"Hm?"
Kessel looked at Leo in confusion. At that very moment, Leo’s voice rang out.
"Master, my innate Spiritual Energy is level 97."
"Mm." A small sound escaped Kessel.
His mind was still stuck on what Leo had said before. He had called him master, and father too.
His heart had warmed. Words couldn’t describe his happiness. He had spent his whole life alone. Having such a wise, jewel-like student, he thought of him as his own son.
"Ninety-seven... huh? W-what did you say?"
Kessel’s face suddenly turned fierce. The tears in his eyes vanished at once. His tone changed completely, and he shouted.
A faint smile appeared on Leo’s face.
"That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d react like this."
Kessel’s body clearly went stiff. He swallowed hard and suddenly waved his hands.
An even stronger Sanctum Veil spread from his body. It wrapped master and student in one more layer.
"You... you said your innate Spiritual Energy is 97?"
His eyes went wide.
Leo nodded.
"No, that’s impossible!" Kessel said firmly.
"When you first came to our branch hall, that fat pig Rowan told me your Spiritual Energy was only level 268."
"At the time of your Sacred Awakening, your outer Spiritual Energy must have been around 200. So no matter how amazing your gift was, your innate Spiritual Energy couldn’t be more than 68!"
Leo scratched his head.
"At that time, my Spiritual Energy was far above 100. I had just fused with a Spiritual Stove, so it dropped for a while."
"Didn’t you notice? When we started training together, my Spiritual Energy grew at a strange speed in the first month. That was my energy filling back up after the fusion."
"Spiritual Stove... you... you got a Spiritual Stove too..."
In his shock, Kessel nearly pulled the feathers out of the Stonefeather Roc. He stared at Leo like a madman.
"You little rascal, do you know what I really want to do right now?"
His eyes held a dangerous gleam.
Leo asked nervously, "Master, what do you want to do?"
Tears were running down Kessel’s cheeks.
"I want to kick you off this bird! Come on, why did you even have to tell me?! You just wounded me from the inside, and why did I even ask?!"
"This is plain insult!"
---
A whole hour later, Kessel finally calmed down a little.
But every time he turned around and saw Leo’s delicate, perfect face, he felt like a "nine" was written on his left cheek, a "seven" on his right, and a Spiritual Stove stamped on his nose...
Another hour passed. Only then could Kessel’s mind be said to be back in place.
Leo said, "Master, I’ll need your help finding a Magical Beast worthy of being my partner."
Kessel looked at him.
"Normally, the higher the level, the better. But next to your gift, even seventh- and eighth-rank Magical Beasts would be ashamed of their weakness. They wouldn’t dare become your partner."
"At best, we can look for a young ninth-rank Magical Beast. Wait, which Spiritual Stove did you get?"
As he asked, he took out his water gourd to drink.
"The Lodestar Stove."
"Pfft——!"
The water sprayed out of Kessel’s mouth.
"You... are you even human?! Please, stop torturing me like this!"
Sorrow and anger mixed on his face.
Leo asked in surprise, "Master, are you alright? The Lodestar Stove is the lowest-ranked stove for knights to fuse with, isn’t it?"
Kessel took a deep breath.
"I’m telling you again, this uncle’s heart has just been broken! You don’t understand anything, damn it!"
"Yes, the Lodestar Stove is ranked lowest. But do you know that of the three Divine Knights, two are old Guardian Knights? And both of them have the Lodestar Stove?"
"I didn’t know." Leo answered honestly.
Kessel said angrily, "In team fights, the Lodestar Stove can be considered the best stove there is."
"A knight who fuses with this stove can look after all his teammates at once. It raises their defense by at least 30%."
"Good thing you told me. After we come back from the Knights’ Sacred Mountain, I’ll teach you properly how to use this Lodestar Stove."
---
The Stonefeather Roc kept flying south.
Compared to most sixth-rank Magical Beasts, its speed was slow. Still, it was far faster than traveling by land.
The Knights’ Sacred Mountain was in the northeast of the Temple Alliance, right next to the Knight Temple. It was very far from Moonhaven City. To be exact, Moonhaven City was in the southern part of the Temple Alliance. To get there, they had to cross almost the whole of it.
The Six Great Temples stood along the borders of the Temple Alliance. They surrounded it on all sides and protected its land.
The Knight Temple’s headquarters was really in the middle. All six Temples were about the same distance from the center of the territory.
Because of the strength of these Six Great Temples, and the fear they caused, the Ashmaw Horde had not been able to push its attacks further into human lands for so many years.
Among the Six Great Temples, the Knight Temple was the strongest. The Warrior Temple had the most people. And the Mage Temple was the richest.
The strength of the Knight Temple and the Warrior Temple was known in nearly every village. The Mage Temple’s influence reached most towns and cities, big and small.
The Assassin Temple, the Priest Temple, and the Spiritual Temple had fewer members, so their branch halls were only in big cities.
Even in a mid-sized city like Moonhaven, there was only one Priest Temple. And the most mysterious Assassin Temple and Spiritual Temple had never built a branch hall there at all.
But that didn’t mean these three smaller Temples were weak. Their strength was something the Temple Alliance could not survive without.
---
The Stonefeather Roc kept flying without a break. It only had to land once to rest.
Leo had told his master his biggest secret. Now every day, he practiced his Spiritual Energy while flying on the roc’s back.
Kessel could clearly feel his Spiritual Energy growing.
Fifteen days later.
"We’ve finally arrived, old friend. Let’s go down."
There was joy in Kessel’s voice.
Leo looked into the distance and was amazed. A shimmering golden glow spread in front of them. But thick, hazy mist in the middle made it hard to see clearly.
The faint golden sheet covered a huge area. Inside it, the peak of a mountain was barely visible.
The Stonefeather Roc landed. Its wings kept beating fast before it settled on the grass.
Leo jumped to the ground with his master.
The fifteen-day journey hadn’t tired him at all. He had practiced every day, and during the trip his Spiritual Energy had grown by about 50 levels.
"Old friend, you go back first."
The roc lowered its head. It didn’t want to be separated from Kessel. It rubbed its head against him. Then Kessel canceled his call to send it back.
"Master, is there a protective wall around the Knights’ Sacred Mountain? Why can’t we fly in directly? Why do we have to walk more than fifty kilometers?" Leo asked.
Kessel answered, "There’s no wall. But remember, countless Magical Beasts live on the Knights’ Sacred Mountain."
"They don’t attack humans on their own. But an outside Magical Beast flying over them might look like a challenge."
"Only when your mount is strong enough to handle all the Magical Beasts here can you go in by air. Otherwise, don’t even try. Let’s go."
Master and student started walking toward the Knights’ Sacred Mountain.
Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew.
A huge shadow dived toward them from the sky!