As Druelle was preparing to take Joleon and Curno and head back to the Boleyn Clan, deep underground, right at the depths of the Celestial Realm, Garot was staring up through all the layers of earth that separated the two parties.
Beside him, the badly injured Ace was being attended to by Amira and the rest of the Golden Sun Pirates, who warily looked at their mysterious saviour. Though they were thankful that they had somehow made it out of the last precarious situation, they had no idea where they were or who the mystery man who saved them was. The only thing all of them were well aware of was that whoever he was, he was a true expert.
Aside from the various Sovereigns they’d met thus far, never in their lives had they met anyone whose aura managed to put so much pressure on them.
When Druelle left, Garot sighed helplessly. He wanted nothing more than to kill Druelle and just about every other member of her Boleyn Clan; unfortunately, there was nothing he could do from down here.
Just now, he had to waste a drop of Sovereign’s Might just to barely attack with such power from his prison tens of thousands of miles below ground. Unfortunately, Sovereign’s Might could do next to nothing to help him destroy his prison.
Sensing the cautious gazes of his new guests on him, Garot suppressed his aura, making it easier for the others to breathe. At the same time, he introduced himself as Garot Bowen.
Hearing his surname, the eyes of Ace and the others flashed with surprise.
Because they had just fled underground when the phantom of the Divine Black Tortoise appeared in the skies, they hadn’t been able to put two and two together. Still, they had definitely heard of the Bowen Clan.
Back when Beirut was explaining the layout of the Infernal Realm to Linley and Bebe before leaving, he obviously made sure to explain in detail the current situation of the Four Divine Beast Clan. As such, they were all aware that the Bowen Clan was one of the four branches.
The thing that shocked them, though, was that such a powerful member of the Clan was here in the Celestial Realm instead of in the Infernal Realm.
As if he could read their mind, Garot explained that he had initially been here when his father – Bowen, the original Divine Black Tortoise and former Sovereign of Earth – was killed. And how he was repeatedly ambushed and prevented from returning to his Clan before eventually being suppressed and sealed by two Paragons.
Hearing that it took two genuine Paragons to suppress and seal Garot shocked Ace and the others speechless, but when they found out that, like Leona and Bebe, he was also an Apex Divine Beast, they understood.
Beirut had already explained that even if they hadn’t begun fusing any of the mysteries, every single Apex Divine Beast would be able to use their innate gifts to reach the commander level – albeit only barely.
So, for a creature that terrifying to have also begun fusing five profound mysteries, their power would go without saying.
Next, Garot explained his reason for saving them. He explained that though he was sealed so far underground, his insight into the laws of the Earth had reached a level that allowed him to begin one with the Earth and sense what was going on above ground. It was with that ability that he was able to watch Ace’s fight with Joleon.
As he said that, he looked at Ace with an odd expression before asking how it was possible that his glaivesmanship had reached such a profound level. He even lowered his head enough to ask him to teach him.
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Hearing that, Killian and the others tensed up. Although Garot was being humble and polite when asking, they also knew that if he decided to use force, there would be nothing that any of them could do, not unless Ace threw caution to the wind and used his Willpower to go all out.
Sensing the tension in the air, Garot said if it’s a secret, then forget it. That wasn’t the real reason for his saving them; the real reason was because of Ace’s talent as well as his connection to the Four Divine Beast Clan. As he said that, he glanced at Alissa.
He then explained that the prison they were sealed in allowed one to enter but not exit. The only way to exit was to destroy the formation, and there were only two ways to do that. The first was for an expert in the art of formations close enough to the level of the master who created it to undo it. As for the second, it was for someone with the ability to exert their Willpower to erase the Willpower of the paragon who initially laid the formation.
Hearing that, everyone present knew that Ace, thanks to his bloodline, had the ability to use his Willpower. Still, they also knew how dangerous it was for others to learn of his secret; as such, they didn’t say or do anything.
At the very least, it meant that, although they were trapped, leaving was far from impossible.
Carrying on, Garot explained that as he was an Apex Divine Beast, the chances of him becoming a paragon were fleeting at best, but Ace was different. He explained that he could sense his vitality, and as opposed to his former opponent, who was almost 100,000 years old, he could sense that Ace was only a few hundred years old. As such, Ace’s talent spoke for itself.
In Garot’s eyes, Ace becoming a paragon was all but a sure thing. The only question was when.
Though Ace’s talent was undeniable, he claimed that he still had a lot of room for immediate improvement.
Hearing that, Ace’s ears immediately perked up.
Garot explained that after watching Ace’s last battle, he realised that although Ace’s glaivesmanship was otherworldly, in terms of actual battle techniques, he was severely inadequate.
Seeing the frown on Ace’s face, Garot explained that, aside from the difference in comprehension of their respective *True Laws*, the biggest difference between them stemmed partly from a difference in experience but also the fact that Joleon had a myriad of different combat techniques for just about various situations.
Ace replied that it was to be expected as he had comprehended far more of his *True Law* than he had. Garot explained that he was only partly right, but the truth was more complicated than that.
Garot was referring to the fact that Joleon’s arsenal of techniques didn’t just utilise the six-way fusion of the profound mysteries of darkness. Sometimes, he would use a fusion of two mysteries; others, he might use a fusion of four, and then he might use a fusion of three or five.
In essence, Garot was trying to say that more didn’t always equal better. Sometimes, finesse was the best approach.
Garot also explained that by unearthing the full potential of each and every fused mystery at his disposal would also have the added benefit of increasing his comprehension of his *True Flames* as a whole.
Hearing that, sparks went off in Ace’s head as he realised how foolish he was. Since he first began fusing all six mysteries of fire, Ace had become so emersed in the power at his disposal that he never stopped to consider if another approach could be just as effective, if not more. But that was something he was determined to change moving forward from here on out.
In fact, Ace wasn’t the only one who had been inspired by Garot’s words. Who from their group wasn’t a genius pursuing the path of a supreme genius?
After witnessing the creation of the various divine planes back in the Yulan Plane, each of their levels of comprehension had grown exponentially. Between that and their comprehension of their respective Concepts, they never had the time to even think about developing new techniques with old fusions, but now they had nothing but time, a fact they were about to take full advantage of.
The only person not focused on improving his comprehension of the laws and/or edicts was Julian.
Unlike the others, he had little to no interest in fighting as such; he had very few techniques, nor did he have any interest in coming up with new ones.
Still, he was no less captivated than the rest of his group, but whilst they were focused on Garot’s words and teachings, he was focused on the runes etched into the earth, keeping them sealed.
During the hundred-year period after Ace defeated and killed Lord Violet-Cloud, Julius spent the vast majority of his time focused on deepening his comprehension of the art of formations.
Though he was still very much a beginner, due to the number of books he had managed to pick from fallen enemies as spoils of war, he had managed to build a solid foundation for himself, and now being able to see such a profound formation, it wasn’t hard to guess how excited he was to dive straight into his studies.