When Horo returned home his father was dumbfounded.
He felt as if he was looking at a walking sword. Horo's entire presence felt sharp, but other than that he couldn't feel anything else from Horo.
Knight's bodies are usually bursting with life force to the point where they could revitalize vegetation just by walking on it. On top of that their hearts, being the core of their power, usually beats ferociously. That's how knights sensed each other's power level. Yet Augustus couldn't feel any internal energy nor hear Horo's heartbeat even with his physical faculties being at the level of a peak sacred knight.
Horo loved to wear black attire that had golden crosses stitch into them, but he returned with a strange outfit on. He wore a sleeveless robe made of straw and shorts with.
He had strange patterns etched into his forearms, and a very small sigil on forehead.
Augustus didn't know what they were.
The strange patterns are a technique used by a special tribe, it's called tattooing. They use special materials to create the "Ink" and their ancestral object the "Spirit needle" to tattoo special patterns that helps the person being tattooed grow beyond human capabilities. All tattoo patterns and ink is different for every person, because people chose different aspects of themselves to grow.
The sigil comes from the Aether tribe. Horo soul was called upon by very special constellation far beyond what any of the tribe elders could discern, and even a special phenomenon took place when he achieve alignment with it. They all could feel his spirit bursting with strength.
Horo could see the strange look on his father's face and he knew it was probably because he couldn't feel anything from him. This is because among the many things the sword god taught him, he taught him a technique so simple but also beyond normal.
Absolute control is what he called it. It involved using a breathing method different from the knight path, with a special meditation technique and specific bodily movements. But this the most important thing is performing all of that while having all of the energy in his possession constantly leaking due to the sword god using a special sword force technique on his body.
Now with his new technique absolute control, he can even keep his heartbeat subtle.
He allowed everything to leak, first his heart beat began to thrum deeply, causing his viscous, serene, untainted internal energy to leak. At the same time He used hit divine inspiration to project what was inside his heart. He was surrounded by what look like a humongous large, serene, extremely transparent lake. His sword left its sheath on his waste and floated above the lake. His sword force piercing the clouds. Next his sigil flashed and his divine inspiration projected the power of his Aether path. The entire sky above his lake of internal energy was covered in a beautiful constellation. On top of that a spirit form of him floated on the surface of the lake, his sword right in front it.
Lastly his tattoos flickered with a black light that felt saintly despite its appearance.
It's seemed like Horo created an entire domain of his own with the manifestation of his path. This was all of his power laid bare before his father, who he was hoping to surprise.
And he sure did, he actually left his father speechless and mesmerized.
Augustus just stared in a daze. This scene before him was so beautiful he couldn't think of anything else for a slight second. After a few breaths a felt the might behind the powers that lay as the foundation for this scene and felt hairs stand up on his skin. His son left him for all of these years, and returned as if he was an otherworldly being that felt like he could be a threat to even a sacred knight like himself.
He couldn't understand what all of these powers were, he was only able to recognize the internal energy, sword force, and his son's divine inspiration.
He didn't know what that ethereal soul like figure that looked exactly like his son was, nor the black tattoos and stars above. Most people wouldn't recognize these powers because they all reside in the uncharted lands, where most people don't venture into, except powerhouses looking to train.
Horo had reached the peak of the Crystal step in his path of knighthood, even though he mainly focused on his sword training.
That resulted in his sword force having the biggest leap in power, but his mastery of the sword itself was even greater. He even achieved a pseudo domain. His master, the sword god, told him he could match a sword saint with just his sword. His skills is obviously tier or two better than those of the same rank as him due to having the acknowledged strongest person in the world teaching him.
Other than his two main paths, the path he experience the most and quickest growth in, is the Aether path. Cultivating his spirit through his alignment with his constellation birth strange abilities, and his soul has become fortified just because it's closely related to the spirit, even though Horo original thought they were the same. He was taught by an elder of the Aether tribe that the spirit is akin to the mind, while the soul is the true vessel of the consciousness. Even with all of Horo's knowledge and experience this path still confuses him.
His tattoos allowed him to absorb abyssal energy and the star power from his constellation directly into them. It gave birth to something he called darkstar force. It provided protection from abyssal energy, allowed him to absorb power from his constellation to strengthen his spirit more efficiently, as well as boost any part of himself. That includes his body, sword force, and spirit, and everything except his divine inspiration and internal energy. This was because his internal energy has to remain untainted, and his divine inspiration was crafted by divine holy power of higher gods. Even though Darkstar force is something entirely in a league of its own, abyssal energy is still part of its foundation.
After showing off to his father, they held a long conversation to catch up. Horo told him all about his experiences and more, which completely baffled Augustus. He learned many things about the world that he didn't know prior.
Horo was informed about the chaos on this side of the world as well.
His father told him how many devil lords have been able to enter their world in the past ten years and even two supreme devil incarnations have been birthed on this side. He was also told that those occurrences are just the beginning, as the cults are planning something beyond their understanding.
Even without knowing that Horo had already decided prior to returning that he would focus on the path of priesthood to be able to deal with devils more efficiently because they truly were difficult and cunning opponents.