Way of the Knights

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After travelling for another three days, Raven eventually arrived at the vast field of ice. The same area that he spotted back when he was still at the top of the mountain. 

He only needed to make one step forward and he'll be on his way towards his eventual goal. But instead of taking that step, Raven paused and performed a deep bow. 

With his body still bent forward, he said: "I have come for the Frozen Tomb."

He heard nothing back at first, except for the gentle whispers of the chilling winds around him and fluttering fall of the snow. Still he didn't get up from his bow and patiently waited for an answer. 

And after a couple minutes of waiting, he finally got his reply. 

The frozen winds howled and a deep rumble was heard from all over the place. 

From the depths of the north, came a massive shockwave made out of snow and frost. It caused a massive hail, greatly reducing the visibility in the vast piece of ice. The shockwave eventually reached Raven. It was strong but it wasn't enough to make his form unstable. He merely closed his eyes and waited until the commotion around him was over. 

And when it did, he rose from his bow and looked around him. 

There weren't many changes from the field of ice, except for the fact that there is now a path made out of ice that's specifically made for him. 

Raven listlessly walked towards this path and followed it since this is going to lead him towards the Frozen Tomb. 

This frozen path is of course made and provided to him by the entity that resides at the very depths of the North - The Guardian of the North, as he would like to call it. 

The Guardian governs everything that happens here. Yes, it includes the perpetual winter on this place too. This Guardian is as old as the plane itself. It's not the consciousness of the plane, those were two separate entities, but this Guardian is extremely important for this plane. Without it, the whole plane would suffer from eternal winter. 

The Guardian is an eccentric being, it's probably because it had lived for a very, very long time. And since it's existence is deeply connected with the well being of the plane, it is also can be considered as an immortal being. 

This vast field of ice - more specifically, this Frozen Sea is where it's absolute territory begins. Everything that wants to exist, or wants to visit it's territory needs some sort of permission from the Guardian itself. Anything that tries to trespass would face the foul mood of the Guardian and had to brace themselves since they're going to suffer a raging hail, that is formed from Ice Laws. 

The boulders that one can see here, are all either ships, people, beasts and etc. that tried to ignore the rule of this place, and is now frozen solid. 

And because of this, the whole northern part of this plane had become a very dangerous place, specially when one goes in without any prior information. Raven had learn this the hard way in his previous life. 

Unfortunately, even after asking for it's permission and being granted passage. This doesn't mean that Raven is out of the woods just yet.

*Crack* *Crack*

Raven's ears twitched as he walked towards the given path. His blank gaze stared in front and saw a frozen mirror emerging out of nowhere. 

From that frozen mirror, a bunch of skeletal hands came out. Raven stopped on his tracks and waited until all of them comes out. After a few moments of waiting, a total of ten skeleton soldiers wearing frozen gear and weapons, stood before him, preventing him from moving any further. 

This is the other reason why Raven hadn't dropped his guard yet. 

Just because he was granted passage, it doesn't mean that he could just safely walk the road towards his destination peacefully. 

Like what was mentioned before, everything inside this Frozen Sea is within the Guardian's control. Had Raven went into other parts of the north, this wouldn't have happened. But because his destination is the Frozen Tomb, which is Testing Grounds for a sect on the Divine Realm, the Guardian is entitled to test any potential candidates heading there. 

The Frozen Skeleton Soldiers howled and glared at him. They were all holding different kinds of weapons, and each of them radiated with blue cloud which looks like an aura. 

"Frost Toxins." Raven muttered with his listless face, "I am honored, Guardian."

The blue cloud of mist that's emanating off of each skeleton soldier's body is actually Frost Toxins. These are poisonous substances that's made by nature and extremely deadly. One whiff, and this will permeated through one's marrows, freezing everything from the inside and turning its victims into an ice sculpture within seconds. 

Having the Guardian, an immortal being, create enemies that has Frost Toxins to go against him, proves that this entity is impressed by him. 

And even though these Frost Toxins are deadly, it cannot do any real harm against someone like Raven. 

Lifting a single finger, he condensed a tiny portion of his Chaos Force and fired beams of light that travelled to each skeleton soldiers with pinpoint accuracy. As soon as the beams of light struck them, all of them froze from where they stood, before they began decaying in a speed visible to the naked eye. They then turned into mists, which were then turned frozen by the coldness of this place. 

These animated corpses serves as an appetizer for what the Guardian has in store for Raven. Of course, it was expecting him to deal with them with ease, so the scene of him dealing with the skeleton soldiers isn't far from its expectations. 

Raven's Chaos Force proved to be effective against these lesser creatures. He didn't need any fancy or grand techniques to deal with them at all. But of course, he's also aware that this is just the beginning. 

"I also have to pay attention on how much damage I am doing to the road itself." Raven murmured as he continued walking forward. "If I fell from this road, the Guardian will take it as form of trespassing, and I'll be in for a bad time. I wouldn't want that."

This is another reason why Raven didn't take out the hammer right away. 

He's aware that the road he's taking is strong enough to take a beating, after all these path is made out of Ice Laws and was specifically made by the guardian itself. But of course, it wouldn't hurt to be careful. 

Raven's just hoping that he won't face any enemy that will force him into using his Destruction Laws. Because if that happens, then he might also destroy the very road that he's using. 

***

*Boom!*

With one mighty swing of his hammer, a forceful momentum erupted from Raven's body. 

It was as if the sky caved in and way the winds blew, changed patterns all of a sudden. An overbearing force sent at least 5 Frost Trolls falling from the frozen road where Raven stood. 

The remaining trolls felt a deep seated fear from what just happened to their comrades. Their resolve was broken with just one swing from Raven's hammer. It also didn't help that Raven hadn't stopped moving forward at all. As if he couldn't care less about what's standing in front of him. If it blocks him, then it will be decimated by his hulking hammer. 

Raven planted one foot forward, with one strong swing, another overbearing momentum exploded and struck the fearful trolls. Suffering the same fate as their comrades earlier, the remaining trolls fell off of the frozen road and blocked Raven no longer. 

He just spent two days of travelling this frozen road and Raven already had to face 10 differing variations of enemies. It seems to him that the Guardian is really playing with him. 

It's not like he hated it, after all this is training for him as well. But it just becomes annoying since the Guardian seemed to have endless ideas on what kind of variations it could add onto the already troublesome enemies. 

At first, it just intensified the lethality of Frost Toxins present on each enemy he faced. When Raven dealt with every single one with ease, it then started giving them more intelligence. When that didn't work either, it then began throwing more powerful enemies against him. 

The Ice Trolls just now, each of them are actually Tier 6 in strength. Not just that, they are more intelligent than any regular Ice Trolls thanks to the Guardian and each of them also has weapons made out of Ice Laws. 

They are so troublesome that Raven had to pull out his hammer and deal with them as fast as he could. If he allowed them to remain longer, then it is possible that they will start destroying the frozen road and Raven didn't want that to happen. 

Thankfully, he managed to deal with every single one without causing much damage to the road. 

Raven sighed in relief and continued walking forward.. He was nearly there, he just have to fight at least one or two more battles and he'll eventually arrive at the Frozen Tomb. 

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