Way of the Knights

---

The team surely did fall under a routine just as they predicted. 

As soon as they reached a point where they adjusted to the pressure around them, they would move onwards until they experience another spike in pressure. They would stay on that spot, train and move forwards once again, a cycle that they've done multiple times by now.

That's until they reached the 5000 miles distance away from the peak. 

"This is unreal!" Henry exclaimed with wide eyes as soon as they experience the sudden spike in pressure. The rest also staggered unstably once they felt it. 

"What the hell? How come the pressure suddenly doubled!?" Logan groaned in annoyance as he once again felt his mobility taken away from him. 

The heaviness of their surroundings, caused them to be rooted in place. Even Raven wasn't an exception this time around. 

"This is nuts!" Theo exclaimed, "We weren't even at the 1000 mile mark yet the suppression abruptly doubled. Doesn't this mean that it'll get even more ridiculous from here on out?" 

"Stop raising the damn flags!" Charles snarled at him, feeling greatly disturbed about the sudden increase in pressure. 

Even Raven felt mildly annoyed by this sudden increase in pressure. 

Although they were expecting that the pressure will exponentially increase as they got closer to the peak, this was just plain annoying. It's no so much of an 'exponential' increase though, it legitimately doubled the pressure they were enduring so far. Which was greatly aggravating for them. 

He did say not to rush since they have time, and it's not like this pressure will stop them from reaching the peak. The most annoying part about this is that, it delays them even further from reaching their goal. And since it could happen at halfway through the last stretch, then it's highly possible for it to occur on the latter parts of their journey. 

"Well, this is annoying but what else can we do?" Raven sighed and shook his head. "We can't let this stump us. So we better get working." 

The War Gods groaned in annoyance but they can't really refute his words. He's right though. What else could they do aside from adjusting? No matter how much they complained here or how much they cursed at this pressure, it's not like that's going to do them any good. So instead of wasting their energy in a fruitless effort, they might as well use it to swiftly adjust to the sudden increase of suppression here. 

It took several hours work before they were able to do even the basic movement. Just like before, Raven was ahead of them when it comes to adjusting so he prepared all the necessary equipment for them to camp out. 

He briefly inspected the formation and was glad that it could still function relatively well. It stood strong, and with the enhancements he made with it, it was able to disperse the pressure completely. 

As usual, Logan was once again the last one to adjust, yet even so the feat of him regaining his mobility completely within a day is no less than impressive.

Once everyone was able to regain their mobility, they went inside the formation and began taking rest. Although they were initially surprised by the sudden increase in pressure, their way to deal with it remained the same. Endure and adapt. This is all they could do and in the process, constantly break their limits. 

The team took a week and a half of adjusting before they managed to move further once more. It was really a blessing that they didn't need to deal with beasts nor awful weathers while doing this or else, they might really consider giving up right about now. 

They right a higher vantage point and the further they go, the more they felt that they were coming closer to the stars. 

The view of the Outer Space might be the only spectacle that was pleasing in this journey. They didn't need to worry about Space Beast since Mount Olympus is hidden from them. 

As they moved forward, they greedily took in the wondrous sights around them. 

Silvery swirls of stars with scattered specks here and there. They were able to see occasional falling stars and multitude of colors. Aurora curtains, Constellations and etc. Everything was fantastical and beautiful. 

If it weren't for the fact that their task is to reach the peak of the mountain, they'd happily stop at their current spot and admire the beauty over their heads. 

"Oh come on!" Logan whined as he felt his shoulders drop. "Really? Another spike?"

"So it spikes every 500 miles now?" Henry pursed his lips and sighed, "Damn!"

"Welp, it's been fun boys. I'm out of here." Theo snorted but he was stopped by Charles who placed a hand on his shoulders. 

"You ain't going nowhere, boy. You're experiencing this with us. No backing down." Charles firmly grasped Theo's shoulders causing him to groan in frustration. 

Meanwhile, Raven thought to himself...

'Should I just say 'Screw this!' And create a rune to disperse this annoying situation?' 

To be honest, Raven felt annoyed as well. Although the increase in pressure was weaker compared to the previous one, it's still an increase after all. 

'The first few times were cute and all but this is starting to get on my nerves.' Raven's brows were pressed together as he really felt the urge to just drew a simple rune and get completely make this immense pressure useless. 

In the end though, he just released a sigh and didn't do so. He didn't find any merit on doing this. Yes, this might allow them to reach their destination faster but this means that he's running away from this. That didn't sound good from him. Although Raven might not look like it, he's quite prideful. 

If he had to endure a harsh climate or beast hordes on top of this, then he'll surely eliminate this pressure. But since he only needed to endure and adjust to the pressure, then dispersing it would mean that he had lost his patience and that he's running away from it. 

Raven didn't like the sound of that...

"Well, here we go again." Raven said as he began adjusting his movements once more. 

He rolled his joints to discover how much the spike hindered his movements. Seeing him starting to adjust, the rest of the team also began adjusting to the current pressure. 

Whether it's Raven or the War Gods, having experienced adjusting over and over again allowed their adjusting speed to increase. Since they only felt a spike and not an increase, the amount of time it took to them to completely adjust varied. 

Raven did what he always did and activated the formation. He cooked food and so on. 

As they were completely used to this routine by now, the time they needed to adjust shortened by a lot. Within two days, they finished their adjustments and began moving forwards once more. 

What Henry said turned out to be true. The spike occurred every 500 miles now instead of 1000. When they encountered another spike, the team wasn't even remotely surprised anymore. No words were said since none were needed. 

They just did what they have to do and adapted to it. 

It was a plain and rather boring routine, but at the same time it's also a bit stressful. The closer they were at the peak, the thinner their patience got. They were delayed time and time again and it's close to driving them nuts. Even Raven wasn't an exception to this. 

They felt impatient to reach the top and see what's so important that lies at the very peak of this damn mountain that they needed to be delayed over and over again. 

Right now, their expectations were at an all time high. Whatever it is that lies at the very peak. It better be damn worth it for them to go all this trouble. They sincerely hope that it won't disappoint them or else, they might really go crazy. 

Still, there's still quite a distance before they even get close to it. Right now, they are approaching the 2000 mile distance, and if they follow their current pace, then they should arrive at the peak within a month's worth of time.

...that's if, there wouldn't be any delays from here on out. And if one were to ask Raven, he'd answer that, that seems too good to be true. 

Raven wasn't optimistic at all. Although the damn mountain irritated him again and again, he forced himself to calm down and logical about it. He didn't find any good reason to throw a tantrum specially not when he's serving as the pillar for the team. He didn't want to ruin the experience for his teammates there he's trying to be smart about it. 

Thankfully, the team seems to have developed some sort of immunity against this. They no longer complain to much and were just jaded about it. Whenever they encounter a spike in pressure, they would say nothing and would instantly just adjust to it. 

Raven was satisfied with this.. He could only hope that it continues this way. 

62d67767f92eb560e77c9100