by welyjesch
By this time, all three squads had already lined up. Hillman was speaking, but upon hearing Linley’s footsteps, Hillman’s cold gaze couldn’t help but shoot towards him.
Linley ran towards the training squads. Taking position next to the squads, he nervously awaited Hillman’s instructions.
“Today’s training exercises will be doubled for you. Return to your team!” Hillman calmly said.
“Yes sir!” Linley raised his head high and said in a bright voice.
The youngsters nearby couldn’t help but stick out their tongues. He was just late by a short amount of time, but was punished with double duty training. Today, Linley probably wouldn’t have any time to go home and eat dinner.
Just as Linley began jogging towards his usual position in the team, suddenly…
THUD! The entire earth seemed to tremble slightly, but with regularity. It was as though a giant creature was walking on the earth, causing it to tremble with each step.
“East. It came from the east.” Linley immediately discerned the direction.
Not just Linley. Hillman, Roger, and Lorry all turned towards the east, their expressions growing solemn. The vibrations were growing stronger and clearer. All of the youths present could clearly feel that the regular vibrations were coming from an enormous creature headed their way.
Each of the thunderous footsteps seemed to caused a vibration powerful enough to shake Linley’s heart.
What giant creature was causing this?
Linley widened his eyes and stared east…
Previous Chapter
Book 1, Chapter 8 – Magical Beast – Velocidragon!
The giant creature that caused the earth to shake finally revealed itself.
Upon seeing this enormous creature, Linley and the rest of the children were scared silly. Hillman, Roger and Lorry’s reaction speeds were very quick; they immediately stood in front of the group of kids and carefully watched the enormous creature.
“A magical beast of the seventh rank. Velocidragon*!” Hillman’s facial expression contorted, while Lorry and Roger, by his side, felt their legs grow weak.
“So bi, bi, big! Is, is this a legendary magical beast?” Linley was totally stunned.
Since he was born, the largest creature which Linley had ever seen was the warhorses that sometimes passed by Wushan township. Those large, powerful horses were 1.8 meters tall. But in front of this giant creature, they seemed like nothing more than a babe in front of a giant. The difference was truly astounding.
This creature was easily two stories high and at least twenty or thirty meters long.
Magical Beast – Velocidragon!
The Velocidragon’s entire body was covered by huge, fire-red scales, each scale glittering with the reflected cold, golden light. The scales alone were stunning and frightening to behold. The Velocidragon’s four scale-covered long legs were even more terrifying in their thickness. Two fully grown men would barely be able to surround them with their arms. The flame-red Velocidragon was entirely crimson in color, with the exception of its cold, deadly looking black claws.
The Velocidragon’s long, scale covered tail made up over half of its total body length. Like a whip, it swept across the ground. Each time it struck the ground, a deep thud could be heard emanating from below.
“Grrr…”
With a low-throated growl, white steam erupted from the nostrils of the Velocidragon, carrying with it the stench of sulfur. Those diamond-like eyes, nearly the size of a lantern, were also, strangely enough, red as well. The huge head of the Velocidragon turned towards Linley and the children. It’s cold gaze terrified all of the children, freezing them in their tracks.
“Tchhh. Tchhh.” The Velocidragon’s mouth tensed, revealing two rows of enormous, saw-like teeth. Each teeth was ivory white, and the sight of them caused everyone’s hearts to grow cold. No one dared to question its sharpness.
Linley felt as though his heart had stopped beating. Right now, it seemed as though all sound had faded away.
“Too terrifying. Is there anyone who can possibly defeat such a creature?” Linley was scared stiff.
Just from looking at this huge magical beast, Linley felt as though its power was irresistible. Linley believed that with but a swipe of its enormous tail, most likely even the sturdiest stones of the houses of Wushan town would be disintegrated.
“Is this Wushan town?” Suddenly, a cold voice emanated from on top of the Velocidragon.
All of the terrified children looked up, astonished. Upon the Velocidragon’s enormous, scaly back, a mysterious man wearing violet robes was sitting cross-legged. The Velocidragon was simply too huge in size, and its back was extremely broad. There was more than enough space for someone to stand, sit, or even roll around.
“Lord Magus, this is indeed Wushan town. Is there anything we can help you with, Lord Magus?” Hillman’s voice rang out.
Upon hearing Hillman’s voice, everyone seemed to find their bearings again, and recovered from the state of stunned terror. But everyone present, including Roger and Lorry, didn’t dare make a single sound. They all stood behind Hillman and fearfully looked at the terrifying Velocidragon and the mysterious, violet robed magus.
“Wushan town. Looks like I didn’t get lost.” The violet-robed man said in a low voice.
And then the mysterious, violet-robed man didn’t say anything else. After gazing at Linley and the rest of the group with its cold eyes, the Velocidragon continued forward, two more lines of smoke appearing from its nostrils. Seeing the Velocidragon go in the direction of the township, the expression on Hillman’s face changed.
“Everyone, stay here.” After he spoke, Hillman immediately chased after the departing Velocidragon.
“Uncle Lorry, what is that? Is that a magical beast?” Linley was the first to ask.
Lorry cleared his throat, a look of terror still in his eyes. But he still nodded. “Yes, it is. But it’s a very powerful one, a magical beast of the seventh rank. A Velocidragon!”
“Velocidragon?”
Linley memorized the word, forever etching it in his mind.
The Velocidragon’s huge body, hard scales, sharp claws, and powerful tail served to create a terrifying appearance. Linley believed….a single Velocidragon could most likely annihilate the entire Wushan township.
“The defensive power of the Velocidragon’s scales is astonishing, and its attack power is terrifying as well. In addition, it is proficient in destructive fire magic!” Lorry’s heart was filled with fear as he explained to Linley and the others. “If faced with a terrifying magical beast such as the Velocidragon, most likely even a platoon of a thousand soldiers would be wiped out, unless it had a number of sixth or seventh ranked warriors and magi who could unite to penetrate the Velocidragon’s scales.”
Linley’s heart trembled.
Even a platoon of a thousand soldiers would be wiped out?
“However, the most terrifying thing is not the Velocidragon…it is the mysterious violet-robed man.” Lorry took two stabilizing breaths, calming his agitated heart.
By his side, Roger nodded as well. “Right. In order to subdue a Velocidragon, one must force the Velocidragon to willingly submit to being a servant. In other words…the violet-robed man must be significantly more powerful than the Velocidragon. Based on his clothing, he should be a magus.”
“At least a magus of the seventh rank. Perhaps even a magus of the eighth rank!” Roger’s fists couldn’t help but tremble as well. “I never imagined such an important individual would come to our home.”
Linley could also feel the fear which was in the hearts of Roger and Lorry.
Velocidragon, a magical beast of the seventh rank. And a mysterious magus whose power dwarfed that of the Velocidragon? This definitely was enough to cause terror.
“The magus was even more powerful than the Velocidragon?” Linley found this somewhat hard to believe.
The Velocidragon’s huge body, hard scales, sharp claws, and pow
erful tail…all seemed to dwarf that small human figure of the magus.
“Roaaar!”
Suddenly, an angry roar erupted from the middle of the township.
“Crap!” Lorry and Roger were stunned. Linley and the other children grew worried as well. Was the Velocidragon’s angry roar caused by Uncle Hillman, or by Wushan township? Nobody knew.
“All of you, stay here.” Lorry and Roger, although terrified, still raced towards the center of the town.
Linley gritted his teeth. “Uncle Hillman!” Linley was also worried for Uncle Hillman, as well as the citizens of Wushan town. He also ran in that direction. At this moment, Lorry and Roger were both panic-stricken at the thought of the Velocidragon, and didn’t notice Linley following behind them.
In but a few moments, they arrived in the middle of the town. Hillman was standing far away, watching.
“Why did you come?” Hillman reprimanded in a severe tone.
But upon seeing Linley follow behind Lorry and Roger, Hillman frowned even further. “Linley, it’s far too dangerous here. Go back immediately.” Only now did Lorry and Roger notice Linley had followed them.
“Linley, why did you…” Lorry and Roger didn’t know what to say.
“Uncle Hillman, I’m not going back.” Linley wasn’t willing to return.
Hillman helplessly shook his head. He knew how stubborn Linley could be, and how hard it was to force him to change his mind. “Fine. Then stay behind me, do not go too far. As long as you stay next to me, I am confident that I can protect you.”
“Thank you, Uncle Hillman. I definitely won’t run around.” Linley was overjoyed.
At this point in time, Hillman’s group was roughly a hundred meters away from the Velocidragon. They quietly watched the events in the center of town unfold. In front of the huge Velocidragon, a group of youngsters could be seen. Four men, three women.
Book 1, Chapter 9 – Magical Beast – Velocidragon! (part 2)
“Captain, what’s going on up ahead?” Lorry said in a quiet voice to Hillman.
A hint of a smile played at Hillman’s lips. “That mysterious magus seems to be at odds with that party over there. Just stay here and watch. No need for us to interfere.” Hillman himself was only a warrior of the sixth rank. In truth, he didn’t dare to interfere either.
The Velocidragon alone was something he would not be able to fight off, much less the mysterious magus.
The strength of the seven-man party in front of the magus was not weak either. Five of them were warriors, while the other two were magi. The leader of their party was a powerfully built man with tousled red hair, who rode a pitch-black iron bull. The two sharp horns of the iron bull glittered under the light, dark and deadly.
Its blood-red eyes gave testament to the true nature of this bull – “Vampiric Iron Bull”, a magical beast of the fifth rank.
With a snort, smoke began to emit from the bull’s nostrils as well.
Of the seven people in the party, four were men, three were women. Both of the magi were women, while the third woman was an archer. Aside from the Vampiric Iron Bull, a huge griffin floated in mid-air.
“Griffin” – a magical beast of the fourth rank!
It had the head of a lion, but a pair of enormous, powerful wings. For a party to have two magical beasts and two magi, clearly this adventuring party was no ordinary one.
“Youngsters, it’d be better if you handed the [De’Pei’Luo’Ying] d’Bero shadow diamond over.” The mysterious man seated on the Velocidragon said a second time, his voice cold.
“Lord magus, we don’t wish to be your enemy, but in order to acquire this d’Bero shadow diamond, we spent countless amounts of time and effort. The value of it exceeds a hundred thousand gold coins, but you, lord magus, want to buy it from us for just seven hundred coins. This…this is impossible.” The red-headed leader of the group said in a solemn voice.
Listening to the conversation from far away, Linley, by Hillman’s side, now understood everything.
So this mysterious magus wanted to spend seven hundred gold to purchase this d’Bero shadow diamond which was worth a hundred thousand.
“Wow, the price of that diamond…” Linley was shocked. “For it to be worth so much money, clearly this d’Bero shadow diamond must have some significance attached to it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t cause this magus to be willing to lower his status and try to forcibly buy it.”
An offer of seven hundred gold, for an item worth a hundred thousand. No wonder the small party was unwilling to accept.
“Hmph.” The mysterious magus coldly harrumphed.
“I only have seven hundred gold on me. Right now, I’m still willing to use money to buy it from you. If you lot don’t know how to take a few steps back and do what’s best for you…then not only will you not receive a single gold coin, you will also lose your little lives.” The magus’ said in a frozen voice.
“Grrrrrrrr.”
The Velocidragon, taller than most of the houses in the town, let out a deep growl, causing all the houses nearby to shudder.
“Captain, we risked our lives to obtain this d’Bero shadow diamond. How can we so easily cower in front of this guy and give it away?” A woman in black said coldly. As an experienced adventuring party, these seven people had experienced many battles and wouldn’t easily submit.
The red-haired captain said in a solemn voice, “Honored lord magus, I am of the Kingdom of Fenlai’s ‘Cayley’ clan…”
This captain wanted to use his background to force the opponent down.
But unfortunately, powerful magi usually were eccentric and didn’t give a whit about noble families.
“You all have chosen death.” The mysterious magus sneered coldly.
“Careful.” In a flash, the seven person party raised its guard. The four warriors charged in front, the female archer in behind pulled out her strongest bow, and the two female magi began to prepare magic.
“ROAAAAR!”
The huge Velocidragon opened its mouth, and an enormous plume of fire erupted from its fangs, headed directly for the party.
Where the fire came near, the very stone road underneath the fireblast began to warp, crack, and even shatter from the intense heat as the entire road charred black.
“Careful.”
The red-haired leader said in a deep voice, as his entire body became suffused with red-colored battle-qi. The other three warriors activated their battle qi as well.
The red-haired leader wielded an enormous claymore in his two hands. With rapid speed, he fiercely swung it against a nearby stone wall, and with a thundering sound, the stone wall collapsed, as hundreds of rocks rolled down to the floor and dust exploded outwards.
Just at this time, the fire from the Velocidragon enveloped the four men, who used their battle-qi to resist it.
“Hah!”
The red-haired man kicked a large rock nearly half a meter long at the magus.
The other three warriors did the same, also kicking large rocks with the speed and power of enormous slingshots. The four rocks split the air, howling as they pierced forth towards the magus seated on the huge Velocidragon.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
One after another, a barrage of rocks assaulted the magus. In the twinkling of an eye, all the rocks from the collapsed wall were used up.
Seeing this battle from afar, Linley’s hands were tightly clenched.
“How incredible. They actually dare to use their feet to kick such huge rocks.” Watching the four men unceasingly kick the huge rocks, he felt all the more in awe of warriors in general. “Although, the Velocidragon is even more terrifying!”
Staring at the Velocidragon, Linley watched as its whip-like tail snapped about, dancing in front of it.
“Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!”
One giant rock after another was smashed into smithereens. The rocks couldn’t even come close to harming the magus on the Velocidragon’s back.
“Swoosh!” The Ve
locidragon’s tail seemed to be totally unimpeded. It covered an enormous area, and whenever it casually passed by a stone house, it sliced through it as though the house was made of mud. The stones would be shattered without any resistance. As one house after another began to collapse, stones rolled about everywhere and the entire area was bathed in dust.
“Roaaaar!” Even in the middle of the dust storm, the Velocidragon’s mighty roar could be heard, and it continued to vomit fire from its jaws.
This entire time, the two female magi in the back of the party were continuously mumbling magical incantations in a light voice. The words of magic were totally different from the common tongue spoken on the Yulan continent. It was much more awkward-sounding and complex. Before too much time had passed, the two female magi finished their incantations!
“Protective Icy Carapace!”
The two female magi chanted out in a low voice. Bright light erupted from their bodies, with four rays covering the four male warriors with a translucent, crystalline armor.
The red-haired leader was delighted. With the protective icy carapace supporting his battle-qi, he now felt more confident in this battle.
“Attack!” The red-haired leader ordered.
The four warriors shot out four more rocks at nearly the same time, attacking the mounted magus simultaneously. Immediately following, the four warriors charged forward like arrows released from bows as they shot towards the Velocidragon.
Book 1, Chapter 10 – Dance of the Fire Serpents (part 1)
“ROAR!” The flames erupting from the Velocidragon’s mouth encompassed a diameter of tens of meters of the surrounding area, bathing them in a sea of fire.
“Hiss…..”
The Velocidragon’s fire danced around the bodies of the four warriors, but guarded by the Protective Icy Carapace and their own battle-qi, the four warriors definitely would be able to resist the heat.