Way of the Knights

Chapter 895: Kyle’s Enlightenment

Raven was in slumber for three months straight. A testament of just how exhausted he truly was.

He didn’t know that he slept for that long. To him, it felt like he just lied down and woke up the next day. If it weren’t for his wife telling him that he had been asleep for that long, he wouldn’t know.

Raven didn’t return to his seclusion after he woke up. He instead enjoyed a brief vacation, spending time with his family and taking his mind off of seclusion.

He also visited his office which had been unmanned for a long time. This place would’ve been covered in dusts if it weren’t for the fact that someone regularly comes in here to clean it.

There were really no documents or paperwork that needed his attention. His Avatars took care of them in his place, thank god for them really. If there were things that needed his attention, it’s all the compiled reports that summarizes the overall state of the Divine Realm.

So far, everything was on the rise, much to Raven’s gratification. He could tell that their hard work had been rewarded with how changed Divine Realm is like nowadays.

The era where there’s a strict competition over resources is almost over. Divine Realm is thriving under his lead. Its current state is a far cry from what it was decades ago. It’s to the point that many people think that Raven was truly a blessing for the whole realm.

Tensions are still there though. After all, the looming threat of a great war is still around. Although not many people are aware of it, there are a handful of people who knew or guessed it.

The Dawn Council mostly continued its operation, though in a more ‘tamed’ manner.

A few years back, the council under his lead had to take the helm of operations and really force their way through in order to establish themselves within Divine Realm, rebuilding their reputation back-up and making sure that the realm was heading into the proper path.

Now that they’ve achieved their goals, the council silently retreated at the back. Still the one protecting everyone from the shadows though, but no longer under the limelight.

The current era is for the new generation to push-on through, their time to shine. The council will only support them from the shadows and make sure they grew up into fine warriors that will one day, make a name for themselves and truly usher in the Golden Age.

When Raven took a good look at what the current Divine Realm looks like, he couldn’t help but smile in gratification. Divine Realm really changed under his lead.

At first he thought that this will be impossible, even with how knowledgeable he was, the chances of uniting the realm would just be impossible.

Although it was hard though, he did it in the end. He managed to do the impossible. He had help, sure. But Raven did do his best to accomplish this and now, everyone is under the same banner.

All that he wishes for right now is for them to have more time before the war starts, because even with how different Divine Realm is today, he could still tell it’s not yet ready for the upcoming war. They really needed time and he can’t just set-up a realm-wide time dilution, it wouldn’t work and that will upset the delicate balance.

All he could do is to hope that the arrival of the Abyssals comes very late, just so that they can have more to time get prepared.

Kyle had been roaming the Outer Worlds for years now, and what he got from his adventures were valuable experiences that he may never be able to get if he had stayed within the Divine Realm.

The Outer World was once a foreign place to him. He had heard rumors about it and read about it some books and documents, but what he discovered out here wasn’t justified on those documentations.

For example, the records always emphasized just how vast the Outer World is and how harsh its environment was.

Kyle thought that he had a pretty good grasp on what those words mean but it wasn’t until he actually experienced it, that he knew that he still gravely underestimated it.

By the description ‘vast’ it actually meant ‘boundless’. Kyle hadn’t seen the end of Outer World. He had been constantly on the move these past few years but to him, it still feels like he was just running in place.

It’s hard to judge distance here. Sometimes he will think that he hadn’t gone far from home but to his surprise, he actually was quite a distance away from it. There’s also times where he felt like he had been exploring for months, only to discover that he barely left his previous coordinates.

Something in here messes with his spatial perception, which was surprising considering how his Laws work. But then again, he isn’t at the Divine Realm, he’s at the Outer Worlds.

Speaking of that matter, he also discovered that it is pretty hard to not judge the Outer World according to Divine Realm’s standards.

He always forgets that this isn’t Divine Realm. Things work differently here. He really has to get used to that or else it’d come around and bite him in the ass.

The environment here is truly harsh.

Things that he considered as a trash heap turns out to be a resource depot for the Outsiders. They fought and kill just to secure those things, he even received a few threats in his life for just looking at the thing which he found absolutely ridiculous.

Speaking of the Outsiders, Kyle couldn’t help but feel that they pitiful.

They’re lives are utterly miserable around here. Under the harsh environment, morality wasn’t a thing to them.

Morality won’t feed nor clothe them, or put a roof above their heads, they have no use for it so why even bother with it.

And with how heated the competition for resources was like out here, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they will really risk their lives just to secure something for themselves.

With how big Outer World was, Kyle thought that there should’ve been a way for it to produce a decent amount of resources. Well, considering what he had witnessed so far, that is a fat ‘no’ then.

Another thing that surprised him was the fact that the Outsiders actually managed to discover a unique way to cultivate.

This got him really interested since from what he could tell so far, the energies present all over the Outer World is too harsh and very unsuitable for use. It is too chaotic and just felt…wrong, yet somehow, they managed to harness it’s power for their own use.

Later then, he discovered that their methods were downright suicidal.

What they do is no different than destroying their own bodies and potential. They were forcing these chaotic energies inside their bodies to tame them for their own use.action

What’s wrong in this process is that fact that the energies are free to rampage all over their body, damaging them internally as they try to will under their control. It’s just wrong.

This leaves them with hidden injuries that are quite literally killing them, further shortening their lifespan. This might also be why there only a few cultivators among them.

He’d even venture a guess that none of these cultivators managed to die of old age with how much injuries they accumulated through cultivation.

This is why the Outsiders never had it easy. Whenever they go out, they always run the risk of never returning to their home – if one could even call it that.

They will always be in decline with how harsh their environment is.

All these observations deepened Kyle’s understanding. Seeing all of this with his own eyes made him realize just how lucky they are being born within the Divine Realm.

Kyle himself didn’t have an easy life back in his youth, but compared to what the Outsiders have to deal with on a daily basis? He might as well call himself privileged.

And this isn’t even without the consideration of what Raven did for the entirety of the realm itself…

All of this, got him thinking.

Knowing the threat looming above their heads.

Knowing that one day, the Abyssals will come to try and take away everything that they have, leaving them with nothing…

Considering they fail to defend their home against the invaders…Is he witnessing their future in the visage of these Outsiders?

Kyle couldn’t help but shudder at the very idea…

Now…now he’s starting to get it.

Now, he understands why his Master had been working so damn hard along with his friends and family. Now he understands why he didn’t hesitate to put them under the wringer to squeeze out their potential. Now he understands why he had laid out so many plans to ensure that their home becomes stronger than ever.

Raven probably had the very same vision as him, and quite possibly, had the same reaction. And if that’s the case…Kyle now truly understands it…

“There is no fucking way, I’ll let that happen!”