Way of the Knights

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One year passed at the Blue Mountain Tribe…

A lot of changes had occurred thanks to Vendrick, Arthur and Rosa's help. Well, Vendrick's just mostly paying attention to his training and would only occasionally give instructions to Arthur and Rosa which made the two the true new leaders of the tribe. 

Thanks to their help, the living conditions of the tribe turned for the better. First they made numerous changes to the tribe. They dug wells, taught them how to raise animals, farm, construct better homes, fortified the walls, and all sorts of skills needed for basic survival in this dangerous land. They even educated everyone without discrimination, now everyone can read and write the language of the tribe. Vendrick supplied them with necessary materials and books they can use for research. 

They also taught them how to become a human essentially, Rosa was in charge of teaching them how weave wool and silk into better clothing, she taught them sanitation, cooking, preserving food and etc. Meanwhile, Arthur was in charge of teaching them how to do better manual labor. All this while they never ran out of food again thanks to Vendrick who would occasionally hunt and bring back game en masse. 

Sufficed to say, the Tribe had become a batter place for them. The comfort they are now enjoying not only made them happy and satisfied but also secured. Thanks to this, the population of the tribe increased exponentially as time went on. 

If Arthur and Rosa was referred to as the True Leaders of the Tribe, Vendrick would undoubtedly be called their Guardian. 

Like what was mentioned earlier, Vendrick didn't appear often within the tribe since he mostly focused on training and cultivating. Despite that however, everybody knew that all the changes that made their tribe a better place won't be possible if Vendrick wasn't around. 

Everyone is aware that he didn't like the idea of looking after the tribe and they weren't resentful of that, they have Arthur and Rosa for that matter anyways so they just left him be. Still, all of these people treated Vendrick with outmost respect, it could be said that they were even worshipping him. To them, Vendrick was the reincarnation of the Berserker God who will lead the tribe to rise. 

The old and corrupted tribe leaders along with their descendants had died and was forgotten by the tribe already. Why would they remember those who mistreated them anyway? There's just no use to that. Additionally, thanks to Arthur and Vendrick's instructions, a new wave of Berserkers are on the rise, these people are much stronger compared to those dead fools and every single one of them were loyal to tribe. 

With a such a large influx of military strength, of course the tribe became self-sufficient as well. Right now, Arthur and Rosa wasn't as busy as they were before, therefore they too could focus on their training. 

The two of them already activated all of them Berserker Veins, cleansed their blood and were now fortifying their bones. Transforming their entire skeletal system to a set of Berserker Bones would take a long time to do but every increase causes their strength to skyrocket. 

Meanwhile, Vendrick as someone who had never been idling on his training, had already condensed his Dragon's Aura to it's absolute potency, now he's just a step away from condensing his Dragon Heart. That being said, it is rather difficult to condense a Dragon Heart, he had been accumulating for nearly three months just for this sake but he's missing the deciding factor to move-on. 

"…what Law should I use as a core?" 

Vendrick had been stuck in this phase, the last wall he had to break in order to advance was something that he, strangely, could've decided randomly. 

Condensing a Dragon's Heart requires him to condense a Law and make it a seed he could nurture to become his Dragon's Heart. 

Vendrick had invoked the essence of Destruction and Creation Laws to his Dragon's Aura before resulting in him basically cultivating both laws up until now. Technically, he could've used one of these two as a seed to form his Dragon's Heart but he was skeptical. 

Destruction and Creation, two opposing Laws. Vendrick grasped the Destruction Essence thanks to his experience so that was nothing surprising. Creation on the other hand, gave him a shock. 

He didn't receive 'Enlightenment' per se, he's a Dragonborn, he doesn't require that. What happened was he got an inspiration during one of the times when he was watching the tribesmen making all sorts of improvement on the tribe. Unknowingly, his heart yearned for Creation and it answered him. 

Since then, he had to constantly keep these two in check since if doesn't, it'll spell his doom. It's not like he learned to how balance the two, he's just doing his best to that. In order to truly balance them, he needed to cultivate the essence of 'Balance' another Law, and that would just be unwise. 

This is what making his advancement complicated. The moment he choose one of his law as a seed to condense his Dragon's Heart, an imbalance would be created. That might result on him exploding on the process and he would very much prefer for that not to happen. This is why he had been stuck for quite sometime. 

"Hmm..." 

Vendrick was currently resting on top of tree, lying on one of the thick branches as he gazed at the skies. He was at a loss. He was debating whether it would be wiser for him to take the risk or just give in and grasp the essence of balance. None of these sounded attractive to him but he had no other choices. 

*Tick* *Tick*

"Eh? Oh, it's raining..." Vendrick got confused for a second there. 

He felt several liquid dropping down on his face and he thought a bird pooped on him but it turned out to just be a rain. 

Vendrick jumped down from the tree and began walking back to his hut. As soon as he entered, the rain started pouring hard. He's currently alone in the hideout - which had become a sacred place within the tribe. Arthur and Rosa would still occasionally come here but now they prefer living with other people around. He wasn't against this and he didn't dislike the stillness and peace of this place anyways.

Vendrick felt bored. He wants to do something but the current atmosphere was making him feel lethargic and sleepy. His boredom even made him temporarily forget about then dilemma he was in. 

As it rained hard outside, Vendrick forced himself to eat something. After enjoying a warm bowl of soup and some demonic beast meat, he truly felt sleepy now and decided to call it a day already even though it's still noon. 

The temperature dropped, Vendrick crawled at his comfortable bed and threw all the worries he had at the back of his head. As he lied down on his bed, he stared out of the window while he waits for the lull of slumber. His eyelids began feeling heavy as time went on but he kept staring outside for no reason. And then...

*Bzzt!* *Boom!!* *Crackle!*

Vendrick's eyes snapped wide open, he sat up from his bed with wide eyes as he stared outside. 

The echoes of thunder still rang on his ears as he shivered, not out of fear though. 

*Bzzt!* *Boom!* *Crackle!*

Lightning and thunder struck once more, this time closer. The sound of thunder was loud but Vendrick looked like he didn't even hear any of it. His eyes remained wide open as he stared outside, seemingly astonished and stunned into speechlessness.

"...god I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I think of that?" 

Vendrick's face flushed as he fiercely kicked his blanket and jumped out of the bed. He bolted outside of his hut and stared at the dark clouds looming above him. There was an excited smile on his face despite him being drenched by the pouring rain. 

"Thunder and Lightning! Yes, of course! An element that possess both the essence of Destruction and Creation! It is an abstruse product of their clash but one that could also serve as their medium to preserve balance! Not to mention it also posses a horrifying strength!"

"It is an element that is feared by ghosts and struck down evil. It is also the usher for birth and evolution! Haha! Fuck, I can't believe I didn't even consider it for a single second! It was such an obvious one too!"

Vendrick exclaimed like a madman as his burning gaze threatened to pierce the clouds above him. He finally got the answer he was looking for, how can he not be excited? At the same time, he was berating himself for being such an idiot for not even realizing this sooner. 

Lightning and Thunder, this is the element that he was missing. It is what he needed and desired. There's no need to consider anything else right now. All traces of lethargy and boredom disappeared from his mind as he stared at the clouds. The Spear of Wisdom appeared from his hand, he pointed it at the sky and exclaimed:

"Come!" 

*Bzzt!* *BOOOM!!*