The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2)

by TurtleMe

  I augment my sword in fire as well, speeding up to support our one-armed companion.

  “Flame Whip.” The fire around my sword grows larger as a whip of fire forms from the base of the blade.

  Lashing my weapon at the vines shooting themselves at me, a pile of dismembered branches form around me.

  I keep tabs on Jasmine to make sure she’s okay but she seemed to be fine on her own as her body was a cyclone of blades, mincing any vines that came her direction.

  Brald was having a harder time as I notice various gashes on his face and body.

  “Spread and burn! Liquid Fire!” Lucas finishes his spell first as he shoots a fiery spray of red liquid from his staff while Reginald was blocking the incoming vines shooting at our Conjurers.

  The three of us jump back to stay out of the way of the spell. I had to hand it to the noble brat that he’s still thinking straight in this situation. The spell Liquid Fire wasn’t as powerful as the actual fire spells but it spreads quickly and if not doused, the fire would keep spreading.

  The spell lands on the torrent of vines, but before the liquid fire is even able to spread, the mist that was around us all gathered towards where the spell hit the vine.

  *FSSSSSSSSSSS*

  The spell didn’t even last two seconds as the liquid formed from the condensed mist doused it.

  Lucas’s face pales as sweat drips down his neck. I think that last spell was as much as he could do for now.

  “Crater.”

  Elijah’s brows furrow as he finishes his spell. The ground underneath the wave of vines crumbles and a hole a couple of meters deep deter the vines from reaching us for now.

  “Water drain!”

  Samantha crumbles to her knees as she releases the powerful spell.

  Water drain was a scary spell that sucked the surrounding area the spell affected of its water. The only drawback of this spell was the amount of mana it used for the limited amount of space.

  *CRACKLE*

  The rampant vines that were crawling out of the crater Elijah conjured were withering at a rapid pace as the moisture was sucked out of them.

  Before the withering spread, the rest of the mist surrounding the cave swirled and gathered, sucked in by the vines. The dead brown vines were once again filled with vigor and seemed angrier, if that was even possible.

  “N-no way…” Samantha’s drained face just slackens in shock.

  The mist that once surrounded us was all absorbed into the huge wave of vines and our limited view was cleared.

  As the mist was sucked into the vines, we all finally got to see what exactly it was we were up against.

  Towering almost 20 meters above our heads was a gigantic mana beast. This mana beast looked humanoid to a certain degree, reminding me of a centaur. While it was made up completely of entangled vines and branches, the top half of its body was that of an armored man. The two green eyes that looked down at us were filled with pride and anger. Its two humanoid arms were holding unto a giant wooden lance that looked more like a drill. Its lower body was that of a horse, but instead of limbs, were an uncountable amount of vines.

  For the last hour, the seven of us were literally battling against the feet of this mana beast.

  “…I-I’ve read about that monster… That’s an S class mana beast named the E-Elderwood Guardian!” Samantha just stutters in horror as she just sinks in defeat.

  “What’s an S class mana beast doing here? This is unheard of…” Reginald almost drops his giant hammer as he looks up at the Elderwood Guardian in horror.

  An S class mana beast meant that he was on par with an SS class Adventurer or at least 10 S class Adventurers.

  “I-Isn’t that Kriol?” Reginald points at the lifeless torso and legs sticking out of the body of the mana beast.

  “W-we’re doomed…” Brald has a crazy look on his face as he’s smiling madly at the giant mana beast. He already lost his arm and he was worn out from the fighting. This was probably the last straw for the veteran Adventurer.

  “We have to run.” Jasmine pulls my hand, gesturing me to leave the party here and run away.

  “What about them?” I mutter out, my eyes never leaving the gaze of the Elderwood Guardian. Even if I wasn’t too close to any of them and I certainly wasn’t on close terms with Lucas, it wasn’t right to betray their trust as their leader like this.

  “…”

  She doesn’t respond as she tugs harder at me to move.

  “BOOOOM!” The Elderwood Guardian thrusts his giant drill lance at us.

  “Rock Shield!”

  Elijah erects a flat wall of earth from the ground slanted, so the force of the drill is parried away from us.

  Picking up his hammer, Reginald yells, “Impact Blast x10”

  The giant hammer vibrates in his hands as it’s surrounded in a thick yellow aura.

  “BOOBOOBOOBOOBOOOM!”

  As the hammer hits the lance, multiple lumps form on the mana beast’s weapon and explodes from the inside.

  Just as he’s about to land on the ground, the broken vines that made up the lance whirl and surround him.

  “GAAAH! HELPP!! NOOOO!” The tendrils that formed the giant lance flurry around to mold back into its original shape but entangle Reginald inside.

  *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *SNAP*

  I hear Samantha hurl from the sound of Reginald’s body being grinded up into pieces.

  Fuck.

  The lance is formed back into its original shape, with the addition of Reginald’s body and weapon inside it. The Elderwood Guardian doesn’t have a mouth but from the look in its eyes, I feel like it’s gloating at us, as if we’re just bugs to him.

  I grab Samantha who was still in shock and lift her up on my shoulders. “Jasmine! Grab Brald and lets run! Lucas, Elijah! You have to try and block any incoming attacks until we get out of here!”

  Jasmine picks up Brald who’s still laughing psychotically and we look back to see that the Elderwood Guardian was looking directly at us.

  “We need to move!” Just as I will mana into my body…

  “Fire bolts!” A blast of fire hits me square in the chest and I fly back, Samantha tumbling off to the side.

  While the mana that was reinforced into my body and the fact that I had assimilated mana into my bones and muscles prevented me from sustaining serious injuries, my breath was still knocked out from the almost point-blank spell casted by Lucas. Furious and baffled by the sudden betrayal, I peel my eyes away from the blond brat and look for Jasmine. She was knocked back much farther from the spell and was unconscious, but she didn’t seem to be dead.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I hear Elijah yell for the first time as he points his staff at Lucas who was already heading towards the entrance of the cave.

  “Pfft! You think I’ll risk my life to help all of you escape? Be honored that you’ll be the valiant heroes that stalled the beast enough for me to escape! I’ll tell everyone all about your courageous deeds!” He looks back giving me an arrogant smirk before casting a smokescreen spell.

  *CRASH*

  The ground splits around us as the Elderwood’s Lance pierces a hole where Lucas was in the smokescreen but he’s already gone.

  “Fuck!” The stumbling Elijah curses while he straightens his glasses. The endless vines that make up the mana beast’s limbs manage to climb out of the crater left from Elijah’s spell and approach us.

  “GRAAAAAAH!” The whole cave trembles as the gigantic mana beast’s beady green eyes turn bright red.

  The Elderwood Guardian’s whole body disassembles into a tsunami of vines, destroying everything in its way as it’s almost upon us.

  “HAHAHA!” I hear Brald’s maniacal laughter as he’s eaten up by the wave of vines.

  Elijah’s brusque face pales and his legs are trembling while Jasmine is still in a daze from Lucas’s spell. It must’ve managed to catch her off guard before she had time to reinforce her body as I see some bleeding.

  I sta
rt calculating the options I had left. Even if I were to use the first phase of my Beast’s Will, I can’t last long enough to save everyone and carry them out.

  Fuck.

  I don’t know how severe the recoil of this would be but I had no choice but to try.

  I feel a surge of energy forming around my body and I’m surrounded by an aura of different colors.

  “Phase Two. Dragon’s Awakening.”

  Chapter 33: Dire Tombs III

  “Kyuu?”

  Undergoing Dragon’s Awakening seemed to startle Sylvie who was now frantically asking me what’s going on and why I was activating my second phase.

  ‘It’s fine Sylv. I want you to stay away for now and if anything happens, go back to the Helstea’s house for me.

  ‘No! I’m going to go towards you now Papa. Hold on!’ I could sense Sylvie getting closer but she’s still a few dozen kilometers away.

  ‘Stay away Sylv! Please! I need someone to tell my family what happens just in case.’ I say desperately.

  I don’t know if I’m going to make it out of this alive, and I don’t want my family wondering what happened and why the ring activated.

  ‘Be careful…’

  ‘Thanks Sylv.’

  One of the abilities of my first phase, Acquire, allowed me to temporary separate myself from the space and time around me, which seemed to be one of Sylvia’s innate skills. That phase was limited in many ways because I’m not a dragon. The limited mana I have access to restricts what I can actually do when I activate the ‘Acquire’ phase.

  The most efficient way, I realized when I was training with Grandpa Virion, was coupling the first phase with Thunderclap Impulse. I would activate my first phase in short millisecond bursts while the reaction time of my body is increased dramatically from my lightning skill; this allows me to react and counter almost anything. That was the best way I could think of for utilizing my first phase, since I can’t affect anything that’s “frozen” while the first phase is activated. Even though I can’t able to keep it up for long, that was my biggest trump card; the fact that the first phase of my beast will isn’t noticeable by those around me makes it all the more useful.

  I think back to when I first used the ‘Acquire’ phase on someone else along with me that time at the auction house. Sebastian wasn’t able to communicate with anyone besides me since I separated us from the time and space of those around us. I could only last a few seconds before I was crippled in bed for the next day.

  Right now, though, was one of those times where my first phase wouldn’t be so useful. No matter how much I can react to this tsunami of vines, I could neither dodge it nor escape from it in one piece.

  No choice.

  *FWOOOOM*

  I feel every pore in my body opening and a surge of mana flowing in and out of my body.

  The air around me distorts and the ground below my feet starts cracking from the mana surrounding my body.

  My vision shifts into black and white. The only colors I see are from the numerous particles of mana in the atmosphere around me, all shimmering to the corresponding elements they make up.

  The surge of mana that was rampaging around me suddenly gets compressed into my body and the feeling of holding insurmountable power overwhelms me. The sense of superiority over everything, living or not, in this universe almost makes me go crazy. I suppress the urge to destroy everything and everyone around me just because of how insignificant they seem to be compared to me now.

  “Kuh!”

  The mana in the atmosphere seems to bend to my will, as if even nature is under my command.

  “Phase Two. Dragon’s Awakening… Integrate.”

  The same markings that Sylvia once had, the golden yellow runes, run down my arms and back. I see my hair get longer, coming down to my shoulder, and the once auburn color of my hair was now a bright luminescent white, swaying from the swirl of energy constantly encompassing me. The Integrate phase seemed to make me look more like Sylvia.

  Calming the voice inside my head that wants to go on a rampage, I look around. Jasmine and Elijah are the only ones left. Elijah is next to Jasmine now, supporting her up with his shoulders while she’s still out of breath and sweating in pain from the point blank impact from Lucas’ spell. He’s looking at me with a dazed expression, his once serious face almost comical, as his glasses are crooked and his jaws slack.

  “GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWRR”

  The tsunami of vines that made up the Elderwood Guardian expands as a face is formed within the wave. The face was looking at me; the face that once looked at us like we were insects had a trace of fear in it now.

  “Let’s play.” I smirk.

  The world moves around me in slow motion as I jump up, willing wind unto my feet. I instantly clear the distance between the Elderwood Guardian and myself in a split second as a storming gale I propelled myself off with creates a crater bigger than the spell Elijah used.

  “Thunderclap Impulse.” A surge of black lightning forms around my body as I effortlessly dodge the thousands of vines that shoot at me.

  Every vine that the tendrils of black lightning surrounding me touches instantly disintegrates and withers away, but for every vine dead, ten more replace it. Using the vines that are shooting at me as a foothold, I breeze through the onslaught of vines that were the size of my body, covered in thorns, as I draw near the core of the Elderwood Guardian.

  I could already feel the recoil from using the second phase as my body is trembling and I hold back the urge to vomit blood.

  It was time to end this.

  “White Fire...” Both my hands ignite and are engulfed in a blazing white flame that almost freezes the air around it. This was the most powerful offensive skill that I had in my arsenal, but one that was also the hardest to control. While my Lightning Attribute skills are focused more towards one vs. one situations, I steered my Ice Attribute techniques to create as much mayhem as possible, just in case I had a need for that.

  The white fire ablaze in my hands grows bigger as I absorb the particles of water attribute mana particles into my body. Using the last of my strength I cast my final skill.

  “…Absolute Zero.”

  The Elderwood Guardian, who was in the form of a giant wave of entangled vines, rapidly turned into ice as the very atoms that made up the mana beast froze in place where the White Fire spread. The black lightning traced through the frozen tsunami of vines and instantly shattered it, leaving only the beast’s mana core.

  *Cough*

  The second phase wears off as I cough out blood, my body falling down along with the shimmering fragments of ice that once made up the legendary S class mana beast.

  The last thing I hear is the distant echo of Sylv’s voice in my head.

  ______________________________________________

  “GAHHHHH!” The intense pain that shocks me awake leaves a stream of tears down my cheeks. I hurl both blood and the remains of the little food I had since I arrived in the dungeon as every muscle, every pore, every fiber of my body felt like it was getting sawed slowly by a jagged blade.

  Fuck.

  “You’re awake!” My body doesn’t stop trembling from the pain and I ignore the worried voice.

  “G-glove. My glove.” I manage to cough out in between my cries of pain and the blood that keeps leaking out of my mouth.

  “What about your glove?” I see Elijah’s face over mine now as he takes off the glove my parents gave me from my hand.

  “B-break one of the c-crystals on the glove and give… me.” I almost pass out from the pain again, but before I do, Elijah manages to understand my stuttered instructions.

  A surge of pleasant soothing light envelops my body, and the once unbearable pain eases enough so I can calm down a little. I try to get up but my body refuses to listen. Lying still on my back, I finally try to assess the situation, as my cognitive abilities aren’t completely focused on enduring the pain anymore.

  Around us was dark and cram
ped, with the only source of light coming from a small fire in the middle.

  “Where’s Jasmine?” I can move my neck at most, and I’m reminded of a very similar situation when I first fell from the cliff when I was four.

  Oh man… good times.

  “She’s over there.” I barely lift my head enough to see Jasmine laying against the other end the dark cramped place we were in. It’s evident she’s not doing so well as I hear her groaning while beads of sweat were streaming down her small face.