Chapter 223: Progress

Howard finished putting his intent into 55 out of 60 Ki Hearts while Waxel gently left his arm against his back.

He couldn't' comprehend what Howard was doing, but he was beginning to feel something terrifying around him that he could only vaguely sense. It was like these six massive forces were beginning to appear in his mind, maybe more than that. He focused on the Ki Heart in Howard's countenance that seemed to be developing a strange type of energy, yet, this energy wasn't the same as Ki. It was more like an opening into another realm.

Frankly, he had no idea that he was beginning to sense the Ancient Ones that existed in various parts of the Furnace.

It was completely and utterly frightening! If this world could be opened up to him, then didn't it mean the Great Last King also could sense it?

'I-I can't believe what Howard is showing me. If I'm correct, Howard in the last 2 hours has gotten at least 20 percent stronger from whatever he's doing. Forget having to worry about defeating me, soon, he'll probably be able to fight the weakest warriors in the SSS rank!' Waxel's arm trembled while at the same time a slight smile appeared on his face. 'However, what will happen when he gets to that Silver Ki Heart? He seems to be leaving it for last?'

"I-I think I'll only work on the Silver Ki Heart when Monica is here," Howard said with a smile. He could tell that Waxel was somewhat beginning to understand the feeling that came with intent, though only on the most basic level. "Hehe, but I think you're getting it a little bit great grandfather. How does it feel right now? Do you feel like a new world is opening up to you?"

"I feels like I'm swimming in an ocean I never knew existed for the first time. It feels like the entire world is opening up its shell but it's somewhat strange. I'm probably years away from grasping what it is totally though, and I-I'm sorry I can't be like you Howard, haha! I doubt it will take me less than 5 years to change even a single one of my Ki Hearts into the state yours are in. By that time, you'll also have to fight the Great Last King. I guess, your grandfather right now is useless to you huh?" 

"No, not at all haha." Howard said with a smile, and, I have good news," Howard began working on his 56th Ki Heart while he tried to figure out way to phrase what he was about to say. He frankly, wanted to be as honest to his grandfather as possible! After all, he felt like he just got him back! "The good news is I wouldn't let you fight him with me even if you wanted to haha! The bad news is that if you tried, I'd kick your ass like I did earlier!"

"I-I realized when I was training for Armecolith, to battle him, that if you died I'd have no family left that I knew of, and that you were the only one I had. Because of that, I trained really hard, and did everything I could do to get stronger."

"Now that I'm stronger than you, all I want you to do is get stronger too! Let me take all the responsibilities now! I-I'm strong enough to handle it."

Howard had been thinking about this for months, about how he wanted to be a leader, and in order to do so he needed strength. However, now that he had strength, it felt like no one yet was willing to trust him as a leader.

Annibell and Reslan encouraged him to train, but had not yet given him any signs that he would be able to make important decisions in the future. Right now, even though he was probably the strongest Horned besides for Founder Arista, he was still just a student.

Yet, he didn't want this! He wanted to be more than just a student! He wanted to be in control of protecting people, and he wanted to make all the decisions during their battles with the other nations! He wanted to be the reason, if someone died against the Aresoul, to take the blame! He wanted everything to be on his shoulders! He was old enough now to handle it!

"Howard, just because you have strength, doesn't mean you have wisdom." Waxel laughed and watched Howard's 56th Ki Heart begin to flourish. It just got a little bit wider, and developed another vein, yet it was stunning. He instantly felt his power go up by another 2 percent! "Hehe, however, if you want to be a leader so much, you need to train other things besides strength. Why take all the responsibilities when you have to focus on getting stronger? Why not let us weaker people get some of the work. Otherwise, you're going to get crushed by all that weight. Haha, somethings are best shared no?"

"But then won't people die," Howard focused on his 57th Ki Heart and put all his will into it. "If I-I let people help me, won't it be like that battle against the Aresoul? I'll come find Reslan or someone like him lying dead? Wouldn't it be better if I made all the decisions. That way, I could ensure that doesn't happen?"

"No," Waxel shook his head, and gently removed his hand from Howard's back. "What you'd be doing, is turning your back on all of us. We all need to get stronger Howard. Not just you. Right now, you're giving me a seed that will probably take 5 years to turn into anything useful for me, but nonetheless, at the end of the day, it will still make me many times stronger. Even if I can't change my Ki Hearts into ones like yours, I might be able to grow at least 10 percent stronger. Then-then when you're not around, I can also protect those you love. Hehe, Howard, you have a lot ahead of you. Not just what's in 1000 Monster Valley, and probably not even what's in the Jarkalon Abyss."

"Hmmm, well, how about we compromise. You never die, okay grandfather?" Howard smiled and created another Ki Heart. This one more stunning than the last by quite a large margin. His strength once again grew by at least 2 percent and probably even a little bit more. "Would it be possible for you to at least promise that."

"No one, in this realm is truly immortal, Howard," Waxel nodded his head and smiled. "However, I do know one man who's so old he knew the Demon King Earl when he was a child hahaha! And you can bet on everything, Howard, I intend to be at least 5 times his age if I ever die! And that's that's almost 5000 years from now!"

"Great, now, focus!" Howard said with a smile as he started transforming his 59th Ki Heart. "This is the Ki Heart before the big finale! Grandfather, are you going to disappoint me? I expect you to learn how to master Ki Hearts in under 1 year!"

Waxel smiled, and obviously knew that even 5 years to learn what Howard mastered would be rather impressive, but he nonetheless nodded his head. Having a grandson that he didn't know existed less than 200 days ago by his side definitely made the day more exciting.

"Howard, I promise, I will do my utmost to make sure everything in your future is prosperous. Even if, by chance, that means I get left behind. And you can bet i will also be there for your first wedding! Now where the hell in Monica! I want to see that pretty girlfriend of yours with the green hair! Tell her to hurry up!"

###

Monica walked into 1000 Monster Valley following behind Harkel.

She'd never gotten used Harkel's weird body even after spending over 3 weeks with him back at Jarlon Valley. He had a spine that could be seen through the miasma that made up his body, and not only that but you could see the scenery through his amber eyes if he removed his cape. It was quite a weird phenomenon, but it was merely a distraction. She was finally about to see Howard again. She was finally about to get her Ki hearts and become someone useful to the Horned! She was going to prove them all wrong!

"He's right in there," Harkel pointed at a large tower on the side of the mansion in front of him. "There is a stairway to the training room at the top floor. Take it up there. You should see Waxel and Howard inside. If I'm guessing, he just finished his own training."

"I'll go say hi to Priscilla," Harley gently rubbed Monica's back. "Tell our boyfriend I get first dibs tonight! Okay?"

"Hmph, you get him second. I'm going to have to thank him for helping me out tonight. However, you can have him for longer, okay? I-I just want to show him, at least in bed, that I'm not completely useless!"

"Girls, there are plenty of other times to fight over Howard, hahaha!" Harkel smiled and pointed at the doorway. "Go, the longer he waits for you, the longer I have to wait to see how strong he is when he comes out. By the way, Monica, prepare to be surprised, okay? You're not going to be the same girl when you come back."

"Why won't I be the same girl?" Monica watched Harkel open the door to the tower while she sighed and crossed her arms. "Anyways, I-I should say thank you, Harkel. Thank you for protecting my teachers."

"No need to thank me. Just see if you can make 60 Ki Hearts and I'll be happy," Harkel smiled before he stepped on his foot and seemed to disappear. "And oh yes! Tell Howard he will have a visitor when he's done. It seems, unfortunately, quite a few people have sensed his rapidly increase in power. I don't know how they found out, but he might have to leave sooner than I feared."