The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (15 page)

“Your Highness, if I may be so bold as to ask, just who is he?”

The kneeling woman asked in a confused tone as she raised her head.

Although her face greatly resembled that of a human woman, it was clear from her light blue skin complexion, sea-green colored hair, and the gills on the side of her neck, that this woman was definitely not of the human race.

Seeing the hesitation on her King’s face, the woman continued.

“You had one of the Nobles monitor his every movement before he even entered the city. Your Highness, we are at war right now, and assigning this babysitting task to a Noble seems rather unfitting, especially given our present circumstances.”

The woman seriously conveyed with traces of anger hidden within her words.

His subordinate’s harsh tone did not seem to infuriate the silver-scaled figure, as his ice-blue eyes calmly gazed at the woman.

“I do not know, Laris… but there is something bizarre about that golden bird. I felt his soul near our city yesterday, which should be impossible unless he was in the Saint stage. However, he is not.”

The scaled humanoid figure whispered, as he rubbed his cheek with his metallic claws.

“Wier, we have more important matters to deal with than figuring out what this beast’s real cultivation is. We are fighting a losing war, and if we do not recruit more mercenaries, then I don’t think we’ll even have a slight chance of victory.”

Laris softly addressed the scaled figure, as she slowly stood up and walked up to his throne. With concern in her eyes, she lightly placed her hand on Weir’s shoulder.

“He also managed to effortlessly block my soul probing.”

A small gasp burst out from Laris’s mouth while her hand on Wier’s shoulder started to tremble.

Although Wier was only at the fifth rank of the Saint stage, due to his beast bloodline, his soul power was closer to that of a Beast King at the eighth rank. To be able to so easily block his soul attack, this Calron must be a hidden expert.

“Is he an enemy?”

Laris worriedly asked.

If a hidden expert that was capable of resisting their Beast King was now amongst them, then they would need to summon the entire ranks of the Nobles to eliminate the threat at once.

“No. For the fraction of a second that I was able to enter his mind, there was no hate or enmity within his thoughts, only a certain curiosity towards our city. I do not think he is here to infiltrate our defenses, and I would rather not anger a potential ally.”

Weir calmly stated as he sat back down on his throne with a loud clink.

“You don’t have to hide it from me, Wier. We grew up together, and I can tell when you are trying to hide something from me.”

Laris let out a slight smile, as she patiently waited for the silver-scaled beast to open up to her.

“Haha, nothing gets past you, Laris.”

Wier chuckled but immediately turned serious a second later.

“This Calron… when I probed him… he had the form of a human!”

Weir exclaimed as his gaze sharply pierced into the blue-skinned woman.

“A Beast Emperor!”

Laris blurted out while tightly clenching both of her fists.

“No, that is not the case. If he truly had the cultivation of the Heavenly stage, then the moment I probed him, my soul would have been instantly vaporized after coming into contact with his mind. However, it was the last thing which I saw that made me feel fear for the first time in countless years.”

Weir continued as his metallic claw shakingly grasped the armrest on the throne.

“It was an ancient bird… unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… I only saw a glimpse of its wings and they seemed to cover the entire sky… then I saw lightning… omnipotent and wrathful bolts of violet lightning… “

The Beast King muttered as his nails nervously tapped the side of the throne.

Hearing every single word of her King, Laris felt her heart pounding faster and faster as her breathing rapidly accelerated.

Within the entire Desolate Mountains, there was only a single Beast Emperor,  and the power he wielded was enough to shatter the very sky above them!

When a beast successfully breaks into the Heavenly stage, it will be the moment when they will finally gain the ability to transform into a human.

Regardless of the truth about this golden bird, it is clear that he has some strange power, so if we can get him to fight for the city, then we would finally have another powerhouse comparable to Weir within our ranks.

Laris fervently thought, as her mind started calculating some strategies.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it won’t work. He has no reason to help us, and inciting his anger will only bring a catastrophe to our city. Let him have his temporary stay here, and then he will leave soon.”

Wier said firmly, as he leaned his head back against the throne.

“I think you are making a wrong decision here…”

Laris murmured while turning around and snapping her fingers, causing all the lights in the room to light up.

“I might lose this war, Laris, but at least Xardoth will not kill the beasts within the city once he takes it. We cannot be so sure that this Calron will have the same principles if we try to force him to fight against his wishes.”

Wier tranquilly conveyed, as the newly lit up room revealed his silvery body.

With mesmerizing silver scales covering his skin, Weir was adorned in a regal black robe with golden patterns etched onto the fabric. Placed on top of his head was an ornate gold crown with a single obsidian gem placed in the center.

“I wonder how things are going on Georan’s end…”

Weir whispered, as his draconic head gazed outside the massive windows.

…………………

“I hope you enjoyed the little tour, Calron. If you need to contact me again, simply send out your thoughts into this crystal, and I will immediately be able to communicate with you.”

Georan conveyed as a small red crystal appeared in front of his mouth and slowly drifted into the metal bracelet on Calron’s claws.

The metal bracelet was a gift given by Georan a few hours ago when he saw that Calron did not have a storage device of his own. As a beast, things were rather hard to carry around, so Calron was more than happy to accept the metal bracelet.

Throughout the day, the large reptilian had acted as a guide for Calron and shown him various places within the city, including armories, fighting arenas, and other specialties of the city. Since Calron was flat broke, Georan suggested for the golden bird to try enlisting himself as a beast carrier for transporting goods within the city, as a way to earn some money.

“Haha, thank you, Georan. I must say, though, this city is a lot more exciting than I thought! I think I will visit that bard’s shop early tomorrow morning.”

Calron cheerfully thanked the large reptilian, and the little wolf pup did the same by letting out happy barks.

“No need to worry about it, it was all my pleasure. I hope this inn will provide a decent accommodation. I will see you later then, Calron. Faro, say goodbye.”

Georan bade them farewell, while gesturing the little reptile seated on his head to do the same.

“Kekeke~”

Faro laughed out, as he happily waved his leathery wings.

Calron waved back, while Avi completely ignored Faro with a harrumph.

Soon, the father-son duo disappeared from their sight. The moment the large reptile left, Calron’s face immediately turned serious.

Teacher, did you sense it?

Calron inquired, as his eyes gazed into the direction that Georan just departed.

He did a good job at hiding it, but it became obvious when he kept on constantly trying to glean information out of you about your home and beast bloodline. I’m guessing the Beast King has not forgotten about you, kid.

Ezkael responded back in an amused tone.

Sigh… things are about to get complicated from now on, aren’t they?

Calron thought dejectedly, as he began walking into the inn.

With you… there’s never a doubt about it.

Ezkael’s laugh echoed within Calron’s mind, bringing out a slight smile on the boy’s face as well.

*crreeaak*

Calron uncomfortably shifted on the bed as he awoke to a slight weight being pressed down upon his body.

“Damn this beast…”

Calron groggily muttered, as he gently picked up Avi from his chest and placed her back on the mattress.

Throughout the entire night, the little pup had been constantly crawling onto Calron’s chest to sleep instead of the large bed. Since the rooms were designed for beasts, the single bed within Calron’s room had enough space for three grown men to sleep.

He honestly would not have minded this so much if the sleeping Avi did not keep scratching him with her claws.

Sitting up on the bed, Calron turned his head towards the window and gazed at the sun rising up on the horizon, as he forced the sleepiness out of him by rubbing his eyes.

Calron had resumed his human form before sleeping last night, as just the thought of one of his scales accidently piercing into Avi’s skin made him shudder. Besides, he still had no idea how long he would be able to sustain his beast form.

The more Calron thought about his shape-shifting duration, the more confused he became. There were times when he felt like he would only be able to maintain his beast form for a few hours, and there were other times like yesterday where he could remain in his beast form throughout the entire day.

“Mn… nnnn…. grrr… ”

Avi began growling in her dream, as she snapped her jaws at the bed sheet.

“Hey, Avi! Wake up!”

Calron nudged the wolf pup and tried to get her to wake up before she chewed through the cloth.

“woof…”

Avi sleepily barked, as she rubbed her furry head against the bed. Turning away from Calron, the pup resumed her slumber.

“Oi… don’t just ignore me.”

Calron let out a sigh, as he prepared to go downstairs.

……………………

“Morning, Dag!”

Calron greeted the old ape as he walked to the front of the inn.

Dag was a common ape-type beast of the mountains, with wizened grey tufts of hair on both sides of his head and a slightly protruded belly. The old ape was arduously cleaning the table counter when Calron came down the stairs.

“Morning, kid! Haha, is that little runt still sleeping?”

Dag chuckled, when he glanced at the sleeping figure of Avi perched on Calron’s scaly back.

“Yeah, she does that a lot. Hey, Dag, you have anything to eat right now?”

Calron eagerly asked.

“Of course! I’ll get you a steaming hot tray of food right away.”

Dag said mirthfully as he discarded the cloth he was cleaning the table with, and went back to the kitchen.

Stepping over to a nearby table, Calron carefully sat down a bizarrely constructed chair while placing the still sleeping pup next to him on the seat.

It’s so uncomfortable sitting down in my beast form.

Calron inwardly grumbled as he patiently waited for the food to arrive.

He did not have to wait for long, as Dag soon hobbled over with a steaming tray full of food. The delicious aroma wafted into Calron’s nostrils, causing his mouth to drool. Even the sleeping Avi next to him unknowingly lifted her head into the air as she sniffed the surroundings.

“Here you go.”

Dag chimed while placing the large tray of food in front of Calron.

With a wide selection of assorted meats, eggs, bread, and milk, Calron immediately dug into the meal.

“woof!”

Avi abruptly woke up, and cried out as she nudged Calron and quickly hopped onto the table. Without saying a single word, she began chomping down on the cuts of meat.

“Kid… “

Dag nervously remained standing in front of Calron’s table as he scratched the back of his head.

Stopping mid-bite, Calron tilted his head to face the old ape.

“Lord Georan only left enough money to cover your stay here for one night, but he did not pay for the meals. So, uhh… ”

Dag mumbled as he embarrassingly glanced at Calron.

“Oh…”

Calron numbly stared back at the ape, as he realized what this meant.

Slowly rotating his head to see the little pup rapidly devouring mouthfuls of food from the tray, Calron felt tears forming in his eyes.

“woof?”

Avi let out a curious bark while raising her head at Calron, but quickly resumed back to wolfing down the food.

Shit! I’m broke right now!

Calron cried out within his mind, as he racked his brains for ways to pay the innkeeper.

Seeing the anguished expression on Calron’s face, the old ape hurriedly interjected.

“Don’t worry, this meal is on me!”

Dag could tell from a single glance that Calron did not have any money on him, but he liked the golden bird and the cute little pup, so he gave them a free meal.

“Thank you, Dag. I will find some work today to repay you, and if I don’t, then we will gladly move out of the inn.”

Calron breathed out in relief.

“I’m sure you will find a job, kid!”

Dag cheerfully laughed, as he patted Calron on the back and returned to running the inn for the other customers.

Meanwhile, Avi continued to viciously attack the food on the tray.

Watching the gluttonous pup, it dawned upon Calron that he would have to get a job quite soon.

Preferably before lunchtime.

Looks like I’m going to be a cargo bird…

Calron contemplated in resignation as he recalled Georan’s suggestion for a job yesterday.

…………………….

This is a stupid idea. If Raizel knew that his descendants were working as pigeon carriers, he would have died with shame right there and then.

Ezkael stated with irritation in his voice.

Teacher, I’m not a pigeon…

Calron quietly responded back, as he continued walking down the street while looking for the location of the cargo building given by an earlier passing-by stranger.

Well, once you start carrying goods around, you will be no different than a real pigeon!

Ezkael angrily retorted.

Letting out a sigh, Calron trudged ahead while Avi excitedly explored the city from his back.

“Joren! The Arena will soon open! Hurry up!”

A little horned tiger cub shouted back to his friend, as he raced towards a massive building in front of Calron.

“You are too fast, Taro! Wait for me!”

A chubby red cat rasped as it clumsily trailed behind.

“Hmm, an Arena?”

Calron curiously muttered, as he changed his direction towards the large building.

Georan had mentioned an Arena yesterday as well, and it was one of the biggest entertainments for the citizens of the city. Another thing he had added was that the warriors entering the battles, received an extravagant amount of money for winning each battle.

However, Georan did not comment any further and simply moved on to other buildings. Initially, Calron would not have considered fighting in his beast form, as he was still unaccustomed to this new body and did not have a single clue on how to fight as a bird.

Teacher, I think I just found a new profession.

Calron yelled within his mind, as he spread his wings and leapt towards the Arena.

…………………

Entering the front of the massive building, Calron saw a bustling crowd gathered at the far end of the room.

“Entrant or visitor? Visitor price is one copper square for the back row seats, three coppers for the middle row, and a silver for the front row. Entrant registration is over there.”

A lazy voice sounded out from the guard standing beside Calron.

“Umm, I’m an entrant.”

Calron quickly replied back.

“I just said to go over there for entrant registration, didn’t I?”

The guard annoyingly stated as he shooed away Calron. It seemed that he was more interested in making cash from the paying visitors.

“Oh, by the way, to register as an entrant, you will have to pay two silver squares.”

The guard’s voice suddenly sounded to Calron, just as he was about to turn around.

“You have got to be kidding me…”

Calron groaned.

…………………

“How did it go?”

A deep voice rumbled within an empty room.

“Your Highness, I don’t think this beast is a threat to us. He is still very young, and although his aura is powerful for his age, it not that of an expert within the Saint stage.”

A familiar voice echoed from a small glowing crystal within Wier’s claws.

“Hmm… well, did he take the bait?”

Wier inquired in a low voice.

“I was initially doubtful of whether it would actually work or not, but he seems to have just entered the Arena’s building right now. I will keep an eye on him.”

Georan responded in an even tone.

“Good. Report to me after an hour.”

Wier commanded, as he withdrew the small crystal back into his storage ring.

“Let’s see what this Calron is capable of…”

Weir quietly muttered in the darkness, as a streak of light partially shone upon his draconic face.