Chapter 3: Creed of the Sun Warriors.
---
"Dad…" Raven shook his father's shoulders, "Wake up!"
He raised his voice a bit and his father's body shook for a moment. He wore a confused expression as he stared at his son. Raven told him that he fell asleep while he was wiping his sweat. His father laughed and stood up, he wiped a non-existent sweat on his forehead as he thought:
'Crap! How can this be! Is this the rumored Signs of Aging? I'm not even forty yet!'
Raven laughed mischievously in his head, the two then placed the incident behind their backs and talked about random stuff when his mother's voice echoed inside the house.
"Boys, food's ready!"
Raven playfully climbed at his father's back and they both entered the house merrily. His mother shook her head while listening to their antics, she served them food and the family shared a healthy meal.
Raven felt immensely blessed at this moment. He never felt this kind of emotion even when he found a secret inheritance, broke through the next realm of his cultivation and so on. This simple bliss can't be traded with any kind of treasure in this world.
Their day went along smoothly, after eating dinner, Raven helped his mother with the dishes and went to his room. The reunion with his parents turned out great but he had other priorities as well. He sat on top of his bed and regulated his breathing. Once he entered his the meditative state, he roused his body and performed a thorough scan of his body.
"Hahh…" Raven breathed out a mouthful of foul air. "My body is very weak and the foundation is okay. I can't really blame my old self for cultivating according to what was taught to us, but that raised a point that the Kingdom really is in danger if this continues..."
"My body is not in thorough danger, although some of my body parts received some hidden injuries, I can heal that with some simple medicinal baths."
After his scan, he found out that there were some traces of blood clots on some parts of his body, there also some residues of bruises on his left shoulder, lower back, inner thigh and right leg. This is due to uneven absorption of Qi and losing concentration during cultivation. Thankfully, he could just heal then through. Unfortunately, his body still can't contain Qi, if so then this would've been easier to heal.
He didn't complain too much though, he massaged the bruises that he could reach, he also did the same towards some areas where the blood clots are, this will allow them to loosen up until he could find the real cure. His mind wandered for a bit before he fell asleep.
***
Raven woke early, energized and refreshed. It's been a long while since he slept like a log. His body might be young but it didn't contain too much of that youthful vigor as he easily felt tired. He shook off the distracting thought in his mind and walked outside of his room to eat breakfast.
His parents told him that they are going out a bit to resupply, this will leave him alone for quite sometime. He told them that he will be fine and will just play on top of the hill. The two nodded and left the house shortly after.
"Okay, time for a bit of treasure hunt." Raven grinned and took one of his father's wooden sword and left home. He also took some stuff that he's gonna need and placed it on a small pouch that he carried over his bag. He had a bit of time before they come back home so he wasn't on a rush.
He traced the hill according to his memories and found the spot that he was looking for. He kneeled onto the ground and used his petite hands to clean of a certain piece of soil beneath him.
There he saw a strange contraption made out of a dark colored metal. It was hidden well in a patch of growing moss and soil, it was thanks to his memory that he was able to locate this with ease. The contraption has some engravings that were mostly faded due to time. Raven knew that it was some sort of an ancient language, the engraving translated as: 'Creed'
Raven took out a piece of paper and brush. He concentrated and wrote down a sentence according to that ancient language. What he wrote translated into: 'Long may the sun shine.'
He then gently placed the paper on top of the metal, then a fantastic scene happened. Few inches away from the metal, the ground seemingly caved in and revealed a set of stairs leading downwards. He smiled and walked down with no fear.
The stairs lead onto an underground cave, Raven became irritated as each step he made felt like he was being wrapped in spider webs. He took out a torch in his bag and lit up to burn those pesky webs away from his body as he marched on.
He eventually ended up on the spacious area of the cave. The cave was filled with crystals that shone with faint light, giving off enough visibility for anyone to continue. As he went deeper, traces of old scent wafter through his nose. He then arrived at the main location of the cave and saw what he was looking for.
"Creed of the Sun Warriors." He saw a huge flag with an image of a sun on it's center. Beneath it, there are some tables and chairs and some left over documents, Raven didn't pay any attention to that and instead walked towards one of the rooms. The door was old but it could be activated just like the entrance so it didn't give him any resistance.
There he saw a skeleton with a suitcase made out of wood on his lap. Raven walked forward and performed an ancient salute that only members of the creed knows about, he silently whispered: "The Sun awaits o' great warrior. Return to it's embrace."
Like a mysterious magic, the bones shattered and disappeared, not even leaving a dirt behind. The suitcase fell on the floor, Raven picked it up and sat down to inspect it.
The suitcase is made out of Ashwood Tree which boasts toughness and elegance, it is also covered in black leather casing which had a sun symbol on the center. The lock had a broken which was due to the erosion of time, Raven released the basic locks of the suitcase.
A faint light emerged as he opened it, inside there were neatly arranged jade slips, elixirs, and an old and dirty bandage.
Raven smiled and closed the suitcase, he then bowed at the chair where the skeleton used to sit and left the cave. After leaving, he closed the entrance and took out the shovel from his bag. He started digging few meters away from the entrance of the cave. He also wedged the suitcase on the dirt to shape it, this is so that his father would believe his lies when he inspected this. He also smothered some dirt on the surface of the suitcase, just to be sure.
After doing all of this, he marched back home and placed his tools where they belong. He then placed the suitcase on top of the table and opened it once more. He picked up a random jade slip and placed his consciousness inside. A sudden wave of memories gushed out of his brain, informing him about the contents of the jade slip.
[Violent Sun Scripture] this is a cultivation technique that could only be used by the main descendants of Sun Warrior Clan could use. Judging by the contents of the jade slip, Raven ranked it as an A+ rank Cultivation Technique.
[Eternal Sun Sword Art] was the other technique that he saw. This one, like the the previous technique, is only passed down to main descendants of the clan. Raven smiled as he ranked this technique with A.
[Blazing Meteor Steps] is another good technique that he saw. A movement technique that boasted speed like a meteor streaking the skies when cultivated to it's prime. This technique receives a A+ ranking from him.
Out of all the jade slips in here, there three main one's are the only thing that caught his interest, the rest were trash. Next, he looked over the elixirs that are sealed along with the jade slips. There were some old papers attached with them. He picked up the paper and read it's contents.
"The one with a blue cork is the 'Elixir of a 100 Herb Cure'. It could heal any damages below Golden Knight Realm. The one with the red cork is the 'Physique Cleansing Elixir' which could strengthen your body. Anyone who's below Golden Knight Realm of cultivation should be careful when consuming this. Dilute it with warm water if needed. One drop of any elixir to a basin of water, that would be the safest way. Dilute it further if your realm is lower."