Chapter 170: Ghost Domain

Howard and Oclen explained the situation to Harkel and in a few minutes he seemed to understand it.

He was a Ghost Authoritarian with thousands of years experience, and in many ways was the strongest being in Jarlon Valley. However, he still was put on edge when he heard about the Night Lords. Not because he believed he couldn't kill Armecolith, but because Armecolith might wake up the man in Great Silan Mountain.

Great Silan Mountain was the place that he told Howard about last time where a great powerful being was sleeping. To put it on the power scale that Howard knew off, it was at least an SSS class being!

Harkel explained this to Howard, but Oclen was made to stay a few hundred meters away. He didn't trust the Arthraku even a small amount. He had once worked with Demon King Earl like he explained to Howard much earlier, and as such had a kindred hatred for the Arthraku. However, he also happened to know Waxel, and sighed when Howard explained his grandfather's whereabouts.

"I met Waxel well after Demon King Earl sacrificed himself." Harkel sighed and put his finger towards his mouth. "He was about at your strength at the time. I agree with Armecolith, he has about a 95 percent chance of dying."

"How can you say that so easily?" Howard screamed, his voice full of anguish. "I-I can't train here, right now, knowing that my great grandfather was killed because of my foolishness!"

"Howard, even if Waxel dies, do you really think he'll leave you alone, hahaha! Look at me, I'm a Ghost Authoritarian! I technically died but part of me stayed alived! He's always be alive in you! Look, he's right here," Harkel pointed at Howard's heart and smiled. "You must never forget him if he's dead, but I'm sort of just messing with you. If he died, you probably would've sensed it days ago. After all, you are a boy with some Authoritarian blood."

"What do you mean?" Howard had no idea what Waxel was talking about. "How could I feel him dying?"

"Authoritarians that are related can almost always tell when one of their family members died, and since you're off his bloodline you should be able to tell. I promise, he's at least alive a little bit. Maybe Armecolith couldn't kill him, or wanted to use him as a weapon against you. That cunning bastard is smart, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Howard took a deep breath and smiled when he realized that Waxel was still alive. He jumped up and exclaimed "yes" while Harkel smiled and pointed him on the shoulder. 

"Well, come on. I suppose you want me to train you and that idiot right? How about a 3000 year old method?"

Harkel smiled, but then looked in the direction he sensed Waxel battling and held his stomach. He didn't mention to Howard, because he didn't need to know, that some battles in the SS rank could last days or sometimes even weeks.

If Waxel was trying to delay Armecolith, he was doing a good job. He could sense their two Ki's had been clashing for the last 72 hours. 

'That bastard has become so strong. Even I can't defeat him anymore,' Harkel was in the peak of the SSrank, but also stuck in Jarlon Valley because it's where his will had been formed. A will for a Ghost Authoritarian limited him to a certain area, and he just happened to be limited to Jarlon Valley.

When he had been about to die, he restructured his body into this form in order to warn the world about the beast hidden in the side of the mountain behind him. However, there were other beasts that also terrified him, and Armecolith was beginning to come one of them.

'If Armecolith has even one more breakthrough, I probably won't be able to kill him.' He patted Howrad on the shoulder. "Kid, I'm going to train you so hard in a way only Demon King Earl could imagine. However, even he wouldn't subject you to this training! Hahaha! It takes someone like me, who he called the Ghost Guardian, to fully show you the way to power and might!"

"The harder the better," Howard waved over at Oclen as he sat with his legs crossed on a log. He looked pissed, and could still hardly walk. Even a small Authoritarian at this point would heal him. "However, if you wouldn't mind, can you heal his broken leg first? Is there a way for him to recover without killing an Authoritarian."

"Yes, of course," Harkel smiled and feigned cracking his knuckles. "Oclen, my dear boy, come here so I can show you how much I love your Nation!"

###

"I hate you," Oclen felt the Ki Hearts in his body slowly growing back. "I hate you, Howard. You really let him torture me like that, and just watched?"

"Hehe, well, it worked, and now we can focus on training. However, I need to remind you that teamwork is our only chance of beating Armecolith. If we can't work together, Armecolith will probably harvest both our lives."

"And why are we doing this alone? Without getting your teachers?" Oclen crossed his arms and looked out at what Harkel was preparing.

It looked like he created a death maze on what had once been a grass field inside of Jarlon Valley. There were dozens of strange traps, but for the most part it looked like an obstacle course. "We-we wouldn't have to do this silly training if Annibell or Reslan helped us. Together, we could definitely slaughter Armecolith!"

"No, you know that's not true," Howard wasn't even in the S rank yet, and Waxel was in the SS rank. "I-I'm hoping to breakthrough to the S rank, and get as strong as possible in the next few weeks. If I asked my teachers to help, there is a chance someone might attack the East Branch or the West Branch. I can't take that risk."

"You're worried about what I call lower tier warriors." Oclen shook his head. "Why are you worrying about weaklings? They won't survive for a 1000 years without your support. I'll crush you in the future if you keep being so innocent! Let people die Howard! For you to win, others must die!"

"During the battle against the Jarkales, over 200 White Mist Warriors died, and I still regret it!" Howard grinded his fist into a ball. "I'm fine with death, but just readily accepting it is your mistake!"

"Hold on you two," Harkel shook his head. "There is no need for you two to get so mad at each other. Get mad at me. I'm about to make you suffer like you never suffered before."

"The Ki here sucks," Oclen shook his head. "I doubt I'll get much stronger," Oclen sighed and watched Howard walk over to Harkel. "It's a shame he's such a nice little bastard. It's going to be harder to kill him in the future if we have to work together.

Oclen had thought many times of abandoning Howard, but every time he did he remembered that he wasn't fully recovered. Because he wasn't fully recovered, there was no way he could 100 percent escape form Howard especially by himself.

When they went to sleep at night, Howard always seemed to have one eye open, and when they awoke in the morning Howard was always up first. It was annoying, but not nearly as annoying as having to do training somewhere besides the Abyss. The Abyss was a thousand times easier to train in. For that reason, he wanted to kill Howard more than ever, but that damn bastard was starting to grow on him.

"This must be why they tell you to never make friends with the enemy. Because then they are no longer enemies, obviously," Oclen walked over to Harkel and Howard and looked at the extremely normal obstacle course. "So what? You want us to run around it or something?"

"Hehe, Ghost World activate!" Harkel held out his hand before the entire world around Howard and Oclen turned black. "Haha, you think I'd make it easy for you! Run around the track inside of my Ghost World and see how you like it! First one to complete 1 lap inside of my Ghost World without puking wins!"

###

Ghost World was something only those in the peak of the SS rank could use. It was considered a Ki Domain, and it had terrifying properties.

A Ki Domain was able to be unleashed once an individual had mastered Ki Resonance to its maximum level and had begun to be able to affect the environment with his will. It was sort of like this. Once you could feel the environment and draw energy from it, you could eventually get to the point when you could control it for a limited amount of time.

When Howard reached the SS rank, he'd find it almost impossible to make one without fully understanding every fiber of himself. However, for this reason, it was also extremely powerful! He could unleash havoc with a Ki Domain that would strike terror into anyone weaker!

Ice Emperor's Chariot from Waxel was the beginnings of a domain, but not a fully formed one. It relied on the environment to create it, but what Harkel was doing was on a totally different level! Thousands of what appeared to be hands made of a strange miasma slashed into Howard and Oclen every time they moved. It was like Ki Supression times a million!

"It just so happens my Ghost Domain is exactly what Howard needs to reach the S rank," Harkel had noticed Howard's body had drastically fallen behind his insights. "With the Ghost Domain activated, every step will feel like pushing through a mountain. There bodies will get stronger faster than they can imagine. Haha, but not its time to wait and see if Waxel survives. It be a shame if Howard lost his grandfather one day after he found out he exists!"