Way of the Knights

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After the relief washed over him after saving the Fragrant Rainbow Flower and storing it back into his spatial ring, his expression visibly softened. 

He then looked at the Kraken Priestess, who's still wondering what just happened to her and why did she listen to an order of a mortal. 

"Yeah, that's my bad." Raven said with a slightly apologetic tone. "I'm tired and I'm in a hurry. Thanks by the way."

His words were like loud bells ringing on the Kraken's Priestess' head, causing her to return to reality. Even then, she had no idea how to talk to this mortal any more after what just happened. She wanted to ask many things, she's also still wary about the fact that this mortal might not honor his words. To top this all off, she just can't believe that a mortal like him had the power to make her follow his orders. This is something that's unbelievable to her, yet it happened. 

"Now for the other thing." Raven said, which made the Kraken Priestess annoyed. 

Compared to when Raven forced her to obey his command, this time the priestess willingly did what he wanted. 

She waved her staff and suddenly the steel floor beneath them parted. Under Raven's watchful gaze, an enormous golden chalice rose up from the ground and is filled with Soul Purifying Water. 

Raven's eyes glowed in glee, excitement bubbled up in his chest as he stared unblinking at the chalice as it finished rising up and was suspended in the air, waiting for him to consume it. 

He started walking towards the chalice but the statue of the Kraken Priestess appeared before him and prevented him from going any further. There was a strange expression on her face, but Raven could more or less tell that she was wary of him above all else. 

"Want to know how I knew?" Raven asked before she could even speak. 

The Kraken Priestess didn't say a single word but Raven already knew her answer even if she refuse to say something. 

"It's not that hard to guess actually." Raven said, "Before I went here, I got a good look of your twin sister. She might appear different from you, but both of you give off similar vibes of energy. Plus, her beard is of the same color as yours and also groomed in a similar way."

"Another thing is that, you - of all people, had absolutely no reason to remain in this plane. This place is considered as a dumpster when compared to where you currently are. What connects the Boundless Azure Sect and your tribe is the 4th Sea Master who passed away ages ago and his son, the 5th Sea Master. But due to the strictness of your race, they will only honor the 4th Sea Master and his wishes, not his descendants. Upon his passing, your connection to humans turned neutral at best."

"Why would someone, who is considered to be the next leader of their entire race of formidable creatures, waste time in a dumpster and look after the testing grounds of some people that she doesn't even acknowledge? Isn't that suspicious? There must be something else right?"

The Kraken Priestess' eyes widened with his revelation. The clues that he found were relatively simple, yet he was able to connect the dots that fast. Still she wasn't convinced, if anything she's now thinking that maybe Raven took a gamble by using that a threat earlier. 

"Nope, I didn't use that as a gambling chip either. If that's what you're thinking." Raven said out loud, which shocked the Kraken Priestess once more. Before she could even speak, he said: "Physical appearances might be changed to fool someone but a little to none could change the shape and appearance of their soul."

"You aren't the only one who could see souls, Priestess. I can do that too." Raven stated as rainbow gleam appeared in his pupils, signifying some kind of an ocular technique being used. 

All of a sudden, an image was projected towards the Priestess's mind. She viewed it and saw what Raven wanted her to see. It was side by side image of her soul, which he could see even if she wasn't physically here, and her deformed twin sister's soul, which would be the kraken that is carrying the Sunken Ivory Castle on her back. 

'Now it makes sense.' The Kraken Priestess thought to herself. She's finally convinced after seeing that image. 

As the chosen Priestess of the Bearded Ladies Tribe that is able to punish the souls of other beings. She was granted with an ability to see the souls of everything around her. It was due to this ability that she found out that her mother didn't only gave birth to her. She has a twin sister that had been suffering for the longest of time, and even upon telling her parents of her sister's situation, not only did not do anything to help her, they even prevented her from helping her own sister, saying that her twin is a 'necessary sacrifice' for her to achieve greater things.

Just like what Raven said, it's almost impossible to fool someone that can see souls. Anyone can alter their physical appearance but little to no people has the ability to change the appearance of their soul.

"While I don't know what transpired after that and caused her to end up in this place, I suggest you to hurry up and cure her. She can't stay here indefinitely, I trust that you know that."

"Of course I know." The Kraken Priestess replied for the first time. There was a concerned tone on her voice, clearly signifying that her sister is important to her. "I'm already doing everything that I can even if my advisors are against it. I just need more time, that's it."

"Good for you." Raven replied while shrugging, he then continued by saying: "And just like I told you before, so long as I got what I wanted, this secret will remain with me."

The Kraken Priestess looked intently at Raven. She saw the clarity and purity of his soul, as well a strange kind of power that she can't understand. Needless to say, all signs told her that Raven's telling the truth. Plus there was something about his words and his tone of voice that comforts her. At this point, there's no point on doubting him anymore. 

"Now, can I?" Raven gestured towards chalice. 

The Kraken Priestess finally made way, and Raven wasted no time and jumped towards edge of the chalice. He felt the Kraken Priestess disappeared right after that. Raven shrugged and issued a mighty suction from his mouth that caused the Soul Purifying Water to funnel towards his mouth. 

Raven was akin to whale sucking in air as he drank the waters. The volume of Soul Purifying Water in the chalice are actually greater than what it looks like. Though its container was big, with how fast Raven was consuming the water, it should've at least be reduced halfway through, but Raven hadn't reached quarters of the way through bottoming this whole thing up. 

He drank as much as he could and after a full hour of suction, Raven managed to get halfway through the chalice before he became full. 

Raven then sat on the edge of the chalice and started his absorption. The Soul Purifying Water that he absorbed crashed like a raging tsunami towards his soul. Bathing it with a strange coolness and warmth. The absorption of his soul is even faster compared when he was drinking it from the source. 

It was as if his soul was a dry sponge that's been exposed into water. Not even thirty minutes after he sat down, he already fully absorbed every single drop of the Soul Purifying Water he drank, and is now ready to drink some more. 

His soul recovered by another 5%, making his total recovery of 15%. 

Raven felt a thrill that stemmed from the very depths of his soul. He was smiling from ear to ear as he could feel the wondrous feeling of recovery. It had been so long, that he had almost forgotten how it feels like to have strong soul. 

It was as if the world had become smaller for him. The wonderful feeling of being close to the skies, looking down from above and the feeling of everything within his grasp. This is a feeling that he missed so much. But all of this are just a mere feeling - a side effect of his soul experiencing recovery. It would be a long way to go until he could actually do those things, but merely stepping closer towards his previous life's strength brings endless joy to him. 

His eyes flashed with brightness as he opened them. A gleam of sharpness was present on his eyes, it gave off an impression was as if he's becoming a different person as time went on. 

Raven looked at the chalice and saw that it somehow produced more waters for him. He smiled and brought Venus out. He then told her to do the same thing he's doing. 

It didn't take a long time before one man, and one snake completely bottomed up the contents of the chalice.

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