by Daman
Unlike the Blood Mist Step, this did not affect his essence quantity and he could move like this as long as he had the stamina. However, because he had been continuously shape-shifting for the past hour, his current stamina was dangerously low.
I need to finish this fast.
Calron thought as he rushed towards the red bear with his hand formed into a fist.
“Why are you doing this?”
Calron yelled as lightning flickered across his entire arm.
“Your kind hunts us indiscriminately, and if you are here, then it means that there must be other humans nearby. I cannot let you stay so close to our mountain.”
The red bear grunted as its green eyes glowed with a burning rage.
“This doesn’t make any sense. It has always been you beasts that attacked me wherever I went!”
Calron retorted as hints of anger started to seep into his face as well.
“Humans are selfish and greedy. You kill our children and families just so you can take our magical cores and sell them for money!”
Chief bellowed into the air when Calron’s lightning covered arm struck his shoulder.
“I have seen your kind ruthlessly kill humans as well. My father was killed by one of your kind!”
Calron cried out as the bear’s jaw savagely latched onto his arm and drew blood.
“My tribe has lost four members within the past month to the human soldiers that hunt in these outer mountains. Because of you, we had to engage in the territorial wars against the other Mountain Rulers to move deeper into the Desolate Mountains.”
The red bear panted, as the two opponents stepped back to regain their breath.
“It must be Regis’s men… shit!”
Calron breathed out, as he looked down at his bleeding arm.
Gazing at the scorched mark on the bear’s shoulder, Calron calmly addressed the bear:
“Let’s end this right now. I do not wish to fight with you anymore.”
Calron bore no grudge against this bear, and it was clear that the beast was just venting his rage against him on the account of its fallen tribe members. The bear most likely saw Calron as a threat and assumed he was one of Regis’s men coming here to scout for more beasts to hunt.
“The fight will only be over when one of us dies! Besides, I can tell that your body is already drained of its strength.”
Chief laughed out loud, as bright orange flames erupted from his long fangs.
“Why are you staking your life for this battle? It means nothing!”
Calron asked in confusion when he saw that the red bear insisted on continuing to fight.
“What would you know about struggling to live every day and having to constantly fight in wars just to keep your home?”
The bear spat out, as a low growl resonated within its throat.
Knowing that there was no other choice, Calron forcefully drew forth every drop of strength that remained in his body for a final shape-shift.
“You are fighting the wrong enemy here…”
Calron snarled as golden scales began to slowly cover his entire body.
“W-what is happening? You can’t be… ”
Chief stuttered as he wracked his brains for an explanation to the scene unfolding before his eyes.
*chi-chi*
Calron’s mid-section slowly bent forwards as he started to take the shape of a golden scaled bird.
*SCREEEE*
Calron let out a piercing cry into the sky, as he jumped into the air and flapped his metallic wings.
With his bright azure eyes penetrating the shocked red bear, Calron’s screech echoed within the entire surroundings.
“I am one of you.”
Chapter 19 – It’s Unsightly
“I am one of you.”
“T-That’s impossible! You are clearly in the Vajra stage, so you should not be able to take on a human form yet!”
Chief roared as his mind fought against the idea that Calron was actually a beast.
*SCREEEEE*
With his last drop of strength depleted, Calron came gliding down to the ground and retook his human form.
“You are blinded by rage. Carefully sense my presence, and you will see that I truly am a beast.”
Calron wheezed out his words.
Shape-shifting once again put too much strain on Calron’s body, but he knew that he had to convince the bear, otherwise with his current exhausted state, it would be uncertain as to who would survive their next encounter.
There was also a chance that the bear could sense his human genes, but Calron gambled on the fact that after his first shape-shift, his beast aura would have become more prominent than his human counterpart.
He’s telling the truth, but something is off… as far as I know, only the Emperor of the Desolate Mountains is able to change into a human form. This kid, on the other hand, is only at the Vajra stage!
Chief pondered while he continued to glare at Calron.
“I can sense your beast aura, and the mere fact that you can understand my words and communicate with me indicates that you are truly a beast. Kid, where is your tribe?”
Chief said calmly as he extinguished the flames on his fangs, and gingerly licked his burnt shoulder.
“I never had a tribe… most beasts thought that I was a human, so they would simply attack me or ignore me.”
Calron replied in a relieved tone.
It seemed as if his gamble had paid off, and the bear was no longer trying to attack him.
“Hmm, but why were you defending the humans earlier? You even said that they killed your father.”
Chief inquired in a curious tone.
“Oh, it’s just that I have pretended to be a human for a very long time, that I began thinking like one as well.”
Calron evenly responded while glancing at his bleeding arm, urging the Blood Legacy to begin its regenerative ability.
“True… By the way, you have to tell me about that beast transformation you just did. I have never seen anyone in the Vajra stage do that before!”
The red bear asked eagerly with an excited glint in his eyes.
“I’m not sure, I think it’s my bloodline’s inherent ability.”
Calron replied, as he tried to hide the nervousness within his voice.
Dammit, this brute keeps on asking me questions! Why did he have to find me right after I learned to shape-shift?
Calron inwardly thought while keeping his expression neutral on the outside.
“You must be a variant from your beast tribe then. Haha, I am also like you, but obviously from the bear race. You should join my tribe! Our territory is not as powerful as some of the other factions from the inner range, but within these surroundings, we are definitely one of the strongest.”
Chief laughed out, as he slowly seated himself on the ground.
“What are these territories, and these factions that you’re talking about? You also mentioned something like a territory battle earlier.”
Calron curiously asked as he treaded towards the massive red bear, and sat down next to him.
“You must have spent your whole life on the outer ranges of the Desolate Mountains if you have never heard of the territory battles.”
Chief chuckled, as his giant paw patted Calron on the back.
“Each small territory within the Desolate Mountains has a Beast Ruler. For example, this territory that we are in right now is under my rule. Next, we have the Beast Kings. You won’t find them this far out from the center of the Desolate Mountains, but they each control several smaller territories. However, the most important fact about them is that every single Beast King has the cultivation of a Saint stage!”
Chief exclaimed as his green eyes glowed with a bright intensity.
Meanwhile, Calron just absorbed all the new information about the inner workings of these mountains. It seemed that things were a lot more intricate than he had thought earlier.
“The Beast Kings all have their o
wn cities and fortresses, unlike us Beast Rulers, who have to live in a meager village along with a lack of resources and food. The outer range of the mountains is the most dangerous as the humans often come here to hunt, but none of them would dare to step into the territories of the Beast Kings.”
“Is that why you were so adamant on killing me?”
Calron asked in a quiet voice.
“Sigh… Humans haven’t come this far in a very long time, and I was just afraid that they might have suddenly gotten a lot stronger if they actually ventured this deep into the mountains. I thought you were a scout and preparing for their arrival… several of my tribe members were already injured from our last fight with the Rock-Skinned Jackals, so we couldn’t endure another battle so soon.”
Chief stated while sadly shaking his large head.
“These battles… how often do they happen?”
Calron inquired, with a slight sigh of relief when he saw his wound visibly healing.
“It depends. These battles can occur anytime without warning, so we have to constantly remain on alert. However, these battles are nothing compared to the ones that take place between two rival Beast Kings! That is a full blown-out war involving thousands of beasts.”
Chief exclaimed in an excited voice. It appeared as if the red bear was a big fanatic of the large-scale battles.
“I did not know that the Desolate Mountains were this vast. I think I would like to see these beast cities for myself…”
Calron mused, as he made plans for the future. He had grown weary of travelling in the wild for the past few years, and finally having the comforts of a city would be a heavenly blessing.
“If you are planning on going to a Beast King’s city, then this might help you on your journey. It’s not much, but it will give you some leeway if you encounter a hostile beast.”
Chief added, while handing out Calron a small disk made of beast bone.
The disk had a diamond shape with the head of a fanged bear in the middle. The image was slightly crude, as if imprinted with a blunt knife, but it did seem to have faint traces of a bestial aura surrounding.
“I can’t guarantee that this will get you out of trouble every time, as we are frankly not that strong of a tribe in the inner ranges, but it will give you an identity in the city.”
The red bear said gently while slowly getting up.
“Thank you.”
Calron replied with gratitude as he tightly clutched the bone disk.
It had only been a few minutes since Calron started talking with this bear, and already he liked this gentle beast. Maybe gentle was not the correct word, as the red bear could easily rip off his arm in a second, but the bear gave off the impression of an intelligent leader, one not blinded by pure animalistic instincts.
“You sure you don’t want to join my tribe? You are a little bit on the scrawny side, but I’m sure you’ll fill up nicely once we get some meat into that tiny stomach of yours. Hahaha!”
Chief howled with laughter as he glanced at Calron’s body.
His sense of humor could use some work…
Calron inwardly thought, while letting out a polite laugh.
“I wish I could, but I have a place where I need to go back soon… ”
Calron replied with a slight smile as he thought about the baby beasts.
“Hmm, understood. Well, if you need to find me again, just inject a bit of your own aura into the bone, and it should then guide you to my location. Also, you might want to cover up that part… it’s unsightly.”
Chief wrinkled his snout as he glanced at Calron’s lower part, and then turned around and began treading back to his village.
“But you’re naked as well.”
Calron muttered, but gave up in resignation when he saw that the red bear had already left.
This day could not possibly get any weirder.
Calron contemplated when he recalled all the events that had happened to him in the past few hours, along with having a full-blown conversation with a bear who had tried to kill him just minutes before.
“I wonder what Fatty and Master would think about all of this.”
Calron chuckled as he glanced up at the sky, and saw the thunderclouds gradually dispersing away, leaving behind a gentle blue sky.
“Shit! I forgot to ask which direction the closest beast city was…”
Calron cursed, as he realized that he was dead center in an unknown location surrounded by an empty land that stretched for countless miles.
Chapter 20 – Visitors
*step* *step*
A lone figure slowly trekked within an empty valley, as the sun’s scorching rays viciously attacked him.
Surrounded entirely by black rocks and dry ground, not a hint of vegetation or life appeared within sight.
Completely naked and wearing nothing on his body, the figure continued walking while the smoldering heat waves from the ground burned through the soles of his feet. However, the figure seemed to be unbothered by the heat.
“Teacher, are you sure that this is the right way?”
Calron panted, as he placed his hand over his eyes to shield his sight from the sun’s glare.
“Uh… yes. I’m confident that we are on the correct route. Look, I think I see the start of another forest there.”
Ezkael said with a nervous quiver in his voice.
The truth was that neither Calron nor Ezkael knew whether they were on the correct path to the beast city or not. Initially, the plan was to use Calron’s Divine Perception technique to search for a large group of beasts gathered in a single location. This was the surest method to find the beast city. However, each time that Calron tried to activate the technique, it simply failed.
Exhausted, and with his entire reserves of strength depleted, Calron was unable to use the Divine Perception. Instead, Calron decided to search for the city by scouting the nearby areas and looking for traces of an already established route used by others.
Annoyed with his student for taking so much time to decide which direction to go in, Ezkael interjected by stating that he could sense where the location of the closest beast city was.
Relieved that at least someone knew the right direction, Calron happily followed his Teacher’s suggestion without contemplating exactly how Ezkael could sense the location of the city.
It was only after treading continuously for days through empty plains where even the common beasts did not dwell, that Calron realized that his Teacher did not have a single clue to the location of the city.
He did not mind the heat, as his current body was much tougher after breaking into the Vajra stage, but it was the lack of meat and food that bothered him. Calron had not yet reached the stage in his cultivation where he could survive off his essence alone, so he still needed solid food for survival.
Calron did not know how he ended up in a part of the mountains where there was no vegetation or life, and only an endless amount of black rocks. Thankfully, he could drill into the rocky ground to obtain a few mouthfuls of water to satiate his thirst, but even then, he was soon reaching the last verges of his strength.
“Teacher… ”
“What is it, Calron?”
Ezkael gently asked within the boy’s mind.
“Next time, we wait until we have a complete plan before setting out. Also, you don’t get to make decisions on the routes we take in future.”
Calron angrily murmured, as he gazed at hazy images of the distant trees within his sight.
After their last encounter in the white room, Calron had tried to persuade Ezkael to reveal more information about his ancestry and Raizel, but his stubborn Teacher kept changing the topic by discussing something else. Calron had already expected this outcome, so he did not expend any more energy in extracting the information.
“This better not be a mirage.”
Just then, golden scales shot across Calron’s skin, as his body writhed and twisted until he took on the form of a large golden bird stand
ing at six feet tall.
*SCREEE*
Flapping his metallic wings, Calron rose up into the sky and flew towards the distant group of trees miles away.
Calron had been regularly shape-shifting into his beast form to prepare for entering the beast city, as he definitely could not go there as a human.
He had become fairly adept at controlling his speed and maintaining altitude whilst in air, but he still could not maintain his beast form for more than an hour.
Once he entered the beast city, he would have to remain in his bird form for hours, if not days, so Calron constantly morphed into the golden beast whenever he had the strength to do so.
“Hey, that’s not fair! We just found a forest, didn’t we? See, I told you I knew where to go.”
Ezkael added within Calron’s mind.
*SCREEE*
Calron ignored his Teacher, and sped towards the nearing forest.
…………………