by Daman
“Sorry about that, kid, but my soul is going through a transformation phase so I won’t be around for a while.”
Ezkael stated in a comforting tone.
“Transformation phase? What do you mean?”
Calron inquired, his curiosity piqued by his Teacher’s words.
“Well, I have recovered enough of my strength that I don’t need to be in my soul form and can now re-gain my physical appearance. The problem is that I need to isolate myself to concentrate, so I won’t be able to communicate with you for a long time.”
Ezkael answered wryly.
“That’s great news! I can finally see Teacher’s real appearance.”
Calron chuckled, his mind at ease.
“By the way, Teacher, I wanted to ask you about something. Do you know anything about the Dark Psylockers?”
This spontaneous thought came to Calron mid-discussion, and he decided to ask his Teacher about it.
“Dark Psylockers? Hmm…. I remember that there used to exist a race with that name in the Divine Realm, but I have never encountered any of them. All I know about them is that their people were said to be some of the most fearsome cultivators of the mind and soul. Their inate mental abilities allowed them to read the mind of any person within the same cultivation stage, and also forcefully shatter an enemy’s mind if they had a lower cultivation than them. Why are you asking about this now?”
Ezkael questioned.
“Nothing, I just heard the name and was wondering if you knew anything about it.”
Calron quickly stated. He was not sure whether or not he wanted his Teacher to know that he practiced the Dark Psylocker’s powers and that the Divine Perception was also a part of it.
“Calron… take care of yourself, child.”
Ezkael brushed off the topic of the Dark Psylockers, and bid Calron a warm farewell.
“You too, Teacher. I hope to see your real body soon in a few months.”
Calron wished, and gradually the presence of Ezkael withdrew from his mind.
*shua*
Calron finally opened his eyes and saw the bolts of lightning crackling all around him.
I am getting close to breaking into the ninth rank.
Calron thought while observing his elemental core.
“Big brother!”
Roran exclaimed, seeing that Calron had opened his eyes.
“Roran, how long have you been here?”
Calron smiled at the sight of his brother, and withdrew the surrounding lightning back into his body.
“Only for the past couple minutes. Big brother, you told me last night to come to your room in the morning. What did you want to talk about?”
Roran asked, as he got up from his chair and handed Calron a small towel to wipe off his sweat.
“Ah, yes. Roran, what do you think about going to the inner city and seeing the Raizel clan?”
Calron proposed, as he used the towel and dried his sweaty hair.
“It’s big brother’s family, so we should definitely go!”
Roran responded in an eager voice. He was really excited to see the rest of Calron’s family and meet new people.
“Alright, we’ll close the shop for today and go to the inner city. Oh, I forgot to ask, how much of the God Tiles stock still remains after yesterday?”
Since Calron could not use the Divine Perception for a while, the number of God Tiles had really dwindled as of late.
“Not much. We have around twenty enhancing tiles, seven vision tiles, and only three immune tiles. I have the gold we made yesterday in my spatial bracelet.”
Roran conveyed after checking inside his spatial bracelet.
“Damn…”
Calron muttered, now even more driven to visit the Raizel clan and quickly break into the Saint stage.
“Oh, there you are, Master!”
A young girl’s voice echoed within the room, as Ellie poked her head through the door’s opening and bounced inside once she saw Roran and Calron.
“Tanny said that she can count numbers better than me, so I want you to judge and see who is better.”
Ellie blabbered, and began to drag Calron outside.
“I apologize, Master, but the girl quickly sneaked away.”
Avor burst into the room behind Ellie, and bowed his head to Calron.
After Avor joined him at the inn, Calron had assigned him the duty of guarding Ellie, which the blonde man had been more than happy to do. Avor appeared to have more questions and doubts about Calron, but the man decided to wait and observe some more instead.
“Ellie, you should get ready first. We will be going to the inner city and visit my clan.”
Calron explained to the little girl.
“Really? I have always wanted to see what the inner city looked like! Maybe, I’ll get to see the princes and princesses at the palace!”
Ellie bubbled with excitement, as she stopped and daydreamed within her mind.
“Oh, but we have to first finish the contest between me and Tanny. Let’s go, Master!”
Ellie resumed her task of dragging Calron downstairs to the inevitable showdown between her and Tanny.
Calron let out an exasperated sigh and numbly followed behind the little girl, while Roran stifled a burst of laughter.
Even the reticent Avor had a faint smile on his face.
……………………….
Within an ever-stretching meadow, a cloud of dark smoke suddenly coalesced in the middle. The three multi-colored suns in the sky gave off a celestial glow as they floated in the air and watched over the realm under them.
The dark smoke soon coalesced into a distinct figure of a purple-haired man dressed in black robes. Only the man’s back could be seen while he silently gazed at the suns above.
Unlike the mortal realm, the world here exuded an atmosphere of timelessness and serendipity. The moment that the purple-haired man arrived in the Divine Realm, the inhabitants of the place already detected his presence.
Some were filled with shock, while others trembled in fear.
A legend from the past was standing right in front of their eyes.
Alive.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been back home…. forgive me for lying to you, Calron.”
Ezkael whispered, while his long purple hair fluttered behind him.
Chapter 43 – The Collision
“Is this the place?”
A muscular youth asked the figure next to him.
“This is the inner city, but I don’t know how to find the first tower.”
Calron answered Roran, as the trio stood in the middle of a clean and stylish sidewalk. Avor remained at the inn just in case Balis came looking for Calron. Calron felt bad for postponing what Balis wanted to discuss, but his condition caused by the Divine Perception and the need to break into the Saint stage took precedence over everything else.
After leaving the inn, Calron, Roran and Ellie had arrived at the inner city and were on their way to the first tower. The only problem was that now that they were inside the inner walls, they could not distinguish between the first tower and the others.
There were much fewer people wandering in the inner city, but one could tell from a single glance that the people here were all practitioners of either martial arts or the elements.
It was the auras of experts.
“Let’s try asking someone.”
Calron suggested, stopping a stranger who was just about to pass by them.
“Excuse me, do you know the directions to the first tower?”
“…… ”
The man simply looked at Calron and his company with scorn, looking down at their shabby appearances and wondering what business they had with the Raizel clan.
“I advise you to not irritate the Raizel clan, as they are not a very welcoming family. Try finding jobs somewhere else.”
The stranger did not waste his time and departed before Calron could reply.
The man thoug
ht that Calron and his group were simply within the inner city to look for jobs in the famous sects or clans like many commoners do from the outside. However, the first tower belonged to the Raizel clan, and they were reputed to be violent and very harsh against any outsiders who were not from their clan.
“He’s so rude!”
Ellie cried out angrily, about to rush at the stranger.
“It’s fine, Ellie.”
Calron latched his palm on top of the little girl’s head, halting her movements.
I guess I have no choice.
Calron thought, about to activate the Divine Perception and scout for the Raizel clan’s location.
“If you really want to visit the first tower, I can take you there. However, don’t try to go inside or else their guards will forcefully attack you.”
A young voice sounded out from behind the group as an ordinary-looking teenager walked towards them. It seemed like he had overheard their discussion with the previous stranger.
“Hoh?”
Roran looked curiously at the teenage boy, who appeared to be only slightly younger than him and Calron.
“You guys don’t look very dangerous, and besides, it’s not much trouble for me to take you to the first tower as it’s already on the way to my school.”
The teen said while waving at the cute Ellie, and gesturing for Calron and Roran to follow him.
We can trust him.
Calron sent his thought to Roran through the legacy, and treaded behind the youth with Ellie latching onto his clothing. Even without using the Divine Perception, he could feel that this youth was not lying and had no ill intentions.
Roran let out a small sigh and decided to follow the youth as well.
……………………..
“Well, that’s the first tower. The towers are actually just massive decoration pieces as you can’t really live inside them. Each tower is situated where the corresponding clan or sect lives, so that mansion over there is the house of the Raizel clan.”
The teenager stated, pointing at a colossal mansion that was the biggest building that the trio had seen ever since they had entered the inner city.
There were several guards who were adorned in light metal armor that were stationed outside the door, and each one of them exuded a violent and dangerous aura.
“Thank you… ”
Calron paused, waiting for the teen to give his name.
“Leor.”
The youth flashed a smile.
“Thank you, Leor.”
Calron continued, excited that they had finally reached the Raizel clan’s home.
His home.
“No worries! Anyways, I’m late for my classes, so good luck.”
Leor pleasantly wished them luck, and departed for another connecting street.
“Feeling nervous?”
Roran turned to his brother and inquired, seeing that Calron did not move after Leor had left.
“Kind of.”
Calron replied with embarrassment. It was his first time meeting the rest of his blood family, and he was feeling a strange nervousness about it all.
“Don’t be nervous, Master! If they try to hurt you, then I will bite them away!”
Ellie secretly whispered next to Calron, giving him a big thumb’s up.
“Let’s go.”
Calron chuckled at Ellie’s words, his nervousness eroding away and moving towards the gate.
Seeing the trio approach the gate, the guards instantly switched to an alert stance and Calron could detect them gathering their essence.
Are they this aggressive to everyone?
Calron wondered, taken aback by the hostility shown to them.
Calron was just about to yell that he was a member of the Raizel clan, when two bolts of golden lightning struck near the gate and a pair of gold-black robed figures appeared in their place.
“Let them in. The Patriarch has invited them.”
Calron heard one of the robed figures order the guards, causing the stationed guards to look with shock at the approaching commonly-dressed trio.
The two robed figures then turned to face Calron and gave a light nod before vanishing from the spot. Calron did not even have the time look at their faces or to talk to them.
They were definitely Saint stage experts!
Calron mused, sensing the essence fluctuations just as they teleported away.
The guards quickly shifted around until they were standing at the edges of the gate, making the center open for Calron and the group to pass by. The guards remained silent as they walked past the gate, however, their eyes latched onto Calron and Roran with unmasked curiosity.
*crackle*
The moment that Calron entered the Raizel clan’s territory, the Azure Lightning in his body sprang into motion, urging Calron to head in a different direction which was deep inside the mansion.
Small bursts of azure lightning danced around the corner of his irises, as Calron found it more and more difficult to restrain the mighty lightning.
Roran and Ellie stopped in their tracks once they realised that Calron had abruptly stopped moving.
*rumble*
The sound of explosive thunder suddenly reverberated from within the mansion, like it was calling out for something or someone.
……………………..
“He’s here.”
The Patriarch smiled mysteriously while standing in front of a gigantic statue of the Divine Bird.
It was the same artifact that he had forbidden the clan members from approaching a few months back.
Chapter 44 – Members Of The Raizel Clan
“It’s still too early… ”
The Patriarch whispered to himself while staring at the statue in front of him. Bolts of azure lightning darted across the artifact’s surface, and it almost seemed like the statue of the Divine Bird was about to awaken and come to life.
*shua*
A silver strand of energy flowed from the Patriach’s chest and enveloped the Divine Bird, instantly devouring the bursts of lightning on the statue and stopping whatever process the statue was about to undergo.
“Let’s see why the brat came now?”
The Patriarch chuckled with amusement, and vanished from his spot.
……………………….
“Haah… haaah… ”
Calron gasped for breath, re-seizing control of his body after the Azure Lightning abruptly backed down and retreated back into his elemental core.
“Master, what happened?”
Ellie asked with worry while Roran glanced around trying to see if someone had attacked Calron.
“I don’t know… ”
Calron stared around in confusion while grasping his chest. It did not feel like an attack, but more of a foreign being calling out to him.
“I’m assuming that you must be Calron.”
A deep masculine voice sounded out, as a man in black and green robes slowly walked over to where Calron and his group was.
Seeing the blank look on the trio’s faces, the man let out a small laugh and introduced himself.
“My name is Kail Raizel, and I am the Commander of the Royal Army. Welcome to the Raizel Mansion, Calron.”
“Nice to meet you, Uncle Kail. I wanted to see the Patriarch, so I hope it’s alright that I came unannounced.”
Calron responded politely, giving a slight bow to the man in front of him.
“I’m sure that father will like to see you as well. Follow me.”
Kail smiled at Calron who was already referring to him as his ‘Uncle’, and asked the group to follow him into the mansion.
He’s actually that old man’s son? He is very different than that crazy guy…
Calron was stunned that the composed man who came to greet them at the door, was in fact the Patriarch’s own son and moreover, the commander of the Royal Army.
Kail turned around and began walking into the large mansion, as Calron and the others quietly trailed behind
him. None of them knew how to start a conversation with the man in front of them, so an awkward atmosphere settled over them.
Stepping inside the mansion, Calron discovered that it was an open-air place with no roof on top. Since the mansion was so big, outsiders could not even see the roof from the bottom.
“Hua! Hu! Haa!”
A clamor of noises erupted from Calron’s right, as he saw a courtyard full of youngsters sparring against each other. Both boys and girls practiced their martial arts together, while some of them even used lightning-based attacks against each other.
This is crazy…
Calron pondered, noticing that the majority of the young people’s cultivation had already reached the third rank of the Vajra stage, and several of them were already at the seventh and eighth rank of the same stage.
Calron thought that he was a genius amongst his generation, but based on the movements and strength behind the individual spars of the clan’s young members, he did not think that they were far behind him.