Way of the Knights

---

"Who the hell are you?"

An aggressive and wary shout sounded behind Raven, causing him to turn around. 

He then saw a tall and bulky man with heavy bronze skin color. His forehead was wide and shiny with sweat, his upper garment was made out of worn and torn out scholars robe and his lower garments are made out of beast skin. He was riding on a back of an enormous boar and he had a large metal club on his back. action

Raven bowed and said: "Hi, my name is Raven. May I know which is the way towards the nearest civilization here?"

The bronze skinned man didn't answer him right away, instead Raven could feel his stern gaze roaming around his body, causing him to feel slightly uncomfortable. 

"You…are lost?" The man asked him after a while of deliberation. 

Raven had the sudden urge to roll his eyes and reply 'Obviously, duh?' But he didn't. Instead, he nodded to him. 

*Woosh!*

Out of nowhere, the winds howl and a hulking mass of metal suddenly flew towards him. Raven's gaze narrowed dangerously but he didn't make any movements, instead he straightened his back and gazed coldly at the club flying at him with dangerous speed.

To the man's surprise, before the club even manage to touch the kid, it mysterious stopped inches away from his face. The bronze skinned man could feel that the club seemingly met a solid by formless obstruction which didn't allow it to move any closer to Raven. 

When he met Raven's gaze, goosebumps suddenly crawled onto his skin. Solemnness appeared on the man's eyes, he quickly thought of some things but in the end, he sighed and held out his hand, causing the metal club to fly back to his hand. 

He hopped off of the boar and clasped his hands while performing a bow, he then said: "My apologies for suddenly attacking like that Fellow Knight. Believe it or not, I am forced to be vigilant due to some matters at hand."

He then suddenly produced something from his spatial ring and passed it down to Raven. 

"Please take this." He said after passing a wooden box to Raven. "I hope this quenches Fellow Knight's displeasure towards my rude behavior."

Raven took a swift glance inside the box and a surprised glint appeared on his face. 

The wooden box is actually made out of precious Mysterious Azure Wood, and it contains a Bone Relic with mysterious markings that contained traces of laws. 

'An infant Roc Bone Relic!' He exclaimed inwardly, 'Ah, this is great. This man isn't simple. Oh well, I'll let him off this time.'

Raven sealed the wooden box and placed it inside the spatial ring before nodding towards the bronze skinned man. 

Seeing that Raven's face carried no traces of enmity anymore, the man unknowingly sighed in relief, which surprised him somehow since he didn't understand why he felt nervousness while facing this young man. 

"Since Fellow Knight is searching for the nearest civilization, why don't we travel together? It just so happens that I'm heading there as well." 

"I'll be troubling you then." Raven nodded as he saw the man climbing on the back of his boar once again. 

"Oh right. My name is Albert, this is my mount Perry - a young Sky Trampling Boar."

"Well met, Fellow Knight Albert, Perry." Raven nodded towards them, he then asked: "I wonder where we are right now?"

"We are at the forest near the Sky Blaze City." Albert replied as they started heading east. "This forest is considered as a Hunting Zone for the nearest city. We usually gather supplies from here and either sell of trade them back in the city." 

'Sky Blaze City huh? So I ended up in the Blue Marble Planet. Not bad.' 

Series of information gradually surfaced on Raven's memory. Although this was his first time coming here, he had read about it in some records before. 

The Divine Realm is immensely vast. This Blue Marble Planet alone is almost thrice the size of the Grand Ancestral Plane, what's more is that this is just a territory under an Empyrean Ranked Power. 

He then glanced at Raven's who carefully looking around them and continued: "I wonder where Fellow Knight Raven hails from?"

A wry smile appeared on Raven's face as he said: "Believe it or not Fellow Knight Albert, I actually just ascended from a Lower Plane. After travelling through the spatial tunnel arranged by my senior, I ended up here."

Shock and doubt was plastered on Albert's face when he heard Raven's answer. From his discernment, he could tell that Raven's not lying to him at all. But that made this matter even more surprising.

He had been all around the this forest and the Sky Blaze City, yet he never encountered any new ascendants here in this forest. 

Simply put, what usually happens when one ascends is that they will take a transmission portal towards a certain sect or power since they are the only one's that are allowed to build such things. They usually use it to search for prospective talents and disciples to join their ranks in the lower realms. 

On the other hand, ascending to the Divine Realm without the aid of any transmission portals, is just plainly courting death. Unless one had an artifact that could safely shuttle in space, one must never blindly travel in space since their will be flattened by berserk spatial laws on their way. 

Albert had met countless of young people who had just ascended before yet this is the first time that he met someone who used an unorthodox method of ascending. How can he not be surprised? 

"Ah so that's the case." Albert replied after diffusing the surprise he felt earlier. "So that's why you were standing in place for a good while earlier. You were adapting to the new environment." 

"It is precisely as you said." Raven smiled and nodded. 

As the two travelled forward, Albert was nice enough to inform Raven about many things about the Divine Realm. This was greatly appreciated by Raven since it served to refresh his memories about the rules of the Blue Marble Planet. 

Albert also suggested many places for him to visit, from vistas to cultivation grounds, smelting trials and he even informed him about various sects that held supremacy in the Blue Marble Planet. 

Raven roughly replied to anything that Albert said, he instead listened carefully to his words and couldn't help but feel slightly strange in his heart. 

'Who would've thought an aggressive looking man would be so talkative?'

All of a sudden, Albert suddenly saw Raven's face change. He saw him glaring at the nearby trees. 

Albert froze, but he one could definitely tell that he was skilled since it didn't take long for him to send an energy pulse to survey his surroundings. 

His eyes bulged from his sockets. With a cold snort, he pulled the metal club on his back and issued a mighty swing.

*Rumble!*

The winds howled, forming a strong tornado that quickly swept away many figures hiding behind the trees. Screams and groans of agony was heard from them. 

With another swing of his club, the winds seemingly turned into countless of sharp swords that shredded through their bodies. 

"Hmph! Damnable people. They actually laid out an ambush!" Albert snorted as jumped off of his mount. He then swiftly arrived towards one of the remaining assassins that hadn't lost consciousness yet. 

He grabbed one by the neck. Killing intent rose up from his person as he asked: "Who fucking sent you!?"

The assassin coughed blood as Albert's roar reverbed all over his body. The assassin issued a bloody smile and said: "Want to squeeze information out from me? Wishful thinking! You might kill me today but your days are numbered!! Hahaha!"

All of a sudden, a fierce fluctuation emerged from the dying assassin causing Albert to curse. 

"Shit! He's going to explode." He then hurriedly threw the guy away and prepared to jump back but before he could do so, the dying assassin gripped Albert's arm and issued a maniacal smile. 

He wanted to take Albert down with him. 

At this instant, Albert turned pale. He was aware that he couldn't do anything since it was too late, even if he could somehow detach this guy's grip of him, the explosion will be strong enough to kill him either way. 

"Hahaha! Die!" The dying assassin's last words caused Albert to turn pale, the berserk energy bloated his body and was nearly at the verge of exploding when…

*Whew!* *Whew!* *Whew!*

A set of flying needles struck the dying assassin in quick succession, accurately hitting different spots and causing the berserk energy on his body to calm down. 

The assassin's eyes constricted fiercely, he could feel his energy being drained at an alarming pace. Terror filled his eyes as he and Albert both mechanically turned their heads towards the inconspicuous person's who playing with a bunch of needles on his hand. 

"Great, my aim is still the best." Raven smiled as he calmly walked closer towards the two dumbfounded people. His gaze then laded on the assassin's eyes and said:

"Now we can talk nice and slow."