The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (17 page)

*SCREEEEEEE*

With an ear-splitting cry, Calron slammed into the massive goblin as bolts of lightning struck the beast’s hide, eliciting a roar of pain.

“GRUAAAHHH!”

The enraged beast rapidly swung its arm around Calron’s neck and put him into a chokehold.

Shit! He’s fast!

Calron cursed, while flailing his wings in an attempt to escape from the monster’s steely grip.

Without warning, the goblin variant viciously pounded Calron’s chest with its calloused fist.

BOOOOOM!

Calron cried out in agony as he felt his ribs crack. The metallic scales did not shatter under the beast’s attack, but they were unable to prevent the shockwaves from the punch, causing devastation to Calron’s internal body.

Before giving the beast another chance to strike, Calron swiftly lifted his lower body up from the ground and struck the monster’s eyes with his metallic claws. Pushing off against the beast’s face, Calron escaped from the chokehold and leapt back a few feet away from the large goblin.

That did not go well at all. How the hell is he so fast?

Calron spat out a mouthful of blood, as he glared at the dark green beast.

Based on the goblin’s physical appearance, he knew that it would be strong, but the speed of its reflexes completely shocked Calron.

“GRUAAHHH!”

With a mighty bellow, the large goblin charged towards Calron while a murky green essence coalesced behind its body.

*whooosh*       *whooosh*

Violent gusts of wind wrapped around the goblin variant, as it let out a sinister grin while continuing to speed towards Calron.

This is officially the worst day of my life…

Calron sighed, when he saw the goblin use wind essence to bolster its agility and rapidly close the distance between them.

At this moment, he was unable to use the two most powerful abilities that he had: the Blood Legacy and the Azure Lightning. Furthermore, Calron was utterly inept at fighting with his beast body.

I knew that this would not turn out well, and you did not listen to me.

Ezkael chimed in with his smug voice.

Teacher, any tips on fighting as a beast?

Calron asked in a hopeful tone.

Well, your bloodline is different from mine, but I do remember Raizel using his scales to fight in his earlier beast stage… I think…

Ezkael answered with hesitation.

That does not help me in any way. Dammit, there is no time!

Calron instantly spread his wings and prepared to rush towards the nearing beast.

He had no plan.

Raising his head to the sky, Calron screeched when he was only moments away from colliding against the large goblin.

The entire audience held their breath, staring at the stage with tension. They knew deep within their hearts that a Bronze badge holder, and moreover an Arena debutant, could never hope to beat a Silver ranked beast, however, there was just something in that golden bird’s cry that made their hearts flutter with excitement.

“GRAAAAA!”

*SCREEEEEE*

BOOOOOOOM!

The sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the stadium when the two opponents collided against each other.

Dodging the large goblin’s punch, Calron slashed his wings against the beast’s thighs. Before a second had even passed, the goblin immediately swung down its head to bash Calron on the face.

BOOOOM!

Roaring in agony, Calron simultaneously struck his claws against the goblin’s legs and swept his metallic wings towards its eyes.

A slow smile spread on the large goblin’s face when it saw that its opponent was using the same tactic twice. Swiftly grabbing the nearing metallic wing with one hand, and the claws with the other, the monster slammed Calron’s entire body to the ground.

BOOOOOM!

With his mind in shambles and his body wrangled in pain, Calron choked out another mouthful of blood as his breaths came out in rasps. Looking up at the towering monster, Calron felt utter despair when he saw that he had barely made a scratch on the goblin’s hide.

No matter how powerful he was, Calron was still unable to match the strength of a fifth rank Vajra stage beast.

He thought that he could fight using his superior speed, but his opponent overwhelmingly surpassed him in that aspect as well.

“GRAGRAAAA!”

In a triumphant bellow, the monstrous beast raised its massive foot and stomped on Calron’s back.

*crunch*

Screaming with agony, Calron desperately tried to escape as he thrashed around on the ground.

Without hesitation, the goblin variant bent down and took hold of both of Calron’s wings while keeping its foot remained on his back.

Knowing what the beast was about to do, an uncontrollable fury arose within Calron. His azure eyes flashed with a cold wrath, as thick bolts of lightning began to dart around him.

Invisible to the audience as his body was pressed to the ground, a blue glow began to faintly emit from Calron’s chest.

The Azure Lightning was waking up.

However, the moment it tried to come out, it was stopped by Ezkael’s soul. Infuriated, the Azure Lightning started to lash against the soul binds so it could help out its host.

“GRAHAHA!”

Madly laughing with glee, the goblin savagely pulled Calron’s wings.

*SCREEEEEEE*

Calron hoarsely cried out with pain, as he felt the metallic wings starting to tear apart from his body.

Agony.

Hopelessness.

Desperation.

Suddenly, the world went black.

……………….

“Raizel, pay attention!”

An enormous twenty-foot golden bird loomed overhead, staring at the tiny figure on the ground.

Clumsily flapping his wings on the ground, the four-foot tiny bird lazily dropped onto the grass. Compared to the astounding height of his grandfather, the little golden bird appeared like a tiny pebble.

“Grandpa, I’m hungry!”

Raizel groaned as he rolled around in the grass.

“Sigh… you are already ten years old, and yet your beast form is only four feet tall…”

The giant bird muttered, as it gradually shape-shifted back into a human, and sat down next to the little bird on the grass.

“Why do you hate training so much, kid?”

The old man asked gently, as he stroked the scales on the tiny golden bird.

“Umm, I just don’t like fighting.”

Raizel stated while snapping the grass stalks with his beak.

“What will you do if someone attacks you?”

The old man inquired, as he turned to look at the cloudy sky above.

“Why would someone want to attack me?”

The little bird curiously tilted its head, as its bright azure eyes innocently stared into the old man.

“Hahaha, true. Want to see a cool trick?”

The old man abruptly changed the topic, not wanting to explain the cruelty of the world that they lived in.

Raising his arm in front of his chest, the old man’s eyes flashed with golden lightning as metallic scales started to shoot across his arm.

Unlike the complete beast shape-shifting where the limbs would morph into claws, this time the arm retained its human shape but with golden scales covering it.

“Woah! How did you do that?”

Raizel whispered in astonishment, as he crawled closer to his grandfather’s scaly arm.

“We come from a special bloodline, Raizel. Lightning is as much of a part of us as we are to it. Tell it what you want it to do, and it will obey your command. Now, watch.”

Faint bolts of lightning emerged out from the man’s hand and charged into the grass in front of him.

Letting out an abrupt yelp, Raizel leapt off into the air and landed behind his grandfather.

Curiously watching what was happening, Raizel noticed that the entire bed of grass in front of him was starting to slightly vibrate as currents of lightning danced around it.

“Go.”

With a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips, the old man snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, countless stalks of grass broke off from the soil and shot ahead into a tree.

*thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk*

Akin to metal arrows, the tips of each blade of grass penetrated into the trunk of the tree in a storm of lightning needles.

“Grandpa, teach me that move! That was soo cool!”

Raizel excitedly cried out, as he clumsily hopped around his grandfather while flapping his juvenile wings.

“Hahaha, once you can shape-shift at least into a seven foot tall bird, then I will teach you.”

The old man laughed as he gently slapped his grandson on the back.

“Tch! By the way, Grandpa…”

Raizel started.

“Yes?”

“I’m still hungry.”

……………….

—In the Arena—

The ground began shaking as grey clouds ominously formed in the sky, causing the daylight to gradually vanish.

The sound of thunder silently rumbled, as drops of rain started to trickle down.

It was at that moment when Calron opened his eyes, and the scales on his body began to shimmer in a strange glow.

*RUMBLE*

The sound of thunder roared above in the dark clouds, while torrents of rain poured down onto the ground.

The entire audience within the Arena held their breath, gazing at the slowly rousing golden beast on the stage and the changes occurring on his body.

Calron’s scales quivered with a strange golden glow, and it appeared as if the scales were melting into a texture of molten metal, as the liquid writhed across his body.

Streams of golden essence from the surroundings were being rapidly sucked into Calron’s scales, including from the cores of the lightning beasts within the audience.

*CRACK*

A large bolt of lightning from the sky came crashing down onto the stage and struck Calron right between the back of his two wings. The large goblin was forcefully knocked back when the lighting struck, landing several feet away from Calron’s body.

“Gra…”

The monster dumbly opened its mouth, staring at the bird that it had almost defeated. Sensing something wet, the beast glanced down at its chest and saw that its flesh was scorched black, while drops of crimson liquid seeped from the corner of the burnt skin and dripped onto the stage.

Returning its gaze back to the golden bird lying face-down on the ground, the goblin started to feel a seed of fear slowly take root within its heart.

…………..

The claps of thunder continued to resound in the sky, as bolts of lightning and rain crashing to the ground.

As the waves of golden essence were absorbed into Calron’s now-molten scales, his body began to gradually enlarge until he reached a height of around ten feet tall. His claws and mid-section had elongated, while the wings on his back grew thicker and wider.

The molten gold liquid across his skin started to flow into Calron’s chest and streamed towards the core within his body. Throughout this entire time, Calron remained in a semi-conscious state as he drifted in and out of a dream and reality.

After the first bolt, another bolt of lightning struck Calron’s body and was instantaneously absorbed by the molten gold liquid, which unceasingly flowed towards his chest.

Calron could not feel or see anything, except for the flash of lightning from the corner of his eyes.

What was that?

The memory of his mother darted around within his mind. With her long golden hair fluttering in the wind, the beautiful woman picked him up and swayed his small body in the air in a meadow of silky grass.

Happiness.

No… that is not my mother… she had dark hair…

The image quickly changed to a scene where the same golden-haired woman appeared to be in labor and was attended by a number of middle-aged women. Looking deep into Calron’s eyes, the woman softly whispered.

“Raizel… wake up…”

All of a sudden, the scene flashed to a landscape where a tall dark-haired man stood.

With the midnight colored hair obscuring his face, only his lower jaw was visible. Slowly turning around to face Calron, a slight smile spread from the edge of the man’s lips.

*Ka-chink*

The image shattered.

A jolt of pain shot through his mind, causing Calron’s senses to awaken and slowly pull him out of his hallucination.

He felt stronger.

No, bigger.

Calron groaned, as he started to awaken and sense what was happening around him. Through his half-open eyelids, he saw a wide-eyed goblin staring back at him and the looks of shock on the faces of the audience. The only movement he detected was from a small wolf pup who had her head raised to the sky and was howling in the rain.

Avi.

His eyesight was still hazy, and his vision was further obscured by the torrent of rain pouring down.

*pat-pat-pat*

Trying to move his wings, Calron began to take control of his muscles and rose up from the ground. Stretching his wings, Calron looked down at the shivering goblin beast in front him.

Did it just get smaller?

…………..

Meanwhile, Avi excitedly pranced around in the audience while letting out cheerful yips when she saw Calron regain consciousness and stand back on his feet.

When she previously saw her guardian fall down and tortured by the ugly monster, Avi recalled the painful memories of her mother and howled out in a sorrowful cry.

Rapidly wagging her small tail, the little wolf pup jumped up and down in an attempt to cheer on Calron.

The fox at her side blankly gazed at the massive golden bird. It had been sure that the rude beast would be defeated within seconds, but the aura that Calron currently emitted was enough to cause even its soul to waver.

……………..

—In the Throne Room—

“What in the heavens was that!?”

Weir bellowed across the room, as he tightly gripped the throne’s armrest.

A misty screen floated in front of him, displaying the current events occurring inside the Arena.

After commanding his men to fix Calron’s match with a Silver ranked opponent, Weir had been closely following the battle to observe Calron’s fighting prowess. Initially, he was disappointed when he saw the golden bird being so easily defeated, making him wonder whether or not he was mistaken about the beast.

However, the moment when he saw Calron’s body suddenly enlarge and the golden scales melt on the bird’s body, Weir realized that things were starting to take a turn.

A beast that can alter his size before reaching the Saint stage…

Weir pondered within his mind, as he gave a quick glance to a smiling Laris next to him.

“I know that you don’t want to force him to fight for us, but look at him! He’s making a fifth rank Vajra expert tremble in fear. Weir… we need him.”

Laris stated while turning to face the silver-scaled beast seated on the throne.

“He is just one beast. It will not make a difference in the coming war.”

Weir responded, but his eyes remained fixed on the misty screen.

“Do you truly believe that?”

Laris asked softly.

“No…”

Weir let out a sigh, as he stood up from the throne and began walking to the large balcony on the side of the room.

“Where are you going?”

Laris curiously inquired with a frown on her face.

“To greet him.”

Weir smiled, as his body suddenly morphed and grew into a colossal silver dragon.

A savage roar echoed within the palace, as the twenty-five-foot beast flapped its enormous wings and flew into the sky.

Immediately after Weir left, Laris hurriedly yelled into a crystal and sprinted out of the throne room.

Hearing the mighty roar within the palace, the servants all stopped what they were doing and rushed out into the open. Glancing at the massive shadow gliding through the sky, the beasts below felt their chests swell with pride when they saw the splendor of their ruler.

“The Dragon King…”

………………………

“Stupid rain!”

The sound of an irritated elderly woman resounded on top of the Arena’s building, as a small figure sat at the edge of the structure.

Lazily dangling her legs on top of the building, the old raccoon cursed at the dark sky for making her wet.

“Tch, even my fluffy tail got wet because of this stupid rain!”

The tiny beast spat out, as her claws rhythmically tapped against the stony building.

*CRACK*

A violent burst of lightning came crashing down at the exact location where the grey raccoon sat. Without pausing a beat, the tiny beast lazily raised one of its claws and absorbed the entire bolt of lightning without uttering a single sound.

Nonchalantly dropping her claw, the old raccoon let out a wild cackling laugh.

“Bahaha, to think he even had the ability to call forth lightning from the heavens! A human who disguises himself as a beast, or a beast that disguises himself as a human? Gahaha, I like him!”

The old raccoon giggled, as she leapt off the edge with a burst of lightning under her feet.

Sensing something approach from far away, the tiny beast tilted her furry head to the side.

“Geh, so he’s coming as well.”

Sparks flew under old raccoon, as she madly cackled under the pouring rain while the sound of thunder resounded in the Arena.