CHAPTER 211 - The Training and Romance Arc Begins.

Some minutes later.

Raven cleared his throat as the group stared at him with varying degrees of suspicion, awe, and barely restrained sarcasm.

They stood in a massive, ethereal courtyard made of glowing marble and floating gardens—Arietta's divine domain stretched endlessly in every direction, with stars glittering in a gentle sky overhead. 

The air shimmered with dense mana particles, thick enough to see.

But it was quiet.

Too quiet.

Not the awkward-type quiet.

Just the kind of silence where you felt like anything you said might get quoted in a religious text.

"I've gathered you all here today," Raven began, doing his best not to sound like a cult leader, "because we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to train at a pace that's basically cheating."

"Oh gods, it is a cult," Rufus whispered.

"Shush," Clara replied, half-amused.