The Seraphic System

The Seraphic System

Chapter: 58

Pa/ t reon details below the chapter if you're interested in seeing some content in advance. I'll keep posting regardless. If you have any suggestions you would like to see added, I will try to incorporate what I can :)

(A New Combat Style)

I blocked a strike from Uriel, lashing out with a punch of my own aimed at his shoulder. 

He shifted effortlessly, dodging my punch while stepping into my space. His fist came forward in a direct jab, forcing me to twist my torso and deflect it with my forearm.

"Your guard is too loose," Uriel commented calmly. "Tighten it, or you'll leave yourself open."

I clenched my teeth and adjusted, bringing my hands closer to my face as I watched his every move. 

Uriel's stance was solid, weight balanced evenly between his feet. 

My eyes drifted to the skill I had obtained after only two lessons of this.

[Luminous Impact style] (LVL: 19/25) {Novice}

Luminous Impact style, a combat style used by most angels that focuses on a series of techniques designed to maximize both power and precision in close combat. 

I had finally learnt a combat style, which apparently counted as a skill of its own. With my Angelic Magical training going so well Uriel had decided to teach me an actual combat style after realising I didn't possess one.

It meant that we had less time on the other subjects like Smithing and Angelic Magic but it was worth it. 

I had gone too long without one.

Uriel backed off for a moment before he lunged again, his fist cutting through the air in a hook aimed at my ribs. 

I remembered one of the forms he had tried to drill into me earlier. 

Pivoting on my back foot, I redirected the blow with my elbow and countered with a swift uppercut. My knuckles grazed his jaw but it wasn't enough to throw him off balance.

He looked thoughtful. "Better," 

He stepped back briefly before coming in with a combination of strikes. 

A low jab at my stomach transitioned into a spinning backhand aimed at my temple. I ducked under the swing, my muscles burning from the constant motion and retaliated with a powerful punch toward his center.

The force shook the area as he blocked it, my Ultimate class strength showing itself. 

I sent another punch towards him. Uriel again blocked it easily, catching my wrist with his hand and twisting slightly to force me off balance. 

His grip was ironclad but not painful. 

He let go just as quickly, stepping back into a neutral stance.

I inhaled deeply, steadying my stance. 

He came at me again, his strikes faster now. I vaguely recognized the pattern of the move he was using. 

His punches alternated between high and low, forcing me to shift my guard constantly. 

My arms ached from blocking, but I kept my focus, stepping in close to disrupt his rhythm. My leg kicked out and attempted to disbalance him but he easily avoided it. 

I sent two quick jabs before backing off as he retaliated. 

With a burst of speed, I executed a low kick meant to unbalance my opponent. 

Uriel jumped back just in time, avoiding the strike entirely. He gave a slight nod, his expression unreadable.

"Good."

I didn't hesitate.

Pushing forward, I unleashed a series of punches: a straight jab, a hook, and a downward strike aimed at his collarbone. 

Uriel blocked each one, his movements fast and astonishingly flexible. The thousands of years he had to perfect this style easily showed itself as he was still limited to my level of power. 

He countered with a sharp elbow strike, which I barely managed to avoid by twisting my body to the side.

"Your footing is weaker than I find acceptable," he said, stepping back to give me space. 

I nearly rolled my eyes.

Uriel was in his teacher mode. 

I adjusted my stance again, deliberately making a show of planting my feet more firmly. Something Uriel responded to with a look of amusement. 

Sweat dripped down my forehead as I squared up with him, my chest heaving. 

We had been going at full power for a good few hours. 

He attacked again, this time with a combination I hadn't seen before. His fist came down in a hammer-like motion, followed by a quick knee strike aimed at my side. 

I dodged the first and blocked the second, feeling the force of the impact reverberate through my arms.

He lashed out with a kick a moment later and I was sent flying back. 

"Remember the sequence," he said, his voice calm despite the intensity of the fight.

He exploded towards me. 

I nodded, regaining my balance and replaying the movements in my mind. 

The sequence was designed to create openings in an opponent's defense through a series of feints and follow-ups.

I moved forward, feinting a high strike before pivoting into a low jab. Uriel raised an eyebrow but didn't fall for the faint, easily sidestepping my attack. 

He countered with a sweeping kick, forcing me to leap back to avoid it.

"Too slow," He commented. 

I clenched my fists in annoyance 

"Again," he said, stepping into his stance.

His fist shot toward my face and I deflected it with my forearm, stepping in close to disrupt his balance. I followed up with a rapid-fire series of punches aimed at his chest and shoulders.

Uriel blocked the first two but had to step back to avoid the third. For the first time, his expression shifted into a smirk. A flicker of approval crossed his face.

I didn't give him a chance to recover, launching into another sequence. My punches fired out at him in rapid succession, each one building off the last. 

Uriel's defenses were impeccable.

He retaliated with a sudden palm strike aimed at my chest, the force of it sending me stumbling back. I managed to regain my footing, my heart pounding as I squared up with him again.

"Let's kick it up a notch. You seem to improve faster the harder you fight." Uriel commented.

He exploded towards me and I blocked, a shockwave erupting out from the force. 

I was glad that materials that were used to build Heaven were stronger in general. On Earth that shockwave would have obliterated the ground we stood on. 

I jabbed back, my full strength making my hand a blur. He effortlessly slapped my hand.

We exchanged a flurry of strikes before a kick sent me flying through the air and into a wall. 

The wall gained cracks but held up. 

Something I noted as impressive as I slumped down. 

"Uriel!" I heard someone shout. 

Gabriel helped me up and I gave her a smile.

"Hey."

She shook her head tiredly. 

Uriel was floating in a ball of suspended water.

She released the dome of water and he dropped to the ground.

"Come on, let's go." She offered.

I chuckled, waving her off. "It's fine. Really, I've received worse and my regeneration is already healing any damage."

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

She frowned, visibly stopping herself from pushing on her request to go with her. 

I did notice a whip of water slap Uriel on the back of the head, its speed something I could only barely trace. He yelped, rubbing his head bashfully.

It was funny how Uriel could go from so serious to chilled out. 

"I was passing by and saw my brother kick you into a wall." She replied flatly.

"Ah, I knew he could handle it." Uriel spoke up proudly. 

She shot him a light-hearted glare. "Apologise."

He sighed. "You need to stop being so protective but fine, sorry for hitting you a bit harder than necessary."

She nodded. 

"I'll let you two continue, don't feel like you need to train so hard Kai. You're safe in heaven." She said, deliberately adding emphasis on the word 'safe'

I sent her a smile, one she returned before she walked away. 

I had no doubt she was still watching and nor did Uriel by the way his face looked flatly in a certain direction. 

"You're improving," he said, his tone lighter now. "But you still have a long way to go."

I wiped the sweat from my brow, my arms trembling from the effort. "Yeah, no kidding," I muttered, shaking out my hands.

Uriel stepped forward, his posture shifting into a more relaxed stance. "The Luminous Impact style isn't just about strength," he said. "There's certain ways to move that require precision."

I nodded.

"Again," he said, motioning for me to take my stance.

I exhaled deeply, raising my fists once more. 

This time, I felt more grounded, more focused. As Uriel came at me, I met him head-on, my movements sharper and more deliberate.

Each strike, block and counter felt more fluid, the techniques clicking into place as I pushed myself to keep up with him. I realised that my skill had ranked up, the difference was noticeable as I was able to hold my ground a bit more. 

By the end of the session, my body was aching and my breaths came in short, ragged gasps. 

This had been productive. 

Uriel stepped back, lowering his fists as he studied me.

[Luminous Impact style] (LVL: 3/50) {Apprentice}

Luminous Impact style, a combat style used by most angels that focuses on a series of techniques designed to maximize both power and precision in close combat. 

"You're getting there," he said, his voice carrying a rare note of encouragement. "But don't get complacent. Mastery takes time. Even if you seem to be taking to this style extremely well."

I nodded, too tired to respond with anything more. My arms felt like lead and every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I straightened up.

"I would say in a good few sessions we can start considering your own variant and style, perhaps adding angelic mana into play." Uriel commented with a thoughtful hum. "Today's session is concluded, go rest up." 

-Scene Break-

I walked through the halls of the palace that sat in the sixth heaven, by now. I mostly knew my way around and I was used to walking to and back to my little room. 

I trudged forward, my steps heavy and uneven. I rubbed at my eyes with the heel of my hand.

Another session with Uriel. 

I was making good progress overall, my smithing skill had already ranked up into the apprentice level. 

[Smithing] (LVL: 34/50) {Apprentice}

The art of shaping and creating objects out of metal by heating, hammering, bending, and forging it into the desired form. It is a foundational craft in metallurgy

It seemed having a mentor had made my levelling process rapid. 

My smithing skill and usage of Angelic spellcraft had grown a lot.

It had been a few days since I started wearing my mask of concealment every night, I could see the sudden change had worried Gabriel. As she had practically checked up on me every night since then. 

Excluding last night, which meant progress.

If she didn't check up on me tonight and tomorrow night then I would consider that a green light. 

I rubbed my eyes tiredly. I hadn't gained stats from that session since it apparently hadn't been hard enough even as my body burned in protest of every movement. 

Just as I turned the corner I was forced to pause as a woman looked at me, then back down to a device in her hand. 

She frowned. 

The woman had shiny chocolate brown hair and curious bespectacled eyes. Her wings were spread out behind her, twelve of them. 

An Arch-Seraph. 

Her eyes softened, becoming downcast and visibly upset as her lips wobbled slightly. She sent a glance to the device that was pointing at me in her hand. 

I blinked in confusion. I used appraisal on the object almost as an afterthought since it was currently being pointed at me and what I saw made me freeze.

[True North] (Experimental Divine Tracker)

 Description:

The True North is a divine tracker crafted by Arch Seraph Raphael, designed in a desperate attempt to locate and attune to the divine essence of YHWH. 

 Materials and Construction:

- Divine Iridius: The core structure of True North is forged from Divine Iridius, a rare and radiant metal that resonates with divine frequencies and selectively tunes into and amplifies certain spiritual signals.

- Dimensional Adamantine: Inlaid with Ethereal Adamantine, a crystal known for its ability to withstand dimensional stress and enhance clairvoyance and used to pierce veils & dimensional shrouds.

- Sacred Programming: The instrument is adorned with sacred programming and sigils, meticulously designed by Raphael to pin down a specific divine signature and autonomous operation. The current base has an efficacy of 50%.

 Capabilities:

- Divine Location: True North should be able to pinpoint the general location of the target's essence. 

- Spiritual Attunement: It can attune to the spiritual signatures. Allowing the user to track and follow their movements with remarkable accuracy.

- Multi-Realm Scan: Capable of scanning multiple registered realms simultaneously.

- Aura Detection: Detects fluctuations in divine auras, indicating the proximity and state of the target's essence.

Special Attributes:

- True Compass: Functions as a Holy Compass, pointing towards the nearest concentration of the target's essence.

- Resonating Connection: Establishes a direct resonating link with Holy and divine energies.

Shit…

-{Raphael}-

She stared down at her newest creation in a desperate bid to find her Father with a frown. 

Raphael felt like crying as she looked back up at the newest Angel to heaven. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to finally meet him but this device had been made to find her Father. 

In truth, she felt like stomping her foot on the ground like a child. She had followed in the footsteps of her Father and become a scientist of sorts, creating artefacts and other objects to try to replace his absence.

She could and would freely admit she wasn't as nearly as good at making objects and artefacts as he had been but she truly thought this was going to work.

When the device she had made to find him had pinged Raphael had been extremely excited. 

That meant it had registered something at the very least. 

When she had found that registration had been within Heaven she had practically abandoned everything to go search. 

Now, looking at the confused visage of the newest addition to her family. She wanted to both cry and smile. It was nice that she finally had some time to meet him.

Stopping so many Angels only a daily basis from leaving Heaven had become hard, Michael was working every second of the day while most of the other Arch-Seraphs and Seraphs were forced to do the same.

She sighed.

"Looks like it was just another failure." She muttered.

-{Kai}-

I kept my facial expression downright neutral. 

Failed? 

Yeah, no. 

I couldn't be revealed yet, I had a plan. 

If I revealed myself now, there was no way I'd be allowed down into 'Hell.' Gabriel herself had made it clear, she wouldn't let me be put in danger again in any shape or form, even as an angel. Let alone as the inheritor of God.

That's why I'd decided to wait until after the quest was finished to tell them. 

While the restrictions they'd place on me would feel like imprisonment, given the sheer zealotry of my fellow angels, I could see the opportunity. Heaven was powerful and the knowledge it possessed was immense. 

If they believed me, I would be put in a very good position. Then again. I would also inherit the title of God, which was a lot of responsibility and meant inheriting his enemies as his successor? 

That was if everything went according to plan anyway. 

All of this was why I was currently trying my best not to look suspicious in any way whatsoever.

Plans formed in my head as to how to get out of this situation.

My mind raced as I activated Mastermind maven. 

From my casual appraisal I knew how the device she was holding worked. That gave me an advantage. If the tracker only pinged near me, then its calibration might have been thrown off by my presence. 

That further gave me options. I could redirect her attention to the environment, suggesting it picked up residual divine energy from something else. 

This entire palace had been made by God himself according the Gabriel so while it was faint and could only be picked up by Seraph's I could suggest the device was picking up something akin to that.

It was, after all, a so-called experimental device. Something I shouldn't know. Due to my lack of communication with her. I could also say I had been in Eden.

Though both of these reasons didn't exactly give a reason as to why I had residue energy from their Father who died a long time ago in me. 

Still… It had a 50% efficiency rate, right? That left plenty of room for error.

A subtle misdirection might also work. 

I could channel a faint burst of my own energy, send it outward into the distance and see if it drew the tracker away from me. 

That would buy me time to—

"Looks like it was just another failure," Raphael muttered, her voice soft and almost resigned.

My planning came to a halt and I turned off Mastermind maven, a sharp pang of pain lancing through my brain. 

Raphael stared at me with a distant gaze. Her shoulders were tense, she looked fragile in a way. 

"Is everything alright?"

Her fingers traced patterns on the device she held. "It's nothing," she muttered, attempting to keep her tone light but the defeat in her voice betrayed her.

"That doesn't sound like nothing." I replied. 

For a moment, she didn't respond. Then, her shoulders slumped and she let out a soft sigh. "It's just… annoying to relive so much disappointment and the constant anxiousness." She shifted. "Having Father potentially back is amazing but the constant fear that we may lose him has kept me up every night. I know it'll go away when he comes back but until then, it's been horrible."

I nodded. 

I didn't know how to respond to that. 

She hesitated before nodding. "I've worked continuously without break since the news to try to find him but it feels like no matter what I do, it's never enough to even catch a trace of Father."

Her voice cracked slightly on the last word and I felt a pang in my chest. 

Oh god damn it. 

Was the universe fucking with me? I didn't plan to stay hidden forever. 

She seemed to have some realisation of what she said and Raphael shook her head, a small smile appearing on her face.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Kaiel. I've heard a lot about you from Gabriel and Uriel." She suddenly spoke. 

I sensed a vulnerability that made me hesitate.

A part of me wanted to comfort her but I didn't even know how to start on that. So, instead. I shot her a relaxed smile. 

"It's good to meet you too," I replied, keeping my tone neutral. "Gabriel speaks highly of you."

I had heard of Raphael. 

She had attempted to take up the mantle of being what could be amounted to Heaven's scientist and artefact maker. Since the Angels couldn't create any new Angels Raphael had taken it upon herself to try to empower their forces with artefacts. 

Something that had been working well for the weaker forces and their counterparts in the church. 

Raphael's lips twitched into a faint smile but her eyes flicked back to the tracker in her hands. Her fingers tapped against its surface, a quiet rhythm.

"She's too kind. She has told me about you too in between her efforts to get me to take a break." She laughed softly. "She speaks highly of you, then again. She speaks highly of all our family but she has mentioned you quite a lot."

I blinked at the unexpected statement, unsure how to respond. "Did she?"

She sent me an amused look. "You seem surprised." She tilted her head, studying me like a puzzle she couldn't quite solve. "You're different from what I expected."

"Is that a compliment?" I asked. 

Her smile widened slightly but before she could respond, the device in her hand emitted a soft hum.

"I'm sorry but I need to go," she said abruptly, her voice tinged with something I couldn't quite place. "Forgive me for taking up your time."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and hurried away, leaving me standing there.

My heart pounded as I wondered just how close I'd just come to being discovered.

-Scene Break- 

I stood in my room, staring at the golden glowing words on the walls. 

The layered protective concealment barriers hummed softly, keeping everything inside from reaching the outside. 

My eyes glanced over to the one-time summon I thought about using it, it had told me that I would receive a loyal legendary figure. Having that to travel to a place literally named Hell was tempting. 

I had learnt a bit more and knew that demonic beasts would probably be down there, there was a reason not many had deemed it safe to travel. 

Also having someone else there might make this easier, but it would also complicate things. They might slow me down and make the risk of being spotted by anything a lot higher.

Considering I only had one concealment mask. 

I shook my head. "Better alone."

The hilt lay on my desk. I picked it up. I sighed. 

"Let's get this over with," I muttered.

Focusing on the hilt, I pushed my energy into it. Activating the 'Key Of Hell' the air in front of me shifted, bending and distorting as a rift began to form. 

A low hum filled the room, growing louder as the tear widened. The rift shimmered, a swirling mix of shadows and red light, before stabilizing into a jagged opening.

The sheer amount of demonic energy that instantly took the chance to pour through it was overwhelming. Thick, oppressive waves of demonic power pressed against the barrier. I could feel the room straining under the weight, the protective runes flickering faintly.

Beyond the rift, I saw the wasteland.

It stretched endlessly, a barren expanse of cracked earth and jagged rocks. The sky was an angry red, broken only by streaks of black clouds. Rivers of molten fire wound their way through the landscape, casting an eerie glow.

It was the exact image I would associate with Hell.

The Familiar Forest felt a lot more comfortable than this. 

I didn't have time to hesitate. The layered barriers wouldn't hold much longer. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through.The moment I crossed, the air hit me like a physical force. 

It was heavy, burning with raw power that made my skin prickle while the ground beneath me uneven and hot.

Turning back quickly I sealed the rift with a wave of the hilt, cutting off the connection before the energy could completely overwhelm my room. 

The hum faded, leaving only silence. 

I adjusted the concealment mask on my face, securing it as tightly as I could. 

My eyes scanned around urgently, as for the first time in a while I was thrown back into a dangerous environment.

This time of my own doing. 

Reminding myself it would be worth it, I began walking.

I only had six hours. Since Gabriel would come to wake me up at four in the morning. 

For the first time, I activated my Angelic form. 

Wings appearing out of my back while the concealment mask concealed the aura it would have inevitably given off. 

-END-

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