Way of the Knights

---

Raven\'s sudden revelation set off an explosion on the young wolf\'s mind. Elyion was so shocked that he literally stopped walking and his jaw became wide open.

Elyion can\'t think properly, what did he mean when he said that shape shifters were once humans too? Is he crazy? How is there any possibility of that happening? Did becoming the champion went over his head? Or was it because it\'s hot that he started spouting some random things?

"Don\'t think too much." Raven\'s voice echoed in his ears once more. "You\'ll understand everything tomorrow."

As Raven spoke, his silhouette became farther and farther, good thing that there were no other humans in the vicinity of them so no one heard Raven\'s blabbering\'s aside from Elyion himself. And even though Raven said to not think much about the matter, that\'s asking a lot from a young wolf actually.

He wanted to know more, of course he does. Deep down in his heart, he wished for Raven\'s words to be real, but no matter how much he thought of it, he just couldn\'t convince himself to believe that it\'s possible. Shape shifters are once humans? Then why did they ended up being shape shifters then? Who gave them this curse? Who was responsible for all of this? Is there some sort of plot against them? What did he or the rest of victims, ever do to deserve this fate? Weren\'t they aware that because of this, they had to hide and brave many dangers out of the walls just to remain alive? And how come Raven realized this despite not being a local of this place? Just what was going on here?

He wanted to know everything but Raven refused to say anything any further. His words bothered the young wolf so much that he didn\'t even noticed that Raven actually stopped at some stores to buy some supplies. It wasn\'t until they came back to the inn that Elyion managed to wake up in his stupor. When he noticed, Raven was already locked up in his room so he could only sigh and go to his room as well.

Inside his room, Raven\'s frosty gaze remained intact. He was pretty sure that his guesses were at least 98% on point. And because he said that he\'s going to meet Raul tomorrow, of course he had to make sure that he\'s prepared.

At his stone table, he took out everything that he brought during their way back. He then immediately got to work with the items he got.

His actions were sharp and focused. He had to make sure that he doesn\'t mess up this process or else he will have a difficult time tomorrow.

It was truly a fortunate that he learned alchemy during his past life. Knowledge of it brought immense lucky chances for him during this second life of his. It was also the reason why he was able to make a powder that revealed one\'s true nature, like the one he used to the brown haired man earlier. Come to think of it, he was thankful that creating some medicine was possible inside this realm.

It was a pity that he could only create minor versions that doesn\'t require energy for its creation. This is due to the fact that Energy is nowhere to be found in this place. If it was then everything would\'ve been easier. However, even such was the case, him having freedom to create minor medicines could still turn the tables around in his favor, and he planned on exploiting this to it\'s full potential.

***

Raven and Elyion woke up early in the morning.

The two didn\'t talk much, they just had breakfast together and then they left towards the Astral Observatory right away. Before they got there, Raven left Elyion a strict instruction.

"If things go according to plan, this place will be extremely chaotic in just a few hours." Raven gazed at Elyion with a strict look. The latter shivered in fear, having been exposed to Raven\'s personality so far, he had no doubts that his words might very become real.

"Leave this place, go towards the wilderness, you\'ll be safe there in the mean time. If you can\'t leave, then find some place to hide. No matter what, within an hour of me entering this observatory you should either leave or found a place to hide. Try to not act suspicious as much as you could and avoid interacting with people who will randomly come close to you."

"When you recalled many things in your life, that will be sign that everything is back to normal. You should know what to do then." After giving him a solemn instruction, Raven turned around and walked towards the observatory.

"Go!" Raven said yelled which made Elyion scramble in his feet.

Inwardly, the young wolf was extremely confused. He had no idea as to what\'s about to happen since Raven never really shared his plan and only left hints.

\'When I recalled many things in my life? What\'s that supposed to mean? Why is there a need to for him to act this cautiously? I don\'t understand at all, but if there\'s anything that\'s clear to me, that would be the fact that this person is a friend. He could\'ve ignored me and left without any warnings but he did, so he must looking out for me. Following his instructions shouldn\'t be a bad idea.\'

With this line of thought, Elyion didn\'t tarry any longer and went towards the walls. Luckily, he was able to leave the city and go back to his home in the wilderness under the reason that he needed to gather supplies to exchange for jadestones.

What he didn\'t know is that after he left, the council ordered a complete lockdown of the Thorn City. It was under the intention that there might be another shape shifter that managed to infiltrate their security. The council even ordered guards to scour every home to find some suspicious individuals and capture them for trial. If Elyion decided to not leave, he would\'ve been caught as well and who knows what his fate would be?

Meanwhile, moments after Raven entered the observatory, a staff member recognized him and gave him a warm welcome. Raven faked politeness and greeted back, the staff member then called his managers so that they could personally lead Raven in the place where he and Raul would be meeting.

Moments later, a manager came out and became Raven\'s guide. She gave him a brief tour of the Astral Observatory and introduced a couple of people to him but Raven wasn\'t interested at all. He would just nod his head in acknowledgement and offer nothing more. The guide also sensed this and she was helpless about it, so she could only give up and lead Raven to what he came here for.

It not like Raven wasn\'t interested in meeting and being introduced to people, but every single person that he had met so far was nothing but a bunch of dead people, and he couldn\'t be bothered to deal with any of them right now because it was pointless.

The guide lead him to the highest and grandest room in the Astral Observatory. There were several armed guards who stopped them before the could enter. The guide could only take him there so far and had to back off since she doesn\'t have enough qualifications to enter.

Also, the guards were only informed about Raven and he alone was the only person that could enter, as guards they have to follow the instructions of their superiors.

As Raven entered, he was momentarily blinded by glimmer of the place. When his vision re-adjusted, he could see a vast trove of wealth displayed around. Gorgeous paintings, plated armors, glimmering weapons, fancy clothing, beautiful sculptures, brilliant jewelries, and more.

A waft of pleasant smell assaulted his nose. It came from the mouth watering dishes displayed on top of long table covered with white silk that had golden hemming. It was a sight that could cause anyone to be tempted.

And if that wasn\'t enough, soon a bunch of women came out wearing maid outfits…very revealing maid outfits.

It was a sight that could cause any hearts of men to quiver with overwhelming desire. Everything that he had seen so far could make anyone go crazy from desire. Unfortunately, Raven saw many things that are even better that this during his past life. Comparing those to this is akin to night and day. These attempts to make him fall to depravity is a pathetic failure in his eyes and couldn\'t even bring out any changes in his expression.

It was then that beyond all of this, a silhouette of man emerged.

His body bathe in light. He wore a kind smile that could touch anyone\'s heart. He was wearing what looks like a robe made out of pure silk that has golden hemming with it. He was also being supported by a golden cane that made his appearance resemble more of that a kind grandfather.

This man was Raul Newdawn, Thorn City\'s current leader. He opened his mouth and asked:

"Shall we eat, young friend?"