Bane of The Gods

Artillian raised an eyebrow just before a soft chuckle escaped his throat. 'Bane Of The Gods' isn't just provoking the heavens. Its creator must've been seriously powerful. Artillian shook his head and was ready to open his eyes but then Hestia playfully spoke.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not just yet, Listen first. Your talent is average at best, but this has nothing to do with what you can achieve. I've seen countless warriors fall. Genius or no genius it matters not. But I've also seen men born lower than low rise up to conquer worlds. All you have to do is work hard, for me and you. You're the first human mortal ever to use this manual according to my knowledge. Before I tell you any more about it, you must first sit in the lotus position, clear your head and try to sense the World Energy that lies between heaven and earth. After you sense even the smallest bit you will circulate it according to the manual. This circulation will change the wild and untamable World Energy, into the desirable Spiritual Energy we can harness."

The main point of energy cultivation was to convert World Energy, which was heterogeneous natural energy in one's surroundings, into a homogeneous energy one can manipulate. Spiritual Energy was used by those who have Spirits.

Accordion to Eden, Spirits can only have a Host under unique circumstances. First, you and your Spirit must have similar attributes. Secondly, the gap in quality between Host and Spirit could not be too large. This is another field in which talent came into play. Third, a human can only claim the Spirit of a once-living creature if it took its life with its own hands.

For example, if Artillian met a powerful Minotaur, he could kill it, take its soul, forcefully convert it into a Spirit and contract it. Only if he dealt the killing blow. For a Spirit to willingly take one as a master was a rare feat, but it did happen, as most beings that are born in the Spiritual form already, such as wraiths and specters, need a Host to survive in most environments outside their natural habitat. Most Spirits were creatures that were killed and enslaved to work for the Host but this was not advisable if it could be avoided, because the more willing a Spirit was to contact you, the greater power it could give you.

Divine Spirits were at the Peak of Spirits. And Hestia had willingly become a part of Artillian. This and many other factors opened up a wide path of cultivation options for the boy. It was a thorny path, but it was a path nonetheless.

Artillian took a few calming breaths and allowed his mind to go blank. He inhaled deeply and sat in the lotus position as instructed. He quickly fell into a sea of consciousness and observed the circulation method.

Time passed as Artillian sat in the lotus position while attempting to sense World Energy.

He had been sitting for hours yet nothing had happened.

'Am I doing it wrong? What's missing?' pondered Artillian.

Just when he was on the verge of giving up, a surge of warmth in his abdominal area caused him to tread on. The surprise nearly caused him to open his eyes but Hestia spoke.

"No, your eyes must remain closed. Do you feel that? It's Spiritual Energy in your Dantian. The Dantian is the core of cultivation. The storage area for most physical energies. Now circulate the Spiritual Energy through your meridians then back into your Dantian. This will not only purify the energy but also purify your body as well as your meridians."

Artillian calmed down when he heard this. He as a cultivation and magic theorist knew the importance of remaining calm and cautious. He quickly circulated the strand of Spiritual Energy the way the manual had been instructed.

After circulating it for a long period of time his skin oozed a brown muck-like material and became sticky. What followed was a stench that could kill any unlucky soul who had the displeasure of smelling it.

"Congratulations young one, you've reached the level of a Knight! Now please, go wash up. I actually have to share this body with you so I hope you can keep me in consideration as well."

Artillian opened his eyes and yawned. He stretched and once again raised his brow. He couldn't feel much of a difference yet he was already a knight?

The boy slightly trembled and finally headed straight to the bathroom. There were already buckets filled with water so he used those to wash up. As he washed up Artillian discovered that his strength had roughly tripled and it was steadily growing. With each second that passed, his body was opening up new avenues of access to him. He could hear clearer, see further and move faster. It was a clear overall boost that seemed to show itself bit by bit. It was only twenty minutes into his bath that the power spike stopped.

'My strength is now roughly four times what it was before.'

What truly scared Artillian wasn't the power output increase, but his sensory perception. One could not know how much strength they had from just 'feeling' their body. That's why we create tools and machines to help us measure our abilities. But now Artillian had a beast-like intuition that allowed him to gauge his own strength. This was abnormal, but also very exciting. Artillian made a fist and tightened it, his eyes were now burning with excitement. He was coming down from a powerful high and couldn't resist smiling. It just felt that good.

Hestia had noticed that Artillian was doubting his strength, so she waited for him to finish bathing then continued to speak, "You might be surprised by your ease at entering the Lower Knight threshold, but do not forget, you have a Divine Spirit. Your future is limitless. So long as you push yourself to the limit, I guarantee you will at least be a Six-Peak powerhouse. Then at that time you can separate our souls and die in peace. Or live on, it is entirely up to you."

Artillian had not spent enough time in that world but he knew that Peaks were not a joke. Eden's words were still etched in his memory.