Astral Sea

The following day of dawn, Zariels eyes trembled as the first rays of light struck against his lids, stirring him from his deep slumber. He grumbled and winced, followed by a long yawn from deep within.

Eyes surveying his surrounding, he looked down to the faint imprint of where Aurelia rested. He shook his head and pulled himself up to the headboard. Closing his eyes once again, he reached deep within, past the bones and flesh, to something almost ethereal in nature, and touched a small black and silver flame burning with embers of Astral essence.

Zariel calmed his mind and released a breath of impurity as silvery nodes began to dance along the flesh of his body. He pulled the Astral Essense not of this Lower Realm but from one of the Major Realms in the Exalted Wheel, the Astral Sea. Zariel became lost in a world on its own.

A world of infinite mass and density appeared before him. The skies were clouds of mist and stars swaying like an ocean of waves. And at the center, a small silvery-headed young man stood with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

It had been the Silver Devils' decision to renounce everything in Ilutahth and the Sea of Chaos, everything that was run by the Lord who tossed him into the nine hells. Who'd ensured that no matter what he did, he'd never be able to use the laws of Iluthath.

But as the ethereal essence of Astral qi cycled through the Young Masters Meridian into his soul, filling him with a new form of Qi that Alister Fel didn't govern, an explosion echoed through Zariels mind.

Pops resounded through his soul as it began to grow in stature, blazing as though it were a sun. Veins of Silvery Qi began to seep into the black Soul Flame consuming the young master with such warmth he moaned.

By the time the sun had reached its zenith over the world of Alos, Zariel had opened his eyes, releasing a breath of pure Astral Qi that seemed to be filled with life.

"I should be able to get past Arcane Master in a month at this rate. Far quicker than the years I had to endure." He glanced towards the window and drew close. "They'll be here soon. I wonder how they'll attack the city. "

The door was suddenly pulled open, drawing the young master's eye to an elderly-looking man with large grey bags beneath his eyes. " Your awake, but what are you doing out of bed?" Elder Carzen asked, with a lisp in his voice. "The floor is absolutely cold. Instead of walking barefoot, why not put on some slippers?"

Noticing the change in wardrobe and his bare feet, Zariel grimaced. "Where are my old clothes? Do you know how hard it is to find clothing that's the perfect length, width, and height?"

Elder Carzen, the head doctor, flashed a crooked smile over his boney expression and pointed with his thin fingers towards the bed, " In you go, mister. Your body is… Honestly, I don't even know how you are alive. Your cells are barely hanging on. Were it not due for your masked friend telling us not to touch your sword, we might have killed you."

"Zero," Grimiced Zariel silently.

"Well, I'll thank you for helping me, but I must go. I'm about eighty percent recovered…."

"Professor Blackwater, from my estimation, you barely have seven percent functionality. How you can move and fight is a testament to your will and skill, but you are not a doctor. At most… without any heavenly fruits or resources, you will die in two years… tops. Your burning through your life force."

Zariel was silent.

"That sword on your back, the one the mask one didn't allow us to touch, keeps your cells in place, but they are burning. You should be in such excruciating pain…. Your neuro system is shot to hell, ensuring all you feel is almost a hundred times more than the average person. Honestly, simply sitting should be utter hell. Your dying Duke Blackwater. As is that girl, Aurelia Morningstar. I don't know what happened, but eighty percent of her life force was—"

"I'm sure the masked man already said not to keep a record, but I'll recommend you wipe the memory of what you learn, Mr…."

"Leta Carzen, but Elder Carzen will do."

"Well, Mr. Carzen. I thank you for saving me. But your job ends here." Zariel said and picked himself up with his mind, taking his leave through the window towards his dorm.

"... I need to increase the speed in which I get stronger… but I need to make my body physically stronger." He took hold of the sword on his back and frowned. Pulling it from its sheath, " One hundred meters away from you and I'm dead…. I need to break that limitation… I need to be perfection."

Skimming his eyes over the city of Trinity, Zariel's gaze suddenly shuttered as he turned his head towards the east to the intense bloodlust billowing with the breeze.

A look of shock filled his eyes as he locked eyes with a familiar face… the Knight of Twilight standing near the eastern gates bridge watching him.

Unease stirring, he stopped mid-air, and in a blink of an eye, the Knight was upon Zariel. " Your aura is all over the Temple of Luna."

"... Ok," Zariel said, somewhat confused. " And?"

"Have you no response?"

"Like?"

"And explanation." Said Laris sharply.

"Of what?"

'Are you fucking with me?"

"Why would I fuck with you? No idea what—"

"Why the hell is your aura near the destroyed remains of the Temple of Lunafreya!" Laris interrupted in a furious tone.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Zariel said, rolling his eyes as two thick veins splintered their way into the Knight's brow. " I was attacked, so I defended myself. I'm sure you tried to investigate the battle."

The Knight nodded smoothly. "I did. But I don't understand what you were doing there?"

"You think you are the only one who doesn't have a connection to Luna or Noctem? I don't need to explain myself to you." Zariel informed, ready to turn his back when he stopped. " But I'll tell you if you tell me about… Yuki Black."

"!!!"