The Source Of The Rite

…

Silently counting and estimating the total of those quite blurry heads from far away, Arion found it hard to believe that the number was so small. After all, there were a lot of people in the academy.

Besides, there were a few Weavers who became guards and teachers at the academy. Especially their mysterious headmaster, who had never once shown his face to the students until now.

Arion guessed that the headmaster was actually a Weaver – a powerful one at that.

So, they must have managed to put up a fight at least. Then save some innocent, helpless students. But still, as he looked at the dead, he felt a pang of pain.

Even though he hadn't been particularly close to anyone in the academy – he was dead set on becoming the best, after all, which meant most of his time was spent training and absorbing knowledge.

Except for some of his dorm roommates, who had grown slightly colder after the ceremony; they were basically of the same race as him.

Ready himself with his muscles pulled taut, he inquired of the lady, "So, what's the plan?"

"You need to get closer to that circle and touch each of the black orbs. Let me handle the rest of it. I'm also going to channel some of my power to you, along with a few memories on how to fight using it. Your body currently isn't strong enough, so there will be a time limit. And about the statue – after the orbs are destroyed, you'll know what to do when the time comes. I'll guide you just as usual. So, you ready?"

"As ready as I am," he replied, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

Suddenly, he felt a force similar to when the lady applied a rune {Strength} to his whole body.

But this time, it was different. A tingling sensation emerged from deep within his soul, spreading throughout his body. It was a comfortable feeling, as if all his fatigue was being swept away, and his body felt rejuvenated by some unknown force.

Then, with him as the center, a powerful burst of air – or some kind of shockwave – exploded from his body. It successfully drew the attention of all the Void Spawns surrounding the chanting men in the middle, who were still going strong with their abracadabra language.

Now, Arion found himself enveloped in a kind of energy that radiated a deep blood red. Along with this energy, came some information on how to use it.

"This magic art is called Seeds of Insights. I directly forced open the barrier into the enlightened chakra pathway. With the state of the first seeds blooming – Flower of Muladhara. And it's strong enough to eliminate all the aftereffects of using rune magic. Now go. Beat them up!" the lady explained, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

Finding himself laughing at the surge of strength that enveloped his entire body, he looked up to see the Void Spawns madly dashing toward him, some even flying in the sky, ready to give him a taste of despair and agony.

"Heh, sorry folks. In this state, I win," he declared, a grin spreading across his face.

His body shot up like an arrow, his movements blurring with speed. Grasping his baseball bat tightly, which had transformed from being covered in shadows to a solid weapon of deep black jet – just like the night sky – he felt invincible.

This transformation had occurred from transferring all the void essence collected from the Void Shadow he had slayed along the way into his current weapon.

His first target was a kind of horse shrouded in shadows, wiggling alive as if it were auditioning for a horror movie.

"Hey there, buddy! You look like you could use a good whack!" he shouted, swinging his bat with a flourish.

*Bang!*

Without even managing to react to Arion's attack, his bat struck the horse right on the head.

Not even a second later, something flew into Arion's side, only to be met by a smug smile of his – as he lifted the bat and swung it up to the sky, connecting with the head of a creature that resembled a bird, sending it spiraling away.

*Bang!*

"Nice try there, featherbrain!" Arion shouted, grinning at his own cleverness.

{Sharp.}

As the lady applied rune magic to his bat, Arion harmonized his movements with a horizontal swing that met the heads of three unfortunate creatures that walked on all fours. They slashed open as if Arion's bat had transformed into a sharp sword instead of a blunt instrument.

He then slightly backed away, narrowly dodging a fire projectile that shot out from the head of a humanoid figure. It zipped past his ear and collided with other beasts, creating an explosion of power.

Arion admitted to himself that it would have been quite dangerous if it had hit him square in the face. At the very least, he figured his face would get a bit singed from it, as the energy enveloping him right now acted as a kind of shield, helping him withstand external impacts. But it wasn't absolute.

He could dodge thanks to the active rune from the lady, {Soul Sense}. It sent waves of vibration that only his soul could catch, helping him detect incoming attacks.

Arion then moved really fast, leaving behind shadowy after image toward the source of the fired projectile, as he then spotted a tall, skinny humanoid figure.

He jumped and swung the bat right into its face.

*Bang!*

Another strike crushed the head of the creature before it even had a chance to fight back or block the attack. After landing, Arion ran toward the group of men sitting on the green grass.

"Quite yapping and face me!" he shouted, trying to rouse and distract those people from the heavy chant that felt like a weight on his ears.

It was an unpleasant sensation; the closer he got, the clearer the voices of the chanting men became. He liked to brand them as the madmen of the serpent.

What other excuse could there be? They literally worshipped the very definition of destruction written in most history books.

So lame…

The lady then used {Charge} on the bat, causing some of his soul essences from the soul flame, the void essence from his weapon, and the red aura enveloping him to accumulate into one point on the bat he was holding.

It turned a darker red, filled with malice and energy, seconds away from exploding. Even he started to feel nervous holding onto the bat, wondering if it would become some sort of massive explosion if he wasn't careful.

"There is an invisible barrier covering those men in cloaks. Destroy it!!" she commanded.

"Understood," he replied briefly, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

The lady resumed by using {Blast}, making the already potent dot of energy even fiercer and more intense as his bat began to shake from the force it contained.

Then, another rune magic swiftly followed, applied to his body:

{Accelerate}

This particularly powerful rune made everything captured in his sight and sense slow down. But he knew it wasn't the world that slowed down; it was him who was becoming faster – not just in movement, but in thought as well.

In his perception, he was still running at the same speed.

Shortly after arriving right at the back of a certain black-robed guy who was blissfully unaware of his presence, he swung the bat right at its supposed head.

*Crack*

He hit some kind of invisible glass as it cracked from his swing, just a second away from that man's head.

Yet soon after, the point of the force on his bat, which held massive energy, swiftly exploded, covering all the men inside this structured mirror, including the orb and the statue.

"Argh…"

When all of those men woke up, they found themselves abruptly roused at the moment of the explosion. They quickly realized that their whole bodies were engulfed in pain – a scorching pain, to be exact, as it burned them from the outside and the inside.

They practically felt like they were being cooked alive. Those who were furthest from the explosion still managed to scream in complete agony, their screeches and wails filling the air and explaining their miserable outcome. Those who were closest? Well, they turned to cinders. Not even a shred of clothing remained – only ashes.

Arion stood there, dumbfounded, as the explosion seemed to be controlled. It spread right in front of him without even a hint of heat touching his skin.

The translucent, slightly invisible mirror that shielded those people crashed abruptly to the ground.

The crack from Arion's point of impact spread wider until it revealed the outline of this mirror shield, which looked like a dome of doom. Falling to the ground like rain, it vanished into thin air as the screams from those men began to fade, becoming fainter and more unclear. Only the roar from the Void Spawn behind him remained, a fitting reminder that he was still awake.

By then, Arion ran swiftly until he managed to touch the black orbs that hung eerily in the air. Inside his mind, the lady began using an unfamiliar rune. None of the memories given to him by the lady included this rune.

Suddenly, the black orbs cracked.

…