Chapter 161 – The Truth Behind the Six Towers

“I’m sorry about destroying your tiles… ”

Calron said apologetically, bowing his head down.

“I got to see a good battle today so I’ll let it pass this time. So, why did you finally decide to see us?”

The Patriarch winked at the boy sitting in front of him, and poured him a cup of green tea.

The two people were currently sitting on the floor opposite each other, with only a short table in between them. The Patriarch had told the others to stay outside while he talked with Calron, so Kail took Ellie and Roran to show them the rest of the Raizel Mansion.

“Thank you. I wanted to ask you about cultivating lightning and the fastest way to break into the Saint stage.”

Calron politely took the offered cup and sipped a bit of the hot tea.

“Hmm… that’s a tough one, boy. You see, the lightning of the Raizel clan is vastly different to the lightning element of other cultivators. Each member of the clan focuses on their unique cultivation path. Asra is a kid who decided to follow in the path of lightning’s speed, so he trains his essence to release quick bursts of lightning to gain an agility comparable to a lightning bolt. Do not cultivate just to become stronger, but choose a path that you want to shape your lightning into.”

The Patriarch looked seriously at Calron and explained in a somber tone.

“A path… how many paths are there?”

Calron inquired, a frown etched on his face.

“There are currently five main paths that we have the cultivation manuals for. The path of agility, where you focus entirely on reaching the speed of lightning, the path of weapon manifestation where you condense weapons made of lightning essence, the path of armor where you shape a whole suit of armor made of lighting, the path of elemental destruction where you summon your lightning directly to attack enemies but this consumes a large amount of your essence. And finally, the path of balance where you train in all of the four paths but don’t focus entirely on one path. Choosing a path will increase the speed of your cultivation, but even then it will take some time before you will be able to break through into the next stage.”

The Patriarch took a long gulp of the tea after he finished.

“May I see the cultivation manuals so I can decide which path to take?”

Calron nodded his head in contemplation after hearing the Patriarch’s explanation and asked a question.

“Sure, but you cannot take the manuals out of the mansion so stay here until you finish.”

“Understood.”

Calron quickly replied with a smile on his face.

“Now that you’ve asked your questions, it is my turn now.”

The Patriarch flashed a grin, his left hand slowly stroking his beard.

Calron placed the empty cup down on the table and waited for the old man to speak.

“How much do you know about our ancestor, Raizel, and the place that he came from?”

The old man’s eyes glowed as he stared at Calron.

Seeing no reason to lie or to hide what he knew, Calron calmly answered the Patriarch.

“I don’t know much about him, but I do know that he came from the Divine Realm, a different dimension from this mortal realm. Our ancestor, Raizel, was not human as his true form was that of a colossal golden bird of lightning.”

“Correct. Our bloodline has been diluted for many generations and there are very few members in the clan today who can completely shape-shift into a beast. Judging from the golden-scaled claw that you brought out in the fight with Asra, I’m guessing that you are already capable of wholly transforming into the golden bird.”

The Patriarch chuckled at the expression on Calron’s face and continued.

“It has always been my deepest wish to visit the Divine Realm and see our ancestors, but I cannot imagine the level of cultivation one must have in order to shatter the boundaries of the mortal plane and enter the Divine Realm. I know that I will never achieve that stage…”

The Patriarch whispered at the end, a forlorn emotion hidden within his eyes.

“Why do you stay in this city and tie yourself to the Royal family? With the strength of Raizel clan, I do not see how they could defeat you in battle.”

Calron did not know how to respond to the Patriarch’s longing mood, so he changed the topic.

“You got that wrong, boy. We are not subordinates of the Royal family, but are allies against a common enemy. The Raizel clan has the most powerful combatants amongst all of the towers and the Royal family, but our numbers are simply too few. The Royal family is the only entity that can manage the ego clashing of the six towers, so we decided to follow them so there is no in-fighting amongst the allies. Our enemies are boundless, so we have no choice but to be united.”

The Patriarch answered, his mood returning back to normal.

“Enemies? Who are the towers and the Royal family fighting against?”

Calron asked curiously, unaware that there was an ongoing war in the city.

“Ah, I forgot that you only recently came to the city so you probably don’t know about this. Our common enemy are the Darklings, who have their own kingdom neighboring ours. They have the appearance of humans, but with pasty skin and slightly pointed ears. They cultivate the element of darkness, an attribute only born in their race. The Darklings used to be a peaceful race a century ago, but a decade ago, their armies trespassed into the human kingdom and began pillaging our villages. They are too numerous for only a single clan or sect to deal, so the six major powers of the Selior city came together and formed a banner under the Royal family. We continue to fight against them to this day.”

The Patriarch glanced outside, gazing at the small pond and the gentle rippling of the water within it.

The city seems so peaceful on the inside…

Calron thought about all the carefree people that he had encountered so far in the city. No one would think by the atmosphere within the walls, that Selior city was actually at war.

“Did you find you out why the Darklings started the war?”

Calron followed the Patriarch’s gaze towards the lake and admired the beautiful weather outside.

“Yes, but the truth still does not answer our questions. It seems that the Darklings started the war because their Gods had commanded them to.”

“They worship Gods?”

Calron asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Indeed. However, the Darklings do not refer to them as Gods, they call them by another name.”

The Patriarch slowly got up from the floor, gesturing for Calron to follow him.

“They call them, the Ancients… ”

Calron stared at the old man’s back, feeling a strange resonance with that name.

The wind drifted outside, creating more ripples in the once tranquil lake.

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