The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (7 page)

*thud*

A lifeless corpse slowly toppled onto the ground.

“This is the third one so far.”

Calron sighed as he grabbed the dead black alligator’s tail with one hand, and effortlessly flung its body over his shoulder.

“I think we should reach our destination within a few hours, kid.”

The Voice said cheerfully while materializing behind Calron.

For the past several days, both Calron and his Teacher had been journeying deeper and deeper into the inner range of the Desolate Mountains in order to locate the thunderstorm that Calron had seen through the Divine Perception.

The dark clouds were constantly on the move, so to catch up to them, Calron had been using the Blood Mist Step continuously throughout the journey. Fortunately, the thunderclouds travelled at a slow pace, so after a few days, Calron had almost caught up to them.

However, the deeper he went into the Desolate Mountains, the more frequently he encountered hostile beasts. So far he had not yet come into conflict with a beast in the Vajra stage, but seeing that the beasts he had recently encountered for the past few hours were all at the peak of the Spiritual stage, it seemed as if meeting a Vajra stage beast would only be a matter of time.

After months of restrictions placed on his essence and the Blood Legacy by his Teacher, Calron finally reveled in the feeling of the source energy coursing through his veins once again.

“Teacher, what do we do once we reach the location of the thunderstorm?”

Calron asked curiously while racing ahead using the Blood Mist Step.

“We’ll need to be careful when we reach there, kid. There will be many lightning attributed beasts there, and most will be either at the peak of the Spiritual stage or even at the Vajra stage. Just like you, some will be attempting to break through to the next rank, so do well to stay clear from them.”

The Voice calmly explained.

“I’m worried about absorbing a bolt of lightning, Teacher. Do you really think I will be able to safely ingest it?”

Calron conveyed his doubts to the Voice.

Although the mention of the beasts in the Vajra stage made Calron a bit nervous, the bolts of lightning were what really scared Calron. In the worst-case scenario, Calron could always run away from a Vajra stage beast, but there was no running away from a bolt of lightning.

Either Calron survived the strike, or he would never wake up again.

“Hmm, you’ll do fine, kid. Don’t worry about it and just concentrate on reaching that place.”

The Voice reassured its student and turned to secretly ponder within its own thoughts.

Unknown to the student-teacher pair, several yards away from them, a green bush slightly shook while traces of faint movements could be detected behind it.

…………………..

“Chief! Chief! A human just entered our territory!”

A brown bear yelled excitedly as he charged into a massive cave.

The young bear had a light brown coat of thick fur and bright intelligent eyes. It was not overly bulky like the common bears of the wild, but it was clear that it was a magical beast with an attributed element. With his sharp metallic claws raking against the ground, the young bear sped ahead.

However, just as the young brown bear was about to dart past into the cave, several larger bears quickly rushed to intercept him.

“Quiet down, you little punk! Chief is taking his afternoon nap right now.”

The largest bear of the group angrily opened its maw wide as it scolded the young beast.

The large bear was an impressive specimen of the bear race, with thick cords of muscle coiled around his body; the large black bear was unlike any other common bear.

The remaining bears had all various sizes and colors, but none could compare to the aura emitted by the black bear.

“Lort! I’m not lying, a human actually entered our mountain. I just saw him kill one of the alligator pests a mile out from our border!”

The young brown bear suddenly halted and frantically replied back. Without stopping to hear the response, the young bear then continued to wallop through into the cave.

“This brat better not be lying. Chief gets mad whenever someone disturbs his sleep. Follow me!”

Lort strictly commanded the other bears as he let out an irritated growl, and followed behind the young brown bear.

Deep within the cave, an enormous shadow ominously loomed in the back as a savage aura spiraled above it.

Hearing the clinking of several claws against the stony floor, the massive shadow abruptly flashed open its eyes.

“What is it?”

A deep grating voice echoed out within the darkness, and a pair of bright green eyes intensely glowed while the new figures gradually approached the shadow.

“Chief!”

The sleuth of bears all passionately exclaimed as they bowed their heads down.

“I thought I said not to disturb me, Lort.”

The Chief’s words coldly rumbled as he glared at the large black bear.

“It was my fault, Chief. I barged in, and Lort was only trying to stop me.”

The young brown bear guiltily confessed while shooting an apologetic glance at Lort.

“Enough! Karn, why did you come here? Your were put on station to guard the border of our territory.”

The enormous figure slowly grated out his words.

“I was there, Chief. But then I saw a human enter into our territory!”

The young bear quickly stated with a trace of excitement hidden within his voice.

“Humans… it’s been awhile since the last of them entered this deep into the Desolate Mountains… ”

The colossal shadow whispered to himself while slowly rising up from the ground.

Akin to a small mountain, the gigantic figure calmly stepped out from the shadows, to reveal an enormous red bear with long ivory fangs.

Continuing to prowl past the gathered bears, the Chief slowly turned his head as he gazed at them from the corner of his eye.

“What are you waiting for? Come, it is time to hunt!”

……………………..

—After several hours—

“Teacher… ”

Calron silently whispered as he dumbfoundedly gazed at the scene in front of him.

*Rumble*     *Rumble*

Flashes of lightning from above came crashing down to the ground with a ferocious intensity. The dark thunderclouds stretched for countless miles as they emitted an aura of violence and death.

The booming sound of thunder echoed within Calron’s ears and shook his very soul.

“Haha, we’re finally here!”

The Voice loudly exclaimed.

*CRACK*

A large tree instantly split open right in the center and crashed onto the ground with its bark charred black.

Thick bolts of lightning continued to viciously attack the earth as they burned and destroyed everything in its path.

The sky was dark and ominous, with the grey-black clouds looming above and suffocating the very air around it. The rumbling sound of thunder echoed out within the vast, forsaken land while flashes of lightning burst through the dark sky.

Standing on top of a cliff was a bare-chested youth who wore a loincloth made of fur.

Gazing at the violent scenery in front of him, Calron turned to his Teacher, who had materialized next to him, and conveyed his nervousness through their shared mind.

“Sigh… this is it, Calron. There will be no going back once you step into the thunderstorm in front of you. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to protect you, so everything will be on your shoulders. Are you ready?”

The Voice questioned its student in a serious tone.

It knew that once they entered the vicinity of the thunderstorm, it would be all up to Calron to remain alive. Unbeknownst to Calron, there was still a piece of information that the Voice had not yet revealed to him.

“I want to confidently say that I’m ready, but I still feel afraid, Teacher… ”

Calron quietly muttered as his heart loudly pounded against his chest.

“Haha, it’s fine to feel afraid, but will you let it stop you from fulfilling your desires?”

The Voice inquired as it glided in front of its student, coming face to face with Calron.

Staring into the dark abyss of his Teacher’s smoky eyes, Calron mustered up the will to overcome his fear.

“If I die, then you’ll have to tell the little jaguar cub about me.”

Calron joked, as he attempted to lighten the mood.

He had no choice but to step forward. Without even advancing to the Vajra stage, how could be hope to avenge his family and stop running away from powerful people?

Raising his head towards the dark and gloomy sky, a slight smile escaped from Calron’s face.

“Let’s see how your lightning compares to mine!”

Calron yelled out to the heavens, as he suddenly charged down the cliff while simultaneously activating the Blood Mist Step.

His control over the Blood Mist Step had reached a point where he was able to freely burst his entire body into a crimson mist and instantly reappear several yards away.

Racing down the vertical cliff, Calron’s hair fluttered in the wind as his eyes shone with excitement.

His heart still thumped against his chest with fear, but a sense of thrill and adrenaline slowly overtook his mind.

“That’s the spirit!”

The Voice laughingly shouted in the wind as it rapidly trailed behind Calron.

*CRACK*

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the ground a few inches away from the speeding Calron.

Without stopping, Calron quickly turned his body into the crimson mist as his instincts kicked in. Reappearing a few feet ahead, Calron glanced back to see the aftermath of the lightning strike in the place he was just a second ago.

“This is going to be fun… ”

Calron breathlessly whispered to himself as he triggered the Divine Perception and continued to dart around the land, as his eyes started glowing an unnatural grey.

Detecting the lightning essence in the air, Calron tried to predict where the next bolt would strike and dodge before it collided against him.

“Hey kid, the whole purpose of coming here was for you to absorb the lightning, so why are you dodging them?”

The Voice inquired in an amused tone.

“Huh? Wait, you still haven’t told me how to activate the third stage of the thunder-bird technique!”

Calron heatedly bellowed out while continuing to evade the bolts of lightning around him.

“It’s easy… just reawaken your beast bloodline!”

The Voice nonchalantly replied while quickly rushing back into its student’s body.

The Voice had been anxious about how Calron would react when it revealed that, in order to use the third stage, he would have to forcefully awaken his beast heritage, which would momentarily allow him to have the body of a beast.

Unknown to Calron, the Thunder-Bird technique was created for young beasts of the bird family to completely awaken their bloodline and inherit the memories of their ancestors.

Any human or beast could practice the first two stages of this technique, but someone with a beast bloodline could only master the final stage.

“Please tell me you’re joking… Teacher!”

Calron furiously shouted out into the air, while also mentally nudging the Voice inside his mind.

His Teacher remained silent.

…………………

“Chief, what is that human doing?”

One of the bears in the back quietly asked the massive red bear in the front of the group.

“Something is strange about this human… He seems… familiar?”

The red bear mused to itself while continuing to observe the spectacle in front of it.

“Hey, what is the chief talking about?”

A skinny grey bear whispered into the ear of its friend.

“I don’t know, maybe he is still dreaming. I knew we should not have woken him up. Chief already has frequent mood swings, who knows what he’ll tell us to do next.”

The other bear quietly whispered back while scratching its ear.

“I will pound that little Karn into a pulp when we return back to the cave! I could be taking my own nap right now… ”

The grey bear bitterly sighed.

“Shut up, you bunch of idiots! Can’t you see that the Chief is thinking of a master plan to kill that human? Don’t disturb him!”

Lort angrily shushed down the others, and then turned to look at the red bear with an admiring gaze.

The Chief had one day found him alone in the distant mountain, and he had taken him under his guidance and taught his own cultivation secrets to him.

The Chief was a variant beast within the bear species known as the Molten Fanged Bear. This name was due to their unique ivory fangs situated in their upper jaw and their inherent ability to turn their fire essence into molten lava.

The Chief was actually a beast within the Vajra stage and the undisputed ruler of this mountain!

I should have slept for a bit more… my skin is starting get drier these days… maybe I should tell Van to get me some of those herbs from the next mountain. I hear they do wonders for fur…

The Chief absentmindedly pondered with an outward serious expression on his face.

“Chief is so amazing!”

The young brown bear zealously stated with his eyes twinkling.

“Tch, brat, you only realize that now? I knew Chief was amazing from the very first day I met him!”

Lort interjected with an equally as passionate gaze at the red bear.

“Oi… those two are creeping me out…”

The remaining bears whispered amongst themselves while shooting nervous glances at the two bears in front.

“I heard that!”

Lort annoyingly growled back as he attempted to snap his jaws at the nearest bear.

“Quiet! The human has stopped moving!”

Chief interrupted his subordinates while coming out of his daze, and eagerly watched the scene with the mysterious human unfold.

…………………….

“Shit! Teacher, come back here!”

Calron irritatedly shouted as he stopped moving and mentally tried to nudge the Voice.

No matter what he tried, his Teacher refused to answer him.

“How am I supposed to reawaken my beast bloodline? This is ridiculous!”

Calron’s grey eyes blazed with annoyance as he racked his brains to discover the method to bring forth his beast heritage.

“It has to have something to do with the Thunder-Bird technique and the physical training that I did for months. Teacher would not leave me out here without leaving me any clues.”

Calron muttered to himself while he flashed through his memories.

Although the Voice was annoying in its habits, it must have had a reason for keeping silent during Calron’s current ordeal.

“I can’t figure it out… ”

Calron stated with a blank face as he realized that he had no idea how to activate the third stage of the Thunder-Bird technique.

*CRACK*

Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning came crashing down towards Calron’s location!

There was no time to dodge.

Tilting his head up, Calron’s grey eyes widened with alarm as the bolt of lightning slowly approached him.

Time stopped.

*thump*

*thump*   *thump*

Seconds felt minutes, and minutes felt like hours, as the sensation of an inevitable death loomed over Calron’s mind.

His face glowed with an eerie glow as the tip of the lightning was only an inch away from his face.

Calron’s heart stopped.

“ARRRGGGHHH!”

A gut-wrenching cry resounded within the empty land.