Many things plagued Lucen's mind over the next year. Restrained to the Grey Keep by the orders of his elders, he couldn't go out and hunt the Lurker hounds.
The orders of those above you were binding in this world, but the Devourer system could help him bypass them.
The only problem was explaining why he could disobey. And over the years, as Lucen spent many an hour kneeling in Duran's office, he yearned to just disobey and see what happened.
He managed to keep back despite Set's constant baiting and Duran's biased hatred.
The Golden Cage became his only solace as Selene grew more and more busy; he went in by himself these days, sometimes twice a day, and spent hours there.
His peers avoided him because of his half-blood status, and not to offend Set, but he didn't really make it easy to get to know him. They were all children, after all, talking to them gave him brain damage.
And each time he came out on top in their duels or Highcraft—a strategy game with harsh rules—their looks turned more and more sour.
Lucen had a deeply uncomfortable feeling in his belly when around other people. Even being under the sight of too many people was weird.
So weapons training and Highcraft became his shelters, besides the Golden cage. They were things he could do by himself to pass the time.
He was even harder on himself with his combat training; after all, only one year was left till danger caught up to him.
After finding out [Breath] had many subskills, he experimented more and more with it, but he was careful to never use too much Life mana.
As he had begun to learn, this was a path to a quick death.
[User's skills…]
Night vision(Low)
Wall climbing (low)
Comprehension (Minor)
Targeting (Minor)
Breath (Minor)—Breath of Rage, Breath of Mending, Breath of Veil
The problem was that all of his breath skills, except [Breath of Veil], drained a lot of Life mana. [Targeting] put more stress on his mind but was excellent for accuracy and focus.
When he turned thirteen, Master Warren began to teach and warn them of channelling. A method of absorbing different types of mana to perform spells.
Lucen thought back then, why did no one think to warn him—the boy with high-level insight—as a baby?
[Breath of Rage] had almost killed him the first time he used it. He couldn't regulate the amount of mana used, but after a few tries on days he had nothing else to do, he gained the skill and got better at controlling it.
■——■
Now he stood in the great hall of the Grey Keep. Banners of black and gold fell from the ceiling.
The hall was lined with wooden tables. Men in leather vests and with swords at their hips sat at the tables, drinking as Warren's best students lined up at the head of the table.
They all remembered their inductions into Knighthood, though most were trained by lower masters than Warren, the snail knight.
To gain Warren's approval, you must show merit as not only a duellist but also a strategist and leader.
Lucen, unfortunately for Warren, had to be passed.
He was skilled with every weapon and could defeat any student at Highcraft—even though it confused him at first—he rarely failed in anything, and, worst of all, his character was impeccable.
So he stood, uncomfortably, in front of the head table, facing the direct members of the family, alongside five others graduating with top marks.
Today, they would be given channelling skills by Lord Chester Lightcloak, who had just returned, and they would be given a minor quest when the Patriarch returned.
Chester looked more like Heimar than Koril, his father, and his demeanour was strangely scary to Lucen.
He sat languidly with a relentless smile, chatting with Koril and Sandor. Sandor was a stoic man, tall and huge, who looked rather bored by all this.
The only person at the table without the Lightcloak's hereditary black hair and golden eyes was Falgner, an older man with fully white hair tied in a ponytail and a well-kept goatee.
Master Warren stood behind them, with his greying brown hair and well-kept robes. He wore some armour, greaves, and a shoulder plate and had a sword at his hip.
"I, Warren Hill, student of Master Falgner, can attest to the character and skill of these young knights."
The buzz of the drinking soldiers died down, and Lucen feared that his rumbling stomach would be heard in its silence.
He was so hungry, and the room smelling of fragrant soups and wines did not help. But it was also a memory that turned his stomach, of a day in his past life just like this.
Lord Chester rose, approaching them. "I will show you how to channel the energies of the world, your first step towards becoming a Knight of the Empire. Kneel."
The six Knight-apprentices knelled, and Duran rose to give a simple prayer.
"O Father of the heavens, Wise king of light. Shine your light on these six protectors of your people, and reveal any evil hidden."
Lucen smiled wryly at the last line as Chester approached them.
"Your Knight relic will be given when you become full Knight," said Chester, "For now, swear on the Pillar of Eternity to serve and protect the empire."
"I, Lucen Lightcloak, swear to serve the Empire," Lucen chanted, and the other five followed. "From now to eternity."
Lucen felt his soul twist, but then it faded. The oath couldn't take hold. He smiled with his head down.
He already knew he wouldn't get the respect he deserved as the best student. Warren and Duran would have warned Chester against giving him a high-level channelling technique.
At least now he wasn't under oath to the Empire.
But he hoped silently for something. There were two types of channelling techniques—Elemental and Divine.
These were split into tiers of Low, Minor and High.
[Breath], the channelling technique he got from the system, was barely at the Minor-level.
Chester approached the six young Knights. Set was the first on the line, followed by Ymir. Lucen was last.
With a simple touch to the head, they learnt the relevant information, briefly stumbling as the knowledge was given to them.
Finally, it was Lucen's turn. Chester's smile never passed as he touched his forehead and returned to his seat.
It was like a portion of his memory had been pried open, and what he saw horrified him.
He had always known the techniques.
Warren taught them in class, but they didn't register his words. The knowledge had settled in his mind, but was not his to use.
His fists trembled as he held on to himself. Chester hadn't even unlocked the memories of a Divine channelling technique.
Lucen had only been allowed the memories of a Low-level Elemental channelling technique—they probably didn't want to give him anything in the first place.
Lucen raised his head, smiling as they were sent to take their seats and feast. He bowed to his mother, who was standing at the servants' door, beaming with joy.
Bullshit.
This was all bullshit.
What gave them the right to tamper with his memories? He bit into some chicken to stop himself from screaming.
The other eight sitting with him gave him an awkward glance as he attacked the food, but he couldn't care less.
The wrongness of the act sat with him, like a bitter taste in the mouth. The claps of the soldiers were heavy and annoying.
What else was locked away from him in his own mind?
Break it, he thought, reveal all the memories. His desire passed to the Devourer system.
[User requests authority to view all hidden memories…]
[Dominance is too low…]
[Revealing techniques taught to the user that are accessible…]
He regained three memories of the channelling techniques, two were Elemental channelling at the Minor and High levels, and the final was a Low-level Divine channelling.
[User's skill…]
Night vision(Low)
Wall climbing (low)
Comprehension (Minor)
Targeting (Low)
Breath (Minor)
Breath of Rage (Minor),
Breath of Mending (Minor),
Breath of Veil (Low)
Wind caller (Low)
Flame eater (low)
Earth shrine (minor)
Light basket (low)
The limitations of these channelling types were severe. He had to choose one to practice and acclimate his soul.
But once chosen, your options for spells were largely reduced.
All of his peers began to whisper about the channelling techniques they had gotten.
Set, the grandson of Koril, was, of course, given a High-level Divine channelling technique. With this technique, he could enhance himself and his allies, all while using Divine Armament sorceries.
Ymir was given a Minor Divine technique, which could only enhance others and use armaments. This was smart, in Lucen's opinion; she was a decent strategist—most of Lucen's meagre losses in Highcraft were to her.
Callan, one of Set's most loyal monkeys, also received a Minor Divine technique. He could use spells that enhance himself and seal enemies.
Arielle, the lovely daughter of a lowly knight, was given a Minor elemental technique. And Tharic, a skilled duellist Lucen was cordial with, received a High-level elemental technique.
"Looks like we all might be legendary knights one day," said Set loudly, "except for one of us, or are you going to tell us what type of trash you got?"
Lucen ignored him as they laughed, but bit into his food a bit harder.
Set was right to an extent, the type of channelling you started with slowly affected your soul and made it harder to learn other techniques later on.
With only low-level techniques, he would be locked at earth elemental abilities, and the capacity for his soul to hold mana would not grow much.
[User is sounding rather pitiful…]
[Option: use Devourer system to combine these techniques.]
[Do you wish to accept?]