replied, causing Henry to release a sigh of relief inwardly, not knowing that he celebrated too early.

"It's just that I've been smelling something rather familiar. You know now that I think about it, I could faintly remember when, where and most specially WHO had this smell. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it's from a certain Zither War Goddess..."

"...isn't that right? Mr. Henry?" 

Henry: '$&#*#($&÷*