Way of the Knights

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The Brush of Wisdom silently appeared on Raven's hand. 

Using the brush, he drew a small circle which immediately formed a large bubble that covered the entire fortress. 

The whole place shook for a bit before finally calming down. The remaining soldiers were stunned and confused as to what happened just now, however that didn't remain for long since Raven chose to explain what he did.

"To outsiders eyes, this fortress will remain dilapidated and lifeless, if they decided to explore this place, they will only find your fake dried corpses. You can call it an illusion but in truth, I merely isolated this place to an alternate dimension."

"This should buy us sometime. And even if they discovered it, it doesn't really matter."

Raven casually explained what he did yet to the ears of the remaining soldiers, he might as well dropped a huge bomb. 

How can he just casually say that he transported the whole fortress and them to an Alternate Dimension just like that? It was as if he did something completely nothing out of the ordinary!

We're talking about an Alternate Dimension here! Although these soldiers can't fully grasp what an Alternate Dimension is, they know just how difficult it is to access it. 

It had to be known that only one out of billions of people could sense the existence of an alternate dimension. Going there and even sending people there is a completely different concept altogether yet Raven casually did with a wave of his hand. How can they not be shocked? 

That being said, considering the fact that Raven was Enlightened by Spacetime Laws, something like this shouldn't be surprising at all. 

The Alternate Dimension completely mirrors that of the real world. It's obscured by the Mirage and Illusion Laws but in truth, it's just another plane of reality. For someone like Raven who could sense the Past, Present and Future, sensing the existence of the Alternate Dimension is a piece of cake. The barrier of Mirage and Illusion Laws can't prevent Raven's powerful will from going there or doing whatever he wants, therefore sending this fortress as well as these soldiers was as easy as lifting his fingers. 

"Let me remind you that the Alternate Dimension only covers the 100 meter radius of the Fortress, if you go past that, you'll step out of it and will alarm the spies of our neighbors so you have to make sure that you don't go past that. If it can't be helped, then be careful at least." Raven reminded his subordinates who still can't digest what he did just now. 

"Now then, let's talk about the more important things." Raven stated, his words alarmed the remaining people and pulled their attention back to him. 

"Since you decided to remain, that means you are willing to worship me as your Lord. That right?" 

The soldiers were stunned, however it didn't take long before all of them stepped forward and knelt down in front of him. 

"We pledge our allegiance to you, Lord Vendrick!!" They announced in unison. 

Raven was pleased, he nodded and said: "Good! Since you all are willing to aid me in my conquest, then I shall present you my blessings."

Using the brush of wisdom, he drew some phantasmagorical runes in the air. Each rune sparkled with a violet golden brilliance, causing the hall to be illuminated with it's light. Once Raven was finished, the runes condensed into a palm-sized ones and manifested into reality. 

Three runes flew to each soldier. Upon seeing this runes, the soldiers were bewildered and were dazzled by their brilliance. 

"This runes are my gift to you." Raven stated, "Each rune can be treated as my personal Decree. I'm giving each of three to use whenever you find yourselves in deep trouble."

"Each of this rune could protect your life, restrain your enemies, and release an attack with the might of an Empyrean Level Powerhouse. To activate them, you only need to touch these runes as they will be implanted on your bodies. You will only have three for now so use them accordingly."

The soldiers gaped at Raven's words. Before they could even say anything, the runes fused with bodies and turned into tattoos which could be activated at any point in time. 

All of them were speechless. Didn't Raven say that he can't guarantee their lives if they remained during his announcement yesterday? So what's up with this runes then? 

Forget about the runes being able to attack, just the mere protection it gave already got them jumping up and down in joy, yet this runes did so much more than that. 

Without any exceptions, all of the soldiers began shedding tears, this caused Raven to be momentarily stunned but he then realized that life must've been tough for them during these years so he didn't say anything. 

...originally, he didn't want to say anything but they didn't stop crying even after a while. He got tired of it so he said:

"Alright that's enough. Quit crying. We have stuff to do." Raven ordered. 

The soldiers heard him and instantly restrained their emotions. They dried their tears and calmed themselves down. Now, their eyes shown reverence and glee instead since finally, a fitting Lord finally appeared before them. 

"As I told you before, it hasn't been long since I ascended to this position. However, it's also thanks to that, that we have enough time to prepare."

"The sect gave me twenty years of peace, meaning that our neighbors won't casually pick a fight with us during that time lest they incur the wrath of Grand Elder."

"We have more or less 19 years to improve ourselves and catch up with their might, and that's precisely what we're going to do." Raven stated. "Although some of your comrades left you, it shouldn't be a big deal. As your Lord, I'll be responsible for you."

"I will give you all the necessities you need in order to become stronger, I have no problems fulfilling that part, however I similarly need you to produce the results. I will create rules and regulations which will be strictly followed. There will be handsome rewards waiting for you so long as you perform well. As for violations, I'll only tolerate it twice, any more than that will cost you your life so think carefully about your actions."

"For now, we'll be taking things easy." Raven said, "Start by repairing this fortress first. I'll hand out your task. Collect the materials here." 

As soon as he said this, Raven took out a large table filled with numerous materials needed for the repair. 

The soldiers didn't raise a fuss and began collecting the materials in order to get to work. 

Meanwhile, Raven took out another table, this time it was filled with numerous sacks of rice, bags of meats, fruits, beverages, clean spring water, clothes and so on. 

The soldiers involuntarily swallowed some spit upon seeing that abundant supply of daily necessities. Some of them were even raring to work immediately so that they hasten the repairs and maybe get their hands on these rations. 

However, Raven's following words stunned them once again. 

"Distribute these evenly amongst yourselves. No need to hold back. You may also eat first before you start working. I expect this fortress to be repaired within the next two weeks."

"We thank the Lord for your generosity, please leave it to us. We will finish the repair as soon as possible." One man excitedly stepped forwards and kowtowed in front of Raven. 

"We thank the Lord!!" The rest followed his lead. 

"Mn!" Raven nodded. "I'll be expecting it. Here's the areas that needs repair. I'll leave it to you. If there are any important matter that you need me for, contact me using this talisman."

He then handed a paper with a illustrated model of the Fortress and a transmission talisman to that man before he left the room and returned to his personal quarters.

The soldiers were left in a daze as they saw him leaving. Once they couldn't feel him anymore, the soldiers immediately scrambled and began equally diving the supplies to themselves. 

"Oh! The smell of rice and fresh meat! How I missed these!"

"Aaah! That refreshing taste of crystal clear Clean Spring Water. I never thought I'd taste it again." 

"Dude you're crying." 

"I am, what about it? And speak for yourself will you?"

"Yeah, I can't blame you. But more importantly, I'm hungry. Is the kitchen still usable?"

"The last time I checked, not anymore. But no matter! Just a small setback. We can also find other ways." 

"That's right! Hail the Lord!"

"We got lucky that got a generous Young Lord. And here I thought our agony will be prolonged."

"Right? The last one was pushover. How did he even become a Chosen?"action

"Can we not talk about that guy anymore? Remembering him makes me mad, he's the reason why we suffered in this place for so long. Besides, we already pledged allegiance with the new one. And just from these alone, he's already so much better compared to the last one. Now him, I'll happily acknowledge as a Lord."

"Alright, alright. Stop bickering. Why don't we cook something first and eat. Then we'll begin repairing the Fortress. Let's impress our Lord, yeah?"

"Yeah!"