It has been a while since they met, so it was understandable that it would have been awkward the second time, especially with how their first meeting went. Liam Smithson, master of the Titans Guild, together with three of his guildmates arrived at a gathering of Chosen in Aegon.
The location was by the Roen River near the site of the invisible dungeon's remnant island, Avalon.
There were a number of other Chosen in attendance coming from the guilds of Aegon City as well as Halo. While all the Chosen were talking amongst each other, Liam alone stood to the side, nervous as could be.
"Mr. Smithson, it's great that you could come."
"Ah, Sir Reynor. Thank you for inviting us. But are you sure he'll allow us to join?"
"There's no need to worry about that, Mr. Smithson. The Lord is a magnanimous person with a great sense of responsibility. I'm sure he will welcome you and your people's participation."
"That eases my mind a little. When will he be here by the way?"
"Well, see for yourself."
As he said that, Reynor looked toward the east. There were birds flying in flocks all over the city, but there were two peculiarly large birds flying leisurely high above the river.
Their figures grew larger as they neared the gathering and soon, everyone could see them arriving at a speed faster than most other Chosen capable of flight.
Landing before the crowd with such grace and elegance were the Angels of Light and Slaughter themselves. Their imposing auras could not be masked by their casual clothes whatsoever.
Liam gulped unconsciously as he realised how much stronger Caelum had become since their first meeting in Reignbow Park. Liam himself is an elite A-rank Chosen, and he was sure that back then, Caelum had not been any stronger than him.
In fact, just judging from his aura back then, Caelum should have been at C or B-rank. It was only because his abilities had explosive power that he could take care of dozens upon dozens of those scarecrow monsters all alone.
But now, Liam thought that he'd be a more terrifying enemy than a troll.
His eyes moved to the person standing closely beside Caelum, Erta. Her aura was not as overbearing as Caelum's, but there was a sense of inviolable majesty to it.
If Caelum's aura was like a torrential rain and rampaging winds, then Erta's aura was like warm sunlight caressing the land after a storm. Not even the S-rank Chosen that he knew could match them.
Liam wondered why such a pair was willing to impart their guidance to others when they could easily rule the world if they wished. His thoughts were halted when Caelum began speaking.
"Everyone, I thank you all for gathering here and accepting our proposal. It doesn't matter what reasons moved you to come. All that matters is that you are here. You might be wondering why my wife and I offered to train you. Rest assured, I will reveal the very reason after today's training session. For now, we will arrange you into two groups. One group will be handled by myself while the other by Erta."
There were a total of twenty-five people gathered there, excluding Caelum and Erta. They were divided into two groups of thirteen and twelve members respectively.
Five out of the eight people from Halo were handpicked by Erta herself to undergo her training together with all the members from Red Tower and a few each from the remaining guilds.
The common thing about them is that they have more mana than the average B and A-rank Chosen. Quite a number of them also have elemental affinities that allow them to wield the elements through mana.
On the other hand, the thirteen under the guidance of Caelum himself were mostly those who had average or below average mana, but specialised in physical combat.
Liam was nervous at first. Although Reynor did tell him that his guild would be welcomed, he did not really believe it. After all, he had offended Caelum unwittingly during their first meeting.
He had been trying to fix that mistake ever since and had even been coordinating with Halo in securing the areas around Aegon City. But his worries were washed away. When he heard his name being called, he looked at Caelum who nodded at him. Clearly he remembered Liam as well.
"Alright, my group will move to a different area while Erta's group will remain here."
When the crowd was about to ask him where they will be moving to, they were all surprised by Caelum's next action.
His three wings burst out from his back and with a wave of his hand, the crystal blue wing shattered into countless shards of glass and flew according to his will.
They flew over the river, settling into random points stretching from the river bank to Avalon. Once their positions were fixed, mana was released from each shard, closing the gaps in between the shards and creating a solid and stable bridge.
"Your training begins now! Get to the island! After five seconds, the bridge will disappear, so hurry!"
The group of thirteen did not even have time to be surprised and immediately scrambled, racing to get on the narrow bridge first before the rest.
Erta and her group looked shocked. Even Erta did not know what Caelum had prepared for their training. She shook her head, pitying the Chosen who would evidently suffer by her husband's hands.
While that was happening, a car arrived and parked nearby. Ceres stepped out and stared at the chaos her brother had created.
"Sister, is he punishing them or something?"
"Ces, you're here! Did you settle your work for the day?"
"My name is Ceres. Please don't change people's names on your own."
"But your name is too long. And Ces sounds cute!"
"It's just two syllables! How is it any different from your name?"
"Let's not mind the little things. Okay, everyone gather around!"
Erta's training began as well.
Ceres was evidently the most nervous, after all she was the only one who was not a Chosen. She did not even know why Caelum and Erta urged her to participate.
Erta's training looked simpler than what Caelum had prepared. She only made her group sit down, close their eyes and relax. She made them try to sense the mana in the air and focus on it.
It was naturally difficult for Ceres, but Erta had a different training for her. Erta released wave after wave of mana directed only toward Ceres.
At first, Ceres felt nauseous. As the foreign energy washed over her like a viscous liquid, she felt as though she was floating undersea amidst a terrible storm. Gradually, she felt calmer, but the discomfort still remained.
Erta was satisfied with her improvement. It was naturally impossible for someone who has yet to awaken their stigmata to be able to withstand even the gentlest stream of mana surrounding them.
However, Ceres needed to get used to the feeling of mana. Her training would help her growth once her stigmata awakened.
"Many of you have an affinity with various elements, yes? You might think that in order to get stronger at wielding a particular element, you need to increase your output of mana or whatever nonsense.
Let me tell you now, that is the wrong way to train. There are only three things you must do in order to become strong, no matter what power lies within you.
First is to find different ways to apply that power. Second is to train your control over mana, to use the same amount of mana as a singular spell but produce double the effect. And third, to contemplate, deepen your understanding of your power and cultivate it."
Confusion was written on all their faces just as Erta expected. She was prepared for it and so she called for the helper she had prepared in advance. While the other group was taking a break after an intense sparring of one versus thirteen, Caelum flew over to Erta.
"Cal, explain to them your understanding of your powers."
"Sure, but I don't know if they'll get anything from it."
He spoke about his understanding of Chaos and Serenity. He explained the balance of creation and destruction and their constancy that represents Chaos and growth. It was the madness of existence as he knew it. And Serenity was what brought that unending madness together into a coherent whole.
With a clear system of creation, growth and destruction, there comes a logical basis for everything else to exist. There is a Reason for the madness that perpetuates existence itself.
Erta was surprised at how profound his thoughts were to the point that she could not even understand most of what he said. The other Chosen were utterly lost even when he just started.
Erta feared that asking Caelum to demonstrate might have worsened the situation, but it was not a waste after all.
Her students began meditating one by one. It was only natural that they would not be able to understand Caelum's words because they had no connection whatsoever to Serenity or Chaos or Reason.
However, they did understand what they must do. And that alone meant that Erta's method was correct.
When it was nearly evening, both Caelum and Erta ended their training sessions. There was a very conspicuous difference between the two groups.
One was battered and exhausted while the other was either confused or brooding.
The couple looked at their students with serious gazes. They were satisfied with their progress for the first day, but they realised that some were not fully motivated which was understandable.
However, no matter how much they worked these people, it would not matter if they were not devoted. And they needed to know which of them they could rely on when the time came.
"Good work today, everyone. Now, as promised, I will tell you the reason why we wanted to train you. I didn't want to tell you before the training began just in case any of you back out. Now, even if you do decide to quit, we have at least imparted to you a little bit of our experiences which we hope will help your growth. Now, please listen carefully as everything we will say from this point on is the absolute truth."
Throughout the past few days, Caelum and Erta have been deliberating whether to tell them everything or just the things that they needed to know for now. And with Ciel's counsel, they decided to reveal everything to this group of twenty-six people.
They knew that many would not believe them, but they cannot afford to risk scaring them off by just telling them about a possible large-scale invasion.
Instead, they needed to drive them to a corner by revealing the truth about the Great War in order to turn their fear into resolve or at least desperation.
It was a gamble, but it would have been revealed in the end anyway so by making it known earlier, they could at least prepare.
The group's reaction was something that neither Caelum nor Erta expected. None of the twenty-six people gathered there thought that they were lying. Or they at least gave them the benefit of the doubt.
They were sombre, especially those from Halo. The words of the Heroes of Sylven, the Angels of Light and Slaughter who saved their people from an invisible dungeon, were trustworthy.
In the end, everyone returned home with many thoughts in their minds and a promise to return and train.
"I didn't expect all of them to actually just nod to our words. Didn't they doubt even a tiny bit?"
Caelum wondered out loud while on their way home. Ceres had insisted they ride a car since they had been training everyone for a whole day. Ceres herself was already asleep. Reynor answered him instead.
"Your reputation precedes you, my lord. There might have been some doubts on some of the points you said. Even I don't fully understand our situation right now. But in the end, everyone knows that you wouldn't be joking about such things. Everyone felt it during the training earlier. No matter how much it hurt, there was something for us to learn. I imagine it's the same for the others that trained under Lady Erta."
[Father, you can rest assured. Your efforts are not in vain.]
Caelum suddenly felt like the heavy burden upon his shoulders had become a little lighter now. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes to rest. Their ride back home still had a ways to go.
The darkening sky rumbled with a faint thunder as though a dark omen, but for now, he would rest.