While Cal was covering his face in shame, Northern suddenly heard a familiar voice, which prompted a couple of panels to appear beneath his gaze.
He looked down, his eyes slowly widening.
[You have gotten a step closer to Chaos]
[Heritage: Chaos Art of Thousand Blistering Step has advanced to Level 2]
[You have gained a new Heritage Ability: Chaos Sword Art]
[You have unlocked the First Form: Eternal Chaos]
[You have three sub forms in the first form, be sure to study them later]
[You have abandoned the hackneyed ways to discover the true essence of Chaos]
[Heritage Ability: Thousand Step has evolved to Heritage Ability: Chaotic Step]
Northern didn't know how to contain or express the joy that was beginning to swell up inside of him right now.
While he thought his Heritage would grow no doubt, he never expected it to be this quick.
And that was probably thanks to this battle.
His mood was suddenly uplifted; he grinned hard and looked towards the mountain.
Although he had gained a tremendous improvement with his Heritage and finally gained a sword form of Chaos, he was still fatigued.
But right now, in the face of the excitement that he felt, that didn't matter. Not even in the slightest.
Although he had gained a tremendous improvement with his Heritage and finally gained a sword form of Chaos, he was still fatigued.
But right now, in the face of the excitement that he felt, that didn't matter. Not even in the slightest.
All he just wanted to do was draw his sword and fight somebody, anybody.
He would have loved to opt for Cal, but he was very well aware that he wouldn't agree.
Cal finally raised his head up and sighed.
Northern composed himself; there was still that matter to settle, the one about Ulzred.
He wanted to see what Cal's decision this time would be. Well, since he surrendered, there probably wasn't much to expect; he'd have no choice but to yield to Northern's plans or go his way without Ulzred.
"So… what are you going to do now?" Northern's hoarse voice shattered the silence.
Cal smirked a little; his face was tired.
"Do I look like I have a choice…"
"Yes." Northern nodded, "You can decide to go your way and figure this out yourself. Or you can try to take him by force."
Cal stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds before looking away.
"You just won't drop it, right?"
"Yeah. The fact that you surrender without playing all your cards is pissing me off. The yellow lightning, was it your sword thing or your own thing?"
Cal smiled and responded.
"Both. After becoming a Sage, the Soul essence takes a form; mine is that yellow lightning. Using it with my Speed, however, takes a toll on my body and tears my skin, so instead, I coat it on my sword."
"How fast do you get when you use it on your body?"
Cal looked at him as he responded to his question.
"Fast is an understatement and a word that cannot contain it. Comparable to the speed of light."
"So that's your ultimate card?"
"Yes and No, it is, but only when I use it with Time Warp…"
"What does Time Warp do?"
"Aren't you asking too many questions? Will you answer mine about your abilities?"
"I owe you no obligations in that regard…" Northern looked away, "I mean, I'm not the loser here…"
"Are you mocking me?"
"Of course not. I am merely speaking truth. Anyways, since you have nothing to offer, I must proceed to my friend and help her out."
Northern said and turned away from Cal, dismissing his sword and waving as he walked beside the palace wall to behind.
Cal stayed there, frozen and unsure what to do. As Northern went out of view, he turned his head to the opposite direction.
Where they had been bringing the fight from and thought:
"Should I just fight his clone and monster, then take the boy for myself and run away?"
Cal shook his head slightly.
He was sure Northern would know the moment he clashed blades with his clones. Moreover, he had lost already; there was no honor in such a lame move.
He needed to accept his defeat and work together with this strange boy.
However shameful and demeaning it was for a young man like him, he had to accept it.
Cal breathed in and out, then followed Northern's trail.
A couple of minutes later, Northern arrived at the yard of the palace that separated the mountain palace; his face contorted with disgust as he saw the corpses that littered the ground with their viscera spilling outwards.
There was no doubt; this was Raven's handiwork. He looked up and saw the gaping mouth of the cave.
Swallowing his saliva, he walked inside. A moment later, Cal also arrived, his face showing the same reaction as Northern.
He even had to close his nose and walk inside before entering into the cave.
A couple of minutes later, Northern's clone and Corpse Eater arrived; they dropped the unconscious Ulzred beside the wall and continued what they'd been doing all along.
The clone skillfully dipped its hand into the bowels of the corpses with a cold expression and brought out all cores, then placed them into the bottomless bag.
His hands and white leather armor were smeared with violet blood, some dried up and darkened, others fresh.
The Corpse Eater too bent down and continued to harvest cores. All along from the beginning of the battle till now, their jobs had been to harvest cores.
Northern's two clones also came with handfuls of cores that they held to their chest and poured into the bottomless bag.
Together they helped harvest more cores. And after a little while of harvesting, the four entities entered into the gaping mouth of the cave.
Northern continued in the darkness, nonchalantly walking as he could vividly see through the dark with his Chaos Eyes. Moreover, the dark was not disturbing like the one when they were going to Sloria stronghold.
Even as he walked along, he could hear subtle vibrations that made the ground tremble.
For sure, Raven was locked in a deadly battle, and he was going to be her knight in shining armor.