Way of the Knights

Chapter 825: Raven’s Thoughts

—

"Uh…haha."

"What the hell happened?" 

This is what Raven asked to himself as soon as he woke-up. Well, it isn't technically his first thoughts since the first thing he noticed is how light he felt and how good his sleep was. Then he discovered something strange within his body and then it dawned into him. 

Something happened while he was asleep. 

Raven inspected his body. He already saw what happened to his heart, he also discovered the little changes that occurred on his Inner Cosmos, the Ancestral Divine Galaxy, the Scepter of Wisdom and even the World Tree itself. 

He also discovered the new insights that were swimming on his thoughts, it filled him with profound knowledge that he wasn't expecting about. Insights about things he never thought existed before. 

Raven shook his head and stepped out of his tent. Deciding that it is too soon for his mind to be this busy. He just literally woke-up from his slumber. He wanted to relax a bit before tackling these problems. 

Thankfully, he had a meal prepared and a freshly brewed tea to help him do that. 

Raven kept his mind blank at most while relaxing. He just stared at the spatial vacuum as he ate. 

After his eating and finishing his tea, he stretched for a bit and sat down to meditate. He then began filtering and analyzing the changes within him one by one. 

'Okay so, my heart is gone. Replaced by the Last Fragment of Chaos.' He started, "Cool, except for the fact that I absolutely had no idea that was possible.'

'How should I begin to crack this down. I think I should write this down, no? This might be helpful in the future.' 

'Yeah, I'll do that.'

Raven took out a quill, ink a and scrolls to help him record everything he experienced. He wrote about the existence of the Last Fragment of Chaos first and what he was like before the changes happened, this helped him organize his thoughts and accurately recall everything. 

'…then I slept because I felt really tired.' Raven muttered inwardly, 'I think this is where things went different.' 

'I'm an Empyrean Knight powerhouse. Not to brag but I am a cut above the rest. My foundations are extremely solid that it allows me to face Divine Knights without feeling threatened.'

'It's weird for me to feel that exhausted.' Raven continued, 'I just worked non-stop for 10 months. That shouldn't drain me that much especially if I'm only doing repetitive things. Still, I felt an unbearable exhaustion.'

'So much so that I passed out as soon as my back hit the mattress. Now, why is that? I'm guessing it's because of the Last Fragment of Chaos?' 

'…'

'…was my body not ready for it? I don't think so. The fragment was behaving nicely – at least that's what I would like to think. I mean it won't settle down on my heart if that wasn't the case right? So I don't think this is it.' 

'Was it changing my body to be a better vessel for it?' Raven paused for a bit. 'Possibly.'

'That would make sense actually. The Last Fragment of Chaos is something that not just anyone could get their hands to. It contained mystical things and is the answer that many sought after all this time.' 

'It's a miracle that I managed to hear its summons. It's also a miracle that it accepted me as a vessel. That being said, this still is Chaos – the Absolute Beginning. It is where all rivers meet. It's the Origin itself.'

'It would make sense that my body alone isn't enough to contain it.'

'The bottleneck disappeared.' Raven thought to himself, 'I have a feeling that it didn't just happen overnight too. I suspect that it happened gradually and subtly and I just didn't discover it. Probably because I was too focused on the project and the Last Fragment of Chaos was way too subtle about it.' 

'Now that I think about it, it might even be possible that the fragment was reacting to my activities all this time and I was just too dumb to notice it.'

'As for why It reacted? I have no idea. I just literally wrote the same set of runes and seals all day long. Well, maybe that's why actually? Who knows?' 

'Maybe it's acknowledging my devotion to my chose path – which is the Runic Sealing Path?'

'Yeah, that sounds about right…'

'…I just remembered the phantom I saw when I got the last fragment for the Scepter of Wisdom too. The Senior that used the scepter to draw the constellations…'

'I still don't know who that was…maybe there's no use to knowing him either way since he's already dead. But still, the creation of the Constellations was the reason why Divine Realm stabilized as well.'

'Since the Constellations contained history and represents the divergent paths of Laws, maybe that's why the Fragment of Chaos reacted?' 

'I mean, the constellations are reflected on my Inner Cosmos and the Ancestral Divine Galaxy. I've analyzed them and even used them as basis for the creation of my Sealing Arts. Maybe it's because of this that the Last Fragment of Chaos was elated; since technically, I am using all the divergent path of Laws which Chaos gave birth to in the first place.'

'It's like…I don't know…a parent listening to the adventures of their kids from someone else's point of view? Weird I know, but for some reason it makes sense to me.'

'…'

'…should I call this Chaos Heart now?' 

'Maybe I should.'

'It feels bizarre actually. I can literally feel my body still changing. It's slow and extremely subtle but I can feel it if I focus hard.'

'Can even call my blood; blood at this point? I mean, its still mostly red except that it's covered with a dark golden hue. Am I human? Whatever, I'm digressing.' 

'…'

'…I don't feel strong actually. Well, no not really. What I mean is that I don't feel stronger, which should make sense since it didn't really have a breakthrough, I just…transformed? For the nth time? Yeah, sound about right.'

'Its weird knowing that I could probably become a Divine Knight at any given moment.'

'I got so used to accumulating resources until I approach the bottleneck and shatter it with an overflow. Now however, I could just take my time and be at ease. There's literally nothing that's stopping me to breakthrough but no, not yet.'

'…the Inner Cosmos and the Ancestral Divine Galaxy feels weird; weirder than the fact I just kind of glazed over the fact that I am literally carrying two god damn galaxies within me.'

'They feel…I can feel more substance in them? Yeah, no that's explanation sucks. Uh…they feel more…real? Like, sure they ARE real. But now they're like…more real? Yes, me. That totally makes sense. Nope, not being sarcastic at all.' 

'The Scepter of Wisdom feels different too. It still looks the same for the most part – a scepter with a golden handle filled with all sorts of carvings with the jade crystal block head. What changed is now, it actually has some of my runes and seals all over.'

'I don't remember placing them there but they're there, what's even more surprising is the fact that I can feel the air of Chaos around them.'

'Would it still be safe for me to take this out in public?'

'Well, surely once I become a Divine Knight I'll be able to without being afraid right?' 

'Alright, I've stalled enough I guess. I still haven't checked what my Chaos Heart actually look and feel like. Now's the time to do that.' 

'…'

'…I'm not dreaming right?' 

'Yep, I'm awake. Wide awake actually.'

'Huh…that's weird.'

'Why do I have three fragments now!? What's going on?' 

'They can multiply?'

'What in the Divine Realm's nonsense is this?' 

'I need to chill…I should probably take deep breaths.'

'…'

'…yeah, there's three of them. I can count, I'm not wrong nor I am hallucinating either, there's actually three.'

'What am I supposed to do with this information?' 

'Can I give one to my wife? Will I be okay if I do that? Is three the limit? What's going on?'

'Hold on, let's check if I can do something with them first.'

'…'

'Hoh? They feel familiar.'

'It's like they're my flesh and blood or something. Like my children? Yeah. It feels like that.'

'Am I supposed to raise them? Probably. I mean, cultivation is kind of like that anyways – raising a child.'

'Still, I don't feel like this is a bad development. I mean, I feel mostly…normal? Light and carefree, just like how I usually do, if not more.'

'The things I discovered today…they'd be valuable information in the future. I guess I should compile them as reference for when I complete the Third Chapter of the Book of Chaos.'

'…yeah, I guess I'll do that.'

'After this, I should check if I still function normally and get back to work.. I need to finish this project if I want to spend more time analyzing this weirdness.'