Way of the Knights

---

Six months had passed rather quickly. 

The buzz and activity of the Sect became constant. Almost all personnel was working overtime in order to raise the strength of their overall force. Additionally, more safety protocols had been passed and more security levels had been secretly added. At least, that's all the changes so far during this time period...on the surface. 

Hidden operations never ceased. Thanks to Raven's help, all moles in the sect had been located. It didn't matter whether they used only one identity or were constantly switching with the others, once they were marked, they will be monitored heavily in secret. 

As the sect chose the activities that were publicized, these moles had been sending intel to their lords. Some of them were actively doing it while some are unconsciously doing it. Judging from their activities, their insider network was rather impressive as it manages to seep deeply into the sect secrets. 

Unfortunately for them, Raven's already one step ahead of them. All intel they've been reporting back to their superiors? All of those were the ones that Raven allowed them to know. If Raven wants to keep a secret from them, then nobody, even their superiors, would know about it. That's the level of security Raven gave the sect. 

That being said, it's not like they received anymore significant intel once they found out who the moles are. Their communication with their superior are one way links, which only allows them to send the report and not receive anything back. 

This didn't really stop Raven since he was able to see those at the end of the line but since then, none of them made a move. 

It's not really a bad situation to be in. If they remained quiet, then they're giving the sect more time to strengthen itself in order to defend against their frontal assault. 

Still, Raven's pretty bummed about this. He wanted to know more in order to make sure they could be prepared as best as they could. This was initially the whole motive why he bothered arranging this meticulous plan. 

He erased the memories of the captives as well as the majority of the sect, aside from core people he knew he could place his absolute trust, no one else remember anything about the whole identity revelation incident. 

He even fixed up all the injuries he gave to the captives, erased all trails of tampering and what not and left them with his own rune that will allow him to know their actions at all times. This rune will reveal everything about them, including their reports to their superiors actively or subconsciously. He also gave this to the other moles who had been receiving some free resources from the sect. 

This allowed him to create an elaborate trap that could alert them for everything the Exiles plan on doing. But as luck would have it, those people are way too secretive. 

Compared to the intel he allowing them to have, those coots didn't let out even a fart if intel. 

While Raven did managed to see some scenes of their 'Leaders' and that 'Allfather', that didn't really tell him much, that's why he hasn't revealed this intel yet to the Sect Master and the rest. Additionally, he couldn't really monitor them everyday, it was already risky to do it once since the 'Allfather' might notice him and that might escalate the war even earlier. 

Six months wasn't really a long time. Raven and the sect does indeed have the resources and patience to prolong this state but Raven understood that the longer this goes on, the more losses the sect will accumulate. 

Raven needs a better plan, he needed to expand the trap and he has to be extremely careful about it. So within this six months of constant brainstorming with his Avatars, a plan formed that will be able to help the, greatly should it work. 

---

"Welcome to our facility, Young Lord." 

Numerous people greeted upon seeing Raven gracing them with his presence. A friendly smile appeared on Raven's face as he nodded to them and said:

"Thanks for your warm welcome." He raised his hand and waved it, however his hand released an invisible fluctuation that assaulted everyone around him, causing them to fall in to a dazed and hypnotized state. 

"You didn't see me. All of you will continue how you have been doing so far. I am completely invisible from all of your senses and any of your defenses and any activities that I do here, won't register to your brains. Am I clear?"

"Yes." A soft and uniform response came from them, Raven nodded and snapped his fingers. 

When he did, all of the personnel woke up from their stupor. All of them unconsciously dispersed and went back to their tasks, ignoring Raven who walked in great strides as if he owned this place. 

Going through several twisting hallways, he eventually stopped at a gigantic steel doors, With one hand, he pushed the doors causing a loud creaking noised to flood the hallways. Typically, this will alert many people but under Raven's hypnosis, none of them even heard a thing. 

Raven entered the room and locked the door behind him. He walked deeper into the room until he arrived at the place were several humongous black rocks could be seen. 

A smile of nostalgia appeared on Raven's face when he saw these rocks. He remembered the time when he encountered one of these for the first time. 

Back in the Grand Ancestral Plane, when he was roaming the world in search for a cure to his in-laws, he ambushed several enemies carrying meteorites that looked suspicious to him. At first he didn't know what to do with it but the rocks merged together in a single enormous meteorite and started condensing into a badge that Raven used to participate in the Sect's Disciple Recruitment. 

These rocks in front of him were the same as the ones he encountered by chance. They're at this state right now in order to preserve the badge's quality.

The sect's recruitment methods could be called eccentric but it's tradition so they didn't change it. 

Raven getting the badge was actually a unique encounter. Typically, these meteorites will be sent all over Divine Realm. The Meteorites are capable of searching for potential candidates, it could even switch its trajectory to force the encounter. 

If its chosen candidate was nearby when it falls to the world, it would then take hold of that person, transform into a badge and inform them about the Ancient Elysium Sect. That's how normally it goes. 

However, there are also times when these meteorites couldn't find a suitable candidate even after its fall. It would wait for an entire year, hidden under everyone's sight, to see if there are suitable candidates - if the suitable candidate is an infant, then it would wait until the child grows up, or until another suitable candidate appears. The meteorite won't choose anyone older than 1000 years old though. 

If, even after a year of waiting, it still didn't find any candidates, it would break into pieces and will attach itself into bodies of some people, it won't harm them since it's only job is to search for the suitable candidate. This is just a way for it to expand it's search. 

This is what happened to Raven. As for how the meteorite didn't come earlier to him? Maybe it deemed him way too young or unready. Either way, what matters is that it eventually fall to his hand and got him here so it fulfilled its task. 

Only a few people are aware of this unique way of selection. Most of them are from the sect and wouldn't really divulge it to others, and others are high-members of society, its up to them whether they reveal this information or not. The sect wouldn't care anyway.

In conclusion, even if some people are aware of this, it is not a publicized knowledge. And Raven's here to use that to his full advantage.

"Alright, be nice with me. I'm here to give you some additional task. Of course, the selection will always be your priority, I won't really ask for much. Just allow me to draw some runes in you and they'll automatically do what I wanted them to do. I just want you guys to allow as many people to see your wonderful appearances. Is that cool?" 

The meteorites let out a few fluctuations which Raven translated into a positive response. 

"Great! You guys are the best. Here I go." Raven then took out his Brush of Wisdom and began carving runes. 

Each finished rune will flew to each one of the meteorites. Raven worked fast and after an hour of non-stop rune carving, Raven wiped the sweat out of his face and smiled weakly at the meteorites. 

"Alright, I'm all done. You guys look good." Raven showed them a thumbs-up. "Now, when it's time for you to fly out of here and search for more kids, be sure to show yourself to as many people as you could, alright?"

Raven received yet another wave of positive response, he smiled and walked away of the room. As he felt the facility, there was a wicked smile on his face.

"Now, let's see where you rats are truly hiding." 

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