Way of the Knights

Chapter 827: Back In Business

—

Raven rested for two whole months after finishing his project. 

During those days, he just stayed in his private room. Spent most of it sleeping or spending time with his wife. He didn't even participated into any work-related matter for the entirety of his rest. He wanted to but Luna bullied him into not doing so and Raven has always been weak for his wife.

His Avatars covered for him thankfully, he has a lot and they're more than capable of replacing him actually. The Ancient Elysium Sect's still thriving, and the Dawn Council's still on the right track. There's nothing for him to worry about too much. 

During his rest, Raven often thought about one thing. His breakthrough. 

Without the bottleneck limiting him, Raven could technically become a Divine Knight anytime soon. Then again, does it really have to be soon? 

Not to be mistaken for under-preparation, since Raven's foundations are solid enough for him to rely on, but he still felt quite uncomfortable about the thought of breaking through the next stage of his cultivation. 

He felt that he's rushing this. He felt that something was urging him and he didn't like it. 

Raven didn't tell this to Luna. At least not yet. 

He wanted to think about it by himself for now since he knew himself better. He can ask for opinions later. 

During his rest, he also compiled more information about the recent changes that happened to his body. Most of them were still a mystery to him but he knew that as long as he has time, he can eventually come-up with a good theory that will be useful in the future. 

The hardest mystery to solve was the multiplication of the fragments of Chaos. Raven doesn't even know where to begin with that. 

He had been trying several experiments but so far, of them worked. Well, he is resting so his experiments are limited but still, the ideas aren't just coming to him. At least not for now, that's why he decided to leave it for later. 

Above all this, there is one thing that's really bugging Raven within the past couple of days…

It's related to his Master, Geezer. 

He could've mistaken it for a random thought. Like a random recollection or something, yet for some reason, he has this sneaking suspicion that something happened to Geezer. Knowing Raven's instincts, the likelihood of him being wrong is close to nil. 

Raven was understandably worried of course. 

Although Geezer and him hadn't met face to face, the old man still had a large impact on his life. Raven could even down right say that without Geezer, he wouldn't be here. 

He made a vow that he'll come looking for him. He promised that he'll save him. Raven felt like he's already at a point where he can start doing something about it regardless of his cultivation. Still, the link he had with Geezer was painfully shallow. 

They've met twice and that's it. Not even in person but in dreams. Geezer just pulled him to a space where only the two of them are present. Even now, Raven still doesn't know how he did that. 

Because of this, his karmic link with Geezer was weak. So weak that he can't use it to track his whereabouts. He tried it recently and he always failed. His failure did nothing to ease his worries away. 

Raven could only sigh though. He's supposed to be resting. He shouldn't be this occupied when he's not working yet it has already became a habit. He's a workaholic and just can't stop. 

Still, he's already recovered enough. At least he has that. 

Despite being a worrywart, he recovered to his peak form swiftly. He reckoned that he can resume his work within the next three days or less. At least he'll get distracted again. 

—

"Hello, friends. I'm back from the dead." Raven chuckled as soon as he sat on his seat. 

Today's their monthly meeting and his official return to his office. His friends and his wife were glad to see that he doesn't look like a corpse anymore. The healthy flush on his face returned and he feel well enough to crack some jokes. 

"Now that I'm back to work, let's get this ball rolling. I'm excited so without any further ado, let's start this meeting!" 

"Loving the energy there." Anne commented with a small smile on her lips. She looks fine now at least, so does Ellen. It seems that they've already recovered from their trauma. 

Laughing Dragon cleared his throat to get their attention and as usual, he's the first one to make his reports. 

He listed several events that had transpired lately. Most of them were mundane, like say; mission completion reports, updates about the Danger Zones, reports about illegal activities and the overall progress the council has made. 

"As usual, thanks for the splendid job Laughing Dragon." Raven nodded as the man concluded his reports sat back down. 

"Well, I'd like to hear something about our students, how's their progress lately?"

Luna stood up for this and said: "Pretty well actually, we just sent out the invitations for the 3rd batch. If things went according to schedule, they should be arriving later this day. The students are working hard. The resources we spent on them weren't wasted at all. They've discovered many things about themselves ever since coming here and I could tell that they are willing to contribute for the greater good." 

"Nice. Exactly what I like to hear." Raven nodded, "How many invitations have we sent for the recent batch?" 

"About 150." 

"Sent another 150, we can afford it. We'll be having a total of 300 students for the 3rd batch." Raven stated. 

"Are you sure? Wouldn't that be impulsive?" Anne asked. 

Raven shook his head and said: "I actually think that we should send more than that. 300 is just a safe approximation on my side." 

He rested his back on his seat and continued his explanation…

"The thing about the Divine Land is that it's connected to the Divine Realm as a whole. Thanks to this connection, it responds to the state of Divine Land itself." 

"If Divine Realm as a whole starts flourishing and thriving, the Divine Land will too. Remember, it responds to the well being of the Divine Realm and its citizens. Since we're doing a great job so far, we should see some increase to the Divine Land's output, especially now that the Eternal Division Wall was modified by me." 

"So this is the reason why you're after the Danger Zones and the criminals then?" Ellen asked. 

"Kind of, yes." Raven nodded, "Our ultimate goal hasn't change, though. Turning the entire Divine Realm as a paradise is just a bonus. What we want is to make sure that the realm can stand alone by itself so that we can make a clean exit."

The rest nodded at him. 

"The safer and more stable Divine Realm is, the happier we are since we can exit the limelight faster and return to our home and family."

"We're doing great so far, for starters. But now that the our first line of defense has been bolstered, I'm thinking about expediting our activities." Raven looked at each of them and said: "Once the 3rd Batch of our students graduated, we will launch the Grand Youth Meet." 

The rest of the council members were surprised about Raven's decisions. 

"Already?" Paul reacted, "Didn't you say that we will do it after the 5th Batch?"

"And I just said that we're expediting the plans so yes, we're doing this." Raven nodded confidently, "The project I finished gave me some nice personal rewards. I already have another Grand Seal prepared for this one, I just have to draw it and add in your inputs. After that, we're ready to go."

"I don't see any particular reason to wait that long." Raven added, "Plus, I am looking at another large-scale project, which means I'll be busy again. If we wait until the 5th batch, I'm afraid I'll miss out on the event entirely. That'll be disrespectful for our reputation so far so I say we do it immediately."

"Damn, so we're actually doing this huh?" Mark still felt a bit unprepared. 

"Yes. So make sure you all finish your personal projects and prepare for this event. We'll shock the Divine Realm with this event, I'm sure of it. I want it to be Grand and extremely dramatic. I'll leave the smaller nuances to you guys, the Grand Seal will take some time to be made." 

"Right." Luna responded, "What are you looking for you next project anyways." 

Raven stilled for a bit and let out a sigh, he then said: "Outposts."

"Outposts?" 

"Yep." Raven nodded, "For the Outer World. Expand our network of intelligence for a bit more."

"I'm not going to lie. There's another purpose for me picking this up." Raven stated, "I want to look for my Master. I don't know where he is or how he's doing but he's out there somewhere."

"I made a promise that I'll get him home and I think it's about time for me to do something about that. This project will take sometime so I want to expedite the larger events before I leave.. I hope you all understand."