No Loose Ends (Final)

Rowan held the storm glaive out and it began to change in front of everyone that could see it. It quickly became a spear, while hilt towards the tip of the spear was a falcon with its wings spread while the blade itself was the falcon's beak. Rowan smiled and looked towards Vitesse. He would be first. Rowan flapped his wings and vanished from his position while the flap of his wings dispersed hundreds of storm points into the surroundings. As a demigod, he was able to control his mana even better than before, even while he got used to his new body. The force of his cultivation laws and weapon soul all combined and coated the weapon in a wispy aura like clouds were breaking apart and flowing down it.

The storm points released a powder keg right in the face of Slate, who had charged at him the moment the heavenly sin vanished. The tree acted, but Rowan was moving faster than even the tree could keep up with now as he thrust his soul weapon forward. "Storm Thrust '' Rowan's spear looked like it was moving in slow motion to vitesse as he activated the defenses of his mech, unaware that he was only seeing an afterimage. His mana erected a shield, and he crossed his arms over his chest. The spear connected with the barrier and made a sound like glass breaking as the weapon continued uninhibited. The spear hit his arms and sent him shooting backwards until he slammed into the Treant king. Wood splinters shot out as they collided.

When Vitesse blocked the blow, he had held his batons in a reverse grip against his forearms and still his arms were sore, but then suddenly out of nowhere a weird feeling spread across his body as the batons shattered and his arms did as well. Rowan appeared in front of him once more with his spear shooting forward mixing his attunement with the thrust technique was now even more potent because instead of just a combination thanks to the laws of weapons he had infused his attunement into his force making it a single entity that bolstered his power even further and could display devastating damage. The final aspect of his last attack that had cost Vitesse his arms was in fact the spear soul ability that Rowan had awakened. His thrust attacks now hit twice despite the weapon moving once. Vitesse did not scream or wail in fear. His helmet slowly receded, and he looked at Rowan with a forlorn look as the spear stopped right in front of his chest. "My family had nothing to do with my decisions. Please tell the academy that so that they will be spared."

Rowan nodded his head. "Your son was dumb, but he did not carry the traces of a necromancer, just simply swept into a game where he was never meant to be a player. Go in peace. I will relay your final wishes." He nodded and Rowan's spear pierced through his heart and stabbed into the tree before Rowan turned to face Slate senior while behind him, one of his wings reached out and tapped the corpse and the tree. They both began to collapse on themselves like someone folding up a board game before becoming a beautiful gem that Rowan slotted into the handle of the spear after it floated in front of him. He felt his abilities rise once more. Now as a demigod, he need not just collect souls, he would grow stronger by slotting the gems into his soul weapon no matter its form.

Slate gnashed his teeth in anger and appeared in front of Rowan, "Touch of death" At the same time he slashed forward with his sword. The spell he had just uttered summoned a skeletal hand in the sky wreathed in ash gray flames that descended towards Rowan. Rowan met the sword with a thrust that resulted in a booming sound which blew Slate senior's arm back from the initial collision before the jackhammer effect took place and forced him to move backwards with his weapon or risk losing it entirely. Rowan spun to face the skeletal hand and executed storm thrust once more this time instead of channeling lighting he channeled water so when he thrust a down pour shot from the tip of his spear in the form of rain that each struck the skeletal hand while since it came from the spear it was like each raindrop hit it twice.

The hand was obliterated in a matter of seconds and Rowan, without missing a beat, spun the spear before throwing it underhand and right Towards Slate senior. His close combat abilities weren't great enough to contend with Rowan, who teleported to the spear through a storm point he had left on it and he thrust for the third time. Slate's eyes widened in horror, but as someone on the battlefield he knew that to these onlookers it looked like Rowan was striking slowly, but in fact, it was simply an afterimage of his entire attack. It was a faint using extreme speed, so Slate never even got to defend himself as the spear pierced his throat and blood shot from his mouth. As a demigod, he could still fight with a pierced throat, but that was until Rowan's hand touched down on his head and he knew that it was over.

Rowan had given Vitesse a swift death, but it was not the same for Slate. His son's abilities had to be taken from somewhere, so the odds were that the man in front of him had countless amounts of innocent blood on his hands. He used all of his new abilities to let him retain awareness as his body was consumed to create a soul weapon, and Rowan scoured through his memories. He screamed until his voice was hoarse and his eyes bloodshot, but Rowan made sure the process was as slow as possible. When it was finally done, Rowan Had a gray gem that was mottled with plenty of other colors that he crushed to dust and blew away. Originally he was going to keep it, but after seeing the man's memories, he decided against it because of the fact that just like his son; he had grafted his increased talents into himself much the same way. Rowan put away his soul weapon and his body began to go through changes. His brown skin returned while his hair stayed the same.

The state he was previously in was more like an activated state of the berserker in battle. He would look that way again, but outside of battle, he would appear like this. He had still consumed his fleshly body, but this was who he was now. The queen, at some point, had taken her entourage back to the trial world, but she left a note with Feng that he handed over when Rowan reached him. Camille, Genma and Em were all there as well as the principal which was who Rowan addressed first. "I know I came in first in the Trial world, but now that I am a demigod, I won't be able to attend. I hope that you can instead have my two friends here. I think they will be great additions to the academy." He nodded his head once and handed over the information that Valentine told him to, despite Rowan no longer needing it. The others heard this and all had different expressions except for Feng, who was beaming from ear to ear.

Rowan approached his friends and looked to Genma first, "You really lucked out on a disciple old man. Stop wasting time here and ascend soon. There is a whole new world of knowledge up there." Genma chuckled to himself, "Yea brat, you take care of yourself, don't go dying, it will make my apprentice sad." Rowan reached Feng next and wrapped him in a bear hug, which he reciprocated before they bumped fists. "I'll be waiting, friend. I think the world could use that balance of yours. Maybe we can change this ship and the way people refer to soul afflictions when you ascend." Feng smiled back and bumped his fist on Rowan's "You don't get too bored without me. I have been thinking about that recently. I think it would be much better to call them traits. A person should not have to think the way they are born is some type of curse or affliction." Rowan smiled and thought of how that sounded much better. He finally came to Camille, the woman who had been with him since the advent of the Empyrean system.

"Thank you for reminding me to be human. When this all began, I don't think I would have enjoyed this journey quite as much otherwise. The academy will make sure you rise and are able to ascend. I hope at that time we can still be great friends."

Camille looked sad for a moment at the word friend, but before long she smiled and embraced Rowan in a hug while kissing him on the cheek. "Of course, no way you get rid of me, Rowan Raid, friends for life. Take care of yourself." Then finally Rowan got down in front of Em, who was crying and wiping the tears from her face. "You can't go, big brother. You said you would take care of me. You can't leave me too." Rowan hugged the little girl and stood up. "Who knew that you would still be a crybaby after all of this time? I thought the end of the world made you one of those tough kids. Do you want to know a secret?" She clung to his neck and nodded her head.

"My master says that you are extremely talented. Even if he is waiting for the day you ascend and that voice in the system, he is gonna watch over you so that nothing bad happens until the day you see me again." Her eyes seemed to light up at that. "Really! Are people excited to meet me?!" Rowan nodded once and without prompting Empry spoke up as the system [Yes young Lady, despite Rowan's inability to keep a secret what he says is correct, I shall stay with you and more than the king there is a man by the name of Macarthur who is greatly interested in the turn your mana has taken. I will, in fact, be allowing him to patch into your system to tutor you if you can complete your quests as you have so far."

The young girl nodded and hugged Rowan even tighter. You be safe, big brother. I will make sure to see you soon! She then puffed her chest up and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I know sister Cammy is weak stuff. I'll make sure to keep her and Feng safe, too." Rowan smiled at her and nodded. "I trust that you will do exactly that." Rowan looked at all of them and smiled. "My time with you all has been unforgettable until next time, friends." They all smiled and laughed while Rowan released his wings and became a beam of light traveling towards the farthest reaches of the second layer and towards his goal. He decided to read the note from the queen while he traveled to his destination, and it read as such.

"Rowan Raid, you represent a future where destruction will follow in your wake, but along with it innovation and life. I know that you look up to your master despite his shortcomings, but when the time comes in the future, I hope that you can rise above his legacy and be better. A student is supposed to surpass their master. I hope that the you I meet in the first layer is just as kind and caring as the you I met here. In the future, do remember you don't have to combat darkness with darkness. Let your soul be the light that illuminates the way forward when you feel lost, not your blade."