《The Strongest Beast Tamer》 1 Failed Awakening * A baby''s cry could be heard echoing throughout the hospital room. A large bulky man could be seen standing next to the hospital bed where a woman lay breathing heavily. The man''s hands slightly quivering, his eyes stay focused on the woman. The door burst open and a doctor along with 2 nurses came through. The man jumped at the entrance and rushed towards the doctor. "Doctor, is she going to be alright?" The man asked in a rush, his voice visibly scared as it changed between tones. "Of course, she is just going to need plenty of rest" The Doctor kindly responded. Before the man could ask anything else a nurse came walking over to the women, in her arms she was holding a small baby. The nurse gently placed the baby in the mother''s arms, it stared at its mother with open eyes of curiosity. "It''s a boy" The doctor stated before walking to the side, he looked towards the man and nodded. The man rushed over to the bedside of the woman, he stared at the baby and the baby stared back. It reached out its small hands, the man made their hands meet halfway. He smiled at how small the hands were. But what the couple didn''t know was that the baby wasn''t staring at them, but rather something that appeared in front of them. And when he reached out his hand it was an attempt to grab whatever it was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Awakening Analysis Eyes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The baby felt his eyes heat up before they began to burn. The baby started screaming and squirming within the mother''s arms. Both the mother and father began to panic, the man stared towards the doctor with desperate eyes. The Doctor quickly panicked before going to pick the baby up, he was visibly shaken, it was the first time he had ever experience something like this. Just as he was beginning to reach the baby stopped screaming, it was still slightly squirming but not as intense as before. However, in front of the baby''s eyes, a different screen appeared. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Error: Awakening Failed Impurities detected within the bloodline, body too weak to awaken eyes, sealing eyes until the body is strong enough ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After the baby stopped screaming he gradually fell asleep. The couple began to question the doctor whether something was wrong with their baby, they were terrified and concerned about their child''s health. They needed to know if something was wrong. The Doctor did a quick examination before concluding that there shouldn''t be anything wrong with the baby, but suggest they take the baby to a much higher quality hospital then the one they''re currently in. The couple agreed before telling the doctor the baby''s names. "Lachlan, my baby will be called Lachlan," The mother said. After a couple more checkups to guarantee the child''s safety. The mother was able to leave the next day in the afternoon, getting picked up by her husband. They drove for a small period of time before they parked inside a garage. Outside the house was a large eucalyptus tree, the trunk as thick as 3 grown men wrapping their arms around it. When the husband opened the door two small boys came rushing out, their eyes filled with curiosity and wonder when they saw the baby, their little brother, in their mother''s arms. ''What''s his name? What''s his name," The boys asked enthusiastically, jumping on the spot as they tried to get a better view. "His name is Lachlan, make sure you take good care of him," The mother said with a calm and loving voice. Her eyes filled with hope as she looked towards her children, hope they would become happy in the future. 2 Proper Awakening * It was the summer season for Australia, the sun scorching the barren lands of central Australia. There in the outskirts of Alice Springs, Lachlan could be seen staring intently at a small scorpion. The boy had luscious long black hair, light brown skin and vibrant green eyes. "Ah!" Lachlan screamed before tumbling backwards. He slowly got back up to double check what he just saw. Going back to the scorpion and staring at it again a small screen appeared in front of the boy. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Desert Scorpion Age: Adult Physical Strengths: Strong pincers and Extremely fast and precise attacks Physical Weakness: Size and movement speed Species Characteristics: Dangerous poison stored within the tail Potential: 4th Grade Potential Current Condition: Healthy -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan couldn''t believe what he was seeing and had a shocked expression plastered across his face. Although he couldn''t understand what some of the information told him due to his young age, he knew it was all the information on the scorpion. "Lachlan! Get back here and stop messing around with the wildlife" A middle-aged women yelled. She had blonde hair the goes just below her shoulders, white skin and deep blue eyes. She strolled over to Lachlan, picked him up and walked towards a nearby house. However, Lachlan was staring at a new screen in front of him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Chloe Wilson (Human) Age: 32 (Adult) Species Characteristics: Extremely Intelligent Potential: 8th Grade Potential Current Condition: Unhealthy, advised getting more rest and regular exercise -------------------------------------------------------- Walking through the door they stepped into a spacious room. There were a large television, a couch and a few chairs beside it. Two older boys could be seen sitting on the couch staring at the tv playing a video game. "Waahh" A baby''s cry sounded out. "Sigh, Adam and Jack you two look after Lachlan while I take care of Sarah, okay?" Chloe questioned. The two boys nodded their heads without taking their eyes off the screen. Taking that as a yes, she placed Lachlan in front of them before strolling towards the baby''s room. Jack stood up, he was roughly 5''4 with short black hair "Hey, little Lachy come see what Jack and I caught," Adam said. Before he could even respond Jack picked him and carried him towards their room. When they got to the room there was a large glass enclosure with a large lizard inside. However, Lachlan was busy staring at two screens. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jack Wilson (Human) Age: 12 (Teenager) Species Characteristics: Extremely Intelligent Potential: 8th Grade Potential Current Condition: Healthy -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Adam Wilson (Human) Age: 10 (Young Teenager) Species Characteristics: Extremely Intelligent Potential: 8th Grade Potential Current Condition: Perfect -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was beginning to get annoyed by the constant barrage of screens when a new screen popped up. -------------------------------------------------------- Change automatic analysis to manual command? YesNo -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was shocked by the new discovery but also ecstatic. He wasn''t sure how to click yes though, he attempted to touch it only to have his hand slip right through it. Thinking of something new he muttered yes beneath his breath. -------------------------------------------------------- Confirmed, please create a code word for the information screens -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was excited that his theory was correct. He was quickly trying to think of a code word but couldn''t think of any good enough. So, he gave up and just went with something generic. "Analyse" Lachlan muttered. -------------------------------------------------------- Confirmed -------------------------------------------------------- While this was going on his two brothers were staring and laughing at Lachlan, then staring at each other before laughing again. Snapping out of his own little world Lachlan was extremely embarrassed and his face turned a bit red/pink. "Lachlan you looked like an idiot, what were you doing?" Jack questioned him. Lachlan had no way to respond, he could only shrug his shoulders. When he did Jack didn''t bother to ask anymore, most likely just brushed it off as some weird acting. "Anyway, Lachlan you should come over here and look at the Bearded Dragon we caught," Jack said before walking over to the glass enclosure and staring through. Lachlan walked up to look through as well, in front of him was a Bearded Dragon, roughly 50cm long. "Analyse" Lachlan whispered, managing to not get heard by his brothers. He began to read to information screen for the lizard. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bearded Dragon (Lizard) Age: Adult Physical Strengths: Strong bite force and a moderately large body Physical Weakness: Movement speed Species Characteristics: Low-Grade poison stored within the glands Potential: 5th Grade Potential Current Condition: Healthy -------------------------------------------------------- When he finished reading the screen disappeared. He then resumed having small chats with his brothers before walking towards the baby''s room where his mother was. Walking in he noticed the small baby help within Chloe''s arms, fast asleep. "What''s wrong Lachlan, didn''t like talking with your brothers? Want to hold Sarah?" She questions. "No thanks, just wanted to say good night I''m going to bed now" Lachlan responded. "Okay, make sure to have a shower first," she said. Lachlan nodded then headed towards the bathroom. When in the bathroom he stared at his reflection in the mirror. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 8 (Child) Species Characteristics: Extremely Intelligent Potential: ??? Grade Potential Current Condition: Perfect -------------------------------------------------------- 3 Shocking News * It''s been 1 year since the proper awakening and Lachlan couldn''t get his information screen out of his mind. A shocking truth revealed that he was only half human and he had no clue as to what the other half could be. He has constantly hinted to it while talking to his mum, even straight out asked her, she always responded with the same reply. "You''re Lachlan, the son of Darius and I," Chloe said. He never believed it, Darius is the Father of everyone else but me. Adam, Jack, and Sarah are all full human but I''m only half. Lachlan stopped asking as she seemed to have no idea what he was talking about and was growing concerned as to why I kept asking. Throughout the year Lachlan discovered more features about his eyes. One of his discoveries is that he can even see information screens for animals seen through a screen such as a tv or a computer. He laughed at the idea that it could work through visual screens but attempted anyway. It was an animal documentary on Sperm Whales. The information screen that appeared was frightening, to say the least. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sperm Whale Age: Elder Physical Strengths: Extremely strong muscles, enormous size and fast movement within the water Physical Weakness: Unable to live on land and extremely restricted movement out of the water Species Characteristics: Enormous body that''s able to withstand dangerous water pressure with the ability to hold its breath for 90 minutes on average Potential: 2nd Grade Potential Current Condition: Healthy (Old) -------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Grand Potential was the highest Lachlan had seen. However, after that discovery, he decided to research as many animals as he can on the internet. Through this, he discovered a few other 2nd Grade Potential, some of the animals that reached this level were Orcus, Silverback Gorillas and Barbary Lions. Although Lachlan tried, he could never find an animal beyond 2nd Grade Potential. Another Discovery was the storage setting. Sitting down Lachlan mumbled something beneath his breath. "Storage, animals, land, carnivore" Lachlan said. -------------------------------------------------------- Storage: >Animal: >>Land: >>>Carnivore: ? Lions ? Tigers ? Wolfs ? Hyenas ? Jaguars ? More> -------------------------------------------------------- "Lions, Barbary Lion, Adult" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Barbary Lion Age: Adult Physical Strengths: Extremely strong biting strength, large size and fast movement on land Physical Weakness: Low ¨C moderate stamina Species Characteristics: None Potential: 2nd Grade Potential Current Condition: Healthy -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was thrilled when he discovered this function. He also made the connection that the current condition meant the time when the animal was filmed or photographed, as the Barbary Lion he saw was from a photograph that was taken years ago and is most likely dead by now. He felt someone suddenly grab his shoulders, looking behind he saw his mother, Chloe. "What are you doing Lachlan? staring at thin air and mumbling to yourself," Chloe asked. "Nothing really, just thinking" Lachlan replied. "Okay, get properly dressed, in one hour we''ll be going to see your grandparents," Chloe said. Lachlan nodded before walking to his bedroom to change. After getting dressed he walked out and sat on the couch, Chloe was sitting there as well watching the news. There wasn''t really anything new or different, a couple of drunks fought, and the weather is still unbearable. "Breaking news, not long ago the President of America has announced a frightening statement," Said the news reporter. A clip appeared on the tv, there were the president and a bunch of other important figures within the government. "Today, I''m here to address the world, 8 months ago it was discovered that a large celestial body three times larger than Earth is coming towards us. There is no stopping it, there is no destroying it. In 15 days that celestial body will reach Earth and destroy it. However, do not fear, although the destruction of Earth is imminent, the end of humanity is yet to come. Our scientists have worked for many days in creating our hope, and many months ago did it. We called it the Ark, it can hold up to 1245 people, we have created 30 of these Arks to save a total of 37350 carefully selected individuals. These individuals were selected for their intelligence, personality, and physical condition. In 10 days we are going to launch our first Ark and after that many will follow. In this time of darkness, I hope that people will not turn to violence and create chaos, but rather remain calm and cheer on the chosen. See you on the other side" It was shocking the say the least, even news channels didn''t know how to respond to this new information. Lachlan didn''t know why, but he felt genuine fear for the first time in his life, a deep primitive fear coming from the very core of his being that''s been long sealed away. Lachlan could stop it, he began to cry, he quickly grabbed his Mother, holding on her arm tightly he continued to cry in her embrace. But Lachlan wasn''t the only one crying while embracing her son Chloe was crying, she felt fear not only for herself but fear for her children. "Mum, are we going to die?" Lachlan asked. Chloe didn''t know how to respond, she only brought Lachlan closer to her and continued to hug him. ... After that announcement panic quickly spread across the world, people began to create chaos, attacking people and stealing anything just for fun. After all, the worlds going to end and they''re all going with it. The least they can do is spend the last few days doing actions that they''ve always wanted to do at least once in their life. 4 Big Accident, New Discovery * It was the day of the first launch, chaos was still engulfing the world. Lachlan and his family were watching the news to see the launch. Outside the window, the planet coming to destroy them was already visible. It is a giant red planet, like Mars but many times larger. The launch was about the begin, everyone was quiet and staring at the tv. On the screen was an enormous rocket with large letters across it spelling ARK. This ark will be the one that will preserve humanity. The countdown was starting, everything was set to go and clear. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1, lift off" The Ark began its takeoff, smoke engulfing the surrounding area. It began to lift off and soar through the air, everything was going smoothly. ''Boom'' ... In an extremely large room, there would a few dozen scientists in front of computers. Everything was being confirmed before launch. The tension was incredibly high in this room, there had to absolutely no errors as the fate of humanity lay upon this operation. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1, lift off" The thrusters were good, no problems, the weather was clear, and the wind was safe. Everything seemed to be perfect. Until errors started to fill the computer screens, the scientists were panicking before they could even do anything the Ark exploded, a fiery cloud lit up the skies. A man with a large figure that seemed to be in control of the room frowned, "What happened?" One of the scientist closest to the man stood up, "Sir, it seems that the thrusters were unable to lift the Ark out of the atmosphere in time and overheated, causing the explosion." "WHY!" The man was angry, lines formed on his forehead as he clenched his hands so tight his nails began to split the skin. The scientists in the room didn''t know how to respond, they had already double, no triple checked everything, and nothing was abnormal. "Gravity" No one was sure who said it but every scientist started scrambling to their computers to see if there had been any changes with the Earth''s gravity. Aside from the sounds of typing keyboards, everyone was deadly silent. A scientist stood up and broke the silence, "Sir, the Earth''s gravity has doubled" "What, how is that possible, I need an explanation now!" The man shouted. ¡­ The Ark''s destruction was the final snapping point for many individuals, as it meant even the government didn''t have the ability to preserve humanity. The police and army gave up protecting anything aside from their family, leaving the chaos within the streets to intensify. ¡­ Lachlan''s mother sealed up the house with wooden boards, there''s no telling what type of people will come to their house and they certainly don''t want to find out. Everyone continued to watch the news, something to help them stay sane and connected with the rest of the world. Jack stood up and went to go peek through the wooden boards, the rest of the family followed. Through the wooden planks appeared a very quiet world, isolated from disturbances. It did make sense, they were on the outskirts of a large town. It was currently summer as well, the sun was scorching the ground and making it unbearable to even walk on. Adam looked towards Chloe, "Mon, is it safe to go outside?" he questioned. "I''m not sure, it looks safe but that''s all there is to it, looks" Chloe replied slowly walking back to the couch to continue watching the news. Jack came over the Adam and patted his shoulder, "Come on Adam, there''s no need to go outside. We have food and water that''ll last us the five days easily" he said. Jack strolled over to sit next to Chloe and continued to watch the news. Adam and Lachlan joined not long after. There wasn''t much happening on the news, countries with large populations were struggling to keep it under control, China and India were really struggling. Crime and Chaos continued to spread the intensify across the globe. It had been a few hours, they stopped watching the news and instead switched to Netflix to watch movies. Lachlan was beginning to get bored, he stood up and walked to his bedroom. He laid in bed and got his iPhone before turning it on and going on YouTube, watching different parts of the world go into chaos. As he continued to watch video after video, he came across one video in particular, that stood out among the rest, titled: Planets are organisms too. He laughed at the idea before letting his curiosity get to him and clicking on the video, it was a fairly normal video and had decent arguments. But that''s when Lachlan got the idea to try it out. Looking outside, Lachlan stared at the dirt, "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Earth (Celestial Body) Age: Old Species Characteristics: Able to support life Potential: 1st Grade Potential Current Condition: Undergoing Evolution -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan didn''t know what to do with this new information, it was like a truck just rammed into him with the screens confirmation of the theory, he started at the potential for a while before continuing to read the rest. He felt his body shiver when he saw the current condition, as it could only mean one thing. Something was forcing the planet to evolve, Lachlan didn''t have to think too hard before looking towards the large planet above. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Celestial Evolution Stone Species Characteristics: 1) Able to force celestial bodies it goes past into a slight evolution, the longer it takes to go past the more the planet evolves. 2)Able to force celestial bodies it collides with into a full evolution, all life and the planet itself will undergo a massive evolve -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan stared directly at the large incoming planet, "Shit". 5 Evolution * Lachlan woke up and analysed the worlds again, he couldn''t stop thinking about it throughout the morning. He was also terrified of what''s to come from this evolution and whether humanity can stay at the top. He realised that his eyes were more unique than he thought, he had the ability to scan entire planets, learn the weaknesses and strengths of animals, and what their potential is. Lachlan didn''t know what the potential part in information screens really meant, he just thought that animals with higher potential were stronger than the rest, which they are. But in reality, they might be the determining factor of how they evolve. Humans having 8th Grade Potential probably meant they weren''t on the good side for this planetary evolution, and are possibly going to suffer tremendously. ... A few days went by and chaos slowly died down, people were beginning to accept fate, others still looking for one last bit of hope turned to religion. Lachlan didn''t mention his eyes to any of his family members, or more specifically the new discovery. Afterall it''ll be hard to believe something was special about his eyes without actually being in his body. ... It was the final day, that evolution stone was just about to collide with Earth and force a new era upon them. Lachlan was terrified, to have his whole world literally flipped upside-down. Lachlan and his family long since left the house and drove to a higher viewpoint to see the collision, if they''re going to die, they may as well see how. On top the hill everyone was sitting on the ground, Chloe was holding Sarah within her arms slightly tearing up and apologising for giving birth to her in this doomed world. Jack was holding onto the Bearded Dragon, feeding it some insects. The Government had set a timer on all electronic devices counting down to the collision, there was one more minute until the collision, the evolution stone was just about to touch the planet. Lachlan stared up at the stone, it was enormous. He looked at the timer, 30 seconds to go. The stone began to split the clouds, tearing through the air as it hurtles towards Earth''s surface. The final countdown has begun. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" There was no loud explosion, no ruptured ground, no Earth. All around Lachlan was bright white light. A booming voice sounded out, [Starting Evolution] "Huh. Who''s there!" Lachlan shouted out but received no response. [Detecting Unknow Bloodline] [Analysing] [Analysis Complete] [Force Evolution] Lachlan quickly grabbed onto his head, his eyes began to burn, screaming in pain he was spinning around in this unknown space. Not long after the burning, his eyes began to feel like they were getting stabbed by thousands of sewing needles. Lachlan felt as if he has been in pain for days, maybe even weeks. He''s curled into a small ball, waiting for the time the pain finally fades away. [Evolution Complete] Lachlan felt relief overwhelm his entire body, he became so relaxed before trying to open his eyes. Noticing he was back of Earth he quickly looked towards his family members and saw that they were all okay, but when he saw Jack he froze. In front of Jack was a 7-foot long lizard, its body was light brown, teeth that looked like iron and had sharp spikes around its head and down the spine of the body. Lachlan had to know what he was dealing with and stared at the lizard, "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Giant Iron-Spiked Lizard Age: Adult Attribute: Iron/Rock Level: 1 STR: 25,AGI: 15,VIT: 25 INT: 5,PER: 10,WIL: 6 Weakness: Blunt force to the head Strengths: Strong skin, teeth, and claws. -------------------------------------------------------- 6 Taming * Everyone was frozen in place, staring at the gigantic lizard in front of them. The gigantic lizard staring back at the family with its large black pupils. The lizard creeps forward slightly, to the point where its nose was touching Jack''s head. It opened its mouth and its tongue came out quickly, licking Jack. Chloe almost screamed, but before she could get up the lizard was already brushing its head against Jack, similar to a dog or cat rubbing against its owner. "Aww, so you still remember me even after your transformation," Jack said, petting the lizards head, and then wrapping his arms around it. After a few seconds, Jack let go of the lizard''s head and stared at the lizard''s eyes, "You want to join me?" he questioned. The lizard nodded. A bright light completely engulfed the two for a few seconds before dispersing, Jack was on the ground screaming in pain holding his left arm, on it was a tattoo of what seemed to be the lizard. Chloe was the first to get up and rush towards him, seeing him in so much pain she didn''t know what to do. She grabbed hold of him and bear-hugged him, trying to comfort him. Eventually, Jack stopped screaming, but now he was staring at his left arm. Wanting to see if anything was wrong with him Lachlan analysed him. "analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jack Wilson (Human) Age: 13 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Reptiles (High) Level: 3 STR: 12(+6), AGI: 12(+3), VIT: 10(+7) INT: 11(+1), PER: 13(+1), WIL: 12(1) Weakness: Illusions Strengths: Strong skin, teeth, and claws. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was shocked to see that even the information screen for humans have changed, but more so seeing that Jack seemed to have used up one of the soul contracts and inherited the traits of the lizard. Just to make sure of something he quickly analysed the rest of his family, "analyse, analyse, analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Chloe Wilson (Human) Age: 33 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Wolfs (High), Dogs (Moderate) Level: 1 STR: 14, AGI: 10, VIT: 8 INT: 13, PER: 10, WIL: 15 Weakness: None Strengths: None. -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Adam Wilson (Human) Age: 11 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Arachnids (High), Insects (Low) Level: 1 STR: 11, AGI: 10, VIT: 10 INT: 10, PER: 11, WIL: 12 Weakness: Illusions Strengths: None. -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sarah Wilson (Human) Age: 3 (Infant) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Amphibians Level: 1 STR: 4, AGI: 4, VIT: 6 INT: 2, PER: 1, WIL: 1 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. -------------------------------------------------------- Although confused, Lachlan could at least figure out what STR, AGI, and INT do. However, he couldn''t determine what VIT, PER, and WIL affect. Thinking of something, Lachlan quickly wanted to try it out, "Analyse, VIT, PER, and WIL" -------------------------------------------------------- VIT: Vitality affects the amount of health a person has as well as that individual''s regenerative abilities, reaching a high level of Vitality will result in ultra-fast regeneration. Naturally Decrease: If a person is physically injured. Naturally Increase: Unable to increase unless the individual hasn''t reached teens -------------------------------------------------------- PER: Perception affects all five senses, should it reach a high enough level it will enable the sixth sense. Naturally Decrease: If a person does not train their five senses (Very difficult to do) Naturally Increase: Constantly training the five senses (Very easy to do) -------------------------------------------------------- WIL: Willpower affects psychological defence, reaching a high enough level will give complete immunity to psychological attacks (Soul Attacks). Naturally Decrease: Not experiencing psychological attacks Naturally Increase: Constantly experiencing psychological attacks or difficult situations -------------------------------------------------------- Chloe couldn''t help but ask Jack, "Are you all right? Do you feel any different?" "I-I don''t know, I feel all right, but I certainly feel different, I feel stronger and tougher" Jack responded with before standing up. After standing up and quickly checking the surroundings he couldn''t hide his shocked expression, neither could the rest of the family after looking at the surroundings. Alice Springs seemed to have distanced itself, the trees and bushes surrounding them have grown extremely large, the tallest tree they could see reaching an estimate of 70 metres. *Screech* A massive shadow went past, looking up an enormous bird could be seen flying overhead. Having a wingspan of 30 metres. *Screech* Not long after the first large bird appeared, a second one did. Lachlan, shocked by their abrupt and terrifying appearance froze before stepping out of it when his mum yelled at him to get into the car. Staring at the massive birds Lachlan muttered under his breath, "analyse, analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Roc Age: Adult Attribute: Wind/Rock Level: 2 STR: 39(+2), AGI: 41(+1),VIT: 35(+5) INT: 15(+2), PER: 23(+1),WIL: 21(+2) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Extreme speeds and strong grip -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Roc Age: Adult Attribute: Wind/Rock Level: 3 STR: 35(+5),AGI: 35(+2),VIT: 35(+1) INT: 10(+3),PER: 20(+2),WIL: 20(+5) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Extreme speeds and strong grip -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was shocked by the stats and still having that childish behaviour within him, he really wanted to tame those Rocs. But he was also terrified to go anywhere near them, one of them could probably tear him in half before he even realises it. *Screech* *Screech* The birds seemed to be talking or rather arguing mid-air. Just as Lachlan and the rest of the family got in the car the birds quickly attach each other, possibly fighting over territory. The stronger bird, noticing it has a slight advantage quickly gets a hold of the opponent''s wings causing it to screech in pain. After grabbing hold of its wings, the bird using its large beak it quickly began to jab its opponent''s neck causing blood to go everywhere. Noticing the carnage Chloe quickly took hold of Lachlan and Sarah, trying to hide it all. The weakened Roc quickly fell to the ground, crushing a house beneath it. Struggling to breathe the Roc lost all hope of winning, but its pride wouldn''t let it give up. Standing up the Roc looked miserable, blood dripping off its feathers onto the ground, the wounds slowly healing. 7 Darius * Staring at each other the Rocs seemed to come to a mutual agreement, the next move will determine who dies. Taking advantage of its height, the stronger Roc began descending at insane speeds, quickly breaking the sound barrier creating at large shock to echo throughout Alice Springs. The weaker Roc noticing what was about to happen attempted to move, only slightly dodging the attack, barely preventing it from hitting any vital points but instead crushing it''s left wing. The stronger Roc was shocked after hitting the ground at such speeds and recoiled its head. Noticing this weakness, the weaker Roc quickly began to Jab its neck stunning it more, before jumping up slightly to grab its wings. Once it had gotten hold of the wings it began ripping them, blood and feathers spread around them. The stronger Roc screeched in pain, quickly turning its head around it bit the other''s throat, ripping a small bit of it quickly bit, again and again, trying to rip its throat apart. Weakened and almost dead and Roc fell down, taking advantage of that the other Roc got on top of it, placing one talon on the throat and the other around its head before ripping the head off. ... As the fight ended, Chloe had already started the car and hid it behind the large trees. Quickly taking at her phone she called her Husband, Darius. *Bzzt, Bzzt* *Bzzt, Bzzt* "Hey, Chloe are you alright?! Where are you, are you safe? Where are the kids, are they safe? What about the town, is it alright? Do you think they could fly a place at Adelaide?" Darius began rapidly firing off questions. Chloe began answering everything quickly, "Yes I''m alright and I''m currently on top of the hills, the kids are with me and they are safe, the town has certainly seen better days, but it seems alright and I really wouldn''t suggest flying anything". "Huh, why''s that?" Darius questioned over the phone. "Maybe because I just saw two birds the size of a house fight, one of which was able to break the sound barrier when descending. That beast could tear a damn place in two if it wanted," Chloe responded. "Anyway, you should probably get out of Alice Springs, either drive towards me or Darwin," Darius said. "Why? Why can''t we stay in Alice Springs?" Chloe asked Darius. "Because it''ll be dangerous, many venomous/poisonous animals and insects have probably evolved, and you''ll be surrounded with no protection. Not to mention you won''t be getting any sort of supplies anytime soon, with those beasts wandering about no one''s risking their life," Darius responded with. "Huh, okay. I''ll head your direction, after all, it''ll be a while before planes are flying again. Where will you be staying? The mines are certainly a no go as well right?" Chloe said. "Okay, I''ll be waiting in Mount Barker and yeah, those mines are definitely a no go, haha," Darius said and chuckled before hanging up. Staring at everyone else in the car Chloe informed them, "We''ll be going to Darius. Jack and Adam keep a constant lookout for any unusual movements in the surroundings". Jack and Adam nodded, Chloe began navigating the car through the large trees and thick shrubbery. Slipping past the gap between the fence they made it on the road next to the petrol station. Taking a quick look in front of her she noticed the road had cracks and gaps covering it, thick tree/bush roots channelling underneath and through the road. Chloe looked towards the petrol station, deciding whether or not to refuel and stock up on food or not. However, before she could decide blood splashed across the windows of the petrol station. Someone quickly came running out, half their body drenched in blood, but before they could even get 10 metres away and spiderweb shot out encasing the person and dragging it back in. The person was screaming and crying, noticing the car they begun to stare at it yelling, begging for some help. Chloe was frozen at her steering wheel, she had never seen a person killed before and didn''t want to. But her body was preventing her from helping, making her fear whatever beast was inside the station. Seeing no help coming, the person could only accept what was about to happen, closing their eyes and covering their ears will maybe making it less scary. A massive leg shot out of the station, crushing the person''s head, it then shot back into the station along with the body. Chloe finally, managed to snap out of it and started driving again, only going 20 - 30km/h. A minute went by and they were finally on the main road, although the main road''s situation wasn''t any better than the side road, at least the middle part was clear of any holes. Chloe began accelerating, 20, 30, 40, 50, up to 60km/h before she stopped accelerating after all the road was messy, and she didn''t want any unexpected holes to appear in front of her. Driving down Stuart Highway, she knew their next stop will be Stuarts Well Roadhouse, they should be able to refuel and get food, well, at least she hoped. 8 Black Taipan * They''ve been driving for an hour now, not too much has happened to them. Many beasts are fighting for territory, they''ve seen other lizards, scorpions, spiders, snakes, and birds all fighting for dominance, specifically in areas with a lot of vegetation. Lachlan hasn''t been able to analyse any of these beasts, his family are scared that it may haunt him, seeing all the blood and body parts scattered across the ground and trees. As such, he''s just been sitting there silently, holding onto Sarah. *Bang*Crash*Hsss*Thump Thump Thump*Hsss* Going around a bend in the road they came across two beast fighting in front of them, a Snake and a Kangaroo. Lachlan finally managed to see a fight and was trembling, in his sight were two beasts in miserable conditions. The Kangaroo''s legs had been ripped off the thrown to the side, blood splattered across the ground whenever it moved. It has cuts and scratches covering its body, it''s surprising it can even stand. The thumping must''ve come from the Kangaroo''s tail, slamming against the ground trying to hit the Snake. The Snake was also in no better condition, it seemed to have had a fang ripped out. Some parts across the Snake''s body were completely crushed, most likely hit by the Kangaroo''s tail or foot. Taking this opportunity Lachlan quickly analysed them. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Silver-Belly Snake Age: Adult Attribute: Silver/Water Level: 11 STR: 20(+17),AGI: 30(+15),VIT: 16(+16) INT: 15(+13),PER: 25(+1),WIL: 20(+5) Weakness: Lossing its fangs Strengths: Fast speeds, and a strong poison -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Iron-Fist Kangaroo Age: Adult Attribute: Iron Level: 8 STR: 35(+9),AGI: 30(+11),VIT: 10(+6) INT: 10(+5),PER: 20(+6),WIL: 16(+5) Weakness: Incapacitating the tail Strengths: Strong stomping and punching strength -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was getting more and more confused by all the numbers, he didn''t know how any of it worked, all he did know was the bigger numbers meant stronger beast. Although he had little hope it could work, as there should be a limit to his eyes, he tried it anyway, "Analyse, Level". -------------------------------------------------------- Level: Determined at the amount of bonus stat points (+) an individual has. Every time an individual''s level increases by 10, the difficulty in leaving up is doubled. 1 - 10: Every level is increased for every 5 bonus stats 11 - 20: Every level is increased for every 10 bonus stats 21 - 30: Every level is increased for every 20 bonus stats Etc. Note: Higher Level''s does not always mean stronger individual. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Ahh, that didn''t really help me,'' Lachlan thought. After all, in the battle going on in front of him, it was obvious the Snake was going to win, although it certainly wouldn''t leave unscathed. Lachlan was constantly thinking the same question, ''What are bonus stats? How do you increase them?'' Well, Lachlan knew a way to increase them, taming. It seemed that through taming a person could gain a bit of the tamed beast base strength and characteristics, however, that won''t work for and beast as they can''t tame. Thinking about it hurt Lachlan''s brain, it was starting to get really confusing and it started to frustrate him. As such, relying on the eyes, "Analyse, Bonus Stat Points" -------------------------------------------------------- Bonus Stat Points: Earned from either killing or taming a beast. Killing: Gain 5% of the two highest base stat points of that particular beast. Taming: Gain 20% of all base stat points for that particular beast. -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing that cleared Lachlan''s thoughts, however, that meant that in the one hour since the evolution, the Snake had managed to kill a large amount of beast. Thinking about it Lachlan could only come up with one conclusion as to how it had managed to kill so many animals, poison. The Snake most likely bit its targets and escaped, only it seems it had failed to escape this Kangaroo. ... In the car everyone was deathly silent, watching the battle go on. *Thump Thump*Thump Thump*Thump Thump* Before they realised it, three more Kangaroos were in front of the snake, although slightly smaller then the injured one, they were still roughly 4 - 5 metres tall. ... Seeing that it is now at a huge disadvantage the Snake began its escaped, unfortunately, two of the smaller Kangaroos had already pounced on it and grabbed its tail. Realising that it can''t escape the Snake quickly turned around and bit the two holding it down. If it was going to die it might as well bright all its enemies with it. Before the two Kangaroos could retreat the snake had already wrapped its body around their legs slowly tightening and crushing them, it then quickly shot out and bit them on the neck. The other two Kangaroos quickly pounced forwards, grab hold of the Snake''s head, the injured Kangaroo managed to get the Snake into a headlock, allow the uninjured one to start rapidly beating it. Using its tail for balance, the Kangaroo lifted up its legs and launched them at the Snake''s head, almost crushing it. Not feeling any movement the Kangaroo released its headlock, letting the still alive Snake bite its shoulder. Slowly falling down, the injured Kangaroo finally stopped breathing. All that''s left was was the uninjured Kangaroo that beat the Snake''s head, and a completely crushed Snake which was somehow still alive. They stared each other in the eyes, hesitating whether or not to continue the fight. Although the Kangaroo was uninjured the Snake had far superior stats and just got another boast from killing its family. Unfortunately, neither of these two beasts noticed the small black shadow staring at them from beneath one of the tree roots. Shooting out, the shadow bit an open wound on the Snake and the toe of the Kangaroo, leaving a tiny and unnoticeable bite mark. However, Lachlan managed to see it, and the stats were unimpressive and impressive at the same time. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Black Taipan Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness Level: 18 STR: 10(+20),AGI: 45(+30),VIT: 10(+26) INT: 20(+23),PER: 20(+11),WIL: 20(+25) Weakness: Weak Body Strengths: Extreme speeds, and an extremely dangerous poison -------------------------------------------------------- Important Note: I have changed previous chapters so it fits in with this. Let''s just say there might be constant changes to certain things, obviously, I have better ways to use those changes which I do hope you enjoy. 9 Stuarts Well Roadhouse * The small Black Taipan stared at us, before deciding we''re a waste of its time and slithered back into the forest. Completely terrified Chloe decided to get as far away as she can from the large trees. Another hour goes by and they''ve escaped the forest, after doing so the road seemed to be in better shape, a couple cracks here and there but no roots piercing through. After getting out into the open they can see lots of fights going on around them, scorpions fight snakes, kangaroos fight snakes, lizards devouring smaller insects. It looked horrible, animal body parts scattered everywhere, not to mention the stench was unbearable. Unfortunately, it was getting dark, the evolution happened at 6:00 pm and it''s already been two hours. Lachlan''s read quite a few books, they always seemed to talk about how horrible night-time was in comparison to daytime. As if only the worst creatures wander the lands at night, but, with all he''s seen it probably wouldn''t be much different. Seeing the sun go down caused Chloe to frown, "Looks like we''ll need to stop at the next petrol station, stock up, refuel and sleep," she stated. Hearing that caused Jack and Adam to quiver, as they had managed to see what happened at the previous petrol station. They hoped it would be different, wishing luck was on their side. They finally reached it, in front of the Roadhouse were a few cars, which can mean two things, everyone owning those cars is dead, or they''re all alive and hiding in the Roadhouse. When they parked out front blood could be seen splattered across the windows, certainly not a good sign. However, they needed a place to stay. When they got outside of the car Jack did something which caused them to recoil back, shocked by what they saw. ... Jack was constantly hearing a voice inside his head throughout the entire journey, ''Summon Me! Summon Me! Summon Me!'' causing him a great headache. When he finally got outside the car he finally tried it out, grabbing onto his left arm he shouted, ''Summon Rocky". His left arm glowed extremely brightly making it hard to see what''s happening before quickly disappearing. In front of Jack was the Lizard. ... Lachlan couldn''t help but get curious, the lizard looked slightly different stronger and fiercer. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rocky (Giant Iron-Spiked Lizard) Age: Adult Attribute: Iron/Rock Level: 1 STR: 37,AGI: 27,VIT: 35 INT: 16,PER: 23,WIL: 18 Weakness: Blunt force to the head Strengths: Strong skin, teeth, and claws. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was happy to see such an increase, at least this meant they could partially protect themselves. However, it seemed that it added Jack''s base stats to its own, suppose this is what they get in return for getting tamed by humans. ... Chloe seeing such a thing happen bolted to Jack and grab onto his left arm. "What did you do? When could you do this? Are you hurt," she questioned. "It''s alright mum, I''ve summoned Rocky who seems completely obedient to me. I''ve been able to summon him ever since I tamed him, it was just never the right opportunity to, and no this doesn''t hurt," Jack responded with. Chloe signed, "At least with this, we''ll be able to defend ourselves for the night" Jack nodded, himself and Rocky were in the front leading their way into the Roadhouse, what they saw was gruesome. Human corpses scattered around the place, some of them were ripped in half, others only had the head missing. *Crunch*Crunch* That was when they noticed it, far in the back corner was a giant spider, its body alone was 3 metres big, it was completely black and covered with little hairs. In front of the spider was the body of a large man, the spider was currently crunching down on his head, swallowing it whole. Taking a closer look around them, they noticed everyone had some sort of weapon in hand, some had bats, others had beer bottles. They most likely fought the spider and ended up getting decimated. However, taking a closer look at the spider it seemed six of the eight legs had been snapped. There was broken bottles and shards of glass in its eyes, green blood dripping from all its cuts. Taking the opportunity Lachlan analysed it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Skull-Face Spider Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness Level: 6 STR: 15(+7),AGI: 20(+5),VIT: 3(+2) INT: 10(+10),PER: 20(+1),WIL: 19(+5) Weakness: Losing its eyes Strengths: Fast attacking speeds, and a strong poison -------------------------------------------------------- Noticing its vitality, he realised it''s almost dead, he quickly yanked on Jack''s shirt causing him to turn around in fright. "Ah. You scared me, what do you want?" Jack whispered. "Attack now, extremely weak," Lachlan said. Jack was confused as to why Lachlan would say that, however, after getting a closer look at the body of the spider he realised it was badly damaged. Jack seemed to be able to communicate with Rocky telepathically, telling him to attack. Rocky quickly opened his mouth, his tongue shot out towards the snake at some extreme speeds. The tongue had managed to hit the spiders head, pulling his tongue back the spider''s body came flying across the room with it. After Rocky pulled his tongue in he managed to get the spider''s head in his mouth, biting down Rocky completely beheaded the beast and swallowed that head whole. The spider''s lifeless body collapsed in front of them, green blood flowed out and the stench was unbearable. The family finally couldn''t take it, they began to throw up, it took them some insane effort to hold it until now but the stench and close up corpse was the breaking point. After they had thrown up Jack tried getting Rocky to eat all the corpses, which it happily did. After the clean-up it was already pitch black outside, Jack and Chloe quickly grabbed the tables and chairs to barricade the doors and as much of the windows as they can. Finally, they could go to sleep. Lachlan however, wanted to confirm whether the information from his eyes was reliable or not. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jack Wilson (Human) Age: 13 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Reptiles (High) Level: 4 STR: 12(+5), AGI: 12(+4), VIT: 10(+5) INT: 11(+1), PER: 13(+3), WIL: 12(1) Weakness: Illusions Strengths: Strong skin, teeth, and claws. -------------------------------------------------------- Confirming its reliability Lachlan decided to always use it for whenever they come across any new beast. Laying down alongside his family, he slowly drifted to sleep. 10 Old Man Alfredo * Sleeping in this new world is horrible. Throughout the night there was constant noise, sometimes it would be an animal roaring, other times it might just be a large animal passing by. Whatever it was constantly woke up the family, after all, they don''t want to be eaten in their sleep. When the light of day finally came it was extremely relaxing, seeing beams of sunlight shoot through the gaps between the tables and chairs. It was 7:00 am when everyone was awake, Chloe was in the Roadhouse''s kitchen using whatever was there to cook up a meal. Lachlan yawned and finally got up, walking towards the kitchen he could smell baked beans, hash browns and sausages, causing his stomach to gurgle. Sitting at the desk, Jack and Adam were already halfway into their meal, mowing it down as if it might be their last, which it might. Sarah was on top of the desk, in a little self-made bed Chloe made for her. Chloe walked out of the kitchen after she finished cleaning up, even though she knew very well that there wasn''t a need to, just habits. Rocky seemed to have been de-summoned throughout the night, which Jack explained that keeping it summoned mentally exhausted him. When he did de-summon him though there was nothing flashing, Rocky''s body seemed to have been consumed by the shadows before merging with Jack''s. "Good morning Lachy," Chloe said walking up to Lachlan and giving him a bear hug. "Morning mum," Lachlan replied. "Anyway, get ready, we''ll be going in 30 minutes," Chloe stated. Lachlan nodded and begun eating breakfast, constantly looking through one of the unconcealed windows, trying to see if he can notice anything. By the time Lachlan finished his breakfast, Chloe had already packed a few bags full of foods and drinks, mainly water. Jack was removing all the tables and chairs used to barricade the door since he was the strongest one there. After he had done so he grabbed some of the bags, Adam grabbed two bags and Sarah while Chloe was carrying a total of five bags. Lachlan was only carrying one bag filled with snacks. Walking outside they noticed there were more animal corpses littered around the area. Some had missing heads, others had missing arms and legs, while there were a few that didn''t have anything missing, meaning they probably died of poison. Although after last night''s incident they found it easier to stomach such a sight, Lachlan however, threw up again. Looking around for their car they realised a massive scorpion corpse crushed it, the scorpion was about 3 metres long, light brown and missing its tail and a pincer. Looking around they noticed a brown Toyota Hilux that was almost untouched, just having a few blood marks. Checking the inside there was no one in there, and obviously, there were no keys in the ignition. "Ah!" Adam shouted and stepped back. Walking over Chloe questioned him, "What''s wrong Adam". "There''s a man in the back," Adam replied. Hearing that Chloe looked through the window, she quickly realised they were mostly covered but she quickly managed to find a gap. Looking through she indeed saw a man, sleeping. He looked fairly old, maybe in his 50s, had a black well-trimmed beard with a few strands of grey. His hair was cut at a decent length and it had been pulled back. Knocking on the window she tried to get the man to wake, which failed. Jack gave it a try, slamming on the metal caused a loud bang, shocking the man right awake. Noticing there were people he opens the back and shouted angrily, "What are you doing?" "We were just seeing if you were alive sir," Jack replied. "There''s no need to slam onto the car then boy, you can just knock," the old man stated. "Tried it, failed, decided this would work," Jack said. "Huh, well I suppose it did work," the old man said, getting out from the back of his car. Finally seeing the old man properly shocked Lachlan, although he was old he had well-defined muscles covering his body, grey hair the descends to his shoulders and a few scars on his face. Not to mention he seemed to be about 6''7, towering over them. However, that''s not the main reason he was shocked, but rather his stats. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Alfredo Jackson (Human) Age: 57 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Dogs (High), Wolfs (Moderate) Level: 9 STR: 14(+11), AGI: 10(+12), VIT: 9(+9) INT: 15(+3), PER: 17(+9), WIL: 16(+4) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and strong bite. -------------------------------------------------------- This old man had some insane stats, Lachlan didn''t even think human''s natural stats could be so high, not to mention his bonus stats, he would have had to kill quite a few beasts. However, that''s not all, he also had a soul contract, which meant he had a tamed beast. Taking a closer look at the old man''s body, Lachlan noticed the tattoo on his legs, most likely from the taming. "Franklin!" The old man suddenly shouted, confusing the rest of the family. But then surprised them when his leg tattoo began to emit an extremely bright light, a large Wolf emerged from the light. Gathering around it everyone finally managed to get a good look at it. It looked like a massive wolf with dark-grey fur that had a metallic shine on it. It was 2 - 3 metres tall when standing and about 5 - 6 metres long. Lachlan quickly analysed it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Franklin (Iron-Fur Dog) Age: Adult Attribute: Iron Level: 5 STR: 40(+6),AGI: 37(+7),VIT: 25(+6) INT: 24(+1),PER: 39(+5),WIL: 34 Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and strong bite. -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing such stats made much more sense as to why the old man was able to survive. It also made Lachlan for some reason respect this stranger more, although he was old he was very strong. "The names Alfredo, you can call me old man, old man Alfredo, or just stick with Alfredo, I don''t mind. This is Franklin, he was an Australian Cattle Dog but changed into this after everything change," Alfredo said. 11 Show of Skills * Alfredo presented a warm and welcoming smile as if he saw his family. Petting Franklin, he stared at Lachlan''s family, sizing them up. "So, what else do you want?" Alfredo asked in a calm manner. "We would like to ask where you''re going, and if you can bring us," Chloe said. Alfredo frowned, "I was going to drive to Victor Harbour, my family lives there, called them last night, they said they''re fine and want me to come home. Was going to drive back to Alice Springs and take a plane," Alfredo explained. "I wouldn''t do that if I were you, all animals have evolved one way or another and birds certainly weren''t excluded. Most likely situation is that the massive bird we saw at Alice Springs has made it its new home," Chloe explained. "Well, I''ll be damned, suppose I could try driving, after all, I got my trusted friend to cover my back," Alfredo explained. "Where are you needing to go?" He asked. "Going to Mount Barker, my Husband is currently there," Chloe said. "Well, I suppose I can help ya out, just on one condition," Alfredo said before pointing to Jack, "I''ll need him to help fight against beasts". "Okay, I''ll do it," Jack stated. "Hahaha, good, chuck all the food in the back, get in and get comfortable," Alfredo enthusiastically said before de-summoning Franklin and opening the car door. However, before he could sit down the sound of dozens of footsteps seemed to get closer and closer. Before the rest of the family could really determine what''s going on, Alfredo had already summoned Franklin back out and got into a fighting stance facing the direction of the footsteps What crawled out of the shrubbery was a scorpion, it looked small, that was until it extended its legs and seemed to grow another metre of height, its body was 2 metres long. It was mostly brown with a black outline of its shell, and its tail was 4 ¨C 5 metres long, it was also mostly brown until the last metre where it was completely green. Alfredo and Franklin seemed ready to fight the scorpion, Jack was paying complete attention to the fight and whether he should help, from Alfredo''s expression it seemed he didn''t need any help with this fight. Lachlan had already analysed the scorpion and was assured that Alfredo and Franklin will be fine. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Trap Scorpion Age: Adult Attribute: Earth Level: 11 STR: 20(+15),AGI: 29(+17),VIT: 25(+16) INT: 20(+6),PER: 18(+9),WIL: 20(+4) Weakness: Turning its body Strengths: Fast tail attack, and strong pincers ------------------------------------------------------- Although it was very strong, it seemed Alfredo and Franklin have adapted to fighting together, anyway, it made Lachlan feel safe, having someone strong other than his brother to protect them. Alfredo and Franklin locked eyes and gave each other a nod before staring back at the scorpion. The scorpion had stopped moving and was staring at its opponents, slowly moving closer to get its tail in striking position. Alfredo and Franklin both bent their legs, preparing to pounce their enemy at the right opportunity. The scorpion finally got in close enough and struck. Its tail shot at Franklin first, who quickly sidestepped it before biting it. Alfredo jumped into the air before spinning his body and kicking the scorpion''s tail, snapping it off its stinger. Enraged, the scorpion launched at them with its pincers. Getting close enough the scorpion got its pincers around them, however, before it could finish the attack Alfredo had already ducked beneath it and ran towards the scorpion''s head. Franklin, however, had already jumped outside of the pincers attack before it lunged towards the scorpion''s arm and crushing it. Alfredo was already at the scorpion head when the jumped up and axe kicked its neck, snapping the head right off and flinging it away. Lachlan and his family were in awe, especially Jack. He couldn''t help but run towards Alfredo before firing off questions, most of which, were ones everyone had in their mind. "How did you do that? How are you so strong? Are you some master martial artist? Can you teach me?" Jack asked. "Hahaha," Alfredo couldn''t help but laugh when he saw Jack enthusiastic face. He stared Jack in the eyes before answering every question in succession, "I trained, I trained hard. No, I''m not any fancy martial artist, and yes I can teach you how to fight, I can teach everyone". "Wowowo, no you can''t teach them, they''re still kids, they shouldn''t have to train," Chloe immediately begun protesting. Alfredo frowned at how irresponsible Chloe was being, "So you want them to die? Huh, is that what you want?" Chloe was quickly flustered and didn''t know how to respond, however, before she could respond Alfredo continued, "Look around, do you think those beasts are going to wait for your children to grow up, NO! If you don''t adapt fast enough and learn how to fight you are just dinner waiting to be eaten". Chloe was completely shut up, although Jack, Adam, and Lachlan didn''t like seeing their mum be scolded, they also knew they needed to learn how to fight. Especially if they wanted to make it to Darius without losing anyone, they needed strength. Lachlan and Adam walked next to Jack in front of Alfredo, they all looked at each other before nodding. They stared at Alfredo and shouted in unison, "Teach us how to fight!" Alfredo couldn''t help but laugh again before speaking in a serious tone, "Haha, good, good. I''ll teach you all, but do remember, this isn''t any fancy martial arts, just something I''ve learned through the constant fights I''ve had on the streets". "Now get in the car, we''re going on a road trip. I''ll teach you when we find out next resting spot," Alfredo said before walking over to the car and sitting in the driver''s seat. The rest of the family followed after they finished packing everything and shut the back. 12 Spider Queen * They continued their Journey to SA/NT Border, where Alfredo said they''ll stop there to have a break, eat something, and go to the bathroom. Driving to the SA/NT border went smoothly, the journey was only interrupted by one fight between beasts along the way. It took about 4 hours; the road and surrounding area had been littered with beast corpses making it difficult to traverse quickly. There were a few unique beasts that Lachlan had never seen before, unfortunately, his eyes can''t scan dead beasts. When they got closer to the SA/NA border they began noticing something, a common beast was constantly appearing, dead. It was a spider, was black, was its body was 4 metres long and 1 metre wide, while its legs were 2 metres long. It wasn''t the strongest beast they''ve seen, nor was it the weakest. However, what they found strange was the number of them in this area. Their corpses were everywhere, hundreds of them are visible, there could be thousands in the shrubbery. There were a few other beast corpses in the mix, most likely what the spiders were fighting. Stopping at the SA/NT border they realised something was wrong. There were human corpses, not many but they were there, they were dead amongst other beasts. That was until they noticed the tattoos on the human corpses that they determined most of the beast were tamed. Parking the car and getting out, Alfredo and Jack had already summoned their beast. The stench of all the corpses assaulted their nose, however, after all they''ve been through their bodies were beginning to adapt to such smells and horrendous sights. Walking to the sheltered area they noticed another spider, large than the rest, much larger. It looked similar to the other spiders in the area, probably their leader. It seemed the spider was dead, not surprising after seeing how badly wounded it was. All its legs had been smashed, there were bats and sticks stabbed into its eyes. It seemed they it had its fangs ripped out. Walking up to investigated they noticed some other details. There were human and beast corpses near it. Most likely, these people might have come for revenge or just came here to get rid of the dangerous creature. However, looking behind the creature, they noticed a bunch of eggs. Almost all of them had been smashed, except one. There was a human next to the eggs with a baseball bat. The large spider most likely fought him last, as its leg was still inside the guy, right through the chest. His bat was facing not towards the large spider, but the last egg. Looking at the last egg everyone noticed there was something different about it. Not only was it slightly larger than the rest, but it also had some patterns on it. Alfredo wanted to destroy it. However, before he could do it Lachlan''s brother, Adam was standing in front of it, protecting it. "What are you doing boy! It''s dangerous if another beast spawns out that egg," Alfredo said in a harsh voice. "I won''t let you destroy it!" Jack shouted. Alfredo frowned and was about to try and convince him to step aside, but Adam interfered and explained why he won''t, "I won''t step aside. I don''t know how to explain it, but I feel a connection with this egg". Alfredo gave up and walked towards the egg, Adam ran towards it and grabbed it in his arms. "Ah!" Adam quickly shouted before dropping the egg, surprisingly it didn''t break. Examining Jack everyone noticed his arms were bleeding. Looking towards the egg they realised it was covered in small and fine hair, razor sharp, probably to protect it. *Crack* Looking towards the egg everyone quickly realised it was hatching, Alfredo ran towards it to smash it but once again Adam stepped in, protecting the egg. Alfredo was about to push Adam out the way before Chloe and Jack both grabbed his arms, telling him to trust Adam. *Crack* The egg had finally finished hatching. What came out was a small spider, well small compared to the spiders they came across. It looked exactly like the dead spider, just a miniature version of it. It was half a metre wide and 2 metres long, its legs were all 1 metre in length. The small spider that didn''t know what was happening quickly hid behind Adam''s legs, granted it was still very visible, it didn''t seem to know that. Lachlan quickly analysed it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Desert Spider Queen Age: Infant Attribute: Darkness Level: 1 STR: 10, AGI: 15, VIT: 30 INT: 10, PER: 5, WIL: 5 Quick Growth: Bathe it in the blood of an adult or elder Spider Queen, doing so will allow it to reach the Adolescence growth stage instantly. ------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was shocked again, by the small difference with this spider status, it had some insane stats of a baby spider, stronger than probably had the same strength as most adult humans. Not to mention it could grow quickly, something Lachlan hadn''t seen before, but to be fair, he also hadn''t seen an infant beast before. Lachlan didn''t know how he would be able to convince them to bathe it in the blood of the adult Spider Queen, so he just did it himself. Running up to the Spider Queen corpse had grabbed the baseball bat held by the men. Spinning around, he quickly smashed the head and side of the spider body. Causing blood to splatter everywhere. Everyone death stared Lachlan for getting their clothes dirty. But before they could scold him they started hearing a strange noise. *Crack*Crack* Everyone looked towards the small spider, it seemed its body was going white and dry. Before they realised it, that white and dry skin began to tear, and bit by bit a larger and stronger looking spider came out of the dead skin. Lachlan quickly analysed it to confirm whether it worked or not, but just judging by the looks of it, it worked. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Desert Spider Queen Age: Adolescence Attribute: Darkness Level: 1 STR: 20, AGI: 25, VIT: 30 INT: 15, PER: 10, WIL: 5 Weakness: Fragile body, and low resistance to soul/mind attacks Strengths: Strong Poison, able to lay eggs and control hordes of Spider Queen Soldiers ------------------------------------------------------- Reassured that it worked Lachlan look towards his family, they were staring at him. Lachlan already knew what was to come from this, and he decided it would be best for some people to know. Keeping this secret to himself was getting difficult. Not to mention it could come in handy when convincing them in what actions he takes. 13 Secrets Out * While everyone was staring at Lachlan, Adam was whispering to the spider. A bright light went off, similar to when Jack tamed his lizard. After the light dispersed just like Jack, Adam was on the ground rolling around grabbing onto his back. Lifting up his shirt everyone understood why. It seemed the tattoo for the Spider Queen chose there, and it was massive, taking up half of the space on his back. It stretched from his shoulders to the centre of the back. Analysing Adam, Lachlan knew that he had tamed the spider, and was quite glad they got another companion. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Adam Wilson (Human) Age: 11 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Arachnids (High), Insects (Low) Level: 4 STR: 11(+4), AGI: 10(+5), VIT: 10(+6) INT: 10(+3), PER: 11(+2), WIL: 12(+1) Weakness: Resistance to mind attacks Strengths: Strong Poison that injects through the fingernails -------------------------------------------------------- Staring at the stats and looking at the strengths for some reason gave Lachlan some relief. After all, he didn''t want his brother to start laying eggs that hatch into spiders. Adam quickly walked over to Lachlan and stood by his side before summoning the spider, "Summon Shadow". Unlike the other summons we''ve had so far, Adam''s summoning didn''t cause his tattoo to emit light. Rather it caused his shadow to expand in front of him before a Spider slowly crawled out of the shadow. "Analyse," Lachlan muttered. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Shadow (Desert Spider Queen) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Darkness Level: 1 STR: 31, AGI: 35, VIT: 40 INT: 25, PER: 21, WIL: 17 Weakness: Fragile body Strengths: Strong Poison, able to lay eggs and control hordes of Spider Queen Soldiers ------------------------------------------------------- It seemed one of its weakness has disappeared after levelling up its Willpower. Lachlan and Adam were side by side staring back at the rest of the family. While Lachlan knew they wouldn''t be a match against Alfredo and Jack, they certainly did feel cool. "Care to explain yourself boy," Alfredo said in a deep booming voice. "I made it grow stronger and bigger," Lachlan explained. Alfredo frowned and asked, "I can see that much. But why and how did you know that it would grow up?" Deciding that it was time to inform everybody of his unique ability he began explaining, "It''s my eyes. I''m not sure how but they give me a bunch of information whenever I say a keyword, analyse. The information it gives is similar to a status screen seen in games, it has your strength, agility, vitality, intelligence, perception, and willpower in numeric form. It also shows what the individual''s species is, how old they are, and the strengths and weaknesses". After hearing what Lachlan said, everyone was stunned, unsure of how they should go about it. Chloe was the first to break the silence, "How long have you had this ability?" She asked. "I''ve had it for just over a year. However, it was different before this whole evolution. It used to only show what the species were, age, special characteristics, and the grade potential. Which I believe is what determined how strong everything got after the evolution," Lachlan explained. "Wowowo, you keep mentioning evolution, what evolution?" This time it was Alfredo''s turn to ask a question. "You all know of the massive celestial body that was going to crash into Earth, right?" Lachlan asked, to which everyone nodded. "Well, that wasn''t a celestial body that destroys planets but rather forces them to undergo a massive evolution, which is what Earth experienced," Lachlan explained. Alfredo continued asking, "You mentioned Grade Potential determines how strong beast is going to be. What were humans?" Lachlan frowned at this question, after all, it was hard to admit that their species, which was on top, was now likely near the bottom, "Humanity had 8 Grade Potential, which is incredibly low. Species such as Sperm Whales, Silverback Gorillas, and Barbary Lions all had 2nd Grade Potential, which seemed to be the highest potential an animal could have". "Animal?" Alfredo questioned. "Indeed, animal. The only thing that had a Higher-Grade Potential was the Earth, which had 1st Grade Potential," Lachlan explained. Everyone was shocked as they were continued to be berated with information which doesn''t seem real. Finally, Chloe asked another question, "Why do you have special eyes and not any of your siblings". Lachlan hesitated and frowned, unsure whether he should reveal that information. Deciding not to, he instead lied, "I don''t know, maybe it has to do with the year I was born on, the location of my birth, I just really don''t know". Although Chloe didn''t like that answer, she could only accept it and just say it was fate. Because in her eyes it didn''t seem like Lachlan was lying, and if he was he has certainly become a pro. Chloe walked up to Lachlan and hugged him, muttering words that only the two of them could hear, "It must have been tough, holding in such a secret. But it''s okay, although you''re different you''re still my son and not some monster". Lachlan felt relief when he heard his mother say that, although he didn''t say anything, he nodded, and that nod was all Chloe needed. "Ahem," Alfredo interrupted this touching moment and began to explain what''s going to happen, "Now that that''s out of the way, go eat, rest, and use the restroom should you need to. Don''t hold it in, I probably won''t be stopping if you need to go". Alfredo walked off to the restroom, the rest of them quickly brought out some snacks to eat. Alfredo came back and joined in, after which Lachlan and Adam went to the bathroom, then Chloe and Jack. This was to prevent anyone without a beast getting hurt. After their break, everyone got back into the car and they began their journey to Marla, where they''ll rest for the night and refuel the car. 14 Lachlans Stats * They continued their journey to Marla, nothing happened along the way. Aside from the obvious, unknown corpses to Lachlan littered the road, there were a few familiar ones. They heard fighting in the distance but decided not to intervene just in case. They drove for roughly three hours, taking it slow and navigating through the corpses. Everyone in the car was on the constant lookout. Driving into Marla they noticed a few cars parked near Marla Travellers'' Rest, with the windows of the place boarded up. Looking around they did notice a few beast corpses, but not many, at least not as much compared to the other resting spots. Parking closest to the entrance they get out the car, Adam, Jack, and Alfredo summon their beasts. Alfredo took lead while Adam and Jack took care of the rear. Checking the door, they realised it was locked, they were now certain someone may be inside, depending on whether a beast got to them or not. Nocking on the door Alfredo put his ear to it, trying to listen to any movement. Looking back, he gave the family a nod and shouted, "Hello! Would you please let us in! We''re just here for the night and can provide you with protection!" *Click* The door unlocked and opened, a young man maybe in his early teens stuck his head out, "Ah, hello, my names Dylan, please come in". The young man opened the door fully, he was probably 5 feet tall, had black hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. After walking past him, he quickly shut the door and locked it. *Click* "So, do you want something to eat," Dylan said. He seemed shy, especially in front of the tamed beasts. "Yes please, also, where are the rooms?" Chloe asked. "They''re through that hallway, they aren''t very large, meant to only fit 1 ¨C 2 people. Hope they''re suitable," Dylan said. "To be honest, anything is suitable after everything that''s happened," Jack said, before walking down the hall and checking the rooms then walking into one. Everyone else followed, Dylan walked towards the kitchen area. Taking this chance Lachlan analysed him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dylan Black (Human) Age: 12 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Perfect) Level: 20 STR: 12(+28), AGI: 13(+39), VIT: 10(+36) INT: 11(+21), PER: 12(+17), WIL: 12(+18) Weakness: Losing his teeth or fingernails Strengths: Fast speeds, and a strong poison -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing these stats shocked Lachlan to the core, they were incredibly high, not to mention it seemed Dylan had already tamed 2 beasts. Not to mention these beasts were not only snakes but incredibly high levelled snakes. Lachlan froze in place before shaking his face and following the rest of the family. Walking up the then he talked to Adam and Alfredo in a quiet voice, "The boy named Dylan is incredibly strong, although you might win when you two and Jack team up, it''ll be dangerous, his beasts are snakes". Hearing that shocked Adam and Alfredo, from his outward appearance they would have never guessed that he was so dangerous. However, it isn''t completely surprising, after all, they had only managed to survive by being strong and seeing how he''s alone he should have his own methods. Thinking about it, they might even invite him to come with them. A person can only last so long before they break, and it''ll be another trusted comrade, at least they hope he can be trusted. Walking into their rooms, there were two beds. Gathering everyone we decided to that Alfredo will be at the entrance by himself. Adam will be with Chloe and Jack with Lachlan, this way they should be prepared against enemies. Going to their separate rooms Lachlan laid down on his bed, exhausted. Jack soon followed. "I''m going to go and take a shower, you want to go first?" Jack asked. "Sure," Lachlan responded. They walked out of the room and into the bathroom, luckily, there were all the necessities for cleaning themselves. Turning on the hot water Lachlan quickly washed and put on his old clothes, unluckily, no one expected that the world wasn''t going to end, so no one brought spare clothes. Lachlan felt gross in his old clothes, although they didn''t look dirty, after sleeping and going through the sticky area, that nasty stench stuck. Looking at himself in the mirror he remembered he hadn''t seen his own stats yet, he kept forgetting and for some reason, it didn''t work on reflections, probably meant he needed a clear view on himself. Staring at his reflection''s eyes he spoke, "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 9 (Kid) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 12 AGI: 11, VIT: 50 INT: 13, PER: 9, WIL: 20 Weakness: Frail body Strengths: None -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing his stats didn''t completely shock him, aside from the Vitality and Willpower stat everything else was normal. The Willpower was probably increased through the pain he felt in his eyes, the terrifying pain that seemed to last forever. While Vitality at least confirmed whatever species his dad was, it was much stronger and lived longer than humans. However, now that he thought more about it, he remembered he never analysed what the Strength, Agility, and Intelligence stat actually do. So far, he has just made assumptions, which thinking back to it is a really dumb thing to do. "Analyse, STR, AGI, and INT". -------------------------------------------------------- STR: Strength affects the amount of force an individual can put towards physical labour and affects the physical defence of the individual. Reaching a high enough level will allow a person to become impenetrable and give them great power. -------------------------------------------------------- AGI: Agility affects the physical reaction speed and ability to do quick movements in any direction. Reaching a high enough level will allow one to react instantaneously and give them the ability to change directions lightning fast. -------------------------------------------------------- INT: Intelligence affects a person''s thinking speed and ability to perceive the world/ surrounding environment. Reaching a high enough level will allow someone to react instantaneously and give them mental clarity. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Hm, seems that they all have an unbreakable relationship. Have to much strength will come in handy for fights of brute force, but low agility will disable a person from reacting to surprise attacks. While agility will be extremely useful for assassinations and navigating tough terrain, without a high enough Intelligence a person won''t be able to react in time to unforeseen obstacles. High intelligence will make anyone a deadly commander, especially should they have studied war tactics, but having low strength will leave someone defenceless when the time arrives,'' Lachlan thought in dept how everything works, to make sure he doesn''t mess up his growth. *Bang*Bang*Bang* "Hey Lachlan, you done!? If you are, get out already, it''s my turn to shower," Jack shouted. 15 New Friend * After having a shower Lachlan went out to the main room to eat some dinner which Dylan cooked, it looked and tasted delicious. After finishing his meal, he complimented the chief, Dylan, and went to his room to sleep. Sleeping was the best feeling in the world, Lachlan had finally slept in a bed once again, something he didn''t realise he took for granted. Waking up Lachlan turned towards the clock and noticed it was 6:00 am and decided to stay in bed for another hour. Looking to bed next to his, he realised Jack had already got up, probably went to have breakfast. But, that won''t change Lachlan''s plan to stay in. Opening his eyes again Lachlan looked at the clock, 7:15 am, noticing it was later then he planned he shrugged his shoulders and got out of bed. Walking into the main area he saw everyone was there, eating breakfast, a heavy one at that. "Morning Lachlan hope you had a good night''s rest," Chloe said as she walked up to him, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the forehead. Lachlan wiped his forehead before replying, "Morning mum, what''s for breakfast?" Chloe sat down and motioned for him to join her, walking over Lachlan sat on the seat which wasn''t the most suitable for his small size. Looking in front of him was a plate full of food. There was a kransky, a few scrambled eggs, two bits of bacon, baked beans and two slices of toast. Looking to his side he saw that Jack had already finished his breakfast while Adam was halfway through. Chloe, his mum was breastfeeding Sarah. Walking out the kitchen were Dylan and Alfredo, Alfredo was still drying his hands, probably meant he helped clean the dishes. Lachlan looked Dylan in the eyes and nodded, "morning". Dylan did the same, "morning". Before he sat down next to them and began to eat his own breakfast. Alfredo stood on the other side of the counter standing, it seemed he was about to announce something, "Ahm", he cleared his throat before he began to explain the situation, "So, we have a new companion. Dylan has decided to come with us, as not only is it unsafe for him to continue to stay here, it would also become difficult to stay sane here by himself. So, with a bit of convincing, I have got him to stay with us along our journey to the Adelaide Hills. Any questions?" Jack was the first to perk up and ask, "We only have a 5-seat car, not enough room unless we all really squeeze together. Do we have another car to drive?" "Yes, we do. Dylan''s family has a car for 7 people," Alfredo replied with. "What about Dylan''s family?" Adam asked. Dylan responded to this question, "They''re dead". It really shut everyone up and brought an awkward silence, Adam felt a bit guilty, "Sorry for asking". "It''s alright, although I''m still not over it this world won''t exactly wait for me to be over it. In addition, my parents always told me to not worry about their death, but rather focus on my future and make them proud," Dylan explained, trying to help Adam will less guilt. "How have you been able to survive by yourself for so long?" This time Lachlan asked the question, trying to get him to reveal his pets and to determine how sane he really is. After all, seeing how old he is, his parents'' death certainly won''t have as little impact as he explained. "True, I suppose I haven''t explained how I''m still alive. Well, it is quite simple as I''m sure you already know, I have my pets. Summon Fast and Slow!" After Dylan shouted it his back and right arm emitted a bright green/silver light before dispersing and in front of them appeared two snakes, one of which they have already seen. It had a large light brown body with as the name should entail, a silver belly. It was maybe 8 metres long; large eyes and its body was in condition. The other snake was much smaller, only 2 metres long, which is still long but not compared to the other snake. It seemed to be a mix of greens and browns with a fairly bright looking tail tip which was entirely green. Taking this opportunity to see what they''ll be cooperating with, Lachlan analysed them both. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Slow (Silver-Belly Snake) Age: Adult Attribute: Silver/Water Level: 15 STR: 32(+21), AGI: 43(+26), VIT: 30(+24) INT: 26(+13), PER: 27(+9), WIL: 32(+9) Weakness: Losing its fangs Strengths: Fast speeds, and a strong poison -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Fast (Green-Tip Snake) Age: Adult Attribute: Earth/Water Level: 15 STR: 24(+21), AGI: 56(+26), VIT: 30(+24) INT: 28(+13), PER: 27(+9), WIL: 23(+9) Weakness: Losing its fangs Strengths: Extreme speeds, and an Extreme poison -------------------------------------------------------- As Lachlan looked at the information, Dylan was explaining the names, "So I called this one Slow because that''s just how it is. It rarely uses its venom and instead goes for constricting, as such, it''s not the fastest killer. While Fast is exactly as its name implies, it strikes fast and kills fast, with some extremely potent poison, which I why I''ve been able to survive by myself for so long". Everyone looked shocked, however, internally they were already mentally prepared. Looking at everyone''s shocked expression Dylan felt a bit proud, he looked towards Adam, Jack and Alfredo and asked, "You three have tamed beasts as well right? You should summon them, so my pets know who not to attack". Looking at each other, all three nodded. "Summon Rocky". "Summon Franklin". "Summon Shadow". A couple of different lights were emitted brightly before three more tamed beasts were standing with them. Looking at them Dylan stopped at Shadow and looked towards Adam, "So you also tamed a venomous beast, huh". "Indeed, it''s still not fully grown yet, so I''m looking forward to when it gets stronger," Adam explained. Dylan nodded then unsummoned his beasts, the three of them followed right after. 16 Worldly Information * Chloe looked towards everyone then interrupted, "Ahm, well anyway, Dylan would you take us to the car, we have much to pack and shouldn''t waste too much time". Dylan nodded to gestured her to a back door, he quickly summoned Fast and sent him through the door to check the surroundings. Appreciating the goodwill Chloe walked out the door with a few things in her hand already. Everyone else began to gather their things from the car out front, summoning their beasts for any unexpected attacks. After they gathered their things Chloe started the car and realised it was almost empty on fuel, seeing that she looked towards Dylan through the rear-view mirror, "Don''t use this car much?" Dylan perked up to the question, "Indeed, we usually use the other car as there really isn''t much to do near here that would cause everyone to go to it". Chloe gave him a little nod and smiled. She drove to the nearby petrol station to refuel, looking through the station window she couldn''t see anything, so she got out to refuel. Jack and Alfredo quickly summoned their beasts to protect her. After all, it may look clear and anything could happen in this new world. Coming back in the car she opened the glove box and took out her phone, "I charged it last night, it''s already been a few days, I saw we have signal, check what''s happening around the world". She passed it to Adam, who quickly went onto the internet and checked the news. Looking through it shocked Adam, as seen by his open mount and raised eyebrows. "Well, I can certainly say our situation is better than others. Tropical regions are getting decimated by swarms of insects, especially bees and wasps. The upper regions of the Southern Hemisphere are dealing with large animals, bears, lion, tigers, and wolfs. As for Island countries and Australia, well, it seems he has it relatively easy. Although some areas such a Sydney have been thoroughly damaged by spiders, the rest of Australia is dealing relatively well. However, going into the ocean or anywhere near the ocean is a real danger. Apparently, sharks have grown to be the same size as megalodons, 15 ¨C 20 metres". Alfredo was the first to ask, "How about the Adelaide Hills?" Adam quickly began to search for some information, "Well, it seems most of the Adelaide Hills are holding up alright. It seems in most towns and cities they''ve secured safe shelters, such as schools, and shopping centres. Places open and easy to defend". Chloe felt good about that information, but just to be sure, "So what about Mount Barker?" "Hmm, Mount Barker is safe. They''ve secured all schools and the main shopping centre for shelter, it seems they have enough food to last them till this whole situation is under control" Adam explained. Lachlan had to burst the happy moments with another question his family had, "How''s Alice Springs doing?" Looking through the information Adam replied, "Well so far it''s still standing, but barely. The massive bird we saw flying has determined that it''ll be its nest and attacks anyone or anything that gets close to it. Not to mention that food is beginning to run low with no way for supplies to get there safely". "Damn," Alfredo said. "Well at least we''re safe, and that Darius is under protection. That''s all that matters to us," Chloe said. Everyone nodded, but they did have some second thoughts. Jack was the first to ask, "So, is there any plan to get this situation under control? What''s going to happen after that? School sure as hell isn''t going to be the same". "Well, it seems the government is going to take on step at a time. It appears that they''ve lost a lot of land to all the beasts, not to mention the number of casualties that come with that loss of land," Adam explained while he continued to read through the articles. "Try to call Darius, see how the situation is from his point of view," Chloe said. Adam nodded a rung his Dad''s phone. *Ring Ring*Ring Ring*Ring Ring* "Hey Chloe, is everyone alright? Where are you? Is something wrong?" Darius quickly berated Adam with questions. "Hey Dad, it''s me, Adam. We''re currently near Marla, we just left after having breakfast. Everyone is alright, safe, and unharmed. We were wondering how it is in Mount Barker from your point of view". "Haha!" A burst of loud laughter could be heard before it continued, "Good Good, it''s great that you''re all safe. As for my point of view, well it''s alright. Everyone''s making it through this difficult time together, some choosing to join and help the military, others are staying home and trying to protect their family". Adam put it on the loudspeaker for everyone to talk to Darius, Chloe was the first, "So what are you doing?" "I''m currently training with the military, I should at least be able to survive with the training". Lachlan tuned in this time, "Have you tamed anything yet?" "Haha! Indeed I did, I tamed two birds. They''ve helped me out greatly, it seems in present times the only way to demand respect is to have strength. Which is why I decided to join in for military training, able to learn some combat skills and knowledge that''ll keep alive that little bit longer". "How are you and your friends doing? Did they decide to join you for the training?" Adam asked. "They''re doing fine, lost a few to spiders early into this great change. As for the military training, well, most of them did, including me. Some of them had family that they wanted to spend time with before they make the decision". "Why would they need to think about it? Getting stronger now is the only thing we can do," Chloe said. "Well, this training isn''t exactly free, once you join the training you''re volunteering to help find and rescue other people. Which is exactly why I am saying my two birds are helpful, able to spot people high above, sometimes even rescuing the people themselves. "Hey get ready! We''re going to check and rescue people in Victor Harbour this time!" A voice could be heard through the phone, seemed to have a deep commanding tone. "Well anyway, it seems it''s time for me to go and save some people. You guys take care of yourselves and get here safely". "Bye!" "Bye Dad!", "Bye Honey,'' the three boys and Chloe said. 17 Interruptions * "So our next stop will be Coober Pedy, get comfy, it''ll be a really long trip, especially since we''ll have to take it slow even on the straight roads," Chloe said. Everyone nodded before getting out a few things, they took some pillows and blankets from Marla Traveller''s Rest, of course with Dylan''s permission. The trip was as gruesome and boring as they expected. The beast corpses have probably had a day or two since they died, causing the stench to be unbearable, not to mention the scene it caused. Half ate corpses, some torn to bits and others with little bite marks. Grabbing the phone Adam quickly checked how long it had been. Looking at the time he noticed it''s been 2 ¨C 3 hours and looking at the maps they were only halfway there. *Flap*Flap*Caw* Looking outside the window everyone could see a massive bird flying above them, one they hadn''t seen before, one that looked dangerous. It was mainly blue, with the tips of the feathers coloured white. They couldn''t see exactly how large the bird was, unsure how far it from them. The bird spotted them before they could prepare their beasts the bird pierced through the air, breaking the sound barrier in an instant and appearing before them in an instant. Taking a closer look the bird appeared to have the wingspan of 20 metres, while its body was roughly 5 ¨C 10 metres wide. From the beak to tail feathers was about 10 metres, it had large razor-sharp black talons. Putting its talons first the bird ripped into the roof of the car, it quickly sounded as if someone had scratched their nails on a blackboard, giving everyone a quick shiver. "Summon Fa- " "Stop!" Before Dylan could summon his beast, Alfredo had already stopped him from finishing his incantation. Dylan looked a bit annoyed and frustrated at being stopped, but before he could complain Alfredo explained his actions, "You could almost have killed us Dylan! Look out your window". Everyone looked outside and reeled back, they had realised they were probably 30 ¨C 40 metres in the air and the height was still rising. Seeing that everyone realised what''s happening Alfredo continued explaining, "We aren''t sure exactly how the bird will react to being attacked. Will it drop us? Causing us to plummet to our deaths. Or will it slowly descend as the poison slowly kills it? Not sure and I don''t want to take any risk, so, be patient and we''ll deal with it when it does put us back down". Looking at the massive bird outside Lachlan quickly analysed it. ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Blue Lightning Eagle Age: Adult Attribute: Wind/Lightning Level: 12 STR: 49(+16), AGI: 61(+20), VIT: 45(+13) INT: 25(+9), PER: 29(+15), WIL: 25(+6) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Lightning speeds and Crushing Grip -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at the level Lachlan quickly realised it wasn''t as high as he thought. But, while its level wasn''t extremely high its natural stats were incredibly high, especially since it didn''t have a master, well at least that''s what they think. Thinking that it doesn''t have a master Lachlan touched the talon and tried taming it, "You want to join me, travelling the world and fighting against the strong?" "Lachlan Wait!" Nothing, Lachlan was surrounded by complete darkness, nothing in sight, no sound, no smells, and nothing to grab a hold of. *Caw* Looking behind him Lachlan realised it was the massive bird, except up close. Lachlan looked minuscule compared to the massive bird. Looking at the human in front of it the Eagle began to size him up, see if he was qualified to tame it. Looking at him the bird decided it wouldn''t be worth it. *Screech* The bird quickly gave off an ear-piercing screech which only Lachlan could hear, causing him to feel sick. *Flap*Flap* The bird began flapping its wings at an extremely fast speed, causing Lachlan to be flung out of where ever he was. Looking around him Lachlan noticed everyone staring at him, it seemed the bird was grabbing hold of the car, and Lachlan hasn''t experienced any pain yet. Inspecting his body Lachlan couldn''t see any tattoos, which probably meant he didn''t succeed. Alfredo looked a bit apologetic before he began explaining to Lachlan what he experienced, "What you just experienced is something everyone here with a tamed beast has experienced. However, from what I''ve seen it seems that you have to have a friendly connection to tame a beast. Franklin was my pet, Rocky was Jack''s pet, and Shadow sees Adam as its parent". "What about Dylan''s Fast and Slow?" Lachlan Asked. "Fast and Slow were my two pet snakes before this whole incident," Dylan explained. "Okay, as seen everyone has something that connects them to their tamed beast, so I would suggest you don''t suddenly try and tame something you have no connection with," Alfredo said. "Okay," Lachlan said while nodding. They continued their journey in the air for half an hour before the bird began to descend. Looking down and out the window, they could see a cluster of large trees, with a nest, created using five of those trees to support it. The nest seemed to be made of tree branches, whole tree saplings, and large bushes. It seemed to be about 50 metres long and wide. *Flap*Flap* It started to slow down its descent, reaching the nest before it dropped us off, only half a metre above the ground so nothing got damaged and no one was hurt. It dropped us near the tree supporting the centre of the nest. Looking inside they could see that the tree was partially hollowed out, with a few eggs laid there. *Crunch* Looking in front of them the bird had landed on a few tree branches and was now staring at us. *Screech* 18 Fight * The ear-piercing screech again, this time everyone heard it. It certainly wasn''t a normal bird screech, but rather it sounded as if it was created by a million volts of lightning crackling. "Summon Franklin" "Summon Rocky" "Summon Fast and Slow" "Summon Shadow" All four beast tamers shouted, a bright light of different colours was emitted, temporarily blinding the bird. Dylan was the first to list out commands, "Fast strike its neck, Slow constrict its neck". "Shadow web its eyes while it''s already blinded!" This time Adam got his beast to support everyone else. "Franklin! Bite its throat!" Alfredo shouted. "Rocky drag its head down with your tongue!" Jack commanded. It wasn''t much of a fair fight. Fast had already struck the birds neck, as such, it was probably going to die anyway, but this array of attacks should speed up the process. While Slow was slowly constricting the bird''s neck, trying to suffocate it, Rocky had shot out its tongue, sticking onto the bird''s beak before dragging it down. This made it easier for Franklin to jump up and bite the bird''s neck, putting it one foot into its grave. Shadow quickly web its wings before jumping up and biting it around the neck. Slow was crushing the bird''s windpipe bit by bit, Franklin was constantly jumping up and ripping at its throat and not long after the bird slow tumbled down. *Crunch* The bird crushed a few branches beneath it as its dead corpse landed. Lachlan tried analysing it but got nothing, confirming its death. Walking over to the middle tree they noticed a few eggs, all of which had been untouched. *Screech* Shocked by the sudden and much louder screech everyone froze before they quickly snapped back and inspected their surroundings. Looking up they noticed another bird, much larger and seemed stronger. As the bird slowly descended to the ground Lachlan and his family realised they had seen it before, at Alice Springs, it was a Roc. "Analyse" ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Roc Age: Adult Attribute: Wind/Rock Level: 15 STR: 59(+28), AGI: 44(+26), VIT: 43(+25) INT: 28(+12), PER: 30(+9), WIL: 27(+8) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Extreme speeds and absolute crushing grip -------------------------------------------------------- It had about even strength as the Blue Lightning Eagle, but it was much stronger then the two Rocs they had seen at Alice Springs, especially the strength it had. Not to mention one of its strength was its absolute crushing strength. It also looked slightly different. Its body was much darker, it was definitely much larger, having a wingspan of maybe 40 ¨C 50 metres. However, luckily for them, they should be able to beat it should everyone cooperate. Getting into battle stance everyone was prepared, Lachlan and Chloe holding Sarah had already hidden within the hollowed-out tree. Probably the safest place, next to the bird''s eggs. *Screech* The Roc had begun its quick descent straight towards Franklin and Alfredo first. However, just as it was about to strike Franklin, Alfredo had unsummoned it causing the Roc to crash into the nest. Shaking the entire thing causing everyone to lose balance. They quickly stood and begun their attacks. Following what they did before Dylan quickly got Fast to strike the Roc''s neck, then got Slow to constrict its neck, slowly causing it to suffocate. Shadow had already webbed the Roc''s eyes shut, while Rocky already had attached its head to its tongue, slowly dragging its head down. However, it slightly struggled, it was only due to it being weakened due to the point and suffocation that it gave up resisting. Franklin started its array of attacks again, tearing up the Roc''s throat. The Roc finally couldn''t handle it anymore and fell. On its final breath, it tried one last attack with its wings which ended up missing, causing it to lose all strength and all life in its body. Looking at the scene made everyone feel slightly bad, after all, they were just trying to feed themselves. However, everyone has to slowly let go of these feelings and learn to survive. Lachlan turned around to study the eggs again, Lachlan felt somewhat connected to these eggs, as if they were his possession. Walking up to them Lachlan tried to touch one but received no reaction. Seeing that he looked towards Adam and asked him a question, "How''d you get the spider to hatch so quickly?" "I don''t know," Adam replied. "I feel like I have an idea, and it won''t be a painless idea," Everyone looked towards the source of the voice and realised Alfredo said it. Noticing he got everyone''s attention Alfredo continued, "I believe you have to offer it some of your blood. When Adam got the egg to hatch it was because the egg itself made him bleed all over it". Lachlan nodded but hesitated, he doesn''t like pain, and he doesn''t know how much blood will be enough. Adam went up to reassure him, Alfredo gave Lachlan a small pocket knife then gave him an instruction, "Just try poking your fingertip and using only one drop of blood, see if that''ll be enough". Lachlan nodded then followed the instruction. Poking a little mark on his finger made Chloe fidgety, but she''s realised that strength is everything now. *Drip* Lachlan had already pushed out a drop of blood, causing it to fall on one of the three eggs. *Crack*Crack*Crack* Slowly the egg started to crack, getting more and more shattered before pieces begun to fall off. *Chip*Chip* In front of Lachlan stood a bird, it looked similar to both the Roc and Lightning Eagle. It seemed to be 2 metres tall already and maybe had the wingspan of 4 ¨C 5 metres. From the beak to tail feathers was roughly 2 ¨C 3 metres. It didn''t have any feathers yet, so it didn''t exactly look pretty. It quickly waddled over to Lachlan before laying down its head on his lap. Taking this opportunity Lachlan checked its stats. ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Blue Lightning Roc Age: Infant Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Level: 1 STR: 25, AGI: 25, VIT: 50 INT: 10, PER: 10, WIL: 5 Quick Growth: Bathe it in the blood of an adult or Roc and Blue Lightning Eagle, doing so will allow it to reach the Adolescence growth stage instantly. Only using one of the bloodlines will allow it to reach childhood. -------------------------------------------------------- 19 Success * Looking at the results pleased Lachlan and everyone there. Lachlan took this opportunity to hatch the other two eggs. *Crack*Crack* *Chirp Chirp*Chirp Chirp* The other two quickly waddled over the Lachlan and laid their heads on his lap as well. Lachlan signalled to Alfredo to drag over the two corpses, while Dylan looked a bit confused he helped. After getting the corpses near enough Lachlan signalled for Alfredo to strike. Doing so he quickly decapitated the two heads, causing the blood to go everywhere, this time the blood was red. Dylan was shocked by the sudden incident and quickly jumped back to avoid getting sprayed, looking around he noticed everyone else had already moved back. Dylan was slightly annoyed that they didn''t warn him and was about the shout but before that, a bright light went off. Lachlan wasn''t too shocked, after all, not everything shed skin. After the bright light dispersed there stood three large birds, looking at them they seemed to already be the size of their mother. They seemed to have taken after their mother''s colour as well, blue and white. Lachlan decided to analyse them to see what kind of companions he''ll get. ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Blue Lightning Roc Age: Adolescence Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Level: 1 STR: 35, AGI: 35, VIT: 50 INT: 20, PER: 15, WIL: 10 Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at all three status screens in front of Lachlan made him ecstatic, now he finally had some tamed beast. He reached out his arms to grab hold of all three of them, "Will you join me?" Looking around Lachlan quickly knew he was in that same black space as before. *Screech*Screech*Screech* Looking in front of him were the three birds, this time they weren''t sizing him up but slowly drifting towards him. Once they reached him they all put their heads out first and rubbed Lachlan''s chest. Light quickly surrounded him before it seemed to be covered by blue, clouds seemed to have drifted in. *Screech* All three birds screeched before they flew off into the distance, flying around the sky. Seeing that made Lachlan peaceful, but that peace didn''t last long. A scorching pain appeared again, on his back it caused him to try and reach for it. Looking around he noticed he was outside his inner world and was rolling around in pain. Not long after the pain in his back disappeared his eyes started to go under extreme pains again. Except for this time, it was two or even three times as painful. "Ahhh!" Lachlan yelled while grabbing onto his head. Chloe already rushed over and grabbed hold of Lachlan, bring him into her embrace. Hugging him and slightly tearing up, she hated seeing her children in pain but knew it was needed so the least she can do is try to comfort them. Lachlan stopped screaming and had let go of his head. Looking around he realised his vision seemed better than before, he could notice more things around him. Adam quickly rushed over, "Come on let''s see those tattoos, you should have three". Lachlan inspected his body, taking off his shirt which was covered in blood he noticed there was no tattoo on his arms or belly, taking a look at his legs he realised there was none there either. "Woah," Adam and Jack gasped while looking at Lachlan''s back. Adam quickly went to the car and grabbed the phone before coming right back. He quickly took a photo to show Lachlan what his tattoo looks like. Looking at the phone made Lachlan confused, he thought there should be three tattoos but instead, there was one, one extremely well-detailed one. On his back appeared three well-detailed wings, surround those wings seemed to be bits of lightning and rocks, it looked really cool to him. "Hmm, maybe its because they''re the same breed they fused together, or because they were all siblings. Either way, it''s a new discovery, and a pretty useful one, good job boy," Alfredo said before slapping Lachlan back and laughing. Lachlan wanted to try out summoning and quickly shouted, "Summon Disaster, Calamity, and Catastrophe!" A bright blue light went off, the sound of lightning cracking could be heard before the light dispersed and there stood three large birds. "Analyse" ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Blue Lightning Roc Age: Adolescence Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Level: 1 STR: 47, AGI: 46, VIT: 100 INT: 33, PER: 24, WIL: 30 Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip Description: A species birthed from the mating of a Blue Lightning Eagle and a Roc. These birds display both strengths from their parents and have high-level natural stats due to them being a higher tier breed of bird. -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at the screen Lachlan quickly realised that it had more detail than before, he determined it must have been why his eyes were in so much pain. However, looking at the stats pleased Lachlan, not only were they high for adolescence they were added with his own stats. Inspecting them closer made Lachlan remember that his Vitality was extremely high, which was added to an already high level of Vitality. Thinking about it Lachlan realised that they would be able to heal even some heavy wounds. As long as it wasn''t a loss of limb, they could probably heal it back to normal. Pleased with it Lachlan stood up and looked around at everyone, "Well it seems we have a new ride". 20 Coober Pedy * Looking at the large birds made everyone impressed, now they have a fast ride as well. "How long can they fly for?" Chloe asked. "About 2 - 3 hours, for now, they haven''t been alive for long and while they do have some crazy strength they can''t control it well, not to mention they have no experience flying," Lachlan explained. Everyone nodded before they separated into pairs and got onto a bird each, Alfredo and Dylan were at the furthermost left side of the group. Jack and Adam were at the furthermost right side of the group. Lachlan and Chloe were in the middle of the group, slightly in the lead. "Hey, you know the way back?" Dylan asked. Adam quickly checked the phone but realised he had no signal. Slightly disappointed, "No connection". There was a bit of silence before Chloe decided to give some useful directions, "Since we came from that direction," She pointed in the direction of where the car was and continued, "As long as we go straight we should be able to get back on the main road and follow it from there". "Come on! Let''s go that direction," Lachlan commanded as he pointed in the same direction that Chloe said. *Flap*Flap*Flap* All three Rocs began their ascent, slowly lifting off the group and getting used to the feeling of flying. *Screech* All three Rocs screeched and begun flying in that direction and a high speed, causing everyone''s fast to slighting distort from the air. "You three! Do you know a way to prevent the wind from blasting us?" Lachlan questioned the Rocs. The Rocs seemed to have quickly glanced at each other before screeching again. "Huh," Lachlan and everyone else was surprised by the sudden lack of pressure. It was as if all the air surrounding their body follows along with the Roc, creating a safe place for them to breathe. "Good Job!" Lachlan shouted while petting the one he was riding. Everyone else followed his action, praising the Roc and giving it a pet. *Screech* This screech was slightly different, this one sounded like they were having fun. It took half an hour, but they were back to the main road. Adam quickly took out the phone to see where they were. "We aren''t too far from Coober Pedy, it''s in that direction," Adam said while pointing. *Screech* All the birds began to fly in that direction, and just like before Lachlan and the rest of the group didn''t feel a thing. Getting closer to the town they realised that it was still active, although it didn''t seem like a lot of people, it was the most amount of people they had seen. It also seemed they had some tamed beast with them. About 5 of them, three of which they had already seen before. ¡­ "Hey everyone! Look up there are people on those birds, maybe they can give us some help," A bulky man said. "Hopefully," a fairly skinny guy next to the man said. "Wave! Try to get their attention". ¡­ Looking down at the group of people they realised they were all waving to them. Slowly going down the got closer and closer to the people. Taking a closer look Lachlan recognised some of the tamed beasts alongside them. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Mike (Iron-Fist Kangaroo) Age: Adult Attribute: Iron Level: 12 STR: 53(+19), AGI: 41(+21), VIT: 30(+16) INT: 24(+6), PER: 30(+9), WIL: 26(+5) Weakness: Incapacitating the tail or legs Strengths: Strong stomping and punching strength Description: A variant evolution of Kangaroo that evolved this way due to their surrounding environment being barren, deciding a strong body and powerful stomping power were needed. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Mamba (Black Taipan) Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness Level: 14 STR: 24(+21), AGI: 55(+23), VIT: 20(+26) INT: 33(+5), PER: 31(+11), WIL: 32(+7) Weakness: Small body Strengths: Extreme speeds, and an extremely dangerous poison Description: A snake that evolved to kill its opponents without having to use much strength which leads to its physical strength and defence decreasing. However, in return, it got an extremely dangerous poison and fast strikes. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Trick (Trap Scorpion) Age: Adult Attribute: Earth Level: 14 STR: 34(+20), AGI: 41(+27), VIT: 35(+26) INT: 30(+7), PER: 31(+9), WIL: 32(+4) Weakness: Turning its body Strengths: Fast tail attack, and strong pincers Description: A scorpion evolved to trick its opponents into getting closer to its stinger, as its body is able to camouflage alongside trees. It''s overall strong with nothing special aside for its stinger. -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at three of the five status screen confirmed Lachlan''s theory, he had seen them before, one of which was killed by Alfredo. Lachlan decided to analyse the rest of the group, it seemed there were 5 people but six beasts. Well, after the analysis he will determine who has tamed a beast and who hasn''t -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Hunter Stephen (Human) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Scorpions (High) Level: 16 STR: 14(+24), AGI: 12(+32), VIT: 10(+33) INT: 15(+10), PER: 13(+12), WIL: 12(+8) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast attacks, and strong grip Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Hunter was a tanned male. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and a shredded body, he was about 6''2 and was wearing plain clothes. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Mia Stephen (Human) Age: 25 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Snakes (High) Level: 16 STR: 13(+28), AGI: 12(+37), VIT: 10(+32) INT: 15(+12), PER: 13(+18), WIL: 12(+15) Weakness: None Strengths: Extreme speeds, and an extremely dangerous poison Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Mia was 5''6, she had long blonde hair that reached her hip, green eyes, and She had a slim body and a bit of muscle. Just like Hunter, she was wearing plain clothes. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Luke Burns (Human) Age: 31 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Kangaroos (Perfect) Level: 15 STR: 16(+26), AGI: 11(+27), VIT: 10(+20) INT: 18(+8), PER: 14(+12), WIL: 13(+7) Weakness: None Strengths: Strong stomping and punching strength Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Luke was 7''0, had large muscles and was relatively shredded. He had dark brown-black hair that was cut short and hazel eyes. He was wearing a tank top and shorts. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Adam Burns (Human) Age: 31 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Snakes (High) Level: 15 STR: 13(+27), AGI: 11(+31), VIT: 10(+25) INT: 19(+10), PER: 13(+8), WIL: 13(+11) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast speeds, and a durable body Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Adam was 6''5. He was very skinny compared to everyone else. Had Dark brown-black hair with brown eyes. He was wearing a plain shirt and shorts. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Emily Hans (Human) Age: 27 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Sharks (Perfect), Fish (Intermediate) Level: 1 STR: 13, AGI: 11, VIT: 10 INT: 15, PER: 12, WIL: 14 Weakness: Illusions Strengths: None Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Emily was 4''9. Had dark brown hair that reached her shoulder bones and brown eyes. She was wearing a plain grey dress. ''Huh, so that''s the person without a beast, well it''s not like she can tame an aquatic creature in the middle of Australia anyway,'' Lachlan thought. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ryley Watson (Human) Age: 18 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 4/5 Compatibility:Lizards (Perfect) Level: 24 STR: 13(+39), AGI: 11(+51), VIT: 10(+54) INT: 15(+26), PER: 12(+38), WIL: 14(+22) Weakness: None Strengths: Strong skin, teeth, claws, and able to camouflage himself Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Hm, but I can only see one lizard, maybe the rest are unsummoned. Now onto checking the rest of the beast,'' Lachlan thought. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Yeet (Black-Head Snake) Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness/Rock Level: 11 STR: 41(+22), AGI: 42(+25), VIT: 30(+21) INT: 36(+7), PER: 33(+6), WIL: 36(+7) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast speeds, and a durable body Description: An evolution of snakes that chose to not strengthen their poison but instead their body. They''re able to strangle many beasts with their strong and durable body. -------------------------------------------------------- This had to be the largest snake they had ever seen. It was 20 metres long, its body was almost entirely light brown, except the head which was completely black. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Surprise (Trickster Lizard) Age: Adult Attribute: Rock Level: 15 STR: 20(+25), AGI: 37(+28), VIT: 35(+27) INT: 20(+7), PER: 23(+13), WIL: 18(+6) Weakness: Weak defence Strengths: Strong teeth, claws and can camouflage Description: A lizard that evolved to earn the ability of camouflage, which completely erases its presence from anything. Due to its body relying on camouflage it doesn''t have much strength. -------------------------------------------------------- This lizard wasn''t too large, only 3 metres long and maybe half a metre wide. It had light brown and yellow skin with bits of rest. 21 Lizard Enthusiast * "Hey you guys! What are you doing in the open?" Alfredo asked. "We''re hunting!" Hunter shouted. Everyone on the Rocs nodded before descending, they all landed in front of the six people and sized them up. Of course, they did the same, sizing up Lachlan''s group. "So are you guys the only ones left?" Alfredo asked. "Indeed, there were a few others, but they''ve already got in their cars and drove off, hoping to get to a city," Luke explained while clenching his fist, he begun berating the people that left in a harsh voice, "They left us to die, only taking themselves and whatever items they could. There was enough room for us, even if we had to be separated in different cars it would have worked out eventually, but no, they only cared for themselves". They all felt some sympathy for this group, after all, they were the same in that they only took themselves. However, they didn''t feel guilty, this new world doesn''t wait for anyone and it certainly isn''t a place for soft-hearted people. "It''s alright, we could probably take up with us. However, it''s on the condition that you help us should a fight start, okay?" Chloe said. "That''s perfectly fine for us, we just want to get out of here," Luke said. "What''s so bad about this place?" Alfredo asked. "Well there probably isn''t enough food and water to survive for a long period of time, the people that drove away took whatever they could from the stores. There''s also this heat. Although we can survive in it, constantly fighting whatever beast decides to show up is exhausting us," Luke explained. "Okay, well, we''ll rest here for a bit as the birds need to rest. We''ll also salvage whatever we can from the stores, probably find some bags to put food in," Alfredo said. "Sure, we''ll lead you to the stores," Luke said. We began to walk down the road towards the central area, there wasn''t much happening, although there were corpses everyone''s adapted to the putrid smell and gruesome sight already. It didn''t take long, only 5 minutes to reach our destination, an IGA. Walking inside everyone looked around and inspected what was salvageable. There was a lot of water, bags of chips and some sweets. Although there was a lot of different seasoning, the meat in the fridges has already gone off. Jack went behind one of the counters and grab a bunch of shopping bags, giving one or two out to everyone. The first thing everyone grabbed was some water and a lot of it, enough to last us plenty of days even in this unbearable heat. "We''ll need some hats and sunscreen, the sun is beginning to reach its peak," Chloe said, "Although the air around the birds is calm and cool the same can''t be said about the sun, we don''t want anyone burning". Everyone walked over to the selection of hats available, some grabbed bucket hats while others grabbed caps. Everyone then walked to the sunglasses, grabbing whatever fit and looked alright. Chloe gave everyone a large bottle of sunscreen to use. Lachlan quickly told Chloe that he was going to the toilet before jogging over. Opening up the door and quickly looking around Lachlan noticed the toilet was still in good condition, there were no corpses. When Lachlan finished he went over to the sink to wash his hands and noticed his reflection in the mirror. Taking a closer look he realised he looked a bit manlier, masculine. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 9 (Kid) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) Level: 14 STR: 12(+21), AGI: 11(+21), VIT: 50(+30) INT: 13(+12), PER: 9(+9), WIL: 20(+6) Weakness: None Strengths: Lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip Descript: A unique being birth between a human and ???, due to the ??? bloodline getting contaminated with a weaker bloodline it caused some of the ??? special characteristics to malfunction. However, due to the ??? bloodline, the body is still stronger than a normal human even at a young age. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Huh, well at least this confirms that the three birds only take up 1 Soul Contract, and it also gives a slight description of my father''s bloodline,'' Lachlan thought. However, what made Lachlan most proud was his stats. After all, three very strong beasts certainly add up to the bonus stats. Now he could protect himself and the people around him. Walking out he saw everyone gathered together talking. "So, we forgot to introduce our selves, I''m Alfredo this is Franklin". "I''m Chloe, don''t have a tamed beast". "I''m Jack, this is Rocky". "I''m Adam, this is Shadow". "I''m Dylan, this is Fast and Slow". Lachlan quickly ran up to the group to introduce himself. "Hey! I''m Lachlan, this is Calamity, Disaster, and Catastrophe". "Huh, well those are some terrifying names, anyway, I''m Luke, this is my twin brother Adam and my tamed beast Mike," said Luke. "I''m Adam as mentioned by Luke and this is my beautiful beast Yeet!" said Adam. "I''m Hunter Stephen, this is Trick," said Hunter. The girl came forward to introduce herself, "Hey! I''m Mia Stephen, Hunter''s older sister and this is my beautiful companion Mamba". This time it was Emily to come forward and introduce herself, "Hi there, I''m Emily Hans, just like Chloe I don''t have a tamed beast of my own". The last person was the youngest guy in their group, but instead of introducing himself he ran up to Jack and held both his hands up high, "So you''ve tamed lizards too, nice to meet a fellow lizard tamer, the names Ryley and I have four lizards one of which you''ve already met before which was which was surprising. Summon Ambush, Ninja, and Scan!" Three of the tattoos Ryley had lit up, two were on his leg while one was on his face. In front of them appeared three more lizards, two of which looked exactly like the previous one. However, one of them looked entirely different. It was only 20cm long and 3 ¨C 5cm wide. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ambush (Trickster Lizard) Age: Adult Attribute: Rock Level: 15 STR: 22(+25), AGI: 38(+28), VIT: 35(+27) INT: 24(+7), PER: 27(+13), WIL: 20(+6) Weakness: Weak defence Strengths: Strong teeth, claws and can camouflage Description: A lizard that evolved to earn the ability of camouflage, which completely erases its presence from anything. Due to its body relying on camouflage it doesn''t have much strength. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ninja (Trickster Lizard) Age: Adult Attribute: Rock Level: 15 STR: 21(+25), AGI: 35(+28), VIT: 35(+27) INT: 25(+7), PER: 25(+13), WIL: 21(+6) Weakness: Weak defence Strengths: Strong teeth, claws and can camouflage Description: A lizard that evolved to earn the ability of camouflage, which completely erases its presence from anything. Due to its body relying on camouflage it doesn''t have much strength. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Scan (Detection Lizard) Age: Adult Attribute: Rock/Wind/Water Level: 15 STR: 10(+25), AGI: 12(+28), VIT: 30(+27) INT: 30(+7), PER: 80(+13), WIL: 25(+6) Weakness: Weak defence Strengths: Complete camouflage, undetectable even through special skills, able to detect anything within a 20km range through its sense of sight, smell and hearing. Description: A lizard that evolved to earn the ability of complete camouflage, which completely erases its presence from anything and together paired with its detecting ability it''s almost impossible to find let alone kill. -------------------------------------------------------- 22 Unique Lizard * "Just wondering. Are the three lizards you own siblings?" Lachlan asked. "Nope, I got them all at different times, it would be extremely unlikely for them to be related to one another," explained Ryley. "What''s with the small lizard? Can it fight?" Asked Jack. ''No no no, you see this is Scan and he does exactly what his name implies. He''s able to detect anything from an extremely far distance, through either using his hearing, smell and sight, all of which are advanced to the extreme," Ryley said. Alfredo walked up to Ryley and patted him on his shoulders, "That''s a fantastic ability! Can it do anything else?" "Of course, just watch," Said Ryley. He quickly picked up Scan and put him on his arm, "Scan hide". The lizard completely vanished, it didn''t just change its colour it erased its entire presence. Ryley looked towards the arm that was just holding Scan, "Okay, you can show yourself again". The lizard was there, completely fine and looked just like it did before it vanished. "See, pretty cool right?" Ryley proudly said. "Hahaha, indeed. It''s such a fantastic little lizard," Alfredo said as he placed his head closer to the lizard to inspect it more. After everyone introduced themselves they all began to prepare for the trip, making themselves comfortable on the birds, putting on some sunscreen, a hat, and some sunglasses. After 20 minutes everyone was finally prepared, the next stop was Glendambo, it certainly isn''t going to be the place we stay the night. However, they will stop to rest for an hour, as although the birds have managed to slightly increase their endurance they still struggle with control. *Screech* The birds began to lift off, screeching happily as they did. They shot straight up, giving everyone and the viewpoint of a lifetime. Lachlan and everyone else didn''t expect to have the ability to fly to be such a useful ability. Although it limited Scan''s detection as they were now high in the air, it wasn''t like anything that was outside of Scan''s range could hurt them. They also got to see the world like they never could before. Although Lachlan and the original group had already experienced flying, that was over a wasteland. Now, however, they started to get closer to sources of water, vegetation was much more abundant. Even though it was summer the vegetation was extremely vibrant, the evolved tree and bushes were enormous, just like when they exited Alice Springs the overgrowth had ruptured the roads. They had finally reached Glendambo; the birds were exhausted and panting. They landed at the open space near the toilet, Lachlan had taken out some water bottles and begun to give the birds some water. "Should we check to see if anyone''s here?" Asked Jack. "There isn''t anyone here". Everyone turned towards the voice and realised it was Ryley, Alfredo walked up to him, "How do you know that?" "Because Scan can''t detect anything within a 10km radius, and anything that can be detected is either too small or large to be human," he explained. "Alright, well, rest up we leave in an hour, our next stop will be Port Augusta, we''ll stay there for the night," Alfredo explained. Everyone nodded and begun to mind their own business, they all sat down under the shade with some snacks and a water bottle. Adam was already on the phone, checking the news, although the internet was bad it was enough. "What''s happening Adam?" Alfredo questioned. "Well, some new things have been discovered. The Earth was tripled in size, some places had expanded and all around the world new islands have been discovered, some of which are massive". "Huh, wonder which country is going to claim it," said Jack. "None for a while, it seems America sent some drones to check an island closest to them, the drone disappeared the moment it went into the vegetation, they couldn''t track where it was at all. They''ve also had some satellites inspect the islands, however, it seems there are some disturbances around the island, they believe it to either be new material or special beast". "A beast that can block a satellite, huh, sounds terrifying," Ryley said. After hearing that new land has been discovered everyone began thinking about what else there could be. "I wonder if dragons exist now". Looking towards the source of the voice they noticed it was Luke, Lachlan and his group had noticed that the group they picked up were always quiet, at least around them they were. This time it was his brother, Adam that contributed to the conversation, "That would be insane, I wonder if I could tame one, riding a dragon would impress anyone". "Haha, that should be last on your priorities, Humanity has pretty much started all over again, at least before the incident we had explored a large majority of the land, now we have new land to explore. Not to mention the ocean, we only explored a small percentage of it and now it''s only expanded, who knows what''s underneath those water," Alfredo said. "That further proves my theory that dragons exist now," Luke happily said, as if he won the lotto. "It wasn''t even a theory, it was just a random remark," Mia snarked. "Mia, it''s not nice to ruin other''s dreams, let the man have this," Hunter consulted. "Okay," said Mia. After that everyone went quiet and ate their snacks, rested up, went to the toilet and begun preparing to leave. Everyone had finished packing up and got on the birds. "Okay. Lift off!" Lachlan shouted. *Screech* And just like before the birds shot straight up, slightly blinding everyone on board as they faced the fun. It wasn''t long until their realised the birds were getting faster, much faster, yet it still had no effect on them, no g-force. 23 Port Augusta and Training * After flying for an hour they began to notice cars scattered across the road, probably from people trying to get to the safer area, some may even be the people from Coober Pedy. But that didn''t matter, for now, they were dead. The group finally reached Port Augusta, however, instead of descending immediately the got the Rocs to fly closer to each other. "Hey Ryley! Where''s a safe place to land!" Lachlan shouted at Ryley, as the Rocs were quite large they couldn''t get right next to each other, so they had to shout. "Over there!" Ryley shouted while pointing to a cluster of apartments. The Rocs began their descent to the parking lot of those apartments. Everyone was on high alert, looking to see if anybody was still here, or if anything was crawling around. Finally getting a nod from Ryley reassured that this area was safe. Lachlan got all the Rocs to land close to the biggest apartments, hoping that having a high view will give them an advantage should they get attacked. Lachlan looked at the sign to see where they were, "Majestic Oasis Apartment". Lachlan looked at the apartments around them and agreed, the owners must have spent a lot of money to make it this nice. "Okay, here''s how I believe we should split the group. Chloe, Emily, and Sarah will go to the middle building along with Lachlan. Jack, Adam, Dylan, and I will go to the building to the left. Everyone else will belong to the building on the right. Is that alright?" Alfredo asked. Everyone nodded before carrying their stuff to their apartments, of course before they entered they had Dylan use Scan to see if their completely clear, which they were lucky. Alfredo quickly ran over to Lachlan, "Meet up with us to begin training". "Okay," Lachlan said while nodding. Everyone quickly got comfortable, this was the first time they had been so comfortable. Lachlan had to agree with the sign, even more, it was nice inside, almost like a house. Lachlan got up before walking outside and going towards the dorm next door, where Alfredo and all that was. Walking inside he noticed everyone was ready. Even Dylan seemed to be preparing to train with them, they didn''t mind, the more the merrier. Alfredo gave a quick nod before heading outside, everyone followed along. They walked downstairs back into the parking lot, in the centre of the parking lot gave them a lot of room. Alfredo stopped at the centre and looked at everyone, making sure he had their full attention. "Okay, so as you all know I don''t practice any fancy martial arts, everyone I''ll show you are things I''ve learnt off the street". "Yes!" Everyone shouted, acknowledging that they knew what they were getting themselves into. "Alright, first up is a bit of theory. What are some weak points in the body?" "The neck, throat, eyes, umm, I think that''s all," said Jack. "Haha, of course, that isn''t all. There are also the joints, use enough force and anyone can snap them," Alfredo said, everyone nodded and gestured that he continued. "Now what are some weak points for the beasts you''ve seen so far?" "The same," said Dylan. "Exactly!" Shouted Alfredo. "They''re exactly the same, now don''t get me wrong, some beasts will have some protection around those areas, but not all. Obviously, beasts are much stronger then humans, their bones and stronger and their skin is tougher so don''t always expect that going for weak points will work, you have to have enough strength to make them work," Alfredo said. "Yes, sir!" They all shouted. "Don''t bother with formalities, just listen and train". "Now I don''t expect that anyone has really had proper training, right?'' Alfredo said to which everyone nodded. Although the Jack, Adam, and Dylan have exercised that was more for sports such AFL rather than fighting. "Alright, your first step is to practice your punches and movement," Alfredo commanded. He got everyone into positions, one leg forward, legs slightly bent, arms up protecting the face. "Now this is a common form for boxing, the back leg is going to be the driving force for pushing your body forward. Remember, the arm that is most forward is more for protecting your face, yes it''s usually used for jabs, but I don''t think a monster is going to be fazed by a quick jab, now get started on your power punches," Alfredo commanded. "Yes!" Everyone shouted before beginning their training. "Whoa Whoa Whoa, where''s your movement, you''re going to be sitting ducks with that sort of movement. You''ll first practice just moving forward and backwards, start!" Alfredo shouted. Everyone began moving and punching, moving forward one or two steps before punching. They repeated the same movement for an hour, Alfredo kept correcting them, telling them to put more force in their punches, to not hold back or hesitate since a beast certainly won''t. They took a break every half an hour until they had trained for two hours. Their bodies were exhausted and sore, they could barely walk up the stairs to get back to their rooms. Getting back into their rooms they quickly showered, they absolutely enjoyed the hots water they got and spent five to ten minutes just soaking in the hot water. Getting out of the bathrooms and getting into bed had never been a more joyous occasion. As everyone began drifting off to bed, the river they were next to begun rippling and large figures could be seen moving. 24 Blue Lightning * "Everyone wake up!" Ryley was shouting at the top of his lungs, banging on everyone''s door before just slamming them open. Although everyone got slightly irritated that their joyous sleep was disturbed since it was Ryley shouting they didn''t waste any time getting ready and running outside. "Ryley what''s happening," Emily said while half asleep. "Scan detected a lot of movement in the water, and I mean a lot," Ryley explained. "What does that have to do with us, they''re fish, they can''t attack us from the riv-" just as Luke was about to finish talking a blast and water shot past us. Looking back everyone noticed the damage it caused terrified everyone there, it completely pierced through the walls as if it was a hot knife cutting through butter. "What type of fuckin fish are those!" Luke cussed. Lachlan realised the seriousness of the situation and quickly summoned his beasts. "Summon Calamity, Disaster, and Catastrophe!" The light dispersed, and the three Rocs were there. "Everyone gets on we can discuss everything later," Lachlan said before hopping onto his Roc. Everyone else followed along, rapidly jumping on before the Rocs shot up into the sky. Looking down towards the river they couldn''t see anything, but that was mainly because it was dark. "Ryley! How many enemies are there!" Alfredo shouted. "Scan detects at least 200 beasts inside the water and more are coming, bigger and stronger ones too," Dylan explained. ''Damn what should we do,'' Lachlan thought. He kept trying to come up with solutions, but nothing would work, there were too many beasts, not to mention they''ll probably shoot them down should they get close. That''s when it happened. *Screech*Screech*Screech* The Rocs begun flying in a circle screeching, the sound was almost deafening, their screeches sounded like billions of volts going off. "What''s happening Lachlan!" Alfredo shouted. "I don''t know!" Lachlan shouted back. The sound of thunder could be heard. The entire group was so confused, when they woke up there was no sign of bad weather. Trying to locate where the sound came from they ended up looking up. There was a massive cloud concentrated in a single area, lightning could be seen constantly shooting through it. *Kaboom*Bang*Kaboom* Lightning began firing off around them, the lighting was different, however, it was blue. Looking at where the lightning struck they noticed it was the river. The lightning kept going for 10 minutes before finally stopping, the group still covering their ears. Looking up the group saw the clouds begin to separate, scattering across the sky. The Rocs began to descend, they were panting and struggling to keep flight. When they finally reached the ground everyone got off before anyone could question him Lachlan went inside and got bottles of water before giving them to the Rocs. "What was that Lachlan?" Alfredo asked. "I don''t know, but whatever it was really consumed their energy," Lachlan said. Ryley quickly shouted to interrupt their little conversation, "Everyone!" Everyone turned to stare at him. Seeing that he got everyone''s attention he began speaking, "Whatever it was killed everything in the water, I mean everything, all the bigger enemies that were coming are dead and the same could be said about the smaller enemies that ambushed us". Everyone looked at Lachlan in shock, then turned and looked towards the Rocs in shock. Such destructive power could get them anywhere in this new world, well, almost anywhere. "Lachlan, do you at least know what''s required for them to use that power?" Alfredo asked. "Kind of, from the looks of it they can''t use that move alone and need the help of others. At least that''s what required at their current strength. "Current strength?" Ryley questioned. "Yes, current strength. They''re currently adolescence, they haven''t fully matured yet which is why they need help when using that move. However, when they do grow up they might be able to use that move by themselves," Lachlan explained. "Hey, do you think my lizards could do something like that," Ryley enthusiastically asked. "Maybe, but not now. Wait till the morning and we''ll go somewhere that you can destroy if it does work," Alfredo said. Everyone quickly went to bed, although still a bit shocked by the new discovery, staying up all night thinking about it won''t help with anything. Lachlan, on the other hand, was in front of the mirror. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 9 (Kid) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) Level: 50 STR: 12(+457), AGI: 11(+434), VIT: 50(+346) INT: 13(+122), PER: 9(+189), WIL: 20(+156) Weakness: None Strengths: Lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip Descript: A unique being birth between a human and ???, due to the ??? bloodline getting contaminated with a weaker bloodline it caused some malfunctions. However, due to the ??? bloodline, the body is still stronger than a normal human even at a young age. -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at his stats Lachlan couldn''t believe it, he really wanted to test it on something. Looking down he realised his hands were on a marble counter, applying some pressure. *Crack* The whole thing had cracks all over it, it even extended to a bit of the wall. However, what shocked Lachlan the most was how little effort he put into that. Lachlan went to bed now knowing he had the power to protect anything. Waking up everyone''s thoughts were still thinking about what happened last night, the destructive power still lingering in everyone''s mind. Getting up everyone got some snacks and a bottle of water before meeting outside, Lachlan, Dylan, Adam, and Jack still slightly sore from last night''s training. Ryley, on the other hand, was very energetic, he couldn''t wait to test out his beast, see if they had just as much destructive power. Unfortunately for Ryley, everyone else had some other things they wanted to do first, shopping. They had worn the same clothes for a while now, the clothes were dirty and smelled horrible. 25 Testing * They began their shopping journey. However, instead of flying to each destination they walked, of course, they had Ryley make sure It''s safe. Their first destination was Target. Their main goal at Target was to get some undergarments, as they had a different store in mind for the rest of their clothes. When they walked into the store a putrid smell smashed them right in the face. Looking around they noticed a few corpses, one beast and a few humans. Each of them looked like they had been rotting for a while, it looked disgusting and smelled even worse. They quickly went in and grabbed some undergarments before running out. Alfredo, however, took his time, when he walked out the kids were the first to notice what he got, skipping ropes. They knew their training load increased. They continued their journey for new clothes and they finally reached their final destination, SportsPower. A bit traumatised by their previous encounter they were a bit hesitant. Opening the door they realised there was no horrible smell. Walking around they didn''t see any corpses and it felt great. They quickly went and grabbed some duffel bags and other large bags, everyone grabbed two each. One of which was very quickly filled with various clothes. There were tank tops, shorts, short-sleeved shirts, socks and a couple jumpers in the guy''s bags. Although it was currently summer, they wanted to grab everything they can. As for the girl''s bags. There were leggings, shorts, tank tops, short-sleeved shirts, socks as well as jumpers and jackets. Everyone then walked over to the shoe section, while they were at it they may as well get some new and comfortable shoes. Everyone quickly found shoes they liked and put them on before walking out. Lachlan summoned his Rocs, Lachlan quickly realised they felt different, stronger and more intimidating, obviously, he quickly realised it was due to what happened last night. It wasn''t just him either, everyone took a step back as the pressure the Rocs were giving off was insane. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Calamity, Disaster, Catastrophe (Blue Lightning Roc) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Level: 50 STR: 47(+436), AGI: 46(+413), VIT: 100(+316) INT: 33(+110), PER: 24(+180), WIL: 30(+150) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip Description: A species birthed from the mating of a Blue Lightning Eagle and a Roc. These birds display both strengths from their parents and have high-level natural stats due to them being a higher tier breed of bird. -------------------------------------------------------- It was just as Lachlan suspected. He quickly commanded that the Rocs release the pressure and they did. Everyone got on and they flew back to the apartments to drop off everything they got. Once they finished that they got back onto the Rocs and travelled to an open plain a kilometre away from the city. Ryley summoned his lizards. "Summon Surprise, Ninja, and Ambush!" The three lizards stood before them, they looked exactly the same. "Do you guys have a special move you can use?" Ryley enthusiastically asked. They stared at him then nodded. However, not all of them went forward, only two. *Stomp*Stomp*Stomp*Stomp* They began stomping of the ground at the same tempo, everyone began to feel the group shake before it hit them. The ground began rupturing, splitting apart. Everyone quickly realised what the lizards were doing, they were creating an earthquake. The stomping similar to the lightning, continued for ten minutes before the lizards were exhausted. However, the damage they caused in that ten minutes was insane. The entire landscape around them had been ruptured, the hill not too far from them broke apart, trees were scattered everywhere. It caused a lot more damage then the lightning did, but the group did quickly realise that this move wouldn''t do as much damage to enemies as the lightning did. "Damn, although it was pretty epic I kind of wanted more," Ryley said. "Jeez, what else do you want, a meteor to fall from the sky?" Alfredo asked. "Exactly!" Ryley shouted. Everyone facepalmed and thought the same thing, ''This idiot''. "You know it could do a lot more damage in certain environments?" Alfredo said. "What environments?" Ryley asked. "Mountains and caves, using that skill would probably break apart mountains and collapse caves, which would kill everything in it," Alfredo explained. "huh, true, I suppose it would kill a lot," Ryley said. After that, they tried a few more things. They tried to use the skill with only one lizard, it didn''t work. Lachlan had tried to use two Rocs to summon the lightning, it failed. After a few hours of testing and resting they tried one last thing, using all three lizards to use the special move, the results were shocking the say the least. It seemed the power had doubled, the shaking intensified and all the ground around them shattered and ruptured. The surrounding environment was a complete mess, its shocked that it only took three lizards to do such damage. Lachlan began to see a pattern and knew how the special abilities worked. From what he''s observed it take three beasts at the adolescence to even perform it, two are the adult stage and if his theory is correct, it''ll only take one elder. He began shivering at another thought. If three adult lizards could do so much damage, then what would three or even more elders do. However, Lachlan did realise that so far on this journey he has yet to witness an elder beast. They went back to the apartments to take a break. The group already decided to stay for another night, they really enjoyed it here, there were almost no disturbances and they were free to do whatever they wanted. Alfredo got the boys to begin training a bit earlier, of course, that was because the training was going to be longer. They now had to do skipping, when asked why they got an entire lecture about the importance of skipping and having good control over the lower body, they did skipping for an hour. They then repeated the routine they did last time, this was for two hours, which exhausted the boys, well, except Lachlan. Lachlan seemed more energetic than ever, the exercise didn''t exhaust him at all and he felt like he could go on forever, his body felt great and fit, something he wasn''t used to. After the training, they went to the shower and had some snacks. Adam got everyone to gather outside, he had some news to tell. 26 Adelaide * After Adam got everyone gather he began explaining some events, "So, our next destination will be Adelaide. After some quick research, I have determined that Adelaide is safe, the military has set up a wall and is always patrolling it. However, they are on high alert, so I would suggest we land a little bit away from the wall". "Alright, anything else happen?" Alfredo asked. "Well, all boats and submarines that were in open waters have been destroyed, travelling by plane has been determined unsafe especially for long travel". "Alright, when we do land we should be on high alert as well. We''re getting closer to places with dense vegetation, as such there should be enemies everywhere," Alfredo said. He looked towards Ryley, "Ryley we''ll be relying on you to keep us safe". "Will do," he replied. Everyone went back into the apartments to quickly pack everything they need. After 10 ¨C 20 minutes everyone was done and out. Lachlan summoned the Rocs and everyone got on, although Lachlan wasn''t certain about it, he felt that the Rocs could fly for days without rest which is going to greatly shorten their travel time. Shooting into the air the group began their journey to Adelaide. Along the way, they noticed some differences. They were going much faster; however, they felt no different, it seemed that along with their level increase their control over wind increased as well. It only took them half an hour to reach Adelaide, this journey would have usually taken 3 ¨C 4 hours. The Rocs began their descent, they weren''t too far from the wall, about half a kilometre. They had Ryley use scan to constantly check the surroundings for danger, they walked for a couple minutes before they could finally see the wall. It wasn''t a proper wall it was more of a temporary barrier. What did shock them however, was the fact that people were already there, standing there, seemingly waiting for them. Walking closer they noticed a few people that seemed to soldiers walk towards them. "Hello! We come in peace!" Alfredo shouted. "We can see that dumbass! And don''t talk to us as if were extra-terrestrials!" One of them shouted. It was a woman''s voice. Alfredo was shut up by that, he was just trying to be friendly. The group and soldiers finally met up. One of the soldiers was female, white skin, brunette with hazel eyes. She seemed roughly 6''0, taller than the guy that was with her. He had dark-brown skin, black hair and what seemed to be black eyes. He looked to be roughly 5''4. Both soldiers were carrying guns, both guns looked like assault rifles, each had magazines loaded. It was pretty understandable, we were outside of their barrier and everything out here wants to kill people. "So, how did you know we were coming?" Alfredo asked. "We have tamed beasts with detection abilities, however, they detected you in the sky which is why we were on high alert, bird type beasts are hard to fight against," The women said. ''So, what are you doing out here? We gave evacuation orders to all civilians in a 700km radius," She said. "We are from real far away, to be more specific Alice Springs. Of course not all of us, those six are from Coober Pedy," Alfredo explained. "Huh! Alice Springs! Why would you come all the way here?" She asked. "Well myself and they have family near here," Alfredo explained while pointing to us, he then pointed to the group from Coober Pedy, "As for them, they had nowhere else to go so we took them with us". "What about that boy," She said while pointing to Dylan. "He has lost his family at the start of this incident, as such, when we met him we talked and decided it would be best to take him with us," Alfredo explained. "That''s nice of you. When this whole thing begun people only care about themselves," She said in a voice that sounded like she was filled a hatred, "So how were in the air before? The beast detected you were going hundreds of kilometres an hour". "Birds, he tamed birds," Alfredo said while pointing at Lachlan. The women seemed lost in thought for a brief moment before talking, "Alright, follow me". Along the way, Alfredo couldn''t refrain from asking questions, "So do guns actually work against beasts? How many soldiers have tamed beasts? How long till we can go see our family?". "Yes, however, guns only work on beasts with low defence. That''s confidential information that the public doesn''t need to know right now. I''m not sure till you can see your family, you might be able to meet them very soon". Alfredo was fairly satisfied with the answers he received and shut up. Walking to the barrier only took a little bit less than a minute, during this time Lachlan was analysing that two soldiers. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Harrison Code (Human) Age: 21 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Sharks (High), Fish (Intermediate) Level: 6 STR: 13(+2), AGI: 11(+5), VIT: 10(+4) INT: 19(+1), PER: 13(+2), WIL: 13(+1) Weakness: Illusions Strengths: None Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Hayley Hope (Human) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0(2)/5 Compatibility: Birds (High) Level: 6 STR: 13(+8), AGI: 11(+10), VIT: 10(+8) INT: 19(+1), PER: 13(+4), WIL: 13(+2) Weakness: Illusions Strengths: None Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Although Lachlan was confused momentarily by the number in the brackets for soul contracts he quickly realised what probably happened. It also connected with why she fell into a daze when they brought up the fact that he had tamed birds. 27 Reality * Hayley lead the group through the city, it took a while but they finally reached their destination. It was a cluster of tents, with military constantly patrolling the area. Hayley led them to a tent near the outskirts of the cluster. It was a decent size, large enough to fit everyone, but aside from that, there was nothing else. "Anyway, should you need me I''ll be at that tent over there," She said while pointing to a tent near the middle. She began walking away, towards the tent she pointed at. "Alright, let''s keep everything in the tent for now," Alfredo said as he placed his bags in the tent. Lachlan felt something tugging at his mind ever since he saw Hayley''s stats, mainly about the soul contracts. He quickly dropped off his stuff and began walking towards Hayley''s tent, hoping to clarify his thoughts and maybe help comfort her. Opening the tent he saw Hayley sitting at a desk in the tent with tears in her eyes. Seeing that she had a quest she quickly rubbed her eyes and looked towards Lachlan, "What''s up? You need something?" "Just wanted to see how you''re doing," Lachlan said. "You don''t need to do that, I''m a soldier I can handle it," She said, "So what happened to your beasts?" Lachlan asked. His question caused Hayley''s body to shiver and freeze, unsure with how to answer the question, whether she should lie or not. "What are you talking about, I never had any beast," She said. "Yeah you did, you had birds, it was pretty obvious you did when Alfredo brought it up that I had some," Lachlan explained. "Huh, so it was at that moment that you determined I had birds," She said while tearing up. "Yeah, you seemed a bit down in the dumps when you heard about my birds, I wanted to comfort you," Lachlan said, sounding adorable. "Alright, come here, I''m going to tell you a story about my birds," she said. Lachlan went over and sat next to her, showing that she had his full attention. "It started a few years ago, I wanted something to liven up the house and keep me company. I couldn''t get a dog since I didn''t have enough free time and I didn''t want a cat since I''ve just never been able to get along with them," She paused and looked towards Lachlan, checking to make sure he was still paying attention. "I looked after them since they were young, it was good fun. Then when all this happened I was at home, holding my birds when they grew and changed into massive beasts. At first, I was terrified, seeing my two little birds turn into enormous monsters would give anyone a shock. But I was happy when I realised they didn''t forget me, they came up and comforted me, placing their heads next to my legs," She said and paused, tears began falling off her face. "That''s when I tamed them, when we first flew into the air I thought I was invincible and that nothing could touch me. That''s when I got a call from the superior to head to the base, I didn''t think I had enough time to get in my car, so I flew on my bird. When we reached the base my birds instantly gained a lot of attention, especially by my superiors. I was quickly called in a put in charge of the rescue squad, we saved hundreds of people with my birds, we were able to scout and defend the people till reinforcements came, it felt great," She began hesitation, she was now crying, constantly wiping the tears out her eyes. "We got a call for help, they were trapped at the top of a building that had beasts all around the lower floors. I went to survey the area, checking to see where the people were and help protect them, that''s when it happened. I flew too close to the building, an arm shot through the glass into my bird''s head, I was knocked off, but looking up I saw my bird''s lifeless body be dragged into the building. Fortunately, I had two birds, so, as I fell I summoned the other, a bit of a rough landing but managed to survive nonetheless. We flew up the building at a much further distance this time, we reached the top of the building, I saw the people and jumped off. But when I looked back time seemed to slow down, I saw webs coming from below targeting my bird, there was nothing it could do and before I knew it, it had been dragged down. I went to the side to check and all I saw was its tail feathers through a window, I knew it had died as well and broke down. Although I managed to save the people I lose my best friends, when I told my superior that he took me off the team and told me to take a break, I couldn''t do that, so I joined patrolling units," Her voice began to sound coarse, she had her hands covering her face. Lachlan was stunned, he didn''t know how to respond. The only thing he could do is try to hug her and comfort her, without talking and just letting her cry everything out. She turned towards Lachlan, grabbed his hands and held them up between their faces, "Promise me boy, that you won''t make the same mistake I did. No one is invincible or immortal, you and be strong but never think you''re the strongest, keep working and keep training, promise me that". Lachlan nodded, "I promise". Although he did know he was probably the strongest in the world currently, however, when the information he discovered becomes widespread everything''s going to change. "Good, now go back to your family and enjoy your time, and don''t worry, you''ll see your dad soon enough," She said while letting go of Lachlan''s hands. 28 Planning * When Lachlan reached the tent he noticed everyone was gathered there. Almost everyone, the group from Coober Pedy decided to would be best to separate here, they don''t want to get in the way or anything. Everyone quickly noticed Lachlan had finally appeared, Alfredo explained what they were doing, "We''re currently planning what to do, I''m a bit impatient and want to see my wife and I believe you guys want to see your father. As such, I believe we could try and travel with the military if we could convince them". Chloe perked up at that, "Couldn''t you convince them with your strength, not to mention the boys all have tamed beasts of their own, it should be valid proof of our strength". "It should be, but I don''t think they want unpredictable people coming along with their soldiers. They might think we would get in the way or cause some damage". "Couldn''t we use Lachy''s birds to get there?" Chloe asked. "Possibly, but we are now going through thick vegetation, we can''t see anything. Yes, Lachlan''s birds are strong, however, if we get knocked off the birds some of us might not survive," Alfredo explained. His last sentence caused Chloe to freeze up, as she knew he was talking about her. However, she didn''t disagree with him, she was the only one without a tamed beast yet and could only accept that. Alfredo continued, "In addition, we don''t know what type of beasts are lurking in the forest. Since we''re in Australia, it''s bound to be overflowing with spiders and snakes. Sure, we could try and fly high but there could also be tons of birds that might get in our way". Lachlan decided to join in, "What if I had two of the birds protect us while one carries us?" "Oh, and how are we going to do that? Although they''re big it''ll be a bit dangerous for all of us to try and fit on one bird," Alfredo questioned. "Vehicles!" Lachlan shouted. Alfredo thought for a bit before understanding what Lachlan meant, "So you mean one bird carries everyone that''ll be inside a car while the other two protect". Lachlan was happy Alfredo understood what he meant and nodded. "That''ll also be a problem. If you guys haven''t noticed yet the only vehicles around us are military, they moved all cars and buses out of the area to create more room for everyone". "So all we need to do is get out of this area. Right?" Chloe said. Alfredo explained the complexities of the mission, "Not quite. As I''m sure everyone remembers, they have beasts with detection abilities scattered around the walls, the moment they detect us we''ll probably be in a bit of trouble. As such, I do believe we can mix both plans". "How are we going to do that?" Chloe asked. "Well, if we prove that we''re strong enough to protect ourselves we may be able to get their trust, allowing us to get outside the city. Now that''s the hard part, getting their trust". "Fight their strongest fighter!" Jack shouted. "Indeed that''ll work, but who do you think has the highest chance of winning against the militaries strongest," Alfredo said. "Can''t you fight them, Alfredo?" Chloe asked. "I could, but I''m not confident in my ability to beat them". Dylan thought about it for a while before interrupting them, "What about me? Although I don''t have the same experience as Alfredo I believe I''m stronger, especially with my two tamed beasts". "Alright boy, since you seem confident let''s do this," Alfredo said while patting Dylan''s back. "I could also fight," Lachlan said in a low voice. "And why would we do that?" Alfredo asked. "Just like Dylan, I may not be as experienced as Alfredo, but I definitely have stronger stats," Lachlan explained. Dylan was a bit confused as this was new information to him, "What do you mean?" Lachlan decided to tell Dylan everything, as it seems they''ll be together for a while it''ll be better for him to know. After explaining everything, Lachlan couldn''t help but giggle at Dylan''s shocked expression. It was the first time he saw Dylan so shocked, after all, it seemed he was calm in every situation that they''ve been in so far. "So how high are your stats?" Dylan asked. Lachlan decided to tell everyone, "In the hundreds". "How high are my stats?" Dylan asked. "Between 17 and 44," Lachlan explained. Everyone was shocked now, as before they didn''t understand if Lachlan''s stats were high or not, but after hearing what Dylan''s was, they now understood. Alfredo was the first to ask a question, "How are they so high?" "Well everyone remembers when we were attacked by the fish beasts," Lachlan looked around and everyone nodded, "Well, when the Rocs use that lightning attack and killed all the fish I got a lot of stats from that, hundreds more specifically". "Huh, so if we all tame the same type of beast we could increase our stats drastically?" Alfredo asked. "Essentially," Lachlan said. "Alright, now that we have that planned we just need to meet with soldiers superior," Alfredo explained. "I could ask Hayley, she might be able to help us," Lachlan said. "So that''s where you were," Chloe said before pinching Lachlan''s cheeks, "Only 9 years old and already going to older women". "It''s not that mum, I was just talking to her about her beasts," Lachlan explained. "Alright, alright," Chloe said before letting go. Everyone agreed to the plan and packed everything they needed. They walked out of their tent and headed towards Hayley, in hopes that she''ll help them. 29 Jaylen Aldridge * Everyone began entering Hayley''s tent, one by one they all managed to fit inside. Hayley, on the other hand, was a bit shocked by the abrupt appearance of everyone, however, she quickly calmed her nerves and looked at everyone. "What do you want?" She asked, with a curious tone. This was the first she was put in this situation, although it was foreign to her she knew what needed to be done. "We want to go to the Adelaide Hills," Alfredo said as he stepped forward. Hayley scanned Alfredo up and down and didn''t find anything suspicious about him, "And why should I allow that?" "Because we want to see our family," Chloe said. "Alright, then wait, you should be able to see your family soon enough," Hayley said. "Wait, do you think everyone can just wait. From my last call with my husband, he told me about how he was saving people, helping your soldiers. But tell me, doesn''t that mean that he''s at the forefront of dying?" Chloe asked with a harsh tone. Hayley was a bit shaken by what Chloe said, she stood up and walked towards the group, only leaving a small space between them. "All you can do is wait since the next time we leave the base is in a could weeks," Hayley clarified. "Why don''t we just allow us to go ourselves?" Jack questioned. "We can''t allow that, we are the military that''s supposed to protect everyone," Hayley said while straightening her back, placing her arms at her sides. "Why don''t we prove that we can protect ourselves?" Lachlan asked. Hayley was surprised at Lachlan''s boldness, it seemed even he wanted out. "Alright, I''ll take you to my superior, if you can convince him that everything should be alright," Hayley said while brushing past them and through the door. Everyone followed suit, not wanting to lag behind her at all. After following her for a few minutes they came across a large tent, much larger than any of the ones that they passed along the way. Walking inside they noticed a few people on computers there, at the end of that room was another door, most likely to the commanding officer. Walking through that door they noticed a man sitting down in front of a computer. He looked fairly old, maybe in his 60s. He had grey-white hair, black eyes and just looked like he''s been through a lot. He had a few scars on his face, and some on his hands, no one was sure about the rest of the body since it couldn''t be seen. "Report!" He shouted. "Yes sir, these individuals would like to leave the base and travel to the Adelaide Hills. They wish to see family that is up there," Chloe explained. The man stood up, his size surprised the group, he looked to be 7 feet tall. Lachlan analysed him and felt confident. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jaylen Aldridge (Human) Age: 62 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 4/5 Compatibility: Dogs (Perfect), Wolfs (Low) Level: 20 STR: 13(+30), AGI: 11(+41), VIT: 10(+35) INT: 19(+18), PER: 13(+26), WIL: 13(+14) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, strong bite, strong hands, and partial control over ice. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Well, to be more accurate he felt confident about beating him. He knew Dylan wouldn''t stand a chance against him, this guy had 4 tamed beasts. However, what caught his attention wasn''t the number of tamed beasts he had, but rather one of his strengths, partial control over ice. This meant that one of his beasts had the ability of ice control. Although Lachlan was a bit conflicted by this strength. Sure it was strong, but they were in Australia, it''s bare practical here let alone if he were to travel into central Australia. "Alright then, if you want out then you have to convince me you''re strong enough," Jaylen said. He walked out, everyone followed including Hayley, she wanted to see the strength of her commander. They walked for a while before finally coming across an open area, but what shocked the group was that there were already people fighting here, or to be more accurate, training. Seeing that their commander was there everyone was quick to recall their beasts. They all stood straight with their arms to their sides facing Jaylen. "Everyone clear the fields!" He shouted. All the soldiers scattered off the fields before lining up to one side, waiting for any orders. "Well, follow me," Jaylen said as he walked towards the centre of the field. Dylan and Lachlan quickly followed behind him. The soldiers on the side were a bit confused as to why two kids were following their commander but decided not to say anything. Once they reached the centre of the field Jaylen scanned through the crowd of soldiers and pointed at one, "You! Come here!" The soldiers were a bit shocked by his commander''s sudden demands and made haste to do it. He quickly jogged over to Jaylen''s side and stood straight, waiting for any other orders. The soldier was bold, roughly 6''4 tall and had a bulky physique. "You will fight these two boys, do not hold back, show them your full strength and make them realise the error in their choices". "Yes, sir!" Although he didn''t know why his commander would order him to fight two kids, judging from his tone it seemed he would have to use his full strength. While that was happening Lachlan scanned him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jake Smith (Human) Age: 32 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Reptiles (Perfect) Level: 21 STR: 18(+43), AGI: 10(+45), VIT: 9(+40) INT: 12(+21), PER: 16(+21), WIL: 19(+16) Weakness: None Strengths: Night vision, strong bite, and flexible body. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing the soldiers stats, Lachlan determined this soldier was one of the stronger ones amongst the group. The soldier turned from his superior and looked towards Dylan and Lachlan, "Come 1 and 2!" A bright light emitted from both arms, Lachlan determined that''s where his tattoos are. Two snakes stood before them, one of entirely green, and roughly 6 metres long. The other one looked like the log, brown with bark-like skin, it was much larger, maybe 20 metres long. Lachlan scanned them and was reassured of their victory. ------------------------------------------------------- Name: 1 (Leaf Snake Age: Adult Attribute: Earth/Water/Wood Level: 18 STR: 43(+32), AGI: 42(+35), VIT: 29(+29) INT: 24(+16), PER: 31(+14), WIL: 34(+9) Weakness: Losing its fangs Strengths: Fast speeds, strong poison, and a flexible body. Description: Being surrounded by lush green vegetation, this snake has evolved to blend into the environment and patiently wait for its prey. As the thick vegetation is hard the slither through this snake has developed a highly flexible body, much more flexible compared to others of its species. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: 2 (Tree Anaconda) Age: Adult Attribute: Wood Level: 18 STR: 52(+32), AGI: 31(+35), VIT: 44(+29) INT: 28(+16), PER: 38(+14), WIL: 41(+9) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast speeds, low poison, and tough/durable body. Description: This anaconda has adapted to have the raw strength to crush its opponents, and when dealing with weaker enemies it will most likely poison them. Climbing up rough trees, fighting against beasts with dangerous skin, this Anaconda has developed an "impenetrable body". -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan found it a bit amusing that this soldier decided to name his beasts 1 and 2, most likely wanted things quick to say, decreasing the time needed to summon. 30 Convincing With Strength * Lachlan stood in front of Dylan, he turned and whispered the strength of their opponent. However, Lachlan wasn''t satisfied. Although he trusted that the military wasn''t going to make excuses for when they lose, he wants to make sure to crush any thoughts that they got lucky. "Hey commander, you seem pretty confident to send a weakling like him to fight me," Lachlan said, in a threatening tone. The commander was alarmed at the kid''s voice and confidence. He quickly released pressure from his body, one that can only get when they go through gruelling training and situations. An aura that comes directly from the bones. Everyone on the field felt this pressure, Lachlan and Dylan were a bit shaken by the sudden force that was pushing down on them. Lachlan saw what was happening and copied, releasing an aura that obliterated Jaylen''s. The ground beneath his feet cracked, Dylan''s and his clothes begun fluttering, being moved by the astonishing pressure. The soldier that was supposed to fight them was already kneeling on the ground, without the ability to move. Not just him, however, even his beasts were being pressured into the ground. Alfredo was dazed by the sudden development. Although he too knew how to release an aura, his is no way comparable to the ones being released now. However, what shocked him wasn''t the strength of the aura, but the fact that Lachlan could release it, to begin with. He had to undergo a series of fights and emit the confidence he can now, but Lachlan hasn''t been through such training. He didn''t think about it much and decided it was because of his remarkable strength. Seeing the situation unfold in front of him, Jaylen decided he needed to step forward. "Come Jackson, Bolt, Junior, and Snowflake!" Colourful lights emitted from his body, both legs, on arm and his back lit up the surrounding area. When the light calmed 4 dogs stood before them. Seeing three new breeds before him made Lachlan a bit ecstatic and he quickly analysed them. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jackson (Jungle Dog) Age: Adult Attribute: Earth Level: 11 STR: 32(+17), AGI: 47(+20), VIT: 35(+16) INT: 34(+4), PER: 45(+5), WIL: 30(+2) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and strong bite. Description: A dog that has evolved to adapt to the jungle/forest. These dogs feel a special connection with the jungle/forest and become stronger when within its presence. They can accurately track through thick vegetation and take down their foes. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bolt (Jungle Dog) Age: Adult Attribute: Earth Level: 11 STR: 33(+17), AGI: 49(+20), VIT: 34(+16) INT: 35(+4), PER: 46(+5), WIL: 30(+2) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and strong bite. Description: A dog that has evolved to adapt to the jungle/forest. These dogs feel a special connection with the jungle/forest and become stronger when within its presence. They can accurately track through thick vegetation and take down their foes. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Junior (Iron-Claw Dog) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Iron Level: 11 STR: 30(+17), AGI: 32(+20), VIT: 30(+16) INT: 31(+4), PER: 38(+5), WIL: 23(+2) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and strong claws. Description: Surrounded by harsh terrain, this dog has evolved to handle any terrain. With their iron-claws, they have to ability to travel through all terrain, climb trees and dig through stone. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Snowflake (Ice Wolf) Age: Adult Attribute: Ice Level: 11 STR: 32(+17), AGI: 30(+20), VIT: 40(+16) INT: 49(+4), PER: 35(+5), WIL: 35(+2) Weakness: Foul Smells Strengths: Accurate nose, and Ice control. Description: A wolf that has evolved to control an element, ice. With this ability they are able to track through blizzards and snow, control water around them to turn it to ice and give off a cool breeze. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Well it seems the wolf is where he gets his ice powers from,'' Lachlan thought. However, this was a breakthrough for him, he now understood a bit about the compatibility rating with different beasts. The lower the compatibility the fewer powers one gets from their beasts. Lachlan began to feel a bit cold, looking around he noticed their surrounds have begun to free. Dylan was shivering constantly. The soldiers and their group were also a bit cold, but since they were on the outskirts they weren''t affected too much. Looking through the information he determined it was the wolf''s domain. Lachlan and his group have never come across a beast that controls the elements, well the one time they did they were able to get close enough anyway. Jaylen''s aura increased in strength, it even had a slight freezing effect, most likely from his own ice control. "Summon Disaster, Catastrophe, and Calamity!" The Rocs stood behind Lachlan and stared at their opponents. Seeing that they were trying to threaten their master they decided to release their aura as well. Lachlan''s aura increased severalfold, completely crushing Jaylen''s. This was also Jaylen''s final snapping point, he couldn''t take it anymore and feel on all fours, unable to move. His beasts were also laying on the ground, seemingly trying to please the Rocs. Seeing that the opponents have given up, Lachlan and the Rocs sealed their aura. Everyone in the surrounding area was shocked. The soldiers were dazed, seeing their commander on the ground like that made them quickly realise what true strength is. Hayley, on the other hand, was completely stunned when she first met Lachlan she thought he was just a kid that got lucky with birds. The second time they met her opinion of him skyrocketed, she thought of him as an adorable little brother. But now, she knew he was absolutely no pushover, with strength rivalling her commander. Jaylen stood up and unsummoned his beasts, Lachlan did the same. Jaylen began walking towards Lachlan, when he got to him he slightly bowed, "Will you work for the military?!" His question made Lachlan a bit flabbergasted, after all, he was only nine years old. It certainly isn''t a question someone high in the military would ask a young boy. However, after thinking about it, it did make sense. He completely beat him, and judging by everyone''s shocked expression he determined that Jaylen was most likely the strongest in this camp. 31 Decision and Mount Barker * "You know I''m only nine years old right?" Lachlan asked. "Well this is new information to me, but it doesn''t matter, in this new world only the strong survive and sure I suppose I''m strong, but you completely annihilated me," Jaylen explained. "No, I don''t want to join the military yet," Lachlan said. His reply cause Jaylen to gasp. He needs this boy to join the military, with him the military could expand on a few operations. But not only that, as he was the one to find him and bring him in, his superiors will praise him. "And why now?" Jaylen questioned. "Because I still have things I need to do," Lachlan explained. "What things?" Jaylen asked. "Well the whole reason we''re in this situation in the first place is because we want to head to the Adelaide Hills and reunite with our family. There is also the fact I''m still nine, I haven''t experienced a lot of things and I certainly don''t want the military to take away my freedom". "Woah now, the military isn''t going to take away your freedom, well not yours anyway," Jaylen explained. "What do you mean by that?" Lachlan asked. "Well yes, you are still nine years old and we don''t want to stunt any growth by taking away your freedom. However, we just ask that you join the military on special missions, whether it be scouting new land or rescuing important individuals," Jaylen said. "Alright, can I still go to school?" Lachlan asked. "Well, kind of," Jaylen stated in an unsure tone. "What do you mean kind of? Do I get to or not?" Lachlan asked in a harsh tone. "Well, schools have been shut down, as right now human have to focus more on survival first. But the government is looking to open military schools, that focuses more on combat training than any theory work". "Okay, when will I be able to attend?" "Not sure, as we haven''t secured the whole city yet, we don''t have the necessary room for such training. Sure we have a few combat areas in the base but those are for soldiers, the government wants the schools to have a safer environment for training and learning. So we''re looking at maybe a month before the schools open, maybe even a few months". "Alright, well until then I guess I''ll go up to Adelaide Hills," Lachlan said. "Oh before that take this," Jaylen handed Lachlan a small piece a metal that had some engraving on it. Jaylen grabbed onto Lachlan''s shoulders, "This is a military insignia, keep it with you, it''ll be useful when proving you''re friendly to the soldiers in the hills". Lachlan nodded before accepting the insignia and putting it in his pockets. Jaylen was a bit confused as to why Lachlan would put it in his pockets, usually you place them on your clothes. He decided to point towards his own insignia on his collar. Seeing the insignia Lachlan quickly realised his mistake and placed it on his own collar. Jaylen nodded before walking off, heading towards his tent. Lachlan looked towards everyone and gave a thumbs up, gesturing that they''re all good. The group quickly ran back to the tent to pack up before running to towards the field. Lachlan summoned the Rocs again, they did it in the field because this was the only safe place with a lot of room to do it. "Alright, so we''ll go outside the wall, pick up and car and fly to Mount Barker. Is that clear?" Alfredo said. Everyone nodded, everyone but Lachlan. "I don''t believe we have to go with that plan anymore," Lachlan said. "What do you mean by that, we need at least two of the birds to protect us while we travel there," Alfredo said. "That''s what we originally needed, but it seems the Rocs have gotten used to their new strength and are able to travel at much faster speeds," Lachlan explained. "How much faster?" Alfredo asked. ''Roughly 5 times faster, which means we should get to Mount Barker in minutes maybe even seconds, but we will have to go slower should we carry a car with us," Lachlan explained. "Alright then, it seems that problem is solved," Turning around Alfredo hopped onto one of the Rocs, "Well get on and hold on". They quickly took off, instantly breaking the speed barrier causing the surrounding area to shake, shocking a large number of people. On the birds, it seemed this was their limit, although the surrounds were blasting past them they didn''t feel too much wind pressure. However, should the Rocs increase their speed they won''t be able to control the wind from that. It had only been 20 seconds, but the Rocs began slowing down, which everyone assumed was because they reached their destination. Looking down they saw a mostly destroyed town, in some parts, houses were barely standing. Looking around they quickly noticed the schools, as they were in the best condition, not to mention the soldiers constantly patrolling the area. When the got closer to the school the group noticed a lot of soldiers surrounding their landing space, they were most likely afraid or ordered to be on guard. As they began their descent the soldiers opened up to make room for someone to walk in front, most likely the commander here. Looking at him Lachlan didn''t think much, but after analysing him he was a bit surprised. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Adam Jones (Human) Age: 30 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 5/5 Compatibility: Spiders (Perfect) Level: 32 STR: 21(+76), AGI: 20(+90), VIT: 10(+95) INT: 19(+62), PER: 26(+68), WIL: 29(+41) Weakness: None Strengths: Spider vision, spider bite, and control over wind and fire. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- He was the strongest person he''s come across so far, and although Lachlan knew he was stronger in terms of stats, he neither had the experience nor control to go along with it. Should they fight, unless he relies on the Rocs he may be defeated. However, after getting closer to him he realised that this person has picked up some spider characteristics. Although he''s trying to hide them with a cloth, spider fangs can be clearly seen. They finally reached the ground and hopped off, walking towards the person that seemed to be the leader here. Once Lachlan got closer he sized Adam up, realising that there were a few other characteristics he didn''t notice before. His eyes were different. Although there were still two of them, the pupils seemed to split into many, each able to look at different things. There was his hair as well, although it seemed like normal black hair within further inspection they seemed to be spikes. Lachlan determined that they may be poisonous. "Hello there! And welcome to the Mount Barker military base," He said, with a voice that sounded very mellow and elegant. 32 Accident and Information * "Ah, hello," Lachlan was a bit stunned by Adam''s(J) odd appearance but an elegant voice. The leader quickly walked up to Lachlan and grabbed his hands, "Hello there!" he shouted, "What business do you have in Mount Barker to most likely travel a far distance". "We have family here, wanted to meet them," Lachlan said. "Ohh, and what might their names be?" Adam(J) asked. "Darius Wilson," Lachlan stated. Adam(J) quickly froze up, "Uhh, w-well this is an awkward situation". Chloe already predicted what happened and fell to her knees crying. Adam(W) and Jack ran to her side, hugging her and trying to provide some comfort. "What happened?" Lachlan asked in a harsh voice. "Not long ago the rescue team went to Victor Harbour, in hopes of finding stragglers. Little did we know we came unprepared, very unprepared. Water shot from the ocean, destroying a few helicopters, luckily the pilots noticed the situation and distanced themselves from the water. Unfortunately, that was a trap. They close the gap between the helicopters and the trees and hills and before they realised it they had been webbed by spiders. Then a bird flew above and spew fire, completely melting everyone in its radius, nothing was left". Lachlan was both sad and confused. He was sad about losing his "Father", but also confused about the beasts setting up a trap, one that was undetectable by the military. However, there wasn''t only that bit of information that scared him, there was also the bird. Although his finally seen some elemental beast now, none of which had the power the completely melt helicopters. But when thinking about it, there may be one beast of such strength, one of legends and myths, a Phoenix. A bird that has flames similar to the sun, that can scorch everything in its path, stopping at nothing. Lachlan shivered at the thought. Although he had the three Rocs which could summon lightning. This was a Phoenix that breathed fire, it might not need any time to gather the strength, it may just come naturally. And should this Phoenix be an elder beast, it may have an even more powerful ability, one that could completely annihilate everything. "Indeed, I thought you would be slightly shocked. That''s also the reason as to why everyone is gathered at the school, although we may be able to take back Mount Barker, who knows what could attack us after that," Adam(J) explained. "Isn''t that making it easier to kill everyone, after all, you just said that there was a bird capable of spewing fire that melted a helicopter. If that bird appears here and spews fire at the school it will melt everyone here," Alfredo said. "Ah, now you are not wrong. However, we currently do not have the forces to protect everyone should we spread out. Now, we do however spread everyone across the school grounds, some in classrooms and some in tents," Adam(J) explained. "What if we help you take back Mount Barker?" Alfredo asked. "Well that would be wonderful, but as I just said we don''t have the necessary forces to protect all of Mount Barker, just a portion of it," Adam(J) explained. "Where''s that portion?" Lachlan asked. "Bluestone, it''s not too far from here and has some large houses, enough room for everyone". "So why haven''t you taken it back?" Lachlan asked. "Because there''s a beast there that has a lot of strength and intelligence," Adam(J) said, attempting to justify his actions. "Intelligence?" Lachlan and Alfredo questioned, this was the first time they''ve heard that phrase when talking about beasts. Seeing that they have yet to be told this phrase doesn''t surprise Adam, deciding to tell them everything he began explaining their situation, "Yes, intelligence. It''s a phrase we use for beasts with the ability to issue commands, granting them the ability to create their own civilizations. Unfortunately for us, they have everything needed to guard their area as well. Beasts with detection abilities, camouflage abilities to set up ambushes, and some that are just crazy dangerous". Lachlan thought back to what happened when they were at Port Augusta, it was very likely that a beast with intelligence leads that attack back then. "Are they strong?" Lachlan asked. "Most of the times, however, we''ve been communicating with other parts of Australia and it seems that''s not always the case. Sometimes they were just lucky to evolve with the ability to lead others. However, the one in Bluestone is definitely not just lucky with intelligence it also has insane strength. Luckily it doesn''t seem interested in attacking us". "And how do you know they won''t attack?" Alfredo asked, "They might just be biding for time, waiting for the perfect chance to annihilate this group". Adam froze up again, unsure how to answer this question, "Well that''s what it seems to be for the moment. However, we decided we won''t stay here and will try to migrate to Adelaide in hopes they have room there". "Wouldn''t try that, although they may have a room, but they might not have the supplies. The Adelaide Hills is one of the only places that are still plentiful in resources, specifically fruits and vegetables," Alfredo explained. "Well I suppose that just leaves us with the option fight, and yes I would love for your group to join in, increasing our numbers might give us a slightly better chance at winning," Adam said. "It doesn''t sound like your confidant," Lachlan said. "Why is that?" He asked. "This intelligent beast has a whole variety of beast in its "Army", it may have some unexpected ones so I wouldn''t be surprised if we were caught off guard, rather its completely possible it''ll happen should we attack," Adam explained. "Don''t worry about that," Lachlan said while waving his hands, "we got plenty of strength to fight against any unexpected situations". "Well at least you''re confident," Adam said. "Follow me," he said before walking off towards the building. The group followed, Chloe, Adam, and Jack quickly shock the emotions out and snapped into business. 33 Strategy * The group walked towards the building, after getting inside they went up some stairs before entering a large open area, most likely the school''s STEM area. They walked around some pillars before coming across a room that had tables and chairs in a horseshoe shape, facing towards a television. On the other side of these tables were couches, just like the chairs they were facing the television. There were already a few people in there, some setting up the tv while others were sitting down talking to one another. Each of them had a military uniform on, some had more badges then others. That''s when Lachlan knew that Adam(J) was the highest rank since he had some medals along with a cooler badge. It had a unique looked diamond on it that had a pattern on it. Beneath the diamond was a sword and gun barrel overlapping each other. Lachlan looked towards the people here and analysed them all, he was impressed. Most of them had some naturally high stats, not to mention they all had their own tamed beasts. Well most of them, there was one fat man sitting down that was extremely weak. Lachlan and the rest stood by the pillars while Adam(J) went up to the person setting up the tv, after confirming some things he stood up in front, seeming to wait for everyone to quiet down. It didn''t take long, only seconds, but everyone had shut up and gave Adam their full attention. "Alright, so after some thinking, I''ve decided we''ll go with the attack plan," He said. A few people gasped, one of the people even getting physical when he slammed his hand on the table, "Are you insane! We haven''t even finished the plan and I don''t want to wait for those beasts to attack". It was the old and fat man, he had white hair, greens eyes and a chubby face. Although he sounded like he cared for the wellbeing of everyone Adam(J) knew that this man only cared for his own life. Lachlan was also the least pleased with this person. From the stats it seemed he has had a good easy-going life, he might have got his high military position from connections, since his stats were so pathetic even Chloe could overpower him. An old woman stood up next, she had blonde-white hair, brown eyes, and when she stood up her height came to roughly 5''4. She admitted an aura, Lachlan checked again and saw she didn''t have any elemental control so he was confused. He did make sense of it after thinking about it, it was something he''s read in books and seen in movies. Certain people can emit an aura by their own free will without any powers, it was something they''ve gained through rigorous training and dangerous situations. Rather not just her, but most of the people inside this room did emit a similar aura, some weaker than others. Of course, the fat man was one of the only ones that didn''t, rather it seemed he was cowering when confronted by this aura. "But sir, this operation really hasn''t been fully planned, going in full guns blazing without an actual plan could get many killed," She said calmly. "Well that would be the case, but we have some new helpers, you may introduce yourselves," Adam said as he gestured for them to move over to him. Most of the group stood in front, aside from Chloe and Sarah, everyone else introduced themselves and a bit about themselves. "Hi, I''m Adam I''ve tamed a spider". "Hello there, the names Alfredo and I''ve tamed my dog". "Hello, I''m Jack and I tamed a lizard". "Dylan, two snakes". "Hey, the names Lachlan and I''ve tamed three birds". Aside from Dylan, everyone gave a proper introduction. However, some of the people present within the room weren''t too happy seeing Dylan''s attitude towards them. For Dylan however, he was just a bit shy in front of so many high ranking people. So he kept his introduction short and quiet. But some of the people in this room thought of it as disrespectful, the fat man especially. "Boy show some respect for your elders!" The fat man said. He just embarrassed himself in front of these people, he needed to do something to gain a bit of respect. "In this new world the only ones that can demand respect are the strong, and you fat man, are certainly not strong," Dylan said in a threatening voice. The fat man was stunned by Dylan''s rudeness, but couldn''t say anything. Although he had a lot to say, all of the things he wanted to say only matter to the world before the world changed. So, he decided to shut up and sit down, still slightly grumpy. Seeing how the situation played out caused Adam(J) to laugh, "Good, then I wonder why you respected me when we met". "Because you''re strong," Dylan explained. "Oh, and how do you know that?" He asked. "I''ve seen a few strong people now, all of them are able to emit an aura, most of the ones released by the higher-ups in the military exude a calm and serene aura, while other may radiate a threatening one, and aside from the fatty over there everyone else has that strength," Dylan explained. "Well I''ll be damned, I suppose that''s true. Aside from the one you call fat man, everyone else here has gone through gruelling training and harsh battlefields," Adam(J) explained. The fat man couldn''t take being humiliated anymore and stood up. "Where do you think you''re going?" The old women asked. "Outside to clear my head," He replied. He walked towards a door and walked outside onto the balcony. "Don''t worry about him, he''s just hot-tempered," Adam(J) said. The group nodded before walking back to the pillars and stood in a line, shortly waiting for Adam(J) to explain the plan to them. The screen lit up behind him and he began explaining, "Alright, so from the intel we''ve gathered we can determine that the beast is within one of these large houses," He pointed towards a cluster of large houses all pilled near the centre of the area. "Surround them are many beasts, all with extreme strength and possibly complete loyalty. As you get further and further from the centre you will come across very weak beasts, some which even a normal human could take down," He said. A series of photos went by, all of the different beasts. But they all had one thing in common, they were weak, well, weak compared to their allies. They seemed to be of insects, mainly flies, lice and bacteria. The evolved bacteria were incredibly weak, similar to insects before the evolution. Flies and Lice didn''t change too much, just got slightly larger. "We haven''t got a clear photograph of the intelligent beast yet, anyone we send would never make it back while all drones have been shot down. Now I''m not going to say much, aside from that we are pretty much going in blind, anyone got any idea to make it safer?" Adam(J) asked although he knew he wouldn''t actually get a reply. The group kept quiet about the powers. Although they were sure it could save a lot of people, it may also be used against people once this all blows over, and they really don''t want that. "Okay so there''s no plan, we know the general area of the beasts and how to get there, we''ll give everyone a map with the directions, follow it strictly and everything should work out perfectly," Adam(J) said. "How will it work out perfectly!" Chloe finally snapped back and realised what was happening. She had just lost her husband, she would not let her children follow the same path. "Because we''ve planned for this moment, we just need everyone to do what they''re supposed to do and no one will die. And don''t worry, should things get risky your group can be the first to leave, we''ll back them up," Adam(J) tried to calm her down, he knew how much a mother cared for her children, not to mention the news she just heard. "Can''t you plan a bit more, there''s plenty of other ways to go about this," Chloe still rejected it. "If there was another way we would have gladly gone with it, but unfortunately, there isn''t so this is what we''re left with," Adam(J) said dejectedly, they really did plan quite a bit but this is all they''ve got, directions. "Mum, it''s okay we''re strong enough to handle this, you need to trust us more," Jack said. He understood how Chloe was feeling but he shouldn''t allow those emotions to get in the way of what is good for humanity. "Don''t worry Chloe, should anything go wrong I''ll help them escape," Dylan said. He felt as though he owed the family at least that much, they took him in and pretty much gave them a new family. He also didn''t want this new family to die. "What about protection, they can wear something to protect them can''t they?" Chloe was beginning to accept it as when she looked towards the other she noticed they seem keen on going. She also knew this was greatly needed but she wouldn''t allow for her boys to go without anything to help. 34 Preparing for the Operation * "Alright, just for the mother''s sake we''ll give all of you plenty of armour for protection," Adam(J) said, he needed this operation to work and didn''t want Chloe''s emotions to get in the way of it. As such, if he can get her agreement with some protection then that''ll be perfect. "Everyone head out!" Adam(J) commanded. Now he was beginning to sound more like a leader, with a stern voice, one that demands respect. "Yes Major General Adam," All the people replied in unison. That''s when the family finally got to know what rank Adam was, although they knew his insignia they didn''t know what it corresponds to. Alfredo was the most shocked and he knew the military rankings, everyone else didn''t have a clue but knew it should be high since it had general in the title. The leaders quickly left to ready their soldiers, the family turned towards Alfredo and finally noticed his expression. "What''s wrong Alfredo?" Jack asked, he had never seen Alfredo so shocked, it wasn''t like him. "That Adam fella is a Major General, that''s a position ranked 3rd in the army, equivalent to Rear Admiral and Air Vice-Marshall, he has a lot of authority," Alfredo explained all while keeping his shocked expression. This time the family joined him, their shock wasn''t any lower. Being so high in the military would certainly grant him some authority, but now they had a question in their mind. Why was he here?. Fortunately, Adam(J) hadn''t left yet but was relaxing on the couches, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. He felt someone looking at him. He opened his eyes and looked towards the family, he realised they were all staring at him in shock. "What''s wrong, did my rank shock you all," Adam(J) was happy they were shocked, it was the kind of expression most people would have when they first get to meet him without prior knowledge. "Sure there''s that, but why are you here?" Alfredo asked "Quite simple really, I have some family here, my parents retired and moved to the rural areas to live the rest of theirs live peacefully. When this whole shit show happened and made sure I got to spend the last few moments with my parents, who would have thought that this would happen," Adam(J) sounded tired and rightfully so. Since he was in the military that meant he helped keep everyone calm and prevent crime from happening in the last days. Then when he stopped and could finally relax and spend the last few moments with his family the world changed and he was chucked into a new world along with everyone else. "Oh yeah, I was going to give you this later but I suppose it wouldn''t be bad to give it to you now," Adam(J) walked over with something in his hand, Lachlan opened his palm and happily accepted it. When he looked to see what it saw he realised it looked like something you put in your ears, that commonly seen in movies. "Put this on, it''s a tracker and communicator. Should anything go wrong you''ll be able to call for reinforcements," He then handed earpieces out to everyone else, "You''ll need them for the operation". Everyone nodded and equipped it. they looked fairly cool like they were just out of some dramatic movies where the president''s life is at stake. They then walked downstairs and were led by Adam(J) into an armoury. The walls were lined with all sorts of weapons. There were also plenty of explosives and even knives, Lachlan wasn''t sure how someone would use a knife against certain beasts but he supposed it would be better than nothing. Looking at all the firearms made it hard for everyone to decide on just one. After all, they all had their purposes. LMGs could be used against hordes should they be swarmed, but shotguns could be used for one on one and do a lot of damage. There was also snipers and rifles, but they didn''t suit their combat style. As Alfredo trained them in boxing they were more familiar with close quarter combat, as such, they got weapons they could use in that range. Alfredo grabbed a pump shotgun, Jack and Adam both grabbed LMGs while Dylan grabbed a sniper. They looked at Dylan confused. "This way I can snipe from the back and keep everyone safe, nothing would be able to sneak up on us and nothing would be able to sneak up on me," Dylan said confidently. They knew he was talking about the snakes and he was right in being confident in them. As for Lachlan, he decided on a shotgun, looking at all the shotguns and names he only knew about two types. Double barrel, and MF (Magazine Fed). Looking at them he decided on choosing a shotgun called the Pardus LAX 12, Lachlan thought he might look call wielding it. Standing on a battlefield with a shotgun in hand, to be honest, he really could just use one hand to handle it but that would be risky, he might not have the time to adjust his aim from recoil. Then he chose a handgun, he had to go the movie route and choose the Desert Eagle, while the knife was a Gerber Silver Trident, something he''s never heard of before but thought it looked cool. Seeing Lachlan grab so much stuff made the rest feel a bit stupid. They should bring as many weapons necessary to the fight, just in case one got damaged or they ran out of ammo. They then put on some gear, there was plenty of cavalier gear to choose from. Although it wouldn''t help against brute force beasts, ones that go for slicing would struggle against it. There was also some arm guards, also made of cavalier but much more flexible. Everyone put some of them on. Chloe was surprised when she saw them all decked out, she also felt a bit more confident in them. She felt bad for doubting them but just didn''t want to lose them, otherwise, there wouldn''t be a need for her to be in this world. "You all look really cool," Sarah joyfully complimented them from Chloe''s arms. She thought her brothers especially looked amazing. "Of course we do," Jack said with a cocky tone. He thought he looked the best, but that was also everyone''s thoughts. Walking out of the armour the soldiers and superiors were a bit surprised by everyone''s choice of weapons, as most of them were much more difficult to use, compared to many other guns anyway. They did certainly agree with what Adam and Jack chose to use, they just need to spray and pray. "Are you sure you want to use those weapons?" Adam(J) asked Alfredo, Lachlan and Dylan. Snippers required a certain level of training to properly use it, the same could be said for shotguns. The soldiers that used those weapons are good at controlling the recoil to benefit them, something newbies wouldn''t be able to do. They all nodded and Adam(J) sighed, unsure what their thoughts were when choosing such weapons. Adam(J) shrugged it off as their desire to look cool, as he himself couldn''t deny that''s what he wanted when he was younger. Standing behind everyone picking stronger opponents off one by one, or going in full charge, blasting enemies in the face with a shotgun. Completely decimating them without care or hesitation. Looking at his phone, Adam(J) saw the time was 6:00, there was still roughly 1 ¨C 2 hours before it went dark. "Alright, I suppose you guys haven''t eaten some good food in a while. Come, follow me to our "canteen," Adam(J) gestured for them to follow. They walked outside the doors and were immediately greeted with a strong cloud of delicious food. The smell itself made them salivate, just the thought of what they would be eating made them excited. Walking up to where they served food they noticed a menu. ''Curry and Rice'' ''Chicken Noodle Soup'' ''Salad'' ''Spaghetti'' Next to the food menu was an array of drinks, most of which they didn''t care about as they all thought the water was a better choice for them right now. Underneath the names were all the ingredients, some of which made the group drool. It had been a while since they had some good meat or vegetables. So far along the journey, they''ve been relying on snacks, things like chips and biscuits. They quickly ordered what they wanted. Lachlan and Dylan ordered some curry and rice while Jack and Adam got spaghetti. Chloe got the chicken noodle soup. Alfredo ordered two dishes, the chicken noodle soup and salad. Chloe got Sarah a spaghetti as it was one of Sarah''s favourite dishes. When they got to a table they quickly sat down and began devouring the food, eating it with much joy. Smiles filled their faces. Although this food wasn''t the tastiest things they''ve had in their lives, at this point it was the most satisfying. The surrounding people noticed them. "Huh, look at the new people, wonder what they''ve gone through to have so much joy over this". "Who knows, they might have been at in the outback, probably had to deal with a lot of shit to make it this far". "But look at them, they look fully equipped to go on some crazy mission". "Yeah, who knows, maybe he is going on a crazy mission, or just going crazy". They didn''t take much notice to the surrounding talk, maybe because they know full well that nothing they say can actually affect them, especially after everything they''ve been through in only a few days. Dylan was slightly annoyed at them but didn''t care. He knew they would be grateful when they successfully beat back the intelligent beast. Everyone would praise them for their efforts, just thinking about it made Dylan excited. Once they finished their meal they headed for the tents, where they''ll be staying for the night. Walking to the side of the school led them to the hockey oval they landed on, it was perfectly rectangular, with tents covering it. They saw it connected to the gym, where most likely to superiors are staying, either there or somewhere else in the high school building. Adam(J) led the way to their tent, which was large enough for their entire group. Alfredo asked Adam(J) for a private conversation, they back to the building and inside a small room to talk. The rest of the family could guess what it would be about and didn''t worry too much, Alfredo would be able to sort everything out. "As you know, the reason I''m here is also family matters," Alfredo said. "Indeed, however you never mentioned this family member you desire to see," Adam(J) said. "That''s because I was afraid," Alfredo explained. "Hoh, and why''s that?" Adam(J) asked. "My wife was in Victor Harbour, as such, when you talked about the whole rescue team getting wiped out I assumed that meant the same for my wife," Alfredo explained. "That is true, however, she may still be safe. Although they to also wouldn''t last against the fire bird''s attacks, a group of individuals are sheltered inside the shopping centre. As the rescue team couldn''t fit everyone into the helicopters they left people behind, promising to save them soon". "Do you have any way to get into contact with that group?" Alfredo asked. "Unfortunately not, however, from drone footage we can assume that they''re fine due to the fact that the shopping centre is still unscathed". "Okay, thanks for that". "Don''t worry, we will eventually create another team to rescue them and you can join them, however, the group at Victor Harbour will have to bunker down and remain calm for a little longer". Adam(J) and Alfredo split from the room, Alfredo going down the stairs to go back to the tent while Adam(J) went down to the armoury to gear himself, he also set out some other stuff for the group to take with them. 35 Start of the Operation * Lachlan and the group started settling in, unpacking anything they had on them and settling in the tent. They used this brief moment to relax for a bit, as they''ll have a bit of stress to deal with very soon. After relaxing for a bit they finally felt calm, relaxing their mind. They got up and headed for the STEM area they were at before, once they got there they noticed that the superiors were all there, discussing plans and how to deal with unpredictable situations. "Welcome, I do hope you calmed your mind, this operation may be a stressful one," Adam(J) said. Chloe was still not calm; however, she also knew how important this operation was for all the people here. She just hated that her son had to be the one that leads it. Adam and Jack were feeling the same, but rather they hated that they weren''t strong enough to lead the operation and could only let their youngest brother do it. Dylan and Alfredo didn''t mind and were calm, they trusted Lachlan''s abilities, they were just hoping there won''t be any unpredictable dangers or situations. "Hey, so when are we starting?" Lachlan asked. "In 20 minutes we''ll begin, put on the earpiece and head to the armoury, you''ll head off from there," Adam(J) explained. Lachlan walked up to his family and gave everyone a hug, trying to reassure them that he had the necessary strength. He then walked down the stairs and out into the canteen before passing through it and reaching the armoury. There he was greeted with a few soldiers, waiting for him. Along with the soldiers were a few military vehicles, no tanks or anything, just cars. Inside were a lot of soldiers, all armed to the teeth. The soldiers waiting for him walked up and held something out in his hand, it was a controller with a button on it. "Once you finish of the intelligent beast press this button, we''ll clean up the rest and secure the area". Lachlan nodded before walking past the armoury, getting closer to the gate and closer to the residential area. Lachlan could already sense a few beasts, all of which could easily be dealt with by him. He continued to wait for the signal to begin, waiting only 10 minutes before he was given the go. Lachlan rushed up the hill and into the residential area, he released the maximum amount of pressure he could currently, frightening any weak beasts within his vicinity. He continued rushing throughout the residential area, passing a school and then a small paddock, where he was finally stopped by an opponent. A snake stood before him, managing to not run away from his aura. Lachlan couldn''t see the snake clearly, but with his high level of perception, he was able to determine its size. It was 10 metres long, it didn''t have two massive teeth but rather had teeth similar to a shark, with a row of teeth that''ll shred its prey. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Shredder Snake Age: Adult Attribute: Water Level: 33 STR: 34(+112), AGI: 36(+106), VIT: 25(+140) INT: 15(+50), PER: 28(+64), WIL: 19(+23) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast speeds, and a durable body. Description: A snake that had adapted so much too constricting that it has lost its poison, along with that were its long fangs. However, after losing its fangs it grew rows of teeth to shred its prey, making it almost impossible to escape once it''s inside its mouth. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan wasn''t surprised it managed to resist his aura, as he still didn''t exactly have complete control over it. However, this didn''t both Lachlan, although it was strong it was nothing compared to him. Running up Lachlan quickly pounced at the snakes head with lightning speeds, before reaching out and grabbing onto the snake''s neck. With his monstrous gripping power, he completely ripped into the snake''s throat before pulling back, creating a spray of blood. The snake died quickly, letting its lifeless body thump onto the ground, creating a sound that awakened the surrounding beasts. *Roar*Screech*Hsss* An array of sounds begun surrounding him, Lachlan could feel the beasts due to his perception and knew he could beat them. But he didn''t want to waste too much time, he quickly dashed away from the area leaving only a trail of lightning which quickly dispersed. Lachlan was currently on the roof of a house, checking the surrounding area for any movement, through his tracker he was informed that he was near the intelligent beast, or should be anyway. Lachlan was, however, disappointed with the lack of movements. He began jumping from roof to roof, trying to increase his search area, but he still got nothing. "Damnit, where are you beast!" Lachlan shouted. *Rumble* The earth begun to shake, it got more and more violent as seconds went by. Looking down Lachlan saw the ground beneath him crack, using his perception he realised the cracks extended to the far surrounding ground. *Roar*Roar*Roar*Roar* The ground split apart and four massive beasts came out, each of these beasts reaching at least 15 metres in height. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Cave Lions Age: Adult Attribute: Earth Level: 41 STR: 20(+234), AGI: 30(+248), VIT: 20(+217) INT: 15(+73), PER: 25(+61), WIL: 20(+35) Weakness: None Strengths: Fast speeds, and strong bite. Description: These lions evolved from feral cats. The cats were desperate for change and wanted a way to improve their lives and stand on top. Evolving into an enormous lion, with the ability to hide and attack from underground. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was quite dumbfounded when he read the description. This was one of the first times he has seen such a large change, but it did make sense. He prepared himself for the battle, and although he still hasn''t found the intelligent beast, defeating these four should either provoke it or terrify it away. Just as Lachlan was about the launch at the lions they began stomping on the ground, causing it an earthquake to start. Lachlan immediately knew what they were doing and was terrified that they knew how to do it. ¡­ At the base, everyone was staring intently at the map, where a bright red light was flashing which indicated Lachlan''s location. Unfortunately it didn''t tell them whether or not he was dead, fortunately, they have a drone in the area, showing he was alive. They had the drone footage on another screen, Lachlan''s family were staring at that, trying to see if anything unusual appears, and that''s when the lions appeared. "What the hell are those?!" Chloe asked. "We determined that those four beasts are the intelligent beast''s bodyguards," Adam(J) explained. "If those are the bodyguards how strong is the intelligent beast?" Chloe questioned. This operation seemed more and more impossible every time something unpredictable happens. "We aren''t sure, all we know that those bodyguards are strong," Adam(J) stated. Chloe was about to say something else but was interrupted when the ground began to shake. Looking at the screen they noticed that the beasts were stomping on the ground, causing it to shake. However, for Lachlan''s group, they knew this was something else, a special ability. 36 Fighting Lions * Lachlan didn''t expect for some random beast to know about their special abilities, but when thinking about it, it did make sense. When his Rocs attacked he never mentioned anything about their ability, they just seemed to know about it instinctively. He knew it would be dangerous to continue fighting without help. "Come Calamity, Catastrophe, and Disaster!" The light dispersed, and the three Rocs were already flying above the ground. Lachlan jumped up and landed on one of their backs. The Rocs shot up into the air a few hundred metres, getting a better view of the situation. Unfortunately, it was still dark, making it hard to see. *Screech*Screech*Screech* The Rocs began to start their own special ability, causing an array of clouds to gather above them. Blue lightning was going off in the clouds, brightening up the area giving Lachlan a better view of the lions. Each lion stood 15 metres tall and had dark brown fur. Their eyes were still cat eyes, meaning they could easily see them with night vision. Hearing the birds screeching the lions looked up and stared at Lachlan. Fortunately for Lachlan, the lion''s special ability couldn''t reach them. However, when he looked around he saw the damage it was causing. The houses were collapsing, and further into the distance, he saw that the school was also partially damaged. He got annoyed, as the damaged part of the school was near his family, he knew he needed to end this quickly. "Catastrophe, Calamity, and Disaster, you guys split up and take care of one each, I''ll take the one left over," Lachlan commanded. *Screech*Screech*Screech* The Rocs all split up, hovering above their opponent. The lions were still annoyed and staring at everyone with bloodlust. This was the first time Lachlan managed to actually sense it, similar to aura it was invisible, but having a strong enough bloodlust and cause your opponents to fall into a scared state. Fortunately for Lachlan, although the bloodlust was strong, his mind remained unaffected by it. Most likely thanks to his Willpower. Lachlan and the Rocs simultaneously attacked, shooting off at their opponents in lightning speed. Lachlan brought out his shotgun, aiming it directly at the beast''s eye. *Bang* Shooting the shotgun caused the lion to recoil in shock, roaring at Lachlan before attacking with its paws. Lachlan shoved the paws away and grabbed his knife, slashing at the lion''s throat, before jumping up and stabbing directly through the other eye. The lion continued to roar, however, even it knew that its end was now. Lachlan kept attacking, leaving multiple slash wounds on the neck, letting blood flow out, dripping on the ground, leaving it completely red. The Rocs had approached the battle differently, grabbing onto the lions before lifting them up, going up hundreds of metres before dropping them. Although the Lions were strong, anything would die from that height. They crashed into the ground, leaving little craters surrounding their bodies, filled with cracks. One of the lions was still alive, barely though, having broken the left legs. It tried to stand up but was hopeless towards its injuries. The Roc that was facing it shot down at lightning speed, beak first. Once it reached the lion it was like a guillotine, the lions head flew a few metres, its blood soaking the ground. The fight only took seconds but was easily one of the most intense fights Lachlan has been in. He felt ecstatic, the adrenaline flowing through his veins, it was a new feeling to him, but it made him feel powerful. ¡­ Back at the school, the shaking was still happening, fortunately for the superiors, it didn''t affect them directly. "What''s the situation?" One of the asked. Adam(J) looked towards the drone footage, "It seems Lachlan has summoned his birds". The rest looked towards the screen and saw what was happening, noticing that Lachlan took a smart approach by flying up. Because the drone was facing downward they didn''t notice the array of clouds, but the soldiers near the armoury could see clearly. "What is that?" "You think I know that". The superiors were watching the fight unfold, opening their mouth but not saying anything. Especially when the birds lifted up the Rocs and dropped them from far up. "This boy keeps surprising me," Adam(J) said. "Indeed, we have the enlist him into that program," said the old lady. ¡­ Lachlan was looking at his spoils of war, pleased him himself. This was the first time he fought against the beast all by himself, he had to take something. He knew everything could be used, although he wasn''t completely sure, the claws and teeth were probably incredibly strong, if he makes a weapon it should last him awhile. There was also the fur, making himself clothes from the lion''s hide, although it isn''t the best time of year for warm clothes he could keep them stored somewhere. As for the meat, well, even Lachlan wasn''t sure if it tasted good or not. But, he wouldn''t mind giving it a try, if it was good then the four lion bodies should last the group here for a while. What Lachlan couldn''t see was a humanoid beast staring at him from the tree. The figure stood there for a few seconds before jumping up, a bird swooped down and caught him before flying off. Lachlan saw the bird but didn''t notice anything wrong with it, he just assumed it was running away, as every other beast near them was. The Rocs landed next to them, using their high level of perception to find any more dangers. Lachlan and the Rocs realised that nothing was wrong, Lachlan pulled out the button that the soldier gave them and pressed it. ¡­ Back at the armoury, an alarm went off, soldiers were already in position and begun marching towards the area, making sure to keep an eye on their surroundings. 37 End of the Operation * After finishing Lachlan jumped onto one of the Rocs and flew up, observing the armies advancements. Although he could just clear the way for them he didn''t want to take away all the valuable experience they''ll get from this. So instead he went towards the school, hoping to check on his family. Without the soldiers crowding the oval anymore, it left him a lot of space to land, which he did. He quickly got off and ran towards the STEM area, when he got there he felt relief. Everyone was fine, and the area that was damaged had no one there. He went up to his family and gave everyone a big hug, especially his mother who he knows was worried sick for him. His brothers, however, trusted his strength. Dylan, Alfredo, and Adam(J) felt the same, especially after his display of power during the fight. "I didn''t know you could do that," Adam(J) said. "I learnt from the best," said Lachlan, nodding towards Alfredo. Alfredo felt happy, it was the first time someone acknowledges him in such a way. He knew what he was talking about as well, how the lion''s eyes were still incredibly weak, especially against a shotgun bullet at point blank range. "After this, I need to send a report to my superiors, which will include your battle. I''m hoping you can join the army, not as one of the soldiers, but as an ally of equal strength," Adam(J) explained. "Sure, as long as I can keep the current freedom I have," Lachlan said. "Haha, you will don''t worry. However, there is something I want to talk to you about," Adam(J) mysteriously said. The old women near them knew exactly what he was talking about but decided not the intervene just yet. If Adam(J) could convince the boy it''ll be completely fine. Lachlan couldn''t help but perk up, this might be something interesting. Seeing that he had Lachlan''s attention Adam(J) begun explaining, "Due to all the recent event the government is beginning to start some secret operations. These are not missions but rather something similar to a special task force. You will be sent to a high-quality facility where you will be trained in combat, there will be others like you, and depending on how well you do, you have the chance to lead incredibly high paying jobs". "Higher pay means more dangerous now," Chloe interrupted. "Indeed, however, high pay also means high recognition. Completing these missions will not only grant the individual money but also political power," Adam(J) explained. "Where is the facility?" Lachlan asked. "Well the Australian navy hasn''t been completely useless during these times, they''ve managed to find a new island near Sydney. It''s the size of Adelaide but has something special about it, the gravity there is 10x stronger, the soldiers almost died when they stepped on the shores," Adam(J) said. "Then what about Lachlan?" Chloe asked. "With the strength he just displayed I would be shocked if the gravity hurt him, for him this gravity will be a form of training. Listen, Mrs Wilson, this is an island that''ll help Lachlan become much stronger, giving a high chance of surviving, you want that don''t you?" Adam(J) asked. "Of course I do, but what about the rest of them?" Chloe asked. "Unfortunately only Lachlan has the current strength to last on the island, even for my own strength I''ll probably struggle to live there," Adam(J) explained. "So when will I need to go?" Lachlan asked. "You can go now if you want. If you ride your birds it should only take you a few hours," Adam(J) said. The group was confused, as it still took them half an hour to get from Adelaide to Mount Barker. They looked towards Lachlan for an explanation. "Well you guys wouldn''t have been able to handle the Rocs going full speed, I didn''t want any accidents to happen, so I got them to slow down," Lachlan explained. This shocked the group a bit, although they knew they might get in his way they didn''t think that they were such a burden. However, they also felt gratitude to Lachlan, for looking out for them, especially Chloe and Sarah. For this reason, Chloe decided to let Lachlan go and spread his wings early, although it was saddening, should he be able to get stronger earlier it''ll only be beneficial to him. "You should go," Choe said to Lachlan. This gave Lachlan a bit of a shock, it was the first time his mother gave him so much freedom, considering he was only nine years old. Lachlan nodded, he gave everyone one a hug. "They have all the necessities there, right?" Lachlan asked Adam(J). "Yes," Adam(J) responded. Lachlan began walking off, his family were getting teary but knew it was bound to happen. Adam and Jack felt even worse, they were older but so much weaker. This brought upon a new-found motivation to get stronger. Adam(J) quickly called the headquarters at Sydney, telling them he was sending someone over. Outside Lachlan had already summoned the Rocs and gotten on, although he tried holding back he started tearing up. He was still young and didn''t want to leave his family behind he needed to. Although he wasn''t sure, but the intelligent beast that he was supposed to fight might have been of equal strength to him, possibly stronger, he doesn''t want to take any risk in the future. Adam(J) let him keep the guns and knife he chose, as a sign of thanks. Lachlan obviously accepted it, although he wasn''t sure why, but they gave him a sense of comfort. Lachlan gave the school one last look before getting the Roc to shoot up into the sky. It then began flying towards Sydney, breaking the sound barrier and flying off, only leaving behind a trail of light which dispersed seconds later. Every now and then Lachlan would get the Rocs to slow down, not because he was tired, but rather he just wanted to enjoy the scenery quickly. Although most of the scenery had beast carcasses littered across it. 38 Meeting New People * It didn''t take long for Lachlan to make his way to Sydney, but for that short period, Lachlan felt peaceful. After a while, he managed to calm his nerves from leaving his family and began enjoying the sight. Once he got further away from the cities and roads the surroundings seemed to calm down, he saw many new creatures, familiar ones too. Lachlan noticed that corpses began filling the grounds again, there was a lot of houses and in the distance, he could see skyscrapers. Some of which were badly damaged, some which Lachlan could see were being protected. He flew a bit higher, making sure to escape the attack range of any spiders while scouting for an open area. A bright light flashed him. Looking at the source he noticed a group of soldiers surrounding and massive light, probably from a lighthouse. He flew close and saw them pointing in a specific direction, looking over he saw where the main base was. There were military vehicles everywhere, and from what he can see there seem to be submarines underneath the water next to the shore. He saw a soldier hold light sticks in an open area, he quickly shot over and began descending. Looking around he noticed a group of 4 people walking to the landing spot, and from their badges, he knew they were the leaders here. He quickly analysed them and was pleasantly surprised, one person in particular intrigues him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: James Ryan (Human) Age: 46 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Sharks (Perfect), Fish (Intermediate) Level: 32 STR: 21(+107), AGI: 20(+123), VIT: 10(+97) INT: 19(+40), PER: 26(+71), WIL: 29(+72) Weakness: None Strengths: Control over water and darkness, fast swimming, strong bite and control over Loyal Dark Sharks. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Considering the guy had such high stats, it was entirely likely that he has more than 2 tamed beasts, similar to high Rocs. Judging from one of his strengths it was also likely that he has a queen type beast, a shark queen to be more accurate. The rest were all average, but average now could easily decimate an average person from the past. Lachlan landed his Rocs in the open space and hopped off, he then turned towards the group walking to him. "Welcome, Lachlan! don''t get too comfortable, you might not be here for long," James said. Judging by his tone and how he talked first Lachlan determined he was ranked high than the others. "Hello, thanks for having me," Lachlan replied. "You can call me James," he said as he stretched out his right hand, Lachlan did the same and gave a firm handshake. James tightened his grip, Lachlan followed. Instantly using more than half his strength, James'' expression changed. He pulled back, Lachlan allowed it. ''This kid is more than capable'' James thought. "The names Mitch". "Hello, my names Caleb". "Welcome, the names Harry". They all came up and greeted Lachlan, giving him a handshake while they were at it. They didn''t try to pull a stunt like James, they noticed what happened. "Follow me," James said while gesturing. They began walking towards what seemed to be a large building, it wasn''t a military building but rather some random business. Once Lachlan walked in he was amazed by the sight. There were a few military vehicles parked there, soldiers running around. They walked through a door and entered a massive room, filled with computers, all of which had people stationed at them. The four lead Lachlan into a small side room and inside was a massive television in front of a large table. There were already six people seated, four girls and two guys. Lachlan determined they were his teammates, he decided to analyse them. He had to give it to them, they were definitely worthy of the mission. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Joe Bell (Human) Age: 19 (Adolescence) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Dogs (Perfect), Wolfs (Low) Level: 42 STR: 18(+230), AGI: 20(+228), VIT: 10(+205) INT: 15(+99), PER: 18(+122), WIL: 23(+88) Weakness: None Strengths: Control over fire and earth, fast swimming and strong bite. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Chloe Wart (Human) Age: 29 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 4/5 Compatibility: Crocodiles (Perfect), Reptiles (low) Level: 40 STR: 14(+192), AGI: 11(+169), VIT: 10(+191) INT: 19(+76), PER: 13(+94), WIL: 17(+62) Weakness: None Strengths: Control over water, wind, lighting, and earth giving it the ability over natural disasters, and a crushing grip. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Georgia Perry (Human) Age: 27 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1(1)/5 Compatibility: Eagles (Perfect), Birds (Low) Level: 45 STR: 14(+272), AGI: 11(+303), VIT: 10(+273) INT: 19(+106), PER: 13(+126), WIL: 17(+79) Weakness: None Strengths: Complete control over darkness, extreme speeds and a crushing grip. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Simon Warrens (Human) Age: 34 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Birds (High) Level: 45 STR: 14(+284), AGI: 11(+312), VIT: 10(+271) INT: 19(+111), PER: 13(+127), WIL: 17(+70) Weakness: None Strengths: Control over water, wind, lighting, and earth giving it the ability over natural disasters, and a crushing grip. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Zoe Bell (Human) Age: 24 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Frogs (Perfect), Amphibians (Low) Level: 32 STR: 18(+181), AGI: 20(+168), VIT: 10(+153) INT: 19(+68), PER: 17(+76), WIL: 13(+53) Weakness: None Strengths: Completely camouflage within water, control over water, jumping power and poisonous body. Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Phoebe Brown (Human) Age: 15 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Turtles (Perfect) Level: 40 STR: 12(+245), AGI: 11(+29), VIT: 10(+321) INT: 19(+72), PER: 12(+56), WIL: 11(+74) Weakness: None Strengths: Complete control over water, unbreakable bones, durable skin, and an extremely strong bite Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- The ones that intrigued Lachlan the most were Joe and Georgia, both have one tamed beast, well, he could tell Georgia had 2 but one died. Joe and Georgia both had high stats, especially for having one tamed beast. ''Well it might not be one, they could be like me and have multiple sibling beasts. However, I supposed there''s the possibility of them both having Elders''. Lachlan was getting more excited, he really wants to see some Elder age beasts, see the difference in them compared to his Rocs. But more so to find out how strong beasts could naturally go. As from what Lachlan has seen so far, age determines some of the natural stats. ''Anyway, I hope I can get along with them, it seems we might have to rely on each other for a while''. 39 Short Confrontation * Lachlan walked up the table and pulled out a chair, he didn''t sit down though, he introduced himself instead. "Hello, my names Lachlan, what are your names?" "Nice to meet you Lachlan, the names Joe". The man looked much older than he really was. He had a chiselled face, black hair, brown/hazel eyes and was wearing some leather clothes. He was sitting down so Lachlan couldn''t determine his height. "Please to meet you Lachlan, I''m Phoebe". Phoebe was the cutest amongst the girls here. She had long blonde hair that went to the bottom of her shoulder blades, blue eyes, a slightly chubby face and was wearing a cute light blue dress. Her voice a little bit higher pitch than most girl voices. "Hi, the names Georgia". Georgia looked the most mature, like a big shot CEO''s secretary. She had short brown hair, black eyes, a sharp chin and was wearing a short black skirt and a white shirt. "Yo, I''m Zoe". The women looked the most immature of the bunch, it looks like she still has her pyjamas on. She had long brown hair that just reaches her shoulders and green eyes. "Please to be of your acquaintance Lachlan, I''m Chloe". Chloe had almost silver hair, Lachlan wasn''t sure whether it was natural or dyed. She also had blonde eyebrows and green eyes, a combo Lachlan hasn''t seen before. Chloe was wearing tracksuit pants and a white shirt. "You don''t need to know my name brat," Simon said. This shocked Lachlan, it was the first time he''s met such an arrogant individual. Lachlan then remembered the superior back at Mount Barker, ''Make this my second time meeting such a person'' Lachlan thought. "You''re quite arrogant for a weakling," Lachlan said intimidatingly, releasing his pressure. Everyone in the room felt it, a few of the soldiers could feel it outside the room and were struggling to breathe. But the one who felt the pressure the most was Simon, as it was directed at him. He felt a crushing weigh on him, though he found that he could still move and function properly, that pressure meant the boy was strong. Lachlan disappeared, shocking everyone in the room. He reappeared behind Simon in milliseconds, holding a knife to his throat. "I would suggest fixing that attitude, everyone here is strong, couple stronger or equal to you. As for me, well, I would think you can determine that already," Lachlan said. He sealed his pressure back up and put his knife back, the rest of the people were staring at him with wide open eyes, a few even had their mouths wide open. Lachlan walked over to his seat and sat down, looking towards the superiors and giving them a nod. James noticed this quickly and broke the silence, in an attempt to get rid of this awkward situation, "Well, now that you''ve all introduced yourselves I suppose its time to brief you all on the mission". Everyone nodded and looked towards the television. "About 100 kilometres from here is a new island, we have circled it and determined that its size is roughly the same size as Sydney. But that''s not all, the gravity on this island is unique, from what we can tell the gravity on the shore is roughly 10x the normal gravity on Earth". "Do you know why?" Zoe asked. "Not right now, we have some guesses though. It may be a new type of mineral, a metal that distorts the gravity around it. Unfortunately, the machines we have struggled when we dig, it seems the gravity is much more intense below ground, which is why we guessed it''s a mineral. There is also the slight possibility of it being some unique beast, but the chance of that is low". "So why are you sending us to the island?" Zoe asked. "Because we want to know what''s on there, whether or not it could become a new training ground for the talented, or if we could cultivate it and mine minerals there". "So you want to conquer it," Simon said. "Essentially," James responded. "Why don''t to conquer it yourselves? Why get us involved?" Georgia asked. "Because you are much stronger than any of our soldiers, as such, we hope you cooperate with us and explore the island," James said. "Sure," Lachlan said. Everyone stared at him, Simon questioned his decision "You''re just going to accept it so easily?" "Well that''s what I came here for, I don''t see the point of going back now. In addition, this might be the perfect training ground for me," Lachlan explained. A few were stunned by his response, sure this could be the perfect training ground, but it could also be his grave. The others that weren''t stunned agreed with him, this wasn''t the time to be waiting, if they could get ahead of the crowd and become the strongest they could very well take control of the world. Though that isn''t what any of them want, as it''ll be too troublesome. "Yeah, I agree with Lachlan," Joe said. "I second that," Zoe said. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure, it appears that Joe and Zoe may be siblings, though he doesn''t really care too much about that. "Alright, anyway, we leave in half an hour, you''ll be riding a boat to the island and don''t worry, the boat''s going to be escorted by our soldiers. You could all go to the main area, someone will be there with some camping gear for you all to use," James said. "I have a better suggestion," said Phoebe mysteriously, "Meet at the shore, our ride will be waiting there". Phoebe quickly left the room before anyone could ask anything, the rest of the group followed along. Inside the room, only the superiors were left, with James still standing in front of the television. "Suppose that went pretty good," James said. Outside everyone left to go to the main area, they wandered around for a bit before quickly realising they were lost. 40 Turtle King * The group, quickly realising they were lost went up to a soldier to ask where they were. "You''re currently near the dining hall, if you want to go to the main area you should walk that way," the soldier said, pointing east, "After a while, there will be a large road used for transporting vehicles, go left and you should make your way to the area". "Thank you!" Lachlan shouted before running off. The rest also thanked the soldier and began running, following Lachlan. They quickly realised they couldn''t keep up, even though it seemed he wasn''t even using all of his strength., which he wasn''t. Noticing them giving up Lachlan felt satisfied, he sped up and disappeared, leaving a trail of lightning behind him. Simon was annoyed he keeps getting bested by a young boy, he quickly began using all his strength as well, leaving craters in the shape of his feet as he ran after Lachlan. Everyone else laughed at the scene and continued with their regular pace, quickly passing by some crates and soldiers, they stopped when they made it to what seemed to be a large road. There were vehicles everywhere, some normal cars and the rest military vehicles. They followed the soldier''s instructions and went left, they continued to go their previous pace, flying by everyone else. The soldiers in the vehicles or patrolling the area were shocked by the speeds these 5 individuals showed. It didn''t take long, only seconds before they arrived at what appears to be a large port, and to the side was an enormous shed-like structure. It was wide open, and from where they were they could see both Lachlan and Simon inside, talking to someone, a young female soldier. Further behind them, they saw a massive ship, a warship. ¡­ "So is that the ship we''ll be on?" Lachlan asked. "Indeed, its one of our very best Warships, we want this mission to have the highest chance of success," the soldier said. "Whoa, suppose that''s the least you could do," Simon said. "Still have that arrogant attitude," Lachlan said. Simon shut up and looked around, he noticed a few people on the boat with a checklist in their hands and a few on the ground. "What are they doing?" Simon said, pointing towards the soldiers. "Obviously they''re checking the ships conditions, we want to limit the number of unexpected situations," she said. "Fair enough," Simon replied. "Hey! What are you guys doing?" Zoe said as she rushed over. "Talking to the soldier, asking a few questions," Lachlan said. Everyone else came over, everyone stood side by side. "Now that everyone''s here we should get your gear," the soldier said, she began leading the group to a small room in the corner. She opened the door, inside were 7 large bags, each having a name on them. Everyone went to their own bag and opened it up, they then began looking through, seeing that they got. The first thing everyone noticed was the large tent on the bottom of the bag. Once they opened it up they noticed some clothes, some light clothes and then some warm ones. Inside a pocket to the side was some toothpaste and a toothbrush. There was also a comb, some deodorant and moisturiser. They looked inside the other pockets and found shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Moving around the clothes they saw a folded-up swag, with some blankets next to it. They quickly put everyone back neatly and zipped the bag up before picking it up, Lachlan realised the bag weighed about 40kilos, but that amount of weight didn''t faze him. Walking outside they noticed a few soldiers with bags in front of them, the bags were much smaller than the ones they are carrying. "While you''re on this island we aren''t sure what food sources there are, so we''re giving you some MREs," the soldier said. Everyone nodded and picked up the bags filled with MREs, they then walked out of the place and walked towards the shore. Although they weren''t sure what Phoebe meant, they at least wanted to find out. Once they got to the edge Phoebe walked towards the front of the group. "Summon Faith!" She shouted. A large tattoo on here back lit up blue, the waters began to roughen, creating waves. A large beast emerged from the water, Lachlan already knew it was going to be a turtle, but he didn''t think a turtle could grow so large. This turtle was at least 100 metres long, not to mention it was also 7 metres wide. The head of the turtle emerged from the water soon after the body, it was quite small compared to its body. Roughly 20 metres wide, the turtle''s neck was 15 metres long. The rest of the body was still submerged with the water, but from what can be currently seen, the rest certainly isn''t small. Lachlan analysed the behemoth of a turtle. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Faith (Iron Turtle King) Age: Elder Attribute: Water/Iron Level: 42 STR: 126(+223), AGI: 21(+245), VIT: 300(+213) INT: 103(+86), PER: 35(+108), WIL: 30(+52) Weakness: Nothing Strengths: Complete control over water, an impenetrable shell and extremely strong bite Description: A turtle that rules the water with its impenetrable shell and large body. A passive and peaceful creature that completely dominates anything that provokes it. -------------------------------------------------------- It made sense to Lachlan now, such a large beast certainly won''t be weak. Lachlan also knew that riding the turtle would be much safer than the warship. As the turtle was a king of the see it would probably be avoided by almost everything. Not to mention they could also help should they need to. "This certainly is a surprise," Simon said, "Who knew you would be so capable". Phoebe got annoyed at that last statement and pouted, "You don''t need to get on if you don''t want to, seeing as you''re so strong and manly why don''t you swim instead". "Hey now, I''m sorry for what I previously said, just don''t make me swim," Simon quickly went up to Phoebe and apologised, he put his hands together and slightly bowed. "Alright," Phoebe said. 41 Travelling Underwater * Phoebe was the first to jump on, she then turned around and waved her hand towards her, "What are you guys doing, get on already". Lachlan was the second person on, like usual, he disappeared from his original spot and appeared next to Phoebe. "Whoa, you really are fast," Phoebe said. Everyone else followed Lachlan, Simon, Georgia, joe, Zoe, then finally Chloe. Just as they were about to leave they heard a shout from behind. "Wait!" a person exclaimed, looking back the group realised it was James, "You forgot to take a map with you, without it you could easily get lost". James held out an electronic device, one they''ve never seen before. They heard their phone alarm go off, well aside from Lachlan who didn''t have a phone. Looking down they realised it was a map, filled with bits of information about the surrounding waters, what they''ve discovered so far. The group was impressed the Navy has done so much in such little time. "Thanks!" They shouted. "Okay Faith let''s go," Phoebe said. The turtle rumbled a bit, looking down they quickly realised they were sinking into the ocean. Simon appeared next to Phoebe in seconds, "What''s going on? Are you trying to drown us?" "Of course not, just wait, the water won''t even touch you," Phoebe explained. The rest of the group was still nervous, but quickly felt relaxed when they saw that the water wasn''t getting closer to them. The further they sunk the more mystical it became. A dome could be seen surrounding the group, protecting them from any water. Seconds later the Turtle and the group were finally submerged within the water, but the turtle didn''t stop there. It continued its descent until it reached a couple hundred metres below sea level. Looking up, they noticed they couldn''t see the sky anymore, and sure there was light, but they couldn''t see the sun clearly either. Looking around, they tried to see some fishes, unfortunately, they couldn''t detect any. "If you''re trying to find anything don''t bother, this turtle has an aura that terrifies anything weaker then it, which means a majority of fish won''t come anywhere close," Phoebe explained. "Damn, that sucks, oh well I''ll take a nap then," Lachlan said. He then looked through his bag and took out a pillow, placed it under his head and went to sleep. "Have to admit, I''m really jealous of people that can do that," Simon said. "Same," Chloe said. "Anyway, I suggest you guys get comfortable, this is going to take a few hours," Phoebe explained. "Alright," They all said. Everyone went through their bags and got out some stuff to make themselves comfortable, blankets and pillows. ¡­ Back at the navy base, all the superiors were gathered within the room, sitting down and discussing important matters. "We need to find a way to improve our weaponry quickly," an old man said. "Indeed, unfortunately, improving weapons isn''t something that can happen quickly," James replied. "Humanity has lost over 1 billion lives already, there are also many wounded, we need something to protect the weak," a younger woman said. "I agree with that, but we don''t have anything like that yet, that''s why we need this operation to work," James said. "What is the point of this operation anyway, you haven''t completely explained that to us yet," a younger man said. "What''s some of the hardest materials on Earth?" James asked. "Diamonds," the young woman said. "Indeed, and diamonds are entirely created underground through the use of heat and pressure. An island with 10x that amount of gravity and even more pressure underground, who knows what kind of minerals are down there, all I know for certain is that they''ll be harder then the stuff we have here," James said. "So why didn''t you explain that to the ones going on this operation?" the young man asked. "They left before I could, in addition to that it''s not like anything will change," James said. "What do you mean by that?" the older man asked. "Those individuals want strength, they probably want a weapon that''s suitable for them, especially that Lachlan kid, it seems he likes combat daggers. He already knows that it won''t last him long, so he will search for something stronger, and the place we sent him should have that something," James explained. "Seriously I don''t know what goes through your mind," the young man said. ¡­ Its already been two hours, Lachlan had finally gotten up from his nap. Looking around he noticed everyone else was awake and packing their stuff up. Lachlan did the same, he then walked over. "How much further do we have?" Lachlan asked. "Should only be a few minutes, I wonder what this island is going to look like," Phoebe said while smiling, trying to imagine what it will be. "It might be completely barren, with gravity that strong nothing should be able to grow there," Simon said. "You never know, this isn''t the normal world we''re talking about anymore, but some completely unexplored land," Phoebe said, her expression changed, "We''re here!" she shouted. The dome surrounding the group disappeared, an in front was a massive island, an island which looked magical. The island was filled with vegetation, the trees rocketed hundreds of metres high and had a thickness never seen before, they were probably 15 metres thick. The leaves and grass were incredibly green as well, looks like its been through the best treatment throughout its entire life. Not to mention the air, they didn''t know how to describe it, it felt like it was cleaning the insides of their body, fixing it and making it better. "This is way better then I could have ever imagined," Phoebe said. "This is something I don''t think any of us could imagine," Simon said. "Hurry up, let''s go to the shore and see what they were talking about the gravity," Lachlan said. Phoebe got Faith to continue, getting closer and closer. Unfortunately, due to its size, it couldn''t go all the way. Everyone hopped off, the moment they touched the sand they felt different. 42 New Island * Standing on the sand felt different to Lachlan, he felt slightly heavier. Fortunately, he had an insane amount of strength, so it didn''t affect him as much. However, the same couldn''t be said about the others, mainly Zoe who had the lowest strength stat. "Whoa, it feels as if I was normal again," Zoe said. Lachlan thought about it, he tried using his strength and quickly realised he was being restricted. He determined that required strength to normally walk on this shore was about 100, that was well over what any regular soldier had but something they did. Lachlan continued to walk towards the beach, the rest following along. Looking back he noticed Zoe was beginning to slow down. "What''s wrong?" Lachlan asked. "It feels as though the gravity increases the closer we are to the island," Zoe explained. Lachlan thought about and realised what she was saying is true. Although the difference isn''t noticeable to him, to the people with lower stats it made a big difference. Once they finally reached the shore Zoe was panting, some of the others showed visible signs of fatigue. Lachlan tested his strength and quickly noticed that walking where they were needed at least 200 stats in strength. "Zoe, if you find it too much you should head back into the water, the gravity is less there," Lachlan said. "I''m alright, I came here to train, after all, if I couldn''t handle this much then I certainly won''t be any use to the team," Zoe said. "Then at least stay here and try to get used to the current gravity, it should be safe here," Lachlan said. Zoe nodded and sat down, she began doing some basic ab exercises. Chloe joined her, the current gravity was still slightly too much for her. The rest of the group headed to the forest to explore. They only walked another 15 metres, but the gravity increased again, and it became too much for Joe to handle, and just like Zoe and Chloe he stopped and done some exercise. Walking another 7 metres and Phoebe dropped off, then after another 40 metres Simon and Georgia dropped off. Simon was furious he wasn''t able to continue and quickly got into exercising, running around. Lachlan kept walking. Everyone that could see him was slightly frustrated, as it meant the young boy was much stronger than them. Again Simon got more annoyed, Georgia was already exhausted, but Simon pushed himself. Lachlan continued to make his way through the forest, he saw many different plants, fruits and what looks to be vegetables. He also continued to make an observation of the gravity, as from the beach to where he was it increased by 2 every metre. He perked his head up, he heard something, something essential for a human''s very survival. Jogging through the thick vegetation he jogged into an open area, filled with rocks and a small water stream. Walking up he scanned to water constantly analysing it, if there was anything there something should have come up. But nothing did, he walked up to the stream and bent over with his hands out to collect the water. Filling his hands with water he brought it up to his mouth and began drinking. He instantly felt a cold chill throughout his entire body, but right after came a gentle warmth. It only took a few seconds but once the effect was gone Lachlan noticed any fatigue he had was gone. Looking at the water, Lachlan quickly realised that this island was much more useful then he could have ever imagined. Not only did it have the increase of gravity which helped them train, but it also had this water which replenished their energy. With it they could train forever, well to be more exact, for however long the water lasted. They''ve only been here for 5 minutes, it''s too quick to assume that this water will last forever. He got out the water bottle from his bag and emptied it and filled it with the stream''s water instead. Looking down at it he realised the water had a slight blue tint, there was also specs of red floating around it. He began following the path upstream, hoping to find the source, but after he walked another 35 metres he realised the gravity changed again. Every metre increased the gravity by 4 now, which wasn''t much to Lachlan but after a while, it quickly became a problem. After walking 20+ metres he felt like it his body was in the same condition it was before he levels up so much. It felt foreign to him, as his body had adapted to the increased strength rapidly. He continued to walk another 10 metres before his body couldn''t handle it, and just like the others, he began doing some basic training, squats, push-ups and normal jogging. However, the gravity was too much for his body and it only took minutes for Lachlan to be exhausted. He brought out his water bottle and hoped it worked. *Glug*Glug* Drinking two large mouthfuls of water and he really felt the chill this time, but the warmth after it was much nicer. He sat there for a while in peace before standing up and resuming the training. He wanted to practice a bit of boxing, so he walked up to a tree and punched it with everything he had. *Bang* "Ahh!" Lachlan screamed while holding his fist. His knuckles were red with a bit of skin slightly peeling. Looking up Lachlan inspected the tree. Where he punched there was a large dent, which certainly surprised him. With his strength, any normal tree would be annihilated. He looked at these surroundings and remembered that this tree certainly isn''t normal. He took out his knife and put all his strength into peeling a bit of tree bark off. It worked, although the strip was only 30cm long and the knife was now blunt, it still worked. He put the bark inside his bag, so it could be inspected later at the military base. The main thing he wanted to know of this bark could still be classified as bark, or if it had more metallic qualities. 43 First Day Done * Lachlan continued the training for the rest of the day, constantly exhausting his body and replenishing it. But when he noticed the sky darken he decided to head back and tell the others about his findings, if they haven''t noticed it yet. When he got back to the shore he noticed that Faith had been summoned and the others were on its shell. He walked through the water and jumped onto the shell, then walked over to the group. Getting closer he noticed they had some of the MREs out and eating, he could small a variety of food, he supposes everyone has their favourite foods. "Lachlan you''re late," Simon said in a condescending manner. "How long have you all been here?" Lachlan asked. "Hours, and once we feel replenished we go back and train. Don''t tell me this entire time you''ve been training," Zoe said. "Yeah I was, I didn''t think everyone was supposed to meet back here, and I have some useful information," Lachlan said. "And what sort of information do you have that''ll be useful right now," Zoe said. Lachlan took out his water bottle and threw it at Zoe, she caught it and slightly rolled back, "What was that for?" Lachlan shrugged his shoulders, "Drink some". "Some, I''m going to drink it all," Zoe said. She opened it and brought it to her mouth and started taking large mouthfuls. "Oh well," Lachlan said, shrugging his shoulders and putting his hands up. Everyone looked at Zoe and saw her horrified expression, it was like she was frozen in place, seconds later her expression morphed into one that''s in bliss. "What''s wrong with her?" Joe asked. Lachlan walked up to her and took the bottle from her, he then passed it over to Joe who looked at him in confusion. "Drink," Lachlan said. Just like his sister, Joe took large mouthfuls then froze. After a few seconds, his body fell backwards, and his expression changed, he opened his started mumbling, "Of that feels good, ahh, that''s nice," like he was off his mind. Simon who was sitting next to him yanked it out his hands and drank, then Phoebe took it, then Georgia, then last but not least Chloe took a big swig. They all laid down with relaxed expressions, of course after their horrified ones. After five minutes they all sat up and stared at Lachlan, "Where did you get that water from?" They all asked in unison. "There was a water stream near my training spot and not too far away from where Simon stopped. That water completely gets rid of fatigue, with the obvious side effects," Lachlan explained. "Is it good for you?" Zoe asked. "I don''t know, it feels good though. That''s how I''ve been constantly training," Lachlan said. "Damn, so unfair, I could train forever with this water," Chloe said. "I''ll show you where to get it tomorrow morning, for now though, we rest and sleep," Lachlan explained. "Alright, check your MRE bag, you might have something I want," Simon said. Lachlan sat down and began rummaging through his bag, looking through them to find something he likes. It didn''t take long before he took out a Spaghetti Bolognese, he looked around and no one asked him for it. Simon asked if he had something though, "What about Chicken and Vegetables, you have some of them. I can give you all my Spaghetti Bolognese MREs". Lachlan went through his bag and found two, he placed them down in front of Simon. Simon took out 3 Spaghetti Bolognese and swapped them. This time it was Zoe who came over, "Do you have any Vegetable Curries?" Lachlan took out 3, Zoe''s eyes lit up and she placed down 2 Spaghetti Bolognese. Lachlan didn''t mind, he just got a better deal from Simon, so he had one MRE to spare. He read the back and followed the instructions, after all, he wanted his Spaghetti hot. Once he followed the instructions he left it sitting for 10 minutes, letting it really heat up properly. Then, once those minutes were done Lachlan ripped it open and began eating. Once he started he didn''t stop, just eating and eating. After he was done he let out a burp, he looked up to the sky and saw it was all clear. Going through the bag he took out a swag, placing it down near him. He then took out the blankets and laid down, and as the ocean waves drifted past him, he smoothly went to sleep. Seeing Lachlan''s actions, everyone followed, and after a few minutes, everyone was asleep. ¡­ Back at the base inside the room, all the superiors were discussing important matters. "As you all know, a large amount of beast have been gathering within the forest, and if we don''t do something soon they could easily overwhelm us," an old man said. "Yes, but right now we don''t have the necessary fighting power to defeat so many beasts. Not to mention the fact that there are very likely some intelligent beasts leading them," James explained. "How long do you think we have?" the old man said. "Roughly 6 ¨C 7 days," James gave an estimate. "By then the operation should have been completed and they''ll all be back, hopefully with some useful information of materials," James explained. "You better hope they have something useful, or you''ll have screwed everyone here!" the man shouted. ¡­ Back on the turtle, everyone slept soundly, for hours. At the break of first light, they slowly started to get up, it was difficult to sleep with the sun blasting them. They all got out their fruit bars and cereal bars and began eating. To them, this breakfast was slightly miserable. The fruit bars and cereal bars weren''t very tasty, not to mention dry. But they couldn''t really complain since this was all they had. Once they finished they packed everything up and hopped off Faith, then walked towards the beach. When they finally reached there, "So where''s the stream?" They all asked. 44 Second Day Complete * Just like he promised, Lachlan lead them to the stream. They obviously didn''t go to where Lachlan was but found where the stream led. They got out their water bottles and filled it up, taking a sip. Lachlan also took a sip, just to see if there was anything different. There was still the freezing effect, but it was much weaker, similar to a chill breeze. Not to mention the warm effect after wasn''t as pleasing, rather it felt as if they dunked their bodies in slightly warm water. Everyone stared at Lachlan with daggers in their eyes, ready to pounce on him if he didn''t explain himself. "This is the same stream, it just might mean that the effect gets weaker the further it is from its source," Lachlan explained. "And where is the source?" They all asked. "I don''t know, I''m not strong enough to reach it yet," Lachlan stated. "Alright, we''ll let you off this time, but take our spare water bottles and fill it with the water in your area," They said. Lachlan nodded and held out his hand. They all strapped their water bottles to it, some tied it on while staring at Lachlan. After that, they all went to their areas and began training. They switched some things up though. Some of them tried out some fighting moves while under the gravity, though it was difficult it felt like they would receive better results. Lachlan practised boxing, not shadow boxing though, he used the trees as punching bags. He was hoping that through this he could properly strengthen his skin and bones, breaking them down so they come back stronger. And he didn''t know why, but it seemed the water had special properties which made that process much faster. Whenever his skin broke apart, or he felt his bones fracture he drank some water and felt better, stronger. At mid-day they all gathered onto Faith again, to eat some food peacefully. Lachlan had given them their water bottles once they met up. There were also some more people though. Some military personnel had come over in a much smaller boat, they had kitchen appliances with them. They boiled some hot water and prepared them instant noodles, some of them had beef while others had chicken, and just like at dinner they swapped with each other. There were also powdered drinks, chocolate, coffee, and tea. Lachlan took to chocolate, put the appropriate amount of powder within a cup and waited at the kettle, waiting for the water to finally boil. Once it was boiled they all filled their noodles and drinks with the hot water, waited a bit for all the powder to dissolve and finally dig in. They thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the drinks. Once they had that they searched through their bags for snacks, finding chocolate bars, candy chocolates, and crackers with a jam spread. They ate all that quickly before moving on. But just as they were about to jump off, one of the personals stopped them. "Is there anything you''ve discovered on the island?" They asked. Lachlan pulled out the bark from his bag and handed it over, "This is some tree bark, and don''t think for a second that the trees on this island are normal". The personal looked at it and tried bending it, but of course to no avail. They looked at each other and nodded, before placing the bark inside a bag. Then they hopped on their boat, waved at us and sped away. Everyone didn''t take any notice of it, they just thought they wanted to research it quickly. Now that there was nothing to interrupt them, they could train in peace. They hopped off and walked to their training spots, however, they moved slightly further, increasing the difficulty. But getting better results. This training went all the way to the afternoon, but when everyone saw the sky darken they headed back. ¡­ Back at the base. "Sir, we have discovered that this tree bark is as strong as steel, but not only that, it is also incredibly flexible," A researcher said, with a clipboard in their arms. "Good, if just the tree bark is this strong, the rock there much be much stronger," James said. The researcher nodded and walked out of his room in a hurry. A few seconds pass and someone else enters the room, it was one of the people on the boat. "Tell them to gather whatever materials they can," James demanded. "Yes sit," They replied, then ran off, getting the rest of the people to set off again. "Huh," ''If we can get some stronger materials we can create some stronger equipment, not just weapons either, but drills or pickaxes, would certainly make their life much easier if they had the proper tool'' James thought. ¡­ Everyone had headed on back, they had their dinner and were about to sleep, but Lachlan decided to do something else. He picked up all of his stuff and held it above his head. "Where are you going?" Simon asked. "To sleep on the beach," Lachlan answered. "In that sort of gravity?" Simon questioned Lachlan''s decision. "get my body to adapt faster, want to get stronger faster, after all, we''re only going to be here for another 5 days," Lachlan stated. "Hm, you''re not wrong," Simon said, he then looked towards everyone else, "Who else is coming". Georgia stood up, "I will". "Sure, why not," said Phoebe sheepishly as she was about to fall asleep. "I certainly won''t, I can barely handle the pressure in the water, let alone the beach," Zoe said. "I''m with Zoe on this, you all go ahead and train to your heart content maniacs," Chloe said. "Sure," Joe said, standing up and picking up all his stuff. It was decided, most of them were going to spend the night sleeping under the intense pressure. Even though to most of them it would still feel light, especially Lachlan. When they reached the beach they walked 15 metres away from the waves, creating a large gap. Then set up camp, well what they could set up anyway. They tried out the tents, but they snapped under the gravity, but luckily the swags were alright. Everyone summoned their beasts, one reason is so that they could sleep with them, and the other reason is that should anything unexpected happen they''ll be ready. "Summon Kyle!" Georgia shouted, a tattoo of wings appeared on her back. "Summon Sandy," Joe said, a tattoo of a dog appeared on his legs. "Come Storm, Tornado, and Hurricane!" Simon shouted, a tattoo of large wings emitted light from his back. There was a bird''s talon tattoo that appeared on his right leg and left hand. "Joy!" Phoebe shouted and a turtle head appeared on thighs. "Summon Disaster, Catastrophe, and Calamity!" Lachlan shouted, with three large birds wings tattoos emitting light from his back. Once the light dispersed all the tamed beast stood before them. There were seven birds, one turtle, and one dog, all of which were massive and gave off an intimidation aura. Lachlan analysed them. 45 More Exploration * Once they woke up in the morning they immediately had breakfast and were ready to explore. After training a bit they felt they should explore some more, check areas they haven''t checked. After all, there is one place they haven''t checked yet. Looking up Lachlan looked towards the tree''s crowns, spreading far a wide, providing a great deal of shade. Lachlan wanted to know if there was something up there, like coconut or just any fruit. Fortunately, due to the number of branches, they could actually make it up. It was just the gravity they would have to deal with. But considering that the gravity decreased the further away from the island, it should become easier to climb the higher one is. Zoe was the most excited. Due to one of her strengths being strong jumping power, she was able to easily jump from branch to branch. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure why it only affects her jumping and not her walking, seems like strengths can get really specific. Aside from Joe and Zoe, everyone else struggled to climb. Fortunately, just as Lachlan predicted, the gravity got weaker the higher they were. Then things sped up, they were now climbing up the tree at the speed of monkey. When they finally reached the top they were ecstatic to discover coconut looking things on the top. Lachlan reached out and grabbed the stem that connects the coconut to the tree and crushed it. Georgia and Simon did the same. The rest used their own abilities to cut it off, such as Chloe creating a blade of water. Not they were at an impasse. Looking down at the coconut in their hands left them bewildered as they weren''t sure how to open it. They''ve already tried using their crushing grip to open it up, but it didn''t budge a single bit which left them frustrated. The only thing they could do was bring it down with them and trying something down there, maybe smash it against a rock like the ancestors. But before they brought it down they poked their heads past the leaves, trying to see more of the island. Due to the sheer number and size of the trees, it was difficult to see past even 10 metres, but while up the tree, they should be able to see everything. But what they saw left them flabbergasted. They never noticed it but there was a whole mountain at the centre of the island, with a tree in the middle. A tree that reaches past the clouds, it looked as thick as a shopping centre. They also saw something else, something they would set as another goal. Along that mountain was a small cave, and from that cave sprouted a stream of water which could only mean one thing. That source of the river is in the cave. "Damn this is a nice view," Joe commented. Although a bit chilly the view was gorgeous, it made the island look even more mystical. "That''s for sure. But on a more important topic, let''s make reaching the cave a finish line. Although I doubt we would be able to reach it in the seven days," Georgia said. "Let''s just ask the military to send us back to explore, we''ll say we haven''t explored enough of the island and need more time," Lachlan said. "Alright, you can tell them that," Simon said. Once they finished their small talk they went back down. Once they reached the floor Joe went through the forest and managed to bring over a small pebble. On it was a sharp crystal, a dark blue one. He immediately grabbed it and smashed it against the coconut, only for it to bounce off and out of his hands. "What the hell is this damn coconut shell made of," Joe complained as he rubbed his hands together. "Should we give it to the military?" Phoebe asked. There was no point in them keeping it since they couldn''t even open it. "Yeah, we''ll let them have a try at opening it," Simon grinned. For some reason, he felt confident that the military wouldn''t have a machine with the capabilities to cut the coconut open. "Continue training?" Lachlan asked. He wasn''t sure whether or not they would continue to explore, aside from the coconut it doesn''t seem like there''s anything else to do. "Yeah, let''s begin training. I hope that by the end of these 7 days everyone would be able to at least make it past the 3x gravity part," Joe said. "Easier said than done," Zoe complained. Joe grinned, he enjoyed annoying his sister. One of the few things that give him great pleasure. ¡­ "Get the soldiers ready! It seems the beasts are attacking early!" James shouted. His mind was racing, he thought they would have more time but the beasts began early. "Yes, sir!" A soldier shouted, then running off. The sounds behind the door got louder, many footsteps could be heard, gun magazines clicking, there were also people shouting orders. "Get to the vehicles, ready the machine guns, we''re going to mow these beasts down!" "James I hope you have some good news goddamnit," An old woman burst through his door complaining, spit going everywhere in the process. James froze up, he was so convinced this operation would work but due to their lack of time, everything''s gone to shit. "No I don''t have any good news," James struggled to say. The old woman stared daggers into James'' soul. "Bring them back, we need their assistance," The woman grumpily said as she turned around and left. James leaned down towards the phone, "Get someone to inform the pair going to the island that we need those people back" "Yes," Someone responded from the other side of the phone. James then walked out of his office, he needed to prepare for the battle. They would try to keep their ground for as long as they could, though if things go south they''ll retreat. Back on the island, the group continued their training without a doubt in their mind that the military was doing fine. Not thinking for a second that something was happening back at the base, they were too focused on improving. ... Back at the base, James was just informed of some bad news. Something he didn''t want to hear, there''s too many things happening around him. "Sir we can''t get into contact with the team that went to the island," A communications soldier just informed him of one of the worst things he could hear right now. He had already assumed the worst, they sent those soldiers because they hadn''t tamed anything therefore, had no value in this new world. "Send another team, put some people with tamed beasts in it, at least 5 of them," James ordered. Although he didn''t like to admit it, he regretted his decision on sending the group to the island. As well as only sending two normal soldiers. "Yes sir," A soldier ran away to organise a team. Things were beginning to get messy and the beasts haven''t even attacked yet. Things weren''t looking good for them. ... Night time came quickly for the group. They went back to the beach to sleep, they''ve done a lot of training and managed to improve by quite a bit. Lachlan was beginning to trust them, he felt like he should tell them about their beasts'' special abilities. But also wasn''t sure who they would tell. If the information ended up in the wrong hand''s whole cities could be destroyed. As much as Lachlan hated to admit, the human race was filled with dangerous extremist. Ones that might believe they''re destined to be rulers, others that might believe humanity should become extinct. Lachlan decided he would wait a bit. If they were able to come back to the island for longer he would tell them. Since they were planning on getting stronger and explore more it would be useful to max out everyone''s level. 46 Bad News * Everyone woke up at the middle of the night to the sound of a boat engine. Joe held out his hand and a flame shot out, going across the water, barely missing the boat that was heading towards them. During the few seconds they could see, Lachlan analysed who was on the boat. He calmed down when he realised they weren''t much, although it would difficult for him to beat all of them by himself it''s not like they could fight their group. As the boat got closer they were able to make out some more details, they quickly realised it was the military and Lachlan sighed of relief. They wouldn''t need to fight anything yet. But everyone did find it a bit odd that the soldiers were coming so late at night. They rammed the boat against the shore and hopped out. Their expression changed just like everyone else''s but they calmed themselves immediately. They were professionals. "We need you all back at the base now!" A soldier named Michael shouted at them. The rest of the soldiers were observing the water and tree line for any movement. "Why? We still have 5 more days of exploration," Joe found it odd that they were getting called back so soon. "There''s a hoard of beasts coming to attack the base, we need you there now! Hurry up!" Michael shouted as he gestured with his hands for them to get on the boat. "There''s no need for that, we have other ways to get back," Lachlan said. ''You three can come out now'' Lachlan summoned the three Rocs. Georgia and Simon quickly understood what Lachlan and summoned their own birds. Zoe quickly ran back to their sleeping area and got out Bag, she got it to quickly store everything before returning to the birds. "We''ll meet you back at the base," Lachlan said as he jumped Calamity. The others split up a bit and hopped onto different birds. Georgia obviously went on her Dark Eagle King while Simon got onto Tempest, Joe and Zoe hopped onto Catastrophe and Disaster. Phoebe and Chloe jumped onto Cyclone and Dusty. They gave a thumbs up, gesturing they were ready. "Oh yeah, there''s a coconut over there, you guys can bring it back to the base," Lachlan said. ''Let''s go'' Before Michael could say anything back Lachlan already got his Rocs to shoot up. The other soon followed, piercing through the air. They decided it would be best to not take a relaxing journey back but instead go full throttle. The Rocs and Kyle quickly went ahead due to their speeds being a strength. Although annoyed that the other birds were much faster than his. Simon could only grit his teeth and get his birds to go as fast as they can. Lachlan and Georgia quickly realised that Simon couldn''t keep up and slowed down. "You should all get on, we can get to the base faster!" Lachlan shouted at them. Simon got more annoyed but couldn''t do anything except accept. Although he didn''t like the government, the military is also protecting a lot of innocent lives. Simon''s birds flew above Lachlan''s, allowing everyone to jump down. Simon jumped onto Catastrophe with Joe, Chloe fell onto Disaster with Zoe while Phoebe hopped onto Calamity with Lachlan on it. Phoebe was shivering and grabbed onto Lachlan, it took her a lot of courage to jump off the bird. They were at a high altitude, they would be dead if they fell and no one caught them. Lachlan felt Phoebe''s grip around his waist tighten. "It''s alright, nothing is going to happen," Lachlan tried to calm her down. "My parents are at the base, we need to get to there quickly," Now Lachlan realised what made her the most worried. "Don''t worry, the military will be able to protect at least until we get there alright," Phoebe nodded at Lachlan''s words. Although he couldn''t see he could feel her shaking her head against his back. He turned towards Georgia and realised she was still riding Kyle. Although he was fast, the Rocs would be much faster. "Why don''t you hop on?!" "You should know that Kyle is similar the Faith, it suppressed any bird that attempts to attack us. It''s especially so now that it''s night time!" Georgia explained and Lachlan realised she was right. there would definitely be an advantage in keeping Kyle out. "Alright, get Kyle to go full speed, we want to get to their quickly!" Georgia nodded and got Kyle to shoot off through the night sky. Lachlan really had to give it to the bird, it was perfect for flying in the night. ''Are we challenging the bird now'' Catastrophe excitedly said. ''No, follow it, you can challenge it at a later date'' Lachlan poured cold water over Catastrophe''s burning hot desire. The Rocs quickly sped up and caught up to Kyle. They were now flying at a decent distance behind him, making sure they have some time to react if they need to. Their speed made it slightly difficult to breathe but the group didn''t mind. They needed to get there quickly, the faster the better. Phoebe held onto Lachlan tighter when they sped up, she found it slightly easier to breath when she hid her head behind Lachlan''s back. She couldn''t help but realise although Lachlan had a childish personality, he certainly had some good features. She could help but imagine them together. ''No, no, no, those thoughts aren''t needed right now,'' Phoebe shook her head to snap herself out of it. ... Back on the island, Michael was complaining about the group leaving them. "They could have taken us as well," He grumpily complained as he kicked around the sand. "Oh well, nothing we can do, I''ll go grab the coconut," A soldier next to his said before walking towards the coconut. He picked it up and observed it for a moment, he didn''t find anything odd about it, even its size was similar to a normal coconut. "There isn''t anything special about this damn coconut," Michael complained more when he analysed it as well. He grabbed it but attempted to crush it with his bare hands. But he soon realised something, there was something unique about it. "We need to take the coconut back now!" Michael shouted as he ran back to the boat. The soldiers quickly followed right behind him, jumping onto the boat they started it up and sped off, leaving the island as fast as possible. ... Meanwhile, at a small shopping centre close to the beach two people could be seen emotionally staring at each other. Surrounding them were similar scenes, as people were reunited with their loved ones. "Alfredo!" A woman cried as she ran towards him. The man she ran to was Alfredo Jackson, the old man that Lachlan and his family travelled with to Mount Barker. He had successfully reunited with his wife. "My dear wife I missed you so much," Alfredo couldn''t hold back his tears as he embraced his wife for the first time since the evolution. "Let''s go," Alfredo said as he grabbed his wife''s hand, leading the way to the exit. "What''s that!" A soldier next to them shouted as he pointed towards the sky. There was a giant ball of fire hurtling towards them at a speed to fast for anyone to outrun. *Screech* 47 First Wave * "Sir the beasts are sending their first wave!" A soldier came running up the James to report. James felt his head spin at the report. They had just got word that the hoard was coming yet it''s already at their front doors. "Get every civilian on the boats and protected, get all the soldiers armed up with everything we have, we''re going to mow these fuckers down!" James ordered. On his body was his normal uniform, but aside from that were a few grenades and flashbangs. In his arm was an assault rifle, loaded and ready for it to mow down his enemies. He started running outside and towards the wall, where they''ll meet their enemies there. As he was running he went past some things that made him glad. There were vehicles with machine guns attached to it, soldiers were already in them ready to fire. Looking back he saw a lot of civilians running into the boat, getting to safety. But on top of the boat were the canons, all facing towards the wall. On the boat was the old woman that constantly ordered him around, Admiral May, the top of command. ''All of you should get ready to eat'' He summoned his sharks. But instead of a light going off his shadow extended across the ground before it split apart. The extra shadows just waited, as if they were floating around. He felt a bit of rumbling and his expression turned for the worst. Looking towards the wall he saw it burst apart as beasts came charging at them. There were scorpions, snakes, crocodiles, lizards and many other insects. "Fire!" James ordered as he held out his rifle and started spraying the beasts with bullets. The soldier''s followed suit, mowing them down at a visible rate. Although some of the beasts could survive gun bullets, the bullets that came from the vehicles were too much for them and easily pierced their skin. ''Go!'' Those floating shadows shot off towards the line of beasts. The soldiers were confused with what they saw, they thought for a second they were fighting invisible beasts. "Don''t shoot the shadows, they''re my beasts!" Fortunately, James made sure to inform everyone before they started spraying. One of the shadows headed for a large snake. Instead of slivering with its entire body against the ground it looked as though it was standing proudly, slithering towards them. The soldiers noticed something peeking out of the shadow, it looked like a dorsal fin. It went back in then out until the shadow finally reached the snake. The snake didn''t notice the shadow as it didn''t give off any heat at all, it was as if nothing was there. But there was something there, ready to devour its prey. A large shark leapt out of the shadow, it''s mouth wide open as it flew towards the snake''s head. Before the snake could react the shark already had its head in its mouth, it chomped down and swallowed the head whole before going back into its shadow. The snake''s body fell down, it was headless and the soldiers were left shocked. They felt some confidence that they might be able to win. Holding their weapons firmly they continued to shoot towards the beasts. Every now and then sharks would pop up and rip apart the beasts to shreds, even dragging beasts into the shadows with it. None of the soldiers knew what was in the shadows nor did they want to find out James was grinning confidently as he mowed down the beasts. The only dangerous part of this fight was when they had to reload, but luckily due to the sheer number of soldiers here that wasn''t a problem. *Thump*Thump*Thump*Thump* A series of heavy footsteps could be heard on the other side of the wall. Even amongst all the shooting and explosion it cold he heard clearly. Whatever it was would be big. Some of the soldiers aimed the machine guns towards the source. *Bang* The wall was smashed apart and large beast came charging through the debris, heading straight towards James. It''s large body pushing its allies out of the way, it only had one thing in its eyes and that was James. Once the body of the beast was finally visible they realised it was a lizard, an extremely large and strong one. Across its body were its scales that looked like armoured plates. As the soldiers shot their bullets it would just bounce right off. The lizard didn''t put those pesky vehicles in its eyes, its mouth was open wide as it came closer to James. While James on the other hand had a massive grin across his face. Once the lizard was a few metres away from James he jumped back slightly. ''Go!'' There was one last shadow that stayed connected to James, the largest one amongst the six of them. A giant shark leapt out and grabbed the lizards head between its teeth. It tried to bite down but realised the lizard''s scales were too strong. But there was something else it could it. Due to the sudden force, the lizard''s balance was tipped. The shark took advantage of it and dragged it into its shadow. Where it was left floating in the darkness. James has been in the shadow before, he had been curious about it. There wasn''t anything aside from darkness. Similar to when one tames a beast, but instead of taming something the opponent is slowly ripped apart by the sharks as they swam freeing within the abyss. ''Thanks'' He made sure to thank the large shark as it did just save him. ''You''re welcome'' The giant shark replied with a woman''s voice. One that sounded elegant and sophisticated. *Roar* A loud roar from the background sounded out and all the beasts stopped in their tracks before retreating. The beasts didn''t care about any of their allies, trampling on them to get away. The soldiers took advantage of it and mowed down everything. James already realised it was an order from an intelligent beast, one that had a lot of intelligence. As it was able to lead an army of beasts this size, it was bound to be strong as well. Could probably kick his ass right now. Fortunately, the intelligent beast retreated which meant its soldiers were running low. Not to mention they haven''t used the battleships yet. James quickly unsummoned his beasts and ran towards the battleships, quickly getting into the control room. There he met something unusual, a smiling May. "Good job, you held them back," Now he realised why May was smiling. She felt proud seeing her second in command do so well in the battlefield. "Thank you, ma''am," James gratefully accepted the praise. "We have some more information, using some drones we managed to spot the leaders and a rough estimate of the force we''re facing," May informed him but he noticed her expression changed to one for the worse. "The whole beast force is led by 5 intelligent beasts, each having their own specialty. Now onto their forces, there are roughly 5000 beasts, what you fought was merely the beginning," May poured cold water over James'' victory with some bad news. "Can we win?" James knew that amongst those beasts were one that had the ability to reflect bullet. The lizard he fought being one of them. "We can only try, we can''t lose the city to the beasts otherwise we''ll be cut off from NSW by sea," May angrily said as she smacked her hand against the table. "We can save people by land as well," James tried to cheer her up but that was met with another angry glare. "Those people will probably be dead, not only that, do you think those intelligent beasts will just let us save them," May said. James could only agree as they don''t fully understand the intelligent beasts yet, they could only assume they want the land and they want to dominate that land with an iron fist. "Ma''am the beasts are coming back, but with their full force this time!" A soldier nearby on a computer reported to them. May and James both frowned, they thought they would be able to take a small break. "Get the soldiers to reload and restock on ammunition and explosive, this will be the real deal and we need all hands on deck!" May ordered and they were quickly getting done. "Where is that group James?" May asked with a cold voice that sent a chill up James'' spine. "They should be arriving soon," James responded quickly. "Good, make sure you inform them of everything once they get here," May said as she went back to organising troops. James nodded and went back out, he needed to both prepare for the next battle and inform the group. He just had to hope they get here before the battle starts. 48 Allies and Friends * At the base, the navy was pushing the beasts back, although slowly, it still improved the morale of the soldiers tremendously. James was joining in every now and then, but he mainly sat back and gave orders, to both the soldiers and his sharks. "Sir!" Looking back James noticed a Warrant officer behind him, "What?" "The intelligent beasts are beginning to send the main force Fleet Admiral!" "How many?" James asked, concerned for everyone''s safety. "150 birds and 1500 grounded beasts, sir!" "How much longer do we have?" "They''ve been estimated to arrive in 20 minutes, sir". "Bring out the Warships, get them targeting the grounded beasts first!" James ordered. "Yes, sir!" The officer began running towards the ports, where a large number of navy soldiers could be seen running around with boxes filled with ammunition. James was getting more and more nervous, ''Damnit, when are they going to get here''. Although he didn''t show it, he was exhausted. The reason he sat back down wasn''t to observe the battlefield, he was merely too exhausted to fight. Similar to a sprinter, James used all his strength from the start. James looked down at his watch and set a timer for 20 minutes, but the most he can wish for is that not all soldiers die. ¡­ Ten minutes had passed and the soldiers continue to push back the beasts, but they also noticed the casualties have increased as well. There were comrades bodies littering the field, almost all of them had mangled corpses. James looked back as he heard a boat siren from behind him. To be greeted with the first of many boats lining up, all pointing the cannons at grounded beasts. However, they didn''t fire, they continued to wait until the main force was there. ¡­ Another ten minutes past and the first sign of a confrontation was seen. The birds in the sky shot all sorts of elements towards the soldiers, either burning them, freezing them or cutting them in half with the wind. Seeing his soldiers get massacred only further angered James. "Fire!" The sound of machines firing went off. Looking up people could see hundreds of bullets reign through the sky, cutting straight through the birds. The bullets found it especially easy to break through the wings, causing the birds to fall. A few birds readied their talons and began descending rapidly, head straight towards either the vehicles or the Warship guns. But those soldiers in control of the Warship guns haven''t trained for nothing. They continued to mow down the birds. James got up, he felt rested enough to continue fighting, and just like before, he bent his knees. But got slightly closer to the ground. He pounced, breaking the ground again, but even more than before. However, he was also a lot faster. Just as the bird was about to get a vehicle it felt something grab it, before realising it was getting dragged along by a human. Holding onto the bird James ran next to another bird, before swinging it towards the other bird with full force, both birds necks broke immediately. *Roar*Roar* The sound of other beasts could be heard, looking around James saw them entering. They were a bunch of lions, they completely ripped apart the soldiers. Seeing that James pounced towards them, with a fist raised and clenched he punched with his full strength. But those lions noticed immediately. They quickly dodged to the side, before hitting James with their claws, which put a large scar across his entire body. *Blugh* James fell to his knees and spew out some blood, looking at himself he saw the massive cut across his body, created by three giant claws. "Damnit, fire!" James shouted. *Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang* The sounds of cannons going off could be heard from the battlefield. Along with the sound came visible streaks in the sky, heading towards the lions. *Boom*Boom*Boom*Boom* They all exploded on impact, shredding the lion corpses to bits. But it wasn''t over. James looked towards the entrance and saw more beasts coming through. There were more lions, wolves, scorpions, snakes, spiders, kangaroos, and a variety of other bug type beasts, all crawling their way over. He could also see all the birds in the sky, every single one of them was getting ready to attack. "You need some help?" A voice sounded from his communicator. *Bang*Bang*Bang* Birds were beginning to drop from the sky, as jets flew past at the speed of sound. Looking back towards the port he noticed some more boats there. Aircraft carriers. "Didn''t think you would arrive in time, Marshal Jack," James said. "That''s Marshal Jack of the Royal Australian Air Force to you Fleet Admiral James," the voice said back. James couldn''t help but laugh. He and this Marshal Jack had a history together, going all the way back to the academy. ¡­ "Hey James, I''m going to get a bigger title than you''ll ever be able to get," Jack said. "Haha, don''t kid yourself, I''m going to become a Fleet Admiral," James proudly announced. "I''ll still have the bigger title dumbass," Jack denounced James. ¡­ "It seems you''re having some trouble, need a hand?" Jack asked although they both knew this was a rhetorical question. "Yeah, thanks," James got off the ground, panting, holding tightly to his wounds. Some soldiers came over and grabbed onto James, before forcing him onto a stretcher. There were four soldiers running through the battlefield with their Fleet Admiral in a stretcher, their only mission was to safely get him healed. The battle continued for a few hours, but the beasts were getting stronger. Jets were beginning to be struck down by birds, and foot soldiers were being slaughtered on the ground. ¡­ On the island everyone was returning back to the beach to rest, they had all made significant progress for the past few days they''ve been here. But when they got there they noticed the personnel waiting for them in the water. They went up but before they could even get in the water the personnel brought out a loudspeaker. "The base is being attacked by intelligent beasts, you need to return now!" Everyone''s expression turned grim. Especially Phoebe, she had her family waiting for her at the base. She instantly summoned Faith and was about to jump on but was quickly grabbed and dragged back by Lachlan. "What are you doing? My family might be killed soon!" Phoebe shouted at Lachlan. "And you expect to get there fast enough on Faith?" Lachlan asked. Phoebe shuddered, "What else am I supposed to do?" "Maybe let the people with fast transportation take care of the journey back," Lachlan said. Simon and Georgia got the hint and were about to summon their beasts but were interrupted by Lachlan, "Wait, let''s use my birds, they were made to be fast". They nodded. "Come, my beasts!" Lachlan shouted. The group had tried out a few other things they could say to summon their beasts, Lachlan found this one to be the coolest. The Rocs were summoned before them. Lachlan jumped up and looked towards them, "Hurry up". Everyone else jumped on and grabbed onto the feathers tightly. Seeing them all ready Lachlan looked ahead, "Go!" The Rocs shot off into the sky, breaking the sound barriers instantly and causing the sand on the beach to rise up. The personnel looked up and saw a trail of blue light, heading towards the base. They were happy, hopefully, they made it in time. Too bad this would be their final moment, as a tentacle pierced through the boat, smashing their bodies apart. That tentacle wrapped around whatever it could and dragged it into the depths of the water, away from the island. 49 The Group Have Arrived * James was currently being treated on the ship. Some soldiers dragged him back to get treated, leaving Jack to fend for himself. Obviously, due to the military''s forces suddenly increasing they were able to start pushing back. But after the flying intelligent beast introduced itself everything went back to the beginning, just that they were on the worse side. Although a lot of beasts had been killed, that intelligent beast was all that was needed for the power balance to tip. Jack was currently surrounded by his birds, each of them being incredibly colourful. Their feathers were an array of colours, their enemy was similar to them in that they were colourful. But the first felt suppressed, just staring at the intelligent beast seemed to weaken them. Jack was immediately informed about the suppression and his expression turned grim. He didn''t know about this suppression thing, it was something that would play against them heavily. ''You four go and take that thing down'' Although Jack wasn''t confident that his beasts would be able to take it down, there wasn''t much else he could actually do. All their fighter jets would be torn to shreds by that wind, same could be said about bullets and missiles. ''Yes,'' The four replied in manly voices as they shot off. Although they felt suppressed they had the confidence that they could bring it down. That confidence stemmed entirely from the fact that they looked more beautiful. Seeing some beasts coming towards it with the intent to kill displeased the intelligent greatly. It felt mocked that they would only send four beasts to attack it, it would show them how wrong they are. *Screech* Just like before, with the flaps of its wings, wind blades will form and create a powerful attack that has the ability to shred them to pieces. Fortunately, the birds had some affinity with the wind and managed to dodge narrowly. Some of their feathers were grazed off, sending them into a fit of rage. As their beauty is what made them the greatest and most unique, yet it was tarnished by some beast that looked uglier than them. The four birds reached their opponent and opened their talons wide, in an attempt to grab the intelligent beast and crush it to death. But just as they were about to reach it they were blocked. Blocked by a wall of wind. *Screech* Blades were quickly shot from that wall, smashing into the birds and causing them a great deal of damage. They fell to the ground defeated, as their wings had been badly wounded, having a cut that goes across it. *Screech* The intelligent beast attacked one more time. Cutting the birds'' heads off instantly. Jack fell to his knees and spat blood, he felt that his head was about to explode. The soldiers around him quickly surrounded him and guarded his body, they weren''t certain what happened and they weren''t giving orders yet. ''Come back quickly'' Jack was trying desperately to get his birds to come back. But to no avail, he knew their mental connection had been cut. He had seen his birds'' heads been decapitated but he didn''t want to believe. He raised those birds with his wife since they were young, he had grown attached to them. Yet now they''re dead, they died due to his stupid decision. He felt regretful about his order, he wanted to reverse time but knew he couldn''t. "Wha." He felt someone suddenly smack his face. He turned in shock only to realise it was James. "Hurry up, we need to get you back on the boat," James said as he grabbed onto Jack''s hand and started to drag him. He gestured to the soldiers surrounding him and a few of them helped out, grabbing onto the other arm. "But wait, my birds," Jack''s voice began to crack through his sadness. "They''re dead," James said harshly. He needed his friend to accept it quickly, otherwise he''ll be dead as well. Jack looked towards the ground bitterly, his tears rolling down his nose and falling onto the floor. James noticed it but didn''t care, he started pulling harder, dragging him up a ramp. Jack was secured on board James took out his rifle and began firing again. the soldiers that helped began shooting as well, some of them targeting the intelligent beast in hopes that it might let down its guard, even just for a second. *Screech* James felt something different about this bird noise, it sounded like thousands of lightning bolts going off at the same time. He poked his head out of the shelter and looked up, he noticed four birds, three of which were blue. "They''re here, they''ve finally made it," James felt annoyed that they came so late but were ecstatic that they made it at all. Lachlan got his Rocs to descend in front of the ramp where James was located. He hopped off and James came running down. "Oh I''m so glad you''ve all made it in time," James said with genuine joy in his voice. Although they might not be able to take back Sydney, retreating safely was now a viable option. "In time?" Simon responded displeased. He saw the battlefield in front of them, they weren''t in time at all. Hundreds have died already, all trying to fight for this place. "Yes, we need to retreat soon, before we lose any more lives," James explained with desperation in his voice. He knew they needed to get out soon, there was now no point in staying here. Aside from losing unnecessary lives, all they can gain is land. They can try to get it back later when they get stronger. "We aren''t retreating yet," A voice sounded behind him. He was familiar with that voice, but her response didn''t make any sense. "Why aren''t we retreating Admiral May?!" James shouted back. "Because they took my soldier''s lives, I need to pay them back!" May shouted back. Her voice was hoarse from her shouting all the commands. "People like you are the reason I hate the military," Simon suddenly said from behind everyone. "What did you say, boy?" May asked coldly, her face tensed in anger. "You want to pay them back, but at what cost? At the cost of everyone?! Is that what you want?! For everyone to be dead?!" Simon started arguing back furiously, his face was red from the anger, he felt as though he should beat the damn Admiral to death. The group was surprised at Simon outburst but they were able to quickly put the clues together. Simon''s hatred for the military was all due to a similar situation that they''re currently in, someone in his family must have died due to the orders similar to what May gave. "Yes I do," No one expected for her to admit it so easily, her age has made her insane. She pointed towards the battlefield, "I ain''t leaving till all those beasts are dead!" She shouted as spit came flying out of her mouth. "Nope," A voice said from behind May. Before she could react a large amount of force smashed against her head, knocking her out instantly, "We''re retreating now." It was Lachlan, he had snuck behind her and knocked her out. "You just knocked out the admiral," James said with a shocked expression. The soldiers up the ramp were just as shocked, they hadn''t seen anyone that was so gutsy. "No I didn''t, a beast snuck up on her and knocked her out," Lachlan replied calmly, he shrugged his soldiers as if he had nothing to do with it. James was momentarily stunned, he believed it for a second. The group slightly giggled, except for Simon who was still fuming out the mouth. "We''ll hold the beasts back, you get everyone out of here," Lachlan said as he walked towards the battlefield. The rest of the group followed, considering they were so late it was the least they could do. James nodded before running up to the control room and telling them to retreat. The room was shocked when he informed them that Admiral May was knocked out by a beast, which did mean Vice Admiral James was next in charge. They followed his orders promptly and started moving, they did continue to fire towards the flocks of birds and the battlefield. Back on the battlefield, Lachlan was shaking, not from fear but from excitement. He didn''t get to fight the intelligent beast back at Mount Barker because it retreated. Now he had the perfect opportunity, not to mention he has new partners. 50 Fighting a Deity * Lachlan and the rest were back and ready to tear the beasts apart. Looking around the battlefield left Lachlan disheartened, seeing so many dead soldiers scattered across the ground, of course, the others felt the same. They thought they could be the heroes, coming in and saving everyone. But they knew that''s not how the real world works. Gazing up, they saw all the beasts surrounding them, in a formation as well. Lachlan already knew this was the work of some intelligent beast, but he didn''t think they were that intelligent. Lachlan attempted to search for the beast, in hopes of getting its information. Looking at the back of the beast horde he saw it, staring right back at their group. "Analyse". -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sobek Age: Elder Compatibility: Reptiles (Perfect) Level: 47 STR: 150(+384), AGI: 100(+312), VIT: 1000(+371) INT: 50(+181), PER: 100(+197), WIL: 30(+114) Weakness: None Strengths: Absolute Control over water, and able to force all reptiles to obey it. Descript: A fragment of the god that rules over the crocodiles, granting him unimaginable wisdom and strength. Leading the reptiles under his command he kills and enslaves the humans, conquering land as he marches on with his army. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Wha-," Lachlan was in disarray, just its natural stats were incredibly high, not to mention its bonus stats. He took out his knife, although blunt, would still serve as a better weapon than his fists. Lachlan was bending his knees, facing his body towards the beast. "What!" He disappeared from its spot. "Guh!'' A sound was heard from next to him. Looking to his side Lachlan saw the beast, standing 5 metres tall in front of Chloe with a fist at her stomach, causing her body to arch. She flew back into a large metal container, smashing into it, only her legs could be seen from there. Lachlan was the first to react, throwing a punch towards the beast''s face. Only for him to dodge by sidestepping. Although Lachlan thought it might dodge, it was the first time he fought against something equal if not stronger then him. He disappeared and reappeared next to Zoe, smashing her with its tail, causing her to end up just like Chloe. The group finally realised the seriousness of the situation. They gathered together and got into a circle, in hopes that someone might be able to defend against him. This time he walked towards Phoebe, everyone could already tell he knew who the weak amongst the group were. He was within metres from them, Lachlan brought at his knife and was ready to pounce. Before they realised it, a large tail was in front of Phoebe, and due to her low agility, she couldn''t react in time. Lachlan pounced at the tail, knife in hand, ready to cut it off. He swung with everything he had towards the tail, putting so much concentration into the attack, he didn''t notice the Sobek smiling. Lachlan saw the tail move away from him, although he didn''t hit it, he thought he managed to scare it away. He suddenly felt something hit his back. "Guh!" Blood shot out from Lachlan''s mouth, looking to his side he finally saw it was a feint. The Sobek had spun its body and roundhouse kicked his back. The shock caused him to drop his knife. He flew away, but unlike the others, he managed to stick his legs into the ground. His body still moved a could of metres, causing the ground to break. He wiped the blood from his mouth. Lachlan lunged from his position, hoping he could at least restrict a body part. The Sobek swung its tail towards Lachlan from above. Just like he planned, Lachlan reached out and grabbed it. But the force from the impact caused the ground beneath him to break apart, but he still held on. "Go!" Lachlan shouted. The rest of the group began their attack, unfortunately, its tail wasn''t the only thing it could attack with. Just like it boxer it threw fast punches, of course, due to Lachlan restriction it couldn''t use its full power. Getting annoyed it lifted its tail, lifting Lachlan with it. Seeing what it had done caused it to grin, before it swung its tail around, smashing against the ground. The rest of the group attacked it during this time, but its instincts were too high. Although Simon had managed to get a hit in, however, it didn''t do enough damage to stop it. Lachlan felt it was too much, so he had to let go. He quickly stood up and pounced again, this time going for a punch. The Sobek grinned the idea. While it continued to defend and attack with its fists, it used its tail to attack Lachlan. This time Lachlan smiled, he quickly opened his hands and grabbed onto the tail. During the time he was getting beat by the tail he came up with an idea, ''Why don''t I just do that same to him''. The first time Lachlan grabbed the tail he noticed the weight of the Sobek was incredibly heavy, but just like all things, it had a centre of balance, and the tail was a crucial part of it. Grabbing the tail he tugged it towards him, but while he did that he stepped forwards and got low towards the ground, kicking full force with his legs. The Sobek was slightly stunned, its legs were kicked from under it, causing it to begin to fall. Everyone took this opportunity to attack, Lachlan aimed for the back around where the ribcage was with an upwards kick, the rest aimed for either the head or stomach. With Lachlan''s full force behind his kick and everyone targeting either the head or stomach, the beasts back completely turned into a ¦Ç shape around Lachlan''s leg. *Crack* They already knew what this sound meant, its back had snapped in half. Lachlan wasn''t done there, with such a high vitality stat he wasn''t sure what the Sobek could come back from. He grabbed onto the head and twisted hard, snapping its neck. He then placed a leg onto the shoulder and pulled, but while he did that he also kicked, pulling the head right off. "Analyse," He muttered. Nothing showed up, it was finally dead. The beasts near them began to pull back in fear, especially the reptiles, causing their formation to slightly collapse as they had just lost their main tanks. ¡­ Inside the commander room, they all shouted. "Yeah!" "I was worried for a second there". "Same, that almost got me". "Everyone prepare the retreat!" A young woman commanded. It was the same one that talked to James. "Why?" Everyone asked in confusion. "That was just one, they won''t be able to handle the other four intelligent beasts attacking together," What she said was a cold bucket poured over them. "Get ready to retreat, give the order to all soldiers, get someone to tell them we''re going to retreat now". "Yes, Vice-Admiral May!" 51 Cornered * Although they won this wasn''t a time to celebrate. Some soldiers ran over to Chloe and Zoe, lifting them up and dragging them back to the medical tents. Before they began checking their vitals and what damage was done. Lachlan, Georgia, Phoebe, Joe, and Simon were still out in the battlefield, fighting against some regular beasts. They had already summoned their beasts to help clean up the battlefield and help out some soldiers. Everything was looking alright for a while, until four beasts noises sounded throughout the battlefield, causing the beasts to get back into formation. Seeing that everyone prepared themselves, they hoped they wouldn''t be caught off guard this time. Looking towards the source of the sound Lachlan saw three beasts getting carried and one of them was flying by itself. He could already tell they were equal if not stronger then Sobek. *Gulp* He trembled at the thought, he could already tell that they were equal if not stronger then Sobek. A siren went off behind us, we looked around and noticed soldiers slowly moving back. "We are planning on retreating!" A soldier shouted from behind us. Simon was getting ready to ask why, Lachlan held out his arm preventing Simon from speaking, "We need to retreat, those four intelligent beasts at the back aren''t something we can handle". ''Tsk" Simon was annoyed, but he couldn''t refute it. Lachlan turned around to analyse them. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Athena Age: Elder Compatibility: Soldiers (Perfect) Level: 50 STR: 50(+394), AGI: 300(+352), VIT: 800(+371) INT: 1000(+193), PER: 1000(+187), WIL: 300(+104) Weakness: None Strengths: Able to lead armies of anything due to her intelligence and charisma Descript: A fragment of the goddess of War (Athena), granting her unimaginable wisdom and strategical warfare skills. She chooses to either he ruthless or benevolent, either killing humans or granting them knowledge. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Arachne Age: Elder Compatibility: Spiders (Perfect) Level: 49 STR: 150(+364), AGI: 200(+372), VIT: 500(+341) INT: 200(+173), PER: 200(+147), WIL: 30(+104) Weakness: None Strengths: Able to force all spiders to obey her commands, is skilled at laying traps. Descript: A being that challenged the Athena, winning against Athena caused her to becomeshe was cursed which transformed her into a spider -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Isis Age: Elder Compatibility: Anybody (Perfect) Level: 53 STR: 100(+488), AGI: 150(+462), VIT: 800(+511) INT: 700(+232), PER: 300(+213), WIL: 130(+124) Weakness: None Strengths: The ability to deceive all through magic. Descript: A fragment of the goddess of magic, granting her unimaginable wisdom. She was a clever and ambitious woman, using those fooled by her magic to do her biddings. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Serqet Age: Elder Compatibility: Scorpions (Perfect) Level: 49 STR: 150(+394), AGI: 150(+352), VIT: 800(+371) INT: 100(+193), PER: 100(+187), WIL: 30(+104) Weakness: None Strengths: Absolute Control over the earth element, and able to force all scorpions to obey her. Descript: A fragment of the god that rules over the scorpions, granting her unimaginable wisdom and strength. She chooses to either he ruthless or benevolent, either killing humans or giving them immunity to poison. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Shit'' Those four weren''t something they could handle at all, and Lachlan couldn''t determine when they could fight back, maybe never. But it would certainly be never if they got killed right now, so he made a decision. Lachlan began running, along the way he helped up a few soldiers. Seeing Lachlan run caused the others to run all out as well, they knew he was the strongest and had the strongest ability in determining an opponents strength. Seeing him run after looking at the four beasts meant only one thing, they need to run too. They were confused about what Lachlan was doing, he should be more focused on his own life than others. But, they decided to help out as well. They were constantly looking back, seeing if the beasts had made any unusual movement. Although they hadn''t made any movements yet, they could see the four staring at them, or rather, right through them. Everyone felt a cold shiver go down their spin. "Ah!" Someone shouted. Lachlan looked to his right and saw the Serqet there, her tail extending. She only stood 2 metres tall, but her body was large, with 2 ¨C 3-metre-long legs. Her body was dark brown, just like most spiders it had many eyes, all staring at different people. Looking forward he saw a small dust cloud, though he could already tell it was Simon. However, that still didn''t suppress the shock factor, as unlike the Sobek, this one went for one of the strongest, eliminating him instantly. He felt a cold chill, he saw the Serqet staring at him with its tail up high. A slight shine flashed in front of him, quickly sidestepping he saw it was the tail. Unfortunately, the attack doesn''t end there. "Shi-!" Lachlan looked down when he felt something hit him, he didn''t realise when, but the tail was already in his stomach. The force sent him flying towards the ship. "Kuh," Lachlan landed on the ground, cracking it beneath him. Luckily it wasn''t the stinger that hit him, but rather it was just the tail. Everyone understood how serious the situation became. Looking towards Simon he noticed some soldiers carrying his body towards the ship. ''At least I don''t have to worry about him'' Some soldiers ran over the Lachlan helping him up, but while this was happening the others were slightly defending against the Serqet. They were slightly defending cause they wanted it to launch them towards the ship as well, this way they''ll be able to live on, maybe. "Ah!" "Shi-!" "Fu-!" The rest of the group were sent over, and the moment they were the Warship fired some rounds towards the Serqet, causing it to back up, giving them some breathing time. They rushed towards the ship, managing to get in on time. The Navy began closing everything and started up the engines, beginning to move away. "??? ?????? ????" Some unfamiliar words were said, Lachlan couldn''t understand any of it, rather, no one could understand it. *Rumble* "Whoa!" The waves suddenly became rough, the skies darkened, and clouds gathered. Lachlan looked up and saw one of the other four, the one that was floating, Isis. It had the body of a human, it looked the most human-like out of the five. But it had long rainbow sings, with a wingspan of 5 metres. ''So this is magic'' "We need to get out of here now!" Lachlan shouted. "We''re trying but the engine seems to have frozen!" A soldier shouted back, explaining what was happening. Lachlan quickly went over and looked over the side towards the water, it was frozen. ''Damn, we''re pinned'' 52 Escaping * "Shit we''re trapped!" May shouted, slamming her hand against the wall. May looked towards the screen, she had an idea but wasn''t sure how well it could work. "Bomb the ice!" May commanded. "But that might damage the ship Admiral May!" Someone argued back. "And we won''t have our lives!" May shouted. A silence filled the room for a few seconds, no one was able to refute what was said. They also knew it was the best action, but they weren''t willing to risk their lives. But after May''s reminded, they remembered they won''t have their lives soon. "Bomb the ice!" Some others shouted, the order was given. Soldiers ran towards the side of the ship carrying grenades, some carried large snipers and there were some just carrying heavy or sharp objects. They began throwing. *Boom*Bang*Boom*Bang* The ice was being attacked by everything the soldiers had, and there were some movements. A crack began to spread, it followed a line of where the bombs exploded, or snipers shot. But this gave the soldiers some hopes. "???? ?? ??????? ?" "Oh no!" Lachlan shouted, he was outside and was tracking the movement of Isis. It drifted towards them and began chanting, causing the waves on the other side of the ship to become rough, then he saw it. The waves were slowing down or rather freezing. And instead of having a normal flat piece of ice to break through, now there were waves involved, creating a large frozen landscape that looked like hills. He turned towards the others, the ones that were still conscious anyway. "We need to use out beasts to break the ice!" He shouted. "Alright!" Everyone saw the situation, they didn''t want to die yet. *Multiple summoning''s* "Go, Kyle! Consume the ice with your darkness!" Georgia gave the order, Kyle screeched above. Looking down soldiers could see the ship''s shadow extend and large heads come out of it, smashing down on the ice. When bits of the ice were separated it chomped down, swallowing it. "Sandy! Melt the ice away with your flames!" Joe shouted. His dog howled, the flames on its tail intensified and it opened its mouth. Beginning to blast the ice with its fire, and although slowly, the ice was melting. Phoebes summon was the most useful. Due to there not being enough room she summoned both of her turtles in the air. Due to their weight, the ice cracked instantly, all the soldiers saw this and begun throwing bombs towards the edges of the crack, away from the turtles. "Faith! Joy! Rip apart the ice with water!" Phoebe shouted. Looking down they heard some cracking, they felt the Warship go up and down, water spilling out from the cracks. "Hold on!" Phoebe shouted. Everyone including the soldiers held on to something. The boat went up by a few metres, the ice cracked apart. Inside the control room, this was all seen by the leaders. "Start moving!" May shouted. There was also Lachlan outside, his three Rocs stood behind him, one of which was badly damaged with its beak broken. But due to the high vitality, he could see it healing. "Go up and cause a thunderstorm, that Isis summoned the bad weather it would be rude if we didn''t take advantage of it". *Screech* The Rocs flew up, straight to the clouds. They began flying in a circle, screech out, causing lightings to appear within the clouds. "Go!" Lachlan shouted. *Screech!* *Rumble*Bang* Lighting and rain began to fall onto the field, soldiers and the others ran inside and looked out of the windows. The other tamed beasts were still destroying the ice, with Kyle''s shadow attack at the front devouring any ice preventing the ship from going forward. Sandy was helping out, but this battlefield was not doing any favours for it. Its fire was constantly weakened by the water, but they didn''t stop it from blasting away. Faith and Joy were beneath the ship, causing currents in the water to help the ship go faster. Due to the strong aura they were giving off they were also scaring away the water beasts. And fortunately, there wasn''t any intelligent water beast attacking them. *Bang*Bang*Bang* Lightning continued to rain down, hitting anything. It also created an offensive barrier for them, the Isis couldn''t move closer, neither could the Serqet. Through this they could determine that the Isis needed to be within a certain range to use her magic, which made complete sense, it wouldn''t be fair otherwise. *Bang*Bang*Bang* The Warships cannons fired towards the beasts, some hitting and splitting the beasts apart. The Isis and Serqet continued to dodge the projectiles skilfully, never getting touched once. The ship was going full speed now, breaking through some ices or having Kyle''s shadow eat it up. Looking towards the port they saw it getting further and further away. The beast army stopped there, continuing to stare at the ships. *Roar*Hsss*Screech* A variety of noises were made by them, it was almost as if they were celebrating. The groups tamed beasts staying in close proximity of the ship. The Rocs began to descend, causing the storm to disappear. Sandy walked back to Joe, Joy and Faith continued to swim underneath, protecting the ship from underwater ambushes. Kyle also descended towards Georgia. There was some silence on the ship for a few minutes, everyone thinking about what just happened. "Wooooh!" "Yeah!" "We did it!" All the soldiers started celebrating, jumping up with fist held high. Some of them went towards Lachlan and the others. "Thank you," They all said. The group just nodded, they weren''t used to being thanks by so many people. But it felt good, gave a nice warm feeling in the heart. Walking in the ship they went towards the control room, when they entered they were greeted by cheers. May walked up to them, "Thank you, without your help we couldn''t have gotten away". "No problem, we were also just trying to survive," Although Lachlan said that, everyone in the group knew he was happy, it showed on his face. "Now, we need to find out where we''ll station ourselves," May explained. "We would like to be dropped on at the island!" Lachlan shouted. "Alright, we have enough fuel to make that trip, but our soldiers can''t stay there forever. We''ll hold a meeting once all the others are awake, get them to decide what''ll happen". "Yes, Admiral May!" 53 Back to the Island * The group looked outside the window, at the slowly fading port. Fortunately, due to the Isis being one of the birds intelligent beasts they fought the other side had no one flying. Meaning they really did escape successfully. "Vice Admiral James, Marshal Jack has woken up from his injuries," A soldier reported to James before swiftly heading back to work on maintenance. James quickly left the group to meet up with Jack. He knew he would be dealing with a lot of things currently. Not to mention the damage that had been done to his mind, seeing and feeling his beasts die. James felt grateful that Lachlan and his group managed to make it back on time. He would certainly have to reward them with something to show his gratitude. Walking through a door he entered the infirmary. Where Marshal Jack laid peacefully, staring at the ceiling. James wasn''t sure whether he should interrupt, as Jack was digesting all the facts. He turned towards him, "Hey James, come over here," Jack motioned for him to come closer, to the chair by his bedside. James did exactly that, "You alright?" "Not at all, I think I might have to quit the army you know. They did a quick scan and realised my brain had been heavily damaged, my abilities have been greatly weakened. As such, there''s no need for me to continue fighting," Jack said as tears welled up in his eyes. He felt pathetic, he tried to be a hero of the day but was swiftly beaten down into the ground. "You should take a break. And if you still want to continue working with the military you could become an instructor, teach the young ones properly. It would be their honour to be taught by the previous Air Chief Marshal," James said in a friendly manner as he softly hit Jack''s shoulder. "You know, I wouldn''t actually mind that. Teach the young ones to not make the same mistakes as me, show them to never underestimate the enemies abilities," A passionate fire in Jack''s eyes lit back up, he turned his head towards James, "Thanks for that, and I mean hey, I still managed to get the higher position." "Haha, I still have a long road ahead of me but who knows. Maybe because of Admiral May''s actions I might be able to get a promotion," James joyfully said. Their world had long since changed to one of survival of the fittest. Selfish thoughts about revenge were unnecessary, and seeing as how she attempted to send tens of thousands to their graves, their superior will not be happy about that. "So, what is that group going to do now?" Jack asked. He was curious as to whether or not they were planning on staying with the military. "I''m not too sure, but seeing how things are going we might split up with them," James responded with a disappointed tone. He noticed Simon''s hatred towards the military, granted it was only towards people like May. There was also the fact that the rest just didn''t like to be restricted, but be free to train and explore, Lachlan especially. "Vice Admiral James, the group that was sent to the island to pick up Lachlan and his group have returned," A soldier informed James before leaving. ''Huh, wonder if anything''s happened'' James was wondering why the group didn''t return on Lachlan''s birds. But that might be entirely due to them not entirely liking the military. "You go and check it out, I''m not leaving this bed anytime soon," Jack jokingly said from the side as he slapped James back for before. James nodded and waved before leaving Jack to stare back at the ceiling the reminisce about everything that''s happened. Walking outside and towards the open area, Jack saw the group he sent holding a coconut in their hands. A few soldiers gathered around to see what was so special about the coconut, and more specifically, why the group looked excited when people noticed it. "That coconut from the island?" Jack asked as he looked closer to the coconut. He was confused because to him and everyone else it looked like a normal coconut. "Yes, try to break it open," Michael said excitedly as he held out the coconut, presenting it to James. James took hold of the coconut and placed it on the ground. The human''s strong body part was always the legs, he would make sure to take full advantage of that as he axe kicked down. *Crack* James hit the coconut slightly off and cracked his ankle. But that wasn''t what shocked it, it was the fact that the coconut was left completely fine, not a single mark had been left on it. "Don''t worry sir I got this," Said a bulky man that didn''t think before he acts. He brought out his gun and shot the coconut on the ground. The bullets ricocheted off towards the ocean, almost hitting another soldier in the leg as it flew past. "Don''t be so reckless," James said annoyed as he grabbed the gun out of the man''s hands and passed it to another soldier. He realised that his suggestion to Jack might be a beneficial one; If they could reduce the amount of stupidity through training it would be wonderful. He picked up the coconut and brought it back with him to the control room. The five-man group that brought it back followed, wondering where he was taking it. When Michael saw Lachlan he immediately pointed at him furiously. "You left us there when you could have easily taken us with you!" Michael shouted angrily, his face bright pink from the blood rushing to his face. "Yeah, but then who would bring the boat back," Lachlan''s response left them wondering. While they could have easily left one person to bring the boat back the chances of them surviving by themselves were minuscule. At least when they were grouped together they were slightly a threat to the aquatic beasts. "Anyway, what''s with the coconut, do you know what''s in it," Michael swiftly changed the topic to reduce the embarrassment. "Of course not, why do you think we brought back a whole one. We can''t open them up with our bare hands dumbass," Simon said from the side. His reply left Michael fuming, he quickly left the room and the others followed. "Bit mean. But do you think there''s something important in this coconut that''ll be useful?" James asked curiously. The coconut was still in his hands, he shook it around and received the same noises that one would get from shaking a coconut. "Not a single clue, but that island is unique so we took the things we could and considering that the coconut was the only edible thing on the island we decided to take is as well," Lachlan explained as he shrugged his shoulders. "Well because we left in such a hurry we didn''t end up bringing any of the tools that might be able to cut this on the ship. So unless we go to another base to open it there''s nothing else we can do," James response left the group disappointed. They sorely wanted to know what was inside the coconut, considering it would be one of their meals if they decide to stay on the island to explore. "We''ve decided we''re going to split up. We want to explore that island some more, especially considering we barely scratched the surface of it," Lachlan and the group had a quick discussion about it while James was gone. They decided it would actually be very beneficial to them. Lachlan knew how beneficial it really was. As until they were able to evolve, their tames weren''t actually going to get stronger unless they train physically, the island being the perfect place for that. "Sigh, alright we''ll drop you off before leaving and going to Brisbane. Their base is still fine, we can rest there for a bit before travelling around the coasts of Australia and helping out," James was thoroughly disappointed that they had to leave but knew it was a decision he couldn''t really change, "There you are!" Admiral May came screaming through the door. Lachlan quickly appeared by her side and just like before knocked her straight out cold. He was really beginning to get annoyed by the old hag, she should just shut up for a change. The soldiers in the control room were shocked by the sudden but short fight, "Well seeing as how you just knocked out the Admiral we have no choice but to drop you off," James said. The soldiers around them couldn''t help but nod as well. Although Admiral May would get an earful for choosing stupid actions, Lachlan would be berated and even imprisoned for hitting a superior officer. "Suppose so," Lachlan laughed. It seems the matter was settled easier then he thought. There was the possibility of the soldiers begging them to stay, but they knew what would happen if they stayed and that would be awkward. The journey back to the island was nice and calm. Everyone was on the deck looking over the railing towards the ocean. Every now and then they saw a fish come close to the surface, but this time did not try to spit water at Lachlan with the intent to kill. Looking over the night time ocean brought about a peaceful feeling to Lachlan. The five-man group drove Lachlan and his group back to the island on a small boat before departing and going back. Everyone waved goodbye to the Navy, to which the boat loudly and furiously honked at them. Looking closer they realised that May had managed to recover faster than before and was furiously shaking her fists at them. James quickly ordered for the boats to return to their route towards Brisbane, giving his final wave to the group. Everyone was extremely exhausted from all the battling. Not to mention that they never even got a goods night sleep. Hell, it''s still night time. "Sleep?" Georgia asked as she yawned. "Yeah let''s sleep," Lachlan answered. 54 1 Year * *Thump*Thump*Thump*Thump* The sound of something punching the rocks would be heard, underneath the scorching sun, constantly punching the ground was a young boy. The boy''s hair was long, and there was filth covering his body. As if he hasn''t cleaned himself in a year. Through is constant training his body has undergone massive development. Lachlan still kept his small and slim figure, or rather, he couldn''t get any bulkier. It seems that gravity was constantly compressing his muscles, increasing the density but no increasing the size. This slightly disheartened Lachlan, he wanted to be huge, using just his body to protect people. But, it wasn''t all bad. Due to the muscles density increasing, the durability of them did as well. Lachlan had the Rocs constantly attacking his body, forcing it to increase the strength of the skin as well. After a year of training, he has gotten far, going further upstream. And after such a long time he has made it close to the water''s source, just metres away from it. But every time he places a foot inside the cave. *Crack* It breaks apart, the bones breaks and the muscles and tendons tear. Lachlan has got slightly used to the pain after such a long time. From what Lachlan has observed, he can tell that the gravity underground is a few levels above what he can handle. ''Damn, if only I can train up to that level'' Lachlan thought. He had been stuck in this area for a couple of weeks, constantly trying to go inside the cave. ''Wait a minute, how could I be so stupid, the further I go the higher the gravity. Somewhere the gravity should be at this level on intensity'' Lachlan facepalmed, he couldn''t help but also be disappointed at his intelligence. Now Lachlan had another goal, get to the centre of the island. The gravity there should be high enough, not to mention he might find some new stuff there. After all, that''s where the tree is. ¡­ Back on the shore, there were a group of people, all around a campfire. They used the wood near the beach, which happens to be from the weakest trees on the island. But, those trees could still withstand the gravity, so all was well. The aroma of fish could be smelt through the near area. The group surrounding the fire were drooling. "We haven''t had any real meals in so long, ever since we began training," Simon said. "Indeed, and it seems Lachlan will continue to train," Georgia said. Simon shrugged his shoulders, "Not my problem his missing out, he can continue training for all eternity for all I care". "Though I do want to have whatever water he''s drinking now," Joe muttered. "Yeah, he''s probably gotten to the source already, that''s why he isn''t here, probably keeping all that water to himself," Simon grumpily said. "That just gives us more incentive to train, we''ll be drinking that water in no time," Joe said. "Yeah, we''ll train harder than ever and show him who''s boss!" Simon shouted. ¡­ Back on the hill, Lachlan could be seen hiking it, one step at a time. Every time he needed a break he would simply sit down and drink some of the water. He would also always stop to think about his family. He hadn''t stopped training, so he doesn''t know how they''re all doing. He kept wondering about the world as well, he wanted to know if the situation has got any better, but that was for him to find out another time. For now though, he will continue to train. ¡­ On a Warship in the North Atlantic Ocean. "Fleet Admiral James, humanity has currently had 4 billion casualties, the number also continues to rise," May said. "Thank you for the report Admiral May. Unfortunately, we can''t do anything. There is only so many of us, the beasts on those islands have also begun to attack, we can''t handle it. What should we do?" James asked. His body has already healed. There were scars all over it, all across his face and chest, but none on his back. These scars weren''t just from the Sydney fight, but also the fights that he and his navy have had through the year. It wasn''t only him though, all the soldiers that were still standing could be called the elites of elites. They all gave of intimidating auras, sometimes without even thinking about it. No one could respond to James'' question, Jack finally stepped forward, "Maybe it''s about time we head back to our home country and rest". "Huh, maybe so. How long will it take for us to reach Australia?" James asked. "About 1-year sir, we are currently positioned across the world from Australia. Unless we decide to not help people along the way," a soldier said. "Of course we''ll help others along the way, but limit the range to 500 kilometres, we don''t want to distract ourselves for too long". "Yes, sir!" the soldier said. He then did some things to the scanner, limiting the range to only 500 kilometres, which in turn made the map much clearer. "Maybe we should pick up that group along the way," James said. "Do you think they''re still alive?" May asked. "I do, they were strong, and on that island, the only thing they could do is get stronger," James explained. "I''ll be happy to see how much stronger they''ve become," Jack said. "Same," James responded. It may still seem like a normal navy, but that would be the last thing one someone''s mind when they see the size of it. After participating in so many battles the navy''s size has continued to grow. It changed from the Australian Navy to the World Navy, as all countries around the world send their forces to join it. They go around the world solving problems, battling against tough beasts, and training throughout the entire time. They could be said to be the strongest force in the world. With 20 large battleships all having a Fleet Admiral from around the world lead them. Aside from those ships, there is also the smaller warships, now carry millions of navy soldiers in total. There are also aircraft carriers with high-quality fighter jets on them. The world no longer cares about currency, the only thing on everyone''s mind is survival, and if they can survive longer by helping create these weapons they will. 55 Life in the Cave? * 6 months passed in the blink of an eye, with everyone on the island going back to training harder than ever. The World Navy continues to solve problems and fight beasts along their travels to Australia. In another place, a couple hundreds of metres away from the water source was Lachlan, holding weights, staring at the sky. ''I haven''t really done much in such a long time, once I get to this water source I''ll leave the island, maybe with the others if they haven''t left yet,'' Lachlan thought. After finishing the training he climbed the highest tree in his vicinity, reaching the top where he got the best view on the island. He looked towards the large tree at the centre, there was still another 9 kilometres before he reaches it, which was a little disheartening. But looking back he could see how far away from the shore he was. Lachlan always loved to climb to the top of the trees, give him a reminder of his goal. He would also constantly think about his loved ones, further motivating him to move forward. He climbed down the tree and walked back towards the water source, he believes that he should finally be able to walk in that cave. Staring at it slighting disturbed Lachlan, as it was just a dark abyss, he couldn''t see an end to it. Fortunately, he brought some large sticks to light on fire and although the visibility they give is low, it''ll be better than nothing. He stepped forward, placing his foot within the cave. The pressure on his foot spiked up, really crushing down on it. But this time, it didn''t destroy it. ''Hur Hur, it seems I''ve gotten much stronger,'' Lachlan thought. Lachlan then put the rest of the body within the cave, giving his whole body a try of the pressure. It was different the outside, it was as if the cave was pushing everything downwards but in an odd angle. Like there was a bunch of people pushing all across his body, which certainly increased the pressure more. After a few minutes of letting his body adapt to the gravity, Lachlan continued forward, with a slow but steady pace. Whenever Lachlan felt it was too much he would stop, letting his body both rest and adapt before taking another step. He held the tree branch down low near his feet, making sure he doesn''t misstep. Lachlan continued to follow the stream for half an hour. Looking back he couldn''t see the entrance anymore, which confused Lachlan as he hadn''t thought they moved in a curve at any time. After another half an hour he could see a bright light ahead of him like it was an exit. Getting closer and closer Lachlan could see what seemed to be shrubbery. ''This couldn''t be some type of illusion could it,'' Lachlan thought. He was now five metres away from the exit and could tell it was different. The water stream continued forward instead of going downhill like the entrance. *Screech* ''What! I don''t remember calling out the Rocs,'' Lachlan couldn''t help but move forward faster. He quickly realised the pressure was decreasing, but not to be similar pressure to the entrance, it was literally disappearing. It was like he was back in normal gravity, except he was much stronger than before. Walking out the cave he was greeted with a mystical view. In front of him was a large flat grass plane, filled with different bushes full of fruits. Lachlan looked up and could see a ceiling, 1-kilometre high which further filled Lachlan''s mind with doubts. ''This is still on the island, right?'' Lachlan questioned himself. *Screech* Staring at the source Lachlan could see an extremely large bird, covered in blue and red feathers, but it was no normal bird as it had the body of a lion. It seemed to be circling a structure, a large piece of ice. But for some reason it was encasing a fire, giving it a beautiful appearance. The water stream came from it, which sort of made sense in Lachlan''s mind. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Temperature Griffon Age: Elder Attribute: Fire/Ice/Wind Level: 1 STR:400, AGI: 500, VIT: 1000 INT: 150, PER: 200, WIL: 90 Weakness: None Strengths: Absolute Control over water, fire and wind, extreme gripping strength, and fast speeds. Description: A mythical creature with the sole duty of protecting its territory it was born in. Forever protecting it until it is no longer needed or is tasked by its master to protect something else. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Does it already have a master, no it can''t be, there is no one else here,'' Lachlan thought, looking around trying to detect anything. The stats of the Griffin made Lachlan both happy and sad, happy for himself and sad for the Griffin. As from his previous observation of the area, Lachlan could determine that there are no other living creatures here, limiting the Griffin''s growth. If it had been let loose outside at the start it would have been crazy strong, but that description further set it back. Sticking to one area was alright, but only for a small amount of time. *Screech* The Griffin noticed him. A grin flashed across his face, he''s been waiting for something to fight and it seems it was now has his first opponent. Lachlan quickly got into a fighting stance, waiting for an opportunity to attack. The Griffin shot towards him at the speed of sound, its front two talons were in front of Lachlan''s face. He smiled. Reaching out Lachlan grabbed onto them, before slamming the Griffin on the ground. That had already hurt it heavily, but it didn''t kill it. The Griffin stared at Lachlan and opened its mouth. Lachlan was confused for a second before he quickly protected his face. *Screech* The Griffin could breathe fire and Lachlan was blasted by it, completely burning his clothes and charring his skin. But it didn''t end there, the Griffin then shot an ice beam towards him. This time Lachlan was prepared and dodged, unfortunately, not fast enough. The beam grazed his hand, freezing it shut. ''Suppose I can''t go easy on it,'' Lachlan thought. He disappeared and reappeared in front of the Griffin before it could react. Lachlan lifted up the frozen hand and smashed downwards onto the Griffins head, knocking it out cold. The Griffin just laid there unconscious. ''Oh well, I''ll pick it up later. Since it is half bird I should be able to tame it," Lachlan thought. He then stared towards the massive piece of ice, ''But first I''m going to take a closer look at that''. 56 New Companion and Wonderful Information * Lachlan left the Griffin behind as he moved towards the large piece of ice. As he continued to cross the field he noticed the temperature kept fluctuating between hot and cold. One second it was freezing cold the other it was boiling hot. Making his way towards it he quickly stopped by the bushes, picking off a few things which seem to be fruit. He didn''t eat it, he wasn''t sure if it was safe for a human to eat. Once he reached the ice he leaned over to get a handful of water, taking a drink. He instantly felt like his internal organs froze over, this lasted a lot longer, almost a minute. But right after he felt an unmeasurable amount of pleasure. Although he wasn''t sure, he felt as if this could heal any internal damage, possibly any external damage. Of course, there are bound to be limitations. Lachlan crossed the water stream up to the ice, placing his right hand on it. ''Huh'' Lachlan couldn''t feel anything. The ice was neither hot nor cold, it didn''t have any temperature to it. He pulled back his hand and clenched. "HAH!" Lachlan smashed his hand against the ice. "Ahh, Ohh, why is it so hard," Lachlan was holding his hand, it was glowing bright red, and was slightly swollen. Looking towards the ice he saw he did nothing, there wasn''t even scratch it. Lachlan pulled out his water bottle and went back towards the Griffin. Sensing something approaching it awoken, slightly shaken from being beaten so easily. It stared at Lachlan before walking towards him. Once they reached each other Lachlan held out his hand, the Griffin sat down and placed its forehead on Lachlan''s hand. It seems that it sees Lachlan as its master already, it most likely follows the strong. Lachlan observed the Griffin, it was the first time Lachlan actually took a good look at the Griffin. Its body was 10 metres long and stood roughly 7 metres high. Its wingspan was 20 metres long, much large then its body. Its front two legs were eagle talons, while its hind legs were legs of a lion. At the very end of the tail was ice encasing fire, similar to the large piece of ice. ''This makes it much easier'' "Do you want to join me?" Lachlan asked. It closed its eyes and Lachlan was dragged back into the dark abyss. In front of him was the soul of the Griffin, it was a lot larger than its actual body. Just like before, Lachlan held outs his hand staring at the Griffins eyes. It leaned down and headbutted Lachlan''s hand softly. The dark abyss disappeared, and he was standing in front of the Griffin. He saw a slight light emit from his right arm. It was the talon of the Griffin/Eagle that was on there. ''Huh, since the Griffin has absolute control over three different elements doesn''t that mean I can control them as well,'' Lachlan thought. Lachlan looked toward the Griffin to see what elements it can control. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Temperature Griffon Age: Elder Attribute: Fire/Ice/Wind Level: 50 STR:822(+436), AGI: 921(+419), VIT: 1050(+316) INT: 169(+110), PER: 314(+185), WIL: 317(+150) Weakness: None Strengths: Absolute Control over water, fire and wind, extreme gripping strength, and fast speeds. Description: A mythical creature with the sole duty of protecting its territory it was born in. Forever protecting it until it is no longer needed or is tasked by its master to protect something else. -------------------------------------------------------- "What!" Lachlan could help but shout at the sight. ''Why have the natural stats gone up so much,'' Lachlan kept thinking about it. ''Wait, my natural stats are added onto my tamed beasts natural stats, then does that mean my stats have increased that much. Damn''. He then stared at the elements the Griffin could control, grinning at the thought of using them. Lachlan then held out both his hands. Something began to happen, the temperature around each hand changed. The left was getting colder and the right was getting hotter. Finally and bright fire lit up on his right hand, he didn''t feel it either. His left hand was emitting some freezing cold mist. "Shoot!" Lachlan shouted. A beam of fire and ice could be seen shooting from his hands, he moved them around. He froze parts of the ground and burnt the rest. He continued to try out some ideas he''s had for a while. Lifting up his left arm he held out an open hand, the mist was spreading above him, ice shards began forming. "Go!" Lachlan shouted, flipping his hand forward. The shards shot off, smashing the ground apart. The damage done was astonishing. The grin on Lachlan''s face widened, ''If I can use this correctly I''ll be much more powerful''. He continued to think of other things he could do. Lifting up his arm left he created ice shards again, but this time when he shot them forward they went 10x faster. Lachlan used his control over the wind to speed up the shards, causing the damage they can do to increase. Looking towards the large ice shard Lachlan attempted to break it with elements instead. He held up both arms this time, causing one large ice shard to form above him. His right hand lit up, a fire could be seen forming within the shard. Using his control over the wind he formed a path, meaning there will be no drag force or resistance. "Go!" The shard shot off with the power of the wind behind it. *Shing* The shard pierced it, although only going half a metre deep, that was more he could ever do with his brute strength. Of course, this wasn''t the last bit of the attack. *Bang* The shard exploded, sending bits of the large piece of ice flying. Lachlan had used the fire within the ice to create another effect in his attack, explosiveness. Obviously, if the shard hadn''t even pierced the ice then the attack wouldn''t do much, but since it did, the destructive force coming from that attack was immense. The smoke cleared, and he could clearly see the damage he had done. There was a large chunk of ice missing, unfortunately, it still didn''t reach the fire inside. Lachlan was unsure if this was a good or bad thing. He walked up to the fragments on the ground, the Griffin following behind him. He picked up a fragment of the ice and stared at it, unsure of what to think. Putting he closer to his mouth he attempted to bite it. With no results, he couldn''t bite a single bit off. Rather it felt like he almost broke his teeth from attempting something so stupid. But he didn''t care. Lachlan walked around the area, picking up fragments and holding them in his arms or on the back of the Griffin. He then walked out of the cave, greeted with an unexpected visitor. "Finally I found you!" Simon shouted. 57 Campfire Discussion and New Eyes * As the night sky came above them they all sat at a campfire peacefully waiting for the fish to be cooked. They were still uncertain about all of the fruits so they only ate the red berries for safety. Everyone felt a slight increase in their strength. Lachlan decided to make sure everyone''s here for some great news, "Alright, so I''ve figured out how to make our beasts go to the next level." "What do you mean?" Simon asked. He thought his birds were already at the next level with all the training they''ve done. "You should know that killing beasts make use stronger, but we have long since been able to get stronger from doing that," Lachlan explained to which they all nodded. "Well, I just got some important news from my griffon, and that''s that when we find new materials and such, our beasts will feel a connection with the material should it provide it with a path to evolve." "So basically, when we''re exploring places our beasts will tell us when we found something they can use to evolve," Joe quickly summarised Lachlan''s point and asked for confirmation. "I believe that''s how it works," Lachlan nodded his head. That''s all the information he''s got so that''s all he can base anything off. "Does that also mean that all the materials might only come from new land?" Chloe asked. She''s travelled a bit before she joined the group and she didn''t find anything unusual with the vegetation around the place. "It might be so, as all the vegetables that humans are growing and eating are still the same. And aside from the steroids upgrade to the trees and bushes nothing is unusual it can be assumed that the materials will only appear ing new areas," Lachlan agreed with what Chloe said. "Once we get off this island and relax for a bit we should go and explore more land?" Joe asked. Because that''s all he was getting from this conversation. Exploring more meant having a higher chance of getting stronger. "Sure, but where should we all meet up?" Lachlan was going to immediately check on his family once he gets back. He really misses them, he is still relatively young so it feels as though there''s something missing in his life. "If we go to Melbourn we can meet up at my place," Chloe informed everyone. "Alright," Everyone agreed to that plan. Some of them were feeling excited to get their beasts to evolve. As it would make them stronger in the process, but that strength would also make it easier to explore more areas. After that, the night was fairly normal with a bit of banter here and there. Simon arrogantly boasting that he''ll be the first to evolve his beasts and become the strongest. Even though Lachlan already has one piece for the griffon. But as they were going to sleep Lachlan received a message on a screen that sent his body into shock and panic. He quickly grabbed his head and covered his eyes as he didn''t want to see it. -------------------------------------------------------- Requirements for the next stage met, forcing next stage procedure -------------------------------------------------------- He felt the lifeless floating again as he drifted in this space. Before the pain was quickly brought onto him. His eyes felt as though they were getting stabbed by tiny needles, sliced and put back together, burnt and then frozen. It was on a whole other level than the other times it happened. At least he could slightly resist the pain, but this time he felt as though it was 10 times more sensitive. Once the pain stopped he opened his eyes and his body was drenched in sweat, forehead especially. In front of him was a worried Phoebe, who was holding in her hand a wet cloth and water. She was slightly shaking in fear. Phoebe put down everyone and leapt on her knees towards Lachlan and quickly wrapped her arms around him, "Are you alright? What happened? Was it a nightmare?" Lachlan decided to tell her everything, he would always feel a bit of a burden whenever everyone was discussing certain things because he could answer them. He just didn''t know how to explain how he knows, especially with grades and compatibility. Obvious, everyone has taken a hint and guessed that everyone is only compatible with certain beasts. But how to know or tell the difference they weren''t sure. Or why some people got a lot stronger after taming the same beast. Lachlan didn''t know how to explain that everyone''s compatibility ranges from low to perfect without talking about his eyes. But after spending so long with them all he felt as though he could trust them with this secret. However, he would only tell the rest of them once they''re certain they''re all on the same team. As his eyes would be useful during new travels. He sat Phoebe down and calmly explained everything, he kept the fact that he wasn''t entirely human still a secret. Because he wanted to know what the other half was before he begins telling other people. So aside from his mother and himself, no one else knows. "So you''ve been keeping such a massive secret from us, but why?" Phoebe felt as though Lachlan was carrying too much of a burden. Keeping this a secret when she felt he could have told the group. "Because I don''t want this secret getting into the wrong hands. Because that''s when my life will go to shit very quickly as certain groups of individuals seek to learn more about me. Even at the cost of my own life," Lachlan explained calmly. "But we can protect you," Phoebe argued back. "But I don''t want anyone to protect me, as it would put them in a dangerous situation. That''s another reason as to why I''m training so much, to get the necessary strength to be unafraid of those individuals," Phoebe couldn''t argue back against Lachlan''s logic. As although they could protect him, how long could they do it? What would they do if they fail to protect him and he lands in the wrong hands? "Can we at least tell the others?" Phoebe asked. "I would like to keep it a secret until I''m certain that they''re on my side. I already trust them plenty, it''s just that once we leave the island, someone might suddenly decide to do something which might get my information leaked," Lachlan was worried about what would come to his family should it get leaked. As some individuals would use any method to get him to them. His family is a major weak point in his life. He loved them too much that he wouldn''t want to see them captured and used as bait, they would probably also be tortured or killed to force him out of hiding faster. "So why tell me?" Phoebe asked. "Because I just felt that it would be good to at least tell one person," Lachlan couldn''t admit that he liked Phoebe yet. He didn''t feel confident that it was the right time. Phoebe came over and hugged Lachlan hard. but after a while, she didn''t let go, "What are you doing Phoebe?" "Since you trust me so much I felt as though I should do something back," Her face quickly changed colour to bright red when she realised what she said, "Not in that way, I just feel as though I should stay with you since you trusted me with your secret." Her face turned to an even bright red. Lachlan reached out and embraced her with one arm while moving his hands through her hair with the other one, "It''s alright, I kind of get what you mean." Lachlan decided to throw all cowardice out the window and moved his face closer with his lips puckered out. Phoebe almost panicked when she saw it but mimicked what he did. Their lips touched before the quickly pulled their heads back. "Does this mean we''re dating?" Lachlan asked. Still bewildered by what he just experienced. "Hehe, of course it does," Phoebe replied with her adorable voice. Lachlan reached out and brought her closer to him, embracing her tightly as if she would disappear the moment he lets go. They slowly tipped over and laid down. She quickly went to sleep while embraced in Lachlan''s warmth. Lachlan saw her cute sleeping face and felt as though he should protect it with all his might. He then quickly remembered that his eyes had just gone through another evolution. ''Disaster, come out'' He got only Disaster to come out because they wouldn''t be able to summon any more beasts. Once Disaster was summoned and saw what was going on he excitedly said, ''Father has found a partner, is that going to be our mother?'' ''What!'' The other two replied while shocked, the griffon didn''t take much notice, it just thought of Phoebe as another person it would protect. Although Lachlan could talk to his beasts while they weren''t summoned they couldn''t actually see anything aside from what Lachlan tells them. ''Kind of, just make sure you protect her when she''s in trouble alright?'' To which Disaster rapidly nodded his head. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Disaster (Blue Lightning Roc) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 2nd Grade Level: 10 STR: 170(+10), AGI: 170(+25), VIT: 100(+10) INT: 57(+25), PER: 42(+6), WIL: 50(+4) Weakness: Frail Wing Joints Strengths: Lightning Speeds, Absolute Crushing Grip, Lightning Control (Semi-Awaken) -------------------------------------------------------- Aside from the massive increase in stats which was the combination of him and Disaster. There was no difference. He felt as though he had been wronged, going through all that pain to receive nothing. He then could only hope for one more thing, he looked towards one of the pebbles he grabbed from the riverside because it looked cool. It''s dark purple glow gave it a cool and dark feeling. He also found it odd because he felt the gravity was slightly different around it. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Stone (Low) Description: Grants the user control over gravity within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over gravity will be. Location: Can be found where the gravity is unique to that area. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Damn that''s cool'' Lachlan felt ecstatic, his new eyes came at the perfect time. Especially the location part, because he knew he could analyse things through a screen, if someone showed something online he''ll know where to get it. He then summoned Disaster back and laid down. Placing his arm over Phoebe and covering her in the blanket. 58 Powerful Stones * The next morning Lachlan woke up feeling the warmth breathe Phoebe exhaled hit his chest. He felt rather peaceful, as though nothing could disturb them. Lachlan decided to would sleep for just a bit longer and closed his eyes. Next time Lachlan opened his eyes he met with Phoebe''s, her face immediately went bright red. She tried to speak and started stuttering. Lachlan took the initiative, "Morning Phoebe," as he leaned in a peeked her lips. She jumped back in shock, "Ah-eh-uh, morning Lachlan," was so embarrassed. She ran out after greeting him and went straight into her room. Lachlan scratched his head thinking it might not have been a good idea. He didn''t mind though, she''ll eventually get over and hopefully go for the initiative next time. If there was a next time that is. He then walked over to the gravity stone and analysed it to confirm his doubts. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Stone (Low) Description: Grants the user control over gravity within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over gravity will be. Location: Can be found where the gravity is unique to that area. -------------------------------------------------------- ''So that means I just need to do this to control it'' Lachlan thought as he poked his finger with a shark piece of the stone. His blood ran down the crystal for a second before getting absorbed, Lachlan felt as though he suddenly had a mental connection with it. Similar to the one he has with his beasts. it just won''t talk back nor can he unsummon it. He also felt a rush of information go into his brain, it was filled with a bit of information about how to control the stone. He picked it up, it was roughly the size of a hamster and could fit perfecting in his palm. He tried to control the gravity around him, ''Double to gravity''. Nothing happened which likely meant it wasn''t large enough to affect him. ''Alrighty then, half your gravity''. Lachlan felt as though the stone suddenly became a lot lighter, exactly half its original weight. ''Alright let''s try something else'' Lachlan placed the stone on the gravity and walked to the other side of his room. Placing an open palm facing the stone, ''Decrease gravity to zero''. Lachlan didn''t see anything happen before he quickly realised what went wrong. He slammed his foot against the floor, with his strength sending a quick jolt towards the stone. It jumped up from the ground and stayed floating. Lachlan quickly walked over and grabbed it, when he held it up he didn''t feel anything. He let it go again and thought of another thing to do, ''Increase gravity from the right to Earth''s normal gravity''. The stone looked as though it dropped to the side, landing on Lachlan''s wall. Lachlan shook his hands in excitement, he knew exactly what he could create. If he turns it into a weapon he could have flying weapons, ones that would be able to return to his hands at his will. ''Return to zero'' Lachlan gave the command and walked over, feeling nothing. He felt as though he could fight better with the stone in his hand. Especially if he changes the direction of gravity. If he was swinging down with a bladed weapon and missed, he could easily change the trajectory. He tried it out in his room, while he swung down with the stone in hand, ''5 times gravity to the right''. He slammed his hand against the ground and quickly recoiled. "Ah shit, why didn''t it work," And then Lachlan thought about the description. How the size will affect the power and the radius. Meaning the bigger the stone the more powerful the gravity he can control. He held the stone up and tested with the gravity. He could only go between no gravity and two times gravity. It was two times Earth''s gravity so it felt relatively normal. He also realised that the description matched with the (Low) by the name. Meaning to get better stones he needed to go to more extreme gravities, and he was in the perfect place to do exactly that. Lachlan swiftly realised that the stone''s powers only activate when someone has control over it. So aside from it looking like a pretty crystal it gives off nothing for people to think it''s special. Lachlan walked outside with the stone in his hand. Most of the group was by the campfire warming themselves up. Aside from Joe and Lachlan who have control over fire the rest of the group had to deal with the cold. "Why do you have your stone with you?" Simon asked. The entire group has one or two stones in their room, it looks cool and provides them with some slight lighting. "Catch," Lachlan threw the stone at Simon and although unprepared he still managed to catch it. "What was that for?" Simon complained. ''Decrease gravity to zero'' Lachlan commanded the stone. Just as Simon was about to throw it back he felt as though it disappeared from his hands. He pulled his hand back and stared at it, inspecting it before tossing it up. "Wha," Simon was stunned when he saw the stone floating in space. He tapped it and it moved. Just as he was walking around it inspecting it, ''Change gravity to 2 times'' the stone shot down and landed on Simon''s toe. "Ah! What the fuck was that?!" Simon shouted as he grabbed onto his toe. Although there wasn''t any damage it did send a shock through his system and slightly stung. "I just learnt that these crystals poking out of the stones have special abilities once you own it," Lachlan explained calmly to the shouting Simon. The rest of the group was just as stunned, Joe and Georgia sprinted back into their rooms and brought out their stones. Georgia was holding a stone that had green crystals poking out while Joe was holding two that had blue crystals. "How did you do that?" The both asked enthusiastically. Lachlan, on the other hand, analysed the stones in their hands. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Water Stone (Low) Description: Grants the user control over water within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over water will be. Location: Can be found where there is a large source of water. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Plant Stone (Medium) Description: Grants the user control over plants within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over plants will be. Location: Can be found where there is an abundance of plant life surrounding it -------------------------------------------------------- Those were the three crystal colours found by the river. There were bound to be others in extreme locations. Such as ice stones being in the snow tundras, or fire stones being found by or in volcanoes. "Put a drop of your blood on the stone, you''ll feel a mental connect similar to what you have with your beasts. Through that connection, you can telepathically control the stone," Lachlan explained. He then saw Joe and Georgia excitedly cut there finger on the stone and bleed over it, thinking that one drop wouldn''t be enough. They then opened their eyes wider in shock. They felt as though they could control things. Joe held out his stone and swung his hand down, leaving a trail of water that fell to the ground. He then tried something else once he saw that. He faced his hand towards the beach and swung down. But instead of the trail of water staying midair, it shot towards the ocean, reaching 10 metres before it fell down. Georgia, on the other hand, ran over to the shrubbery and placed the stone on the ground. Holding her palm out the grass around the stone began to grown, holding the stone on the top. The grass quickly grew to the size of Georgia and looked as though it was handing the stone over back to Georgia. Even Lachlan was surprised by that, ''Suppose there is a big difference between the stones'' It was likely that certain elements would be harder to control, gravity being one of the hardest. Nature also looked slightly difficult but because the stone was ranked as a medium it didn''t matter too much. The rest of the group quickly went back to their rooms and did the exact same thing. They came running out firing blades of water. Zoe managed to write something quick enough with the water trail. Phoebe came out looking confused. She walked over to Lachlan slightly nervous, "What are they doing?" Lachlan then explained the same thing to Phoebe, to which she immediately ran back in and grabbed her own stone. Aside from the medium ranked plant stone that Georgia has the rest of the stones were low. But Lachlan was certain he knew where he could get higher graded ones. Of course, the further one goes into the island the higher graded gravity stones one would find. He took his theory and went over to the cave. Walking in he analysed all the stones that were there. And aside from a few low graded ones, the rest were all medium. Lachlan ran outside the cave with a medium ranked one in his hand. It didn''t look too different from the low grade one. Which meant it would be difficult for people to differentiate between the stones. Lachlan held it in his hand and tested the gravity. The difference between low and medium was insane. While the low grade could only go between 0 - 2 times gravity, the medium one can go between 0 and 20 times. Its maximum was exactly ten times the low grades gravity. It was a big shock to Lachlan as it brought his hand down and slammed it on the ground. He then had a few new ideas as to what he wanted to do with the stone but that would have to be for a later time. But for now, Lachlan tested how large the radius was. And while the low grades were only around the stone, the medium grade created an area in which gravity was affected. It was almost like a dome, roughly 10 metres in diameter. The rest of the day continued as usual, and aside from testing or mucking around with the stones, there wasn''t anything different. Another thing they had a theory was that there was no limit to the number of stones one can own. 59 Leaving the Island * Months kept passing in the blink of an eye. The group stopped focusing on training their strength but started focusing more on their fighting techniques. They''ve been using the stones to fight a lot of the time. Because they wanted to make weapons out of them they should at least learn how to use them properly. Near the end of their time on the island, they discovered that the stones can nullify the effects of gravity if it''s high enough ranked. They were using low ranked stones to test it out, and although the stones aren''t that good and could only just encase their bodies in the effect. The 2 times gravity on the beach was completely nullified. Unfortunately, the group didn''t make the connection that it might work for more intense gravity with high ranked stones. They believed it would have a limit, which it does it''s just that the limit can be surpassed with a higher ranked stone. Lachlan and Phoebe have been getting closer. They''ve broken down the wall that separates their bedrooms and sleep together in the middle. They''ve been helping each other a lot, especially with Lachlan''s eyes. Lachlan also managed to get his hands on a high-grade gravity stone. By using the griffon to go much further, just through its strength along it would go double the distance Lachlan could and considering it had strong legs and a tough body it went four times the distance before reaching its limit. The high-grade stone''s effect area was massive that everyone felt it and they were quickly annoyed with Lachlan. The area had a had increased to having a 100-metre diameter along with the control over gravity going between 0 - roughly 200. Lachlan can''t handle 200 gravity so he could only put it on the sand and slowly increase the gravity. Seeing whether or not the stone sinks down. After practising for so much, they''ve learnt how to limit the amount of space the gravity changes. meaning they could have it only affect the stone or the entire area. They still haven''t told anyone else but made it their little secret. They''ve been going around the island finding different things for Lachlan to analyse. Once they did that they realised how stupid they were when they remembered Lachlan hasn''t analysed the fruits yet. Placing the fruits on a cloth laid on the group Lachlan looked at them one by one and analysed them. Finding out their unique characteristics and what they actually do. The first one analysed was the red fruit which is the one they ate immediately. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Strength Berry Description: Compacts the muscles and increases the natural strength of the consumer. The increase can be anywhere between 0 - 20. The berry is a one use item and if consumed again it will not give any increases Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- Then the blue berry. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Agility Berry Description: A berry that increases the natural agility of the consumer. The increase can be anywhere between 0 ¨C 20. The berry is a one use item and if consumed again it will not give any increases Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- Yellow berry. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Perception Berry Description: A berry that increases the natural perception of the consumer. The increase can be anywhere between 0 ¨C 20. The berry is a one use item and if consumed again it will not give any increases Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- The black berry. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Willpower Berry Description: A berry that increases the natural willpower of the consumer. The increase can be anywhere between 0 ¨C 20. The berry is a one use item and if consumed again it will not give any increases Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- Purple berry. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Intelligence Berry Description: A berry that increases the natural intelligence of the consumer. The increase can be anywhere between 0 ¨C 20. The berry is a one use item and if consumed again it will not give any increases Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- Finally, there were two unique fruits they found in that cave. The blood red banana and the bright pink apple. Lachlan first analysed the blood red banana. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Vitality Banana Description: Consumption of the banana will heal any wounds between 0 - 100% no matter how serious the wound is. The banana is a one use item and if consumed again it will not heal anymore of a wound Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Poison Apple Description: Upon consumption of the apple one will be inflicted with an extremely dangerous poison. The poison will target the respiratory system and should one not rid themselves of the poison within 1 hour they''ll die Location: Where there is nutritional and unique water -------------------------------------------------------- ''What the hell, why does it appear so edible?'' Lachlan complained about the friendly look the apple gave off. The banana gave off a more poison vibe then the apple did yet the banana actually heals someone. Lachlan felt as though he was in a rather peculiar situation. Where he wants to tell everyone about the apple so no one consumes it, but he doesn''t know how. He walked up to Phoebe and told her about it. She quickly became worried for everyone''s wellbeing but also understood why Lachlan was so persistent on keeping his eyes a secret, "How about we get a fish or a bird during lunch time and feed it the apple to test it out?'' "That''s a wonderful idea," Lachlan responded happily as he picked her up and threw her into the air. He felt happy he told Phoebe about his eyes, it was much easier having two people come up with a solution rather than one. And so during lunch that''s exactly what they did. Phoebe suggested that they catch something outside the island and give it the fruits. Which everyone happily agreed with, they wanted to desperately try the other fruits but were cautious if they were poisonous. Simon, Georgia, and Lachlan brought back a few birds, they were all the same and they''re going to be used for their testing. The birds weren''t anything special and looked like evolved seagulls. The group saw them frequently when they were relaxing on the beach, they''ve even eaten a few of them. "What should we try first?" Simon asked as he held all the fruits they weren''t sure about in his hand. Lachlan held the pink apple and threw it inside one of the seagull''s mouth. It swallowed it whole and Lachlan went over and broke its wings so it couldn''t escape. "Break their legs so we can see if any of them have something unique about them. After all, everyone felt an increase in their strength when they ate the red berries so maybe they all do something unique," Lachlan explained his cruel reasoning so no one got suspicious. The rest did the same and they only had to wait for a moment before the seagull that was fed the banana started jumping back on its feet. The other seagulls also showed some slight changes in their actions. Of course, aside from the banana nothing was too obvious. "So the banana is fine?" Joe asked to confirm what he just saw. "It might be, but it also might be a one use item so lets only use it in times of need," Lachlan explained. Everyone agreed with it, it was something that could save their lives so why wouldn''t they make sure it comes in handy. Seeing that none of them died Simon immediately went to take a bite of the pink apple but it was quickly smacked out of his hands, he turned to his side and saw it was Lachlan, "What the hell was that for?" "Be patient, the poison might take a while to take effect. Unless of course, you want to be another test dummy," Lachlan coldly said. If he wasn''t any faster Simon would be on the ground dead in an hour. And although he hated Simon''s arrogant personality he began to like him and enjoyed his presence. The rest of the group carefully placed the fruits down and waited an hour before they realised something. The seagulls had long since given up on escaping, due to that they were just laying down in front of them. What they finally noticed was that one of the seagulls had stopped breathing. Georgia rushed over and checked it out, feeling for breathing then trying to see if it still had a heartbeat, "There''s nothing." "What fruit did we give that one?" Simon asked with a bit of worry in his voice. "The pink apple," Lachlan responded to which Simon''s complecting turned slightly pale. If Lachlan had been any later he might be dead right now. He turned towards Lachlan, "Thanks for looking out for me." "So we at least know what will certainly kill us, but we''ll wait a bit longer just in case the other ones have the same effect," Georgia said as she wanted to err on the side of caution. After a few hours, none of the other fruits had a reaction, to which the group happily began eating the others. Staying far away from the pink apple. They all opened their eyes in shock for certain fruits, as they felt as though their abilities increased slightly. Even Simon was lucky enough to feel his abilities increase. As they were enjoying their fruits Joe spotted something in the distance, "Hey, what do you think that is?" Everyone looked over and tried to get a better look. That''s when they realised whatever it was, was getting closer to them quickly. They began to be able and distinguish certain features. Such as the large control room at the top of the boat. "Are those military boats?" Joe asked as he rubbed his eyes, trying to see if he wasn''t imagining things. "The one in the front is the boat we rode on to get to the island, which should mean we''ll hopefully be meeting some familiar faces," Lachlan said. Georgia, Simon, and Lachlan had the best eyesight in the group. *Honk* The boat horn echoed across the water and blasted them in the face. Slightly shaking the ground even though it was so far away. "What the hell was that?" Simon complained. The sound caused him to jump back from the shock. "I think that''s James telling us to go over to them," Lachlan felt confident it was James as he would be one of the only people to come here. Let alone know their group was staying here. "Well, should we go meet them," Phoebe said excitedly. They were already planning on leaving the island to meet with their families soon. Suppose they could take a ride on a boat home and catch up with some familiar faces. They quickly packed their bags full of unique things such as the stones. Lachlan took his high ranked gravity stone and plenty of fruit. They had long since gone back to the cave and ransacked the trees and bushes. Even taking the poison apple, because everything has its uses. "Of course," Lachlan said as he walked forward and summoned Aaron. Lachlan also summoned two of his Rocs and got Joe and Zoe to ride on one each. Chloe flew on one of Simon''s birds. As they were about to leave Lachlan felt they had truly gotten stronger on this island. He observed everyone''s stats and was slightly proud. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Georgia Perry (Human) Age: 29 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1(1)/5 Compatibility: Eagles (Perfect), Birds (Low) STR: 95, AGI: 94(+1), VIT: 14 INT: 35(+1), PER: 32, WIL: 29 Weakness: Emotional, Overthinker Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 6), Extreme Speeds, CrushingGrip -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Chloe Wart (Human) Age: 31 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 4/5 Compatibility: Crocodiles (Perfect), Reptiles (low) STR: 82(+1), AGI: 85(+2), VIT: 18(+2) INT: 38(+), PER: 41(+), WIL: 38(+) Weakness: Overthinker Strengths: Water Control (Level 2), Iron Body, Crushing Bite, Natural Camouflage, Extreme Swimming Speeds -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Joe Bell (Human) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Dogs (Perfect), Wolfs (Low) STR: 80(+1), AGI: 86(+1), VIT: 11 INT: 29(+1), PER: 32, WIL: 36 Weakness: Sensitive Nose Strengths: Fire Control (Level 6), Earth Control (Level 6), Strong Bite, Strong Legs, Fast Speeds -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Zoe Bell (Human) Age: 26 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Frogs (Perfect), Amphibians (Low) STR: 69(+1), AGI: 71(+1), VIT: 13 INT: 30, PER: 28, WIL: 26 Weakness: Naive Strengths: Water Control (Level 2), Strong Jumping Power, Dangerous Poison, Complete Camouflage within Water -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Simon Warrens (Human) Age: 36 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Birds (High) STR: 98(+3), AGI: 101(+1), VIT: 16 INT: 31, PER: 30, WIL: 27 Weakness: Arrogant, Underthinker Strengths: Water Control (Level 4), Wind Control (Level 4), Lightning Control (Leve 3), Earth Control (Level 4), Crushing Grip -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Phoebe Brown (Human) Age: 17 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Turtles (Perfect) STR: 77(+1), AGI: 76(+1), VIT: 14 INT: 30, PER: 34, WIL: 29 Weakness: Emotional, Naive, Easily Distracted Strengths: Water Control (Level 5), Unbreakable Bones, Strong Skin, Extremely Strong bite -------------------------------------------------------- 60 Prosthetic and News * The group flew over to the ship while everyone''s expression went to shock. They were flabbergasted by what they were seeing in front of them. The original three boat military, one battleship and two carriers boats have long since expanded to what seems like a military empire. There were roughly 20 battleships full of soldiers, Lachlan''s analysed a few of the soldiers and realised they''re all fairly strong. Behind those battleships were 40 carriers, each being stacked with fighter jets. And on the top of every boat was a different flag, while the boat at the very front had a flag no one had ever seen before. But it had the world printed on it, and covering the world was a sword and a gun. It seems like an armada someone would set up when the world is being invaded, which it kind of is. With everything evolved, it''s likely the countries created this force for the survival of humanity. Something Lachlan predicted would come. When they closed in on the main boat they caught a glimpse of James in the open waving at them. They waved back and descended on the boat. The soldiers swiftly made room while they all admired the griffon, to which Lachlan happily accepted. Lachlan quickly analysed James to see if he has got stronger. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: James Ryan (Human) Age: 54 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Sharks (Perfect), Fish (Intermediate) STR: 35(+4), AGI: 36(+3), VIT: 22(+2) INT: 32, PER: 36, WIL: 37 Weakness: Artificial Arm & Leg, Injured Eye, Overprotective, Prideful Strengths: Water Control (Level 6), Darkness Control (Level 6), Fast Swimming, Strong Bite, Control of 5 Loyal Sharks -------------------------------------------------------- He seems to have got stronger in stats, but the number of weaknesses he has racked up made Lachlan remember the type of world they were currently in. It''s killed or be killed, the survival of the fittest type of world. And it seems James has had to do what he did to survive, even at the cost of his own limbs. Once they landed they immediately hopped off the birds. "Hope you enjoyed your stay on the island," James cheekily said as he went up and gave everyone a firm handshake. They all immediately noticed the arm since that''s what he shook their hand with. "What''s the story behind that?" Simon asked without realising it might be slightly rude. Bringing up painful memories was never a good idea. James didn''t mind and pulled his sleeve back to show it off. It gave off a real sci-fi vibe as its wires glowed blue, "I got this thing when I sacrificed my arm to protect a family in America. Although the sacrifice brought a few seconds that was all that was needed to keep everyone else safe." He then pulled up his pants and show off his leg which looked rather similar to the arm, but gave off a red colour instead, "I got this when I was careless running in the field, didn''t notice the fuckers set up a trap. Fortunately, I managed to escape with my life." Lachlan realised James has been through a lot of shit, yet he continues to fight for the people. He was someone that people could look up to. The rest of the leaders were probably similar, after two years the corrupt leaders and soldiers were bound to have either been killed or just thrown out. Considering there''s no time to deal with them they might literally just throw them off the boat. "So, what''s the story behind that?" James asked as he pointed towards the griffon. Although he wasn''t as shocked as the others, meaning he might have seen something similar. "Got it on the island, found him relaxing in a cave and named it Aaron," Lachlan explained. "Anything else on the island?" James asked. After spending so much time on the island there''s bound to be more there. "Not really, aside from the gravity increasing every hundred metres there''s not much else," Lachlan still didn''t want to tell the military about anything particularly precious on the island. But he did feel bad, "Oh, there is this," Lachlan handed over a blood banana. "What''s this?" James asked as he inspected it. The rest of the group were unsure of what Lachlan was doing. "It''s a fruit that can heal wounds, obvious it has its limits and might not heal the wounds completely, but it should usually do something," Lachlan wasn''t certain on the percentages. After all, there was much of a chance that it heals the wound completely as there is that the wound doesn''t heal at all. "Is there more of them?" James was astounded by the use of this rather odd looking banana. "A few more, but they''re rather difficult to get," Lachlan said as he scratched his head. He didn''t want to straight out just say that none of them has the necessary strength to make it through the cave as that would be insulting. "That doesn''t matter, we have enough people to make it through," James still didn''t get the hint that no matter how many people there were. If none of them had the strength to make it through the cave then nothing changes. "Sigh, you don''t understand," Lachlan lifted his leg and slammed it down, leaving a very visible indent in the steel floor, "Unless you can do that you won''t stand a chance dealing with the gravity there." ''Holy shit, I wonder if they''ve all got this much stronger'' Seeing how much stronger Lachlan became left him to wonder about the others. "Alright, there isn''t much we can do about it," James said. Although he knew the effects were incredible, if there wasn''t a lot of them then there wasn''t much they could do. Aside from selling to the rich a powerful. "Come in, I have a lot to tell you," James decided he would save the banana for another time. He already has the prosthetics and there''s no reason to heal his limbs. Especially when Lachlan informed him that it might not heal all of it, he''ll still have to have prosthetics one way or another. At least having the full limb prosthetic made him look stylish and unique. As they walked to the control room James made sure to tell them everything that''s happened. About how a one world nation has formed, with the Navy fleet they were currently in is the combined forces of all the countries Navies. Their official title given by the world leaders was the Sea Guardians, as they protected everyone by sea. Of course, other people called them things representing their strength, ''The Sea Rulers'', ''The Ocean''s Devils'', ''The Ocean''s Angles'', or even the one they actually liked the most, ''The Sea Dragons''. As it really represented their overwhelming might, crushing all forces that oppose them. Aside from that, there are the Sky Guardians and Land Guardians. People began to think the leaders didn''t put too much effort into creating their names. But those forces were spread around the world, protecting specific areas where the human population is highest. As for the places that aren''t protected. Most of those places have been thoroughly destroyed by beasts. Especially hive type beasts, as they spread their nest far and wide to slowly dominate an entire area. But aside from that, everything beginning to calm down. Two organisations have appeared, both of which have garnered the attention of higher-ups and the populace. They are respectively called the Explorers Guild and Researchers United. Their names entail what they do. The Explorers Guild, where strong independent people are recruited to go on exploration missions into the unknown. It''s an incredibly dangerous job, but the rewards are just as great. Not to mention you are technically helping humanity survive if you managed to find something useful. As for Researchers United. They are a force of incredibly intelligent scientist that takes what the explorers find and create something out of it. However, their primary focus which even slightly shocked Lachlan. Was evolution. So far the number of beasts that have been upgraded could be counted on one hand. And they all belong to the leaders of those two organisations. Lachlan could understand why, as it would take forever to find the upgrade path for every beast, so why not just focus on their own. Of course, that also brought about a bit of hate but was quickly replaced with hope once they saw the strength those upgraded beasts weld. "So how''s Australian holding up?" Lachlan asked. That was where they were going, they wanted to at least know what to expect when they get there. "Most of the places are doing great, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin are thriving the most while nearby towns and farmland are being protected by the military," James explained. Lachlan felt great about that. Since there was a lot of farmland around Mount Barker, it''s likely protected. And even if something happened there''s always Adelaide to fall back into. ''What about my parents?" Phoebe asked concerned. When they left the ships her parents stayed on board. "Don''t worry, they should be at Brisbane as that was where we dropped a majority of the citizens off," James explained and Phoebe had a sigh of relief. Since Brisbane was so heavily protected her parents are safe. The others didn''t mind too much about what was going on since their families were also located near or in those major cities. They weren''t too worried about it. 61 Straight to Mount Barker * Time passed quickly on the boat. There were a lot of new things and that included a game room, filled with arcade games and pool. After eating a good meal Lachlan spent most of his time in the game room, competing against other soldiers and after a while, the others from the group decided to join in as well. Originally the soldiers were scared, they didn''t want to piss off a monster, but after a short match, they quickly realised he was extremely friendly. So, they started up a tournament. Lachlan came fifth, but the winner of the tournament was surprisingly Phoebe. A dark horse entirely, completing crushing Simon and Joe along her path to victory. Hours went by and before they realised it they were already at Brisbane. Looking through the window everyone realised that Brisbane seemed to be flourishing, with people flying through the skies on birds and others riding their kangaroos in the streets. Although it looked foreign the group acknowledged that this was the new style of living. The Warships docked at a large port, with tens of thousands of soldiers patrolling. They departed from the boat and were greeted by plenty of soldiers. James had to explain the group''s identities to the army. Then he turned around and went to the edge of the water, holding out his hand. A large nose emerged from the water plonking itself onto James'' hand, but looking down through the crystal-clear water one could see an enormous shadow in the shape of a shark. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: King (Dark King Shark) Age: Elder Attribute: Water/Darkness Level: 24 STR: 105(+561), AGI: 125(+565), VIT: 50(+459) INT: 18(+222), PER: 45(+234), WIL: 25(+228) Weakness: Losing its fangs Strengths: Special darkness domain in water. Absolute control over water and darkness. Description: This shark evolved to have hive queen qualities, birthing loyal followers that''ll do anything to protect her. -------------------------------------------------------- It definitely deserved the name of King, it was extremely strong. Although Lachlan had no idea what this domain might be, seeing as he had never seen it before he determined it was probably strong. "That''s a strong beast you have there," Lachlan said. "Indeed, something I tamed back in the Pacific Ocean," James said, he seemed to have gone in a trance thinking about the past, "That was a fun adventure, we had just survived a battle". "Anyway, I might get going, back to South Australia. I really miss my family," Lachlan said. "Of course you would, you''re still young. So during this time making sure to spend the most amount of time as you can with your family," James said. "Come, Temp" "I will don''t worry about that. Cya," Lachlan said, jumping on the back of temp. Temp''s sudden appearance shocked the soldiers and James for that matter. Everyone knew what a griffin was, they had just never seen it. Temp spread its wings and shot off through the air, till a reached an ideal height to not be attacked. Lachlan knew it would be faster riding one of the Rocs, but it felt much more comfortable riding on temp, like its back was made to have someone riding it. Now that Lachlan was much stronger he could easily handle the air pressure. However, the Griffin used its absolute control over the wind to lessen it, making it a gentle breeze. Lachlan was happy Temp care so much for him. ¡­ Back at the base, James was leaning on a chair, in a room all by himself. As he saw Lachlan''s figure move further and further through the window, he muttered under his breathe. "At least I don''t have to be the one to tell him" ¡­ It took a couple of hours to reach Adelaide, but the view didn''t disappoint him. It seemed Adelaide was flourishing as well, he could see at the edge of the city large farms. They had soldiers and tamed beasts patrolling the outskirts. He didn''t stop there and just continued past it, flying above the freeway. It was slightly chilly, and the ground looked soaked. It didn''t take long for Lachlan to reach Mount Barker, but the sight he was greeted with was unpleasant, to say the least. Everything was destroyed, the buildings looked like they were razed to the ground, constantly being trampled on by larger beasts. The high schools were annihilated, but there were no corpses to be seen, which made sense, Lachlan wasn''t sure when everything changed. This scene caused Lachlan''s senses to go overdrive, specifically the sense of smell. His nose was assaulted by the stench of rotting beast corpses, but amongst the stench was the faint odour of a human, multiple humans, ones that were familiar. Lachlan got incredibly excited but calmed his nerves instantly, he still wasn''t sure what their condition was. He followed the scent, never letting it go until it led to an old house 2 kilometres away from the high school, one that was almost completely undamaged. Following around he went into the backyard, where three graves lay. Almost having a heart attack Lachlan launched himself at the graves to read what they said. At the top were three very familiar names, ones that caused his heart to sink. Jack Wilson, Adam Wilson, and Adam Jones. Below them was their cause of death. They sacrificed themselves protecting the weak from the beasts. The writing on the stones done look like they were machine made, rather, it seems like someone went through the effort of handmaking those. Lachlan could only think of one person that would do that. He could still smell other humans, ones that were in the house, underground. Walking in he was greeted with the horrible stench of a rotting beast. He saw a spider''s corpse in the living room, it seemed it struggled for its last bit of life, most likely from poison. Walking to his left he opened a door and by his feet was a hatch, one that had been strongly shut. However, that was no problem with Lachlan. He reached down and easily opened it. Revealing steps leading down. He followed those steps; the smell of his family was getting closer. Reaching the bottom of those steps he was greeted by the sight of small children huddled up by a corner with a blanket over them. He saw someone that was familiar in that corner, it was Sarah, his little sister. She had grown since they last saw each other. Looking to his side he paused, tears streaked down his face. The corpse of a beautiful woman laid there on what seems like a bench, with a slight smile on her face. Her long blonde hair touching the ground. "Mum" 62 The Attack * Lachlan collapsed at the sight of his mother''s corpse, tears blocked his vision. He appeared next to her, with his hands on her stomach. "Analyse!" "Analyse!" "Analyse!" ''Damnit come on just work once,'' Lachlan screamed in his mind, looking for some hope to hold onto. "Oh, Lachlan you''re back, I''m sorry I couldn''t protect everyone," A faint voice could be heard behind him, one that seemed to be on the edge of life and death. Looking back he saw Dylan, laying against the floor behind a wall with his face towards him, one eye shut from a wound going down his face. His condition was bad too put it lightly. A leg had been torn off, some of his fingers as well. Deep wounds could be seen all over his body, especially across his stomach and shoulder. It had all been tightly wrapped in cloth, however, the blood had soaked through, making him look miserable. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dylan Black (Human) Age: 14 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1(3)/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Perfect) Level: 44 STR: 16(+349), AGI: 19(+392), VIT: 2(+36) INT: 13(+121), PER: 22(+117), WIL: 32(+101) Weakness: Currently in critical condition and could die from a simple shove. Internal wounds, broken bones. Has bad trauma deep in his mind. Full of regret, would accept death should anything else go wrong. Strengths: Extreme speeds, and a strong poison A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan got up and walked over towards him, pulling at a vitality berry. He opened Dylan''s mouth and forced Dylan to eat it. Shocked by the sudden movements he jumped forward, staring at Lachlan. Looking down he quickly realised his deep wounds have mostly healed, but that wasn''t the best part. His leg had grown back, most of it, it was still missing two toes, but it was better than nothing. Lachlan then pulled out his water bottle and forced Dylan to drink, it was the water from the island. But this bottle was filled with water further down the stream, Lachlan knew if he ever had to give the water the anyone they wouldn''t be able to handle the water closer to the source. Dylan felt a chill go over his whole body, tensing up. But soon felt the warmth, he laid back down, muscles completely relaxed. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dylan Black (Human) Age: 14 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 1(3)/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Perfect) Level: 47 STR: 16(+349), AGI: 19(+392), VIT: 8(+296) INT: 13(+121), PER: 22(+117), WIL: 32(+101) Weakness: Has bad trauma deep in his mind. Full of regret, would accept death should anything go wrong again. Light wounds that badly affect his combat prowess. Strengths: Extreme speeds, and a strong poison A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Seeing that Dylan was fine Lachlan asked, "What happened?" His voice cracking. Seeing Lachlan''s look and voice crack caused Dylan to cry, remembering what happened. *Sigh* "It happened a month ago, we were unprepared for the attack. That fuckin firebird wiped out our vehicles and armoury, and everyone that was in it. That was only the beginning, the bird didn''t come back, but some others certainly did. Intelligent beast, coming from Victor Harbour''s direction" "There were probably 7 of them, the military and I ganged up on one, a cat, thinking we had the upper hand when we saw it wasn''t reacting. But before we realised it our legs were missing, luckily for me I was in the middle of pouncing towards it only causing one of my legs to be cut and a couple of fingers. Turned out it attacked us with its tail, one that had black razor sharp hairs" "After that it didn''t seem to take interest in the fight or anyone for that matter, giving me a chance to escape. I took it and ran to your family, requesting we escape right away. That didn''t sit well with them, but they knew they had to. So, instead we took the children, they are the soldier''s children. They wanted the children to have a safe future, so they entrusted us with their protection, Adam joined us, he knew they couldn''t win so the least he could do was protect their lineages" "We only managed to escape 2 kilometres before we were swarmed by beasts, we quickly noticed the house and thought we could use it to our advantage, limiting the number of enemies we had to face. We already had our beasts summoned and were ready to fight, once it began we quickly realised we wouldn''t be able to win, they were too strong" "So instead we relied on this underground shelter which by some miracle this house had. But before we could reach it one of those intelligent beast attacks, it was a giant scorpion. Its stinger ripped through the house walls, stabbing through Jack, and Adam. There was almost no chance of survival, but we didn''t want their bodies to be mauled on, so I dragged them down with us" "The door shut once we were in, I was shocked by what happened. The door had a way of shutting it form the inside, so I thought there won''t be a need for anyone else to sacrifice themselves. Looking around I quickly realised that Adam(J) was missing. I ran up and banged against the hatch, telling him to get inside, I only opened it slightly, but it was slammed against my head. I heard Adam shout from the other side, telling us to hide as best as we could and that he''ll be a distraction. I knew what he had done and was angry at myself, however, my beasts were still out there fighting, but one by one they continued to drop" "When I realised there was only one more I unsummoned it through the hatch, I summoned it where we are right now, it turned out to be fast, it was badly wounded. I wasn''t sure what to do so I just unsummed it again hoping its injuries won''t worsen" "We waited two weeks before we opened the hatch again, only slightly, to see what was happening outside. There was nothing, no beasts and no corpses. Walking out we carried the corpses of Jack and Adam outside to bury them, Chloe spent awhile handmaking a gravestone" "Once we walked back inside we quickly realised something was wrong, there was a beast in there, one that wasn''t too strong to kill me, but certainly strong enough to kill Chloe. It was most likely attracted by the scent of Adam and Jacks body.A spider attacked us from behind, biting and injecting its venom into Chloe" "I went up instantly and smashed its head, completely shattering it. I ran down the stairs and laid Chloe down on the bench, I trained to suck to venom out but there was simply too much. Not to mention we were already starving and thirsty, she died within minutes, struggling to the very last minute" "We only had a couple of water bottles with us, they didn''t last very long. However, once the hatch was opened I ran towards the sink in the house and filled it with water, luckily this house had water tanks connected to it" "We''ve stayed down here the rest of the time, I was too afraid to go back out there. Terrified, I had constant nightmares of that cat, ripping my body apart. I couldn''t handle it, so I hid down here, "Protecting" everyone else when really I was just protecting myself" "Do what you want, laugh at me, beat me up, even kill me. I wouldn''t blame you, but just make sure to protect those children" Looking towards the corner where all the children were gathered Lachlan quickly realised something was off about Sarah, her body looked different, almost like an amphibian. The other children were completely fine. Seeing her brother staring at her caused Sarah to become shy, covering herself completely. Lachlan knew why. 63 Mutation and the Future * Lachlan wanted Sarah to feel safe around him, but he couldn''t blame her for being shy, he was away for most of her life. He observed the other children around Sarah, there were 8 of them including Sarah, two of which also seemed to be hiding their bodies. Lachlan decided it would be best to analyse them all, especially Sarah. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Emily Peach (Human) Age: 5 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Reptiles (High) Level: 1 STR: 5, AGI: 4, VIT: 10 INT: 4, PER: 5, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Haylen Clark (Human) Age: 8 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Lizards (High), Reptiles (Low) Level: 1 STR: 6, AGI: 7, VIT: 10 INT: 5, PER: 5, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jackson Maine (Human Hybrid) Age: 6 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Eagles (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 10, AGI: 11, VIT: 20 INT: 5, PER: 5, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jayden Aldridge (Human) Age: 9 (Child) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Dogs (High) Level: 1 STR: 6(+47), AGI: 7(+42), VIT: 10(+27) INT: 5(+6), PER: 5(+12), WIL: 2(+7) Weakness: Foul Smells, easily agitated/provoked, no combat experience. Strengths: Control over Earth (low), Wind (Low), and Water (Med). Strong nose. Combat prowess is risen by 20% when in nature. Strong bite. Description: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Kimberly Hunter (Human) Age: 7 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Owls (Perfect), Birds (Medium) Level: 1 STR: 6, AGI: 5, VIT: 10 INT: 5, PER: 5, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sarah Wilson (Human Hybrid) Age: 5 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Amphibians (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 8, AGI: 10, VIT: 20 INT: 5, PER: 5, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tayla Good (Human Hybrid) Age: 4 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Wolfs (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 4, AGI: 5, VIT: 10 INT: 3, PER: 3, WIL: 1 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bradley Tyson (Human Hybrid) Age: 5 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 9, AGI: 10, VIT: 20 INT: 4, PER: 4, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Indeed, it was just as Lachlan thought, there were unique people now, or from the description, it''s likely that it''s only children so far. It was pitiful, these children would likely either be used by their parents or abandoned, being called monsters. Although Lachlan wasn''t certain about it, that was just human nature. To be afraid of the unknown, to seek survival. Lachlan started walking over, the children had been frightened, covering themselves entirely. Once he made his way there he decided to not just rip the blanket from them but try to take a calmer approach. "Hey Sarah, it''s me remember, your older brother Lachlan" Lachlan squatted down, reaching a closer height level with the children, making himself look less intimidating. "It''s okay, don''t be scared I''m here to protect you, trust me, come on out Sarah" Lachlan used a different voice, softer. The children slightly lifted up the blanket to look at Lachlan, with Sarah staring right at him. After a little bit, she finally had enough courage, slowly crawling out from under the blanket and away from her group. She made her way towards Lachlan, slowly walking over. Once she reached him Lachlan held out his arms, giving Sarah a big hug. She cried, everything was too much for her and now all she had was her older brother. Seeing what was happening caused some of the younger children to make their way over, Lachlan hugged the entire bunch, and just like Sarah, they all began to cry. They tried to act tough and keep it in, but they were still children. Lachlan couldn''t help but think about it, these children were all incredibly young. If there were some parents who have abandoned their children Lachlan decided, he would help the children, give their life a purpose. Lachlan wasn''t sure where he wanted to go, he could either join the military and become an important figure due to his strength. But he could just as easily go solo and create a legend on his own. Possibly go back to the island, continue to train and make his way towards the centre of the island. ''Maybe I could do two things at once. Go solo and create an organisation whose whole purpose is to protect these children, give them the comfort their parents won''t'' Lachlan knew now what he wanted to do. He needed others, people he could trust to follow along with him and he knew just the right people, if they agreed. 64 Giving Choices * Lachlan turned towards Dylan, "You know, there is something you could do to make up for it". "What''s that?" Dylan was still laying on the floor. Lachlan walked over and held out a hand, "You could join me on the adventure of a lifetime". Dylan grabbed onto Lachlan''s hand, getting pulled up, "After all, I going to need some extra hands to take care of all these children". "Of course I''ll join, but is there anyone else who will join?" Dylan asked, panting the dust off his clothes. "I have a few people in mind, the ones that I spent 2 years training with," Lachlan said while he adjusted his clothes, the children had all got up and were now standing behind Lachlan. "They trustworthy?" Dylan asked. "I think so, plus, I don''t really know anyone else to ask since all the people I''ve socialised with were high ranking military and no, they won''t help since they have the duty of protecting everyone. Come along," Lachlan said, gesturing everyone to follow him as he made his way towards the stairs. "Ah, don''t want to forget this," Lachlan said as he ran back, picking up his mother''s corpse in a princess carry. As they made their way up the stairs everyone aside from Lachlan seemed hesitant, still afraid of what''s out there. "Don''t worry, there is nothing up there, well nothing that is a threat anyway," Lachlan said as he reached the top of the stairs. The children decided that they wanted to follow this person, he was one of the only people to give them love. The hybrids especially thought like this. As for Dylan, he just wanted to do something good again, and by following Lachlan, there will be plenty he could do. Once they made their way outside Dylan and the children had an especially hard time adapting, the sun hurt their eyes. They were down in that dark shelter for a month with almost no light, so the sun was a bit of a shock to their systems. "So, let''s say we go get something to eat, seems you guys haven''t eaten in a while," Lachlan said as he stared at all of their skinny and frail bodies. "But first, there''s something I need to do," Lachlan said, carrying his mother to his brother''s graves. "Let me," A voice sounded from behind Lachlan. The earth in front of him begun to shake a bit, before lifting up. Looking towards the hole Lachlan saw that it was a perfect rectangle with enough room for his mother''s corpse. Looking back he saw one of the kids behind him. Recollecting the information he knew this child was the nine-year-old, and the only one amongst the children to have a tamed beast, his name was Jayden. "Thank you," Lachlan said as he laid down his mother right next to his brother''s graves. The earth began to shake, and the lifted dirt shifted back in the hole, filling it up. Lachlan walked over to a bunch of large stones, which were likely what his mother had used to create the other gravestones. His finger slightly pierced into the rock and he began to write. A large name at the top and her death in the middle. At the bottom, he placed a little note, ''Loved by Lachlan Wilson''. He hoped his name would make sure that this gravestone is never vandalised or destroyed. Lachlan walked back, placing his hand on Jayden''s head and squatted down, making it face to face. "Thank you again, with your abilities you''ll do great in the future," Lachlan said as he rubbed the kid''s head, even though he was still a kid himself. "Come my companions!" The kids were in awe by Lachlan''s beasts, especially the Griffin. It towered over them, looking extremely majestic. It leaned down and let the kids pet it. Seeing that made Lachlan realise that the Griffin was better at handling kids than him, a kid. ''Oh well, I can''t be the best at everything'' Lachlan couldn''t help but think that to make himself feel slightly better. "Anyway, hop on," Lachlan said. The learn laid down and made its wings into a ramp, letting the children climb onto it. Lachlan hopped up at the front while Dylan made his way to the back, with all the children in the middle. The Griffin shot up into the sky, the Rocs surrounding them in a triangle formation for protection. Lachlan decided they would make a stop at Adelaide, get something to eat before heading off to Brisbane. Lachlan decided they would slow down the speed and enjoy the flight. It might be one child''s first time being so high in the air, and it certainly was all of their first times flying on the back of a Griffin. So he wanted them to enjoy it, take in everything they see. After all, you get to see the bigger picture once you''re so high up. He also made sure the Griffin controlled the wind, making it a gentle and cool breeze. It didn''t take too long for them to reach Adelaide, where they were surrounded by military flying in helicopters and riding birds. "Follow us to the landing platform!" A voice sounded through a loudspeaker. Lachlan put a thumbs up, showing he understood. They led them to an open area, the park in the middle of the city. Hopping off Temp they were quickly surrounded by soldiers, all armed with guns. "Woah Woah Woah, don''t be raising your guns towards a bunch of kids that ain''t cool," Lachlan said, arms ups. Although Lachlan was certain he could just completely crush them, he didn''t want to kill anyone. "Well, why doesn''t this bunch of kids explain why they were flying in restricted areas," A large bulky man made his way through the soldiers. Lachlan could already tell he was the leaders. ''Huh, suppose they replaced the previous one'' "Well, I haven''t been in contact with the modern world for two years, so I don''t really know what the laws are anymore,'' Lachlan explained. "Where you from?" The man asked. "Mount Barker" "Bullshit, Mount Barker was annihilated" "Yup, and these kids behind me are the only survivors'' "Huh, anyway, I don''t really believe you, after all, it seems you are protecting intelligent beast" "Calling my sister a beast? Brave" Lachlan released a different kind of pressure. Before, the pressure he used to release was solely created by his sheer strength which would be able to intimidate others. But now, this was a fusion of two things, bloodlust and strength. Lachlan''s only family left was his sister, and he certainly won''t tolerate anyone calling her a beast. The soldiers collapsed, their legs gave way to the fear. But that pressure wasn''t even being directing towards them, no, it was being directed solely towards their leader. Who right now was on the ground, pissing himself and shaking in fear. Lachlan walked over, and every step he took increased the pressure. Once he reached the man he leaned over, "Right now I''m going to give you two choices, apologise or be beaten half to death, your choice". The man screamed in fear, "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! Please forgive me!" Lachlan felt a tug on his shirt, looking back he saw it was Sarah. "Brother you''re scaring me" Lachlan snapped and went back to normal, sealing up his pressure. ''What was that, I felt like I almost lost control over my body'' Lachlan was slightly scared now. He thought of himself as invincible, but that won''t matter if he can''t control himself. Looking towards the soldiers, "Sorry about that, don''t know what came over me". 65 One More Member * Lachlan and the group enjoyed a nice meal at a caf¨¦, where they had egg and bacon muffins and a cold iced tea. They then got back to the open area, Lachlan summoned Temp and they were now ready to go. Shooting off through the sky Lachlan decided to speed things up, which meant the children couldn''t fully enjoy the ride but had to hold on for dear life. It took hours to get back to Brisbane and when they finally arrived the kids were amazed by how much Brisbane was flourishing. They could see people walking around everywhere, enjoying their day. At the port, all the Warships were still there. It looked rather intimidating, just a row of Warships across the port, some being highly advanced, others being slightly outdated. Lachlan flew over and landed Temp at the Helicopter landing pad. There were a few soldiers there that had already seen the Griffin fly off before, making it much easier to convince them that they weren''t enemies. Some soldiers from the Warships also explained, which cleared things up quickly. "Where''s Fleet Admiral James?" Lachlan asked a nearby soldier. "Over there," The soldier said, pointing towards a rather large building near the port. They walked over, passing by many soldiers that stared at them in confusing, as there was Lachlan who is still a kid, leading a group of younger kids around a military base. When they entered the building Lachlan saw it was bustling with people. There were computers everywhere, each monitoring a part of the city or surrounding area. And that''s why they''re flourishing and have rather carefree people. There''s nothing to fear if no beasts can even get to them. Lachlan thought that mentality was bad, but he couldn''t blame them. Being on edge for the past 2 years certainly would make anything slightly less stressful feel like a vacation. Lachlan made his way through the halls, the children and Dylan following closely behind. It didn''t take long before they reached a door. It didn''t have any names on it, but that was because James wasn''t exactly stationed at Brisbane. *Knock*Knock*Knock* "Come in" Opening the door Lachlan was greeted by a room filled with different people. It was a conference room, they were all sitting down at the table. "Lachlan, I thought you went to go be with your family," James said. He was setting at the end of the table. "Not much family left to see," Lachlan said. The atmosphere in the room changed, it went rather silent. "I''m sorry for your loss, there isn''t much we can do about," James sighed. "Yeah, I already know you knew about the attack, no need to hide it," Lachlan said. James stiffened, then sat up straight, "I felt it would be improper for me to be the one to tell you, in addition, you still would have gone anyway, in desperation to find anything. And look, you found something". "Suppose so, anyway, where are the others?" Lachlan asked. "All of them went to check on their families, if there were any left anyway. I do believe most of them are still in town, checking everything out, after all, you isolated yourselves from the world for two years," James said. Lachlan walked back out, everyone followed right behind him. They didn''t like that room, especially the people. They were staring them down, they were especially staring at Sarah, Jackson, and Bradley which slightly ticked Lachlan off. Which is why he left in such a hurry. They walked through and out the base, entering the city. Lachlan''s sense of smell has heightened, and after spending so long with the others he''s now able to lock onto their scent. Especially since they all haven''t cleaned themselves properly in two years, they were rather stinky. Lachlan weaved his way through the city, the children were covered by a cloak, helping them hide. As they continued walking they made their way to a small apartment complex, it was rather fancy. Lachlan walked in and made his way to the front desk, where he asked for some keys to use the elevator. Security shot through the roof, now almost everything needed a key. The people at the front desk were kind enough to give Lachlan a key, after all, in their eyes, he was just a lost kid. Lachlan followed the scent, trying out different floors before he got the right one. Floor 22 was where they ended up. Walking through the hall Lachlan sniffed every door, until he reached it, room 264. *Bang*Bang*Bang* The door opened, and it was Chloe. "Oh, Lachlan, what can I do for you," Chloe said, gesturing for them to come in. She was a bit surprised and confused by the number of children following Lachlan, but that''ll be a question she asks later. "Mummy," A small child ran through the hall and hugged Chloe. She only managed to reach Chloe''s thighs, had blonde hair and green eyes. Lachlan very quickly noticed it, the child was a hybrid. Although Chloe seemed to have tried her best covering it up, the child had gills on the side of her neck. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sophie Wart (human Hybrid) Age: 6 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Shark (Perfect) Level: 1 STR: 7, AGI: 9, VIT: 20 INT: 4, PER: 4, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: None. Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Just as I suspected'' Lachlan gestured for Chloe to come over to him. When she did Lachlan stood on his toes and whispers in her ear, "I know the child is different, she isn''t the only one". Chloe froze, but the second part slightly relieved her as she looked towards the group of children, noticing a few among them were in the same situation as her daughter. "Since it doesn''t seem like I really need to explain much, I''m just going to ask, will you join me?" Lachlan asked as he sat down. Chloe quickly connected the dots. Since Lachlan came in with so many children, some of which were different like her daughter, there''s only one thing he should be asking. If she wants to join him as they go help out the children. "Sure," Chloe answered. "Great, is your husband here?" Lachlan asked. "Not currently, but he should be here in an hour, and yes he''ll probably want to join as well," Chloe said. "That''s even better, the more people I have helping the easier it''ll be to take care of all of them," Lachlan said. "Right, so you don''t care who joins, as long as they''re willing to help?" Chloe asked. "Yup," Lachlan replied. "Anyway, as we wait for my husband do any of you want something to drink?" Chloe asked as she made her way to her kitchen. The children all said they wanted fruit juice. Chloe lined up the options, apple, orange and mango. Most of them chose apple, Dylan chose orange and Lachlan got himself a class of mango. They all sat down and turned on the television and changed to the news channel. 66 Planning and Unwanted Attention * After waiting for an hour Chloe''s husband walked through the door and jumped back by the sight of so many people. He also quickly realised a few of these people were unique like his daughter. "Hello there Mr Wart, the names Lachlan I''m a friend of your wife" "Oh, hello there, my names Flynn and forget about the formalities. I''m not interrupting anything am I?" He asked. "No, rather we were waiting for you to arrive," Lachlan said. "Oh, hope I didn''t make you wait too long, so what can I do for you?" Flynn asked. Lachlan began explaining his thoughts. Talking about how he wants to protect the children that have been abandoned by their parents or have lost their parents. In other words, start an orphanage but for every child no matter how unique their appearance is. Flynn was excited by the idea, but had a few questions, "Where will it be stationed?" "I''m not exactly sure where a good place would be since we are protecting all children, certain unwanted individuals may try destroying the orphanage. You have any suggestions?" "You''re right to think that, a good place would have to be somewhere isolated from any major city, possibly at an abandoned town" "So how large do you want this to become?" Flynn asked. "Hopefully one day it could become worldwide. Currently, people are afraid of anything that looks like a beast, especially an intelligent one. However, should people see that they''re on humanities side, maybe they''ll begin to accept them. That''s the end goal" "How many others have joined?" "Well currently there is only four of us, but this isn''t something that''ll happen instantly so I''m expecting some of these kids to help out when they''ve grown up. There is also the others from the group that might help out. Also, should we search hard enough we could probably find a lot of parents that would help, especially if their child is in the same situation" "Alright, I suppose we should at least find a place to stay, hiding in the middle of the city isn''t the best place," Flynn said as we sat down at the table and opened up a laptop, going to google maps. "They''ve changed google maps, now it also has different zones all categorized with a danger level. From low to high, they''re determined by the number of beasts and how strong they are. There is also death zones, which are occupied by groups of strong intelligent beasts," Flynn''s knowledge of everything was definitely helpful. "So, what zone should we go to?" Lachlan asked. "Well going to a death zone would certainly keep people away, and if we manage to kill the group of intelligent beasts, others will hopefully stay back in fear," Flynn explained. "It''s going to be hard to beat them, we fought one in Sydney. Although we managed to defeat it, it was incredibly difficult and a few of us were quickly incapacitated," Chloe said. "If everyone from the group agrees to help out we should be able to defeat a small group of intelligent beasts. Does the map show how many intelligent beasts are in each death zone?" Lachlan asked. "Unfortunately not, they do however have the minimum number of intelligent beasts to each area, but that''s playing with luck," Flynn explained. "So what areas have the least?" Lachlan asked. "Well, almost all areas near the centre of Australia have almost no intelligent beasts, they''re ranked as medium to high danger zones. However, the areas with the highest number of intelligent beasts are all across the coasts, probably due to intelligent beasts having strong human desires to live lavishly," Flynn said. "Do you know if there are any more unique children?" Lachlan asked. "Well, from what I''ve seen, whenever authorities get information about the children they go in and capture them, after that they trap them in cages and send them out in the wild," Flynn explained, his fist clenched with veins popping out of his skin. "Do you know where they let them out?" Lachlan asked, he was slightly annoyed at how the authorities handled the situation. "I know where they leave the city and seeing as how the surrounding area is almost all high to death danger zones, it''s likely they barely went out the city, maybe only went 1kilometre away," Flynn stated. "True, I should be able to track them down by their scent. When was the last group of children sent out?" Lachlan asked. "I believe it was 2 days ago," Flynn said. "Alright, they probably haven''t gone far or separated from each other," Lachlan said. "Right, if we go now we''ll have the best chances of finding them since tomorrow is going to have bad weather," Flynn explained. "Sweet, everyone ready to go?" Lachlan asked. The children all replied with a yes, they were excited to make more friends. Chloe had already joined, and she was strong, she didn''t want her husband dying out in the wild. "Let''s go then, be quick we don''t want anyone to notice us," Lachlan said. They walked through the door and got onto the elevator, luckily it was empty. Seeing how high class these apartments are, not many people would be able to afford them. "That reminds me, what is the currency now?" Lachlan asked. "Oh yeah, you were isolated from the world for two years. So, the world has completely united and create a world currency, which is just dollars and cents. The average rent is $50 a week, this apartment complex is $130 due to its location being in the centre, so it''s protected from all angles," Flynn then went on to explain how the world is currently working. Schools have almost stopped entirely, they are now only teaching sciences and maths, with some schools teaching Design & Technology or STEM. The rest of the day is spent doing combat training, which has now become a compulsory subject. The only way to get out of it is to partake in research, being an assistant and for the older more smarter kids, being a researcher. The main topic researched is the beast bodies, finding their weak points, seeing if their meat is edible and if any body parts could be used as a weapon. Turns out that a majority of beast meat is delicious, only poisonous insect meat is disgusting. Then the group made their way through the lobby, but unfortunately gained some attention from the receptionist, a different one than before. "Ash There''s a group of intelligent beasts here!" The receptionist screamed at the top of her lungs. People in the lobby and just out the door started running and panicking. Phones were brought out and numbers were dialled. "Alright, now we run," Lachlan said. He shot out the door and summoned Temp, he got everyone on quickly. The authorities just arrived, armed and pointing towards the children. Lachlan jumped up, "Fly!" he shouted. Temp shot up, the wind from its wings pushed everyone in the area to the ground. The military that was there picked up a communicator, giving a warning to the base. ¡­ At the base, after James heard the description of the people he called off the attack. Saying that it won''t end well for them. He did however, want to ask Lachlan about the intelligent beasts he had with him. 67 A Dark Truth * They flew on the Griffin for a bit, Lachlan used his strong perception to try and see something, using the sense of smell always sucks, you''re always blasted by a putrid stench of rotting beast corpses. However, Lachlan couldn''t see anything, so he just had the deal with it. Lachlan managed to get a scent quickly, there was something slightly wrong with it as it seemed he could smell human blood as well. But considering this is the wild, it isn''t surprising that they would be hurt. Locking on the target he got Temp to make his way over. Then they descended, slightly slower because they didn''t want to scare the children away. Landing on the ground Lachlan quickly saw two children by a tree, leaning on it hurt. There was a wound by their shoulders, that seemed to be caused by something small. He called them over. They did hesitate, but after seeing the other children they came running. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Danial Peel (Human Hybrid) Age: 7 (Child) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Spiders (Perfect) Level: 11 STR: 9(+13), AGI: 10(+19), VIT: 10(+8) INT: 4(+2), PER: 4(+7), WIL: 13(+5) Weakness: Losing its eyes, no combat experience, weak fangs, weak leg joints Strengths: Strong mentality, fast attacking speeds, and a strong poison Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Faith St Clair (Human Hybrid) Age: 8 (Child) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Kangaroos (Perfect) Level: 15 STR: 9(+33), AGI: 10(+33), VIT: 10(+14) INT: 4(+6), PER: 4(+13), WIL: 10(+10) Weakness: Extremely sensitive tail and ears, prone to surprise attacks and traps Strengths: Strong leg strength and punching strength Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- They were weak from what Lachlan could see, not to mention that now they''re injured, and it looks like it did quite a bit of damage. From what Lachlan''s seen, more hybrids have 20 VIT, they have 10 which means they''re barely dealing with it. Lachlan gestured for them to come to him, which they did, they came running over crying. Once they made it Lachlan brought out some VIT berries, healing them up. Although not fully, still a better condition then what they were in previously. "Hey there, do you know where the others are?" Lachlan asked in a childish voice, hoping to sound friendlier. They pointed to the side, where there was a cave entrance. It wasn''t too bit, just high enough to fit an adult inside. Walking through it Lachlan realised the ceiling got higher and higher, Chloe and Flynn could walk without issue now. They walked for only 1-minute max before they entire a large cavern. Lachlan could just make out some bodies outline by the edge of it. He could smell blood and got worried that a child was injured. "Analyse" There was nothing. ''That''s strange'' "Someone get out a flashlight," Lachlan said, he was beginning to have a bad feeling in his stomach. The kind that you get when something really bad happens. Chloe brought out her phone and turned on the flash, it was fairly bright, bright enough to see anyway. But they probably didn''t want to see what was in the cave, they wished this wasn''t what was happening anywhere else. A large pile of children corpses were in the cave, stacked fairly high and spread relatively wide. They had bullet wounds in the head, which now made sense as to why Faith and Danial had wounds on their shoulder. They managed to escape, but in the process were shot at. Fortunately, the bullets didn''t hit anywhere else. Lachlan really felt rage this time, but not just Lachlan, Dylan, Chloe, and Flynn all felt the same. Their faces were going slightly red, veins were popping out of their skin and their muscles were tensed. The children were getting slightly scared. "Chloe and Dylan, you take protect everything here, I''m going to go have a little chat with someone," Lachlan said, his voice itself emitted a killing intent. "Go," The others could feel Lachlan''s rage, and they definitely felt the same. But Lachlan is able to do what he''s about to do easier if he didn''t have the children to worry about. Lachlan disappeared from the cave and was outside in milliseconds. "Come Calamity!" He shouted. A Roc appeared, and he jumped on, before getting it to shoot up and fly towards the base. Not slow either, using its lightning speed they appeared there instantly. A strong pressure enveloped the entire base, everyone in the vicinity felt it, the bloodlust and the strength behind it. "James!" Lachlan shouted, his voice echoing through the base, it was so loud it hurt people''s ears. In the main area, James was already getting prepared to fight the moment he felt the pressure but was shocked when he heard it. "James!" The voice sounded familiar to him, then he remembered it was Lachlan''s voice. ''What''s caused him to be so angry'' Walking out of the building he was greeted with a threatening glare. "Who''s the leader of this base?" Lachlan asked, or more like demanded. "I''m the leader, boy don''t act cocky just because you''re strong, this is a military base filled with strong soldiers not to mention the fact that now the World''s Navy is here!" A slightly chubby man walked out of the crowd berating Lachlan. What the man just said didn''t matter to Lachlan, he''ll get his way no matter what. "What!" Some people shouted, the others couldn''t even react in time. Lachlan was already in front of the crowd, holding the man''s neck in his grasps forcing him to lean over. "Hey Lachlan, we can talk this out," James said, coming over and trying to pull Lachlan arm. "Ah!" James shouted. Lachlan had punched him, causing him to crash into the building. Lachlan held back slightly because he hoped James didn''t know about what was happening. "Tell me, why are you killing children?" Lachlan asked, his bloodlust kept the soldiers at bay, their legs were almost frozen due to fear. "Children, those weren''t children they were beasts," The man hurriedly said. But that wasn''t the answer Lachlan was looking for. He tightened his grip, now the man was struggling to breathe. "Why!?" Lachlan shouted. "Kill them while they aren''t a threat, create a safer future for humanity," The man said. "You could create an even safer future by training them, accepting them, but no, you just had to create a hatred between the same damn race!" Lachlan was annoyed, although he could see why they were scared, talking about a safer future was stupid when they just made more enemies, ones that would grow to become a massive threat. "I don''t see them as human!" The man shouted. "Then I don''t believe you''re needed" *Crack* Lachlan snapped the man''s neck; his body went limp. Letting go the body just flopped onto the ground. 68 Enraged * "Lachlan why are you so angry?" A voice sounded next to Lachlan, it was jack. He was still stunned at what just happened. "Outside of the city roughly 1k away inside a cave, there''s a pile of corpses all belonging to children, tell me, why would I not be angry?" Lachlan was still annoyed. Although this was the first time he killed someone, he didn''t feel guilty but good instead, like he got rid of a plague. Unfortunately, just like cancer, it''s likely to come back. "Those aren''t normal children Lachlan, they''re beasts," Jack tried to reason with him, but that isn''t something Lachlan wanted to hear. Lachlan''s bloodlust spiked again, this time being directed at Jack. Jack felt an overwhelming pressure over him, trying to bury him alive. He suddenly felt someone wrap around his throat, looking down he saw Lachlan staring straight at his eyes. A chill ran through his body, it was like he was completely seen naked in front of those eyes. "So you''re saying my sister is a beast?" Lachlan grip slowly tighter, veins were popping out of his neck and head, blood was struggling to pass through. "No of course that isn''t what I''m saying, it''s just that those children weren''t normal," Jack''s voice was faint. "So that gives you the right to slaughter them, what about their parents? What about their friends? Did you ever consider that?" Lachlan scolded Jack with questions, ones that caused Jack to freeze up. "Of course not. Hurry up and get him off me!" Jack shouted the loudest he could. Lachlan looked around and realised all the soldiers were carrying weapons, harpoons. They were fired and pierced Lachlan''s skin, fortunately, his defence was strong, but the harpoons were strong enough to at least get a grip on to him. The soldiers all pulled him off, each harpoon had 2 soldiers, there were three in each arm and leg. Lachlan''s balance was quickly pulled from under him and he was then hanging. Lachlan didn''t have anything to grab or get a hold of, so he was incapacitated. "Come, my beasts!" Lachlan shouted. The soldiers also summoned their beasts, there was a large variety of them. Spiders, kangaroos, lizards, crocodiles, birds and more surrounding them. "Burn them to the ground Temp!" Lachlan ordered. *Screech* Temp inhaled then spewed a large ball of flames that just spread across the battlefield. Soldiers and their beasts were quickly falling. Lachlan made sure Temp didn''t make the flames hot enough to kill them but at least cause them to stand down in fear. Lachlan''s mind still didn''t like accepting the idea of slaughtering everyone. Jack was on the ground in front of Lachlan, scared shitless. "Hey now, we''re friends aren''t we, no need to kill me, right?" Jack''s voice was quivering, the tone was changing. "What else have you done?" Lachlan asked. The harpoons were still in his arms and legs, blood was dripping down them making him look scarier. "Nothing, we haven''t done anything else," Jack replied in a rush. "You better make sure I don''t find anything else," Lachlan said threateningly. He decided it would be best to become a separate entity from the military, hopefully, become stronger than them. So much stronger everyone would have to accept the help they give. Lachlan began walking off, but a voice sounded behind him. "Don''t you think you should compensate us?!" It was Jack. Lachlan had to give it to him, he had guts. Unfortunately, that wasn''t a useful trait in this situation. "Have you compensated the parents that lost their children? If you haven''t then you got no right to talk about compensation," Lachlan said. He jumped on a Roc and shot off into the sky, his other beasts following behind him. The scene caused a commotion, people began to panic after they saw their only protection being decimated by a single beast. On his flight, Lachlan pulled the harpoons out of him and swallowed a VIT berry. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure if it could be used multiple times, he didn''t want his only life-saving hope being placed on the possibility that it might heal him fully. When looking back at the description Lachlan realised how risky it was to completely rely on it. There was a slight chance he wouldn''t be healed at all. As it dissolved in his stomach Lachlan felt a warm feeling spread throughout his body, the wounded areas felt it the most. Lachlan could visibly see the wounds heal, but unfortunately, there were scars left over and bruises. But at least the others won''t begin to worry too much. He rode Calamity back to the cave, with his other beasts next to and behind him. As he descended he made sure to check everywhere, trying to find a threat. Once he noticed there weren''t any enemies he relaxed. The others came out of the cave when they heard the sound of wings flapping, they were certain it was Lachlan. Lachlan jumped off Calamity and walked over, then some of the children came over a hugged him, saying things like, "Welcome back", it made Lachlan feel good. Chloe immediately noticed something though, the scars were still visible. "Lachlan, what did you do?" Chloe asked. "Take care of business, don''t worry, I only killed one person," Lachlan said. "That''s still not alright, but I suppose we can''t turn back time, just, please don''t do it again," Chloe said. "I''ll try, but sometimes the situation calls for it," Lachlan said. "Now, where should we go?" Lachlan asked in an attempt to change the subject. "Either Mildura in Victoria, or Griffith in New South Wales. Both have been abandoned, and both have a moderate number of houses," Flynn explained the choices. "Let''s go Mildura, it''s closer to Adelaide where there is a slight possibility of more unique children, who knows, maybe there are more people like you, Flynn, we could bring them over to help out," Lachlan said. "Alright, Mildura it is," Chloe said enthusiastically. "Come on, get onto Temp and get comfortable," Lachlan said. Temp leaned to the wise with its wings becoming a ramp, everyone walked on it and sat in a nice arrangement. Chloe, Flynn and the older children were at the back while Lachlan, Dylan and the younger children were at the front. "Let''s go!" Lachlan shouted. *Screech* Temp screeched with joy before taking off. The people from the city could see the Griffin slowly fly into the distance which calmed them down. However, seeing the state that the Navy was in made them worried. Although only one person died, the others were badly injured. 69 Infiltration and Information Early morning everyone went to the front of the houses to begin. Lachlan will be in charge of flying them to Adelaide, Simon is also coming with him for protection. The girls had their phones with them, so they can message whenever something goes wrong. Summoning their beasts the girls hopped on and waved goodbye to everyone, the girls were going to ride the Griffin, it was the easiest to ride on. Lachlan and Simon hopped onto their own beasts and waved towards everyone. After that, they shot off into the air, slightly slower as not all the girls had the strength to handle the maximum speed. It was smooth sailing from there, flying across the land at a decent pace. It''ll only take 1 ¨C 2 hours. Along the flight the girls were looking at a map of Adelaide, choosing which spots they should go to, to get the best amount of information. They were looking at large caf¨¦s, parks, and just along the walkway. Lachlan liked flying, it was the only time he was fully by himself. Although there were others with him now, it didn''t feel like it since their voices couldn''t travel the distance. So he laid down and relaxed. As they finally reached their destination they slowly descended down. They chose to land on the road going from Birdwood to Adelaide, that way it''ll be more believable. After dropping them off Lachlan and Simon flew off, not far but far enough to not cause any issues. The girls began their walk to Adelaide, it was a simple walk, nothing happened along the way. At the gate to enter Adelaide they were inspected, the military made sure no beast is able to make it through, especially intelligent ones. The girls began their walk to the first chosen destination, a caf¨¦ along the main street. It was an extremely popular caf¨¦, one that gets a lot of customers. After walking for a long time they finally reached it, the caf¨¦ was called Caffe Branch, it was one of the few places that weren''t heavily affected by the evolution. Walking in, they immediately noticed the rather friendly and warm environment. The interior was redwood and black concrete that had writing in white chalk. They walked past that to get to the cashier, behind him was a large menu written in chalk. Tamika ordered a large hot chocolate, Dakota got a Mocha and Maddie bought herself a small white. They also all got toasties, ham and cheese. They hadn''t eaten breakfast yet. After getting their drinks and breakfast they sat by the entrance of the place, where people constantly walk by or walk in. They heard a lot of information, most of which was completely useless to them. They sat there for 2 hours and all they heard was information about people''s lives before the evolution. They were bragging about how good their life was until it happened. Some people talked about their family or lovers being in the military. In present times that was an amazing thing, as everyone would feel the need to be grateful to those soldiers. Of course, just like before the evolution, there will always be snakes that just seek the attention gained from it. The girls had already finished everything a while ago, they just wanted to be certain they wouldn''t miss anything. Now they were off to their next destination, a park. Along the way, they heard the same bits of information it was starting to annoy them. Do people have nothing better to talk about? But they did find something useful. Along the way to the park they saw posters stuck on glass windows, the poster was on the inside of the building obviously. It was their main group''s faces, faces of everyone pinned up. There was a picture of Lachlan, Chloe, Simon, Joe, Zoe, and Georgia all hung up with a warning sign. The warning sign said that they are traitors of humanity and that everyone should report them the moment they notice them. Tamika took out her phone and got a photo of it, she sent it to everyone. After walking for a few minutes they made it to the park, Hindmarsh Square/Mukata. It could barely be considered a park, but at least there were benches around the sit on. The girls chose a bench and went over, sat down and began talking to themselves. Just about everything, what they should do when they get back. A new fact they learnt during that talk was that Tamika knew how the sow. She apparently made all of Georgia''s clothes when she was younger. After waiting here for a bit they finally heard a bit of information that slipped out of someone''s mouth. That person had long black hair, brown eyes and rather pale skin, she was roughly 5''5 and wore warm clothes that layered over her. She said to a friend walking next to her, "My sister in law''s child is apparently one of those freaks, she should just get rid of it". Tamika was the first to react, "What did you just say?" She stood up and blocked their way when she asked the question. Dakota and Maddie followed and cut off their path of retreat. "What, are you going to tell authorities that my sister is protecting a freak?" She said in an almost sarcastic voice, she wasn''t afraid at all. "Then do it, she lives 61 Young St, Parkside suburb, it''s south of here," The girl was almost provoking them to do it. The girls got the information and let them through before walking towards the destination. Although they weren''t completely sure, it seems that girl they were just talking to wanted them to call the authorities. It either meant she was afraid to do it herself, as that would mean talking about her nephew or niece. The other was that she didn''t want the blame to fall on herself, if she provoked someone else to do it then they would get all the hate. It was a smart plan, unfortunately for her, they weren''t going to call the authorities, but instead get the sister in law on their side. Tamika picked up the phone and message Simon about what they found, he was ecstatic that they actually managed to get something. Simon then told Lachlan, Lachlan then decided it would be best to move closer to that area. They would still be outside the gate, but those few kilometres they would have travelled to get to them are no more. Simon texted the girls their new location in advance. The girls were walking towards their new destination. 70 Bad News The group of girls rushed towards the address, the longer they wait the more chance that the family will be found, and the children taken. It took them a hot minute to run there, Maddie and Dakota were exhausted by the time they reached the street. Unlike Tamika, they didn''t have high stats, so this took quite a toll on their bodies. Fortunately, once they reached the street they slowed down to a speed walking pace, just so they don''t look suspicious. They reached the driveway of the house, the girls understood why the family had managed to keep it a secret for so long. The house was large, and it was surrounded by trees, making it a perfect place to stay hidden while in the city. They walked up the gravel driveway towards the door, once they reached it they knocked hard and a few times. *Knock*Knock*Knock* Silence, no one answered the door for a couple of minutes. The girls felt hopeless and were about to go around back and try to find another way in, but the door opened. The one that answered the door was a middle-aged woman, she was gorgeous. She stood roughly 5''3, had long brown hair they reached past her shoulder blades, vibrant green eyes that sparkled with curiosity. All her facial features fit just right, there were almost no imperfections. "What do you want?" The woman asked, she kept the door relatively closed, only showing half her body. The girls were a bit stunned by the appearance of this beauty but quickly resumed normal behaviour. Understanding why the woman was so protective they talked in a calm manner, "It''s okay, we''re here to help you, you just need to trust us". The woman had a hard time processing what they said, that was until she realised they knew her secret. She closed the door even more, only showing the top of her face which was tilted at an angle. "How do you know that?" She asked, her voice slightly quivering. "Your sister in law said it out loud, purposely making us hear it. She probably wanted us to call authorities, but don''t worry, we''re only here to help people like you," Tamika calmly said, her friendly grandma vibes coming into effect. The woman opened the door, what she had done was a great risk to her. However, she knew she needed some help. Hiding in the shadows was beginning to get to her. So if these random people that came knocking on her door could help her, she would gladly take the help. "Oh, my names Michelle, please take a seat," Michelle said kindly as she gestured towards the couch. The girls walked over and sat down, the couch was comfy, quite soft and the materials felt nice. They waited for a few minutes before Michelle walked around the corner with glasses of water in her hand. She passed the water onto the girls, who gladly accepted it and drank. "So how do plan to help me?" Michelle asked. "We''re apart of a group, or organisation you could say. Our main goal is to protect unique children, children that had been cast aside by the world and left for dead. We heard that you have such a child and were wondering if you would like to join us," Tamika said. It was like she was a professional dealing with people, Michelle started to relax around them. Maddie and Dakota decided to let Tamika handle this, from they''ve seen it seems she''s a pro. "I would love to, but where is it located? How many are already involved?" Michelle started to ask questions. "Our current base is located at Mildura in Victoria, there are currently 15 of us along with a bunch of children we take care of. We plan to make it big, internationally recognised. This is all to make people accept the unique children," Tamika explained their plans, all while keeping her calm composure. "Alright, I know others that are in a similar situation to me," Michelle said. This surprised the girls, they had been looking for so long but found nothing, now they got a huge chunk of information. "Where?" Tamika asked. "All across this neighbourhood, that''s the reason the authorities haven''t discovered us yet since we''re all in the same situation we all stay silent," Michelle explained. Michelle continued, "Give me a second I''ll message for them to come over, my house is the usual meeting spot". "That''ll be great," Tamika said enthusiastically. Michelle sent the message, so while they waited she turned on the television. On it was just a bunch of news about what''s happening across the world, any current events taking place. But what shocked them was the first thing that popped up was the faces of Lachlan, Dylan, Chloe, Flynn, Georgia, Joe, Zoe, Simon, and Maddie. There were a few more faces now, the authorities probably connected the dots and investigated. Although they still don''t seem to have the parents, it was still bad that they discovered Maddie. This was especially so for the current situation, they were just running around Adelaide to make it here. Plenty of people saw them, most of which probably immediately reported them to the authorities. The most surprised was Michelle, at first, she still didn''t completely believe them, but once she read the news she now believed she could trust them. "We need to go soon," Tamika said. "Why?" Michelle was a bit shocked by the abrupt news. "The military probably knows we''re here, if we don''t move soon we might be surrounded," Tamika explained, she quickly got out her phone and messaged Simon, telling him they''ve been compromised and need to get out soon. She sent the address of where they were. ¡­ Outside the city Lachlan and Simon were starving, they forgot to have breakfast before they left and now that their faces have been posted around the city they can''t go in and get food. Fortunately, there were a few unsuspecting beasts around, rather small ones. Although they were small, that was in comparison to the size of the normal beast they''ve seen. Lachlan went ahead and caught a few, killing them in the process before he set up a little area and started a fire. The place the meat on some sticks and stuck them into the ground. After a while, the meat finished cooking and they were ready to eat. Lachlan and Simon grabbed a stick each and dug in. For some reason they felt like a caveman, out in the wild eating meat they hunted that was cooked on a stick. After they finished eating they went back to their spot, onto of the trees just relaxing. Simon went on his phone a few times, just checking to make sure they haven''t missed anything. Lachlan, on the other hand, was just staring at the lively city. He found it slightly odd that some people seemed so oblivious to the dangers that are right next to them, but he just put it under the fact that a majority of those people might not have experienced the stuff he has. Simon suddenly jumped up from his branch and jumped down, looking up at Lachlan he shouted, "The girls have been compromised, we need to get them out of there!" Lachlan also jumped off as soon as he heard the news, he quickly summoned Catastrophe before jumping up on it. Simon summoned Storm and jumped on. They both shot off, Lachlan followed after Simon as he knew where the girls were. Flying over the city brought a great amount of attention to them, authorities were quickly informed and set out. They knew who Lachlan and Simon were, they didn''t want to mess up. 71 New Discovery Lachlan and Dylan reached the address instantly, they looked down and noticed the military surrounding it. They were creating a circle and slowly moving in. Bullets shot past them, some of them hit both Catastrophe and Storm. Fortunately, due to their high defence, it just felt like someone tap them. But after a few seconds, it began to annoy them. Lachlan and Dylan were hit once or twice as well, mainly on their legs. They rushed down and landed in the front yard and got their beasts to screech and get the girls attention. ¡­ Inside the house the girls were waiting in the front room, staring outside the window waiting for Dylan and Simon to get here. *Bang* A door was slammed open from the back of the house, Tamika rushed to be the front of the group. Unfortunately the house didn''t have enough room for her beast, so the only thing she could do was ready herself. A man rushed around the corner, Tamika punched out, her fist slamming into the guy''s guts. *Arg* He flew backwards into the wall, he fell down and laid on the ground struggling to breathe. Tamika''s punch had winded him. It was only for a few seconds before "Ah! Brian!" Michelle rushed over to him, helping him up. *Cough*Cough* The punch really shocked him, not only him though, but it also shocked Michelle. They couldn''t have expected this old lady to have such strength. However, this also made her trust in Tamika grow. If people that strong were helping they might be able to create a peaceful future. "Qui-Quickly run, get Marcus and get out of here, the military have the neighbourhood surrounded," Brian struggled to speak and gasped for air every few words. Michelle quickly brought Brian over to the couch before setting him down, then rushed around the corner and through the house. After a quick minute, she came around the corner carrying a small baby. He was crying at the sudden commotion, he was previously taking a nap before being rudely awakened by his mother. *Screech*Screech* The girls were familiar with those sounds a looked towards each other before nodding. Tamika walked over to Michelle, "Our rides are here, we need to get out soon". "Alright, can we wait just a bit though, all the others are rushing over especially now that the military involved itself," Michelle said. "Sure, but we can only wait for so long, message them to hurry," Tamika said before running out the front door. The other girls following along. Michelle quickly whipped out her phone and message the others, before she went over and helped Brian out the door. They were shocked by the appearance of two beasts in their front yard, especially since they gave off an intimidating aura, one that could crush someone. Lachlan stared at the three, the one that caught his attention immediately was the child in the woman''s arms. It had already developed unique features despite being so young, the child looked almost reptilian, with rough skin and already sharp teeth. Lachlan knew the only way to find out more was to analyse it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Marcus Scott (Half-Human, Half-Sobek) Age: 1 (Infant) 4 Years till a child Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Crocodiles (Perfect) Level: STR: 5, AGI: 5, VIT: 100 INT: 1, PER: 3, WIL: 1 Weakness: Extremely Weak Strengths: Fast swimming, strong jaw Description: Birthed by the mating of a Human and a Sobek, due to both creatures possessing wisdom this is possible. The child is birthed with unique features of both races, mainly the strongest features that can be used to survive. -------------------------------------------------------- ''What! People can breed with those things!'' Lachlan shouted internally. He was shocked by the information, this brought upon a whole new discovery. There is a possibility of coexisting with the intelligent beasts, though this would be an even further future plan. ''Wait a minute'' Lachlan thought back to more information. Why were the groups of intelligent beasts near the cities not attacking, they could have easily decimated it. However, if those intelligent beasts are beginning to like humans, then it makes complete sense as to why they haven''t attack yet. "Hurry up! We don''t have much time!" Lachlan shouted at them. "Wait just a little bit longer, others are going to join!" Michelle shouted back. Lachlan was surprised they managed to get more so quickly. This certainly made things easier. It meant they didn''t need to come back for a while. A bunch of people carrying their children ran around the corners and up the street, it looked almost comical if Lachlan didn''t know that the military was surrounding them with the intention to kill. The people started to increase, and Lachlan soon realised that Catastrophe and Storm won''t be enough to carry them all. He looked towards Simon and shouted, "We need to summon the rest of our beasts!" "Alright!" Simon shouted back. "Make room!" Simon and Lachlan both shouted to the people surrounding them. The surrounding people were confused for a few seconds before they made room, moving to the outskirts of the yard. Simon and Lachlan summoned the rest, people recoiled back in fear. This was the first time some of them had ever seen such a strong beast, let alone 7 of them. Some of the beasts were in awkward positions as there still wasn''t enough room. Lachlan and Simon had the beasts go outside onto the road. They got them to use their wings as ramps for the people and shouted at them to get on. They people rushed forward, trying to make sure they got a comfortable spot. After a few minutes, everyone was finally on and they shot off. Unfortunately, due to there being so many of them the beasts couldn''t fly off to fast otherwise they might fall off. They reached a comfortable height and were about to fly off before an explosion went off next to them. Looking down Lachlan saw soldiers with rocket launchers aiming straight for them. They fired, Lachlan froze for a second before deciding to try it out. He has strong elemental powers, he shouldn''t let them go to waste. He waved his hand, a burst of wind appeared from him smashing into the rocket, causing it to explode. The soldiers saw that but didn''t fear it, rather they fired more because of it. A few people riding the beasts got hit, nowhere vital, either in and arms or legs. Lachlan and Simon were thinking rapidly to create a solution, one that would protect them. ''I wonder if I can try that'' Lachlan thought of something and held out his arms, palms opened wide. "Haaaaaaa!" He began to yell, putting more and more focus into whatever he was trying to do. Because he was to busy focusing he got hit a couple of times, it seems they''ve changed weapons. The hits were stronger and actually did a bit of damage to him. The bullets only just pierced the skin, but it still brought upon a pain. Lachlan didn''t break focus, he still held out his arms, trying to envision his use of elemental powers. The wind started to pick up pace, getting faster and faster and slowly encasing their group. Before long the wind was gathered together and was so strong that it became visible, blades of wind surrounded them, forming a sphere. Soldiers shot rockets and bullets, but they couldn''t breach the sphere. Rockets would explode upon impact and bullets would heavily change trajectory. Sometimes firing straight back at the soldiers. Seeing what Lachlan was doing Simon joined along, he also got his tamed beasts to join as well. Increases the power behind the wind multiple times, to the point that bullets were being shredded once they hit the wind blades. While doing this Lachlan and Simon ordered their beasts to start moving back towards the base, although they were protected, since this was the first time doing such a high-level control move, they couldn''t hold it for long. The beasts began to pick up the pace, flying over and out of the city. Before long the city was no longer in sight and Lachlan and Simon stopped the sphere. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion encased their bodies. They collapsed and fell asleep; their bodies being kept on the birds through the bird''s wind control. They all flew off into the distance, some of the people that were hit got some help mid-air. Although they couldn''t do much they could at least stop the bleeding. 72 Scary Encounter On the journey home everyone was exhausted, almost everyone there hasn''t had an experience with the military before, especially one with the military trying to shoot them out of the sky. Some people were frightened, others were sad that the military wouldn''t accept them. Lachlan and Simon were still resting, the beasts were also fairly tired but not enough to stop functioning. Everyone else stared around themselves and to the ground, they found it both beautiful and scary, some people were terrified of heights and held onto someone else''s back or the beasts for dear life. As they finally reached Mildura after a long 3-hour flight, everyone''s arse was hurting. When they reached the ground they could barely feel their legs. Some people jumped off immediately and hugged the ground. Lachlan and Simon were finally awake, but barely. Their bodies felt sore right down to the bone, they walked down the wing ramp and walked towards the house. Some people burst through the front door, speeding straight towards them. A small figure jumped up and slammed right into Lachlan causing him to fall down. On top of his stomach was Sarah, who had a smile going across her face. "Lachlan you''re back!" She shouted while tightening the hug she was giving. Lachlan smiled and pet Sarah on the head, causing her to smile more. He then picked himself off the ground, with Sarah still hanging from his stomach. Dylan saw Lachlan was exhausted and came over to help out. "Welcome back Lachlan," Dylan said as he wrapped his arm around Lachlan shoulders to support him. Maddie was already by Simon''s side, helping him walk towards their house. Tyler came over and helped out, speeding up the process by a bit. The rest of the group slowly emerged from the house with a bit of shock written across their face, none of them expected the first operation to be so successful. There were at least 30 adults with their children in their arms or by their legs. Lachlan and Dylan walked past into the house, as the walked past Chloe told him, "You did a great job, let the rest of us take care of it now". Dylan walked Lachlan up the stairs and towards his bed, he then lifted Lachlan up and laid him down. Sarah never let go and was still hugging Lachlan''s stomach, never letting go. Lachlan and Sarah both fell asleep. Chloe and Flynn were outside in front of the crowd, their daughter by their side, as a way to give the parents some form of comfort trusting them. "Alright! These houses all have 3 ¨C 5 bedrooms, get into groups and go to whatever house you want, you will need to clean your houses, they''ve been untouched for two years and have a layer of dust covering them!" Flynn shouted towards the crowd. "Everyone meets up at this house at 6:00 pm, that will be dinner time. You may hunt your own food, but if you aren''t experienced then I suggest not doing that," Chloe said. Then they both walked back into the house, followed by the rest of the group that just observed the crowd. The crowd, on the other hand, began to talk to each other. Fortunately, even before they were brought here they all knew each other, as such it was a bit easier for them to group up. After that, they went up and down the street, search for a house that best fit them. Some groups immediately went for the larger houses, the ones that were connected to the offshoot lake. There were others that wanted a medium sized house, one that''s more compact and feels cosy, they think that large houses usually feel empty. After a while, everyone had settled down and begun cleaning their houses. For a few hours if you stared down the street you could see puffs of dust coming out the door and shadow figures rushing around through the curtains. Lachlan and Simon slept the rest of the day, everyone respected that and left them alone to recover. Chloe and Georgia already went out to go hunting, although they had plenty of meat they quickly realised how delicious beast meat was. They wanted to try more, all sorts of varieties. What they came home with this time was a large bird, although Lachlan and Simon could have tamed it, this bird was rather weak, so they didn''t think they would want it. As for the meat, they weren''t sure how tasty it was, but they knew exactly how they were going to cook it. Fried. Fortunately, there was a bottle of vegetable oil in the fridge, due to it being unopened it had yet to go bad. They were going to use that to fry up a large amount of chicken. In the drawers, there were packets of different flavours one could add to their fried bird. They decided it would be best to make three types, no spice, mildly spicy, and really spicy for those that can stomach it. Fortunately, no one that came from Adelaide had any dietary requirements, well there was a few lactose intolerant people, but they could still eat the fried bird. It was 5:00 pm when Lachlan finally woke up, still sore but at least no exhausted. He felt rather hungry as he could hear his stomach growl at him, but first, he needs to do something else. He ran to the bathroom and shut the door, he was really busting and needed to go immediately. After he finished he washed his hands and stared at himself in the mirror, he stared closer and noticed something different, his eyes, they looked unusual. There was a black line that went straight across it from left to right. It wasn''t a large line, still relatively thin, but he didn''t know what it meant. He continued to stare until his reflection talked back. "Why hello there," It''s deep voice resounded throughout Lachlan''s very soul, it sent a shiver down his spine. "Who, no. What are you?" Lachlan asked, with a confident voice. But behind that confidence was a terror, fear of the unknown, he needed to know what it was. "Can''t you see, I''m you, the other half of you anyway," It spoke back. "Other half?" Lachlan questioned it in confusion. "Yes, the other half that you still can''t analyse," It replied. "Then tell me what you are!" Lachlan shouted at it. "Oh no, that would ruin the surprise, we can''t be doing that, you''ll know when you''re strong enough," It spoke before fading out. Lachlan''s reflection returned to normal, his eyes still the same. He hairs were still standing after that encounter, his body slightly shaking. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 13 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) Level: 53 STR: 422(+507), AGI: 421(+521), VIT: 50(+546) INT: 52(+155), PER: 114(+244), WIL: 227(+184) Weakness: Almost no combat experience, immature, easily distracted, short limbs Strengths: Absolute Control over water, fire and wind, lightning speeds and an absolute crushing grip Descript: A unique being birth between a human and ???, due to the ??? bloodline getting contaminated with a weaker bloodline it caused some malfunctions. However, due to the ??? bloodline, the body is still stronger than a normal -------------------------------------------------------- "Tsk," Lachlan hated that whatever that was, the information it gave him was right. He was still too weak, he needed to get stronger and the only way to increase his eyes strength is to tame more beasts. That''s what he''s noticed anyway. ''Huh, when did my intelligence increase'' Lachlan thought long and hard to when his intelligence could have increased but came up the same solution every time. The constant use of elemental powers may increase intelligence. ''And what does it mean I''m immature, I don''t get distracted that easily either, and hey, don''t make fun of my small body'' Lachlan got annoyed at his stats screen, he could understand the combat experience, he is young and was never apart of fights before. But he didn''t like that stats screen telling the obvious parts, of course he had short limbs, he was still only 11 years old. "Lachlan! Are you alright?" Chloe shouted from the other side of the door. She began to worry when she heard Lachlan shouting in the bathroom, she thought there might be an intruder or beast. "Yeah, I''m alright! Don''t worry about it, you still need to finish cook those fried bird wings," Lachlan said as he opened the door. "Alright, as long as you''re okay," Chloe said as she walked off. Lachlan suddenly felt something wrap around his waist, looking down he noticed Sarah hugging him with a tear streaming down her cheek. "What''s wrong Sarah?" Lachlan asked. "Lachlan scared me, you started shouting in the bathroom and it scared me," Sarah explained. Lachlan squatted down and wrapped his arms around Sarah, "It''s okay, Lachlan''s fine, see?" Lachlan stood back up and gave a twirl. Sarah laughed and wiped the tears from her face. "Let''s go down and get ready for dinner, okay?" Lachlan asked. Sarah nodded, and they walked downstairs. Everyone was sitting outside, either playing around with their children or just keeping an eye on them. In the kitchen, besides Chloe there were a few other helpers, 5 of them, 3 girls and 2 boys. They were preparing the bird to be fried. Lachlan went outside and chatted with some others, they were all thankful that Lachlan and Simon saved them. Lachlan just nodded and said it was no problem. He looked around and noticed Simon relaxing with his fianc¨¦, he didn''t want to go over and disturb him so he chatted with Flynn. That night was wonderful, the friend bird was delicious. It overflowed with juices, and the spiciness was just right. Lachlan had the mildly spicy chicken, he loved it. After the food was finished everyone went back to their houses and went to sleep. Due to all the sleeping Lachlan did he wasn''t too tired. So he laid on the roof, staring at a clear sky filled with stars. Relaxed as he could ever be. Due to that relaxation, he slowly drifted to sleep, his eyelids getting heavier, his breathing slowing down. It was one of the first times in a while that Lachlan fell asleep without much to worry about. There was obviously the encounter he had with that so called "Other half". But he couldn''t do anything about it so he threw it to the back of his mind. 73 Important Discussion After waking up the next morning Lachlan quickly realised he slept on the roof. His back felt slightly sore from that but stretching never felt so good. After that he hopped down onto the balcony, only to be greeted by Sarah. Who came up and gave him a hug, "Morning Lachlan". Lachlan went down and picked her up, "Morning Sarah," Lachlan said as he threw her up into the air, catching her on the way down. After that, he plopped her on her feet and walked downstairs for breakfast. In the kitchen Flynn was already eating a bit of the leftover food, Lachlan sat down and joined him. "Morning Lachlan, you sleep comfortably?" Flynn asked while waving at Lachlan. "Morning Flynn, and yes, I believe it was incredibly comfortable," Lachlan said in a sarcastic voice. "We should probably get the others and have a chat, there is something I need to tell you all," Lachlan quickly changed the tone, Flynn got the message, whatever Lachlan wanted to tell them was serious. "Alright, I''ll send a message," Flynn said as he picked his phone up from the table. He quickly turned it on and sent a message, Lachlan almost found it impressive how fast he was with the phone. "Alrighty then, they should be over in maybe an hour, some of them are probably still sleeping," Flynn explained, he placed his phone back on the table and continued to eat, ripping the juicy fried meat off the bones. After they finished eating Lachlan went back upstairs and had a quick shower, he didn''t have one yesterday, so he was still dirty from the fight. His clothes also got a bit torn up due to the bullets, fortunately, he had more pairs. Or more specifically, fortunately, the previous owner had more pairs. Fitting into the clothes he went towards the mirror with caution, after getting close he stared at his reflection, waiting for it to move again. "Hey, you there?" Lachlan asked with a whisper. Silence, no reply, no movements, nothing. Lachlan did have to admit, that thing''s personality is a bit quirky, the way it spoke was as if this was all some form of entertainment to it. Lachlan brushed his teeth, rinsed, dried his face and walked out. He went downstairs and waited for the others to come. 20 minutes later Georgia and her family walked through the doors, followed by Joe, Zoe and their family. They came over, sat down and began a bit of idle chat, something to pass the time till everyone''s here. A few minutes passed and Phoebe, along with her family walks in. They immediately joined the conversation, giving their two cents. The last to arrive was Simon and Maddie. Simon looked exhausted, almost like he had no sleep last night. Maddie on the other hand, she looked perfectly fine, like she slept the entire night. Finally everyone here, Lachlan could finally begin to explain his ability. "As you all know, I''m slightly different and no I don''t mean I''m talented or anything. But rather, I had a certain ability, one that uses my eyes. Every time I use to word "Analyse" a status screen appears before me, on the screen is all of your abilities, strengths, weaknesses, stats, everything," Lachlan told them everything he knew about the ability, then everything he knew about them. Their compatibility, level and the description of their race. Every bit of information was shocking to everyone, the only one that didn''t react was Dylan, but that was obviously because he had hints from before. Lachlan''s behaviour was always odd to him, and now he knows why. "Why not tell us sooner? Don''t you trust us?" Simon asked, he was slightly disappointed that Lachlan kept such a large secret from them all. "Nope, while I can trust you when I fight with you, trusting anyone with this secret is slightly difficult. Especially if it spreads, just like those children, people will begin to see me as something other then human," Lachlan told them about his concerns, his fear of being rejected by everyone. Everyone was stunned by Lachlan''s honest words, but they really couldn''t refute them. Although they spent two years on an island together they barely talked, Lachlan was too busy training, getting stronger. So while they were disappointed they couldn''t be trusted, they also couldn''t blame him for not trusting them. "Anyone else know?" Flynn asked. "Everyone else that knew is already dead," Lachlan dropped a bit of an emotion bomb on them. Although it took a few seconds for everyone to understand what he meant. "I''m sorry," Flynn said. "No need to be, it wasn''t your fault," Lachlan said. "So why did you tell us now?" Simon asked. "Because we''re going to be cooperating for a while, as such, you should know at least that about me. At least it makes it easier to explain how I get some information," Lachlan explained, and everyone nodded. "So, that brings me onto the next part, amongst the children there really is an intelligent beast," Lachlan said. What Lachlan said dumbfounded everyone, but at least he told them how he knows this, which also meant he wasn''t lying. Simon and a few others jumped up and were about to rush off before Lachlan told them, "Wait, the child is only half intelligent beast. Also, it is still incredibly young, only 1 year old, it can''t do anything". "I don''t want it to do anything," Simon said. "It might not just remember what you''re doing, going over to kill a 1-year old child," What Lachlan said annoyed them. Although they wanted to kill it then they wouldn''t be any different to the authorities. "I plan on letting it grow up with our organisation, should it at any point bare its fangs to its helpers we''ll kill it, but only if it bares its fangs," Lachlan explained. Everyone sat back down, Simon was still on edge about it, "So what now?". "Get someone to invite the family over, we can discuss this matter with them," Lachlan said. "Alright I''ll go, who is it?" Flynn asked. "Michelle Scott," Lachlan said. "What no, she isn''t an intelligent beast," The girls were quick to say, this was someone they knew after all. "No, she isn''t, but her child is half so that only leads us to one conclusion," Lachlan explained. Nobody needed anytime to think about that, someone people reacted in confusion, wondering how it was possible. Others reacted in disgust, thinking that a person would have sex with an intelligent beast. Flynn was already out the door after that, walking down the street to the house Michelle and Brain chose with their group of two. In the room, they continued to have a bit of idle chat, talked about where to next and such. They heard the door open and the room went quiet, one could hear each other''s breathing. Flynn came down the hall, followed by Michelle with the child in her arms and Brian right behind her. "Hello, so why am I here?" Michelle asked. "I want you to explain your child," Lachlan said, his arms crossed as he stared at the child. Michelle froze, she was a bit shaken, she hesitated for 10 seconds before finally talking, "Whatever do you mean?" She didn''t think they could possibly know, it shouldn''t be possible. "We know the child isn''t human Michelle, so tell us, what happened," Tamika said, she looked towards Lachlan and mouthed, "I got this". Lachlan didn''t doubt her. Brian was starting to get fidgety, it was almost like he was about to pounce at them at a moment''s notice. Lachlan released a bit of pressure on him, making him quickly realise the difference and what would happen should he confront them. "It happened near the start of the collision, my husband and I decided to stay in our area and not rush towards the city, how big of a mistake that was" "We ran out of food and we weren''t strong enough to hunt any of the beasts, so we tried making our way to Adelaide where my brother was. We had full knowledge that we had a pass through a death zone, but we couldn''t wait" "Near the end of our travels, just as we escaped the death zone we were attacked. My husband was killed instantly, but it didn''t kill me, instead, it decided to have its way with me, possibly attracted to me" "After it finished it left me, for a while, I stay slightly broken deciding whether or not to commit suicide. I decided not to, I still had plenty more of my life to live, so I continued my way to Adelaide. For some reason no beasts approached me, rather it seems they ran away" "After that I finally reached Adelaide, they let me through without a problem and I made my way to my brother, explaining everything to him. Fortunately, he was kind enough to let me stay at his place, but unfortunately, I didn''t think I would end up pregnant" "At the start, I thought it was just a mistake, but then I realised what the child was and panicked, I told my brother and we talked it out. I decided to have the child for some reason, I always wanted to be a mother" "And so I kept my child''s identity a secret, only my brother and I knew. My sister in law just thought it was one of those other children, the ones that were unique" "So, does that answer your question?" Michelle asked. "Indeed it does, you can go back now," Tamika said. Michelle nodded and went left, followed by Brian. The room was silent for a bit, no one knew what to say. "Suppose that concludes this meeting," Lachlan broke the ice before leaving and going upstairs. He also needed some time to think about it all. Everyone did the same, going back to their areas to rest or make plans. 74 6 Months As the months go by the world has constantly been changing, the casualties that were on the rise have levelled out. Although humanity loses every now and then, they always retreat before it''s too late. Beasts and humans have been on a constant struggle to see who can be on top. The main issue though, is that the beasts haven''t even been trying hard. The real dangers are what lays in the new lands, where humans have not returned from. Lachlan and his organisation, Bloodied Wings, have risen up and taken over a majority of Victoria and a bit of South Australia. Their members have been constantly growing, the public has begun to notice them. However, for some reason, the government still continues to reject their existence. The public either labels this as discrimination or that there might be more going on behind the scenes that the public has no way of looking into. They''ve even gone to the extent of putting up measures just to fight against them. They had security cameras on every street, each one having facial recognition. Fortunately, as their group continues to grow, the choice of participants also grow. Of course, they have been compromised multiple times due to detection beasts being set up around the city. They''ve had some difficulties getting around them, that was until a few new members joined that had the ability to hide their presence. The government does, however, accept the presence of two new organisation. They are respectively called the Explorers Guild and Researchers United. They were created almost two years ago, but they were secluded to their location. However, 5 months ago the Australian government discovered the importance of groups separate from them and decided to help out. They spread across a majority of Australia, helping create safe havens from beasts, bringing further support from the public. Everything they do is to bring fame, and along with that fame comes an influence. An influence that soon could stand against the government. The Explorers Guild was created in China with the funding of multiple billionaires, such as Jack Ma, Pony Ma, and Wang Jianlin. The sole purpose of the Explorers Guild is to fund operations into the new land, risky operations that acquire strong personal and bravery. As for Researchers United. An organisation that started in America, funded by very powerful and rich people, such as, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett. As the name entails, it''s an organisation with the sole purpose of funding important research. The main things researched are new materials and beasts corpses. It''s almost like the Explorers Guild and Researchers United were made to coexist with one another. And that''s exactly what they did, creating an alliance between them. Thus creating more jobs for both sides, researchers need things to research and people want stuff they''ve found to be researched. There''s also a reward for the explorer who finds anything extremely valuable that can help humanity, things such as medicinal herbs, the berries Lachlan has would be heavily sought after. Another thing is minerals, ones which can be used to create weapons. Two new weapons came out from Researchers United, two weapons that helped humanity turn the tides of battles. An elemental gun and dagger, both of which had control over fire. Of course, these weapons weren''t cheap because of the materials used. Lachlan has seen the mineral that produces the fire and wasn''t too surprised. He could have almost predicted that this would happen. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Fire Stone Description: Produces fire on impact, the harder the impact the more fire it produces. The Fire Stone was created in the depths of the earth by the molten lava, creating an energy stone that can produce similar heat Parts: Fire Stone, Energy Core -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan immediately thought of some other stones that could exist, water stones that are formed at the lowest parts of the ocean, wind stones formed at the peak of mountains, ice stones formed at the coldest point in the Arctic. Of course, people just needed to find and mine these stones first, if they could that is. On some recent missions, Lachlan has seen some explorers. They were among the stronger people he''s seen, but they all look the same to him, literally. They were the same uniform, hiking gear, with a gun and blade weapon in their belt. The best thing about them though, they don''t really interfere with their operations. Some of them have of course been bribed by the government to help but should they not have been bribed they won''t do anything. Lachlan has seen them even help out before, using their control over elemental powers they''ve secretly helped from the side. He would have to thank them for that. Currently, a meeting is underway at the main base in Mildura. There were a couple of new people in the room, a man and a woman. As for Lachlan and the group, they have changed slightly. They were now able to calmly plan out everything efficiently. The table had a large map on it, there were texter marks everywhere circling locations. They had arrows going everywhere with the distance just above the arrow line. Everyone was standing looking towards the circles. "So the next place we go to is Darwin?" Lachlan asked as he stared at the map, Darwin was one of the only big cities they still haven''t gone too, they''ve recently only been helping out places in Queensland, South Australia or Victoria. After the evolution Darwin quickly became a safe haven for the people in the Northern Territory, rapidly growing in population, quickly rivalling the major cities in Australia such as Brisbane. "What about Perth?" Simon asked as he placed his finger on the circle, "It says that it has the lowest amount of security". "True, but it also has the lowest population amongst all the cities, due to that attack 3 weeks ago they suffered greatly, losing more than half their population," A new man said, he was an Asian with short black hair, brown eyes and a relatively slim body. He always wore formal clothes, which was slightly odd, but the group didn''t mind it. He was roughly 32 and stood 6''7 high, much taller than a majority of the group. "I suppose you''re right Zhang Yong," Simon said. They had picked up Zhang from a small town just outside Brisbane, he was barely alive when they got there, he had protected his family by standing up against an intelligent beast. "Alright, so Darwin it is," A woman said. Her name was Brianna Law, she had a rather ''nerdy'' appearance. Having long red-orange hair, pale skin with a face covered in freckles. It was currently winter, so she was wearing a wool sweater. She was only 5''6 and was 23 years old. She joined herself when she heard our cause. She had a few friends that had their children taken away from them, sometimes it happened in front of her and it was painful to see. Brianna was also the type of person to join protests if she agrees with the cause. Lachlan didn''t mind these two, he rather liked them. He especially respected Zhang, mainly due to his bravery, but he was incredibly smart when it comes to infiltration and escaping. But the main reason they''re apart of the main group is their stats. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Brianna Law (Human) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Insects (Perfect) Level: 45 STR: 18(+284), AGI: 21(+355), VIT: 10(+333) INT: 32(+84), PER: 17(+66), WIL: 21(+86) Weakness: Has a constant cold, gets tired quickly, weak immune system Strengths: Water Control (Level 7), Darkness Control (Level 5), Fire Control (level 1) durable skin and strong bite Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Zhang Yong (Human) Age: 32 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Lizards (Perfect) Level: 46 STR: 18(+372), AGI: 21(+312), VIT: 10(+323) INT: 32(+84), PER: 17(+66), WIL: 21(+86) Weakness: Easily provoked, bad spatial awareness Strengths: Space Control (Level 1), Darkness Control (Level 6), Wind Control (level 5) durable skin and strong bite Descript: A unique being that had adapted to being top of the food chain, desperate to keep their status at the top they evolve to get the ability to tame beasts, sacrificing any physical improvements. They also have a hidden stat, WIS, something that humans relied on to stay on top before the evolution. -------------------------------------------------------- Due to Zhang''s elemental control, he is able to completely hide his presence. Space control is the main element he uses to hide, however, due to its low level, there are usually cracks in the technique, such as his shadow or smell. He makes up for it through his control over darkness and wind. The discussion ended quickly as they all agreed that Darwin will be the location of their next operation. They all went to prepare and get something to eat. Lachlan and Simon always made sure to eat their fill after their first operation. Not eating was a mistake they weren''t going to make again, they also made sure to tell the others. 75 Interesting information The next couple of operations went extremely well, no one was killed or injured. Unfortunately, they weren''t able to find any useful personal. But at least they found more helpers. Their next operation was going to be Perth since they''ve saved a majority of the unique children in every other city, they may as well go to the badly damaged Perth. It should be a piece of cake; the military was busy rebuilding the city, as such the security is spread thinly. The group that''s sent on operations constantly changes, Lachlan and Simon are always the transport, but the people that infiltrate the city always change. Their numbers also always change, as it helps them get rid of any suspicion. Flying over to Perth took a while, it was on the other side of Australia after all. They make sure to always avoid the air above major cities; the security has got tighter and the weapons have gotten dangerous. Last time Simon underestimated the weapons a bullet went straight through storm''s wings, it took a weak for it to properly heal. The worst thing about it though was that it feel down slightly and everyone on storm fell to their deaths. Lachlan hates remembering it, but it was a great reminder to never underestimate their enemies. Especially ones that are backed by the government or large corporations. They''ve also had to be wary of members of the Explorer Guild, as the government is now constantly hiring them whenever they can. Of course, this can only last for so long before they run out of money, but they know that. The group''s technology was upgraded as well, they''ve sometimes gone on operations into previous military bases and took whatever was in there. Fortunately, amongst the people they''ve saved some of them have Engineering degrees, one, in particular, had an Electronics Engineering degree. She was in charge of taking care of their electronic equipment, she had two helpers, a guy and a girl. They were always busy in their lab, located in the outskirts of Melbourne. Luckily, the military''s power doesn''t reach that far, mainly due to there being a death zone in the way. Anyway, back onto their current operation. They sent Zhang, although the government knows of his identity, due to his ability to hide they can''t find him. Zhang was currently walking down the streets, weaving around the crowd with excellent footwork and extraordinary speed. Zhang had also practised martial arts when he was younger, the techniques almost beaten into his bones. Lachlan was being taught by him, but Lachlan was hopeless in understanding martial arts. He always resolved his fights through brute force, it was easier for him. Zhang had passed by many buildings along the way, he passed by a couple of military personals on petrol. He snickered when he passes them, he always plays a little game, how close can he get without being noticed. This little game has got him compromised before, the group has constantly berated him to stop but he just can''t. It feels too satisfying to him, it was a little challenge he could do every time he goes on a mission. However, during one of his little tries, he heard the soldier say some interesting information, some information that they should probably investigate. "Damn, so you''re in charge of that transportation, unlucky man," A soldier said, his hand''s making gestures as he talked. "I know right, that lab is just too damn creepy, it feels as though I''m getting stared at by a crowd of people," The other soldier replied in discomfort. Zhang began to tail them, he wanted to know more about this "Lab". "Oh well, do you even know what they transport into there?" The soldier that''s in charge of the transport asked. "No, but I heard rumours that it''s people, rather young people too," The other soldier said, they both felt a chill go up their spine when he said that. It''s too creepy to imagine what they''re doing. "Anyway, good luck," The soldier said patting his back, "You''ll need it". "Stop it, man, it''s creeping me out," The soldier said. Zhang immediately attached something on the soldier''s uniform, a tracking device, one that isn''t noticeable to the human eye. The soldier stopped and looked around for a second, he even got his partner to check but found nothing. Zhang then disappeared into an alley and hopped up the building, jumping off the walls upwards, he looked like he was doing parkour. Once at the top of the building he pulled out his phone, which had been modified, making it much more difficult for the government to listen in. "What did you find?" A voice sounded from the phone, it was Flynn. Flynn was in charge of almost all operations, he was an incredible planner. "There''s a lab, the military is constantly transporting something there, rumoured to be people with a possibility of it being children," Zhang said, he didn''t have an Asian accent as one would expect, but that''s because he grew up in Australia. "Tracker?" Flynn asked. "Done," Zhang replied. "Good, follow the soldier and try to infiltrate the place, the more information you get the better," Flynn explained. "Alright," Zhang said. The call ended, and Zhang went back to finding information. Most of it was just about the attack, the public was still talking about it. Some lost close family members and others were badly injured, they had scars to show. There wasn''t any information on hybrids anymore, the government was using the military to crack down on it. Any mention of it and the military will usually find out, especially if you''re in a public area. But apparently, people have reported small microphones in their house, hidden in the wall or under something, such as a couch. People started complaining and even going to the extent of rioting. Of course, this wasn''t met nicely, as people were killed as an example. However, due to the interference of Explorers, the military didn''t get too out of hand. They were almost stopped after one death, but at other areas of the riot, soldiers shot some others. The attack on the city also had a huge conspiracy behind it, that the government controlled the beasts to attack them. Of course, one the public made this one conspiracy up dozens more came from it. ¡­ At a secluded location in a nearby forest, Simon and Lachlan both lay on their respected beasts. Lachlan on Temp and Simon on Storm. What they were doing was a usual thing to happen, as most of the time, they aren''t needed. So they just relax with their phone next to them. They''ve even picked up a couple of skills, as they had to fill their boredom with something. Lachlan has learnt a bit of card magic, mainly sleight of hand. He believed it could help him in combat and he isn''t wrong, it''s just that they don''t fight very often, rather they try their best to avoid it. Simon, on the other hand, has started learning how to play the guitar, he tried out a few other instruments such as the flute or violin but liked guitar the most. He found it peaceful, relaxing in the wild playing guitar. The sight of the two was rather unique, you had Lachlan on the left trying to use his sleight of hand with a knife. Then there was Simon strumming his guitar. Due to their overwhelming strength no beasts come near them, they''re always being avoided by anything that''s able to sense danger. *Bzzt* Their phones vibrated, they quickly stopped what they were doing and rushed to pick it up. Is was silent as they read the message, "Be ready to pick up Zhang, he''s going on an infiltration mission," it was from Flynn. They looked on a map on their phone and saw a blue dot jolting around the city, they knew it was Zhang. They also saw a red dot, it was in the direction that Zhang was going. The group came to the decision to put a tracker on their phones, although it seems creepy, it''s also the only thing that they can use to know where everyone is in a time of danger. The red dot stopped moving and they noticed Zhang messaged them, "Found the lab, going it," Short and simple. ¡­ On the other end, Zhang was hidden in some trees. Turns out this lab is fairly secluded from everyone, like they were trying to hide something. Zhang got more and more interested in this operation, he loved to poke into other people''s secrets, even if it got him beat up multiple times. Zhang hid his presence and moved towards the building, the place that the truck entered was a large garage. He moved a bit closer and just as he was about to enter. *Woooooo*Wooooo*Wooooo* The alarms went off, people with guns burst through the side doors, the soldier in charge of transportation hit the ground with his arms on his head. Zhang was getting ready to disappear but decided to stay just a bit longer. A man that looked like he was in charge walked through the door, he was small and chubby but wore an expensive looking suit, he was bold and had black eyes. He also just emitted an aura of arrogance, one that seemed like the person was looking down on everyone. Something Zhang was used too, he didn''t like it. The man walked up to the soldier and reached towards the solder''s shoulder. Zhang already knew what set off the alarm, it was the tracker. The man grabbed it and pinched it, shattering it between his fingers. He then looked towards where Zhang used to be, he had already left once he noticed things weren''t going too well. Zhang messaged the group as he continued running back to the city, "They found the tracker, they''re on to us". Flynn then sent a message to the chat, "Get out of there, we''ll discuss what we should do back at base". And that''s just what they did, Zhang went to where Lachlan and Simon was and then they went off. Sticking around any longer could be dangerous, since they are on the government''s bad side. 76 Starting the Operation At the main base, the sky was darkened, it was 5:00 and people were beginning to prepare dinner. The group has managed to take control of a few abandoned farms, especially farm near Sydney. After the city was invaded and fell people fled to all directions, as long as they weren''t near Sydney it was fine. The room inside the main base was deathly silent, the member''s breathing could be heard faintly and the sound of children playing outside could just be heard. The reason for this silence was the discovery of the lab, one that seems to be heavily guarded on all four sides. Flynn was the first to break the silence as his hands hit the table, "Alright, I believe we should infiltrate the base, we need to know what they''re doing in there". "Well we don''t really need to," Phoebe coward out, she hated when the group did missions with a high chance of death. Although, she would also come and help out since she doesn''t want her close friends to die. "What they''re doing in there isn''t something that those people want us to see," Simon said, he took a quick breath but before continuing was interrupted by Flynn, "Simon, I thought you would be on board this the most". "Let me finish," Simon said towards Flynn, "If it''s something they don''t want us to see, then we should absolutely infiltrate and see it". "Oh, sorry," Flynn apologised, he just assumed what Simon was hinting towards. After all, after his miscalculation against the military bullets, Simon seems to have become more cautious which is completely understandable. "I''m in," Lachlan said to the side, Lachlan was apart of every mission, even if he wasn''t actually needed. "Of course you''re in," Phoebe said, she was most worried about Lachlan who was always at the front of the battles, putting himself in front of the most danger. "I''m going in too, I need to find out what they used to discover the tracking device and take it," Zhang said, he hated it when unexpected technology would screw up operations but loved it when it could get them new things. He would always bring it to the woman in charge of analysing and modifying the technology they get, it almost seems like he has a thing for her. Of course, no one would question it out loud. "I''ll help infiltrate," Joe said, his sister immediately spoke up milliseconds after, "Me too". "I''ll help secure the escape route," Georgia said, she had always secured escape routes for these types of missions, she''s improved over the 6 months as well. "Oh fine, I''ll help Georgia," Phoebe said pouting as she gave up even trying to convince them to stop. "I''ll help out with the escape route as well," Brianna said to the side. Flynn nodded towards her. This was the third mission she''s been on with them, as such, it''ll be better to have her stick out of the danger zone. "I''ll keep an eye on the surrounding area and report when something''s coming," Chloe said. "Alright, I will tell everyone right now that this mission will probably be the most dangerous mission we''ll have to do," Flynn said. "Why?" Lachlan asked as his attention snapped towards Flynn with that statement. "We don''t have any maps of the lab, no information who''s there or the people they have guarding it, this is a blind mission, make sure to always err on the side of caution," Flynn explained. "Really? We have nothing?" Simon questioned, this wasn''t something they''ve experienced before. "Yes, it seems this lab was built after the evolution or in extreme secrecy, either way, there''s nothing on it," Flynn explained as he threw out a couple of theories. "Alrighty then, when will we start then?" Zhang asked with an enthusiastic tone. "Tomorrow morning, if they''re human then they should at least take breaks and change patrols," Flynn said, but after hearing from Zhang what they look like and how they operate, there''s a likely chance they''re professionals. Due to the evolution of beasts, night times have now become even more heavily guarded than before. If something happens at night and a beast manages to slip through into the city it could cause a massacre, and it has happened before, about 1 month after the evolution. They make sure to now make the same mistake twice. "Alright, get some good sleep, we don''t want anyone sleeping on the job," Flynn said, he was the most worried. Due to his compatibility, he still hasn''t got a tamed beast, it just didn''t feel right to be sending everyone on the mission but not going himself. Of course, he would be helping from a secure location near them, using the computer he might be able to hack into the lab systems, but that''s not likely. Most people didn''t sleep soundly that night, they were tossing and turning. They thought they would be used to it by now, the nervousness they got when they were going to do a mission. But it seems it''ll always be there, or it might just be because this wasn''t a normal mission. Lachlan slept the best. He hasn''t told anyone because he thought they would have discovered it by now, sleeping with your tamed beasts can easily get rid of the nervous feeling. It can for him anyway. It might not be as effective for Phoebe or Chloe, sleeping with a turtle or a crocodile doesn''t sound comfortable. Lachlan loved to sleep against his bird''s soft feathers, not to mention Temp has incredibly soft fur, and they always emitted a bit of heat keeping him warm. Lachlan still hasn''t moved from his original spot, sleeping in that same bed made from two couches. He''s got used to it, the view he gets is also astonishing. The sunlight lighting up the sky with a nice orange and purple hue, making the clouds look magical. Then there was the calm lake in front of him that reflected that image, making it look so much nicer. Lachlan woke up and went to have breakfast, he ate some cereal, it was still fairly early, and most people were still sleeping. He walked into one of the kid''s room, it had Sarah in it. She was still sleeping peacefully, she exhausted herself yesterday playing with the others. Lachlan walked back towards the kitchen, he heard someone else wake up. Turning the corner he saw Chloe and Flynn eating breakfast, just like him they also had some cereal. "Morning," Lachlan greeted them, he then walked past and outside. "Morning Lachlan," They both said as he walked past. Once outside, Lachlan walked towards the swinging chair or raindrop chair. It was a chair that was hanging from the roof, it was almost entirely encased by bamboo in the shape of a raindrop, there was a hole that people can go through to sit inside it. Lachlan sat there till everyone was finally ready, he walked in and they were all prepared. Flynn had a case in front of him that was filled with gadgets for everyone to use. He opened it up and gave everyone an earpiece, then he handed out the flash grenades and finally the smoke grenades. They didn''t have explosives, but they were for more high-profile missions, the missions where they wanted to stand out and get noticed. After they got what they needed they headed at the front door, Lachlan and Simon summoned their beasts and everyone hoped on. As they were all relatively strong or had someone strong hold onto them they could increase the pace. There were a few other people with them, they were in charge of guarding Flynn while he tries to hack the lab and make sure he''s able to escape without getting injured. They made it over to Perth in 3 hours. Lachlan and Simon dropped them off near the outskirts of the lab, due to it being built secretly it was a fair distance away from the city, making it much easier. Once they got off they all stretched their legs and groaned, their legs always felt dead after sitting for so long. They began to make their way to their respected spots, Lachlan, Simon, Zhang, Joe, and Zoe headed towards the base trying their best to make the minimal amount of noise. Georgia, Phoebe and Brianna followed along but stopped at certain points along the path, they then immediately summoned their beasts and spread out a bit. Chloe went separately, moving closer towards the road. She summoned her crocodiles and made them spread throughout the forest, hiding their large bodies in the shrubbery, all keeping their eyes towards the road. Flynn was where they landed with a laptop out, some people surrounding him on all four sides leaving no space unmonitored. Lachlan''s group was already at the lab, they had jumped onto the roof that had no cameras. They had already found a way in; however, it wasn''t exactly low-profile. Lachlan used his fire control to melt a hole in the steel, he did find it odd though, it felt a little too easy, easier than previous missions. "Geez, why''s it such a mess," Lachlan complained once they got it. The lab was a mess, the shrubbery looked it had already taken over the place. Vines were climbing the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Chloe on the other hand already got something, it was a military truck followed by a large number of military vehicles filled to the brim with soldiers. Fortunately, it was still roughly 2 kilometres away, meaning they had enough time to escape. "Guys get out now, the military is on their way," Chloe said in her mic, the tone in her voice was almost demanding, similar to when she has to discipline Sophie. "What, how?!" Flynn shouted, they just got here, even if the military found out right away it should take a bit of time before they can even start to move. Lachlan''s group, on the other hand, had heard the news and was just about to escape. But the guards appeared, hundreds of them rushing towards them on both sides of the hall. They were shocked by the sudden appearance of the guards but remained calm. "Analyse" "Shit," Lachlan muttered when he saw the screen. 77 Plant Beasts & Emotions Let loose -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ent Puppet Age: Adult (Doesn''t Age) Attribute: Wood Level: 43 STR: 25(+232), AGI: 30(+214), VIT: 50(+260) INT: 20(+186), PER: 25(+133), WIL: 0(+37) Weakness: Fire, Destroying the Ent, Destroying their real bodies Strengths: Always connected with the main body Description: Created by an Ent it received 50% of the Ent''s bonus stats. Its natural stats are the same for every puppet. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was shocked by the information, he scanned the rest of them and everything came out the same. Every single guard was a puppet. It also made sense to how they were found out so fast. Turns out, the moment they landed they had already been spotted. "If only we could tame it," Lachlan thought. They could use Flynn but if something bad were to happen they would lose him. ''But wait a minute, how is the military connected to it?'' Lachlan asked him. He quickly came to the realisation that this meant the Ent had already infiltrated the military. Probably through the puppets, as they were always connected to it. If a high-ranking soldier were to have come here and been turned into a puppet, it would make perfect sense as to why the military continues to come here, transporting people. ''Wait just a second'' Lachlan looked to his side towards the vines, since they were being surrounded by puppets, that could only mean they were too close to the main body for its comfort. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ent Age: Elder Attribute: Wood Level: 53 STR: 50(+465), AGI: 0(+429), VIT: 500(+521) INT: 67(+372), PER: 100(+267), WIL: 29(+74) Weakness: Fire, Destroying the main bodies roots Strengths: Creates Ent Puppets by consuming animals, can connect itself to all plant life surrounding Description: The tree that lived long enough to obtain sentience, gaining wisdom similar to mankind. Through its abilities it causes fear through the forests, forcing animals to submit to it through its overwhelming power. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan''s theory was right, they were completely surrounded by it since the beginning. He never thought that his first time coming across a plant beast it would be trying to kill him. He thought it would be gentler, maybe wise and old like those Ents in all the fantasy movies. Seeing Lachlan stare at it the vines began to wiggle, their tips that were hanging from the ceiling moved and pointed towards the group. They shot off towards them, fortunately, Lachlan had already discovered its ploy and was ready. He opened his mouth and exhaled, creating a massive fireball to shoot towards those vines, burning them to a crisp. The still surviving burnt vines and leaves fell around them, the puppets seemed to have felt that pain. Which likely meant that they shared everything with the Ent, including all 5 senses. Lachlan knew of something they could do to cause some more damage. "Simon, make sure we don''t get burnt!" Lachlan shouted out him before putting his hands together, smoke began to rise from them. Simon immediately realised what Lachlan was about to do. He quickly created water and spread droplets around them, almost forming a complete barrier. He wanted to leave some space for Lachlan''s attack. Lachlan bent over and smacked his hands on the ground, a circle of fire burst from them spreading to the surroundings, Simon, Zhang, Joe, and Zoe all jumped at the same time, just missing the fire. The flames travelled across all surfaces due to how much plant life was here, and it wouldn''t rest until it was all gone. The puppets were hit and lit into a blazing fire, the wood used to craft them began to burn and began ash. Lachlan knew there was something else they could do but wasn''t sure how well it would work, mainly because he learnt it in science before the evolution. He kept his hands where they were and used his control of the wind to give his flames a gentle breeze. The gentle breeze caused the flames to intensify and spread faster, cleaning out their hall in seconds. "We''re about to leave, we found what we wanted and are going to go back to the base," Lachlan said to his mic, letting everyone hear them. "Alright," They all said, as long as they got what they wanted then this operation could be counted as a success. Lachlan and his group jumped out the hole they previously made and dashed off the roof. They sprinted through the forest, picking up Brianna, Georgia, and Phoebe along the way. Chloe had already begun retreating when she noticed the military, her crocodiles quickly made there way back to her she unsummoned them. Once they made it back to Flynn, Lachlan summoned Temp, quickly getting everyone one they shot off. The moment they emerged from the shrubbery bullets flew past. Fortunately, the military was still far away so their accuracy was on point. But due to the sheer volume of bullets fired they were still hit a couple of times, but nowhere vital. Lachlan decided he would tell everyone once they were home, well, that was what he was going to do. But along the way home, Flynn was complaining about how he couldn''t get into its system, he couldn''t even find its system. "That''s because it wasn''t a lab," Lachlan''s statement confused them. "What do you mean?" Flynn asked he was extremely curious about this. "That whole building and surrounding vegetation have been taken over by an Ent," Lachlan explained. "You talking about one of those talking trees in Lord of the Rings?" Zhang asked, as Lord of the Rings was one of his favourite movies. "Yeah, except this one is not kind, but rather violent, it''s not an understatement to call it a tyrant," Lachlan said. "So how is the military involved?" Chloe asked, she was the first to notice the military and it certainly wasn''t a small size group. "From what I know, the Ent has possibly taken control over one of the military''s superiors. The Ent can create a puppet of any creature they eat, so should the superior get too close to the Ent''s mouth, they would have been eaten," Lachlan explained. "So the things being transported?" Simon asked with a grim expression, he could already piece together the clues but didn''t want it to be true. "Likely sacrifices, people that have probably tried creating riots, that way it makes sense for the military to take them away," Lachlan said. Everyone understood the Ent''s thinking, it made complete sense to take control of beasts and let them do their bidding than to do it itself. They all frowned at the thought though, while they didn''t like the military they didn''t want the Ent to take control of it. That only created a worse situation for them, especially if its got puppets higher up in the military. Should it have that then it would mean the military is controlled by it, it''ll have full control over Australia. They certainly couldn''t have that happen. "What if I tame it?" Flynn asked abruptly. While everyone thought about it there was too much risk. Especially considering that Flynn himself was not stronger than it, meaning the Ent wouldn''t recognise his strength. "No, that''s too risky," Chloe was the first to oppose his suggestion. "But it''s the first time I''ll even have a chance to tame something," Flynn tried to argue back, but Chloe wouldn''t have it. "You don''t need to tame anything, it''s alright to be normal," Chloe said calmly. "But it isn''t!" Flynn shouted back at her. "Huh," Chloe was shocked, it was the first time Flynn has acted like this. "Do you think I like sending my only friends on missions where there''s a chance they might not all come back. Do you think I want to be constantly protected, being the biggest burden in the group, all because I don''t have a tamed beast? Do you know how pathetic I feel when I see you all takes hits that were directed at me, or when you have to carry me because I''m too slow, or when I don''t even have a choice to join any missions because I''m too weak? Tell me, do you?" Flynn finally let his emotions loose, along with 6 months of his concerns and thoughts. Everyone went quiet, no one knew that these were Flynn''s real thoughts every time they did something for him. They thought they were being nice, but that kindness also made Flynn feel pathetic. As for his final question, they didn''t know. Most of them have always been strong, and when they weren''t they at least had a tame. They''ve already forgotten what it''s like to be a normal person. 78 Recognition "We didn''t know you felt like that," Chloe said with her voice quivering. She never knew that her husband was going through that, she never realised. "Of course you wouldn''t, almost no one would. Even all the people taking care of the children wouldn''t, they aren''t in charge of sending you all on missions," Flynn said, his emotions changing his tone. "Alright, I''ll help," Lachlan abruptly said at the front, his head turned towards them just so only one side of his face could be seen. Chloe''s gaze snapped towards him, her eyes were filled with curiosity, "Why the change of heart, you also didn''t want him to try it". "That''s because I kind of do know what he feels, although it wasn''t as bad. During my travels to Mount Barker with my family, they were the ones protecting me, although I eventually got my first tame during that trip, before that, I was basically dead weight and another mouth to feed," Lachlan said. Dylan didn''t go on the mission, so he wasn''t there to hear it, of course he would quickly disagree. Although Lachlan could be counted as dead weight at the start, during the ambush by the lake if Lachlan wasn''t there they wouldn''t have made it would alive. "Thanks, just having you there would be enough," Flynn said happily, a small smile flashed across his face. "No!" Chloe shouted, "I''ll come along as well, the more people the easier it is for this mission to succeed without any problems". "Alright, we''ll go along as well," Simon said dejectedly, although he wasn''t too keen on going back and fight that thing, if they could get it on their side then that would be one powerful ally. After that everyone began to agree, then it was down to planning. It was quickly decided that this would be a blitz operation, get in, get what they need then get out as fast as possible. They were all going to be in charge of keeping the guards off them, not to mention now they know they''ll be found out the moment they get there, there was no need to try and go stealth. Lachlan got Temp to turn around, unfortunately, they were roughly 2 hours away from Perth. Fortunately, they still had everything they needed and didn''t need a restock. In addition, the military should have moved out by now, hopefully. As they made their way they discussed their way of entrance. Lachlan suggested they just blast the building to bits, that was quickly rejected as they wanted the Ent to still be alive. After a bit more discussion they finally decided they would make a hole through all the walls and if their theory was right then the main body was near where they entered. Once they made it back they quickly realised the vehicles were still there, but no one was in them. Lachlan already had a bad feeling about this, if the Ent''s puppet told them to go into the building then they could have all been eaten. The hole they left previously was still there, they flew to it and jumped down. They were greeted by an empty hall and complete silence. The hall still smelt a bit like burnt leaves but aside from that it was completely clean, there wasn''t even a body of the burnt puppets anywhere. Lachlan put his hand against the hall, not too long after the metal began to melt and drip down, creating a perfect hole for them to walk through. But what they saw was rather shocking, they quickly went through the hole to get a better view. They were on some railing at the top of the building that was connected to the wall. Looking over the railing there was a massive tree in the middle of what seems to be a garden, surrounding it was the bodies of soldiers, each had a hole either through the head or heart. Around them were bundles of branches, it looked like it would have formed a human. Which means they were the puppets, they had been destroyed. But after taking a closer look at the Ent it seems the fight didn''t go exactly how they expected. Branches of the Ent could be seen scattered across the ground, there were also chips in its body that excreted sap. Near the roots there were a couple of broken roots, it looked like there was an explosion. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ent Age: Elder Attribute: Wood Level: 53 STR: 50(+465), AGI: 0(+429), VIT: 5(+521) INT: 67(+372), PER: 100(+267), WIL: 36(+74) Weakness: Fire, Destroying the main bodies roots Strengths: Creates Ent Puppets by consuming animals, can connect itself to all plant life surrounding Description: The tree that lived long enough to obtain sentience, gaining wisdom similar to mankind. Through its abilities it causes fear through the forests, forcing animals to submit to it through its overwhelming power. -------------------------------------------------------- "What do you want humans?" A deep booming voice resounded through the building, it sounded like an ancient and wise old man, one that has experienced the world. The roots from the ceiling turned towards them, one of them shooting at them at a breathtaking speed, arriving in front of them in an instant. Lachlan already saw it coming appeared in front of it, he quickly held out his palm and let the vine smash into it, causing a loud whip-like sound to spread throughout the building. In front of the group was Lachlan, who had a vine caught in the palms of his hands. During that collision he didn''t move at all and stood his ground, making sure the Ent realises the difference in strength. "You are too strong for me, what do you want?" The voice became more distinct and the source of it was seen. A face on the tree could be seen coming into shape, its wooden eyes staring at them. "I want to tame you," Flynn walked to the front of the group, his eyes shone of determination with a body stance that demanded respect. "You are too weak to tame me, few have tried but all have failed," the Ent said, what he was saying was true. But they failed due to a different reason, the chances of them being compatible with plants is low and if they are compatible, their compatibility of plants might be too low. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure, there could very well be a limit to what people can tame depending on compatibility. "I''ll still give it a try," Flynn said with determination. Although the Ent thought it was foolish he wouldn''t mind. A vine came down from the ceiling and wrapped around Flynn before bringing him over to the Ent. The group all jumped down and walked towards he Ent, making sure to never let their eyes leave Flynn. Once they reached the Ent, Flynn bent over and grabbed onto a root that stuck out of the ground, "Let me tame you". The area was then engulfed by light that, it quickly disappeared after and Flynn was on the ground screaming in pain, a tattoo of a tree of his arm was glowing red and burning hot. Just as it seemed to darken and solidify something happened. It was like someone pulled a massive prank on them, but what they were seeing was happening in front of their eyes. And Lachlan and say for certain that the Ent doesn''t have the ability to force them into an illusion. The tattoo that was engraved in Flynn''s arm began to disappear, fading away to leave a completely clean arm. "Just as I told you, you are too weak to tame me," the Ent said with a slightly disappointed tone, it thought for a second that this human might have a chance, but just like the rest, he failed. "Why couldn''t he tame you?" Lachlan asked, he was extremely curious about it since every requirement was met. Flynn is compatible with plants, the Ent was willing to become Flynn''s tamed beast, yet it still didn''t work, it didn''t make any sense. "He''s too weak, what don''t you understand about that?" the Ent asked back, he explained it clearly that Flynn was just too weak to tame him a couple of times. "But that''s never happened before," Lachlan tried to argue back, there was nothing that he''s seen that says that taming can''t work. "The difference in strength is too much," the Ent attempted to explain, Lachlan shut up and listened. "Due to the difference being too large his body can''t handle the change, it''s too much growth in too little of a time period, it just doesn''t work". Everyone was enlightened, it did make complete sense. While all their beasts were strong, the difference in their strength when they tamed them wasn''t that different. Even with Temp and Lachlan, although Temp''s natural strength was more, Lachlan''s bonus stats easily overcame it, not to mention, Lachlan was also incredibly strong. There could also be another side, it was the level. It would make complete sense that a low-level human can''t tame a high-level beast. "However, there is something I could do, but you will need to pass my test," the Ent said. Flynn puffed out his chest, "I''ll take on that test". "Haha, no need to try and prove your strength, it''s not a test for that, but rather a test for your most important muscle, the brain," the Ent said. "So you''re going to test my intelligence?" Flynn asked while tilting his head. "Yes," the Ent confirmed. "Alright, ask away," Flynn was ready. Although he has never said it out loud, he was sure that he was the smartest in the group, at least when it comes to theory. "I can only live when there is light but will die when the light touches me. What am I?" the Ent asked. It was riddles, the Ent was going to ask Flynn a bunch of riddles. "A shadow," Flynn answered quickly, back when he was younger he loved reading riddles and answering them, he would even play with friends. "You throw away the out and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?" "Corn," Flynn answered with a smirk, he knew this one well since it worked the best on his friends. "I am the beginning of sorrows and at the end of sickness. I am always at risk, yet never in danger. What am I?" "The letter s" Flynn was getting more and more confident, it was too easy for him. "Are you afraid of anything?" the Ent asked, its eyes staring through Flynn''s soul causing him to shiver and his hairs to stand up. "Yes," Although Flynn was shocked by the sudden change in questions he could still answer them. "What are you afraid of?" the Ent asked, its question getting more personal. "I''m afraid of dying, I''m afraid of losing any of my close friends, I''m afraid of failing to save people, I''m afraid of always remaining weak and powerless," Flynn began to get emotional, but that didn''t stop him from answering truthfully. "What would you do for the strength to make sure that fear never comes true?" the Ent asked, its voice getting louder and deeper. "If I have to lose an arm and a leg for that strength then I''ll lose them," Flynn answered the final question as the Ent stopped asked. Flynn was nervously waiting for the Ent to tell him how he did. "Good, no, great!" the Ent shouted loudly, its voice echoing through the surrounding area in excitement. The ground began to shake, the roots were moving, they were going up and causing the group to rupture. The Ent was standing on its roots, beneath it was a large seed. It looked like a normal plant seed but of course, many times larger. 79 Small Sacrifice and the Start of Trouble Flynn stood there speechless, although the Ent hasn''t said it, he knew what he had to do after connecting the clues. Although it wasn''t as good as having a high-level beast, he could train it to that level, especially with the help of others. "Take it, once you take it out the ground my life will end, but its life will start," the Ent abruptly gave them some new information, they didn''t know the seed was so important to its life. "How do I hatch it?" Flynn asked. Although he was shocked by the fact that the Ent was basically giving its life, granted he didn''t know the Ent was already at the end of its life, he still needed the tame even if it seemed greedy. "You must give it your blood, and I don''t mean a couple of drops, that won''t be enough to even start the hatching, you need to give up a long of blood," the Ent explained. Lachlan was a bit shocked as he had already dealt with eggs before, but he also wasn''t too surprised. An egg and a seed were completely different, the outer shell for a seed was many times harder than an egg, depending on the egg of course. But considering that this seed was larger than an ostrich egg, the shell must be insanely tough. "You must also plant it quickly after it begins to sprout," the Ent said. More information that made sense, which also meant they needed to sprout it at home. That is where they were going to plant it, its pretty much self-aware security that grew with age. "Alright, so you''re ready to accept death?" Flynn asked, he was still cautious of the fact that the Ent probably didn''t want to die yet, he couldn''t help but think that the Ent was up to something. Flynn began to walk closer, the others were ready to pounce if needed but as Flynn got closer and closer it didn''t seem like the Ent was going to do anything. It seemed to have completely accepted its death but wanted to keep its lineage going. Flynn grabbed onto the seed, it was smooth, like all its normal bumps were sanded down and polished with wax. With his grip on the seed he began to pull, Flynn was struggling so much that he began using his entire body. Veins began to pop out of his skin and his face went red, his mouth was clenched as he pulled with all his might. Finally, after it seemed like he wasn''t able to do it he finally managed to pull it off. Flynn tumbled back at the sudden absence of resistance, landing flat on his ass. In his hands was the massive seed, he began to cry at the thought that he would finally have a tamed beast, not to mention a strong one. "Good job," the Ent said as its deep and booming voice began to fade away, the face that looked engraved on the tree began to relax, its eyes were shut, and mouth closed. "Analyse" Nothing came up, meaning it was finally dead. Looking towards the ditch left by Ent standing up, Flynn could be seen crying with tears of joy and he hugged the seed, it seemed like he would fight anyone that tried to take it. Chloe walked behind Flynn and wrapped her arms around him and the seed, her hair draped over Flynn''s face, tears had welled inside her eyes and rolled down her cheeks onto Flynn''s lap. Although Lachlan didn''t want to disturb this rather peaceful scene, they need to get out before more soldiers come, then they''ll be in even more trouble, "Alrighty, we should get going now," he softly said. Flynn turned his face towards Lachlan and nodded, Chloe stood back up and helped Flynn off the ground. Once they were ready they jumped back up to the railing, Chloe grabbed onto Flynn and carried him up. They then walked through the hole in the wall and hopped out of the hall through the hole in the ceiling. Once they were outside Lachlan summoned Temp and they all got ready to fly off, but just as Temp was spreading its wings and array of bullets were shot at them. Lachlan got Temp to shield them with its wings, Chloe immediately got in front of Flynn to protect him, everyone else got into defensive positions. "Go!" Lachlan shouted. Temp Screeched and shot off, Lachlan quickly formed an air barrier around them, but just before it was fully formed they managed to see who was attacking them. It was the military, a force much larger than the one previously sent. It was fully armed, even bring along tanks, there were even a few helicopters, Lachlan knew they needed to do something. Temp opened its wings and flapped, a large burst of wind launched them. Temp had used its control over the wind to increase their speed, but because it was focusing its control over something else, the group felt the full g-force. Fortunately, they were ready for such a thing, but that didn''t mean some of them weren''t injured. Temp quickly changed its control, lessening the g-force on their bodies. Flynn felt some of his bone crack, he had been holding onto Chloe who had a tight grip on Temp, but the force was just too much for his bones. Similar to him though, the other guards they had with them that guarded Flynn had their shoulders dislocated, some of the bones in their hands were also fractured due to the sudden force. However, although it was painful they couldn''t do anything about it currently, they had to make it back to base before they could get the proper medical attention. Lachlan thought about giving them a berry, but he felt they should only be used when someone lost a limb, at least that way they can get more use out of it. He had tried having another one to heal some small wounds, but nothing happened, so he quickly told everyone that they were for life and death emergencies. Their journey back felt like forever, Flynn was constantly in pain and every time he moved he would groan, the others were too bad, they just sat silently. Flynn still had the seed in his arms, staring at it with glossy eyes, possibly from the pain or the joy. Chloe was by his side, never letting go of him. Once they made it back the children came running out, quickly gathering around them. Sarah grabbed onto Lachlan''s legs, she turned her face up and smiled at Lachlan. Lachlan put his hand on her head and rubbed it, her smile widened. Simon was the next person to walk through the door, followed by Maddie. He was relieved to see that they weren''t missing anyone, but he did notice some of them were injured, including Flynn. Once his gaze locked on Flynn that''s when he noticed the giant seed in his arms. "Woah, what are you doing with that?" Simon asked childishly, of course, he knew they were going to plant it but he just wanted to change the mood. "Planting it here, can you get a shovel?" Flynn asked, he wanted it to sprout already. "No need," Joe abrupt said from behind them. He held his hand out, focusing in on a point in the grass. It began to shake and split apart, the loose earth was lifted up and placed by the side, "Now you can plant it". "Thanks," Flynn ran towards the hole and placed the seed inside, a grin was plastered across his face. He sprinted inside, grabbed a knife and came back out. "Hey, you should let me give the blood," Chloe said, she didn''t want to see her husband cut himself, it just didn''t feel right. "No, he has to be the one to do it, otherwise the seed won''t recognise Flynn has its owner," Lachlan said from the side, he had already experienced this stuff before, but Chloe and probably everyone else hasn''t. "Alright," Chloe backed off, just from the tone from Lachlan''s voice she could tell he was certain. Flynn looked towards the seed and placed his hand a few inches above it. Placing the sharp edge of the blade no his skin he slashed at his hand, cutting deep. His blood gushed out and soaked the seed, Chloe quickly panicked and ran inside, grabbing some cloth and a medkit. Flynn''s face was clenched, although the pain wasn''t as bad as trying to tame the Ent, it was still incredibly painful. His skin began to go pale, but he kept going, Chloe was right next to him ready to stitch him up, she had learnt how during the 6 months, as people would constantly get injured and they didn''t have enough helpers. *Crack* Flynn quickly put his hand over to Chloe who rapidly began to seal the wound, she thought Flynn was an idiot for making such a big one. Flynn''s attention though was entirely on the seed that was beginning to hatch, the top of its shell had a large crack that went down its side. Slowly, a green stem sprouted its way out of the shell, revealing itself as it extended itself out of the ground. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ent Age: Infant Attribute: Wood Level: 0 STR: 10, AGI: 0, VIT: 500 INT: 5, PER: 10, WIL: 25 Weakness: Fire, Destroying the main bodies roots Strengths: Creates Ent Puppets by consuming animals, can connect itself to all plant life surrounding Description: The tree that lived long enough to obtain sentience, gaining wisdom similar to mankind. Through its abilities it causes fear through the forests, forcing animals to submit to it through its overwhelming power. -------------------------------------------------------- It was incredibly weak, aside from its overwhelming vitality it was rather normal. Lachlan found it impressive that such a beast could become so strong, but with its abilities, it makes sense as to how it did it. *Bang*Bang*Bang* Lachlan heard someone banging against their front door rapidly, he wondered who it could be. He left everyone to enjoy the seedling and went to the door, opening it he saw a rather fat man, it was one of the parents. He was panting and sweat was rolling down his face, it seems as though he sprinted here. "What''s up?" Lachlan asked. The man looked nervous, he was hesitant but finally said what was on his mind, "Listen, now why I love what you are all doing, I didn''t join a group that massacres people". Lachlan was stunned, he didn''t know what the guy was talking about, "What do you mean, we haven''t attacked anyone yet" Of course excluding Lachlan''s first burst of outrage towards the military, but even then, he didn''t kill them all. "You haven''t seen the news yet?" The man asked, he was a bit shocked that the boy in front of him didn''t know yet, he should be one of the first people to know. 80 Framed Lachlan stood by the door as the guy walked away, through a small conversation he managed to convince the man that they really didn''t have anything to do with it. After that, he ran through the house to get to the TV and turn it on. The first thing he saw was the headline ''Massacre at Perth Caused by Extremist Group'' they were straight out calling Bloodied Wings an extremist group, a terrorist group. He listened in on the reporter as she talked about the incident. "Earlier toward at Perth there was a bloodbath, caused by the extremist group Bloodied Wings, this was the first time they''ve struck back and it''s shocking to say the least. 57 soldiers were killed, including high ranking ones, "This will be seen as an act of terrorism," Defence Minister says at a conference". Lachlan just watched it shocked, although he knew the government liked to twist black and white to make them look good and everything, but this was a bit much. However, it could also be seen as to why they might think they actually did it. They certainly didn''t clean all the corpses on the ground, didn''t think they needed to. Oh how sorely mistaken Lachlan was. Simon walked through the door, he already had enough of staring at a seed. He looked at Lachlan who seemed rather focused on the TV, "What you watch?" Simon tried to get a better look, but it just seemed like he was watching the news, nothing odd. "Well, we''ve now been labelled as an extremist group, they''re even calling us terrorist for some reason," Lachlan said rather nonchalantly, of course inside he was fuming. This made everything much more difficult, as people would begin to doubt their motives. "Huh," Simon thought he didn''t hear Lachlan right, even though his perception is rather high he hoped he heard Lachlan wrong, "Can you repeat that?" "Yeah, it''s true. The government has labelled us as a terrorist group, now they''re really pushing the argument that we''re just a bunch of intelligent beasts in human bodies. How ridiculous,'' Lachlan sat down on the couch and put his feet on the table, he laid his head back and looked like he was about to go to sleep. "This isn''t really a time to go to sleep is it?" Simon asked, he was rather annoyed that Lachlan isn''t doing anything. There had to be something they could do that would lessen the pressure on them, otherwise they''ll lose quite a few members. After a few minutes of silence between Simon and Lachlan the rest of the group just walked through the door, Flynn still had a grin plastered across his face, every couple of seconds he would turn back to look at the sapling in the ground. Although it took a while for it to grow, it had finally grown enough, and he tamed it, he finally had a tamed beast. Chloe was by his side holding onto his arms, she was happy as she could be. Seeing her husband so happy was rather joyful, it was like he became a kid again. "What''s going on in here?" Georgia asked, Lachlan looked rather exhausted on the couch while Simon was staring at Lachlan with daggers in his eyes. "We''re now a terrorist group, the damn government has labelled us as a terrorist group, some even saying we aren''t human but are just intelligent beasts," Simon angrily said, his fist was clenched rather hard as veins could be seen popping out of his arms. "What!" The rest of the group shouted, this didn''t make any sense, they haven''t done anything bad yet, let alone become a terrorist group. "Yeah, it seems we''re getting blamed for the massacre at Perth, they''re even going to the extent of saying that the beast horde that attacked them a few weeks ago was instigated by us as well," Simon had been watching the news for a bit and more and more events were put onto them. Even events where they weren''t even in the country, back months ago when they were on the island. Every time they connected them to more horrific events Simon would get more annoyed, by now he was fuming, he looked like a flame would burst out of his nose and smoke out his ears in a minute. "But that can''t be right, we didn''t do anything," Flynn tried to logically think this out. When they were at Perth the soldiers were already dead, they were killed by the Ent which the military should know if they keep up constant communications. Why were they getting the blame for it, unless there was a reason? "They''re framing us," Lachlan said, his face turned towards the group. At the start, he thought this would be the case. The government has tried to do it before, but because their group hasn''t actually done many violent things that were caught on camera, they were unable to succeed. But now they''ve got a bunch of ''evidence'' they could use. Although everyone was thinking that they''d rather not believe it, even though Bloodied Wings and the government have different ideas about hybrids, they were still all humans. However, now that they''ve been classified as an extremist group or intelligent beasts, either way, people would begin to lose trust in them. "Anything happened yet?" Flynn asked. "Indeed, one of the parents down the road had some concerns with us ''massacring soldiers'' and there will probably be more like him, people beginning to doubt us," Lachlan explained, he seemed rather tired of everything. Dealing with the government and military at every corner, taking care of supplies and other resources, constantly fighting and travelling. Just all the stress was building up. He was still a child, after all, it''s rather surprising he even managed to make it this far without breaking. "What''s wrong?" Phoebe asked, she noticed that Lachlan was acting strange, he would usually be the first to act against this but now he seemed rather tired. Although, she too was having a bit of trouble dealing with the stress. "I''m just tired, dealing with so many troublesome people is beginning to annoy me, and there''s also the government and military trying everything to cause trouble for us. To be honest, I just really want to go back to the island, it was much simpler times," What Lachlan said did cause everyone to think. They all also missed those times, when the only thing that was on their mind was training. Dealing with people is really tiring and dealing with people that scheme against them is even worse. But they couldn''t give up yet, they still had a lot to do. "If you need a break take one, go back to the island and train till your heart''s content, we''ll take care of everything here," Chloe abruptly said, she had expected this to happen ages ago. She knew Lachlan was still young, letting him carry such a huge burden was never a great idea. "But you guy will need me," Lachlan said, he was a bit stunned by what Chloe said. "Yeah, we need you in good condition, and right now, you are not in good condition," Chloe explained. Lachlan felt that, although he wanted to argue he knew himself that he just wasn''t in the right mindset, "Alright, but I''ll stay until we calm down this situation". "Good, you can be in charge of taking care of the children, we''ll take care of his situation," Chloe said. There was another motive for doing this, it seems Lachlan has forgotten why he began to this operation. He needs to spend more time with the children, especially his sister, hopefully, he will get his mind out of the gutter. Lachlan had always been going on the operations, no matter where they were he would go. Meaning he limited the amount of time he could spend with his sister, which is also why his sister values the time he is here and is almost always with him. 81 Ridding His Doubts The next morning Lachlan woke up later than usual. Since he had some time to relax he would definitely get back on the hours his missed because of certain operations. Some of the operations he participated in would begin at night or go for the whole day, he would always be exhausted but have to wake up early the next day for another meeting or mission. Getting up he walked downstairs into the kitchen where he found no one. Lachlan suddenly remembered that everyone was out trying to calm the situation down, get rid of people''s doubts about them. But this was an operation that Lachlan would stay home for, or more specific, be forced to stay home. "Morning Lachlan!" Sarah came running through the door from the backyard, going straight to Lachlan to give him a hug. She would do that every morning that Lachlan was at the house, as sometimes Lachlan would either still be sleeping because of a previous mission or already be out on another mission. Sarah really cherished her time with Lachlan. "Morning Sarah," Lachlan said with a smile as he picked Sarah up, tossing her into the air and catching her. "Haha, stop it," Sarah loved it. She trusted her brother to never let her fall and he never failed her. She also loved heights, which is why she''s picked up a habit of climbing trees, trying the make it to the top. And sometimes she does make it. Although it hasn''t grown yet, she would probably love to climb a fully-grown Ent. Lachlan put her down and followed her outside to where the other children were. They were all the children he found back at Mount Barker, the ones hidden in the basement. He went a bit further and sat on some stairs, the children had noticed him and stopped what they were doing to look. "Do you want to play with us?" One of the kids asked. It was a boy who was holding a soccer ball, the children behind him were also staring, waiting for an answer. "Sure, why not," Lachlan casually said. The children''s eyes lit up with joy, they made another friend. Even though Lachlan saved the kids that''s what they saw him as, their saviour. They didn''t really expect him to be their friend or anything, they just thought it would be nice. Lachlan went down to the backyard where a small game of soccer was happening. The teams had been rearranged so it was just Lachlan, Sarah, and Faith was on one team vs the rest. They said that having one adult equals to 6 players and there will be 8 players on each team. The two teams would be red and blue, Lachlan and Sarah were blue. Although Lachlan could easily beat them, that would be no fun. So he decided he would try to win only using a small fraction of his abilities. The red team started with the ball and quickly got the game rolling. They were well coordinated, passing back and forward to get around Sarah who began to pout. There was no goalie for both teams, so it was just a match of who can get it past everyone. After getting the ball past Sarah their next opponent was Lachlan, who was not going to go easy on them just because they''re kids. He quickly stole the ball from Haylen and made his way through the team, either weaving past their side or even just jumping over them. Just as he was about to score a foot came out of nowhere through his legs and just tapped the ball enough to mess him up. Looking behind him he realised it was Bradley. It was rather astonishing that he could move like that, weaving his legs through Lachlan''s. It even surprised Lachlan, he hadn''t experienced anything like it. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bradley Tyson (Human Hybrid) Age: 6 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Perfect) Level: 0 STR: 13, AGI: 16, VIT: 20 INT: 6, PER: 7, WIL: 2 Weakness: Everything Strengths: Flexibility Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Indeed, just as I thought'' Lachlan knew that the children''s bodies experienced certain changes, but he was never completely sure whether they were good or not. But it seems they were beginning to adopt some of their compatibility''s key features. And for a snake, flexibility was certainly one of them. There was also Jackson Maine whose compatibility was with an Eagle. Although he did grow wings, they were still rather small and not strong. As such, for now, they were just dead weight and sometimes got in the way when he slept. His sister Sarah was compatible with amphibians, which gave her webbed feet and hands, giving her an edge on slippery surfaces. Aside from that Lachlan wasn''t sure whether or not there was any other benefit. There were a few others that just had a heightened sense, which would be great in battle or tracking someone down. But for now, it wasn''t the best thing that could happen or the worse. The game continued for another 40 minutes. By the end of it, there was a clear winner, it was the kids. They were ecstatic that they beat an adult, well that''s what they saw Lachlan as anyway. Sarah was rather grumpy they lost while Faith didn''t mind, she had fun and that was all that mattered to her. The red team was hugging each other and some of the boy''s chest bumped. Their faces covered with a large smile, their eyes filled with joy and accomplishment. ''Huh, maybe I should have had a break sooner'' Lachlan thought to himself. He enjoyed it, just relaxing and playing with the children brought him some peace, it also brought back memories from when he began. When he was enraged to find out the military was murdering these children because they were different and had beast-like features. He looked at their wide childish smiles and confirmed something, ''Indeed, there''s nothing wrong with these children, they''re just like me from years ago''. Then after looking at how weak they are, he confirmed something else in his mind, ''I need to get stronger, strong enough to where the government and military will fear me, strong enough to protect these children that trust me''. After that, they went inside to have a quick break and turned on the TV to watch something. There were a few channels that played cartoons, some of which even Lachlan enjoyed. Lachlan enjoyed Pok¨¦mon the most, even if it didn''t make sense as to why Ash was still 10 years old or the fact that he still gets beat in those first gyms with a Pikachu he has had since the beginning. There were a few more adult cartoons, such as Rick and Morty, but he can''t be showing that to the children. Not yet anyway. Lachlan and the children continued to relax till lunchtime, which is when the rest of the group came back. Looking at them walk past Lachlan realised they all looked exhausted, their eyes were drowsy while they were slightly panting. "How''s everything go?" Lachlan asked. The group did go to calm their members, of course not all of them yet but hey started here and spread out a bit. They were going to separate and go to different parts throughout Australia to calm the rest. "All things considered. Good,'' Flynn said as he slouched on the kitchen chair and put his head back. "We managed to get rid of doubts that people had of us in the area, but oh boy was that mentally draining, some people were just so stubborn," Chloe complained as she was one of the main speakers. The others were Flynn, Simon and Phoebe. The rest were there in case there were any attacks. "How''re things here?" Phoebe asked. She was glad Lachlan took a break, he really deserved it. "Great, it was really relaxing. Played a game of soccer with the children then watched TV with them, they all really enjoyed it," Lachlan said. "Good, so when do you think you''ll leave?" Flynn asked. It was something they''ve agreed on, even though he said that he''ll leave after they deal with the situation he might have changed his mind. "In a couple of days, I plan to spend those days with these children and especially my sister. I am going to leave her and make her sad again," Lachlan was rather disheartened by the reminder, even though he knew he needs strength. Hopefully, his sister can understand him. 82 Finding a Beas The next day he decided to get something his sister will remember him for, something that she''ll have protect her and become her friend, a beast. Amphibians weren''t rare, but he would have to search for a good one, he wasn''t going to give his sister something someone could find anywhere in the wild. No, he wanted to get her something that''s extremely rare. He talked to the others about it and they didn''t mind, they got Maddie and Flynn to take care of the children in Lachlan''s stead. As for Sarah, Lachlan and she had a long discussion about what she wants. Although it took a while to narrow it down they finally got there. She wanted it to be either be cute or beautiful, she didn''t want to accept anything else. She wanted to stun her friends when she summons it, something that could have a grand entrance. This is where it troubled Lachlan though. Most beasts had turned vicious through the evolution, and any that hadn''t have such a change is either dead, too strong for her to tame or just far to difficult to find. They might have gotten an evolution where their abilities at steal heavily increase, meaning they won''t be able to find it unless they comb through one area after another. Lachlan asked the others for advice, asking where he would be able to find amphibians or at least where he could start to search for them. They all suggested lakes or rivers near the edges of Australia, so Lachlan decided to go for that. He had already looked through the lake next to their house, but it didn''t have anything rare, he determined the beasts in the lake were all common as can be. While the ones that were rare had long since fled once they got there. Lachlan brought Sarah along with him for this small journey, it would be some good family bonding time which is something Lachlan and Sarah needed more of. They first went around the coasts of Victoria, checking any small or big lakes. Although they found some rather strong and promising beasts they were all too hideous, to the point where Sarah almost vomited after seeing one. It was called a spitting toad and just as its name entails, it likes to spit. There was only one of them in the lake, so Lachlan thought it was rare and wanted Sarah to tame it, but Sarah hated that it likes to spit and refused to tame such a thing. It was a shame though, Lachlan thought it had some good potential being a ranged shooter. He continued his journey with his sister and stopped by the coasts in South Australia. They always had the maps open as to avoid running into intelligent beasts. Although Lachlan was confident he could defeat or at least run away from them, protecting his sister at the same time would prove difficult. At mid-day they were near the edge of South Australia and Western Australia, sitting at an abandoned restaurant eating some meat Lachlan quickly hunted on their way over. It was a rather large rabbit that he killed, but its meat tasted delicious. They searched half the coasts of Western Australia only to be disappointed time and time again, coming across the countless beasts they could have tamed, only for it not to work because they''re too ugly or too strong. They were near the top left corner of Western Australia when they decided to head back home across the massive outback. But that''s when their worries finally stop, they somehow managed to find a beast in the middle of Australia that fit Sarah''s requirements, kind of. It was a salamander. As they were flying past they almost didn''t notice it, they were flying high in the air and the salamander blended with its surroundings. Lachlan got closer to inspect it better. The salamander''s body was 10 metres long but only 2 metres wide. It almost looked like a snake due to its tiny limbs, which is also why Lachlan almost missed it. The body of the salamander was a light brown ¨C red, making it blend with the ground. It didn''t have any fancy patterns across its body, just the one colour. As for the reason why this fit Sarah''s requirements, it''s because of the salamander''s head, which was relatively large. It looked both cute and stupid at the same time, making Sarah want it more. Of course, although it supposedly ''fits'' Sarah''s requirements. That''s because those requirements have long since dropped after searching all day. However, there is one problem they''ll face with the salamander. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Desert Salamander Age: Adult Attribute: Fire/Earth Level: 31 STR: 32(+136), AGI: 21(+119), VIT: 50(+116) INT: 19(+10), PER: 24(+25), WIL: 17(+7) Weakness: Scared of Fighting, slow moving Strengths: Fire Control (Level 10), Earth Control (Level 6), tough skin and thick bones Description: A salamander that was thrown into the desert and forced to survive by adapting its body to the environment. This adaption made it stronger, toughening it up to survive against the predators of the harsh landscape. -------------------------------------------------------- The problem was that it was too strong for Sarah to tame. Its level and Sarah''s were too far apart for her to tame it. Although they could try since it might be different for hybrids, Lachlan was rather afraid of causing his sister pain. So, he hatched another plan. To wait and see if it has children, then he''d go down, beat the Salamander up and get Sarah to tame the child. After that, the usual thing will happen. Lachlan will cut the Salamander and drench the baby in its parent''s blood. Yes, it sounds like a horrible thing to do. But, it''s survival of the fittest now and Lachlan wants to make sure Sarah can protect herself. Later that even when the sun was beginning to go down the Salamander began moving in a straight direction. Lachlan was excited, it could be going to its eggs or babies. Lachlan followed above it for half n hour, waiting to see what it does. It did go back to its home alright, but there was nothing there. Lachlan got so annoyed he sliced and diced the salamander up right then and there and stormed out the cave. When he returned to Temp his sister was on top looking rather sad that they couldn''t tame it. "Don''t worry, we''ll find you something tomorrow, there''s still plenty of Australia to search," Lachlan patted Sarah''s head and talked to her nicely. Sarah nodded and laid down in Lachlan''s lap. This was one of the first big trips for her, as such, it was rather draining on her body, so she fell asleep. Of course, Lachlan kept hold of her and made the ride home as gentle and calm as possible. Once they made it back Lachlan carried Sarah in his arms back to her bed and laid her down before putting the bedsheets over her. She didn''t wake up throughout the whole trip back or the transition, which was a little accomplishment for Lachlan. Lachlan went to bed peacefully after having a nice hot shower to wash the dirt that covers him. He went to his balcony and relaxed out there, the cold breeze gently laying him to sleep. *Bang* Lachlan woke up abruptly to the sound of fighting outside their house. The fighting was happening in front of him above the lake. The fight was between Zhang and a rather large water beast, one that looked rather familiar. "Wait just a minute," Lachlan was shocked and happy when he saw what it was. It was a salamander, and this one looked rather majestic and derpy at the same time. His sister would love to tame it, as long as they can find its babies Lachlan would be through the roof. 83 Find the Eggs The body of the salamander wasn''t too massive. Only reaching 5 metres long while it was roughly 1 metre thick. What did make it rather unique and was the reason that Lachlan knew Sarah would long it, is its wings. Unfortunately, they weren''t real wings so Lachlan couldn''t tame it. They were wings made out of water, most likely using its control over water to create something like that. Lachlan never thought of using his elements to create wings, rather no one has. It also has a wing rings that surrounds its body that is also made of water. After watching Zhang fight the salamander for a minute he could determine that those rings were both for defensive and offensive moves. Whenever Zhang would through a punch or use an elemental move on it the salamander would create a water barrier through those rings. And whenever Zhang let his guard down for a moment water blades would be shot from them. It seems this salamander relies heavily on its control over water, as such, it has probably trained through constant battles for it to be so efficient at fighting as it did. ''Maybe we can get to that level'' Lachlan thought about the training he could do now. He was still going to go on that training trip, now he had another part for his routine. It looked like an extremely useful as well, he could create even better barriers. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: River Salamander Age: Adult Attribute: Water Level: 45 STR: 42(+352), AGI: 31(+298), VIT: 50(+326) INT: 23(+47), PER: 28(+125), WIL: 19(+37) Weakness: Scared of fighting and lightning, slow at moving its legs Strengths: Water Control (Level 12), tough and slippery skin and thick bones Description: A salamander that lives within the river, attacking anything that puts its life in danger. It would usually try to avoid any danger but during mating season it gets aggressive and hunts for food that its children can eat when they hatch. -------------------------------------------------------- Just as Lachlan thought. It was way too strong for Sarah to tame, it would completely reject her, and Lachlan didn''t want her to feel all that pain for no reward. There was a bit of information that caught Lachlan''s interest. ''Hunts food for its children aye, then that means it has babies'' Lachlan''s thoughts were through the roof. Now he just needed to find them, once he does that his little sister will remember him forever. ''I need to somehow find a way to get it to lead the way to its eggs, then everything will be good'' Lachlan was thinking about a way to get it to lead him. He could just beat it to submission, but then it won''t want them near its babies, it would rather die than do that. ''Maybe if I scare it enough it''ll move places'' Lachlan knew that the mother''s of animals will do a lot to protect their babies. So if he could show how much he is a threat then he could force it to go back and move. ''That''s it'' Lachlan was going for that plan. Hopefully, everything works out successfully. Lachlan jumped off the balcony onto the ground and walked towards them. Zhang immediately noticed Lachlan and was confused as to what he was doing. Usually, Zhang would be in charge of protecting the place because he was new, the others never really showed interest. ''Huh'' Lachlan disappeared from Zhang''s sight, he spun his head towards the Salamander only to see Lachlan next to it. Finally, the salamander noticed Lachlan, but every fibre of its body was telling it to run, run far away. Seeing that he didn''t instantly terrify the beast and cause it to run away disappointed Lachlan, it would have been so much simpler if that worked. ''Guess I have to get physical'' Lachlan was literally right next to the salamander, it was prime striking distance. Lachlan pulled back his fist, the salamander got a horrible feeling about it. Stomping on the ground broke it apart, his fist travelled through the air splitting it apart, it raced towards the salamander''s skin. Once it made contact it followed through, going deeper and deeper till Lachlan''s fist couldn''t be seen. The salamander felt a sharp pain at its side, the pain travelled through its entire body before sending it flying through the air. It crashed onto the other side of the river, the shock from the landing stunned the salamander for a couple of seconds. Zhang was stunned. He thought he was put on guard duty because he was new, turns out they just didn''t see these kinds of beasts as a threat. But that meant if he was having such a hard time beating it, they could completely crush him. He felt a shiver go up his spin, turning around he noticed Lachlan behind him. "Hide and follow the salamander, once you find its eggs call or message me and I''ll be right over," it was time for Zhang''s abilities to really shine for Lachlan. If he could do this Lachlan would respect him much more. "Yes," Zhang agreed and looked towards the salamander, it was about to run once it saw Lachlan not staring at it. It dived into the water and went downstream. Zhang quickly hid his presence and followed after it, running along the shore. Lachlan went back inside, getting some breakfast to eat before Sarah woke up and greeted him. "Morning Lachlan," Sarah came up and gave Lachlan a hug, using all her strength to try and give him a bit of pain. However, due to Lachlan''s massive amounts of stats, the hug didn''t affect Lachlan at all, but he still played along, showing weakness. "Morning Sarah," This time it was Lachlan''s turn. He grabbed her by the feet and swung her around, causing her to scream in fear. Although she liked to be thrown up, being swung around made her dizzy. "Guess what I found?" Lachlan asked her mysteriously, trying not to spoil the big surprise. "You found me a beast to tame!" Sarah shouted and her eyes filled with sparkles, her smile was wide and showed off her clean teeth. She was ecstatic, they had looked all of yester to find one but failed, she didn''t want to go on another journey like that no matter how much she wanted time with her brother. "You guessed it, wait a bit and we''ll head to it," Lachlan grabbed her and threw her up in the air. It wasn''t hard to guess it, but he still enjoyed his sister''s joy when she found out. "Alright," Sarah happily agreed and went to have breakfast. After that she rushed towards her room to change clothes, she was still in the clothes she wore yesterday. "Have a shower!" Lachlan shouted. Although this world was rather dirty and grimy he liked to stay clean, it felt nice. "Okay!" Lachlan heard her voice shout back then he saw her rushed towards the bathroom and shower. Lachlan went back outside and relaxed, taking in the fresh air and just enjoy life as it was. It took 20 minutes, but Sarah finally finished her shower and changed into new clothes. They were more combat suited, having protective pads around her joints to protect them. It was completely red, making Sarah look like a blood warrior, fits perfectly with the name of their organisation. Lachlan also had a suit, but it didn''t feel comfortable, it almost felt like it restricted his movements. It was probably due to the thickness, as the protective armour needs to be a bit thick to protect them. Even though he could just break it apart and use what''s left for armour. *Bzzt* His whipped out his phone and knew it was from Zhang, it was about the salamander and its eggs. "Salamander and eggs roughly 50 kilometres downstream, just follow the shore on the left and even though the river does have forks you''ll make it" ''Great'' Lachlan grabbed onto Sarah and summoned Temp. He could summon the others, but Temp was much more comfortable to ride on, he also felt rather majestic as he did it. The griffon''s long wings spread far, flapping slowly as it travelled through the sky. Sarah was in front of him just above Temp''s head staring down, trying to find the beast she would be taming by looking down at the river. Her eyes darting across as she scanned the river like a hawk, every little beast she saw she thought it would be it. Finally, after a nice 7-minute ride they found their destination. The inside looked like a cave but its actual structure was just a large dome. It was entirely created by trees, leaves, vines and even small boats. Near the dome-like structure, they could see Zhang on a tree waving at them. Lachlan descended next to him, his sister stayed on Temp while Lachlan hopped off and talked to Zhang. "The salamander still there?" Lachlan asked. He hoped his luck hadn''t betrayed him, otherwise, he''ll tear the whole damn river apart trying to find it. "Yeah it''s still there," Zhang confirmed it and a sense of relief soaked Lachlan''s body. Now all he had to do was get them eggs. "Alright I''m going in, make sure my sister doesn''t get hurt out here," Lachlan said, his eyes showed a serious determination and a bit of bloodlust. Zhang nodded quickly, he was beginning to understand Lachlan more and more as time went on. But one of the things he''s noticed the most was that he would exterminate a whole race if it hurt his sister. Lachlan walked through the nest''s entrance, it was rather large; certainly large enough for the salamander to slither through. He ended up getting his pants wet as he had to walk through water. When Lachlan reached the end he was rather stunned, the scene seemed mystical. There was the salamander staring at Lachlan in the middle, its body was being used to wrap itself around its eggs. The sunlight creates beams of light through small gaps in the dome, those beams sometimes landed on the eggs or close to them on the salamander. Vines extended downwards from the ceiling of the dome, drops of water would sometimes fall and land in a puddle creating a splashing sound. But what mattered the most to Lachlan wasn''t the mystical scene, but the eggs located in the middle and the blood of the salamander. "I got you now!" 84 First Tames Lachlan continued to walk towards the salamander, it began hissing, getting louder and louder as Lachlan got closer. It bent its legs slightly, raising its tail high as well. As he continued to walk Lachlan suddenly launched himself forward, straight towards the salamander. His fist was already pulled back in front of its face, a grin went from ear to ear. The salamander''s pupils constricted, the human it was facing was too fast for it. As he stomped on the ground his fist went upwards towards the salamander''s chin, he wants to punch it away from its eggs without getting them damaged. As his first connect the sound of a thousand crack sounded through the area, the salamander''s chin almost shattered completely from that one strike. Its body was lifted from the ground and crashed into the side of its dome, making a hole through it. Outside Zhang and Sarah were listening in, that felt a shock go through their bodies when the bones cracking sounded. They then saw the side of the nest break apart with a large figure bursting through it. The salamander quickly got back up, it stared towards the hole it made as if its life depended on it. "Don''t focus too hard, I''m already here," Lachlan was right next to it, slightly above it as he was on a tree branch. Panicked, the salamander quickly swung its tail towards Lachlan. Lachlan, on the other hand, wanted to see how much damage this attack could do. He crossed his arms, shielding his face from the attack. The tail connected and snap the branch beneath him, sending him flying across the river. Lachlan quickly used his control over water to create a stable footing on the river. He jumped off the river to the shore to get a more stable footing. Looking up Lachlan saw the salamander was about to make a break for it, it had already rushed back into its nest to grab its eggs. Lachlan sprinted across the water, almost splitting it in half. He went straight through the dome''s side and rushed towards the salamander, it already had a few of its eggs in its mouth. "Oh no you don''t!" Lachlan decided to stop playing around and finish it. He leaped above its head and axe kicked it, the salamander''s head broke in half but so did the eggs. Seeing what he did cause Lachlan''s heart to leap out of his chest. He grabbed the salamander and threw it to the side, the eggs that were in its mouth were obviously crushed but there were still 6 eggs that were left untouched. "Sigh" It was a sigh of relief. Walking through the hole he made previously he gestured towards Zhang and Sarah to come over. They made their way over on Temp. Walking through the hole gave them the same reaction as Lachlan first had, stunned. They then noticed the salamander''s corpse on the side and 6 eggs at the centre. Lachlan had already rushed towards the eggs and waved for Sarah to hurry up. She jogged over to the eggs while Zhang stayed on the side, making sure nothing interrupts them. After getting a closer look she realised the eggs were rather large, each being 2 feet tall they were almost taller than her. "What you''re going to do might hurt a bit, but it''s natural and the rewards are worth it," Lachlan had brought a small blade with him, he knew they were going to need it for this, so he made sure to be prepared. Sarah already knew what to do, she had heard about it through the adult''s stories and even Flynn''s Ent. Although they tried to make sure the kids didn''t see there were always ways and the balcony was one of them. She grabbed onto the knife and was about to make a big wound on her hand like Flynn did before she was stopped by Lachlan, "You only need that much blood of seeds, for eggs you only really need a small drop". "Oh," Sarah felt embarrassed. After seeing what Flynn did, she had assumed that''s just what you do. She then cut a tiny bit of the tip of her finger and pushed out a drop of blood. It landed on the egg and disappeared. Getting absorbed by the egg. Sarah got closer to see what was happening. A small appeared in front of her eyes, it slowly extended around the whole egg before a small head popped out. Sarah''s eyes twinkled when she saw it. It looked so adorable and derpy at the same time. The large face and wide mouth that covered it caused Sarah to squeal in delight and grab it, pulling it closer. The baby salamander was light blue, its skin looked shiny and slippery. Its head was roughly the same size as Sarah''s, making it look even cuter. "Do you want to join me? Do you? Do you? Do you?" She asked excitedly. The baby salamander stuck out its tongue and licked Sarah across the face. A light then enveloped them, a bright blue light. Lachlan and Zhang looked away because it was really bright, especially with their heightened senses. "Ouch," Sarah said as she looked towards her arm. She noticed the tattoo on there, it seemed to be a tail, a salamander tail. It was a simple tattoo, as the tail seemed to look like an armband as it wrapped around it all. Lachlan was stunned she wasn''t on the ground screaming in pain, he could only come up with one solution as to why it would be, ''Hybrids might not feel much pain from taming, maybe they can tame much higher beasts then normal humans''. While Sarah was busy staring at the tail Lachlan reminded her, "You can tame the others remember". He wanted to find out if it would stay the same or if things would change. A jolt of joy ran through Sarah''s body as she snapped her gaze towards the other eggs. She quickly went to each on dropping blood on them before waiting for them to hatch. They all hatched at roughly the same time, as the heads popped out from their shell. Sarah tamed them as fast as possible and experienced no pain whatsoever. This confirmed Lachlan''s theory, this also meant that hybrids were much better suited to tame beasts. No long after she tamed five of them a problem appeared, not too big but still rather problematic. When she tried to tame the 6th salamander it didn''t work, nothing happened even though the salamander seemed to happily accept the tame. Sarah was panicking when she saw it didn''t work, she thought she had done something wrong and that there was a problem with her. Lachlan quickly calmed her down and thought about the situation. ''Although this can''t be confirmed from one try, there might be a chance that there''s a limit to the number of beasts one can tame'' Although Lachlan was annoyed to only find out now, it was still rather valuable information to have. "Don''t worry, since it sees you as its parent we could just take it back, maybe let another kid tame it," Lachlan''s words made Sarah happy again. If she could let a friend tame it then it would be great. Sarah looked rather disappointed that she couldn''t tame it but was happy they could keep it. "Now, we''ll move that one away while we make your salamanders grow up," Lachlan said. While was fine with keeping the spare salamander, they couldn''t have it grow up so fast otherwise they might not be able to find a person to tame it. The spare salamander moved away, and Lachlan grabbed parent''s head and waited for Sarah to summon out her salamanders. "Come, my friends!" She shouted while holding her arm out. The five tails that wrapped around her arm lit up and in front of them were the baby salamanders. They waddled up to Sarah and rested their heads against her legs. Lachlan quickly held up his hand and sliced it down, cutting the salamander''s head right off, causing a shower of blood to fall on her sister. "Ah!" She screamed and sprinted out of the blood rain, her suit soaked in blood, giving it an even more bloody look. The salamander began to evolve, their bodies morphing as they grew their back legs and the size of them grew much more. They grew too rough 3.5 metres long and 0.5 metres wide, they still had a rather nice blue silky skin. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: River Salamander Age: Adolescence (3 Years till Adult) Attribute: Water Level: 0 STR: 30, AGI: 20, VIT: 50 INT: 10, PER: 15, WIL: 10 Weakness: Scared of fighting and lightning, slow at moving its legs Strengths: Water Control (Level 6), tough and slippery skin and thick bones Description: A salamander that lives within the river, attacking anything that puts its life in danger. It would usually try to avoid any danger but during mating season it gets aggressive and hunts for food that its children can eat when they hatch. -------------------------------------------------------- They quickly head back to the house. Lachlan made sure to take a limb from the adult salamander, so they could grow the spare salamander whenever someone tames it. He carried the spare salamander in his arms during the ride back. Once the got home they spent the rest of the day relaxing. Lachlan got Sarah to do a bit of training with the salamanders, including their special move. His past experiences have told him the effects would be relatively big, so the went back to the nest and tried it there. Turns out, the salamander''s special move wasn''t an offensive attack, but rather a defensive one. When the salamanders did it a giant dome of water formed around them, an almost impenetrable wall.Lachlan tried out a few moves and realised the dome worked rather special. Whenever an attack hit it with too much force it would swirl, in an attempt to dissipate or reduce the power. After thinking about it he realised that there one thing that could determine a beasts special ability. Their strengths and weaknesses, along with their personality. The salamander is a relatively docile beast that is scared to fight. Since its scared of fighting what better way to avoid it then creating an impenetrable barrier. ''Maybe I could get a beast similar to that'' Lachlan had actually almost forgotten about the special moves. All that training on the island made him forget the new things he learned, even if it was extremely important information. Now he realised he should probably tell the others. He never told them, so how would they know that their beasts have special abilities. Back during the Sydney attack, they might have just thought that the Rocs have control over lighting, which isn''t wrong, but not quite right. 85 Special Abilities and Departure When they got back home Lachlan made sure to analyse Sarah, to see if she had the same thing happen to her. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sarah Wilson (Human Hybrid) Age: 5 (Child) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Amphibians (Perfect) Level: 18 STR: 8(+30), AGI: 10(+20), VIT: 20(+50) INT: 5(+10), PER: 5(+15), WIL: 2(+10) Weakness: No combat experience, still young Strengths: Water Control (Level 6), tough and slippery skin and thick bones Description: Due to their bodies being too undeveloped during the evolution their cells were corrupted by what they are most compatible with. Changes usually occur around the age of five. However, they are still human, as such, they still have the ability to tame and have the WIS stat. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan had a sigh of relief when he saw that Sarah experienced the same thing. It only took up one soul slot, meaning that siblings can be put together. Lachlan took care of the children for the rest of the day with the help of Zhang. Lachlan was beginning to realise the usefulness of cooking knowledge, he would probably take along some cookbooks for when he leaves to the island. Lachlan already knew how to use a knife pretty well thanks to his sleight of hand tricks. Zhang also showed some rather knife skills. Turns out he was a cook back when he was in high school. After relaxing for the day the rest of the group finally burst through the door exhausted. Today they finished explaining everything to the rest of the Blooded Wings members. Lachlan let them rest of a bit before coming over the tell them the information. "So, I know you''re all very tired, but I have some rather valuable information I''m not sure if you all knew yet," The group began to listen in, if it had to do with information coming from Lachlan there''s no doubt it should be good. "Every beast has a special ability and no, I don''t mean the elemental control but a literal special ability they can only use a certain number of times a day," They were stunned but also annoyed at how they only found out now. "How do we use them?" Simon asked. He was eager to find out what his beasts can do, he was hoping it would be something amazing. "Just tell your beasts to use it, they should know how to do it since it''s like something that was planted in their brain since birth. Also, I will say this before you go out and try. It takes 3 adolescence, 2 adults or 1 elder beast to use the move," After he finished explaining everyone went outside to try it out, even if their bodies were exhausted. "Wait!" Lachlan shouted, "These special abilities are usually large, so go far away to use them as we don''t want our houses getting destroyed". Knowing that they quickly dispersed in other directions away from the main base. Once they were roughly 10 kilometres away they summoned their beasts and let them go all out. Simon was the most eager and wasn''t disappointed, all three of his beasts were offensive, as such, they have offensive type moves. Lachlan then realised the names might also have a heavy impact on special abilities. Storm, which was a Storm Eagle was able to summon and rather destructive storm. The rain almost seemed like blades themselves, doing heavy damage on the surroundings. Tornado, which was a Sandstorm Owl that brought upon a massive sandstorm to its vicinity. However, usual sandstorms would only bring upon a large amount of sand and dust. Tornado''s sandstorm also formed rocks the size of a person''s head, the sandstorm was flinging them around at high velocity. Then finally there was Hurricane, which was a Hurricane Eagle. Just like the name entails, a hurricane was formed, it was fairly destructive but definitely the weakest ability amongst the three. After hearing about it form Simon, Lachlan realised that their bird''s special abilities might work better as a combo. As for Chloe and her four crocodiles, the special ability they had was roughly the same for all of them. Their abilities heavily affected the water, creating space surrounding them that they had complete control over. However, once outside the water the effect was heavily reduced, it still worked due to the moisture within the air, but that moisture is nothing compared to rivers or oceans. Georgia''s Dark Eagle King, Kyle. Had the ability to bring other beasts into what seemed like another world. Lachlan had her use the move on him, he was brought down into the shadows. He had been surrounded by complete darkness, he felt like he was floating in space, with no way of moving. Kyle, on the other hand, is able to fly freely within the darkness, attacking whatever they caught however it wants. It''s an extremely useful move against intelligent beasts. Joe''s Desert Dog, Sandy was able to change its environment. It changed it to a desert, one where the heat was well beyond 500 degrees Celsius, completely vaporising the river water that was inside the change. Fortunately, it seems the special abilities don''t affect their masters, meaning that Joe didn''t burn to death. Unfortunately for Zoe, two of her three tamed beasts were still adults and she didn''t have two of each, meaning she couldn''t get them to use the special abilities. However, for the one that was an elder, when it used its special ability nothing happened, no environmental changes, no noticeable barriers or anything. She came back dejected after seeing that her only hope wasn''t able to use a special ability. Phoebe''s turtles Joy and Faith were both able to form barriers. Faith''s barrier was obviously stronger as it had bits of iron in, while Joy''s was just entirely formed by water. She was ecstatic that she was able to protect her friends even better now. Dylan''s snake Fast was still an adult, as such, isn''t able to do any special moves. Which did make him feel rather disappointed, but he knew that it''ll reach the Elder age later. Just like Dylan, Brianna also only had adult beasts. She thought she might be able to get them to use the special move anyway due to their strength. But unfortunately, that''s not how the special moves work. Then there was Zhang, none of his beasts were elders and they were all different. However, Lachlan comforted with the knowledge that one of his beasts will be becoming an elder in one year. Zhang was rather excited after that. Finally, it was Lachlan''s turn to see Temp''s special ability. Since he forgot he never got Temp to use it. When he got Temp to use it nothing happened. But Lachlan didn''t think that, he thought there might be a special barrier of some sorts, just something. However, after searching for a bit he couldn''t find anything, he was rather disappointed at that. He kept trying but soon after Temp got tired from using its ability. Lachlan could only return back to the house disappointed. Now that the issues been settled it was time for Lachlan to go. He decided he would leave in the morning, after giving all his goodbyes. That night Lachlan was rather restless, he had to leave tomorrow and train. He didn''t know why, but ever since he left the island he had the desire to train his body. But nothing can give him the pressure he needs to improve. The next morning Lachlan waited for everyone to wake up to say his goodbyes. All of them were happy Lachlan was doing what he wants, all of them except Sarah who had rivers of tears pouring out her eyes. "It''s okay, I''m not dying. And remember, you won''t be lonely no matter where you are," Lachlan said calmly as he held onto Sarah, pointing towards the tattoos. Sarah tried to appear brave, she stopped crying and wiped the tears from her face. She hugged Lachlan tightly, trying to never let go. This time, Lachlan could feel it. He was happy she''s got stronger due to the salamanders. After that he walked outside, summoned catastrophe and flew away, giving a final wave goodbye. Sarah began crying again but this time she was able to stop it herself, she had some determination in her eyes. She wanted to impress her brother when he gets back. 86 Training Routine Lachlan made his way to the island, weaving through the death zones to avoid trouble, he made it there relatively fast. But when he got there he saw some usually things, things that he could only pin on one group, the navy. Stepping onto the beach he saw thousands of footprints scattered around the sand. Along with those footprints were drag marks, where they likely dragged a heavy object through the area. Possibly a large rock or tree. Along with those marks were also beast like footprints along with what looks like a snake trail. It made complete sense for them to use their beasts, they didn''t exactly give the navy information whether or not this island had any dangers to it. After looking around for a bit Lachlan determined they''ve already left. Lachlan could only think of one thing that''ll actually attract them here but wasn''t sure how they knew. ''Unless'' struck by the sudden realisation Lachlan went into a full sprint towards the river. Walking upstream he found where the drag marks started. It was likely the largest rock against the river that they dragged along with them and the only reason they''d want it is this. "Analyse" -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Hard-Stone Description: A stone that has gone through the constant abuse to extreme gravity, forcing its molecules to compress together even more, giving the stone extreme toughness. Parts: Stone, Water Core -------------------------------------------------------- He knew it, he remembers giving them a pebbled he got from here. Which meant they''ve managed to crack into it and get the core. Although, he wasn''t exactly sure as to why they grabbed the biggest rock, they might not be able to open it. Looking around he noticed some smaller pebbles missing, but they were so small it might not be too noticeable. "Possibly soldiers grabbing some for themselves," Lachlan muttered under his breath. He analysed a few other stones and noticed something. Not all of the had cores, the smaller the stone the less likely it would have formed a core. Meaning those soldiers that pocketed something are unlucky. "Oh well," Lachlan continued onwards until he reached a point in which he couldn''t advance anymore. He leaned over and ripped a line in the ground, this would be his starting line. He looked up, ''and as for the finish line he stared towards the tree and nodded his head. That would be his goal while on the island. He trained for as long as he could before getting tired, then went back towards the river, where he got a big handful of the water. He felt a freeze, then the warmth, "Oh, I haven''t missed this feeling". He continued to train until he was night, then he moved towards the beach to try some other training. Although he wasn''t sure, since the water gets rid of fatigue, that might mean that he could continue to train throughout the night. The training he would attempt to do on the beach would be elemental training, hopefully, he might be able to get to the point where he could have it in constant use, even when doing physical training. When he got to the beach he sat down and enjoyed the sunset for a little while before focusing on his next training. He held out one hand and focused heavily on a spot, a fireball was slowly forming a few centimetres above his hand. Once it reached a diameter of 30cm he went on to the next phase. The fire quickly began morphing, changing its shape as it attempted to surround Lachlan''s hand. It was beginning to form a bracelet but the moment it attempted to connect the flames burst apart outwards leaving Lachlan unscathed. Lachlan was unfazed by his failure, but there was a glowing determination in his eyes. He did the same thing, holding out his hands and first starting with a fireball before trying to morph it. Just like before, the moment they make contact it bursts apart. This time Lachlan tried to think of what the problem is. A fireball was a relatively easy shape which is why he was able to do it, but it seems different shapes require a much higher level of control. Lachlan decided he won''t try to wrap the fire around him just yet but start with some more basic training. Holding out his hand a much smaller fireball was formed, roughly 15cm in diameter. As he focused the ball began to deform, slowly forming edges to it. After a minute the fireball changed shape and was now a triangle. Beads of sweat were forming on Lachlan''s forehead, rolling down his nose and dropping on the sand beneath him. As he continued to practice the shapes were changing, getting more and more complex. The next shape formed was a square, then a pentagon. After much training he collapsed on the ground, his mind was exhausted, and he had a small migraine. He grabbed a bottle by his side and took a big mouthful of water. The migraine slowly faded away, what replaced it was a rather warmth, comfortable feeling that seemed to relax his brain. Now that he had 2D shapes down next was 3D, he could already form a sphere as it was the simplest. Now it was onto a pyramid. Starting with a fireball he slowly changed the image in his mind and morphed the ball. It quickly started to lose shape before bursting, he started to lose patience and got more annoyed at every failure. After attempting to do that for so long he got annoyed and stopped, he thought of something else he could try to do. He thought that it might be able to help him form the 3D shapes better. Holding out one opened palm he formed a fireball. He then held out his other and tried to do the same. The fire gathered and began forming, but the fireball stopped growing and only grew a fraction of the size compared to the other one. Then faced them towards the water and attempted to fire them. The larger fireball shot out towards the water without any hesitation. The smaller ball, on the other hand, was still in Lachlan''s palm. When he saw that he focused and shot it off as well. ''Does this mean I have to split my mind'' Lachlan thought of a solution but wasn''t sure how to execute it. Splitting his mind wasn''t exactly easy, let alone the fact that he has no idea where to start. He kept trying and trying only to fail every time. Although the size of the fireballs was beginning to look similar, there was still a noticeable difference between them. Lachlan continued to train for hours and before he realised it the sun was suddenly rising. After taking another mouthful of water he began the next day. Going back into the forest to physically train. He managed to get a couple more metres further, he continued to train until sunset, in which case he went back to the beach to start the other training. After clearing his head he came across and sudden realisation at how stupid he was. While it would definitely be beneficial for him to continue this training. Getting his beasts to join in would make his entire team stronger. "Come out!" Lachlan shouted, causing his tattoos to light up. All four beasts stood in front of him. Lachlan began to show and explain what they''ll need to do, they quickly remembered and began training themselves. Temp began to do that elemental training while the Rocs went into the forest to train their bodies. While there they would spar with each other, slowly improving their combat experience. Lachlan and Temp would also join along during the day, all of them ended up getting rather bruised. But after drinking some water they were back to training. 87 Update @@ Alright, so I''ve managed to get a fair way through the chapters and am on the final stretch. However, these chapters will be placed in another volume which might give you notifications or what not. However, the story will be slightly different. As instead of having a big time skip I''ve decided that I''ll introduce certain characters such as Zhang and Brianna in a much more suitable way. I suggest people read the updates I''ve made since it has vastly affected the story. I wouldn''t say start from chapter one but maybe the end of the second volume or start of the third volume. Anyway, just creating this chapter to give you all a warning that you might get notifications even though the number of chapters hasn''t changed. Granted I will create a few more chapters to introduce characters.@@ 88 Back to the Island * They flew for a while before finally making it to the island. The small shack they built brought back a wave of nostalgia, even though they only just left the island. They felt as though they belonged here, as though this island was one that''s been created for the sole purpose of training the strong. The island condition was unchanged, the large trees extending into the sky providing a large amount of shade. They could see the centre tree from the sea, Lachlan felt excited as they discovered a way to get there easily. The kids and Flynn were in awe at the island. Flynn was the only one that knew a bit about the island since his wife told him everything before she left. They didn''t mention anything about the large centre tree. Lachlan brought out the high ranked gravity stone and activated its fullest abilities. They flew towards the centre, above the mountain which surrounds the centre they saw a multitude of caves. "Do you think there will be other special beasts in those caves?" Chloe asked enthusiastically. Since Aaron came from the cave whose to say there won''t be other unique beasts or at least strong beasts within those caves. "I don''t think so, it might be rather rare for there to be beasts in them," Lachlan stated. He knew that the reason Aaron was in the cave was because of the water and berries, as for the others, seeing as how there wasn''t a stream of water coming out there was a likely chance there wasn''t any water in them, something essential for life. As they descended from the sky Lachlan was happy to say that his theory was correct. The high ranked gravity stones gave them the ability to nullify the gravity at the centre of the island. Which if he wasn''t wrong should be roughly 100 ¨C 150 times Earth''s gravity. The centre tree even surprised Lachlan and Chloe. While although they knew it was large they didn''t expect it to be so large. They only saw it from a distance which didn''t help in determining the size of it. However, once they were up close they felt dizzy looking up. The roots of the tree were reaching the height of a two-story building, they extended far and wide into the mountains. Meaning a majority of the ground was made of tree roots. Lachlan quickly remembered his eye''s new ability and analysed the tree. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: World Tree Description: The Wold Tree is a tree that supports the life of everything around it. The life force emitting from it gives the surrounding area prosperity. Plants will grow many times bigger and stronger. Location: There will only ever be a maximum of 7 world trees in the world at once, each one is located in the centre of the continent. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan never thought he would discover another myth. He''s heard about the world tree, granted there were many versions of it. Some say that it is at the centre of the universes and each leaf is a universe, while there were other versions which have the world tree at the centre of the universe or world. He also realised how good of a choice their location was. Considering that everything grows better around it, should they go into the caves and grow things there, everything will grow amazingly. ''So that''s why there are a bunch of plant stones'' Lachlan suddenly realised why there were so many plant stones, each of varying rankings. If they search well enough they''re bound to find some high ranked stones around the tree considering they absorb the life force directly from the world tree. Once they reached the ground they all got off, but Lachlan and Chloe were still quite concerned, "Remember, don''t go too far otherwise you''ll have to deal with the real gravity," Chloe reminded them. The kids didn''t know too much about how it works, but they trusted what Lachlan said. All he said was that they''ll have to deal with consequences they can''t deal with right now. Flynn understood though, he knew the gravity around here would probably crush him into the ground. Dylan, on the other hand, took that information and knew what he had to do. Although the children knew there would be consequences there are bound to be some that want to see if they can escape them. If they dragged Sarah into their scheme and they all died to the gravity, he knew Lachlan would blame himself. "So what should we do now?" Chloe asked Lachlan. There wasn''t much they could do here, they didn''t even have any connection here due to the mountains and the tree. Which is why the military sent them, since they couldn''t actually get into the island without their drones getting crushed due to the gravity or the connecting getting lost. "Well I suppose we should make a quick shelter right now, just something that''ll last us until tomorrow which is when we''ll start building our real houses," Lachlan explained as he looked towards the setting sun. It was just about to reach night time. "We could just use our little shelter left on the beach for now, it''ll last us the night easily and there''s plenty of room," Chloe suggested. Lachlan agreed with it, and although it was slightly dangerous since the military was after them. Since James said he won''t get involved, Lachlan knew they should be safe from the sea for a while at least. "Alright, we''ll stay there the night and begin building," Lachlan agreed with a nod. But before that Lachlan searched around the area for some stones. He found a few high ranked stones, enough for Chloe, Flynn, and Dylan. "Take them and put a drop of blood on them, they''re high ranked stones which give you the ability to nullify the gravity here. We''ll go somewhere else and find some medium ranked gravity stones for the children later," Lachlan didn''t want the children to have too much power, but he also wanted them to be able to protect themselves and explore the island. He was a child once and all he wanted to do was run around and have fun. Since he would give them medium ranked gravity stones, they''ll last them until the mountains where they probably wouldn''t be able to climb in normal gravity anyway. Everyone dropped a bit of blood on the stones. Chloe wasn''t expecting anything since she''s already done this multiple time. The others, on the other hand, experienced the rush of knowledge, of commands and details of the stone. Flynn and Dylan were shocked and felt a slight headache. Fortunately, it didn''t last long, and they were able to quickly recover from the headache. They looked towards the stone in shock, they didn''t realise there were so many things they could do. "Damn this almost seems like a cheat," Flynn said in shock. There were so many ways someone could use the stones in battles, not to mention the ways someone could use these stones practically through life. "Alright, let''s go back to the beach and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day of building," Lachlan said as Aaron bent down its wings. The children quickly ran up and sat down, everyone else followed. The quickly made it to the beach and it was fairly dark, the tall trees cast a shadow across the surrounding ocean. The kids quickly noticed the coconuts in the trees as they descended onto the beach. "Hey, can we have one of those?" The children asked. Due to their young age, they haven''t experienced much in the world. Not to mention most of them stayed in Australia, specifically South Australia where there weren''t any coconut trees. "Sure," Lachlan nodded to Chloe who quickly activated her stone. Although the area would likely affect the beach Lachlan didn''t want to take chances. He wanted for the children to slowly adjust to the increasing gravity, get them to train by slightly increasing the gravity. Lachlan ran up to the tree and climb up it. He completely nullified the gravity and shot up, reaching the top quickly. He reached out and grabbed a few coconuts, crushing their stems before jumping down. He rushed back to the beach where the children were waiting patiently, but inside they were extremely excited. It was something they''ve seen in movies and tv shows, but never experienced themselves. Lachlan saw his large smiles and placed the coconuts on the ground. After taming Aaron his overall strength has increased drastically. Making these coconuts much easier to break, only taking a minute to open them. He quickly passed them around, the kids joyfully drank down the contents. The sweetness was pleasant along with the refreshing feeling it gave. Lachlan looked towards the ocean and remembered something he couldn''t believe he forgot. The special abilities. He completely forgot about them since he hasn''t used them in so long, there wasn''t a need to. It wasn''t like the beasts'' levels would continue to increase, no matter how many beasts they killed. He hasn''t tested out Aaron''s special ability, he felt as though he was an idiot. Forgetting something so important, something that can change the course of battle in an instant. Everything passed by rather quickly, Chloe went out and caught a fish before bringing it back and slicing it up. They usually wouldn''t be able to ever finish the fishes they catch due to their large size. But now they had quite a few mouths to feed. Lachlan started up the fire with his fire control and Chloe placed the fishes on the side, letting it roast. The juices from the fat dripped onto the burning wood, causing it to sizzle from the heat.The kids were drooling at the smell, fish meat has really gone up in quality after the evolution, the same could be said with most meats. Lachlan happily dug in, quickly followed by everyone else. After that they went to sleep, the group gave the big room to the children. Granted Sarah stayed with Lachlan, stuck to him like glue as she wrapped herself around Lachlan''s legs. However, once everyone was asleep Lachlan gently left Sarah''s arm on the ground. He snuck away silently and ran away from the shelter, making it a few kilometres away before summoning Aaron. Aaron looked around with confusing in his eyes, ''What''s going on master?'' ''Use your special abilities on the ocean, I want to see what you can do'' Lachlan believed Aaron''s abilities would be overwhelming considering he was a mythical beast. There was no way it couldn''t be something underwhelming. But that''s exactly what it was. Aaron spread its wings far and screeched loudly. The sound echoed across the waters, causing it to ripple wildly. But aside from that, there wasn''t anything else, it was almost as though nothing happened. ''Did you do it?'' Lachlan asked. ''Yes,'' Aaron rapidly nodded its head. Even he didn''t know what his special ability was, it only knew that he had one and how to activate it. Aside from that, he didn''t know anything else. ''Well ain''t this just great'' Lachlan said as he scratched his head. Although he was greatly disappointed there wasn''t much he could do about it. It wasn''t as though he could just give Aaron another ability. Lachlan unsummoned Aaron and went back. Still slightly disappointed from the fact that it didn''t have an ability. He went back to sleep grumpily. 89 Everyone Gathers * Lachlan was the first to wake up, at 6:30 am just to see the sunrise. On the island, it was one of his favourite times of the day. He would walk around the island and watch the sun coming up from the water, its light giving the water an orange hue. He then went out and prepared some coconuts for everyone to have once they woke up. He thought about what they should do today since it was going to be one busy day. The rest of the group will arrive sometime today, giving them more hands to help the construction. As for what they should build, Lachlan wasn''t too sure. They were obviously going to have to build some houses, but the design of the house left him at an impasse. He was thinking of building a treehouse, as they were building at the centre, going high up the tree will give them an advantage, being able to see enemy attacks and observe the entire island. Next was hygiene. As much as Lachlan didn''t want to admit it, they were filthy when they came off the island. They never cleaned themselves properly with soap or shampoo, just water. Not to mention they never cleaned their clothes properly either. All Lachlan could hope for was that someone amongst the many families would be able to solve that situation. There were a few ways that Lachlan thought might be able to work, but without soap, it didn''t matter. They needed someone that could create soap, that''ll at least resolve one of their issues. But unfortunately, there were many more that needed fixing. How they were going to expand was one of them. Since they''ll be base on this island, there weren''t many places they could easily get to. Australian being the only one, but even then, the Land Guardians and Sky Guardians certainly wouldn''t accept their presence. ''If we could only change their minds'' Lachlan knew how humans behaved. Some of them were stubborn in their beliefs, not questioning it for a second even when it is so clearly wrong. He also knew those two Guardian forces have a hatred towards them for some reason, if it had anything to do with intelligent beasts then they would be sorely mistaken by thinking hybrids were intelligent beasts. ''Why don''t we just beat them into submission?'' Catastrophe asked, a burning passion in his voice. He didn''t necessarily want to help the children but fighting strong opponents and crushing them into the ground was something he wanted to do. ''Braw for brains, that won''t change the opinions of the public, we have to provide evidence that''ll turn their opinions into shambles'' Calamity explained. Catastrophe was right though, if they managed to convince them with sufficient evidence it might just work. Granted, there will always be those that oppose. "Morning Lachlan, just thinking about what to do?" Chloe asked as she came out of her room. She walked over and leaned over, grabbing hold of a coconut before slowly sipping its contents down. "Yeah, there''s a lot that needs to get done quickly, hopefully, the others will arrive soon," Lachlan said as he slightly laid down, using his arms to keep him up as he stared towards the ocean. He noticed something in the sky, a small dot that slowly got larger. "Well, ain''t that a perfect coincidence," Chloe giggled. Lachlan continued to stare before his expression slowly turned into one of shock. He could see the birds clearly alright, but he could also see something hanging below the birds as it was being carried. It was a tractor, being held by another one was a harvester and finally, there was a large sprinkler. Simon along came swooping down near them. The high ranked stone was still active, and they landed in the zone, so nothing was affected when it came down. Lachlan looked up towards the birds and saw quite a few people on board. The birds let down their wings to be used as a ramp, everyone began to get off rather orderly. Making it much easier for Lachlan to analyse and determine who''s related to who. First were Georgia and her family. Which seemed like a fairly normal family, having only a single child instead of 4 like his family. They also looked rather old but sophisticated, as though they''ve experienced many things throughout their life. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sam Perry (Human) Age: 48 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Lizards (High) STR: 16, AGI: 14, VIT: 12 INT: 20, PER: 21, WIL: 26 Weakness: Slow reaction time, Injured Arm, Injured Nervous System, Injured Arm Tendons Strengths: Good Attacking Speed, Good Defence, Medium Grip Strength -------------------------------------------------------- He was a tall man, reaching a height of 6''9 he towered over almost everyone. He had short grey hairs, hazel eyes and a bit of a wrinkly and chiselled face. He wore almost suit attire, black pants, white tucked shirt and a blue tie. He looked fairly normal, but something felt different about him. As though everything was in his calculations, probably something he picked up from working so long. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tamika Perry (Human) Age: 43 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Dogs (Perfect) STR: 13, AGI: 12, VIT: 12 INT: 17, PER: 10, WIL: 20 Weakness: Slow Reaction Time, Frail Body, Partially Blind, Easily Angered/Provoked Strengths: Fire Control (Level 2), Extreme Speeds, Strong Legs -------------------------------------------------------- Georgia mother still looked rather young, having only a few forehead wrinkles. She was 6''1, making complete sense as to why she married Sam. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes. Wore short pants, ones that were loose around the ankles, and a tucked in white top. There was nothing else that made her stand out, she seemed completely normal which was rather opposite to Sam. Then there was Joe and Zoe''s family. The parents were both fairly old. They looked like the old couple you would see tending the crops on their farm. ''Maybe they''ll be our first farmers on the island.'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Harrison Bell (Human) Age: 54 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Low) STR: 10, AGI: 10, VIT: 11 INT: 16, PER: 16, WIL: 21 Weakness: Slow Reaction, Frail Body, Weak Back, Weak Left Knee Strengths: Ice Control (Semi-Awaken), Quick Speeds on any Surface, Flexibility -------------------------------------------------------- He was a short bloke, reaching a height of only 5''3. He has short brown hair, chubby, and brown eyes. He wore glasses, one of his eyes had a small scar under it. Due to his age has some wrinkles and a bit of a droopy face. He wore baggy pants and a blue shirt. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dakota Bell (Human) Age: 51 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Insects (Medium) STR: 11, AGI: 11, VIT: 10 INT: 14, PER: 13, WIL: 19 Weakness: Frail, Slow, Weak Strengths: None -------------------------------------------------------- Also very short, even shorter than her husband reaching a height of 4''10. Has long blonde hair put into a ponytail, blue eyes and a rather chubby face but slim body. Due to her age, she has wrinkles on her face but gives off a friendly granny vibe. She was wearing loose clothes, a pineapple top and white pants. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Maddie Jones (Human) Age: 36 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Crocodiles (High) STR: 13, AGI: 15, VIT: 10 INT: 14, PER: 13, WIL: 19 Weakness: Overall Weak Strengths: Low-Level Warfare Knowledge -------------------------------------------------------- She was at a similar height to Simon, standing 5''6. She had long black hair, pales skin and green eyes. She wore a grey top and black jeans. Then there was Phoebe and her family, she walked down the ramp and in front of her was what he could only assume was her dad. ''So he''s the one I have to get through'' Lachlan already began formulating a way to earn the father''s respect and acknowledgement. ''Beat him into the ground'' Catastrophe suggested. Lachlan couldn''t be bothered with Catastrophe''s suggestions anymore, they only revolved around beating someone or something down with pure strength. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tyler Brown (Human) Age: 38 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Spiders (Low) STR: 13, AGI: 12, VIT: 10 INT: 15, PER: 14, WIL: 17 Weakness: Overprotective, Gullible, Addicted to Gambling, Light Injuries Strengths: Low-Level Martial Artist -------------------------------------------------------- He was a tall, 6''5 man. Has no hair but a polished head, brown eyes and a short but neatly trimmed beard. Wearing casual clothes, tracksuit pants and a sleeveless top. He didn''t really look like someone that''s addicted to gambling, but certainly seems overprotective as he stood imposingly in front of Phoebe. Lachlan looked behind her to try and see her mother, he knew the mother would be easier to deal with. Maybe even be able to help him get the father''s respect. But after a few seconds, he realised something had gone wrong. No one else came down, Lachlan could already tell what had happened, after all, it wasn''t all that unusual for death to occur. ''Well, I suppose it''s only natural for him to be even more protective of his daughter'' Lachlan sort of understood the feeling that Tyler had. After a mother and brothers died he was left broken, but still managed to push through all of that because of Sarah. However, with all that being said, he would kill anyone that hurts her purposely, after all, there isn''t anyone else to take care of her now, it was just him. "Hey Lachlan, hope you don''t mind me bringing along some of the machinery, though it could be pretty useful," Simon said joyfully, he knew he had bested everyone now, no one would have thought to bring farming equipment to the island so quickly. "I don''t mind at all, just make sure you get through the caves in one piece," Lachlan joked with a smug. However, if Simon somehow did managed to break the machinery on the way there, he would never be able to live it down. After that joking he saw a silhouette stand in front of him, the person used his height as an advantage as he looked down on Lachlan, casting a shadow over him. It was Phoebe''s dad. "So you''re the one my daughter is dating," Tyler said intimidatingly as he analysed Lachlan from head to toe, "You don''t look all that much." Lachlan was wearing some rather casual clothes, it was slightly cold, so he was wearing tracksuit pants and a long-sleeved shirt paired with a hoody. Meaning Tyler couldn''t see all of Lachlan''s muscles, which although were small due to the berries, they were filled with power. 90 Organising * Lachlan stared into Tyler''s eyes with determination to make this man acknowledge him, and he knew there was a really simple way to do just that. He walked over to the machinery and gestured Tyler to follow, once they reached it Lachlan placed his hand on the bonnet. "Bet, if I lose the arm wrestle I''ll leave your daughter alone, but if I win, you have to acknowledge me as her boyfriend," Lachlan was making use of Tyler''s weaknesses and gambling just happened to be one of them, there was also overprotective, it was the perfect way to lure him in. Tyler thought for a moment before grabbing onto Lachlan''s hand and placing his elbow on the bonnet as well, "You better keep to your words young man." Lachlan grinned when he saw him agree, he didn''t think it would work so easily, no wonder it''s listed as a weakness. Lachlan quickly gripped slightly tighter, he looked towards Tyler, "3, 2, 1, go!" *Bang* Lachlan slammed Tyler''s hand into the bonnet, leaving a small dent. Tyler''s face turned to show once the realisation hit him, this young man was more then he looked. Holding up his hand he noticed it was bright red and swollen, he had never experienced such strength before, aside from what beasts wield. "It seems it''s my win," Lachlan said confidently. Phoebe came running over and grabbed Lachlan''s hand, "That''s enough, there''s no need to hurt my dad just to get his acknowledgement." "But it certainly was much easier," Lachlan joked as he wrapped his arms around Phoebe, "Glad to see you again." "Yeah, yeah, let go now, we have a lot of work to do," Phoebe said. "Alright, alright, I suppose we should organise everyone into their specialties first," Lachlan suggested as he walked over and sat down by the coconuts, bringing one up to his mouth and taking a sip. "I''ll help with the building since I did work as an architect," Harrison said from the side. No one was really surprised, he looked like the type of person that designs things, now they just know what he designs. "Well that''s really convenient," Chloe snarked from the side, Flynn was next to her. During the time the families were getting off Flynn had woken up, but the children were still resting peacefully. "I want to relax in that cave Joe told me so much about, I can''t deal with all this violence, not to mention I know a thing or two about taking care of a farm," Dakota said. Lachlan was actually slightly happy someone volunteered to start farming so early, it was something that was essential for them after all. "I''ll also help with the farming, I don''t have a talent for this whole taming business," Tyler said as he looked down, disappointed plastered across his face as he clenched his fists. Although Lachlan wasn''t too sure how Tyler knew about his low compatibility, he wasn''t all that surprised, living in the real world where everyone around you grows stronger and gains abilities while you stay powerless. It certainly won''t feel good. Sam, Tamika, and Maddie all volunteered to take care of the children while everyone builds. They suggested they go to the caves since they''ll be fairly safe there, not to mention the really friendly environment. The day passed rather quickly after that. Although it wasn''t all that impressive, they managed to build a few huts connected to the tree, granted it look all of Aaron''s strength to pierce just the bark with its beak. However, after that, they just needed to stick the longs that were used for the foundation in and the rest was much easier from there. The huts were only placed a few metres above the tree roots, mainly to avoid any flooding that could possibly occur here. They connected them with wooden bridges, nothing too special as it was created with whole logs rather than planks due to the difficulty of cutting the longs perfectly in half. As for the roof, that was obviously created using the coconut tree leaves due to their large size. "Just wondering, what should happen if we leave these houses outside the nullified area?" Harrison asked. He understood the gravity stones fairly quickly, especially once he owned one. However, he also knew how physics work and while these houses were still in a nullified area they were unaffected, once they leave they''ll have to take on the full force of the gravity. "Well, although I''m not too sure, if we leave a gravity stone here activated then I don''t think there''ll be any problems," Lachlan said as he scratched his head in embarrassment as to why he hadn''t thought about it. "We should probably do some tests and if there are no limits that''ll be wonderful, but if there are we should find out now," Harrison suggested sternly, and no one could or should refute that. Flynn decided to stay and activate his high ranked stone while Lachlan and Simon go out testing because they''ll use their birds to help. It didn''t take too long to find out the answer, the limit depended on the rank of the stone obviously, but fortunately, the limit beyond what they expected for all of them. They tested it by nullifying all gravity and throwing it in a straight line, someone will fly along with it until it fell, and they recorded the distance. The tried a few times with each stone to get a better estimate. However, what they found it was beyond shocking. The limit of the high ranked stone was simply too much, they all knew how much more dangerous these stones just became if they got into the wrong hands. Especially the high ranked stones that can still be used even when it goes 4000 kilometres away. During that test, it took so long they decided in not doing another one, hell, during the test they were tempted to just stop and say that it can go forever. Fortunately, they decided not to and managed to get a much more accurate reading. The most shocking thing about it wasn''t necessarily the distance of the high ranked stone, but the sheer size of the gap from the medium ranked and high ranked stones. During the test, it went fairly normal, although still slightly amazing. The low ranked stones can continue being used for up to 200 kilometres, the medium was 400 kilometres which was only doubled. But high ranked stones got 4000 kilometres, it increased by a multiple of 10. They went back and told everyone the information which left them all stunned. They were also completely fine with leaving a few high ranked stones around the place to nullify the gravity. Lachlan was fine with it as well considering they''re already surrounded by high ranked stones. Once it was time for dinner all the older people gathered together in the main part of the cave where the children were. The children had their dinner at a separate time and were already back to playing. They had their dinner only half an hour earlier so that the rest of the group can also start planning. Everyone was already onboard with the whole idea of protecting these unique children, but theory and practice are completely separate things. The whole idea and theory behind why they should protect these children are good, but how well can they do it, and at what scale do they do it at. They are currently located near Australia, the most isolated country. How are they supposed to make an impact on countries like America, China or Russia? As everyone sat down Chloe came over with a tray, this time she went out and killed a bird looking beast, its wings were the size of a full-grown pig as it laid on a piece of coconut leaf. Everyone was drooling from the smell, everyone reached out with their forks and ripped pieces of meat off, digging right in without having any time to talk. As they bit into the meat they all thought the same thing, Chloe seemed like a professional cook. Simon asked her about it, turns out she worked at a fairly high-end restaurant before everything went to shit. Once they eat quite a bit they sparked up a discussion about future plans, how far they''ll take it. Will they make this whole thing international, Lachlan wants it to be at least recognised on an international level. Possibly get a few more people to start up similar organisations in their respected country. "So where do we start?" Tyler asked. "In that context, we have already started. However, if you mean where to next then maybe Adelaide, it should have a similar system to Melbourne," Flynn said, the atmosphere quickly dropped. Everyone in the room heard what happened in Melbourne, it was a touchy subject especially to the parents in the room. "Hopefully we might be able to find parents inside Adelaide with the same thoughts as us," Sam said. "Indeed, but what will be our plan. We can''t just go in forcing them to tell us where they are, they might get suspicious and think we''re subordinates of the intelligent beasts. In addition, who''s to say that the Melbourne military didn''t warn everyone else of our existence," Chloe explained. Almost everyone leaned back in their chairs, turning their heads upwards towards the ceiling, lost in their trains of thought. The sigh that came from everyone''s mouth seemed so loud amongst the silence. "We could get one of the parents or even a group of parents to go in a blend with the crowd, maybe try to get some information from passing people. We can''t do it because if those Sky and Land Guardian leaders have decided to warn everyone, our faces are probably attached to those warnings," Lachlan explained. Although it might not be like that, it''s always best to think of every situation. "Let''s just stay on the side of caution and assume they did do that, I can go in and investigate but I need a background story in case anyone just suspicious and begin to ask questions," Tamika said. "Alright, Flynn can you bring up the map please," Lachlan said. "Maps are up, where should we say you came from?" Flynn asked. Since they didn''t have a good connection here, sometimes none at all, Flynn had screenshotted and printed maps of all the countries, even pictures that were rather zoomed in, giving them details of the surrounding towns. Lachlan quickly got confused by the new markings on the map, but quickly saw a keynote on the side that made everything much easier. There were numbers from 1 ¨C 3, and at the end of that list was a black skull. Lachlan didn''t even need to think about it, he knew it meant death. Each area was covered by these numbers and symbol, which likely represented how dangerous these areas are. The rest of the group was in a similar situation but were also observant enough to notice it. None of them really wanted to ask about it since they felt they would look stupid. Especially considering that everyone else aside from them understood it completely. "Birdwood is a relatively safe place, it''s protected by the military because of the farmland there. In addition, there is only 1 death zone you will pass through to get to Adelaide and you only pass through the outskirts of it," Flynn explained as he pointed to where he was talking about. The death zone Tamika would have to pass through is extremely large and is ruled by a group of 9 intelligent beasts, making it a high-level death zone. Luckily because of military interference those intelligent beasts'' area only just reaches the route. "Now, for a personal background," Tamika said. "You''re 35, your husband was killed by a beast, you have no children and you''re currently just going around trying new things and experiencing the thrill of travelling through danger zones," Lachlan came up with something at the top of his mind and thought it sounded rather good. Although slightly dark, hopefully, it would prevent people from asking too many questions. "What about the birthplace?" Tamika asked. "Keep everything from your childhood the same, makes it a lot easier to talk to people if they ask things about your childhood. Just say your husband was from South Australia so you decided to get married here, then you enjoyed your stay here, so you decided to move over and live here," Flynn said. "Alright, so where should I hang out to get information?" Tamika asked. "I would say pubs but they''re risky, especially now that people have tamed beasts. If you piss off someone strong then it could be all over. Caf¨¦s are good, fast food places are just as good, but the best place might be at a park," Flynn said. "Why a park?" Lachlan asked. "Because the military is everywhere, people don''t want to talk shit about the military right next to them. A park is fairly secluded especially if you find a good spot, so just hanging out at a park would be a good idea," Flynn explained. People with hybrids wouldn''t utter a noise around the military since the ones protecting them were Land Guardians. "By myself?" Tamika asked. Her concerns were the same for everyone, it would be odd to see anyone by themselves at a park. "I can go," Maddie said. "Me as well," Dakota said. And just like that everyone fits into place. A group of girls relaxing at a park is great, they could have a picnic and bring along some food since their stay at the park might last a whole day. "Alright, the plans settled. Remember, always keep your phones fully charged and on, that way you can call for help whenever something goes wrong," Flynn said." "Will do," they all replied. Everyone then separated, Lachlan went back up to the balcony while the others went outside a chose who got which house. After that was all settled everyone went to sleep, tomorrow was the start of the operation. 91 Future Plans A week had gone by and many countries were changing their laws about the hybrids. As many parents rose up to confront the authority about the issue, forcing them into a corner where the only escape was to make changes. At the centre of the island, in front of the small huts was a celebratory gathering. The main group along with their family members were celebrating the success of their operation. Enjoying a nicely roasted bird along with the coconut water. Granted, some of the parents on the island were storing some fine red wine back at home in a wine cellar. They believed they could sell them for a fortune at a later date, but considering everything Bloodied Wings has done for them they decided to give a few bottles up. Although the group had to go back to get it some amongst them didn''t mind. "Haha, we did it, we finally did it," Simon said happily through drunken slur. His arm wrapped around Flynn who was in no better condition. They were both smiling widely as they took large gulps of the wine. "Yup, but now what do we do?" Flynn asked as he leaned against Simon and drank. Most of the group which were drinking coconut water didn''t know how to respond. Lachlan sat there eating as he looked up at the sky, Sarah and Phoebe by his wide. He didn''t know how to respond, he never planned so far ahead neither did he think they would be able to accomplish their goal so quickly. "Why don''t we start a business? We have a solid reputation and are quite well known, I reckon we could make it big, after a while of course," Chloe said as she took a large bite out of the roasted bird. "What would we do though? Aside from being known to protect children, we don''t have much else to work with," Maddie said as she leaned back, using her arms to support her from the ground. "Maybe we continue that but just change how we do it. You know, instead of only helping out the hybrids why don''t we help out any children that have lost their parents. We could basically become an orphanage," Chloe suggested. She quite enjoyed taking care of the children, something about it felt right. "Okay, but we need something else to go along with it. Although an orphanage is good it won''t get us to the big leagues. We need something that''ll make us really stand out, something that hasn''t already been done," Lachlan explained as he thought hard about what else they could do. He was struggling though, he isn''t a business manager or anything, just someone with a lot of strength. ''My strength, we could become a training centre, a training school'' Lachlan realised how good it would be and how easy it would be to convince people. Just looked at their strength, it goes well beyond human. "How about we start a training school on the island. We have the unique gravity here which will certainly tempt some people, but we could also hire some martial artist or combat specialist to train people''s fighting techniques," Lachlan happily suggested. "Huh, that''s actually a pretty good idea, we can charge people to use the island, granted there''s probably something we need to do to legally obtain the island. It shouldn''t be too hard considering almost no one knows about the island," Chloe agreed with Lachlan. "I can do all the legal work, just need either Lachlan, Georgia or Simon to get me to Brisbane, the rest of you can start building training areas," Flynn said drunkenly as he struggled to keep his back straight. "I''ll take you over to Brisbane," Simon drunkenly said as he patted Flynn''s shoulder with a wide grin on his face. "Well, what should we start with?" Lachlan asked. Aside from helping build the little hut he wasn''t apart of any of the other construction work. "Also, what about the rest of the parents?" "Hm, well, I suppose we''ll give them the news now and see how they react. We''ll tell them were planning on starting a business and see if any of them want to help," Chloe said. "Joe and I can handle that part, you should begin clearing out the trees to create some room," Zoe suggested. The group all agreed and began to plan. Since they already basically had the orphanage side of things sorted the only other thing they needed was a bit of advertisement and a help number. Which is where a problem comes into play. They don''t get any good connection or service here, the number might be useless if people can''t connect to them. Not to mention that since they''re technically not going to be an "extreme terrorist organisation" anymore they''ll get people flocking to them. They need more helpers, they also need to explain the situation with the other parents. Joe and Zoe were currently at the orphanage where a majority of the parents are living along with their children. They went up to the main people in charge of the orphanage and informed them that they had something to say to everyone. The people rushed off to gather everyone. It didn''t take too long, only 10 - 15 minutes. In front of Joe and Zoe was a gathering of parents, their children either in their arms or by their side. They were all staring at Joe and Zoe, the two of them really felt the tension. "Alright, we are here to bring some good news. We have managed to convince the authorities through proper information that your children are, well, human. And although it''s just a start, no one will be attacked by others just because of your children anymore," Zoe said formally in front of all the parents. "What about the discrimination?" "Listen, the laws are just a start, it''ll take a bit before all the children can be accepted again, it''s just that you need to endure during this time and make them more acceptable," Joe stepped forward to explained. "Indeed, everything takes time. Fortunately, unlike certain incidents in the distant past, they''ve only been discriminated against for only a short amount of time. Meaning, it''ll be much easier for them to be accepted back into society," Zoe explained. "What are you all going to do now?" "Well, we decided that we''re going to start a proper orphanage along with a training school. Since we''re no longer "traitors of humanity" we can start a proper business without having to hide," Zoe answered. "You need some help with that?" One of the parents stood forward from the crowd, he looked like a biker with short black hair, sleeve tattoos and biker clothes. "Because I would be happy to help, just a simple way to repay you." "You don''t need to do that, we also did this in our own self-interest," Joe explained. "So you built an entire orphanage just for your own self-interest?" Joe was quickly shut up by the man''s quick remark. "So you took us all in, fed us and gave us a new home just for your own self-interest? Listen, I may not know how much everything affected you, but I can tell you that everything you''ve done for me isn''t something I can just accept without doing something in return. I was hiding in fear with my family just because of the unique children, yet you took us in and gave us a place to call home, I owe you for that." "Also, just wondering, but would you be hiring for this new orphanage?" The man asked. "Of course, didn''t think we could get our first employee so quickly. Granted, it''s technically not legal yet, but once everything''s sorted you''ll officially be an employee," Joe explained happily as he walked up and patted the man''s shoulders. "Could I get hired as well" "Oh, me too" "Yeah, me as well, I really owe you all" All the parents quickly surrounded Zoe and Joe, they began asking to get employed to which Zoe and Joe happily agreed with. Since these parents were people that could be trusted, at least much more trustable then anyone they employee from outside the island. ... The sounds of an axe could be heard inside the forest. Although it would seem almost pointless since the trees are wider and taller than whole buildings. It would take days, possibly weeks to successfully cut through just one tree. "Isn''t there a better way to deal with the trees," Georgia complained as she smashed an axe against the tree. The handle on the axe finally gave in and snapped in half, the axe head went flying backwards and was quickly caught by Lachlan. "Well I might have an idea but whether or not it actually works well enough is a whole other thing," Lachlan explained. "I don''t really care, I just don''t want to waste so much time cutting down one of the island''s trees with a pathetic axe," Georgia said angrily as she threw the rest of the handle on the ground. "Alright, get ready to see a tree turn into a rocket. I would also suggest that you get back, far back from the tree," Lachlan said mysteriously as he pointed towards another tree into the distance. "Okay then, you better make sure I see a tree turn into a rocket or I''ll be thoroughly disappointed," Georgia said as she walked off. Chloe walked off behind her along with Zhang and Brianna. ''Well if there''s one thing I''ve learnt since us finding Anne, it''s that using gravity stones to change the direction of gravity is rather useful'' Lachlan thought happily. ''Come on out Aaron'' Lachlan wanted to enjoy the view when he sends the tree flying into the sky. The only thing he wasn''t too sure about was the gravity beneath the soil. Fortunately, because they were closer to the beach the gravity in this area isn''t that strong so the gravity beneath the ground should to too much stronger either. 92 Flying Trees Lachlan hopped onto Aaron and flew up towards the top of the tree. Once he reached a high enough branch he gently placed the gravity stone on it and got Aaron to fly away, roughly 250 metres towards the ocean. ''Alright, let''s hope this works. Gravity 200 times Earth''s upwards'' Lachlan gave the command and he heard the ground rupturing around the tree. The tree was getting tugged upwards at 200 times Earth''s gravity, any roots that were too deep or weak were quickly ripped off and the tree shot upwards. Lachlan waited for two seconds before he gave his next command, ''200 times Earth''s gravity downward''. Just like before he watched the trees velocity slow down before coming to a halt after two seconds. ''Nullify all gravity'' Lachlan quickly gave his final command and the tree began to just float in the air. The tree''s roots were long and thick, with some of the thinner ones being completely broken. Lachlan quickly moved over to check the ground and saw that it had really ruptured apart. Fortunately, levelling out the ground wasn''t a difficult thing to do and wouldn''t take too long to do. The rest of the group that saw what had just happened came over rather quickly, "What did you just do?" Chloe asked as she looked towards the floating tree in shock. She didn''t expect Lachlan to do something so extravagant. "You remember the time we found researcher Anne and I brought the whole laboratory with us?" Lachlan asked. Chloe nodded silently and realised what he had just done, Lachlan continued "Yup, I used the gravity stones to pull the trees out the ground before making them float in the air. Rather simple to do once you practice a bit." "Alright, but where should we put the trees we rip up from the ground?" Chloe asked as she continued to stare at the tree. It was rather large, roughly 300 metres tall. Not to mention they couldn''t really just place it in the ground since some of its roots had been ripped apart. "Suppose we could try making a wall around the island with the trees. They''re long enough and thick enough to provide us with a strong wall, we''ll also leave a small gap so that people can visit the beach. Make sure the gap is only wide and tall enough for a human to walk through," Lachlan suggested. Lachlan then hopped back onto Aaron and they flew up to the tree. Using his crushing grip Lachlan held onto one of the tree''s roots tightly as they dragged it along with them. Once they were above the sand Lachlan brought the tree down softly. He then flew back up and got the stone before flying higher. They reached a point where it was between the middle of the tree and the top of the tree. Lachlan held the stone in his hands as he aimed it towards the tree. ''Change gravity 200 times forward'' The stone shot out of his hand and smashed into the tree. The moment the stone smashed into the tree a resounding bang echoed through the surrounding area. It sounded as though a canon was just fired. But at the same time, the moment the stone came in contact with the tree Lachlan quickly issued the final command. ''Nullify all gravity'' Since the stone had just smashed against the tree all the speed it built up in that split second was lost. But all that force from the stone was enough to make the tree tumble. It slowly began its fall before it picked up the pace once it was well beyond any saving point. The moment the tree smashed against the ground a sound shook the surrounding area. Lachlan even saw the ocean ripple at the tree''s fall. Lachlan looked at the placement rather proudly, since the tree didn''t come close to the water it provided a rather nice wall. As Lachlan turned around to look to where the others should be he heard a multitude of cracks. As though dozens of shotgun had just gone off a few metres away from him. That''s when he finally saw that the rest of the group was following his lead. There were four more trees floating in the air. But taking a closer look he could see a thick rope wrapped around roots of three of the trees. He then saw Georgia begin flying up on Kyle with the ends of the ropes in her hand. She went up to the final tree which didn''t have a rope around its roots and tied it up. She then began flying towards Lachlan, with all four trees in tow. It looked rather ridiculous, the sight of four extremely large trees following behind a woman on a bird. "Yo, your idea was really well thought out," Georgia complimented as she flew past. She then flew down with the trees, she placed one down on its roots before untying the rope and flying back up. She tied the rope around one of the higher branches before flying slightly higher and around to the opposite side of the tree. Lachlan then saw her clench he fist and throw a punch. It landed on the tree cleanly and left a small indent. She quickly flew down and grabbed onto the rope before giving it a tug down to the ground. The tree landed softly against the ground. Lachlan realised it was a much more efficient way of doing it since it didn''t create any sounds and was much more safer. Georgia then did the same thing with the rest of the trees. Lachlan just sat on Aaron watching the whole thing. He was rather surprised at how efficient Georgia had got by the final tree. The two of them then went back to the group after grabbing the stones. The entire group continued to do this another 3 times before they were satisfied with the area they created. But at the same time, they weren''t too satisfied with the wall they created. It only covered roughly 10 kilometres of the island''s circumference. They still had another 60+ kilometres to go before they create a proper wall around the island. "Well, what should we do now? Should we just say fuck it and finish the wall or leave it how it is for now?" Zhang asked as he looked at the wall with a scrunched up face. "I feel like we should just finish the wall. We''ll spread around the island a bit and take trees from everywhere. At least that way the island won''t look bad, not to mention we could just say they''re different training areas," Lachlan said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah, we can have training areas under different gravity. And the test the students will have to go through to reach the next area will be travelling to their next area, that way their bodies will be able to handle the gravity there," Brianna explained happily. "We could also create caves in the mountain and have them be special training rooms, where only the strongest of students are allowed to train," Georgia suggested. "What will we do once those students adapt to that level of gravity though?" Chloe asked. "I suppose that''ll be their graduation, once they reach the level where they can handle the gravity in the caves they''ll graduate," Lachlan explained. Although no one said it aloud everyone was thinking about it. The real reason they would get the students to graduate once they adapt to the caves is that they don''t want other forces becoming too strong because of them. They would only allow someone to stay longer and continue to train if they sign a contract. One which forces them to work for them while they train. As for the finer details they aren''t too sure about it. After all. Some forces could send their soldiers to train under the island''s gravity and get some super soldiers by the end of it. That''ll be rather dangerous, especially if those forces don''t have any nice intentions behind them. After the small conversation, the group went back to work. Ripping the trees up from the ground and creating a sturdy wall for protection. As there was another reason for creating the wall. Tsunamis. Although they''ve never experienced a tsunami during the time they''ve spent on the island that doesn''t mean one won''t come. They have experienced an earthquake while on the island, granted it wasn''t a strong one and they were most likely on the outskirts of the earthquake''s effect. Or, now that they think about. It could be entirely because they aren''t actually connected to the ground. Which meant that the only way for them to feel an earthquake is to have the ground beneath them fling upwards and smashed against the bottom of the island. Which actually made their situation slightly more dangerous. Since they couldn''t be certain when an earthquake happens they won''t have any warning for when a tsunami strikes. Fortunately, after taking away the gravity stones the trees weighed hundreds of tones. ... After spending the day ripping trees out of the ground and creating a wall the ground finally went back to the centre. Zoe and Georgia were there relaxing, they had a list of names in the hand for everyone that wanted to be employed. Chloe went up to them and asked, "So where''s Flynn and Simon?" Joe looked up at Chloe and shrugged his shoulders, "I don''t know, they haven''t come back yet." Chloe began to worry. Although she knew legal work could take a while, spending an entire day is a little bit too long. She then turned around at the faint sound of a bird flapping its wings. In the distance was Simon and Flynn flying on top of Storm. But once they got closer Chloe''s concerns were justified. Flynn had a black eye and a couple of bruises on his arm. Simon looked rather fine but that was just because of the amount of strength he had. It was likely that a fight broke out, Flynn might have been hit by something or someone strong. Chloe knew that Flynn actually had a decent amount of strength from eating the berries. Which mean the opponent had to be pretty strong. When Storm finally reached the ground Simon helped Flynn off and onto the ground. Chloe came running over and grabbed onto Flynn''s face, inspecting it thoroughly before moving on to the rest of the body. When she finally finished inspecting he stood back up, "Who attacked you?" "It was the Land Guardians," Flynn answered with a tone of anger. "But they shouldn''t be allowed to attack us anymore, they have no right to since we''re no long traitors," Lachlan said angrily. "Well we got into a bit of a scuffle since they used rather shady moves that provoked us," Simon said angrily from the side. His fist was clenched rather hard. "Seems those Land Guardians never change, they like to abuse their power just to get what they want." 93 Dirty Tricks The journey to Brisbane was normal, nothing out of the ordinary happened, The only time something odd happened was when they finally got to Brisbane. The Land Guardians stationed there let them through quite easily, granted they were staring at them with daggers in their eyes. But the odd thing happened after that. As they were walking away Simon could hear them talk to one of their superiors. The soldier informed their superior that they were currently in the city. Simon got a bad feeling at that point. Flynn didn''t seem to notice, he was busy admiring the city again. As it was the first time he''s been in the city since he left to go to the island. He could see his apartment from where they were, although it wasn''t his apartment anymore. As they walked through the city Flynn and Simon both felt as though they were getting watched from a distance. Although it did make sense, they were treated as traitors until just recently so it wasn''t surprising that people were still on guard around them. There was also a few Land Guardians that patrolled the area, they always stared at them as they walked past as well. Even when they were behind the Guardians they noticed them looking back to check on them. Although when they finally reached their destination they noticed an odd amount of Land Guardians stationed around the building. The two didn''t inquire anything about it and just when on through, the Guardians didn''t do anything to stop them. The building was created rather recently and the whole purpose behind it was formed newly as well. With the discovery of more unexplored and unclaimed land, it''s obvious people would like to have it as their own. So the World Government decided to create a building in every city where someone can claim that land, as long as it really is unclaimed. When they entered they didn''t notice anything suspicious so they went up to the front desk and talked to the receptionist. "Hello, we''d like to claim some unclaimed land, how might one go about doing that?" Flynn asked with a polite and friendly tone. "Sigh, alright so I''m going to have to book you an appointment with the person in charge of that side of things. What time is most suitable for you?" "Well right now if possible," Flynn said nicely. "I''m sorry but they''re currently not here yet, they''ll be here in three hours, I can book you for that time." "That''ll be lovely, thank you very much," Flynn said happily. The two of them then walked out of the building and began thinking about what they should do to taste three hours of their time. "Should we go and get something to eat? Maybe get a coffee or something?" Flynn asked. "Sure, we''ll also walk around Brisbane for a bit while we''re at it, maybe go a visit a few parts," Simon suggested. The two of them then walked off towards the closest a best-rated cafe. What they didn''t notice was that a couple of people began to follow them. Although they were dressed like casual people it was obvious from the walk they walked that they were soldiers. To blend in even better the soldiers started talking to each other about rather normal things, such as family and future plans. Although they didn''t talk too loudly Flynn and Simon could still hear them. But because of their normal conversation the two didn''t think much about it. They walked into the cafe and ordered what they wanted. Flynn got a hot chocolate and a lemon slice while Simon got a dark coffee along with a jam-filled doughnut that had a sugary glaze over it. They walked back out and headed towards the nearest park where they sat down and ate. The two hadn''t had any sweet treats for months. For Simon however, it''s been more than two years since he has had a delicious treat to eat. Although there were the coconuts on the island after having it so many times it''s got boring. As Simon bit into the doughnut he felt the soft break crumble in his mouth. It was then filled with rich raspberry jam with a hint of the sugary glaze. Simon''s never felt this happy but he noticed something different about the doughnuts, their taste was much more powerful than before. It was as though an explosion of sugary flavours just happened in his mouth. "Surprised aren''t you? The eggs and milk used to create the dough are harvested from beasts after all. The flavour contained within them is beyond anything before the world''s evolution, of course, that also means the price is much more as well," Flynn joyfully explained why the taste was so different when he saw Simon''s shocked face. "Plants have also grown much more strongest, which means the flavour grows along with it. Sugar from sugar cane has become a delicacy, one that''s wanted by many. And because it''s wanted by many there are people there to supply the demand," Flynn explained as he took a bite of his lemon slice. Flynn broke a small bit of his lemon slice off and handed it over to Simon, "Similar to sugar, lemons have also undergone the same evolution. All the ingredients that we humans use to cook have undergone an evolution in flavour." Simon took the piece from Flynn and threw it in his mouth. He felt the lemon really overpower the rest of the ingredients. But instead of overpowering it with sourness it overpowered everything with sweetness. "I could really get used to this, maybe we should start a farm back on the island as well, one that harvests eggs and milk," Simon suggested with sparkles in his eyes. He would love it if he could have these sweet treats every day. "That''s actually quite a good idea; if we start a farm we could sell any excess ingredients to other countries and make a reasonable amount of money," Flynn agreed. He knew that since they were planning on spreading their fame they''ll need some money and a reputation that doesn''t say they''re a traitor to humanity. Simon then took a sip of his coffee and felt the bitterness explode in his mouth. Although some people would find it putrid it''s exactly what Simon liked. Because his mouth had just been covered with bitterness the sweetness of treats rises by a few levels. After the two finished their little treats and drinks they went over to a convenient store a bought two bottles of water. They didn''t bring their water bottles from the island since they didn''t expect it to take so long. The two then enjoyed their walk around the city. Weaving through the crowd of people, all of which were talking about rather boring things. The two didn''t notice they were being followed by others yet because of it. They walked back into the building after their walk around the city. It had been a bit over three hours by now, only by a minute but that should be fine. When the reception saw them walk up to the desk she happily informed them "Mr Horne is ready to meet you now. This man is his assistant, he''ll lead you to him." A rather slim man walked up to him, he was wearing a navy blue business suit. When he reached them he held out his hand, "It''s a pleasure to meet you two." Simon reached out a shook the man''s hand, "The pleasures all ours." Flynn did the same before the three walked into the elevator and went up. There were only 5 floors including the ground floor, but the floor they went up to was the top one. When the elevator doors opened what they were greeted with was a rather normal office. By the window was an old redwood desk and behind it was an elderly man. He had a bald head and a clean-shaven face. He walked around his desk to welcome them, "Welcome, I hear that you two would like to claim some land southeast of here." The elderly man walked up to them and gave a firm handshake. What the two didn''t know was that the elderly man attempted to use his full strength to injure their hands. The man didn''t expect the two to be so strong, he suddenly realised why their group was feared so much. Looking around Simon and Flynn noticed a name tag on the desk, "Shane Horne" was the name on that tag. The two then walked over and sat down on the two chairs in front of the desk. Shane went around and sat down on his chair. "Alright, so what you''re going to have to do is tell the location of the land and how much you''re claiming," Shane explained. "The location is a bit difficult to pinpoint but 100 kilometres out from Sydney in the ocean," Flynn explained. "Oh, well that makes some things much easier. You will just need to sign this paperwork and the island will legally be owned by you. It is one of the new bits of land isn''t it?" Shane asked for confirmation. Flynn nodded. A grin flashed across Shane''s face as he looked behind them. Simon knew something was up, when he turned his head he noticed someone in the corner. It was someone from the Land Guardians, he was signing some forms on a small desk. "What''s he doing here?" Simon asked. His question caught Flynn''s attention and he looked backwards. Flynn noticed something odd, the amount of paperwork in front of that man was the same amount in front of him. "Oh, he''s doing the exact same thing as you two but he''s claiming some land for the Land Guardians," Shane explained calmly, trying not to lose his composure. The man finished signing the last page and he stood up to walk over, "I''ve finished signing all the paperwork. The island the Land Guardians is claiming is 100 kilometres offshore from Sydney." Simon and Flynn both realised what was happening. They had been tricked. The rest of the paperwork had likely been finished, all that was left as the location which they just so stupidly said aloud. Although they didn''t really expect them to be duked like this. If the Land Guardians claim the island as there''s then their group won''t be able to go through with the plan. Since there''s a likely chance the Land Guardians will force them to leave the island through laws instead of force. 94 Beatdown with the Land Guardians Both Simon and Flynn felt their blood boiling, they never expected the Land Guardians to resort to such means. But at the same time, they didn''t think it was out of the Land Guardians nature to rely on anything else other than their authority. Shane quickly yanked the papers out of the soldier''s hand and shoved it in his desk before clicking the mouse to his computer a few times. "Alright, everything''s done so have claimed the land there." Simon stood up furiously and turned around to grab the soldier by the throat and warned the soldier in a threatening tone, "Here''s a little suggestion from me. If you can''t beat us through strength you probably shouldn''t do anything to piss us off." "Ha, what are you going to do then? It''s illegal to go against any of the military forces, even what you''re doing right now can be counted as an act of violence and treason," The soldier said with a large grin on his face. "Oh, we don''t mind doing it the illegal ways though," Simon gave the soldier a grin that sent shivers down his spine. The soldier felt the grip around his neck loosen and he felt relieved, although he said everything confidently; in reality, he was shitting himself like crazy just standing in front of Simon. The soldier suddenly felt a powerful force strike his stomach, his back arched and his body almost turned into the shape of a U before he flew backwards into the elevator door. The strength in the punch sent the soldier through the door. He laid in the elevator unconscious. Shane began to panic, especially when Simon turned to look at him. "Please don''t hurt me," Shane said while he quivered in his seat. He didn''t make eye contact with Simon, the fear he felt throughout his body prevented him from doing so. He quickly reached below his desk and silently pressed a small button. "If you don''t want to be hurt; then maybe you shouldn''t go pissing off the strong people in the world," Simon said angrily as he threw a right hook. Shane''s body flew to the side and crashed into the wall. Simon held back a bit in that punch since he didn''t really want to kill, he didn''t want that to weigh down on his conscious. While all that was going on Flynn quickly finished the paperwork but made a few changes. He changed the location of the island to 200 kilometres out from Sydney. He went over and put it in Shane''s desk before clicking a few things on the computer to confirm the claim. As he did that felt the underside of Shane desk and felt the button by the edge, he stood up and turned towards Simon "Alright, we should go now otherwise we''ll have to deal with a lot more soldiers." "What are you talking about? We should at least give them a warning first, one that they would make sure to remember," Simon said that with a bloodthirsty grin. Unlike Lachlan, he hasn''t had the chance to fight against a bunch of soldiers. He was feeling pumped at the thought, ''Maybe these soldiers could give me a challenge." Flynn could already tell that he wouldn''t be able to convince Simon otherwise so he quickly hid below the desk. Although he had a bit of strength he didn''t know how to fight, especially against numbers. Simon turned back towards the elevator. It had long since gone back down and now it was coming back up. When it reached the top where they were Simon saw the soldier''s body wasn''t there. It had been replaced by 15 other soldiers, all of them had weapons in their hands. Pointing their gun towards Simon the soldier in the front shouted at him, "Get on the ground and put your hands behind your head!" Although Simon wasn''t expecting guns it wasn''t like there was anything else the soldiers could rely on in this small room. Simon just stood their silently, staring at the soldiers with a terrifying grin. The soldier at the front couldn''t hide his nerves, "I said get on the ground and put your hands behind your head!" Simon snapped his fingers and the desk that Flynn was hiding under went flying through the air towards the soldiers'' heads. Behind the desk Flynn was laying on his back with his legs fully extended, it was obvious that he kicked the desk. "I knew I could count on you," Simon said with a smile as he gave the thumbs up. The soldiers had the desk smashed against them and were temporarily shocked. Although they were able to knock themselves out of it since they were soldiers, that brief moment on time they weren''t focused Simon took advantage of it. He pounced on the soldiers like a tiger, he grabbed onto the leading solder''s arm and crushed it with his strength. Twisting his body Simon dragged the soldier through the air and using it like a bat he smashed the surrounding soldiers across the head. The soldiers from behind quickly sprayed their guns. The glass was quickly shattered as the target of the bullets had disappeared from their sight. Simon had ducked below and placed his hand on the ground before spinning his lower body. Simon smashed the legs of the soldier in two before he quickly stood up and grabbed the solder''s arms. Just like with the leading soldier he spun around and smashed the rest of the soldiers unconscious. "Alright, I suppose we can go now, that should be plenty memorable," Simon said happily as he gestured Flynn to come over. He suddenly heard the elevator ding and realised there was a whole new batch of soldiers, this time they weren''t paired with guns but rather knives. This batch of soldiers specialised in close quarter combat. After all, sometimes bullets could be extremely inaccurate or they might be located in a small room. The glass behind Simon shattered again, Simon felt something pierce his leg. Simon almost collapsed from the shock right there as the bullet pierced his calf. ''Shit, it''s a sniper." Flynn quickly moved back and laid his back against the wall. He made sure no sniper could see him. The soldiers paired with their knives quickly pounced on Simon while he was weak. Simon knew things weren''t looking too good for him but he had his ways to get out of this situation. Clenching his fist he threw a jab and smashed one of the soldiers in the face. But before any of them could do anything a ball of air burst through the ends of Simon''s hands. Pushing all the soldiers behind the lead backwards. Some of those soldiers quickly gave up on attacking Simon but targeted someone he should care about, Flynn. They sprinted towards him with their knives ready to strike. Flynn quickly leapt up and took a step forward. He grabbed the backrest on the chair and lifted the whole thing up. Twisting his body Flynn threw the whole chair at them. Unfortunately, the soldiers specialise in close quarter combats and ducked beneath the chair. But Flynn took this opportunity and pounced forward, grabbing the chair Simon and himself sat on. He quickly grabbed on tightly swung the chair towards the soldiers'' heads. Three of the soldiers were knocked unconscious by the hit but the final one managed to dodge. On Simon''s side of things, he continued to use the power of the elements as he fought. Whenever he threw a punch or kick he would always use either fire or wind to create more damage. The burns and cuts across the soldiers he would we numerous. Looking towards Flynn, Simon saw the final soldier get to him and strike Flynn with his knife. Because Flynn has never been in sight before he panicked at the sight of a blade heading towards him and used his arms to shield his face. The knife went through Flynn''s arm and the soldier continued his attack. He grabbed onto Flynn''s arm and dragged Flynn towards him. He quickly threw out a few powerful punches, two in the face and one in the gut. Flynn bent over and grabbed onto his stomach from the shock. The soldier took advantage of this and raised his arm before elbowing Flynn in the back of the head. It quickly knocked Flynn unconscious. Simon felt the rage flow through his body as he didn''t hold back anymore. Using the full strength of his elements Simon began burning the soldiers'' skin off while using the wind he left some deep wounds across their bodies. They laid on the ground groaning in pain. Simon quickly sprinted over to Flynn and beat up the final soldier. Throwing some strong punches to the gut, he then grabbed onto the soldier''s arm and punched upwards onto the elbow, snapping the arm in half. The soldier collapsed from the pain and fell to his knees. Simon quickly grabbed onto Flynn and summoned Storm outside the building. Simon jumped through the window holding Flynn in his arms onto Storm before shooting to the skies. Simon felt a bullet graze past his arm as he flew away. Fortunately, he was prepared and changed the way the wind moved around him, forcing the bullet''s trajectory to change course. Before long Simon and Flynn were already too far away for the sniper to reach them. Back in the city on the rooftop of a building was a woman with a sniper in front of her. She leaned against the building''s railing and muttered under her breathe, "I wonder how Lachlan''s doing." ... Back at the island, Simon had just finished informing them of everything that happened. He then turned towards Chloe, "I''m sorry I let my emotions get the best of me, I know it was stupid to involve Flynn in the fight against the soldiers." "It''s alright, not to mention he sounds as though he involved himself in the fight. Also, it seems you now own him considering he technically saved you from the gunman," Chloe explained. "True that; he came in clutch at the start of the fight," Simon responded while nodding. "Maybe we should get him to train a bit, you know, use the island''s gravity to make him a bit stronger. Also, teach him how to fight, just so he can defend himself." "I''ll talk to him about it, it also seems we might have to move location," Chloe said with a sigh. She didn''t expect the Land Guardians to have such tricks up their sleeves. "Cough, cough," Flynn got everyone''s attention with a cough. "Or we could just move the island," Flynn said with a mischevious grin. 95 Moving the Island "What do you mean by that Flynn?" Joe asked as he tilted his head. "Don''t you remember that the island isn''t actually connected to the land? This means we could move it," Flynn explained happily with a grin stretched across his face. "To be honest, I''m surprised the island has managed to actually stay in one spot the entire time." "Okay, but how do you suggest we move the island and how far did you say the island was?" Lachlan asked. "Well, we obviously use the stones to push the island. We should be able to get enough high-grade gravity stones to push the island in an easterly direction. As for how far? Well, I said the island was actually 200 kilometres outwards from Sydney," Flynn explained. The group already knew what Flynn was planning when he mentioned high-grade gravity stones. He wasn''t wrong though, it could actually work. Whatever is causing the island''s gravity to be so unique isn''t keeping the island where it is as it pulls everything surrounding it towards it. Not to mention with the use of a couple dozen high-grade gravity stones, they should be able to push almost anything, anywhere. As the radius of the high-grade gravity stone was 200 metres, anything within that area will help push the island whether it be the actual island itself or the ocean water surrounding it. "Alright, I''ll go around the centre and grab around 4 dozen or so high-grade gravity stones you all need to separate yourselves across the beach with a gap around 200 metres between you all," Lachlan quickly explained as he ran off. The rest of the group quickly went over to the beach at the west side of the island and began moving themselves around. They made sure they were roughly 200 metres apart before waiting for Lachlan to return. Most of the group was rather surprised by the massive wall behind them. They know it certainly wasn''t there when they left the island. "So what''s with the wall?" Flynn asked Chloe. He knew she was apart of the team that excavated the training areas. So it was obvious that it was that groups doing. "Well, there was a lot of trees so we decided to create a wall with them all," Chloe explained as she scratched her head. The rest of the group felt slightly embarrassed as well with everyone looking at their work. "So how large of a training area did you create?" Flynn asked the question that Chloe slightly dreaded. As they hadn''t explained it to the rest of the group, only those that were excavating. "Well, we decided to create multiple training areas, all that would have a more intense gravity. And the test to determine whether someone is suited for the next training area is simply their travel to the next area," Brianna explained proudly. "I suppose it isn''t too bad of an idea," Flynn said. But before he could finish Brianna interrupted him, "And we''ll create special rooms inside the mountain that''ll only be for the strongest of students. But once they adapt to that gravity they''ll be able to graduate, the only way they can continue to train is by signing a contract so they will work for us." "Alright, I suppose that settles that. But how are we supposed to handle those that have adapted to the cave rooms? They''ll have the strength that is equal to the strongest within the group not to mention they''ll have the strength that''ll allow them to go in and out of the farmland freely," Flynn explained his concerns. The group that thought of the idea was left flabbergasted as they didn''t know how to answer Flynn''s concerns. They hadn''t thought about it that far, they just used it as a means to justify their action of ripping out more trees. "We could create a defence type of system couldn''t we?" Simon asked. "If the defence isn''t enough to stop people that have the strength of someone like Lachlan then there''s no point," Flynn responded with a sigh. "Well if we use the high-grade gravity stones to create a defensive barrier that''ll be fine right?" Simon asked. Flynn thought about it and turned towards Simon in shock, he hadn''t expected Simon to say something actually intelligent. "I suppose we could create a barrier using the stones, the only problem is whether or not they''ll just dig around." "We could reinforce the cave walls using the stones. Anything can become extremely durable if you force 200 times Earth''s gravity onto it. Not to mention we can place medium grade gravity stones along the main cave wall that''ll force everyone away from the main cave. As they''ll only have trained to the level of 10 times Earth''s gravity they''ll be crushed under 20 times," Simon explained. "That''s actually a really good idea, we could also get all of you to begin training again. Not for the whole day like before but just part of the day or any day that you''re completely free," Simon suggested. "Does that mean I can train to the level of these people?" Zhang asked with a wide smile. He hadn''t forgotten the time he was completely crushed under their strength, he would love to get to that level of strength. "Sure, just remember though, all these people spent every day for two years training on this island to get to where they are now. It''ll be a long journey for you to reach a similar level," Flynn explained. "And I''ll gladly go along that journey," Zhang said proudly. ... It took a little while for Lachlan to find all the gravity stones they needed before coming to the beach. There was 8 of them there, the rest were either with the children or in the farmland. Lachlan gave 6 stones to everyone. "Alright, don''t drop them all at the same time but make sure there''s a decent amount of time between the dropped stones. Also, made sure they''re actually hitting the island and not the ground. So you''ll have to control the stones efficiently to navigate the stones to where you want it," Lachlan explained from behind. The group nodded and began. Holding out their stones they quickly took possession over them through their blood. When that was done their first command was for the stones to go forward, away from them and above the water. The next command was for the stone''s gravity to be downwards, they counted as they waited before they felt as though it was the right time and commanded the stones'' gravity to push it against the island. They couldn''t actually see or feel anything so they just had to make guesses. They repeated what they had just done but with less time. They did this until there were no more stones in their arms. "Alright Flynn, I sure as hell hope this works," Lachlan said as he began to move backwards. They weren''t completely sure as to where the stones were and they certainly didn''t want to be within the radius of 200 metres. Since the stones could be used from a long distance they didn''t hold back as to how far back into the island they went. The group reached the orphanage and almost everyone was there. Aside from a few of the parents that were within the farmland the rest of the group was there taking care of the children. "What''s up?" Maddie asked as she was assembling some type of puzzle with a few of the children. "Well, some stuff happened so now we''re moving the island. We''re here to make sure everyone stays safe and nothing bad happens," Simon explained calmly. Maddie nodded and began running around the orphanage to tell everyone to prepare for any unexpected situations. The parents began to gather their children in a circle in front of the orphanage. Maddie walked into the centre and used the gravity stone to left everyone up, "Make sure you have a tight grip of you child!" The rest of the group were watching as this happened and were surprised. They hadn''t even thought about using the stones to fly off the island. Holding out their personal gravity stone they did the same and brought themselves to a similar level of the children. "Alright, let''s move the island now," Lachlan said. The group issue the commands and they heard the island beneath them rumble. They quickly noticed the water quake as the island moved. The group decided to stay in one spot, that way it''ll be much easier to determine how far the island has gone from their current position. it took roughly 30 minutes before the island was almost a black spec in the distance before finally disappearing. They suddenly heard something from behind them. Looking back they noticed it was a massive carrier plan along with some fighter jets. just be looking at the insignias on the plans they could tell It was the Land and Sky Guardians. They had come to take their land. 96 Making A Smart Ally "We already explained it didn''t we? But if you insist, the island wasn''t connected-" Flynn''s explanation was quickly interrupted by Jake. "No not that, I mean the floating, my soldiers have already reported that fact that your entire group was floating in the air," Jake said as he casually sat down. Unlike Nick, Jake''s soldiers were the only people to have seen the group floating in the air. Nick''s soldiers were busy being transported in the plane, not controlling it. "Oh that, well I suppose that''s a business secret, everyone needs to have their own tricks to survive after all," Flynn explained mischievously. "Oh come on, it''s not like we can copy your tricks now can we?" Jake asked as he sounded like a child nagging their parent for something. "Although you''re not wrong, we also don''t want you to develop any means to counter our tricks," Flynn said as he leaned back in the chair. "Tsk, well since I can''t get it through asking how about I propose a deal, one that benefits both sides," Jake said as he leaned slightly over the table to rest his elbows on it. "Do explain," Flynn said as he gestured Jake to continue. The group were slightly surprised as they were listening to everything going on. It was as though there were constant mind games going on, each trying to get to smallest bit of information from the opposing side. Flynn was mixing both truthful information along with lies. Although they could easily copy their tricks should they get a hold of the gravity stones, there isn''t any way to actually counter them. They can''t exactly stop gravity in its tracks, it isn''t something that could actually be held in someone''s palm. "I propose that we become allies, not necessarily life or death allies but just somewhat trustworthy allies; you don''t attack us, we don''t attack you and we can work together should we need to," Jake calmly suggested. "Hm, I thought you Sky Guardians despised us," Flynn said in a curious tone. "Not really, while the Land Guardians hate your guts and the Sea Guardians are like your family, we''re a mix of both. As some of our forces are with the Sea Guardians, they see things on the battlefield and report it around the force; the desperate families doing everything in their power to survive or at least let their children survive, even if they are mutated," Jake explained. "Why do the Land Guardians hate us so much though?" Flynn couldn''t help but ask, he never understood what problem the Land Guardians had with them, it isn''t as though they killed their families. "I don''t really know either. Possibly because hunting down mutated children was the only thing that gave their forces something to do; it distracted the public from that fact that the Land Guardians are quite literally useless now. Aside from that, maybe some of them just had such a large amount of hatred targeted towards intelligent beast that they despise anything even remotely similar," Jake explained as she shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Could also be the fact that the Land Guardians are the most corrupt force." "How so?" Flynn questioned. "Well, since Land Guardians are never really on the front lines it''s the safest force to join. It''s also where higher-ups will send their spoiled brats because some of them don''t want their little angles to see them experience the real hardship of war," Jake responded with a hint of anger in his voice. "Then all they do is go brag to their friends that their children are apart of the army, exaggerating every little story they hear from their children to make it sound as though stubbing their toe against their bedside was a battle of life and death." "Sounds like you have some rather strong opinions," Flynn casually remarked. The others in the group nodded along with that. Lachlan could understand why Jake''s so angry though; Jake is a combat genius but all it takes is one arrogant soldier to screw up his whole chain of commands. Something that could end the lives of the entire battalion. "Of course, war isn''t a game parents should be sending their kids to play in. Although I will say that sometimes war can change the spoiled brats, just a single battle can make them more mature, turn them into a real leader," said Jake as he leaned back in his chair. "Suppose making an Ally with someone such as yourself wouldn''t be too bad, although I will warn you, all it will take is one messy leader and our alliance could crumble into the ground," Flynn said. "Granted you will just need to make sure those people never meet us, should they decide to fight against us because of something we said we certainly aren''t afraid to show them our full force." "Don''t worry, I know all too well how important the alliance between us is. Unfortunately, I can''t say the same for Nick. When you leave I would suggest leaving a lasting impression on the Land Guardians, just something that''ll scare them a bit," Jake suggested with a wide grin. Although Flynn wasn''t sure how they could leave a lasting impression without making enemies with the Land Guardians, Lachlan knew exactly what to do. It''ll also send a message to Jake that he made the right decision "Just wondering though, what personality does the leader of the Sky Guardians have?" Flynn asked. From what he remembered the leaders were two to one in favour of getting rid of hybrids. He wanted to confirm whether anything has changed since then. Jake face began to scrunch as his wrinkles became more prominent, "His personality is a rather unique one is all I can really say. Sometimes he''s all for saving everyone and at other times he''s only for saving certain people, as though he has multiple personalities." "I wonder how he managed to get so high in the ranking with such a split personality, wouldn''t that be rather dangerous to have on the battlefield?" Flynn hadn''t met anyone with split personalities before but from what he knew, they weren''t all that good to have. "The weird thing is, every single one of his personalities is a genius level leader; they are all able to lead large armies into battle confidently without a doubt they''ll all make it out alive. And that''s exactly what''s so unique about them, their ability to minimize the casualties," Jake explained. "How many personalities does he have?" Simon asked from behind. He wasn''t some cunning businessman so he let Flynn take care of all of that, but this Sky Guardian leader intrigued him. "I believe he has 6 personalities including his own," Jake replied. "Each of which will appear at different times, some at worst time than others. I remember hearing a rumour about one of his personalities appearing in front of a military leader years ago, he started spouting nonsense about how that leader wasn''t qualified and whatnot, this was a massive setback and provided him with some difficulties rising his rank." "I would love to meet him," Lachlan said as he thought about what type of screen would appear for him. Would it be the screen of the body or the personality? What name would appear? Anything could be possible. "Anyway, I feel as though our group should go now. It was a lovely time talking to you and I hope you remember our alliance," Flynn said as he leaned forward before standing up. The rest of the group follow suit. "Indeed, I would love to work alongside your group in the future, do remember what you promised before though and leave a lasting impression," Jake said as he stood up. They all began to walk back outside where they noticed Nick was angrily pouting to the side. He was leaning on the building and when the group came out his gaze snapped towards them. "Alright then, I suppose we''ll meet some other time, but until then make sure you take care of yourself," Lachlan said as he summoned Aaron. ''Aaron, how about you release that aura of yours and show everyone here who''s the strongest?'' Lachlan said as he hopped on. Some of the group joined him while Simon and Georgia summoned their own birds to support the rest of the group. Just as they were about to fly off an astounding amount of pressure suddenly appeared in the surrounding area. It felt as though it threatened to crush everyone into the ground. It was much stronger than the time in Sydney as Aaron had practised a bit since then. He had a lot more control over his aura, including how powerful it was. The power emitted from Aaron''s body could be seen as it seemed as though the space surrounding Aaron''s body was beginning to warp under the pressure. Nick was feeling the full frontal of it as Aaron stared directly at him. Georgia''s and Simon''s birds were affected but not as much as the soldiers. Fortunately, Aaron practised his control otherwise they might have also collapsed from the pressure. ''Alright, let''s go'' Lachlan commanded. Aaron shot into the air, the pressure around the base slowly lifted and everyone could finally breathe normally. Simon and Georgia, although were momentarily dazed quickly followed Lachlan''s trail, leaving Nick and Jake to just stare at their fading figures. ''Oh boy was it a good idea to make a friendly alliance with them'' Jake thought as his back was covered in sweat. He felt as though that pressure would tear him in half, yet he didn''t even feel the full power of it. Close to him was Nick who finally collapsed to his knees, his entire body furiously sweating from fear. ''What the fuck was that? What type of monster was that?'' Nick almost passed out from the pressure, as it felt as though he was already in the mouth of the beast just being stared at. He had never felt so close to losing his life before. He merely chose to become a soldier so he could brag to his friends about how brave he was. But that one encounter made him feel as though he aged hundreds of years. ''What would have happened if Jake didn''t stop me'' Nick shivered at the thought. He was originally furious that Jake ordered him to get out but now he felt as though he should be thankful, being in a room by himself with a bunch of monsters. What would have happened to him should he have really pissed them off? 97 Finding an Evolved Beas The group flew back at a steady pace, enjoying the oversight of the vast land as they flew across it. The enjoyed seeing new beasts, Lachlan especially, as he analysed them all along the way. Fortunately, now that it had been two years almost everything was level 10. And if it wasn''t'' level 10? the beast should have some pretty astounding concealment abilities. But something caught his eye, something he never would have thought he would ever see in a long while. An evolved beast. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ghostly Grasshopper Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness/Ghoul Grade: Good Innate Talent: 3rd Grade Level: 12 STR: 52(+20), AGI: 54(+30), VIT: 50(+10) INT: 33(+10), PER: 39(+10), WIL: 28(+4) Weakness: Weak Defence Strengths: Leg Strength (Level 2), Darkness Control (Level 2), Physical Damage Reduction (90%), Phantom Body -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan had never thought that the first evolved beast he would ever see would be a grasshopper, let alone a ghoul type grasshopper. Its strengths were also rather unique, two of them were anyway. The physical damage reduction and phantom body were both unique strengths that Lachlan has never seen before. ''Aaron, slow down a bit'' Lachlan abrupt halt caused everyone behind him to almost jolt forward. Just as they were about to shout they followed the direction of Lachlan''s gaze and noticed the unique beast. The grasshopper passed through the trees as though it wasn''t there, it''s body slightly off the ground as though it was floating. Its entire body was black yet it looked slightly transparent. Its body was roughly 3 metres long and 1 metre tall. Yet for some reason, it gave off a mystical vibe, as though it''s something out of a fantasy world, something that shouldn''t exist in their world. The grasshopper didn''t notice the piercing gazes of the group and continued to phase through the trees until it finally stopped and almost disappeared. Its body almost became completely transparent, if they were staring at it so intently they wouldn''t have noticed anything out of the usual. The group noticed something moving towards the grasshopper, granted it didn''t seem to have noticed it and walked right up to it. It was a wolf, but the moment the wolf reached the grasshopper it shot back into a tree, its chest was broken apart. The grasshopper appeared visible again before slowly drifting towards the wolf''s corpse, when it reached the corpse it leaned over, it''s antenna''s carefully sliding across the corpse. The grasshopper leaned back slowly before lunging slightly forward, its antenna jab into the corpse, strength through the chest and the head. That''s when the group noticed something different. The wolf''s body began to shrivel up, the body began shrinking and the strong muscles that it once had have shrunken to the bones very core. When the corpse seemed like nothing other then a dried up empty husk the grasshopper leaned back and took its antenna''s out, there were still some drops of the blood at the tips of the antenna. The group felt a cold shiver glade across their spines, they felt their sweat across their forehead. They were used to seeing something die, even they themselves killing the beast. Yet the way the grasshopper ate slightly scared them, as they imagined that happening to themselves, their bodies shrinking to skin and bones. "What the fuck is that?" Simon asked as his voice slightly shook. "That''s an evolved beast, one that has taken up a rather unique attribute, ghoul," Lachlan calmly explained as he slowed down his breathing. "How the hell did it evolve into that of all things?" Simon questioned as he continued to stare at the grasshopper, his gaze never leaving its body, afraid that it would suddenly appear next to them and suck every droplet of blood out of their bodies. "Well, I have no idea, but if I were to take guesses I would say that it involved something with a ghoul attribute, as for the specifics, I couldn''t tell you even if I studied that thing for a year," Lachlan explained. "Should we kill it and take it back to the island? We might be able to figure out the secret of evolution if we get Anne to research its corpse," Flynn suggested. "If we''re going to take care of it we''ll need to know it''s weaknesses and strengths. So, Lachlan, what are they?" Joe asked as he finally calmed down. But soon after that calmness was replaced with excitement as he thought about beating it to the ground. "Well, it''s one weakness is that its defence is incredibly weak, but unfortunately, it''s strength make up for it," Everyone''s attention was drawn unto Lachlan when he said that. "It seems all physical damage will be reduced by 30%, its legs are rather strong and it has a bit of control over darkness. But the final thing is what will explain it''s unique body, its final strength is its phantom body, which means it is able to phase through physical objects such as trees." "Well, what''s to stop it from phasing through the physical attacks? Or even hiding underground?" Joe asked. Now he was slightly hesitating, unsure whether or not he should be the one to fight against the grasshopper. Simon would be a much better choice considering all three of his beasts control some elements. "There''s isn''t anything stopping it from doing exactly that, which is why we''ll need to kill it fast, maybe even instantly. But fortunately, we know it needs to become a full physical body when it needs to eat, so all we do is wait till then and surprise attack it," Lachlan explained. Although Aaron was all that would be needed if this was a fair fight, there really wasn''t anything stopping the grasshopper from retreating into the ground. "I suggest we get a move on with the plan, the grasshopper just found its new prey," Zhang said as he stared towards a lizard that was waltzing towards the grasshopper''s directing nonchalantly. The group watched as the grasshopper positioned itself in the lizard''s path. They quickly but quietly flew over, using the beasts and their control over the wind to stop any sound going towards the grasshopper. The floated above the two and watched everything happen. From the grasshopper''s swift execution to the grasshopper now eating its newly killed food. "Now!" Lachlan shouted as Aaron spread its wings to let out a torrent of wind blades. Simon''s birds followed suit, but only two of them used wind while the other shot lightning from its mouth. Kyle controlled the shadow beneath the grasshopper to created spikes that shot up and through the grasshopper''s body. It was swiftly executed without a chance of it doing anything to escape let alone survive. The group observed the grasshopper''s body become more visible as it slowly drifted towards the ground. When it reached the ground it became fully visible and temporal, it''s black carapace gave off a sheen as it glistened in the sunlight. Lachlan quickly analysed it to confirm its death, when nothing came up he slightly relaxed as he moved towards the corpse. When they reached the corpse they all leaned over to glide their hand across the carapace. It was cold, ice cold as though someone took it out of the freezer just moments ago. "Damn, it''s almost like it as just a corpse," Simon remarked as his body slightly shivered from the cold corpse. "I suppose that''s what makes it a ghoul, maybe it had to die to evolve, although that isn''t something we''ll be testing anytime soon," Lachlan responded quickly as he thought about the possibility. "Ha, we''ll take the corpse back to Anne first, she should be able to give some kind of answer," Flynn said as he stood back up. "Your right," Lachlan said. The rest of the group nodded before they all stood back up. Simon grabbed hold of the corpse before dragging it to Dusty. Dusty hopped onto the corpse before grabbing hold of it firmly. "Alright then, let''s go," Lachlan said as he hopped onto Aaron. Everyone else got back onto the birds they were on previously and the group shot back into the skies to continue their journey. What the group failed to notice as they flew back into the sky was a dark shadow figure staring at them behind a tree. Its eyes were pitch black, it''s body slightly humanoid. Its body was trembling, but not in fear but from anger. The experiment it worked so hard on perfecting had been killed before its eyes. The loyal soldiers that partook in the experiment that''ll further strengthen their army. The only loyal soldier to succeed in the experiment had been slaughter before it could collect enough data. Any scientist would be furious by such an incident. Although, it certainly wasn''t a scientist by any means. The figure began to walk backwards, with its arms no longer resting on the tree the rested by the sides of the figure. They easily reached the ground, its long skinny fingers dragged across the dirt. After a while, it finally stopped and before it was a giant cemetery, one that was both a cemetery for many beasts as well as humans. 98 Maddies Suggestion The group managed to reach the island swiftly, although it took slightly longer since the island''s distance increased by another 100 kilometres. As they flew over it Lachlan reminisced on the past, the time they first stood upon the island, how the sheer size of the trees and abnormal gravity awed them. Now those very trees that awed them created a wall that surrounds the entire island. As they flew overhead there were patches of ruptured dirt, where the trees had been ripped up and roughly 1 kilometre into the island was the beginning of the mountain that surrounded the world tree. The vast mountain shaped like a circle surrounding the world tree. The bare stone near the mountain tops, while the caves rested roughly halfway down the mountain rested the caves, only of the which that had a stream coming out of it that ran down the mountainside. Passing over the mountain that reached hundreds of metres into the air they came across the beginning of the tree roots. Just the end of the world tree''s roots was as tall as an adult human, let alone when they came closer towards the centre. The roots covered the ground, not letting a single bit of dirt become visible. But in the distance, where the tree shot into the air their little huts could be spotted. They were slightly above the ground using stilts, resting against the tree. But above their huts was Anne''s laboratory, chains connecting the island to the tree, they were stabbed into the tree using a spike. They quickly reached their huts and landed, Maddie came rushing out. She stormed off to Simon, "So why did we have to move the island?" Her voice sounded furious, along with the fact she was right in front of Simon''s face. "Because those Land Guardians are rather cunning pricks, using their authority to try and take the island away from us. Fortunately, Flynn solved the problem swiftly, by saying the island is 200 kilometres away instead of 100, which is why we had to move the island," Simon exclaimed swiftly. "Oh, those sneaking bastards. But speaking about moving the island, I have an idea that could be rather unique so to say," Maddie said mysteriously. "You want to have the island stationed in the sky," Joe said from behind everyone, he had a large grin across his face. "Wha-" Maddie didn''t expect anyone to guess what she was thinking, she tilted her head down dejectedly, "Yeah, I wanted to suggest we make the island floating in the sky since it makes it a whole lot safer." "Well it could make the island a lot safer but we need to plan a bit for that. How high should we have the island? Should we move it around or keep it here? What are we going to do if someone takes the stones? Until we can guarantee no mistakes with the plan we won''t go with it," Flynn responded in a slightly harsh tone, as though he was someone scolding their pet. "Well I suppose we could have it we could maybe have the island roughly 1 kilometre above the sea level, we can move it around since it won''t be connected to the land it could technically classify as a mobile home and to prevent anyone from taking the stones we should just hiding it inside the ground," Maddie had thought long and hard about the idea as she tested it while returning to the huts. "Also, the stones will need to constantly provide gravity upwards, as until we''re able to get into the centre of the island most of the ground will still pushing downwards from the gravity." "Well look at you, it looks as though you''ve thought about this idea for a bit," Simon said as he wrapped his arms around Maddie. "Although there is one thing you overlooked, the oxygen levels at higher altitudes aren''t the same as they are on the ground." "Well I obviously thought about it, but 1 kilometre above the sea level isn''t bad at all. You should only worry about the oxygen levels once you reach 2.5 kilometres above sea level, but even then it''s still perfectly fine for a person to live at those altitudes," Maddie said proudly while she tilted her head upwards. "Unfortunately, I remember hearing people talk about how the gravity is different on Earth now, apparently it''s three times stronger," Simon said with a smug face. "Huh, then why doesn''t it feel different when I walk on Earth right now?" Maddie questioned intimidatingly. "Because our bodies seemed to have adapted to it rather swiftly, but unfortunately, gravity is a major factor when it comes to oxygen levels; because gravity pulls the oxygen molecules closer to the surface. Not to mention the pressure up high is rather low as well, which means we won''t be getting the amount of oxygen we need for every breath we take," Simon explained calmly as he continued to grin. The group just listened to the could argue, everyone was just as stunned. It was like a new world to them. Simon being smart? Rarely happens. Simon explaining something technical? Has just about never happened before. What they were looking at was a new Simon, one that had the brain power to support the team, although Flynn was the one that usually takes care of that. It''s as though his relationship with Maddie brings out a whole new level of intelligent, from the deepest parts of his mind. "Well why don''t we find a stone that''ll help with that? We have water stones and plant stones, not to mention the gravity stones. What''s to say there isn''t a stone that can control the air?" Maddie argued back angrily, she hated Simon''s smug face and enjoyed making it disappear, which is why both of them constantly argued in secret. Ever since they met they''ve argued about some of the most useless things, yet they would study them in detail just to win. Maddie remembers winning an argument over whether or not you should open the door for strangers as a polite gesture. She argued for while Simon argued against. "Well we''ll need to find them first, but where do you expect to find an air stone? The only reason those stones appear on this island is due to its unique features, the abnormal gravity, the central tree, not to mention the unique water," Simon responded swiftly. "I know someone that should be able to tell you the best places for strong wind," Zoe said shyly from behind the couple. She was slightly afraid she would get yelled out for disturbing their conversation, especially when they both turned their heads towards her in syncronised fashion. "Who?" They both asked menacingly. "My dad, Harrison. He took up windsurfing as a hobby during his younger years, went around the world to the places with the strongest winds against the water to surf there," Zoe responded nervously, as she felt the two stare at her as though she was their prey. "Where is he?" The couple got closer to Zoe, their faces just centimetres away from Zoe''s. Zoe could feel the two of them heavily breathing onto her face. "He''s apart of the farming group, so he should be in the cave right now probably resting," Zoe answered as she backed away. Hearing the information Maddie and Simon''s gaze both snapped towards where the cave is located, even though it was nowhere in sight, the importance of it is enough to keep its position memorised. In case of emergencies or they see anything from that direction. Simon summoned Tempest and hopped on before shooting towards the cave. Maddie took out her gravity stone, everyone watched as she floated in the air before flying towards the mountain, quickly catching up to Simon before passing him. Simon sat on Tempest awed at the sight of his fiance flying past him. As unlike him, she was just flying through the air without any issues or support while he rode on top of a bird. But as he took a closer look he noticed the stone in Maddie''s hand. ''I see, so you can do that as well'' Simon''s eyes lit up as he hopped off Tempest as he unsummoned him. Taking hold of the stone he changed the direction of his gravity and began "Falling" towards the mountainside. But unlike Maddie use has tested everything, Simon was completely inexperienced. His body arched as he flew towards the mountainside. Not to mention the way he was flying was rather erratic, while Maddie''s was smooth, as though she had full control over the flight. The group back at the huts watched as all of this unfolded. Some of them then took out their gravity stones and gave it a try, they first tried flying around the tree but instead of following a circular line they followed a square one instead. "Haha, I didn''t think we could use the stones for flying. Doesn''t that mean we don''t need to ride on the birds to get around the place?" Zhang said happily as he flew around the tree in an almost perfect circular shape. "I suppose it does work rather well, as the stone almost forces the air to change direction as well, limiting the amount of air that pushes against our bodies," Lachlan replied as he sped past Zhang. Although in Lachlan''s mind it doesn''t give off a powerful feeling as compared with descending upon the lands on a mythical griffon. There was just something about it that made him feel majestic, not to mention Lachlan can easily ward off any flying beast with the single release of Aaron''s aura. ''But that doesn''t stop us from using the stones while on the beast'' Lachlan thought about as a grin formed across his face. ... At the caves, Simon and Maddie descended downwards before shooting through the cave, not a single care in their minds as they sped up. The darkness at the end of the cave changed to light and they flew right through. The main cave has changed greatly over the time that they''ve been cultivating the land. Although the river stream was almost the same, at the centre of the cave where the lake rests, there were multiple offshoots from the lake, all of which led around the cave to water the plants. As for the actual farm, the plants grew large and bountiful as the glistening green crystal could be seen within the centre of the farm. It was a medium ranked plant stone, they were using it to boost up the speed of growth, just slightly though as they don''t have an automated process to go any faster. All the plants had evolved as well, the tomatoes were the size of someone''s head, while the strawberries were roughly the size of an adult''s clenched fist. The cucumbers were as long as an adult''s leg while the lettuce reached their waists. The two quickly rushed over to the side where a large cottage was made, it housed 8 people, four couples that had retired and didn''t really want to involve themselves with the new world. Opening the door and rushing through the house they reached an old couple sitting outside on wooden rocking chairs. The two were Harrison and Dakota, chatting peacefully but got distracted when they heard the ruckus from behind them. "Harrison! Where''s the place with the strongest winds on Earth?" Maddie and Simon both asked at the same time as they almost appeared in front of Harrison like a ghost. "Up high in the mountains that reach the jet stream. There are also places like Patagonia, located in South America, some places in Antartica or a place called Tornado Alley, located in Kansas, America," Harrison replied as he took a sip of his tea. "Zoe said you''re a windsurfer, how do you know about all the other places?" Simon asked as he tilted his head curiously. "Well isn''t it obvious. I just searched windiest places in the world on the internet, in an attempt to find some great places to go windsurfing," Harrison answered slightly mocking Simon in his tone. He may be old but he''s used the internet before, he got a full tutorial on how to use the internet from his son, Joe. Simon felt as though he asked a stupid question but quickly got up and left. Maddie followed right behind him. The two quickly began their race back to the huts, where they saw the rest of the group learning how to fly. 99 Beginning the Journey to Patagonia "You guys have gotten so good already," Maddie said joyfully as she flew up to them. She began to show off some tricks, doing flips in the air as she flew circles around everyone. "Of course, we had some rather good demonstrations," Phoebe complimented Maddie as she flew towards her and tried doing a flip. She almost did it, but once she got to the top of the flip she almost lost control and feel down. Lachlan quickly flew behind and caught her before flying up to the others. "So what commands do you give the stone? I''m constantly having to command the stone to change the direction slightly midair, but at the same time, I''m having difficulties keeping it constant since I''m putting a lot of my attention into spatial awareness. Don''t want to end up splattered against a wall," said Joe. "Well, I just command the stone to follow the direction of my fingers or hand, anything that can be used as a direction can be used for the stone," Maddie smiled when everyone stared at her dumbfounded. "I''ll quickly do an example." Maddie held up the stone in front of them, it quickly flew downwards diagonally. The group didn''t think anything of it, they could do the same thing. But their eyes widened when they saw where it was heading to. It was heading straight towards Maddie''s hut''s roof, or more specifically, the very point at the highest point on her roof. Just when it was about to slam into it the stone came to complete halt, it gently rested on the point with extreme balance. "It involves a bit more of a technical term. For example, if you say for the gravity to go upwards, everything in a 200-metre radius will up; but if you command the stone to make everything, say, go towards the tree branch. Everything in a 200-metre radius will go up until it reaches the branch, which is where it will come to a complete halt," Maddie explained as the group looked on in awe. "Another example is changing the gravity downward. You can change the gravity downwards and everything in that radius will go down until it can''t anymore; but if you command for the gravity to go downwards towards the ground, everything in a 200-metre radius above the ground will get pulled towards it. Which would also explain why the island is so unique." "So whatever is at the centre of the island was commanded to pull everything in a certain radius towards it. But why does the gravity get weaker?" Lachlan understood everything Maddie said quickly, but the other unique thing about the island was that the gravity gradually gets stronger the closer they are to the centre. "Remember, there is no limit in details for the instructions we give the stone. There''s nothing stopping us from making the gravity gradual with the stones. There''s also no limit to the area we want to be affected, we could make it in the shape of a square or even a triangle," Maddie answered. "Then let''s test it out," Lachlan responded as he flew back to the ground. When his toes touched the surface he threw his stone. ''Change gravity towards the ground, radius 20 metres, every metre from the edge of the area gravity will increase by 1, starting at 2'' Lachlan threw the stone a bit away so he wasn''t in the affected area just yet. He began walking towards the stone, once he reached 20 metres out from the stone he felt the gravity increase by 2. Taking a couple of steps he felt it increase again, he quickly walked 10 metres in before he came to a stop. He had stopped training for a while so his body wasn''t trained for 11 times gravity yet, although he could handle it he would struggle quite a bit. ''Change gravity 2 times, the affected area will be a rectangular prism, 20 metres long, 3 metres wide and 2 metres tall'' Lachlan felt the gravity lighten up on him and he began to feel out the area. He followed the edges of the affected area and discovered that it followed the shape of a rectangle. He then jumped up roughly 3 metres into the air, he took out another stone from his pocket and dropped it. His gaze followed its fall as it suddenly increased once it was 2 metres up from the ground. "Suppose that concludes the basic testing, we''ll get more into detail later. For now however," Lachlan turned towards Maddie and Simon. "We''ll be going to find that air stone, but we first need to know where to go." "Well from what Harrison told us, we could either go to the top of Mount Everest, go to Antartica, Tornado Valley in Colorado, America, or go to Patagonia in South America," Simon said. "There could also be new islands that are much windier then these places, but since these are the only places we know about I suppose we''ll just settle for one," Lachlan said as he went into deep thought about which place to choose. "How are both America''s or South America''s conditions after the two years?" Joe asked. "From what I remember, both locations had it really rough, especially America. Although they both become equal in terms of danger, the way both countries handled the evolution is like comparing the heavens and the earth," Flynn answered. "While South America quickly adapted through strengthening their people through beast taming; America almost got annihilated from the sheer strength that everything threw at them, especially since most of their population didn''t know how to fight against things that can''t be killed through shooting it." "So South America then?" Zhang asked. "I''m slightly hesitant, as South America also became a major hub to drug cartels. Not to mention some of the even shader stuff going on, such as human trafficking," Flynn explained fully concerned about the safety of the group. "Don''t worry, we''re strong enough to handle them," Chloe reassured him while flexing her arms. "Here''s the real problem though, the human traffickers don''t care what it takes to get what they want. If you beat up their people through resisting they''ll just send more people, a lot more people as that''s how they get things done," Flynn explained his biggest concern about the trip. "So they''re a bunch of cowards that have no honour," Simon said while sounding as though he''s looking down on them. "Right now in this world, honour is something stupid that people should forget about. Power, money, and connections are what get you through the world now. Keeping your honour will now lead you to your deaths, as your enemies will take advantage of it," Flynn explained as he turned towards Simon. "You don''t need honour anymore as no one high up will recognise it, the only thing they recognise is your power or influence." "Do you think that''s why those higher-ups are sending their children to the military? As they''ll not only be able to build up their strength, they''ll also be able to build up their power and reputation through making connections," said Lachlan as he came unto the realisation that those higher-ups weren''t just sending their children into the military just for bragging rights. "It''s certainly a smart idea, as their children should have a bright future after making all those connections. But back on topic, I think we should head to Patagonia, as there''s something else that interests me there," said Simon. "Oh, and what''s that?" Lachlan asked. "I want to tame another beast and South America apparently has some rather exotic birds, granted I''ll certainly want you to check them all before I tame any of them," Simon explained as he glanced over to Lachlan. "I''ve also wanted to try some South America cuisine, now''s the perfect time to do it." "Alright then, but make sure you take extra precaution around the cities, especially if you''re passing any alleyways or shady corners. You should also always be ready to attack someone if necessary, just completely knock them out as long as you''re doing it to protect yourself," Flynn warned the group. "And remember, you''re only there to find an air stone, try to avoid getting involved with anything else, especially anything shady or dangerous." "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure to keep a tight handle on the leash," said Chloe as she reassured Flynn she had everything under control. "Aside from Simon and possibly Zhang, no one else would be involved in anything dangerous, so I''ll just keep a close eye on those two." "Ha, good luck keeping an eye on Zhang," Flynn responded as she grinned. "Maybe we should just put a tracker on him," Chloe joked with a slightly serious tone. Zhang stared at the two slightly worried he''ll have to have a tracker put on him. That''ll ruin the fun in any games he decides to play with everyone here. "Alright, so how should we get there?" Lachlan asked. "Should we use the stones? Ride on the birds? Or a mix of both?" "What''s the point in riding the birds when we have the stones?" Zhang asked. "Well if we have Kyle or Aaron summoned we''ll easily be able to ward off any beast through their auras, not to mention the threatening appearance of both Kyle and Aaron will make sure everyone gets it into their minds that they won''t be messing with us," Lachlan explained. "There''s also the fact that they could quickly provide us with assistance as they''re already summoned." "Then let''s just do both and get out of here," Zhang said impatiently, as though he was a kid rushing his parents so he could get home faster. "Alrighty then, Simon and Maddie we''re leaving the huts to you two, make sure they don''t get destroyed while we''re away. Dylan, you continue keeping an eye and protecting my sister," said Lachlan. The group was slightly confused at the last part until they heard something leave really quickly, as though they were simply a gust in the wind. They didn''t even notice that Dylan had been by them the entire time, even Zhang was surprised, almost shamed about his own skills. Lachlan summoned Aaron while Georgia summoned Kyle. Lachlan holding onto the stone in his pocket before shotting off into the air, Aaron quickly followed right behind him. "Make sure you don''t lag behind too much, we got a busy week ahead of it." The rest didn''t think too much about the remark but quickly shot into the air right behind Lachlan. Chloe and Simon quickly turned and waved their goodbyes before picking up the pace. "Has anyone ever been to South America before?" Brianna asked. "Nope, but there shouldn''t be too many things different," Simon said. "Most countries are in the same state after the evolution, some worse than others such as America. But all in all, most countries are roughly equal now." "Granted some countries such as America or Russie still have a hold over quite a few nukes," Simon quickly added on. "Alright; however, as long as they continue to point their nukes at the beast populace I won''t mind them. But the moment it begins to target a country, I''ll be making sure none of them will be fired," Lachlan vowed. The group began to have little chats amongst themselves as they flew towards Patagonia at a steady pace. They were excited about what they were going to find there. 100 Stopping by a Volcanic Island It took a while for the groups to make it to Patagonia, the destination was a long ways away, not to mention the fact that the entire planet has grown larger, meaning the countries have distanced themselves even further. During the travel however they landed on a rather unique island, one that had been created by a volcano, one that was still active now. The island roughly stretched 10 kilometres in diameter, yet it was full of plant life and full of some rather unique beast. As this island had been created by a volcano in the middle of the ocean, not many large beasts were located on the island. There were a few larger bird type beast that flew overhead, but the ones crawling along the ground were rather small. The group landed on the beach, just to keep a clear view of everything on all angles. The trees were rather thick and tall, the beasts on the island hide within them or on top of them. Georgia made sure Kyle was constantly releasing his aura, just to create less trouble for them. Zhang noticed something on the trees and disappeared, he walked over to the treeline cautiously. Unfortunately for him, the group could see where he was going as his footprints were left in the sand. They followed behind him silently, Zhang didn''t notice for a while until he looked back and noticed everyone crouched low, walking behind him. He got rid of his invisibility, "You guys can see me?" "Look at your footprints, make sure you don''t forget the fact that you are still here, you will still leave marks even though you''re invisible," Simon explained. Zhang''s face went red from embarrassment, "Oh." After that the group went towards the tree line, their eyes darting towards every dark corner where something could be hiding. Walking up to the tree they noticed fruits covering its branches, they looked like apples yet they were bundled together and slightly larger. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Volcanic Plums Description: A delicious snack rich in nutrition that can only be grown in volcanic soil Location: Located on volcanic islands or grown in volcanic soil -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan analysed it just to be sure they weren''t going to eat anything poisonous, but he didn''t expect it to be a plum. ''It''s massive'' Lachlan reached out and grabbed on, yanking his arm back to rip it off. He brought it to his mouth before taking a large bite. His taste buds were soaked in sweetness, Lachlan''s eyes widen in surprise. ''This is delicious, suppose the eyes never lie'' The group saw him take a bite and felt reassured, aside from Brianna and Zhang the rest of them knew about Lachlan''s ability. All of them reached out to take one peach for themselves before taking a bite. "This is amazing, we should bring it back to the island to grow," Simon suggested as he took another bite. The fruit''s juices sprayed everywhere, it was like they were 80% juice. "Unfortunately, these things can only grow in volcanic soil, so unless we bring a large amount of volcanic soil along with us there''s no point. Plus, we could just come back here and take control of the island, we could even move our island above it," Lachlan explained. "Then I suppose I''ll just grab as many as I can hold for now," Simon said as he reached out and ripped bundles of plums off the tree. He stuffed them in a small bag he brought along with him. Everyone in the group brought along a bag, they also only brought the essentials with them. Water and a bit of food, everything else was left back at the island. Aside from the gravity stones of course, who knows when they''ll have to use them. The bag was attached to a strap that went around their body diagonally. *Hsss* The sound of a snake came from above them. The group swiftly leapt back and summoned their beast. They stared at the treetops until they noticed something dangling from them, although it was a lot smaller than they thought. It was a small snake the size of a finger, dangling on a small twig. Its small head was shaped like a leaf, while the rest of its body looked like a stem. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Leaf Snake Age: Adult Attribute: Wind Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 5th Grade Level: 2 STR: 7(+5), AGI: 10(+5), VIT: 10 INT: 5, PER: 4, WIL: 5 Weakness: Weak Body, Overly Friendly Strengths: Weak Poison, Wind Control (Level 1) -------------------------------------------------------- ''Overly friendly? Does it mean it won''t attack us or just won''t attack others of its own kind'' Lachlan hadn''t seen that trait before, so he quickly assumed a few things about it. Although he hadn''t seen the trait before, considering that some people are rather friendly with each other yet don''t have the trait meant Lachlan could assume these small snakes are friendly to all. *Hsss*Hsss**Hsss*Hsss*Hsss*Hsss*Hsss*Hsss* Looking up they noticed the tree leaves were slowly moving around, the shape of a snake slowly coming into focus. They covered the trees, all the leaves basically were the same species of snake. Lachlan analysed a few others and the screen was almost exactly the same, with the same trait that became a weakness. Lachlan began walking towards them, slowly and cautiously as he made sure Aaron had his eyes back. If anything happens Aaron could blast the whole species to the ground with fire. "What are you doing Lachlan?!" Phoebe shouted at him. "Come back here!" Although Phoebe shouted at him she couldn''t do much herself, as she was absolutely terrified of snakes. The sheer sight of them sent a shiver down her spine, let alone the site of thousands or tens of thousands. "Don''t worry, I have everything under control," Lachlan said as he leaned his head over his shoulder. He turned back around before continuing towards the snakes. Once he reached them Lachlan held out his hand and brought it up to the shortest branch, he had an open palm ready to go. "Come on, don''t be shy, I won''t hurt you." He brought his hand closer to the tiny snake, he didn''t want to run his hand against it just in case the snake''s mood suddenly changes and it goes for the bite. The small snake uncoiled its body before slithering down to Lachlan''s hand. It coiled around his finger before slithering between them all. After a few seconds, it went into Lachlan''s palm and coiled up, its small head sticking out just resting on its body. He brought his hand back up to the branch, the snake in his hand didn''t seem to the want to move. But while that was happening another snake from the branch slithered down onto Lachlan''s hand and joined in. Lachlan gave up, but with two snakes in his hand, he walked over to the group. Phoebe quickly backed away while some of the group seemed to lean back a bit, especially when the snakes turned to look at them. Simon sucked in his guts and took a step forward, he reached out and pet one of the snakes on its small head. The snake raised its head to meet with Simon''s hand, it rubbed against it before wrapping itself around Simon''s finger. "I suppose they are kind of cute," Simon said as they pet the snake with his other hand. Some of the group huddled around Simon and Lachlan and began petting them as well. Phoebe still hid at the back along with Brianna, the two of them stared at the snakes, afraid they would disappear for even a second. "So, should we continue to explore or do that later and focus on getting to Patagonia?" Lachlan asked. Although he wanted to explore the island, they still had the task they had to focus on. "Well, it is already quite late and we might not be able to make it to another island by night time; so why don''t we just stay here for now and rest the night?" Simon asked the group. Most of them agreed as they saw the sun was already close to the horizon. However, Brianna and Phoebe were freaking out, living on the same island as those snakes was too much for them. "No, no, no, no, no, we should leave and find another island to rest on," Phoebe suggested as she backed away from the snakes some more. "What''s to stop those snakes from attacking us in our sleep?" "Oh come on, just take a look at them, they''re adorable and are quite harmless," said Lachlan as he walked towards her, snake in hand as he held it out. "You said quite! That means they''re slightly dangerous, that''s too dangerous for me," Phoebe shouted as she ran back towards the water. "Don''t worry, they''re harmless towards us as they won''t attack us, that''s their nature," Lachlan explained as he tried to reassure Phoebe that everything''s alright. "You sure?" Phoebe asked cautiously. "Yes, it''s one of their weaknesses, their overly friendly towards everything," Lachlan explained calmly to Phoebe. Neither Brianna nor Zhang heard that as they were more focused on the snake, as Zhang as trying to get Brianna to change her mind. "Are you one hundred percent certain?" Phoebe kept up her guard against the snake but took a few steps towards Lachlan. "One hundred percent," said Lachlan. Phoebe walked over slowly with her hand stretched out as far as it could go. She leaned over to using her index finger, just slightly pet it on the snake''s head. When she went to pet it again the snake slightly moved upwards to greet the finger and rubbed its head against it. "I suppose they aren''t too back," Phoebe calmed down a lot when the snake happily let her pet it. "Okay, I suppose we''ll stay on the island till morning, but those snakes better not come near me when I''m sleeping." The two walked back to the group, Zhang and Brianna walked back a few minutes later with Brianna happily holding the snake in her hands. She raised her other hand in victory, "Haha, I conquered my fear over snakes!" Lachlan was rather tempted to just throw her into the main snake nest, see how she reacts to that. But then it''ll be a bother to get her to calm down again, especially now that she''ll have the fear that someone would prank her. Once they reached the group they had a quick chat before all agreeing to stay on the island and who would do what. Lachlan and Joe were in charge of getting food. Lachlan would search from the air while Joe would get Sandy to sniff them out of hiding. The rest of the group was in charge of finding firewood and setting up camp. They broke off a few branches for their tents, they covered them in leaves to protect them for the wind. This time, however, they made sure that both Phoebe''s and Brianna tent was completely made of leaves and not snakes. Some of them were tempted to do it but none of them wanted to face the wrath of both of them. The rest of the group had a few leaf snakes being used as leaves. They didn''t mind all that much, their bodies pretty much acted like leaves. Not to mention they can use wind control, adding more protection from the wind. Once that was all done they settled down and set up the campfire. Lachlan had found a rather small bird, it was half a metre in half and half a metre wide. It was rather fat and looked like a ball of feathers. Once they finished eating they went to sleep, although they did make sure there were people making sure to keep watch. They made it so there were pairs, just so it doesn''t get too boring. 101 Landing in Patagonia After the sun rose the group got up and had some breakfast, eating some of the leftovers from the bird. They also had a few of the plus along with it as a sweet treat for some more energy. After that they took off, bringing a few of the snakes alone with them. Just to brighten up the children''s day as the snakes would let the children play with them, not to mention I wouldn''t be too back for someone to tame it. If they tame a few of them and place them around the island, although they would have to undergo intense training to make sure they don''t stress out their mind too much. They could also have a few of them, acting as a security team. Once they reached Patagonia hours later they saw a large city there, it was against the mountain and had a large and thick wall surrounding it, protecting it from the wind. The group''s birds had already begun using wind control to lessen the strength of the wind around them. But once they reached the ground they got the birds to stop controlling the wind to see how strong it was. Although they could see it already, as the grass and trees in the distance were being blown around; it looked as though they had been bent in half from the wind. The wind around them began to pick up before it suddenly turned into a powerful gust of wind. They felt it pushing against them, their hair was going all around the place, especially the girls. The guys quickly stood the side or in front of the girls when they felt the girl''s hair smack against their face. It quickly turned into a wipe, multiple small whips that struck against their face threatening to cut it up. The group stood there for a few seconds before heading something. It started to get cleared and cleared as the sound got louder. "What are you all doing out here?! You should all be inside the city right now! Follow me!" Someone from behind them started yelling out them. Turning around they noticed a rather small and slim girl, she dark skin, black hair and black eyes. Her hair was blowing all around the place as she used a stick that had a few weights attached to it; it was also stuck in the ground as she held on firmly. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Valentina Garcia (Human) Age: 16 (Teenager) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Tigers (Perfect) STR: 7, AGI: 10, VIT: 10 INT: 15, PER: 14, WIL: 8 Weakness: Overall Weak Strengths: Brave, Wind Attack Resistant (20%) -------------------------------------------------------- The girl stared at them with confusion, as the beast by their side produced an aura of strength, one that would make anyone retreat with fear. Lachlan however, looked towards the girl in confusion. As the strengths she possessed weren''t something someone should possess without a tamed beast. The wind attack resistance especially, as only beasts were born with those strengths. ''Could the environment matter?'' Lachlan thought about it and could only think of one reason. The environment one grows in can affect their strengths. An example Lachlan could think of was a person living in the desert may have fire attack resistance. The group started following Valentina towards the city, where they noticed a fairly large door, one that could fit massive trucks through. When they walked up to the door they were stopped by a few guards. Valentina however, just walk right through, it was understandable, the guards likely know her. These guards were all holding heavy weapons, they all looked buff as though the only thing they do all day is exercise. "What''s your purpose here?" A man stepped forward, he was the leader of this specific group of guards. He had a chiselled jawline, strong and large muscles alone with a few large scars across his face and arm. His hair was pitch black while his eyes were brown. When compared to Lachlan''s height of 5''0 he looked like a giant at 6''3. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lucas Gimenez (Human) Age: 36 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Lions (High) STR: 24(+1), AGI: 20(+2), VIT: 8 INT: 19, PER: 22, WIL: 25 Weakness: Light Internal Injuries Strengths: Brave, Wind Attack Resistant (20%), Wind Control (Level 2), Earth Control (Level 1) -------------------------------------------------------- Lucas was fairly strong, although those internal injuries did set him back a bit. The pain he would feel while fighting could distract him, but just a moments distraction is all it takes for someone to lose. "We''re here in search of a rare material, but also to experience the country while we''re at it," Chloe stepped forward to explain calmly and politely. "You may pass, but let me warn you, we don''t take nicely to shady individuals, especially a group of shady individuals," Lucas warned in a threatening tone. Unlike groups such as the Researchers United or Explorers Guild, Bloodied Wings hasn''t grown to that size so they aren''t that well known around the world. Although almost everyone in Australia would know about them, the other countries weren''t concerned with them as they weren''t anywhere close to them. "Thanks," Chloe nodded his head as he passed through. The rest of the group followed cautiously, as they were surrounded on all sides by people with heavy artillery. Once they walked through the long corridor after the door they were greeted by the sight of a rather grand town. It gave off an olden day vibe as their homes were made of large stones and all along the roads were street vendors, selling a variety of goods. They say vendors selling food while others sold clothes, there were also some rather weird vendors selling things they had never seen. "So you all got through alright, that''s great, let me be your tour guide, I know this small city inside and out," Valentina said proudly appearing next to them like a ghost. "We''ll take you up on the offer, guide us to some food that you would suggest to anyone," Chloe responded happily as she nodded. Following Valentina, they walked through the streets for 15 minutes before she finally came to a halt. The smell of something good filled their nostrils, it overwhelmed everything else as it gave off a spicy smell of sausages. Looking to the side they noticed a fairly large food truck, it had a crown on the top with a type of sausage resting on top of it. There was a small crowd of people lining up, waiting to be served. While in the window there was an older man, slightly chubby with a large belly cooking up something delicious. "Welcome to Chorip¨¢n Reyes, the true kings behind chorip¨¢n, as their names entail. Their vendor has been opened and running for even I was born and their chorip¨¢n filled the streets as people carried them around eating," Valentina explained with a bright smile. "My parents were the ones to start this place up, with the delicious chorip¨¢ns they brought many people together." "Ah, Valentina who are the friends you brought along with you?" An old woman came out from the truck and walked up to Valentina before giving her a strong hug. She was slightly chubby but still looked in shape, had lightly tanned skin and was roughly 5''3. She had the same hair colour as Valentina, eyes as well. "These are some people I met today, they wanted me to give them a tour around the city; however, they first wanted me to take them somewhere they can eat something delicious so I brought them here," Valentina explained while she hugged back just as tight. "Oh how wonderful, I''ll cook some chorip¨¢n up for you all in just a second, make yourself comfortable," Just as she was about to turn around and start cooking she turned back. "I almost forgot to introduce myself, the name''s Elena Garcia, while that husband of mine was named Pedro Garcia." Elena then quickly walked back to the truck to prepare their food. Lachlan turned towards Valentina who was still standing near them, "So is your mum a better cook than your dad?" "Of course, my mum taught my dad how to cook, yet he still has never come close to matching her when it comes to chorip¨¢n, she''s the best there is," Valentina boasted proudly. In the truck Pedro sneezed into his arm, ''Hm, someone''s talking shit about me.'' "So then Valentina, how about you tell us about the town, are there any places we should avoid or anything we shouldn''t do? Are there any nice shops where we can buy something unique around here?" Chloe began asking questions. "And lastly, are there any mineral shops? ones that have pretty and unique crystals in them maybe." "Well for the last question it''s a bit difficult to say since all those shops have been closed down," Valentina responded while scratching her head. "Oh, and for what reason would they shut down?" Chloe asked curiously. Most types of shops still ran everywhere, those stone shops would also become a lot more unique since the minerals in them would become a lot more difficult to get. "Well," "Pedro Garcia, we''re here to collect that protection money you owe us!" A group of people came barging through the crowd with the man at the front shouted. "If you don''t do it now we''ll have to force you out the city! No more extensions!" "They''re the reason the stone shops have shut down, they bought them all out while hiring the miners to work for them," Valentina explained and deeply sighed. "They''re the group that run this city, they''re a strong group that protect the walls and whatnot." "Since they''ve taken all the stones doesn''t that mean we just need to beat them up to get them to cough the stones out?" Simon asked the rest of the group as he didn''t pay attention to what Valentina said after her sigh. 102 Beatdown "Indeed we can, it won''t be too difficult with our strength to take it from them. Plus, it''s almost as though we''re doing everyone here a favour by getting rid of these tyrants," Lachlan responded while nodding his head. "Yes, how about we just have a friendly conversation with this group and their leader," Chloe said with a wide grin across her face, one that would send a shiver down someone''s spine. "Wha, what the hell are you guys talking about? Those people run this place, they''re the strongest people here, there''s no way you can beat them!" When Valentina heard what Simon said and the way the rest of the group reacted she freaked out, she didn''t want the nice people she just met to suddenly get hurt. "What are you on about, we''re just going to have a nice friendly chat we them about the crystals we need. If they cooperate nicely, nothing will go wrong," Simon explained calmly with a gentle smile but a concerning voice. Valentina didn''t like the sound of his voice when he said it, she knew they certainly won''t be going over to just have a friendly chat. But before she could say anything else the group had already disappeared from the table. Desperately looking around she noticed the group standing in front of the tyrants. Her face to one filled with horror. "Well hello there, we are interested in the crystals you''ve been collecting around the area, we would like for you to hand them over to us," said Lachlan with a friendly yet dangerous smile, a smile that would welcome you but devour you moment you piss him off. As for the reason why Lachlan was asking for the crystals to be handed over to them, it was quite simple. They didn''t have any money right now, nor did they think they''ll have enough money to actually purchase one of the crystals. Most of the group have heard of people like this, ones that extort rarities to their extreme. "Huh! You got some big balls for a small kid, asking for us to just hand over those crystals," The leader of the group immediately went all up in Lachlan''s face. The man''s face was scrunched up, his teeth showing while being tightly grit. "You better rethink what you just said before I, Thomas Gonzalez beat you to the ground." ''Seems pretty arrogant, nothing too much I can''t handle'' Lachlan quickly analysed Thomas and was thoroughly disappointed at how weak he was. He didn''t have any tamed beast, nor high stats. While his only strength was intimidation. Unfortunately, intimidation will only work up to a certain degree, and Lachlan is well past that degree. "Indeed I do, but what I said remains the same, hand us those crystals and we''ll be on our way, no harm done to either side," Lachlan calmly said while his grin never left his face. "Seems you want to go against the Lions," said Thomas as he slightly bent his legs. "Well get ready to feel its fangs!" Thomas lunged out Lachlan, he was throwing a hard punch from the right. Thomas and the others behind him were grinning wildly when they noticed Lachlan wasn''t moving, they had assumed he had frozen up from fear. The moment Thomas'' fist landed on Lachlan''s face a large resounding snap echoed across the street. The ones behind Thomas were immediately cheering him on. "Yeah, beat that kid up!" "That''s what he gets for messing with us!" "Punch him again! Use him as an example to show what happens to people that don''t cooperate nicely with us!" Valentina had closed her eyes shut, ''Why didn''t you just listen to me''. "Ahh!" When that screamed sounded out the group looked towards the source, their eyes widened with shock and fear. Thomas was kneeling on the ground, his fingers snapped. Thomas had tears rolling down his face, he hadn''t experienced pain for a long time. "Is this really all you got, I''m quite disappointed," Lachlan sighed. Although he wasn''t really disappointed, he had already analysed Thomas and knew how weak he was. The rest of the group behind Lachlan were grinning wildly, for some reason they felt a rush of excitement flow through their veins when Thomas threw his punch. However, they were thoroughly disappointed with the results. They hadn''t had a good fight for a long time, only by sparring against each other will they find a challenge. But even then, they aren''t fighting each other to the death and therefore have no reason to push their limits to the fullest. It was also the reason why Simon was so annoyed with Lachlan taking care of the intelligent beasts himself, instead of letting them have a piece of the action. "How are you disgrace us like that!" One of the men behind Thomas shouted as he ran forwards. He threw an uppercut, aiming for Lachlan''s head. The rest of the group followed along; all punching different spots on Lachlan''s body. However, to Lachlan, everything seemed as though it went in slow motion. As these people didn''t pose the slightest threat to him at all. He simply sidestepped and turned his body, dodging all the attacks. The attacks, however, changed target and they all hit each other. Some hit each other''s faces, others simple hit around the chest region. "Ah! What the fuck are you doing!" "What are you on about! You attacked me!" To the side, Valentina had opened her eyes and to her surprise, Lachlan was winning by himself. It wasn''t an understatement to say that he was dominating the fight. However, the thing that surprised her the most, was that the rest of Lachlan''s group wasn''t doing anything, just watching in silence. It was as though they expected this to happen. "Alright, that''s enough. So how about you take us to the one that leads you all and we can have ourselves a friendly conversation with him?" Lachlan asked with a demanding and threatening tone. "To get to our leader you''ll need to beat us first!" Thomas shouted as he threw another punch. Lachlan almost felt like facepalming, just from the sheer stupidity that these people convey. It was as though they don''t understand the difference between their strength yet. "Sigh" Lachlan lifted up his hand to block the punch coming from below. Lifting his hand up high he then slammed downwards, his hand landed on Thomas'' fist. Thomas, shocked by the sudden development felt a jolt go through his whole body. He felt an unstoppable force smash against his fist, it was pushing down towards the ground and he couldn''t resist. Everyone watched as Thomas'' body smashed against the ground, a terrifying snap echoed through the surrounding people. Everyone felt a chill go through their entire bodies, they felt their hair stand up as though a chilly breeze drifted through their bodies. As they looked towards Thomas they saw his arm had been completely obliterated. Similar to one crushing a tin can, his arm from his forearm to his hand has been crushed. The bones in his arm have been pulverised into dust. "Ah! My arm! My arm! I can''t feel it!" Thomas rolled around on the ground screaming in pain. His little lackeys ran up to him but didn''t know how to react. It wasn''t as though they could suddenly fix his completely pulverised arm. "Now, how about you take us to that leader of yours?" Lachlan suddenly appeared behind them slightly bent over. A wide but chilling grin plastered across his face as he looked towards them all. The group jumped back from fright, they felt as though they were staring into the eyes of a monster, as though their heads were already in its mouth but it decided to play with its food. They felt terror, something they hadn''t felt in a long time. "You''re going to regret doing this! Our leader will wring the blood from all of your bodies once he finds out what you did! Thomas is his son after all!" Although fearful they knew not how to show respect after spending so much time being to tyrants. They did, however, know how to throw around names, ones which should possess some weight to them. Unfortunately, these names meant nothing to Lachlan and the rest of the group. Lachlan stood up and walked towards them slowly, "Well, how about you just lead us to your leader and we''ll resolve all our conflicts like civilised people." "Alright, but you''re going to regret everything you''ve done," The man said he pointed his index finger towards them, his hand shaking from both anger and fear. He then turned around and began walking. "Let''s see how I''m going to regret it then shall we," said Lachlan as he smiled joyfully. He began following the man and the rest of the groups followed. The group followed Thomas was carrying his body, they distanced themselves from Lachlan and the group from fear. The surrounding people quickly split apart to make a path, allowing the two groups to walk through peacefully and easily. Valentina was still sitting on her seat, her mouth and eyes opened wide from the shock she received. As the people everyone in this town viewed as strong were so thoroughly dominated, by only one person as well. 103 Meeting the Leader They followed the man for a while, they were lead around the city. Everyone was surprised about the path they were following, as it was almost as though they were following through a maze. They were lead through alleys and around small street vendors. Until they finally reached a small door on the side of the building, one that was so inconspicuous. It looked as though it would belong to a normal family and lead to a small house. Yet the moment the door was opened they were greeted by a stairway. The walls looked as though they were created with marble, but along those walls were lamps, lighting up the stairway that led them 40 metres underground. At the bottom of the stairway was a thick metal door that was tightly shut. "Our boss is at the bottom of this stairway, once you reach the bottom the door will open and you should be prepared to feel the wrath of our boss," The man said as he gestured for the group to walk down the stairway. "Just like I said before, I want to see how this boss of ours will make us regret our decisions through their wrath," said Lachlan as he brushed past. He began walking down the stairs, quickly followed by Simon, then Chloe, then the rest of the group. As Simon brushed past the man he turned his head towards him, "I''m feeling excited to see whatever your boss is planning, hopefully they don''t disappoint us like your friend Thomas did." Once the group was in the man closed the doors behind them. They didn''t mind, there wasn''t anything to be afraid of anyway. They could just bust out of here and tear this whole place apart with the simple use of a gravity stone. ... Outside the door the man that opened it was shaking in fear. Although he portrayed a brave figure as he led the group here, inside he was completely terrified. The amount of strength needed to completely pulverise someone''s arm was something he couldn''t fathom. "Are we going to wait around to collect their corpses, there''s no way they''ll be able to survive against our boss," One of the others remarked as he leaned against the wall. "You should get Thomas the help he needs at the nearest hospital, I''ll go take care of something else," He said as he began walking away. The rest of the people there didn''t think anything of it, they grabbed hold of Thomas and carried him over to the nearest hospital. At a distance in the outskirts of the city the man entered his home, he quickly shut the door and locked it before running around his house closing and locking all those as well. He had no faith in his boss, unlike the others, he knew how strong their boss was and he wouldn''t be able to handle even the lightest slap from Lachlan let alone win in a fight. So instead, he would bunker up and wait till Lachlan and the group leave the town. ... Inside the stairway, the group had just reached the metal door. It was almost double the size of Lachlan when he stood in front of it, on it was a bit of graffiti that represented the groups banner or insignia. It was a large Tiger devouring a crocodile, it had no injuries on its bodies and its fur looked perfectly clean and tidy. As though the fight it had experienced only took a single stare to kill the crocodile. "Hm, pretty arrogant insignia if I do say so myself," said Simon as he got a closer look. "Should we knock? I didn''t see any cameras along the stairwell so they might not be able to see us," said Chloe. The group looked around and saw that there really wasn''t any cameras, Lachlan turned back towards the door, "Suppose there isn''t a reason now too." *Knock*Knock*Knock* Although Lachlan wasn''t sure how thick the door was, he made sure to use enough strength so that the boss on the other side is certain to hear it. He then took a step back and waited. After getting no reaction Simon went up to the door and pulled back his fist. He stomped on the ground and twisted his body, his fist slammed against the door. *Bang!* As Simon pulled back his fist he left an indent on the door, when they looked through they realised the door was a lot thicker than they previously assumed. It looked to be 40cm thick, it was also heavily reinforced. "That should wake them up," Simon said as he frowned with annoyance. He made sure to punch hard enough to leave a lasting impression on the leader''s mind, maybe even imprint fear into the core of their body. They waited for a bit and just as Simon was about to go up and throw another punch the door opened up. It was a sliding door, it opened up and they were greeted with a feel furnished room. The room was completely white and spotless of any dirt, there was a couch and two chairs by a TV, they were all matt black. The kitchen bench was made out of an aqua green marbling, while a large old wooden table was placed in the centre of the area with 8 chairs around it. "Welcome, I''m sorry for not letting you in sooner but I was in a bit of a mess, I didn''t want to greet my guest with a pigsty now do I," They heard a devilishly charming woman''s voice coming from the side of them. Turning around they noticed a woman standing by an entrance to a hall. She was tall and slender, wearing a vibrant red dress that seemed to be stuck to her body, showing off her devilish curves. Her silky black hair flowed down to her waist. Her eyes were dark blue, they felt as though they were getting devoured by the ocean just staring at them. "My name''s Catalina Gonzalez, you have some nerve beating up my child in the way that you did. You publicly humiliated him, dragging my name through the mud along with it," Catalina said as she licked her crimson red lips. "You''re going to pay for what you did." "So you''re the boss?" Lachlan asked. "Indeed, I''m the real boss, the one that hides in the shadows and controls everyone''s every move. That husband of mine is merely a front, as it leaves me untouchable since all the blame will fall onto him," Catalina said proudly. "Now I wouldn''t mind being more lenient if you kneel on the ground and beg for mercy." ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Catalina Gonzalez (Human) Age: 52 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Jaguar (Perfect) STR: 21(+1), AGI: 20(+2), VIT: 10(+1) INT: 23, PER: 21, WIL: 25 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 2), Leg Strength (Level 2), Heightened Senses, Night Vision -------------------------------------------------------- ''Huh, not all that much. Although I will say, she certainly doesn''t look her age, not with those looks'' Lachlan thought he was daydreaming when he saw her age, as the sheer difference is too much. Catalina, although 52, looks like she''s in her 20s. "Zhang, how about you take care of her?" Turning back Lachlan asked Zhang who was at the back of the group. He had been rather silent the entire time they''ve been in Patagonia, only watching everything that''s happened. "Can I? I''d rather not," Zhang blushed as he scratched his head. "I''d rather not hurt such a charming woman, just something about it doesn''t feel right." "Sigh! This is exactly what people would take advantage of, I swear you boys only think with your other head," Chloe responded in annoyance. "I''ll take care of it, will it Lachlan?" "Go right ahead, although there''s no need for you to do that," said Lachlan. "How about you Brianna, you want to give it a shot? You don''t have to worry, if anything goes south we''ll be there to protect you." "I suppose I can give it a try, but do remember, I''m feeling slightly ill," Brianna explained shyly. Lachlan wasn''t surprised, he would be surprised if there was ever a time when she wasn''t sick. "Oh yes, before this fight goes on I just want to make sure of something. You wouldn''t mind just giving up and giving us the crystals, would you? That would certainly solve the problem fast and no one would get hurt," Lachlan explained to Catalina in a cocky tone. "Huh! I''ll think about it if you''re even alive after I''m done with you," Catalina said angrily. She sneered in disdain at the thought of everything being resolved it such a way, she had to get her payback. "You heard that Brianna, make sure you keep here alive, don''t be too harsh," Lachlan said jokingly. Catalina''s frowned at the insulting remark, acting as though she wouldn''t be able to win this fight. Looking towards her opponent Catalina grinned widely, as her opponent looked rather weak, as though she would fall over to a gentle breeze of wind. Granted, she had plenty of other means should anything get messy. "Alright then, where should the fight happen?" Lachlan looked around and didn''t think this place would be a good spot for the fight. It looked as though there were many valuables here, just the couch looked as though it was made from some expensive leather. "Of course right here," Catalina said as she opened her arms wide. "There''s no need to change locations, I won''t even need a minute to crash your little lackey''s body into pieces, similar to what you did to my son." "Okay," Lachlan shrugged and turned around towards Brianna. "Alright, this is going to basically be your first real fight, you want to make sure to make it impressive, we don''t want you dragging our name through the mud now do we." "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure to end this as fast as possible," said Brianna. She walked to the front of the group and began some quick breathing exercises to calm herself down. This was her first real fight after all, she was nervous. Catalina and Brianna stood across from each other, they were both facing each other ready to fight. Lachlan walked over a bit, close to the middle of the gap between the two. "Alright, the fight will begin in 3, 2, 1." "Fight!" 104 Brianna vs Catalina The two sprinted towards each other, their right fists pulled back, ready to launch at the opponents face. Catalina was the first to attack, going for the uppercut towards Brianna''s stomach. Her fist was racing through the air like an arrow, aiming towards the target. Brianna quickly sidestepped, something she learnt recently when watching Lachlan fight. Catalina''s fist brushed past Brianna, she felt it graze across her body. She quickly bent her knees, Catalina''s stomach was right in front of her as Catalina continued the motion. Brianna let out a nasty right punch, landing straight on Catalina''s stomach, causing her body to arch as she flew back. She landed a few metres away on her arse, "Ow! Piece of shit!" Catalina quickly stood back up and ran towards Brianna again, she was furious as she felt humiliated from what just happened. Just as Catalina reached Brianna she went towards the ground and using her hands for support, she kicked towards Brianna''s ankle. Brianna wasn''t expected in, the hit made her lose her balance and she fell towards the ground. Catalina stood back up, she readied herself and went with a normal kick, aiming at Brianna''s face. The group was about to interfere when they received a quick glance and thumbs up from Brianna, she was confident she could handle it. So the group held themselves back for just one more moment, if Brianna really couldn''t handle it they''ll get involved in a flash. As Catalina''s foot was about to reach Brianna''s face, Brianna reached out and grabbed onto the leg, stopping it in its tracks. She then quickly twisted her body, Catalina was dragged along as she felt her body fly into the air. Brianna slammed Catalina into the ground, Catalina''s head recoiled from the shock, she almost passed out right there. Brianna quickly got up and pinned Catalina to the ground, spinning her body so that her stomach is on the ground. Brianna grabbed onto Catalina''s hair and pulled her head up, she leaned over until her mouth was right next to Catalina''s ear. Brianna said in a threatening tone, "Now you''re going to regret aiming for my face." Brianna only had her face to feel good about, as she was constantly sick she couldn''t go out or exercise. Her body was completely ordinary, but it was her face that she cared quite a bit about. Pulled back Brianna quickly slammed down, smashing Catalina''s face against the ground. She pulled back again and did it another time, Catalina''s blood dyed the floor around her face red. The group watched as this happened and were all surprised by Brianna''s vicious side. Usually, she was rather friendly and kind, sometimes shy. They had never seen her angry before. "Should we stop them?" Simon asked the group. Brianna hadn''t stopped yet, she continued to smash Catalina''s face against the ground. "Yup," Chloe said as she ran up to Brianna, grabbing hold of her as she dragged her away from Catalina. "You won alright, no need to go any further right now." "Alright," Brianna took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she didn''t know she had such a vicious side either. Looking back to Catalina she felt bad, as though she was the bad one here. Lachlan walked up to Catalina, "So then, do you want to give up those crystals now? Granted, even if you don''t we''ll just go find them ourselves." "Okay, okay, just don''t let that girl near me again," Catalina said fearfully as she stared at Brianna. "I''ll get my subordinates to get some crystals for you. How much do you need?" "Well, we''ll need to see the crystals first to determine their value, we''ll decide the number of crystals we want depending on that," Lachlan explained. "Or we could just get someone to lead us and we''ll take what we want." "I''d rather not have you steal everything I''ve collected, I''ll get someone to bring all the crystals you''ll need," Catalina said. "Not to mention I''d rather not have such dangerous people suddenly leave my sight." "Fair call, we''ll just wait here for a bit, I hope you don''t mind us turning on the tv to distract ourselves," said Lachlan as he shrugged his shoulders. "Of course not, go right ahead," Catalina said as she waved her hand towards the tv. "I''ll go clean myself up and remember, keep her away from me," Catalina was still fearful of Brianna, especially as she felt the damage that was done to her face. Her nose felt broken if not shatter, while there was probably bruises scattered across her face from the number of times her face was smashed against the ground. She walked into the hallway and walked left towards the bathroom. When she looked into the mirror and saw what had become of her face she was both shocked and furious. She hadn''t noticed because the pain of her broken nose overpowered it, but some of her teeth were broken as well. Her lips had been split apart from the damage as well. ''My beautiful lips, my precious crimson lips'' ''Come out hunter'' She has summoned one of her tamed beasts. She closed the bathroom door before so the light didn''t escape. What appeared behind her was a large pitch black jaguar, its fur was silky black, similar to her hair. It was almost double her height, it was bent down running against Catalina. ''My gorgeous hunter, you need to get revenge for me, show those people what fear is and tear them apart'' Catalina furiously ordered. Although she was fearful of Brianna, what''s there to fear if all of them are dead, they won''t even be able to see the attack coming. ''Of course mistress'' Hunter replied in a gentleman''s voice. He quickly blended with the shadows, becoming one with them as he slipped underneath the door. Catalina looked back towards the mirror smiling coldly, not realising that there was another person in the room. Zhang had decided to keep an eye on Catalina, for the main reason that she seemed far to calm after getting beaten up. In his mind there''s no way someone with so much pride would be able to rest easy with the knowledge that someone stronger than them is alive. Especially after the group that the someone is apart of beat her son up. Zhang didn''t know what to do, he was still invisible so Catalina wouldn''t know he is right behind her. But at the same time he doesn''t want to attack her, he believes there to be another solution. But he couldn''t think of anything quickly. Outside, the group was sitting on the couch and chairs watching the news. Although they couldn''t understand a single word from the reporter, they were speaking Spanish. They could, however, read the numbers and understand the pictures. One was of a major city in Argentina, Rosario. It had been attacked by a horde of intelligent beasts and the military didn''t know what to do. They had thought intelligent beasts suddenly decided to be peaceful with humans, as they don''t attack very often anymore. They had let their guard down. What the group didn''t notice was the shadow beneath them suddenly get larger. They were too busy staring at the tv to notice. Reaching out from the shadows the Jaguar went to claw at Lachlan''s leg, only to find it''s claw suddenly halt in the motion. It couldn''t cut through Lachlan''s skin let alone muscle. It quickly retracted its paw back into the shadows fearfully. Lachlan was slightly surprised by something hitting his leg, but looking around he noticed someone was missing and thought he knew what was happening. "Alright Zhang, no need to hide, rather, it almost seems as though you weren''t trying to hide." He stood up and looked towards his legs, that was when he noticed the abnormally large shadow. The jaguar was far too large to hide under the couch, it stuck out like a sore thumb once they had a decent look at it. "Suppose that''s not Zhang then," Lachlan said as he lifted up his leg. "Get out of the shadows and this could end nicely, stay in and I''ll make sure to literally rock your world." Lachlan knew that shadows worked in mysterious ways and the ones that hid within them had to abide by certain rules. Its ability to stay within the shadows heavily depended on its darkness control, especially during times when the shadow begins to move around. Lachlan knew what level its darkness control was at, he could already tell that it was Catalina''s tamed beast. So it should only be at level 2. So he waited for a few seconds but received no response. "Alrighty then, since you want to do it the hard way," Lachlan slammed his foot against the ground using his full strength. The rest of the group had long since retreated to the other side of the room. They watched as the floor lifted up, the coaches and chairs flinging up. And along with all that came a shadow, one that wasn''t able to hold itself together. The Jaguar was forced to retreat from the shadows, appearing in front of everyone. It looked towards Lachlan fearfully, the strength this one human possess far outmatched him. ''Mistress, we need to retreat now if we want to live, I think I just angered them'' Hunter informed Catalina. It was completely right. Lachlan felt tired of dealing with such troublesome people, he felt as though he was part of a never-ending cycle. Where after beating one bad guy another one with a similar personality shows up. And whenever he let them off easily they would use dirty tricks to get back at him. The rest of the group was tired of it as well. They still had the Land Guardians watching over them, terrified of what their group could do if not monitored. ''What are you talking about, you should be strong enough to kill them all in a matter of seconds'' Catalina was surprised by what Hunter just told her, she didn''t believe it. Seeing her so surprised and after hearing the loud noise Zhang was certain the group had taken care of everything. ''However, since you did attempt to kill them I suppose I really can''t let you off the hook'' "Sigh, you really shouldn''t have done that," Zhang suddenly appeared right behind Catalina. Catalina jumped from fright, Zhang quickly hit the back of Catalina''s head, knocking her out cold. ''If only you just did what we asked for everything would have gone splendidly.'' Back outside the Hunter was panicking, it wasn''t receiving a reply from its mistress. It quickly dove back into the shadows and moved towards the bathroom, where it found Catalina unconscious on the ground and an unknown man behind her. Seeing the shadow suddenly return Zhang went invisible again. Hunter panicked when he saw Zhang suddenly disappear, he turned around everywhere to try and find him. As for Zhang, he just stood still, as he wouldn''t disturb anything by just standing there. 105 Tying Up Loose Ends 1 Hunter leapt out of the shadows, appearing right next to its mistress. Leaning down it bit onto Catalina''s dress, lifting her up before tossing her on his back. But just as Hunter was about to dive back into the shadows Zhang interfered. "Oh no you don''t," said Zhang as he reappeared, materialising out of nothing. With his hands, he yielded the power of darkness as well, although slightly lower level, it was enough to interfere with Hunter''s transition into the shadows. "Roar!" Letting off a mighty roar Hunter lunged at Zhang, his claws high in the air ready to strike Zhang down. However, just as the claws were about to reach him Zhang suddenly disappeared again. But during that time of invisibility Zhang had sidestepped, avoiding the attacking completely and putting himself in a favourable position. While he was invisible Zhang threw an uppercut, aiming directly for Hunter''s throat, his hand shaped like a spear with the speed to actually become one. But he unfortunately underestimated the strength of Hunter''s defence. As Zhang''s hand jab into Hunter''s throat, he felt a sudden force that resisted his attack, as though he had just punched an iron wall. The shock from the resistance snapped Zhang out of invisibility as his mind wasn''t stable enough to keep it under control. Hunter took advantage of the momentarily dazed Zhang, clawing him across the chest, throwing him back; Zhang''s body smashed against the wall. When Zhang''s body was smashed against the wall his head snapped back, rendering him unconscious. His body slumped on the ground, thumping against the cold bathroom tiles. Outside, the rest of the group heard the commotion and immediately got a bad feeling. They rushed to the source, sprinting around the corner and kicking the bathroom door open. Inside, they say Zhang laying against the floor, the jaguar hovering by the other side of the bathroom staring at them. Afraid that its slightest movement could end his life. However, when it took a glance towards the mirror and saw the condition Catalina was in it got furious. Although he treated Catalina like a master, he thought of her as a mother. He grew up in her care, as his real mother was pouched for her fur when he was still young. ''Since I can''t beat them, I''ll at least make sure they regret their actions'' In a moment of desperate anger Hunter lunged towards Zhang, his claws ready to shred Zhang''s neck into two and kill him off for good. Everything seemed to move in slow-motion, Lachlan took a deep sigh as he moved forward. With his lightning-like speed, he appeared next to Hunter in an instant. Reeling back his fists he stomped on the ground and furiously twisted his body, his fist landed on Hunter''s neck and snapped it in two, Hunter''s body flew a few metres away before slumping onto the ground. Catalina flew off, rolling another few metres before coming to a halt once her body smashed against the wall. The shock jolted herself awake, "Cough, couch." Catalina spewed out a mouthful of blood once she regained consciousness. Looking up she noticed Hunter''s body laying on the ground. ''Hunter? What are you doing? Didn''t you hear my command? Rip them to shreds, Hunter?!'' Catalina received no reply, her mind began to wonder. ''Hunter?'' Crawling over to Hunter she touched his body and didn''t feel a pulse, she felt Hunter''s body begin to cool down. "Hunter?" Catalina shook Hunter''s body, she didn''t believe he was dead, she didn''t want to believe. "Damnit! With the amount of money it took to raise you this was all you could offer?! You were a rare breed that was almost extinct, I extended much of the families power to find a baby like you and take you from your mother!" Catalina furiously shouted. The group that was feeling bad for a bit suddenly felt as though their emotions were betrayed. Lachlan turned towards the others, "Take care of Zhang, get him the help he needs and don''t rely on the banana just yet." "Alright I''ll go," Brianna ran to Zhan and picked him up, she then ran out of the bathroom. Phoebe, Georgia, Chloe, and Joe quickly followed along, they were both going to make sure Zhang gets to the hospital quickly and without any interruptions. They all also had complete trust in the other''s capabilities, they didn''t need to worry about them. "So, how should we deal with this?" Simon walked up and stood by Lachlan''s side. "To be honest I was quite surprised with her sudden outburst, more so with what she was so angry about," Zoe took a few steps forward. "Just something about what she said doesn''t feel right, just something about killing its mother just to get it doesn''t sit right with me." The others felt the same. Although everyone with a tamed beast technically used them as tools, they also built a unique connection with them. After all, Lachlan was in a similar position. In a way, he killed the Blue Rocs'' parents in order to tame them. However, he didn''t see the Rocs as tools but rather as friends or even family. Not to mention that from what she said it''s likely that she took the jaguar away from its parents long before the evolution happened. Which back then, not only was that illegal, it was also heavily frowned upon. "Oh well, I suppose I''ll have to rely on my trump card to deal with you all," Catalina deeply sighed as she stood up. She turned towards the group, ''Come out Lucifer''. An aqua green light shot out from her back, it was the tattoo for her other beast, in the shape of a pair of wings that covered her entire upper back. A figure began to materialise into existence behind her, giving off a majestic and supreme aura. hen it was finally done a large jaguar stood behind Catalina, its fur was aqua green and its eyes were crimson orange. Standing up it reached the roof at a height of 7 metres, its body had to curl behind Catalina as it was 10 metres long. It had wings growing from its back, the feathers were a mixture of light blue and aqua green. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lucifer (Sky Jaguar King) Age: Adult Attribute: Wind Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 10 STR: 92(+20), AGI: 105(+40), VIT: 60(+10) INT: 43(+10), PER: 49(+10), WIL: 38 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Easily Provoke, Mental Trauma, Unfaithful Strengths: Leg Strength (Level 2), Heightened Senses, Night Vision, Sky King''s Aura, Sky King''s Domain, Unique Wind Control (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Looking read over the stats slightly confused, as there were a few things that didn''t seem right. It''s mental trauma being one of them, as it could only be the result of a few things considering how strong it is. It also meant Catalina didn''t exactly acquire this jaguar through legal means. There was also something about its unfaithful nature, meaning it would betray Catalina in a split second decision. There was just something about the relationship between the jaguar and Catalina that annoyed Lachlan just that bit more. As for the domain strength, Lachlan still didn''t have any idea as to what it might entail. The only other beast he''s seen with a similar strength was the shark, neither Aaron nor Kyle possessed this trait. As for the final thing that intrigued Lachlan, it was the unique wind control. Catalina didn''t possess it even though she has perfect compatibility with the jaguar, meaning it''s similar to the king''s aura and domain, a skill that only the beast can use. ''Hey Aaron, you have any idea what this unique wind control is about?'' Since he didn''t know it was best to just ask the one that should have the most knowledge about it. Aaron did have wind control as a strength after all. ''Indeed'' Aaron said. Lachlan was excited to receive some confirmation, Aaron then continued, ''It''s a different way of controlling the elements, certainly is a unique way as well. As when a beast with normal elemental control uses the element they''re forcing the element to obey their will. However, with this unique elemental control, the elements willingly obey the commands, meaning the attacks are much stronger and the control is much more precise.'' ''So you''re saying that the elements possess sentience?'' First time Lachlan''s heard about the elements being personified. ''Yes, although almost all elements possess intelligent similar to that of an infant; however, the older the element the more power it possesses. The higher level the user''s elemental control is the older and more the elements that can control'' Aaron explained in detail. ''And to gain that unique element control?'' Lachlan asked as he would love for all of his beasts to possess it. Even though he wouldn''t be able to control it, it would mean his beasts are a lot stronger. ''They must either be born with it or evolve into something that possesses it," Aaron explained. Lachlan felt like facepalming, he would love for all of his beasts to possess the skill. But the only problem is he still doesn''t know what materials are needed for them to evolve, let alone evolve into a beast that has the skill. ''Anyway, can you just come on out and show these two what real strength is?'' Lachlan asked a rhetorical question, he knew Aaron would come out, that''s what he vowed. ''Of course master, I will show these two weaklings what they should fear'' Aaron said with spite and excitement. He got another chance to prove himself, raise his external appearance for everyone here. Lucifer and Catalina watched as Aaron appeared, his aura was immediately released once he was summoned. The overbearing pressured crushed the two to the ground, they felt the air change as they began to feel as though they were suffocating. ''Lucifer, I''m struggling to breathe, control those wind elements to help me out'' Catalina was laying against the ground breathing heavily, she felt as though there wasn''t any air to breathe and began to panic. ''Yes mistress'' Lucifer commanded the wind to help Catalina out, giving her some air to breathe. Unfortunately, both of them still felt an overwhelming pressure press against their backs, threatening to crush them into the ground. "Do you want to give up yet?" Lachlan asked from a distance, he was slightly curious as to how long Catalina could hold on. "Not until I get my revenge for what you did to my son and Hunter," Catalina said angrily as she stared at Lachlan with eyes full of hatred. "Alright then, since you insist I suppose there''s really no other way to settle this," Lachlan was slightly disappointed with the path Catalina chose. Her prideful and arrogant personality would be her downfall, yet she wouldn''t realise that. ''Finish it'' Lachlan said to Aaron. Aaron nodded before walking over to Catalina, his eyes were cold as he stared at Catalina. Raising his claws he swung down, Lucifer was roaring from the side, struggling to get up yet was pushed down every time. However, there was something strange about it, Lachlan knew Lucifer had the strength to get up, yet it chose not to. ''Suppose that''s where its faith in Catalina extends to'' Catalina''s eyes were filled with hopelessness as she saw the claw coming towards her. She knew there wasn''t anything she could do. But that didn''t stop her hatred, she hated everything that didn''t go her way and wanted to get rid of it. Lachlan and the entire group included. Before she knew it her vision went dark, the overwhelming feeling disappeared. She felt light, floating in nothingness. 106 Tying Up Loose Ends 2 The group looked at Catalina''s corpse coldly. Although they felt off as they were the ones that killed her, they believed she deserved it for multiple reasons. ''Aaron, clean up the other one'' Lachlan ordered. Although he wasn''t too sure about whether or not they would be able to tame it after Catalina died, taking his unfaithful nature into consideration it would be dangerous to keep him with them. Keeping the pressure up Aaron walked towards Lucifer, he stared coldly at Lucifer''s eyes, Aaron walked slowly to terrorise Lucifer''s mind and fill it with hopelessness. Once he reached Lucifer he quickly beheaded him, ending it as fast as he could. "Sigh," Simon heavily sighed at the scene, Simone then turned around and said, "It would be best if we take care of the entire family, so they can''t get their revenge." "Wouldn''t that be going too far? They haven''t done anything yet," Zoe argued back, she felt as though killing the rest of the family was taking it a step too far, she couldn''t come into terms that not doing it was dangerous. "Of course it wouldn''t, although it may seem that way there''s nothing stopping them from getting revenge. That''s just the way it works; we''ll also need to get rid of as much evidence of us being here as possible, so that family of hers can''t track us down or anything," Simon explained coldly. "But didn''t you just say we''re going to finish off the rest of the family?" Zoe asked in confusion as she tilted her head. "Yes, but the fact that Catalina managed to get such rare beast likely means the real family behind her isn''t all that small. Who knows? Maybe she''s an offshoot of the main family, possibly been exiled as that would be the only reason she wouldn''t have heard of us," Simon said as he thought about the possibilities. If there was ever too much risk involved in something he would either avoid it or minimise the consequences as much as possible. "If she''s been exiled then isn''t it unlikely for the family to come for revenge?" Lachlan asked as he turned back to Simon. "Of course not, you saw her personality. Her family possibly has the same type, they won''t accept the fact that we killed one of their own and would see it as an insult. That''s just how most of those families work, especially when it comes to their children, "Simon explained. He sighed deeply once more before walking away. "I can do it if you don''t want to," Lachlan said as he turned his head to face Zoe, his eyes were serious. Unlike him, Zoe still hadn''t experienced killing before, she either might not be able to do it or won''t be able to cope with the guilt. "No, I''ll need to get used to this feeling soon or later; and later isn''t good enough," Zoe said with determination. She didn''t want to be the problem if something ever comes up during their operations. "Alright, go and search for the son, I''ll go take care of the husband," said Lachlan as he disappeared from the room, vanishing in an instant through his insane speed. However, just before he left he made sure to check something he hadn''t checked in a while. His stats. He looked at himself in the mirror, seeing the cold expression he was giving himself. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 18 (Adolescence) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) STR: 95(+2), AGI: 94(+4), VIT: 50(+1) INT: 31(+2), PER: 33, WIL: 37 Weakness: None Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 10), Grip Strength (Level 6), Water Control (Level 7), Fire Control (Level 7), Wind Control (Level 7), Leg Strength (Level 2), Body Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- He had no weaknesses, not any obvious ones anyway. There was obviously still his attachment to Sarah and Phoebe, should either of them be injured he wouldn''t know what to do and might just become an emotional mess. There was also still his height and lack of combat strategy. Should they ever get into a large scale battle and he was the leader he wouldn''t know how to properly lead anyone. Not to mention there was also the lack of mental warfare for business. The only real good thing is that he''s strong, strong enough that none of that matters right now. As he was looking through his screen he was running up the stairs, once he reached the top he saw a group of guards armed to the teeth unconscious on the ground, likely knocked out for stopping the others from getting Zhang for the hospital. He halted and walked over to one, he needed to know where the other boss was and this was the easiest way to do it. Lachlan reached down and grabbed the guy''s hair, lifting him up so they''re looking at each other face to face. LIfting up his other hand Lachlan pulled back a finger and flick the guy in the stomach with his full strength. It sent a jolt of pain through the man''s body, causing him to jump up screaming in pain as he curled up and grabbed onto his stomach. "You''re one of those people aren''t you? What do you want?" the man said when Lachlan let go of him; he plopped on his arse before crawling back to the wall pointing at Lachlan. "Stay back, I''ll tell you anything or let you pass through just stay back." "Where''s your boss? The guy boss," Lachlan asked as he stared coldly to frighten the man even more. The shadow overcasting across their bodies intensified Lachlan''s cold eyes, the man felt as though he was in a cold tundra. "He''s probably gone to Chorip¨¢n Reyes, after all, since he couldn''t deal with you himself he decided to place the blame on the ones that run the food truck. Who knows? Maybe they''re already dead," The man hurriedly said. Lachlan panicked, he suddenly disappeared from his spot and could be seen dozens of metres in the air. He landed on top of a building and jumped up again, he had forgotten the location of Chorip¨¢n Reyes so he needed to find it. Looking around, Lachlan noticed a large gathering of people by a food truck. Although the name of the food truck was hard to see he could make out a bit of what it said and leapt to it, his body passing through the air as it made a whistling sound. As Lachlan came closer and closer to the food truck he realised what was happening. In front of the truck, Valentina was crying heavily as the bodies of her parents could be seen laying on the ground. They had cuts and bruises across their entire body, yet they seemed to still be breathing and alive. By the parents was a ground of armed guards surrounding their boss. The boss had short dark hair combed back, his skin was lightly tanned and he was dressed up in a three-piece suit. He was looking towards the parents coldly, he gestured with his hand towards one of the guards, "Hit them again, don''t stop until they tell us everything they know about the group that hurt my baby boy." The guard walked up to Pedro, lifting up his leg the guard kicked Pedro in the guts as hard as he could. Pedro was kicked a metre as he rolled in pain, he was holding onto his stomach. "I told you already, we don''t know anything about that group, they just came here to have something to eat." The guard turned to look back at the boss, waiting for his thoughts. The boss stared coldly at Pedro, "Kick him again," the boss didn''t care whether they knew anything or not, he just wanted to vent out some frustration. Considering he wouldn''t be able to do anything to the group since his wife got involved, but at the very least he did want to find out where the group came from. Turning around the guard lifted up his leg again, but all of a sudden he felt something smash against his body, an unstoppable force that threatened to shatter his entire body. He went flying into the side of the food truck. Gasps filled the crowd as the looked towards the man that was daring enough to interfere with the boss''s business. Lachlan turned around and looked at the boss coldly, ''Analyse''. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Joseph Gonzalez (Human) Age: 48 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Pather (Perfect) STR: 17(+1), AGI: 15(+2), VIT: 10(+1) INT: 22, PER: 21, WIL: 17 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 1), Leg Strength (Level 1), Heightened Senses, Night Vision, Sharpened Claws -------------------------------------------------------- Joseph looked back towards Lachlan coldly, "You''re quite brazen to be interfering with my business, it seems you have a death wish." "Ha," Lachlan responded with a light chuckle. "The one that beat up your son is standing right in front of you yet you don''t realise it, how oblivious are you? I can see the reason your wife was the real leader behind your small group." Joesph''s eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape with shock, "How are you still alive? My wife should have wrung the blood from your corpse by now." "I suppose the tables were turned on her, but don''t worry, you''ll be able to see your precious wife of yours soon; your son as well," Lachlan said with a cold grin, he stared at Joseph as though he had caught his prey. "Don''t fuck with me! Men, surround him and end his life!" Joseph shouted furiously, he quickly reached into his pocket to pull out a phone. His fingers were stumbling as he went through his contacts to reach his wife''s. He pressed call and held his phone up to his ear, he didn''t want to believe anything Lachlan said, he couldn''t believe it. Yet once the call received no reply he felt a sensation of fear overcome his body, since his wife was killed there was no way he could survive this ordeal. "Wait!" just as the guards got into position Joseph shouted for them to stop, he burst through the crowd and grovelled on the ground. "Please, don''t kill me or my son, I''ll do anything within my power to help you, just don''t kill us." "A bit of a 180 on that personality of yours isn''t it? But no matter, I''m not entirely heartless granted there''ll be a few conditions," Lachlan said as he squatted down, Joseph looked up into Lachlan''s eyes, Joseph''s eyes were filled with desperation. Although he may be arrogant that was due to the backing of his wife; without her support he felt as though his power would begin crumbling to the ground. "Anything, I just don''t want to die, nor do I want my son to die," Joseph said fearfully and hurriedly, he heard what Lachlan said about seeing his son soon, he had to hurry to make sure nothing happens to him. "You''ve done quite the nasty damage to the family running the food truck, you''re going to have to do something about that. There''s also the matter with your son, I don''t want him growing up to be looking for revenge, after all, he''ll just be added onto the list of dead people once he does anything," Lachlan explained carefully and slowly. Joseph felt as though his son was in a guillotine, the time felt longer and longer. "Yes I''ll fix all that; I''ll get the family medical attention and compensation and leave them alone, I''ll make sure my son doesn''t aim for revenge. I''ll force him to understand how useless that''ll be, how weak he is; I''ll even force him to not tame any beasts for a long time so he doesn''t even get the chance to think about it, I''ll make sure he''s constantly busy and worried about something else just please don''t kill him," Joseph pressed himself harder on the ground as his hands were shaking. 107 Tying Up Loose Ends 3 "Oh, but what about all that power you''ve amassed so far?" Lachlan asked in a condescending tone. "Just because you said it doesn''t necessarily mean that you''re going to do what you said. There''s also the chance your son could go behind your back and seek revenge without your notice." "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure he doesn''t have the chance to even try seeking revenge," Joseph desperately said. "I know another way I could compensate the family. How about I get all my subordinates to work for the food truck, including my son; this would not only spread its influence but force my son to busy himself with something other than revenge." Lachlan didn''t expect that suggestion, the thought hadn''t even crossed his mind. Standing back up Lachlan said, "Alright, you have yourself a deal. I won''t kill either your son nor you then you and your organisation can work for the Chorip¨¢n Reyes. Also, if anyone does give you any troubles just tell them you have the backing of the Bloodied Wings." "Bloodied Wings? Is that the name of your group?" Joseph asked in confusion, he hadn''t thought that the group could be apart of an organisation. He then stood back up cautiously, but he still stood in front of Lachlan rather respectfully with a bright smile. "Bloodied Wings? The Bloodied Wings?! No wonder you looked so similar," One of the guards surrounding the two broke out of character. "You''re apparently an organisation whose power is equal to that of the Guardians, it''s also said that you have a rather tight relationship with the Sea Guardians." "That powerful?" Joseph asked in shock. Although he might not know who the Bloodied Wings were who wouldn''t know about the Guardians, the Sky and Land Guardians have bases set up around the world, including Argentina. "Oh, so one of you has heard about us," Lachlan said joyfully. After spending a bit of time in front of such a large crowd without a single response he thought their name hadn''t reached their ears. Even though they were the reason there was such a large cultural change. "Of course, my daughter is one of the mutated children and it brought us a lot of grief. Your organisation force the authorities to accept the fact that they''re humans as well; meaning we can bring her outside without having to constantly look over our shoulders," The guard explained happily with a bright smile. His emotions could be seen on his face, he was grateful to Lachlan and the Bloodied Wings. Lachlan felt a bit of pride rush through him, his group was the reason they were able to do that. This was one of the first times he''s seen someone outside their island that''s grateful for their effort, mainly due to them never actually leaving the island but that didn''t matter. "I''m glad I could help, so would you agree to work for Chorip¨¢n Reyes as compensation?" Lachlan asked in a friendly tone. "Of course, to be honest, I never liked this tyrant stuff anyway. I only decided to do it since other jobs were far too risky; if the situation with my daughter was found out there''s nothing to stop them from telling officials. While this job doesn''t about my family''s situation, neither do they care about who they hire," The guard explained. "I just didn''t know what else to do after I quit, I don''t have a lot of qualifications so I didn''t know what to do." "Suppose you can learn to cook here, haha," said Lachlan as he laughed. Turning to the family he remembered that the parents had been badly injured, "I suppose that your first task as a new employee would be to get these two to the nearest hospital for medical attention." The guard happily nodded, the ran up to the parents before looking at a few of the surrounding guards. They all came over and helped him carry the parents away, Valentina just sat there, mouth agape as her face was still a mess from the tears. Turning to Joseph, Lachlan presented a cheerful smile. "So, I''m guessing you''ll agree to work for Chorip¨¢n Reyes as well? You would say you would do anything to make up for it after all." "Of course I will, however, my only issue is that I might not be able to get all my subordinates to work for Chorip¨¢n Reyes. Although there may be many that won''t mind, there will be just as many that don''t want to," Joseph explained. "If they don''t want to do it then fire them. If even after hearing about Bloodied Wing''s involvement with the matter they still don''t agree with it, then just fire them," Lachlan said harshly. "After you do this you''ll be a subsidiary group for the Bloodied Wings, what more backing could you want than that." Although Lachlan spoke proudly he knew there were plenty of other forces that''ll be equally good to have their backing. Ones such as the Researchers United or Explorers Guild, either one of them and you''ll be set for life. "I''ll go inform my subordinates immediately, now can you please hold your end of the bargain and stop your friends from killing my son?" Joseph asked. "Of course, I''ll make sure your son isn''t harmed," said Lachlan as he disappeared from the spot, everyone in the surrounding area felt a strong gust of wind blow past them. Joseph breathed in deeply as he calmed his heart, he felt as though he just ran 1000 kilometres by just negotiating with Lachlan. Just the pressure Lachlan gave off by staring at him sent shivers down his spine, but he couldn''t break character. He turned towards Valentina who was still rather shocked by everything that just happened. He took a few steps towards her but Valentina scurried back in fright. Joseph grasped his hands and bowed, "I''ll terribly sorry for everything I''ve done to both you and your family, you may place the entire blame on me but I do hope you forgive my subordinates; they were only followed my orders." Joseph apologised in a gentle tone, a caring tone that someone would use for the ones they cared about. Although slightly unobservant, Joseph cared about his people, that much could be said. Slightly hesitant, Valentina dragged herself closer to Joseph. "It''s alright. Not that it''s alright to terrorise people, but I understand you weren''t even the one actually creating these orders from what Lachlan said about your wife." "I''m thankful you understand, but part of the blame will still fall on my shoulders. After all, I did have the power to reject the orders since no one knew she was the actual leader; if she came out furious and spilled everything everyone would likely believe me more then her," Joseph explained regretfully. "But I didn''t want to lose the backing of the family behind her nor did I want to get on their bad side. They''re a family that runs some of the shadiest businesses around the world. Drugs, assassinations, sex trafficking, you name it they''ve done it." "So what''s the family''s name?" Valentina asked. "It would be best to warn the others about them, wouldn''t it?" "The only problem is I don''t know the name of the family," Joseph explained. "All I know is how much power they have since I''ve had to work with their subordinates before, all of which are both incredibly strong and dangerous." "Do you have any ideas?" Valentina asked. She felt concerned knowing that there''s an unknown power that might be aiming for Lachlan''s head. Joseph shook his head, "I don''t have any idea, all we need to know is that they''re dangerous and they might be targetting Bloodied Wings. The only problem is they''ll have to deal with the consequences of offending Bloodied Wings." "Suppose you''re right, but we''ll tell them later anyway, just to make sure they know for sure," Valentina said. Joseph nodded in agreement. ... In a hospital a group of people were waiting patiently in front of a surgery door, they were sitting down rocking around on the chairs. Their worries were well deserved, when the doctor finished analysing Zhang''s condition the only thing he said is that Zhang is lucky to be alive. The amount of damage done to Zhang is horrendous, they were deep wounds that almost ripped apart his organs. Any deeper, degrees either left or right and Zhang could possibly be dead. It''s already a surprise he''s still alive with so much blood loss. Fortunately, because he was still alive the doctor was confident they would be able to fix him up. Zhang would need to take a while off to rest and heal, but he could be saved. Unfortunately, because they were working so close to some important organs, any mistakes could lead the Zhang''s death. Which is why they were worried sick, Brianna felt worse then she''s ever felt before. All of a sudden they noticed Zoe and Simon walking towards them, they weren''t walking fast or anything but rather casually. They had cold expressions plastered across their faces, Zoe looked rather hesitant as well while Simon looked fine. Joe ran up to Zoe, he was worried about the expressions they were making. "What''s going on? Is everything alright?" "Everything is fine, we''re just here to deal with another matter," Zoe said coldly. Zoe and Simon had spent a good while getting some answers from the guard outside the door, fortunately, after Lachlan was finished with him they were able to get all the information they needed out of his mouth. Joe was surprised by Zoe''s cold attitude, "So what''s that matter then?" "Well, Thomas has also been placed in this hospital for medical care, we''re just here to finish him off," Zoe explained without breaking out of character, giving Joe a cold stare and tone of voice. "Thomas?" Joe asked in confusion, he suddenly remembered what happened before in front of the food truck. "Oh! That Thomas. Where is he?" Joe''s tone changed, it sounded harsher and colder. "A few floors above," Zoe explained. "What are you talking about? We''re on the top floor already," Joe was confused. When they were being escorted up the elevator he clearly remembered going up to the highest floor. "The top floor can''t be reached through the escalator, nor will it ever be used for people other than the powerful. Fortunately, through some rough means we managed to get the key that''ll lead us up some more," Zoe explained as she pulled out a key from her pocket. "Alright, lead the way," Joe gestured for them to continue. Zoe and Simon walked past swiftly and a majority of the group followed along. Brianna, Phoebe, and Georgia decided to stay back, just in case anything happened. The group walked to the end of the wall way when Zoe brought out the keycard and brushed it against the wall. When she did it the wall broke apart, leading them to an elevator. They all squeezed inside before clicking one of the only two floors available. They were the VIP button and a black button. They clicked the VIP one since the black button most likely represented the boss on the top floor. Although they wouldn''t mind seeing the boss for this hospital, they had more important matters to attend to. Once they reached the floor the elevator opened up and they were greeted with a rather pleasant sight. The walls and floor were spotless, not a single spec of dirt in sight. There were dark blue marble tiles covering the floor and a bit of the wall. The rest of the wall however was covered in purple tiles. Along all the floor tiles was a thin lining of gold, while the wall had small but greatly detailed patterns made of gold. "Pretty fancy place," Simon remarked at the sight. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. "Well, I suppose it''s time to do what we came here for," said Simon as he began walking forward, the rest of the group followed along. They went along the hallway peeking into rooms, most of them were completely empty. When they did come across an occupied room it wasn''t of the person they were looking for, rather, it was an old man. He was staring idly through the crystal clear window, down at the town. They quickly closed the door and continued their search until they finally reached Thomas'' room. He was fast asleep, covered in band-aids, especially around the face and arm. Although Lachlan never hit Thomas in the face, when he smashed Thomas'' hand down the face went along with it. Zoe walked up to Thomas silently before she was just standing by his bed. Just as she was about to finish Thomas she heard a shout from the window. It suddenly broke and a figure came flying through. "Phew, fortunately I made it in time" It was Lachlan. 108 Strange Hospital "What the hell Lachlan?! I thought you agreed that we needed to kill him!" Zoe was shocked by Lachlan''s sudden appearance but was also slightly annoyed. It took her a bit to get herself into character, preparing herself mentally to kill Thomas. "Yeah I know I agreed to the plan but there have been changes but I''ve struck a deal with Thomas'' father Joseph. Basically we spare there lives and they now work under us," Lachlan explained quickly, only taking a single breath between the sentences. "But, what if they decided to get their revenge? Now they''ll know almost everything about us," Simon butted in to argue against Lachlan''s decision, he didn''t want anything interfering with their operations. "Don''t worry, they won''t be entirely working on anything important. Rather, they''ll be working for Chorip¨¢n Reyes as compensation for what they did to the owners. We''ll be using them to get information, as we spread the Chorip¨¢n Reyes business across the globe, setting up a food truck at every major city," Although he hadn''t actually explained all that to Joseph, he shouldn''t mind, they were just being used for something slightly more useful. Simon stopped to think about it, he still had some concerns. "I suppose that would be useful, but is it really worth letting the family live?" "Hm, well it would be a lot easier getting all of Joseph''s subordinates to follow along, but there would kind of be the danger. That is unless we scare him into knowing his place," Lachlan suddenly had some inspiration from when he frightened that one spoiled Land Guardian leader. "I''ll use Aaron to scare him to death, that way he''ll be too scared to do anything that''ll aggravate us." "Okay, but we''ll only keep him alive if he is actually scared. Remember, it might take a bit of effort to get rid of that ridiculous personality of his," Simon said. He didn''t think Thomas'' outrageous personality would be easy to change, although there''s no reason to not try. "What are you doing in here?" They heard a frightened voice to the side of them. Thomas had awoken from his slumber due to their arguing, he had heard a bit about what they were talking about the only real thing that took his attention was the fact that the people in front of them were planning something. Unfortunately, he couldn''t move all that well since he had been strapped up. He was also on some strong pain killers, his arm hadn''t been fixed yet since the surgery needed for it was difficult and the only doctors that had the ability to fix it were currently on their way. "Oh speak of the devil, he''s awake," Lachlan said joyfully and jokingly. Leaning over Thomas Lachlan presented a devilish smile, "You won''t need to worry about a thing, all you need to know is that you''ll be working for us now. The only problem with that is that you might seek revenge, so we''re just going to scare that idea out of you." "What are you talking about, if my mum finds out about what you''re doing you''ll all be dead!" Thomas panicked and shouted at them. Lachlan lightly chuckled. "What are you talking about, your mother won''t be doing anything to us anymore, neither will your dad." Thomas'' eyes constricted, his mouth opened wide from shock. "Did you kill them?" Not Thomas was frightened of the group in front of them. His mum and dad were his support beans, without them his entire world was crumbling down. He felt his mind collapsing as he thought about everything that''ll happen from this point onwards. But before he could think too hard about it Lachlan interrupted his thoughts. "No and yes. You see, your mum wasn''t too happy with what we did to you so she attempted to kill us. Unfortunately, she was weaker than us and we did indeed kill her. Your dad, on the other hand, was much more rational than your mum and presented a deal. You and everyone that works for your dad will now work under us," Lachlan explained with a bright smile. Lachlan''s smile sudden changed to a darker one. "So, since you''re now going to be working for us we''ll need to make sure you won''t try anything that''ll harm us." Thomas began panicking as his heartbeat sped up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There''s no need to do that; since my dad agreed to the deal I promise I won''t do anything to break it. So can you all just go back and let me recover." Lachlan let out a chilling chuckle. "What are you on about, words aren''t soul binding but what we''ll be doing will certainly affect your soul." ''Come on out Aaron, let''s put that aura to some fun use'' Lachlan said to Aaron with a cheerful tone. He wanted to see Thomas'' face when he comes against the aura, whether or not he''ll be able to resist it or not. ''Who am I kidding, he won''t be able to last a second'' Aaron appeared behind Lachlan, he tightly fit against the wall, bending its body partially around the bed. Aaron had his head hovering over Thomas, he gave Thomas a terrifying look as he stared intensely into each other''s eyes. ''Master, I believe this human has soiled himself'' Aaron explained formally. Lachlan felt like bursting out with laughter, but then he smelt it. When he heard what Aaron said he just assumed he meant pissed himself, but in reality, Thomas had shit himself. "Oh that''s just nasty," Lachlan waved his hand in front of his face, trying to block the smell but it didn''t work. "Alright, I''ll leave Aaron in here with you and we''ll all go out and wait. Sound good?" Thomas shook his head vigorously, "No, please don''t leave me with this monster, I don''t want to be alone with this monster." The group ignored his pleas and went outside the door before close it behind them. Lachlan leaned against the wall. ''Alright Aaron, do your thing''. Everyone felt an overwhelming pressure envelope the entire building, they felt the air get heavier as their bodies were getting pushed to the ground. Yet they weren''t even the ones feeling the full force, Thomas was. Inside the room, Thomas has long since passed out cold, foam coming out of his mouth as his eyes looked as though they were rolled back. The stench smashed against the noses, Lachlan appeared next to the windows and opened them up. "So what are we going to do now?" Simon walked up to Lachlan and stuck his head out the window to breath. The rest of the group followed, all sticking their heads out. From the outside, the scene looked oddly funny, with a row of heads just conversing outside a window. Lachlan shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure, probably wait here for a bit to make sure everything runs smoothly and then go back with the air stones." "Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot about the air stones," Chloe said. It wasn''t just her though, most of the group forgot about what they were doing here. Since the entire time they''ve been off the island they''ve been busy dealing with issues. Zoe turned to Lachlan. "Just wondering, how did you know which room Thomas would be in?" "What are you talking about, there''s no way Thomas would be on any floor other than the top. From there I just used my eyesight to spot you all out, wasn''t too hard considering almost all the rooms are empty," Lachlan explained, confused as to why Zoe would ask that. "Top floor?" She turned her head to look up and noticed the roof was really right above them. She turned towards the others. "Then where does that other button lead to?" Lachlan got confused when she mentioned another button, he assumed he was referring to an elevator since it''s probably how they got here in the first place. He tilted his head in confusion, "What other button?" "There are two elevators, one that people normally use and one for people with high status. One the one for people of high status there''s a completely black button. There were two other buttons on the elevator, VIP and just a pitch black one," Zoe explained. "How many buttons were on the elevator you used when you brought Zhang here?" Lachlan turned to asked Joe. If what Zoe said was correct then there might be more to the hospital than they thought. "Well there were 7, we went up to the 7th floor where Zhang is currently being operated on," Joe explained. "That''s odd, there are only 5 floors in total from what I saw, including the one we''re on right now," Lachlan explained. The rest of the group got more and more confused when they were piecing everything together. "Could some of the floors be secret ones? But then again, why would they put secret floors on the main elevator, that''ll just be too much of a risk in case someone accidentally presses the wrong button," Lachlan couldn''t see the reasoning behind that. "Maybe those secret floors aren''t as important, but maybe that black button is. Should we go scope it out?" Chloe asked for everyone''s opinion. Although it was obvious they were all going to say yes, there''s no way they could leave this mystery unsolved. "How about we scope out those other secret floors first before we move onto the black button, that way we could get an idea as to how dangerous the situation we''re getting ourselves into really is," Lachlan suggested. "Sure, I suppose we can save the best for last," Zoe said joyfully. Her nostrils began to twitch, the stench from Thomas had reached them. "Let''s go do that now, I can''t bear being here for another second." The rest followed, Lachlan quickly unsummoned Aaron and walked out the door, closing it behind him. He would come back to deal with Thomas later after they deal with the mysterious floors. He walked down the hallway, the rest of the group was already in the elevator waiting for Lachlan to reach them. When he walked in they pointed towards the black button, Lachlan noticed something odd about. Leaning down he took a closer look, through his good vision he noticed thin marks against the button. They looked as fine as the hair on someone''s head, yet they left a mark across the button. Lachlan turned to the group. "Now I really think we should check out the other floors, there''s no way something normal can leave those marks." 109 Researchers United "Alright," Zoe nodded in agreement. The rest of the group did as well. Pressing the button to go back down they reached the floor Zhang was at. When the doors opened they saw down the long hallway, Brianna, Phoebe, and Georgia were sitting there anxiously. The surgery was still going on. Walking up the Phoebe Lachlan sat down. "Do you know how''s it going?" Phoebe was momentarily stunned by Lachlan''s appearance but also didn''t think too much about it. Her head tilted to the ground. "Not yet, fortunately, it seems nothing has gone wrong either so everything should be going well." Phoebe leaned over and placed her head against Lachlan''s shoulder, Lachlan leaned slightly back. "That''s good. As for what happened above, Thomas is now working for us along with his father and their entire organisation." Phoebe''s head tilted up, her face slightly confused. "How''d that end up happening?" "Well, the father didn''t mind as soon as he found out about our strength. But, he would only do what we say if we don''t kill his son. So I had to rush all the way here and smash through Thomas'' window to stop Zoe from ending his life," Lachlan explained. "So what would they be working as? You surely wouldn''t suggest they actually become apart of the main force, not after that mother injured Zhang," Phoebe said. "Of course not, they''ll be working with Chorip¨¢n Reyes who''ll be working under us. We''ll attempt to spread them across the world to gather information," Lachlan explained joyfully. He thought the idea was pretty good, granted he only came up with it along the way to the hospital. "And you came up with that idea how?" Phoebe asked with a light chuckle. "I''ve seen it in movies and tv series, where large groups use restaurants and whatnot as a large coverup for their operations," Lachlan explained. "You coming or what Lachlan?" Simon interrupted his conversation with Phoebe. They were standing by the elevator ready to check out the other secret floors. Lachlan stood up and turned to Phoebe. "So we found something odd about this hospital and are going to check it out. You''re welcome to come or not. That goes for all three of you." "I don''t want Zhang to be greeted by nothing when they''ve finished the surgery so I might stay back," Georgia explained. "You don''t have to, I''ll wait here and the two of you go with the rest of them," Brianna explained shyly, her face slightly red. Phoebe and Georgia didn''t think too much about Brianna''s embarrassed face. "Alright, that''ll be great. We''ll come along with the rest of you then." Phoebe and Georgia stood up and walked to the elevator where the rest of the group was waiting. However, when they reached there the group was busy studying the button. "This floor is apparently the 7th floor, that''s what we clicked to get here," Zoe explained as she pointed towards the button. "Could it be that they randomised the buttons, meaning either one of these buttons could lead us to the secret floor." "Or maybe the two secret floors are 1 and 2. Considering there''s ground floor already there; there''s probably a high chance the two secret floors are 1 and 2 since to get back down the visitors will click on the ground floor button," Lachlan explained. "Suppose there''s only one way to find out," Simon clicked on the 2nd-floor button. There was a slight change to the wall, a scanner opened up. Simon moved closer to it and studied it a bit. "Well then, I suppose we won''t be able to get to the secret floor so easily." "What are you talking about?" Zoe said in a condescending voice. She took a step towards the scanner and brought out the keycard, swiping it across it quickly went back into the wall and they felt the elevator go down. "Just wondering, how did you get that keycard?" Lachlan asked. Considering the keycard could allow someone to travel anywhere in this hospital, they wouldn''t just give it to some random person that asked for it. "Well similar to what you probably did to that father of Thomas, just a bit of roughing up and we got everything we need," Zoe explained. "You didn''t actually hurt anyone though?" Lachlan was concerned they injured normal people. Although they might not be so normal now, to be working in such an elaborate hospital. One that seems to possess high-tech security in a town at the edge of the country. "Of course not, just a simple summon and they just gave us everything we needed. Granted the keycard was a lot more difficult to get a hold of," Simon chipped in. Everyone''s face abruptly hardened when they felt the elevator begin to slow down. Once it completely stopped the doors opened up, they were greeted by the sight of dozens of people rushing around a laboratory. One of the people noticed the group at the elevator and dropped all his stuff. "Who the hell are you people?! This is a restricted area! Not somewhere people can just easily enter!" The man''s shouts attracted everyone''s attention. All the people with lab coats turned around the look at the group standing silently in the elevator. The group were rather stunned by everything in front of them. Across the benches were the scientists were working, there were monster limbs scattered, all being completely dissected. In the boxes being carried around by the scientists, the group could see more monster limbs dangling out of them. "We don''t care if this is a restricted area! We were just rather curious as to who''s down here and created such an odd hospital!" Lachlan shouted back, his voice booming through the room. He turned to look at the man that first spotted them. "So, who exactly are you all?" "We''re apart of Researcher''s United, this hospital is a coverup for one of our bases," He explained. "Now you tell us, who the hell you all are? Disrupting our research is very rude." Lachlan took a quick glance at Phoebe, shotting her a smug face. "We''re the leaders of Bloodied Wings, not exactly sure if you''ve heard of us or not." Before Lachlan could finish his sentence a woman scientist in the back suddenly shouted. "Bloodied Wings! Of course we''ve heard of you, there''s no need to explain anymore," She quickly rushed up the elevator. "Because of the research your organisation posted online I was able to bring my children out to play without feeling scared; I deeply thank you for that." She then continued. "I was researcher a way to prove that those children weren''t an intelligent beast but I faced a major problem; I couldn''t get my hands on a sample of an intelligent beast and therefore couldn''t complete the research." "Well I''m glad we could be so helpful," Lachlan said as he scratched his head embarrassed. The other scientists in the room were all scaring the group down, seeing if there''s anything that makes them so different. "Just wondering, but does that mean you have bases set up across the world? Like in major cities," Lachlan asked. "Obviously," The woman confirmed Lachlan''s suspicion. "It''s a bit difficult to gather every scientist in one place considering some of them have a rather deep connection to the cities they''re stationed at. So instead we just built a laboratory there for them to use alongside others in the city and before we knew it we became a massive organisation." "So does that mean the only secret floor in this building is another laboratory?" Lachlan asked. "Nope, it''s our beast breeding ground and experimentation ground. We test new weapons against the beasts down there," She explained calmly without seeing a single issue. "No one''s stopping it?" Chloe asked. Wondering how they managed to get away with it. "For what? Animal cruelty!" The woman chuckled at Chloe''s question. "Until we''re back at the top no one really cares what happens to the beasts; everyone only cares about their safety. and considering we provide the information for their safety, none of them care about what we do to get the information." "Alrighty then, so where does the black button on the special elevator lead to?" Lachlan asked abruptly. The woman stood there silently, staring at Lachlan. "It leads to our Vice-Leader''s room," She explained calmly, not spilling another detail. "Would we be able to see him?" Chloe asked. "Well it''s rather difficult to actually book an appointment with the Vice-Leader, he''s a rather busy man," The woman said nervously, she looked as though this was a rather awkward topic to talk about. "So why''s he got a room all to himself?" Lachlan asked the question she was looking forward to the least. She stood there silently, unsure how to answer. Someone suddenly patted her shoulder and stood next to her, a man that looked like a giant. The group wasn''t sure whether he was a scientist or an experiment. "Unfortunately, that''s classified information," He said in a sturdy and deep voice. He suddenly perked up and reached for his ear. He likely had an earpiece there, it was probably someone important talking to him. The group stood there, waiting for everything to finish. After several seconds he put his hand back down. "Alright, the Vice-Leader wishes to see you for some reason. I will give you a warning beforehand, don''t piss our Vice-Leader off." "We''ll keep that in mind," Lachlan said. The giant then gestured towards an elevator on the other side of the lab. They walked over and Zoe stepped forward to swipe the keycard. Walking through the doors Zoe clicked on the black button. The door quickly shut behind them and they shot down. They felt a bit of weightlessness from the speed they were going. Suddenly they felt it slow down, they felt their moment push them towards the elevator floor. It was similar to those big drops at theme parks. When the elevator doors opened they were greeted by the sight of a man, trapped in a glass box. When he noticed guest he looked up, the eyes he had were half black, they sent shivers down their spines. "Welcome, I''m sorry I couldn''t greet you in a more warn fashion Lachlan Wilson." 110 Another One Lachlan didn''t think too much about it. Their group was rather strong so it wasn''t surprising for the Vice-Leader of Researcher''s United to have heard of them. But then something shook him, his entire being was shaken to the core by what the Vice-Leader said next. "I see you still don''t know what your other half is. Oh well, you''ll eventually find out when the time is right," His half blackened eyes stared through Lachlan''s flesh and soul. It was like he could see everything about him. ''Wait, could it be'' Lachlan stared at the body encased in thick glass, the man''s black, silky hair went down to his feet, sliding across his tanned snow white skin. He was 6''0 tall with a shredded body. Almost nothing seemed odd about him except his eyes and long hair. But. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Alfredo Diaz (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 3/5 Compatibility: Long Haired Beasts (Perfect) STR: 35(+2), AGI: 34(+4), VIT: 50 INT: 31, PER: 33, WIL: 24 Weakness: Split Soul Strengths: Fire Control (Level 3), Earth Control (Level 3), Iron Control (Level 3), Ice Control (Level 4), Grass Control (Level 4), Leg Strength (Level 4), Bite Strength (Level 6), Heightened Senses -------------------------------------------------------- His status screen sent a shock through Lachlan''s system, the sight of Alfredo''s race gave him a quick reminder, a reminder about his very own situation. Lachlan had found another one, another person in a similar position as him. However, there was something unique about Alfredo aside from him being exactly the same as Lachlan. It was his weakness, a split soul. "Your weakness, what does it mean?" Lachlan asked. He didn''t both trying to take any guesses, considering Alfredo already analysed him and knew they were the same there was no point in keeping the abilities a secret. Phoebe quickly yanked on Lachlan''s arm. "What are you doing? How would he know about what you''re talking about? Also, why did you give away such a big secret to someone you don''t even know?" "The other half will split the soul, from there it will begin the process of possession in an attempt to become a materialised being that can interact with this world without any obstacles," Alfredo explained, interrupting Phoebe all while slightly shocking her. She turned back to Lachlan. "Is he like you?" Lachlan nodded silently, Phoebe swiftly lowered her voice. This would be the first time Lachlan''s come across another person like him, she didn''t want to ruin it. "What are you talking about? Do you mean there''s another soul?" Lachlan asked in confusion. "Kind of; but rather than another soul it''s easier to say it''s apart of your soul. However, once you reach a certain point that part of the soul will attempt to split and become a separate being. It''ll cause great pain and weaken you. Unfortunately, that''s not even the worst of it," Alfredo suddenly stopped talking as his eyes were engulfed by darkness. "What''s the worst part of it? Alfredo, tell me what''s the worst part!" Lachlan didn''t want to be left without any information. If he could prepare himself for the worst of it then he''ll be in a better position. "Kekeke, the worst part about it is that I can now come out whenever I feel like it," Alfredo''s voice changed, it tuned to a higher pitch. The crackles in the voice sent shivers down everyone''s spine, when those black eyes scanned them they felt themselves get devoured by darkness. "You''re not Alfredo, you''re the other half," Lachlan realised what was happening and became slightly fearful. He looked at his hands then looked towards Alfredo. ''Would I become like that?'' Lachlan wasn''t sure. "Kekeke, indeed I am. Welcome to my humble abode, I''ve been dying to meet you, the one that has yet to have their soul split. Granted, what''ll happen at the later stages will be much worse," Alfredo said in a chilly tone. "What are you talking about?" Lachlan was shaken. "Don''t worry, you won''t feel a thing; those around you on the other hand will feel a lot of pain, it''ll be wonderful when your other half comes out, after all, he''s the strongest of us all," Alfredo''s eyes went back to the half blackened state once he finished what he needed to say. Alfredo stared Lachlan dead in the eyes. "Listen to me Lachlan, you need to increase your willpower if you want to resist them. The Leader and I roughly estimate that it needs to double for every tame, starting with 10 for the first soul contract." "So it''ll roughly go 10, 20, 40, 80, then finally 160?" Lachlan asked for confirmation. Alfredo silently nodded. Lachlan finally realised how difficult this would actually be. He was lucky to have had 20 points in the willpower by the time he tamed Aaron, otherwise he''ll be in a world of trouble. "Also remember, don''t hesitate to go well beyond those numbers. This is only an estimate by the Leader and myself; it could very well be completely wrong so tread with caution," Alfredo warned. "So is the Leader of Researcher''s United in a similar situation as you?" Lachlan asked. He kept hearing Alfredo mention their leader which would mean the boss of Researcher''s United. "No," Alfredo looked at Lachlan fearfully. "He''s in a much worse situation than I''m in. He has used up four soul contracts while only having 30 willpower; his other half easily takes control whenever it wants and wherever it wants." "When it first showed up it was when the leader was sleeping with his family. The other half slaughtered everyone in the house, his wife and children; It didn''t leave a single member behind," Alfredo said as his voice quaked. "That''s why I trapped myself in this glass box, as a way to stop the other half from harming anyone important to me or attempting to destroy this world." "Please Lachlan, if there''s anything you should take away from this encounter it''s that the other half is dangerous and seeks for destruction. They want to destroy everything on this planet through any means," Alfredo explained. "What are the other halves though?" Lachlan asked. He wanted to know everything he could about his other half, he didn''t want anything happening to anyone because he was unprepared. "Although I wasn''t able to find out the Leader has. They''re called-" Alfredo was suddenly stopped and his eyes were engulfed by the darkness again. "Kekeke, we''ll stop right there, we don''t want everything about us being spread. You should go now, there''s nothing else for Alfredo to tell you." "Don''t lie, there''s probably a lot of things you''re hiding from us," Lachlan appeared next to the glass box and smashed his hand against it. "Tell me! Tell me everything I want to know about you!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa there boy; there''s no need to get all antsy. You''ll eventually find out everything you need to know, but for now, you need to find something that''ll increase that willpower of yours if you ever want to stand a chance against us," Alfredo said in a chilly voice. Lachlan suddenly felt something glide across his, it felt small but terrifying. Looking down Lachlan noticed it was Alfredo''s hair, it had gone through the air pockets in the glass box. Lachlan suddenly felt someone smash against the back of his calf, he looked down a noticed a light wound. Lachlan swiftly retreated back to the group, Phoebe quickly tore a piece of the shirt she was wearing and wrapped it around Lachlan''s wound. "Kekeke, that''s just a little warning and hint from me. Should you ever lose to your other half you''ll destroy everything you love," Alfredo suddenly collapsed to his knees, he looked up and his eyes were back to normal. "Quickly go, the other half is getting agitated, I can''t control it once it loses control over its emotions." "Alright," Lachlan nodded and retreated back into the elevator. The rest of the group rushed in behind him. Swiftly clicked the button to return them to their floor the doors shut. But before that Alfredo''s eyes were once again turned into darkness. "Kekeke, I''ll see you at a later date Lachlan Wilson; I do hope you don''t disappoint my expectations of you, especially not after I''ve given you so much information." The door finally shut and they felt the elevator rocket back up to the lab. Once it stopped the doors opened and the female scientist was in front of them, waiting eagerly. "So, how did it go?" "It went great! Sorry for interrupting your research," Lachlan said quickly before walking to the other side and entering the elevator there. With the group tagging behind and next to him, it was slightly difficult for anyone to notice the bloody cloth wrapped around his leg. They quickly entered and clicked for the 7th floor where Zhang was currently at. The elevator shot up quickly, but when the doors opened up they saw Brianna there waiting patiently. The surgery sign wasn''t lit up which meant it was completed. 111 Heading Back "He''s currently resting, the doctor said he should be able to be released in a couple of weeks. The damage done was very deep, as such, it''ll take some time for him to heal them up," Brianna explained. "We could probably give him some water or fruit from the island, it should accelerate the healing process," Lachlan suggested. "Do we have any?" Brianna asked. "Not right now but it isn''t like we can''t just go back to the island to get some. Not to mention we still needed to get those Air Stones back to the island for Flynn and Maddie to finish up the operation," Lachlan explained. "Alright, I''ll wait here till you get back, I don''t want anything happening to Zhang while he''s defenceless," Brianna explained worriedly. "Okay then," Lachlan turned to face the rest of the group. "Alright, who else wants to go back to the island. Once you get back you''ll first get some rest and then begin to move the island into position. Also, don''t move it too far from its original position until everyone is back." "I''ll come back," Phoebe raised her hand. It was quickly followed by Chloe and Simon who both wanted to see their loved ones. The other''s weren''t too sure what to do, it was already getting dark and they weren''t sure if they wanted to go flying in the cold weather. "If you don''t want to go, don''t force yourselves. There''ll be plenty for you all to do tomorrow anyway, it''ll be the first day of Joseph''s compensation, I want you all to keep an eye on everything happening in and around the food truck," Lachlan explained. The rest of the group that decided against returning nodded. Joe sat down near Brianna, "Alright, we''ll probably do that." Zoe sat down next to him soon after. Lachlan nodded and walked back into the elevator followed by Phoebe, Chloe, and Simon. Brianna, Georgia, Zoe, and Joe decided they would stay behind and guard Zhang along with greeting him once he wakes up. When they left the building Lachlan saw the clouds engulfed in an orange hue, spreading from the far corners of his vision to the other corners. The streets were still slightly active with the sounds of laughter, the pubs were filled to the brim with people drinking and eating away. "Prepare yourselves, the trip back is going to be a long one," Lachlan warned. They decided on doing something before that though. Nearby the hospital was a clothing store, it was filled with winter clothing. A small girl walked up to them, she looked roughly 13 years old and was a lot smaller than even Lachlan. She looked quite shy and hesitant when she walked up to the group. "Welcome! How may I help you?" "We''re looking for some warm clothing, preferably something like a windbreaker to go along with it," Lachlan replied in a friendly tone. The girl rapidly nodded her head and gestured for them to follow. They walked to the righthand corner of the store where there were a variety of windbreakers and warm jumpers. The group quickly picked what they liked before the girl led them to the lefthand corner where there were tracksuit pants. After they got what they needed they walked up to the counter and placed their clothes on top. A much older woman was waiting there patiently, staring at the group and the small girl since they arrived. Either she was testing the girl or guarding her. "Is this all you''ll be buying today?" The older woman asked in a gentle voice. "Yes," Lachlan nodded. "Alright, you won''t need to be paying for this as I know who you all are, especially you boy," The woman pointed towards Lachlan. "You''re the one that dominated those tyrants in front of Chorip¨¢n Reyes, I''d like to thank you for that, you protect some dear friends on mine." "Oh, you''re friends with the owners of Chorip¨¢n Reyes; don''t mention it, I was just protecting some innocent people," Lachlan said with an embarrassed voice. He looked to the side and noticed the small girl staring at him with big open eyes. "That''s a friend''s daughter, she saw you at Chorip¨¢n Reyes when you took Joseph off his high pedestal," the older woman explained. "Anyway, all these clothes are a gift from this store as a thank you." Lachlan nodded and took the bags of clothes, the group swiftly left the store before searching through the bags to find their own things. They took out everything they needed to feel warm and comfortable before walking towards Chorip¨¢n Reyes, they still needed to get the Air Stones after all. When they reached the food truck it was still rather active, however, instead of the usual owners running the truck, Valentina''s parents, it was Joseph and a few of his subordinates instead. "Welcome, welcome," Joseph came running out to meet with them. "Please sit down, let me show you my cooking skills, you''ll probably be impressed by how much my skills have improved since you last saw me." "I didn''t eat anything you made last time I saw you so I don''t know. Anyway, some of our group has decided to leave to go back to our base now including me. So, I''m going to need some of those crystals and I''d rather you lead me to them rather than just bringing them yourself," Lachlan quickly explained. He added the final part because he knew how ineffective Joseph''s subordinates would be in terms of picking out the better stones considering they all look the same. "Okay, I''ll quickly get one of the guys in the truck to lead you to the storage facility, take whatever you want," Joseph said as he gestured towards one of the chefs in the truck to come over. When the chef came over Joseph grabbed him by the shoulders. "You have an important task, lead these people to the storage facility and let them take those crystals, as many as they want. And remember, don''t piss them off." The chef nodded before walking to Lachlan, he gestured for the group to follow behind him. They quickly began walking towards the wall in the distance but just before then they turned off the road into an offshoot alleyway; they were led down it for a few seconds before the chef stopped and opened a small door. He had to slightly squat down to walk through. Lachlan just walked through since he was short while the others all had to squat down slightly. The chef reached to the side and flipped a switch, turning on the lights which opened their eyes to the large storage facility. The roof was roughly 10 metres tall and the entire building was roughly 30 metres wide and long. There were boxes that went up to the roof, filled with crystals. Lachlan quickly analysed them. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Air Stone (Low) Description: Grants the user control over the air within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over the air will be. Location: Can be found where the air is at a high intensity or is unique to that area. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan analysed a few and went forward to pick out the best ones. Unfortunately, there were only four high-ranked stones while the other ones Lachlan was bringing along with him were medium-ranked. Lachlan looked at the stones and marvelled at their aqua-green crystal, he thought it would do great as a gift. He looked for a stone that had the most crystals and planned to give it to Sarah as a souvenir. It was a low-ranked stone but this was merely a gift. "Alright we have what we need," Lachlan turned to the chef that led them. "Tell Joseph that some people from our group will meet up with him tomorrow, right now they''re dealing with something and our little group is going back home." Lachlan walked out of the storage facility while the others searched for a few stones for themselves. The aqua-green was deep and mesmerising, it left one in a trance just by staring at it. However, the thing that made it nice was the change in air once you own one. Lachlan dropped a bit of blood on a medium-ranked stone to test it out. He immediately noticed the stone was a lot more than they thought. Although it could indeed control the air, the limit is boundless along with the instructions. He was not only able to change the speed at which the wind blows around him, but also the temperature. Lachlan found that he could control the wind to move in any direction, he was able to navigate it through the nearby alleyways. "So are we going now?" Phoebe suddenly popped out of the door behind him. Simon and Chloe followed soon after with a couple of stones in their hands. "Of course," Lachlan nodded and they began to walk to the nearby wall. They walked along with it till they reached the exit, it was surrounded by guards armed to the teeth. They gave off a ferocious aura towards anyone and anything. The group noticed a familiar face, it was Lucas, one of the people that greeted them when they first entered the city. Lucas walked up to the group. "You do know it''s incredibly dangerous at night, even if you''re strong I wouldn''t suggest putting yourselves out in the open." Simon walked up and patted his shoulders. "You don''t have to worry about us, we''ve dealt with this kind of environment for a long time." Simon swiftly summoned Tempest whose head popped out around the corner outside. The group of guards quickly panicked and got into position but Lucas swiftly ordered them to stand down. Simon gave a silent nod before walking out and leaping onto Tempest. Lachlan followed suit and summoned all three Rocs before leaping onto Calamity. He gently petted Calamity''s head, brushing his hand against Calamity''s soft feathers and fur. He was suddenly interrupted when Phoebe jumped in front of him and sat down. She leant back into Lachlan''s chest. "Alright you love birds we''re leaving," Simon said with a light chuckle, shooting off into the air with the awe of the guards. Lachlan quickly got Calamity to go before getting Disaster who had Chloe on him to follow. He unsummoned Catastrophe before wrapping his arms around Phoebe. He leaned back more and grabbed hold of Lachlan''s arm, she wriggled around for a bit before getting comfortable. "Are you scared Lachlan?" Phoebe abruptly asked out of the blue, her question shocking Lachlan. "About what?" Lachlan replied. "You don''t have to hide it, it''s obvious you were pretty shaken by that Vice-Leader''s words, the other half''s words especially," Phoebe said as she tilted her head to look at Lachlan. "Of course I''m scared, didn''t you hear what Alfredo said; the other halves seek destruction, I don''t want myself to lose control and do something I won''t be able to take back. He also mentioned their Leader who''s also the same, unfortunately, he wasn''t prepared and ended up losing his family to the other half," Lachlan''s voice was slightly shaking from fear. Although he sought an understanding of what he was, the deeper he gets the more horrifying it seems; he doesn''t want anything to do with it yet he has to deal with it no matter what. "But you can be prepared and myself and all our friends will be prepared to stop you should anything go wrong," Phoebe said. "We can take it slowly as well, there''s no need to search and tame many beasts right now anyway, you''re doing great with what you have." "Did you see the damage Alfredo did to my leg with just his hair, I analysed Alfredo and he didn''t have the sort of strength to leave such a deep wound with hair along," Lachlan argued back, he was shaken by the strength the other half possesses. What''s to say it isn''t stronger when it gets its hands on a stronger vessel. "Of course I did, but while you prepare to go against it we will as well. Although you''re currently restricted to how many beasts you can have we aren''t; everyone will train and tame to ready ourselves in case the worst happens," Phoebe explained. "Alright, I''ll trust you all for now, but make sure you prepare yourselves to fight against a dozen intelligent beast because that other half is sort of similar; it''s incredibly smart but psychopathic and dangerous," Lachlan trusted Phoebe''s judgement and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I just hope I can prepare enough to make sure nothing bad has a chance of happening." 112 Preparing for the Move The ride back to the island was quiet as the group dozed off into a deep sleep, their bodies still reacting through instincts gripped the feathers tightly to not let go. They flew over the ocean as the cold winter''s breeze resisted against them. Fortunately, they just managed to get something that''s perfect for the situation. Lachlan grabbed hold of the air stone out of habit, he didn''t actually need to be holding the stones to activate them but it was just a habit he hasn''t got rid of yet. He changed the air flow and temperature, it changed to a gentle and warm breeze and glided across their skin, heating it up to give the group a comfortable sleep. They woke up to the rising sun on the horizon, it''s light spread across the ocean to change the colour from dark blue to orange. The air was still gentle as it lightly brushed against their faces to give them warmth. "Morning Phoebe,'' Lachlan''s arms were still wrapped around Phoebe, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Phoebe tilted her head and did the same back. "Morning," Phoebe replied. She wiggled around a bit before finding a comfortable spot, where she was comfortably resting in Lachlan''s embrace. Phoebe asked with a morning voice, "How much longer do we have left?" "I don''t know, I''m not exactly sure how much further we have left until we get back to the island but I would suggest we take a break soon. I''m beginning to feel the effects of having summons out for too long," Lachlan explained as he turned and nodded to Simon. Simon nodded back. "Yeah I''m starting to feel my head begin to swell, I reckon we have about another 3 - 4 hours until I just collapse from exhaustion." "Great, we should be able to get to an island by then and once you two rest up we can finish off the journey," Chloe said happily, she was getting fidgety just thinking about seeing her family again and giving them those gifts. They found a small island after flying for another 2 hours, it had a diameter of about 3 kilometres, it was a really small island that had a tall mountain on top. The mountain cliffs overseeing the ocean as the waves crash into the rock below. The island was relatively luscious with green vegetation but close to no trees and bushes, just grass and the occasional flower here and there. Landing on the open mountain the group hopped off the birds, Lachlan and Simon quickly unsummoned them as they sat down to take a break. Their feet were dangling off the mountain as they felt the upward drift push against their legs. Controlling the temperature of the wind they made sure everything was slightly warm, not enough to make them boil but just enough to make them comfortable. Phoebe sat next to Lachlan while Chloe sat a bit away from the cliff, slightly shaken by the height even though she was just flying much higher before. After resting for an hour Lachlan stood up. "Alright, I think I got enough energy to get us back." Simon followed right after. "Same, this environment is pretty relaxing, just something about it heals my fatigue." "Suppose we should remember where this island is then, use it as a place to have vacations or whatnot. There doesn''t seem to be any dangerous beasts here anyway, it''ll be the perfect little getaway," Chloe remarked. They all nodded before they continued their journey, reaching the island after another few hours. Chloe and Simon both ran up to their partners and joyfully reunited, even though they weren''t even away from each other for long. "So did you bring the air stones?" Maddie asked with excitement. "Of course," Simon replied as he took out an air stone from his pocket and handed it over to Maddie. "Happy Birthday, I brought that air stone just for you; make sure you take care of it, it may be able to save you from dangerous situations." "I didn''t know it was your birthday. Happy Birthday Maddie!" Chloe exclaimed cheerfully. Flynn, Lachlan, and Phoebe followed soon after; giving Maddie a happy birthday and wishing her luck. "So now that we have the stones can we hurry up and begin the floating island idea?" Maddie asked impatiently, she was excited to start already since she wanted the island to be floating. Just something mythical about it, something that could only happen in a fantasy world would now happen in her real world. "I suppose we can begin now, it''s just there''s something we''ll have to do to prepare for that. As we don''t want the island collapsing or anything we want to make sure the stones are placed properly beneath the island; which will need someone or something to be down there observing everything," Simon explained. "Otherwise, who''s to say the island won''t snap in half because we misplaced a stone." "I can handle that," Anne abruptly said out of the blue. The group didn''t even notice her presence, all the while she was just standing there silently; watching and hearing everything. "How so?" Simon asked. "I just fixed my underwater drone, if I put a stone on there to nullify the gravity I should be able to place all the stones underneath the island without it getting destroyed again," Anne explained confidently. "And while that''s going on I''ll go to the people and explain the situation; then with the help of the gravity stone, I''ll lift everyone off the island in case the worst does truly happen," Maddie explained before shooting off, using the gravity stone to fly away. "Alright then Anne, prepare that drone we''re going to start," Simon said as he walked to the hut to grab some more gravity stones. Although it wasn''t certain, it would be a much smarter choice to bring along more gravity stones than necessary rather than too few. Lachlan, Phoebe, and Chloe quickly went to their huts to grab their gravity stones as well. But when Lachlan stepped into his hut he felt something suddenly run into him before whatever it was quickly wrapped their arms around his legs. "Welcome home Lachlan!" It was Sarah, she has been patiently waiting for Lachlan''s return today. Even though she had no idea whether or not he would actually be back today she was prepared to wait an entire week for her brother. Lachlan reached down and picked Sarah up, bringing her into his arms, "Thank you Sarah," Lachlan gave a quick kiss on the forehead. Sarah rubbed her forehead with a slightly embarrassed face. "Stop doing that." She complained. "Now, your big brother''s going to be busy with something so I''m going to have to ask you to stick by Maddie for an hour or so. Once I''m done I''ll take you somewhere fun, granted you''re going to have to prepare yourself for a long trip," Lachlan said as he put Sarah back down. "Alright," Sarah nodded with a hint of disappointment. "It''s alright, I promise the trip we''ll take will be well worth the wait," Lachlan reassured Sarah as he slightly panicked from the tone of her voice. Sarah brought up a big smile. "Pinky promise!" Sarah held out a closed hand with only her pinky extended. "Pinky promise," Lachlan replied as he wrapped his pinky around Sarah''s. Sarah''s pinky was tiny in comparison to Lachlan''s. "Now, I''ll quickly take you to Maddie and remember, listen to what she says and stick with her for just an hour." Sarah nodded rapidly and Lachlan lifted her back up before shooting out of the hut towards where all the others were. When he got there Maddie was busy explaining the situation to everyone, ''Alright, so basically what we''re trying to do is make the island float high in the sky. Now, this does involve a bit of risk which I why I''ll need you to have your entire family present when I bring you all away from the island." Lachlan brought Sarah up to Maddie. "Don''t lose sight of her; I''ll go into the caves and bring out the farmers." Lachlan suddenly felt something watching from the distance, looking towards one of the tall trees he noticed Dylan perched up high on one of the branches. He was watching over everyone, looking for any dangers. Lachlan suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared next to Dylan. "Haven''t talked to you in a little while, how''s everything going?" Dylan was slightly shocked by Lachlan''s abrupt appearance but calmed himself seconds after. "Everything''s going alright; although there have been a few times were a child began to wander off the parents managed to notice seconds after and find their child quickly." "Seems you''re still a bit of a worry wort," Lachlan squatted down. "Listen, you should try to become friends with a few of those parents; that way it wouldn''t look so weird if they see you perched up a tree watching over them." "But how do I do that?" Dylan asked impatiently. He had attempted to converse with some of the parents before but it quickly died down and before he knew it everything became extremely awkward. "Find parents that have similar interests and hobbies as you, try to talk to them during something like dinner time. Where everyone''s rather relaxed as the children should be sleeping," Lachlan explained confidently. Although internally he had absolutely no idea what to do either, he stuck with his group and it worked, he didn''t want anything to cause it to collapse. "Alright," Dylan nodded. Lachlan smiled and shot off towards the caves. He walked through quickly and ran to the cottage. Walking in he saw Joe and Zoe''s parents playing a bit of poker with a few of the other older ones. Phoebe''s father was there as well with them. "Is something happening?" Harrison asked. "Did you find what you needed?" "Indeed, and I''m going to need to get you all out of here and into safety for a little while. What we''re going to attempt to do will be dangerous and I''m not entirely confident nothing is destroyed. So, I''ll bring you all to Maddie who''ll take you to a safe area," Lachlan explained. "Three of a kind!" Tyler shouted as he slammed his cards down. "Straight flush," Harrison said nonchalantly as he lightly tossed his cards on the table. Tyler''s mouth opened wide from shock. "Royal flush," Dakota said soon after and shocked the both of them deeply. She grinned widely, "What? Didn''t think I had the cards to win? Learn to math." She stood up from the chair and walked over to Lachlan. "Alright I''m ready, let''s go, those two won''t finish processing what happened for probably another day." "What are you talking about, it''s obvious you cheated!" Harrison shouted as he pointed to Dakota. "The chances of that happening are just too slim, you probably cheated when you were shuffling the cards!" "Shit! Let''s go now!" Dakota grabbed hold of Lachlan and dragged him out of the house, running away from a furious pair of gamblers. They ran through the caves swiftly and quickly ran to Maddie. "How''s everything going? Can we go now?" Maddie saw the two furious gamblers coming closer and quickly issued some commands to the stone. The group of people around her were swiftly lifted up without anyone being left behind. She suddenly issued a few more commands but for other stones. There were two by Harrison''s and Tyler''s feet, they were quickly brought up into the air with Maddie''s control. She kept them at a distance but made sure they were still safe. Maddie turned to Lachlan. "We''re ready now, you go and do your things and really try not to destroy this island." "No promises for that," Lachlan replied as he issued a few commands to his own stone and shot off. He went back to the centre where he grabbed his stones before shooting off towards the waters. 113 To The Skies! He landed on top of the wall, near where the others were. Anne was hunched over a laptop which was being used to control the drone, the screen showing off everything happening beneath the island. There were a few unique plants growing on the side of the island, they looked like normal flowers yet they grew underwater. There was also beast life, which fortunately wasn''t too violent towards the drone, otherwise they''ll have a big problem then. "Anne, how are you planning on planting the stones?" Lachlan asked. He saw on the screen that the drone had arms attached to it, one carrying a bag of stones and the other already had a stone in its hands. "Well, I''ve decided the best course of action was to have one of each person''s stone at every location. That way, if someone decides to leave for a place far away they won''t be taking the island down with them," Anne explained. Lachlan nodded, he hadn''t thought about that issue but since they were going to be floating far into the air it would be best to think of all the worst case scenarios. "What about my stones?" Lachlan asked as he held out his small bag of stones. "I''ll do them one at a time, at least that way I won''t be confused as to whose stones I''ve placed where. Also, we''re going to need a lot more stones for everyone if we want to make this as safe as possible because I don''t think we''ll be able to cover the entire base of the island with what we have now," Anne explained. "How many more stones?" Lachlan asked, slightly hesitant to know the answer. "Well we need roughly 625 gravity stones for each person if we want to be 100% certain that no places beneath the island are left unaffected," Anne said. Lachlan felt his heart ache at the thought of gather 625 stones for each person. Although there were probably that many near the centre of the island, just the amount of time it''ll take to transport those stones from the centre to where Anne was would be a pain. "Surely there should be another solution?" Lachlan asked with a bit of hope. "Unfortunately not, we don''t want to take any chances when it has to do with lifting an entire island into the air. Remember, you''re the ones that want this to happen, you should be prepared for the work you''re going to have to put into it," Anne said. "Alright," Lachlan said grumpily, using his stone he shot off to the centre with a saddened expression. He felt that his day had just worsened a few degrees. Once he reached the centre he immediately began searching for gravity stones around the edges of the central part, alongside the mountains. He quickly managed to collect a few dozen gravity stones in a minute, he began to see a bit of hope. However, after making a few round trips and searching for an hour the stones began to become a bit scarce. Although he still managed to find plenty every minute it wasn''t adding up to what they needed. But that''s when something caught his attention, something he hadn''t ever noticed before because it was on the other side of the world tree from the huts. Beneath one of the roots was a gap, large enough for a 3-metre tall beast to just walk on through. He sprinted over to it, with the hope he would discover more stones underneath due to it being much closer to the centre. It was the largest amount of hope he''s felt this day, as if his theory was correct he should be able to get those thousands on stones in seconds. Once he reached the gap he jumped through and landed on the ground, something Lachlan hasn''t seen anywhere near the world tree due to its roots. He swiftly analysed the stones and they were all high-ranked ones. Holding out his hand he controlled a bit of fire to light up the place. He quickly discovered it led even closer to the island, possibly even underneath the world tree itself. Lachlan began running down the cave, with his fire in hand and his eyes constantly analysing he came across more and more high-ranked stones. Lachlan abruptly stopped and looked down, he had almost fallen down a hole, one so far his light couldn''t reach. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Whoa, that was a close one. Ah who am I kidding, I got my ways out of it." Even in the most abrupt situations, Lachlan didn''t think he would even forget his fall damage cheat code, with the gravity stones he was basically immune to fall damage with the proper control. ''But this does intrigue me'' Lachlan shot a bit of fire down the hole, he watched the fire light up the walls which were covered in gravity stones. He suddenly felt his control over the fire weaken as it sped up. Lachlan''s eyes widened as he felt his control completely disappear. looking down he noticed the fire still going, it had sped up a lot and continued to accelerate. It finally reached the thing that it was being pulled towards and smashed against it, it quickly dispersed from the impact. Lachlan, on the other hand, was shaking from what he just saw. It was a stone, a large one. its size was comparable to their huts. He quickly fired another ball of fire, this time with the intention of analysing what he just saw. Lachlan swiftly felt his control over the fire waver as it accelerated towards the stone. Once it reached it the ball of fire exploded and lit up the entire place. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Gravity Stone Origin Description: Grants the user control over gravity within a limited space. To gain control one must drop their blood on it. The more crystals or the larger the crystal is, the more powerful their control over gravity will be. Regular gravity stones will appear in close proximity of the Gravity Stone Origin. Location: Leftover from a gravitational anomaly, size is dependent on the strength of the anomaly. -------------------------------------------------------- A wide bright smile formed on Lachlan''s face as he felt some relief. He had found it, the stone which is the cause of the unique gravity on the island, the thing that could also completely solve their current issue. However, Lachlan didn''t let this overwhelming joy get to his head, he still remembered that the gravity will increase the closer he is to the stone. If he didn''t have the gravity nullified where he was standing right now he would probably have to face the gravity of something like 150 times Earth''s gravity. He reached his hand above the hole and using his own gravity stone he left a small wound on his finger. Using his other hand he pushed out a droplet of blood which quickly fell down, once it reached a certain point where the gravity was too strong for the stone to nullify the blood shot towards the origin stone, whistling through the air. Once it smashed into the origin stone it was swiftly absorbed without a second to spare. However, Lachlan didn''t feel any control over the stone. He didn''t sense any rush of information nor any connection created between himself and the stone. ''Alright then, if that''s how you want to play then I''ll give you all the blood you want'' Lachlan created a deeper wound on his hand and poured out blood, it swiftly healed due to his high vitality but it was enough to claim ownership of the stone. He felt a bit more information rush into his head. Although he knew all of the information that was being injected into him it was different from what the high-ranked stones had to offer. It was more on the specifics one can get into when commanding the stones, something they''ve done the slightest bit of research on. However, there was something else, something much more useful; it was all the statistics for the stones. How strong can it go, the radius and how far someone can be and still be using it. It was some shocking information, to say the least. It could reach up to 2000 times the Earth''s gravity, multiplying the strength by 10 yet again. The radius was a staggering 20kilometres, far surpassing what a high-ranked gravity stone can do by a multiple of 100. As for the distance one can continue to use it at, that was 40000kilometres, that was the circumference of the world. Which meant unless there were taking a trip into space there was absolutely no need for them to worry about going too far away from the island. He could be anywhere in the world and still control the stone. "Haha!" Lachlan laughed with joy. "Now it''s time to take to the skies!" Giving the command Lachlan felt the island begin to rumble, it quaked as the stone released its power, bringing the entire island into the skies. ... Outside by the shore where Anne was the group was currently discussing matters concerning where the island should be. "Shouldn''t we put in above Australia?" Chloe asked. "There''s plenty of vegetation there and we''ve come onto good terms with the people there." "But we''re a floating island Chloe, why should we have it stay in one place when we can drift across the world, travelling from country to country saving as many people as possible," Simon argued back. "But we don''t know where everything''s happening, not to mention we don''t exactly know how well flying across the skies on the island will be. Whose to say it won''t collapse when we decided to change its direction," Chloe responded. "Then there''s no reason to be arguing about where to put it when we''re not so sure about whether or not we can even properly control it," Simon said. "Where is Lachlan anyway? He should be here with another batch of stones," Simon said grumpily. The group began to rumble, slightly cracking as well but still keeping its shape. Everyone there quickly panicked, Simon rushed to Anne and brought the two of them into the air. Chloe used her stone to bring herself above the ocean. Her expression turned to shock when she noticed the island rising, lifting itself from the water. Flynn suddenly came flying over with their daughter Sophie in his arms. "What''s going on? I thought you were going to warn me first before you started moving the island." "We''re not the ones doing it," Chloe explained. "Then who is?" Flynn asked. "50 credits say its Lachlan," Simon said as he flew over. "He probably found the source of the island''s gravity during his search. At least that''s the only viable explanation as to why our island is suddenly flying into the sky." "And if it isn''t the reason?" Chloe asked worryingly. "Well I suppose we have a big problem then," Simon responded. ... At the centre of the island, Lachlan had just made his way of the cave. Using the high-ranked stone with him he flew into the air to surveil whether or not it worked. In the distance, Lachlan saw the island get further and further from the ocean. "Haha! Success!" Lachlan held his arms up in victory. "What have you done Lachlan?!" Phoebe suddenly appeared out of the blue next to Lachlan. She felt the rumbling and came out of her hut in a panic; when she was about to fly to the shore where everyone was supposed to be that''s when she noticed Lachlan holding his hands up in victory. 114 Onward My Stead! "I found the source of the island''s gravity, a very special, large, and strong gravity stone capable of great things. I decided that instead of getting a few thousand high-ranked gravity stones for lifting the island I would just take control of the source and use that to lift the island up," Lachlan explained with a bright smile, as though he was asking to be admired. "Is it safe? How far can you be before you can''t control it and what''s the radius?" Phoebe asked. "Obvious it''s safe, I can be 40000km before I get outside the range and its radius is 20km, just the sheer size of it is insane so of course it''s safe. That is unless I decide to take a trip to space," Lachlan explained to reassure Phoebe of its safety. "Did you tell the others before you decided to take the island into the skies?" Phoebe questioned. "Nope, I was in the moment, too focused to think about anything else other than getting the island into the air," Lachlan said. "Sigh," Phoebe let out a deep sigh as she shook her head. "Let''s go tell them then, they were probably given a bit of a shock." The two flew over to the rest of the group that was currently looking over the edge of the island in shock. They were still rising into the air, bringing a bit of ocean water along with them. Lachlan and Phoebe suddenly landed behind them and the group''s body slightly jumped. "Is this your doing Lachlan?" Simon immediately questioned. "Yup; found the source of the island''s unique gravity," Lachlan said as he nodded with a large smile. Lachlan quickly went onto explain why it''s incredibly safe before Simon had the chance to ask any more questions. Lachlan then walked a bit forward to look over the edge, seeing the ocean get further and further away brightened Lachlan''s smile even more. "Anyway, we were discussing where we are supposed to position the island. What''s your opinion?" Chloe asked. "Well since we have a portable island I say we travel the world on it. You remember what the Vice-Leader said, I need to increase my willpower and I''ve spent a bit of time thinking about it; If we travel the world on the island I would possibly be able to find more unique materials that increase my willpower, similar to the berries," Lachlan explained. "Alright then, fair enough. So where are we going to go now?" Chloe asked without questioning further. She knew the importance of Lachlan increasing his willpower. "Obviously Patagoing, we got to give the group there a wonderful surprise don''t we?" Lachlan asked. The group nodded. Anne stood up, the laptop still in hand as the drone just managed to reach the shore of the island. "I''m going to go back, I still have a few things I want to try out creating; you are all going to love it." ''Alrighty then. Onward my stead! To Patagonia!'' Lachlan shouted internal commanded directly to the stone. The island began to rumble again, but this time it was much calmer, only a very small shake. "So then, while we''re on our way to Patagonia I suggest we place those air stones around important places on the island and possibly bring those gravity stones back. We''re going to need them for our defence," Lachlan said. "So the island''s gravity has changed then?" Simon asked. "Obviously, that''s how I got the island into the air, by changing the source''s previous commands. So now, how about we place some high-ranked gravity stones around the island and set them up as a defensive barrier," Lachlan suggested. "Oh yeah, if you don''t have enough, there''s a gap between the roots a little bit behind the world tree from our huts. It is filled with high-ranked gravity stones and also where I found the source." They nodded before shooting off. Lachlan then nodded to Phoebe. "I''m going to quickly go and get my sister." He shot off towards the group still floating in the sky, Maddie wasn''t entirely certain whether or not the island was safe yet. She noticed Lachlan flying towards her. "Is it safe to land back on the island now? Also, I thought you guys weren''t going to do it for a little while longer." "Things changed and yes, now it is safe to land back down," Lachlan explained. He navigated the floating group and reached his sister who was just behind Maddie. Sarah quickly reached out and grabbed Lachlan''s shirt. "Told you I wouldn''t be long," Lachlan brought her close and held her with one arm. He then shot off back to where Phoebe was, landed on the wooden wall, creating a loudish thump. "You enjoying the view?" Lachlan asked with a sarcastic tone. He stared off into the distance, the vast ocean that seemed to go on forever as they get further and further away from there original spot. "It is actually a pretty nice view, the wind also feels pretty good; not to fast, although it does have a slight chill to it," Phoebe said as she stared across the horizon, the sun was just above their gazes. "Well, get comfortable, it''s going to take a while before we actually reach Patagonia," Lachlan suggested. They both nodded to each other before shooting off, Phoebe decided to go back towards the huts while Lachlan went ahead and reached the other side of the island. He stood on the wall, staring at the shadow cast onto the ocean. Looking down Lachlan saw that the island left a wake in the ocean, it hadn''t fully emerged yet. The island was fairly deep, so it was obviously going to take a bit of time before it comes out. Lachlan decided to wait here until it did. He placed Sarah on his laps. "So, are you afraid of heights?" Lachlan asked. He didn''t know whether or not Sarah was afraid and didn''t want to put her in such a scary position on the island. "Of course not, I''m brave," Sarah said as she pounded her fist against her chest. Lachlan lightly chuckled. "Yes, indeed you are." ... It took a while but they finally managed to see Patagonia in the distance. It had been roughly 2 - 3 days since they left yet it took this long going at a fast speed. It was more than obvious that the Earth truly enlarged. "Well Sarah, there are a few places there that I want to show you, some of which are quite wonderful," Lachlan said as he held Sarah in his arm. ... In the city of Patagonia, the people in the streets were panicking furiously as they hid in their houses. They were scared that it was the workings of an intelligent beast that made the island floating in the sky, which would mean it would have the strength to annihilate them should it see them. "Quickly Honey, bring the kids inside!" "Get everyone inside! Even if they''re not apart of your family just bring them in!" "Don''t let anyone get in the sight of that thing!" Joseph himself was quickly packing up the food truck to hide while Joe and Zoe were just sitting down relaxing. They were in the middle of their meal. Seeing that Joseph panicked more and ran up to them. "What are you doing? We need to hide in the truck before whatever is on that island sees us!" "What are you on about? That is our island, our home base," Joe explained in a nonchalant voice. "Huh," Joseph''s mouth opened wide from shock. He stared at both Joe and Zoe in bewilderment as they didn''t seem to even notice the large island in the sky. "Wait, what do you mean that''s your base? You have a floating island for a base!" "Well we haven''t always had a floating island for a base, but that''s the reason we came here to get those stones. So that when we do reach high altitudes we wouldn''t have any trouble breathing," Joe explained. "What do those stones have anything to do with breathing?" Joseph asked in confusion. Joe and Zoe just stared at Joseph in shock. "Don''t tell me you didn''t know those stones had special powers attached to them." "What! Special powers; of course I didn''t know I just thought they were gorgeous crystals which is why my wife wanted them so bad, I didn''t think they had anything unique about them," Joseph explained. Both Joe and Zoe suddenly remembered who the real boss behind Joseph was. It was extremely likely that Catalina''s family knew about the stones and wanted to capitalise on it, make a fortune before any in Patagonia realises how important they actually are. "Well yeah, they have the ability to control the air. We have a few similar stones on the island, as you can pretty easily tell, one which controls gravity," Joe didn''t see any issue in telling anyone anymore. It was obvious people were going to find out sooner or later, it wasn''t like they were trying to hide it anymore; after all, they have an island floating in the sky. "Damn," Joseph finally realised exactly how powerful Bloodied Wings really was. Although he had heard from his subordinates that it has the strength to contend against the Guardians, that was slightly difficult to believe. But when they have things that control gravity or the air, it''s a bit difficult to believe they aren''t strong. 115 Trouble Arises The group on the island stared down at Patagonia, it looked like a ball of dirt from the height of the island. Its shadow cast over Patagonia, enshrouding the town in darkness. The residents silently hid within their houses, parents covering the mouths of their children in fear that they would make too much noise. They hopped off the island and using the stones descended onto the town like divine beings. Landing next to Chorip¨¢n Reyes, Joseph stared at the group in awe and bewilderment. He had never thought he made a smarter choice in life at that moment. "Hey, Joe! How are things going here?" Simon asked. "Pretty good, but it would have been nice if Lachlan told us that he hadn''t informed Chorip¨¢n Reyes'' owners of his plans. Fortunately, they were quite open about it and rather excited as well; so there weren''t many problems concerning their recruitment," Joe explained. The group turned to Lachlan, he just shrugged his shoulders, Sarah was being carried in his arms; she stared around the place with a curious gaze, staring at Joseph and the food truck behind him. "I knew they would join," Lachlan remarked. "But anyway, Zhang''s doing pretty good, he''s awake and kicking; granted it''s a bit painful whenever he does that," Joe joked, he then turned to the island. "I see that instead of bringing the water from the island you decided to bring the entire island instead." The group chuckled light. "Well we had to bring it somehow, decided it would be better to just bring the entire island with us anyway; this place will be the beginning of our journey across the world," Lachlan said. As Joe and Lachlan were talking the others were having a small discussion to the side. "So what do you think about going to America next? We''ll stop by some places on the way but our next stop will be America, that''s also where we''ll start to spread Chorip¨¢n Reyes," Simon explained. "I don''t know, always wanted to visit America though, just didn''t have any reason to and my parents were strongly against the visit during troubled times," Zoe shrugged her shoulders. "But I suppose it''ll be a good starting point, maybe we''ll come across some unique things along the way, something that''ll help Lachlan out." "That''s what we''re hoping for; it''ll certainly reduce the amount of stress and burden that''s been placed on him," Chloe sighed. "Although he doesn''t show it, what he was told is a lot to take in, certainly a lot for someone so young as well." "I just hope it doesn''t affect him too badly," Zoe said. They all nodded. "But at least we have a chance to support him properly, now when we find something that''ll be of use to him it should alleviate that stress. Maybe he would be able to focus in on his relationship with Phoebe and make up for all the time lost between himself and his sister." "That would be good for him; unfortunately, I don''t think he''ll do any of that until he feels completely confident that he''s able to hold back that other half," Simon sighed. "So, where''s Brianna, she busy tending to her lover." "Yup," Zoe nodded. Simon''s eyes widened. "Huh, they''re actually lovers now? I was just saying that as a joke, granted it was pretty obvious that Brianna had feelings for Zhang, she was practically by his side 24/7." "Yeah, as it turns out, they had gotten rather close during their school days as well. But their paths took them away from each other and they stopped talking as much; now they have all the time in the world to reconnect those lost bonds," Zoe explained. "Alright then, I might go bring the water to Zhang now anyway, check how he''s doing and probably help out here and there," Simon said. "You do you, just make sure not to do anything you don''t know how to do, we don''t want Zhang staying in the hospital for another year," Zoe joked with a cheerful smile. Simon chucked as he began walking away. Chloe turned to Zoe, "I might go along with him, haven''t seen Zhang or Brianna for a few days, wonder how their relationship is going." Seeing everyone leaves Lachlan wrapped up his conversation with Joe. "Anyway Joe, been a great talk but we could continue this at another time. Going to go check out Zhang and possibly even the Researchers United group." Joe nodded and Lachlan and Phoebe left to chase after Simon and Chloe. The four walked to the hospital, Sarah still in Lachlan''s arms was now peacefully taking a nap. The journey was long and boring, very tiring for a small child. They walked through the hospital doors and the receptionist immediately noticed Simon, who had previously come in and furiously demanded information before taking the keycard away from her. She was staring daggers into his eyes; if gazes could kill a person Simon would have been sliced and diced dozens of times already. "That receptionist is eyeing you down, you think she has a thing for you," Lachlan jokingly asked. He knew Simon was loyal to Maddie, that was just due to his stubbornness. "She certainly has something for me alright," Simon''s eyes rolled around before he smiled towards the receptionist and slightly waved. The receptionist slightly jumped back from fright. She watched the group go into the elevator and leave for the top floor. When the group reached the Zhang''s floor the door opened to Georgia and Brianna calmly sitting on the bench talking to one another. When the two heard the elevator door open their heads snapped towards it to take a look, seeing who it was they both got up and walk over. "Welcome back, took you long enough. So, did you bring the water?" Brianna asked. The hallway for the 7th floor didn''t have any windows facing the island. As such, the two wouldn''t have been able to notice the group''s return. "Of course we did," Simon said as he whipped out a water bottle. "Make sure he drinks it slowly and doesn''t choke; if he does it''ll be your fault." The group walked into Zhang''s hospital room, he was currently awake and staring out the window. Hearing the commotion he turned and saw everyone standing there. "Well, I suppose you certainly made a nice entrance." They chuckled lightly while Georgia and Brianna looked at each other in confusion. The two walked to the window swiftly before noticing the giant island floating in the sky. They turned back and looked at the four in shock. They just shrugged their shoulders. "So, how''s your recovery going?" Lachlan asked as he sat down on a set by the bed. "Pretty good, I do however, think it''ll be just that tiny bit better if I drink some of the coconut water," Zhang hinted. "Haha alright, I''ll go get you some of that sweet coconut juice, just sit tight and wait patiently I''m probably going to check out what the Researchers United are doing," Lachlan explained before standing up, he handed Sarah to Phoebe. "Can you look after Sarah for just a bit, I still need to take her around the town once I get Zhang a coconut." "Alright, be quick, I don''t know what to do if she wakes up when you''re away," Phoebe explained worriedly. Lachlan left the room in a flash with Zoe''s keycard, he went in the elevator and did everything before shooting down to the researcher''s floor. When the elevator door opened the scene was, as usual, researchers scurrying around the room with containers filled with beast limbs. The woman researcher from before noticed Lachlan''s presence and ran over. "Welcome back, sorry I didn''t say earlier, I forgot to mention that my name''s Johanson Gabriel and thank you again for what you and Bloodied Wings have done for those children." "Don''t mention it," Lachlan waved his hand. "So, what''s going on right now, seems everyone is scurrying around with a lot of limbs in their arms. Granted it''s no different from what I saw the other day." "Well we just got a new shipment of beasts'' carcasses, we were told to determine whether or not anything in them is either valuable or edible," Johanson explained. Lachlan looked around, there were a lot of researchers dissecting the limbs apart to find other parts in them. They were then placing them into a machine that would scan the part for any harmful substance such as poison. He then noticed someone was missing. "Where''s the burly guy from before, I don''t seem to see him." Johanson was slightly confused for away before realising what Lachlan was talking about. "Oh you''re talking about Lopez; he was brought to the vice-leader to give him his meal." "Speaking about your vice-leader, how exactly is he given his meals?" Lachlan asked. He knew about the dangers of being anywhere near Alfredo, at any moment he could switch and kill someone with his hair. "Well, there''s a specific bench we place it on. The other half will then control the hair to grab hold of the tray and bring it over to the glass box to eat. We are also required to wear a bit of protective gear whenever we go in the room," Johanson explained. "Fair enough," Lachlan nodded, it was a safe procedure. Granted it would be best if no human interaction was involved, just having a robot arm hand it over would be great. But it could also be destroyed multiple times as the other half might not like it. *Boom!* The group suddenly shook, many of the researchers lost their balance and fell over. Some of the limbs that had been placed on benches fell off, either landing on researchers or close to. "What was that?" Lachlan had grabbed hold of the wall, through his strength he tore a slight hole into the concrete. "I don''t know but I think it came from below," Johanson explained. The two suddenly had a very bad feeling, one that came from very deep inside their guts. The elevator on the other side of the room suddenly opened and a man walked through, his silky black hair dragged across the ground as it left a trail of blood in its wake. "Kekeke, we meet again Lachlan Wilson" 116 Lachlan vs Alfredo Part 1 The two stared at each other for what seemed like a decade; Alfredo dark and evil grin sent shivers down Lachlan''s spine, it was like the predator had just found a new play toy. The surrounding researchers were trembling in their spots, unsure of what to do aside from just trying to not be noticed. "So you managed to get out, that just made things a whole lot more difficult," Lachlan said. "Indeed, I quite like this planet and I finally have the chance to destroy it." Alfredo''s grin widened, his black eyes stared through the entire room, phasing through everyone''s bodies. "Of course, that is after I free that damn bastard Jun from his prison." Lachlan could already tell what the consequences of letting Alfredo out would have on the world, let alone if they double. "Unfortunately, I can''t really have you do that; I quite like this planet as well and would rather not see it be destroyed." Alfredo gave off a burst of maniacal laughter. "Of I know you would say that. Of course this room isn''t exactly the best place for you to fight; you won''t be able to summon those beasts of yours so easily." The room really wasn''t good for Lachlan, the ceiling was too low for Aaron and would still be rather uncomfortable for the Rocs. He would either have to bring Alfredo outside or deal with him here. ''But the people outside'' Lachlan couldn''t decide. On one side he was at a disadvantage while on the other side, there''s nothing stopping Alfredo from killing people in the surrounding areas. Who''s the say he won''t just run off if he gets outside the room. There was also Zhang and all the others upstairs. If Alfredo manages to pull off a sneak attack before he could warn them there''s a large chance either some of them are going to die or get badly wounded. ''There''s just too many risks of letting him leave'' Lachlan decided. Although he wouldn''t be able to summon Aaron or the Rocs, Alfredo couldn''t summon his beasts either. It was just a pure brawl, one vs one. "So, have you decided yet?" Alfredo asked with a chilling grin. "Of course I already know which option you''ve already chosen, so please, entertain me for a while, I need to stretch my muscles." Alfredo tone of voice suddenly changed into curiosity. "I am also interested in something. If I weaken you enough or even kill you, would the other half come out and replace you? It might just straight up finish the awakening all the while skipping all the steps." "Awakening?" Lachlan asked, slightly nervous as to what it entails. "Kekeke, of course, the awakening. The moment one soul regains it''s full strength, giving it the ability to create a body for itself and leave the host''s body it was previous in. Granted this would just be straight up replacing the original body owner," Alfredo explained with a menacing voice, he sounded excited but that only furthered the fear in Lachlan''s body and mind. "Well I can''t exactly let that happen," Lachlan said as he scratched his head. He got himself in a defensive position. "I suppose I''ll just have to kill you first." Alfredo disappeared from his spot, Lachlan''s eyes constricted with shock as he raised his arms to cover his face. A powerful shot went through his entire body, almost shattering the bones in his arm. "Kekeke surprised you managed to block that." Alfredo laughed as he was about to pull back his leg. Lachlan suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of Alfredo''s leg, using his control over fire and encased Alfredo''s body in a ball of flames. "Burn, burn into nothing but ash!" Lachlan used his full control and might to increase the intensity of the flames. "Good! Good! More! More! Keep going I think I''m feeling something," Alfredo''s laughter was still heard even though his body should be burnt up. The ball of flames suddenly burst, inside it was a ball of hair that had been covered by ice. "Tsk." Lachlan knew the fight wasn''t going to be easy, it was as though Alfredo''s other half knew everything there was to know about abilities. Not to mention Alfredo himself knew all of Lachlan''s strengths and likely more. Some of the researchers near them finally snapped out of their frozen state and ran towards the elevator. They were trampling over each other to get there first, kicking, punching, and yanking on people to push them down. "Haha," Alfredo laughed loudly at the sight. "Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to see. Fear and panic, the sight of people killing off others to survive." The elevator door finally closed and Alfredo''s grin widened. "Unfortunately, I can''t just let you escape like that so easily." The sound of metal scrapping could be heard before something snapped. It was the elevator''s cable, it had snapped before they were able to get out of Alfredo''s range. The sound of screaming and crying could be heard through those doors as the elevator fell past the floor. Johanson was on that elevator, she was the first one on since she was the closest to it. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure whether or not she had been crushed to death by everyone getting in. As for how the elevator cable snapped. Wasn''t it obvious? It was Alfredo''s doing, using his control over iron to snapped the cable. It also wasn''t outside his range of capabilities to have brought the elevator down faster. Lachlan disappeared from his spot, appearing next to Alfredo attacking him with a roundhouse kick. Alfredo put up his arms to guard and covered them with hardened ice, along that guard was a lot of small spikes that punctured into Lachlan''s leg. "Ah!" Lachlan didn''t know why but the pain felt so intense, it couldn''t even compare to the other times when they were training on the island. Whether it be punching open the coconut or just body strengthening training, nothing could be compared to the small hole punctures in his leg. "Do you like it? That pain you''re feeling right now is something caused by our bloodline," Alfredo grinned widely as he felt like a scholar. "Unfortunately, you can''t use you. But if you just die and let the other half take control it''ll be a whole other story." Suddenly something wrapped around his arm, it tightened; constriction Lachlan''s blood flow. Lachlan saw that it was Alfredo''s fine strands of hair, they felt as though they were made of steel. All of a sudden Lachlan felt a burning sensation. The hair that was wrapped around his arm with burning furiously yet not actually burning. Lachlan swiftly used his own fire control to cancel the effects, he raised his hand created a blade across it with ice, swinging down and cutting off a bit of Alfredo''s hair. Staring at his arm momentarily Lachlan could see deep burn marks, they were scorching hot and along with that special effect of that the other halves possess the pain was intensified. Lachlan quenched from the pain. "Do you like it? Kekeke," Alfredo laughed. "I thought you would, you could see this as a training opportunity, strengthen your skin to resist my hair. At least that way you might have a chance at beating me." Alfredo''s other half was extremely cocky, as though it knew it would win no matter how easy it took it. There was also its irritating voice, one that both annoyed Lachlan''s ears but also sent shivers down his spine. ''Suppose I could give that a try'' Lachlan decided to go with something he hasn''t done it a long time. Holding up his hands the air began to freeze before forming large spikes made of ice, inside was a small pale blue flame that seemed to blend in with the ice. Lachlan created a few more, he desperately hoped it would work. The dozen ice sharps flew off, Lachlan boasted their speed with his control over the wind. They broke the sound barrier immediately and shook the entire room, breaking all glass objects in that room along with it. Alfredo''s eyes widened with surprise. His hair swiftly extended out like tendrils, wrapping themselves around the shards to slow it down. But Alfredo''s expression changed to shock and panic when he realised they weren''t slowing down enough. He slammed his feet against the ground causing the metal plates used to create the floor to rise up, he swiftly froze them solid and attempted to reinforce them. The ice shards quickly smashed into them, they tore through the barrier like a sharp knife cutting butter and went straight towards Alfredo. His grin widened as his plan worked, the shards had slowed down considerably. His hair wrapped around it and the ground morphed around his feet, he held his ground as the shards came to a complete stop right in front of his face. That''s when he got a better look at them and noticed what was inside. His head slightly tilted with confusion. Lachlan, on the other hand, was smiling widely. ''Explode!'' The ice shards in front of Alfredo''s face quickly exploded all at the same time. The pale blue flames enveloped the space where Alfredo was standing, devouring his body whole. The explosion shook the entire hospital, the shards of ice have cut straight into or through the walls. The thick smoke covered the entire room. "Kekeke, ahh you almost got me there," Alfredo''s voice sounded out in front of Lachlan. "That was very smart, combining the ice shard''s penetrative prowess along with the fire explosiveness. Unfortunately, it seems I still get the final laugh." Suddenly the smoke broke apart, Alfredo''s body was seen. His skin had been completely burnt to a crisp while his hair was completely gone, exposing a bold head. In his hand however was an ice shard of his own. It was thin, almost the thickness of a single strand of hair. Yet the power it gave off scared Lachlan, he could feel that strength that the ice shard holds. Lachlan''s pupils constricted as the ice shard disappeared, he panicked and replied on instinct, moving ever so slightly to the right. His shoulder was suddenly hit, the shard went straight through like there was nothing there to begin with. 117 Lachlan vs Alfredo Part 2 Lachlan''s blood splattered across the wall behind him, he fell to his knees and gripped his shoulder tightly, his eyes were squinting from the extreme pain. Looking towards the wound Lachlan saw that it went all the way through, leaving a gashing hole in his shoulder, his arm only being held onto by a thin thread of bone and veins. "Oh, well aren''t you lucky. If you hadn''t moved in time it would have gone straight through that heart of yours," Alfredo said as his grin appeared from and more gruesome. Holding out his palm another ice shard began to form. "You know what? I might take a bit of inspiration from you," Alfredo said as a fire began to form with the ice. It wasn''t a clustered flame concentrated in the centre of the shard but rather a flame that spread throughout it. He began walking towards Lachlan, slowly and menacingly, making sure Lachlan feared every step Alfredo took with more fear than the last. Lachlan lifted up his hand and slammed it against the ground, the entire surface was swiftly encased by ice, Alfredo''s legs were frozen along with it. He quickly disappeared from his spot, appearing next to Alfredo with a fist of blue flames. "Go to hell," Lachlan smashed Alfredo in the face. This all happened in a second, Alfredo didn''t have any time to protect himself. The ice shard was quickly shattered in his hands, causing it to explode on himself. "An arm for an arm you prick!" Alfredo was on the floor, the force had pushed him across the room and he wasn''t able to stop in time because of the ice. His body had smashed against the wall, making it too powerful hits from both sides of his body. Looking down he noticed his hand was completely gone along with half of his forearm. The rest of his arm and right side of his body was charred heavily. He felt it getting more difficult to breathe, his ribs were broke and it possibly stabbed himself in the lungs. "Well played," Alfredo remarked. Ice began to form around his right arm before extending and creating another hand. He held it up to his face and clenched his fists. "Control over the elements is such a useful tool yet you humans haven''t discovered its full potential yet." Lachlan could see Alfredo''s chest, it was moving ever so slightly, his ribs were fixing themselves. Alfredo took a deep breath. "Kekeke. Well, now that I''m fully healed I suppose I should finish this. Oh yes, I will say though that letting me heal myself was a rather idiotic choice. But I suppose that''s what makes you human." Alfredo appeared next to Lachlan in the blink of the eye, his ice hand had long since changed into a weapon. It was a blade, he swung it towards Lachlan''s neck, it whistled as it broke apart the wind. Lachlan rose his arm and created a shield out of ice, the two forces smashed against each other. Lachlan got swept from his feet and his body smashed against the wall. "Good, I see that you''re learning. Too bad you couldn''t have done that earlier." Lachlan took a bit of inspiration from Alfredo, using his missing limb and creating a weapon in its place. He used ice as it was the only strong physical element he can control, both fire and wind wouldn''t be able to block anything. But that didn''t mean he couldn''t use it. He swung his blade once more, a torrent of flames engulfed the lab as everything was either melted or burnt to a crisp. Alfredo slammed his legs down and created a barrier or iron, frozen by ice. He then leaned forward and pushed against it, along with that came pillars of dirt. The barrier completely nullified Lachlan''s attack, behind Alfredo lay an untouched part of the lab while the area surrounding him was covered in scorch marks, the metal had melted and his barrier was thoroughly melted along with it. "Kekeke, it seems your control over your elements is getting better; well, at the very least you''re being smarter in how you control it," Alfredo complimented in a slightly mocking tone. "Now let''s see if you can block this one." Alfredo slammed his hand against the ground before he gripped firmly, his hand of ice was still being held slightly in the air but it was moving around ever so slightly. He swiftly yanked back, pulling the ground along with him, he shouted as he exerted his strength unto his feet. The ground began to rupture as it was being pulled out, it was splitting apart and the metal was breaking apart with it. The crack quickly went past Lachlan''s feet and Alfredo grinned. He grabbed onto the dirt along with his ice hand and attempted to pull everything apart. The ground began to split apart, creating a chasm beneath Lachlan''s feet. Lachlan swiftly commanded his gravity stone and floated in the air, he suddenly remembered that he should have used the stone much earlier. Lachlan tossed a medium-ranked stone at Alfredo''s feet. ''20 times Earth''s gravity downwards'' Alfredo''s knees collapsed under the sudden pressure, his eyes widened with shock when he realised what was happening. "Well ain''t this a surprise, I didn''t expect you to have gravity stones. Tsk, if only I had my damn wings." Lachlan was intrigued by what Alfredo said last, but he failed to notice something raising from the depths of the chasm. It was a vine, climbing up the walls before reaching out and wrapping around Lachlan''s leg, it pulled him down with a sudden force that he wasn''t expecting. Alfredo began pushing the Earth together with great difficulty, his face was red from the blood rushing through his veins. His breathing was erratic as sweat poured from his entire body. The split between the dirt began to close, it closed quickly but Lachlan was able to swiftly create a barrier around him. He made sure to not miss a single spot as he covered his body in compacted ice. On top, Alfredo had collapsed from exhaustion. ''Well I''ll be damned, I didn''t expect to be done in so badly by a damn mortal. Ha, suppose that vessel is going to be close to perfection for that one''s strength'' Alfredo lost consciousness for a mere moment, but that mere moment was just enough for the other soul inside the body to release itself. Alfredo''s black eyes began to brighten as the darkness returned to his pupils. "Lachlan!" Alfredo swiftly pulled apart the dirt but the remaining strength just wasn''t enough to completely free Lachlan. He began to control the vine wrapped around Lachlan''s leg and got it to untangle itself. It began climbing up the chasm with Lachlan''s body with it, digging apart the dirt with great difficulty as it was almost stone at the level they were at. When Lachlan got out from there he noticed Alfredo had returned to his normal self. He shattered the ice surrounding him and looked at the situation closely. Alfredo sighed deeply at Lachlan''s caution, he looked around at the laboratory, the bodies of his researchers that have had their skulls broken into the ground. While the others had scorch marks across their body. Some were still breathing, only ever so faintly. "Lachlan, I don''t know how long I''ll be able to hold it back so you''re going to have to do me a favour," Alfredo clenched onto his arm, the pain from having it cut off just processed in his brain. "I''m going to need you to kill me right now, don''t hesitate, don''t ask questions. Just kill me while I still have the ability to fight for control." "We don''t need to do that, we can just bring you back to the glass box," Lachlan explained desperately. He had just found someone else like him, he didn''t want to see him go so soon. Not when he hasn''t actually found out everything he wants to know. "No!" Alfredo shouted. "I just want to get this over with, I don''t want to remain a threat to humanity, I don''t want to hurt so many people. And more then ever, I don''t want that thing to ever take full control over my body." Lachlan clenched his fist as he hesitated, but after taking a deep breath he understood what Alfredo was going through. He was scared, completely terrified at what the other half could do should it not be stopped. "Okay," Lachlan appeared next to Alfredo, his ice hand had changed shape to form a thin blade. "But before that, I want to know one more thing, what will the next tame unlock." "You''ll gain the ability to see every beasts'' upgrade paths, getting a beast from normal to good will be as simple as cooking. Now hurry! I can''t hold on much longer!" Alfredo shouted with desperation. Lachlan''s hand slashed downwards, it cut through Alfredo''s neck like nothing was there, he hadn''t put up any resistance, no barriers, just skin and bone. The head dropped to the floor, both gravity stones were still activated. Lachlan reached to the side and picked up the medium-ranked gravity stone. He swiftly deactivated it before putting it back in his pocket. He held his head high, but his fists were clenched tightly from disappointment. He still had many unanswered questions. He let out a deep breath before holding his path wide, facing Alfredo''s corpse. ''I can''t let Alfredo''s efforts go to waste, I won''t take any chances." A trail of flames flew out of Lachlan''s hands, they encased Alfredo''s body and burnt it completely to ash. This time there was no maniacal laugh to follow right after, just silence. "Lachlan!" Phoebe suddenly appeared from the elevator shaft, the door had been ripped open and the whole group was there. Phoebe ran up to Lachlan and wrapped her arms around her, her breathing erratic as her heartbeat was pacing. "Why didn''t you inform us, we could have helped." "Sigh, if only I had the time to inform you all. Unfortunately, time really was of the essence," Lachlan explained as he hugged back. "I''m sorry I made you worry so much, there just wasn''t much I could do. But considering you''re all here now I suppose that means you heard the explosion." "Big Brother! Your arm! What happened to it?" Sarah appeared from behind the ground and ran up to Lachlan. She held onto Lachlan''s arm of ice, it was completely transparent yet it functioned completely normal. The rest of the group finally noticed it as well. From the way Lachlan angled himself it was hard to see. They all ran up to take a look, some of them were amazed by Lachlan''s idea while others were worried about Lachlan''s health. "Something I learnt from Alfredo''s other half," Lachlan chuckled as he held up his hand, clenching it and moving his fingers around for all the see. "Granted it might take a little while to get used to it." "Why don''t you just use the bananas?" Phoebe asked worriedly as she held onto the hand. "It just might be able to heal it up completely, at the very least it should make it better." "I suppose I could, but that would be using a life-saving trump card when my life isn''t in danger. I would rather use it when I really need to use it. As for now, I can use it perfectly fine how it is. Not to mention I did freeze it not too long after it was wounded so I might just be able to stitch it back on," Lachlan explained. "Of course I don''t expect it to work the same after that, but I now have a nice trick to make it work much better." The ice around his arm changed shape into an axe head before changing into a sword and finally returning to its original shape. "See, it''s like I''ve grown a shapeshifting arm." Phoebe chuckled slightly. "I really don''t know what I should do with you. At the very least you have to promise me to get it stitched up." "Alright, alright, I can at least promise that much," Lachlan said. He reached out with his other hand and rubbed Sarah''s hair. "As for you, we still got a town to explore now don''t we?" 118 Alfredos Research "Help us! Is anyone up there! If there is, please help us!" Shouting suddenly came out of the elevator shaft, it sounded like a female voice, one which Lachlan had familiarised himself with not too long ago. He suddenly lunged towards the elevator doors and looked down, there was a bit of light at the bottom of the elevator shaft, Johanson could be seen, brightly lit up by some light. When she noticed Lachlan she began to wave her hand furiously through the air. "Help us! We''re currently trapped down here with no way of getting up!" Johanson shouted. Her hands wrapped around her mouth in the shape of a funnel, hoping that Lachlan could hear here from such a large distance. "Is that one of the researchers?" Phoebe came over and asked. She leaned over to look down at saw Johanson. "Indeed, she was one of the researchers researching into whether or not the hybrids were actually intelligent beasts or not. Unfortunately, her research hit a roadblock when she couldn''t get her hands on any intelligent beast samples," Lachlan explained. "Oh, so she''s on our side then," Phoebe said before she jumped down, using her gravity stone to lighten her fall. Johanson jumped back with a bit of fright when she saw Phoebe jump down towards her. Her expression then changed to shock when she noticed that Phoebe was slowly floating down. Similar to Brianna and Georgia, those researchers hadn''t noticed the giant island above the city. They were too busy with research to even be bothered. "So, where is everyone else?" Phoebe asked as she landed gracefully on the ground. Johanson didn''t respond momentarily as her mind was working at lightning speeds to comprehend the method that Phoebe used to float down so slowly. She finally snapped out of it after a few seconds. "Ah, yes they''re just over there." Johanson pointed towards a group of people huddled in a corner, a tamed beast was by their side, keeping watch. To the sides, the walls were lined with enclosures, filled with unique and exotic beasts. Lachlan and the others swiftly hopped down the elevator shaft and looked around. Some of the beasts inside the enclosures stared at the group in a curious manner, some were furiously pounding against the glass while others were completely ignoring everything. "Well I''ll be damned, you have yourself quite the variety of beasts," Lachlan said as he quickly analysed everything he could see. There wasn''t anything unique or special here, nothing he hadn''t seen before but just the sheer variety of beasts was impressive enough. "This is nothing, we have a lot more hidden further inside the breeding ground. These ones however are rather special, as they were the ones that the Vice-Leader worked on before he began to change," Johanson explained with a slight boast. "Unfortunately, I suppose he won''t be able to see his progress with them." It didn''t take a genius to understand that Lachlan had won. Not to mention the vigorous quakes that were happening not too long ago have come to a stop. It was obvious the fight ended, and with Lachlan''s appearance in front of her, she knew he had won. "I wonder if we''ll be able to take a look?" Lachlan asked. He was curious as to what Alfredo was working on in his final time of peace. Although he didn''t say it aloud; if it was anything useful for them they "I''m not too sure, aside from the Vice-Leader no one else knows the code to get into the breeding area," Johanson explained. "But I''ll take you there anyway, it''s the least I can do for you; you did save our lives after all." The followed Johanson through the grounds, the further away from the elevator they got the more weird, unique, and exotic and beasts became. Johanson explained to them they were created through selective breeding, similar to what humans did to chickens and cows before the evolution. The offspring from these selective breedings would sometimes come out for more powerful than its parents. However, there was also always the chance it could end up like a failure and even fail to be born. "And Alfredo was the main person in charge of these breedings?" Lachlan asked. "Some of them, he would then always either kill or injure the parents to give their blood to their offspring. Which we discovered triggers something in the younglings bodies and causes them to have rapid growth," Johanson explained. The group knew that was a bunch of bullshit, Lachlan especially. Alfredo knew full well that the offspring needed the blood of both parents to trigger the rapid growth. However, this made the group all the more curious as to what Alfredo was focusing on so much. Johanson led them to a large metal door, it stood 10 metres tall and was heavily reinforced. It looked like it would take a hit from a nuke before it breaks open. "Well this is certainly a big ass door," Simon said as he knocked on the metal, the clanging sound echoing through the breeding grounds. "I wonder what he''s hiding in there." "Well, there''s only one way to find out," Lachlan walked up to the door and placed his hand in the middle. Ice began to form, covering the gap between the doors and spreading slightly towards the edges. ''Alright, come on, I can do this'' Lachlan pumped himself up as he placed his hand of ice on the door as well. The ice began to compact and move, the door began to screech loudly as it resisted the force trying to pry it open. The ice was extending from the crack, expanding itself, opening the door along with it. Lachlan''s face was tomato red as he felt the blood rushing to his head. ''Come on, just a little bit more, you can do it, you can do it'' Lachlan finally stopped once the door had been opened a metre wide, he melted the ice, creating a path through the door. One which ended up being 3 metres thick, with marks across it from the sudden force trying to crack it open. "Well come on then, Alfredo''s research isn''t going to come to us now is it," Lachlan said as he stumbled through the gap, reaching the other side where he was greeted by the side of enclosures housing much more unique beasts along with different plants growing in their own, separate space. "Wow, well ain''t this something special," Simon said as he walked up to one of the enclosures housing a plant. It was small, only the length of a pinky finger yet the flower that bloomed on top sent them into a trance. It''s deep ocean blue colours shone from the ceiling light. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Yin Petaled Flower Description: A rare flower that increases the Yin energy inside its consumer, powering up ice abilities and undead abilities by double. Useable only once. Location: Can be found and grown in Yin energy-rich soil. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan looked at the description with a slight hint of curiosity, granted it was already quite obvious. This flower was likely an ingredient for an upgrade path, one which might have benefitted Alfredo greatly. The group then turned their attention to the beasts in the room. There were only 2, one which was a wolf that gave off a bloodthirsty aura and the other was a bird as light as the sun. They both stood roughly 5 metres tall yet the auras they gave off were so vastly different. The wolf gave off an aura that would even frighten a military veteran while the other gave off an aura that seemed to heal their mental states. They were unique and powerful. The wolf''s body was black with green lines scattered across its body, its mouth was pouring out drool as it stared at the group. Its claws were black while the fur surrounding it was green. The wolf''s eyes looked hollow and dark, like a black hole that devours everything. The bird, on the other hand, was completely white, with the only bit of different colour on its entire body being its pupils. Whether it be its feathers or its legs, all was white like the sunlight. It looked at the group with curiosity, it hadn''t ever seen these visitors before. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Undead Wolf Tyrant Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness/Ghoul Grade: Good Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 10 STR: 42(+20), AGI: 54(+20), VIT: 70(+20) INT: 37(+20), PER: 40(+5), WIL: 32(+5) Weakness: Weak Defence, Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Leg Strength (Level 2), Darkness Control (Level 2), Physical Damage Reduction (10%), Undead Control (Level 1), Tyrants Aura, Heightened Senses -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sunlight Falcon Age: Adult Attribute: Light/Wind Grade: Good Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 10 STR: 62(+20), AGI: 74(+30), VIT: 50(+20) INT: 39(+10), PER: 34(+10), WIL: 29 Weakness: Weak Wing Joints, Overwhelming Pride, Strong Curiosity Strengths: Grip Strength (Level 6), Light Control (Level 2), Wind Control (Level 6), Physical Damage Reduction (50%), Body of Light, Maximum Speed (Level 10) -------------------------------------------------------- They were both upgraded beasts with a high level of talent, not to mention the unique strengths. Lachlan could only assume that the strengths would get much more unique and stronger the further one goes up the grade list. Simon suddenly ran up to the enclosure. "This one is mine, I claim it so I get to tame it." Lachlan didn''t expect anything less of Simon, but at the same time decided against fighting for it. Lachlan took what Alfredo said to him to heart and would always keep in the mind the restrictions for the other half. He decided he would wait until he''s completely confident about his willpower before taming another beast. "So, what are you going to name it? Granted that would only be if you can tame it," Lachlan said in a slightly mocking tone. "It is very difficult when it comes to taming an already aged beast, and considering it been in captive for a long time I don''t think it likes humans all that much." "What are you talking about, it won''t follow me due to me being a human but rather, it would follow me due to my overwhelming strength and tenacity," Simon boasted proudly. "As for the name, of course I just have to call it something like Heatwave, or even better, Heatray." ''Well at least he''s following his naming trend'' Lachlan thought. ''Of course, I expect nothing else from this human'' Catastrophe insulted. ''How about we come up with a name for it, at least that way it won''t have to live its life being called Heatray. It could atleast call it something like Wildfire,'' Calamity said. It took a bit of pride in its name, as it thought it was quite literally, a natural disaster. ''What are you on about, seeing that pure white body it should be called Lucifer, as it is the light bringer, in a literal sense as well'' Aaron said with a sophisticated tone. ''At least that way it will have a sophisticated name it could look up to'' Taking that as an insult Catastrophe instantly started firing back, full force with everything he''s got. ''Oh come on Aaron, just because your name is said to mean something doesn''t actually mean that''s what you are. As for us three on the other hand, I mean just search up the definition of our names'' Catastrophe said. ''Yes, because that''s all Lachlan had to do to come up with your names. And I''ll fire that insult back at you; just because your name means something doesn''t mean that''s what you are'' Aaron insulted back with the same insult Catastrophe said to him. ''Oh if Lachlan summoned us all right now we would whoop your ass so fast'' Catastrophe threatened. ''Don''t kid yourself, if I activated my aura you three wouldn''t even be able to take a step in my direction'' Aaron said. Lachlan could feel the emotions whirling inside his tamed beasts, although it was only Catastrophe and Aaron that were really giving off a lot of rage. Calamity was calm as always while Disaster was slightly nervous. ''Come on you two, there''s no need to be fighting each other when we might have to fight something else later, something much stronger than all of us combined'' Disaster spoke up and interrupted the two''s bickering. The two shut up, they knew what Disaster was referring two and they didn''t know how they would fare against it either. They were the tames of Lachlan, not the other half, but they weren''t sure whether or not they''ll be able to resist his commands. "How about you name it Wildfire or Lucifer, change up the names a bit and try something different," Lachlan suggested to Simon. Hearing them settle down made him slightly relaxed, it was also slightly enjoyable hearing them bicker like little children. "Yeah, Wildfire, I like it," Simon nodded at the name Wildfire but doesn''t know the meaning behind the name Lucifer. Lachlan didn''t blame him, he only knew about it from tv shows. 119 Simon Begins To Change "Well how about you first begin by getting inside its enclosure; I mean, you can''t really initiate the contract if you don''t get into physical contact with the bird now can you?" Lachlan asked a rhetorical question, he already knew what the answer was. "Yeah yeah, I know," Simon waved Lachlan off before turning to Johanson. "So how do I get inside these enclosures, you''re bound to have a way in somehow right?" "Nope, there''s no way for a single person to get inside the enclosure with it. Rather, we designed the enclosure so that it completely unfolds itself at the press of a button, granted that would mean the bird would be free," Johanson explained before turning to the slightly opened door. "Fortunately, we''re currently in another room in which it won''t be able to escape from and I think it likes you." Simon tilted his head in confusion at the last part but he suddenly heard some banging behind him. He turned around and the falcon was staring at him with big round eyes that were almost filled to the brim with light. It peaked at the glass a few more times before waiting, waiting for Simon to come closer. He went up closer to the enclosure and stared at the bird, directly into its eyes. "Huh, so you want me to tame you then?" It swiftly smashed its beak against the glass abruptly and out of nowhere, shocking Simon slightly, causing him to jump in fright. The bird fell to its ass and it seemed to be laughing, its wings tapped against the glass when it re-enacted what Simon looked like; it laughed again. The rest of the group lightly giggled along with it. "Yeah, it seems to really want to be tamed by you now doesn''t it?" "Hmph, I''ll show it who''s boss," Simon felt embarrassed, annoyed, and slightly insulted. He quickly walked up to the button by the side and slammed it, he watched as the glass began to fold to the sides, he took steps back so it doesn''t fall on him. The Falcon, now regaining back its freedom shot into the air and went straight for the exit. The group watched as its expression slowly turned into panic as it began to go against its original direction, slamming against the door lightly. It started screeching madly at the group in anger. ''Master, that bird seems to be calling your group a group of weaklings that don''t deserve to tame it, it wants to be released immediately'' Aaron translated for him. Although Aaron was a griffon it could understand both bird and lion, which will certainly be useful in the future, or even right now for that matter. However, similar to Lachlan, Simon and Georgia both heard what the Falcon called them. Georgia didn''t react, she didn''t even care for all that matter. But Simon on the other hand was furious and fuming out his mouth. "Huh! You dare call me a weakling you weakling!" Simon shouted at the bird while he summoned his. The three birds stood behind him menacingly, releasing a subtle killing intent. But that didn''t even phase the falcon as it screen at them. ''Aaron, what''s it saying?'' ''It seems to be condemning the three for being so weak-willed, allowing themselves to be tamed by a human'' "Oh alright! Since you think humans are so weak why don''t you come at me!" Simon shouted at the falcon angrily, he got into a defensive position before waiting for the falcon to make its move. Seeing the human get into a fighting position made it happy, as it noticed the birds behind him didn''t seem to react, meaning he would fight alone. It desired to tear Simon in two, that way it might be able to get released. He shot towards Simon, breaking the sound barrier the moment it took off, its body morphing into a beam of light, arriving at Simon in milliseconds. Simon was already prepared for the falcon to be fast so he was already swinging his fist before it even started. The falcon panicked as it realised Simon had predicted which direction it was going to fly and due to its high speeds it wasn''t able to slow down before getting clobbered in the head by Simon''s fist. Simon followed through with the punch and twisted his body to roundhouse kick the Falcon across the face, smashing it to the ground. He swiftly leapt over and jumped on the Falcon before reeling back his fist to go for another punch. Panicking, the Falcon''s body once again morphed into light in the shape of its original body, allowing Simon''s fist to punch right through it and smash against the ground. Seeing the opportunity it quickly shot off, phasing through Simon''s body without a problem. "Oh come on! That''s just cheating!" Simon shouted at the bird in annoyance, holding his fist which had just punched the ground. "Why don''t you go ahead and fight me for real! No bullshit light body cheats!" The Falcon screeched back with a slight chuckle. ''Master, the Falcon seems to be insulting Simon for his lack of abilities. Saying that it has met with plenty of other beasts that managed to punch its light body, so he has no excuse'' ''Maybe you need to hit it with an elemental fist, maybe that''s how you damage it when it''s in its light body mode. Because of the elements in the fist, it might be able to disperse its light particles, it also wouldn''t be able to use that 50% physical damage reduction'' ''Possible, but master, I don''t see Simon as the type to know how to punch with his elements'' ''You''re not wrong there, but he is smart enough if he just gets a push in the right direction'' "Simon!" Lachlan shouted, getting everyone''s attention including Simon''s and the Falcon''s. Lachlan pointed towards his arm of ice. "Try punching it with elements!" Simon grinned and gave a thumbs up to Lachlan. He turned his attention back to the Falcon and pulled back his fist and concentrated on it. Water began to form around it, swirling quickly like a whirlpool. He then added on more element to it, lightning. His fist was glowing as the electricity visibly zapped around the water. Simon added more and more until it was just a glowing fist of water and lightning. The Falcon was still busy in the moment, not realising what was happing but just staring at Lachlan''s arm of ice. Wondering why the human would point towards it, not to mention a feeling of worship overcome it as it felt a lingering aura on Lachlan''s body. When it turned its attention back to the fight it realised that a blast of lightning filled water was at its face. It had no time to react or change its body mode, feeling the full brunt force of the blast. Feeling the lightning flow through its body, paralysing it from the inside out. It collapsed and fell to the ground. Simon leapt onto the Falcon and taking the dirt from the Falcon''s enclosure he created a dome of dirt to surround them. Solidifying it and compressing it until it was as hard as stone. "Let me tame you!" Simon shouted as he grabbed hold of the Falcon''s wing. The group outside waited for a while even though taming should usually only take a few seconds. Considering it had already been 30 seconds it was obvious Simon was having a long conversation to the Falcon in what Lachlan calls their soul world. A minute had gone by and the dome surrounding the two began crumbling apart, they heard grunts of pain from Simon. They knew from experience that it was the pain from taming a beast. It seemed had managed to convince the Falcon. The group walked over and noticed something different about Simon, his body seemed to have slightly changed shape. Although not too noticeable it seemed to become slimmer, and his eyes looked sharper. Lachlan swiftly analysed Simon to make sure nothing''s wrong with him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Simon Warrens (Human) Age: 36 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 4/5 Compatibility: Birds (High) STR: 102(+4), AGI: 104(+2), VIT: 18(+1) INT: 32, PER: 31, WIL: 28 Weakness: Arrogant Strengths: Water Control (Level 4), Lightning Control (Leve 3), Earth Control (Level 4), Grip Strength (Level 5), Light Control (Level 1), Wind Control (Level 5), Maximum Speed (Level 9) -------------------------------------------------------- Looking it over again and again, Lachlan couldn''t find anything wrong with Simon, there was no indication as to why his body has undergone a slight change. ''Unless it could be because he''s close to reaching the maximum number of tames'' Lachlan recalled the time when he first entered Mount Barker and met with Adam(J), his body was so different due to the number of contracts he had already used, which was all of them. He then turned his attention towards Chloe and just stared. "What''s wrong? Is there something on my face?" Chloe asked. She had felt someone''s gaze land on her body and stare her up and down. When she turned to look at the source she realised it was Lachlan. "I''m just wondering, did your body undergo any changes when you tamed your fourth crocodile?" Lachlan asked. The rest of the group began to turn their attention to the conversation as well, Simon especially once he had taken a good feel of his body. "Yeah, my legs grew slightly longer and my teeth were sharpened, nothing too big of a change," Chloe explained nonchalantly. "Yes, but any change is a change worth mentioning," Lachlan said as he facepalmed. "At least that explains the reason Simon''s body underwent a change, but you are right about something. Your change was pretty minuscule when compared to Simon''s whole body transformation, so there has to be another factor to it." "The grade maybe?" Phoebe suggested. "That might be it. It would also explain why Alfredo''s hair was so long," Lachlan responded. "I had just thrown that up in the air and pinned it to the fact that the other half like long hair; but if it was because the beasts he had tamed all had long hair and were of a higher grade, it would make perfect sense as to why Alfredo''s hair had grown to such a length." "Does that mean all our bodies are going to undergo some sort of transformation if we increase the grade of our beasts? Isn''t there some sort of way to prevent that?" Chloe asked. She didn''t think much about her transformation because it wasn''t too noticeable. But she was worried about it changing more. Would her daughter be able to recognise her? Would her husband still love her? These were the question running through Simon''s mind as well. "There has to be a way to prevent this, or at least make it slightly more selective of what changes. I''m not going to lie, I would love to have wings, just something about it seems so amazing. But I also don''t want to turn into a bird," Simon said. "Well, I suppose we can add that to our bucket list of things to search for. I suppose that should give you all a bit more incentive to search harder as well," Lachlan said. "And yes, there''s a very high chance there''ll be something to help prevent the transformation, there''s probably something for everything." 120 Packing Up and Striking Deals "Lachlan''s right, there''s bound to be something that''ll either prevent this completely and maybe even reverse the effects," Chloe said. They all nodded. Lachlan then turned to Johanson. "Just wondering, since the research lab has been thoroughly destroyed, how about you and your group of researchers join us on our island?" "Well, while that isn''t a bad idea, we would need to get into contact with management before relocating. Who knows, maybe you can make a deal with our management team; similar to the deal they have with the Explorer''s Guild," Johanson explained. "What''s the deal you have with them?" Chloe asked. "Well, they give us materials and we give them items. As they''re exploring rather dangerous areas they need weapons to fight inside of them. That''s what we provide them with, using bones, teeth, or any rare stone we create powerful weapons," Johanson explained. "And because they give us a lot of beast carcasses, we get to do experimentation on whether or not those beasts are edible, giving explorers more survival information." "That ain''t too bad, I reckon we can strike a similar deal with your management, especially considering we''re literally travelling on a fort," Lachlan said. "What do you mean by that?" Johanson asked in confusion. "You''ll see when we get outside, oh man are you in for a shock," Lachlan said mysteriously. Letting Johanson''s imagination run wild with insane ideas as to what Lachlan meant. "Anyway, we can''t exactly leave all these beasts behind, we should take them with us back to the base. Once they outlived their usefulness to the researchers we''ll be able to give them to either the parents or the kids," Lachlan said as he looked towards the wolf. "Plus, this thing right here is rather special and I don''t really want something so good to die from starvation." "But how are we going to move them? It''ll take days, possibly even weeks if we want to move them naturally," Johanson said. "How do you get all these beasts here anyway? Is there some sort of secret entrance?" Chloe asked. She remembers the entrance at the wall when they first arrived, there isn''t any way that some of these beasts would be able to fit through. "Of course we have a secret entrance for the beasts as well. It''s just that actually moving every single one of them from where they are right now to the exit will take a long time due to how much each of those enclosures weight," Johanson explained. The group suddenly remembered that the researchers had a secret entrance for their labs, they were just used to going there that they didn''t think anything else of it now. "I think I have a solution for this," Lachlan said. Johanson turned around to looked at him. Lachlan walked up to the enclosure for the Undead Wolf, to the side were two buttons, one which completely releases it and the other that pops out its enclosure. Lachlan hit the button and the enclosure extended out of the wall; commanding his stone to nullify gravity he yanked the enclosure out. Johanson stared in shock as she watched Lachlan carry the enclosure many times bigger than himself with one hand. He carried it like a toy and placed it on the ground. "See, nothing too hard, just a couple round trips and we''ll be done," Lachlan said as he patted his hands together. Johanson didn''t know how to reply and just stared at him blankly. Lachlan lightly chuckled seeing her reaction, "You should go and get the scientist to pop out all the enclosures, we''ll start taking everything out from here." Johanson nodded and walked off, making her way to the group of scientist huddled in the corner. She explained the situation and although they believed it to be absurd, they still did what she said due to the trust they had in her. Back with the group, they were talking about the undead wolf tyrant and sunlight falcon; Lachlan wanted to know everything about the falcon''s strength, body of light. "Simon, can you ask the Falcon about its body of light? It''s the strength it used to morph into light particles, I can to know why it couldn''t just beam its way through the door," Lachlan explained. Simon nodded and began communicating with the falcon, his facial expression changed through a variety of things; first was calm, then anger, and finally, it was a tomato. He looked as though he was about to burst in anger. "The bird explained that its body of light only works on things smaller than it and don''t have elemental particles in it. The gap in the door, for example, it''s fairly small so the falcon can''t go through it as the amount of contact it''ll have with the actual door will be too much. But my fist on the other hand, is small, so it''s able to easily nullify any and every normal attack I throw at it. However, should elements be added into the mix that''s when it becomes dangerous for it, as the elements might disperse the particles used to create the body of light," Simon explained in detail. The group nodded as they listened, it made sense, as it also meant it wasn''t all that overpowered. Granted, should they evolve the Falcon further, there''s the chance that strength will undergo another advancement. "Alright then, let''s get everything out of here and on the island," Lachlan said as he picked the wolf''s enclosure up again. He began to walk up to the plants on the sides of the walls as well, analysing for anything useful. Some of them he was uncertain about. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Earth Essence Stone Description: Training earth control near it will improve proficiency and has a slight chance to increase the level. Only useful for 3 hours every day as it needs to regather earth energy. Location: Is a rare occurrence that can be found anywhere in the world underground. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Plant Enhancement Crystals Description: Able to increase all natural stats for any plant type beast up to 50%. Useable up to five times. Location: Located around or inside any plantlife rich in vitality. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bone Essence of the Undead Description: Able to increase the strength and abilities of any undead beasts up to 200%. Useable up to 3 times. Location: Found in places where millions of bodies rest in the ground. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Heart of an Elder Treant Description: Able to increase the talent of a plant type beast up to first grade. Useable only once. Location: In the centre of an Elder Treant -------------------------------------------------------- Some of which was rather odd but understandable. There were many things that had the ability to increase training proficiency, but the earth essence stone was the only thing that had the chance to increase a strength''s level. As for the bone essence, it was lightly going to be used on the undead wolf tyrant once someone managed to tame it. Unfortunately, no one has yet to tame it so the bone essence remains unused. And as for the plant enhancers; they were likely gotten from chance and considering plant type beast themselves are rare, Alfredo considered these rare as well. But that''s also where an issue comes up, why did he kill an Elder Treant instead of trying to fight someone to tame it. Unless of course, he just accidentally stumbled across an elder treant''s corpse in the wild. But although Lachlan didn''t know when any of these things could come in hand, that didn''t stop him from taking them. It''s best to be prepared for any situation in the future, and there was plenty inside Alfredo''s private research area to prepare them. The rest of the group began collecting things as well, popping them out and bringing them along with them through the air. Fortunately, because all these items were rather small, the capsules they placed in were small as well. Lachlan walked up to the door and built up the ice again; unfortunately, because the undead wolf''s enclosure was so large, he had to widen up the gap for it. He did let the others go through first before he began though. The wolf watched as Lachlan used the full force of his ice control to push the doors apart, his face cherry red as the veins were popping out of his skin. His breathing was heavy as his chest expanded in and out. All his muscles were tense, his legs felt as though they would pierce through the metal floor at any moment and stick themselves into the rock beneath. Once the door was finally opened just enough Lachlan squeezed the enclosure through, being eyed by the wolf the entire time. The wolf also began to play around in its enclosure, jumping from all the wall and then just standing on the ceiling; it was its first experience with weightlessness. It gave Lachlan a bit of entertainment as he dragged the enclosure through the hall, getting eyed at by every other beast still there. By now at least one-third of the enclosures were being transported outside. As for the group transporting them, they had just reached their destination. It was a large metal roller door, roughly 1 metre thick. Johanson walked to the wall and hit a button to open it up, the group summoned a few of their beasts in case something was outside waiting for them. Once the doors opened they were greeted with an open plain, the same one they landed in. They didn''t think they travelled that far underground yet, the hospital was probably close to the centre of the town which was at least 1 kilometre in diameter. When the group of scientist walked outside they were in a bit of a daze, some of them haven''t seen the sun in weeks, others might not have seen it for possibly months. They noticed they were in the shadow of something and they looked up. The group watched as the researchers'' minds exploded at the sight of a floating island. Some of them laughed at the expressions they were making while others were running out of breath. Johanson looked towards the group and noticed they weren''t reacting to it at all, she swiftly managed to connect the dots and stared at them in shock. "Is that the base you were talking about?" They silently nodded and let that information settle inside the researchers'' minds which were on the brink of collapsing. "But how did you do it?" "Yeah, it should be impossible to make something that big float" "Well, I didn''t think I needed to explain myself considering you are all researchers. But you did see us move those enclosures right?" Simon asked swiftly getting his answer in the form of a nod. "Well then, it''s similar to that but just on a much larger scale." "Would we be able to researcher how it''s done?" "Yeah, with our minds combined we''ll probably find out everything you need to know about the method and even improve on it." "Well you could, but there''s nothing else to learn from, we just need to begin applying it to everything," Simon explained. "You can''t be so sure about that, what if you missed something? That might cost you greatly in the future unless of course, it is because you can''t trust us?" The researcher was really getting on Simon''s nerves so he let off. "No, no we don''t trust any of you yet. That''s how the world works, you build trust, not get rewarded it for absolutely nothing. Tell me, if we were to let you research it and all that data got into the hands of an enemy, wouldn''t that cost us greatly in the future?" Simon''s face was right in front of the researcher''s, his spit splattering across the researcher''s face. Simon continued. "If you don''t want to join us then fuck off back to your laboratory, or at least what''s left of it anyway." The researcher was let there thinking to himself as Simon shot off into the sky with all his enclosures following behind him. The rest of the group followed his league, they brought a few people along with them as well. Johanson went back into the city and jogged back to the hospital, she still needed to get into contact with their management team. She quickly grabbed her phone from their staff area on the ground floor, they weren''t allowed phones in the laboratory in case it messed with any equipment or distracted someone during an experiment. She began to jog back towards the wall while talking to someone. Lachlan had just managed to arrive outside the exit where a few researchers were still in a bit of a daze. One researcher, in particular, was staring into nothingness, thinking about something deeply. Looking to his side he saw Johanson jog outside the town exit with her phone in her hands, she noticed Lachlan and ran up to him, passing over the phone. "It''s our management team, they want to talk to you about a deal." Lachlan took hold of the phone and brought it up to his ear. "Hello, this is Lachlan, one of the founders for Bloodied Wings." "Hello Lachlan, I''m the head of management and I was told you would like to offer us a deal," It was a gentle and feminine voice, it sounded calm and collected as well as wise. "Yes indeed, I wish to bring all the researchers located in Patagonia onto our base and create a laboratory facility they can use to continue their research," Lachlan explained. "Is your base some sort of mobile home?" "In a way, I suppose it is a mobile home, it''s just a massive floating island that we can control, the island is roughly 20 - 30 kilometres in diameter so there''s plenty of room for the researchers to settle down," Lachlan explained without thinking anything of it. "Right, and you are actually Lachlan, one of the founders of Bloodied Wings correct? Not some imposter that managed to fool Johanson right?" Lachlan suddenly remembered the person on the other side of the phone can''t see their base. "Yes, I am Lachlan, if you want some form of confirmation Johanson should be able to give you some since she''s seeing the base herself." "That would be love if you could do that" Lachlan handed the phone back to Johanson who had been listening to the entire conversation. "Yes I know it may sound insane ma''am but he isn''t lying, their base is actually a massive floating island and yes I can confirm its existence with my own two eyes." The head of management still wasn''t falling for it. "You know impersonating a high ranking researcher can lead to some serious consequences." Johanson gave up, "Should have done this in the beginning." She quickly took a photo of the island and sent it to the head of management. "Alright, I sent you a photo of the thing, that should be enough evidence right?" "Alright then, can you please put Lachlan back on the phone?" Johanson turned back to Lachlan and gave back the phone. "Terribly sorry about that, it''s just rather difficult to believe that such a thing isn''t a fairy tale." "All good, so what do you think about that deal now?" Lachlan asked with high hopes. "We would love to cooperate with you, so where exactly will your base be located?" The head of management still didn''t understand the full extent of Bloodied Wings'' abilities. "It will be located on the planet, as for anywhere specific, unfortunately, we don''t know. We''re currently planning to take a trip to America on it before going to the UK, try to help out here and there while searching for anything useful," Lachlan explained. "Oh, okay," The head of management finally realised what Lachlan was talking about. "Okay then, we''ll love to work together with Bloodied Wings, it''ll be a similar deal to what we have with Explorers Guild, you give us stuff to research and we give things to use from that research. Sound good?" "Yeah, sounds great," Lachlan said. "Alright, Johanson will be our representative, just talk to her about everything and she''ll fill out all the paperwork. It was a pleasure talking to you and making with the partnership" "The pleasures all mine," Lachlan said before hanging up and handing the phone back to Johanson. "It ended quite nicely, you''re going to be their representative for us. So as their representative, you should at least get to take a good look o the island." Lachlan grabbed hold of her arm and brought her into the air, his hand of ice was hold onto the enclosure, the capsules were stuck to the enclosure due to Lachlan''s ice. When they reached a height above the island her face was filled with awe. 121 Spending One Last Day In Patagonia "So, what do you think of our base?" Lachlan asked. "It''s amazing, completely out of this world. Those trees are huge, not to mention the mountain range once you get past the treeline," Johanson answered, her face still filled with awe and amazement. "Great, well this is the island that your new labs will be built on. We''ll actually head back to the labs beneath the hospital and salvage anything useable, that''ll save us some trouble. And once that''s all done we''ll be heading off towards America, making stops along the way," Lachlan explained. "Can I suggest a stop?" Johanson asked. "Of course," Lachlan replied. "Well, on the way to America apparently dozens of unique islands suddenly showed up out of the blue; would we be able to stop there to see if there are any unique beasts?" Johanson asked. "Of course we can, our group''s primary goal right now is to search for unique things that''ll be of use to us. If you know where there are any other rare or odd places that showed up around the world inform Flynn, he''s our organiser/planner, he''ll be at the centre of the island," Lachlan explained. "Speaking of which, just so you know, the island''s gravity is rather unique and we have our own defences around the entire island. I would suggest not leaving your designated area, at least not too far from it anyway." "Will it be dangerous? What are the consequences?" Johanson asked. "It''ll be very dangerous, it''s guaranteed that you''ll die in an instant should you go too far," Lachlan explained. "Oh," Johanson looked back towards the island against in a bit of a daze, wondering what type of defence the group put around it. Lachlan nodded and brought her to the centre where Flynn was taking care of Sophie, he was playing catch with her to tire her out so he could take a nap. There hasn''t been anything for him to do lately, aside from taking care of his daughter there''s not been a single job. Lachlan landed right next to Flynn. "Yo, got you a job to do. Johanson here knows where there''s a lot of unique and odd places around the world and we need to plot them on a map and if you can, possibly create a flight path between them all." Simon''s eyes sparkled with joy, the workaholic quickly nodded. "Great, I''ll get onto that." He turned to Johanson and introduced himself properly. "As you''ve heard, the names Flynn, I''m Chloe husband." After he introduced himself and ran inside the house and brought out a physical map, it was rolled up in his arms. When he reached Johanson he sat on the ground and stretched and map out, weighing down the edges to make sure it doesn''t roll back up. "Alright, show me the locations," Flynn said. Johanson nodded and sat down next to him, pointing on the maps where everything was. Lachlan saw this and shot off into the sky, leaving them to take care of what they were doing. He still had a promise to fulfil, he already felt bad for delaying to so much. Wondering if she would forgive him. Flying through the air he landed back by the exit, Sarah was leaning against the wall pouting at the sight of Lachlan. She didn''t even acknowledge his existence when he landed right next to her, although Lachlan didn''t manage to catch a quick glance. Walking up to Sarah, Lachlan lifted her up and put her on his shoulders. She very quickly resisted and started flailing about. "Put me down, put me down, I''m surprised you still even remembered the promise you made." Lachlan was put in a tricky position, he had to navigate the rough waters carefully otherwise he might set off a bomb. "Of course I remember, how could I forgot the promise I made with my little sister; it''s just that Big Brother Lachlan kept getting stuff thrown at him, I couldn''t exactly just not deal with it." He lifted Sarah off of his shoulders and held her in front of him, bringing her closer he hugged her tightly. "I''m sorry Sarah, I''ll make sure to make it up to you as we have the rest of the day for fun activities." "Really?" Sarah asked as she pulled out her puppy-dog eyes. "Really." Lachlan nodded and brought her back up to his shoulders. "Now, what do you want to do first? Want something to eat? Some new clothes?" "Something to eat, something to eat, I''m really hungry," Sarah said as her stomach let out a loud gurgle. They both lightly chuckled. "Alrighty then, I know just the place," Lachlan said as he lept into the air, jumping over the wall and landing in the city. He began to lightly job through the streets, weaving through groups of people while Sarah was smiling widely at the sight of all the people. She waved at some of them as they went past, some of which waved back while others didn''t even notice it before the two were already too far away. They finally managed to make it to Chorip¨¢n Reyes, Joe and Zoe were still there keeping watch of everything. They were still eating some Chorip¨¢n, every bite they took they were filled with joy. The food almost became an addiction to them. "This is the place, we are now working together with the owners of the place to spread it across the world. So, let''s go and get some to eat," Lachlan said as he walked up to the truck. There was plenty of people around, Joe and Zoe quickly ran around the city telling everyone that they''re safe and the island is theirs. It calmed down a majority of people, some people however, were still afraid, wondering how the group of people managed to get a floating island for a base. "Boss so it''s you, now you''ll finally be able to taste my amazing cooking," Joseph said with a hefty laugh, he then noticed Sarah on Lachlan''s shoulders. "Oh, so we have little Ms Boss here as well, suppose I have to bring out my A game, take a sit and relax, I''ll whip something up that''ll amaze your taste buds." Lachlan was quite surprised by Joseph''s transformation. Before he was a cold gang leader and now it wasn''t an understatement to say he was a food performer. He entertained people watching him cook as he cooked amazing food. His communication with customers was great as well, always making sure to build friendly connections. Sarah was also in awe, watching Joseph cook with such flare all the while communicating with constant customers. he had two helpers there with him, one was Valentina and the other was one of his bodyguards, the one that thanked Lachlan deeply due to his child''s condition. It didn''t take long before Joseph finished cooking and they went up to collect their meal. The chorip¨¢n was in a soft bread roll, lightly covered with herbs and vegetables. There was also some sort of sauce. Taking a bite their mouths were filled with the chorip¨¢n''s juices, where were filled with spiciness and freshness. Lachlan had to give it to Joseph, he was certainly a great cook, no matter how surprising that was for him. "It tastes great, no wonder Joe and Zoe are so entranced by it," Lachlan said, taking a quick glance to Joe and Zoe who were beside the truck. They had already got served another chorip¨¢n, their faces filled with bliss. He then turned to Sarah. "So, do you like it?" Sarah nodded. "Yeah, it tastes great." "Great, then next we''ll search for some clothes," Lachlan said. Sarah shook her head. "I want to try some more food." A frown appeared on Lachlan''s face. "Alright, we''ll go try some more food." Lachlan then turned to Joseph for some advice, he didn''t know where anything good was but Joseph should. "Around the corner, there''s a great bakery I recommend, that''s the place where we got these bread rolls from, they have a lot of tasty sweets as well," Joseph said. Lachlan gave him a thumbs up before putting Sarah back on his shoulders, they were both still eating their chorip¨¢n as they walked towards the bakery. They finished their meal by the time they reached it. Just by standing outside of it they were hit with a smell of fresh bread, doughnuts, pies, and many other things they didn''t even know existed. They walked through the door, a little bell by the top rang out and someone came out from the back. It was a man, he had long hair that was tied up and placed in a net, he was wearing a black apron. "Oh, hello, I know you; you''re the one that really put Joseph in his place huh, have to really thank you for that, they were making the business a bit difficult with their rowdy group," The man said in a gentle voice. "The name''s Ramirez, I''m the one that runs this wondering establishment." He had his armed opened wide, in front of him was a glass display of everything they serve and behind him was a rach filled with different kinds of bread. In the glass display, there was a variety of fruit pies and small cakes. Lachlan put Sarah back down to take a good look. "Anything you recommend?" "Of course, I would recommend churros with a chocolate dipping, either that or the apple pie; both of them are absolutely delicious," The man with happily as he pointed towards the two sweets. "Well take both of them then," Lachlan said. "Alright then, these will be on the house, I''d rather not take money from my benefactor," The man said. "After you set that group straight they haven''t bothered me since then and my business has been booming." The man handed over two bags, one had four churros along with two containers of chocolate dipping sauce, the other had two apple pies the size of Lachlan''s palm. He nodded towards the man. "Thanks" "No problem, do come again," The man said with a friendly and welcoming voice. "Will do," Lachlan said as he walked back out the door, Sarah trailing behind him trying to open the container with chocolate. Lachlan bent over and took the container from Sarah''s hands, opening it quickly before giving it back. Sarah took out a churro before dipping one end in the chocolate, she took a bite and a wide smile flashed across her face. It didn''t take long before she completely finished the entire churro and Lachlan chuckled. She took out another one and dipped it in before walking over to Lachlan, holding it in her hands. "You try." Lachlan squatted down and took a bite, his mouth was filled with a rich and creamy chocolate sauce along with a soft churro. The sugar that coated the churro crunched as he bit down. Sarah dipped it back in the sauce before bringing it to Lachlan''s mouth again. Lachlan bit into it before taking hold of it and finishing it up. He looked through the bag in his hands and took out a small apple pie, he handed that one over to Sarah who slightly struggled to hold it. They both took a bite at the same time and their mouths were filled with a fresh and sweet taste of apples. The apples were both soft but had a slight crunch to it, the crust on the outside was flaky and delicious as well. Lachlan and Sarah then both spent the rest of the day at a nearby park, it had a small playground as well as a small creek behind it. Lachlan pushed Sarah on the swings before she ran off and made friends with a few other kids. Lachlan sat down on a nearby bench and kept an eye on everything. He wouldn''t let anyone ruin Sarah''s happiness, especially while he was around. But fortunately, no one tried anything and Lachlan and Sarah headed back to the island. The rest of the group has long since finished packing everything up, they also salvaged what they could from the laboratory. Zhang was also brought back onto the island, he''s wounds had already closed he just needed to rest and not put pressure on anything. Lachlan walked up to Flynn. "So, where are we heading to?" He had left Flynn with Johanson to create a flight path they would be able to follow. He didn''t disappoint, bringing out the map and showed the path they were going to travel. It went through every new island and a few old but slightly unique ones as well. "Alright then, suppose it''s time for us to say our goodbyes to Patagonia," Lachlan said. The rest of the group nodded. Valentina and her parents were also brought onto the island, Joseph was left in charge of the truck in Patagonia, Valentina and her parents would be dropped off in America to start a food truck business there. As for the journey to get there, it would certainly take a while. Lachlan commanded the island''s stone to begin moving, they were heading northeast to where an island was spotted, said to have some sort of unique energy on it. 122 Horn Island The group travelled across the land on top of the island, the island''s shadow engulfed entire hordes of beasts every now and then. Water from the river continued to fall off at a slow pace, trickling down due to the massive wall in the way. Once they finally reached their first destination they were rather surprised at the size of the island, it was half the size of theirs so roughly a radius of 5 - 7 kilometres. At the centre of the island was a gigantic mountain formation. The mountain was shaped like a Rhino horn. "The island is called Horn Island, the explorers named it that due to the massive horn-like mountain at the centre," Johanson explained. "That''s also something explorers do, they find new land and then name it, the one that finds it first gets to name it." "Have any explorers actually been on the island?" Lachlan asked. "Unsure, if any have they certainly haven''t made it back," Johanson said. Lachlan looked closer at the island to see if there was any beast on the shoreline, there was nothing; however, he did see a snake-like figure through the trees. "Alright, be prepared for anything and should we ever get split up we meet back up at the shoreline where our island is." "Also, if there isn''t a single horned beast on this island I''ll be thoroughly disappointed," Lachlan said. The rest of the group agreed as they laughed at the idea of every beast on that island having a horn, just a thought to entertain themselves. Lachlan stopped the island just before Horn Island, the group hopped off and floated down to the beach. When they landed they looked around, analysing everything they could currently see. They noticed dark silhouettes in the treetops. The silhouettes began to scream at them, their arms flailing about, pounding against their chest. Some hopped down from the treetops and stepped foot on the beach, they began to slam the sand as they screamed. They were apes, large blood red apes that had a small horn on their head. Their eyes red and bloodthirsty as they composed themselves in a threatening manner. Some of which grabbed a handful of dirt and sand before throwing it towards the group. Lachlan blasted the apes with a gust of wind, returning all the dirt and sand that was thrown towards them. When they got hit across the body the apes'' behaviour intensified, they didn''t back down but instead double down. Two more arms began to form from the backs of the larger apes, they were slightly smaller than the main arms but still quite big. Everyone could feel the bloodlust intensify as the apes began to pound on the ground, themselves, and the tree harder. Their blood red fur began to grow longer, horn extended and sharpened. It was a special ability, something Lachlan hasn''t thought about in a while. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Horned Blood Apes Age: Adolescence - Elder Attribute: Earth/Water Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 3rd - 5th Grade Level: 6 - 10 STR: 25 - 42, AGI: 31 - 44, VIT: 30 INT: 17 - 23, PER: 20 - 26, WIL: 15 - 19 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Low intelligence Strengths: Physical Strength (Level 2), Earth Control (Level 1), Skin Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Although they weren''t all that strong Lachlan could understand why no one would be able to make it back alive. There was roughly 3 dozen of these apes just in front of them, they could probably take down any beast due to their special ability as well. Lachlan knew to expect some rather unique abilities after seeing Faith''s ability, which is why he wasn''t so surprised that there was an ability to boost the strength of teammates. Which he was guessing what the apes were doing right now. "Everyone tread carefully, although they aren''t too strong by themselves they''ll do some nasty damage when they''re group up as a pack like they are now," Lachlan warned. The group that was with him was the usual, just not Brianna and Zhang. One of the apes suddenly shot off from its tree, the horn on its head was leading the way as it pierced through the air. The sand from the beach rose up behind it as it ran towards them. Simon stepped forward to meet with it, he had Wildfire summoned to show off. Wildfire felt insulted that Simon would summon it to take care of such a weak beast, they argued internally before they came to an agreement. By then the ape was already at Simon''s face, its horn aiming for Simon''s eye. Simon reached out and stopped it in its tracks, his hand holding onto the horn tightly he twisted quickly and hard, ripping the horn off. He flicked the horn into the air before catching it in the opposite grip, his arm moved fast as it stabbed the ape through the eye, killing it instantly. Wildfire shot into the air before morphing into a beam of light, it flew through the apes, weaving in and out, leaving a trail of blood when it flew past one. The trees they were on had small cuts across the bark, they were also bathed in the blood. Wildfire came back to Simon''s side before landing next to him, its head held up high as though it was accomplished at killing more apes then Simon. "So are we going to explore further in?" Chloe asked, the trees were large and the area beneath it was dark. It would be dangerous to explore an unknown area without any lighting, especially when the island appeared due to the evolution. "Yeah, we''ll be fine," Joe said as Sandy took a step forward, creating a ball of fire to give them light. Wildfire looked towards the ball of fire with a hint of disdain, its wings rose into the air as the elements of light began to gather, forming a floating ball of light. Its brightness was similar to the sun, lighting up the entire surrounding area. Sandy was annoyed, feeling as though Wildfire was attempting to attack its pride in fire. Lifting his head he let off a mighty roar, another dozen balls of fire formed around him, creating more light than the ball of light ever could. Seeing that Wildfire turned its head and pouted. "Well that solves that problem," Simon said. "Should we split up into two teams? We''ll cover a bit more ground while staying fairly safe," Joe suggested. "Not right now, it''ll be dangerous doing that," Lachlan said. "We''ll stay together and make sure we have eyes on all angles." Joe and the rest nodded. They began to move towards the treeline, keeping an eye on everything, looking for any sudden movements. Walking into the darkness they made their way through the trees, Lachlan kept his eyes above them making sure nothing can sneak attack them from above. He noticed something above them, its shadow was noticeable due to it blocking at the sunlight that could make it through the leaves. They heard the sound of a snake, it suddenly lunged at them, mouth wide open to bite down. Lachlan changed the shape of the ice to form a blade, he swung upwards, slicing the snake''s head in half, the corpse slumped to the ground. On its head was also a single horn, it was much larger than the apes, roughly half a metre long. It was sliced in half due to Lachlan''s attack. ''Aaron come on out and help Sandy and Wildfire light up the place'' Lachlan commanded as his tattoo lit up. Aaron stomped on the ground as his wings opened wide, a few dozen fireballs formed and spread throughout the area, leaving no place unlit. More and more beasts began to appear, there were apes, snakes, lizards and a bunch of different bugs. They roared and hissed at the fireballs, some even attacking them to get rid of the light. Aaron didn''t let that happen. Aaron used those fireballs to crash into the beasts'' bodies, charring them badly before returning back into the air. The beasts began to retreat back, continuing to make sounds in an attempt to intimidate the fireballs. The group continued forward, this time with more prudence. A few more beasts were summoned to keep more eyes around them. Once they passed the trees they stood at the foot of the horn-like mountain, the sheer size of it was probably 400 - 500 metres. They heard loud thumping, looking up they saw two mountain goats go at each other. The horns on their head were large and mighty, giving off a metallic sheen; the goats continued to ram each other''s heads until one of their horns finally gave in and snapped. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Iron Horned Mount Goat Age: Adult Attribute: Iron/Earth Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 3rd Grade Level: 10 STR: 37, AGI: 35, VIT: 30 INT: 23, PER: 24, WIL: 19 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Physical Strength (Level 2), Earth Control (Level 1), Iron Control (Level 2), Skin Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan didn''t think of it as too strong, he could handle it by himself without using any of his beasts. Just with his strength along he could probably squash one of their heads in, not to mention snap its horn in half. "The horns could probably be used to create weapons," Lachlan suggested. The group agreed, they just weren''t sure how to go around getting the horns. Although there was one, very obvious way to do it. Simon disappeared from his spot, he suddenly reappeared on top of the losing goat. Reaching down he grabbed hold of the horns and yanked as hard as he got, ripping the goat''s head off, creating a fountain of blood as the goat''s body slumped to the ground. He placed the head on the ground before stepping on it, then using both hands he tugged and snapped the horn off. He held it slightly in the air, just above his face. "Easy, isn''t it." Chloe shook her head in disappointment. "You know, if you just killed it quickly the researchers would have been able to take off the horn in a much peaceful way; not to mention cleaner." "Oh." Simon was slightly embarrassed. "No use for that now, let''s continue exploring and now we''ll split into two teams," Lachlan said. "I''ll go with Phoebe, Joe, and Georgia. Simon, Chloe, and Zoe, you three can go explore the mountain, try to find any caves or unique trees." "Alright," The three said before beginning their walk up the mountain. The other four walked back into the trees, they didn''t stray too far from the mountain though due to the bright natural lighting they got from it. The beasts in the darkness continued to retreat away from them, while some would stay and scream. Lachlan would get Aaron to take care of them. Georgia had also summoned Kyle, as the shadows were his strong spot. Inside the darkness within the forest he was basically the king, controlling the shadows to consume any beast that didn''t retreat. With that going on Lachlan continued to analyse the trees and anything on the treetops, hoping to find another fruit that could increase their stats. They found something alright, but Lachlan wasn''t sure what to feel about it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Horn Fruit Description: Gives the consumer either one or two horns based on the elements they control. Location: Grown anywhere there''s fertile ground. -------------------------------------------------------- At least that explained why every beast here had a horn on their heads. 123 Unique Turtle and Hard Demands The fruit was shaped like a horn, it was a bright green fruit that hung off the tree branch. Lachlan hopped up in the air, grabbing hold of the gruit before yanking it down. He looked at the fruit in his hand think, turning to the rest of the group he asked, "Should we bring this along with us? Since it does alter appearances it might help us find a way to prevent the changes." "Sure, we can also bring a few more and feed to some beasts, see what it changes in them; whether or not it just changes the appearance or entire race altogether." Everyone agreed to the idea. They all took a few fruits down, only two each and held them in their hands. They then began to continue their search. ... Back on the mountain, the group of three was scaling it in search of something. They came across a few unique looking stones they put in Zoe''s tamed beast, Bag. They also came across a few more mountain goats/rams, they were rather aggressive, threatening the group of three to stay away by scraping their hooves along the ground. One of which was currently in front of them, getting in a threatening posture with its dark blue fur. Simon stepped forward and did the same, he stared into the eyes of the ram, tempting it to attack as he looked down on it. Feeling provoked the ram lunged towards Simon, who sidestepped out the way before kicking upwards, straight through the neck and lobbing off its head. He quickly reached down and picked the head and body of the ram up, bringing it over to Zoe who already had Bag prepared. "Can you stop killing the same thing and giving it to me, we should only need two to three samples," Zoe complained as Simon had brought over his sixth kill. "What are you talking about, they are different; they''re all different sizes, their horns are different shapes and their fur is a different colour. Of course we should bring them all back," Simon explained. "Nope, not dealing with this," Zoe put up her hands and walked away; heading around the mountain rather than up it. "If you don''t want to hurry this all up then I''ll just do it myself. And oh yeah, have fun carrying all those corpses back to the island." Chloe swiftly followed behind her while Simon pouted. "Well don''t blame me for trying to help." He continued to walk up the mountain, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Above him was a pile of corpses, being carried by the gravity stone. Simon noticed the number of rams was intensifying, there were now groups of them, all with a variety of colours. When they saw him they huddled up, forming a wall to defend the young in their herd. Keeping their horns at the front they continued to threaten Simon to stay back and away from their pack. Simon hopped onto Wildfire and set off into the sky, flying above and past the pack of rams to see if there''s anything else they were defending. Simon noticed a cave, vines growing alongside it with thick clumps of it by the floor. The rams would walk up and eat it, their fur would change colours from every bite, from red to blue, and yellow to black. Simon watched silently above the cave, observing the phenomenon to make sure it really was the vines causing it. When the rams walked away he lept down and yanked a few vines off the cave roof, he piled them into a ball before sticking a gravity stone in it and throwing it up to float alongside the pile of corpses. He then lept up back to Wildfire before looking up to the top of the mountain. ''Let''s go up there Wildfire; if there is anything games have taught me, it''s that there''s something rare at the top of the mountain''. ''Doubt it'' Wildfire replied before shooting up, gliding across the ground as they left a trail of dust behind them. When they made it to the top Simon hopped down to look around closely, leaving no stone unturned as he looked for any unique looking plants. There was nothing, absolutely nothing on the top of the mountain aside from stones and a few weeds here and there. He decided he was done there and went straight back to the island, the pile of corpses and ball of vines trailing shortly behind him. ... Back in the forest, the group had just about finished up with their search. Similar to Simon, they had a pile of corpses floating behind them above the trees. They were still carrying the fruit in their arms, not wanting to let the blood from the corpses ruin them. "So are we done now? There''s literally nothing else in this forest," Joe complained. "Sure, you three can go back, I''m going to take a quick looking around the rest of the island for anything abnormal," Lachlan said as he began to sprint off into the distance, his fleeing figure swiftly being engulfed by the thick overgrowth. He weaved around the trees, narrowly avoiding all the beasts as he continued his search, analysing anything and everything he sees. Lachlan came to an abrupt halt at the sight of a stream, he squatted down on a branch, observing all the beasts that came to drink. He waited until he finally noticed a rather unique monster, one that has a grade he had never seen before until now. Its body slowly crawled onto the bank, its shell glistening in the beam of sunlight breaking through the trees. It was a turtle. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Devine Golden Turtle Age: Elder Attribute: Time Grade: Good Innate Talent: Elite Level: 12 STR: 82(+20), AGI: 32(+20), VIT: 150(+40) INT: 57(+20), PER: 20(+15), WIL: 18(+5) Weakness: Fast & Precise Attacks, Weak Skin & Muscles, Arrogant Strengths: Future Sense, Catastrophe Prediction, Calamity Awareness, Shell Defence (Level 10) -------------------------------------------------------- An innate talent Lachlan''s never witnessed before, but from what he understands, every level with that talent is 10 bonus stat points, it was at a level just slightly above 1st grade. But it also made sense, there was just no way something with the time attribute could have a low talent. Lachlan hopped down from the branch and walked up to the turtle, he presented himself with no hostility. The turtle watched the human walk towards it, but its senses weren''t going off so it didn''t think much about it. Suddenly, when Lachlan was roughly 2 metres away from the turtle it got a vision and rolled back into the water. Lachlan abruptly lept towards where the turtle originally was; the only thing he caught was air. A dozen metres away the turtle resurfaced by the bank, looked towards Lachlan it let out a sound that seemed like a snicker. It brought its head below the water again before raising it a few metres in front of Lachlan in the water before bringing it down swiftly. Lachlan wasn''t having any of it and tossed a gravity stone inside the water, giving it very specific commands Lachlan changed the course of gravity, bring a clump of water into the water almost the size of the entire stream. ''Oh fuck this, Aaron come out and release your aura'' Lachlan was fed up already, he wanted to get back to the island quickly after finishing up and if a turtle thinks it''s going to stop him it better think otherwise. Aaron came out a let out a powerful screech that shook the surroundings, the inside of the turtle''s shell vibrated so much it almost caused it to pass out. Aaron took a step forward, making sure to stomp on the ground heavily to instil fear into the turtle. Its aura began to leak from its body, seeping in the surroundings, warning any beast to stop in their tracks, the turtle included. Aaron leaned down, its beak barely brushing against the turtle''s shell. ''Can I eat it?" ''No, I''m planning on giving it to Phoebe, it''ll be her birthday soon and I reckon this will be a perfect gift for her,'' Lachlan explained. Although he hasn''t shown it, he had been worrying about what to get her. He didn''t want to buy jewellery, he thought it was just a bit cliche for their group. But getting her another tame, that should make her happy. Not only will she get stronger, but it''ll also reassure her that she''ll be able to stop him should the time arrive. Granted, he''ll be making sure that time never arrives anyway. Looking back towards Aaron he noticed the turtle looked as though it was sniffing him. It suddenly opened its mouth wide open and chomped down on Aaron''s toe, sending Aaron into a frenzy as he slammed the turtle onto the ground. The shock from the impact swiftly knocked the turtle out cold, yet it continued to hang onto Aaron''s toe. Sitting down, Aaron brought his other front claw towards it, using its strength to pull apart the turtle''s jaw and free his toe. ''This damn turtle better be happy I don''t eat it'' Aaron pouted as it gave the turtle a big whiff. ''Otherwise, I''ll make sure to cook the damn thing alive'' ''Alright, alright, hold your horses, no need to react to angrily. Its bite barely did anything to you anyway,'' Lachlan said. ''Yeah but it still gave me a bit of a shook'' Aaron complained. ''Oh, Aaron can''t handle to bite of a little turtle'' Catastrophe started riling Aaron up again. Lachlan sighed and shook his head. ''Catastrophe, just stop trying to start stuff, at least right now'' The two immediately stopped arguing, they felt that there was a lot on Lachlan''s mind and he could finally show it now that he was along. He sat down on the bank, listening to nature as Aaron laid down behind him, becoming a backrest. After Alfredo''s death, he realised how serious the situation became if he doesn''t find a way to completely resist his other half. He felt as though Alfredo''s other half was completely heartless, only getting joy from the suffering of others. It wanted Lachlan to struggle to survive, all while constantly telling him his other half might be able to take control early. He was terrified at the thought of that. What would it do with his body? Would it continue on like Alfredo''s other half or will it seek to destroy what might stand in its way first? If that was the case Phoebe, and all his friends would be in grave danger. What would happen to Sarah? Would it kill her or take pleasure in torturing her? Lachlan couldn''t predict how the other half would think and is terrified about it. Lachlan placed his hand on Aaron''s head, gentle brushing through Aaron''s fur and feathers. ''Listen up you four, if something does happen and I lose control you''re going to have to take me out immediately; you especially Aaron'' The three Rocs knew it would come to this and accepted it, although it was hard it would be for the best, even if it meant killing the one they see as a father. They also knew it would be what Lachlan wanted. But Aaron rejected the idea. ''No master, I swore to protect you with my life, not destroy it with my own claws'' Lachlan knew Aaron would be the hardest to convince, its pride wouldn''t allow it to go against the vow it made. ''And as your master, I command for you to end my life should it be controlled by the other half. And as for what you do after, I do hope you four can continue to look after Sarah'' Aaron spread its wing and extended one to cover Lachlan. ''Okay, I''ll do it. But master, at least promise me you''ll try everything to resist even after it begins to show itself; continue to search for treasures and atleast that way, you''ll be able to take care of Sarah yourself'' ''Of course I''ll try, I also have you four to look after. I mean seriously, who''s going to keep you four inline without me here'' Lachlan said as he stood up. ''But well, we better get back to work, time doesn''t wait for anyone'' 124 Everything Gathered Lachlan continued to search for 30 more minutes and came up with nothing, there just wasn''t anything else on the island. He hoped that the others have found something worthwhile. He headed back to the beach, Aaron still had the turtle in his claws, it was struggling to get out before just giving up, losing all hope. It continued to stare at Lachlan, who seemed to be in a bit of a trance. Its eyes were filled with fear, as though it saw something terrifying within Lachlan, something heartless, cold, filled with the intent of destruction. Its senses were going off like mad, fuelling its fear even more. Lachlan reached the beach quickly, the turtle looked up at the massive island in the sky, its eyes widen in shock. Even with its old age, it has never come across such a scene. The island''s shadow was cast upon the ocean below, drowning it in darkness. Lachlan hopped onto Aaron. ''Alright, let''s go back'' Aaron shot into the sky, the turtle began to worry as it saw the ground moving further away from it every second. It was fearful of Aaron just deciding to drop it out of revenge, it gently rubbed against Aaron''s claws. Looking back down the turtle noticed they were already above the island, gliding just slightly above the treetops as the leaves swayed in the wind, leaving a trail of floating leaves in their wake. Lachlan was breathing deeply, calming himself down as he prepared to give Phoebe the gift he got her. They reached the centre quickly, Aaron descended onto the group that was gathered, in the air above them were two balls of corpses and a ball of vines. One of the balls was just ramp corpses, all had different fur colour and horn shape and size. The other ball had snakes, lizards, rams, deer, and moose, all had horns, some small and some large. One snake, in particular, had a large horn that reached a length of 5 metres, blood stains covered it completely. Its point was thin, the width of a strand of hair and it gradually grew to have the width of an arm. ''That could be useful'' Lachlan had been in need of a weapon. Although using his fists was plenty enough, especially with his newfound control over the elements. But there was just something about wielding a weapon that made everything more intimidating, especially if it''s such a large weapon such as a broadsword, swordspear or lance. It would also be easier to control his elements, it would take less control since he has a weapon to mould it around. Although he would have to just learn how to fight with a weapon, especially something like a spear. So he wouldn''t mind a broadsword, it''s just that the materials needed to create a broadsword worth wielding are rather rare. He couldn''t just use some normal metal, it wouldn''t even be able to pierce a piece of tree bark in present times. As for the bone in front of him, it wouldn''t exactly be able to be morphed into the shape of a broadsword. However, it could be used as a spear or even a jousting lance. Lachlan could imagine it, riding on top of Aaron, piercing through hordes of beasts with his jousting lance. He could also imagine the damage done when a few stones are placed in it, leaving a trail of elements as it slaughters its enemies while flying through the air. It would certainly be a sight to see, a sight he would like to create. The group watched as Lachlan descended, his gaze never leaving that of the snakes while their gaze was attached to the turtle. Feeling the piercing gazes of so many people it looked towards the source, finding the group of people. When Aaron finally landed on the ground everyone gathered around him. Phoebe walked a bit closer to the turtle and stared at it up and down before turning to Lachlan. "What''s the turtle for? You could have just brought it back dead, its shell wouldn''t have gone to waste." Lachlan hopped down and wrapped his arms around Phoebe, it was a swift and fluid movement, Phoebe didn''t even have any time to react. "It''s an early birthday present for a special person." Phoebe took a closer look at the turtle, it looked back before retracting its limbs into its shell. Comparing this turtle to her other two was pointless since this one looked much weaker; however, she also trusted Lachlan and knew he wouldn''t give her a weak turtle, he was just as worried about the future as her. "Its attribute is time, it has the ability to predict and sense catastrophes, calamities and any immediate danger to itself," Lachlan explained. He saw Phoebe eyeing down the turtle and realised it certainly didn''t look all that strong. "It was also a massive pain in the ass to actually get alive considering its ability to sense any immediate danger to itself; fortunately I had Aaron hold it down with his aura," Lachlan said as he walked to up Aaron and took the turtle from his claws. Lachlan then returned back to Phoebe and handed the turtle over. Its head began to extend from its shell, the turtle began to sniff at Phoebe, its pupils constantly dilating before expanding again. Holding onto the turtle Phoebe took a closer look at its golden shell which had a fine and intricate pattern to it. The shell of the turtle kept the overall normal shape, however, when getting close enough it begins to show something else. The pattern seemed like a swirl, with a spot just slightly below its neck, above the centre of the turtle''s shell. The swirl seemed to send Lachlan and Phoebe into a daze, as though their conscious was being pulled towards the centre of the swirl. Aaron gave a small but menacing growl towards the turtle, its beak shone in the light just as well as its claws. He gave the turtle a grin filled with malice, threatening it to back off. The turtle swiftly stopped using its ability, in fear that Aaron would now rip it in two should it continue. Phoebe and Lachlan both snapped out of their daze and looked at the turtle again, Lachlan especially. He hadn''t seen such an ability registered in the turtle status screen, which meant to say that it was a hidden ability. Either that, or it was the turtle special ability. If it was the later Lachlan would be fine; however, should it be the former, then there''ll be a big problem with that. He had to increase the level of his eyes, but at the same time, he was hesitant due to his other half. One wrong move and it could come out, something he would rather never want to happen. He would rather die than let whatever that thing is out, that''s the sacrifice he would be willing to make. "Well I suppose this turtle is even more unique than I thought, so how about taming it?" Lachlan quickly moved on, he would focus on levelling up his eyes in a bit; as of now, Phoebe was his main priority. "Right," Phoebe nodded before giving her full attention to the turtle. "Would you like to travel by my side?" Although it was a longshot considering the fact that Phoebe hasn''t suppressed it with her own strength, nor become a parental figure to it. She still gave it a try to save them all some time and effort. After a few seconds Phoebe began to make a noise, she was screaming but keeping the sound inside. A tattoo was forming on her hand through a silver light, it began to swirl before finally solidifying into a similar shape to that of the turtle''s shell pattern. After the tattoo solidified Phoebe took a few deep breaths while holding onto her hand, looking closer at the tattoo. Giving the commands her new tattoo lit up, stunning the group with its golden light. When the light dispersed the turtle was seen right in front of Phoebe''s feet. It began to crawl towards the rest of the group, who calmly squatted down to greet it. The turtle got closer and closer before finally walking past the group. The turtle was heading towards a pile of things on the ground, it was the fruits they got from the island along with some stones. Lachlan swiftly analysed the stones which were new to him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Horn Sharpener Stone Description: Grinding a horn against this stone will give it unparalleled sharpness with the possibility of changing its shape depending on the wielder''s intention. Location: Possibility of being found anywhere alongside mountains. -------------------------------------------------------- As Lachlan looked through what the status screen said the turtle had already reached the pile of goods. Its neck extended before the turtle managed to get a horn fruit in its mouth. It swallowed the fruit whole and swiftly after retracted its head back into its shell. Faint sounds could be heard from the shell before its shell began to change. Although it kept the swirl like pattern from before, slight points began to stick out from the shell. The turtle''s head came back out and on its forehead was a horn with the length of 10cm. It then reached out its horn and scrapped it against the stone. It began to change and morph as its horn was losing its sharpness. It almost turned completely flat before finally stopping. The turtle retracted its head back into its shell, the horn managed to block the gap then head went into perfectly. Now one of its weak spots was taken care of it swiftly returned to Phoebe''s side. Giving Lachlan a few stares as it hid behind her. 125 The Turtles Concerns and Information ''What''s wrong Hope? Why does it seem you''re giving Lachlan death stares?'' Phoebe asked with concern. Similar to her other turtles she named it Hope; due to it having the ability to predict future catastrophes it would also give them hope because they''ll be able to avoid them or even prevent them. ''That young lad; my senses are going off in all different directions. My calamity senses are going haywire yet at the same time he''s also the only one that''s able to prevent the calamity'' Hope responded in a wise old feminine voice, similar to that of a grandma. ''What danger does a calamity represent?'' Phoebe asked with curiosity. From what Lachlan''s told her, Hope can sense calamities, catastrophes, and any immediate danger to itself. But what''s the difference between a calamity and catastrophe. ''From how I see it; calamity is an event that will result in a great loss of life while a catastrophe is some type of natural occurrences such as tsunamis or earthquakes. Since it''s my calamity sense that''s going off it''ll have to do with a great loss of life, whether that be human or beast'' Hope explained calmly. ''As for my initial reaction to it, I didn''t even know how to react since that sense had never gone off to such a scale before. I''ve only ever encountered one other calamity but that didn''t provoke even close to as big of a reaction'' ''That probably has to do with his other half then'' Phoebe replied. ''Unlike most humans, Lachlan has another soul apart of him, one which desires completely destruction and death. Fortunately, we know how to prevent it, it''ll just take a great deal of time to do that which is why we''re quickening the pace by travelling around the world in search of treasures that increase willpower'' ''I think I know a place that could help, granted it''ll be rather dangerous due to the nature of that place but it''ll be worth a visit if it helps prevent a calamity'' Hope said. Due to her excitement Phoebe swiftly turned around and picked Hope up, she didn''t even take notice that she wasn''t using her internal voice. "Really? That''ll be wonderful, so, where''s this place?" "Where''s what place?" Lachlan asked as he tilted his head in confusion. Phoebe''s face went red. "Uh, I was just talking to the new turtle, Hope, she says there''s a wonderful place that might be able to help increase willpower." "Alright, that''s some great news," Lachlan said before going quiet, letting Phoebe finish her conversation with Hope. ''It''s roughly 100 kilometres away from this island eastward, an island shrouded in the aura of death, constantly tempting the mind into doing unspeakable things. However, successfully warding off these temptations should increase the willpower, there might even be something on the island that''ll be able to increase it instantly to a certain degree'' Hope explained. ''Is that dangerous? The other half might take advantage of a lapse in Lachlan''s concentration'' Phoebe told her concerns about the island since she wasn''t exactly sure how the other half worked either. ''Well I''m not exactly sure either, it isn''t as though I know everything about this so-called other half either. From what I know, this island will just increase willpower through a series of temptations; some of which should be easily blocked and others might be slightly more difficult'' Hope explained as she reassured Phoebe that Lachlan should be fine. ''Alright, you''re going to have to make sure we get to the island soon and in one piece'' Phoebe said. ''Yeah, yeah, don''t worry so much and relax, I have this covered, just spend some time with the young lad to make sure he knows the possible dangers of this island to him and I suppose everyone in the entire world'' Hope said ''Don''t worry I got this'' Phoebe said as she unsummoned Hope before turning back to the group. "Alright, so fortunately, I have some greats news involving Lachlan''s situation, a method to increase the willpower," Phoebe said proudly. "There''s an island roughly 100 kilometres eastward, one which will constantly tempt you into doing something unthinkable, so stay focused." "Alright then, I''ll change the course we''re going right now, let''s hope that that turtle didn''t lie out of spite," Lachlan said with a smile, Phoebe chuckled at the pun while shaking her head. Lachlan continued. "So does it know what''s on the island?" Phoebe nodded before turning back to Hope. ''You heard the question; what''s on the island? Do you even know what''s on the island?'' ''Of course I know what''s on the island, that''s where I used to live but it was some real survival of the fittest on it. On this island, I can take life easy and relax, that was until you all came but that doesn''t matter'' Hope complained a bit before finally getting onto what Phoebe was wanting to hear. ''The island contains undead beasts, a lot of undead beast due to the nature of the island and the one that controls it'' ''The one that controls it? Have you ever seen the beast before?'' Phoebe asked with great concern, wondering whether or not visiting the island will be in their best interest right now. ''Of course, a great beast that shrouds the island with its deathly aura, the one that resurrects the dead and commands them with its mighty strength. It''s also the first beast that made my calamity sense go off, granted to a much smaller scale compared to that young lad'' Hope explained with a hint of fear in her voice. ''What does it look like? Is it large? Small? It''ll be best if we prepare well beforehand'' Phoebe said. Hope nodded. ''Indeed, sorry for getting sidetracked. The beast is medium sized, roughly 5 metres tall and 9 metres long. Unfortunately I don''t know anything else, due to the deathly aura I didn''t stay for any long'' ''Do you know where it spends a majority of its time? Will it be at the centre of the island or somewhere else?'' Phoebe asked. ''It''ll be at the centre alright, it has a temple that was built there for it and loves to spend all its time there'' Hope explained. ''Great'' Phoebe then turned back to the group. "Alright, so the island has a lot of undead beast, most of which are being controlled by one beast at the centre of the island inside its temple." "So it''s an intelligent beast?" Lachlan asked. Phoebe thought for a bit before turning back to Hope. ''Is it an intelligent beast?'' ''Nope, similar to that griffon tamed by the young lad it''s just a beast that wields incredible strength, although it seems no different to those that you call intelligent beast due to it controlling many other beasts'' Hope said. "Alright, it isn''t an intelligent beast but rather something similar to Aaron; a beast possessing great strength at its disposal, not to mention its undead minions that it creates through resurrection," Phoebe told the group what she was told. "So it''s basically an intelligent beast but stronger," Simon swiftly summarised. "It has the ability to resurrect the dead and control them which is similar to how intelligent beasts work, they just don''t need their soldiers dead." "But I will say, this one is mine," Simon said before turning to Lachlan. "I''ll take care of this one, you aren''t allowed to take it." ''Huh, suppose he stills has that grudge'' Lachlan almost forgot about the time he took care of the intelligent beasts in Sydney singlehandedly. Simon was rather annoyed by that since he also wanted to have a good fight. ''How about we give him that good fight'' Aaron said threateningly. ''I''ll show him what true strength is, I''ll also crush that arrogant Wildfire into the ground'' ''Now, now, no need to get violent, we''ll give him this one. After all, if this beast possesses strength similar to you then he won''t stand a chance against it and all its undead minions, you four will be able to come out and fight till your heart''s content'' Lachlan explained, he felt through his soul that they were rather pumped up to fight. ''I''ll crush that beast to the ground singlehandedly'' Catastrophe said with confidence. Aaron let off a slight chuckle. ''If that beast has strength anywhere close to mine you won''t even be able to handle a sneeze from it'' ''Alright, stop, stop, stop'' Disaster immediately stepped forward to stop the arguing before it intensified. ''We''ll decide what to do when we get there first, Catastrophe can get the first attempt at fighting this beast, the Aaron can finish it off if Catastrophe can''t handle it'' ''Oh I''ll handle it alright'' Catastrophe said before turning mute. Lachlan could feel that Catastrophe was pouting right now in annoyance. "Alright Simon, you can take the first crack at it," Lachlan quickly returned to what was happening and decided he would give the fight to Simon. It would be good experience as to whether or not his four beasts can fight together in harmony. Lachlan knew the three Rocs could fight together without any problems, that''s the reason they were able to beat Aaron so easily and quickly in the cave. As for whether or not his four can fight together, he already knows the answer is a resounding no. Although Aaron now possesses a strength that''ll be able to contend against the combined force of the three Rocs. Granted that''s entirely due to Aaron''s aura which heavily suppresses everything, without it, Aaron would probably get dominated by the three Rocs. After chatting a little while longer Lachlan unsummoned Aaron and went into the hut, where Sarah was taking a nap. Her body wrapped up in a fluffy blanket like a burrito. Lachlan quietly walked up to the bedside and squatted down, giving Sarah a kiss on the forehead. He then looked back up at a mirror, one that got from Patagonia for convenient reasons. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 18 (Adolescence) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) STR: 119(+2), AGI: 118(+4), VIT: 77(+1) INT: 44(+2), PER: 47, WIL: 45 Weakness: Heavy Injury Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 10), Grip Strength (Level 6), Water Control (Level 7), Fire Control (Level 7), Wind Control (Level 7), Leg Strength (Level 2), Body Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan still wasn''t completely sure whether or not he''ll be fine with using combined willpower of both his and all his tamed beasts. Whether or not it would work, not to mention he also wouldn''t mind just being well above the estimate. The only problem with that is that it''ll take too long and with the world constantly advancing around him he needs to grow with it. To stay on top to stay in control over his own fate, stay respectable, and keep Sarah safe. Although if push comes to shove, Lachlan wouldn''t be completely against taming another beast right now. He just needs to find one worthy enough, or even a group of siblings worthy enough. Lachlan decided to worry about everything tomorrow. He laid down on the best right next to Sarah. He took out the air stone and gave it some commands, bringing in a warm wind that swirled around their hut. He quickly fell asleep. 126 Island of the Dead When Lachlan woke up it had already been a few hours and the island has long since reached the destination. An island shrouded in a deathly aura so thick it could be cut with a knife, the waters surrounding the island were pitch-black, with boney fins surfacing every now and then. There was a stench that came from the island that even reached them, although they didn''t exactly know how to describe other than saying it smelt like death. A smell that could only be found in hospitals and cemeteries. The trees were twisted and dead, painting a haunting scene as the island seemed to have natural darkness to it. As though the sunlight struggled to pierce through the death aura that shrouded the island in its entirety. "Well I suppose this is the place then," Lachlan joked to try and lighten up the mood. Everyone was staring at the island, slightly hesitant at its ghastly sight. Although Simon was still fairly pumped up, Wildfire was already summoned and stared at the darkness in contempt. "Do we really have to go down there?" Phoebe asked slightly fearful of what she might see down there. Her mind was running wild, imagine all the horrible things that could happen to them as if it was a horror movie. "Well you don''t have to, remember, this is for me to increase my willpower," Lachlan reminded them of their purpose here, which was for him to increase his willpower. Whether or not the group stayed on the island or not didn''t matter, he needed to go down. "Alright, I''ll go with you," Phoebe braved it out and decided to pull through with a plan. She would go with Lachlan while the others would go with Simon, just in case something doesn''t go to plan and he ends up in a disadvantageous position. The group nodded at the plan and jumped off the island. They swiftly penetrated the shroud of death which sent a shiver down their spines, they felt as though they were getting watched from all angles. When they landed on the ground Lachlan quickly analysed the surrounds but aside from the status screen that came up for the trees and bushes, there was nothing else. Lachlan and Phoebe calmed themselves down with deep breaths before separating from the group. They weaved through the twisted trees, stepping on the cracked rocks that crumbled under their weight. The feeling of being looked at never going away, Lachlan and Phoebe stared at their surroundings, looking for anything abnormal. Lachlan suddenly sensed something and ducked; a tree branch passed through where he was running with some force behind it. The branch was hidden spikes on it, the tips looked as though they had been coated with poison as they had a purple hue to them. Looking to the tree the branch was connected to Lachlan swiftly analysed it. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Undead Ent Age: Adult Attribute: Darkness/Ghoul STR: 31, AGI: 26, VIT: 100 INT: 28, PER: 19, WIL: 10 Weakness: Immobile Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 3), Sense Share -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan looked at the bizarre status screen for a few seconds before an Ent behind him launched an attack. He swiftly dodged it by sidestepping, Phoebe did the same when she was attacked. They were surrounded by ents. Lachlan already knew why these ents were so unique, it was because they were resurrected. At the very least that''s a decent explanation as to why they don''t have a grade, level, or innate talent. The other idea was that it was because the ent was a plant type beast. "These things are that beast''s undead minions, and since they''re already dead how about we just finish them off completely," Lachlan said as he summoned all four of his tames. The four swiftly went into action, ripping apart the ents in the surroundings. Phoebe summoned Faith and Joy, Hope wouldn''t be very useful in their current circumstances. She then turned to Lachlan. "Sure, we''ll go with that idea." Faith''s massive body already crushed a few trees into the dirt. Spears of water began to form around him before shooting off, slicing the trees in half, leaving none untouched. It let out a roar that shook the surroundings, it was pumped up since it hadn''t fought in such a long time. Joe was in a similar situation and using his control over the water he gently slid across the ground, smashing into ents and breaking them apart. Lachlan his four tames watched the scene unfold in front of them. ''Indeed, truly a fitting partner for master'' Aaron said pridefully. ''She sure is something'' Lachlan admired Phoebe''s change. Not to long ago she was hesitant and scared but now she was fighting furiously without a care in the world. Letting her turtles annihilate the Ents. Lachlan walked up to Phoebe with the four trailing behind him, he stood next to Phoebe and watched the two turtles rip apart the ents like they were nothing. Faith was sliding across the ground, smashing apart Ents with its huge body. Joy was doing something similar. ''This is great, absolutely wonderful!'' Faith shouted with joy as he continued to shred through ents one after another. ''I''m glad you enjoy it, maybe I should bring you out more often to fight'' Phoebe said. ''Indeed, I can''t be letting my body get rusty by staying in that tattoo'' Faith said. ''Watch out!'' A tail appeared out of nowhere, it was ridged with spikes as it furiously moved through the air. Lachlan''s eyes widened with surprise, but fortunately, to him, the tail was moving rather slow. He held out his hand and ice formed around it, the ice had small spikes covering it. Grabbing hold of the tile he squeezed tightly and yanked hard. The tail appeared to be floating in the air but Lachlan felt the rest of the beast''s body when he yanked it towards him. Lachlan prepared his next attack, his fist was covered in pale blue flames that were burning brightly. He smashed forward to what he predicted was the body, the sound of bones snapped and flesh tearing echoed as the beast''s invisibility was disabled. Lachlan had punched through the beast''s head. Lachlan already knew it was going to be a lizard, he didn''t expect anything else. When he pulled his hand away from the corpse it set alight, the blue flames burnt it to ash before dispersing in the cold and haunting wind. "Sure hope the others are having just as much luck as us," Lachlan said. Although he knew they probably wouldn''t, considering the fact that they''re heading right to the centre where the temple is. It''s probably heavily guarded. ... "Burn these fucks to the ground!" Simon shouted as Wildfire used intense lazar beams to set all the ents on fire. Joe and Sandy were spewing out fire behind the two, burning everything to the ground without hesitation. Joe was happily using his fire control, shooting out a trail of fire. "Don''t worry I got this!" Joe shouted before turning to Sandy. ''You know what to do'' Sandy smiled before sprinting into the most concentrated part of enemies, it abruptly halted before howling at the sky. Flames began to surround Sandy before spreading, burning everything to the ground. The earth began to crack, lava started pouring out onto the ents and other enemies no one ever saw. It was a massacre, as Sandy almost singlehandedly wiped out an entire army of undead soldiers. After finishing its special ability it swiftly returned to Joe''s side. ''Master, there''s so many of them even my ability would have trouble finishing them off; we need to get to the centre quickly'' Sandy suggest quickly with a tone of concern. They were slowly getting surrounded, and although the ents were easily taken care of there was also the invisible lizards and possibly other invisible beasts. ''Right'' Joe nodded as he hopped onto Sandy, turning to the others he shouted. "Let''s stop wasting our time here and just head straight for the temple at the centre!" "Then why waste our time running!" Georgia shouted as she hopped onto Kyle whose wings were spread out wide. The darkness beneath his feet extended to the surroundings, merging with the shadows everywhere, devouring beast whole. "Let''s just fly there instead!" The others nodded and ran up to the birds, Joe joined Georgia on Kyle while Simon hopped onto Wildfire. Chloe went onto Tempest and Zoe hopped onto Dusty. Zhang was still injured and Brianna was taking care of him on the island. His recovery was sped up when he began eating and drink the coconuts and water. The group shot into the air, they headed straight towards the centre of the island where a small hill was located. They quickly caught sight of the temple, it was shrouded in a dark purple mist; a completely black liquid surrounded the temple. They landed on the ground and took a closer look at the temple, its exterior was completely black with white outlines. A tree shot through the centre, its leaves were purple with blacks stems. Its branches twisted and tangled with its black bark. "The air feels heavy here making it slightly difficult to breathe," Chloe said. The group agreed, they felt their chests heave when breathing as the air felt heavy and stale. It was lacking life, as though it had everything sucked from it. "Now that I think about I don''t see any other beast in sight," Joe said as he searched the surroundings for any life. There wasn''t anything, not even a tree in the nearby environment. *Roar!* A roar that shook the surroundings and caused the ground rumble. The sound of clinging and clanging was heard from the temple, the group saw the outline of a tale sway through the darkness, purple eyes stared at the group from the far side of the temple. *Stomp!* It took a step forward, its strength forced the ground to shake. The eyes swayed as the beast walked forward slowly, a purple air came out of the beast''s mouth. It large scaly claw reached out of the darkness and slammed onto the ground. The other followed soon after. The beast''s head escaped the darkness, allowing the group to see in its entirety. The beast''s wings extended wide, there were holes through the wing membrane. Its tail slid across the ground, clinking against the stone floor. Its body was tall, the information the turtle gave them was correct. It was 5 metres tall and 9 metres long. Granted, the turtle didn''t account for the beast''s wings that extended 10 metres wide on each side. "I really didn''t think I would ever see it," Simon said in awe. "It''s a goddamn dragon." *Roar!* 127 Ruler of the Island "For what reason have you come to my island," The dragon abruptly spoke in a deep and wise voice. Its tail behind it swayed through the air, brushing against the temple''s pillars to the sides. Its eyes were created with purple flames. "Our reason in coming here is to help a friend, we need to increase his willpower and we were told that coming here would be our best bet," Chloe stepped forward to explain. The dragon began to think before turning to Simon. "And for what reason have you come, there''s no need to lie, I can see your emotions and it seems you slightly disagree with that young lass." "Indeed, although our purpose in coming here is to indeed find a method to increase our friend''s willpower. My reason for coming to this temple is to challenge you to a fight, although I certainly wasn''t expecting a dragon," Simon explained. The dragon let out a burst of haughty laughter that shook the ground. "You think you have the strength to fight against me. I suppose I shouldn''t expect anything better from a race of war and violence." "And I shouldn''t have thought anything less of a race of flying lizards," Simon insulted back. It sent the dragon into a fury of rage, deathly mist spread from its body, engulfing the group in its grasp. "Calling us noble dragons lizards is nothing short of blasphemy; I''ll accept that challenge and send you to the grave!" The purple glow moved through the mist swiftly as the dragon moved closer, its steps shaking the ground. "And I win I''ll be forcing you to work for us," Simon said joyfully as his planned work. From what he''s read about mythology during his Percy Jackson period, dragons are noble creatures that deserve respect. That could also be interpreted as arrogant creatures that demand respect. "And If I win I''ll be using your corpses to wash my temple daily and pick up my shit!" The dragon shouted back, its tail swinging around towards Simon, the rest of the group had already retreated back to where they believed it would be a safe place. Simon lightly hopped over the dragon''s tail, Wildfire shot into the air, morphing into a beam of light it headed towards the dragon whose eyes widened in surprise. The dragon swiftly opened its mouth and a purple gas shot out. Everything that purple gas touched was eaten and corroded, the few dead trees surrounding the temple had been destroyed because of it. Wildfire dodged it ever so slightly while continuing its attack, ramming into the dragon''s head before attempting to grab its neck. The dragon wasn''t shaken or anything, it calmly proceeded to smash its head towards Wildfire, its mouth wide open as it aimed for the wings. Wildfire was momentarily stunned by what the dragon was doing before morphing into light before retreating. ''This damn dragon is insane. If I attack it with something that could threaten its life it counterattacks in a suicidal way, making it so I''ll die with it, forcing me to retreat if I want to keep my life'' Wildfire complained. ''Suppose that''s a noble dragon for you, it''ll make sure to bring its enemy down with it'' Simon frowned, he couldn''t help but be slightly frustrated by the dragon''s personality and fighting style. ''I guess there''s only one other thing I can do now. The three of you join the fight'' Simon had left the three out of the fight due to his confidence in Wildfire, he just never predicted that the dragon would be so determined to win it''ll sacrifice its life for it. He didn''t want to lose his new tame so it would be best to use his full strength. He also decided to join the fight. "Oh, so now we''re finally getting serious," The dragon said as a malicious smile flashed across its face. The black liquid puddles around them began to bubble, black gas rose from them as a claw stretched out. Pulling itself out of the black puddle, the skeleton of a wolf appeared. The black liquid draining off its bones, returning back to the puddle before another claw came out, bringing out another wolf. This happened dozens of times, for each puddle, all bringing out different beasts. Simon was quickly surrounded on all sides, these skeletons seem stronger than the ones they were fighting before. They were also fighting a lot more careless, without hesitation, just heading straight for Simon growling and howling. "Tsk, damn nuisances," Simon complained as he smashed the through the head of a skeleton. He then gripped onto the bones and swung it around, using it as a weapon as he spread his lightning control all throughout it. The lightning crackled as it passed through each beast it hit, collapsing their bodies instantly as they were charred. Simon let go of the skeleton he was holding and moved on to a much more suitable bone, that of a tail that reached a length of 2 metres. Lightning crackled as it passed through the bone segments, lighting them up. Simon smiled as he began using it like a whip, hitting the most vulnerable parts of the skeletons, the spine and neck. Each attack causing another one to collapse. The four birds were taking care of the dragon, each attacking from different angles attempting to disable a limb at the very least. Wildfire was attacking it with light beams, burning more holes through the dragon''s wings. Tempest shot lightning towards it, while Dusty and Hurrican were attacking it with blades of wind. Forcing it back. "Roar! I''ve had enough of this! I''ll send you all to hell!" The dragon shouted as a dark aura engulfed the battlefield, suppressing Simon and his birds, stopping them in their tracks as they felt them lose control over their bodies. The suppressive aura got stronger and stronger, even the group outside of the battlefield felt weak in the knees. They felt as though they should be kneeling in front of the dragon due to the sheer amount of pressure that was exerted onto them. "We have to get Simon out of there now!" Joe shouted as Sandy shot a ball of fire towards the dragon. The ball of fire burned through the purple mist, smashing against the dragon that was so focused on Simon. The dragon turned towards the group, the purple flames in its eyes intensified as the pressure on the group increased tenfold. They felt their knees give way, collapsing on the ground. "I''m the ruler of this island! You dare interrupt my business with a sneak attack, the business you started yourselves! I''ll kill you all myself, one, by one!" The dragon was furious at Joe''s sneak attack, it felt insulted and disrespected. It decided to stop holding back and show these humans what fear is, what real strength is. ... Near the edges of the island, Lachlan and Phoebe were continuing their search, checking every nook and cranny for anything. But aside from rocks and trees, there was nothing else here. Now, even the beasts stopped coming as well. Fortunately, the stones were slightly unique. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Stones of Death Description: Holds the aura of death inside, increasing the holder''s death related abilities. However, should the use not have any death related abilities, the stone of death will severely weaken their vitality. Location: Can be found in areas that reek of death. -------------------------------------------------------- The trees were similar, possessing an aura of death. Due to them soaking in the island ruler''s shroud of death they adapted to survive in it. The two also assumed that the sudden disappearance of beasts was due to Simon starting his fight against the ruler of the island. It was understandable, for it to command all its soldiers back. However, the two suddenly felt a pressure weight them down slightly. They looked towards each with their eyes widened from shock. Lachlan knew this type of pressure, although it''s slightly weaker then Aaron it''s still enough to suppress their fighting abilities. "Shit, I knew I shouldn''t have let them do this," Lachlan said as he summoned Aaron and hopped on. He predicted this would happen, he should have stopped it or at least got them to wait until he finished searching for what he needs. Phoebe hopped onto Aaron right after Lachlan. "Do you think this the workings of the ruler of the island?" "I don''t think, I know. If it isn''t then we''ll be in a whole lot more trouble when the actual ruler decides to show itself," Lachlan explained before getting Aaron to shoot into the sky. They went full speed towards the centre of the island, they could already see a large concentration of purple mist, the deathly shroud. The dragon stood up on two legs, extended its wings and roared towards the two of them. Lachlan and Phoebe were both shocked at the sight of the dragon, its deathly appearance giving them goosebumps. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lesser Undead Dragon King Age: Elder Attribute: Darkness/Ghoul/Bones Grade: Good Innate Talent: Elite Level: 16 STR: 312(+40), AGI: 278(+30), VIT: 500(+30) INT: 189(+20), PER: 143(+20), WIL: 132(+20) Weakness: Holy Attacks, Overwhelming Arrogance, Dragon''s Pride Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 2), Undead Resurrection (Level 3), Bone Defence (Level 6), Breath of Death (Level 2), Dragon''s Intimidation, Dragon''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- "So a few more flies decide to show up, laughable," The dragon said. "Although I still say, I certainly didn''t expect to see a griffon, especially a rare variant. Do tell, did you come through a gate as well?" 128 Spatial Gates Lachlan turned to Aaron in confusion and asked, ''What''s the dragon talking about? What are these spatial gates?'' ''They''re tears in space, they usually connect two locations together that are usually in another galaxy. That cave you entered, there''s a spatial gate there, a permanent one'' Aaron explained. ''So you''re telling me you actually come from another planet? And that there''s a spatial tear that connects those two planets together on that island?'' Lachlan couldn''t believe what he was hearing, it sounded both bizarre but normal at the same time. ''Indeed, although the spatial tear on the island is rather unique. Usually, they stay in the spot where they were formed; however, the one on the island seems to follow it around as though its space is separate from everything surrounding it'' Aaron explained. ''And you didn''t think of telling me any time sooner?'' Lachlan asked in annoyance. He thought Aaron was completely loyal to him, vowing to protect him and all those close to him. Lachlan didn''t think of Aaron as the type to keep secrets from him. Aaron''s head dropped from shame. ''Well, I had just assumed you knew about it master. Spatial gates are almost impossible to find on accident, which is why I had assumed you knew about it beforehand and prepared to fight whatever was on the other side of the tear'' ''Wait, since it connects to another world does that mean there''s actually a whole other world beyond that cave?'' Lachlan had always been curious as to why walking through the cave felt so weird, especially the first time they went through when their entrance disappeared behind them. Now all his questions were answered. ''Indeed, it''s a dangerous world where humans are a lot more barbaric and strong. Due to the world they live, they can''t focus on developing technology peacefully and instead focus on developing fighting abilities, magical skills, and cultivation techniques which is somewhat linked to magical skills'' Aaron explained. ''If I were to put a comparison, someone of your strength master would be ranked as a squadron knight leader'' ''And how many ranks are above that?'' Lachlan asked. He was already shocked, considering that with his strength he could safely say that outside his group he would be the strongest in the world. Now he was getting told that he would only be a squadron leader in the world Aaron is from. ''Above squadron leader, there''s Vice-Commander, Commander, Garrison Leader, the two constables and then there''s obviously the royalty, Baron/Baroness, Viscount/Viscountess, Earl/Countess, Marquess/Marchioness, Duke/Duchess, Prince/Princess then finally the king and queen. Granted, each kingdom works differently. Some have two militaries, the knights and the sorcerors while some might even have three; the third one being the cultivators. There are also come kingdoms that are controlled by a religion whose ranks are also different'' Aaron explained in detail. ''When did your world evolve?'' Lachlan asked. After everything he heard he remembered that the spatial gate is a two-way street, meaning the people of Aaron''s world could come through. And hearing how strong he was in comparison made him slightly fearful as to what they would do if they make it over. ''It evolved roughly 3 years ago, similar to this world. I was originally a normal cave lion, however, once the evolution happened I evolved into a griffon. So it''s not impossible that creatures of similar strength to mine have appeared. There''s also the whole crossbreeding thing that Alfredo was partaking in, something people of my world wouldn''t even fathom. I will say though before you even think about going to my world and exploring it; the humans there evolved differently due to their nature and low intelligence. Although their strength is great they''re only able to tame one beast in total'' Aaron informed Lachlan of even more things about his world. As the conversation was going on the dragon was getting angrier by the second. Its pride couldn''t take being ignored. "You three! Did you not hear my question or do you want to die!" "Yeah we heard it alright, although I don''t know what gives you the confidence that you could kill us," Lachlan said as Aaron unleashed his aura. Unlike the dragon that hasn''t trained using its aura and lets it run wild. Aaron''s aura is completely controlled, focusing and concentrating on one point. The dragon was prepared for that level of pressure and its concentration broke. Lachlan swiftly summoned the three Rocs and sent them attacking. With the dragon currently being suppressed the Rocs didn''t find any issue with injuring it. Unfortunately, due to its personality, it continued to risk both parties lives when push comes to shove. ''Father, this damn lizard is making it difficult for us to do any real damage, even with Aaron suppressing it'' Calamity complained. ''Alright, Aaron, go help them out'' Lachlan commanded before grabbing hold of Phoebe and hopping off. They floated towards the ground peacefully, there didn''t seem to be many beasts where they were landing as they seemed more concentrated at where the dragon was. ''I really want to tame that dragon'' Lachlan thought. There was just something childish that awoken inside of him that wanted that dragon. Although it wasn''t necessarily as cool or strong as a real, fire breathing dragon, he might be able to evolve it into one. ''Master, that might be more difficult than you think. As dragons are noble creatures they hate the very idea of working for someone, they think of themselves as rulers of the world, that''s just how they are. Although they also respect strength so it might be possible but that would mean fighting the dragon in a one vs one situation, something I wouldn''t suggest'' Aaron explained when he heard Lachlan''s thoughts. ''Indeed, even I''m not stupid enough to do something so dangerous. But I just really want to tame it, there''s just something so mythical and amazing about taming a dragon'' Lachlan said. ''Well, if you want to tame a dragon you could try coming to my world. Although before you go taming a dragon I would suggest you first try and search for a manual that''ll help increase your strength, that way you won''t be looked down upon by the dragons'' Aaron explained. ''Just wondering though, why didn''t you tell me about all this stuff sooner?'' Lachlan asked. ''Well master, it''s because you might not be cut out to survive in my world. The humans constantly scheme against each other, fight, kill and there are almost no real laws. The only thing that matters is strength, you can get away with anything if you have the strength to back it'' Aaron explained. ''And although you might have a lot of strength your personality just won''t do; you have to be ready to slaughter an entire city if you want to survive, that''s just how it is'' ''So you were worried about me?'' Lachlan felt touched. He could understand Aaron''s concerns, he does know his own world better than Lachlan. And after hearing about Aaron''s world he too was slightly hesitant. If the humans there were truly as barbaric and strong as Aaron explained then it would be incredibly dangerous to travel there. One wrong move and he could instantly get into a fight, granted, he was confident in his escaping abilities. If push comes to shove he could just crush everyone into the ground with a gravity stone. Although even then Lachlan wasn''t completely confident as to whether or not it would work. If there truly are magicians/sorcerers and cultivators then they might have the ability to nullify gravity. While Lachlan thought about his next course of action the fight against the dragon raged on. With Aaron joining the fight the four beasts began to dominate the dragon and push him back into the temple. "This is impossible! I, a noble dragon getting pushed back by the likes of you inferior beings; impossible!" The dragon went into a frenzy, the fire in his eyes intensified and began to spread through his body, lining his bones. The black liquid started bubbling wildly as well, it started to move, heading towards the dragon as though it was alive. It swiftly reached the dragon and began climbing up its bones, soaking them black as it caught alight by the fire. Lachlan and the others thought it would die from all that fire but it raised its head to look at everyone and opened its mouth wide. Purple flames shot from its mouth towards the group, Lachlan swiftly lunged there and slammed his hands against the ground, putting up a wall of ice. The fire split from the ice, spreading around them as it left the ground scorched, there were still small purple fires left over. The dragon noticed its attack didn''t work and prepared to fire another, the flames across its body intensified. Just as it was about to shot Aaron swooped down from above, slamming its mouth into the ground and crushing it shut. The fire blew up within the dragon''s mouth, flames shot out of its nose and bones, almost scorching Aaron in the process. "Damn piece of shit!" The dragon roared as he swung his boney claws at Aaron. Calamity flew down and gripped tightly onto the dragon''s arm bone, crushing it in his grasp, sending the dragon into a wild frenzy he swung his tail towards Calamity''s head. The flames crackled and the wind whistled as the tail came towards it. Catastrophe joined in this time, pinning the tail to the ground and crushing it in his grasp. Although the bone''s defence was strong, it''s gripping strength was stronger. Disaster swooped into action, grabbing hold of its other front leg bone, yanking it back and forcing the dragon to lose its balance. Aaron roared as ice ruptured from the ground, trapping its two hind legs. "This is impossible! This should not happen!" The dragon roared as his flames intensified even more. The heat from it could be felt a mile away, the surroundings were burning up, including the ice. The three Rocs soared into the sky, lightning clouds began to gather into a cluster, thunder roared as blue lightning could be seen zapping through. Aaron''s wings spread wide, it screen loudly and something happened. The Lightning''s power increase, it became thicker and darker. Electricity was skimming across the Rocs'' body, weaving through the feathers as it gathered in the eyes. They gave a final screech before a lightning bolt struck down, slamming into the head of the dragon. Its sheer power shook the ground, the explosion echoed through the island and surrounding waters. "Impossible," The dragon''s voice faded as its bones collapsed, its head broken apart. The clattering of bones set the mind''s at ease, the hellish purple flames died down before becoming nothing but a spark that soon dispersed in the wind as well. Silence consumed the battlefield before an array of cheers went off. The fight was amazing to say the least, but what Lachlan was most intrigued about was the final attack. ''Aaron, did you increase the power of the lightning?'' Lachlan asked. ''Yes'' Aaron replied. 129 Aarons Untold Past 1 ''How long have you known you could do that?'' Lachlan asked. ''Just then was the first time I''ve ever done that before, just something about it felt different compared to when we initially tested it out on the island'' Aaron explained in the best way he could. However, he didn''t fully know how to explain it, he just felt as though he could do it then, something instinctive. ''It might be due to the need for someone to use it on, but that wouldn''t explain why you couldn''t use it initially on me. Maybe it amplifies special abilities? That would explain why the Rocs lightning became more destructive'' Lachlan thought about it and it was the only logical explanation, at the very least it explained what they knew so far. ''We''ll test it out again another time, we''ll see that the requirements for it are'' Aaron nodded. ''Yes, master'' Catastrophe came down and landed next to Aaron. ''Huh, so your special ability was the reason I felt so much stronger then. Suppose that makes us comrades then since it probably wouldn''t work otherwise'' ''What are you on about Catastrophe?'' Lachlan asked. ''Well special abilities have limitations, Aaron''s probably has the limitation of only working on comrades. And I don''t mean all the others in the group aren''t comrades, but rather, it''s because we all work together under one person, that person being you, father'' Catastrophe explained. ''That''s another theory we could test out later, as of now, we''ll collect the bones of the dragon and continue our search for items that''ll increase my willpower; you four will help out'' Lachlan said. ''Yes,'' they nodded before shotting off into the skies to search for items. They swiftly split and went to the four cardinal directions, they would circle the island slowly to make sure they don''t miss anything. "Alright, so how about we search that dragon temple? We''re bound to find something there,'' Lachlan said to the group as he clapped his hands. They nodded. Phoebe came running over, she had been watching everything going on from behind Joy. "I thought you would have wanted to tame the dragon? Also, what was that about gates?" "Of course I wanted to tame the dragon, I was extremely tempted to but it was too prideful to submit to me. Granted, I won''t let that dream die, I will tame a dragon and I know exactly how I''m going to do that," Lachlan said confidently before going on to explain the spatial gates. "So you''re telling me our parents are actually on another world entirely?" Joe asked with a shocked expression plastered across his face. Zoe was the same, they were both shocked and slightly nervous. "Yup, don''t worry though, it''s a permanent spatial gate which means it won''t disappear. Your parents are still safe there, the cave is like its own little environment, isolated from the outside world due to where it actually is." Lachlan swiftly attempted to calm them down, it was understandable for them to be worried; if Aaron hadn''t told him how his cave is far away from everything he would have immediately gone back to the island to bring everyone out. He would still go back to look at Aaron''s world, but if they weren''t in any immediate danger right now it''ll be fine for them to finish what they were doing right now. The group were walking to the temple while Lachlan was having a conversation with Aaron about his life before meeting him and about his world. ''So what was your world like? In comparison to Earth that is, you know. What are the trees like? What about the animals? How much different are the humans of your world? Do they have large countries? Or small kingdoms? I want to know everything I can before going to your world'' Lachlan asked a variety of questions to prepare himself, he also wanted to learn more about Aaron who came from another world. ''Well, when comparing the sizes, Earth is absolutely tiny compared to my planet, it might not even be qualified to be a moon for it, that''s how large my planet is. Everything is quite similar, just different styles of living due to different environments. While the people on Earth advanced technology, the people of Edejur advanced their fighting techniques. The trees and plant life in somewhat similar, however, on Edejur there is a much larger variety as well as many unique, arcane species that can be used for alchemy. As for the humans, well, they''re a rather unique bunch. I''ve mentioned the fact that they''ve advanced fighting techniques, however, you could compare those techniques to the strengths that you get when you tame a beast. For example, ice control; although exhausting to use, should a sorcerer or cultivator reach the required level of strength, they''re able to wield the elements to a similar degree. I should quickly say cultivators are those people that specialise in both physical and magical fighting. When a human is born in Edejur, their talent is tested, from that one test their fate is determined. Should they have a low grade they''re seen as no better than garbage; however, should one have middle - high grade they''ll be seen as nobles, and as for those that reach the pinnacle in talent, they''re seen as future rulers. They''re also split up into three categories, Brutes, Scholars, and Impactors. Although slightly complicated, dependent on your talent you get thrown into one of the categories. Brutes are those that have a talent in fighting techniques, researchers are magical spells and impactors are both, they are the cultivators, ones which are destined to leave an impact in the world. However, each category has subcategories for the level of talent someone possesses, there are a total of ten subcategories that are also split into 4 parts; low, middle, high, and peak'' ''Sounds like a wuxia novel'' Lachlan added. ''Indeed, however, the difference between wuxia novels and my world are the fact that almost all the people in my world are cold and heartless. Whether it be the ones in poverty or the nobles they all have the same twisted personality; having a kind one would make you vulnerable and those twisted ones would exploit you till your death. Any groups that have tried to stand up for kindness and treating others better have been slaughtered, so much so that no one even thinks of the idea since it''s pointless'' ''Who''s the one slaughtering them? Surely it isn''t those struggling in life?'' Lachlan asked. ''Nobles, that''s who. The people at the top that see all life beneath them as garbage; fortunately, sometimes that shitty personality gets the best of them and leads them to their death. However, for the ones that survive and gain power, they do everything they can to keep hold of it all, even if they have to slaughter entire families or groups that wish to change the system. As for the kingdoms, they''re both big and small. Depending on their age and influence, some grow the be the size of countries or continents while others stay at the small city size that they are'' Aaron''s eyes were filled with hatred and disgust, Lachlan, although hesitant wants to learn more about Aaron, more about the reasons for his hatred. ''The hatred you have for the humans of your world, where does it source from?'' Lachlan asked. ''I suppose I will tell you master, but please be patient since the story is rather long and filled with many incidents which incur my wrath'' Aaron said and Lachlan responded with silence. --- In The Snowy Mountains of Lavestic --- The roars of lions could be heard all throughout the cave system, a cave system which spread all throughout the mountain range. The cold wind was blowing harshly against the mountain, the trees were swaying heavily to the point of almost snapping in half. But none of that could disturb the lioness which just gave birth to a litter of 3 lion cubs, they were sucking from the lioness''s tit which laid on the ground, heavily breathing after giving birth. It looked at its cubs who had barely been alive for a few minutes, their eyes tightly squeezed shut as they used all their strength to drink. The heavy footsteps of an alpha lion could be heard coming towards them, when it came closer the light from outside allow it to be seen. Its mane was large, each strand of fur was a metre in length. Its body was lean and muscular, filled with strength ready to lunged at any given moment. It walked towards the cubs and laid down; looking over his children he felt a great sense of pity, for them to be born in such a cruel and heartless world. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw one of the cubs stop feasting and crawl towards him. The cub opened its eyes which were pure and untainted, it rubs its head against the lion''s feet before laying down, wrapping itself around them. The lion leaned its head down and licked the cub''s forehead, he smiled wildly and laid his head down by its side. When the rest of the cubs finished drinking they crawled up next to their mother, falling asleep swiftly without a care in the world. That night may have been cold but the cubs didn''t feel a thing, their parent''s thick fur kept them warm. When the morning sun blasted through the cave they were quick to wake up, it would be a day when the cubs first experience the outside world. The sun was high when the family decided it was safe to go out, the two parents were on constant watch, their fear searching through every bush and every tree for anything that could attack them. The three cubs didn''t take much notice, they played in the thick snow, play fought against one another. That was until one of the cubs noticed a small bug flying just above them, its wings were filled with colours as it flew gently in the cold wind. One of the cubs began to follow it, it flew slowly through the air which made it easier for the cub to follow. The parents swiftly realised what was happening and pounced on the bug, or more specifically, the empty space in front of the bug. Blood splattered and stained the white snow red as a beast appeared before them, on the end of its tail was the small bug. The beast was small, only two times bigger than the cub but its teeth were razor sharp and injected a venom that would paralyse small creatures quickly. The lion looked back at the cub but realised it was already at the corpse, sniffing around, poking its tiny claws into the skin. The cub was curious, trying to understand why there was a small bug one its tail. The lion slowly and gently walked up to his cub and roared softly. "Listen boy, this beast is one of great deception, tricking the small infants of our race and many others into following it before killing and eating its prey. No matter how pretty or mystical something may seem, never trust it for a second." Although the cub couldn''t completely understand due to its young age, from the face its father was showing it, the cub knew it had done something bad. It nodded silently before walking back over to the other cubs and continuing their play fighting. 130 Aarons Untold Past 2 In a large mansion located near the centre of the city of Lavish, capital for the kingdom of Lavestic. A middle age man was furiously banging his hands against his desk, papers scattered as his face was tomato red. His dark green suit had almost been torn apart by his bulging muscles, his short black hair stood on its ends. "Damn! Those damn peasant bastards!" The man''s eyes were bloodthirsty with a hint of red, the veins were popping out across his skin, his teeth clenched tightly. "If I see that peasant that decided to steal from me I''ll tear them limb from limb, start by slowly peeling off their skin before cutting the sensitive flesh." "Daddy?" A sweet voice came from in front of the man, the door slightly open as a girl was peeking through. The man swiftly took a deep breath before composing himself. "Come in daughter." The man sat back down, he felt his heartbeat slow down as the one thing that stopped him from massacring everyone in the city walked into his study, his daughter. "What is it that you want?" "You were shouting and it scared me, daddy, is everything alright?" The young girl asked, her very presence calmed the man down. "Ah yes, everything''s alright daughter, just some issues with work, you know the usual stuff,'' The man leaned back in his chair, his anger slightly subsiding with the entrance of his daughter. His sole child, the one that was birthed from the woman he loved before she was taken away by the hardship of life; even the best of healing magicians couldn''t save her. "Why is it always work?" The daughter asked as she clenched her fist tightly, the father was slightly stunned by his daughter''s question. "Every time there''s a problem its always to do with work, can''t we just leave all this behind and leave peacefully in the countryside; as long as I have daddy I don''t care what happens around us." The man stood up and walked to his daughter, he wrapped his arms around and brought her into his embrace. "Oh my precious daughter; it''s exactly because of that innocent and kind heart that I fear for the future and want to do everything in my power to make sure you can live that peaceful life. Even at the cost of my own, I will make it happen." "But mummy wouldn''t want that, mummy would want daddy to live with me peacefully and happily; right?" The daughter asked with a wide smile across her face. "Right. Do say, daughter, is there anything you want right now?" The man asked with a very serious voice and face. "I want a pet, something that''ll keep me company forever, something that''ll protect me and daddy forever." The daughter had a rather ridiculous request, but as a Baron of the kingdom, it wasn''t as though he didn''t have the power to get something like that. "Okay daughter, I''ll get you a grand pet but for now, you need to get some rest, it''s still early morning," The man said before lifting up his daughter and walking to her bedroom. He laid his daughter in bed and brought the sheets up to her face. "Good night." "Goodnight," The daughter said in a gentle voice before drifting to sleep. The man stayed there for a few more seconds, watching over his daughter peacefully as he rested his mind and calmed his mental state. Walking outside the bedroom his personal butler was there, a man that has managed to stick with him through life and death situations. He didn''t see this butler as a mere butler but as a comrade and friend. "Saveb, take a group of magicians and knights and bring my daughter a pet she''ll remember. Oh, those Mountain Lions should be in the middle of the birthing season; either bring me a small cub or entire family," The Baron ordered. "Yes, master," The butler said as he bowed with a hand by his chest. "Remember, behind closed doors you don''t need to use formalities, you''re a friend," The Baron said as he patted Saveb''s shoulders lightly. "Alright Aaron, I''ll bring back something you can be happy about," Saveb said confidently before walking away down the hall, his neat black suit fading into the distance along with his slightly long grey hair. Aaron sighed deeply as he went back to his study, he walked slowly to his desk before taking a look at the pile of papers scattered across it. He sat down and leaned back, his hands on his head. Elsewhere in the castle, Saveb was seen readying a group of troops, 15 knights and 3 magicians. The knights were suited in their silver armour, a golden crest just above their heart and a much larger one on their backs. The magicians were wearing purple robes along with the same crest, in their hands were wooden staffs. "Let''s set out now," Saveb said as he hopped into the front seat of the carriage, he took hold of the reins and whipped it. The horses neighed loudly before sprinting off, the magicians had swiftly acted and got inside the carriage while the knights got onto horses of their own. They swiftly got out of the city and the knights surrounded the carriage in a defensive formation. Bandits were outside the city, they had to keep their guards up. ... In the thick snow, a family of lions was seen enjoying life, the cubs playing in the thick snow and the parents keeping a close watch. They were suspicious of everything that moved, that''s how they survived for so long. However, just during this one morning, they began to worry about one of their cubs. It seemed to gravitate towards everything that it hadn''t seen before, as though it was something amazing. They had to get rid of that habit but didn''t know how. The lioness looked towards the lion. "So, are you going to go out and hunt for some food?" The lion shook his head. "No, we''ll eat the dead Carserous. Food always gets scarce in the winter, I''ll search for some tomorrow while you keep the kids inside the cave." "Alright," The lioness nodded as she walked up to her children. "Alright then children, it''s time to head back into the cave." The children swiftly followed their mother back, even the most curious of the bunch followed along. The lion followed from behind them all, making sure no one gets lost or separates from the pack. However, his ears perked up at the sound of clattering hooves. A carriage and its guards burst through the thick snow and shrubbery. It quickly stopped before the lion and Saveb hopped out, he bowed gracefully before turning to one of the magicians. The magician nodded and slammed the bottom of his staff on the ground, a magic circle spread from his feet and Saveb turned back to the lion. "For what reason have you come here human? You know this is sacred land for us Mountain Lions," The lion said in a deep and intimidating voice, his eyes glowing with bloodlust at the sight of humans. "We come here in hopes of striking a deal with your family, one which benefits both parties greatly," Saveb said calmly, without showing a hint of fear at the face of death. Mountain Lions were one of the strongest animals in the surrounding kingdoms, known for their perseverance when it comes to protecting their young. "Say what you want," The lion said calmly before turning to the lioness and telling her to wait patiently. "Yes. We wish to offer you and your family a deal, we wish that you move into the Baron''s mansion. We will give you all the food you need and you''ll have plenty of resources to stay warm and comfortable. But what we ask in return is that you become friends with the Baron''s daughter and help protect her whenever the Baron can''t." Saveb suggests his deal and stepped back a bit, he said what he needed to say. There was no need to sugarcoat it; if the lion agrees then he agrees, if not then there''s nothing to convince him to say otherwise. The lion sat down and looked towards the sky. "Do you know the thing concerning our race, the thing that truly makes you humans fearful of us, the thing that forces you to leave us alone." Saveb nodded. "Of course, it''s an old saying that can only be true. Those that strike down a Lavestic Mountain Lion will have the things most important to them struck down in the same way." "Yet knowing that you still wish to let us into your home?" The lion asked. "Of course, we aren''t planning on striking you down, did you not hear my offer? We wish to become friends with you and that''s how we''ll treat you as well, like friends," Saveb said. The lion thought for a bit. Although it wasn''t too certain about living with humans the conditions in the mountains was getting worse, food was scarce and the nights were getting colder. Although he could handle it due to him being an adult, he was worried about his children. It wasn''t all that uncommon now for the cubs to die from the cold. He looked back towards Saveb, his eyes were honest, the lion could tell that much. He''s seen and interacted with many humans before, bandits and serial killers. They all had the same aura and glint in their eyes, yet Saveb''s eyes were kind and generous. For someone to still possess those eyes in this world, it''s rare, to say the least. "Alright; however, remember, we aren''t your pets or anything like that, we''re friends that treat each other equally, I hope your master can understand that," The lion said. "Of course my master can understand, he merely cares for his daughter and wants her to have someone she can fall back onto if times get rough. She''s innocent and pure, the master wants to try and keep it like that," Saveb explained before walking back to the carriage. "Well, come on, it takes a while for us to reach the Baron''s mansion." The lion nodded before gesturing to the lioness behind him. They walked towards the carriage with their children, once they reached it they lifted their children on one by one before getting on themselves. The magician took a deep breath before deactivating the spell he cast. It was a spell that allowed humans to converse with anything else that can speak, it was useful during negotiations and other matters. One of the cubs crawled towards the magician, it sniffed around a bit before slightly biting onto the magician''s staff. The magician smiled and reached down to pet the small cub, his fingers brushing through the short hair. The lion didn''t mind, after all, everyone was fearful due to that old saying. It wasn''t mere coincident either, whenever someone decided to strike a Mountain Lion they would have their lives ruined. One time a respectable king wanted a Mountain Lion as a pet, he decided to strike down the cub''s parents to take it away. That same year the king had a falling out as his kingdom almost crumbled to the ground. Another time it was a simple farmer, he thought of the Mountain Lion as a threat and killed it when he saw it walk around his farm. That year all of his crops died, he went broke and had to work for someone else. But even then, the farm that he worked for slowly went broke as well due to their crops not growing. Seeing that man as a plague he was killed. From that point onwards the tale about the curse of the Mountain Lions was spread. Any place that became home for the Mountain Lions became sacred ground, a place where people shouldn''t go and if they have to go through it they tread lightly and carefully. 131 Aarons Untold Past 3 At the city gates, the carriage was undergoing an inspection, something everyone has to do unless they have the rank of Duke and above. The reason for it was due to public safety, making sure nothing contaminated or dangerous gets past their walls. Two guards were currently inspecting the Baron''s carriage, to the side were all the knights and magicians. The guards took a step back from surprise, the sight of a lion family with pure while fur shocked them. They looked beautiful to say the least. The white fur could glow in the sunlight, their eyes dark blue that seemed to carry the ocean in them. The lion softly growled at them, its claws shot out, frightening the guards. The two guards looked towards the one in charge of the carriage. Saveb nodded slowly, "You need not worry, they won''t bite, they''re friendly and intelligent." The two continued their work, inspecting it swiftly and giving the green, letting the carriage into the city. However, one of the guards had some other thoughts, a beautiful beast that was friendly and smart, he knew just the right person that would buy it. ... Time passed quickly and the carriage reached the mansion, they got through the gates and were greeted by the Baron who was standing in the way, his daughter in his arms. "Did you get my daughter a pet?" "No, I got her a friend," Saveb said before gesturing towards the carriage. Fives heads poked out, the lions looked at the two intensely, they were the ones that brought them here and were the owners. The lion and lioness hopped out of the carriage before lifting their young out. The lion walked up to the Baron, its chest puffed out wide as its muscles were tense. Although it didn''t know why it felt a strong sense of danger from the man in front of it. As though the man in front of him was actually the lion while he was a small kitten. A magician from behind smacked his staff against the ground, the same magic circle covered the ground and the surroundings lit up with a light blue hue. The lion stopped a few metres away from the Baron, its eyes locked on. "So you must be the owner of this mansion and the one that wants to become friends with us; you need not worry as I''ve already made the deal with the butler. You give us a place to live and we become your daughter''s friends and guardians," The lion said in a masculine voice. "So that''s the deal; I wholeheartedly accept it, but do remember, my daughter is young and frail, don''t injure her, or I''ll injure you," The Baron said as a thick mist of killing intent poured out of him, the lion felt as though it had a knife to its neck. This was the first time the lion has met somewhat that wasn''t fearful of the saying, but at the same time, the lion didn''t even know if their misfortune would have any effect on this man. Although slightly confused, the lion felt a power inside the man, a power that could break everything in its path, maybe even their misfortunate. "You need not worry about your daughter, my young were recently born and possess no claws while their teeth are blunt." As the lion was talking his eyes suddenly bulged out of his head, one of his children was at the feet of the Baron, looking at the daughter. The Baron stared at the wide-eyed lion, its eyes were pure and untainted, similar to his daughter. He squatted down and pet the cub, his fingers brushing through soft fur. The cub stood up and walked closer to the daughter, it licked her leg. She giggled softly. "Stop that, it''s ticklish." The Baron chuckled faintly before putting his daughter on the ground, he kept close but allowed the lion cub to walk up to them. The cub faceplanted into the girl''s stomach, it rubbed its head around while sniffing. The Baron''s daughter sat down with crossed legs, the cut waltz up to her and laid down in her legs. The cub''s fur was soft and slightly ticklish, it felt as though it was a feather gently brushing against her legs. She reached down and wrapped her arms around the cub, bring it into her embrace and holding it tightly. She rubbed her face all through the cub''s fur, giving it gentle scratches on the neck and belly. The lion looked at the scene, he could feel his young one''s joy and happiness just by being with the girl. He felt calm and he felt as though he made a great choice, the lion let off a hefty laugh. "Good, it seems my child has already become friends with your daughter." "Indeed, and it seems my daughter''s playtime will be a whole lot more eventful," The Baron joked. His smile was wide from the scene, he looked towards Saveb and gave him a big smile and thumbs up. "Good work Saveb, for this I''ll get you one thing you really want. And as for the rest of you knights and magicians, you''ll be getting a fat bonus." The Baron was so relaxed he started going back to how he talks normally with friends, the joy from seeing his daughter so happy broke down his firm and noble wall. He was originally a commoner, but with his strength and military merit, the king had no other choice but to make him a noble. It had never been seen before, a commoner managing to reach the ranks of Baron was unheard of in present times. Yet he had done it, through his strength alone. But it''s also due to that background that he wants to protect his daughter as much as he can. "Master, I think I know what I want but I''m not sure if it''s acceptable," Saveb said shyly as he coughed faintly. "Master you don''t need to offer me anything, I feel comfortable and great with everything you''ve already given me and my family." "Master this, master that. We aren''t in front of any other nobles, just call me Aaron, we''re friends that have stuck it out through thick and thin remember?" Baron Aaron said as he slapped his hand on Saveb''s shoulder. "Plus, I already know what you want. It''s that azure green tea set isn''t it?" Saveb''s cheeks went slightly red from embarrassment. "You still know me best Aaron, indeed, that tea set just looks so wonderful I''ve been dying to get my hands on it." Baron Aaron chuckled softly again and turned to the knights. "Good, one of you knights will escort Saveb to the cutlery shop, make sure to get back safely and swiftly." Saveb swiftly ran to one of the knights and grabbed hold of his arm before dragging him away. ''What are you waiting for, run man run, I have my tea set to get!" Baron Aaron''s smile widened at the scene. Saveb was an all too precious friend of his, fighting alongside him during wars. Baron Aaron hired him as a butler because no one else would; they didn''t see Saveb as a good hire due to him not having any training. They would also be slightly hesitant due to Saveb''s war name, Quick Death. With a spear in his hand he was unmatched, slaughtering entire battalions of enemies singlehandedly. He was also called a calamity by the enemies; because every battlefield he partook in, their side would win by a mile. Of course, Baron Aaron was always by his side during those battles, keeping him safe from any surprises and taking control of their entire military. Baron Aaron led their forces with an iron fist and powerful voice, he boosted morale and had charisma. He was the perfect leader. Turning back to the lion he gestured for them to follow. "Do come, I''ll show you the place you''ll be staying at, I hope you like it." Baron Aaron then turned around and walked to the mansion. The magician on the carriage was sweating profusely when he deactivated the magic spell, he sat down and leaned against the carriage, taking deep breathes. The magicians to the side both castes a magic spell, eliminating all fatigue. ... Deeping into the city there was an extremely large and luxurious mansion, the walls were spotless and they reflected any light with a sharp glow. The gates were like the pearly white gates of heaven, the walls of the mansion were white as well. In the garden, the only flowers seen were white roses. Inside the mansion, the interior showed no difference to the outside. The walls were white, the floor was white tiles, and the tables were white marble. Deep inside the mansion was the man who owned it, he was inside his study along with his personal butler and a guard. "I''m telling you, the lion that the Baron brought back was snow white, its eyes were dark blue like the ocean, it was beautiful to say the least," The guard explained with frustration. "I can''t believe my ears, someone has something more beautiful than me, without my permission!" The man said in a deep, furious voice as his fists were clenched tightly, his eyes filled with rage at the thought of someone having something beautiful that he didn''t. "I will see with my own eyes what he brought back, and guard, if the information you told me is true I''ll use my connections to get you promoted at least two ranks," The man said as he calmed himself down. "Yes, Duke Arnon," The guard bowed before taking his leave joyfully. A reward of two promotions, the amount of money he earns as a guard is minimal; but the amount of money he could make while being in charge of the guards is a whole other story. Duke Arnon looked towards his butler, his eyes still filled with rage. "Go tell that Baron Aaron that I''ll be visiting his estate sometime in the afternoon." "Yes, master," The butler said as he disappeared from his position, leaving the duke inside his study. Duke Arnon gave off a burst of maniacal laughter. "Oh Baron Aaron, you can only blame yourself for what is to come, you shouldn''t have brought in someone so beautiful in the open. Because unlike others, I''m not fearful of your name, after all, it comes from a bunch of fairytales and exaggerated stories." ... Back at the Baron''s mansion, the Baron had just brought the lion family to the place they''ll be living. It was a large and spacious room, there was one large mattress on the floor along with plenty of blankets. There were a few doors, varying in size that led outside. Walking outside they stepped onto the nice backyard, it was fully decorated with beautiful flowers of all different colours. To the left side was a small stream along with a bridge that went over it, there was also a small artificial hill by one of the corners. "Well, do you like it?" Baron Aaron asked with a bright smile. The lion nodded and walled up to the stream, he leaned over and took a sip. The water was clean and felt refreshing, it had a slight sting to it due to how cold it was but they were lions that lived in the cold. The cubs quickly ran into the spacious area of grass and started play fighting, but one cub didn''t, it stayed by the Baron''s side, looking at the daughter in his arms. The Baron put his daughter back on the ground and allowed her to start playing with the cub again. "Sir, there''s someone that wishes to meet with you," A guard said as he walked through the door. Someone right behind him, the man was tall, grey hair with a few studs of a beard. "Hello Baron Aaron, I''m the personal butler for Duke Arnon and I''m here to inform you that the Duke is coming for a visit soon," The Butler said his words before disappearing from the spot. Hearing that name turned Baron Aaron''s mood sour. To him, Duke Arnon was someone that shouldn''t be a noble, someone that shouldn''t even be alive. The only reason for his nobility is due to his heritage; if it wasn''t for that Duke Arnon would never be able to make it up the ranks, no matter what he does. He didn''t participate in any wars, and the one time he did it ended with a disaster due to him wanting to make to soldiers beautiful. He changed the armour completely because he thought of the design as crude. They were now wearing to white and gold armour that had some ridiculous add on, they were spotted from a mile away due to a few other changes to the armour and the soldiers couldn''t fight properly. And when he was questioned about it, he had the nerve to say that if a soldier can''t fight beautifully then they shouldn''t be a soldier. During that one moment, Baron Aaron was so close to pouncing on the Duke and ripping his head off. Their soldiers, some of which were friends of his were killed due to the Duke''s actions yet he had the nerve to say something like that. 132 Aarons Untold Past 4 A thick layer of killing intent engulfed the backyard, the daughter looked up towards her father with a bit of fear, the lion and lioness both locked their gazes onto the Baron, fearful that he might lose control. Baron Aaron looked towards the lion. "Listen, someone is coming to visit in a moment, someone I so dearly despise. I would suggest you keep up your guard, it''s no coincident that he decided to come and visit when we brought you all in." The lion nodded before laying back down, he kept his eyes on the children and the door. Baron Aaron dispersed his killing intent, it was a passive battle technique of his, one that gets stronger to more you kill whether that be humans or beasts. He then returned to the front of the mansion, his walk there was slow and filled with attempts of calming himself down. If the Duke made a move against the lions he would teach him a lesson he would never forget, and if his daughter gets caught in the crossfire; ''Well, I suppose there isn''t a need for that Duke to continue living'' Baron Aaron waited outside his house for five minutes or so before he heard the gates open and a large, pearly white carriage came in. The horses pulling it along had snow-white fur, their reins were white and so were their hooves. The carriage stopped right in front of him and a guard walked from the front of the side and opened the door. To no surprise the Duke inside the carriage was already standing up in his entirely white suit, looking down on him. "Oh Baron Aaron, did you not like the suit I gave you, or is it too small for you?" Duke Arnon asked in an arrogant and cocky voice, it sounded posh and noble yet also slimy and repulsive. "Well, you certainly didn''t give me much time to get into it, so I can only greet you with the clothes I''ve been wearing all day," Baron Aaron snarked. The suit Duke was talking about was something he gifted to every noble, he demanded that they wear it should he ever ''grace them with his presence''. Baron Aaron wanted to shove that suit so far up Duke Arnon''s arse but he isn''t allowed to due to their difference in nobility. Of course, if the opportunity ever arrived on the battlefield he would gladly chop off the Duke''s head. "Yes, yes, now I''ve been told you brought in some wonderful pets, I''m just dying to meet them," Duke Arnon said in his annoying voice that made Aaron cringe inside. "Right this way," Baron Aaron said as he gestured for Duke Arnon to follow. ''Huh, you''ll certainly be dead if you try anything when you do meet them, and the killer will either be me or that lion''. Aaron could clearly feel that the lion was extremely protective of his cubs, to the point where he would abandon their home to live with them so that his cubs are safe, have food and shelter. As for the lioness, although Aaron hasn''t seen her make a move or anything he could clearly see that she had her eyes on the cubs at all times. Aaron led the Duke to the yard with the lions, all three cubs were now playing with his daughter, running around with the toy. The lion and lioness were watching from the hill, cuddling up to each other. Their heads both turned instantly when the door was opened. Aaron and Arnon both walked through into the yard, Arnon''s eyes widened and glowed with amazement and awe. He walked over to one of the cubs and squatted next to it. He started petting it, feeling the silky smooth and soft fur, his eyes lit up even more. But internally, fury was building up towards Aaron. ''These lions are so beautiful, Baron Aaron doesn''t deserve them, I do''. "Yes, this fur is so soft and beautiful, it would look even better if I make them into boats, socks, maybe even gloves," Duke Arnon muttered under his breath as he picked the cub up and held it close. The lion''s ears were sensitive, it heard and understood all that Duke Arnon said. Its eyes were filled with anger, its muscles tensed as it disappeared from its spot. It reappeared by Arnon, claws out and already striking down onto Arnon''s arms. *Bang!* The ground shook as dirt flew up, Arnon''s butler had appeared in front of him, blocking the attack. Many more people appeared around the yard out of nowhere, some were wearing robes and others were wearing heavy armour. "Damn beast! To dare attack my master, you deserve death!" The butler lifted the lion up with one arm and slammed it on the ground. Aaron didn''t have time to react, he was to shocked by the sudden outburst, he thought everything looked fine. But he knew Duke Arnon''s personality and he frowned. Although he wasn''t sure what happened, considering the lion''s anger it''s obvious that he must have done or said something. "Hey! Duke Arnon your visit was certainly a pleasure but I believe you should leave now!" Baron Aaron shouted. "Don''t you dare speak like that to a Duke ever again! Know your place peasant!" Duke Arnon shouted furiously back, his face twitching from anger as he looked towards the unconscious lion. "Turn this beast into a new coat for me!" He then looked towards the others cubs, they were surrounding Aaron''s daughter in fear. He pointed to them and shouted, "Take those cubs as well!" "Yes sir," Two knights replied before walking over to the cubs. Aaron''s daughter got defensive and blocked their path, Aaron''s expression hardened as the two knights kicked his daughter out of the way. "Don''t block the Duke''s knights! Know your place!" A thick killing intent engulfed the yard and surrounding area, it began to press everyone to the ground. The Duke felt a sense of fear overwhelm him, he looked towards the source and noticed it was Aaron, his eyes were red and his hair had suddenly spiked up, his muscles were squirming as they grew larger, tearing the clothes he was wearing. "Damn Baron! Know your place! You can''t harm someone of my status!" Duke Arnon shouted fearfully. The eyes of his butler that was by his side widened in shock and fear, Aaron''s body was growing more and more, a red aura encased Aaron''s body. "War God," The butler muttered under his breath, he felt his muscles tense and tighten at the sight. His heartbeat fastened, sweat began to form on his forehead. "The stories were true, when angered, the War God will make his appearance." "Wasn''t that just an exaggerated story made up by some knights; I mean seriously, you expect me to believe that one man can take down an entire kingdom by himself, with his bare fuckin hands. That''s ridiculous!" Duke Arnon shouted as the fear increased, he felt his muscles cramp under the pressure and fear. "All stories have some truth in them, they all have an origin. As for exaggeration, nope, they underexaggerated it. He didn''t destroy just one kingdom on his own, but dozens during the time he''s been alive," The butler explained with fear and awe in his voice. "To us participating in the war, he was also known as the red hero. Encased in his blood red aura he slaughtered countless enemies, turned entire battlefields on their heads with just his mere presence, he is a living legend. Although, even I thought some of those stories seemed exaggerated; but this aura his giving off, it isn''t fake." "And you didn''t think of warning me? You damn peasant butler! You set me up!" Duke Arnon shouted furiously. Although he sounded angry he was also attempting to split the blame between himself and his butler. "Tsk, I didn''t think I was going to have to rely on this during my lifetime," Duke Arnon said as he grit his teeth and pulled out a talisman. It was gold with blood red details on it, Duke''s face was clenched hard as he couldn''t bring himself to use it. The main reason Duke Arnon was able to stay a Duke, was partially because of that one piece of paper he was holding. Unlike most nobility, Duke''s were there since the beginning of a country, they stood by the first king and supported them. This also meant they have a much large and stronger foundation, let alone the number of treasures they have. Aaron''s only heard about it before, the Duke''s talisman that can decide the future of a kingdom. It possesses mighty strength, although no one knew what it did. It hadn''t been used in their lifetimes, it hadn''t been used in hundreds of years. The only thing they knew about it came from rumours and stories. Aaron, knowing the dangers of letting anything continue disappeared from his spot. When he reappeared by Arnon, his fist was already at Arnon''s stomach. Arnon''s eyes constricted as he clenched hard and shouted. "Halt!" The talisman shone bright and Aaron was stopped in his tracks, ancient runes were gliding across his skin. His fist was at Arnon yet he couldn''t move it, he felt his body freeze up; he could feel himself losing control over his body. Arnon wiped the sweat off his forehead. "You almost got me there Baron, fortunately, I got this Talisman of Heaven''s Restriction. It can restrict up to 50000 people instantly and hold them in place for as long as I have this talisman activated." Arnon then brought his hand up to Aaron''s face and flicked him in the head. "But don''t worry, I won''t keep you there for long. I mean seriously, you attempted to kill me, someone with a much higher nobility ranking; you''re going to have to die." Everyone then noticed someone, although it was only minuscule, with the level of tension and focus of everyone present it was extremely noticeable. Aaron moved. Only ever so slightly, but that single movement shook Arnon to his core. "Hey now, you shouldn''t be able to do that. Butler, get your ass over here and kill him!" Duke Arnon shouted towards his butler. Aside from the talisman that he kept on him at all times, he didn''t have a single weapon on him. "Don''t you know?" Aaron asked with a faint voice, it paused and continued between the words, the runes on his skin began to break apart, his motion getting more fluent. "I''m the Red Death, and unlike you who relies on the power of your family''s past, I rely on the strength that I''ve earnt through my battles. You may have the Talisman of Heaven''s Restriction, but I have the strength of heaven itself!" Aaron''s punch connected, his fist arched Arnon''s body, but as he was punching through he twisted his fist hard, which, in turn, twisted Arnon''s guts. He flew into the wall, or what was left of him anyway. To enemies, Aaron wasn''t only known as the Red Death due to his red aura that he emits when he''s in such a state. There was only the state of battlefields once he has fought, they were stained and flooded with blood; the corpses would be mangled and torn apart. That was why his enemies referred to him as the Red Death. He would leave a trail of blood in the battlefields he goes to. The guards were shaken to their core, losing the Duke meant losing their support. They quickly scattered, fleeing the scene before the Red Death comes after them as well. The butler, however, he decided to stay there and await his death. He would be killed anyway. There were many shady individuals that worked with the Duke in the dark, the butler knew that; he also knew how dangerous they were. Losing one of their financial pillars would set them off in a fury of rage, he would be one of the first to take the blame, he knew that. The least he wanted was to die by the hands of the Red Hero, someone he revered when he was younger when he worked as a normal soldier. Aaron looked at the butler and sighed deeply. Although the Duke was primarily to blame the butler couldn''t be let off either. If he came back for some revenge due to him killing his master, he would be putting his daughter''s life at risk. That was just the way of this world; if you''re going to kill someone, kill their entire family, all their friends and any business partners. Aaron walked up to the butler and threw a punch towards the butler''s head. When it connected the head was smashed apart, grey brain matter and blood splattered across the wall. The body flopped on the ground. Aaron breathed deep, he did that a few times and the red aura that was surrounding him began to seep back into his skin. His spike hair began to fall flat and his muscles shrunk. He returned to his normal state. He looked to his daughter, her eyes were sunken and full of fear. The cubs were hiding behind her, looking towards the Baron as though he was a monster. The lioness was also on guard, it was by the cub''s side. Aaron sighed, unsure of what to do in this situation. He looked to his daughter and held his hand out. "My precious daughter listen, what you just saw is all true, none of it was an illusion. However, I''m still me, still the caring father you''ve always known and that''s always taken care of you." He sat down, he said what he needed to say. There wasn''t much else he could do. However, if he could turn back time he would return to the time when he felt like ripping Duke Arnon''s head off after a battle, he had a very viable reason to be furious. Not to mention every soldier there would be on his side. He suddenly felt something grab hold of his hands. Looking up he smiled, his daughter jumped at him and wrapped his arms around his neck. Tears were pouring out of her eyes from what she''s just seen. "It''s alright daddy, I''ll love you no matter what," The daughter muttered beneath her breathe by Aaron''s ear. He felt someone warm overwhelm his body, his heart calmed as he felt a sense of tranquillity. 133 Aarons Untold Past 5 Days passed and it was time for the king to make his move. The nobility was outraged by the death of Duke Arnon, they wanted Baron Aaron to face the consequences. They wanted him hung, beheaded, they wanted him dead. However, every commoner sees this as something else. It wasn''t the nobility being outraged due to Duke Arnon''s death that set them after Baron Aaron, but rather, it was due to their fear of him coming after them that set them off. The king knew that all too well, but with every high ranking nobility taking arms he had to do something. In the kingdom, there were 3 Dukes, 5 Marquesses, 10 Earls,15 Viscounts and dozens of Barons located around the entire kingdom. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes were all up in arms with at least half of the viscounts joining into the fray. In the royal chamber, the king sat upon his throne, to the side was all the nobilities or at least representatives of them. In front of the king, kneeling on one leg was Baron Aaron, his head facing the ground. "Baron Aaron, do you know and admit to the crimes that have been stated?" The king asked in a deep voice, it echoed through the chamber like magic, piercing all ears. "I do," Aaron said. "For the crime of killing a Duke, you would normally be sentenced to death. However, in exchange for your nobility and all military merits you had accumulated, you may keep your life and move to the countryside, never to be inside the royal city again. Do you accept this punishment?" The king asked. The smug faces plastered on the faces of the nobles turned to horror. One of the two remaining Dukes stepped forward. "Please, your majestic, reconsider your punishment and be fair. He killed Duke Arnon so therefore the punishment must be done properly." The king looked towards the Duke, he emitted an aura that shut the Duke up instantly, he felt himself getting crushed towards the ground. His voice pierced the souls of all those present, they were shaken, "You dare question the Authority of your king!" The Duke was shaken and he fell to the ground grovelling. "No your majesty! Please excuse this lowly one''s mistakes!" The king sighed and leaned back into his chair. "It seems the nobility will need some reforming. Do remember your position, unlike your ancestors who earnt their positions you merely inherited it. If you dare try and pull something like that again I''ll have you stripped of your ranking and tossed into the streets." The Duke frowned as his face twisted in all sorts of ways, he retreated back to the wall. "Yes, your majesty." There wasn''t anything else he could do. As for the Reformation; although unpleasant if he plays his cards correctly he should be able to keep his position. At the very least he would stay a nobility, he shouldn''t fall too far down the ranks anyway. As for the other nobles present they weren''t as confident. All the nobles here were fearful of Baron Aaron due to his heaven-defying strength, they feared that their positions were threatened. As for the ones that weren''t present, they were preoccupied with actually making the kingdom a better place rather than worrying about their rank. The king turned his attention back to Baron Aaron, he continued to kneel on one knee before the king. "So, Baron Aaron, do you accept the punishment?" "Yes your majesty," Aaron said. Although it might not be that well known but the king wasn''t lacking in strength, even Aaron would have to be careful if he and the king fought. But that was also the reason why he decided to work under this kingdom''s king, he was a man of strength, wisdom, and political conviction. "Good, you will be sent to the town of Asdof where you will spend the rest of your life there; should the time arise you will be summoned back to the royal city where you will take the position as a constable," The king explained before he straightened out his arm. "Now go, a carriage has already been prepared for your departure." Aaron smiled as he nodded and stood up. Although it may sound as though the king is punishing him it could also be said that the king is giving him a vacation. The town of Asdof is known for its scenery and beach life. Not to mention when he''s needed again he''ll instantly be given the military position of constable. The nobles faces were twisting even more; they all knew of the town of Asdof, some of which were planning on visiting with their families. But they couldn''t do anything about it. Assassinate him? They''ll be lucky if they don''t get found out. Turn the people''s opinion of him? The king would probably get rid of them for disrupting the peace. There was no victory for them. Walking outside the palace Aaron was greeted with a large carriage, it was being escorted by knights and magicians all wearing the royal crest. When they saw him they all brought their right hand to his heart. They were all soldiers that participated in the war, they all knew of Aaron''s identity and respected him. "Hello Baron Aaron, we''ll be in charge of escorting you to the town of Asdof, we have already been to your mansion and stored everything needed," A knight at the front said. His face was old and mature, scruffy as well. His daughter''s little head poked out of the carriage, it had a large smile. The next head that poked out surprised him though, it was the lion, then the lioness, followed by all the cubs. The lion''s head was still slightly bruised from being slammed into the ground. Aaron smiled widely and jogged to the carriage before opening the door, he hopped in and lifted his daughter into his arms. He rubbed his beard on her neck before plopping her on his lap. He looked in front of him, the seats and floor were being completely occupied by the lion family. As for his side, he had the person he trusted to most right next to him. "Welcome back Aaron, it was quite difficult to hold Sarah back, she was ready to burst into the royal chamber," The butler explained with a light chuckle. "Well good job with holding her back, I feel as though those nobles were ready to explode at any given moment. Fortunately, the king was rather adamant on the punishment I was to receive, it was great watching all their faces twist with anger and horror," Aaron said as he leaned back into the chair. The carriage began to move quickly but due to the quality, it was smooth riding without any bumps. The journey to the town of Asdof was rather calm and relaxing. No bandits or anything attempted to attack them due to the royal crest on the solder''s armour, they had plenty of food and water for the journey as well. When they reached the town they saw the grand ocean beyond it, they couldn''t see where it ended. Sarah stuck her head out and her eyes lit up, the lion family followed suit. They had lived in the mountains for a majority of their life, as for seeing the ocean, that was something they had never dreamt of doing. The salty breeze filled the carriage, it was gentle and soothing. After a little while, the carriage finally came to a stop, they were in front of a fairly normal home. It wasn''t as grand as a mansion but it had a large yard as well as plenty of bedrooms and plenty of room inside. The knights immediately began to work, there was a carriage that followed behind them that held all important belongings. The Knights started unpacking, swiftly furnishing the house before hopping onto their horses again. The squadron leader stood in front of Aaron and bowed. He then turned around and got onto his horse. Their group set off swiftly without a moments delay, Aaron and the others watched their backs fade into the distance. ... In present times, Earth. Lachlan was listening to Aaron recount his journey and couldn''t help but be amazed by the number of coincidence incidents. The daughter''s name was Sarah and the father''s name was Aaron. ''We live the rest of our lives in that house. Sarah studied magic under the viscountess that was controlling that town, she was kind-hearted and always brought delicious snacks. When Sarah learnt communication magic she talked to me for hours on end. As time went on no one was able to escape the clutches of death. My father was the first to go, followed by Aaron, then my mother. By then the three of us cubs had already grown to be adults, we separated there, they wanted to start their own families but I wanted to stay with Sarah and continue protecting her. And that''s exactly what I did. Even till I was extremely old I was still with her, by her side on her death bed pressing against her gently as she closed her eyes one final time. By then the townsfolk had already familiarised with me, they weren''t fearful of me as I walked their streets, neither did they mind. However, it was only one month later that the evolution happened, it shook our world to its core. Everyone in the town evolved, including me. I turned into the griffon while the other humans turned into brutes. I don''t know why but it seemed a violent tendency awoken in them, even loved ones fought to the death. I couldn''t bear seeing everything go to shit so I left, flying across the ocean to an island many weeks away from land. I spent a bit of time there before I met you, who so rudely beat me up. The only reason I attacked you was that I initially thought you were a human from the mainland, however, you and your group didn''t have that same violent glint in their eyes, you worked together. When you asked me to be your tamed beast I was uncertain, but at the same time, I was curious as to why you''re so different from the others. That was when I found out a gate had formed in the cave entrance. You brought me back to your world and I suppose you know everything else from that point onwards'' Lachlan and the Rocs were all entranced by Aaron''s story, they had all stopped looking for a moment and just sat down to listen closely. ''Damn Aaron, who knew you had such a backstory'' Catastrophe remarked. Although the others were just as surprised. It was filled with a few twist and turns but was a rather fulfilling and happy story in the end. ''So Aaron, just wondering, but do you still have that curse thing?'' Lachlan asked. He hadn''t seen anything about it with his eyes which might mean he had to upgrade them again. he shivered at the thought of going through more pain. ''I''m not too sure, I think I might have it but I''m uncertain'' Aaron replied. ''Well we might be able to find out in the future whenever you guys get another comrade'' Lachlan said. "Hey, Lachlan! Stop leaning against the wall and help search for stuff!" Simon shouted at him the temple. Due to being entranced by the story he walked to a nearby wall and began leaning on it, the others didn''t mind but it had already been half an hour. ''Yeah! Yeah! I''m coming!" Lachlan shouted back as he jogged over. ''Well then, you four continue your search and make sure to do it thoroughly'' ''Yes,'' The four replied in unison. 134 Bone of Death The group continued their search through the temple, it''s large white halls stretched far and wide, the pillars gave off a bone like texture as they pierced the hard ground. Even though the temple was shrouded in darkness the bones gave off light. Lachlan had already analysed them and found that although it was little, the amount of light it gives off is dependent on how strong the beasts'' were. So like they suspected, the pillars were made entirely of bones. Not all the same, but just a random mixture that the dragon created as he threw things together. They walked deeper into the temple, that''s where they found the thing they wanted the most. It was the dragon''s treasury. And although the group didn''t know how he did it, the dragon managed to collect a huge amount of gold, silver, jewels, and many other precious items. "Damn, this dragon was a hoarder," Simon remarked with surprise. "Well if my knowledge of dragons is correct then they were known to be gathered precious items; not for their value but apparently due to them giving off a sparkle which caught the dragon''s eye," Joe said as he hit them with a fact. Although none of them was certain whether or not he was actually correct. "Huh, I reckon this dragon had another habit, which was picking up piles of bones as well," Chloe said as she walked around the corner, she had stopped in her tracks as her eyes widened. The group noticed and swiftly rushed over; when they walked into the side room they were all amazed. In the centre was a single piece of bone, 2 metres in length that gave off a purple glow. In the surroundings however, there were bones on top of bones. Some were small, some were humongous. But everyone knew one thing, the one bone in the very centre was the most important. Lachlan especially. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Bone of Death Description: Is able to raise up to five undead soldiers dependent on the user''s personal strength. User is determined by forming a bone pact with the Bone of Death. Location: Where the shroud of death lays. -------------------------------------------------------- Unlike the other bones which might have a bit of durability to them, some might be pointy or sharp. This bone possessed a whole other ability, not to mention the fact that it seemed rather sharp. However, due to the bone''s thin shape, Lachlan didn''t think it would be too durable. Although, it could be used as a spear, lance and maybe if it doesn''t lose its abilities it can be broken apart into daggers. Lachlan turned to the others and briefed them of the bone''s abilities. They now have to decide on who gets it, although when Lachlan talked about the method of how to control it they were left at an impasse. None of them knew what a bone pact was. ''Hey Aaron, any chance you know what a bone pact is?'' Lachlan asked. Although he wasn''t confident, considering that fact that Aaron''s world was full of magic he might know something that could help them. ''Well, I''ve heard of a practice like that in my home world. It would usually involve the bone of a strong beast paired with a human capable of wielding that strength. The human would cover the bone in their blood from top to bottom, as for whether or not the pact is formed, that''s decided by the bone'' Aaron replied back swiftly. ''Decided by the bone?'' Lachlan asked in confusion. ''Indeed, usually when the bone is from a strong beast there may be remnants of the beast''s soul or will in the bone and therefore it decides who to form a pact with. Once the pact is formed it''ll choose a suitable bone in the body to merge with and it''ll be done'' Aaron explained. Lachlan nodded and turned to the others. "Alright, so I think I have an idea but we''re going to have to decide on who gets the bone. Since it doesn''t increase my willpower I won''t take it, but it will increase your strength." Lachlan then briefed them with a quick summary of what to do to possibly form a bone pact. They all looked at each and pulled out their hands, they clenched them and placed it on their other extended out hand. "Rock, paper, scissors!" All of them shouted as they threw out what they had. And surprising, from that one shot there was only one winner, everyone else had chosen rock while one person chose differently. "Haha, I win!" Simon shouted loudly as though it was his first victory in years. He held his hand up in victory as he looked towards the others. "Well, I suppose I''ll be taking that bone then." He walked over to the bone and grabbed hold of it. The ground beneath him lit up abruptly, giving the group a bit of a fright. Letters of an unknown language began appearing, they started sliding onto Simon''s skin and moving around. ''Aaron, when performing a bone pact should there be a bunch of glowing letters sliding across the body?'' Lachlan asked. ''Well yes, that''s the first half of the pact, the second part is the instalment of the bone. That part usually sends the person receiving the bone in a lot of pain, since usually, the bone will choose somewhere important in your body to place itself. For example, the rib cage or the spine, the sudden increase in bone size and strength forces the body to quickly adapt'' Aaron explained joyfully. "Ah!" Simon began to scream as he collapsed to the floor, his body twitching and squirming as his muscles were all tensed up. The Bone of Death had disappeared, there was something glowing purple beneath his skin, moving around until it reached Simon''s neck. Simon continued to scream but this time he was holding onto his neck tightly, veins were popping out of his skin as he was sent into cold sweats. Simon was gritting his teeth hard as he now began rolling around on the ground. Chloe walked up to him and whipped out a bottle of water for when he stops screaming. They wait patiently for a few minutes and finally, he stops, the purple glow that was moving his neck had stopped and vanished. Simon looked around as he took deep breaths. "Ouch, what the hell was up with that?" Simon complained as he laid back down, relaxing on the cold, hard bone floor. "Well, it seems you''ve successfully merged with the bone, now try it out," Lachlan said with a bit of excitement. He wanted to see how useful it really was, at least he wanted to know the max limit of it. Simon nodded and closed his eyes. The group was unsure of what he was doing but none of them knew how to actually activate the bone of death so they couldn''t talk. However, when his neck glowed purple they knew he did it. Some of the bones surrounding them began to rattle together, getting dragged across the ground as they slowly began to create something. It took a minute or so but after a majority of the bones were used four beasts stood around them. They were four wolves, they had a purple flame in their eyes. The rest of their body had nothing on it, no flesh, no blood, just bones. Lachlan quickly analysed them to see how strong they were. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Skeleton Wolf Age: Adult Attribute: Bone Grade: Normal STR: 44, AGI: 45, VIT: 10 INT: 15, PER: 14, WIL: 30 Weakness: No Intelligence, Blunt Attacks, Neck Bones Strengths: Leg Strength (Level 3), Bone Defence (Leve 4) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan looked at the stats and knew that it was half of Simon''s. Well, almost half. It also seemed the Skeleton Wolf had its own stats for vitality and willpower, however, everything else is half of Simon''s stat. Lachlan looked at it and understood that since it''s already dead it doesn''t have an innate talent or level. But there was one thing that offset him, the fact that the wolf has a grade. Which meant that it could evolve. Unfortunately, Lachlan couldn''t tell what it was able to evolve into. He would search for something to tame, as for whether or not Lachlan would go to Aaron''s world for it; that, he wasn''t so sure about. The dangers might outweigh the rewards. "So how do you feel right now Simon?" Chloe asked while she looked closer at Simon''s neck. The purple glow had vanished again. "I don''t know how to explain it, I feel as though I''m in control of more than one body. It''s as though my body grew a massive number of extra limbs, I don''t exactly know how to control them yet," Simon explained what he was feeling while looking at the wolves. One of the wolves lifted up its claw and Simon''s eyes sparkled, he then looked towards another wolf and it to, lifted up its paw. The two of them slammed their boney paw down, the strength behind it slightly cracked the ground. Simon turned to the others and uttered, "I think I know what I''m doing now." The wolf behind him suddenly lifted up its paw and swung downwards, it slammed into Simon who wasn''t expecting it. He was attempting to control the wolf in front of him, but it seems he messed up. Simon crashed into the wall and shouted. "Shit! Goddamn it!" "Good job, seems you have some great control there," Joe joked as he put a thumbs up with a bright smile. The others laughed before going over to help Simon out. But when they went over to the wall they noticed Simon wasn''t there, it was just a hole. Whatever was on the other side was dark, they couldn''t see a single thing in there. Lachlan held out his hand and formed a ball of fire, he pushed it slightly and it began floating through the hole, lighting up the room. They saw Simon laying there, looking up in confusion, there were two blinking red dots that were looking back. Simon though it was a beast and swiftly summoned Wildfire, but it was no beast, rather, it was two jewels. Lachlan set off a few more fire balls, Joe joined in as well. The room was nicely lit and the group''s eyes widened with surprise from what they saw. The room''s walls were lined with carvings, and at the top was a dragon''s head, the two jewels were being used for its eyes. "Do you think that dragon did it?" Simon asked doubtfully. "Well, maybe this temple wasn''t built here," Lachlan suggested. "We did just find out about spatial gates, and the dragon seemed to know a bit about them. It''s highly probably that the dragon came through the gate, possibly with this temple with it." "Or maybe someone else came through the gate with it," Chloe suggested. The group felt a shiver go up their spines as they swiftly looked around for anyone or anything. They went across the walls, searching for a possible secret entrance. Lachlan thought of something and looked up towards the dragon head. The cieling was roughly 4 metres tall so he didn''t think it could be possible, but he may as well try anyway. He leaped up and grabbed hold of the head, twisting his body in a fluid like motion the dragon''s head turned. The jewels lit up red, the carvings began to gain colour and move, the group''s vision began to fade away into darkness. When they opened their eyes again they realised they were in another world. Some of them squatted down to touch the grass but their fingers passed through it. "Long Ago, in the ancient kingdom of Verson lived a powerful and greedy king" A voice echoed through their souls, their vision faded again as they were brought somewhere else. It was a throne room, a king was sitting there with his legs crossed, he was a equiped with a powerful set of armour. To his sides were his subordinates, the other nobles that follow his orders. Simon looked to the others whose faces were just as shocked. "Do you think this is some type of recording?" "What do you mean think, look at it, it obviously is some type of recording. That dragon head that Lachlan twisted was probably the start button," Chloe replied as her eyes were glued onto what was happening in front of her. Simon shut up and continued to watch as well, it was a unique sensation. They were able to move around. "The king ordered that his subordinates capture the dragon and bring it back for him to tame" The voice echoed out again. The group''s vision darkened again as they were brought into an entirely new scene, the nobles that were with the king were now standing in front of a cave, clearly hesitant. "However, the king never expected that his wish would be granted, only in a way that he never wanted" The scene changed and a dragon was seen above a large city, undead were roaring and rumpaging around, killing everyone. The group noticed that among those undead were the nobles, they had been slained and turned into the dragon''s minions. "The king was anger with what happened, he fought with the dragon for two days and one night" An array of colours surrounded the group as they saw that same king fighting against the dragon, its large claws reflecting the king''s blade and piercing the king''s armour. "In a moment of desperation the king used his final resort, a move that would end both himself and the enemy" The next scene showed the group the king and dragon lying on the ground, their bodies filled with holes that pierced through their vital spots. "However, the king never would have expect that the dragon too, had a life saving card" It showed the dragon slowly changing, its fleshing began to fall off as a purple flame lit its eyes up. The dragon roared ferociously, the king''s body beganto change as well, the flesh, muscles, and blood began to fall off. The people nearby noticed something off, some had thought the king had managed to come back to life. Which isn''t entirely wrong, just not right either. "The king''s skeleton began to kill and slaughter the very people it swore to protect; the slaughter continued until every person was dead" "The dragon took over a small mansion and altered it with the help of its minions, including myself, who was forced to create these carvings" The scene changed one final time, to the very room they''re in, where a small skeleton could be seen carving against the wall. "To the one that sees this recording, thank you, for killing the dragon" They felt their bodies lighten as they were brought back to that same room. The red light disappeared, the jewels in the dragon''s eyes shattered. One side of the wall crumbled further, revealing a small hole where a fully clothed skeleton was seen, leaning against the dirt with its head slumped down. Lachlan attempted to analysed it but all it came up with was a description for the bones. Georgia walked up to it braverly and checked it out up close, she took hold of a small note in the skeleton''s pocket, it was made of some type of hide. "To my dearest son, your father is going to bring you something grand for your tame, a dragon. From, the king," Georgia read out the note slowly and her eyes widened with surprise. "Damn," Joe uttered faintly. 135 Alter of Perseverance "Well, that was certainly a story," Simon remarked as he closed his gaping mouth. "Indeed, that recording felt so mystical, it felt as though we were really there, seeing everything happen in person. It''s much more advanced than Earth''s way of recording," Chloe said. Lachlan couldn''t help but wondering something, if the bone pact was something that Aaron knew about, he might possibly know something about this as well. ''Aaron, in your world did they have a method of recording where they carved into walls?'' ''Nope, the way things were recorded in my world was through scrolls and magic devices. Magic devices are similar to the phones you all use however, instead of using electricity it''s powered by the user''s magic'' Aaron explained. ''So it''s unlikely that the dragon was from your world then?'' Lachlan asked. ''Very unlikely. Due to the number of worlds, all of which can be connected through spatial gates, the chance of two spatial gates appearing on both planets and connecting them is incredibly low. It''s similar to finding a single drop water in the ocean'' Aaron explained. ''Dang, that small'' Lachlan remarked. Although it made sense; spatial gates were already rare as it is, now getting two spatial gates that connect Earth to the same planet, that''ll be crazy. ''What about the chance of a spatial gate being permanent?'' Lachlan asked, just in case the spatial gate connecting their worlds is still open. ''Extremely low, even lower chance than getting two spatial gates connecting to the same place'' Aaron replied. ''That''s why the spatial gate on the island is so rare, it''s permanent and follows along with the island." Lachlan nodded and turned to the others. "Alright, suppose we''re done here, let''s continue our search." The group nodded and began to leave the room. Joe stayed back just a minute later and sealed the hole back up, giving the child a proper resting place. Getting back to the main room the group realised there was a lot more side rooms, they swiftly split up and began going through them. Lachlan went to the end of the treasury and started from there, he went into one room after the other. Some of which were empty, having nothing but bones while others had a few rare jewels or items that might come in handy. However, Lachlan jogged into one room in particular and felt his soul shake. Looking up he realised in the centre of the room was a statue of the king from the dragon''s world. An overbearing aura was emitted from it, crushing Lachlan down into the ground. It wasn''t that he wasn''t strong enough, but rather, the aura that the stone statue was emitting seemed to weaken Lachlan to the point where he couldn''t even stand. He quickly lifted his head and analysed the statue before it fell back down. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Alter of Perseverance Description: A man-made altar created with the corpse of a powerful and overbearing king. This altar continuingly releases the king''s aura, its strength is dependent on the king''s strength. This aura will test the perseverance of the challenger, beating it means an increase in the willpower of 20 - 60. Losing means losing 0 - 20 stat points in willpower. Once the trial has begun it cannot be stopped. -------------------------------------------------------- ''My luck could not be any worse'' Lachlan thought. He wasn''t prepared for it at all, he didn''t expect this altar to be here; if he did he probably would have already beaten it. However, due to his carelessness and walked right into its trial. Gritting his teeth Lachlan managed to muster some strength and stand up, but taking a single step forward the pressure increased and his strength was once again taken away. ''Oh come on, this is some bullshit!'' Lachlan lifted up his upper body, his head turned up and faced the state. ''I swear after I''m done with this I''m going to smash that smug head to bits.'' The king''s statue looked down towards the ground, exactly where the challenger would be once they start the trial, on the floor. Lachlan was laying there, his eyes hazy and his muscles sore. The process had cycled multiple times, he would get up and take a step before being pressured to collapse again. Lachlan felt his mind begin to crumble as he was only half way till he reaches the statue, it felt as though it would take millennia. But after thing about Sarah, Phoebe, and the other friends that he''s made so far he grit his teeth again and stood up. Taking one more step the king''s eyes glowed, the pressure Lachlan felt was at a whole other level. It felt as though his very soul was one the brink of collapsing. ''Don''t give up now master!'' Aaron shouted at him internally. ''Don''t let that smug king press you down, crush its trial and smash its head apart!'' ''Yeah father, you have to smash that king''s head apart!'' Catastrophe cheered. ''Otherwise, I won''t listen to a single command you give me in the future.'' ''A decrease of 20 will force your natural willpower to go below 20; although I''m uncertain, it could possibly mean that the other half will show itself'' Calamity explained. ''You got this!'' Disaster cheered cutely. Lachlan smiled at his tamed beasts'' cheers of encouragement. He lightly chuckled and looked up to that same smug face he''s seen multiple times now. ''Yeah, suppose there is too much to lose with this trial.'' Lachlan was close to giving up, but Calamity''s words really shook him awake. The whole purpose of coming to this island was to increase his willpower, not weaken it. Not to mention weakening it to the point where his other half could possibly come out. Gritting his teeth Lachlan stood up once more and took a step, the statue radiates its pressure again but Lachlan didn''t fall down completely. He felt on one knee and quenched from the pain, but that didn''t stop him. He got back up and continued. This cycle continued again until he was at the stone statue''s feet, his body was crumbling under the pressure and so was his mind. He felt all his strength leave his body, he couldn''t help but collapse on the floor. ''What the hell is up with this'' Lachlan complained. He was seriously wondering who on earth could actually complete this trial, surely not even the people of the dragon''s world could handle under this pressure. It didn''t matter whether you were strong or not, strength played no factor in overcoming the trial. All that matter was the challenger''s determination, fortunately, the pros and cons for this trial greatly motivated Lachlan to continue. His muscles sore, eyes heavy, breathing weakly, yet he continued one last time. He clenched his entire body and stood up once more, he reached out and slapped his hand on the statue. "Ha, now you can go screw yourself for all I care!" A voice sounded out in his mind. "Challenge complete. Perseverance is not about beating a trial in one fell swoop, but rather, standing up countless times no matter how many times one falls. You have passed with flying colours, you have the perseverance of a king." Lachlan collapsed on the ground, he felt his original strength return to him but he didn''t know what to do with it. His muscles were still sore, he felt as though his arms and legs were numb. His eyelids were heavy, he closed them to give them a good rest. Lachlan reached to his pocket where he pulled out a small water bottle; he decided to bring this just for this type of situation. He didn''t need to drink litres of the island''s water to rid himself of fatigue, but only a small mouthful which is when Researcher Anne came up with this idea. It''s similar to a caffeine shot, except without any side effects. He felt the soreness in his muscles vanish, a breathe of life swirled through his body. His mouth opened wide as he exhaled, he felt as though he had just gone through a hundred years worth of training. He sat back up and leaned against the statue, his hair dishevelled and his shoulders lowered. He looked up towards the king''s smug smile, it still pissed him off but Lachlan felt something within him change. It was a sense of victory, of accomplishment. Through this hellish trial, he overcame the difficulties and continued towards the statue one step at a time. He reached to the side and tapped on the statue with the back of his hand, "You know, you''re going to be something everyone will use." Lachlan felt as though it was necessary for everyone to attempt it. Obviously, there was the whole other thing. If they turned their island into a school they would need something like this for the students to increase their willpower. ''I wonder if we''re ever going to make some more progress with that whole school thing'' Lachlan thought. There were a lot more benefits to starting a school then what he initially thought. Sure, it could be the place where they nurture the young into strong soldiers. However, there was also the connections they can make with the student''s parents. If the time comes they could ask for some assistance for certain tasks; for example, finding items that''ll increase willpower or prevent the human body from transforming, "Hey, Lachlan! Are you alright?" Simon turned the corner and stood by the door looking at Lachlan''s exhausted self. "Yeah I''m alright, this room can increase one''s willpower when they reach this statue here," Lachlan said he as tapped on the statue again. A grin widened on his face as he looked at Simon. "How about you give it a try?" Simon looked at Lachlan and knew he was up to something, but considering that fact that Lachlan was still able to talk it shouldn''t be anything too wild. Simon smiled and took a step, "Don''t mind if I d-" He collapsed on the ground, his legs and arms shaking just by trying to get back up. He looked up towards Lachlan in shock, he himself could feel all his strength vanish from his body. Simon felt as though he was a baby trying to stand its ground in front of a storm. "Shit, this ain''t how it''s going to go down." Simon gritted his teeth and stood back up, once he fully stood up and looked back at Lachlan. "Ha, that wasn''t too difficult." Taking a step forward full of confidence and arrogance Simon''s face changed to that or shock and terror. His legs collapsed from under him, the king''s eyes glowed red. Lachlan lightly chuckled. "Just to warn you, failing this trial means losing some stat points in willpower; winning means a large increase in willpower." He then proceeded to walk out of the room and meet with the others, briefing them of what was happening and how it could benefit them. They walked back and Simon was halfway through, his breathing erratic along with his dishevelled hair and murky eyes. "Damnit I give, this is way too difficult." Simon continued on for so many times, standing up again only to be pushed back down. His mental state was crumbling, his muscles were sore and everything just hurt. He laid down with his back facing the ground. A voice echoed through his mind, shaking it to its core. "Challenge complete. Perseverance is not about beating a trial in one fell swoop, but rather, standing up countless times no matter how many times one falls. You have passed the threshold, you have the perseverance of a knight." Simon left out a burst of hefty laughter. "Haha, I passed, I passed!" His hands held up in victory as he stayed laying on the floor. 136 Gathering of Items Lachlan was visibly confused when Simon started shouting about how he did it. Simon hadn''t even come close to reaching the statue, yet apparently, he managed to complete it. Lachlan jogged up to Simon while telling the others to stay by the door. When he reached Simon he leaned over and lifted him slightly off the ground. "What do you mean you passed? I had to reach the statue to pass but you haven''t even come close to it." "Well someone in my mind said that I passed, that I have the perseverance of a knight," Simon said proudly and a smug face. "So, seems we''re equal then huh." "Nope, guess not. Seems you don''t have as much perseverance as me; after all, it says I have the perseverance of a king," Lachlan said arrogantly to try and annoy Simon. Simon pouted while laying on the ground. "Seems you have the ego of one as well." "Like you''re one to talk," Lachlan responded before the two lightly chuckled. "So, you need some help getting up or is your ego too big for that?" "My ego is the perfect size thanks, and no, no I won''t be needed your help," Simon pouted again before whipping out his own small bottle of water. Taking the shot and relaxing, he inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Oh yeah, that feels good." Lachlan nodded before walking back to everyone standing by the door. They were confused as to what was happening so Lachlan explained in detail how the room worked, what the statue was and asked for their opinions about bringing it back to the island. "Sure, we''ll create a spot for it somewhere near the training grounds; after all, they''ll need a lot of willpower to even complete it and we don''t want students getting weaker because of us," Chloe explained. "We could also have it as a final trial; they''ll still graduate whether or not they pass or fail the trial but if they do pass they could have their names written down in some type of hall of fame. The people that reach the statue and have the perseverance of a king will be ranked at the top while those that only barely pass will be at the bottom," Joe said. He had heard a bit of what Lachlan and Simon were talking about and knew there was going to be differences with the ranks. "That''ll be a good idea since then they''ll have gone through plenty of training to have enough willpower to at least pass." Lachlan nodded. "Should we also go through the challenge right now? We should all be able to pass it, in addition, it wouldn''t be too bad to increase our willpower," Phoebe suggested quietly. "Well, that''s up for you all to decide, myself and Simon have already completed it. If you all want to complete it as well go ahead, we ain''t stopping you," Lachlan replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "Just remember, you need to at least get halfway to the statue. We aren''t exactly sure how far you need to go to pass but right now that''s the minimum." Lachlan walked out and quickly remembered something. He turned around to face the group, "So, have any of you found anything of value?" Zoe whipped out her small frog and opened its mouth wide. Shaking it around a large amount of treasure just flopped on the floor. Everyone looked at the frog with wide eyes; although they''ve been told how large its internal space is before it''s still always a shock. The others took out a small bag, opened it up and placed what was inside on the ground. There were a variety of jewels, stones and even small weapons. Phoebe took out a small but sharp, blood red dagger from her bag. Lachlan quickly analysed everything. Some of the things he analysed, such as the dagger Phoebe brought out, or the necklace Zoe took out of Bag, they were all man-made items. They possessed special characteristics which left even Lachlan stumped. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Necklace of Life Description: A man-made necklace created with the stone of vitality, forged in the magma of creation with the hands of a blacksmith which sacrificed his life with this creation. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases the vitality of the wearer by 2x, this can be used for both beast and human. Effect 2 (Sealed). When the wearer is hit with an attack that would have instantly kill them, the necklace will take all of the damage and break, this effect is only activated for a human. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dagger of Hero''s Blood Description: A man-made dagger created with blood metal and the blood essence of the chosen hero. Using this dagger with willpower less than 30 will send the wielder into a blind rage. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases the agility by 20 and strength by 10. Effect 2 (Passive). Killing those with a cruel and corrupted heart will increase the strength of the dagger by 2x for 30 minutes. (This effect can be stacked) -------------------------------------------------------- ''Well damn, so the dagger''s supposed to be used for killing in succession, going from one target to the next rather rapidly. The only thing is who would create such a weapon, one that needed the hero to sacrifice their life'' Lachlan thought about it as he picked it up for a closer look. Its blood red lustre gave Lachlan a reflection of himself, the length of the blade was 20cm long with the width of 5cm. Its grip was some type of black leather. He then turned his attention to the necklace, its chain was silver that had some fine green and golden lives engrained into it. Attached to it was a heart-shaped pendant, opening it up Lachlan saw the smug face he had gotten to hate so much. But alongside that king was a queen and three little children, a small boy being the eldest of the bunch. ''Although he seemed rather arrogant I suppose he cared deeply for his family.'' Lachlan had seen the recordings, but although it showed an arrogant king, with the presentation of the son''s letter and this pendant. It seemed the king cared deeply for his family and the people of his kingdom. ''Aaron, did you have anything called heroes back in your world?'' Lachlan was rather curious about it. ''No, although we had warriors, mages, and cultivators; the existence of heroes was non-existent due to them not being needed'' Aaron explained. ''I''m guessing the dragon''s world was rather unique, it could possibly have classes that are determined by birth. Similar to my world''s talent system, the class you get determines your future.'' ''So like in a lot of those isekai novels'' Lachlan nodded with the thought. He had always wanted to experience something that was shown in a novel or comic/manga. Although he didn''t want to go through the process of dying. Lachlan suddenly realised something, he was curious as to how Aaron came up with that theory. ''Hey Aaron, did you have novels back in your world?'' ''Of course, I would often spend time with Sarah who would be reading a book to me. We would relax under a tree in the backyard and I would be listening to the storybooks she bought'' Aaron explained. Lachlan nodded and returned his focus back to what they were here for. He began searching around the pile of stuff in search of something else, analysing everything he sees. And although there was plenty of stuff in front of him, none of it increased his willpower. Lachlan sighed before remembering that the back wall still hadn''t been completely searched yet. He had been too busy trying to overcome the trial that he hadn''t been able to search the other side rooms yet. Walking to the room next to him he stumbled upon another statue, but this time, he didn''t go in without analysing first. The room was similar to the last, with a length and width of 40 metres. The ceiling was 5 metres high so 4-metre tall statue could fit. This statue was different, it seemed to be someone equipped the knight like armour. His shield was massive, completely covering up the statue''s entire body. Its other hand was equipped with a broadsword, it extended out to the ground reached a length of 2 - 3 metres. The eyes were jewels as well, however, they seemed to give off an aura of rage. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Alter of Strength Description: A man-made altar created with the corpse of a powerful and overbearing tank hero. This altar continuingly releases the tank hero''s aura, its strength is dependent on the tank hero''s strength. This aura will test the strength of the challenger, beating it means an increase in their strength for 20 - 60. Losing means losing 0 - 20 stat points in strength. Once the trial has begun it cannot be stopped. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Could it be'' Lachlan thought of something and ran to the room next to this one. When he reached it and looked in he noticed another statue. But unlike the other rooms, this one was located at the very end, it was equipped in light leather armour. Attached to its waist were two daggers. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Alter of Agility Description: A man-made altar created with the corpse of a powerful and overbearing assassin hero. This altar continuingly releases the assassin hero''s aura, its strength is dependent on the assassin hero''s strength. To beat this test one must slash the back of the statue''s neck without being noticed and in the fastest time possible. Passing will increase agility for up to 20 - 60 points while losing will result in a decrease of 0 - 20 stat points. -------------------------------------------------------- He swiftly ran to the room next to it but came up with nothing. Although there were a few jewels and weapons in here there wasn''t another statue. ''Tsk, damn, it would have been wonderful if we could increase all our stats here.'' However, something in this room caught his eye. It was a broadsword resting against the wall near the corner. It looked like the broadsword that the tank hero was holding. It was black with fine red details engraved onto it, it had a length of 2 metres. Lachlan was considering whether or not he could actually use it. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tank Hero''s Broadsword (Sealed) Description: A man-made sword created with Godstone, blessed by the god of endurance and strength. This broadsword is fit for a tank, bearing the attacks of enemies to allow for his party to attack unhindered. To wield this sword one must have the perseverance of a hero and 150 stats in strength. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases strength and vitality by 50 points. Effect 2 (Passive). Reduces fatigue by 50%. Effect 3 (Sealed). Attracts all hostile attention from both beasts and humans. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Well damn, I don''t think I have the perseverance of a hero'' Lachlan''s head fell down when he saw the requirement. ''I suppose there isn''t any harm in trying, but first, I will complete the tank hero''s trial.'' 137 Blade Testing and New Armour Lachlan quickly walked back to the room where the Altar of Perseverance lay, the entire group was in the room and aside from Simon, they were all going through the trial. Chloe and Joe were the furthest in, followed by Phoebe and Zoe. In last place was Georgia who seemed to be rather relaxed as she went on. Lachlan nodded before running back to the room with the Altar of Strength; taking a step in he felt his surroundings change, it was as though something was trying to push him towards the ground. It gave off a similar feeling to the island''s gravity, however, it was much weaker. It seemed to be at most, 2 time Earth''s gravity. Taking another step the gravity increased again, but only ever so slightly, it was increased in decimals rather than whole numbers. This made it extremely easy, Lachlan just walked right up to the statue and tapped on it with his hand. "Challange complete. Strength is about rushing towards any obstacle and taking it down, defending your friends and family until your last ounce of strength. You have passed with flying colours, you have the strength of a king!" A low and deep sound echoed through his soul. ''Wait a minute, what was that? I have the strength of a king?'' Lachlan was momentarily stunned before he realised something vital. ''It seems the king is placed on a higher pedestal than the heroes. So then maybe I have the perseverance far surpassing that of a hero.'' Lachlan had to give it to the king. He certainly had an arrogance to him, one that would probably even put Simon to shame. Lachlan than nodded as he tapped the statue again. ''Alright, it''s about time I take that sword of yours.'' Walking outside the room he turned and headed for the weapon in the room nearby. When Lachlan reached it he took out his hands and held on the sword firmly, both his hands wrapped and tightened around the sword''s hilt. "Arg!" Lachlan groaned as he lifted the sword off the ground easily. He was expecting a lot more resistance from it, he almost swung himself to the roof. Letting on hand go he held the sword up easily, it senses a powerful energy flow through his body. He felt his strength increase along with his vitality, he felt as though he could fight for years on end without rest. Looking towards the sword again he wanted to see if there was any difference. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tank Hero''s Broadsword (Awakened) Description: A man-made sword created with Godstone, blessed by the god of endurance and strength. This broadsword is fit for a tank, bearing the attacks of enemies to allow for his party to attack unhindered. To wield this sword one must have the perseverance of a hero and 150 stats in strength. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases strength and vitality by 50 points. Effect 2 (Passive). Reduces fatigue by 50%. Effect 3 (Sealed). Attracts all hostile attention from both beasts and humans. -------------------------------------------------------- Although it said awakened it likely meant that it was now in use. Aside from that nothing else had changed. However, Lachlan certainly did like the benefits to wielding the weapons. Although it was more than a foot taller than Lachlan the buffs he got from it were amazing, to say the least. He would be fine with either of effect 1 or 2 by themselves. The increase was highly needed, especially now that he seems to be running into evolved beasts more often. As the reduction in fatigue, that was useful for these long journeys. However, because effect 3 was sealed he didn''t exactly know how to work with it. He obviously knew how he could use the sudden attraction to him to his advantage, it was just learning how to utilise the effect. Smiling widely Lachlan swung the sword around swiftly, the blade whistled through the wind. He did it a few times, twisting his body around as he followed through with the swing. Walking outside the room he ran up to one of the pillars and swung at it with his full might. The impact broke the pillar apart, completely shattering it from the inside out. Lachlan hadn''t realised yet but he has had a massive increase in his strength especially with the new broadsword in his hands. Lifting the broadsword up before sticking it in the ground he saw a reflection of him. He gave his reflection to handguns before winking at it. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 18 (Adolescence) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) STR: 179(+2), AGI: 118(+4), VIT: 81(+1) INT: 44(+2), PER: 47, WIL: 105 Weakness: None Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 10), Grip Strength (Level 6), Water Control (Level 7), Fire Control (Level 7), Wind Control (Level 7), Leg Strength (Level 2), Body Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Looking at his stats Lachlan quickly realised some of them weren''t as high as they would be since he wasn''t wielding the sword at the moment. He also had to give it to himself, the decision about travelling the world became a truly good thing. They hadn''t even been exploring for that long, they had so much more to do. As for taming his third beast, he would do that soon, he felt the need to make sure it''s a beast of worthy strength. As for whether or not he would go to Aaron''s world to tame one there, he wasn''t so certain about it. Although he does, really want a dragon. Lachlan grabbed hold of the hilt and lifted the broadsword up, he walked over to the room holding the Statue of Perseverance and peeked in. Everyone else was still in there, Chloe and Joe made it past the halfway point while Georgia, Phoebe, and Zoe were still lagging behind. They were just about to reach the halfway point, the very minimum bar that they set. "All of you need to make it to the end! There are some cool weapons we can use but one of the requirements is to reach the end of this trial!" Lachlan shouted at them all to give them a bit more motivation. He then waved around the broadsword like it was a small stick, gave a thumbs up before returning to the room to see if he missed anything. Looking around he couldn''t find anything else of value, but he didn''t give up. He searched the walls for any secret rooms or passageways but still came up with nothing. He sighed deeply before walking out and going to the room next to it. His face changed to that of shock when he saw what was in it, it was truly the jackpot. There were a dozen armour stands, every single one of them had a wonderful set of armour on it. In the centre of the room was a piece of armour that stood out the most, it was golden. ''That sorta looks similar to the king''s armour'' Lachlan thought back to the story they were told not to long ago. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: King''s War Armour (Sealed) Description: A man-made armour set created with Godstone, blessed by the god of war. This armour set is fit for a brave and noble king, leading his army through hordes of enemies. To equip this mighty armour one must have the perseverance of a king, 200 in strength, and 150 in agility. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases strength, vitality, agility, and willpower by 30 points. Effect 2 (Passive). Reduces fatigue by 50%. Effect 3 (Sealed). A move to naturally raise the morale of all subordinates -------------------------------------------------------- ''Damn'' Lachlan couldn''t help but admire the piece of armour for a few minutes. He just stood in front of it, staring at its golden lustre. However, there was one thing that annoyed Lachlan, one thing that he couldn''t help but be furious over. The armour was too big for him. It seemed the king was at least 2 - 2.5 metres, the armour set was absolutely massive. Although Lachlan could easily fit inside it there wasn''t much he could do aside from that. Lachlan then looked towards an armour set to the side, it had a matte black finish to it. Lachlan walked up to it and felt it out, the armour was ice cold on the outside but warm on the inside. It didn''t have a helmet for it, but for what it was, it certainly protected all other vital parts. But that wasn''t the thing that attracted Lachlan towards this piece of armour. The reason he was so into it was that it could actually fit him properly. At the very least, a lot better than what the King''s Armour could. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Meteorite Armour (Soul Bound) Description: A man-made armour set created with a small meteorite. This armour set is fit only for those of small size, but a large heart. Its purpose is to protect vital points as all armour should, it also grants the wearer a great deal of strength. There is no prerequisite to wearing this armour, however, it can be worn only be worn by one person and unless that one person dies no other soul shall be able to place it on themselves. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases strength, vitality, agility, and willpower by 50 points. Effect 2 (Passive). Reduces fatigue by 70%. Effect 3 (Passive). Able to sense any hostility focused towards the wearer. Effect 4 (Sealed). An ability to detect spatial disturbances. -------------------------------------------------------- ''Now this is what I was talking about'' Lachlan smiled widely as he tapped the armour, the armour gave off a soft clang sound from the tap. ''I''m going to be wearing you for a long time.'' He took one piece of armour off that stand at a time and put it on himself. Once he was finished he was fully set, he had a massive broadsword to attack and a great piece of armour to protect himself. He moved around a bit before the armour abruptly expanded, then, like elastic and tightened and stuck on Lachlan. "Whoa, now that is nice," Lachlan said out loud. "What the hell do you have on right now?" Simon walked around the corner and noticed what Lachlan was wearing. He then looked around the room and noticed a lot more armours, his mouth agape as he looked at the centre one. Walking up to it he placed his hand on it. "Now this, this is an armour worthy of being worn by me." His ego still hasn''t gone done, nor will it go down any time soon. Lachlan sighed and shook his head before asking, "So you didn''t walk into any of the other rooms?" "I saw a statue in two of them and yeah, I ain''t going through that ever again," Simon complained. "What, afraid that you''ll be beaten by everyone else again in those as well," Lachlan swiftly replied. Simon pouted and crossed his arms. "No, I just don''t think I should do them at this moment. I mean seriously, when we bring this whole thing up to the island I''ll have all the time in the world to give those a try." He brushed it off while chuckling faintly. "Yep, yep, keep telling yourself that," Lachlan responded. "I will," Simon said while pouting again with his crossed arms. "So is there any special about these armour sets I should know about? You know, maybe whether or not they''re going to suddenly throw me into some sort of trial as well?" 138 Taking the Whole Temple Lachlan chuckled wholeheartedly at Simon''s concern. "No, you won''t have the worry about that. The only thing you have the worry about is whether or not you have the requirements to actually equip that armour. Which I will tell you right now, you don''t." Lachlan had remembered what Simon got in his trial of perseverance. It wasn''t nearly high enough for him to equip the king''s war armour. It''s already a surprise the armour let Simon even touch it instead of retreating in disgust. "Huh, so I can''t wear this armour then?" Simon''s head dropped with disappointment. "But this beautiful set of armour could only be worn by me, just look at it, it would fit perfectly." "Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. You should have completed the trial of perseverance," Lachlan shook his head as he placed his hands on his sides. "But, there is some armour that you can wear, it''s just whether or not you want to wear it." Lachlan pointed towards an armour near the back, it was thin armour, coloured a dark violet. Lachlan had taken notice of it due to its name and stats, there were also some pretty good effects that came with the armour as well. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jester''s Armour Description: A man-made armour set created with violet coloured volcanic rock. This armour set was created to impress the nobles and entrance them with its ravishing looks. To wear this armour one must have control over light, have a strength and agility of 50, and have the arrogance of a king. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases light control by 2. Effect 2 (Passive). Increases agility and perception by 20. Effect 3 (Sealed). Ability to persuade anyone into doing anything to a certain extent. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was most captivated by the third ability. It sounded like mind control and it certainly should be mind control. Although, since it was sealed that means there''s a requirement to activate it. Fortunately, after equipping his armour set Lachlan realised that the armour injected the wearer everything needed to know about it. "Come on, give it a try," Lachlan suggested with a friendly voice. Simon walked up to it and gave it a closer look, staring at the finer details of the armour. "I suppose it doesn''t look too bad, it certainly isn''t suitable for stealth operations but neither am I. There''s also something about it that just radiates confidence, it''s as though it''s telling me to put it on." Simon swiftly changed gear and equipped the armour. It fit quite nicely, although tight around the shoulders it didn''t restrict any movement. Not to mention its thin armour made his muscles pop out more. Simon began flexing his muscles while giving off a masculine groan as he did it. "Indeed, not too bad at all. I could certainly get used to this." "Well anyway you should probably give the other two altars a go, fortunately, those ones are perfect for us. One gives you a trial of strength while the other is agility, you should have high enough stats to complete them without a problem. Who knows, maybe you won''t give up halfway through," Lachlan said as he walked out and headed towards the Altar of Agility. It never hurt to increase his stats just that little bit more. Standing at the door of the agility trial looked Lachlan around the room but found nothing. And unlike the other two trials, Lachlan wasn''t exactly sure how this one would be done. But from what Lachlan understood, he just had to make it to the other side. Bending his legs Lachlan tensed all the muscles throughout his body, his head tilted upwards and faced the statue, his eyes squinted and he pushed off. Leaving behind a crack in the ground he burst through the air, but when he took a step inside the room he quickly realised something was amiss. There were solid blocks sticking out of nowhere, as though they were invisible. Lachlan quickly regained himself from almost smashing into one and pushed off again. This time he kept focused, moving around the bits sticking out. He jumped, ducked, and weaved through the obstacles, swiftly making his way to the statue before he slammed his hand on it. "Challenge complete. You managed to weave your way through difficult to see obstacles with incredible speed and without hesitation. You passed with flying colours, you have the agility of a king." Lachlan really couldn''t get enough of this so-called king; he really placed himself on such a high pedestal. Placing him above heroes, people that were supposed to be world saviours and whatnot. Lachlan walked outside, the obstacles had disappeared so he left without any hindrance. Walking to the blade he left in the ground Lachlan looked at himself, dressed in the matte black armour he looked intimidating. Lachlan looked around and when he noticed no one there he quickly flexed a bit, showing off his muscles. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lachlan Wilson (Half-Human, Half-???) Age: 18 (Adolescence) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Winged Beasts (Perfect) STR: 229(+2), AGI: 228(+4), VIT: 131(+1) INT: 44(+2), PER: 47, WIL: 105 Weakness: None Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 10), Grip Strength (Level 6), Water Control (Level 7), Fire Control (Level 7), Wind Control (Level 7), Leg Strength (Level 2), Body Defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan admired his stats for a while. This sudden increase certainly shocked him, just this one island managed to give him a massive increase in stats. That alone made this entire journey worth it, not to mention everyone else''s increase in stats. Not to mention they weren''t at their highest just yet, he wasn''t wielding the broadsword at the moment. A slight chuckle was heard from the doorway and turning around he noticed Phoebe. Lachlan''s face turned a light red from embarrassment, his eyes darkened as he asked, "You didn''t see anything now did you?" "Just enough to see you flexing in front of the sword," Phoebe explained with a faint laugh. She looked around the room and analysed all the armours before turning back to Lachlan and asking, "So is there anything in this room I should wear in particular or is it all good?" Lachlan smiled at the question before pointing towards the blue armour to the side. It was partially a dress as well as an armour set. "That one is perfect for you, not only does it look good but it also buffs you greatly." -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Water Queen''s Armour Description: A man-made armour set created with Deep Ocean Stone. This armour set was created for a wonderful queen that rules over the waters with a pure heart. To wear this armour one must have 100 strength, 100 agility, and the perseverance of a queen. Effect 1 (Passive). Increases water control by 2. Effect 2 (Passive). Increases agility and strength by 30. Effect 3 (Passive). Gives wearer the ability to breathe underwater and enhances swimming abilities. Effect 4 (Sealed). Call forth the power of the ocean''s creatures, bringing destruction on what the wearer deems unworthy, -------------------------------------------------------- "However I do have the ask beforehand, did you managed to get the perseverance of a queen or higher?" Lachlan asked. "Well, I got the perseverance of a king so I don''t know; maybe?" Phoebe wasn''t too sure where the king ranked in everything. All she knew is that she completed the trial without a problem, although, she was near the breaking point at the end. Fortunately, her turtles motivated her to continue forward. Lachlan nodded before going on to explain about the king. "That''s the highest you can get on the test, the king is a bit arrogant so he places himself above everyone else, that''s why you get the perseverance of a king when you reach the statue." "Oh, then I suppose this armour is fit for me?" Phoebe asked with wide eyes. "Indeed, boosts your water control, agility, strength, and gives you the ability to breathe underwater. There''s one more effect but you can just put on the armour to learn about that," Lachlan explained before thinking to himself. ''It''s basically Aquaman''s ability, except in this new world it might actually be something greater.'' "Oh, but before you do that you should probably go and undergo the strength and agility test, that way you''ll have the essential stats to put it on," Lachlan swiftly mentioned. He had almost forgotten that Phoebe didn''t have 100 strength, nor 100 agility. Phobe nodded. "Alright, I''ll go and do that. Any tips?" "Just burst out with all your strength right from the start, there''s no need to hold back considering the strength test is similar to our island''s gravity. As for the agility test, just remember, the obstacles are slightly camouflaged," Lachlan explained. Phoebe swiftly ran out to do the test, Lachlan waited for ten minutes patiently before Phoebe walked back in, her forehead covered in sweat. "Oh boy, you didn''t tell me the gravity went so high in that test. Fortunately, I used my gravity stone and nullified it, somehow it counted me passing with flying colours even though I cheated." Lachlan hadn''t thought about that, he would have the tell the others beforehand so they can all get the best results. "Alright, go and put the armour on." Phoebe walked up to it and slid her hand across its exterior, looking closer to the fine, blue pattern engrained on the armour. She then turned around the Lachlan. "Out, I need to undress to put this armour on." "Oh please," Lachlan said as he waved his hand. He suddenly felt the gaze of a predator; turning to face Phoebe he noticed she was staring daggers at him. He then nodded silently before walking outside the room. ''Well, at least it seems like this armours ability to detect hostility is working quite well.'' Standing outside Lachlan thought of doing something more useful. Taking out some high-grade spirit stones he began running around the temple, evenly distributing them along the ground. Once he was done he returned to the room. Phoebe had finished putting on the armour. When Lachlan walked in he was set in a trance, his mouth opened wide, he slowly and silently nodded his head. ''That''s my girl.'' Noticing Lachlan had returned Phoebe did a little twirl for him, showing off the armour. It fit her rather perfectly as well, although slightly tight around the hip, it wasn''t unbearable nor did it restrict any of her movement. "So, what do you think?" Phoebe asked. "You look great, amazing even. Certainly, an armour that''s fit for someone to rule to oceans with," Lachlan complimented. "Certainly brings back a few memories of when he first met, you were so shy, even letting Simon''s arrogance pass unhinged." "Indeed, it feels so weird thinking that a couple of years have already gone by. It certainly has been a wonderful journey with everyone, first we trained together, then we slept together, and finally we fought together," Phoebe said as the two of them reminisced on the past. "Yeah, but anyway, I''ve already rigged the temple up for liftoff. should we quickly go and check whether or not the others are ready?" Lachlan asked. "Nah, I was the last to finish, the others are just catching their breath, so let''s hurry up and go," Phoebe said as she raised her hands. Lachlan faintly laughed. ''Alright, 5 times Earth''s gravity upwards.'' The temple rumbled and shook as it slowly rose from the ground, the group still resting inside the other room were shocked by the sudden movement. Simon was somewhere else in the temple, searching for treasures when it shook and he banged his head against the wall. "Ow, damn it, who''s moving the castle," Simon complained loudly before he suddenly remembered that he saw Lachlan running around the castle not too long ago. He let out a loud sigh, ''the least you could have done is warned us.'' Lachlan and Phoebe had long since run out of the castle to navigate it towards the island. Once it was in a good positive Lachlan slowly let the island fall down, using his gravity stones to use only a fraction of Earth''s normal gravity. Once they landed on the island Lachlan said, "Alright, it''s time to continue our journey to America." 139 Starting in America The group travelled for a while, not too concerned about stopping along the way due to their sudden increase in strength. They didn''t find a need to go searching further, so instead, they would begin to increase their influence around the world. On the island, the group sat on top of the tree wall, looking down on the world. They were all fully equipped in armour, the group had all finished the tests and Lachlan paired them all with a suitable set of armour. Joe was in a fiery red armour set, wielding a spear that seemed to be covered in the blood of its enemies. The armour increased fire control while the spear intensified killing intent/bloodlust, installing fear into enemies. Zoe was wearing an azure green dress, lined with darker emerald green. Although it didn''t help her at the moment due to its increasing control over plants. It still gave a good increase to her agility, strength, and vitality. Georgia''s armour set was certainly a unique find, it was black with perfectly functional wings that remained invisible until being used. Although they couldn''t work as well as wings they gave the wearer the ability to fly, due to the armour passively decreasing the wearer''s weight. One of the main reasons Georgia snagged it up. On her forearms were two hidden blades, completely black, but they had the ability to camouflage themselves until they were in offensive mode. As for Chloe, although she didn''t manage to find any armour sets that increase her water control, she did manage to find a lovely, bright red armour set that increased her strength and willpower. Paired with her battle axe that further increased her strength greatly she very quickly became a fierce warrior, ready to be known. Simon, Phoebe, and Lachlan were wearing the armour they had put on a while back. Lachlan had managed to find a sheath for his broadsword, he carried across the back of his body if he did it the other way he probably wouldn''t even be able to walk properly. Phoebe had two dark blue daggers by her waist that further increased her water control by 1 and gave her a decent boost in agility and perception. Simon had two black gloves on his hands, attached to the knuckles were bright red sparks, sharpened to pierce metal. Alongside them were the owners of Chorip¨¢n Reyes, along with their daughter Valentina. The father, Pedro looked towards the large land mass called America, his eyes widened from all the damage that would be seen already. "So that''s where we''re supposed to start our business?" "Of course not, we''ll look for an actually decent place to stay, otherwise how will we make the business successful?" Flynn asked jokingly. "We''ll also stay with you for a while, make sure you''re all properly accustomed with the place and not to mention, warns others of yours backing." Joe slapped Pedro''s back, almost throwing him off the island. "Don''t worry about it, we''ll make sure you fit right in before we leave. We''ll also make sure to leave a way for you to make contact with us at any time." Scratching his head Pedro replied, "Great, that calms me down a bit, having you all for our backing." Everyone agreed. Although they would stand out like a sore thumb, at the very least, their strength was unparalleled. Some of them were even expecting some people to surround them and take pictures of them, they would think it''s some kind of cosplay. "Damn, looks like America really had a tough time," Lachlan said as he sighed, looking down at the ruined towns. They were completely annihilated and the group saw why. A dark green bear that had purple crystals running down its spine was roaming the town, its body the size of houses as it stomped on the remains of cars. Its nose pointed towards the ground, sniffing, searching for food. "What the hell are those people doing?" Georgia said abrupt, pointing towards a nearby group of people running on the ground towards the bear. Everyone''s eyes widened with surprise, as behind and above the group were beasts, all moving alongside them. "Isn''t it obvious, they''re hunting that bear down, possibly even trying to capture it," Simon said as he gave the group a nob of approval. "They''ve probably got family somewhere nearby and want to kill the bear before it kills them." "Should we help them out?" Phoebe asked with concern. "Only if they need it, we''ll watch for now, see how they fight," Lachlan explained. He had already analysed them, and although they had a decent amount of strength Lachlan wasn''t sure where they got the confidence to take on the bear. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Crystal Bear Tyrant Age: Adult Attribute: Earth/Crystal Grade: Good Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 14 STR: 42(+40), AGI: 54(+20), VIT: 70(+30) INT: 37(+20), PER: 40(+10), WIL: 32(+6) Weakness: Weak Paw Defence, Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Body Strength (Level 4), Skin Defence (Level 3), Earth Control (Level 4), Crystal Control (Level 2), Bite Strength (Level 6), Tyrant''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- Not only was the bear strong, with Tyrant''s aura it had a method of partially suppressing that groups fighting prowess. Not to mention that unless they had some heavy hitter beasts, which they don''t, they won''t be able to even pierce the bear''s skin, let alone kill it. The group had readied their gravity stones just in case they had to interfere; however, after watching the group on the ground set up they realised it was a bunch of professionals. Two people were stationed on top of houses far furthest away from the bear holding onto snipers while another 3 stopped halfway towards it, they were holding rocket launchers. Finally the last 3 were heading towards the bear for battle, they were all holding onto shotguns with long daggers by their side. Their beasts were much larger than the others, two had much smaller bears while the other had a few alligators. The alligators swiftly waddled towards the bear''s legs, opening their mouths before clumping on tight. They performed their signature move, something everyone knows them for. A death roll. Spinning fiercely the alligators managed to rip a large chunk of the bear''s legs off before the bear swatted at them, smashing them away from it. But while it had its head lowered the other, but smaller bears grabbed hold of its head, dragging it to the ground. The people started firing rapidly into weak points, the joints, and bits of soft tissue. The ones carrying the shotguns ran up close to the bear''s face before shotting madly into its eyes, they continued to pump their guns until the bear dropped dead. "Damn, they''re pretty good," Simon complimented as he gave them another nod of approval. "I wonder who they work for." "Although I would say military since they have weapons, this is America, they''re possibly just a group of desperate people fighting for survival. There''s also the possibility that they''re an Explorer''s Guild party, possibly sent on a mission to despatch the bear causing havoc," Lachlan explained. "Not to mention their uniform isn''t very military-like." The group on the ground were wearing rather casual, but light clothing. The most likely scenario is that the clothing was produced by the Explorer''s Guild through Researcher''s United''s help. "Oh, seems like they noticed us," Zoe stated as she pointed towards one of the ones with a sniper. It was a woman who had unhooded herself, she was standing on the roof waving towards them. Zoe was waving back. The woman spoke while she held onto what the group assumed as an earpiece, it seemed they relaxed a bit after realising they weren''t an enemy as well. "So, should we go down to greet them?" Zoe asked with wide eyes. "I don''t see why now, we''ll also be able to get some directions from them to the nearest populated city." Chloe agreed with the idea. Everyone else swiftly followed suit, giving their nods and thumbs up. They all hopped off the island, Pedro, Elena, and Valentina were brought down with them on the back of Aaron. They all gentle floated down to the people on the ground. With the island behind them and were rather unique armour they looked fantasy like, to say the least, they stood out like a sore thumb with their vibrant colours, Simon''s violet especially. The people on the ground watched in shock as they saw the group approaching them while floating through the air. They all had their beasts summoned, the two snipers had snakes while the people with rocket launchers had spiders. It was a rather specialised group, further pointing out that they''re probably a party from the Explorer''s Guild. When they landed on the ground the frontal assault group swiftly readied their shotguns, fear in their eyes. "You are all humans, right? You''re not some type of new intelligent beast right?" They chuckled faintly before Chloe took a step forward and holding her hand on her chest she said, "Yes, we are all humans and aren''t some new type of intelligent beast. I would have thought that news of our existence would have reached your ears by now considering we originally weren''t too far when we confirmed it with Researcher''s United." "So you''re the group on the floating island," One of them said in realisation. "I just thought of it somewhat ridiculous to believe. A group of people travelling on a floating island with a great amount of strength." Chloe looked towards Lachlan and squinted her eyes, Lachlan didn''t know what to say and just shrugged. Turning back to the group she said, "Well I don''t know where you heard we had a great amount of strength but yes, yes we are the group travelling on a floating island." "You know, when someone is travelling on a floating island you just assume they have a lot of strength. Because surely someone''s attempted to steal it from you, at the very least someone should have tried to negotiate for the island," A broad man with a sturdy face said. "Nah, we weren''t exactly known for our peaceful nature," Chloe said as she scratched her head. "But moving on, where''s the nearest safe city?" "Roughly 100 kilometres North, away from the waters, in a safe spot a decent distance from the rivers and streams," The man explained. "If you want we can lead you there, it''ll also be easier to get you in." The group looked at each other and thought about it. It was pretty obvious what the guy wanted to do because although he was attempting to hide it well he couldn''t stop his legs from slightly trembling from excitement. "Alright, just make sure you keep a strong hold on the wall, we don''t want you falling down now do we," Chloe said before shooting into the air, dragging the group along with her. Everyone else sighed, shook their head before following her trail. Just as they were about to reach the island Chloe looked towards the group. "so, just wondering, but what are you apart of? Is it Explorer''s Guild? Or some other independent group here in America?" "Explorer''s Guild; we''re apart of a sub-guild that focuses on taking down large beasts with heavy firearms and strategical warfare," The man explained as the rest of the group remained silent. They were all looking down, they felt their stomach at their throats from looking down. "Alright." Chloe nodded as they landed, the rest of the group followed behind them before returning to their original positions. "So which way was it?" "100 kilometres North," The man said again. Lachlan nodded before issuing the island the commands. The new people watched in shock as the island began moving, they stared at the ground beneath them, the ground passing by quickly as they could feel the wind blowing against their face. 140 Houston The others faintly chuckled at the sight of the group''s shocked expressions, they were dangling their feet off the wall, looking below them at the ground passing by. The two snipers both laid down, their arms by their side, they had expressions of bliss. Lachlan turned to the broad man who seemed to be in charge. "So, where exactly are we in America?" "You''re currently at Freeport, in the state of Texas, USA," The man said in his deep voice. "This place was fishing grounds, where people came to gather fish for food. However, it seems the large supply of large fish attracted the bear here which lead to the destruction of this town." "So how does working for the Explorer''s Guild work? I can see you''ve already formed a party, but what happens from there?" Lachlan asked. He was curious as to how the Explorer''s Guild worked, considering their large size and worldwide fame. "Right, the guild works in that each party is a sub-guild. When creating a sub-guild you state its purpose, for example, due to the bear problem in the USA I decided to create a sub-guild that primarily focuses on killing and capturing bears," Burnie explained. Lachlan had analysed everyone in their group, and although much stronger than the average person, they probably wouldn''t last a second against an intelligent beast. Burnie laid back, his hands behind his head to provide him with a bit of cushioning. "Everyone in this sub-guild has some sort of purpose here, either they''re here for revenge or just want to help others out. Either way, they''re all accepted." Burnie then pointed towards one of the snipers. "Like Rosanne over there, she''s just looking to fill her life with something meaningful. Because of her age, she hadn''t finished anything in college, barely even getting out of high school when everything change. But, after taming a couple of beasts and finding out she could fight pretty well she joined the Explorer''s Guild before finding her way to us." He then proceeded to point towards every other member in his group, explaining their pasts. All their experiences and the such, it was something Lachlan hadn''t taken much notice of but it seemed like people have managed to find themselves a better standing in the new world with the introduction of beasts. "Just wondering but where exactly are we going?" Lachlan asked. "Obviously to Houston, a city that underwent some massive changes when the world changed. They decided to move everyone and everything underground, using the broken buildings as materials to create support pillars and the such," Burnie explained. "To be honest, I feel as though Houston is the safest city in America due to this move by their government." "Indeed, because unlike other cities that''ll have to face constant beast threats, due to the city being underground, it''ll be able to avoid almost all of that. It really was a smart move," Chloe and Flynn chimed in, they were rather interested in Houston''s council''s decision. "Yeah, I don''t see why other cities follow along. Although I can obviously see the dangers if one of those earth controlling beast shows up, there''s plenty of those beasts underground as well, protecting the integrity of the city," Burnie explained. "Of course, having a city in the sky would be even safer, granted, as long as the method of keeping in the sky isn''t compromised." They continued their small chats, only taking a few more minutes before they reached the spot. They all looked down, all that was left of Houston was its outskirts, the centre was covered in a thick layer of cement and all through it were small entrances that only a human could fit through. The group hopped down, bringing along the others with them. When they landed on the ground the sight was rather odd, it was just one large, flat piece of cement, covering the entire ground. But that wasn''t what they were there for. Moving towards one of the entrances Burnie ran up and opened it up, it worked similar to a submarine entrance, having to twist the handle to open it. Everyone hopped into it, slowly making their way down the metal ladder until they finally reached solid footing. Although it was high up and very far from the actual bottom the group could see the entire city from where they were, they were currently on the ceiling grids, they stretched across the city, giving the residents multiple places where they could escape or come in from. "This way, I''ll take you over to this city''s Explorer''s Guild headquarters, my sub-guild needs to submit a small report and evidence of completion of the mission," Burnie explained as he waved his hand, gesturing for them to follow. The group nodded and made their way behind him, constantly looking around them at the bright lights attached to the ceiling along with all the massive buildings far below it. From the ground to the ceiling it had to at least be 500 metres. The tallest building in the city was around 200 metres but there was plenty of other buildings that reached close to its size. A lot of which were apartment buildings; because the outskirts of the city were abandoned they needed more accommodation underground to support everyone living there, at least for now it seems. "So how did they manage to dig all this up?" Flynn asked in amazement. "Obviously they used earth control, easy and simple. With those abilities, they managed to dig this entire area out in less than a week and once all the dirt was gone construction was simple, not to mention there were people that could control metal, making it so much easier," Burnie explained proudly. "I was one such person, helping with construction." The group hadn''t thought about it like that, they were still in the past where manual labour was still the beast. Which is why constructing their huts and wooden cabins took so a while, they didn''t think anything of it. They looked at each other and nodded, they were going to do their next lot of construction with their abilities and also, try to find people with such abilities to speed up the process. Especially metal/iron control. "Alright, we''re here," Burnie said as he pointed towards a building by their side, there was an elevator that went straight down into it. The building was large, made of polished marble with plenty of windows. Along the side the group could see a symbol or insignia, it represented the Explorer''s Guild. It was plastered across the side of the building. Burnie walked across the grid until he reached the elevator, he gestured for the group to follow. They all got inside the elevator, granted it was quite cramped it wasn''t anything too unbearable. Lachlan''s broadsword went from one side of the elevator to the other, which meant he had to stand at the very back against the wall. Clicking the ground button the elevator shot down, through the building until it reached the ground. When it opened, it opened up to a wide, spacious room; there were couches to the side, a large touch screen tv on the side of the wall and at the back centre was the reception. Burnie and his group walked up to the receptionist and handed in the bear''s paw, signifying their success and completion of the mission. The receptionist nodded before typing something on the computer, after that she nodded and signalled for them to go. The group walked over to theirs, Burnie stepped forward. "So, the rest of my group is planning on separating and getting some rest. I''ve decided to take charge and help guide you around the city, show you the ins and outs." "Thanks, it''ll be greatly appreciated," Flynn said. Burnie nodded before walking off, the group followed behind him, walking through the doors into the busy streets of Houston. They were getting odd stares from everywhere, they weren''t exactly wearing the most casual of clothes. Looking at them Burnie said, "Yeah, let''s get you some clothes to wear while you''re here." "Well. we don''t exactly have any money," Flynn explained as he shrugged his shoulders. "Granted, I might have some if the government has opened up my bank account." Burnie gave them a strange look but Flynn swiftly explained, "We weren''t exactly on the world government''s good side of the list. It''s not an understatement to say we were despised by them, however, things have changed and I suppose we''re on neutral terms now." "How about we go to the bank first to have a look, it isn''t too far from here," Burnie said and the group responded with nods. "Great." 141 Small-Time Thugs Walking towards the bank the group weaved through the crowd, trailing closely behind Burnie who seemed to know the city like the back of his hand. When they finally reached the bank the group looked at it, the building was only one story and attached to the roof was a sign saying, "World Bank" "We''ll stay out here, Flynn, you go inside and take care of your business," Chloe said and Flynn responded with a nod. The rest of them waited outside along with Burnie, they leaned against the bank wall watching the crowds of people move past. Lachlan sighed before turning to Burnie. "So, where exactly are you planning on taking us?" Burnie scratched his head. "Well, my first idea was to stop off at a restaurant or cafe to get a quick bite. All the fighting makes me hungry." Burnie rubbed his slightly bulging belly. The group faintly laughed before noticing a small boy staring at them from a distance, he was behind a garbage bin, poking his head around the corner staring at them with his big round eyes. A woman which seemed to be his mother walked up to him, squatting down before asking him a few questions that the group couldn''t hear. The pair walked over to the group, the woman took a step forward ahead of the boy. "My boy was wondering if you would allow him to take a picture with you all. He says your cosplay is rather amazing and out of this world." The boy was holding onto his phone by his mother''s side, one of his arm wrapped around her leg. "We would love to," Lachlan stepped forward and said before squatting down, gesturing the young boy to come over. The boy, very shyly moved over, taking his time before finally reaching Lachlan. Opening his phone''s camera he held it out to his mother, she nodded with a bright smile before taking the phone and holding it up. Most of the group happily posed for the photo, Simon was slightly fuming in the background while Pedro, Elena, Valentina, and Burnie stood back. Feeling slightly uncomfortable. "3, 2, 1," Taking a few photos the mother put a thumbs up before handing the phone back to her son. He looked through the photos with a wide smile, he turned to the group and thanked them before walking off with his mother. "That wasn''t too bad," Lachlan said as he leaned back against the wall. "What are you talking about. This isn''t some type of common cosplay, this is an armour set fit for a warrior," Simon said proudly. "This armour is all I need to annihilate this entire city, taking down one building after the other before just leaving through the small manhole exit." "Yeah, yeah, it isn''t as though there''s plenty of people here who could group together to beat you. Remember, there''s plenty of strength in numbers but I will say, as of right now, most of those numbers won''t be able to scratch you," Lachlan said as he brushed the topic off. "Not to mention you''ll become the most wanted man on the planet due to your dangerous nature and crazy strength." "Exactly, then they''ll be recognising me for my overwhelming strength," Simon said proudly as he lifted his head up and placed his fingertips at his chest. Standing at the back Burnie walked up to Chloe and asked, "Do they always talk like this? Like seriously, I feel as though there are a million eyes staring at the group right now because of what he just said." Chloe sighed and her head fell. "Unfortunately yes, yes they do always talk like this, Simon especially. Why? There some kind of problem with that other than the million stares?" "Well obviously, some people would take it that he''s underestimating our city and try picking fights with him. Not to mention his wacky clothing doesn''t help in giving him a strong type of appearance," Burnie facepalmed as he explained. "Oh, boy, here''s some trouble coming right now." "Oi you there with the weird outfit, you trying to say you could defeat all of us by yourself," A group of thugs walked over, their bodies covered in tattoos, piercings and they had crazy hairstyles. They looked like they just came out of some fantasy story. The leader of the group who had a purple mohawk slightly bent over and spate as he talked. "Ay, are you listening or have you already pissed yourself in fear? Does the little cosplayer want to go back to his mummy?" Having enough of the insults Simon reached out and grabbed hold of the man''s head, lifting him off the ground. Simon released an intense killing intent, filled with arrogance. "Does the little thug have nothing useful to do with his life? Wasting it in the streets underground because you''re too weak to ever fight on top." Simon slightly tightened his grip, the leader of the thugs freaked out as he felt as though his head was going to pop. "What the hell are you all doing?! Beat the crap out of this guy already! There''s no way he could take on all of us!" That was the worst thing he could have said, as all his underlings began running up to Simon throwing punches or attempting to hit him with bats. All the attacks rebounded off of Simon like it was nothing, his armour continued to give off a purple sheen, not a single scratch could be seen on his Armour. Simon grinned widely, sending chills down the thugs'' spines. "It seems I can take you all on." The leader''s eyes constricted, he felt the grip on his face tightened even more. He could feel his head beginning to burst but before that he felt his body get dragged through the air, his head going towards the ground. *Bang!* Smashed against the ground the leader was knocked unconscious instantly and his lackeys were stunned, unsure of what to do. Simon stood back up, stretching his muscles and cracking his bones. Holding up his hand Simon gestured for them to attack him. The underlings ran towards him but weren''t preparing to swing or anything, they swiftly ran around Simon and grabbed hold of their leader before running away. Weaving through the crowds of people, disappearing from Simon''s sight. "Tsk, disappointments," Simon muttered under his breath. "I wonder, this won''t lead to another, bigger gang leader coming after us right?" Lachlan asked with concern. He felt himself lay a flag right then and there, one that''ll be waiting a couple of minutes before coming back with an entire criminal organisation. "Fortunately no, that small-time thug has no backing whatsoever. Rather, I think it was because his parents abandoned him that he became a thug," Burnie reassured Lachlan who had a sigh of relief. "Of come on you can''t be telling me that now. Now I feel slightly bad for the guy," Simon complained as he threw his hands into the air. "Granted, if he still acted the same, even with all that information I would still beat his arse." After all that happened Flynn finally came back out. "Alright, so my bank was opened back up and there was a whole lot more money in it. Seemingly coming from the government as thanks for the information of hybrids." "Great, let''s get something to eat," Chloe said before turning to Burnie. "Could you take us somewhere where there''s a lot of traditional food, you know, Mexican food, Asian food, that kind of stuff." "Of course," Burnie nodded before walking off. Chloe gave Predo and Elena a thumbs up before following behind Burnie, followed by the rest of the group. When they finally reached their destination the group was stunned by the hustling crowd, walking through street vendors that covered the sides of the streets. There were the sounds of street vendors shouting out bargains loudly, adults talking and laughing along with the gigglish laughter of small children. "Welcome to World Street, commonly known for its cuisine that comes from around the world," Burnie said as he gestured with his arms towards the street. "This place has just about everything there is around the world." Walking past the vendors the group was in awe and disgusted at the same time, there was plenty of food that made their stomach churn. One old lady was selling roasted frog-toe, the kebab was only large enough to fit the frog''s toe on it. The old lady was holding a hot and steaming one in her hands. "Come up and buy 1, get 1 free!" The group watched as a young couple hesitated before finally going up to buy it. The old lady was smiling joyfully as the couple bought it; when they tried it out their faces turned to that of bliss. "What the hell, this is actually so good." Lachlan turned to Phoebe but before he could get a word out Phoebe already had her hand up. "Nope, no way, we aren''t eating that even if it tastes good." "Hey, where did Pedro, Elena, and Valentina go?" Zoe asked with concern when she noticed they were missing. "Oh, they asked where the European vendors are located before storming off towards them," Burnie said before shrugging his shoulders. "They seemed to be in a rush to do something, I don''t know what." "Oh well, we''ll meet up with them later; as for now, let''s get something to eat," Flynn said before turning to Burnie. "So, where would you recommend us to go?" "Oi, purple boy, what do you think you''re doing stealing my armour from me." A youngish Asian boy came up to Simon and placed his hand on Simon''s shoulder. "You''re going to have to give it back to me before things get rough." Lachlan turned to Burnie. "What''s this?" Burnie scratched his head from embarrassment. "Well, this street is run by an Asian gang. They usually take what they want through force and it seems they have their owns on your friend''s armour." Lachlan felt as though this day couldn''t get any more troublesome. "I suppose it was a good idea to get Simon to wear that, at least he''s dragging all the attention towards him. The armour''s description and abilities are really working." ''Master, can I beat these ruffians up?'' Aaron asked abruptly. ''And why would I do that? I don''t want these thugs dead, just scared. And although arrogant, Simon should be able to do at least that'' Lachlan said. ''You shouldn''t be wasting your energy on things like this, you should be saving it until we meet a worthy opponent.'' Lachlan watched up as the fight rilled up when Simon responded to the Asian man with the same arrogance as he always does. "Your armour? Huh, don''t make me laugh. You wouldn''t even be able to put this armour even if you had another 100 years to your life." The young Asian man''s face twitched, he let go of Simon''s shoulder before flicking his finger. A bat came from the crowd, swinging towards Simon''s legs. When it hit a loud clanging sound echoed the streets, holding the bat up it had turned into a U shape. Simon reached behind him and grabbed onto the attacker''s face, twisting his body Simon threw the attacked at the young Asian man, smashing him right in the face. "Tsk, pesky insects seem to be drawn towards me." Laying on the ground the young Asian shouted. "What the hell are you all doing! Fuckin get them!" The crowd dispersed as more of the young Asian''s lackeys revealed themselves. They surrounded the ground, holding onto weapons such as bats and knives. The young Asian smiled. "Scared now aren''t you, that''s what you get for messing with us." The lackeys attacked at once, Lachlan and Joe protected Burnie and Flynn, the others stood their ground. Watching the knives and bats come at them they reacted as though they hadn''t noticed them. As the knives and bats hit their targets the sounds of metal bending and breaking could be heard. The lackeys held up their weapons, the knifes had been both shattered and bent while the bats were all U shape. Using his control over the wind Lachlan blew all the thugs into the air and off the street. Scared to death the lackeys all got up and ran away, leaving the young Asian by himself. Scared to death the young man pissed himself, his body shaking in place his head fell down. He had fainted from the shock. Simon turned to Burnie. "We can leave him here right?" Burnie nodded silently while internally thinking, ''What the hell, what are these people? Are they human? Are they going to eat me next? Oh no, can they read my thoughts? Shit, don''t think, don''t think, don''t think." "So, what do you all want to eat?" Burnie asked politely. "Curry!" Lachlan shouted. "I haven''t eaten curry in a long time, but now that we''re here there''s bound to be a good curry place right?" "Yes, yes, of course there is, follow me," Burnie said before escorting them to the Indian section of the street vendors. 142 Deadly Dragons Part 1 The group walked around the street, weaving through the crowd following right behind Burnie as he led them to curry. When they entered the section of the street being dominated by curry''s the scent of spices overwhelmed them, their noses tingled. "Oh yeah, that''s the kind of curry I''m looking for," Lachlan said as his belly gurgled. He hadn''t eaten curry in a long time, never had the ingredients to ever make it since the evolution. Now however, with the spices and meat overflowing with flavour. Lachlan salivated at the thought before his nose led him to the source of the scent. It was a vibrant street cart, covered in bright, hot colours. Near the front were piles of spices, all different colours and all producing different scents. The street vendor, seeing Lachlan''s reaction smiled with joy. "Uh, yes, you''ve followed the scent of spices, followed it to my wonderful and great curry," The Indian street vendor said proudly in her womanly voice. She sounded slightly old, yet kind and wise. Lachlan nodded silently, looking at the spices in front of him. The woman laughed faintly, she began lighting the stoves, the flames covered the bottom of the woks. Pointing to Lachlan she said, "Now since you''ve shown me quite the sight, I''ll show you what I can do." Her hands moved like lightning, from spices to the pan, to the meat, to the pan. They moved in harmony, completely organised without much-wasted movement. Lachlan could already tell this woman has created curries for decades. "You got a good nose Lachlan, this is the place I was leading you to." Burnie came up from behind Lachlan and pat his shoulder before walking up to the vendor. "Yo Granny Aesha, the usual please." "Oh, Burnie, so you came back alive; good for you," Aesha said in a sarcastic tone. "So, do you have money to pay for the curry this time? Or are you doing to leave an IOU before disappearing? How do you disappear in the first place, look at you, you''re so big and fat, not to mention loud and obnoxious." "Hold it right there Granny Aesha, no need to start insulting me. Because unlike others, I actually keep my word," Burnie said as he whipped out his card. "I just got paid today so I''ll be able to pay you back." "Good, you better get paid a lot more with the amount of curry you eat tubby," Granny Aesha said as she hit her spoon against the pan, she then pointed towards Lachlan. "Remember boy, although extremely nice, Burnie is horrible with money. He could spend all the money he''s earnt in a few hours if you get him to the right place." Lachlan chuckled faintly. "Don''t worry Granny Aesha, I won''t be giving any money to Burnie for him to spend in a day." "Good, keep it that way. Also, if he tries to invite you to the red light district you should tell him to piss off," Granny Aesha said. "Let''s just say he likes to live his life to the fullest, all for about 20 minutes if he''s had a good day." "Wow, thanks Granny Aesha, they really needed to know that, didn''t they. Anyway, I''ve gotten better with my money and could you please just get me the usual," Burnie said as his head leaned back. "Just saying, although everything she said is true, that doesn''t make me a horrible guide." "So, where were we going next?" Flynn asked. "Obviously to get some clothes, you all stand out like a sore thumb. After that, I don''t really know, I suppose it wouldn''t be bad to get you somewhat acquainted with the city as a whole by walking you around the ceiling grids," Burnie replied before placing his hand under his chin and going into a thinking pose. "Oh yeah, if those other three come back I could take you to get the food truck or cart or whatever you''re deciding on using to sell goods." Flynn shrugged his shoulders before walking up to the curry cart. "I suppose that doesn''t sound too bad. As long as the red light district stays off that list of places to go." "Don''t worry about that, I don''t go to the red light district anymore, I''m in a committed relationship," Burnie explained with a bit of pride in his voice. "Been with her for 1 month so far, it''s going pretty well if I do say so myself." "It''s one of the snipers, isn''t it? Rosanne right?" Chloe asked abruptly. "I got a feeling there was some sexual tension between you two but you never displayed public affection for each other so I wasn''t so sure." "Damn, I though myself and Rosanne managed to hide our relationship quite effectively, you just got it all right without anyone telling you," Burnie was taken aback, he didn''t think anyone would be able to guess who he was in a relationship so quickly. "Yeah, that and the fact that Blain told me, but you know, he only confirmed my suspicion," Chloe said as she flicked back her hair. She walked up to the curry cart, right behind Flynn before wrapping her arms around him. "Because similar to you, Flynn and I attempted to hide our relationship as well, lasted for about 3 months before my dad saw me with him, just wrong place at the wrong time." "Yeah, I think Rosanne''s dad hates me for some reason, maybe it''s because I beat him in a drinking contest. But that''s no reason to hate a guy, rather, he should be proud," Burnie explained. "As for my parents, well, they absolutely love Rosanne." A small girl suddenly ran up from behind the group, she had sweat covering her forehead, it was Valentina. "Hey, we found a great place to put our food business, the only problem is that it''s currently run by a gang called the Deadly Dragons." Burnie stood with abruptly. "We need to get your parents out of there immediately; out of all the gangs in this city the Deadly Dragons are out the top. Because unlike most gangs, they don''t hesitate to kill any obstacles." "Ah, before you go here''s your curries!" Granny Aesha shouted, holding onto a few bags, filled with containers of curries. Lachlan swiftly reached out and grabbed the bag, Flynn quickly paid for it all using card. The group began running, Lachlan was holding onto Valentina. "Which way?" "This way, I know a shortcut!" Burnie shouted as he began to move closer to the wall. The group nodded towards each other and followed. They weaved through the crowd like lightning, leaving nothing but a breeze. They followed Burnie through the crowd and into an alleyway, there was a wall at the end but that didn''t stop Burnie. Kicking off he began to do parkour, kicking off from one building to the other, slowly but surely lifting himself high enough to jump over the wall. The group didn''t take much notice of the wall, Lachlan held onto Valentina tightly while Chloe lifted up Flynn. The group leapt over the wall in one go, they landed on the floor with a thump but that didn''t even phase them. The continued to follow Burnie until he finally halted himself at the exit of the alleyway. The group did the same, they could hear chattering from around the corner, it sounded like drunken slurs. "The boss would kill us if he finds us drinking on the job," One of the lackey''s said with fear in his voice. "At the very least keep the bottle hidden and try to keep your back straight." "But why? I''m not afraid of our boss, he can suck me off for all I care-" The sober lackey wrapped his hand around the other one''s mouth. He brought his face close and smiled. There was the sound of electricity before a thump, a body lay of the floor silently. "Ah yes, but unfortunately, I am afraid of the boss," The man said as he grabbed the dead one''s cheeks. "Sigh, you can only blame your death on yourself, the boss has eyes and ears everywhere around this area. Those words that came out of your mouth would have gotten you killed, I merely made it faster and a lot less painful." Standing up he looked towards the alleyway. "You know, I know you''re there, there''s no need to continue hiding." Burnie sighed before walking out, he gestured to the others to stay where they were. The man stood on his toes before going back down. "I know there''s more of you, come on, come on out right now before I force you out." The man''s shadow split, it swiftly merged with the alleyway''s darkness. Simon sighed softly before shaking his head and holding out his hand. A bright light burst from it before slowly floating in the air, Lachlan and Joe both helped as well, creating balls of fire to surround them. "Oh, elemental users, such a pain in the ass," The man sighed. "Well, I suppose I should be heading off now. But I will be telling my boss about you, he''ll be really interested in the fact that people still dare to trespass." The man began to walk away, Burnie''s knees were bent, he was ready to throw himself at the man but before he could do that the shadow beneath the man began to wriggle. ''Tsk, another shadow element beast.'' That was what he thought until he saw shadow tentacles shoot out and wrap themselves around the man''s leg, dragging half of his body into the darkness. ''Goddamnit, the rest of you need to join the fight before I get my ass killed." Tattoos glowed across his body, he smiled widely as he looked towards Burnie. "You know, I never knew the infamous explorer Burnie had a shadow element beast, quite the shocker. I always thought you had those bears." The man''s eyes suddenly dilated, they were shaking as fear consumed him, he felt as though his mind was tearing apart. "Wait, wait, wait, pretend I never said anything, pretend you never saw anything come on I''ll pay you. Just don''t kill my beasts, please don''t kill them." Burnie shrugged his shoulders. "Unfortunately, I really do only have bears, this ain''t my doing." "Indeed, it''s mine," Georgia emerged from the shadows, she walked up to the man before squatting down and grabbing his hair. "Now, do tell, how do we see your boss, we''re going to need him to relocate." The man laughed maniacally. "You think the boss would listen to your orders, you don''t know what you''re getting yourself into missy. You should just be on your knees, sucking us off as we kill all your fr-" The man began to bang his hand against the ground, his mouth clenched tightly as his whole body was shaking. "Okay, okay, I''ll take you to see my boss just don''t kill my beasts." "Well then, bring them all back to you and I won''t," Georgia threatened. The man nodded silently, a shadow from the alleyway shot towards the man and merged with him. Georgia yanked the man out of the shadow before nodded towards it, a shadow then merged with hers. "Alright, hurry up and take us to him," Georgia said as she pushed the man. "You can all come out now, I''ve got ourselves an escort to the boss!" The group walked out of the alleyway, the man''s eyes widened at the sight of the armour, his eyes sparkled in marvel and awe before he faintly laughed. "So I was beaten by a group of cosplayers, oh my day could not get any worse than this." 143 Deadly Dragons Part 2 "That all depends on whether or not you actually bring us to your boss; who knows, maybe, on your tombstone, it''ll say that you were killed by a bunch of cosplayers. Now, wouldn''t that be humiliating for a gang member," Georgia threatened as her grip on him tightened. "Hai, please don''t choke me to death by accident, I don''t want that also going on my tombstone," The man complained as he struggled to breathe. When Georgia let go he rubbed his neck, feeling the strangle marks. "I never would have thought a woman could become so rough, suppose that''s what happens when you''re into kinky stuff." Reeling back her leg Georgia went for a clean shot in pure frustration, her foot slammed against the man''s crouch, his eyes constricted as he struggled to breathe from the pain. The other guys walking behind her all grabbed hold of their crouch, their eyes squinted as though they could feel the pain. "Now, just take us to your boss and I won''t go for another shot, after all, I don''t think people like you need to be repopulating very soon," Georgia threatened as she grabbed hold of the man''s hair and yanked him up. "Not to mention my beast is getting rather hungry." Looking down the man could see dark, red eyes staring at him, or rather, staring through him. He felt as though his soul left his body momentarily; when it came back the eyes were gone but the image was engrained. "I never knew Georgia could be so rough, maybe that''s why she''s still single," Simon whispered to the other guys in the group. Lachlan suddenly felt a gaze of hostility, turning towards the front he saw Georgia staring right at them. Lachlan suddenly remembered that her weapons increased her perception, which meant her sense of hearing was enhanced. Lachlan swiftly separated from the boys, standing by Phoebe before turning away from Georgia, hoping she didn''t notice. Georgia turned away and shoved the man forward. "Come on, keep walking, my patient is already running rather low when it comes to dealing with you." Being shoved forward the man had his hands in the air. "Alright, alright, just stop shoving and threatening me. After all, with all those threats my boss would hear you coming from a mile away, seriously, do you know how loud you are?" "That doesn''t really matter, whether or not he''s prepared or decides to leave because he can hear my threats is up to him. One of those choices certainly makes our day slightly more entertaining," Georgia said with bloodlust. The man''s eyes shrunk more, he felt himself overwhelm with stiff muscles. But being shoved again by Georgia he snapped out of it and continued walking. He felt as though his feet were dragging across the ground after everything that happened in the last 10 minutes. Now he has to face a difficult choice, either be killed by his boss or be killed by the cosplayers. He''d rather die by his boss, at least that way he''s bringing the cosplayers down with him. The group followed behind the man for 10 minutes, weaving in and out of alleyways, through garbage until they finally reached the place they needed to be. The door was being guarded by two strong, black man. They were both wearing bouncer suits and had earpieces. Noticing the man''s returned they shouted out to him. "Hey Jose, who are your new friends, some random cosplayers you got from one of those orgies? But more important, why did you bring them here?" The two''s voice turned serious as his eyes darkened, his muscles tensed as he clenched his fist. "Because of your carelessness, your new friends won''t be seeing the next day anytime soon." Shooting off the two bouncers reached Georgia in seconds, their fists were whistling through the air, heading straight for her face. They didn''t care, nor did they hesitate at the fact that she was a girl. Rather, they had nasty expressions, ones of psychopaths. Georgia didn''t like that. Swiftly holding up her hands she gripped tightly on the bouncer''s throats and pulled them closer to her face. She showed them the same smile they showed her, "This is a great time to blow off some steam." The boys gathered up again, they whispered while looking at Georgia, shutting up if she turns around. Joe was the first to speak, "What do you think got her so angry? There''s hardly anything to fuss over." "Could it just be that time of the month?" Simon asked quietly. "Nah, I remember her having that time of the month a week ago, this is something else. Could it be relationship related?" Joe whispered, keeping one hand by his mouth to block the sound from travelling to Georgia. "What are you on about? Is that really the reason she''s so angry, I mean come on, after training for two years alongside us I would think she''s gotten used to being single," Simon brushed it off silently but thought about it a bit more. "Unless it''s because she''s been single for so long that she''s now letting loose." "Yeah, not to mention we haven''t exactly been much help either. I mean, aside from Joe all of us are in relationships, two of us are in heavily committed relationships," Flynn joined the group and whispered quietly. "Yeah, I suppose being surrounded by all that love while being single would get tiring," Simon said as he nodded his head. He then turned to Joe, "So, how are you feeling about it? Aren''t you sad or frustrated at being single?" "I suppose I haven''t really taken much notice of it. I spend most of my time helping my sister and parents, I don''t really take in much else that''s happening around me," Joe answered before thinking about it. "Do you think my sister is currently going through a similar situation? Just hasn''t released her anger yet." "You don''t have to worry about that little bro," Zoe said as she appeared behind Joe, grabbing onto his shoulders. "As for Georgia, how about you give it a go. You know, go ahead and tap that, I know you want to." "Oh shush, why don''t you go ahead and get yourself a boyfriend, who knows maybe this Deadly Dragons gang leader might be interested,'' Joe joked along with his sister in a serious tone. "After all, our parents certainly wouldn''t mind grandchildren." "Oh shut up," Zoe said as she smacked Joe''s back. "I''d rather not get into the bed of a gang leader, especially one that doesn''t mind killing people. Who knows what he might do to me as I sleep." "Like he could do anything, he''d probably only end up injuring himself in from his attempts at injuring you. You know, like in cartoons, he attempts to hit you with a hammer and instead smacks his toe or hand," Joe said. "Alright, we''re getting a bit off-topic here," Georgia appeared by the group suddenly as the darkness unveiled her, Jose was in her hands being carried like a garbage bag. "How about you use all this time to think of a way to deal with this boss should the situation spiral out of hand; I don''t exactly want to massacre an entire gang because of one stupid boss." "But didn''t you say you wanted to let off some steam?" Simon asked. Georgia nodded. "Yeah, I''m going to let off some steam by beating them up; however, if this gets a bit rougher than expected I certainly won''t hold back. And remember, with our strength, we could accidentally kill any one of them with a punch." "Fair enough, but let''s just go in and improvise," Simon said as he made his way to the door. Holding up his hand he used his control over the wind to blast the door down, the impact shattered the wood. "Who''s there!" A shout from the down the hall came. "Well, chop chop, let''s go," Simon said as he began to run through the hall at breathtaking speeds. The rest of the group followed closely behind, Georgia held onto the man tightly as she dragged him around with them. The group was swiftly led to an open area, there were lackeys everywhere, all heavily armed. Near the edge of the room were a few containers and trucks, there were lackeys transporting some type of substance into them. "Hey! You''re not supposed to be here!" One of the armed guards noticed them and readied his firearm. He shot without hesitation, targetting Georgia''s head. She easily dodged it by simply moving out of the way, letting them just ever so slightly graze past Jose''s cheek. "Hey! Watch it!" Jose shouted as he saw drops of blood fall to the ground. "Oh, hey Jose. Who''re the people you brought with you? And why is she carrying you like a purse?" The armed guard asked as he let down his gun. "They''re new buyers, want to strike a deal with the boss," Jose made up and explanation on the spot but it worked like a charm, that was until one of the guards that were patrolling outside came running in shouting. "The two guarding the door are dead! Someone killed them!" He shouted loudly at the top of his lungs, making sure everyone in the room could hear him. Lachlan swiftly twisted his body and smashed the guy in the guts, rendering him unconscious. The guard readied his gun again. "You know Jose, I really did enjoy that company I spent with you." All the guards surrounded them, holding onto their weapons tightly. The group readied their elements, Lachlan''s hands were emitting waves of ice and heat while the air was fluttering around him. He reached back and gripped firmly onto the broadsword. One of the guards laughed, "Haha, what are you going to do with that? It''s just some stupid cospl-" The guard''s head was sent flying, Lachlan appeared by his place, the broadsword out and continuing to swing. It tore through the flesh and bones of the surround nearby guards, beheading them instantly and forcing their heads to fly through the air. "What the fuck!" One of the guards shouted as he began to spray his bullets at random towards Lachlan. He couldn''t care less whether or not someone was behind Lachlan, he only cared about killing him. The other guards began to follow suit, rapidly spraying towards the group that just stood there and took it without flinching in the slightest. The bullet''s reflected off the group''s skin, not leaving a single scratch. "What the hell are you people?!" One of the guards shouted as fear consumed his mind, his hands were shaking and he wasn''t able to reload his gun properly. Georgia appeared right next to him, blades were extending out from her forearm. She sliced fiercely and silently, ending the guard''s life instantly. She continued, weaving through the bundles of guards like the black plague, bodies were thumping on the group as blood spewed from their necks. Lachlan continued to swing his broadsword, it whistled violently through the air as he passed through one neck to the next. Jose looked towards the scene in horror, he thought the group would be violently torn apart by the bullets along with him. Yet when he looked back up all the guards were being ruthlessly slaughtered, heads flying in the air as dead bodies thumping onto the ground. Valentina had her eyes closed the entire time from fear. When she tried to open them someone covered them with their hands. It was Phoebe, she whispered quietly into her ear, "You don''t want to see anything around us right now, trust me on that one." By the time it stopped there were no more guards. Georgia looked towards the group, "See, now if we had an actual plan we wouldn''t have needed to kill them all, just some." Walking towards Jose who was on the verge of pissing himself Georgia said in a threatening tone. "Now, tell me, where is this boss you''re all so afraid of? Seriously, there''s no way in hell they could be more terrifying than us so just tell me." "He should be right up there, behind the golden doors," Jose said fearfully with haste, scared that his head might be the next one to come off. Looking up the group noticed a stairway leading up to two golden doors decorated with dragons, blue jewels sparkled in the dragon''s eyes. Lachlan had quickly analysed them to see if there was anything special about them, they just turned out to sapphire. "He, seems he pretty arrogant, thinking of himself as a dragon," Simon laughed at the idea of someone so weak even coming across a dragon. They merely came across a lesser dragon but even that proced to be difficult, let alone a real one. 144 Deadly Dragons Part 3 Walking up to the door the group felt a tense atmosphere, they wondered whether or not they were going to be wrong about the boss. Although it''s impossible for the boss to be stronger than them, they could, however, be stronger than average and possibly have some rather unique beasts. Georgia stepped forward and placed her hand onto the door, using the muscles through her body she forced the door open with a bang. The henges broke off instantly, the door flew and smashed against the other side of the room. "Ah!" A shrill scream was heard from inside, it sounded feminine but what hopped out of the bed was a man, covered in tattoos from head to toe. His head was bald, covered with a tattoo of a dragon. "Ahm. What the hell are you doing here! Do you want to die?! Men! Come in here and killed them all!" He began shouting at the group furiously, his fists were shaking in anger as he felt as though his beauty was rudely interrupted. But noticing none of the guards coming to help his eyes widened, looking around he noticed the door embedded into the wall. He was left in a daze, his mind felt like it was going to explode. Looking back to the group that so rudely awakened him he realised they were all wearing ridiculous clothing; however, considering the strength they had he didn''t want to die instantly from laughing. Calming himself down he sat back on his bed. he changed his tone of voice to a more serious one, holding his hands tight by his mouth he asked, "So, what is it that you want?" "Well, we wouldn''t mind if your gang can leave this area, or at the very least, not disturb our business," Georgia explained quickly. "That was what we wanted before, but, I''m not exactly too sure now. It seems you''re a bunch of dangerous people, it certainly wouldn''t be safe leaving our business near such a dangerous group." The gang leader swiftly spoke up in a panic. "Say no more, I''ll change my ways before you leave those doors. And if that doesn''t satisfy you my gang and I will move location to somewhere else in the city." Georgia began to think before turning to the rest of the group. "Should we let him live? I mean, we did just annihilate most of his forces, weakening him a bunch. Not to mention I do feel slightly bad, some of his men are bound to have families they just want to protect and help." The group was at an impasse, unsure of how to advance. Sure, they could just slaughter the rest of the group but they didn''t actually do anything to them just yet. Not to mention everything they have been doing was to help their families. "How many lackeys do you have patrolling the area?" Lachlan asked; wanting to get a survey of how large this gang actually was and whether or not it remains a threat. "Outside? There should be roughly 60 people, they''re in groups of two patrolling certain areas and routes that are somewhat important to us," The gang leader answered swiftly. "How many of those lackeys would you say are bad? You know, kill innocent people with enjoyment," Lachlan asked. The gang leader walked up to a drawer next to a desk by the side of the wall. Shuffling around in the drawer he pulled out a file, on it contained information on all of his gang members. "This has everything you need to know about the gang members: their criminal records, families, and how psychotic they are." "How do you determine how psychotic a gang member is?" Georgia asked. She wondered where those two bouncers would be on the list, they seemed to have an enjoyment for killing. "Well, we determine how psychotic they are by how much they enjoy killing. I mean seriously, most people do not enjoy killing and it takes a long time to actually resolve yourself to do it," The gang leader explained. "However, just like everything, there are unique cases. The two bouncers you''ve undoubtedly killed were at the top of the list, they enjoyed killing everything and anything. Rather, the more screams there is while killing the more they enjoy it. You tell me whether or not that''s psychotic." "Indeed, that is pretty messed up." The group agreed, none of them liked killing but when push comes to shove they''ll do it. That''s just how it is now, some people like the new, slightly lawless system due to the chaos. Some people prosper in it. Taking the list Georgia had a look through it, most of the psychopaths, fortunately, didn''t have any family. At most they might have parents, but most of them were in retirement homes and living their life away from their children. "So, where are you on this list?" "Well, I''m somewhere in the lower half. Although I can kill it needs a bit of shoving for me to do it," the gang leader answered. "Then why are you this gang''s leader? It''s renowned for their killing," Georgia asked another question. "Well, it''s because I''m good at dealing with people. Striking deals with other gangs and organisations, I''m good at that so that''s why I''m at the top. I leave all the dirty work to the lackeys, some of them really enjoy it," The gang leader answered swiftly, thinking that if he didn''t he''ll be killed. As silence reigned Georgia continued to look through the files. There was one psychopath that intrigued Georgia though, a young girl that was age 15. She was just below the two bouncers, she doesn''t have any family as they had abandoned her. "What''s the story with this one? How is she so high on the list?" The gang leader visibly shivered. "That one, now that one''s unique. You know, looks can be very deceiving and I feel as though that girl is the very embodiment of that saying. Although she looks cute she absolutely froths over torture and killing, there''s nothing she enjoys more. That''s the reason her family abandoned her, they weren''t able to change that personality so they just got rid of the whole problem." "Well, to every bad child problem comes a shitty parent that creates it. There''s probably something the parents did that made her become like that, it might not have even been noticeable to them. But eventually, it made the young girl into who she is today." Georgia sighed after looking at the girl''s information. She wasn''t exactly comfortable deciding whether or not they kill a young girl, it just didn''t sit right with her. She looked to the group for help but none of them knew what to do either. Although they could try to kick her out the gang that doesn''t actually solve the problem, she''s still going to have that nasty trait. "If you want I can deal with her, granted it probably won''t be in a way that you''re all fine with," The gang leader spoke up. "Not going to lie, ever since I brought her into the gang I''ve felt as though I have a knife by my throat at all times. Just something about her is unsettling." "And you''re fine with killing a child?" Georgia asked as her face scrunched. "No of course not, I won''t be the one doing the killing; I''ll get one of the psychopaths to do it before you kill them. It''s just that she is a problem child that''ll be almost impossible to help, especially if you don''t have the time to help," The gang leader quickly responded. "Not to mention, I won''t feel safe on the streets knowing that that girl is loose." "You seem quite terrified of her, why''s that?" Chloe stepped in and asked. She noticed the fear in the gang leader''s voice whenever he talked about the young girl. It seems there should be a bit of history. "Well, let''s just say I don''t exactly know how to categorise a young child on the psychopath scale. However, it terms of enjoyment from killing, she''s way above the two bouncers," The gang leader explained. "She sees killing as a form of art, something to be displayed to the public. Whenever she leaves a crime scene she''ll make sure to leave something memorable there." "And she hadn''t been caught yet?" Lachlan asked before taking the files from Georgia''s hands. Looking at the small child left Lachlan confused, there was something off about her but he didn''t know what. The young girl had dark skin, almost black. Her eyes were dark brown-black, her hair black as well. Although Lachlan couldn''t tell why there was something odd about the young girl, something that made her stand out. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: N''baku Tal''ia (Dark Elf) Age: 40 (Child) Friendship Bonds: 0/10 Compatibility: Rabbits (Low) STR: 32, AGI: 35, VIT: 100 INT: 15, PER: 21, WIL: 25 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Leg Strength (Level 1), Grip Strength (Level 1), Night Vision, Heightened Senses, Flexibility -------------------------------------------------------- ''Oh, she isn''t human, that''s why there was something so odd about her'' Lachlan felt as though he hit a jackpot. It was extremely likely that this dark elf came from another world, she was probably apart of a ruling race. That''s why she has friendship bonds, rather than just a straight increase in stats. ''Oh, a dark elf, quite a rare race indeed master'' Aaron chimed into the thought. ''You know about them?'' Lachlan asked. ''Of course, they lived in my world as well. They''re a rather corrupted race, they would do anything to take control over the world. The complete opposite of forest elves that wish for nothing other then peace'' Aaron explained. ''They have a nasty habit of picking up everything they see but making it worse. For example, her habit of making killings into art could have entirely come from her parents killing an animal and turning it into delicious food.'' ''Are they dangerous?'' Lachlan asked. ''Yes, once they have that habit it will never change, that''s just how it is with dark elves. Although, it is entirely the parent''s fault for showing their child something like that without thinking; of course, unless it was done on purpose'' Aaron answered. Lachlan sighed before motioning for the group to come over. He got the others to stay where they were, didn''t want anything about his abilities spilling. When they all came over and huddled around he explained the situation before saying, "I''ll do it, I''ll kill her." "Are you sure about that? Do you want that resting on your mind?" Phoebe asked with concern. "I''ll be fine, I''m not killing a human child," Lachlan asked. "Plus, I want to ask her a few questions before I do the deed. Not to mention I don''t want anyone else doing this." Lachlan then turned to the gang leader. "So, where is she?" "I''ll take you to her," The gang leader answered before walking to the other wall. Pushing apart of the wall in it popped out, revealing a secret door. Gesturing for Lachlan to follow the gang leader said, "She''s down here, for some reason she absolutely loves the darkness; something about it being pleasing to her soul." Lachlan nodded and created a ball of fire, he had it hover in front of them as they walked down the staircase. The sides were lined with lamps, controlling the fire precisely Lachlan lit them all up. He heard a scream come from the bottom. "Turn the lights off!" It sounded like a child having a temper tantrum. 145 Nsbaku Talsia "It''s alright Sandra, it''s just me, I have something to talk to you about!" The gang leader shouted back swiftly. His hands visibly shaking, it looked as though he had frozen in his place. "Ahm, alright, but be quick I need to get some rest, I have some art I want to create later!" Sandra shouted back. Lachlan already knew that wasn''t her real name, but she couldn''t exactly expose her identity either. Walking down the stairs the gang leader was rather hesitant, his back was covered in cold sweats from fear. Lachlan could understand, someone that sees killing as a form of art is certainly all kinds of messed up. When they finally reached the bottom a silver flash went past them, the gang leader collapsed on his knees, holding tightly onto his knee which was spewing out blood. A girl emerged from the shadows. "What the hell, I thought I cut both of your necks. Oh well, it isn''t as though I can''t do it now." She pushed off from where she was standing, a knife held tightly in her hands shone silver. Lachlan waited a second before lifting up his hand to intercept it, the girl smiled widely as she struck with force. But the moment of impact where she would usually feel her knife tear through human flesh never happened. She felt her arm halt in the air, something wrapped around her wrist threatening to crush it at any second. Looking she noticed Lachlan''s sunken eyes staring at her wit a gold glint. She attempted to release herself, kicking off on Lachlan''s armour but it came to no avail. She pouted and looked at Lachlan disdainfully. "Hmph, what does a human like you want? Do you too want my body as well? Or do you require my services?" "You speak pretty good English considering you came from another world," Lachlan said abruptly, shocking the girl to her core. She suddenly changed the way she treated the man before her, she could feel that he was strong, much stronger than her and many others in her own world. "So, did you also come from another world then?" N''baku asked curiously before taking a big whiff. "No, that can''t be, you smell just like the humans in this world. So that means you''ve probably already met someone or something else that came through the gateways." "Hmm, so the people of your world call them gateways. Now, do tell me, is that gateway you came through a permanent one or did it close shortly after you came through?" Lachlan asked. "Obvious it closed soon after I entered. Why else would I still be in this world? It''s sucks, there aren''t many strong people here so killing is easy. Not to mention those city guards of yours haven''t been able to find me yet," N''baku complained that living on Earth was too easy. "Didn''t know that was something you complain about; so, was it a different story in your world?" Lachlan continued to ask questions, poking at her in attempts to get more information about her world. "Of course it was different in my world. They had magic that could track onto me, magic traps that would seal and restrict me, not to mention magic knights that are able to hunt me down a hundred kejus from a murder," N''baku explained. "However, in this world there''s none of that. Although you have those things called security systems, anyone with control over darkness can easily bypass them." Lachlan analysed N''baku again after hearing what she said. He hadn''t considered the chance that she had been living here for a long time until just then. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: N''baku Tal''ia (Dark Elf) Age: 42 (Child) Friendship Bonds: 2/10 Compatibility: Rabbits (Low) STR: 35, AGI: 39, VIT: 100 INT: 16, PER: 23, WIL: 23 Weakness: Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 2), Wind Control (Level 2), Leg Strength (Level 1), Grip Strength (Level 1), Night Vision, Heightened Senses, Flexibility -------------------------------------------------------- She''s certainly been on Earth for much longer than Lachlan expected. A whole two years, it came by no surprise that she was able to speak English fluently now. However, Lachlan did notice her decrease in willpower, which meant she was living pretty easy and relaxed, facing no problems at all. Lachlan let go of her before summoning Aaron, keeping him by the stairway just to make sure she doesn''t escape. Although he didn''t think anything could happen, he just wanted to make sure. "Whoa, now that''s something you don''t see every day. A damn griffon, they''re something extremely rare even in my world, not to mention strong. Oh, I really want to create some art with it," N''baku said while it looked as though she was frothing from the mouth. Lachlan smacked her on the head. "Don''t think I don''t know what you mean by art. Now, before I kill you though I wanted to ask you a few questions. Just to set me at ease, you know?" "Oh, I know well enough, unlike some of those humans you can''t kill that easily even though you have such strength. I think of it as a waste but I suppose I can''t really do anything, considering you could kill me any second," N''baku had already resigned herself for death the moment Lachlan came in and she wasn''t able to kill him. "So, ask away." "What other races are there in your world?" Lachlan wanted to continue asking questions about her world, trying to understand it a bit more. Because from what Lachlan could understand so far, both hers, Aaron''s, and the dragon''s worlds work rather differently. "There are humans, elves, dragons, and demons. Humans make a majority of the world''s population followed by demons; elves and dragons are low in number but strong, dragons especially," N''baku explained swiftly as she sat down and relaxed. "Are there heroes in your world?" This was more of a question just to satisfy his knowledge. He wanted to know if there were, that way he might be able to discover more about the dragon''s world. "Yup." N''baku nodded. "They''re chosen warriors sent from god, they''re also apart of the human population and their entire purpose is to defeat the demon king, a demon of great strength that can change the course of the world with a mere thought." "Does everything have some type of class, determined at birth or something along those lines?" "Humans and demons do; obviously the highest tear demon is the demon king, followed by the archdemons, high-demons and so forth. While for humans, at the top are the heroes, followed by the special royalty classes then your average, archer, knight, made type thin," N''baku explained in detail. However, it could be different for the dragon''s world, or just be because that kingdom worked differently. But it seemed the heroes were indeed put onto a higher pedestal than royalty. "Do you enjoy killing?" Lachlan asked this question to resolve himself, he didn''t exactly want to kill someone that looks like a little girl. His protective sense for his younger sister was acting up, but, he would do what he has to do. "Indeed, I love the terror-filled screams you humans give when I tear through your flesh slowly. Not to mention the screams of pure fear when the first human discovers my art pieces," N''baku answered with a murderous smile. "That''s the reason I was tossed out of the inner circle of dark elves, this wonderful personality of mine is best suited for the killing class of dark elves." "Do you have any regrets?" Lachlan asked. N''baku''s answer left Lachlan unsettled, there was just something about a young looking girl talking that way that didn''t sit well within Lachlan''s mind. "Indeed, not being able to kill you is probably my biggest regret right now," N''baku answered as she whipped out her knife and went to strike Lachlan''s neck. The knife made contact and bent, all the knife did was push Lachlan''s skin in. "Tsk, there''s no way you''re human, you''re a damn monster." Lachlan sighed. "Indeed I am." Whipping out his broadsword Lachlan swung it in full motion, the blade whistled through the air as it reached N''baku''s neck before she even realised what was happening. She was killed instantly, without any sort of resistance. Lachlan sheathed the broadsword before stretching his limbs and back, he looked back towards the corpse and noticed N''baku had black blood. It oozed and seeped into the floor, staining it black forever. ''Aaron, return'' Aaron swiftly merged with its shadow beneath it and returned to Lachlan. His tames remained silent, they could feel what Lachlan was going through at this moment. It was a bunch of conflicting emotions, he wasn''t sure whether or not he should be pleased with himself. Taking a deep breath Lachlan calmed himself down before walking back up the stairs, passing the corpse of the gang leader along the way. ''Well, I suppose that''s going to make things slightly more difficult. Losing the head of a dragon makes it defenceless and pathetically weak.'' Lachlan continued his way up the stairs until he reunited with the group. Using his control over wind he blew all the candles out, darkness once again consumed the staircase. The group was confused about the lack of a gang leader. "What happened to the guy?" Chloe asked. "Without him, relocating a whole gang suddenly becomes an almost impossible task. Especially considering we''re about to lower the number of members by half." "Well, that girl killed him the moment he reached the bottom of the staircase, she didn''t hesitate one moment. Fortunately, although she did try to go after me her blade couldn''t even pierce my throat," Lachlan explained. "Are you sure you''re alright," Phoebe came running up worryingly, checking his neck for any marks. She had a sigh of relief when she found nothing unusual, not even a single hair was out of place. "Alright, seems you''re fine." "Anyway, I suppose we should go around and deal with those few members first before going around the city again," Lachlan stated before looking at Burnie. "Remember to guide us properly." "But what are we supposed to do about the whole relocating problem? We can''t exactly kill everyone gang member, some of them are rather innocent and afraid to even hurt a fly," Georgia complained. "At the very least we have to help out until they can change industries." Lachlan''s eyes lit up. "I think I just found ourselves the new workers." "But they''re gang members Lachlan," Phoebe said. She had thought Lachlan had gone insane, thinking of mixing gang members with their company. "And, so were the people currently working in Argentina, as long as we get rid of the bad eggs the rest should be fine. Who knows, maybe we could become the number one food stall in the city," Lachlan explained with a bright smile. The group couldn''t find anything to argue about, they did leave a gang in charge of their business in Argentina without hesitation. Although it seemed as though Joseph had truly changed his ways, it was as though he was a natural for the business. "That''s what''s going to make this fun, we''ll have Valentina''s parents teach some of the gang members how to cook and maintain the business and then we''ll leave. But while they''re being taught, we''ll explore and have fun in the city," Lachlan explained. 146 Trouble Arises Above Days passed in the blink of an eye, the group stayed within the city and enjoyed it there. Being surrounded by other humans comforted them, especially when those people weren''t after their lives. They had dealt with the gang situation rather swiftly, now, a few of the remaining members had quit and joined the business. Learning from the owners how to cook and maintain the food stall, they learnt quickly and put in a lot of effort. Some of them were rather tired with everything happening in the gang, constantly seeing people get murdered but not being able to say anything about it. As for Jose, he had been killed by Valentina for attempting to **** her. Although the group knew Jose was bad just from their first encounter with him, they thought he might have changed his ways after seeing everything they''re able to do. But it seems people remain stupid and stubborn until the end. As for the rest of the people, although some did indeed choose to work under the group most of them separated and went their own ways. Some joining other, more humane gangs while some went to work in construction. And right now, the group was currently relaxing in the Explorer''s Guild building. Because of their sudden and unexplained entrance, once their island was seen floating above some people thought it was going to be the end of their time. That was until the Explorer''s Guild announced their presence, and explaining that the group wasn''t a group of intelligent beasts. It made the group slightly laugh at all the shocked faces, especially when the measurements of the island came out. As for why they were there right now, Burnie and his party had finally relaxed enough and gotten enough rest and they were planning on taking on another mission. Although Burnie had been pretty busy showing them around the city, he did enjoy spending some time with the group. Burnie and his group came over, he was holding a folder in his hand it seemed thick, full of papers. Chloe and Flynn were the most curious about how the Explorer''s Guild actually works, they swiftly surrounded Burnie and asked for the folder. He didn''t mind and handed it over. "It''s all the information needed for the next mission. Although taking on missions can be dangerous, missions like ours where it requires us to take down certain beasts can be safe depending on how much information there is on the beast." Flynn and Chloe were flipping through the papers, it was a new type of bear that recently appeared in the nearby area. Although it wasn''t doing anything targeted towards the city, just it''s presence was making hunting difficult. Not to mention it had an aggressive attitude, attacking any living thing that gets in its sight. Chloe walked over and gave it to Lachlan to analyse. Before that Lachlan took a closer look at the bear, it''s claws and teeth were made of some type of metal. Its fur was thin but sharp metal fibres; when on all four limbs it was 4 metres tall and 7 metres long. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Iron Bear Age: Adult Attribute: Iron Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 3rd Grade Level: 10 STR: 52(+30), AGI: 34(+10), VIT: 50(+20) INT: 21(+5), PER: 23(+5), WIL: 19 Weakness: Weak Skin, Overwhelming Arrogance, Prideful Strengths: Fur Durability (Level 2), Body Strength (Level 2), Iron Control (Level 2), Bite Strength (Level 2), Heighten Sense of Smell -------------------------------------------------------- It was strong but nothing too insane in the current state of the world. Unlike when the evolution first happened, after two years the strong beasts continued to hunt the weaker ones, decreasing every weak beast population to the point of extinction. "Yeah, I don''t see any problem with you all taking this down, it should really be a piece of cake for people of your skill level," Lachlan explained. He still remembered the first time he saw Burnie''s group in action, their efficiency and precision. Burnie nodded. "We know, that''s the reason we chose to do it. We aren''t exactly looking for death so we don''t take anything that''s well beyond our limits, and trust me, we know when we''re out of our league or not." "So, what are you going to be doing?" Rosanne asked. She was curious because Burnie would no longer be with them, guiding them around the city. "We''re just going to relax, I heard they have some good massage places in the city; I''m thinking about visiting one and giving my body a treat," Lachlan explained first before getting criticised by Phoebe. "How are they supposed to massage a person that doesn''t even get affected by a knife blade?" Phoebe questioned before answering it herself. "They don''t, that''s how." Lachlan swiftly interrupted before Phoebe could get another word out. "Nope, massages are still the same. Although my body might not get affected by blades and whatnot, I can still feel things pushing against it and applying pressure. For example, when you rest your head on my chest I can still feel that perfectly fine." Phoebe pouted at Lachlan''s example. "Fine, go do what you want." Lachlan lightly chucked and wrapped his arm around Phoebe. "How about you come along with me, a massage is great for the body and mind. At least that''s what I''ve heard." Phoebe leaned into Lachlan''s chest. "I suppose it wouldn''t be such a bad idea." "Great." Lachlan stood up with Phoebe in his arms. "Let''s go right now. We''ll meet up with you all later." Turning towards the door the group could only see the fleeting figure of Lachlan and Phoebe. Simon sighed as he leaned back a bit more. "I might go and get something to eat, maybe some beast ribs, I heard they''re both massive and delicious." "I''ll go with you then, I don''t really have anything else to do," Joe decided to join Simon in his journey to get some beast ribs. They hadn''t had them yet but they''ve heard great things from passing explorers and civilians. "I want to get some beds and bedsheets, some new pillows also wouldn''t be too bad of an idea," Zoe said. She instantly got everyone''s attention, none of them had thought about anything like that but they really did need it. They have been sleeping on wooden beds the entire time, just cushioned it with leaves. "I like that idea, let''s do that instead," Simon and Joe swiftly jumped trains and joined along with the Zoe in her goal of finding some good beds and bedsheets. The rest of the group remaining decided to join along before turning to Burnie. Burnie sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. "Alright, once you get out the building take an immediate left, the second street you reach you go right, and somewhere along that street there should be home appliances." "Thank''s Burnie!" The group shouted as they ran off. ... Elsewhere in the city Lachlan and Phoebe were walking side by side on the path, they were currently wearing casual clothes, their armour was stashed on the island. They looked like a fairly normal couple, being eyed by people passing by. When they finally reached their spot they halted their movement and stared at the establishment. The building looked to be made out of wood, there was steam rising from the side and it was completely surrounded by face shrubbery. Walking inside they headed straight for the receptionist, swiftly choosing what type of massage they wanted to do. They both chose to get a Swedish massage, it was their first time so they didn''t want to jump into the deep end just yet. They were also only looking to relax, they didn''t have any muscle problems. After doing that they sat down by the chairs, there was a small Japanese style pond set up, the bamboo and everything. Lachlan and Phoebe sat for 10 minutes before they were called up, the ones doing their massages were both Asian woman. They looked identical to each other, both having black hair and brown eyes. Standing side by side the two weren''t able to tell the differences. "Hello, my sister and I will be in charge of your massages, please, follow us," The one on the right said as she gestured for Lachlan and Phoebe to follow. Walking in and through a corridor they reached their room, the two were sharing a room together. Opening the door she let the two in before closing it behind them. "Please, undress yourselves and lay down on the beds. Please shout to us when you''re ready." The two were left in the room standing in silence, unsure of what to do. Turning to each other they looked each other eye to eye. Phoebe was the first to say something, "Turn around and don''t even think of peeking." Although she wasn''t even holding onto a weapon Lachlan felt as though there was a blade by his throat. Raising his hands into the air he turned around and faced the wall. "Alright, alright, hurry up and change." It only took a minute before Phoebe was fully changed, she had two towels wrapped around her chest and waist. She walked past and laid down on the massage bed. "Alright, I''m finished, now hurry up and get over here." Lachlan only took a few seconds before he was out of his clothes and had a towel wrapped around his waist. He went over and laid down on the other massage bed, just a couple metres away from Phoebe. "Alright, we''re done, you can come in now!" The door opened and the therapists came in, quickly getting into position by the beds they began to get to work. The two felt a sudden pressure on their backs, it was gentle and smooth, it was hitting all the right spots. They had to stop themselves from moaning loudly and hid it under their breath. The therapist smiled towards each other as they continued their work, they were feeling the muscles Lachlan and Phoebe both possessed after training for so long. When the girl doing Lachlan''s massage reached his arm she was surprised. "Excuse me sir, but do you mind me asking about your arm? I need to know whether or not it''s safe to continue massaging it." "Yeah, it''s all good, just a wound from battle, nothing too serious," Lachlan brushed it off quickly. At Argentina he had his arm stitched back on, and although not perfect it currently still worked. He still encased it in ice whenever he''s in battle though because it''s just much more effective. "Have you got it checked out by a doctor? If so, have they confirmed that it''s fine?" The lady asked politely. "Yes I''ve had it checked out by a doctor and they''ve confirmed that it''s fine right now. Although, if I get into another battle like the previous one that did the damage, it probably won''t be working," Lachlan explained as he closed his eyes. Although reluctant she accepted the explanation and continued the massage, getting really deep into the muscles with her pressure. The two let out a loud moan before covering their mouths, their faces turned beetroot red. The two therapists chuckled. "It''s alright, that''s completely natural." The two continued their massage for another hour before they were finished; Lachlan and Phoebe both felt refreshed and relaxed, as though they had just been reborn. Going back to the receptionist they paid for the massage before leaving the building. When they got outside they were met by Burnie and his group who were completely flustered, they were sweating profusely. Burnie grabbed hold of Lachlan''s shoulders. "We need your help, there''s something happening above group that''s threatening the city." Looking up Lachlan saw a large number of tamers along with their beasts, he did a quick analysis and realised they all had earth control. Turning back to the flustered Burnie Lachlan asked, "What''s happening?" "A beast horde, threatening to crumble the roof of the city," Burnie explained. "While we were doing our mission we noticed a large number of beasts heading towards the city. We swiftly returned to make a report but by then the beasts were already on top, stomping around, attempting to collapse the roof." "Intelligent beast?" Lachlan asked as he couldn''t find any other reason behind the beasts'' behaviour aside from the work of an intelligent beast. It was confirmed by Burnie''s furious nodding. "Yeah, yeah. It''s an intelligent beast that the Explorer''s Guild have been after for a year because ever since it''s appearance it attacks the city every few months with a large number of heavy beasts," Burnie briefly explained. "Where are the others?" Lachlan asked. "At the guild building, they were asked whether or not they could help and fortunately they said they could. Although something was a bit off about Simon; unlike others that were dreading the battle he seemed excited," Burnie explained. "Don''t worry about that, he just wants a good fight where his life is on the line," Lachlan explained as he brushed it off and began walking. "Anyway, are we going up right now?" "Obviously, do you expect us to wait until they actually collapse the roof to attack," Burnie answered sarcastically. 147 Absolute Annihilation Lachlan realised how stupid the question he asked was and went silent. He nodded towards Burnie before they all ran back towards the Explorer''s Guild build, where everyone was currently being stationed, preparing for battle. Walking inside the building Lachlan had never seen such a crowded place, it was filled to the brim with people, all having different personalities; some nastier than others. In the corners a few fights were going on, the organisers weren''t doing anything about it, just leaving the fight to go on. Reaching the couch Lachlan sat down with the rest of his group, they were all rather relaxed about the whole situation, unfazed by the whole things. Except for Simon who was brimming with excitement, a wide smile across his face as his fists were tightened. Lachlan knew what he wanted but decided to make sure anyway. "Simon, do you want to go against the intelligent beast by yourself? You should be able to easily do it not after our boost in strength." "Of course I am, don''t interrupt it either, I''m confident I won''t need any help," Simon responded with confidence, his eyes were shining from the mere thought of going up against the intelligent beast. "This time, it''ll be an even fight where I can show off my solo battle skills, unlike that fight against the dragon." "Oh, seems you''re all pretty confident," A masculine man said as he sat down next to Simon, he had a bald head and wasn''t wearing any top, exposing his muscular body. "But you have to remember that they''re an intelligent beast, not something you come across often. But don''t worry, I''ll be able to protect you since among everyone here I''m the only one to have survived after fighting an intelligent beast." The man attempted to wrap his arm around Georgia who took hold of his arm tightly. Increasing her grip the man began to squirm in his spot, catching the attention of everyone around the couches. Some began to laugh while others took out their phones to record. "So the so-called invincible explorer can''t handle the grip of a young girl, that''s hilarious, it''s what he deserves for being such a pervert." "Yeah, I reckon she should just break that guy''s arm because aside from boasting, he doesn''t do anything else, no need for him to have it." "Whoa, that''s pretty harsh, but I agree, she should just tighten up a little bit more until she makes him scream. That''ll be something to share, will certainly be something funny to show others." Hearing the outside chatter the group was able to quickly determined that the masculine man was certainly not so welcomed in the community. Rather, it seems some people want him to experience a great deal of pain. Lachlan sighed. "That''s enough Georgia, there''s no need to break his arms just yet, wait till after the fight to do it." "Fine, although I don''t see how he was even able to survive against an intelligent beast, he just doesn''t seem like he could do it," Georgia said as she let go of the man''s arm. He quickly got up and scurried away, holding onto his arm as he tried holding back his tears. Looking back he felt as though he just ran into a bunch of monsters, he shouldn''t have shown off in front of them. "So you''re the group that came from the floating island huh," Another person came up to them but unlike the masculine man, this one seemed more formal. He was well dressed in semi-formal wear even though they were currently going out to battle. "Don''t worry about the clothes, they''re made out of some beast skin and fur so although they may not look like it they''re certainly thought," The man sat down. He had long, flowing blonde hair, blue eyes and a few scars. "I''m the one in charge of this Explorer''s Guild building, it''s a pleasure to meet you, the name''s Blain." ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Blain Potts (Human) Age: 46 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 2/5 Compatibility: Boars (High) STR: 27(+1), AGI: 22(+2), VIT: 9(+1) INT: 23, PER: 21, WIL: 25 Weakness: Light Internal Injuries, Weakened Eyesight Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 2), Earth control (Level 2), Guerilla Warfare Expert -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan wouldn''t have thought that the one in charge was so mediocre, the only reason Blain is in the position that he''s in is due to him being a guerilla warfare expert. Otherwise, just about half the people in the room would be a match for Blain. Simon nodded towards Blain''s self-introduction while the others acknowledged his presence with a wave. It became a bit silent before Flynn decided to break the ice. "Yes, it''s a pleasure meeting the one in charge of this branch, the name''s Flynn." Shaking hands it slowly went around the group, briefly introducing themselves to Blain before going back into silence. Blain stood up began to walk away. "Do remember, the battlefield is above a city so please don''t do anything too damaging." "Don''t worry about that," Simon said with his cocky voice. "These beasts won''t even be able to handle a fraction of our power." "Well I hope you aren''t just arrogant," Blain said just before he walked up to join the organisers. It didn''t take long before everything was sorted and everyone was led up top. Using earth control they made a temporary path that could fit everyone in it, leading straight up to the surface just slightly off from above the city. Getting outside Lachlan and his group swiftly went up to the island to get their weapons and drop Flynn off, it only took a few seconds but the moment they returned they were greeted by the sight of a bloody battlefield. Groups explorers were working together in eliminating one beast at a time, slowly making their way through the horde. The beasts roared in anger and began to surround the group of explorers, Lachlan and his group swiftly made their way down. Reaching the ground they showed the explorers what real strength is; they began to completely slaughter all the beasts. Their weapons slicing through them like it was nothing. Lachlan was doing especially well against the larger beasts, his broadsword slicing through their necks, sending heads flying as he made his way through the horde. "I''m going to search for that intelligent beast!" Simon shouted before summoning Wildfire and taking off. Everyone began to summon their beasts, increasing their efficiency in killing off the horde. Bears were fighting against other bears, deer against deer and more. It was brutal, to say the least, but with the help of Lachlan and his group, they managed to do it without any casualties. The group was quickly surrounded by people, extremely excited with bright smiles. Lachlan and his group were swiftly picked up off the ground and thrown into the air, the crowd cheering. "Yeah! Good fighting!" "Great work!" One of the people, however, saw this as an opportunity. Lachlan''s broadsword was stabbed into the ground, out in the open while Lachlan himself was currently being thrown in the air. A thief lunged towards the broadsword and pulled with all his might, veins popping out from his skin as his face went red. His cheeks were puckered up as his face scrunched up; he continued to grunt as he tugged. What the thief didn''t know was that after the first second everyone had noticed him, it was the masculine man from before. As he continued to pull the broadsword he began to shout, "Come on! You''re a weapon only worthy of being used by me!" Lachlan lightly chuckled as he walked up to the man and flicked him in the head. Grabbing hold of his broadsword he took it out in one fluid motion, as though it was weightless to him. Lachlan then walked up to the masculine man and patted his shoulder. "Don''t worry, you''ll eventually reach my level of strength; it might take a few hundred years but don''t give up." Burnie walked out of the crowd and up to Lachlan at this moment. "Hey Lachlan, just wondering but could I give it a try? I want to see how difficult it really is." "Ha, sure, everyone can give it a try," Lachlan said as he stabbed the broadsword back into the ground. Burnie walked up to it and grabbed onto the hilt tightly. He got up close to the sword and bent his knees; using all his strength he attempted to lift it, his face turned red as he grunted. Letting go he took a couple of steps back. "What the hell is up with this sword? It doesn''t even budge a millimetre when I use all my strength on it." "Maybe it''s because you don''t have that much strength, leave it to the big man to pull it out," A bodybuilding looking guy walked out next and took hold of the hilt. But even he was no match for the requirements, he looked towards his bodybuilder buddies. "Come over here and help me!" Bodybuilders surrounded the sword and all grabbed onto the hilt with one hand. Their other hand was grabbed onto by other bodybuilders like a rope. Pulling with all their might the bodybuilders believed that they would be able to do it. But their efforts came to no avail. More and more people began to help, attempting to pull the sword out of the ground while Lachlan just watched in silence; not giving them any reason as to why they aren''t able to make it even budge. ... Nearby in the surrounding woods, Simon was seen flying overhead, his eyes peeled open as he analysed every part of the ground. Searching for an intelligent beast to fight. Sensing something coming he twisted his body, a stone flew past his head at the speed of a bullet. Looking around Simon managed to find the source of the attack, a humanoid beast that was staring right at Simon; gesturing towards Simon to come at him. "Well I''ll be damned, if it wants a fight I''ll give it a fight it''ll remember even after death," Simon said as he ordered Wildfire to go down. Reaching the ground Simon hopped off of Wildfire, he summoned his other tames at the same time. Although that was for an entirely different reason, he still wanted to fight against the intelligent beast without the help of his tames. The intelligent beast stared at Simon for a couple of seconds, it''s scaly tail swayed behind it as its hands were being held behind its back. It looked similar to another beast they''ve seen before, the one that they met in Sydney. The Sobek. "You''re quite brave for a human," The Sobek said in a coarse voice. "Or you could just be incredibly stupid, you are a human after all; wouldn''t be surprised if it was both." "Holy shit, you can talk," Simon was stunned, his face filled with awe at the discovery of an intelligent beast that can talk. Now he didn''t want to kill it, but rather, taking it back to the base and let Anne experiment on it. "Of course I can talk, I''m an intelligent beast as you humans call us. We have the ability to learn your language, granted there wasn''t a need to. I was just curious about it," The Sobek replied. "Also, I know what you''re thinking but no need to experiment on me. Every humanoid beast has the ability to talk, they just need to be trained and taught." "But don''t worry about all that, I know why you''re here. You want to fight me, so hurry up and come," The Sobek said as it gestured for Simon to come at it, getting into a fighting stance. ''Wait till the others hear about this'' Simon thought as he shot off from the ground, lunging towards the Sobek with his fist raised. 148 Simon vs Intelligent Beasts The Sobek was surprised by Simon''s boldness; usually, humans turn and run the moment they see it. Simon, on the other hand, charged straight at him, it left him momentarily surprised. But not enough to distract him from the battle. The Sobek raised its arm to meet with Simon''s attack, it sneered in displeasure at the very thought of a human thinking it could take it on without their tames. He was beginning to wonder whether it was bravery or just plain stupidity. When Simon''s fist reached the Sobek''s arm its eyes widened with surprise; the Sobek felt a jolt pass through its body, attempting to break every bone in its body. It swiftly redirected the force, using its tail to direct it words the ground. "I suppose you have the strength to make me get serious," the Sobek said as it swung its tail towards Simon, but at the same time, it went for a low sweep kick, thinking Simon would dodge but ducking under its tail. Its reality was shaken when Simon hopped a dozen inches off the ground, twisting his body midair, dodging both attacks. When Simon got back his footing he reached up and grabbed onto the Sobek''s tail. Pulling hard and twisting his body Simon lifted the Sobek off the ground and threw it into a nearby tree. He then swiftly followed along with the attack, reaching the Sobek in milliseconds before he continued to pound it with his fists. The gloves on his hands were getting bloody as he beat the Sobek into a bloody mess. Simon thought of the Sobek as dead but was badly mistaken when its tail struck him from the side, throwing him off the Sobek. Sobek reached down and slammed its fists against the ground, rupturing the dirt, springing forth a fountain of water. The water wrapped around the Sobek''s body before it held its hand out towards Simon, causing the water to surge towards him like a tsunami. Simon grinned as lightning travelled between his fingers; hold his hands together he sent a blast of lightning through the water, electrocuting the Sobek''s body till the point where its scales were beginning to peel off. The Sobek collapsed to the ground, it barely held onto its consciousness. Looking up Sobek noticed that Simon was almost completely unharmed, he was standing there preparing another volley of lightning. "What the hell, aren''t you the real monster here? I didn''t think humans could even reach such a level." Simon laughed. "As if that''s something you''re allowed to say. You just can''t accept the fact that a human is beating you, but don''t worry, you won''t be accept anything in a second." Simon shot a lightning bolt towards the soaked ground; the lightning spread through the water, swiftly reaching the Sobek, electrocuting it to death. Simon walked up to the Sobek with a bright smile, he formed a blade with his hand before chopping downwards. A blade of wind shot off, slicing into the Sobek''s throat. Simon continued to fire off blades of wind until it decapitated the Sobek. Simon didn''t want to risk any chance of letting the Sobek live, that would put the lives of Houston''s residents at risk. Simon''s ears twitched, the sound of rumbling was coming from a distance but it was getting close. Looking to his right he saw a dust cloud in the distance, trees were tumbling over one after the other. A roaring snort echoed throw the surrounding forest. "I knew there wouldn''t be just one of them," Simon smiled as he got back into a fighting stance, his birds took off into the air to get a better view. They swiftly informed him that a large boar was heading his way, it was taking out every obstacle in its path until it finally broke the treeline and came charging towards Simon. The boar was 10 metres tall and 14 metres long, it had tusks that were 1 - 2 metres long, sharpened to a sheen. Its fur was dark brown, hooves dark as a black hole. The ground was rupturing and shaking just from its charge. The boar rammed into Simon before flicking Simon upwards into the sky, a screech was heard from above along with the sound of thunder. Simon''s head tilted back, a bird was swooping down from the skies, its two pairs of wings were beating loudly, producing the sound of thunder. Not only that but it was also producing electricity, its body was covered in electricity, travelling across its bright golden feathers at the speed of light. The bird reached Simon and took hold of him in its claws, the electricity shot straight down towards its claws attempting to attack Simon. He wasn''t fazed in the slightest, the most it did was give Simon the slightest tickle. His gloves had the ability to resist and absorb electricity/lightning, it was the reason he decided to wear them. And he hadn''t used them since they charged up yet. Clenching tightly the metal spikes on the knuckles lit up, they cracked and sparkled from the electricity. Simon smiled as he punched one of the bird''s legs, as the electricity gathered together the impact forced it to explode outwards. Simon''s punch, however, continued with its current momentum, punching through the leg. The bird screeched in pain as it used its remaining leg to dig deep into Simon''s shoulder, its claws almost piercing Simon''s skin. Its eyes constricted when it felt the human in its grasps continue to move, it suddenly felt another jolt of pain course through its body. The other leg was blown off. Wildfire morphed into a beam of light, swiftly appearing beneath Simon. The bird twisted its body and immediately turned around midair; although it didn''t have its claws it still had its beak. The bird''s wing beat quickly and loudly, producing the sound of rumbling thunder. It resounded throughout the skies, alarming the rest of the group still above the city celebrating. They were swiftly set unease; aside from Lachlan and the rest of his group people began to return underground. "I would suggest you all return underground as well. That sound signals the appearance of the king of these skies, a bird so ferocious and strong just the beating of its wings calls upon the thunder and lightning," Burnie warned. "Don''t worry about us, we''ll be fine," Lachlan brushed Burnie''s warning off, he knew Simon was likely in the middle of fighting against the bird. "We''ve still got a companion to wait for; also, once he''s finished his business this king of the skies will be no more." "Although I don''t know what gives you that confidence I''m out, whenever that bird appears it''s always bad news; cause the king of the ground comes along with it. A boar that causes the ground to quake just from its presence, so take my warning seriously, these things aren''t something you can go against so easily," Burnie further warned the group before joining the others in going underground. Lachlan turned to the group and joked, "Sounds like some serious stuff, I wonder who came up with those descriptions. They sound so intimidating and formidable like they really are the kings of the ground and sky; who knows, soon we''ll come across the king of the sea as well." "Maybe, but what gives them so much confidence in taking the title king of the skies, don''t they see that we''ve arrived," Joe said as he held his hands behind his head. "Suppose Simon is going to teach them a lesson though." "We''ll wait right here for him, let''s hope he doesn''t come back as a mess," Georgia said as she sat down on the ground and crossed her legs. "With all the strength he has he shouldn''t lose even if he wanted to, at least not to your average intelligent beast." ... Back to Simon''s battle, the bird was flying towards him faster than the speed of sound, its beak glistened in the sunlight as its sharpened point aimed at Simon''s head. Simon formed his hand into the shape of a blade and waited until the bird to finally reach him. Just as the bird''s attack was about to reach Simon swiftly bent down and twisted his body, forcing his have to swing upwards going straight towards the bird''s neck. When the hand made contact Simon sent off multiple wind blades at once, swiftly piercing through the bird''s skin and ripping its neck apart. The bird, now dead, fell the ground. The momentum from its flight caused its impact to shake the ground and broke through trees. Simon stood up proudly on Wildfire and looked down, there was only one more opponent left and he hasn''t needed to really use his birds for combat once. However, he still wanted to continue on his path, he would fight the boar without the help of his birds. ''Good job Wildfire'' Simon complimented as he hopped off and plummeted towards the ground. He swiftly ordered his gravity stone and began to slow down going into a slow descent. The boar waited beneath him, its hooves scraped against the ground as it prepared to charge at him. It snorted smoke as its eyes burned with passion, its tusks were sharp and ready to pierce right through Simon the moment he gets close to the ground. When Simon was finally a few metres off from the ground the boar came charging, its hooves stomping on the ground causing it the shake. Its speed as incredible as it broke the sound barrier, it snorted as smoke puffed out of its noses and surrounded its body. Simon smiled; bracing for the impact he had electrified his arms, to give the boar just a little shock. He stood his ground, the boar was a few metres away from him as he felt time slow down, his heartbeat fastened at the sight of a 10-metre boar coming at him. Just as the boar was about the reach him Simon ducked, twisted his body before throwing a punch upwards. The boar''s eyes constricted at the abrupt force below it, its whole body was lifted off the ground and along with its momentum it went flying towards a tree. The boar had fallen on its back, its stumpy little legs were waving in the air as it struggled to get its footing back. Simon took advantage of its crisis, grabbing hold of its tail before spinning around, smashing the boar through a few more trees. The boar had never felt so weak before, unlike the other intelligent beast it didn''t have any element to control, it just had its brute force. But now that it was taken away from it as well it felt hopeless, its body smashing through the trees and into the ground. Simon brought his hands together, lightning began to course through them, lighting up the knuckles. He walked towards the helpless boar''s head, stand to its side Simon threw a punch directly at its neck. The lightning gathered into a ball, producing an electrical explosion. Blood and flesh went everywhere, covering Simon''s body as half the neck was blasted to smithereens. Simon continued and threw one more punch, finishing the job completely. He looked towards the battlefield, wondering whether or not he should bring the corpses along with him. Simon wasn''t sure, but he had decided to bring the two new intelligent beast corpses, at least that way Anne could analyse them and help out other people that are facing them. Simon smirked. ''Huh, I wonder if Lachlan or the others could do that good against these beasts.'' 149 Myth & Language Specialis Simon walked back to the field above the city with the two new intelligent beast corpses dragging behind him, leaving a bloody path in its wake. When he finally reached the grounds above the city he noticed his group waiting for him patiently. Changing his walking pace he soon met up with the group, they marvelled at the sight of the corpses behind him. Simon was just as amazed by the carnage around him, the hundreds or thousands of corpses. "Suppose you all had one hell of a fight," Simon remarked as he took a close look at the carnage. A lot of the beasts had punctures in their throats or have had their entire head sliced off. "So, where the explorers? Wouldn''t they usually take this all back to turn into food." Lachlan leaned back a bit, using his arms as support. "Nah, they heard the sound of the supposed king of the sky. I''m guessing that''s it right behind you? Along with the king of the ground." Simon chuckled at what the citizens of Houston called them. "Sure, although they certainly ain''t no kings anymore. Although, it was understandable for them to be afraid of these beasts, especially the flying one, just the sound it produces by beating its wings could knock a normal person out cold." "Whoa, that''s nasty. How are your ears doing then?" Joe said as he walked up to take a closer look at the so-called king of the sky. Although it was missing a head it still produces the same sort of intimidation it would with it on. Its large golden body, paired with its dark claws and two pairs of wings. Simon held up his hand and stuck a finger in his ear, taking it out and smacked his ear. "I don''t know, I can hear you all just fine... I think." "What do you mean you think?" Georgia asked somewhat concerned. She rushed up to Simon and tilted his head, taking a closer look at his ear even though she has no idea what she could do. She certainly isn''t a qualified doctor. Simon brushed Georgia''s hand off his head. "No, I just hear something faintly, it sounds like a voice trying to get my attention. A very feminine voice, something akin to a fairy." The group got extremely worried and rushed over; however, their ears twitched at the sound of a faint voice. They thought for a second they were going mad until Simon walked forward a bit more and moved the corpses. "Hey! Is that an intelligent beast?!" Someone shouted from behind the two corpses, it was certainly feminine but they didn''t know where Simon got the voice of a fairy part. Although it wasn''t rough it also wasn''t smooth like an angel. The group walked around the corpse and noticed a small metal pole sticking out of the ground, at the top was a bend along with a lens. They saw a speaker attached to the side near the bottom of it. "Can you hear me?! Is this thing on? Oh hey, can you tell me whether or not those two corpses belong to intelligent beasts!" Simon nodded towards the odd metal pole sticking out the ground with confusion in his eyes, although, he was also relieved he wasn''t going insane. "Yeah, they''re the corpses of two intelligent beasts. Why?" "Wonderful!" The female said before a small circle in the ground began to rumble, the dirt started to split apart as a pod emerged from the ground. The metal pole was sticking out the top of it, continuing to stare at them. A gasp was heard. "They truly are intelligent beasts!" The pod opened up, revealing a semi-small figure surrounded by screens, her mouth was agape as she stared at the corpses in awe, her eyes were widened and sparkled with excitement. Jumping out of her pod she raced to the corpses and pulled out a magnifying glass. She had long brown hair and dark blue eyes, all while being shorter than Lachlan. Reaching a height of 4''7. Lachlan swiftly analysed her to see if she was a threat. Fortunately, she certainly wasn''t, or at the very least didn''t have the stats to be one. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Marie Santos (Human) Age: 23 (Adult) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Wolves (High) STR: 12, AGI: 14, VIT: 10 INT: 28, PER: 20, WIL: 16 Weakness: Naive, Extremely Curious Strengths: Knowledgeable in Languages -------------------------------------------------------- Simon walked up to her and grabbed onto her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the corpse. "Hey kid, you do realise where your standing is basically a warzone. How could you be so reckless?" "First of all, I''m not a kid, I''m 23. And second of all, I saw what your friends did in the warzone; they basically shredded all the beasts here. I feel pretty confident in saying that being right next to them is safer than being below ground in the city." The girl grabbed onto Simon''s hand and yanked it off her shoulder. "Also, the name''s Marie Santos, I specialise in ancient myths and traditions." "So, why do these corpses need your expertise?" Simon asked. He had completely forgotten that all intelligent beasts come from myths and legends; gods, worshipped in certain religions and societies. The next words that came out of Marie''s mouth quickly reminded him. "You do know that it''s so far been proven that all intelligent beasts are based on some ancient mythology. For example, this bird." Marie pointed towards the bird before grabbing its back left-wing and lifting it up. "From what I know this is likely a Thunderbird, a legend of North American Tribes. A bird said to uphold morality, punishing all those and do wrongs." Marie then moved onto the boar, she lifted up its fur, revealing a golden pattern engrained onto its skin. "Although it could be a few different legends; it''s likely Moccus, the Celtic god of swine, associated with Mercury. It''s said to be the protector of pig and boar hunting, as their meat was seen as sacred, to be used during rituals." The group listened in amazement, Simon raised his eyebrow. "Well I''ll be damned, you are really knowledgeable about this. I''m sorry I called you a kid before, just your small physique made me think that." Marie held up her hand to tell Simon to quiet down. "It''s alright, you certainly aren''t the first to call me a kid despite my maturity. And of course, you most definitely won''t be the last either." "Now, onto some more serious news." Marie stood up and clapped her hands together. "I would like to join you and your group on the journey you''re taking. I feel as though these won''t be the last of intelligent beast corpses if I come along." Chloe stepped forward and flicked her head up. "Okay, so while that might sound good I have to ask one thing. How does this benefit us exactly? Although your expertise certainly is astonishing, we could probably find others that also have the strength to survive in this world." "Possibly, but they certainly won''t be as good as I am," Marie said proudly. "Unlike most people, I don''t just study the more popular traditions and myths, I also go for the extremely unknown ones as well." "Indeed, but how does this benefit us?" Chloe asked again. Marie was slightly flustered, she had seen what the group was capable and knew that just one of them is enough to kill two intelligent beasts. Her skills really don''t have that much importance to a group like that, they''re far too strong. "Do you know other languages? Ancient ones as well?" Lachlan stepped in to ask, he thought it would be a good time to hint to the others; considering he had already seen her stats and knew that was one of her strengths. "Of course, although I''m slightly rusty with the ancient languages I know French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Latin, and obviously English as well," Marie answered proudly. If there was anything other then ancient myths and traditions she was good at it would be languages. "Well, although that other expertise isn''t the most useful, those languages are needed in our group since we''re travelling around the world," Lachlan said as he looked to the group. All of them giving him a nod while Chloe gave a thumbs up. "So, welcome aboard." "Great, when do we leave?" Marie asked with wide, sparkly eyes. She wasn''t able to hide her excitement at all and was eager to leave at that very moment. "Whoa, relax a bit, we''re still staying for a while longer, just until our business here is stable. Also, we all want to do some relaxation time with our partners and families," Chloe said as she gestured with her hands for Marie to calm down. "Oh, I can help with the whole business thing," Marie said. "My father owns one of the biggest meat distributors in Houston. to the point where 90% of the meat being eaten or sold in Houston comes from my father''s company. We could set up some sort of deal where your business directly buys form us." "You know what, Flynn, you can deal with this stuff since you''re good at it, I''m going to head back to the island to grab my sister," Lachlan said in a rush before shooting off into the air, heading straight for the island. "Yeah, you''re good at this stuff Flynn so good luck with it." More and more people in the group shot off, disappearing into the distance, leaving only Flynn and Chloe to deal with the current situation. The two sighed deeply before looking at Marie. Chloe''s shoulders moved downward. "Alright, let''s make that deal and get this over and done with. I still have a wonderful day planned out and I don''t want something ruining it." "Great, let''s go." Marie rushed into the pod and gestured for them to follow. "Hurry up! This pod is my own personal elevator, it took a lot of convincing to have my father install it. He was so worried that I would accidentally enter a battle; fortunately, I was able to convince him that I''m not that stupid and would only need it for after the battles are over." Chloe and Flynn both walked over and got into the pod, it swiftly got awkward but Flynn decided to break that with a question. "So, have you ever accidentally entered a battle?" "Yup, but fortunately my father doesn''t know so I''m fine and still have this elevator." The pod''s doors shut and the group felt weightless momentarily. The pod had glass windows near the stop so both Chloe and Flynn were able to see the city as they entered a building. The pod stopped before its doors opened again. A man was standing there with a cigar in his mouth, he had slick, combed back black hair. Standing at 6''2 he was dressed in a dark blue business suit. As he puffed out a cloud of smoke he sighed. "Do tell me Marie, why the hell did you go up?" Marie''s face went bright red as she scratched her head from embarrassment. "Uh, well you see dad, these people were still at the surface and um, I thought I would be very safe up there considering their strength." Flynn and Chloe could see that the man''s head was about to explode. He held his hand up to his face and pinched his nose. "You really shouldn''t be doing things like that. I heard that the king of the sky and land were close." Marie nodded vigorously. "Indeed, one of the members in their group killed the two of them. Their corpses are just above my elevator so I was able to see them. See, so I''m not that reckless." "Wha," The man''s mouth went agape from shock as he stared at Chloe and Flynn with wide eyes. All his subordinates behind him were just as shocked. Silence reigned the room as the two sides were just staring at each other awkwardly. Marie walked up to her father and elbowed his sides. "Anyway, we have a deal to make with them. You can handle that right?" 150 Constant Disturbances Marie''s father stood there, mouth agape from shock as his brain slowly comprehended the information he was just given. When Marie elbowed him he managed to slightly snap out of it and mutter beneath his breath, "Yes, yes of course we''ll be able to do that. Rather, it''ll be an honour to do that with your extraordinary group." "Okay, let''s get this over and done with we have a whole day planned out and I don''t want this getting in the way of it. How long should this take?" Chloe asked as she scrunched her face, revealing a couple of lines on her forehead. "Well, if this is swift it should only take1 - 2 hours; however, if something prevents this from happening right now it could take the rest of the day if we''re lucky," Marie''s father answered as he returned to normal. "Also I forgot to introduce myself, I was quite shocked. Anyway, my name is Jeremy Santos." "The name''s Flynn and this is my wife Chloe," Flynn introduced the two of them as he walked forward and shook Jeremy''s hand firmly. With his strength having been increased so much by the fruits it slightly threw Jeremy off. As someone who''s been in the field for a long time, you can determine someone''s strength and personality just from their handshake. He could tell Flynn was somewhat of a businessman or at least had frequent dealings with some. Giving each other a nod of approval they began to leave, Chloe swiftly followed by Flynn''s side, looking around at the passing halls filled with maids and butlers. It almost gave them a medieval setting vibe; only the maids and butlers were being paid fairly. They passed plenty of windows as well, getting a great view of the city; is darken buildings due to the low lighting from all the street lights. The building seemed to have given them a better view than when standing on the grids above. "I see you like the view." Jeremy had noticed Chloe staring around and outside, one of the many traits he has a businessman. "I worked quite hard to make it here, but the view certainly does make it worth it. Of course along with all the money." "So have you been doing this business since the start of the change?" Chloe asked. They passed by photos, all commemorating certain events. Birthdays, grand openings, successful dealings and more. It was certainly a show. "Indeed. Unlike others that saw beasts and coward, I saw them and along with that, the money that comes with them. We used to be a retail store but I''ve had dealings with farmers and exporters; I knew that certain animals would fetch a high price dependant on the difficulty in raising or hunting it. Seeing that these beasts were so rare and strong, I knew people would pay big bucks for their meat. And so, I began the business." Jeremy went onto explain the difficulties in getting the company off the ground, his first deal with a restaurant, and finally, his future plans. "Now, although I know full well I''m not the only one in this field of business, I do, however, want to be the best in the business. Currently, I''m the largest meat distributor in the city, but that isn''t enough for me, I want to expand across the whole country before even possibly going worldwide." Jeremy''s ambitions were big, but with the current progress he''s already made, it isn''t impossible. Clasping his hands he got onto the main point. "Now, with this deal, I also want to proceed with my ambitions as well. Which is why my daughter, will be joining you as my representative to go and start branches in other cities as well. They don''t need to be as big as the main one here in Houston, but they should at least make a start." Before they even noticed it they had already reached Jeremy''s office. Walking in they were greeted with wide-open windows, looking down at the city. At their height and with the position of the room they were able to see just about everything in the city, even the street where they''re starting their business on. "Now, I''ve already got one of the butlers to grab the contract, you just need to look through it all and sign it," Jeremy said as he pulled out his chair and sat down. Leaning back he puffed out a cloud of smoke. "I will warn you that the road to the top of the business world is tough and willed with the treacherous schemes of others. Your reputation is your moneymaker; fortunately, you and your group have a very positive reputation." "Granted that reputation came with a strong challenge at the start." Flynn and Chloe sat down on the chairs across from Jeremy, they both got comfortable and relaxed a bit. Marie was to the side sitting on a couch. Jeremy gave a burst of laughter. "Indeed, being challenged by two of the world''s largest military forces is certainly one massive challenge indeed. But look at you now, a lot of parents are grateful to you and would do a lot to help you out. Not to mention you have a floating island that can take you just about anywhere in the world." "I suppose that is pretty cool; although those two military forces almost managed to snatch it up. Granted they wouldn''t be able to turn it into a floating island in the same amount of time. I would probably give them 3 - 4 years." Flynn knew about the groups training and how long it took them to reach the level they were at. If the military were to attempt it they would take much longer, unless they sacrifice soldiers to only train on the island and do nothing else. "You seem pretty confident about that estimation." Jeremy could hear the confidence in Flynn''s voice and although he didn''t know exactly how it worked either he wouldn''t doubt Flynn. Puffing out a cloud of smoke he was about to continue but a butler burst through the doors. "Sir, Mr Collins is here requesting more meat. It seems something happened and we weren''t able to deliver the normal amount of goods to him on time so he''s come to demand it now," The butler said quickly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Jeremy sighed as he placed a hand on his forehead. "Tell him to be patient, he''ll get the rest of his meat along with a little extra as compensation. Inform him that we just got a large batch of corpses and that he shouldn''t stress." "Yes, sir." The butler left in a hurry. "So how exactly does your business work?" Flynn asked as he clasped his hands and leaned forward. "To briefly summerise it. We buy corpses from the explorers guild, separate the parts and sell them to different businesses. Retail wants the hides and fur, restaurants want the meat, while the researchers and weapon makers want the claws and teeth," Jeremy replied. "Oh yeah, weapon makers are fairly new so you might not know them. They similar to blacksmiths, the only difference being they use all and any materials to create a weapon." "Such as beast claws and teeth?" Chloe added on to the conversation. "Yes. Those beasts'' claws and teeth are sometimes just as strong if not stronger than metals. Creating weapons with them is quite useful; cause although guns are quite good it''s also great to have a knife or sword in case of emergency." Jeremy nodded as he puffed out another cloud of smoke. Another butler burst in, forehead covered in sweat. "Sir, the Explorer''s Guild leader is currently here waiting for you at the ground floor. He says he wants to meet with you immediately as it''s an urgent business." "Did he saw what he was here for?" Jeremy asked. "No, he wants to talk about it privately," The butler replied. "Okay I''ll deal with it, you go see what''s taking so long for the contract to get here and deal with it." Jeremy sighed deeply as he got up and began to walk out. Before he left the room he turned to the two. "Sorry about this, hopefully, you can read the contract completely as I deal with these distractions." "Don''t worry we''re all good, you go take care of business," Flynn waved him off as he leaned back and slouched on the chair. "Well, this is going great, hopefully, he''s not away for too long, I don''t want to read the entire contract." "Well considering it''s the Explorer''s Guild leader it might take a while; whenever he''s involved it always takes a long time to deal with the matters he brings." At that moment Marie chimed into the conversation. She had been quietly minding her own business, looking at some computer screens. "Do you know anything about the contract?" Flynn asked with a bit of hope. He knew how contracts worked, it was always best to read them entirely before signing off. Which is also why businesses always make them extremely long, to deter people from properly reading it and looking between the lines. "Nope, he keeps all his contracts rather secretive so only himself knows about it," Marie replied. Just as that happened the butler walked in carrying a stack of papers, he walked to Flynn and Chloe before plopping them all on the desk in front of them. "This is the contract, enjoy reading through it all," The butler said before taking his leave. Flynn and Chloe both felt their eyes sink into their heads at the pile of papers. Splitting it in two they both took one half; however, as Chloe took her half she noticed a small picture frame on Jeremy''s desk. It was a family portrait, it looked rather old as Marie looked a lot younger in the photo. Granted she doesn''t exactly look here age right now either. By Jeremy''s side was a gorgeous woman, who had long black silky hair, her eyes were bright blue and her skin was ever so slightly tanned. Looking towards Marie Chloe couldn''t help but ask, "So where''s your mother?" She realised very quickly that it might not be the best question to ask. Chloe was able to swiftly piece things together; considering that the only photo he has with the whole family is when Marie was young it was high probably something had happened to her. "She died 7 years ago. A side-on collision with a truck, the driver had lost control while going around a sharp corner. She died instantly as the car was basically flattened against a wall next to her," Marie replied. Chloe knew it and felt slightly bad. "Oh, I''m sorry to hear about that, sorry if it brings back any bad memories." "No no, don''t worry about that you were going to find out anyway. That''s how my dad works, he makes sure the people he''s doing business with know just about everything concerning himself and the company. He does this to make sure the people that stay, really want to stay," Marie responded as she waved her hands in the air. "Suppose that isn''t a bad motto to do business by," Chloe said before silence reigned the room. Flynn elbowed Chloe softly before pointing towards her pile of papers. "Okay, okay, I''ll get to it then." The room remained quiet after that as the two read through the contract. Jeremy never returned during the time they were reading, he only showed up near the end, constantly apologising. Welp, their entire plan was ruined. Fortunately they have one more day to go through with the plan. And this time, they won''t let anything get in their way. 151 One Last Day in Houston The last day began, the group awakened from their sleep on the island. Flynn and Chloe were the first to depart, they left in a hurry shouting that they won''t be held back this time. The next to wake up was Lachlan, Phoebe, and Sarah. Phoebe was sleeping in Lachlan''s hut along with Sarah, it gave them a nice sense of comfort and Sarah enjoyed Phoebe''s company a lot which made him quite happy. He wouldn''t exactly know what to do if Sarah hated Phoebe, but fortunately, she saw Phoebe as an older sister. As they got up they stretched their bodies, grunting loudly before they walked out. Unlike previous times when they''ve been near or above cities. This time they''ve brought the families into the city during their stay above Houston. Allowing them to get clothes and try out different foods. Fortunately, their situation was similar to Flynn''s in that their banks accounts still worked and still had money in them. Now then, Lachlan, Phoebe and Sarah were currently located near the edge of the island. Although the breakfast in the city was good Lachlan thought the coconuts on the island were much better; both nutrition-wise and taste. He couldn''t get enough of it, it felt so primitive, breaking the coconut with his bare hands. But that''s exactly what he enjoyed about it, how simple it was. Granted, Lachlan had already forgotten that the coconuts required a massive amount of force to crack them open. Even bullets would struggle to break through the shell; they certainly wouldn''t be coming back out the other side. Giving the three of them a coconut each they sculd down the contents, finishing them up within minutes before looking down at the view. Although the ocean view was quite nice, there was just something more comforting and pleasant having a nice natural view. Especially with the knowledge that there''s an entire city beneath the ground, hidden from the beasts that roam in the wild. Looking at certain points in the ground they could see the entrances. The handles were camouflage rather well, all while being quite small so only a human could use it. Although it wasn''t an impenetrable fortress it certainly worked rather well. "So, what should we do today?'' Lachlan asked as he inhaled the fresh air, leaning back while using his arms as support pillars. "I want to try one last thing. Although I very well have done it much earlier I wanted to save it for last. Let''s get some sushi; with the evolution, all the ingredients should have gone up in tastiness," Phoebe explained joyfully. Lachlan frowned. "Indeed, but because the ingredients come from the ocean the price is also going to be absurd. just rise wrapped in seaweed would probably be rather steep in price, let alone having fish in it as well." "How about we make a deal with them?" Phoebe questioned as she raised a finger. "If we bring our own fish they can turn it into sushi. And after that, they can keep the remains so that we don''t have to pay." "Well, I suppose that can work. And since you so dearly want it along with you being the only one to have an aquatic beast; how about you get those ingredients while I take Sarah into the city," Lachlan suggested. "Sure, just make sure not to eat too much, we want a lot of room for when we have the sushi," Phoebe said as she shot off into the skies, swiftly breaking the sound barrier as she headed towards the ocean. Lachlan looked over to Sarah. "Alright Sarah, remember one important rule, never leave Lachlan''s side no matter what. Also, go to the toilet before we head into the city, I don''t want you going into those bathrooms alone." Sarah sighed and frowned before walking off. She knew Lachlan meant well, the world they''re currently living in isn''t exactly the definition of stable. Any person on the street could harm her, especially since she doesn''t have any strength to defend herself right now. When she came back she slightly complained about how Lachlan was keeping any dangers away from her. Along with all the benefits to come. "Lachlan! Why can''t I get a tamed beast yet? Why not let me train?" Lachlan was slightly flustered by the abrupt questioning. Although he knew he would have to deal with it eventually, he just didn''t know how he would do it so he came up with something on the spot. "Well Sarah, your compatibility is rather rare, we haven''t come across amphibians in a while. As for training, I''ve given you plenty of time to go off and train on your own. There really isn''t much to it, no special techniques or anything, just do as you''ve seen online or tv before the world''s evolution." "What about the fruits, I think I can handle the pain," Sarah said with confidence. Although Lachlan wasn''t exactly too sure on whether or not he should trust that confidence. Sarah was still young, she hasn''t felt a great deal of physical pain. But Lachlan sighed, grabbing hold of Sarah they returned to the house and Lachlan brought out the fruits. He brought them to Sarah. "Okay, now listen closely, the pain you might feel could be excruciating but you can''t lose consciousness. Also, instead of focusing on training and getting stronger you should be getting taught with the others." Grabbing hold of Sarah''s shoulder Lachlan brought her closer. "Those parents are trying their best to teach their children useful skills. You should join the other children, that way you can also get smarter." "But I don''t want to go to school!" Sarah complained loudly. "You''ve never gone to school," Lachlan said back. "You don''t know whether or not you''ll like it. Also, Sophie will be going to the other children to get taught as well so you won''t be alone. You can also make some new friends and reunite with old ones. Have you ever talked to the children you were with at Mount Barker since we came here?" "I don''t need to talk to them since I have a big brother here, as well as Sophie, and Phoebe, and everyone else," Sarah replied with her childish voice. Lachlan sighed as he rubbed her head, roughing up her hair as she squinted her eyes. "Indeed, but it isn''t a bad idea to make a group of friends, people you can trust with your life. Not to mention you''re all living on the island, it wouldn''t be a bad idea for you to form a friendship group with them," Lachlan explained. "Like the relationship I have with everyone in the group; we spent two years together on this island, we can trust each other with our lives and secrets. You need to try and make friends like that." "But won''t they see me as ugly?" Sarah asked as she held up her webbed hands, rolling back her sleeves she revealed a faintly scaled skin. "I don''t look normal, that''s why I''ve been getting glares from people whenever we enter any cities." Indeed, it certainly was a problem but there wasn''t much Lachlan could do. Although they could cover Sarah''s arms up she still felt bad, as though she was hiding because she was ugly. However, it did surprise Lachlan as he hadn''t thought Sarah would be self-conscious about her image while so young. Likely the result of getting weird stares from everyone passing by. Lachlan smacked his hands together as he got a lightbulb idea. "I know, how about we bring along the other children. That way you won''t look out of place, nor will you be the one getting weird stares." "What do you mean?" Sarah asked as she tilted her head. "Phoebe and I are going to be the ones getting all the stares. Taking care of so many children, we would get weird stares from just about everyone." Lachlan was willing to do this if it meant Sarah had a good day with friends. "Now then, shove these into your stomach and prepare yourself, you''ll be in a whole world of pain," Lachlan said as he handed over the fruits. He decided it would be best for Sarah to have some strength to defend herself. Sarah nodded as she threw them all into her mouth at once, she swiftly chewed them all up before gulping them down. She felt a wave of heat rushed through her body, it felt like stinging needles so it wasn''t unbearable. By the time the heat dispersed she stared at herself with wides eyes, wondering if there was any effect. She looked to Lachlan for confirmation but all she received was a shocked expression, Lachlan looked as though he had frozen in place. She thought it was because she had terrible luck and wasn''t able to increase her strength by much. What she didn''t know was that Lachlan was shocked for the exact opposite reason. But more than that, he was shocked that Sarah toughed it through like it was nothing. Flynn, Zhang, and Brianna all had terrible experiences when dealing with the sudden influx of strength. Sarah on the other hand... -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sarah Wilson (Human Hybrid) Age: 6 (Child) Soul Contracts: 0/5 Compatibility: Amphibians (Perfect) STR: 24, AGI: 25, VIT: 20 INT: 19, PER: 23, WIL: 20 Weakness: Everything Strengths: Webbed Feet & Hands, Slippery Skin -------------------------------------------------------- Took it like a champ. Her stats had drastically increased, all her stats were way above average. She could beat most people in a fight with the strength she currently possessed. Sort of anyway. She doesn''t exactly have any combat experience and would lose just about ever fight exactly for that reason. "Are you disappointed Lachlan?" Sarah asked with her head held down. "I didn''t experience the wave of pain, so I didn''t get stronger." Lachlan remembered that that''s exactly what he told her beforehand. Rushing up to Sarah he hugged her tightly. "It''s the exact opposite, you''ve gotten so much stronger without experiencing the excruciating pain. It seems Lachlan made a mistake." "Really?" Sarah asked with wide eyes. "Really," Lachlan replied before continuing the hug. "Now, how about we get the other children before heading to the city. That''s where we''ll be meeting up with Phoebe and I don''t want to be late when I wasn''t the one going hunting." Sarah nodded vigorously and Lachlan chuckled. They took off to head to the other children, it''s currently where Sophie was also located due to her being taught by the other parents. Flynn and Chloe wanted just one day to themselves and they believed they could trust the parents. Not to mention Dylan was in the trees keeping watch. Lachlan waved to Dylan as they went past, he seemed to be in a much better mood ever since he told him to socialise with the parents and make some friends. He also seems to be taking his job much more seriously now, he doesn''t want to disappoint them. The rest of that day went by fast, the sushi was delicious and the sushi chef was thrilled to be given the rest of the fish for free. He even gave them a few of his specialties without charge, using some of his premium ingredients. And although the children still got stares from people passing by, they were to busy talking to each other to notice them. As for Phoebe and Lachlan, whenever they stopped an old woman would always come up and say congratulations. Not to mention the weirds glares they were getting. But it was worth it. Lachlan enjoyed seeing Sarah have the time of her life along with her friends, Phoebe enjoyed it just as much. Not to mention she didn''t mind the stares, she just didn''t take much notice of them. 152 Maries Struggle in Settling Down The sun was rising over the island as everyone woke up. It was the day they would change location, Marie Santos was currently staying with them. There wasn''t any room in the orphanage just yet, they would likely finish the room by the afternoon. Marie had brought a whole shipping container onto the island, filled to the brim with electronics along with other necessities such as a bed. She says the electronics are important to her work and she wouldn''t leave Houston without them. Fortunately, it wasn''t difficult bringing the container up. Marie had woken up earlier than everyone, she had trouble sleeping in a whole new environment, even though she didn''t need to sleep on the island last night since they were still above the city. She said she wanted to get used to sleeping in the environment now so she won''t struggle later. Walking up to her resting outside of the hut they made for her last-minute, Lachlan sat down and leaned against the tree. "We''re planning on going to New Orleans, is there anything you could tell us now to help prepare?" "New Orleans? Yeah, it''s a struggling city filled with dangers," Marie replied in a croaky voice, she held her head down as he brushed her hair. Looking at a mirror that she placed on the floor. "Why''s that?" Lachlan asked. "Well, it''s due to the location. Although Houston is somewhat close to water, due to the city being underground we weren''t too heavily affected by aquatic beasts. New Orleans, on the other hand, have it tough. The city is slightly split apart, with different areas on landmasses just separated from the mainland by rivers. When the world changed aquatic beasts stirred up a storm in those areas, killing many people. That''s why the only ones there now are dangerous gangs and organisations," Marie explained. "What about the Explorer''s Guild?" Lachlan asked. He was curious as to whether or not the guild would set up a branch there. It would certainly be a ballsy move but at the same time, it could benefit them greatly. Strong people can come from struggling families. As for the gangs and illegal organisations, the Explorer''s Guild has the backing to make them all turn away in fear. "Yeah, there''s a branch there. There''s a branch in just about every town or city across America. Granted the buildings aren''t always on the same level. The branch in New Orleans could be the size of a house, in comparison to the one in Houston that''s a multi-floor building." Marie stood up and stretched her body, cracking her bones as she did it. "So, what do you eat here? Surely you aren''t that insane and survive by absorbing sunlight or something right?" Marie asked. She thought of the group as monsters, their strength and methods of doing things were rather unique, to say the least. She wouldn''t be surprised if they had surpassed the confines of the human body, now only needed sunlight and water to survive. "Of course we eat. Granted the food on the island is rather unique since its nutritional value is through the roof," Lachlan replied as he could see what Marie was thinking. "And no, we are still normal people, just with a lot more strength." "Taking down an intelligent beast singlehandedly is not normal, let alone taking down three singlehandedly." Marie protested against Lachlan''s idea of normal. "Also, normal people can''t fly around and whatnot without the help of machinery." "These are new times Marie, you should be prepared for just about anything," Lachlan said seriously. The new materials that could be discovered and mined have increased worldwide, some of which could be used to improve current technology drastically. Let alone portals to other worlds that might have a whole different system of living. "Well I''m not prepared, I thought I was pretty prepared, I thought Houston was ahead of the game when they decided to rebuild the city underground. Yet here you are, on a floating island with enough strength to take down an entire country," Marie complained about Lachlan throwing their whole idea of normal away. Flipping their lives upsidedown with the floating island. "Anyway, can we just get something to eat, I''m hungry and I didn''t sleep well." "Alright then, come along." Lachlan grabbed onto Marie''s arm and took her into the air. They shot towards the edge of the island where they came to a stop. Marie was hyperventilating as she has a slight fear of heights. When they reached the ground she collapsed to her knees, staring up and at Lachlan with eyes fulled of hatred she shouted at him. "What the hell was that for! You should have at least warned me beforehand! You did the same thing yesterday and I''ve never felt closer to pissing myself!" Lachlan laughed before jumping up to the top of the palm tree, grabbing hold of two coconuts he yanked to off before falling back down. With his bare knuckles, he punched a hole in one before handing it over it Marie. "This is one of the things we eat here, it has enough nutrition to satisfy the human body for a whole day... I think." "What do you mean you think?" Marie asked with concern as she took a closer look at the coconut. "This isn''t some type of beast coconut right? It isn''t going to try and bite me the moment I try and take a sip from it right?" "It is a slightly normal coconut but much with much more nutrition in it. I don''t know if it can satisfy the human''s body for an entire day or even longer, all I know is that my group and I were able to survive off of these. Along with fish and birds but mainly these," Lachlan explained as he calmed Marie down. Reassuring her that they weren''t some type of monster. Taking a sip Marie''s eyes lit up with joy, the taste of the coconut water was simply too refreshing. It felt as though it cleansed the body and soul with a single sip, her fatigue and sleepless body swiftly rejuvenated. "What the hell! This stuff is so good, you could easily market this and sell it," Marie suggested as she continued taking small sips of the coconut. Lachlan punctured a hole through the coconut''s shell before sculling the entire thing down in one go. "Sure we could, the only difficulties are when it comes to transporting these coconuts around the place since we aren''t staying at one place for too long," Lachlan explained. "If we were grounded and had to stay in one place on the mainland then we''d gladly market these coconuts. Even do experimentation with them to maybe turn them into energy bars." "Yeah, how about I do that right now so that if you do ever want to create a headquarters you''ll already have something ready to sell and market." Marie''s eyes lit up with passion, her brain filled with ideas for what the coconut could be used for. She just needed to do a bit of experimentation and she''ll find out everything there is to know about it. "You know, sure, go ahead, maybe we could use some of those ideas right now," Lachlan said as he grabbed hold of Marie and brought her back into the air. This time taking her to the orphanage, she screamed along the way, shouting at him to let her down. "I''ll bring all your stuff over, they''ve already begun to build your room and I''ve told them to make it large for all your electronics. Now, I''ll give you this, just give it a drop of blood and you''ll understand a bit, it''ll also keep you safe. And remember, don''t abuse its powers, there''s always someone watching." Lachlan handed over a medium-grade gravity stone to help her get around part of the island. "What''s this?" Marie questioned as she took a close look at the crystal, its purple lustre shone when hit by the sunlight. "It looks so beautiful, is it some type of decoration? And why would I give it a droplet of my blood? It''ll ruin its exterior." "Just do as I say, it''s something incredibly useful. Now you have to remember, the only reason I''m giving this to you is so you''re able to travel around the island and into the cave. It isn''t something for you to show off in the cities, especially in one''s like New Orleans, I don''t want some criminal organisation learning of its existence and giving us trouble," Lachlan explained in a serious tone, repeating the last thing he said multiple times to make sure Marie remembers. "Alright, alright," Marie said as she cut her finger ever so slightly on the crystal. She quenched from the pain, as unlike the others she isn''t used to fighting or anything of the sort. She''s similar to Anne, in that she relies on technology. Lachlan saw her grab her head from the sudden influx of knowledge from the gravity stone. Although it wasn''t a lot of knowledge it seems just the process of having it transferred directly into the mind forces the user to experience pain. When she finally snapped out of it she glared at Lachlan before turning her gaze back to the stone and then glaring at Lachlan again. She did this a few times until words were finally able to come out of her mouth. "What the hell is up with this!" Lachlan chuckled loudly when he saw Marie''s reaction, he wasn''t all that surprised, they too were rather shocked by the sudden discovery. Granted, Lachlan only found out due to his eyes. Something he was thinking of upgrading sometime soon, there was just one thing getting in the way. That would be the quality of the tame he wants. He knows that humans only have 5 slots in the soul contracts, that''s why each tame is very precious. So far he''s done quite well with what he''s got, a three in one and a griffon. Then there''s also that, should he try to tame more and train them all at the same time or should he try to find one, high-quality beast in the wild. He could also go through the spatial gate, the only problem being that he doesn''t know what''ll happen to the island should he go to another world. It certainly is further than 40000kilometres, but he also doesn''t know if it counts with spatial gates. Does he need to be 40000kilometres away from the spatial gate for him to lose control over the gravity stone? Or, would it just immediately lose control and plummet from the sky? They needed to do some tests but they''ve been busy dealing with other matters and just enjoying life. Lachlan would have to bring up the matter in the next few days, he wants to tame something to get his eyes to their next stage and unlock the evolution pathways. Something that''ll be extremely useful as of now, get them ahead of the game. "So, is this how you keep the island in the air?" Marie asked with wide, curious eyes. "Obviously, granted we don''t use the stone you''re holding onto right now but rather much stronger ones," Lachlan answered earnestly. Although he thought about keeping the matter hidden he knew Marie should be smart enough to figure it out. It really wasn''t that difficult once you know about gravity stones. "Can I have a better one?" Marie asked with puppy eyes, her small physique and large eyes almost nailed Lachlan right in the heart. Fortunately, he was trained in willpower, strong enough to resist any mental attack. "Nope," Lachlan replied. "You will only be given a better one once you''ve earned the trust of everyone. Once we know 100% that you aren''t some psychopath hiding amongst normal people." "Oh, okay," Marie''s head tilted downward. "I understand, we did just meet recently so it''s understandable that you wouldn''t want to give me something so precious. You probably don''t have many betters ones anyway, so I suppose it''s rude of me to ask such a question." Marie instantly put Lachlan in an uncomfortable situation. So he replied earnestly and without remorse. "It''s good you understand, we''re an organisation so there are rules in place to keep us safe." "Anyway, make some friends with the parents taking care of the orphanage, they are the ones building your room, you should at least greet them and introduce yourself," Lachlan said before flying off, back to his huts before Phoebe and Sarah woke up, leaving Marie out in the open. Pouting, Marie kicked a small stone before walking to a tree and leaning against it. Lachlan swiftly returned with her stuff before leaving again, he had almost forgotten completely about that matter. If he didn''t see it in front of their huts he would''ve forgotten about it. 153 Testing in Preparation For Dimensional Travel The island had reached New Orleans swiftly, the ruined city looked abandoned by both people and hope. The only light coming from the very outskirts, from the people that either refuses to leave or belong to criminal organisations. Fortunately for the ones that refuse to leave, with the Explorer''s Guild there they''re still able to earn money and a reputation. Every now and then they''re hired to go to another state before coming back with the rewards. It''s quite possibly the only thing that keeps them sane. The skyscrapers in the distance have been torn apart and collapsed in on themselves, after being abandoned for so long their structural integrity wouldn''t last long. Especially with the attacks from aquatic beasts every so often. Although they don''t target the buildings; when fighting against another beast the surroundings are always under threat from the damage. "It really has been abandoned," Lachlan remarked by the edge of the island. He was standing there along with the rest of the group, Marie, Valentina, Pedro, and Elena. They looked in awe at the ruins of the city, with the sunlight hitting the building the right way they could see light beams pass through the holes. The overgrowth began to climb the walls, the roads have cracked and ruptured along with the pathways. The riverside has basically been completely destroyed, the trees were broken in half while any houses or buildings have been smashed apart. "Should we really set up a branch here? I know there are still people and everything but it just doesn''t feel right." Phoebe was concerned about the location, Marie had informed everyone of the residents of New Orleans. Phoebe wasn''t too keen on making a branch here to help feed them. And although no one else spoke up it was obvious most of them agreed. "What are you talking about, this is exactly the place where it''s best to start a business!" Marie shouted abruptly. "Although it isn''t exactly a nice business strategy, with the people here already in such desperate circumstances staff would be easy to find and there would be plenty of customers wanting good food." "That kind of feels wrong," Phoebe muttered quietly. She wasn''t alone either, something just felt off about exploiting people''s situation to make money. Granted, just about every big brand did it before the evolution. "Yes, it will feel wrong but remember, you''re giving them both food and money. It''s a win-win situation, not to mention there would be a lot more requests for the Explorer''s Guild when it comes to hunting, so you''re also providing jobs," Marie explained. "She is right," Flynn stepped into the conversation. "Not only does it provide any current Explorer''s Jobs, but it also gives people that aren''t strong the chance of making money by getting employed. Not to mention just helping out won''t be enough, sure it''ll keep them on their feet for a month or so but then they''ll be back to struggling. Giving residents a means of living is a great way to help." "Well if you put it that way I suppose it does sound good," Phoebe said as she backed off. She couldn''t argue against the logic, she too knew that temporary support won''t be enough. Phoebe also knew that being in the industry they need to do such things to advance steadily. "Alright, you can all deal with that, I''m going to stay on the island and do a bit of testing," Lachlan said before taking off. The group stared at his fleeting figure, disappearing above the treeline and past the mountains. "What''s he doing?" Simon asked as he tilted his head curiously. "Probably going to do a few tests on the gravity stones and the spatial gate; he really wants to go through and explore but he also doesn''t want to put the entire island at risk of collapsing due to it," Phoebe answered. "Fair enough, he''s probably jealous of my Wildfire," Simon said proudly. "We''ll go do our things and let him do his things, and since he''s doing it for the sake of the island we can also help out once we''ve finished down in the city." Responding with a nod they all lept off the island; Marie had to be grabbed and pulled off the island because she was too afraid to jump. Just the sight of them being so high in the air made her slightly nauseous. Chloe was the on to pull her off, carrying Marie in one arm she carried them through the air. ... In another area on the island, Lachlan had just landed on Anne''s research laboratory. If there was anyone with the most experience in conducting experiments it should be Anne. Although there was plenty of things he could do by himself he doesn''t want to miss anything that could jeopardise the island. Walking into the laboratory Lachlan saw the screens were all lit up. Anne had set up hidden cameras around the edge of the island, hidden on treetops and in bushes they were heavily hidden. She wasn''t worried about any human intruders but was instead interested in the beast intruders. There were beast limbs just about covering every inch of the lab; Anne had continued experimenting with the limbs. Seeing if there was a way to use the blood of a beast to help a human, as their blood is far stronger and superior. There were also some rather unique ones as well; a flying spider had landed on the island a few days ago yet none of them noticed. Anne had taken care of it with technology, saying that the spider was a glass canon. Lachlan never got to see it alive so he wasn''t able to determine whether or not the flying spider was a high grade or not. If that was so then it could mean many other beasts would grow wings in the future, which would make the skies slightly more unsafe. "Hey Lachlan, what do you need from this old one." Anne was relaxing on her chair, looking at the screens that were analysing the spider''s venom, she was wondering if she could make stronger anti-venoms, possibly saving humanity from the fear of venomous bites. "I need your help with some experiments I want to try out. It shouldn''t take long, only ten or so minutes if even that," Lachlan replied as he took a few steps forward and took a look at the screens. "So, have you gotten any closer in creating an anti-venom?" ''Surprisingly I actually have; that flying spider possessed a few components needed for the current anti-venom I''m working on," Anne replied with joy. She loved creating things of science, whether it be technology or cures; cause she knew they could be used to help people. "That''s great, how much longer till you think you could experiment with it?" Lachlan asked. Although he was curious as to how she would test it, they didn''t have any small mouse to inject with venom or anything. "It''ll probably be another half a year before I''m able to assemble a good anti-venom; the problems with testing can be sorted out afterwards," Anne said, she knew what Lachlan was thinking about. It was also an issue she would have to deal with when the time comes. Standing up she turned to Lachlan. "Alright, let''s go do your experiments, I don''t have a lot of spare time so we should hurry. And no, that is not consent for you to grab me and drag me through the skies as the speed of sound." She was monitoring the cameras almost 24/7, she had seen the fright Lachlan gave Marie during her first time flying. Anne thought it was reckless and irresponsible; although she trusted Lachlan''s abilities Lachlan wouldn''t know how Marie would react to suddenly being brought into the air. Lachlan faintly laughed. "Alright, I won''t be doing that. You also have a stone of your own so go at your own pace. Granted, since you''re in a rush I would suggest not going too slow." By the time they reached the top of the staircase Lachlan had leapt off and was gone with the wind. Anne sighed as she shook her head before taking a graceful step off, she floated in the air peacefully before taking off at a moderate pace. Unlike the others, she was quite weak, not to mention old. By the time she reached the orphanage Lachlan was seen leaning against the cave wall, his heel tapping against the ground rapidly as his arms were crossed. When he saw Anne had finally made it over Lachlan rushed over. "Alright, so do you know about spatial gates? Has anyone told you yet?" Lachlan asked in a rush. He was slightly hoping someone had taken the time to explain to Anne that there''s a spatial gate in the cave and about the properties of the gate. "Nope, I think I heard you all mention that name a couple of times but I have no idea what it is," Anne said as she scratched her head. "Okay, so spatial gates are tears in space that connect to points in the universe or possibly universes. There''s a spatial gate inside the cave, connecting to Aaron''s world which is much larger and more dangerous than ours. Now, I want to know if gravity stones still work when someone goes through the gate," Lachlan explained very quickly and briefly to Anne. "Alright, but you don''t want to experiment yourself because you might be putting everyone''s lives at great risk with the chance of the island crumbling down on the ground below," Anne added on. Lachlan nodded vigorously. "Okay, let''s begin," Anne walked into the cave, handing her gravity stone to Lachlan who was going to wait outside. Once she walked in far enough she just disappeared into the darkness, Lachlan could no longer sense her through any means. Holding onto the stone he felt no changes to the gravity, not even the slightest. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding onto his gravity stone, the one being used to constantly nullify the island''s gravity whenever he was on it. Taking it out his pocket he gave it very specific commands, heavily limiting the stone''s area of effect. Once that was done he tossed it away and the stone floated off into the distance. Although he had to bear the full force of the cave''s gravity he''s done it before. Not to mention now, he''s a lot stronger. Looking back at Anne''s stone he still felt no difference in the gravity. He waited for a couple of minutes before Anne walked back out of the gate. "So, were there any changes?" "Nope, none at all," Lachlan replied. "Well, there''s your answer. It seems that gates do in fact cut off your connection with the stone, I suppose we''re going to have to do with another way if you really want to go back to the other side," Anne said mysteriously. "Come on, don''t hold back on me Anne and just spill it," Lachlan said impatiently. "What if the original stone works differently from normal stones, and that more then one person can take control of the stone," Anne suggested something Lachlan hadn''t even thought for a second possible. Lachlan thought about it momentarily. "I suppose it''s a feasible idea, we''ll test it out now so we can be certain whether or not that theory is true or not. Do you want to be the one to try?" "You know, you''re quite the trusting one aren''t you?" Anne said as she shook her head. "Although I could and it wouldn''t be a bad idea since I''m always on the island. I''m not sure if the others would trust me so much, aside from the research on intelligent beasts and mutated children, I haven''t done anything good for you all." "But those very things are the reason I trust you; granted, sure you could be bad, however, it''ll only take a second for us to end your life if I were, to put it bluntly," Lachlan explained coldly. "Although I don''t think your bad because of how much you''ve helped us over the time you''ve been here." "Alright, I''ll give it a try," Anne said before her eyes constricted from the sudden force of something pulling her away. Lachlan had grabbed hold of her the moment she said yes, bringing her through the air at 150km/h. A gravity stone was following close behind them the entire way, Lachlan had commanded it to do so. When they reached the centre Lachlan quickly brought Anne to the entrance, the root, ever so slightly off the ground. And the plethora of high-grade gravity stone beneath it. Holding up his hand the gravity stone smacked right into it. Lachlan grabbed hold of it and placed it into his pocket. He then brought Anne through the cave, until the reached the hole where the origin stone is. Anne looked over the edge, her eyes widened at the sight of a gravity stone so large. Holding her hands just above the hole she gave herself a small cut on her index finger. The droplet of blood fell slowly before accelerating. "Oh yeah, you need more than one droplet of blood to take control over it." Lachlan swiftly remembered that the origin worked slightly different to normal stones. Lachlan had given it quite a bit of blood. "Don''t worry I''ll eventually get to it, I''m not exactly young and full of youth anymore, and I''m certainly not like your group that can heal much faster than the average human either," Anne complained at Lachlan''s rushing. Lachlan sighed before going over to the cave walls and leaning on it. He waited patiently before he heard Anne gasp, she came running over to Lachlan with eyes of joy. "It worked! It actually worked!" Anne shouted joyfully. "And it seems to work in a ranking system, the first one to take control obviously gets the most dominant control and it goes down from there. So if you''re not here it falls to my command, if we get the others to drop some blood on there then if I''m not here it''ll fall to their command." "That''s some great news, some absolutely wonderful news I was wanting to here," Lachlan replied happily as he could now travel between the worlds without worry. "Now then, set your command to allow the island to fly, we''ll check it out ever so slightly." Anne nodded before they left the stone and went back to the gate. Lachlan walked through the cave, once the cave exit disappeared behind him he walked back through. Anne was standing there with her thumbs up and a wide grin. "It works." 154 Spending Time with Phoebe and Sarah Once he found that out he was ready to sprint through the portal and explore the world. However, he didn''t want to just disappear on everyone right away. Not to mention he wanted to spend some time with both Sarah and Phoebe before he leaves, he might not return for a while. Taking in a deep breathe Lachlan grabbed hold of Anne and brought her back to her laboratory slowly. He took it rather easy; he could see Sophie and Sarah playing with each other in front of the huts. Maddie was nearby, resting in the shade as she kept an eye on the two. When he landed Maddie jumped in fright, she began hyperventilating and looking up she relaxed slightly at the sight of Lachlan. She wasn''t expecting anyone else to be nearby as she thought they all went down to the city. "What''s up Lachlan? Why aren''t you with the others?" Maddie asked curiously. She could see that Lachlan was staring at Sarah, a bright, warming smile was plastered across his face. Turning his attention to Maddie Lachlan answered her questions. "Nothing much, I was just doing a bit of experimentation with the help of Anne. As of right now, I''m thinking of spending some time with Sarah and Phoebe." "So does that mean you are going to take Sarah down to the city?" Maddie asked, thinking Lachlan was slightly irresponsible. "You do remember that this run-down city is the headquarters of criminal organisations right? It certainly isn''t a place you bring a child." "Don''t worry I know, and I''m not going to stay in the city but instead go visit the national parks and lakes to relax. I''ll probably try and get Pedro or Elena to whip up a quick meal for us to eat for lunch," Lachlan explained his plan. He had looked at the maps Flynn had bought at Houston, and the national parks were surprisingly low on the ranking. It seems the dangers from the open waters deterred most land beasts away. ''Alright, have fun. I''ll probably bring Sophie to the orphanage and have her socialise with the others," Maddie said as she stood up, stretching her muscles and cracking her knuckles. Walking over to Sophie she picked her up and threw her into the air before catching Sophie and bringing her into her arms. "Alright Sophie, it''s time to go and hang out with the other children. Lachlan''s going to spend some quality time with Sarah." "Okay mummy." Sophie held on tight as she snuggled her head into Maddie''s arms. Maddie took off into the skies, heading towards the orphanage, slowly disappearing over the mountain range. Sarah came running over to Lachlan and slammed in his legs. She placed her feet on Lachlan''s as she wrapped her arms around Lachlan''s leg. "Walk Lachlan walk." Lachlan smiled brightly as he took very small legs, carrying Sarah forward with his legs. She began laughing loudly as they moved, she smiled brightly as her grip on Lachlan''s legs tightened. "Lachlan, are you taking me down to the city with Phoebe?" "Yes I am; then we''re going to go sightseeing in the national wildlife parks. You don''t have to worry, there''s not much danger there and any of the dangers there can be easily beaten by your big brother now can''t they?" Lachlan leaned over and picked Sarah up, placing her on his shoulders. "No, they can''t!" Sarah shouted as she held up her hands. Lachlan held onto Sarah''s legs firmly to make sure she doesn''t fall off. Taking off they flew straight up before flying off the island, heading towards the outskirts of the city. Lachlan could see the group, just leaving the Explorer''s Guild building. The building looked rather old like it was made in the 80s with thick stone slabs. The roof looked brand new, likely been replaced by something more solid to protect the ones working in the building. Landing on the ground by the building Lachlan walked up to the group. They were busy talking to each other and discussing how they were going to build their branches here. "We should have it by the Explorer''s Guild, that way, whenever someone brings back a kill we could directly buy it from the guild," Flynn suggested. Everyone in the group nodded and looked around at the nearby buildings. Most of which were normal houses. "What about there?" Zoe was pointing towards an open plot of land roughly 20 metres wide and 30 metres long, it was most likely going to used to build a house but the evolution came before anything could come into fruition. "There''s enough room for both businesses." "Now we have the location, what about the materials used for building?" Marie asked. "Although we could see steel, there aren''t many steel manufacturers nor are they any close. As for food and stone, if the walls aren''t thick enough the beasts could easily tear through them like it''s nothing." "What if we build it underground?" Simon suggested. "You know, similar to what the whole city of Houston is doing. Should we build a whole system underground that connects to places with the largest gatherings of people, it could be used as both shelter and a safe path straight to the food." "That''s a great idea!" Flynn said loudly. The whole group agreed as it solved both problems. If they make the underground system low enough into the ground then it''s almost already impenetrable, not to mention safe. As the group were discussing Phoebe walked over to Lachlan, she raised an eyebrow at the sight of Sarah on Lachlan''s shoulders. Normally, whenever they visited a place the main group would go down and scout things out before Lachlan or Chloe would even consider bringing down the children. Seeing her frown Lachlan walked up and explained himself. "I''m planning on making my way into the other world, I''ve already sorted things out with Anne who now also has control over the origin gravity stone. So, with all things considered I wanted to make the most of the time I have and spend it with my two favourite people." "Alright, so what do you have planned?" Phoebe asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "As you can see there aren''t exactly many things to do here, it''s basically a ghost town." "There are a few national wildlife parks, all low in danger ranking. How about we go there and have a picnic or something along those lines?" Lachlan asked. "None of us has done anything like that in over two years, I think it''ll be fun and relaxing." "Alright, but instead, let''s do it like a camping trip. Startup a wood fire, one of us can go get some meat and we barbeque it," Phoebe suggested her own idea. "Although it may not seem like it; I was pretty big into camping trips back before the Earth evolved." "Nah, I could surprisingly see that actually," Lachlan said as he nodded, slightly puckering his lips, lowering his eyebrows. "As for me, I''ve never gone camping before the world evolved, used to spend most of my time at home or mucking around with friends around the streets." "I could see that." Phoebe nodded with a smile and likely chuckled. "Now, let''s get going; since we only have roughly half the day left to do this." Nodding Lachlan held onto Sarah firmly as both he and Phoebe took off into the air. The group didn''t mind at all, they didn''t need either Lachlan''s or Phoebe''s assistance in anything they were currently doing. Lachlan decided against going to a majority of the wildlife parks near New Orleans, most of them were swamps that were likely filled to the brim with crocodiles. Something Chloe would probably very much enjoy. Instead, they were flying a bit away to get to Kisatchie National Forest. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure, he hoped it had the perfect setting for this picnic. He wanted a wide, open area just by the streams. Surrounded by large trees, the leaves, used for shade. That''s what he wanted, and fortunately, that''s exactly what he managed to go. When they got there they hovered above for a little while, searching for a spot to head down to. That''s when Lachlan found the spot he was dreaming of; although the trees were much larger, there was still a decent amount of space by the stream to set up the fire. Going down they landed on the ground and summoned their beasts, Phoebe let Faith stay in the stream as it wasn''t able to fit on the ground. The rest of the tames relaxed with them as Phoebe was setting up the wood. Once she was done she glared at Lachlan and raised her eyebrows. "Come on, you don''t expect me to start the fire as well, especially when there''s someone that can do it so easily." Lachlan smiled and chuckled as he raised a hand. A small ball of fire gentle floated from his hand onto the wood, setting it alight. Sarah immediately ran up to the fire and held out her hands, feeling the warmth it emitted from itself. "Lachlan, come over here and do what I''m doing, it feels so nice," Sarah said as she turned her head towards Lachlan. Her bright eyes filled with joy as her whole body was warming up by the fire. Walking over Lachlan felt the fire. The warmth it radiated was something he hadn''t felt in a while, it was almost scorching hot but it felt nice as well. Although they had the wind stones they didn''t give off the same feeling, as the fire didn''t blast them with hot air. Lachlan squatted right behind Sarah and held his arms out above her head. Spreading open his hands he moved his fingers, wriggling them around. Lachlan realised how much their group was adapted to the cold weather, as sometimes, they didn''t bother to set up a campfire during the days that they were sleeping on the beach. Phoebe came over to Lachlan and squatted down, leaning over she rest her head on Lachlan''s shoulders. "How about you get one of the birds to go and get something for all of us to eat? Tell them to make sure it''s a large beast." ''You heard her, who''s up for it?'' Lachlan asked all his beasts telepathically. All of them were currently behind him, they were doing nothing but staring around at the forest and stream. ''I''ll do it father'' Disaster was surprisingly the first to volunteer for the job, he seemed rather excited as well. ''I''ll make sure to bring back something none of us will be able to finish eating.'' Taking off Disaster nearly blew out the fire, fortunately, Lachlan made sure to take control over the fire to stop that. The fire continued to blaze onwards, as it was burning through the small sticks that Phoebe had set up. Lachlan stood up abruptly, surprising Phoebe who was resting her head on him. He walked over to the side where one of the surrounding trees were and looked up at the branches. Bending his knees he shot up, swiftly reaching the branch without a problem. The branch was dark brown, it was as thick as the average person''s thigh. Placing his hand on it Lachlan used his control over the wind and blasted out a blade. Slicing the branch from its tree. Falling down Lachlan fell down with it, slightly slower than it as well. It slammed into the ground, creating a loud thumping sound as it snapped in half from the impact. Lachlan used precise wind control to cut the branch into much smaller pieces, perfect size for the wood fire. He brought a piece over and tossed it on before returning to his original position. Phoebe sighed before resting her head on Lachlan''s shoulders again, she wrapped one arm around Lachlan''s neck and held out the other to the fire. They spent their time in that position before Disaster came back with his kill. It was a large boar, just ever so slightly smaller than the intelligent beast Simon had killed. Aaron walked up to it and sliced it into individual parts, the beasts got the largest chunks as they needed it while Lachlan, Phoebe, and Sarah got pieces that weighed roughly 2 - 3 kilos. Lachlan made a thin but strong stuck out of one of the wooden pieces, he started cutting up the meat with slow blades of wind and sticking it onto the stick. He was creating a kebab. Phoebe and Sarah stared at Lachlan with wide eyes, or more specifically, they were staring at the kebab in his hands. Lachlan sighed before creating a few more sticks, he swiftly cut off their pieces of meat, turning them into kebabs before placing them around the fire. They then waited and every so often Lachlan for turn the side facing the fire. The three began to talk about life and everything going on. Sarah had decided that her future goal was to make a bunch of friends and create a group similar to Lachlan''s and Phoebe''s. The two laughed as told Sarah that is was a great idea, but then Lachlan told her that she would need to spend more time with the children at the orphanage if she ever wanted a chance of that ever happening. She gladly agreed to Lachlan''s suggestion, telling them that she''s managed to form closer bonds to the children she was once with at Mount Barker. Time passed quickly, Lachlan''s beasts were no longer standing but rather, they were huddled up behind the tree, forming a sort of shield around them. Lachlan could see through the gaps in the tree branches that the sun was getting low, darkness was beginning to consume the forest. Standing up he brushed any dirt of his butt. "Alright, we should probably get going the sun''s getting real low and I''d rather not spend the night sleeping in the wilderness." Lachlan then walked over and lifted up Sarah. She was already asleep, her head tilted as though she was dead but Lachlan could clearly hear her breathing. Carrying her like a princess Lachlan unsummoned his tames, Phoebe did the same before they returned to the island to sleep with each other. Lachlan used the wind stone to create a warm, comforting atmosphere inside the hut as he and Phoebe went to sleep. The others returned from the city an hour later, all of them looked exhausted and stressed. They barely even talked as they swiftly returned to their huts to get some sleep; they had a long day of constructing and there were so many more problems than they expected. 155 Outside the Cave Lachlan woke up, and turning to his side he noticed both Sarah and Phoebe weren''t there. They had likely woke up early and prepared for something to eat, maybe even prepared something for him as well. Lachlan groaned as he stretched his body across the bed, he got up and did some more stretches before finally walking outside, equipping his armour as he walked through the doors. His nose was greeted by the scent of roasted meat, properly seasoned. Looking around Lachlan noticed Pedro, Elena, and Valentina cooking over a fire. There was a crocodile corpse right behind them, parts had been slightly skinned with large chunks of meat missing. Most of the group was by the fire, only Simon, Maddie, and Joe were still in their huts. Lachlan walked over to the little gathering of people, the fire radiated a blazing heat as it sizzled the meat, letting off a powerful scent that went straight through the nostrils. "Well, well, well, what do we have going on over here?" Lachlan asked as he joined them. They usually didn''t set something like this up, very rarely would they have Pedro or Elena cook for them at the centre of the island. "Well, you are leaving aren''t you? We decided to give you a celebratory farewell," Pedro stated as he took the meaty sausages off the fire. Whipping out a soft roll he placed it in before covering it in vegetables and sauces. "Here, for you." "Oh, so you all know now?" Lachlan grabbed the food from Pedro''s hands, the roll had been heated up by the meat. Lachlan took a bite of it, the juices from the meat-filled his mouth, Lachlan swiftly snapped out of his blissful moment. "I was planning on telling you all today but yeah, I''m leaving to explore the other world." "You want anyone to come along with you? Or do you want to do it solo?" Flynn asked as he was given food by Pedro. Chloe was by his head, resting her head against his shoulders as they both ate the food. "I''d rather not have anyone come along with me; the only ones I would ever want though would be Simon and Joe. At least that way the men in that world won''t take much notice of us," Lachlan replied. "Aaron, my tame, the one who lived there told me that the people of that world are barbaric, so I don''t want to bring anyone who would attract attention." "You know what? That''s actually a pretty fair reason." Chloe agreed with Lachlan''s reasoning. "Lachlan is only going there to tame a beast, but if he were to bring along a female who knows how troublesome the matter would become. He would probably get stopped by just about every male, wanting to challenge him for the female if they''re that barbaric." ''Master, Chloe is completely correct, rather, that''s what they were even doing before my world evolved. They would have contests of strength, the winner would win some woman''s hand in marriage'' Aaron informed Lachlan of how right Chloe was. ''Even the one Baron, Aaron? The one you respect so much?'' Lachlan asked. ''Indeed, although there was still a romantic connection before the contest; the contest just made him more determine, he didn''t want any other man to lay a finger on the woman he cares so much for'' Aaron swiftly explained that Baron Aaron''s circumstances were slightly different. ''However, I''m guessing now that they''ve turned to a more barbaric path, they don''t exactly think too much about anything like that and just take what they want'' Lachlan said to Aaron as he took another bite. ''Indeed, it''s now truly survival of the fittest in my world, where even the humans use only their strength to fight against others rather than their brains. To be honest, I wouldn''t be surprised if some beasts became smarter than humans'' Aaron explained his perspective of his own world. ''Although I was only on the mainland for a day or two before setting off into the great ocean.'' ''So how long exactly did it take you to reach the island from the mainland? I forgot'' Lachlan asked as he scratched his head from embarrassment. ''It took exactly 4 weeks to reach the island from the mainland; that is also with only 2 breaks during the entire time'' Aaron said proudly. ''That''s right, I only slept twice during the time flying, and although my body was completely exhausted by the end it was worth it.'' ''Why didn''t you rest more? You could have died from overworking yourself you know?'' Lachlan felt as though Aaron did something rather reckless and idiotic. It would have been horrible if Aaron wasn''t able to make it all the way to the island, Lachlan wouldn''t have ever known about the spatial gates, nor would he have tamed Aaron in the first place. ''Well, I wanted to rest but the only problem was...'' Lachlan could feel Aaron slightly tearing up from through the contract. ''The only problem was... there weren''t any more islands in sight, not a single one, it really was just the great ocean.'' ''So you''re telling me you almost died getting to the island because there weren''t enough smaller islands along the way? Also, why didn''t you just stop by and live on one of the other islands?'' Lachlan felt as though he was talking to a child, there were so many problems in his story that can''t be explained with logic. ''Well, there were other beasts there, some griffons as well. I thought I would be accepted and integrated into their little society easily but instead, they bullied me off the island.'' Lachlan felt like sticking his head into the ground like an emu. ''Why didn''t you just use your strength to fight back?'' Lachlan asked as he was on the edge of facepalming himself so hard he knocks himself out. If he got one more rediculous answered he may as well hide his face from the world. ''Well, that''s not how Sarah raised me'' Aaron''s reply stumped Lachlan in his tracks. ''Sarah was incredibly strong but had a large heart as well. She raised me to not abuse my strength, but rather, use it for the wellbeing of others.'' ''She certainly sounds like a great person'' Lachlan felt like summoning Aaron and giving him a tight, comforting hug. ''Suppose that''s the reason behind why you didn''t attack us with your elemental powers when we first arrived in your cave?'' "Kind of, but it was more so because I was extremely curious as to why you weren''t completely barbaric and mindless like the other humans on my planet'' Aaron explained honestly. ''I mean seriously, I hadn''t seen intelligent life for weeks in that cave and the last time I saw a human they attempted to kill me. But you, on the other hand, you only knocked me unconscious, but not only that, you were curious about the entire cave and the things in it.'' ''So you were curious about me?'' Lachlan thought about it and it added up with Aaron''s curious nature. It also explained why he didn''t really hesitate when it came to being tamed by him, as though he wanted it. ''Indeed, I was curious as to why, with all your strength and comrades that you didn''t decide to end my life right there. As on my planet, it''s customary to kill the animals/beasts you beat in a fight, it''s also a matter of honour as well'' Aaron explained. ''Honour eh'' Aaron felt as though Lachlan went into a trance, as he was reminiscing on past memories. The day they returned to Sydney and helped people escape, yet May was so stubbornly bent on getting revenge and protecting her honour. ''Honour is basically pointless in the survival of the fittest, no one cares how honourable you are, they only care about your strength and how far you''re going to go to survive and protect those dear to you'' Lachlan remarked as he sighed rather loudly, getting everyone''s attention for a split second. Seeing that Lachlan swiftly scuffed the meal down, he then turned to every as he stood up and stretched his back. "Alright, I''ll be going now. When I come back this island better not be gone, also, make sure my little sister stays safe." Sarah came running up to Lachlan as she wrapped herself around Lachlan''s legs. "No! You''re not allowed to leave again! Maybe this time you won''t come back!" Lachlan''s heart ached at the sight but he knew he needed to power through and tame a worthy beast. Bending over Lachlan grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and threw her up, catching her as she fell before placing her on his shoulders. "Listen, Sarah, your big brother needs to do this to get stronger alright," Lachlan took Sarah off his shoulders as he felt the soft petter patter of teardrops falling on his hair. Holding her in on arm Lachlan wiped the tears from her face. "You don''t have to worry Sarah, your big brother is strong and won''t be defeated or in any danger where I''m going. You just have to wait patiently here alright? You still have everyone here to look after you and play with you alright?'' Sarah nodded slowly as she sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. She was shaking her head before wrapping her arms around Lachlan''s neck, she held on firmly, with all her strength. "I don''t want Lachlan to leave me again. How long will you be gone for?" "Oh, well if I try hard I should only be away for a month or two, I could possibly even shorten that time down to a week if I get lucky," Lachlan explained as he held onto Sarah tightly. "And if you continue to cheer me on, who knows, maybe I''ll be back in a day." Putting Sarah down Lachlan tousled Sarah''s hair with a bright smile. "Remember, you have to wait patiently for me every day. Also, by the time I get back I''m hoping you make some new friends alright? You need to at least double them by the time I get back okay?''" "Alright, come back quickly." Sarah ran up and gave Lachlan one more hug, standing on her tippy toes she wrapped her arms around his waist before letting go. "If I do that will Lachlan take me to explore the other world one day as well?" Lachlan felt frozen for a moment as he himself wasn''t entirely certain how the people there would react to his sister, someone who was so cute and innocent. Just the thought of it made his blood churn but seeing his sister''s puppy eyes his heart softened and melted. "Alright, but only once I have the necessary strength to protect you alright?" "Okay, have fun," Sarah said as she began to wave. The rest of the group said their goodbyes before Lachlan shot into the air and headed towards the orphanage. When he landed he swiftly made his way to the cave and walked through the darkness. As he looked back he noticed at one point the cave entrance behind him disappears entirely, he knew he was in the other world. Although it didn''t feel the slightly best different, it was odd. This time he didn''t continue on his path to the main cave where all the farmers were but turned around and began carving against the wall using wind and water. He slowly but surely dug himself a path that circled around the gate. Walking alongside it he looked to his side, in hopes of seeing the edge of the gate. Unfortunately, it seems a tear in space is a lot thinner than Lachlan thought. He didn''t mind though and continued along his journey. He walked for a couple of minutes before he finally got a glimpse of sunlight, the light rays were powerful as they lit up the cave entrance. Walking out he was hit by a gust of ocean air, the salty went straight through his nostrils. He looked around and noticed nothing really different about the island. Sure it wasn''t his island but there didn''t seem to be anything special. The only noticeable feature was its size, it stretched for probably 10 - 15 kilometres. Looking up he noticed something that almost shocked him, but confirmed the reality that he was in an entirely different world. There were three suns, all different sizes, but all radiating and blazing heat. ''You never told me that your planet had three suns!'' Lachlan exclaimed to Aaron. ''You never asked'' Aaron replied. 156 New World, New Beasts Lachlan had decided to walk around the island a bit, explore it in detail as he gains an understanding of the world he''s currently on. As of now, he hasn''t been attacked by anything yet, rather, it seems like there are no other lifeforms on the island. ''Aaron, is there anything on this island?'' Lachlan asked. ''Nope, that''s another reason as to why I chose it; although, beasts might have arrived on the island rather recently, during the year that I wasn''t here'' Aaron replied. ''Alright, your four all come out'' Lachlan summoned the four of them, his tattoos lit up the surrounding tree a bright blue hue. One by one they appeared behind him, towering over him as they surveyed the area. ''Let''s take to the skies, I came here for one reason and I want to return swiftly. Aaron, which way are we heading'' Lachlan didn''t want to continue to distract himself with his fascination with Aaron''s world, he would wait until he tames something before he explores it along with Sarah and the others. ''This way master'' Aaron took in the air as he flew left, into the powerful gusts of wind that were slamming against the island. Fortunately for them, Lachlan had come prepared with wind stones, something he hadn''t thought would be needed so soon. Changing the direction of the wind around them their speed began to pick up, as the wind pushed them heavily from behind. Lachlan had also changed gravity as well, making it push them through the skies faster than they could fly. Lachlan felt the skin on his face pull back, revealing a row of white, shiny teeth. His hair, dishevelled as he made his way through the air. Every now and then he would look below, into the deep blue ocean to try a see anything. As they flew for an hour Lachlan began to hear the splitting of waves beneath him, he felt a gaze full of killing intent land on his body. Looking down he noticed two, dark red glowing eyes staring at him beneath the waves. He could see the shadow of the beast, it was at least 20 metres long. It''s body somewhat resembled that of a shark, but it had tentacles emerging from its sides as well. Lachlan felt a cold shiver and swiftly changed direction, twisting his body as he flew through the air. A tentacle shot out from the waters, reaching the height Lachlan was at in a split second it tore through the air like a cannonball. When it noticed it had missed Lachlan could hear the beast beneath the waters roar in anger, wings began to sprout from its back and emerge from the ocean. Lachlan felt as though he was daydreaming when he saw the beast. Its scale was dark green, its teeth completely black while its tentacles and wings were purple. It looked like a chimera gone wrong: it had the wings of an eagle, the body of a shark and octopus-like tentacles. ''Oh come on, what the fuck is this? Analyse'' Lachlan really thought his mind was playing tricks on him, he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He had only just arrived in the world and he was already greeted by a beast he had never seen before. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Oceanic Chimera Age: Adult Attribute: Water/Darkness Grade: Good Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 14 STR: 121(+40), AGI: 109(+40), VIT: 100(+20) INT: 40(+10), PER: 40(+10), WIL: 20(+6) Weakness: Weak Skin Defence & Wing Joints, Prideful, Territorial, Electric Attacks Strengths: Swimming Speed (Level 4), Maximum Speed (Level 3) Darkness Control (Level 2), Bite Strength (Level 6) -------------------------------------------------------- It truly was a beast right out of a fantasy world, Lachlan began to wonder what else he would find on this planet. Would there be orcs, goblins, dwarfs, and elves? His mind began to trail off as he imagined the possibilities. His armour sent him another warning, he tactfully twisted his body slightly, dodging the attack from the tentacles. Unsheathing his sword he swung with great momentum, slicing the tentacle in half the chimer roared in anger. ''You three, take care of this'' Lachlan said to the three Rocs. They all nodded before taking into the skies, they screeched loudly as they puffed their chests out with pride. The darkened clouds began to swirl above them, blue lightning began to traverse across the clouds as thunder echoed across the waters. The chimera, alarmed by the sudden danger changed targets and began to move towards the Rocs with great speed. They looked down at the chimer with eyes of pity as a lightning bolt the size of a house pierced through its body and struck the ocean surface. Burnt to a crisp, inside and out, the body of the chimera fell into the ocean, creating a ripple as it sank down. ''You know, if it wasn''t so ugly I might have been tempted to tame it, but there''s just something very offsetting about it.'' ''Master, I wouldn''t consider doing that as chimeras are the result of human experiments, they have no room for growth and likely stagnate in strength once they reach their peak'' Aaron explained with a concerned tone. ''Also, I''d rather master not tame something so ugly and weird.'' Lightly chuckling Lachlan responded. ''It doesn''t seem all that bad, so, are they all as ugly as that one? In my world, we have myths and legends of similar beasts, created with the limbs of different beasts, kind of like you but with more mix and matching.'' ''Yes but I am no chimera, I''m not the result of a human experiment but rather something evolved from a being of majesty'' Aaron responded with pride. He was originally lion that people feared crossing paths with, mainly due to their apparent curse but that doesn''t matter now. Now he was a griffon, the king of the skies and the land. Lachlan sighed before his ears twitched at the sound of wings flapping ever so slight. It didn''t sound like a large beast, rather, when he looked up he noticed it was incredibly small. Similar size to birds on Earth before the evolution. Its feathers were bright blue while its beak was a slightly darker hue of blue, it almost camouflages in the skies. Its feet were grey-dark grey. There were what Lachlan assumed were tails, drifting behind the bird''s wings, two of them. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Everwind Age: Adult Attribute: Wind Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 6th Grade Level: 3 STR: 4(+2), AGI: 21(+6), VIT: 10(+4) INT: 14, PER: 20, WIL: 8 Weakness: Weak Defence, Weak Physical Attacks Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 2), Wind Control (Level 4) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan thought there was only one of them and was quite frankly shocked to his core; not about the stats of the bird but rather that it was able to survive for so long. It was a bird that would basically be free levels to stronger beasts. Then Lachlan began to hear more wings, so much more that it soon merged together to become almost a humming type sound. It wasn''t loud, nor did it have any special effects but just from the sound, Lachlan could tell that the sheer number of everwinds would be immense. Focusing his attention further upwards Lachlan saw the gathered silhouette of hundreds, maybe even thousands of everwinds. Lachlan realised how they managed to survive for so long, their special abilities. Something that doesn''t change no matter how much stronger you get. The only time it actually increases in strength is when a beast gets older, or its grade goes higher. With the number of them gathered they could fire off a few hundred special abilities at the same time. Fortunately, it seems they''re rather docile and won''t attack unless provoked. Lachlan and his tames flew alongside them for a few hours, the only thing still in sight was the great deep blue ocean and the things inside of it that occasionally pop their heads out. ''Hey Aaron, just wondering but how far exactly till we reach on of those islands?'' Lachlan asked with growing concern. He felt as though they would never find land no matter how much they flew, suppose seeing the same thing for hours on end does something to the mind. ''Well, I will say that we are actually going a lot faster than when I came to the island. But if I were to give a rough estimation it would take roughly 2 - 3 days without rest'' Aaron explained nonchalantly while Lachlan''s brain exploded. ''I suppose there''s something I can try, I just don''t know whether or not it would work properly'' Lachlan has had the idea for a while but was never in a situation where he needed to do it. Now, however, now was the perfect time to give it a try. ''Alright, you four can come back now there''s no threats'' Lachlan unsummoned the four, they turned into dark figures before merging with the shadow on his stomach that was facing away from the suns. Lachlan pulled out a few more gravity stones, he didn''t see the issue in not bringing as many as he could hold on him. They were valuable tools that could be used to destroy an enemy, even an entire country if he is so pleased. Places like Houston would be the most easily destroyed with gravity stones, they could just collapse the roof and no one would even know the cause. They aren''t going to suspect a few rocks to have such power behind them. He had a bit more than three gravity stones, although he only needed three for his plan. PLacing them back in his pocket he began to give specific commands. One would continue to keep him flying as he rests, one would repel everything away from him and the final one would nullify that effect for him. As of now, he''s basically a flying fortress, without the size of course. The birds noticed that Lachlan had unsummoned his tames but didn''t care too much about it. They were only curious about the human beneath them as his behaviour was much different from the humans they''ve encountered before. Closing his eyes Lachlan''s final glimpse was of the sun, sinking into the deep blue ocean. Its light made the water orange, its reflection sprawled across the waters. Lachlan felt the light breeze of warmth from his wind stone and peacefully slept. He continued to fly for hours on end, 7 hours to be exact before he finally woke up again. He looked around and held his head down low when he noticed nothing was still in sight. Not a single piece of land, just the great blue ocean. Feeling annoyed Lachaln increased the speed at which he flew at, the wind stone wasn''t able to counteract the strength of the wind blowing against Lachlan. He truly felt the skin on his face begin to peel back but he didn''t care, he wanted to see land, some form of a platform. His stomach gurgled mightly as hunger consumed his mind. Lachlan observed the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of land that Aaron didn''t notice... And that''s what happened. In the far distance, Lachlan finally spotted land, an island that stretched only half a kilometre wide and long. There were trees, covering its ground but Lachlan could see the figures of humanoid beasts lurking in the shadows beneath. He could smell food from where he was, he didn''t even know it was possible. It was salty, something like roasted fish. It filled his nostrils which were desiring something other than the ocean to smell. Lachlan began to head that way, he saw the eyes of the island''s inhabitants stare at him, they were filled with killing intent. Lachlan didn''t mind though, his only thought was on the food that they were cooking. 157 Ocean Elves Landing on the ground Lachlan waited patiently for the island''s inhabitants to attack him, yet he received no response. Rather, he continued to feel several gazes filled with killing intent, all coming from the shadows beneath the trees. Lachlan created a ball of flames and pushed it towards the source of the gaze, he heard low and deep grunts as the ball got closer and closer. Finally, Lachlan managed to see the tip of a spear, attached to it was a dark-skinned hand while the rest of the body was hidden behind the tree. For a second Lachlan thought that he had come across another human but the spear moved at the speed of sound, smashing against the ball of flames, causing it to explode and sent shards of flames on to the trees. Setting alight Lachlan heard much loudly and deep grunts from the treeline, bodies began to emerge, they had blood-red tribal markers painted onto their dark skin. Their hair, as black as coal and their eyes were all green. But taking a closer look Lachlan thought he had begun imaging something, he summed it up to him not coming into contact with another intelligent being. Attached to their heads were long, pointy ears. While in a trance the island''s inhabitants began to shout at Lachlan in a foreign language, their spears upright and ready to fight as they closed the gap between them. Finally, by the time they reached a distance of 10 metres they shot off, leaving clouds of sand in their wake. Dozens of spearhead appeared in front of Lachlan, the inhabitants all had faces of viciousness as they pushed their spears forward. Aiming towards different parts of Lachlan''s body, trapping him in their attack. Snapping back into reality Lachlan smiled before disappearing, not even the sand beneath his feet had noticed his disappearance. But the inhabitants'' eyes constricted from freight, they all pulled their spears back swiftly before turning around. Lachlan was standing behind them, nonchalantly staring at them all as he looked towards the status screen in front of him. He never would have thought he would encounter such a fantasy race in such little time. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ocean Elf Age: 35 - 70 (Child - Teenager) Slaves: 0/5 - 2/5 Compatibility: Creatures of the Sea (High - Perfect) STR: 50 - 68, AGI: 40 - 50, VIT: 100 INT: 15 - 28, PER: 20 - 35, WIL: 14 - 23 Weakness: Territorial Strengths: Skilled in Teamwork, Maximum Speed (Level 4), Spear Mastery (Level 2), Swimming Speed (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Although they didn''t necessarily have the most amount of strengths, they certainly had much higher stats in comparison to humans. Rather, it was almost pathetic to compare the two as all the ocean elves staring at him was either children or teenagers. The ocean elves got back into position but this time they changed formation ever so slightly, creating rows of spears, all facing forwards at different angles. They took steps forward at a steady pace, stomping on the ground with all their might in an attempt to intimidate Lachlan. He couldn''t help but sigh at the sight, he could easily tear through them all just from a single swing of his broadsword. The only problem with that is that he wants to try and communicate with them; they''re the only sign of intelligent life and they might be able to help him out with shortcuts, other nearby islands that Aaron might have idiotically not noticed, and just general information. However, there was one more problem that he needed to solve. His stomach gurgled loudly, making the ocean elves jump in freight as they all stabbed forwards at the same time. Hitting nothing but air as they were too far away. He was hungry. He had forgotten to pack food and water, something everyone knows is a necessity yet he managed to completely forget about their very existence. As for now, he didn''t want to go back and create an awkward atmosphere. They had all given him a proper farewell, all wishing him luck, it would be awkward and slightly embarrassing should he return. So instead, Lachlan decided to tough it out. Unsheathing his broadsword Lachlan swung towards the ground before stopping slightly above the sand. The sheer force from his swing sent grains of sand flying in all direction, the wind almost became a torrent as it swirled the sand around him. Taking control the wind Lachlan dispersed the swirl, peace and quiet reigned as the ocean elves were scared to the bone. They had been forced to drop their spears, gathering together to protect themselves and the children. Lachlan lightly tapped on the ground with his toes, a thin layer of ice covered the sand before encasing the ocean elves'' feet, Lachlan made sure to compact and tighten the ice around their feet to make sure they don''t attack. As for now, his nose was being dragged into the treeline where the fish were being roasted. There were several dozen fish being roasted at the same time, their scent wafted through the air, almost targetting his high vulnerable nose and stomach. Just as Lachlan was about to sit down his armour sent him alarms, he heard shuffling from above and tactfully twisted his body while jumping into the air. As a silhouette dashed past Lachlan whacked it with his foot, kicking it into the tree. More and more alarms were being set off, humanoid figures held onto the treetops, staring down at him as they firmly gripped onto their spears. Silence reigned shortly after as the two sides came at an impasse, staring at one another for several minutes. Lachlan''s ears twitched at the sound of bushes rustling in front of him. The only thing he found odd about the new competitor is that it had no killing intent targetted towards him. The new ocean elf looked old and wise, he had a goatee reaching his waist as he stood 7''2 tall. Similar to the younger ones he had dark skin with red tribal markings across his face and upper body. His hair slightly grey due to old age, his fingers seem abnormally long while his nails were sharp and pointy. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Ocean Elf Chieftain Age: 178 (Elder) Slaves: 5/5 Compatibility: Creatures of the Sea (Perfect) STR: 78, AGI: 60, VIT: 100 INT: 35, PER: 45, WIL: 25 Weakness: Territorial, Degraded Body Strengths: Skilled in Teamwork, Maximum Speed (Level 4), Spear Mastery (Level 4), Swimming Speed (Level 2), Language of the Living -------------------------------------------------------- "Welcome intruder," The old elf said with a smile, he clasped his hands as he graciously bowed his head. "I would like to thank you for not killing our young, but would also kindly warn you to leave the island as you don''t belong here." Lachlan was slightly surprised by the fact that the elf was managing to talk with him, he could already tell which strength was allowing that but was also rather confused as to how it allowed the elf to do that. Lachlan felt as though the language wasn''t something one earned with skill, but rather one gains through practice. Even people like Anne, who had intellect, far surpassing that of the normal populace had the learn and experiment to gain their position in their industry. Lachlan felt as though it was like a cheat to have such an ability, but, he was also rather glad there was a skill like that. It meant that he might also be able to get a skill of similar properties. It would certainly come in useful for when they do begin to expand their company. Once he finds the method he would either try and bring the method along with him or bring the others where the method was. "Are you surprised that I can communicate with you?" The elder elf asked as it leaned over to take a closer look at Lachlan. "Considering your external features I would say that you''re a human, but the humans have all evolved into brainless monsters. So that leaves all but one solution, you are not of this world." "Good job with the guess, I''m going to take a bite now," Lachlan waved off the elder elf''s words and snatched a fish off the fire. Taking it closer to his nose and took in a large whiff, it was the first time he had seen such a small fish in over two years. ''Aaron, why does it seem like all of Earth''s fish traversed through space to get to your planet?'' Lachlan joked internally as he took a bite out of the fish. Since Aaron''s world experienced a similar evolution, it was quite odd seeing small fish, especially in a world that seemed much more dangerous in comparison to Earth. ''Master, it''s likely that those fish come from those small things your humans call germs'' Aaron responded seriously without a moment''s hesitation. ''Master, I''m surprised you haven''t come across similar things back on Earth.'' ''Oh shush, I was training on an island for two years, not interacting once with the outside world, of course all the weaker beasts would be dead by then; that''s survival of the fittest for you'' Lachlan said to Aaron. While the two were conversing the elder elf''s eyebrows were twitching heavily form anger. He had always been respected due to his strength and his title of chieftain. Yet right now, before his eyes, he was being completely ignored by someone of another world. "Hey boy! Don''t ignore me! I''m telling you to leave this island kindly! Otherwise, we''ll be forced to take action!" The elder elf said in a loud tone, his voice filled with anger as he stared towards Lachlan as he would a dead man. The elves in the trees were all shuffling about, preparing their spears to be used right away as they waited patiently for the elder elf to give the command. Seeing all this Lachlan sighed before bursting into a wide grin, he used two of his gravity stones and forced his surroundings to undergo 30x Earth''s gravity while nullifying himself from the effect. All the elves'' pupils constricted as the ones in trees fell down and slammed into the ground, the sound of broken bones echoed through the trees. The elder elf had collapsed to the ground, the gravity was far too strong for him and the other elves to handle. Using all his strength the elder elf tilted his head upwards to face Lachlan, who was eating the rest of his fish without the slightest care in the world. He took a quick glance to the elder elf before returning to his food. "You don''t have to worry, I''ll leave eventually, once I fill my stomach and you answer a few easy questions," Lachlan explained as he eased up on the gravity, keeping it at 6x Earth''s gravity. "Are there any other islands in the close vicinity?" "No. That''s the entire reason my clan of elves travelled the sea; to get to an island far away from the mainland and by itself in the ocean," The elder elf answered swiftly as cold sweat trickled down his back, no long underestimating the one in front of him. "So if I go that way I should find the mainland correct?" Lachlan asked as he pointed towards the direction they were following. He just wanted to confirm their flight path, just to be extra certain they were going in the right direction. "Yes." The elder elf nodded vigorously. "Can I learn your skill, the one which allows you to speak my language?" This was something Lahclan was dying to ask. He hoped it was rather simple and that everyone could learn it should they put in the time. It would also keep him entertained as he learned while flying. "No, it''s a skill the chieftain is born with, how else are we supposed to create trading deals with others," The elder elf responded. Lachlan was thoroughly disappointed so he scuffed the rest of the fish down. "But I do believe humans once had a similar skill, I believe it was called something along the lines of world language translation." Lachlan nodded before taking off, releasing the effects of gravity, allowing the elves to finally take a breath from the tense atmosphere. One of the elves jumped down from the tree and rushed up to the elder elf, grabbing hold of his hands and supporting him. "Chieftain are you alright? The human didn''t injure you or anything?" "No, no, no, I''m completely fine just need to take a quick nap due to everything that''s happened so far today," The elder elf brushed the elf''s hands off him as he stood up and walked further into the island. Disappearing into trees where moonlight could not reach. Lachlan returned to the skies but this time with a full stomach. Taking in a deep breath of the ocean air he relaxed his body. He knew it would take a while until he reaches another island, so while he was in the air there wasn''t a reason to not take a nap. Closing his eyes he gave the gravity stones one last command before drifting into a dreamscape. 158 Attacked Above the Ocean Lachlan''s eyes opened at the sense of danger, the sun had finally risen back up and it had only been a few hours since he took a nap. Looking below he noticed a shadow lurking beneath the waters, his eyes constricted from the sheer size of the beast. The silhouette was atleast 50 metres long and 60 metres wide. The water began to rupture and quake as the beast surfaced; a fountain of water spurt from the beast''s upper body and almost hit Lachlan out of the skies. Its skin, clean and glossy. It had 6 pairs of flippers, its tail was similar width of the body as it rose above the water. It was a whale, granted a rather unique looking one it was still a whale nonetheless. And for some reason, this whale had a problem with Lachlan as it pushed out another fountain of water out of its blowhole, narrowly missing Lachlan once again. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Iron-Toothed Orca Age: Elder Attribute: Water/Darkness Grade: Good Innate Talent: Elite Level: 17 STR: 141(+40), AGI: 159(+60), VIT: 200(+30) INT: 50(+14), PER: 40(+16), WIL: 20(+10) Weakness: Weak Skin Defence, Prideful, Territorial, Electric Attacks Strengths: Swimming Speed (Level 8), Water Control (Level 4), Darkness Control (Level 4), Bite Strength (Level 4) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was completely shocked to his core that such a large beast wasn''t a whale, but rather an orca. Now he was wondering how large a whale would be, would it be the size of an entire country, maybe even a continent. The orca swiftly sunk back into the ocean, disappearing from Lachlan''s sight as its silhouette merged with the darkness. Fortunately, wearing the armour, Lachlan sensed that the orca hadn''t given up on him as he felt its killer gaze. Summing the three Rocs Lachlan told them to prepare their special ability, taking flight to reach a higher altitude they began to perform their special ability. Although it was somewhat too soon for them to use it, the only thing that would be affected would be its strength. Fortunately for them, the orca was weak against electrical-based attacks, making it an easy target for the Rocs'' special ability. However, relying on its instincts and sensing danger the orca made a rush to the water''s surface. The orca jumped out of the water, however, with its tactful control over water, similar to that of Phoebe''s turtles it created a path for which it could swim through. Making a beeline towards the Rocs. Lachlan sighed before rushing towards the water, dipping his hands into it he forced it to freeze. The ice rushed up the water to where the orca was, trapping its body by encasing it in ice the orca fell to back into the ocean. The darkened clouds above had gathered, the lightning which travelled through the clouds was much small and produced a slightly weaker light. However, with the final screen a lightning bolt, much thicker struck down at the ocean. The orca, shocked by the abrupt events began to tense its muscles as it swam around rapidly. The ocean began to roughen up, swirls began to appear on the surface before rising up into the air. It was a last-ditch effort to keep itself alive as it dove deeper in the water. However, no matter how fast its swimming speed was it couldn''t escape the speed of light. It reached the surface of the rough waters and electrocuted the surrounding ocean water, managing to hit the orca as well. The orca''s corpse rose to the top of the now calm ocean, it had been chard from the lightning. Lachlan''s ears twitched at the sound of water splashing, looking back down he noticed more and more aquatic beasts'' corpses rise to the top. "Oops," Lachlan muttered as he scratched his head. "Well, not my problem, suppose they can be treated as food for any survive aquatic beast in the nearby surroundings." Unsummoning his Rocs Lachlan continued with his journey, the sun by his back as he flew across the sky. The only thing still in his sight was the great blue ocean that seemed to encompass the entire world. ''Aaron, are we close to another island?'' Lachlan asked with a hint of hope, wondering if he would be able to sleep on something stable tonight rather than sleeping in zero gravity. ''Not in a longshot master, that''s still probably a days journey until we reach the next island; that''s also the island that had the other griffons and beasts that bullied me off'' Aaron explained with a slightly saddened tone as he reminisced on those memories. ''Don''t worry Aaron, remember, you have the strength of a mountain, you don''t need to fear them, but you also don''t need them to accept you. Because you have us, who will be with you through thick and thin'' Lachlan swiftly reassured Aaron and lightened up the mood. ''Yeah Aaron, unlike you they don''t have comrades as strong as us'' Catastrophe said proudly, Lachlan felt as though he could imagine Catastrophe puffing out his chest as he said those words. ''Indeed Aaron, they should be surprised and embarrassed by their past actions once they see how far you''ve come'' Calamity said with elegance. ''And just that Catastrophe said, they probably won''t be a match for us when it comes to combat.'' ''It''s okay Aaron, no need to feel sad; think about it this way, if they never pushed you off their island you wouldn''t have met us and father'' Disaster responded in a slightly shy and childish voice. ''Also, they should be ashamed that they got rid of someone who''s able to amplify their strength.'' Aaron let off a burst of haughty laughter. ''Indeed, you''re all very much correct. If I wanted to I could have crushed them all into the ground with my strength; they''re 100 years too early to beat me in battle.'' ''Haha, alright you four settle down now, no need to start shouting through telepathy'' Lachlan said with a bright, warm smile. He had the wind stone constantly activated, allowing him to stay rather warm and comfortable over the ocean. *Screech!*Screech!*Screech!* Small birds began to gather above Lachlan, they were much smaller in comparison to the everwinds. Their features fluorescent purple, the bottom of its body was snow-white while it had a tail that looked similar to a pom attached to a piece of string. Lachlan moved up in the sky, getting close to them. Fortunately, similar to the everwinds they were completely docile. They also managed to survive in a similar way to the everwinds, in that just through the sheer number they were able to activate hundreds of special abilities at the same time. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Purple-Fire Raven Age: Adult Attribute: Fire Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 5th Grade Level: 5 STR: 11, AGI: 19(+20), VIT: 20 INT: 15(+5), PER: 20, WIL: 10 Weakness: Weak Defence, Weak Physical Attacks, Cowardly Strengths: Maximum Speed (Level 4), Fire Control (Level 2), Wind control (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan had the give it to them, although they were actually quite weak he was somewhat certain just one of them could take out something along the lines of a Trap Scorpion, one of the first beasts Lachlan had a face to face encounter with. This was entirely based on the fact that the Purple-Fire ravens have control over elements, a huge edge in terms of combat as it brings a whole new lot of situations that could happen. Lachlan reached up and gently pet it, the raven had hesitated for a moment before accepting Lachlan''s touch. He could feel the heat radiating from the bird, coursing along the surface of his skin with the slightest gentle touch of its feathers. ''Aaron, you really have some next level beasts in your world'' Lachlan remarked in amazement. ''Although they may not be physically strong, they would certainly be fit to protect someone from danger and even keep someone company when they''re feeling down.'' ''Of course master, that''s just how my world is; as unlike yours, my world hadn''t experienced something called a meteorite or comet'' Aaron wasn''t sure how to word it precisely. ''Anyway, unlike your world which advanced technology-wise, my world advanced in fighting techniques due to the increase in dangerous animals, some of which are somewhat similar to the ones in your present world as well as the prehistoric world.'' ''Indeed, we do have orcas in my world, ravens to'' Lachlan nodded as he took his hand away from the raven. It was quite adorable with its small size, unfortunately, due to the innate talent, Lachlan wouldn''t consider taming it. Although he wasn''t too certain, he was guessing that the higher something''s innate talent is when it''s a normal grade, the higher their talent would be when in higher grades in comparison to something with a much lower innate talent at normal grade. However, that''s something he would find out once his eyes evolve one more time so until then he wouldn''t do anything rash. At the very least, as long as he''s not forced to do anything rash. ... Back on Earth, the island was still above New Orleans, the group were down in the city reinforcing the walls of their underground passage. The Explorer''s Guild building had changed location, it was now underground along with their own businesses. The passages were filled with people, some of which were apart of criminal organisations; however, those people are too afraid to do anything as of now. Surrounding them are explorer''s which have survived for over two years in a ruined city, constantly fighting for survival. Not to mention everyone was currently enjoying their food, Pedro and Elena were moving through the kitchen at lightning speeds as they cooked. Simon was currently standing in front of their business front, Flynn and Chloe were by his side doing the same. "Should we make it out of something different? I feel like wood isn''t the most stable material for buildings underground." "While it isn''t necessarily the most stable, once we finish reinforcing the walls we shouldn''t need to worry about the materials used for the building. Not to mention it creates a slightly more warm and comfortable atmosphere," Flynn explained from his professional construction viewpoint. "And it''s cheap," Chloe quickly added on from the side. Simon listened and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, if you say so." Back on the island Phoebe and Maddie were currently looking after Sarah and Sophie, who were both currently playing around in front of the huts. By their feet was a ball, similar to that of a soccer ball. They were kicking it around and at each other, attempting to keep it up in the air. Sarah, who was currently in possession of the ball ran over to Phoebe and Maddie. "You two should come and join as well." Looking towards one another they shrugged their shoulders and stood up. Walking over Sarah kicked the ball at them, Maddie stopped it with her thigh before lightly kicking it to Phoebe high in the air. Phoebe leapt into the air and headed it to Sophie who also headed it back to Sarah. They managed to continue the header chain for a dozen heads but failed when Phoebe accidentally headed it behind them. The three lightly chuckled at Phoebe''s fail before getting back into position, readying themselves to go another turn. In the far distance, slightly away from the orphanage Dylan was perched upon his tree, looking over the everyone as they played. He noticed a parent staring at him, the man smiled before waving and gesturing for Dylan to come over. Leaping down from his tree Dylan appeared by the man. "What''s up? Is something wrong?" "No of course not. How about you join us for lunch, we have plenty of food for everyone to eat, including you," The man explained in a friendly voice. The people behind him nodding. "Listen, we would also like to thank you for watching over us and our children." Shrugging his shoulders Dylan walked up and sat down with the parents. "Sure, I suppose I can join you all." 159 Aaron Returns with Dominance Lachlan continued flying through the skies for a whole day, his body slightly hurting from being under the blazing sunlight from three suns the entire time. In the distance, Lachlan spotted a small dot floating above the waters and dashed towards it, breaking the sound barrier as the ocean shook. Reaching the island faster than the speed of sound Lachlan began to see the shapes of beasts currently inhabiting the island. They roamed the beaches peacefully without fighting, rather, it looked as though they were working together. The turtles with their impenetrable shell defence scouted the border of the island, the snakes and birds perched on the treetops, harvesting the fruits; while far into the island, there was a temple-like structure where Lachlan could see a griffon laying in its shade. ''Analyse'' ''Indeed it is'' Lachlan replied as he looked at its stats. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Iron-Clawed Griffon King Age: Adult Attribute: Iron/Wind Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 3rd Grade Level: 10 STR: 156(+20), AGI: 211(+20), VIT: 235(+10) INT: 100(+5), PER: 100(+10), WIL: 50(+5) Weakness: Prideful, Arrogant, Ambitious, Weak and Sensitive Wing Joints & Tail, Light Internal Injuries Strengths: Iron Control (Level 3), Wind Control (Level 4), Grip Strength (Level 8), Leg Strength (Level 4), Skin Defence (Level 4), Maximum Speed (Level 6), King''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- It was indeed another griffon, it possessed a strength similar to that of Aaron when Lachlan first met him in the cave. Granted, its strengths were slightly weaker than Aaron''s; granting Aaron the edge in battle. The griffon noticed the visitors and looked up; when it saw what was coming it snorted with disdain and frowned. Getting up it stepped out of its temple made of iron, its claws scraped against the ground the produce an ear curdling screech. Its body was 3 metres in length and 1 metre in girth, its wings were light grey, giving off a metallic sheen just like its claws. At the end of its tail was a serrated spiked ball, flicking around in the wind, narrowly missing the griffon king''s hind legs. Its lion''s body was dark brown, the fur was long and luscious, almost majestic-like. Lachlan was surprised by the griffon''s unneeded hostility, but after that sound, Lachlan noticed that almost every beast nearby was looking towards him with killing intent. Some of which were already preparing themselves for battle. Lachlan summoned his fours tames, filling the sky with bright colours as their bodies materialised in the air. Their presence slightly stunned the beasts on the ground, especially that of Aaron''s, someone that actually remember. The griffon king took into the air, screeching at Aaron as he got closer, releasing a pressure that made the air difficult to breathe. Aaron, seeing the actions of the griffon king released its own pressure, halting it in its tracks as it felt a cold blade across its neck. The beasts on the ground felt the same, some of their knees collapsed as their strength disappeared from their body. ''Master, this baboon of a griffon insulted you, I believe you should allow me to take care of him singlehandedly'' Aaron replied with annoyance directed towards the griffon king. ''It won''t be long, a second is all I''ll need.'' ''Alright, go ahead, I know this is the griffon that bullied you off the island all that while ago'' Lachlan nodded in approval; since Aaron was returning to an island that so heavily pushed him off he may as well return with dominance. What better way than to go for the king of the island, a griffon who possessed somewhat similar stats. Fortunately, this griffon was still far too weak to compete with Aaron. Aaron flew down slowly until he reached the griffon king''s height, Aaron, looking down the king lifted his claw slowly, it radiated with heat as though it was set on fire. The griffon king, fearful for its life retreated back to its temple, where the iron began to deform and created a shield around it. The iron began to swirl as spikes emerged from the centre, covering the shield. The nearby beasts, seeing how fearful their king was of the returning griffon flew from the scene. Hiding beneath the trees and trenches in the distance, still keeping an eye on the battle as it dragged on. Aaron continued to float down, his claw, now on fire as it blazed with extremity. Slashing down a flame the shape of Aaron''s claw descended, slashing against the iron as it burned with incredible heat. The iron that the griffon king so heavily sought after for protection began to melt from Aaron''s high level of elemental control. Following up with another attack Aaron spread his wings, a mist began to spread down from them as it encased the ground in ice. The iron shield froze over, in it were holes in the shape of a claw. The griffon king poked its head out of it, screeching at Aaron angrily as the iron managed to break out of the ice. It flew up to Aaron with its claws stretched out. Iron began to meld around them, sharpening them further as they slowly reached Aaron''s neck. Aaron looked at the griffon''s kings attempt with disdain, a thick mist began to spread from its wings again, the griffon king''s body began to stiffen and freeze as it was getting encased in a thick layer of ice. Using its control over wind and fire Aaron stirred up a fire tornado, getting it to pick up the griffon king as it spun around with such ferocity that it threatened to break to griffon king in half. The fire began to melt the ice and release the griffon king, as Aaron intended. Looking up in fear the griffon king wailed at Aaron, it headed to the ground before bowing its head in submission. Lachlan looked towards the griffon king in contempt, although he wouldn''t mind taming the griffon king it wouldn''t work out with his current team. ''Master, don''t think about taming this baboon of a griffon, it''ll only drag our combat prowess down as a whole rather than lift it up'' Aaron explained as it read Lachlan''s thoughts. ''Also, I''d like to be the only griffon in your team, at least that way it''ll mean something more when you use up all your contracts.'' ''You''re quite the greedy one aren''t you?'' Lachlan joked as he chuckled. Although he wouldn''t tame the griffon king in front of him, should another griffon appear with a decent personality and great amount of strength, he would give taming it a shot. Lachlan landed on the ground by the griffon king, the three Rocs landed behind him, all staring at the griffon king in disdain. They lightly screeched their insults to it without much care of consequences. The griffon king was about the get-up and attack the Rocs but Aaron swooped down and shoved its head into the ground. Its claws began to glow as an extreme heat began to radiate from it. The king wriggled around as it attempted to break free from Aaron''s clutches. Aaron pushed down harder, increasing the intensity of the heat until the griffon king screeched its surrender. Aaron finally let go and took a few steps back, it sat up straight and proudly as it looked down at the griffon king. Aaron screeched. ''Well, well, well, I suppose we meet again, you probably didn''t expect this happening the next time we met though did you?'' The griffon king screeched back angrily. ''I knew we should have killed you all those years ago, back when you were softhearted and weak, it would have been a piece of cake for me to rip that throat apart.'' Aaron chuckled as it slapped its claw against the ground. ''Unfortunately for you, even all those years back you wouldn''t have stood a chance against me. I suppose you could even be grateful that I allowed you to continue living on this island like a ruler after what you did.'' ''No, we could have killed you because of your softhearted nature, there''s plenty of ways to kill something with great strength, we would just have to prepare greatly ahead of time'' The griffon king screeched back. Lachlan watched as the two were arguing with each other, his ears twitched at the sound of rustling bushes. Grabbing onto the hilt of his broadsword firmly Lachlan waited patiently for the foe to make its move. It was only a few more seconds before another griffon dashed out of the thick bushes, this one looked very similar to the griffon king, its stats similar as well. Unfortunately, with Lachlan, it''s like there''s currently two Aaron''s on the field. Lachlan twisted his body swiftly as he unsheathed his broadsword and in one fluid motion he reached the griffon''s neck. The sword radiated with a blazing heat as it streaked through the air, digging deep into the neck of the griffon before finally going all the way through. the griffon king stood there with open eyes, its mouth agape as it looked towards the scene. Lachlan turned around and sheathed his broadsword, taking one glance at the griffon king before turning away. Aaron reached out and grabbed onto the wing of the griffin king, pulling with all his might Aaron ripped the wing apart. ''You know, you shouldn''t have even thought of attacking my master with someone that doesn''t have a similar strength to me.'' What Aaron didn''t know was that the griffon that Lachlan killed was targeting him, he only saw Lachlan take care of the griffon with efficiency. Clicking its tongue the griffon king stared at Aaron with sunken eyes. ''Tsk, it seems you''ve managed to find yourself a worthy master, much better than that other girl you seemed to always talk about. Oh, how I would have loved to see your expression of despair as that girl left this world, all because you weren''t able to protect here.'' Aaron, filled with fury increased the amount of strength used to grip onto the griffon king''s head. "You really keep pushing all the wrong buttons huh, I suppose I can grant you your death wish though." Aaron reached out with another claw, gripping onto the griffon king''s body before tugging back with all his might with the other claw. The griffon king''s head began to stretch before its neck began to split, finally, with the last bit of a tug, his head was ripped off. The beasts that were watching from a distance fled as their king was killed, they ran off as fast as they could in fear of being killed for being too slow. The turtles made use of their water control and created paths for them to swim through while the other beasts used their physical prowess in escaping to the other side of the island. The five watched as they scurried off into the distance and looked at one another. Lachlan sighed as he lightly stretched his arms. ''Well, I suppose that''s that, we now got a place to stay for the night.'' Lachlan walked into the little iron temple with the corpse of the griffon he slew dragging behind him. The temple was slightly ruined from the battle, as well as partially melted. Fortunately, they weren''t planning on staying here, but rather, only resting for the night. Preparing a fire Lachlan began to cook bits of the griffon as he sliced the meat off. He wasn''t exactly a professional butcher, he just went for where the most meat was and cooked it before tossing it over to his four tames. He also took a small slice for himself, stuffing it down without taking any time to season it. Granted, they didn''t have any seasoning but there was bound to be something they could use in the surrounding growth. Lachlan then walked over near the centre, he took out the wind stone and placed it by his side as he increased the temperature of the air. Warming him up from the outside while the food warms him up from the inside. He unsummoned the four after they finished eating before going to sleep. The other beasts inhabiting the island were too fearful of Lachlan to come anywhere close to the temple. Fearful that they might be spotted and killed. 160 Reaching Mainland! Waking up to the sunlight in his eyes, reflecting off the iron walls of the temple Lachlan stood up and walked outside. He surveyed the area for anything lurking in the vegetation but couldn''t find anything. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Turning back, he walked up to the griffon corpses and pulled out his broadsword, cutting a chunk of meat off the thigh before cooking it with his flames. The smell drifted through the temple and filled it up to the brim. Lachlan scoffed the meat down before standing back up and stretching out his limbs; he began speaking to himself, just to make sure he can still talk through his mouth before he does come across humans on the mainland. Since today was the day that they would be able to reach it, Lachlan had decided that he''ll go all out on the rest of the journey, even if his face gets deformed from it. Taking to the skies Lachlan commanded his stones to send him to the mainland at 50x Earth''s gravity, his body arched as he shot through the air, whistling as the air was forced to split around his tough body. Lachlan swiftly attempted to correct his posture, straightening his back as he faced the direction of the gravity like a pin. His feet, taking the brunt of the air resistance. Lachlan attempted to use his control of the wind to weaken the air resistance, even have to boost him forward faster. However, to his displeasure, he wasn''t able to exert those properties into the air. It wasn''t able to move faster than the speed of sound, so Lachlan still felt a majority of the air resistance. Thinking of something else, Lachlan pushed his two legs against each other tightly, ice began to form from his toes, encasing his entire lower body in thick ice. He began to shape it and morph it to look somewhat similar to a spike, point at his toes while the thicker bit was at his thighs. The air resistance lessened as his speed increased; now, however, he didn''t feel as horrible as before and slightly relaxed a bit. Taking in everything he saw and heard, the clouds and oceans pretty much disappearing from his vision in a minute if not seconds. While the only thing he could hear was the rough whistling of the wind. It took several hours on end for him to finally see something in the corner of his vision, this dot took up the entire horizon. He got excited as he saw the land, he even saw a town; granted it look pretty well destroyed but it was still a town. It meant intelligent civilisation. Controlling the stones, Lachlan forced his gravity in the opposite direction, slowing his down as he approached the town. His body, close to the waters began to rupture it, leaving waves in its wake from the sheer force his body was letting off. Finally, Lachlan landed on the stone port of the town skilfully, his legs bending as it redirected the force towards the ground. Standing up straight Lachlan surveyed his surroundings, there was no sign of anything, no movement in any of the houses or along the streets. The town looked rather olden, similar to that of America in the 1970s. The houses were made of stone, the supporting pillars were thick pieces of wood. The roads made of gravel and dirt. There were bloodstains across the walls and roads, it had already dried, so it was obviously old, weeks, maybe even months since the blood spilled. ''Master, this was where Sarah and I lived our lives'' Aaron explained with a hint of sadness in his voice. ''This was also the place where I first saw humans change, their violent tendency released as they went after each other with nothing else but killing on their mind.'' Just as Lachlan suspected. He summoned his four tames, letting them stretch their bodies while they were in the town, or what remained of it anyway. Further into the town was where the majority of the damage was; the buildings looked as though they had been torn apart by blunt objects. Something akin to a sledgehammer. There, some bones could be spotted, they looked similar to human bones but probably two times larger. An arm bone that looked to be 1.5 metres long, was ledged into a wall near a water fountain that seemed to be placed in the centre of the town. It wasn''t just the arm though, there were limbs scattered around and even in the water fountain. There was no meat on the bones, so it was obvious that someone, or something, cleaned it all up with efficiency. ''Master, to your left up to the hill, was the house that I and my family spent our lives together, it''s also the final resting place of Sarah. I would like to go visit the pay my respects'' Aaron explained with a coarse voice. Lachlan nodded and made his way over; the house seemed fairly destroyed on the right side, but the left side seemed rather untouched. Aaron walked up to the house and sat down, his back was straight as he looked towards the top window on the left side of the house. He sat there in silence for a minute, Lachlan nor the Rocs interrupted him, that would be incredibly disrespectful. Even Catastrophe knew that much. Once he was finished paying respects, Aaron stood up and returned to Lachlan''s side. ''Alright master, I can lead you to where the capital should be located; granted, that''s only if there is a capital left.'' Lachlan nodded and they took off. Aaron''s concerns were the same as Lachlan; although he didn''t want to believe it, the violent tendency that the humans developed from the evolution in Aaron''s world was quite destructive. Any place similar to a town, where there were large gatherings of people, would experience similar destruction. As for the capital, it really would be a surprise to see it still standing after everything. However, after 20 minutes of flying leisurely, once they finally reached the capital it was as they expected. They wouldn''t even be able to term it as a capital anymore, considering that the population of it is currently zero. Lachlan had already surveyed the entire city and found no trace of human life, it was like they were completely wiped out from the world. Their limbs, or at least what Lachlan assumed were their limbs, were scattered across the city, similar to the port town. Lachlan continued to hover above the city for a few extra minutes before making his way to the castle in the centre. It was rather lavish; the size was similar to the medieval castles still scattered across Earth. Only this one was entirely made of marble, although it would have been white but after months without anyone taking care of it, there were dirt marks all across it. Landing on the ground before the castle doors Lachlan looked up and admired the architecture, what''s left of it anyway. The statues that still radiated a weak aura of a king, the sword by the statue''s food, stabbed into the ground released an aura full of killing intent. Likely a warning to all those coming to greet the king. Lachlan''s ears twitched at the sound of footsteps, they were rapid and heavy, similar to that of a horse but much larger. Feeling a gaze of killing intent envelope his body Lachlan got into a defensive position, raising his arms as he froze them in solid ice, his feet frozen to the ground. A man burst from the castle doors, battle-axe in his hand raised high above his head. It made contact with Lachlan''s armour, reflecting off of it like it was rubber. The man, slightly dazed look towards his battle-axe. While he was in a daze Lachlan took a closer look at the man that looked almost identical to a human, aside from its enormous size. The man stood 3 ¨C 4 metres tall, his skin was lightly tanned while his hair was charcoal black. All the proportions and limbs were similar to a human''s, five fingers and toes, two arms and legs, and at the top of the only body was one head. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tupuli Akahshi (Giant Human) Age: 26 (Adult) Slave Contracts: 0/1 Compatibility: Four-Legged Beasts (Low) STR: 76, AGI: 73, VIT: 50 INT: 22, PER: 27, WIL: 21 Weakness: Brute, Lack of Thinking Strengths: Arm Strength (Level 2), Leg Strength (level 3), Body Defence (level 1), Skin Defence (Level 1), Muscle defence (Level 2) -------------------------------------------------------- It was indeed a human, granted it was a giant human, it was still human nonetheless. Lachlan turned to Aaron for confirmation. ''So is this what humans turned into when they evolved in your world?'' Aaron nodded with a trace of sadness in his eyes. ''Yes, and the one standing before you was the prince of this kingdom; granted, now he is only a hollow vessel, lacking the conviction and personality he once had.'' ''You seem to like him, I''m guessing he was a king and helpful fellow'' Lachlan said as he blocked another swing from the giant, redirecting it into the ground where it got stuck inside the stone floor. ''Indeed, he was one of the nobles that liked Aaron, even attempted to become his disciple multiple times while we lived in the countryside, travelling the whole distance from the city every time he came to ask'' Aaron explained. ''He was the grandson of the king that sent Aaron and Sarah into the countryside.'' ''Do you want to let him rest?'' Lachlan asked as he heard the sadness from Aaron''s voice. It seemed this world and kingdom specifically brought back many nostalgic memories of his time here, the joyful experiences as well as the miserable ones. ''I would very much like to do so'' Aaron said as he stepped forward to block the giant''s next attack. ''He would likely be elated to know that it was at least someone he was familiar with that ended his life.'' Aaron disappeared from his spot, reappearing in front of the giant with his claws raised high into the air. As they slashed downwards the giant attempted to block with his battle-axe but that came to no avail, as Aaron''s claws tore through the battle-axe and ripped through the giant''s neck. The head flew into the castle wall where it was embedded, the body of the giant slumped on the ground and Aaron burnt it and the head to ash. He then sat down and tilted his head downwards, giving the previous prince a moment of silence for his death. ''So, Aaron, where exactly should the dragons be?'' Lachlan asked after the moment of silence passed and Aaron had returned to his side. ''They should be in the mountains north-west of the capital, it''ll only take a few hours going at our top speed to reach the kingdom of dragons'' Aaron answered swiftly as he pointed in a direction, to the right of the castle. ''Kingdom of dragons?'' Lachlan asked with wide eyes. ''Yes, a kingdom of dragons, formed before the evolution; granted, before the evolution it was more of a wilderness area rather than a kingdom, I don''t know how much it''s changed over the long period, I don''t even know how the dragons evolved either'' Aaron explained. ''So I should be prepared?'' Lachlan asked as he raised an eyebrow. ''Yes,'' Aaron nodded slowly. 161 Welcome to Dragonia! Flying for a few hours Lachlan finally began to catch sight of something along the horizon, a city of great magnitude as it covered an entire mountain. Not just that, but even the mountain had changes to it; it had been carved into the shape of a dragon head, one that had dark red crystals in its eyes that emitted and heavy pressure. ''That''s the dragon king'' Aaron explained. ''Or at least that head of the mountain is, I don''t know if there have been many changes in recent times with a new king arriving or now. Speaking of arriving, it seems you have company.'' Looking forward Lachlan noticed a group on dragons flying towards them, their armour dark blue, similar to their dragon''s scales. On their chest was an insignia, that of a cross with a dragon wrapped around it. By their sides were long swords. Their skin was similar to a dragon''s, scaly. Seeing the unique people coming to greet him Lachlan decided it would be best to learn as much as possible about them, just in case they don''t get off on the right footing. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Akori (Dragonkin) Age: 22 (Adult) Dragon Bonds: 1/1 STR: 116, AGI: 123, VIT: 100 INT: 32, PER: 34, WIL: 21 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Sensitive Tail Strengths: Skin Defence (Level 4), Leg Strength (Level 4), Arm Strength (Level 3), Maximum Speed (Level 2), Swimming Speed (Level 2), Heightened Senses, Dragonic Language Understanding -------------------------------------------------------- It seemed Akori was the leader, as suggested by its unique armour in comparison to the others trailing behind it. The dragon beneath it seemed to possess a great deal of strength, especially considering that it seemed no larger than Aaron. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tapachi (Iron Dragon) Attribute: Iron/Wind Age: Adolescence Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 9 STR: 186, AGI: 183, VIT: 200 INT: 52, PER: 54, WIL: 29 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Sensitive Tail & Wings Strengths: Iron Control (Level 4), Wind Control (Level 4), Skin Defence (Level 4), Body Strength (Level 3), Maximum Speed (Level 2), Heightened Senses Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. -------------------------------------------------------- It was indeed a dragon, while on top of it was a dragonkin. They seemed to work together, inseparable unless through death. Which is likely why they''re a similar age, to allow for a stronger connection they likely grow the dragonkin as well as the dragon together. The dragonkin roared at Lachlan with his hands gesturing for Lachlan to halt. Stopping mid-air Lachlan crossed his arms and looked towards the group of dragonkin, all riding on their dragons, hovering in front of him with a sense of pride. Akori seemed to pull out an orb, it was dark green in a colour. Speaking a few words which Lachlan couldn''t understand the orb shook, before translating it and blasting it towards Lachlan''s direction. "Welcome! We wish to know of your purpose here elf!" ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Orb of Languages Description: A dragon made item possessing the ability to translate any language spoken to it into the language of those listening. It can simultaneously translate 5 languages at a time. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was busy looking at the stats when the dragonkin repeated itself in annoyance, adding an insult to its previous greeting. "Welcome to Dragonia! We wish to know of your purpose here you filthy elf!" Lachlan finally snapped back to reality and tilted his head in confusion, looking towards the dragonkin as he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. ''Aaron, are they talking to me? If so, why are they calling me an elf?'' ''Master, they are indeed talking to you. As for the reason they''re deeming you an elf is due to your small physique; they wouldn''t determine for you to be a human as you''re not violent, nor 3 ¨C 4 metres tall, rather, you possess a stature similar to that of an elf''s'' Aaron explained as he nodded his head. Lachlan pouted at the remark of his height but didn''t fret on it for too long, it wasn''t as though he could change his height, nor could he change the height of the giant humans. Turning his attention back to the dragons he shouted across the gap between them. "Hello there! I''ve come for sightseeing as well as the chance to admire your powerful dragons and warriors." Lachlan was obviously lying, he would try to get into the city, tame a dragon before leaving as fast as he could. That was his plan anyway; however, for the dragonkin that just heard the translation, they seemed rather prideful and joyful. Akori shouted back. "Then welcome! You have come to the right place! Here is the capital of dragons, a place filled with the mighty and glorious dragons and their dragon riders! You''re in luck as well, the king is going to make an appearance in tomorrow''s tournament!" Lachlan could not believe his luck as well, with the king outside the castle than their treasury will be wide open for the taking. Granted, it''ll likely be guarded by the strongest of soldiers, but that shouldn''t be a problem, he just needs to make sure he doesn''t get caught. ''Oh if only Zhang were here'' Lachlan remarked internally. Zhang would find this challenge the most exciting thing he''s ever done, something he would be able to tell for his entire life should he succeed. Which he''ll be pretty confident in that he''ll succeed. Lachlan was then escorted by Akori back to the city, they were rather welcoming upon knowing how respectful Lachlan had been. They were all speaking great things about the tournament and the king, how, if they wanted to, they would be able to conquer the entire world. ''They speak some pretty big words'' Lachlan said to the four as he walked past some street vendors. There were a lot of rare, and exotic fruits that Lachlan had never seen before. Jewellery that no human would be able to make even in a hundred years. And food that drifted through the entire street, luring many customers. ''Indeed, they wouldn''t suspect that anyone would have the balls to steal from the king, especially stealing right from beneath his nose'' Catastrophe said as he grinned. ''And, considering that the king himself is a dragon rider, the dragon he rides must be pretty ferocious; if we''re able to find its eggs, we''ll be set.'' ''Remember though, the king and his guards should be pretty strong, you want to make sure you get in and out of the treasury before anyone notices. Otherwise, we''ll have this entire city and kingdom after our heads'' Aaron explained. ''They have a great amount of respect to their king, and someone stealing from him would be seen as a heinous criminal deserving of the cruellest punishment.'' ''Well then, I suppose I just have to make sure I don''t get caught'' Lachlan remarked as he followed behind Akori. Akori was escorting him to an inn, it seems that right now all inns are currently free due to the festival, it''s a tradition to also welcome those of all races into the inns without discriminating against them. Akori suddenly stopped and pointed to the building on their right, it was made entirely of wood, the wooden pillar at the front would probably take 2 people to wrap their arms around it. It was roughly 5 stories high and had a width and length of 50 x 40. The exterior was painted a fiery red, it was dragons drawn on the side with some black substance. By the walls, small plants were growing, producing a rather exotic and calming scent. "This will be where you''ll be staying, as you''ve arrived rather late in terms of festival preparation, this is the only inn left with spots open. It''s one of the better inns in the city, just located on the other side of the city to where the tournament will be," Akori explained. Lachlan nodded in realisation, he was rather confused as to how such a wonderful and beautiful place would still have spots open. But considering everyone came for the festival and tournament it would be the obvious choice to stay in a place much closer to where the tournament will be held. Akori nodded before leaving Lachlan with his underlings in his wake. Lachlan stood frozen for a moment before walking into the inn, the interior of the place was somewhat mediocre but rather comforting. It had a very simplistic and minimalistic design, with a few paintings at the main parts of the building. In the centre back was the receptionist, an old lady with blue scales, she was somewhat smaller than Lachlan, likely being 4''5. Feeling rather confident Lachlan walked up to the receptionist who had noticed Lachlan''s presence. As he walked over the receptionist reached beneath her desk and pulled out an orb, similar to that which Akori used only much weaker, only being able to translate 1 language at a time. "Welcome to MingMing Inn, how long will you be staying here?" The receptionist asked in a lovely, warm voice. Although she was old, her voice brought comfort to the hearts of customers as though they were returning to their own homes. Lachlan was momentarily dazed before snapping back into reality. "Uh yes, I will be staying here for 2 days." "Oh, so you''re here for the tournament as well huh, seems you''re rather unlucky to have come so late, having to stay on the other side of the city," The receptionist said as she pulled out a drawer, taking out a small key the size of one''s pinkie finger. "You''re in room 25 on the third floor, you got a good view." Taking the key Lachlan nodded. "Thank you very much." Walking up the flight of stairs Lachlan finally reached his room at the end of the hall, it had an old, Chinese/Japanese style with its furnishing and decoration. There was a small table, one would sit on the floor to eat. By the walls were bonsai trees, as well as bamboo artwork. Moving on to the door Lachlan opened it wide, a light switched on at the same moment, the futon was neat and clean. The bedroom was simplistic, either it''s due to the owner''s style or because it''s cheap and easy to maintain. Then was the thing that Lachlan looked forward to since the receptionist told him, the view outside the small balcony. Walking to the right of the futon Lachlan opened up the door, revealing a dark brown balcony. Beyond that was a view of the nearby city, further into the distance, however, Lachlan was able to spot the so-called tournament colosseum. It looked like it was 15 stories high, entirely made out of stone, similar to the gladiator Colosseum in Rome. But right behind it was the thing Lachlan looked most forward to, the castle for dragon city. Similar to the castle in the human kingdom, this one was extremely large and made entirely of marble along with golden lining. At the front was a statue of either the current dragon king or previous dragon king, dependent on whether or not a new king has arisen. There was thick vegetation surrounding the castle, used to create a beautiful garden with a large variety of flowers and fruits. Lachlan was able to see small figures around the castle but couldn''t get any distinct features from where he was. "Hey! Are you here to steal from the castle as well?" Lachlan heard a feminine voice come from behind him, followed by a thump as a young lady landed on the wooden balcony. "The name''s Drate, a demoness here to take back a treasure the dragon king stole from my territory." ''Oh boy, I found myself an odd one, haven''t I?'' 162 Hidden Challenge by the Dragon King Lachlan looked at the so-called demoness in shock, usually one wouldn''t be so open about their plans to steal from the dragon king''s castle. Especially when that person was a complete stranger with no connections to oneself. The self-proclaimed demoness in front of him had dark blue-purple skin, their hair was mainly black but by the tips of her hair, it was dark red. Protruding from her head were two, small but sharp horns that were black. When she stood up she was 5''0, a similar height to Lachlan. A matte black tail swayed from behind her, swiping across her legs in a fluid motion, small black wings extended from her back as they twitched ever so slightly. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Drate (High-Rank Demoness) Age: 32 (Adult) Demon Slaves: 3/5 STR: 96, AGI: 93, VIT: 100 INT: 31, PER: 32, WIL: 21 Weakness: Naive, Idiotic, Sensitive Horns Strengths: Darkness Control (Level 4), Fire Control (Level 4), Maximum Speed (Level 2), Heightened Senses, Demonic Beast Language Understanding -------------------------------------------------------- ''Aaron, what''s this demoness and the demonic beast thing about?'' Whenever Lachlan had any trouble understanding something he would turn to Aaron, the only one that lived in the world for a majority of his life. ''Well, demons are beings that are heavily looked down upon by humans due to their destructive nature. Somewhat similar to the said curse of my species before the evolution, they cause back luck onto those around them. As for the treasure, I''m not sure as usually, demons stay within their continent and never leave its borders unless there''s a war or they''ve got something they want to accomplish'' Aaron explained as even he was rather shocked by the appearance of the demoness. Back when he lived with Sarah and Aaron, when he was small he remembers hearing many stories about wars between races. Demons and humans having the most intense wars of them all, countless lives being lost due to the grudges that have long since become unknown. So although no one knew of the cause for their race wide wars, after years of killing each other their anger for the other race couldn''t be quilled so easily. No piece of paper could halt their fury, even during peaceful times some demons fuelled with revenge would still enter into human territory and terrorise the land and its inhabitants. "You''re rather open about our goal," Lachlan said as he leaned against the balcony railing. "If I was a subordinate of the dragon king what would you do? You shouldn''t trust strangers with such valuable information." Drate tilted her head in confusion, raising an eyebrow at Lachlan''s question. "Don''t you know? Along with the tournament and festival comes a hidden challenge which the dragon king knows full well about." This was the first Lachlan had heard of something; granted, if it was meant to be something hidden it was understandable that he had no clue about it. "No I don''t know, what are you talking about?" "Well, the dragon king is well-reputed for his treasures, the treasures he''s acquired from many continents and races. Now, he understands full well that some of the treasures would garner the anger of the races they originally belong to; so, instead of starting a war he decided to create a hidden challenge for other races when they''re here." Taking in a deep breath Drate continued her explanation. "When the dragon king leaves his castle he''ll be gone for 6 hours to watch the tournament. During this time, those of other races have to sneak into the castle and make their way to the treasury. Once there, they''re allowed to take as much as they want, they just have to make sure to not get caught." Lachlan puckered his lips as he nodded. "Huh, sounds pretty simple, what''s the catch?" No hidden challenge would have only rewards with no risks, that''s just not how things worked, especially to someone that''s known for his treasures. "Well, the castle is heavily guarded by hand-picked soldiers of the dragon king. here''s also a lot of magic systems and traps to halt any intruders. As for the consequences of getting caught, well, there is none. The dragon king is just that confident in his defences that he enjoys watching other races in their futile attempts to get back their treasures." "The king sounds slightly sadistic," Lachlan remarked. "Sadistic?" Drate questioned as she tilted her head in confusion. "You speak some funny words for an elf, not to mention your way of speaking is slightly different from those of the spirit elven race. Not to mention you don''t have the pointy ears, are you a half breed?" Lachlan swiftly realised he had been communicating with the demoness without any issues for the past few minutes. Looking slightly confused Drate smiled before pulling out her necklace, it had a small green gem embedded into it. The chain was silver as it wrapped around Drate''s neck. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Necklace of Language Description: A demon made item possessing the ability to translate any language spoken to it into the language of those listening within milliseconds. It can only translate one language at a time and the chain is quite fragile. -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan nodded at the necklace, finally understanding as to why he hadn''t noticed anything odd about their way of talking. "Will there be things like that in the dragon king''s castle?" Drate burst into hysterical laughter, tears slightly coming out of her eyes as she slapped her legs. "Something like this is sold on the streets for 1 dragon gold coin, it''s not something so valuable as to be held in something like the dragon king''s treasury." Lachlan laughed awkwardly as he scratched his head from embarrassment. "Oh, I''m rather new here so I wasn''t sure. The place where I''m from is quite behind in terms of such magic and craftsmanship." Lachlan could only give an explanation to lessen his embarrassment. "Yeah I''m not surprise, the elven kingdoms wouldn''t want you anywhere near their citizens, as for the humans; well, it''s obvious what''s happened to them. I suppose that''s what makes you unique then," Drate said in a friendly tone, nodding with a bright smile. "Anyway, I''ve got preparations to complete for the challenge, see you at the castle tomorrow." She jumped away, onto the roofs of the balcony before scurrying into her own room. Lachlan heard the door slam shut from where he was and he sighed deeply, letting his chest sink down as he relaxed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. He had thought he had been lucky, but it seems many individuals were vying for the dragon king''s treasury just as he was. Not to mention, with the new information he just got, it seems the task will be a lot more difficult then it seems. Not wasting time contemplating on it Lachlan went back inside and laid down on the futon, it seems the time works differently in Aaron''s world as he''s come to notice. The sunlight is there for 16 hours, while the night lasted 14 hours, making for a total of 30 hour days. Granted, Lachlan had no clue as to whether or not they had anything similar to daylight savings happening as of now. But, even if there were such an event, then it would still be roughly 30 hour days. ''You four, make sure you''re ready for tomorrow, it''ll be one hell of a day'' Lachlan explained as he closed his eyes, placing his hands behind his head. ''Don''t worry father, we''ll get every treasure before the other races even knew what hit them'' Disaster said in his cute, childish voice. "And once we have the treasure, we just need to hightail it out of there before anyone can notice.'' ''Indeed, we''ll go in with efficiency on our minds and complete the task swiftly and without notice'' Calamity said in his calm, composed voice. Seemingly acting like an oldish man that''s overcome many trials and tribulations. ''Nah, let''s go in with blazing fires and lightning, completely decimate the opposition, giving us the ability to take all the treasures without any hindrance'' Catastrophe explained with fire in his eyes. ''Or, you can do what Calamity said and move sneakily and swiftly through the castle, no need to attract attention with our strength'' Aaron remarked as he sighed. ''Granted, I''m not sure you know what sneakily means.'' ''Ha, I know what sneakily means, it means to move through a course without alerting any guards, see, I know it'' Catastrophe explained with pride as though sneakily was some sort of unknown and ancient word only he knows about. ''Good job, I didn''t think you had it in you'' Aaron said sarcastically as he couldn''t be bothered talking to Catastrophe anymore. ''I''m going to sleep, want to be in peak performance tomorrow, you should do the same.'' ''Yeah, yeah, I''ll rest a bit late'' Catastrophe brushed off Aaron''s advice before going into his own thinking state. Planning in advance how he''s going to get into the treasury. Disaster and Calamity both took Aaron''s advice to heart and went to go rest, they would begin to plan together when they woke up with a rested mind. ... Back on Earth, the island began its movement again with the group on board. This time they were heading to the capital city of Mississippi, Jackson. A rather odd name for a city but the group didn''t think too much of it. Once they got there there were rather surprised at how good the condition of Jackson was. Although there was partial damage to a few buildings, a majority of the city was still fine. In comparison to New Orleans, it was basically a city of gold. The group stood on the edge of the island, looking over Jackson with bright smiles as they looked forward to their start here. The people they might meet, as well as the events that might be entailed. Descending from the island the group landed in front of the Explorer''s Guild building, located near the centre of the city. A man burst from the doors, his forehead covered in sweat as his breathing was erratic. Wiping the sweat from his forehead the man composed himself. "Welcome to Jackson! We''ve long since waited for your entry and will do everything in our power to make your stay here as comfortable and stress-relieving as possible." Flynn stepped forward and shook the man''s hand. "Thanks, I''m guessing you are the one in charge of this branch''s Explorer''s Guild." Gripping firmly the man smiled brightly. "Indeed, the name''s Hans Alfeairi, we''ve long since been aware of your journey across America and want to make it as best as we can." "Great, well then, hopefully, we can enjoy this cities life as we start up our businesses," Flynn said before letting go. Hans nodded before leaving the group to return to the building, but just before he went through the doors he turned around. "Oh yes, if you''re going to stay for a while I would suggest looking towards our research institutes and possibly our training facilities. We''ve worked hard on them to improve everyone''s chance of survival and it would be greatly appreciated if we could get your feedback." "Will do," Flynn nodded before turning away. "Alright, let''s go scout for a plot of land to buy or a room we can rent. Doesn''t have to be too large remember, Marie will take care of her side of things while we take care of our own." The group nodded and went their ways. They did feel slightly odd from their recent encounter, but since Hans asked nicely they didn''t see a problem in not going. It''ll also allow them to splurge a bit of time. ----------------------- Important Notice: Currently my internet is down and I''m upload this through mobile data. However, I''m currently running low on data and might be out of it b tomorrow. So, tomorrow''s upload will be rather late if telstra doesn''t send over a technician today. 163 Start of the Festival Waking up early morning Lachlan could already hear the noise from outside as food carts were being transported across the city, people eager to get the best spot. Yawning and groaning Lachlan stretched out his body across the futon before getting up and walking onto the balcony. The sun was still not out but the skies were dark blue, it wasn''t all that long until sunrise. In which, Lachlan''s view from the balcony was great for. So, he relaxed on his balcony and stared out into the distance, before turning his attention to the castle. "Huh, so you can''t sleep either?" Drate hopped down from above, landing on the wooden railing of the balcony. "I can''t either, I''m too excited, this is the first time I''ve been chosen to represent my race in getting back our treasure." Lachlan was momentarily surprised by Drate''s entrance but just sighed and calmed himself down. "Yeah, today''s the big day, hopefully all works well for the both of us." "Yeah, just out of curiosity, what are you going for?" Drate asked as she tilted her head, squatting on the railing as he arms rested on her legs. "I mean, although you''re an elf you''re a half breed, getting back your elven treasure won''t get you back into the elven kingdom." "Well, would it be crazy if I were to say that I''m after a dragon egg?" Lachlan asked nonchalantly. "Nope, not at all. Actually, quite a few people going solo target the Dragon King''s dragon''s eggs; some do it for fame, others do it to prove themselves, and some people just do it to get back at the king. He took something precious from them, so they''re going to take something precious back." Drate didn''t think Lachlan''s idea was crazy at all; from the stories she''s heard from her elders, it seems like the dragon eggs are rather heavily sought after by all races. Granted, they would only go after them if they manage to get their treasure back. As for individuals like Lachlan that worked solo and for themselves, it wasn''t too surprising that he would go after such an item. If he went after the other race''s treasures then his head would be heavily sought after, something no one aside from the dragon king would want. "What are you going to do with the egg? Raise it yourself? Sell it for big money?" Drate questioned Lachlan''s intentions with the egg, wondering whether or not he would be able to handle it once he has it in his possession. "Obviously I''m going to raise it myself; I need another strong beast to be by my side, and I think the dragon king''s dragon would be perfect for the job," Lachlan explained with a hint of pride. "Once I get that, I''ll be out of the country and back to where I came from." "Good idea, except you need a certain manual to tame the dragon king''s dragon''s younglings, fortunately, that too is held in the treasury," Drate said as she nodded. Lachlan tilted his head in confusion, he thought he would just have to do the usual, take a bit of blood from the dragon and douse the younglings with it. Not to mention he''ll be the first thing they see, they should have imprinting like all other beasts. Seeing Lachlan''s visible confusion Drate went on to explain. "The dragon king''s dragon is a rare and unique breed of dragon that is loyal to those possessing a certain strength and can perform a certain ritual. Quite literally called the dance of the dragon king. That manual is the steps to the dance, fine it, follow the steps exactly and you should be fine." Lachlan nodded. "Alright, thanks for the information. How do you know so much about this? Isn''t this your first time?" Lachlan was curious as to how Drate knew so much about the topic, she was here to get her race''s treasure back, not to go after the dragon eggs. Drate realised she was found out and scratched her head in embarrassment. "Well, yes this is my first time and yes, I am supposed to go after our race''s treasure. But I thought that it wouldn''t be a bad idea to find out whether or not the dragon king has anything else in his treasury that''s useful to me. And if so, I wouldn''t mind taking a detour in my mission and grabbing it." "And I''m guessing you had a look at the dragon eggs?" Lachlan said in a questioning voice. "Indeed; unfortunately, due to the nature which my race enslaves creatures we aren''t able to enslave a dragon unless we can somehow turn it into a demonic creature," Drate explained. "Although I don''t know why you would go for it, elves are said to only being able to tame spirits." Lachlan was confused at the last part, he clearly remembers that the ocean elves were able to befriend aquatic beasts. But then he remembered that Drate confused him for a mix between humans and elves that live on the continent. Likely ones that live in woodland areas; granted, that''s all Lachlan really remembers about elven myths from Earth. Thinking about it a bit more Drate smacked her hands together. "Oh right, you''re a half breed so you probably work a lot different to those stuck up Spirit Elves. And considering that your other half is human I''m guessing you''re able to tame just about anything." Lachlan nodded. "Yeah, fortunately, I am, otherwise I wouldn''t be here right now." "Mm, going for the dragon king''s dragon''s eggs is also a really smart move, since that dragon is so strong, you''ll have a reliable and loyal companion that''ll stick with you through thick and thin." Drate was constantly nodding in approval. ''What''s this demon talking about, master already has plenty of reliable and loyal companions by his side'' Aaron chimed into what Drate said. She sounded as though Lachlan didn''t have a beast he could trust, Aaron thoroughly disagreed with that. ''Yeah father bring us out, let us have a go at her and show her what a reliable and loyal companion really is'' Catastrophe joined in with his pride slightly hurt, thinking that the demoness before them was looking down on them. Lachlan chuckled awkwardly, causing Drate to lower her eyebrows. ''No, I won''t allow you guys out just yet, wait until the hidden challenge begins, that way no one would suspect us to be so strong.'' ''Oh I see, master has indeed thought this through'' Aaron swiftly agreed to the plan, he would much rather come out when the time was ready than right now. ''I still don''t see why we just don''t show our stuff momentarily to this demoness'' Catastrophe didn''t agree he hadn''t stretched his muscles in a bit and was looking for any excuse to come out. ''Quite simple, so that when we do come out, we can take our enemies by surprise and get what we need while they''re momentarily stunned. Obviously, you wouldn''t understand'' Calamity remarked sarcastically before turning his attention away from the conversation. ''Oh'' Catastrophe responded, feeling slightly targeted responded grumpily. ''No need to be so rude about it, plus, I''m still going to do what I want to do and take down a few difficult enemies, that way people won''t get in our way without thinking twice.'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. ''Uh, then I might join in if it gets people out of our way'' Disaster said shyly. ''That way I can be of some use to father.'' Catastrophe burst into a peal of prideful laughter. ''Yes, that''s right, join me and we can help father while proving our strength to our enemies and installing fear into their hearts. That way, even when we do get hold of the dragon egg no one would even think about coming after us.'' ''Huh, suppose you aren''t just brawned for brains'' Aaron responded sarcastically. ''You and Disaster do that, myself and Calamity will help master find the dragon eggs and that dance manual.'' While they were conversing Lachlan was staring off into the distance awkwardly as silence reigned down on his conversation with Drate. "Anyway, so what kind of treasure did your race lose to the dragon king?" He was curious as to what would make an entire race go after it. "Well, it''s the demon king''s crown," Drate answered as she scratched her head while laughing awkwardly. "The demon king''s crown was created by the first demon king after sacrificing the lives of many, it greatly boasted a demon strength and gave the wearer the ability to telepathically communicate with any demon no matter the distance. It was used primarily during wars, however, two years ago when the new dragon king rose to prominence he went around to each race''s kingdoms or continents and taking the most valuable treasure. And he managed to get past all our defences and take away our crown so yeah, it''s sort of embarrassing to say we lost something so important." Now Lachlan knew that the dragon king changed it made sense as to why Aaron had no clue about the tournament and festivals. Lachlan also knew what kind of king he was now, a rather eccentric one with rather odd hobbies. Granted, by doing this it also showcases his abilities without partaking in war. Lachlan conversed with Drate for a little while, she explained the whole festival and tournament. The festival was to help bring visitors from across the lands while the tournament was to choose worthy dragon riders to work directly under the dragon king. Obviously, it wasn''t just for that, the tournament more specifically was created for the purpose of allowing dragon riders to vent any frustrations they have with one another. It seems the new dragon king also created it with that in mind as well as choosing potential candidates to work directly under him. After talking for a bit the sun finally begun to rise on the horizon, the sunlight reflected off the castle windows, lighting up all parts of the city. The water fountains created rainbows when the sunlight refracted off the water droplets and smoke had already begun to rise near the Colosseum. "Well, it seems the shows about the commence, do you want to check out the dragon king first though?" Drate asked curiously. "I haven''t seen the new dragon king, I''m wondering what he looks like and whether or not he''s as powerful as they say he is." "Sure," Lachlan shrugged his shoulders as he nodded. "First I have to get changed though, I''ll meet you at the Colosseum though." "Alright, make sure not to get lost." Drate hopped down from her balcony and began to run through the crowd, weaving through them all as she kicked off from the buildings. She quickly disappeared out of sight once she went around a corner. Lachlan smiled and went back inside, he equipped his armour and made sure it was tightly fitted before picking up his broadsword. Placing it on his back he went outside and followed roughly the same route as Drate; granted he need a bit more room when twisting his body, the broadsword was quite large after all. Making his way to the festival he was greeted with a variety of colours if he were to compare this with anything on Earth it would be Chinese New Year. There were people of all different races here, he even managed to see a few elves. There were also a few demons wondering about, as well as dwarves and pixies. It was a rather magical experience, seeing so many different races in one place gathered. As for the race Lachlan liked the most, it had to be dwarves, they were all smaller than him. 164 Power of the Dragon King Walking through the crowd Lachlan saw a variety of stalls, all selling different goods that had their purpose. Lachlan even saw a few of the necklaces that Drate had, they were being sold by demons; unfortunately, Lachlan didn''t have any money on him and couldn''t buy anything even if he wanted to. "So you finally made it huh. I was waiting for you," Drate appeared from behind Lachlan, tapping his shoulder gently. "Anyway, let''s make it to the stadium where the main event will be, it''s starting in an hour and we have to get the best seats." Grabbing onto Lachlan''s arm, Drate dragged Lachlan through the crowd towards the colosseum. Unfortunately, unlike Drate who didn''t have large weapons on her, Lachlan was constantly smacking into people with his broadsword as he went past. Some of those individuals looked back and shouted at him, but Drate didn''t care and kept running, weaving through the crowd as she dragged Lachlan along with her. Finally, after a dozen minutes, they managed to make their way to the colosseum. Getting a closer look on the colosseum Lachlan had to agree that it seemed a lot like the roman colosseum on Earth. It looked almost identical, aside from the fact that it was actually still in perfect condition. "Come on, we got to get in line, we''re lucky it''s somewhat early so the line isn''t that long," Drate said as she continued dragging Lachlan along. Although he could easily stop the two of them, he didn''t mind, it was easier to make his way through when with someone that actually somewhat knows the streets. Finally, they reached a line, it wasn''t as long as Lachlan expected, only have a few dozen people in it. In comparison to the lines that form out of new phone releases, which seem the form around the building. It wasn''t all too bad. When they reached the receptionist she looked at them before nodding, handing them a ticket with a number on it and a cardinal direction on it. Granted, Lachlan couldn''t read what the cardinal direction was, he just saw the arrow pointing to the left. Drate looked at the number and smiled widely, "We''re in luck, it seems we got front row on the west wing of the stadium." "Oh great, so that means we got ourselves a pretty good view huh?" Lachlan said in a questioning tone. He wasn''t sure where exactly the good seats were, this wasn''t a football stadium where you might be able to snag yourself a footy. Rather, they might be getting blood spilled on them, maybe a head might fly towards them. It doesn''t matter right now though, Lachlan would deal with it when the time comes. "Of course it''s a great view, we''ll be able to see the dragon king''s dragon up close, we might even be able to feel the pressure it gives off," Drate said with excitement. "The elders of my race told me that standing up to the dragon''s aura is a great achievement of its own." "Oh, I''m looking forward to it them," Lachlan said sarcastically. He did wonder why Drate was looked forward to feeling the dragon''s aura so much though, they still needed to be in perfect condition afterwards for when they raid the castle. The two walked into the colosseum, through the large halls before entering the colosseum''s stands. They were rather olden style as well, being made of stone. But if one were to think about it, it could also be thought that they were made of stone to force the crowd to stand up and cheer. Drate walked Lachlan to their spot, it was near the front right by the edge of the stands. In a similar manner to the roman colosseum the centre was a gigantic circle field, only made with dirt with the entrances to the field being by the walls. The two waited for an hour to pass patiently, more and more people begun to fill the stands, some of which were here to sell their goods. If one were on the field and looked towards the stand, they would notice how many different races were there. Lachlan managed to spot the elven hotspot, where there seemed to be roughly 5 different elven races sitting by each other. There were the woodland elves, spirit elves, pixie elves, mountain elves, and river elves. At another side there were the dwarves, they were all roughly 3''0 - 4''0 tall, their bodies rather chunky as it was filled to the brim with muscles. They were known for their craftsmanship, not just in blacksmithing but in tailoring and carpentry as well. The metal gates sunk into the ground, dragonkin filled with sides of the colosseum holding onto large golden horns. Blowing into them loudly they signalled for the tournament to begin, more and more dragonkin appeared from the entrances, their dragons trailing behind in their wake. There were roughly 50 combatants, all with different colour scales and had different stats. They trained hard, only targetting towards the stats that fit their style the most. Some of them were complete agility monsters, coming close to Lachlan''s natural agility while others were strength beasts. Similar to the agility focused fighter they too almost reached Lachlan''s natural strength stat. Finally, they the horn blowers did one more blow, at the top of the colosseum on a balcony a dragonkin walked out. Garnered with a dark purple robe, lined with gold he stood by the edge of the balcony. The crowd went wild, dragonkin especially as they shouted out, all saying some rather bizarre things that Lachlan was for some reason not to surprised with. "Dragon King take my babies!" "Dragon King take me into your harem!" "Dragon King make me your slave!" Lachlan shrugged his shoulders while he stood quietly, looking at the dragon king''s stats he was rather surprised. They were the strongest natural stats he had seen so far in this world, granted, he hasn''t seen any other king yet so he couldn''t be certain whether or not the dragon king really was the strongest. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Akiry (Dragonkin) Age: 43 (Adult) Dragon Bonds: 1/1 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. STR: 187, AGI: 198, VIT: 100 INT: 42, PER: 44, WIL: 22 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Sensitive Tail Strengths: Skin Defence (Level 6), Arm Strength (Level 5), Leg Strength (Level 5), Maximum Speed (Level 4), Swimming Speed (Level 4), Heightened Senses, Language of the World -------------------------------------------------------- The dragon king raised his hand and the crowd quietened down, there were still faint whispers but nothing too loud. "Welcome! I would like you all for being here to spectate this momentous occasion!" His voice boomed through the colosseum, Lachlan wouldn''t be surprised if it sounded throughout the entire city as well. It was as though there were speakers scattered across the stands as it sounded as though the dragon king was shouting in front of them. "We''ve gathered here today to spectate these wonderful warriors battle it out with their lives on the line! Upon the end of the day, the few warriors that still stand on the field will be chosen to become apart of my personal guards! Their position in life will be settled as they fight to protect me!" A dragon''s roar was heard through the city, a shadow was cast upon the colosseum was a dragon descended from the skies. Its scales looked like they were made entirely from gold, unlike other dragons that had 2 - 3 claws, this one had five. It landed on the ground and released a powerful aura, knocking out a few of the weak-willed people in the stands. Lachlan wasn''t too affected, it was around the level of Aaron''s aura, if not stronger. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tachichi (Golden Five-Clawed Dragon) Attribute: Gold/Wind Age: Elder Grade: Great Innate Talent: Elite Level: 21 STR: 304, AGI: 323, VIT: 500 INT: 102, PER: 104, WIL: 50 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Sensitive Tail & Wings Strengths: Golden Control (Level 4), Wind Control (Level 8), Skin Defence (Level 8), Body Strength (Level 6), Maximum Speed (Level 6), Heightened Senses, Dragon''s Tyrannical Aura -------------------------------------------------------- However, it was somewhat naturally stronger than Aaron. Although that''s only through natural stats and doesn''t include his stats added onto it. Lachlan also realised that it seemed most tamed beasts in this world don''t have their master''s natural stats added onto them. Lachlan twitched when he felt something grab onto his arm. Looking to his side he noticed Drate was struggling to keep herself together, her forehead was covered in sweat as her knees were about to give way to the pressure. "How come it doesn''t seem to affect you?" Drate asked weakly. "Because I''m strong," Lachlan remarked casually. "Anyway, let''s hurry and get going, we''ve got to make the best of our time while the king is away from his castle. Not to mention it seems you''re struggling to keep yourself together." Lachlan grabbed onto Drate and carried her over his shoulder, bringing her outside the colosseum. His actions caught the attention of the dragon king, it wasn''t a usual occurrence for someone to act as though they weren''t affected by his dragon''s aura. But after a second thought, he just put it up with the idea that Lachlan was just trying to impress Drate. The dragon king thought that Lachlan likely left cause he himself was about to faint from the pressure. Once they were outside Lachlan realised the pressure was completely gone, the streets were left empty as everyone was inside the colosseum. Lachlan looked towards the castle that oversaw the colosseum and began running towards it. His feet leaving indents in the stone roads. Without people in the way Lachlan was able to go all out and reach his top speed, disappearing from his spot he reappeared by the corner of the colosseum. Unfortunately, although he was fast, going around a corner at that speed was still somewhat difficult. Drate had long since regained herself, she stared in shock as she noticed Lachlan''s speed and strength. It made sense to her as to why he was able to withstand the dragon''s pressure so easily. It didn''t take long for them to reach the castle entrance, the large golden gates that stretched around the castle. Lachlan stared at them and nodded, although they didn''t seem like it, they were heavily reinforced with a simple but quite unbreakable spell. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dragon King''s Wall Description: An item made from the hands of the first Dragon King, possessing the power to reflect almost all damage and remains impenetrable. When in a state of emergency, the current dragon king can activate the wall which creates a defensive barrier around the castle that reflects all damage. -------------------------------------------------------- 165 Breaking into the Castle Drate looked towards the wall in admiration, she walked up to it and hit it with everything she''s got, only for it to be reflected off the wall like it was nothing. "Whoa, so this is the Dragon King''s Wall, it really is impenetrable just as explained by the elders." Lachlan walked up to it and threw a punch of his own, when he made contact a resounding bang echoed through the surroundings. Drate covered her ears due to how loud it was, especially due to her heightened senses that one bang made a shiver go up her spine. Looking at the wall her expression changed to shock; although it wasn''t large or anything, where Lachlan had punched the wall there was a very small crack. Its size was comparable to a human''s finger, almost unnoticeable if one wasn''t looking. Lachlan sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. "Huh, suppose it is a lot stronger than I expected." Lachlan had completely expected him to be able to beat the wall over, but with the little damage he did in comparison to the wall, he would have to punch the wall continuously for a week to get through. Drate''s mouth was agape as she stared at Lachlan in shock. "What do you mean stronger than you expected? Were you thinking you would be able to punch through it in one hit? Actually, don''t answer those questions, with the amount of strength you just displayed I wouldn''t be surprised if you did think you would be able to do that." "Oh well, suppose I can go through it with another method," Lachlan shrugged his shoulders along with a sighed. Taking out a high-grade gravity stone he held it in the palms of his hand, Drate looked at the stone with her eyebrows lowered. "What do you expect to accomplish with that? It''s just a normal stone, I can''t detect anything magical about it." Drate was confused as to why Lachlan brought out a random stone. Sure it was beautiful, but the guards wouldn''t take it as a bride to let them in. "Ay, just keep quiet and watch," Lachlan brushed off Drate''s comments like they were air. He then commanded the stone internally. ''200 times Earth''s gravity in front of me, go 15 metres forward before changing to 200 times Earth''s gravity behind me until you come to a halt; once halted, change to 0 times Earth''s gravity. Do all this with a range of your surface.'' With the commands set the stone disappeared from Lachlan''s hands; Drate was only able to see an afterimage of the stone, her eyes weren''t able to track the stone''s trajectory. But when she heard a resounding smash to her side she realised where it had gone. Looking towards the wall her mouth almost dropped to the floor, a hole the size of a palm was in the wall; cracks began to spread from there, slowly but surely encompassing the entire wall. Lachlan walked up to it nonchalantly and punched forward lightly. The wall crumbled to the ground, the wall that was said to be impenetrable to every force just crumbled in front of her. Lachlan walked through casually, grabbing his stone and returning it to his pocket. Drate rushed through, still shocked to her core by what she just saw. She pointed towards Lachlan, her hand was shaking. "What the hell was that! I detected no magic on the stone, it couldn''t have done anything to nullify the wall''s defences!" "Well it''s a rather unique stone that requires no magic," Lachlan explained before walking towards the castle. "Unfortunately, I can''t tell you any more than that, it is one of my trump cards after all, can''t have the whole world knowing about it." "Well sorry to say but I''m not the whole world; not to mention I won''t tell anyone, not even my elders or king, so can you please tell me how it works?" Drate was desperate to know how the stone worked, it has a power that rendered an impenetrable wall like paper, she wanted to know how. "Nope, maybe if you join me back to my home, but even then, you''ll need to gain mine as well as my group''s trust. Only then can you get a stone; before that, however, we won''t spill a single fact about the stone," Lachlan explained with a stern expression. "Also, if you decided to join me, I will warn you beforehand, there is no coming back, especially once you find out about the stone." Lachlan decided that he might actually let the demoness join, only on the conditions that he just explained. He doesn''t want her joining their group if she won''t stay; if she were to find out about everything and return to her elders and explain everything. That''ll cause a whole lot of trouble that he doesn''t want to deal with as of now. "Hm, then I can''t join you, I have to return to my clan as I''m soon to be getting married," Drate explained with a sigh. "Oh well, hopefully, we can meet sometime later in life; who knows, maybe you''ll come to the demon continent and enjoy it there." "What, married?" Lachlan was slightly shaken momentarily. "You''re already getting married? I suppose I should congratulate you and your partner, wish you the best of luck in life and hopefully you give birth to a happy and strong child." Lachlan didn''t know how to respond; so he combined a few things together and hoped it worked out without him deeply offending Drate. After all, he doesn''t have a clue as to how the traditions of demons work. Do they wish others success in life? Do they even wish newlyweds luck in giving birth to a healthy child? Drate burst into laughter. "What was that? Usually, you would only say those things after I get married, not before. After all, my husband has to successfully pass a few trials created by my family before he can take my hand in marriage." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "What, does your husband have to beat your family in a fight or something?" Lachlan asked sarcastically. Although he was somewhat curious about the demon''s customs, especially regarding the trials. Since they''re something created by the girl''s family, they could be all sorts of extreme challenges. "No, my husband has to fight against my grandfather, an elder of the demon race. As well as last one week on the 7th Hell island, located offshore of demon continent, possessing powerful and terrifying demonic beasts. Then finally, there''s also fighting against any other demon that''s passed the challenges and wishes to take my hand in marriage," Drate smiled widely as she explained in detail. "So you don''t get to pick your husband?" Lachlan asked as he tilted his head, staring at Drate with one eye. "Nope, the husband candidates are chosen by the family head, my father. Then, they go through those trials and the last one standing gets to take my hand in marriage. This way, the child birthed from myself and my partner is guaranteed to be teeming with power," Drate answered. "Oh right, you''re a half breed with human in your DNA. I remember hearing stories that sometimes humans get to choose who they be with, I find that so odd, don''t you want to birth powerful children?" "That''s not our primary goal, humans just seek to be with someone who they''re compatible with, physically and emotionally. To be with someone who''ll support them when they''re most vulnerable, that''s what most humans want," Lachlan explained. He felt most comfortable with Phoebe, she was always there when he felt down, especially when he found out what his other half wants to do. "Anyway, enough of that let''s get going." Lachlan started jogging up to the castle, its large structure was likely 10 ¨C 15 stories high. The thick wall was made of polished marble, the lining was created out of solid gold, the stone path had small gems encrusted into it. Looking around Lachlan must admit that the dragon king was one wealthy king. They finally made their way to the castle. Drate tugged on Lachlan''s armour, gesturing to him to follow her. "That main castle doesn''t lead to the treasury unless you have the dragon king''s blood. We have to get to it another way, located at the back of the castle." Lachlan nodded. As they ran their path Lachlan couldn''t help but ask a question. "You seem fairly familiar with the dragon king''s castle. How many times has your race attempted to raid? Surely it couldn''t have been that many times, right? The new dragon king has only been in power for a few years." "Ha, although the new dragon king has only been in power for a few years; during those few years, the demon race has attempted to raid the castle several dozen times. Whenever we failed, the demons would flee the scene with the knowledge that they have an impart it to the elders. Slowly but surely allowing us to get further into the castle. As of now, the furthest a demon has been was the back entrance to the treasury," Drate answered swiftly as they quickened their pace to dodge a few guards. "Hm, so how did your race get past the impenetrable wall?" Lachlan asked. "Well, we did have a treasury that allowed us to breach the magic arrays on the wall. However, it was lost in the last attempt when some arrogant and idiotic demon noble tried to show off," Drate answered with a tinge of hatred in her voice. "Because of him, our method of entrance had to change but we couldn''t figure out a way to get past the wall without the artefact. So, we have begun to create a new one." "And you have that on you?" Lachlan was curious as to what such an artefact would look like. The only thing that was coming to his head was a drill, granted, to pass magic arrays it would need to be a magic drill. Which is something Lachlan would very much like to see. "No, I decided to come and test out the waters. Also, the dragon king might get suspicious if the demon race doesn''t send anyone to try and claim their treasure, even if they are stopped at the front gate," Drate explained. "Anyway, we''re here now." Lachlan didn''t realise it, but they managed to make their way around the castle already. In front of them was a large hill, and although it blends in naturally with the surroundings, it looks quite out of place when right next to a grand castle. Drate walked up to it and pulled out a piece of paper, one that paper were large red letters in a language Lachlan couldn''t understand. But when she placed it down, she took a few steps back and muttered words beneath her breath. The paper burnt up in the air, an illusion array that was used to conceal the entrance was destroyed. It began to crumble, revealing the real entrance which was a large, reinforced iron door situated on the ground. Lachlan started walking up to it but was stopped by Drate. "Don''t worry, I can handle this one. My elders were quite pleased when they finally managed to create this artefact, they celebrated for weeks without rest due to it." Drate pulled out a strange device, it looked like a normal slab of stone. However, once she placed it on the iron door and muttered a few words, legs/spikes shot out, piercing the iron door without any trouble. Then, a blazing hot beam shot down from the square as it began to move. It looked like a laser beam, similar to what one would see in movies. Slowly, it made a large rectangle in the door, causing that rectangular cut out to fall. A loud thump was heard after a couple of seconds and Drate walked over to pick up the device. "Now then, let''s make our way into the treasury." Lachlan was thoroughly impressed with the device. He didn''t think a world so lacking in technological advancement would be able to create something like a laser cutter. Seems he underestimated this world and its magic. 166 Ism At Risk of Losing Brain Cells Taking a step into the entrance Lachlan felt a presence from behind him, he felt plentiful killing intent land on him as the number of eyes began to increase. Turning back Lachlan lifted up his arm, grabbing hold of a leg mid-air, the attacker looked to be a middle-aged elf. Realising he was greatly outmatched in his own strength the elf retreated, Lachlan let go and relaxed a bit. From that one attack Lachlan was confident he didn''t need to use much strength to deal with the attackers; but who knows how the future will play out, maybe they''ll have a device similar to Drate which could cut him in half. The elf was a pale white, his hair was blonde, its condition was long and luscious. He looked rather feeble, not the type to be a fighter but more of a talker instead. His clothes were dark green with some silver lining, his fingers were covered in rings. The elf lifted his hand and pointed to Lachlan, he began shouting in a foreign tongue that Lachlan wasn''t able to understand. Turning back to Drate he motioned for her to come over, he then pointed towards her neck before leaving his open palm in the air. Drate sighed before taking off her necklace, handing it over she took a few steps back to watch the scene unfold. Unlike the elves which knew nothing of Lachlan''s strength, she saw it firsthand that he possessed the power to put a crack in the dragon king''s wall. If that wasn''t the definition of strong, she doesn''t know what is. Lachlan took hold of the necklace before placing it around his neck. Turning back to the elf he gave a thumbs up. "Alright, I should be able to understand you now. So then, can you repeat yourself?" The elf''s hand shook as he shouted. "Soldier''s appear!" His voice carried the will of his intent; granted, Lachlan knew what the will was because he could feel the elf continue to stare at him with a plethora of killing intent. However, he didn''t know why the elf was so pissed off at him. A couple dozen more elves appeared, they were all wearing heavy silver armour, covering their faces. In their hands were 2-metre-long spears, the blade itself at the end was 30cm long. It gave off a sheen as it showed off its engravings of gold. "You filthy half-breed, your elven parent should have killed you the moment you were born in respect for their bloodline," The elven leader said with disdain in his voice. His gaze looked down on Lachlan like he was nothing more than a bug. "Fortunately, because your elven parent left you to live, you may die by my glorious hands instead." Lachlan sighed as he scratched his head. So far along his journey in Aaron''s world, he hadn''t come across anyone he would deem as abnormal; rather, if everyone had the body of a human, he would genuinely believe them to be human, they were no different. However, this elf in front of him just spewed racism, his arrogant could probably be squeezed out of his pores it was just that thick. "Oh no, whatever will I do, it''s not like I just blocked your kick casually with only a fraction of my strength," Lachlan said quietly as he shook his hands in the air. "I beg for your forgiveness for being a half-breed, I would gladly fall by your spear." Lachlan was completely bullshitting everything he said, it was almost made blatant with his tone of voice. Yet the elven man had a proud expression plastered across his face, his arms crossed as he snorted. "Good; however, I cannot taint my spear with the blood of a half-breed, you shall kill yourself with that broadsword of yours before handing it over." Lachlan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he thought he just heard one of the stupidest sentences he''s heard in his entire life. ''Did this elf just ask me to kill myself with the broadsword, then personally hand it over to him while I''m dead. How stupid can this guy be?'' Lachlan felt as though he lost a few brain cells listening to the elf. He sighed, shrugged his shoulders and stared at the elf. "Eh, fuck it, no point in continuing this facade, I''m probably at risk of losing my brain cells if I continue listening to you." "Huh, what are you talking abo-" The elf was interrupted when his expression turned to shock. Lachlan''s body suddenly disappeared from its original spot, the stone that was beneath his feet cracked heavily. The broadsword in his hands was raised in the air, already swinging down, splitting the wind as it went. Lachlan cut through the elven man life it was nothing, his body sliced in half from his torso collapsed on the ground. The elves around him gasped, but their legs were shaking from fear, they knew they could do nothing to beat Lachlan. Lachlan, on the other hand, looked towards the elf''s corpse and stood over it, looking down on it as he placed his broadsword by its upper body. "Oh no, look what happened, it seems my hand slipped, and I accidentally killed you instead. Whatever will I do?" Lachlan had slowly grown more and more accustomed to killing; granted, he still felt slightly awkward when killing another human. But for those of other races, especially when they portrayed a strong sense of arrogance and pride; Lachlan didn''t care too much with shutting them up forever. Turning to the other elves in the surroundings he gave them a chilling smile. "So, do you want me to kill myself and offer you my broadsword, or are you going to leave the two of us alone. I know you don''t want to avenge that elf, or more specifically, you can''t avenge him." The elves clenched their fists tightly, although their faces were covered Lachlan knew they were currently gritting their teeth angrily. Finally, they all made their move, they burst from their positions without hesitation once they''ve set their mind up for the deed. Their spears were thrust forward with great strength, creating a whistling sound as it pierced the wind. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Lachlan sighed. He had hoped his overwhelming display of strength would be a great deterrent against them. Unfortunately, he had been mistaken, it wasn''t that they didn''t care for their lives, it''s more so that their lives would be forfeited should they return to the elven kingdom without their leader who was a high-ranking noble. Grabbing firmly on his broadsword hilt he lifted it off the ground; twisting his body his sword roared through the air. The elves become momentarily hesitant, as the broadsword which split one of them in half was heading straight towards them. Shouting loudly, they all thrust forward at the same time. Since Lachlan was in the middle of an attack, he surely couldn''t be able to either dodge nor deflect all their attacks. Unfortunately, that''s where they were gravely mistaken. The wind suddenly changed, turning into a powerful gale that changed the trajectory of their spears. Their eyes widened in surprise when they felt a sudden piercing pain come from their sides; the other elves were just as surprised when they realised, they managed to hit something. But when they finally managed to open their eyes due to the wind dying done, they realised they had all hit each other. Almost half of the soldiers were killed due to it while Lachlan stood their motionlessly, faking a yawn even before crossing his arms. His broadsword stuck in the ground, still in its original position as though it hadn''t even moved. The elves that were still breathing were shaking from anger as guilt engulfed their bodies. They couldn''t believe it, that they themselves managed to screw up and kill each other due to a bit of wind. Granted, they had absolutely no idea that Lachlan was behind the wind. Their eyes shook and sunken as they pulled their spears out of their comrades, watching their bodies slump to the ground before laying motionless. They looked towards Lachlan, their eyes looked like pits as though they had given up. Now, it didn''t even matter if they returned after killing Lachlan, their kingdom has methods to find out who killed the soldiers and once they were found out, they would be publicly executed. Being cornered and placed in such a situation they made the obvious call. Their legs began to move at lightning paces as they retreated; they weren''t heading into the direction of their elven kingdom though, they were heading towards the horizon in hopes of finding a place they could hide. Lachlan exhaled a deep breath before sheathing his broadsword. He was glad the final cut of elves made the right decision. He turned to Drate who had watched the whole thing unfold, even Lachlan''s method at the end she saw clearly. "What the hell was that? How were you able to control the wind like that?" Drate asked loudly. "How many trump cards do you possess? Do you control more elements? Can you teach me how to control more elements?" Lachlan chuckled. "The point of a trump card is for it to remain hidden, not for me to go blabbering on about it in detail for you to know. And who knows, maybe I could teach you how to control more elements if you join me, you could even bring along your husband for all I care." Also, Lachlan wasn''t entirely joking about teaching Drate how to control elements. It wasn''t as though there weren''t other ways to control elements other than taming a beast that can. There are still the elemental stones, there''s bound to be more of them in their world. All possessing a great deal of power. "No can do, I have to stay in the demon continent with my family until I give birth to a successor." Drate shook her head. "Anyway, can you tell me why you possess such weird methods and tools. I don''t remember my elders telling me about any race that can command such things, especially that stone that broke through the dragon''s wall." "Unfortunately I cannot." Lachlan shook his head firmly. He wouldn''t be able to tell Drate anything about him unless she decided to join him. There was just too great of risk in letting such information slip, he would be putting the lives of those in the farms at risk. As well as those in the orphanage. Drate''s head dropped down disappointingly as she pouted. Lachlan sighed before going to remove the necklace, but just as he grabbed onto it, he heard a shout along with a wave of killing intent. His mind almost exploded from what he heard. "How dare you half-breed miscreant harm a noble elf! You shall repay his life with your own, grovel a thousand times before stabbing yourself through the head with your broadsword! Only then, will be you have successfully paid for your crimes!" Lachlan felt as though the number of brain cells were slowly decreasing by the second. Turning around he saw another elf, slightly tanner skin and long brunette hair. His physique was slightly bulkier, but still rather flimsy and weak, his body covered in a thin black robe. Behind him stood a few dozen elven soldiers, carrying long swords in their hands while being fully equipped in light iron armour. Lachlan sighed before disappearing from his spot. Reappearing by the new elf his broadsword was unsheathed as it swung out long and furiously. Roaring through the wind as it sliced through soldier after soldier, swiftly making its way to the unprepared noble. All of them were killed in mere seconds, Lachlan swiftly sprinted back to Drate and grabbed hold of her arm, dragging her down the stairs. "We have to hurry, I''m at risk of losing all my brain cells if they continue to pop up!" A few moments after Lachlan and Drate hightailed it out of there another group of elves appeared. The one at the front looked no different to an orc, his body was 2 metres tall and packed with muscles. He had a bald head, sharp black eyes and was outfitted in a dark green cloak. "Stop half-breed! You have to pay for your sins at the hands of the high elven noble!" The orc-like elf shouted while pointing to where Lachlan was. 167 Dark Dragon King Lachlan and Drate made their way deeper underground, the felt as though darkness consumed them as the air was heavy. The walls abruptly lit up, almost blinding the two as they covered their eyes. Looking through the gaps in their fingers they managed to finally see something worthwhile, a hall that stretched a couple of hundred metres. At the end, a golden-crusted door, embedded with precious jewels. Engraved into it was the body of the current dragon king. He looked to be a laughing and joyful state. "Tsk, cocky bastard, probably knew someone would eventually make it this far so he left a little gift as well as a message. Probably saying that that''s the last line of defence, give it your best shot, it won''t do anything." Drate gritted her teeth angrily as her fists shook. "He got us, I don''t even have to get close to understand that that door will be able to stop us. So much for my race''s pathetic attempts to get back the crown." Lachlan looked at the engraving as his eyebrows furrowed. He leaned over and lightly tapped Drate''s shoulder; unfortunately for the king, unlike most which would have a hard time finding the entrance, to Lachlan it was a piece of cake. The door was merely a wall, granted it''s a heavily fortified wall with magic and reinforced materials, some of which Lachlan didn''t know. If he were to compare it to the Dragon King''s Wall, the thing in front of them would be much sturdier and stronger. And due to it looking like a door, one would assume it was unless the actual entrance was made obvious. Drate looked at Lachlan with a saddened expression. "What, you''re not going to use that stone of yours to break through again are you? You got to come up with a better joke than that, surely that device''s energy supply has run out in that one attack, right?" "Idiot, just follow me silently, we don''t know if the king decided to rig the back entrance with traps," Lachlan explained as he held a figure to his mouth. "Remember, follow silently, maybe some traps are sound activated, who knows." Drate shook her head. "No, there won''t be, the king was quite confident in his previous defences that he decided to leave the treasury somewhat defenceless. We were going to make use of his arrogance and slip through the first couple of defences, who knew he would have such an impenetrable final defence. It''s pointless to continue, but at least I managed to get some valuable information." ''Huh, the king''s more arrogant than I thought, probably a good thing for me though.'' Lachlan had to say, arrogance was the downfall of kings. Being too blind to one''s weaknesses would usually lead one to their death; in the dragon king''s instance however, it''ll lead to all his treasures being taken out from under his nose. "Alright, that''s some great news, just follow me," Lachlan said as he grabbed onto Drate''s arm and dragged her along. They walked closer and closer to the wall, the engraving was getting clear and clear, details which were unnoticeable from the end of the hall were coming into light. The scales, the veins, the hairs, everything was getting clearer. Finally, once they reached the wall Lachlan turned to his right and placed his hand on the wall. And with a slight push, a rectangular bit in the wall that was by Lachlan''s hand sunk it. At the same time, the wall began to shake, as though it was getting rid of dust as it hasn''t been used in many years. Finally, it opened up similar in a similar fashion to the automatic rolling doors on Earth. Revealing another hall, many times smaller than the one they just walked through but still roughly 20 metres. At the end, a rather shabby wooden door. Lachlan walked up to it, dragging Drate right behind him who was currently experiencing the shock of her life. She didn''t expect the dragon king''s back passage to be done in such a way. From her understanding, the dragon king was quite arrogant and prideful in his defences, not someone that is cunning. However, when thinking about it, placing the real entrance right next to the fake one is certainly a sadistic move. Reaching the shabby wooden door Lachlan reached out and opened it up, revealing a grand room, filled to the brim with treasures. However, Drate started hyperventilating when she saw the room, her eyes were darting across it, searching for something specific. Dashing forward she began rummaging through the treasure, her mind was only filled with the purpose of finding their race''s crown. This was the furthest any demon has ever been into the castle and if she were to be the one to bring back the crown, she''ll be heavily rewarded. Lachlan slightly chuckled at Drate''s desperation to find the crown, as she got so intent on looking through the treasures in this room that she wouldn''t expect there to be another door leading to another room just a few metres away from her. Sighing Lachlan walked up to the door, tapping Drate on her shoulder as he brushed past, snapping her back into reality. When she noticed what Lachlan was walking to, she facepalmed herself in realisation before running up to him. "The dragon king wouldn''t place his greatest treasures amongst the more common things. No, he would place it separately, and not just place, he would showcase it," Lachlan said as they walked through the door. The room was many times smaller in comparison to the one they were just in, in it were many pedestals crusted in gold, embedded with rare jewels. On top of them, treasures surrounded by a glass box, a light beaming down to reveal their splendour. There were many treasures from every race here, Lachlan could see a multitude of crowns, one of which caused Drate to dash over. It wasn''t as glorious looking as the others, but it certainly held a few powerful effects, some much greater than the other crowns. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Demon King''s Crown Description: An item made from the millions of souls killed by the first Demon King, the one who almost brought complete destruction and chaos into the world. The one who possesses the crown and is able to wear it will become the rightful heir to the throne. One must have the killing intent of the demon king, 200 strength to wield the demon king''s strength, and be in possession of the demon king''s sword to wield this crown and its powers. Effect 1 (Passive): Double All Stats Effect 2 (Passive): Ability to command all demons with an iron-clad fist Effect 3 (Activate): When combined with the demon king''s sword they''re able to release an attack that''ll cut down any defence -------------------------------------------------------- It certainly had some effects that even Lachlan would want. However, it isn''t an item for him to wear, as he didn''t have nearly enough killing intent to compete with the demon king of all people. If they were to compete in strength, he was pretty confident, but not killing intent. From his understanding from the time he chatted with Drate, a demon is born with naturally high killing intent. It''s one of the few things that determine their future, as the stronger the killing intent, the better one would be able to passively suppress their enemies. The demon king is the one with the strong killing intent, one which completely dominates all others. If a human were to train and attempt to kill enough people to get to the same level of killing intent, that human would have to slaughter hundreds of millions, if not billions. Drate was shaking from excitement, she ran up to it swiftly and lifted up the glass box, revealing the crown. Her eyes became watery, the crown was their race''s way of identifying the demon king, without it, no one is able to successfully claim the throne. She reached out and grabbed it, taking it off the pedestal and holding it close to her heart. The pedestal suddenly began to rumble and quake before sinking into the ground, the walls started to shake violently as it abruptly opened a few doors. Dragonkin started filling the sides of the room, they were equipped with golden armour filled with magical powers. All of it had engravings created from a red substance, Lachlan was unsure whether or not it was blood, he couldn''t tell. *Clap!*Clap!*Clap!*Clap!* "Well, well, well, I didn''t expect to see the day where a half breed and a demon managed to make their way through our defences. Quite the unexpected surprise and I should be congratulating you but not just yet." A man walked through the passage, emerging from the shadows were his scales that lacked lustre due to their darkness. His tail swayed behind him, it was thin but rigged with sharp iron spikes. He stood 2 metres tall, his hands behind his back as he presented himself in a similar fashion to a scholar, gowned in something similar to a robe. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "What do you mean by that? Who are you exactly?" Drate asked as her hands shook. Similar to her, Lachlan was surprised by how powerful all these dragonkin were. Every single one of them possessed a strength similar to the dragon king, while the one that just entered that seemed to be the leader was stronger. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Akira (Dragonkin) Age: 43 (Adult) Dragon Bonds: 1/1 STR: 225, AGI: 243, VIT: 100 INT: 52, PER: 49, WIL: 22 Weakness: Arrogant, Prideful, Sensitive Tail Strengths: Skin Defence (Level 7), Arm Strength (Level 6), Leg Strength (Level 6), Maximum Speed (Level 4), Swimming Speed (Level 4), Heightened Senses, Language of the World -------------------------------------------------------- The new arrival clasped his hands together. "Indeed I suppose you won''t know of my existence since it has been so long since the last time the Dark Dragon King revealed himself." "Dark Dragon King?" Drate said in a questioning tone as confusion filled her mind. Her elders mentioned nothing about another dragon king, especially one that wields far greater combat prowess than the current one. "Indeed, while the Light Dragon King, my brother, leads our people a prosperous and joyful life, being the political head figure. The Dark Dragon King lurks in the shadows, eliminating any obstacles that might prevent that. And the main task is the keep the Light Dragon King on the right track, make sure he doesn''t start getting a bit abusive with his powers. That''s the duty of the Dark Dragon King," Akira explained with a bright but chilling smile. "Now, I hope you don''t mind but I''ll be needing that crown back," Akira said as he stretched out his hand. The soldiers to the side readied their spears, all targeting Drate and leaving Lachlan alone. "Oh yes, and for you half breed, I would certainly like for you to hand over that treasure you used to tear down the wall." Lachlan lightly chuckled and Akira raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to hand over my treasure? Are you dumb? Also, what''s the say that I still can''t use its powers to completely obliterate everyone in this room including you?" "Well, considering the amount of strength it has, I would say you exhausted it by taking down the wall. Otherwise, you would have already used it. Am I correct by saying that?" Akira asked in an arrogant tone. "I suppose you''re right, here you go," Lachlan tossed over a high-grade gravity stone with a chilling smile. Akira took hold of it and looked at it closely, he smiled widely until he heard Lachlan say something. "Unfortunately, you''re wrong, I just hadn''t used it yet because I didn''t feel like it." Akira''s knees immediately gave way to the gravity, the ground beneath him in a 2-metre radius sunk down from the pressure. Akira felt as though his organs were going to rip out of his own skin. His muscles stood no chance, neither did the bodies of those in a 2-metres radius. Their bodies crushed into the ground, unable to move the slightest bit. Lachlan chuckled as he moved forward. "Now then, while you''re out for the count I suppose I''ll get rid of your little goonies." 168 Theysve Stole My What! Lachlan swiftly knocked out the remained dragonking, they were so terrified and bewildered by the abrupt and strange attack that they weren''t able to put up any defences. Now, the only ones left were the Dark Dragon King and the few subordinates by his immediate side. They were currently under the effects of the gravity stone, unable to move their body. "So, how do you feel knowing you were so incredibly wrong?" Lachlan was as he rested his broadsword on his shoulder, squatting just outside the gravity affected area with a chilling grin, he lightened up the gravity ever so slightly so they''re able to at least move their mouths. "After all, your information was what led to your downfall. To be honest, if I didn''t have that stone, I might have even died with all of you teaming up." Lachlan was dead serious about that statement. Each of the subordinates here possessed similar strength to the Dragon King, however, it was due to his abrupt attack that he was able to come out on top. But without the stone, he would have been in a real pickle, since the soldiers should all have experience working together to take down strong opponents. "Ha, seems I really was too arrogant for my own good," Akira muttered faintly beneath his voice as he struggled to breathe the heavy air. It felt as though he was attempting to suck in a block of iron every time he inhaled, it was heavily impacting his mental clarity as the blood carrying the oxygen around his body was struggling to do so. "Just kill me, there''s no need for me to live since I failed my duty," Akira said regretfully as his eyes were filled with a burning hatred towards Lachlan. "If only you didn''t come, things would have been so much easier. The demoness, nor the elves and dwarves would have been able to make their way inside. But just because of your appearance you broke through our wall, creating a path for all races to head to the castle." Lachlan faintly chuckled. "Indeed, but there certainly is a reason for you to live. After all, I don''t want to imagine what the Dragon King up top would do if you weren''t here to set him straight. At least, that''s what I assume you''ve been doing, likely the reason the Dragon King stopped stealing from other races, right?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Lachlan was rather curious before as to why the Dragon King stopped stealing. After all, with his personality, it wouldn''t be surprising if he were to try and steal all valuables from every race. However, with the appearance of the Dark Dragon King, a few things were cleared up. "Ha, so I''ve been found out. You''re not wrong, it was also my doing that convinced him into creating this event in which other races are allowed to sneak into the castle to gather their belongings. After all, although we''re a strong country, facing the might of all the races is still a little too much for us to handle alone." Akira sighed as he explained with a heavy voice. "But, since I failed my duty I still have to die by the hands of the one that managed to beat me. So, get on with it." "Nah, it''s the useless pride and arrogance of yours that caused you to be defeated by me. You didn''t hesitate for a moment to judge your own decision, if you had you would have considered the possibility of me either having more weapons like the stone or the stone still having energy in it. Thereby creating a few more back-up plans which might have caused some trouble," Lachlan explained. Also, he didn''t exactly want to kill the Dark Dragon King nor his subordinates. That''ll be similar to putting an entire kingdom at great risk if other races were to discover his death. Not to mention the death the dozen or so subordinates possessing strength similar to the Dragon King. Any race would see this as a valuable opportunity and attempt to start a war with a weakened dragon kingdom. For certain races such as Demons and Dwarves, with their gruelling methods used in wars, they would easily be able to take back what they lost and more. As for elves, although they possessed quite a bit of strength, their kingdom was actually split into multiple factions of different elves. So, unless they can all come to an agreement and work together, they would struggle to defeat the Dragon Kingdom singlehandedly. "Anyway, I''ve decided not to kill you or your subordinates as that would put you in a perilous situation. But, in return for me sparing your lives, I ask that you leave the castle along with the Dragon King''s weapons. However, you''ll leave everything in this treasury when taking things away," Lachlan explained as he lightened up the gravity. "You know, you''re a rather odd one huh?" Akira said in a questioning tone as he felt the pressure lessen. He couldn''t help but have his eyebrows twitch. They, the proud and powerful dragonkin were being ordered around. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much else he could do. His honour as a dragon wouldn''t allow him to attack Lachlan after sparing his life but neither did it want to abandon the castle. "Oh yeah, I''ll also need that Dragon King''s Dance manual as well as a few dragon eggs." Lachlan suddenly remembered his purpose of coming here in the first place. He was so caught up in the action he forgot, however, with the Dark Dragon King in front of him he should be able to complete the task rather swiftly. The Dark Dragon King lightly chuckled. "Alright, however, I can only give you three dragon eggs due to there only being that much. Also, I would like to ask that you give the Dragon King''s Dance manual back after you''ve finished reading it. It''s a rather important piece to our kingdom and the heritage of the king." "Don''t fret, I''ll give it back, I just need to read it and I''ll probably be able to remember," Lachlan said as he waved his hand through the air. Akira reached into his robe and pulled out a black book, on it were golden letters as well as an engraving of a dragon head. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Dragon King''s Dance Manual Description: By following the manual shown in the book one will be able to garner the recognition of all dragons under the sun. However, one wrong move will attract all the killing intent towards the one performing, all dragons will be tempted to kill the performer on sight. Anyone is able to use this book as the next Dragon King is decided by strength, not bloodline. Effect 1 (Passive): Strength doubles Effect 2 (Passive): Increases presence as well as increases stealth Effect 3 (Activate): Dragon King''s Dance will be implemented into the holder''s mind -------------------------------------------------------- Lachlan was slightly surprised to see Akira holding onto the manual, however, seeing the effects it holds it was really not that unpredictable. Even Lachlan was tempted to take it back to Earth. However, he kept his greed in check and didn''t let it take hold of him. If he were to take this treasure the Dragon Kingdom would be in a similar position to the Demon Kingdom, unable to pass down the throne as they''ve lost the thing that dictates their ruler. Taking hold of it Lachlan opened the book up and felt a rush of knowledge flow into his mind, it was abrupt and caused him to grit his teeth in pain. After a few seconds, the transfer was done, he was surprised by the simplicity of the dance. If he were to compare it to something it would be Chinese New Year, where the people dance in dragon costumes. Similarly, he too must dance in a costume. However, unlike the dragon dances in China, this was is done with a costume of a western-like dragon. Its scales were dark gold and stood roughly 2 metres high. Lachlan turned to Akira and asked a question he was dying to know for a past few battles. "Hey, just wondering but where is your dragon? Surely you couldn''t have left it behind, right?" Akira scratched his head as the scales on his face turned grey. "No, rather, my dragon wasn''t able to fit into the entrance, so I wasn''t able to bring him down. And similar to me, none of my subordinates was able to bring their dragons down into the treasury either." Lachlan slapped his hands together in realisation. It certainly made sense now, as to why so far no one has summoned their tames on them. It wasn''t because they didn''t want to but because they couldn''t. It seems that unlike the humans on Earth, the intelligent creatures on Aaron''s world are unable to summon and unsummon their tames at will. "Thanks." Lachlan nodded before the groups swiftly got back to work. He told Drate that she could take back her treasure, and since, till the very end she was persistent that she was unable to go with him he told her to leave the castle as well. In return for his help, Drate gifted him the necklace. Granted, it was something someone would be able to get off the streets it certainly saved him a bit of trouble. "Hey, you filthy half breed! I finally managed to catch up to you! Now cut off your head and offer it to me as payment for the losses of the two noble lives!" The orc-like elf finally made it to where they were. In his hand was a 2-metre-long hilt with a battle-axe head at the end. Behind him were a dozen or so of his subordinates, and similarly, they all looked like orcs. They were called Mountain Elves, a race of elves that live deep inside the mountains. It made sense as to why they needed such large and strong bodies, it was something they obtained from constantly excavating the mountains for generations. Lachlan sighed as he felt the final few brain cells leave his body at the last sentence the elf shouted. "You know what? I really can''t be bothered dealing with you right now so just piss off, take your race''s treasure and just piss off before I decided to take all your lives." "You dare underestimate us noble elves! You''ll pay for that with your life!" The leader shouted as he dashed forward, his battle-axe raised high in the air as it swung downwards. Lachlan sighed as he gracefully twisted his body, narrowly dodging the battle-axe before unsheathing his broadsword and decapitating the elf leader. His large head, shot into the wall, embedding into it due to the force of Lachlan''s strike. The rest of the elves swiftly dropped their weapons and held their hands up and surrounded. Lachlan felt as though a refreshing air, brushed through his entire body at the sight of the elves actually making a somewhat intelligent move. "Alright, you''re all free to go but make sure to never bother me again, alright?" The elves nodded slowly before retreating, their legs moved faster away than they did towards. It made Lachlan faintly chuckle. Finally, he heard the sounds of footsteps and turning around there was Akira, in his arm were three large eggs. Handing them over he took out a jar, it was filled to the brim with blood. "I''m pretty sure you already know this since it''s pretty common knowledge. But drenching newborns in their parent''s blood will allow for them to grow instantly. And in my hands is the blood you''ll need, now, if I were to be so kind to ask. Please don''t come back once you leave, it''s such a pain dealing with people like you," Akira said with dread in his voice. Lachlan smiled. "Don''t worry, I won''t be back any time soon. So hurry up and leave, go return to that brother of yours, you''ll want to see his facial expression once I make my move." Akira immediately left and Lachlan returned to the surface. Although he said many times that he wouldn''t allow his greed to get to him that wasn''t entirely true. In reality, he doesn''t mind taking the entire castle. Lachlan had set out his high-grade gravity stones underneath the castle in the treasury. The one he used against Akira was his last one. And now, he could go with his plan. The ground rumbled and cracked, the stones were changing the gravity in their surroundings. Causing ruptures in the ground as the castle was slowly but surely lifted off the ground. Akira that had just left had his mouth agape as he watched the scene unfold, and next to him was Drate who had a similar expression. --- In the Colosseum, the Dragon King was sitting on his thrown, mindfully watching the battles beneath him in case a dragonkin of talent appears. His eyes widened when a dark shadow was cast upon the Colosseum, but he didn''t look up, he just thought it was the clouds, trying to distract him from the fights. Suddenly a dragonkin soldier burst through the door panting heavily. "Dragon King, they''ve stolen the castle!" The Dragon King stood up as his hands crushed the armrests, his eyes were widened to the extreme. "They''ve stolen my what!" ---------------- Ayo, author here. Just want to tell you all about the new novel I''m uploading. Since I was rather bored without the internet I decided to start writing a new novel. You should all go check it out. It''s called "In Retirement Playing Games", aka, RPG. Yes, I am proud of that abbreviation since this is a Video Games novel. https://www.webnovel.com/book/14490884906604905/In-Retirement-Playing-Games 169 Furious Dragon King Looking towards the flying object that cast a shadow onto the Colosseum the Dragon king clenched his fists tightly in anger. His fist was shaking at the sight of his castle getting further and further away. "Those bastards, so this is how they''re going to take back their treasures. Tsk, smart, but not smart enough." "Tachichi! Hurry up, take to the airs and take me to my damn Castle!" The Dragon King shouted loudly, his voice echoing through the Colosseum, reaching the ears of everyone here whose eyes widened with surprise and shock at what they just heard. The races looked to one another trying to confirm which one did it, most of them thought that the dwarves were most likely the culprits due to their advanced creations. Some of which, including machines that fly through the air without the use of magic. Tachichi, the Dragon King''s Dragon spread its wings wide, covering all the participants in its shadow. Moving its wings down at a fast speed the dirt picked up and a torrent of wind was created in the Colosseum as Tachichi flew up. The Dragon King leapt from his balcony, grabbing onto the saddle on Tachichi''s back and harnessing in. When he made it above the Colosseum he gulped, truly surprised that someone would actually steal his entire castle rather than just the treasures. His eyes wandered towards where the castle was originally, a figure was flying towards him, one he was very much familiar with. "Hello brother, care to explain how the entire castle ended up being stolen?" Akiri asked with a furious voice, his anger seethed through his words. They were targeted towards Akira, who was currently on his own Dragon. It was roughly 5-metres-long, its scales were a metallic black, they scraped against each other producing an ear churning noise. Its wings were thin but had blades across the spine. The dragon''s eyes were sharp as it stared towards Tachichi, it snorted with disdain due to Tachichi being weaker than it. Although only slightly, it was still something it would boast about. "How do you think brother? I got my ass handed to me on a golden platter, my subordinates were all knocked out in an instant while he immobilised me. That''s how the castle ended up being stolen," Akira responded in an arrogant manner. That was the only way he was able to talk to his brother who was so prideful with his strength. "What about all the treasures? Were they stolen along with the castle?" Akiri asked with a frown at the knowledge of his brother and his subordinates losing to someone. Although prideful with his strength, he knew he was no match for his brother, nor the subordinates that work under him. "Don''t fret brother. It seems the one which stolen the castle didn''t want us to lose our strength, so he allowed us to live while giving us our important treasures. Granted, he took all the other race''s treasures and he demanded some dragon eggs as well as the dance manual," Akira explained as he raised his hand in a gesture to tell Akiri to relax. Akiri felt as though he had an extreme headache coming along. "Oh brother, that castle is also a representative of our strength. The impenetrable walls which our ancestor created and the grand splendour of the castle were created to showcase our might and power. They aren''t something that''s easily replaced, we have to get it back." Akira brushed Akiri off as he waved his hand through the air in a gesture telling him to go. "Do it yourself, I already got my ass handed to me without him breaking a sweat. But I suppose you''ll probably think you''ll have a different outcome since you''re the Dragon King. So, go ahead, be my guest, try to get the castle back." "Tsk, fine, I''ll do it myself." The Dragon King couldn''t be bothered dealing with his brother anymore and commanded Tachichi to follow after the castle. Fortunately, it was going at a rather steady but slow pace as it drifted through the sky. Allowing the Dragon King to catch up. Lachlan was currently at the back of the castle, he had one gravity stone in his hand as he looked towards the Dragon King and his Dragon. He was planning on making his move here, but that might be rather disrespectful. Not the part of making his move, but completely decimating the Dragon King in battle above the city. However, the Dragon King decided to make his move without a care for anyone that might be underneath the castle. Tachichi raised its head high, inhaling a mouthful of air as it radiated an intense head. Aiming downwards a golden flame pierced through the skies, flying directly towards Lachlan like a spear. Lachlan shrugged his shoulders. ''Oh well, since you want to do it here, I suppose there''s no stopping it.'' Raising his hand with the stone he gave a quick command. The stone disappeared and the flames were immediately dispersed as the stone pierced through it. The Dragon''s eyes widened with shock when it felt a sudden and powerful forced smash against its chin. The force was too powerful for it the resist, its body arched as its head flew backwards, dragging the rest of the body with. The Dragon King was shocked by the sudden event. "Tachichi! What the hell are you doing? You''re supposed to be getting the damn castle back!" Akira shouted loudly at his dragon as fury built up in his body. He looked towards what he assumed was half breed standing on the edge of the castle grounds, a grin across Lachlan''s face as he looked down on them. Tachichi snorted angrily at the Dragon King, twisting its body the Dragon King was forcefully removed from Tachichi''s back before getting slammed into the ground. Tachichi was annoyed at its master for not asking about its condition, it had been thoroughly injured from that weird attack. It felt as though its throat had almost been crushed, yet its master was still ordering it to go after the attacker. "Tachichi! What the hell are you doing? Why are you attack me?" Akira shouted angrily as he threw a punch into Tachichi''s stomach. Tachichi squinted from the pain before spinning its body, slamming Akira with its wings and throwing him to the ground. Tachichi then descended onto the ground, its tail raised high before slamming down heavily onto the Dragon King. Akira felt as though he was going to spurt blood from anger, first, his castle was stolen, then his brother wouldn''t help, and now his very own dragon decided to go against him. "Tachichi, that''s enough!'' Akiri came down to protect his younger brother. Akiri''s dragon flew down and pinned the tail onto the ground before grumbling towards Tachichi. Tachichi roared back in a deep and low voice before turning away and sitting down, facing the Dragon King. Akiri turned to his brother who was currently in a state of shock as his eyes were widened, staring at the clear blue sky. "So, do you understand now brother? That''s the reason I got my ass so easily whooped, and for someone who is no stronger than me, you were bound to the same fate." "Tsk, I hate you," Akira mumbled under his breath as he turned his head to the side, avoiding all eye contact with Akiri and his dragon as he crossed his arms, pouting in annoyance when he saw his castle drifting away from him. Akiri chuckled loudly as he placed his hands on his hips. "And I love you too brother." Back where the castle was originally, Drate was just standing there motionless as though her spirit had left her body. The crown, currently in her right hand as her eyes were focused on the fleeting figure of a floating castle. She felt as though she''s had a long day and has seen some things that really don''t make any sense to her. ''How on earth am I supposed to report this?'' This asked herself. Her mission was to participate in the raid and inform her elders of any changes. Except, how is she supposed to explain how the entire Dragon King''s castle lifted off the ground and floated away. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "Oh well, at least I have the crown back, I''m probably going to be rewarded quite handsomely. Granted, I don''t see what they''re supposed to reward the queen of the Demon Kingdom but oh well, hopefully, my husband isn''t going to be so abnormal," Drate muttered beneath her breath. That''s right. Drate was the current queen of the Demon Kingdom, and the one chosen from the trials will become the new king of the kingdom. However, how exactly was she supposed to get married and crown a king when they don''t have a crown. Not to mention she''s heard many stories about the Dragon Kingdom, so she decided to come check it out. And that''s also the main reason as to why she isn''t able to join Lachlan on his journey. She can''t exactly just ditch her kingdom, she''ll go down as the worst queen in history if she does that, not to mention without at least leaving an heir to the throne. Her family, the royal family would go ballistic in their attempts to find out. ''Welp, hopefully you consider my deal and visit the Demon Continent one day'' Drate told herself before shrugging her shoulders and walking off. ¡­ Back on the island, Lachlan had summoned his four tames who were all glaring at him angrily. They were all annoyed that Lachlan didn''t summon them to help, Catastrophe especially who was seething at the thought of not being back to have a match with the Dragon King and his Dragon. ''Aha, I just happened to forget, and I was in the moment, but I had the gravity stones which I used so I decided not to summon you all because I had things under control'' Lachlan explained swiftly in a messy sentence as his tames got closer and closer to his face. ''But father, we were going to all team together, we were going to summon our lightning while Aaron was going to amplify its power. That way, we could have easily one-shot the dragon'' Disaster explained in his still slightly childish voice, making it rather funny despite him being annoyed. ''Yeah, we should have fought him above the Colosseum, really decimated him in front of his citizens and the representatives of the other races'' Catastrophe explained arrogantly as he frothed at the thought of battling such a powerful opponent. ''And master, might I add that you really shouldn''t be so trusting towards the demoness. Judging from the number of treasures she possessed as well as her strength I''m guessing she''s actually quite high up in the Demon Kingdom, possibly having the title of Archdemon'' Aaron said. Calm down, calm down, seriously. Just because I trusted her doesn''t mean I wouldn''t be able to react to her if she decided to backstab me'' Lachlan responded. ''Also, sure, you might have been able to beat the Dragon King and his Dragon but without the stone, we would have been surrounded by strong dragonkin as well as dragons. Do you realise, how many special abilities they could set off which might kill us instantly?'' Lachlan remembered he was basically talking to a couple of hotblooded teenagers when it came to his Rocs. Fortunately, Calamity was the mature one, resting by the side, enjoying the view of Dragonia as they drifted further and further away. Disaster and Catastrophe grumbled angrily but didn''t know what to come back with. So instead, they decided to join Calamity. Aaron, on the other hand, flew up to the top of the castle to enjoy the view instead. He could see just about everything from up there. "Sigh, now, onto the taming." Lachlan looked at the three dragon eggs in his arms. One was dark blue with black lining, another was light green with brown lining, and the final one was black with a red lining. "I wonder what you will all hatch into." -------- Remember to go check out my other novel. I''ll probably continue advertising here since I really want to win that writing promt. I want them spirit stones. The feature on front page is also pretty cool as well. https://www.webnovel.com/book/14490884906604905/In-Retirement-Playing-Games 170 Testing Weapons On Earth, the group have managed to settle business in Jackson, Mississippi. It wasn''t that difficult; the people were rather accepting on their business as it created a cycle that needed workers. People hunting beasts, skinning and dissecting beast, and cooking the beasts. Finally, once satisfied with their work the group left the city to move on to the next. Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama. However, Marie informed them beforehand to expect there to be nothing in Alabama, as they haven''t gotten into contact with anyone in the state in months. And the last time contacted, the people were mentioning large groups of beasts, tearing down entire cities like it was nothing. The group was expecting a fight once they reached Montgomery, however, what they received wasn''t that at all. Currently, they were floating above Montgomery, just above the outskirts and away from the central part of the city. Granted, there wasn''t a central part of the city anymore. In front of them, a large ant mound had been constructed, reaching roughly 70 stories high it towered over everything else and swallowed all buildings close to it. Larges, 3 ¨C 4 metres ants were crawling all throughout it, creating entrances and caves. Their bodies a dark red, as their fangs radiated heat. The ants'' eyes darted towards the island and it roared loudly with full might. The group, standing on the edge of the island were surprised by such a mound but it also wasn''t entirely out of their predictions. When thinking about it, hive-like beasts are likely the scariest currently due to their ability to tear through human cities like it''s nothing. Certain ants are at the top, alongside bees and wasps. The group noticed the ants which were originally minding their own business peacefully sprout wings. Their wings thrashed violently towards the ground, causing a great deal of dust to rise up from the sudden commotion. The group was surprised at the sight of several dozen ants taking to the skies, the ants'' speed was fortunately not so fast, however, it brought upon immense intimidation at such a sight. After all, they weren''t the military, they didn''t have cannons at the ready to blast those ants down. Or do they¡­ Anne, who usually doesn''t come out of her laboratory, brought them a new weapon which acts in a similar manner to a cannon. It uses the gravity stones to propel solid rock balls forward, these rocks can be found just about anywhere on the island. But the most compact and dense rocks are found in the centre, alongside the other gravity stones. "Suppose this is a great time to test out the new weapon huh?" Anne said in a questioning voice when she noticed the horde of ants flying towards them. Although they could just as easily leave or use their beasts'' special abilities to get rid of the ant horde. What fun would that be? "Well, at least this way we can test its effectiveness. If it truly is a great weapon then we''ll station them around the border of the island as the first line of defence, alongside the intensive gravity across the island of course," Flynn said with his arms crossed. In front of him was the first prototype. They wouldn''t mass produce it until all imperfections are gone. The prototype was a think cylinder tube, on it was a computer attached to the bottom. This computer acts as the control panel since they wouldn''t be able to manually target these weapons once they''re mass-produced, they decided to immediately have the control panel put it. Along with the computer at the bottom was a stand, it had long 2-metre pikes that stuck far into the ground. Attached to the end of those pikes were gravity stones, to allow for easy manoeuvrability and to act as weights for the weapon. Anne was currently squatted down in front of the computer, furiously typing away at the keyboard as targets appeared on the screen. Slowly locking on to every ant in the sky. Anne stood up proudly and placed her hands on her hips. "And this, is the power of science." "Yeah, yeah, controlling gravity with a stone is really the power of science," Flynn said as he waved his hand through the air, brushing Anne off. Anne pouted angrily because Flynn wasn''t wrong; however, the weapon was created through science and the uses of gravity were also discovered through scientific experiments conducted by Anne, so it wasn''t entirely an incorrect statement either. The rest of the group were surrounding the cannon, staring at it as they waited for it to fire. Anne walked over with a stone floating above her head, it was roughly 8 inches in diameter which was the perfect size for the barrel of the cannon. "Alright, let me show you all my great creation." Anne placed the ball inside the barrel and took a couple of steps back. The rest of the group did the same. Anne pulled out a trigger from her pockets and grinned widely, pressing the trigger she shouted loudly. "Piss off you fuckin bugs!" Anne secretly hated the thought of those bugs making it to the island. Even if they had an impenetrable system called a gravity wall, she hated the thought of them being on the same island as them. Especially since they weren''t tamed as well. So, she''ll blast them to bits with the excuse of this being a weapon test. Anne gave the gravity stone some rather specific commands. When hit with a sudden and great force from behind it''ll activate its 200 times Earth''s gravity in the radius which perfectly fits inside the cylinder. Once activated, it''ll move 1 metre, aka, the length of the cylinder before halting and returning to its originally position. It was a complex process that Anne spent weeks on, testing if those commands are able to be done, especially the first one. Fortunately, his effort wasn''t in vain. Two loud thump-like sounds came from the barrel of the cannon, a rock shot forth from it at a speed close to the speed of a bullet. Its force tore through the air, targeting the ant which flew at the front centre of the ant horde. Anne stared proudly at the projectile fly through the air, she had her arms crossed and a wide grin. But that grin soon disappeared when she noticed the speed of the rock slow down, its momentum was disappearing as it lost height. Slowly but surely eventually falling towards the ground. Anne''s legs collapsed as she felt her soul leave her body, her invention failed on the first trial, it really failed. "But how? I swear I checked for everything that could affect the projectile''s trajectory, wind, shape, and weight. Why didn''t it work?" "Probably because the normal wind doesn''t count towards the wind those beasts are giving off," Simon said as he squatted down to Anne''s height. "Not to mention there''s a possibility those ants are able to control the wind as well, creating a possible wall that slowed the ball down." "Wind, that''s right!" Anne shouted as she stood up abruptly. She was currently under the effects of low gravity so doing sudden movements wasn''t so painful anymore. She felt rather youthful again despite her heavily degraded body. "Boy, hand me one of those unused high-grade wind stones and some string or rope." The group''s eyebrows raised when they heard the passion in Anne''s voice. She turned her head and stared at Flynn, opening and closing her hand. "Hurry up now, we don''t have a lot of time and I still want to continue testing now that I have a new idea." Chloe sighed loudly before complaining grumpily. "Alright, I''ll go get them Anne. Remember, we don''t carry unused stuff on us, everything we have has been taken control of by us otherwise it''ll serve no purpose but to weight us down." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Chloe took the skies at a rapid speed, the rest of the group decided to get a better view, taking a few steps closer to the edge before sitting down. Allowing their feet to dangle off the edge as they looked directly at the incoming horde of ants. They weren''t fearful; if they wanted a few of them could easily take control over the skies in seconds and dominate the ants. After all, it was only a small horde created out of several dozen ants, if there were several hundred or even thousands that would be another story. "So, when do you think Lachlan is going to get back?" Phoebe asked nervously. Ever since Lachlan left to journey in the other world, she''s had trouble bringing Sarah to sleep, she was constantly sad and mopping around the hut whenever she wasn''t playing with the other children. It was rather difficult taking care of Sarah singlehandedly, so she got the support of Maddie. "I reckon he should be back in a few days, maybe even a week if we were delayed. However, since it''s Lachlan I''m going to assume he would have dealt with all the issues rather quickly," Simon said grumpily as he laid back and placed his hands on the back of his head. Talking about Lachlan made him grumpy, not because he''s never won against him, but because he decided to go alone and not bring any of them with him. If it weren''t for Maddie, he would have followed right behind Lachlan. "Who knows, maybe he''ll be back tomorrow. It''s already been close to a week, and if he''s spent roughly 1 day on the continent getting himself a tame then he might even be back today. Just calm down Phoebe, it''s not like he''s going to die in there," Georgia said nonchalantly. The group had undeniable trust in Lachlan''s abilities, not to mention he wouldn''t take a fight he couldn''t win. And with the help of his eyes, he will know if he can''t take the fight. The group continued their small chatter as the ants started to get closer and closer. Now, the group was constantly keeping their eyes on the horde, even summoning their own beasts just in case Anne''s bright and brilliant idea doesn''t end up working. Finally, Chloe returned with a long piece of string acquired from the orphanage and an unused high-grade wind stone. "Here you go Anne, show us that bright idea of yours, I really hope this works out alright." Anne smiled widely as she took the stone and rope, swiftly tying it around the end of the cannon she dropped a bit of her blood of the stone and gave it very specific commands similar to the gravity stone where it was a process. Taking a few steps back she hit the trigger and the cannon fired off the shot she just placed it before Chloe arrived. The ball hurtled through the air, however, the group managed to notice that there was a faint but still noticeable shape around the ball created out of air. "Haha, surprise?" Anne asked proudly. "I commanded the wind stone to wrap wind around the ball once it passes in front of it and to take the shape of a spearhead. The direction that wind will go is along with the ball, that way, the wind can not affect to ball and it gets a pretty good power boost." The group watched as the ball sailed through the air, this time it was still rather high. Unfortunately, it was too high, the ball easily went over the horde of ants. Anne stood there motionless for a couple of seconds with her mouth agape. "Shit, I forgot to adjust the targeting system to work with the wind stone!" Anne dashed to her invention and started typing away furiously on the keyboard. The group watched silently, some attempting to hold back their laughs. Finally, the ants were roughly a hundred metres away and the group was ready to pounce on them. Anne stood back up, placed a ball into the barrel before shouting proudly, pointing towards the ant horde. "Now taste the weapon created by the hands of a genius!" The cannon fired as a ball flew out of it, the wind formed into the shape of a sharp bullet, allowing the ball to easily traverse the distance and land its first hit on an ant. With the current momentum, the ball continued forth, blasting through the bodies of ants before making it to the other side of the horde. Over a dozen ants were easily slain just then. The group nodded in approval, rather surprised by the effectiveness of the weapon. That was until they noticed the ball kept flying, going perfect through one of the mound entrances and being consumed by the cave''s darkness. A loud roar was heard before a hundred thousand ants rushed out of the caves, sprouting their wings they took to the skies and thrashed violently. Making their way towards the island at a much faster pace. And similar to those ants, the ones that were making their way to them first sped up. Anne stood their motionless holding onto the trigger. "Well, damn." 171 Angering the Queen Anne who was originally confident in her weapon was seen fleeing from the scene, the cannon floating just behind her in the air. The group watched as she ran, chuckled and then turned to the ants which were flying towards them. They numbered roughly a hundred thousand, their bodies covered their skies and if the sun was in the right position, the ants could easily blot it out. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. The group, currently standing on the edge of the island with their tames all summoned waited patiently for the ants to make it over. Simon was the first to step forward, his blood rushing through his veins at the sight of so many ants rushing towards him. "Alright, I''ll take care of them, you all can take care of any stragglers." "Huh, why do you get to take care of them? Shouldn''t I be the one taking care of them? I got the fire control," Joe asked in annoyance as Sandy snorted out a burst of fire. It looked towards the three birds and its eyes squinted. "I can just use Sandy''s special ability and they''ll all be burnt alive." "Your ability is one which pretty much heavily changes the field and increases your dog''s strength right?" Simon asked for confirmation as he didn''t turn to face Joe. He just continued looking right at the ant horde which was getting closer and closer. "Well yeah, which is why I''ll do great against them," Joe responded. Chloe shook her head. "How are you supposed to change the battlefield in the skies?" "Uh," Joe finally realised what they were getting out. He felt as though he wanted to stick his head in the ground and hide it. Joe just hadn''t fought in such a long time, nor has he used Sandy''s special ability in so long, he''s grown rather rusty in terms of fighting. "So how about you do this instead: take to the ground and head towards the large mound, once there, you''re going to activate Sandy''s special ability turn that ant mound into a lava pit. Then, you''re going to retreat a bit away and wait for the queen to come out. In which case, you and Phoebe can fight," Simon explained his plan of attack. He knew a bit about ants, they fight for their queen. So, why don''t they just send a couple of people to take off the leader''s head? "And if Sandy''s special ability doesn''t work properly, I''ll take control and get my crocodiles to flood the entire place," Chloe said as her crocodiles clapped their teeth together loudly, the four of them stood in a line, waiting for Chloe''s commands. "Alright." Joe nodded before turning to Phoebe, waiting to receive a confirmation for her agreement as well. Finally, although slightly hesitant, she agreed to the plan. Two of her turtles were behind her, waiting patiently as water appeared beneath them, lifting them a few centimetres off the ground. The two hopped down from the island, narrowly avoiding the group ants. The group on top prepared themselves, the ants just about reached them, and Simon was the one to initiate the charge, his three birds taking into the air as they dashed towards the ants. The three birds had their elements surrounding their bodies, giving them a layer of protection as they tore through the horde of ants. Fortunately, although powerful in numbers, once matched against a beast that''s leagues above them, they were easily decimated. Georgia leapt off the edge of the island, Kyle flying just a metre above her as they charged directly into the centre of the ant horde. Her wings were spread although she didn''t need them, they made her slightly more aerodynamic. Her hidden blades extending out her sleeves as she sliced through the necks and stabbed deep into the ant''s head. Kyle rushed through the crowd of ants, shadow hands extending from the shadow beneath his wings, helping him tear through any ant he might have missed by accident. Flynn stood there with the gravity stone in his hand, although he wasn''t able to fight he was at least able to watch the fight through. With the gravity stone, he was completely safe so Chloe could also fight without constantly looking back. Her crocodiles were on the edge of the island chomping violently, they couldn''t exactly do much due to them being grounded and their control over water being rather low. They waited patiently till the ants got closer to the island; when the ants landed the crocodiles dashed forward, biting firmly onto the ants'' legs before spinning their bodies vigorously, tearing the ants apart. Some ants managed to break through their first defensive line and headed for the tree line, they were swiftly halted by the group''s gravity defence system. Zoe stood behind them with her double sides war scythe, whenever she had time she would train for hours on end, learning how to wield the scythe properly without injuring herself. Her frogs were right behind her, their mouths opening slightly as they tongues glided across their lips. They were thoroughly salivating at the sight of so many delicious insects. They haven''t gotten to have a good-sized meal in so long due to them never coming across insects so high in the sky. ''Hey, keep it together. Remember, you have a limited amount of space in your bodies, don''t go attempting to swallow every single ant down, that''s now possible'' Zoe knew what they were thinking and shook her head. ''And before you even make that comment Bag, no, no you also have a limited amount of space as well.'' ''Tsk, at least I have more space in myself them these bags of fat'' Bag responded in a grumpy elderly voice, it was coarse and sounded like something that would come out of an old veteran. Currently, he was still unsummoned since he couldn''t fight. ''At least we aren''t short old man'' Venom snarked angrily in a mans as his stomach gurgled. ''Anyway, I''m off to get myself something to eat. And Zoe, don''t tell me what I can and can''t fit inside my stomach, all these ants are going to be there, and I could go into hibernation for a millennium.'' Venom jumped forward, his tongue struck out swiftly, the tip of it wrapping itself around one of the confused ants. Its eyes widened as it felt a sudden tug from behind, his whole body went along with it uncontrollably and soon his eyes were only filled with darkness. It felt something bite strongly around its abdomen before dying. Rob stood there motionless, the ants walked up to it cautiously but once they noticed it wasn''t paying attention to them, they dashed forward. Climbing around its body they began attempting to sink their fangs into his skin. Unfortunately, Rob had a high amount of strength which meant his defence was just as strong. The ants'' fangs were able to pass through even the first laying of skin. Instead, they scrapped likely on the slimy substance Rob covered himself in naturally. The ants which even just likely grazed past Rob felt their bodies weaken as their vision faded. His poisonous body was something he relied heavily upon, he didn''t even need to move and now he was a buffet of snacks just waiting for him patiently. Facing one of the corpses his tongue struck out violently, grabbing hold of the corpse''s head before dragging it through the air into its mouth. The ant''s carapace was slightly hard, but Rob''s strength was stronger. His gnawing created crunching sounds, similar to breaking dry bark. Zoe decided to finally join in on the battle once ants began to swarm her. Since their attempts at getting further into the island were futile, they may as well kill what they can. Their large bodies blocked at her vision but that didn''t bother her. The scythe lifted off the ground before spinning violently through the air, Zoe was holding it with one hand. She began walking forward, the ants pounced on her as their fangs were clamping together erratically before they had their entire head sliced off. Zoe tore through the ants on the ground singlehandedly, her scythe pierced through the air meeting its target one after the other. Chloe nodded in approval at the sight before focusing on her battle, raising her battle-axe high in the air she swung down, smashing one of the ant''s head into smithereens ¡­ Back on the ground, Joe and Phoebe were making their way to the ant mound. Their travel wasn''t ever interrupted, the beasts that would be wandering through the city had all been killed by the ants and the ants were busy dealing with the rest of the group on the island. Once reached the mound they scaled up it a bit until they reached a spot where they would think is the centre. A cave entrance was there, it was deathly silent as a haunting breeze swished out of the cave, blowing around Phoebe''s hair. "Phoebe, you wait here, I''m going in with Sandy to deal the most amount of damage," Joe said before rushing off, not allowing Phoebe to responded. Now, Phoebe stood outside the cave patiently with two of her turtles by her side. In her hands were two, 17-inch daggers. She waited patiently for another 5 minutes before the mound began to rumble and an intense heat poured out of the cave-like a thick gas. Faith covered them all with a thick layer of water before bringing them into the air with his exceptional water control. They looked down to the mound and noticed that lava began to spew from the sides, loud injured and mournful roars came from the cave. Joe dashed out the cave on top of Sandy before taking to the air, an ant claw stretched out of the cave and Phoebe''s eyes contracted. Just the girth of the claw itself was 2 metres, the roars got louder and louder as the mount began to crumble. "Joe, what did you do?" Phoebe asked loudly as Joe finally reached them in the skies. "What do you think? I obviously went for the heart of the mound, where the queen was currently laying hundreds of thousands of eggs. I couldn''t exactly let all those eggs hatch, so I got Sandy to use the special ability there," Joe explained as he took a large gulp of air. "In the end, all the eggs were broken, and the ant queen was slightly injured. Unfortunately, because it didn''t die, it''s really pissed off." Just as Joe finished his explanation the mound ruptured like a volcano, but instead of lava spewing out it was a massive queen ant. Its dark red body was roughly 25 metres long, its wingspan was about 40 metres as it hovered in the air at their height. It looked towards Joe and its eyes were filled with anger and hatred, the heat it was radiating was immense as the buildings nearby began to melt. They slowly backed away because Faith was slightly struggling to keep up its water control, the heat was causing it to boil and evaporate. "Oh boy, how are we supposed to beat that thing?" Phoebe asked loudly as she pointed towards the ant queen, her hand shaking violently. Although they were strong, just the sheer size of the beast was enough to put them off of the task. Its carapace was likely a metre or two thick, her blades weren''t able to pierce that. "Obviously, by fighting it," Joe responded nonchalantly as he whipped out his spear from his back. Its blood-red blade glistened in the sunlight. 172 Dragons Appear on the Island Joe took off, his speed swiftly approached that of the speed of sound as his spear tore through the wind, heading directly for the ant queen''s head. By attacking this way, he would make the most use out of his spears long reach rather than attempting to slowly weaken it from bodily attacks. The ant queen noticed and formed a barrier of solid flames, the heat reaching extremely levels as Joe felt as though his face was beginning to melt. He swiftly backed away, his guard still up in case the ant queen attempted to attack him while he retreated. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Fortunately, it seemed the queen was still weak from the abrupt change of environments. Although, it also seems that due to her control over the fire, she managed to survive Sandy''s special ability without much trouble either. The group on the island heard the roar, the ants seemed to have halted their attacks on the island because of it as well. For a second, the group thought that Joe and Phoebe managed to succeed, but they finally managed to get a glimpse of the other side of the ant horde. Although the mound was successfully destroyed, the ant queen was still alive and rather furious. "Tsk, seems they haven''t managed to finish it off." Simon didn''t think that sending Joe over was a bad move but that was because he didn''t know the ant queen had such good control over fire. If they sent Chloe at the beginning instead, they could have flooded the entire mound, having the same effects while killing the ant queen. "Oh well, that just means that another strong opponent appeared. So, are you planning on going over to give it a try?" Georgia asked as she floated right by him. Everyone in the group knew of Simon''s personality, especially how he always wants to challenge strong opponents. Georgia was already surprised enough to see Simon stay by the island for this long. "Nope." Simon shook his head which caused Georgia to furrow her eyebrows. "Yeah, I know it isn''t my usual character. But¡­ I''ve decided to stick this one out and leave it to Joe and Phoebe, that haven''t had a challenge in a while, maybe this can be a great reminder too that thrilling feeling of battle." "Battle junkie," Georgia remarked beneath her breath before going out a slaughtering some more ants while they were in the middle of confusion. The ants were currently confused as to what they should do. Should they continue their attack on the island? Or should they go back and help their queen? However, they''re extremely confident in their queen''s strength, that it''s enough to handle those couple of people and beasts by her. At the same time however, they''re making no progress on the island invasion, none at all, they haven''t even scratched the ones defending the island. The queen roared loudly, giving her commands to her soldiers, dispelling any confusion they had. They were to continue their attacks on the island, that way the ones currently attacking her may need to return to protect the island. Giving the queen some time to recover. The group noticed the ants all turn around simultaneously like they were all connected to each. Their wings thrashed around violently as the charged towards the island all at the same time, some of them dispatched themselves from the group to attempt to attack the island at a different angle. The group didn''t take much notice of them, they were rather confident in their gravity defence. It''s an absolute impenetrable wall unless one also has control over gravity. And considering their fight against the ants so far, it''s quite obvious that they don''t. The only thing they have is strong bites, and the smallest bit of fire control, nothing too out of hand. Back at the crumbled mound, Joe and Phoebe were both floating silently in the air at a distance from the ant queen. Their tames right behind them, waiting patiently as they readied themselves to fight. Phoebe was at a slight disadvantage, they were currently over land so they couldn''t make use of water control to the fullest. Fortunately, Sandy was still at home due to the lava spewing out of the mound. Her ability to change the terrain into a lava field is quite useful, especially since it gives her a boost in strength. While the ant was still injured, they continued the fight, Joe and Sandy at the front of the charge while Phoebe, Faith, and Hope were just slightly trailing behind. Faith was dragging it, along with Hope along the ground through its tactful water manipulation, creating a path of water just slightly ahead of them so the enemy won''t be able to predict their next move. The ant queen, noticing the group''s rapid approach slammed its claws on the ground, rupturing the land, causing a few nearby buildings to collapse as cracks were created in the ground lava spewed from beneath. This wasn''t Sandy''s lava however, rather, it was natural lava formed under the continental plates. The ants had borrowed that fire down, as a blazing hot environment makes them comfortable as well as giving them the advantage in the fight. However, due to the sudden change in the environment not to long ago caused by a special ability, the queen was unable to protect the eggs and even herself for that matter. Since she wasn''t able to control the lava of a special ability, she would use her own special ability to give herself the advantage. The group narrowly dodged the pillar of lava that spewed from the ground, Sandy''s eyes contrasted when she noticed that it wasn''t her lava and that she wasn''t able to command any control over it. ''Master, that lava is the work of the ant queen''s special ability, take precaution, she seems to possess an ability similar to mine.'' ''So that means she''s currently got a buff right?'' Joe asked the corner of his lip twitched. That ant queen using her special ability was rather surprising as it meant she was an elder, but the more annoying part was that it had a similar ability to his own tame meaning he had no more advantage. ''Yes master, however, hers is slightly more powerful due to her grade being above mine'' Sandy explained in a calm and composed voice. ''But with all of us here it shouldn''t be a problem to take her down, or at least keep her stalled until the others finish up with the ants up there.'' "Tsk, that''s annoying but I suppose I can finally get a good work out," Joe muttered faintly as he cracked his knuckles. Unlike the others which sought fights, he couldn''t be bothered and would rather wait for the fights to come to him. However, similar to the others, he enjoyed fighting. Dashing forward Joe pulled his spear back, Sandy was right behind him, keeping the heat away from him so he can follow through the with the attack. Phoebe sighed, shrugged her shoulders before following right behind him. Faith kept his control over water up, solidifying any lava that gushed from beneath them. The ant queen swung her claws towards them, they tore through the air loudly like a plane, a trail of fire followed behind it as the heat radiating from it intensified. Faith shot through the air, ramming into the claw and biting down hard. Although he might not be able to beat the ant queen in terms of elemental control, he would be able to destroy it with his defence and somewhat his strength. The ant queen was surprised by the sudden turn of events; panicking she began to rapidly fire her flames around her, they blazed intensely but Sandy cancelled out most of it for Joe while Joy did his best to protect Phoebe with his own water control and shell. She roared loudly, gaining the immediate attention of her ant soldiers. They immediately stopped what they were doing and began heading back, without a care in the world that the group on the island continued to slaughter them as they escape. "Man, this is actually getting somewhat bothersome," Simon complained as he stretched his hand. Although the ants were difficult to beat, just the sheer number of them was making it somewhat bothersome. All they saw was the ant''s carapace, they blocked out their vision from everything else which caused their minds to start playing some tricks on them. "Yeah, it''s like there isn''t an end to them, we really need a way to stop a large group of them at the same time. Seriously, how have ants not taken over half of the planet by now," Georgia complained as she wiped the blood of an ant off her hidden blades. "Unfortunate, that''s not how it works. There''s probably plenty of other races which are able to contend with them, including humans with their explosives and variety of special abilities through tames." Zoe, Chloe, and Flynn appeared right by them. There wasn''t a need to protect the island anymore since the ants were retreating. "So, what''s happening in Joe''s and Phoebe''s side of things." "Well, it seems they''ve managed to piss off the ant queen, so I reckon we should go over and actually give them some help instead of standing around doing nothing," Georgia responded. "Floated," Flynn casually corrected, getting the groups'' gaze on him momentarily as they raised an eyebrow each. "What, we aren''t standing since we aren''t on the ground. We''re floating since we''re literally floating in the air right now." "Fair enough, anyway-" Georgia was about to continue before a loud roar echoed through the area, followed by another two slightly weaker roars. They felt an oppressive aura come from the island, it wasn''t the usual aura which any of their beasts can give, it was something different. Something that seemed to want respect, akin to a king. Looking back they noticed the air above the island seemed a bit heavy, the trees were quaking as something was moving through the forests swiftly. They saw three figures, two of which were flying through the air while one was on the ground. They got closer and closer, finally, the group was able to make them out. "Well I''ll be damned, he actually managed to get himself a dragon, three of them for that matter," Simon muttered beneath his breath as he nodded with surprise. In front of them appeared three dragons, all unique in shape and colour but all possessing a similar oppressive aura. Lachlan was currently in front of them on Aaron, however, unlike the usual way of riding Aaron Lachlan was currently standing on Aaron''s back with his arms crossed and a wide grin. Getting to the edge of the island the three dragons gave off a might roar that echoed throughout the city. It was extremely intense as any remaining glass in nearby buildings shattered. 173 Hatching Three Dragons Back in the other world, before the battle. Lachlan was currently on the edge of the castle grounds, overseeing the entire ocean as small birds flew alongside the castle. By his side were the three eggs, currently unhatched due to one important reason. Lachlan was mentally preparing himself for the pain he''s about to feel through his eyes and mind, he also didn''t want to go through that pain while in the other world. He was patient and could wait the extra time for him to make it to the island. After all, so far along his return journey nothing has happened. As for taming the dragons, fortunately, before he left the Dark Dragon King informed him that the dragons in the eggs are all related despite being of different appearance. As dragons work rather differently, they don''t cross breed two different dragons to get a better one as that won''t necessarily work. Because the genes of a dragon aren''t created through taking the genes of its parents, but rather, they''re formed as they absorb the elements they''re most compatible through the air. Which is also why there''s such a variety of dragons. As for the ones Lachlan has by his side, he could judge just from the colour of the eggshell alone what they''re likely to be. One will be Earth/Rock related, One with Water, while the other will be that of Darkness and possibly Fire as well. Rubbing his hand against the top of the eggs Lachlan muttered faintly as though they could hear him through the shell. "Just a little bit more and I''ll get you out of those eggs; then you can join me and become apart of my party. Hope you get along with the others." The last bit is something Lachlan dearly hoped happened, he hoped that none of the dragons were arrogant like Catastrophe otherwise they''ll constantly fight through his mind. It would keep him up at night if that''s the case, the constant arguing about who''s stronger, Lachlan was already dreading it through his imagination. The journey continued for another few days, he kept up the speed of the island, so they aren''t too late. Fortunately, the castle is rather strong and so is its foundation. Otherwise, with the speed that they''re going at, just about every castle on Earth would have been ripped apart with only a few stones or bricks remaining. Finally, after all that time Lachlan finally managed to catch sight of the island. He had already past the island of elves along the way, this time they didn''t bother him and kept to themselves. They didn''t want to invite a calamity onto their island. The elves'' chieftain didn''t want to be the last one, he would thoroughly disappoint his ancestors if he were to be the reason their clan is annihilated. Lachlan looked at the island and sighed. Unfortunately, he was going to have to leave the castle on the island in Aaron''s world because it wasn''t able to fit through the spatial gate. Aaron enlightened him on the matter, as spatial gates can appear in all different shapes and sizes. The one which allowed for the undead dragon to bring its temple along with it was likely quite large in comparison to their spatial gate. So, he landed it carefully on the ground just outside the gate. He then turned to the eggs by his side and smiled joyfully. "Alright, I suppose it''s about time I let you all out of your eggs huh?" The eggs responded with a slight shake which made Lachlan''s eyes constrict from surprise. "Alright then, since you''re so energetic," Lachlan muttered as he placed his hand above the eggs. Using his great grip strength he pinched a bit of his finger, causing it to bleed out a few droplets of blood before healing up completely. However, that was only enough for one egg which already began to rumble. Lachlan swiftly went into action and bleed on the other two eggs so they would hatch at roughly the same time. The patterns on the dragon eggs began to light up brightly, the brown eggs caused the ground to start shaking violently as the ground began to form a bed for it. The blue eggs caused a stream of water from the ocean to rise up, it surrounded the egg, wrapping itself around it like a protective shield. Then finally, the black and red egg caused the shadows in the surrounding to warp as the temperature rose, causing the ground to melt beneath it. "Whoa, now that''s not the usual way of hatching out of eggs," Lachlan moved a few metres away to allow the eggs some more room. Also, the heat radiating from the black egg reached some extreme temperatures to the point where even he was slightly sweating. ''Seems they have some good control over the elements, maybe even better than you Aaron.'' ''Possibly, however, there''s also the chance they have unique elements as well. Take a look at the other two eggs'' Aaron replied. Lachlan turned his attention to the other two eggs, his eyes constricted at the unique sight that was happening before his eyes. The ground which was created to make a casket for the brown egg began to sprout flowers as it flourished with vegetation. The blue egg''s water had changed colours to an azure green, it glistened in the sunlight and caused the light that was emitting from the egg to shine brighter as well. After a few seconds cracks began to spread around the eggs, starting from the top, slowly making its way down before halting roughly halfway down the egg. A small, but cute roar sounded from the eggs as three heads popped out, the top of the eggshell was resting on their heads. The three baby dragons looked at Lachlan curiously, their eyes filled with wonder as they crawled out of their eggs and up to Lachlan. Similar to the Rocs, the three baby dragons rested their heads on Lachlan''s lap as their eyes looked towards Lachlan. Lachlan took a closer look at the dragons in front of him. The dragon which popped out of the brown egg didn''t have any wings, however, its body was the largest of the three as a small hill formed on its back with a bit of vegetation growing on it. Its scales were dark brown, and it stood roughly 20cm tall and 30cm long and wide. It looked similar to Earth dragons commonly seen in shows and games, with high defences. The dragon that came out of the blue egg had azure green scales, small stubs on the top of its head as its body was similar to those of Eastern mythology. Where the dragons looked more like snakes with its long body which reached 40cm long and had a girth of 20cm, around its neck was short but soft fur which formed a mane. Its arms and legs were extremely small, but its eyes were wide and pure, filled with the colour of the deep ocean. Its wings were short and almost transparent. Finally, the last dragon which came out of the black and red egg looked like those of Western mythology. Its were dark matte black, absorbing the sunlight as the patterns across its body was blood red. The underside of its body was light grey ¨C white, similar to the other two dragons as well. It had two stubs on its head as well, but rather than brown like the blue dragon''s, they were black. The dragon stood roughly 30cm tall, with a wingspan of 40cm. The spine of the win was black while the wing membrane was dark red. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Lachlan decided to give taming them a try. Since the races of this world all have unique taming methods, he might not have to dance in front of the dragons to tame them. Especially since they seem to see him as a parent now, similar to what happened with the Rocs. Wrapping his arms around them Lachlan muttered faintly, "Do you want to help me?" His vision darkened and he was brought back into what he called the soul world. Where his soul contract was to be completed with the single confirmation of the dragons. Which were all currently floating in front of him silently, staring around them in awe and wonder. Lachlan asked again as he floated over. "So, do you want to help me?" All three dragons rushed up and bumped their heads into Lachlan, it wasn''t a violent bump, rather it was more of a friendly type of bump. Something one might give to a family member which they haven''t seen in a while. Lachlan chuckled. "Alright, now let''s go ahead and choose your names." The time to decide their names was now, they looked at Lachlan curiously with wide eyes, wondering what Lachlan would choose for their names. Lachlan nodded in approval for his own choices. "Alright, the brown dragon will be called Beaumont, the blue one Lana and the black and red on will be named Orpheus." Lachlan was happy with his choice in names, they call had their meanings and were deeply related to their elements. Once the names were chosen, he was brought back into his body with the three dragons looking at him curiously, they were sniffing his clothes in search of something. Lachlan was currently undergoing the next stage for him; the tattoos had decided to be placed on Lachlan''s chest making his heart heat up. Finally, after a few more seconds and they were done. Taking off his clothes Lachlan saw three dragon tattoos on his chest, the one at the top was long and slim which went across his chest. The left side of his chest was covered by a dragon tattoo that looked similar to Orpheus while on the right side was a tattoo that looked similar to Beaumont. The baby dragons crawled up to Lachlan and began rapidly sniff at his body. Lachlan only had to think about it momentarily before realising what they were looking for; it was the blood of their parents, they needed to grow to get stronger. It seems dragons had a deep desire for strength and somehow already had knowledge of how blood increases it at the start of their lives. Lachlan swiftly disappeared from his spot, he was currently back inside the castle near the entrance, the jar of blood was located by the door. Lachlan quickly returned before opening it up, he dosed the three dragons in the blood which caused them to be slightly shaken. Their bodies began to glow as they roared with much greater force than before. Their bodies grew much larger than Lachlan had expected, slowly but surely morphing into beasts that had much larger physiques than his Rocs as well as Aaron. Finally, once it was done the three dragons were in front of him, staring at him closely. Beaumont grew to an astronomical 15 metres tall and 20 ¨C 25 metres long and wide. The hill on its back was a lot more prominent as saplings began to sprout within the thick grassy vegetation. Lana grew to 30 metres long with a girth of 2 metres, the horns on its head were shaped like antlers, its fur grew thicker creating a majestic mane which flowed gracefully in the wind. On its face, a few dozen whiskers began to sprout just above its mouth. They weren''t long, but still rather noticeable. On its back, its wings grew slightly more prominent but were still rather small in comparison to its body. Orpheus, on the other hand, grew to a height of 25 metres, its wingspan grew to roughly 40 metres. Its scales seemed to almost go to a darker shade of blade, one which seemed to want to consume the light. Its red patterns grew more vibrant as its previously cute appearance disappeared. ''Analyse'' -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Beaumont (Mountain Dragon) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Earth/Iron/Plant Grade: Normal Innate Talent: Elite Level: 0 STR: 250, AGI: 100, VIT: 500 INT: 150, PER: 150, WIL: 100 Weakness: Prideful Strengths: Earth Control (Level 7), Scale Defence (Level 7), Bite Strength (Level 6), Maximum Speed (Level 6), Iron Control (Level 6), Plant Control (Level 4), Heightened Senses, Language of the Ground, Dragon''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Orpheus (Unholy Fire Dragon) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Fire/Darkness Grade: Normal Innate Talent: Elite Level: 0 STR: 150, AGI: 250, VIT: 500 INT: 200, PER: 150, WIL: 100 Weakness: Water Attacks, Holy Attacks, Prideful, Weak & Sensitive Wing Joints & Tail Strengths: Scale Defence (Level 5), Bite Strength (Level 5), Maximum Speed (Level 6), Grip Strength (Level 5), Unholy Fire Control (Level 3), Heightened Senses, Language of the Ocean, Dragon''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Lana (Grand Sea Dragon) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Water Grade: Normal Innate Talent: Elite Level: 0 STR: 150, AGI: 250, VIT: 500 INT: 200, PER: 150, WIL: 100 Weakness: Prideful, Weak & Sensitive Wing Joints & Tail Strengths: Scale Defence (Level 5), Bite Strength (Level 5), Maximum Speed (Level 5), Swimming Speed (Level 5), Grip Strength (Level 4), Healing Water Control (Level 2), Heightened Senses, Language of the Ocean, Dragon''s Aura -------------------------------------------------------- It was indeed as Aaron said, the dragons all had unique elements. They were also all incredibly strong for adolescence, they possessed a much high level of innate talent as well. They had potential; potential to be the best beasts in the world. Now, however, Lachlan had to wait till night time to come to experience the pain. He felt a cold shudder as his back was filled with cold sweats at the thought. ''Who knows, maybe it won''t be as bad since I''ve grown so much stronger." 174 Tearing Through the Battlefield Lachlan unsummoned the dragons to make his way through the portal, their large sizes wouldn''t allow them to walk through the cave, let alone the portal. However, he was shocked to discover that the clouds were coloured by ants. Sure, they weren''t able to make it through their defences, but it was still quite a surprise to come back to. ''This is Simon''s fault isn''t it?'' Lachlan asked himself as he shook his head. There was no one else that came to mind which wouldn''t have escaped, only Simon was seeking a challenge. That is unless others just kept their desire under control and didn''t allow it to take control of their emotions until now. Looking up one more time Lachlan saw Anne fly past and trailing right behind her was a cannon looking weapon. Lachlan had an expression of genuine surprise plastered across his face. ''Well, that was certainly unexpected, did think she was the type that''s bloodthirsty for battles. But anyway, suppose I should help clean this mess up.'' Lachlan swiftly summoned all of his tames, their appearance surprised those in the orphanage. Everyone was currently hiding inside, staring at the window at the large ant horde above them. But when Lachlan made his way outside of the cave, they all turned their attention to him instead. Their mouths were agape when Lachlan summoned all of his tames, especially the three new tames, three large and mighty dragons. Their appearances rocked their world and their steps literally rocked the ground, causing the building to shake slightly. ''Alright, we''re going to make our way over to the main battlefield'' Lachlan explained as he hopped on Aaron. The dragons looked at each other before nodding, Orpheus spread his wings wide, casting a shadow upon the mountain as they thrashed downwards. A gust of wind blew from them, shaking tree leaves as he took to the skies. Luna followed right behind, her silky body slid across the ground before taking it into the skies using the slightest bit of water control to help her stay in flight. Beaumont grumbled in annoyance before starting to run, its large body caused the ground to shake at every step. It charged through the trees like they were nothing, its defence allowed it to do so without any backlash. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. The Rocs flew all around them, each of them keeping an eye on one dragon. They were analysing their new comrades, they needed to know how they do things so they can cooperate properly once they''re on the field. Also, to get the advantage when they challenge them. The group swiftly made it to the edge of the island before halting, Beaumont was still on the island. Looking looked at it as though it was slightly idiotic. ''Beaumont, what are you doing? I know you have wings, if that wasn''t the case, I wouldn''t have been able to tame you.'' Lachlan wasn''t an idiot, he knew that he wouldn''t have been able to tame Beaumont unless he had wings. If he didn''t, then taming him would have been impossible no matter what he did. That''s just the way human taming works, you can only take what you''re compatible with. ''Oh, I didn''t know that, also, I''d rather keep my wings as a trump card to our enemies'' Beaumont explained in a deep and masculine voice, it almost sounded as though it echoed through Lachlan and the other tames'' minds. It was unique, almost like an ancient sage despite being adolescence. Lachlan nodded. ''Alright, since you want to keep it a secret, I won''t have you show it. But; if you''re not going to fly, I suppose the only other viable method of getting to the main battlefield will be by just jumping off the island.'' Lachlan didn''t want to force his tames to do anything they didn''t want to do, especially since it had a rather decent reason. ''Okay,'' Beaumont replied before leaping off the island''s edge without hesitation. Its body pierced through the air like an asteroid, the wind created a loud ripping sound as Beaumont headed towards the group at a fast pace due to its body weight. Finally, once he reached the ground, Beaumont landed and caused it to shatter. Cracks spread across the ground as entire chunks of land were ripped out of their normal position. Any buildings that were still standing near their island completely crumbled away. Lachlan facepalmed as he didn''t think Beaumont would do it. With Beaumont''s control over elements, it should have been able to easily soften its land, maybe even take a chunk of land out of the island and use it to levitate downwards. But Lachlan didn''t bother to question him about it. Once Beaumont reached the ground he charged forward rapidly, his steps caused the ground to crumble but flourish at the same time. Where there was dirt, once Beaumont passed nearby it began to sprout grass and sometimes flowers. Luna and Orpheus tore through the skies; Luna''s slick body skimmed past the ants, but the roughness of her scales tore through their bodies like a hot butter knife through butter. Orpheus, on the other hand, just tore through them by using his mouth and claws, tearing them apart of biting them in half. In the distance, the group was watching everything happened and were thoroughly surprised by how large the dragons were. Not only that, they could feel for themselves that the power the dragons wield was enormous and was comparable to their own strength. Due to it travelling across the ground, Beaumont''s charged was unchallenged; that was until he finally reached the main battlefield and charged at the already injured ant queen. Its body tore through the air as it leapt off the ground, its mouth encased the ant queen''s head before chomping down firmly and swiftly. The group watched it happened with their mouth agape, shock plastered across their face as they saw how swiftly Beaumont killed the ant queen. An opponent which even they had slight difficulties with; it was so easily beaten, and Beaumont didn''t even have a scratch on him. In the skies, Luna and Orpheus were tearing up the now clueless ants. Once the ant queen was killed, they were unsure of who to proceed with anything. They were left defenceless without the orders of their ant queen; slowly but surely the ant horde dispersed with a majority of it being killed by Luna and Orpheus who used their elemental control to slaughter them all. "Hey, as you can see, I''ve tamed a few dragons." Lachlan reached the ground in the sky, still standing on Aaron with his arms crossed. "That big behemoth of a dragon on the ground is Beaumont, the one which looks like a Chinese dragon is Luna, and the big one which looks like a demon is Orpheus." Orpheus looked towards the group in the skies and snorted, smoke burst out of its nose when it did it. Luna made her way over, she floated in front of the group and stared at the people her master called friends. She swiftly noticed who the stronger ones were before turning her attention to Phoebe and Joe who were making their way over. Phoebe charged into Lachlan''s embrace with a bright and warm smile, she wrapped her arms around Lachlan''s masculine body and hugged tightly. "I''m glad you''re back, seems you journey on the other side wasn''t so bad either." Phoebe let go and floated over to Luna, her hand glided across Luna''s scales before brushing through Luna''s silky and thick blue hair. "She''s a beautiful dragon, I like her the most." ''Master, I like this one the most, she''s friendly and certainly knows how to use her words. Also, she''s rather cute'' Luna responded in a calm and composed feminine voice. It was a gentle tone, akin to professional singers. ''Ha, I like the one with that battle-axe the most; a weapon only a true warrior would choose to showcase their power without even attack'' Orpheus intervened with his rough but medium pitched voice. He sounded like a soldier while Beaumont sounded like the general. ''I like the girl the most as well, her tames all possess great defensive power, they''re true warriors that use their bodies as shields'' Beaumont responded with pride as he looked towards the two turtles floating around the sky. They all had a similarly shaped body to him, which is the only reason as to why he liked them so much. ''Alright, all of you can come back now. Aaron, Catastrophe, Calamity, and Disaster that includes you four as well'' Lachlan commanded as they turned into a shadow and merged with Lachlan''s. The dragon''s shadows were all rather large in comparison to all the other shadows they''ve seen so far. "So, how has everyone been so far? How''s business been running?" Lachlan asked in a friendly manner as he floated in the air with his arms crossed. "Oh yeah, I also have something to show you all later, it''ll be a great surprise. As for now though, let''s go back to the island." They all nodded before going back, Lachlan along with Phoebe made their way to the orphanage. Once they landed, Sarah burst through the doors and sprinted to Lachlan, charging right into Lachlan''s guts with all her momentum. "Welcome back!" Lachlan chuckled as he lifted Sarah up and held her in one arm. "That''s right, I''m back see there wasn''t anything to worry about now was there?" Sarah shook her head vigorously. "Nope, because big brother is strong." "Haha, that''s right," Lachlan brought Sarah closer and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Alright, prepare yourself because later we''ll be going to the other world and taking a look at the thing I brought back." "Okay," Sarah nodded before jumping out of Lachlan''s arms and running back into the orphanage. She was currently hanging out with Sophie and a few other children, Maddy and a few other parents were there overseeing the whole thing so it was entirely safe. Looking towards the usual tree Lachlan noticed Dylan was relaxing on the same branch as always. Lachlan turned to Phoebe, "I''ll be right back, just going to check up on a friend." He disappeared from his spot after saying that before reappearing right next to Dylan. "Well, how have you been so far?" Lachlan asked as he squatted down. Dylan was one of the first people he became friends with after the world evolved, not to mention he was a close family friend as well. Lachlan saw Dylan as another family member. "Things have been going great: The parents are now inviting me to any barbeques and parties, I''m having a blast just relaxing up here with that wind stone you gave me a while back, and yeah, things are just going good," Dylan responded with a bright smile. Lachlan was glad to hear that Dylan has finally managed to merge himself with the parents. He was also happy to see Dylan smile like he is right now, he hasn''t seen such a smile in a long time, it brought some joy to his heart seeing him doing so well. "That''s great, just keep doing what you''re doing; soon we''ll probably start bringing in more people as we start up the school program, who knows, maybe you''ll find yourself a partner. Also, just a suggestion before they do arrive, you should start training intensely, that way no students should pass you immediately, you don''t want to be powerless if they decide to initiate a prank attack now do you?" Lachlan asked as he explained his plans. They were going to start up the school sooner or later, so he saw no setback in starting it now. "Ha, I''ll get on that then, who knows, maybe I''ll be passing you in terms of strength," Dylan said jokingly as he lightly punched Lachlan''s arm. "Once the school stuff starts, I wouldn''t mind being in charge of discipline, after all, someone has to keep the students in line." "Alright, I''ll leave that to you then," Lachlan said as his voice faded away with his disappearance. Lachlan returned to Phoebe and Sarah, along with Maddy and Sophie burst through the doors. "Alright, seems everyone is ready then. Let''s go." The rest of the group was with them as well, they were currently doing small talk with each to waste the time before they go have a look at what Lachlan brought back. They had their expectations raised fairly high seeing how proud Lachlan was of it. 175 Groups Reaction and New Machine Lachlan led the group through the cave, they constantly looked back to see where the spatial gate was before noticing the entrance just disappear. It didn''t fade away or anything; just straight up disappeared from their sight without making any noises or them having any trouble with their awareness. "Alright, just follow me and you''ll see our new base in this world," Lachlan replied before making an immediate turn to the path they went around the portal. The group followed, staring to their side to see if they could notice any changes in the cave that would show them the spatial gate. Unfortunately, just like Lachlan had experienced, there was nothing noticeable despite them knowing that there was a spatial gate. It was completely invisible, even though Aaron explained to him that it was a tear in space, something unnoticeable by the naked eye, it was still hard to believe that a tear in space was invisible. The group shrugged it off and continued walked, after walking for a while they finally managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel, followed by a clear blue sky. Walking outside the cave they were all blasted by the ocean breeze, its saltiness filled their nose. "What the hell, so this world still has small beasts," Georgia remarked as she pointed towards a flock of birds. They were flying through the air, bundled together similarly to how the birds before the evolution on Earth flew. "Whoa, what the hell is that!" Simon remarked loudly as he pointed towards the bottom of the mountain. Lachlan had decided to park the castle at the bottom of a mountain, however, due to its large size and vibrant splendour it didn''t take long for the group to notice it. "What do you think it is? It''s obviously our new bases in this world," Lachlan explained as he took to the air and slowly drifted down towards the castle. The group followed right behind, attracted to the glorious look of polished marble as well as the gold lining and embedded gems. It was a castle fit for a king, no less than the ruler of the world. "Where the hell did you get it? Surely you''re not going to say that you stole it from a king, right?" Simon asked curiously. Obviously, castles don''t just build themselves, they''re created by someone or something to provide shelter to people and showcase wealth and power to rulers. Lachlan faintly chuckled as he grabbed onto his hips. "You''re actually spot on. I stole this from the Dragon King, one of the strongest inhabitants of this land alongside the Dark Dragon King, Demon King, and Elven King. However, the Dragon King is the only one amongst them that have such a lavish castle." Lachlan had learnt that elves, although arrogant, don''t use their wealth to create such castles. Instead, they spend their wealth on certain types of wood which can be used for both defensive measures, along with special training. Granted, that''s for a majority, there is a small minority which seems to like boasting about their wealth. As for dwarves, they all live underground, beneath one of the largest mountains in the entire world. The number of resources beneath that could create enough machinery for the entire world; however, they keep everything to themselves due to some of their habits. Once they set sight of a goal, they''ll never give it up, using any resource they can get their hands on to further their progress. However, it''s due to this habit that they became one of the most feared races, with machinery which allows them to annihilate entire kingdoms. Their firepower akin to nuclear bombs without the leftover radiation. The group''s mouth as left agape from Lachlan''s explanation before they swiftly shook their heads and brought themselves back into reality. "So, is that how you were able to get those dragons? By stealing from the dragon king?" Lachlan nodded with a wide smile. "Yup, by defeating the Dark Dragon King, the one dragonkin in charge of their dragon kingdom''s defences. I was able to get the dragon eggs as well as the entire castle, along with all the other treasure the Dragon King stole from the other races." Lachlan had already looked through the stuff stolen by the Dragon King, some of which are rare materials stolen from the dwarven kingdom, it precious woods and water from the pixie elven kingdom. There was also a variety of other stuff, so much so, that Lachlan was surprised the Dragon King wasn''t killed already. Simon looked at Lachlan with a suspicious expression. "Doesn''t that mean that every other race in this world wants us dead? You did just take all their treasures you know?" "Yeah I know, but they don''t know where we are, so I see no problem in it," Lachlan explained with a nonchalant tone of voice as he shrugged his shoulders. Sure, he did just steal from every other kingdom, but Lachlan wouldn''t expect them to go after some who managed to defeat the Dragon King. The Dragon King who just so happened to infiltrate their kingdoms and steal their most precious resources. Not to mention he was informed by the Dark Dragon King that no race put any sort of tracker on their precious treasure entirely due to the fact that they never thought they would need to. Such as the Dragon King''s castle, which although had some strong defences, it didn''t have layer after layer of defences when it clearly could have. Now, however, almost any item of value to a country is layered in trackers and guarded heavily. "Are you certain about that?" Phoebe asked as she got closer to Lachlan''s face, to the point where he could feel her breath. She was absolutely terrified when Lachlan told her that a lot of races'' precious treasures are here, some of which they would start a war with another country over. "Yes, I''m certain about that. I''m also sure the Dragon King won''t come looking either, likely being held back by the Dark Dragon King." Lachlan then went on to explain the relationship between the Dragon King and Dark Dragon King along with their strengths. "So are there elves here?" Joe asked curiously as he closed upon Lachlan''s face. Everyone shook their heads, it was more than obvious as to why Joe was asking such a question. However, they were also rather curious as to what other intelligent races are in this world. "Yup, there''s a variety of elves along with dwarves, dragonkin, demons, and humans. Granted, the humans have been wiped out due to them killing each other," Lachlan explained before going on about how the towns and cities are completely abandoned. "Damn, so they really have just become mindless brutes huh?" The group shook their heads with disappointment. Although they were informed of how the humans evolved in Aaron''s world, it was still disappointing to have it fully confirmed. "Oh well, let''s go down to the castle, I want to have a look at what some of those treasures can do," Simon said before leaping off the mountain. Using his gravity stone he glided down the side of the mountain, just a couple metres away from it. The group swiftly followed along. It didn''t take long for them to reach the castle and see its glorious splendour up close. When they were there Lachlan informed them of the castle''s defences, especially of the wall. Immediately a few of them went up to punch it with all their might. They only did the same, if not less amount of damage than Lachlan. A small hole with some cracks spreading around it. They were all surprised with it, it was the first time they came across a defence that their strength couldn''t break through after all. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "Maybe we should get Anne to analyse this stuff, maybe we could create a wall with whatever is used to enchant this wall. After all, we already got the framework," Chloe suggested as he lightly brushed the palm of her hand against the wall. The group agreed, if there was one person amongst all inhabitants of the island that would be able to analyse this wall, it would be Anne. Not to mention that once she sets her eyes on a goal, she''ll continue researching until she reaches that goal. "You know what, I reckon Anne could get along with the dwarves with her personality," Lachlan remarked as he nodded his head. Considering how similar they were, Anne could basically merge into the dwarven society, researching and creating masterful weapons. And with the unique resources and machinery that the dwarves have, Anne would have a field day just testing things out. "Who knows, maybe we can toss her into the dwarven society right now," Joe said jokingly but received a few serious nods of approval. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I''m joking. Anne is the only researcher on the island researching weapons as of now. All the other researchers are looking at beasts'' corpses and unique plants." "And that''s exactly why it isn''t such a bad idea to put her with the dwarves. They are weapon fanatics, creating things that would allow Anne''s view of weapons broaden," Flynn responded as he nodded. "Then, once she returns, as long as we have the materials, Anne can go wild with creating weapons and defences." "No, we won''t be needing to do that," Lachlan said with a broad smile. "After all, the Dragon King did steal quite a bit from the dwarves, we can just have Anne research all of the stuff stolen in the castle. I reckon she''ll be able to come up with a few ideas, just like how she came up with that cannon looking thing." The group awkwardly laughed at Lachlan bringing up Anne''s weapon. Although it worked in the end, it was also the reason they had to fight against so many ants. If not for it perfectly shooting through one of the caves, they likely would have only had to fight against the small couple dozen ant horde that was initially coming towards them. The group stopped talking and walked into the treasury, they looked at the showcase of different weapons from all the races. Precious woods, plants, and bows were stolen from the elves; random weapons and complicated bits of machinery were stolen from dwarves; while Drate took all the demon treasures. Inside another room was something that Lachlan had trouble processing with his eyes. It wasn''t a weapon or precious resource, it was an extremely complicated machine created by the dwarves. If Lachlan were to compare it to something on Earth, it would be a Mecha. Granted, Lachlan was unsure as to whether or not this one created by dwarves had to ability to go into space. However, since it was created by dwarves, it likely had some serious firepower. The only problem was the cockpit; since it was created by dwarves, the cockpit was only fit for one dwarf. Even Lachlan, who was constantly reminded of how small he was, wasn''t able to fit in it. It required someone roughly 3''0 ¨C 4''0. "Could I fit in it?" Sarah suggested out of the blue. The group was rather surprised by Sarah''s suggestion, she wasn''t wrong, she fit the requirement quite nicely. Granted, she wasn''t bulky like all dwarves, but she did have the height requirement. "Sure, give it a go," Lachlan said as he opened it up by pressing a button by the side of the cockpit. He had a few days to himself where he just tested everything in the castle out. It came by no surprise that he knew how to open up the Mecha. Placing Sarah inside he strapped her in before closing the cockpit. "Alright Sarah, gently press down on the pedal by your foot," Lachlan commanded loudly, making sure Sarah could hear him. Sarah nodded through the glass and gently pressure the pedal, the mecha started to rumble and shake as the dust that collected on it began to fall off. 176 Extraordinary Firepower The large mecha''s leg lifted up, the group watched with wide eyes as Sarah took a step forward in the mecha. Its step shook the ground beneath its weight. Once the dust was finally shaken off it revealed the real splendour of the mech created by Dwarves. It was created with a special alloy, only available to those of the dwarven society. Through its limbs were thick cable wires, glowing a bright blue as they transferred energy throughout the body. The engine produced energy by gathering the elemental essences in the air, condensing it and refining it to be put into use. "Big brother! What do you I now?" Sarah asked loudly through a microphone, her voice echoed through the castle as it bounced off the walls. She was currently extremely flustered, unsure of how to proceed since she didn''t understand how to use the mech. "Just keep walking, one pedal after the other until we get outside!" Lachlan shouted, leading them through another passage which is usually used only by the Dragon King. The Dark Dragon King opened to passage permanently, it allowed for the mech to narrowly pass through and get out. Once outside, they stood on the edge of the castle, staring at the thick forest in front of them. Lachlan turned back to look at Sarah. "Alright, Sarah! By your side, there should be a lever and a button attached to the end of the lever! Pull the lever up, then press the button! Make sure not to do it the other way around!" If Lachlan wasn''t mistaken that was how to bring out the weapon on the mech. Lachlan didn''t have a clue as to how powerful it was, but now he could see it firsthand in action. Hopefully, they aren''t in the blast radius. Sarah listened to Lachlan and began fumbling around in the cockpit, she pulled the lever on her right side and the right arm lifted up. She smiled joyfully before jumping around in her chair with excitement, then looking at her Big Brother she got a thumbs up to indicate the go. Sarah pressed the button and loud noises started being produced from the arm, her legs started to morph shape and split into two. The new back legs dug deep into the ground, then a pike came out from the mech''s back and shot straight into the ground as well. The arm had finally finished changing shape, it looked akin to an arm cannon as shown in cartoons. "Run behind the mech!" Lachlan had a bad feeling seeing how much preparation was in one use. He swiftly disappeared from his spot and appeared behind the mech. The other quickly got the memo and retreated as well. Lachlan created aa transparent but thick sheet of ice in front of them. The blue glow that was previously transferring throughout the entire mech began to gather at the right arm, condensing more and more as it created a light beam directed to where the arm cannon is pointing. Finally, after another 5 seconds, the attack was released. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. *Boom!* A dark blue ball of energy shot out the arm cannon, its size expanded to have a radius of 6 metres. It tore through the forest like it was paper, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its wake. Even the thickest of trees were smash through without giving the energy ball any resistance. Finally, after tearing through so much of the forest it reached the ocean and glided across its surface. Creating a tide similar to a speedboat. It kept going forward until the group was no longer able to see it. Then, after another minute a sound echoed through the island and shook it to its core. A large mushroom of matte black smoke could be seen in the distance, a pillar of water burst upwards along with the explosion. The group''s eyes constricted as Phoebe summoned Faith; seeing the situation Faith didn''t even need to be told to use his special ability. Creating a dome-like shield around them. A tsunami towered over the dome, to the point where it left the island submerged underwater. Fortunately, the protective dome wasn''t so weak and was large enough to protect all the important parts of the island. Including the farm inside the mountain. After a minute or so the water began to return to its usual peaceful state, returning to how it was before the attack. Sarah sat in the mech motionless with wide eyes, her hands slightly shaking as she released her grip from the lever. The group behind her also stared at the damage. Most of the island was thoroughly destroyed, and the higher parts of the mountain which were above Faith''s protective dome had already eroded. The threes, torn from the ground were smashed all across the island. A few aquatic beasts left by the ocean waters laid on the ground. Some of them that had limbs swiftly made their way back to the ocean while those that were limbless were left to die. Some of those limbless ones were fortunate enough to land in the stream, but not all of them were as fortunate as those. Lachlan quickly hopped into the mech and released Sarah from it, holding her in one arm he jumped back down. "Are you alright Sarah? That attack didn''t do anything to your body did it?" Lachlan was frantically glossing over Sarah''s body. Sarah, slightly embarrassed by what Lachlan was doing pushed his head away. "Don''t worry big brother, I''m completely fine." Sarah used her adorable voice to calm Lachlan''s worries, he immediately brought her closer to his chest and hugged her tightly. "Alright, but just remember, if you feel anything wrong don''t be afraid to speak up," Lachlan whispered into Sarah''s ear before bringing her onto his shoulders. Lachlan didn''t want anything to happen to Sarah, he especially doesn''t want anything to happen if he can clearly prevent it. "Mm," Sarah muttered faintly as she nodded. "Alright, so, now that we know this thing''s firepower, how about we go and get Anne to start researching it?" Lachlan suggested casually with a bright and joyful smile. "Who knows, maybe Anne will figure out a way to produce more of them once we give her enough time with it." The group nodded in agreement. Anne was certainly the most capable when it comes to technology and research in general. Just the fact that she was able to come up with a weapon that works with gravity and wind stones after a few weeks to months. Who knows what she could come up with if they were to leave her researching the mech for half a year, maybe even a full year? Walking back through the portal Anne was already standing there at the cave entrance, she was eagerly waiting for Lachlan''s return. "So, what did you find on the other side? Do you have any souvenirs to show me? Any unique metals or equipment?" She was excited to find out about Lachlan''s return as it meant that he should have returned with goodies. Anne knew Lachlan wouldn''t come back with just some dragons, he should have come back with a few more things along with them. "Sure do, take this." Lachlan reached for his neck and took off the necklace that translated languages immediately. "This is a necklace that possesses the ability to automatically translate any language spoken to the wearer. And along with this, if you go through the portal, turn to your immediate right and follow the path outside the cave, you should be able to see a castle at the bottom of the mountain." "Now, that castle is heavily fortified with strong defences even we would have trouble breaking through with our strength. Along with that is a mech, currently located on the edge of the castle''s perimeter it possesses firepower akin to a nuclear bomb without the radiation side effect," Lachlan explained as Anne''s eyes grew brighter and brighter. "Aside from that, inside the castle''s treasury, there are a few other precious items that possess unique properties. Now, have fun researching them." "Oh, this is a dream come true!" Anne shouted as she flew through the cave. She felt as though her youth was coming back to her when she heard all the things she''s able to research. ''If only I had some more time to research as well.'' Looking at Anne''s fleeting back they noticed her suddenly vanish through the spatial gate. Lachlan clasped his hands together while Sarah held onto his head tightly. "Alright, suppose we should get back to business. We should probably begin our whole academy plan as well. Since I have a dragon that''s able to control iron, we''ll be able to speed up the construction process." "Alright, I''ll go get some help from the orphanage while you go to the place you want to build the academy," Chloe suggested as she walked into the orphanage. They had been planning for the academy for a while, the only issue is the actual training facilities and rooms. Obviously, they aren''t going to have it decked it with advanced technology, but nor were they going to make it out of dirt. They needed room, they needed materials, and they needed helpers. Granted, unlike most academies which would have a focus on researching beast corpses. The academy they''re planning on creating will have the purpose of training their students into strong explorers and soldiers. That way, even if they were to leave this world either by accident through a temporary spatial gate or through death. They''re confident that the graduates that''ll come out of this academy will have the abilities to protect humanity from extinction, that''s the goal. That''s the very least Lachlan wanted to do in his mother''s name. Granted, he and his group don''t plan on leaving Earth any time soon. But it''s better to be prepared for a street fight than underprepared for a war. Not to mention there are likely other half breeds like Lachlan wandering the surface of the Earth. Likely all planning for the extinction of humanity and the destruction of the planet. Lachlan isn''t any justice warrior but keeping the planet he lives on safe is just basic logic. He doesn''t want to see humanity disappear from Earth similarly to the humans of Aaron''s planet. Even if it means getting his hands soaked in blood. 177 Beginning of Academy Construction The group was currently on the island, making their way to the capital of Georgia, Atlanta. Although it was unfortunate that they weren''t able to set up camp in Montgomery, it was still some rather valuable experience fighting against such a large horde of beasts. Lachlan''s eyes had undergone their next evolution which almost sent Lachlan to death''s gate. He felt as though his mind was separating from his body and getting torn apart over and over again. However, now he''s able to see the evolution paths of beasts. ------------------------------------------------------- Name: Calamity (Blue Lightning Roc) Age: Adolescence Attribute: Wind/Rock/Lightning Grade: Normal Innate Talent: 1st Grade Level: 10 STR: 308(+25), AGI: 309(+25), VIT: 150(+5) INT: 72(+15), PER: 69(+10), WIL: 127(+10) Weakness: Frail Wing Joints Strengths: Maximum Speed (10), Grip Strength (Level 6), Lightning Control (Semi-Awaken) Evolutionary Paths: Normal to Good (18) -------------------------------------------------------- The number by the evolutionary paths was the number of paths one could follow to evolve the beast. Unfortunately, the materials required for all of Lachlan''s tames to evolve were things they currently didn''t have. However, Lachlan knew he wanted to evolve the Rocs first since they''re the easiest. And for the path Lachlan wants to evolve the Rocs, there''s a variety of paths that Lachlan''s going to choose from, the paths chosen will be best suited for the Rocs personality as well as their fighting style. However, he first needs to get his hands on the materials first before he even thinks about evolving them. As of now, the group were currently standing in front of a large gathering of trees, getting ready to begin their build of the academy grounds. The purpose behind the academy is to create strong individuals that''ll help protect humanity as well as bring them valuable reputation. Strong individuals don''t come from dirt, they''re found and raised by the hands of masters. And once their first batch of graduates heads out into the world, they''ll showcase the abilities of the academy and gain the attention of the entire world. Once that''s done, people would be dying to send their families and even themselves to train at the academy. However, the group themselves don''t want to train a bunch of people with some shabby buildings. They had to make sure the buildings were recognised for their uniqueness and stability, having the abilities to endure the full-powered punch of any new student. They were currently going to use some trees to create the walls of the academy. And along with Beaumont''s help this was a piece of cake, controlling the nearby trees he gathered them to create a wall around a large square, the square was roughly 60 metres long and wide. This was going to be the academy dorms. Standing by one of the sides Lachlan covered his broadsword in a layer of ice, holding the tip against the bark of the tree Lachlan began to push with all his force, slowly slicing into the tree. The ice extended ever so slightly off the blade''s edge and created a much thinner and sharper edge. He continued to pierce through the wood and carve out large chunks from the tree, then, slowly but surely, he finally managed to make his way through the tree and reach beyond the wall. A large, open area with a length and width of 60 metres. The rest of the group piled in a looked around in astonishment, it was rather dark inside the space due to the large treetops blocking at the bright sunlight. However, just from the space alone, if they were to make the building consist of just rooms alone, they could have225 rooms on one floor, each having 4x4m room in each of them. However, considering the height of the trees they could have 100 floors. Thereby having 22500 rooms for that many students. Not to mention, if they wanted to it wasn''t an understatement to say they could place two students in one room. Of course, the group was thinking of having much larger rooms and the higher one is in terms of strength the higher in the dorm you''ll be placed. With the strongest student getting placed at the top, they''ll have a nice view of the island alongside a comfortably large living area. It''ll certainly be a motive for some of the students. Especially if they were to make the lower dorms complete trash in comparison. Gathering together the group began to plan everything on the ground, planning out the rooms and how they were going to be set out. Where the things are going to placed and what utilities they''re going to be given. They''ll also obviously need a place to clean themselves after a hard day of training. Not to mention they''ll need some places to let out some steam and relax. Very soon, the entire construct of the academy was lightly planned. Although they haven''t gone into great detail of anything, they were currently only in the process of building the dorms so everything else can wait momentarily. "Hey, just wondering but why don''t we build better houses for ourselves?" Zoe asked as her face scrunched up to show her confusion. "I mean sure, we''ve been living in the huts for quite some time, but we have the capabilities to make much better living areas for ourselves. Not to mention, it''ll look quite weird if a student were to see what we were living in comparison to their dorm. "I suppose you have a point," Lachlan said faintly as he shook his head from side to side. "Granted, I don''t have any idea what purpose a large or fancy house would hold. Though I suppose I wouldn''t mind living at the top of the tree, walking outside to that beautiful view of the world as well as the sunset and sunrise." "Well, in a similar fashion I suppose we could create dorms for ourselves at the top of the tree. We''ll all have one part of the dorm to ourselves to do whatever we want. We can decorate it, renovate it, whatever," Flynn joined in on the conversation at the suggestion of making better living areas for themselves. He too had considered it from time to time but never really found the reason to. He was used to living in slightly cramped places, not to mention the warm and cosy feeling tight spaces give to a happy family. So, instead of bringing up the matter he just remained silent and eventually, it went to the back of his mind. "How about this, since you''ve already worked out the plans for the academy you turn to the centre of the island and plan out our new houses. Too bad we can''t bring that castle over, now that would be a nice as well as intimidating house to show off to the students," Joe explained to Flynn. Flynn nodded before leaving the group, he didn''t have anything else to do so he might as well start planning out their new place. Left with nothing but a large spacious area the stood walked around wondering and analysing every little bit of the place. Lachlan would use his control over rocks and dirt to level it out so that they can have a flat foundation. Then, by adding pressure through gravity stones the foundation became extremely sturdy. "Alright, that''s about all we can do right now, we don''t really have the materials to build a dorm room," Lachlan said as he clapped his hands together, brushing off the dust as he walked out. Currently, because it was a rather spontaneous decision the group didn''t have all the materials needed to build the dorm. They were only able to plan it out and create designs. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Fortunately, they should be able to buy the test of the materials in the next city and possibly get themselves some students as well. The group was curious as to how many students they could get, after all, when someone becomes a student, they won''t be able to leave the island to return back home for years. Granted, that''s only the case if the student doesn''t have a way to get home, if they do then there are no issues for them. "Hey, so although this is going to be some type of training academy, what''s the age limit on the students? Also, what are some of the rules they''ll have to abide by once in the academy? And when would kick them out for failing?" Joe asked a few questions that did actually need answers if they wanted to make the academy a real thing. "We don''t really need an age limit, we could, however, create different campuses depending on the student''s age. That way, you won''t have a bunch of old paedophiles getting close to the younger students. Then for some rules, I suppose we could just have some basic ones: No fighting, no stealing, show everyone respect, and what else? Also, I don''t think we should kick anyone from failing at the beginning, maybe when we have more students but not right now," Chloe started answering the questions with what she thinks should happen. "I agree with the first part but disagree with some of the rules," Joe interjected before explaining his opinion. "Sure, those rules would have been quite good if this were before the evolution, but we need strong people now. So, how about we allow fighting to a certain degree. We''ll create a space for any students to fight each other, that way, if there are any problems, they can settle it with a good old fistfight. However, any fights that happen without permission will result in a punishment. So, how about that?" "That works, we''ll also hold a tournament once a year to determine where everyone lives, the students will fight alongside their beasts to determine the winner. Now, yes, this is extremely unfair to students that don''t have a tame but that''s reality, a hungry beast isn''t going to wait for you to tame something before fighting it," Lachlan explained his more extreme thoughts. "Of course, with the help of Researchers United, we will be raising beasts for students to tame. Maybe we can even have the stronger more unique beasts as rewards for the winners." "Emm, then we''ll need to have a fairly large breeding grounds, otherwise we won''t have nearly enough beasts. Not to mention that everyone has different compatibilities, we''ll also need to have a large variety of beasts," Zoe explained shyly in a faint voice. "I mean, it isn''t that hard to just go down and pick up some beasts. We''ll just need the right cages for them," Lachlan explained to Zoe. "As for the compatibilities, that won''t be a problem, we have so much room on this island to create an area designated for each type of beast. Then, through the use of gravity stones, we should be able to create little pens for them all." "Huh, I suppose you''re right," Zoe muttered beneath her breath. "But what about the students themselves? Are we going to choose a beast for them or are we going to allow them to choose a beast for themselves? I feel like we should do the latter, that way no one would be annoyed at what they''re given." "Yeah, we''ll do that," The group agreed to Zoe''s idea and slowly, through their chatting they managed to formulate a plan for the academy that just might work. The only problem now is that they''ll need people to teach the students how to fight. Sure, they can teach them somewhat, but they just rely on their overpowered stats to overwhelm every beast they come across. And along with their weapons, they''re basically untouchable. However, that won''t work the same for students who are still rather weak. "We could just try to find some martial arts instructor at the next city, there will surely be one somewhere amongst the crowd. Maybe even amongst the explorers," Lachlan suggested. The group nodded before leaving the grounds and relaxing. Lachlan was currently resting on a tree branch just outside the orphanage. ''Ha, suppose this student of yours is going to become a teacher, Alfredo.'' 178 Atlanta, Georgia Standing by the side of the island, their legs dangling off the edge of the wooden wall, the group could be seen overseeing the entirety of Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia. Unlike Jackson which was covered by an ant mound, Atlanta was still fine and flourishing, surrounded by a thick concrete wall. On the wall towers, there were large turrets attached to it. A few people were by it at all times, constantly monitoring its condition and maintaining peak performance. Although it''s been peaceful for a few months, people can never be sure when a beast will go wild and attack. Maybe even an intelligent beast might decide to migrate into an area nearby. Atlanta was one of the most heavily armoured cities in America despite it not being one of the most heavily populated. The Land Guardians and Sky guardians both had a base here with plenty of soldiers and equipment, Atlanta was where one of their headquarters were. Some of the other headquarters were based in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and Moscow. The most heavily populated cities in the world along with having strong explorers and intelligent researchers. Las Vegas is where the headquarters of Researcher''s United is located as well as the other half-human. While Hong Kong is the has the headquarters of the Explorers Guild, having a council of high-level martial artist at the head with groups of martial artists beneath them. Not to mention all the beast tamers, some strong and some weak. Being ranked similarly to certain games and books. The turrets changed their targets, all of them faced the island with their thick barrels as the people by its side were slightly panicking. Some of them calling up someone in a rush as their faces were slightly red. Finally, once getting the confirmation from their superiors the turrets were let down. "Huh, so it seems they weren''t all that prepared for us," Simon remarked quietly as he sat back down. He was fully prepared to go all out in battle, he didn''t care. He didn''t care all that much about the Land Guardian''s reputation, it wasn''t as though they haven''t crossed paths before. "Or, they might have already predicted our flight path and assumed that we were destroyed by the ant mound back in Alabama," Flynn interjected. The group thought about it for a bit and weren''t all that surprised by their assumption. An entire city was pretty well wiped out from existence due to those ants. The Land and Sky Guardians must have thought the same. "Ha, they probably wished we were destroyed back in Alabama," Joe remarked with a slight chuckle. "Who knows, maybe they''re still looking for ways to disprove us and even kill us. After all, we did kind of screw with their whole system. The ones in charge probably aren''t too happy." "So what, their fault for being so incredibly wrong," Lachlan said with his arms crossed, looking down on the soldiers. "As for their leaders, well, soon they''ll probably be on their knees, begging for their children or soldiers to be sent and trained on the island." "Well, we''ll still allow them on the train. However, they won''t get any different treatment to anyone else here to train. They''ll all be treated as students of the academy, whether they''re a soldier, regular civilian, or some child from a wealthy family. Treatment will remain the same," Chloe explained in an annoyed tone. "That way, you won''t have people trying to split up the student body by their backgrounds." "Sounds like you have some sort of experience with that," Joe said in a questioning tone. "Yeah, the people in my school were so disconnected with each other. If you were wealthy you wouldn''t hang out with the poor and visa Versa. Granted, there were cases of that happening those two people would be pretty much banished from their friend group," Chloe explained with a pouting expression. "This led to many problems that resulted in teachers having to step in. Sometimes even students would be expelled because of their behaviour." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "But I suppose our school will have something similar to that," Lachlan said as his eyes rolled up to look at the sky. "Granted, it won''t be based on wealth or anything like that. But it would be based on strength, a person at the top probably won''t hang out with someone at the bottom and visa Versa. Who knows, maybe we''ll also have bullying problems where we''ll have to step in." "Well hopefully that doesn''t happen, but I suppose it''s extremely likely to happen no matter what we do. Maybe they''ll even start small fighting clubs, you know, bring a weaker student behind a tree and beat them up," Zoe added on to the conversation. "Maybe we should set up some sort of surveillance before we start accepting students. After all, Anne already has some surveillance set up, I''m sure she wouldn''t mind adding a few additional cameras." "We''ll talk to her about it. For now, we''ll need to buy a few things to build the academy," Lachlan said before halting the movement of the island. It cast a shadow upon the city, the residents all looked up in awe and wonder as a group of people descended from the skies. Landing on the ground they were swiftly met by a small group of soldiers armed to the teeth. Their foreheads were covered in cold sweats and so was their backs. A rough-looking woman took a few steps forward out of the soldiers. "Please state your purpose in coming here Bloodied Wings, also, please move your floating island elsewhere, it blocks out the skies so we''re unable to surveillance it." "Relax," Lachlan disappeared from his position before reappearing by the woman, his hand lightly patting her shoulder. "We''re just here to buy some materials, that''s all, no need to be all up in arms. That is, of course, unless you want to give fighting us a go." The group of soldiers broke further into cold sweats as their hands were slightly shaking. They had already heard many stories and achievements that Bloodied Wings has under their name, some of which are inconceivable by any military force. It would be suicidal to challenge any organisation with that many achievements, whether it by taking on a group of intelligent beasts and winning, or just straight up taking on the military force head-on and leaving unscathed. Obviously, although they tried to keep it on the low. When the corpse of two intelligent beasts suddenly appear in the markets, just when the Bloodied Wings were there and fought it didn''t take a genius to connect the dots. And as for taking on the military, that was done singlehandedly by Lachlan at the beginning of the organisation''s origin. Although the Sea Guardians didn''t attack, just the fact that Lachlan was able to escape unscathed after all the damage he had done was enough to prove his strength. "Yes, that''s certainly alright," The woman leader replied as she attempted to keep her calm. However, she felt as though her heart was about to burst out of her chest due to all the blood it was pumping through her body. "Please, follow me." The female soldier was terrified inside but kept herself externally calm, she led the group into the city through the wall. What revealed was a large, flourishing city with people crowding the streets. Some of those people looked like explorers with their well-defined bodies while others looked like the everyday Joe. The soldier led them through the streets, weaving through the crowd. Most of them had left their weapons behind on the island, however, they were currently fully decked out in the armour. Their unique armour got them the attention of just about everyone they walked past. People halted their movement and turned their heads to catch a better look. Fortunately, although some of the more rough and unintelligent people wanted to attempt to steal the armour, they swiftly backed off at the sight of the military squad. Bloodied Wings was the only group willing to go up against any military force, everyone else, especially individuals without backing don''t want to even attempt it or think about it. It didn''t take long for them to be presented with a large 5 story building by the edge of the city, on the other side of the city from the island. Already, the group could spot the materials lining up by its side. Long metal pillars alongside wooden planks were stacked next to each other under an outside shelter. Workers with their beasts were moving in a steady flow, undisturbed as the production kept working. These factories are the reason by Atlanta is one of the most fortified cities. With the massive line of material production that makes use of beasts, they were able to swiftly make the large wall surrounding the city along with the tall apartment buildings. The entire city was fitted into a circle with a radius of 4 kilometres, the wall went around the entirety of it with turret attached to the top while being manned by plenty of soldiers. This military force also brought comfort to the citizens of Atlanta. Waking up and seeing the force that keeps them protected was something that reassured them of their survival. The workers, although noticing the group just continued to work at a steady pace, leaving the work environment undisturbed. A man from an office just slightly above the workplace walked on out and down the stairs to greet them all. "Well, I wasn''t told that we would be expecting military guests, you should have given a call so I could prepare some drinks," The man said in a gentle tone. His body was slim, lacking muscles. His black hair combed back with a cleanly shaven beard. He was currently wearing a full suit and tie, along with that were slim glasses that made his eyes look sharp. "I wonder who you all are?" He said as he finally took notice of the group fully decked out in showy armour. That''s how he thought it was anyway, almost no one wears armour like that and for the ones that do they''re just a bunch of cosplayers. ''However, since they''ve arrived alongside the Land Guardians they might not be as simple as they seem.'' His years in the business made his observant enough to determine whether or not someone was a fake. And although he doubted their armours capabilities, just from the fact the Land Guardians were personally escorting them meant they had some fearful backing. "Bloodied Wings, we''re here in search of high-grade materials to build a multi-story building," Flynn stepped forward and took out his right hand. The man met and they firmly shook. "We''re building an academy dorm, so we''ll need proper materials that won''t break after a year. I suppose this should be the right place to get it?" "You have quite the eye. Indeed, if our company were to claim that we''re the second-best material provider no one would claim to be first," The man said proudly as he puffed his chest out and lightly slammed a closed fist against it. "We''ve been in the business for many years and no one doubts our products." Suddenly they heard a mysterious chuckled from behind them, a few metres away. "Haha, you''re still quite boastful I see. No one dares to claim first if you claim second? Who gave you that thought? After all, you were and always will be second." Looking back the group noticed another person dressed in a vibrant purple suit, her dark brunette hair that reached past her shoulders. Her eyes were dark green, she was currently wearing a bright purple lipstick to match the suit which made her stand out even more. "Please, stop listening to this bogus and come get your materials from us," The woman said seductively. 179 Brawl Between Businesses The group watched as the stares between the two suddenly intensified, wide grins full of pride plastered across their faces as they attempted to look down on each other. Taking a few more steps and standing barely a few centimetres apart, they stared at each other''s eyes as their height was almost exactly the same. Being 5''9. "What are you doing here you little shit? Don''t you know that they need strong and sturdy materials?" The man asked in a stern tone, his muscles were tense as though he was about to pounce out at any moment. "Of course, that is, if you''ve decided to change the way you do business." Getting a bit closer, their faces merely millimetres apart the man whispered quietly. "However, I wouldn''t think that much of you. You yourself know the difference between the way we do business, you wouldn''t stand a chance against me and my business, Risky Miners." He pulled away his face before the woman stook another step forward,he left leg clearly going behind the man''s legs. Bringing her face forward she whispered quietly into his ear. "Fuck off you old man, I wouldn''t change business styles entirely for the reason that I wouldn''t want to embarrass you." The conversation and whisperings were clearly heard by the group with their superior senses. Turning their attention to the female soldier, the one that led them here they noticed she was scratching her head as her face was red. "Well, those two are the biggest material distributers in Atlanta. The man, Chris, is the owner of Risky Miners which specialise in distributing wood and stone materials. While the woman, Christina, is the owner of Fancy Fashions which specialises in clothing and furniture." "Then why would she interject? She won''t have the materials we need." Lachlan was confused by Christina''s bizarre personality. Despite her being a more fashion-based business, she still wants to intervene and interfere with Chris''s work which is so clearly different from hers. The female soldier lightly chuckled as her face grew a few more shades of red. "Well, the reason is quite simply because they hate each other. And by that, I mean, if laws weren''t a thing they would have already gone at each other''s throats." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "Oh, why''s that? They are apart of different fields in business, I don''t see why they would be at each other''s throats." Flynn was thoroughly interested in the reason behind their hatred for each other. Within his years of business, a large business would create plenty of rivals and enemies but that would only be with others in the field of specialty. Fashion and construction were quite different from each other. "Well, it''s because those two were husband and wife." The female soldier dropped a bomb on them which was filled with sense. Looking back to the two arguing it did resemble a fight which couples would have. It also made sense as to why that, despite being in a different field, Christina would still want to interfere with Chris''s business. "Hey now, how about you two just calm down for now." Flynn and Chloe immediately intervened with the two''s conversation. Not just because it was between ex-husband and wife, but mainly because it wasted their time. "We''re just looking for construction materials and have no need for fashion." Christina swiftly realised she had a crowd observing her argument with Chris and swiftly turned red. Looking around and analysing them better her eyes widened, she suddenly disappeared as she ran over to Zoe. Grabbing hold of Zoe''s hands Christina''s eyes were filled with sparkles. "Your dress, it''s absolutely beautiful. Where did you get the fabric?" Zoe felt slightly shocked by the abrupt change in moods with Christina. Letting go of Christina''s hands she backed away by a single step to create a bit of room between them. "Well, I don''t exactly know where the fabric was gathered but thanks for the compliment." "No problem, as for the location of where you gathered the fabric that doesn''t matter as of now. Can you please give me this dress to analyse for a couple of days, maybe even weeks?" Christina asked as she took a couple of steps forward. Swiftly closing the gap between them before leaning over and taking a closer look at the dress. Zoe was almost sent into a daze due to Christina''s persistency. Scratching her head as her face turned slightly pink, she talked faintly. "No can do, this dress is specia0,l and you wouldn''t be able to analyse anything about it anyway no matter how much time you spend on it. Not to mention it''s protective armour." "Huh? What are you talking about? Isn''t this a normal bit of cosplay?" Christina raised an eyebrow at Zoe''s remark. No matter how she looked at the dress it was just a vibrant and beautiful dress, nothing armour-like. The equipment that some of the others looked much more armour-like but in her mind, she still thought of it as cosplay. Zoe sighed as her eyes shut, it wasn''t as though it was the first time someone has assumed the equipment their group was wearing was just some cosplay. Although, she did find it slightly idiotic that they thought someone would wear cosplay while fighting against beasts. "No, this isn''t cosplaying, it''s proper armour. How about it? Give me your best shot," Zoe said as she puffed out her chest and straightened her back. "After all, with your amount of strength you probably wouldn''t even be able to make me move a millimetre." "Oh, then how about this. If I can make you take a step back, you''ll give that dress to me for a month. However, if you don''t step back at all I''ll give you plenty of materials and fabrics for free, as well as leaving you alone," Christina wanted to add on a little bet to the challenge to add a bit more flare to it. Zoe didn''t doubt her strength, nor did she doubt the abilities of her armour. Keeping her posture up she looked down of Christina. "Alright, then it''s a deal. Now, give it your best shot." "Alright, if you say so." Christina got into a fighting position commonly seen in all types of fighting. Her non-dominant leg was forwards while her non-dominant arm as in front of her face. She started lightly hopping, not actually getting off the group but keeping her body in motion. Keeping her knees bent she took a few steps forward, her right arm swung through the air heading straight for Zoe''s guts. Once it made contact Christina squinted from the pain, her fist was completely rebounded but from the momentum of the rebound, Christina twisted her body as her leg swung towards Zoe for a roundhouse kick. Zoe reached out casually, her actions seemed to be all a blur in Christina''s eyes as Zoe grabbed onto her leg. Zoe pulled hard, dragging Christina closer towards her becoming face to face. "Well, it seems you weren''t even able to move me a millimetre. You lose." "Tsk, seems you''re a lot stronger than I thought. Suppose I''ll be your material provider, so, what do you want?" Christina asked as she threw a cocky smirk to Chris. "Suppose I win the battle with you though, what are you going to do about it." "Well, we''re going to need 216000 square metres of materials to create the floors along with a lot of screws, nails, and other stuff needed for construction," Zoe explained as she attempted to do all the maths in her head. She turned to Flynn for confirmation since he''s already done all the working out and just received a frown. Flynn stepped forward and met with Christina face to face. "Alright, so we''ll need 216000 square metres of materials for just the floors. As for the walls, we''ll figure that out in just a bit once I finish some more calculations. We''ll also need a bit of construction equipment and maybe a few workers to help out." What the two didn''t notice was that Christina was already blanked faced from the first number. It took her a little bit to finish processing how much materials that''ll be and how much profit they''ll lose from it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you intending to build again? You shouldn''t need that many materials no matter how big of a building you''re constructing." She swiftly snapped out of her daze when Flynn walked over and told her that they''ll need even more materials. "Well, we''re constructing an academy dorm. We plan to have quite a lot of people in the dorm, it''ll be roughly between 70 ¨C 100 stories high and the length and width of the place is 60 x 60," Flynn explains calmly and slowly, making sure Christina understood what he was saying. A burst of laughter sounded out from behind Christina. Looking over, Chris was about to fall over from laughter as he struggled to breathe. "Now look who''s talking, you wouldn''t even have that many materials would you. After all, you don''t specialise in this sort of field." "Oh shut up, as if you have the number of materials they''re asking for either!" Christina shouted back to Chris angrily, her finger waving through the air as it shook. "No I probably wouldn''t, but at least I wasn''t dumb enough to head face-first into the deal without asking how much materials they need," Chris responded with a grin, looking at Christina''s flustered expression. "I know, how about we do it this way. You can hire me to deal with the materials and construction, granted, it''ll certainly cost you a pretty penny." "Oh please, like I wouldn''t know you''re just trying to scam me, I''m not that dumb," Christina said angrily as she closed the gap between the two. The group watched as the two argued, waiting there patiently while the military stood by the side feeling like their presence disappeared. "Seems you are," Chris crossed his arms and arched his back slightly, his head tilted downwards as it looked down on Christina. "But I am serious about the offer, after all, we''re both the heads of respectful businesses. You just need to ask for my help." "Tsk, as if I''ll ever ask for your help. You aren''t the only one that''s capable of providing construction materials," Christina responded as she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Not to mention the academy you''ll build will probably look like something akin to garbage. They may as well invite a professional designer to help." "Who would want a professional designer to help with a building in present times. People want stability, not splendour," Chris remarked arrogantly. "This world is different from the previous one and until we''re back on the top we don''t need your fancy buildings." Immediately, the two got into another heated debate. Arguing against each other as they shouted loudly to the point where they even distracted a couple of the workers. The female leading the military squad sighed before walking up to Chris and Christina. "Just stop, how about you two actually work together to help this group of people. Huh, how does that sound?" "Yeah, just wondering but who are these people?" Chris and Christina immediately softened their voices as they moved closer to the female soldier. Judging from their requirements as well as the fact they were escorted by the Land Guardians were both valid reasons to be curious about their identity. "They''re the well-known group Bloodied Wings," the Female soldier whispered quietly. Granted, the group was able to easily hear her and put on an awkward smile. Chris and Christina''s eyes widened before turning to face the group. "What." 180 Heavy Competition Chris and Christina stared at the group with eye eyes momentarily, their brains attempting to process the information sent them into a frozen state. Finally, once they finished realising what was said they both dashed towards the group and grabbed hold of Flynn''s hands. "We would love to do business with you, hell, we''ll even give you a discount," Chris said proudly as he also attempted to suck up to Flynn. Flynn was the only normal looking one amongst the group, not to mention with his earlier encounter Chris realised Flynn was likely the one in charge of business. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Although arrive just seconds late Christina showed more sincerity in her voice as she clasped Flynn''s hands. "Don''t listen to Chris, my company would love doing business with you and your renowned group." Although Bloodied Wings was relatively unknown to the entire world, once they started travelling from one city to the other just about all American citizens were talking about them now. "How about we just work with both of you?" Flynn asked with a bright smile. Now that they knew who they were Flynn managed to gain control over the conversation and flow of the deal. From all the information he has, both businesses wouldn''t be able to provide them with the necessary materials. And although it would be no different if the two were to combine, there''s another reason entirely. "Huh? You want to work with this bogan?" Christina asked in annoyance as she pointed to Chris. "I''d rather have my leg ripped off before making a deal with him, there''s no way, just no way in hell that I would ever consider it." "Oh, so all you need is for you legs to be ripped off?" Aside from the group, no one noticed Chloe''s movements. As of now, she was currently squatting next to Christina holding onto Christina''s leg, a cold smile on her face as she glanced at Flynn who was currently still holding hands with Christina. Flynn felt a chill go up his spine as he felt as though there was a beast staring at him right now. He swiftly leg go, he''d rather not get on the bad side of his wife. "Please, I would suggest reconsidering your choice. We already know you don''t have the ability to provide the materials by yourself, but with the assistance of Chris we should be able to create a fairly good dormitory." The main reason as to why Flynn wanted to two to work together was for the benefits of both businesses. While Chris specialises in construction, Christina specialises in both fashion and furniture. By getting them to work together they should be able to build an excellent dormitory. Although it wouldn''t be the way they''ll want it out, it''s currently better than nothing. "Tsk, I suppose there''s nothing else I can do about this," Christina said as she clicked her tongue in annoyance. She turned to Chris, her hair flipped and flew through the air. "Alright you piece of shit, since we''re going to be working together, you''ll have to listen to what I have to say. I''m the designer so I don''t want none of your reinforced concrete ideals." "Those reinforced concrete ideas are what created the wall around the city," Chris remarked proudly as he glanced outside the working area. His line of sight directed towards the large wall. "And because of that, you''re able to relax a bit and focus on your creativity and imagination. So, at the very least I should deserve a thank you." "Yeah, thanks then," Christina muttered faintly in an arrogant tone as though Chriswas supposed to do that. "You were hired by the military to create the wall. If you happened to create a shitty one, I suppose we would have been annihilated. So, I suppose I can however thank you for not being a shitty constructor." "Ha, I''ll take it," Chris said as he put a thumbs up. It wasn''t as though this was the first time he''s interacted with his ex-wife in such a manner. After all, the business in construction is large with many smaller competitors. However, something everyone seeking a constructor also needs is furniture. And although he hasn''t informed Christina himself, he''s always suggested her business to them. Turning their attention back to Flynn they quietened down. Flynn smiled and nodded silently. Clapping his hands together he begun speaking. "Alright, now that it''s all sorted, I suppose we should get into business. Chris, would we be able to use your office to finish and sign off the deals." "Yes, it''ll be my pleasure," Chris nodded vigorously and joyfully. Leading Flynn along with Chloe and Christina away and up the stairs. Finally, once they reached the office and entered and sat down around the table. The group turned to the female soldier that had been accompanying them as well as escorting them. They didn''t know what to do, however, the female soldier that lives here should have plenty of knowledge about the city. Maybe even some that most won''t know about. Seeing so many eyes gather on her she nervously giggled as she scratched her head. Her superiors informed her beforehand about Bloodied Wings and how, should Bloodied Wings ever make it to Atlanta, she should escort them around the city to the best of her ability. "Oh right, we also have two businesses we want to set up in the city. Are there any decent locations for a butcher or meat distributer as well as a restaurant or food truck?" Marie asked as she got closer to the female soldier. She was standing at the back of the group, hidden away due to the group''s vibrant armour. The female soldier almost completely forgot about Marie''s existence. "Yes, we have plenty of spaces available in the food section of the city," the female soldier responded as she nodded with a wide smile. She felt as though she was greatly comforted at the sight of a normal human, wearing normal clothes. Currently, Valentina and her family are still on the island waiting for the group to return with confirmation. "Food section?" Marie, as well as the entire group was confused at the term. "Yes, the city is split into multiple districts with the food district being one of the biggest, just second from the residential district," the female soldier explained. "The reason behind this is just to simply make the city easier to understand while keeping things organised. Since the food district is in the centre of the city it''s the easiest to get to which is what the officials want." The group had agree, it certainly made things easier when coming to understand the layout of the city. Unlike most cities and towns which have would restaurants, caf¨¦s, and bakeries around the entire city, Atlanta has them all gathered in one place. Which is both good and bad for business. Location is everything. For example, being the only caf¨¦ in a smell section of the city would garner the attention of all residents. However, once everything is gathered into one place it creates an intense competition which most people won''t be able to compete in. It''ll require both sources for ingredients as well as skilled cooks. Not to mention the menu will have to be one which is affordable. If not, most people won''t even give a place a second glance. "Just wondering, where might the Explorer''s guild be?" Lachlan asked. The Explorer''s Guild was a crucial part in their business no matter what. They needed to get priority on all kills so that both businesses would have sources. "Uh, that''ll be in the business district located roughly 1 kilometre away eastward. It''s a fairly large building with a unique design, it should be obvious once you spot it," the female soldier explained kindly. The group remembered a building that they saw when they were on the island. It was certainly located eastward of where they were, the building was made entirely from the bones of beasts. And although the group weren''t too sure on what the beast looked like when it was alive, its bones were strong and sturdy. Turning to Marie, Lachlan explained his thoughts. "You should probably go to the Explorer''s Guild to try and strike a deal with them. We''ll go with Mariel to the other locations and pick some places out to double check." Lachlan had already analysed the female soldier and knew her name was Mariel, she wasn''t all that strong but had good intelligence as well as a strength in leadership. "Alright," Marie nodded before walking off. "Hmm, I don''t remember telling you my name," Mariel said as she tilted her head in confusion, attempting to remember if she or any of the subordinates with her mentioned her name. "I really can''t remember. Do you know of me somehow?" "What are you talking about, you mentioned it when you first introduced yourself to us, maybe you''ve already forgotten," Lachlan immediately lied about the matter. Fortunately, he''s lie was completely believable and fooled Mariel as well as her subordinates. Phoebe elbowed Lachlan in the sides and whispered into his ear. "Dumbass, you have to remember that lying might not always work. Just remember to now use their names if they haven''t introduced themselves, it''ll cause problems if people catch on, right?" "Yeah, sorry," Lachlan apologised as he scratched his head. He didn''t expect for his actions of be so careless, fortunately, his abilities in lying actually worked this time around. But Phoebe had a valid point, not everyone will fool for his lying. Mariel led them to the centre of the city, into the food district which was flourishing with crowds of people. Businesses lining the sides of streets, some using different methods of getting even a glance from someone with their vibrant colours and unique names. "Dragon Eats God''s Food!" "Devil''s Apple!" Those two names stood out the most amongst all the others, their signs were vibrant in colour not to mention large. In comparison, the building the signs were attached to didn''t match. The buildings were single story, had a olden Japanese style in their design. However, the two buildings looked fairly old and rigid, as though they''ll collapse if someone were to poke it. But considering the competition in the foo district it''s likely that they have something unique about them. "Do you think Elena and Pedro will be able to create a decent food truck here?" Lachlan asked for the group''s opinion. With competition this fierce it wouldn''t be a bad idea to just back down and go to another city. After all, they''ll need to start the business as well as find some chefs that''ll be able to keep the business going once they leave. "Maybe not," Joe wasn''t too sure himself. He wasn''t all that into the business world and liked the more relaxing environment on the farms along with his parents. Similarly, Zoe also agreed with what Joe said. "Although it''ll be difficult, if Marie manages to strike a good enough deal it might still be possible," Georgia said as she gently stroked her chin. "Granted, we might need to stay here for a bit longer than usual to make sure to food truck doesn''t fall through too quickly." The group nodded. Unfortunately, the future is undetermined for all of them. Whether or not they would be able to set up a successful food truck depends entirely on their hard work. Granted, it''s more so the hard work of Elena and Pedro but they''ll help out here and there. 181 Scheming of Business Walking around the food district, the group came across a large variety of stores selling exotic goods. There were quite a few Asian herbs and spices which certainly aren''t common in America. Some of the herbs and spices weren''t seen in any of the previous cities they''ve been to. Finally, after walking around for 10 minutes, Mariel halted her movement. To her right was a large open area, next to that open area were two large scale restaurants. On the left was a Japanese style restaurant while the one on the right was a Vietnamese style restaurant. The twos signs at the front of the restaurants read aloud. "Odayakana Doragon" "B?n g?c chau ¨¢" Odayakana Doragon was the Japanese style restaurants, its exterior was rather relaxing and pleasing on the eye. The wall was mainly stone painted white while it had redwood for the lining and corners. It had a slight balcony with people on the second and third floor, the pillars were red as well. People were going in and out of the restaurant with blissful expressions. B?n g?c chau ¨¢, on the other hand, had a much more modern exterior design. It had a simple stone wall with clean windows showcasing the inside of the building. The balcony was created with a dark brown wood while the third floor in the restaurant was completely sealed off. Similarly to Odayakana doragon, the Vietnamese restaurant had people consistently going in and out. "The top floor is probably for VIPs," Lachlan muttered as he looked between the two restaurants, comparing the two in terms of exterior design. Since they might be staying here, he would check out the food in a little while, see how it compares with their own food truck. "It may also be used to live it," Mariel explained politely in a composed manner. "Some restaurant owners would create a floor that''ll be used as their houses. Due to the sudden increase in property prices, this has grown much more common." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "Really? Though I wouldn''t expect to see two owners of flourishing businesses living in their restaurant," Joe said as he crossed one arm and stroked his chin with the other. "After all, considering their popularity it would be no surprise to me that they''re racking in stacks of cash. Seriously, look at the number of customers they''re getting." "Although you''re correct in that they''re earning quite the living from the restaurant, it isn''t a bad idea to be a bit stingier in what you do with the money you earn. Whether you want to spend a bit more on a house or not is up to them. Not to mention that living in the restaurant is much more profitable," Mariel explained. "I suppose if we create a restaurant instead of a food truck, we''ll be able to create a living area for the employees," Georgia muttered as she looked back to the large open land. It was roughly 50 x 30 metres wide and long, should they split the area in two that''ll be enough room for both businesses. And since the two businesses are so close together there wouldn''t be any problem in creating an automation system which transports the newly cut meats into the restaurant. That way, the restaurant will have a fresh supply of meat every day. "Alright, this is a pretty decent place, let''s go on to the next spot," Lachlan said as he turned to face Mariel. Waiting for her to take and lead again and escort them to the next plot of land available. Mariel nodded before she began walking. While Mariel was in the lead, escorting them to the next plot of land,her subordinates were in the back of the group protecting the rear. Granted, there wasn''t any reason for them to do that but was more so because it''s just a nice gesture. Walking for another 2 minutes they were once again greeted by a large plot of land. It was slightly smaller than the other plot of land, being 40 x 25 metres. However, to its sides were two rather lush and extravagant pubs that radiated with night time energy. To its right was a pub called Daily Drink, the walls were made out of brick while the rest was made of a hardwood. The creators of the wood had wanted it to possess a slightly deeper tone of reddish-brown. There were a few people at the front drinking bottle of beer, some of them had their children alongside them. To the left, was a pub called Iggris it had a similar design as Daily Drink but just slightly more vibrant. The businesswoman running the pace possessed an expression of arrogance at all times. She was currently sitting against the wall drinking something alcoholic while reading something on her phone. Granted, they weren''t completely sure she was the owner. They did, however, know that she was ordering around the employees harshly. Mariel came up and whispered in their eyes a fact that thoroughly intrigued them. "The woman that owns Iggris is called Amanda, she''s also the person currently sitting against the wall. She possesses a nasty temperament which no one wants to get on the bad side of." "She''s also the only female pub owner currently in this city, she abuses her staff, but they can''t do anything since they need the money. However, despite possessing such a nasty temperament and business management issues the bar still remains around the top due to their great food," Mariel added on. "What about the bar to the right? Seems like a really chill place." Joe was curious about the competition which managed to hold its own against the business owner of Iggris. The people seemed to be having a rather pleasing time at Daily Drink. Taking a sip of their alcohol before continuing their chats with friends. "Daily Drink, it''s well known for their warm atmosphere and is owned by a much older man called Jose. However, their prices are relatively high in comparison than Iggris due to it and its location ad reputation," Mariel explained, taking a couple of glances at the people drinking in the front of the building on tables. "Oh, so while Daily Drink relies on its good reputation, Iggris relies on its low prices," Lachlan said as he nodded in approval. He didn''t know too much about business, but he was smart enough to know that reputation and prices were two crucial aspects when dealing in business. "That would be correct," Mariel confirmed. "Suppose this would be a great spot to start up the business. If we''re able to do the building right, we should be able to get that meaty scent to drift towards the two pubs. Then, through the assistance of their drunken stomachs they might begin to drift towards our food," Zoe explained her thoughts as she stared between the two pubs. From what she''s seen online back before Earth evolved, usually people would love eating some rather exotic and odd food when drunk. Especially shish kebobs, any meat related consumables that are portable seem to be rather popular with drunken people. "Although that''s a great idea for a business, the owner of Iggris would be fuming at the stakes," Mariel said as she shook her head. "Amanda would do just about anything to remain where she is and if are luring her customers away through your food, she might take extreme measures to eliminate you." "Well, she is certainly more than welcome to try," Lachlan scoffed in an arrogant tone. Although he doesn''t doubt that Amanda is capable, he certainly doesn''t believe that she has the capabilities to go up against them. Hell, even the Land and Sky Guardians don''t, let alone some business owner in the city. "Although I don''t doubt your capabilities, what about once you leave?" Mariel asked in a concerned tone. She herself already knew how powerful the people in front of her were. The methods that a business owner in one city is laughable to them. However, once they leave it''ll just be the employees they leave behind that''ll have to deal with Amanda. The question made Lachlan swiftly realise an error in his train of thought. Mariel was completely correct, although he could just as easily walk through Iggris'' doors and tear up the place, once their groups leave, it''ll be the employees that they left behind against everyone. "Suppose we might be here a little while longer than usual. I didn''t consider that, suppose setting up in a major city is going to be a lot more difficult in comparison to the other cities," Lachlan answered honestly. "As for the issues of the intense competition, we''ll let them use their methods. Once they realise it''s all ineffective, they''ll back off." "I hope so too," the rest of the group agreed. They didn''t really take anything into thought since all the other restaurants were running so smoothly. However, when in the face of intense competition one would always need to watch their backs. ¡­ In a large 30 story skyscraper, at the very top inside a secret business room, there was a gathering of people surrounding a table. There were two men and two women, each in formal wear as they had one or two assistances with them carrying folders. "Seems we have a rather new entry into the competition, one which we''ll need to be fearful of," The woman on the Northernmost side of the table. Her hands were clasped together in front of her face, her eyes were sharp black as they stared at the others on the table. "There''s no need to be so wary, they''ll just be another business amongst the mix, no need to take too much caution," The man on the Southernmost side of the table responded, his long brown hair constructed into a man-bun. "After all, we have the strongest foundations in the city and our businesses are flourishing right now. Although the new competition might be able to lure a few of our customers over, it won''t be a lot." "Suppose that''s all the matters to people on the other side of the food district from them," The man on the Easternmost side complained angrily, he was in the most casual wear of them all but probably looked best. His casual blue top and black pants paired with his glasses and combed back hair gave him an aura of intelligent. "Unlike all of you, one of the places that the group have chosen is directly next to mine. And sure, although I don''t mind a bit of competition, I already have that Amanda girl to worry about." "Then just get rid of them," The woman on the Westernmost side of the table muttered faintly. "After all, it isn''t as though that plot of land as their name on it. You can just buy it yourself, then maybe expand your pub and put a few more seats in. Maybe even a game room for things such as 8 Ball Pool." "Tsk, alright, suppose I can do that," The Eastern man clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was rather stingy with his money, would only spend it on the bare necessities in case an emergency arises. He didn''t want, nor was he planning on expanding his building any time soon. Standing up he began walking towards the exit, time was of the essence and he wanted to make sure Bloodied Wings don''t snag up the property before him. Opening the door he took a step out before muttering faintly beneath his breath. "Hopefully they goes for some properties next to your businesses." 182 Marie Attracts Trouble The group continued their journey through the food district in Atlanta. They had currently already decided on a few places they could choose to set up their business; the most popular ones being the first two that they looked at. Mainly due to the fact that the area they were in already had plenty of people; adding in another lure might work to get themselves some of their own customers. They were especially thinking about going with the plot of land right next to the two pubs. Mainly due to the fact that they would be able to get themselves some drunken customers. Which, although might be bothersome, can bring in a large amount of money. As for now, the group was currently waiting for the others to join them. Flynn and Chloe were still in the process of signing documents and contracts to hire the two businesses for constructions. While Marie was either talking to the leader of the Explorer''s Guild here or trying to find them. The group was currently in one of the places they might''ve had to compete against. It was a Japanese style restaurant. When they walked into the restaurant, they all gasped from the extraordinary sight. There were professional chefs everywhere, cooking in front of semi-circular tables where customers filled the sides. Large and intense flames sprouted upwards every now and then, causing some people to gasp from excitement and others to laugh. Although it took a while to get through the line, they were swiftly escorted to a table with just enough spaces for their group. Mariel and her subordinates had already left them after escorting them around the food district. She had given them her number so that should anything ever occur they''ll be able to call up and ask her for assistance. There were, however, a few other people on their table. But they were in a world of their own, not paying any attention to the group as they enjoyed their meals. The group did send a message to all the others where they were so that once they''ve finished their deals, they can walk on over to get themselves a meal. Everyone took a look at the menu, each ordering some food that some of them have never heard of before. It wasn''t as though they''ve never been to a Japanese style restaurant before, it''s just that the only ones around them that they''ve been to were sushi places. As it was easily the cheapest option to go with back before the world evolve. However, now that everything has evolved, even the smallest of fish that was once used to eat in sushi could now swallow an entire human in one go. Lachlan decided to try and experiment with his taste buds. He already knew that the food, vegetables, and fruit were far tastier than they were before the world evolved so he wasn''t all that afraid of whatever the food was. Lachlan ordered Takoyaki, Joe and Zoe both ordered a serving of Prawn Gyoza, Georgia got herself Chicken Karaage along with an Eggplant Salad. Finally, Simon ordered a Sushi and Sashimi for both himself and Maddie who had decided to come down once they finished everything. Valentina and her family were down in the city as well, looking at the spots that the group recommended to them. The family had been in the business for a while, their eyes were observant so they should be able to make much better decisions than them in terms of choosing the location of their restaurant. Back on the table, another chef appeared. His attire was slightly different, as unlike the one on the table before that was in all while, the new chef was in a completely black set up. He messed around with the bench, causing some cut out within the shelf to be pulled out, revealing a deep fryer. Once that was done, he bent over and opened up the cupboard, revealing his whole array of ingredients. The cupboard was heavily refrigerator so that nothing goes off when throughout the day. Also, it would allow the ingredients to stay fresh the slightest bit longer while being right next to the cooking station. In a calm and composed manner, the chef pulled out a few ingredients, sheets of gyoza wrapper made from the normal ingredients which would just make it multiple times better. Followed by a mixture of sorts, filled with parts of prawn alongside some vegetables. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. On the other side, the chef that was originally serving the table was now preparing for a much large dish. It was easy to tell due to the large plates in front of him. It seemed to have a black and marble-like exterior. He pulled out a variety of fishes, bringing forth an array of colours. Orange, pink, red, and white were the main ones while there were a few green vegetables right next to them. The chef pulled out one of the large pieces of salmon onto his chopping board. He pulled out a knife from a drawer that glistened from the sharp edge. His facial expression remained unchanged throughout the entire action before he started slicing the fish into semi-thick pieces of sashimi. The fish meat was a vibrant orange with thick glistening pieces of marbling. Although it wasn''t really salmon rather they were evolved fish from salmon. Just one of the fishes could be used to in hundreds, if not thousands of salmon fishes stead. It was one of the few fishes which happened to remain somewhat docile after the evolution. So, the government immediately put into action a plan to harvest and farm salmon through the use of saltwater somewhat deep within the mainland. These new and evolved breeds of salmon are then evenly distributed throughout America, the distribution is entirely reliant on the population of the city. It was similar to a few other farms which managed to breed beasts. For example, there were a few farms near the centre of America that bred chickens as well as cows. Granted, the size of these farms were absolutely massive due to the beasts'' sizes. Anyway, it didn''t take long before the meals were ready. The chefs worked in a professional and composed manner where just about everything was obsolete to them, no getting distracted by any of the noises. In some peoples'' eyes, it was the working of an artist. And the final masterpiece was the plates of food in front of them. The Sushi and Sashimi platter was covered in a variety of colours with small bits of vegetables in between the fish. The chef served it up gracefully in front of Simon and Maddy who both dug in through the use of chopsticks. However, after living for so long without the use of chopsticks, the two of them have lost all skill involving it. Fortunately, it only took a few mistakes where they dropped the food back onto the plate before they managed to familiarise themselves with the technique. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the same for the others on the table. None of them knew how to eat with chopsticks, they never needed to know as it wasn''t a necessity. They were all utterly defeated by the challenge of using a chopstick, their overwhelming strength even snapped a few accidentally. "Can I have a fork please?" Lachlan asked politely with the shame of defeat weighing down his mood. Even stealing an entire Dragon King''s castle wasn''t as difficult as using chopsticks for him. His own strength was just too much for the chopsticks to handle. Lachlan turned to face Simon and sighed. "Seems you''ve managed to win this one." Simon chuckled loudly as he raised his hands in the air for a sign of victory. "Yes, I''ve finally beaten you in something. Ha, how does it feel to be bested by chopsticks? I reckon it sucks doesn''t it?" Simon had never really beaten Lachlan properly in anything, but his satisfaction reached a max just from that one comment from Lachlan alone. "Don''t let that ego get too big for you boots, I could still completely crush you in a fight, don''t worry about that," Lachlan said in annoyance as his lips twitched slightly from Simon''s questions. The chef placed a fork in front of Lachlan, and Lachlan picked it up with his eyebrow twitching. He hated having to admit defeat to an eating utensil. "Hey chef, would you be able to teach me how to use a chopstick?" Lachlan asked politely as he put the fork back down. He would never ask Simon, that was the absolute bottom line he would never cross. If he were to ever ask Simon for help it was obvious that he was in a tough situation. The chef smiled brightly, so bright it almost radiated light. He came around the table before standing next to Lachlan. In his hands were a pair of his own chopsticks. In a gentle and warm voice, the chef started to explain the process of how to use a chopstick properly. Finally, after a few minutes, Lachlan finally managed to get the hang of it. However, it wasn''t only Lachlan. Georgia, Zoe, and Joe were all listening in as well. Practising on the side, looking like complete clowns as they were perfecting their form. Eventually, they too managed to get the hang of it and eat their meals in a traditional manner. It was another reason as to why the four didn''t want to use a fork. When one takes a look around the restaurant, they would notice that everyone is using chopsticks; they didn''t want to stick out amongst the crowd. Not to mention it wasn''t all that bad to know how to use chopsticks. Mainly for when they start making their moves in Asia. As they ate their meal, Flynn and Chloe managed to return. They were chatting casually with bright cheerful smiles. Once they reached the table Chloe gave them the good news. "Alright, the deal has been completed, and we''ve managed to get ourselves some workers and sponsors." "Sponsors?" Lachlan questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Yup, the two companies are planning on sponsoring the academy through the use of free construction. As for our end of the deal, we just have to use their stuff. That''s all," Flynn stepped forward to explain. "Their stuff has some small branding; the furniture and construction materials are all of good quality." "That''s great, so, when are they going to start?" Simon asked as he stuffed his mouth with sashimi. "Well, they''ll be starting in a few days. So, I will say that we''re probably going to be here for a lot longer than usual," Flynn explained with nan odd expression. "However, this will also allow us to stabilise our position in the food district. As of now, we''ll be able to harvest wild beasts ourselves for our businesses gaining a reputation." "Alright, sounds good," Lachlan nodded. With their heightened senses they started to hear someone running towards them, their breathing was quickened as they struggled to continue running. They heard shouts from behind the runner, shouts full of hatred. Marie burst through the doors before dashing towards the table they were on. "Help! I don''t know what I did wrong, but it seems I''ve managed to piss them off greatly." Marie sat on the ground and leaned against the table, taking deep breaths as she attempted to calm herself down. A few more people burst through the door, metal bats in their hands as they portray an intimidating look to everyone. The leader of the group, full of tattoos and a bald head stepped forward before turning to Marie. "Where the hell do you think you''re going? There isn''t anywhere in these streets where you''ll be safe." 183 Kawata Shozo Lachlan swiftly analysed all the grunts before him and scoffed. It wasn''t an understatement to say that just about anyone could beat them if they had a weapon on them. Their group all stood up, standing in front of Marie and forming a defensive wall. They didn''t exactly want to just lash out at some thugs, they were attempting to build an academy, they needed to work on their reputation. It wouldn''t look good if the founders of the academy had short tempers. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Flynn stepped forward to mediate the situation in a professional manner. He raised his hand; his face was composed and calm. Unlike most, he knew that portraying an expression of awkwardness or weakness will prove fatal to a group of gang members. "I wonder what our friend could have done to displease you all so much. After all, she is just a small girl, I don''t think you would want to be known as the gang that only bullies little girls. Do you?" Flynn took the initiative to take the high ground in the conversation. Although, this only caused the gang members to lash out angrily with insults. The leader raised his arm horizontally to silence his crew before talking. "Well, your little friend there also happened to insult our boss greatly. Calling the tribal tattoo he has on his forearm the mark of a weakling." The group turned to Marie and raised an eyebrow, gesturing for an explanation. Marie chuckled awkwardly as she scratched her head. "Well, it''s true. The tribal tattoo he has comes from the small native American tribe located along the border of Canada. It''s the tattoo given to the weakest in their tribe, it''s given to the weakest to push that person further in life through hardship." "There it is again, that bullshit mumble-jumble. Obviously, our leader''s tribal tattoo means brave warrior, that''s what he explained to us and I would say that he was far greater knowledge of his own tribe than you, little girl," The leader of the group scoffed angrily. "Now, hand her over and no one gets hurt." "How about you come over and get it?" Lachlan asked sarcastically. The group showed no signs of budging, their feet were firmly planted into the ground. By doing it this way, they wouldn''t be seen as bullies if they managed to just completely block off the gang members without using violence. The gang members grunted before dashing forwards, their metal bats raised high in the air as they ran forward. However, a shout was heard from behind the table. "Stop this at once!" The voice was powerful, it was coarse and rough but extremely fluid, a voice belonging to that of a calm and composed warrior. The group''s heads turned at once to find the source. What they discovered was the chef in black attire staring at the gang members with cold and sharp eyes. They were dark brown, almost black and pierced right through the bodies of the gang members. The one leading the gang members was shaking nonstop as the members behind him all collapsed to their knees, their heads facing the ground as though they had already given up on life with their emotionless eyes. The leader of the members looked fearfully at the chef. "Who the hell are you? What the hell did you just do?" The chef walked back around the table, giving off a chilling aura that overwhelmed the entire gang. Their bodies were shivering nonstop, they felt as though they were in the mouth of a beast. Slowly walking closer, one step at a time the chef explained in a deep and commanding voice. "Who are you to ask the questions? You come into my peaceful restaurant to disrupt the atmosphere and still have the courage to ask questions. Did you not look at the sign on your way in?" One of the gang members stumbled and crawled his way to the door where he managed to get a glimpse of the sign. His expression changed to horror as he turned back to face the chef, his mouth opening and closing with no words coming out. Finally, the member managed to speak. "B-b-boss, we-we''re currently at Odayakana Doragon!" The leader of the small squad of gang members looked back towards the chef with horror in his eyes, he felt as though his very soul was sucked from his body. He swiftly got into a grovelling position by the chef''s feet. "We''re incredibly sorry for intruding! Please spare our lives!" "Oh, so you still have the guts to ask for demands," The chef said chillingly as he squatted down next to the small squad gang leader. He spoke with confidence as he chuckled coldly. "Even your boss wouldn''t ask for any demands from me. What gives you the right?" The small squad gang leader truly felt final sap of his life get sucked from his body. He collapsed on the group, completely unconscious. The other members stared with wide sunken eyes, they stumbled and tumbled to the door before bursting into a sprint in all directions once they were out. The chef turned back towards the group, he clasped his hands before bowing. "Incredibly sorry for that disturbance, I do hope you can sit back down and finish your meals, it would be sad for there to be such a waste. Also, you won''t have to worry about that gang ever coming after your little friend again, we''ll make sure of that." Although the sound was only faint, Lachlan and the others were able to hear a couple of dozen people just dash away. The footsteps were almost completely silent, the chef''s eyes widened at the reaction of the group. Their eyes were darting towards the direction of where his subordinates were. ''Hm, they don''t appear to be the most ordinary of people.'' The chef returned to his station, he welcomes the new guests with open arms as the previous people on the table had left, creating the perfect amount of room. Marie, Flynn, and Chloe all picked up the menu and started ordering their food. Marie ordered Agedashi Tofu, Flynn got himself a serving of Chawan Mushi while Chloe ordered Miso Soup. The two chefs immediately got to work, their skills in the kitchen were superb. They flowed steadily, preparing the ingredients one second before cooking it the next. They pulled out a few more cut-outs on the stove, revealing a steamer as well as a saucepan. They started placing the ingredients in one after the other. The aroma filled the room mixing and fusing with the aroma of the other dishes being cooked elsewhere in the room. Lachlan was constantly staring at the chef. His eyes darting between him and the screen in front of him. -------------------------------------------------------- Name: Kawata Shozo (Human) Age: 69 (Elder) Soul Contracts: 1/5 Compatibility: Snakes (Low) STR: 43, AGI: 38, VIT: 7 INT: 23, PER: 32, WIL: 25 Weakness: Deteriorating Body, Fragile Muscles & Bones, Weak Defence Strengths: Martial Arts Master, Close Quarter Combat Specialist, Flexibility (Level 4) -------------------------------------------------------- Although old, Lachlan had to give it to the oldie, his stats were still beyond most humans. To the point where it''s almost scary. How strong could he have been in his prime when he''s this strong during his weakened stage. Kawata noticed Lachlan staring at him. He gave a quick glance with a slight smile before starting to talk as he continued to work. "You know, I''m quite curious as to how you were so confident in your abilities in standing up against those gang members." "Well, I suppose they aren''t the first gang we''ve fought before. However, I can confidently say they were certainly aren''t the biggest," Lachlan explained as he took another bite of his Tokayaki. The doughy goodness filled his mouth before getting washed away with the taste of the ocean from the thinly sliced squid. Although Lachlan wasn''t sure where they managed to get themselves squid, he would say it was clearly the best squid he''s ever tasted. It had a slightly chewy texture; however, the inside of the squid was filled with fine juices containing the ocean''s wonders. "Hoh, so I suppose you''re quite the strong group then," Kawata said with a sharp glint in his eyes. "I wonder what you''re doing in Atlanta. Since it''s pretty obvious you''re not from around here. I would have heard about it long ago if strong people were wandering the streets in rather vibrant armour." Lachlan chuckled slightly along with the rest of the group. Flynn took the lead in the conversation in Lachlan''s stead. "You certainly wouldn''t be wrong. We''re indeed not from Atlanta, to be honest, we aren''t even from America. We''re from Australia and if you want to know how we got here just take a couple of steps outside the restaurant look in the sky." The chef wearing white cooking clothes turned towards the group with wide eyes of shock. "Boss, they''re called Bloodied Wings. An organisation that even possesses the abilities to go toe to toe against the three Guardians. They''re well known for their research results as well as the fact that they''re able to defeat intelligent beasts." "Hoh, so you''re the infamous Bloodied Wings, I''ve heard quite a bit about you from family and friends," Kawata said as he nodded his head slowly. Kawate slowly tilted his head from side to side, looking slightly upwards while he still managed to work swiftly on the food. "I wonder, do you have a place for a Japanese restaurant on that island?" "Oh, are you thinking of joining us then?" Flynn asked curiously. If they managed to get themselves another professional cook, they would absolutely start a small food court for when the students start rolling in. This way, the students would be able to enjoy life whenever they aren''t training. "Well I certainly wouldn''t mind coming on board. Granted, I''ll certainly need some time to prepare for that. It doesn''t take a couple of seconds to just pack up and leave after all," Kawata explained calmly with a slight nod. "Also if I''m able to create a branch on that island it''ll certainly cause for some great advertisement." "Seems you have a lot of trust in our organisation," Flynn said. Kawata currently shouldn''t know anything about their academy, he hadn''t yet mentioned it to him. Therefore, it should be due to his trust in their reputation that they''ve managed to lure in his skills. "Indeed, not to mention you''ve also allied yourself with I''m guessing Risky Miners and Fancy Fashion. Granted, I''ve got to hand it to your group, it''s quite the impressive feat to get those two collaborating with on another," Kawata complimented. "As for how I know. Well, it''s never a bad idea to keep your ear perked at all times." Thinking back a bit, Flynn realised that he had mentioned the deals before. He mentioned it when he came into the restaurant and sat down. "Well, seems we''ve got to remember that we''re currently surrounded by people. Some of which, might not have the friendliest of intents behind their presence." The group nodded. Kawata continued on with an add-on to the explanation. "Also, it''s never a bad idea to have multiple ears scattered around the city. Eyes as well." "Oh, we''ll take that advice into mind then," Flynn responded. He attempted to keep his ears perked for any information, however, his senses clearly weren''t'' high enough. In comparison though, most of the group wouldn''t e able to do it as they seek information concerning their lives. The position of everyone in a room, what they might be carrying as well as how their mental state is currently going. Granted, the mental state is more so for people currently going through a fury of anger. Shouting and resorting to violence instead of negotiation. Attacking both completely innocent bystanders alongside defensive forces. The group swiftly finished their meals before Flynn left his number for Kawata. When they went to pay, Kawate rejected their payment as a sign of goodwill. They left the restaurant shortly after before heading back to the island to relax and possibly sleep. Some of them spent hours searching the cities of suitable plots of land while others spent hours making proper deals. In the end however, they were all currently a bit exhausted mentally. Physically, they could fight for a few more days without rest. 184 Beaten Badly Time passed by quickly and they swiftly decided on the spot they were going to build their restaurant. It was decided that it''ll be right next to Kawata Shozo''s Japanese restaurant; not only for the viable service due to how crowded the two restaurants next to the plot of land were but also because Kawata''s restaurant provides great protection for whenever they can''t provide it themselves. Flynn and Chloe were currently in an office alongside Christina and Chris, both working heavily on the design for maximum efficiency and comfort while keeping the required materials at a minimum. Chloe didn''t have many ideas to help, she wasn''t a construction specialist, she was just there to add a layer of protection for Flynn. Granted, like all of them, Flynn has successfully passed the strength test in the temple through the use of gravity stones. Allowing him to get a boost in strength without the need to train for it. Currently, his strength reached close to 80, due to the strength berry he ate a while back as well. As for the rest of the group. They were currently on the island, showing Kawata around the place and where the main dormitory will be. He provided valuable information on how the academy could be set up; similarly to the city, they have sections for certain activities. Obviously, the training activities will be elsewhere on the already cleared out training fields. However, he discussed the importance of also having sports activities as well. Such as soccer and even tennis since they allow the students to acquire faster reflexes through constant practice. Then, somewhere near the middle of the sports activities, training fields, and dormitory. There will be a small food district, with his restaurant as well as Elena and Pedro''s restaurant stationed there. They were also thinking of adding student food stalls. Since adventuring into the harsh wild could leave one stranded away from civilisation for days, possibly even weeks, it wasn''t a bad idea for the students to learn how to cook beast meat. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. They weren''t going to provide any classes with the help, rather, they would want the students to learn from mistakes. That way, it''s ingrained into their minds, what to do and what not to do. That way, even if they''re adventuring with strangers without experience, they''ll also be able to teach them a few helpful tips on how to survive. Currently, the group was showcasing the rather plain training fields. Currently, it was just a patch of a flat open field. Lachlan had already evened out the field, fixing any of the ruptures from pulling the trees out of the group while allowing for some grass to grow. "This is where the training facility is going to be?" Kawata questioned with a raised eyebrow. There was currently nothing there, so it came as to no surprise to the group that he wasn''t very impressed. However, his next few words left them shocked. "This is wonderful!" "But there''s nothing there," Simon said with an odd expression. He couldn''t understand Kawata''s excitement over a normal patch of open ground. If there was a wooden floor maybe, but there was nothing there at all. Aside from a few longer pieces of grass, nothing stood out at all. "Indeed, however, since there''s nothing there that leaves so much room to create a wonderful training area," Kawata explained with a bright joyful smile. "We could even create multiple training facilities for each level, all exploring different landscapes and possible fighting environments that a student might encounter once they leave." "Huh," The group was left in a trance as they thought about the possibilities. Since they currently have in their possession both wind, water, and plant stones it''s easy to say that they could create a multitude of different environments. Granted, it''ll be extraordinarily difficult and take much time, however, the outcome would be stunning. Their chances of attracting students would soar if they showcase the available multitude of fighting facilities and how they encompass every environment. "Well then, since we''re here how about I show you my fighting skills?" Kawata said abruptly, slightly stunning the group from his question. They had all heard from Lachlan that Kawata is a martial arts master; however, he''s also currently 69 years old. Far away from when he was in his prime state. "Sure, I suppose we could stretch out those old bones of yours," Simon said casually as he walked onto the field. Kawata nodded before following behind him. Once they reached the middle they took a few steps away, given themselves a distance of 20 metres. "One of you start the countdown!" Simon shouted towards the group. Zoe nodded before taking a couple of steps forward, breaking free from the group and stepping slightly onto the field. She raised her hand into the air and swiftly glanced towards both competitors. "Alright. 3! 2! 1! Fight!" Simon made a mad dash towards Kawata, his body blurred from his speed as he disappeared from Kawata''s sight. Kawata''s eyes widened from surprise before sharpening and returning to their normal state. His body moved in a fluid motion, smoothly through the air as he swung his arms. They managed to make contact with the side of Simon''s fist. Kawata grabbed on tight before twisting his body, allowing Simon''s body to breeze past, gradually losing the original momentum he had. Allow for Kawata to attack. Kawata pulled Simon''s body towards him, his leg moved into a blur, smashing against Simon''s feet. Simon lost all balance that moment as his feet were taken out from under him. Kawata''s skilful work didn''t end there, he pulled his arm back once more, flipping Simon around before getting Simon into a full-body lock. Kawata was pinning Simon against the ground, holding tightly onto Simon''s arms and pressing down against the back of Simon''s legs with the heels of his feet. Simon grunted loudly, attempting to use all of his strength to get back off the ground but to no avail. His eyes widened with surprise before staring at Kawata and tilting his head slightly. "What the hell did you do to me? Why can''t I use all my strength?" Simon was stunned by his ever-diluting strength. He felt himself get weaker by the second. Kawata chuckled slightly before letting go of Simon, his muscles and body were currently still rather weak in comparison to Simon. So although he managed to pin Simon down, keeping him down took a lot more effort than he expected. Simon took a breather, he felt that the air was heavy, and his head was slightly light. "Really, what did you do? Why do I feel so weak and weird?" "Quite a simple technique actually. I simply exerted all my forced onto certain acupoints along your arms and legs before gripping on tightly to slow down the flow of blood around the body through restricting the veins," Kawata explained with a smile. "It''s a combination of martial arts, using both ancient Chinese as well as traditional Japanese martial arts. Thus, creating the perfect restriction type of martial art." "Geez, no wonder you''re a martial arts master. I wonder since you''re saying it''s a combination of many martial arts, I''m curious as to whether or not you were the founder of it and what its name is," Simon was curious about that matter since Lachlan mentioned it to him. However, now that he learnt that Kawata practised a combination of martial arts rather than solely focusing on one traditional martial arts his interest was piqued even further. "Indeed I''m the founder of this martial arts. As for its name, well, it''s somewhat childish but intimidating and cool. The name of the martial arts is Snake Restricting the Dragon. I created it in my younger days back when I was hot-headed and wanted it to sound intimidating for whenever someone asks what martial art style I practice," Kawata explained as he stretched his arm. "I want to have a go, could you allow for that?" Lachlan appeared on the field. Considering that Kawata easily took down Simon, although only momentarily, it''s still enough to make Lachlan serious in his actions. He wanted to see how he fares against a battle with a martial arts master. "Well, I used quite a bit of energy just in that one fight with your friend there, Simon. Although it may not look like it but I expended quite a bit of my energy with just attempting to restrict him," Kawata explained politely as he shook his hands. "Drink this," Lachlan threw over a small water bottle over. The bottle was filled with the water from the stream, granted at the top of the stream; however, considering Kawata''s physical attributes Lachlan believed he has the capabilities to handle the pain. Kawata raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders and chugging a mouthful of the water. He immediately felt acold piercing sensation overwhelm his entire body, it felt as though he was constantly getting sliced with a frozen blade over and over again. However, not long after his body felt as though it was being soaked in the warm volcanic oceans. The warmth reached the very depths of his old frail bones, rejuvenating them and saturating his muscles with energy. Kawata''s eyes opened with from shock when he felt the condition of his body. He felt youthful, full of energy. Kawata felt as though he could go up against a lion before the world evolved in battle barehanded. He felt as though he was at his peak strength again. He stared towards Lachlan and tilted his head in confusion, swiftly glancing at the bottle before his eyes shifted back to Lachlan. "What is this stuff? Surely it isn''t some normal type of water, the effects it has is beyond phenomenal. Is there more of this stuff?" Lachlan chuckled joyfully at Kawata''s excitement and curiosity. "It''s simply the water that flows in the nearby stream; granted, the water in that bottle comes from the source and doesn''t have any dilution. And yes, there is indeed plenty more where that came from." "How much more? Would I be able to use this in my cooking? Can it be used in cook? Can you take me to the source? Have you researched the contents of what''s in the water?" Kawata dashed over and grabbed onto Lachlan''s hands before asking an array of questions. "Oh, finally, would I be able to get myself a lot of this water daily for personal use?" "Oh, do you feel your body grow young again?" Lachlan asked jokingly. He already knew how well the water worked, he has been drinking it for over 2 years now. Not to mention they had Anne researched the components of the water along with the coconut juice. However, the water possesses properties which even Anne''s most sophisticated technology can''t research. "Yes, I feel as though I''m at the peak again," Kawata answered joyfully. "Now then, let''s fight since you''re so eager to go. Do you want to do it bare-fisted or do you want to bring a weapon to use against me?" "I''ll go bare-fisted, that way it''ll make I fair, and I''ll be able to see how I fare against a martial arts master in hand to hand combat," Lachlan answered before taking a few steps back, he slightly bent his knees and defensively raised his arms. Kawata responded respectfully to Lachlan''s wishes. He too, took a dozen steps back giving themselves plenty of space between them. The two looked towards Zoe and nodded their heads silently. They immediately turned their heads again to face each other eye to eye. "Okay then. 3! 2! 1! Fight!" Zoe shouted loudly before slashing down her arm to signify the beginning of the fight. Similar to Simon, Lachlan immediately dashed forward with his maximum speed, causing a loud resounding boom the echo through the trees before appearing right in front of Kawata. His fist tore through the air, causing the wind to crackle from the pressure. Kawata smiled at the similar fighting styles before dealing with it in a similar manner. His left arm immediately met with the side of Lachlan''s right hand. He grabbed on firmly before twisting his body in a fluid circular motion, forcing Lachlan to follow along due to his momentum. However, during that small transaction, Kawata stuck out his leg lowly, forcing Lachlan''s already weakly balanced low leg to make contact. Lachlan felt the ground disappear from under him, meaning a lot of his strength disappeared along with it since he doesn''t have a stable footing. Then, just like Simon, Kawata wrapped his body around Lachlan awkwardly before clamping tightly on Lachlan''s acupoints and weak spots. The joints and veins in his arms and legs were being squeezed tightly and the blood that was originally rushing to his head slowed down greatly. Lachlan attempted to use his strength, but he felt as though all his limbs were being chained down and stretched out. His strength was slowly dissipating as the blood carrying oxygen around his body gradually decreased. However, his strength was nothing to scoff out. Lachlan flexed his muscles and the strain Kawata was feeling from restricting Lachlan''s movement increased by tenfold. However, his willpower wasn''t something so weak. He clenched his teeth and held on, continuingly grabbing on firmly to weak spots before Lachlan eventually gave up due to his light head. "What the hell, how do you even get that strong?" Lachlan asked curiously as he took in some deep breaths. His light-headedness slowly started to decrease as the blood was gradually returning to its normal cycle. His strength was slowly returning to him. "Through training, isn''t that obvious," Kawata replied happily. 185 Intensive Training "Damn, you must have done some hellish training to get where you are now," Lachlan remarked. Granted, it didn''t come just from his fight with him. But Lachlan has long since noticed a few scars on Kawata''s body, some more prominent than others. However, for some reason, none of them showed up as an issue within the weaknesses of him which either meant they were completely healed, or they weren''t too much of a problem to his fighting prowess, to begin with. Kawata chuckled with a slightly saddened expression before it returned to his previous, joyful one. "Indeed, the amount of training I''ve had to endure to get where I am could be comparable to scaling up a mountain layered with rusty nails." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. "Then I''m just wondering, but would you be able to teach us some of your techniques?" Lachlan asked politely, his hands clasped together in front of his stomach. "You don''t have to if you don''t want to, just wondering if you''ll be able to do it in your spare time." Kawata gave a burst of laughter before slapping Lachlan''s shoulder repeatedly. "Of course I''ll give you some help. After all, you all have strength beyond normal humans which is to say that you''ll be able to showcase greater prowess with my techniques. Granted, my cooking will still take priority, that is my pride and joy and I won''t replace that with anything." "Don''t worry, we aren''t asking you to hand over your life or anything. Just to give us some advice whenever you have free time," Lachlan swiftly explained with his hands waving through the air. "After all, you are going to be on the island for an unknown amount of time and we wouldn''t mind spending some time getting to know you." Lachlan was welcoming Kawata with open arms after his graceful display of martial arts. It wasn''t an understatement to say that he had been thoroughly intrigued by Kawata''s techniques and whether or not they''ll be able to learn them. Fortunately, Kawata was an easy-going elder that didn''t mind giving them advice and teaching them a few moves to help out. "Great, then I suppose we can start our first lesson now," Kawata said abruptly before motioning for the others to come over. Once everyone was in the centre of the field Kawata got into an odd position, he was squatting with his legs at a 90-degree angle spread slightly apart, his arms out straight while his back was a straight as a pencil. "Get into this position, this position is used to improve one''s balance as well as footing." "Huh, that seems a little too easy," Simon remarked as he got into the position. He waited a few seconds and he felt nothing at all, his muscles didn''t feel a thing. "Ha, I could probably do this for days. How is this supposed to improve our strength?" "Ah right, you all have some monstrous strength," Kawata remarked before slapping his hands on his legs. "Alright, use whatever the thing you used to get us up on the island but reverse it. Instead of having us lifted into the air pressure yourself against the ground." Obviously, to get Kawata up on the island and showcase their prowess as well as their uniqueness they pulled out the gravity stone trick. However, Kawata was almost unfazed once he flew through the air. He was momentarily stunned with widened eyes for only a couple of seconds in the beginning but that was all. The group raised an eyebrow before commanding their gravity stones on them to increase their weight. The field that was affected by the gravity surrounded the armour on their bodies before they felt the pressure increase multiple times. Their legs began to feel the burden as the ground beneath them started to crumble and shatter. The weight that was affecting them, although not affecting the ground directly, still caused the ground beneath them to crack under their weight. The dirt began to shift beneath Lachlan, gathering together before compressing and forming a much more stable foundation. His centre of balance was no long shifting and was instead focused around where his guts were currently. It didn''t take long, barely a few minutes before beads of sweat began forming on their foreheads. Some of their legs were already shaking uncontrollably. They hadn''t done such training for months; their body had gradually adapted to the rather pleasant and relaxing lifestyle they''ve been living up until now. "That''s right, feel the burn, feel your muscles hating you and overcome them through willpower alone," Kawata said joyfully in the same position as them. His body was completely spotless of any sweat, rather, it seemed as though he was currently enjoying the sight in front of him. "Hey! Raise your arms up a bit more! We don''t want you slacking here now do we?" Joe and Zoe were currently struggling the most. Although their strengths greatly differed, the amount of pressure they added onto themselves with gravity stones also greatly differed. Due to Joe''s strength, Leg Strength, his legs were far more powerful than most people automatically which is why he set the gravity encompassing his body many times higher. "Hey, keep your legs at 90-degrees and keep your arms and back straight. You said you wanted to get stronger, right? So this shouldn''t even pose a problem for your ever so great strength, right? Then why are you slacking!" Kawata shouted like a Sargent enjoying his job. There was a bright, cheerful smile plastered across his face at the sight of all of them struggling to keep the form up any longer. However, it was exactly because of that that they continued to persist. Unfortunately, their muscles couldn''t handle it any longer. It took roughly 20 minutes before all of them collapsed, Lachlan was last to break form as he flopped to the ground. Kawata immediately came over and helped Lachlan onto his feet. "What are you doing boy? After intense training like that, immediately resting is detrimental to one''s body as acids build up within the muscles. Granted, this water seems to deal with that problem rather well," Kawata explained as he slapped Lachlan''s shoulder with his right hand and lifting the water bottle up to his lips with his left. Lachlan nodded before wiping the sweat from his forehead, he went just outside the field and was gifted a water bottle from Zoe. Zoe had swiftly gone into the cave to get everyone a couple of bottles of water once they were all done training. Taking large mouthfuls of water Lachlan felt the piercing ice engulf his body before getting overwhelmed with the warmth that seeped deep into his bones and muscles. His energy was swiftly rejuvenated and turned back to Kawata. "Alright, let''s do that again." Kawata laughed boisterously with his arms behind his back. "Alright, since you want to continue training then it would be rude of me to just leave to by yourself. Come on then, I can go another day doing this, I wonder if you could do the same." "Oh I can," Lachlan and Kawata immediately go into position. The rest of the group followed along as well; although their muscles were sore and their bones were aching, after a quick break and the assistance of the stream water they were able to get back into action. ¡­ Elsewhere, in the hustling city filled with life. Chloe and Flynn were currently both inside a small office alongside Mariel. They were currently inside the property building, a place where property is usually handled professionally. With houses and plots of land begin sold and bought. "Alright, so you wish to buy the property on 35th Flanders Street in the food district, correct?" A real estate agent asked with a document in front of her. She looked like the usual real estate agent, dark brown hair that reached past her shoulders. A tightly fitted outfit that brought out her curves and sharp glasses. Her eyes were dark blue, a type of blue that seemed to lure people into them. Flynn shook his head slightly, breaking out of a trance. Looking down he noticed a heel digging into his foot, he felt a cold gave encompass his entire body, specifically the crotch region. Turning his head he noticed Chloe staring at him coldly. She turned around to face the real estate agent and brought out her best of smiles. A cold smile that was completely frightening to both Flynn and the real estate agent. "Yes, that''s correct, there should be no issues with our purchase, correct?" Currently, the laws of the world have drastically changed. Now, whenever a foreigner wants to purchase land there are no issues. Mainly because not everyone that was in America when the world evolved was American, rather, some people were just there to enjoy a peaceful holiday which was rudely disrupted with the chaos and destruction. However, because of this, land is easily purchased no matter who you are or for whatever reason you''re purchasing it. Although the government does keep a close eye on everything, they don''t monitor all beginning transactions due to their time schedule being filled with meetings about public safety and the future progress of humanity. Flynn and Chloe immediately finished up the paperwork before giving Marie a call. Marie was currently finishing a few things up with the Explorers Guild, signing a few papers similar to Flynn and Chloe before finally getting some time to relax. Unfortunate, their day didn''t end there. They still had to go to Risky Miners to set up a deal with Chris for some construction work with their buildings. Then, for Flynn and Chloe, the two would have to go to Christina to sign a few more professional papers for furniture for their restaurant. Chairs, tables, and decoration. Fortunately, that stuff didn''t take long, however, this time it cost a bit of money. As unlike the last deal which was based off the fact that they were going to be advertised to a wide range of individuals, some possibly becoming influential figures in the future; the current deal was just for a small restaurant. Construction didn''t take long, only a day. Construction was one of the few things that sped up drastically with the assistance of beasts and elemental control. It was also the main reason as to why buildings had a stable foundation and why Atlanta currently had a 15-metre-thick wall surrounding the city. After that, they immediately went back to the island to rest. Their minds felt as though they were going to collapse from exhaustion. Even the water couldn''t help, although it did make them feel physically better which did technically improve their mood. However, what really lifted their mood was the sight of the group training in the field with Kawata shouting at them all like some high tiered commander. They noticed the sweat pouring off their bodies, seeping from the sweat glands as their muscles squeezed tightly against their skin. "What are you all doing?" Chloe asked as she walked over, waving slightly. Everyone looked over with sunken eyes, it looked as though their spirits have been sucked from their bodies. Kawata, on the other hand, was bright a cheerful was ever. "What does it look like they''re going? Obviously, they''re training," Kawata responded in the group''s stead. "It seems they were rather confident in their strength, so I just happened to show them who''s boss. Granted, I only managed to momentarily win, in a life or death battle I probably wouldn''t last against any of them for a longer period." "Oh, can I give it a try then," Chloe said as she got into a fighting stance. Kawata grinned before getting into a fighting stance of his own, different to the one he used before against Lachlan and Simon. He looked to be in a squatting position they were currently doing. "Come," Kawata said with a slight gesture of his hand. 186 Steady Sailing Chloe dashed forwards, her body turned into a blur before appearing before Kawata, her fist tearing through the air as she twisted her body. Kawata grinned menacingly, his arm rose up and wrapped around Chloe''s arm like a snake. Chloe felt the control over her body disappear as her momentum changed directions. She was originally going forward but as Kawata twisted his body her body swung through the air. Finally, once the momentum began decreased, she attempted to stomp her feet on the ground and get some better footing to continue her attacks. However, just as her feet were about to make contact Kawata''s leg appeared from behind, smacking into the back of her heel. She felt the world spinning around before her body was completely and abruptly halted to a complete stop. Kawata grabbed and wrapped himself around Chloe''s body, restricting any movement. Kawata didn''t care who he was fighting, whether they be a woman or male, handicapped or not, he would always go all out. Chloe felt her head grow light, her eyesight was fading in and out of focus. She felt her breathing slow down as the blood rushing around her body slowed down. Struggling, she attempted one last try to break free, however, her arms felt as though there was no strength in them. It felt as though she wouldn''t be able to pick up her child with her strength, let alone a fully-grown elderly man. "I give, I give," Chloe struggled to say as she tapped Kawata''s arm. Kawata pulled back and retreated a few metres, he shook his hand as a light red mark appeared on the skin. She quenched from the stinging pain and looked towards Chloe in shock. ''Really, why does it seem as though everyone here possesses the strength to tear down a mountain'' Kawata thought to himself as he looked towards the group like he was looking at a gathering of monsters. Earlier in the battles, similar things happened. When he attempted to trip the others up the contact made it seem as though his foot would be shattered; fortunately, he had lessened to blow by twisting his body otherwise he really would have shattered the bones in his feet. However, that wasn''t the only case. There was also the multiple times where he grabbed onto their hands or wrapped his body around them an exerted a great deal of force on their pressure points. Usually, it would take a mere fraction of his strength to press hard enough on the pressure points to sap an opponent of their strength. However, the monsters in front of him forced him to use every ounce of strength to gradually decrease their strength. His body was overwhelmed with a rush of excitement staring at them. ''I wonder if I''ll be able to train this gathering of monsters properly.'' Kawata created this style of martial arts because he sought after a greater level of strength to defend himself with. However, in front of him were a group of monsters that may be able to further to the level of his technique through their strength alone. Kawata has many ideas for furthering certain techniques; however, he''s been restricted by the restraints over his muscles, not to mention the old age which is now causing his health to decline. "Just wondering, but how were you even able to defend against me?" Chloe asked as she was panting. "After all, with my level of speed I should have been completely out of your eyesight, there shouldn''t have even been a way for you to defend against my attack, let alone flip the situation and force me into losing instead." "The number of battles I''ve endured through my life could number in the upper hundreds if not thousands; after so many battles, some with your life on the line you eventually gain the ability to react without actually seeing anything. For example, when you and all of your friends disappeared from my line of sight my body immediately reacted to the situation in the best method it could think of. As for the really simple way to explain it, well, I''d call it intuition," Kawata explained joyfully as he smacked the side of his legs, slightly chuckling away at the expression the group was giving him. "Wait, so you''re meaning to tell us that you were never really aware of your initially move?" Lachlan asked as he broke form. He also had thought about the situation, to be able to keep up with someone that has monstrous stats as well as high-tiered strengths is beyond human limits. He couldn''t believe what he was hearing right now. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Kawata laughed loudly, arching his back slightly with his hands on his sides. "Indeed, although it may have looked as though I knew what I was doing I didn''t really have a clue. Your initial moves were far too fast for me to comprehend; however, once you entered my clutches you weren''t able to escape the rest of my restriction moves. And yes, after the initial interaction it was me doing the fighting." "Well damn, that''s impressive," Lachlan complimented with awe in his eyes. Although the differences in their natural strength lay leagues apart, through skilful execution and experience Kawata managed to best them all singlehandedly. Granted, they didn''t bring out their elemental control but that was entirely due to it being unfair should they do that. After that, days passed by steadily, the entire group began training for a few hours a day with Kawata. They felt a few aspects of their strength growing stronger, some of which they didn''t know they had a weakness for. Now, when they sparred against each other their footing was much more stable. And aside from Kawata, none of them could trip each other over. The business was running smoothly as well, it took a couple of days for customers to start piling in but after great perseverance and skilful advertisement, they managed to get it done. The method of advertisement was suggested by Kawata, through the of bright colours they managed to lure a few eyes. However, once they set up their ventilation system properly that''s when the real horde of customers came in. The smell of the meaty juices from the cooking chorip¨¢n drifted through the ventilation and wrapped around the hungry peoples'' bodies. Their stomachs gurgled and grumbled at the delicious smell, taking control of the body and leading it into the restaurant. They would swiftly order the meal before taking a seat at a nice redwood table. The restaurant had been skilfully furnished by Christina who had an eye for these things. The group would have settled for alright; Christina, however, wouldn''t settle for anything less than perfect. The stables and chairs had to either perfectly blend with the interior or contrast beautifully. With the dark oak trees used for the walls, Christina decided to make it slightly contrast but fuse and mix as well. The kitchen was extremely large with everything Pedro and Elena could have ever asked for. Ingredients were filling the fridge and storage to the brim. The chorip¨¢ns would be made by the couple from scratch so that they could add more flavours that they want in it. Whether they want a fattier part of the meat or a muscular part, the different seasonings as well. All of this combined created a savoury delight of aroma filling the streets outside. Granted, not everyone was a fan; however, for the most part just about everyone that walked past decided to give it a try. Some enjoyed it, even coming for seconds and thirds, others didn''t find it as pleasant and didn''t come back. But that''s just how the business worked, they couldn''t please everyone, nor did they see a reason to. In the kitchen behind the couple were two young boys, roughly in their upper teenage years to early adult years. They had pleasant baby faces, unshaven and clean. Their hair was slightly long, nothing too much but just enough to add a few styles to it. Their hair was both black while one had brown eyes and the other had hazel. Elena and Pedro worked at them extensively, teaching them the ins and outs of how to cook and prepare a chorip¨¢n. By the end of the month, they wanted the two to have learnt all their cooking methods and teachings, not to mention learn how to handle the business a bit. Granted, that job was given to someone else. Currently, Valentina was inside an office at the very back of the building. In front of her was another young woman, also in her teenage years. She was slightly blushing as she held onto her hands, she felt incredibly nervous. It was the first interview she''s ever been to and if it wasn''t for her family needing the extra money she wouldn''t have gone for a job. "Now, please tell me about yourself," Valentina said intimidatingly. A lot of the time, while the others were either working on construction or relaxing, Valentina would go to Flynn to ask for advice on how to run a business. She knew absolutely nothing, however, she wanted to learn so that she could support her parents. Also to alleviate some pressure and time on Flynn''s hands since they were currently incredibly busy with the academy. "My name is Holly Dunkin, I''m currently 17 years old with little work experience. However, I''m going to try my best to challenge myself in this environment and work effectively as a team member," The girl explained briefly as her knuckles were rubbing against each other. "Do you think you''re qualified for the job?" Valentina asked with a stern and sharp expression, her hands clasped together as her chin rested on top of them. She stared straight into Holly''s eyes, they didn''t move nor did she blink, Valentina just stared and waited for an answer. "No, currently I don''t believe I have the qualities that are suitable for the job. However, I believe I have the abilities and determination to become suitable," Holly answered with a confident outward appearance, internally she felt as though her body was breaking down. She looked to Valentina with a bit of shock. ''What the hell, how come she''s so intimidating despite being either the same age as me if not younger?" "Great!" Valentina said loudly, reaching over the desk for a handshake, her facial expression changed to a much more natural and warmer one. Holly felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she sighed of relief and shook Valentina''s hand. "So, when will I begin?" Holly asked, sitting back into her chair with a slightly more relaxed composure. She still didn''t sit how she usually would at home, if she did, it wouldn''t be an understatement to say that no job would want her. "Well, I suppose we''ll begin basic training today and then you''ll start tomorrow, come with me," Valentina answered before standing up. In reality, it wasn''t as though Holly was the best choice she''s had so far. But she felt as though there was something common between them, she also hated the stuck-up attitude that the others seemed to naturally possess. Holly seemed like a normal girl, Valentina wanted to shape and mould Holly''s future. They went outside and into another room, it was a more formal office room with a computer and drawers on both sides. On the desk was a few papers, only stacking roughly an inch high but it still made Holly''s eyes widen momentarily. Valentina tapped on Holly''s shoulder. "Alright, turn on the computer and go onto the program at the top left corner of the screen. That should be an instruction manual with a few key ideas to remember when working as a manager. Learn it and remember it." Valentina left the room and closed the door behind her. That computer program was something she made herself, with the obvious assistance of someone that can actually create programs. She prided herself on it and hoped it worked as well as she thought it would; it was a rather simple program that didn''t take too much time to create. 187 Restaurant Gets Messy After leaving the office, Valentina returned to her room. She sunk into her comfortable desk chair, custom made by Christina. The soft leather was created from the hide of a wild boar, the leather always remained warm without any electrical heating. The desk made out of red hardwood, it''s been varnished a couple of times to add on a layer of darkness and smoothness. On it was just a pile of papers, a pen and pencil holder, as well as a stapler. It was rather simple but that''s how Valentina wanted it, they weren''t going to be here forever after all. "Hey! Who''s the boss of this place!" A loud, deep voice boomed through the halls, kitchen and restaurant. It sounded angry, furious even. Valentina got a bad feeling and immediately stood up and dashed out her office, gangs were rather prominent, even in cities like Atlanta which were bustling with life. Walking through the building and out of the kitchen, Valentina''s eyes darted around the shop before landing on a rough-looking man standing at the counter. The man had long blonde hair, it was slightly curly and draped in front of his eyes. On his tanned neck was a tattoo of a tiger, all-black tattoo with exquisite details. The culprit was wearing a vibrant pink shirt and light brown shorts. Looking towards Valentina the man''s eyes widened with surprise before he sighed, walking over he wrapped his arm around Valentina''s neck. Valentina felt paralysed, it wasn''t as though she was weak but rather, she had just never been put in such an awkward position before. "Hey little cutie, how about you go back into the restaurant and get your boss for me? If you do well, who knows, maybe I can show you a good time afterwards." Valentina felt incredibly awkward, her body frozen in place as the man lightly breathed into her ear, she almost jumped on the spot. However, with a quick jolt of her memory and who the ones backing her were she felt a wave of confidence. The people backing her were the same people to root out the largest gang in her hometown, not to mention the largest gangs in multiple cities. Turning to face the man Valentina grabbed hold of his arm and lifted it off her shoulder, Valentina''s leg suddenly moved from its original position. The man felt a sudden jolt go through his body, his breathing turned erratic as his hands automatically reached down to his crotch. He collapsed to the floor, rolling around. The man looked up to face Valentina, his eyes filled with hatred and anger. "Now you did it girl, go and get your boss before I get my boys to tear this place down to the ground. Ha, suppose you can still be useful after a quick session, though you certainly won''t be as cute afterwards." Valentina squatted down and grabbed onto the man''s long blonde hair, she pulled his head up to level with hers before talking in a cold tone. "I am the boss of this restaurant, and you just being here really ticks me off. So, I''m going to give you one more warning. Crawl out the restaurant and leave, before you make a decision you''ll regret forever." "Ha, do you think you are a scary little girl? How about I show you something really scary?" The man said coldly, his muscles tensed as he held himself off the ground. The tattoo around his neck started a glow a bright red, the light enveloped the entire restaurant. When the light dispersed a large 6 metres long, 2.5 metres tall ruby red tiger stood in front of Valentina. The very tip of the tiger''s tail was lit up with a small but bright flame. Its stripes were black. It snorted a stream of smoke in Valentina''s face. The same smoke filled the restaurant. The tiger took a step forward and opened its mouth just ever so slightly to reveal its sharp, white teeth. The man gave off a burst of haughty laughter, lightly slapping the tiger''s stomach. "See, now tell me little cutie, do you regret your decision in kicking me in the goddamn balls?" The man''s voice raising slightly higher at every word. "No, no I don''t," Valentina responded while shaking her head with a composed expression. During her time in the restaurant and around the city she''s gotten to know a few people aside from the main group. During her time, she''s spent the most amount of time inside Kawata''s restaurant and even made a couple of friends, some of which, certainly aren''t the most ordinary. The man''s lip twitched with a furious face, he took a couple of steps forward and lightly brushed his hands along his tiger''s face. "Kill her, shred her into mincemeat before devouring her, make sure to do it slowly remember, we want her to feel the pain." The man was tired of playing his usual games, he thought the girl would just go along with it, after all, his name is pretty well known in the food district. Who would have thought he would be so thoroughly humiliated in front of a large crowd of people? The restaurant was filled to the brim with customers, all of which happened to see his pitiful performance. After that, there was only one way he could redeem himself in his mind. That was to reverse the situation and thoroughly humiliate the girl, even killing her to send a warning to all other places he''s going to visit. After all, news travels fast in the food district bustling with life. The tiger took another step forward, its claw landed on Valentina''s foot, it didn''t hurt, nor did Valentina feel much force. However, the moment she attempted to move that foot back she realised the tiger had trapped it beneath its claw. Its other front paw raised slightly into the air, pushing against Valentina''s stomach. The tiger slammed its claw down abruptly, ripping apart the lower end of Valentina''s shirt, revealing her slightly tanned stomach to all the customers. However, despite all the commotion, she remained still. Valentina slightly chuckled. "Ha, you badly messed up now, you should have just gone for the kill if you wanted to redeem your pitiful reputation back." At that moment another woman walked through the door, her long black hair draped over her shoulders. She wore a black dress that reached her knees, the sleeves ended at her elbows. There was a black and white tattoo of a snake wrapping around her forearm. "I would suggest letting go of the girl you piece of shit," The woman said coldly, her arm flashed momentarily before a snake shot out and wrapped itself around the tiger''s neck. The snake''s body was covered in in metallic scales possessing a grey sheen. The strength of the snake increased, swiftly cutting off the tiger''s air supply. The man felt the sense of danger of the tiger through the contract. He felt the fear of death overwhelm the tiger as it struggled to breathe. It lifted its paw and took a couple of steps back. The man stared at the woman with wide eyes filled with fear, he was confident in his tiger, that''s the reason he was so confident in everything he did. However, once that insurance failed, in a miserable manner at that, he felt his confidence shattered. The woman in front of him was a stunning beauty, but also a silent and deadly snake. "Now, since Valentina was so nice to let you live once, I''ll also give you a choice for survival. Grovel on the ground and apologise to Valentina, make sure it sounds genuine or who knows what might happen to your precious tiger," The woman said coldly, taking a couple of steps forward before standing next to Valentina, her arms crossed as she looked down on the man. "Ha, I knew you wouldn''t be too far away Dakota," Valentina said confidently before opening her arms and wrapping them around the woman. "After all, it seems you''re rather addicted to our food, now are you?" Dakota chuckled and stroked Valentina''s head, roughening up her hair. "You''re not wrong, and I can''t exactly let the restaurant''s little owner get bullied by scum like this. Not to mention that it''s much safer in the streets if you kill the tiger off while it''s still little rather than waiting for it to become a behemoth." "Are you telling me he as the chance of becoming a behemoth in the gang world?" Valentina asked suspiciously, her hand stroking her chin in a detective manner. "I don''t think he would have lasted a few weeks in the gang world, after all, he''ll probably anger some current big gang leader and get his throat cut." "Hey, I know when to keep quiet and when I can speak out of turn," The man remarked in annoyance at the conversation the two girls were having. He had just begun his journey in the gang world, money was running low so he had to find a viable method of obtaining income. How could he have known that his road would be cut so short? He heard on the streets that there was an up and coming star in the food district, probably earning thousands if not dozens of thousands weekly. Just a couple hundred dollars would have been enough to allow him to live leisurely for a year, let alone a few thousand. Then, once he came into the restaurant and asked for the boss to come out, he got rather excited to have a small and cute girl walk out instead. He had thought that the girl was the assistant, coming out in the boss'' stead, he never would have guessed that Valentina was the restaurants boss. He attempted to use some force to get what he wants but that completely backfired on him, now he''s been put in a situation where he has to grovel on the floor. He absolutely didn''t want to grovel on the floor and apologise to the small girl, especially not in front of a crowd of people. "Oh, it seems you''re hesitating," Dakota said coldly. The constriction around the tiger''s neck strengthened, the tiger felt as though its neck was going to snap any second. It had never been put in such a situation before, it only fought and hunted large prey that also had four limbs. The tiger attempted to claw at the snake, however, the metallic scales forced the tiger''s claws to merely slide across it. Seeing its opponent attack it so desperately the snake tightened some more, caused the tiger to struggle more. However, despite all that determination, it amounted to nothing. The tiger dropped, collapsed on the floor, its four limbs sprawled across the ground. "Well, seems you''re quite the shitty tamer, to allow your tame to die like that without even the slightest hint of remorse," Dakota said coldly. She despised people like the man in front of her; it was one thing to allow his tame to die but it was another to allow his tame to die while there was clearly a path in which all of them leave unscathed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Dakota couldn''t get her head around the concept of reputation and power, how some people view that as the absolute law. The man in front of her being a great example, he believes himself to have a great deal of power, then, once confronted by his power dispersing, he couldn''t handle it, nor did he want to accept it. "Ha, well then, I suppose you should kill me now, I don''t exactly have much else to live for," The man said with a hint of insanity. His last-ditch hope was to rely on being in the gang world, however, he needed strength to get to that, the strength that he just lost. His eyes were sunken, a shadow cast upon them as he stared at the ground. "Will do." The snake that was originally wrapped around the tiger''s neck shot out like a bullet, its mouth wide open, fangs oozing the slightest bit of a dark green liquid. The snake sunk its teeth into the man''s body ruthlessly, then, once let go, the man''s corpse collapsed on the floor similarly to the tiger corpse. The crowd that was bustling mere moments ago had completely disappeared, scattered in all directions. Dakota turned around a looked at Valentina. "So, how did I do?" 188 Idiotic Contrac Valentina awkwardly chuckled. "I suppose you didn''t do too bad, granted, I''d rather you not have killed a person in my restaurant. However, I suppose I also shouldn''t be expecting anything more from a person that thinks only with their stomach rather than their brains." Valentina was oddly okay at the sight of a person dying, not because she''s been surrounded by monsters for so long, she''s grown numb to death. More so because she''s seen it happen so many times, she''s never told her parents about it once so they wouldn''t know about it. However, sometimes whenever she went outside her local city, she would come across a group of slaughtered people. She would go outside the city, not too far but just enough to get to where some fresh herbs were growing wild. But, sometimes that distance was enough to come across some more gruesome deaths. However, despite all that, she saw she would continue to go outside the city to support her family business. That''s just how she''s been raised, granted, her parents would both scold her to death if they were to hear about all that she''s seen, more so about the fact that she continued to go out. "Anyway, speaking about stomachs, mine seems to be wanting something," Dakota''s stomach let off a loud gurgle. It sounded as though Dakota hadn''t eaten for days when in reality, she ate at the restaurant yesterday, a whole feast was eaten to be exact, enough to feed 4 people for dinner. Rather, that''s the entire reason Valentina got to know Dakota. One of the apprentice chefs came in and explained that a woman may singlehandedly wipe their storage clean. Granted, that was an overstatement, but Valentina was glad about it. She rushed outside to see the commotion, only to find a woman sitting in front of roughly 5 large plates which were full of food. Feeling confused she sat down on the other side of the table and immediately fired off a couple of questions, the main one being where the other person was. Dakota laughed loudly back then before another large plate was placed in front of her and Valentina witnessed the whole thing up close. Dakota''s habit of devouring any tasty food on sight, she tore through the meat without any hesitation. Then, Valentina decided to strike a deal with Dakota. After poking around at Dakota''s private life Valentina discovered that Dakota was an explorer, a rather high ranked one at that. So, taking advantage of the situation of Dakota being a foodie, Valentina created a contract with her along with Marie. Dakota is Marie''s company''s personal hunter in Atlanta, and, in terms of the benefits of agreeing with the contract, Dakota would get paid plenty of money all the while getting free food from Chorip¨¢n Reyes. And now, through this simple contract, they managed to get themselves a good meat source. "Alright, alright, I''ll go back to the kitchen and tell them that you''re here. Do you want the usual or do you want something different, maybe a bit spicy?" Valentina asked with a hopeless sigh. It seems they might be running low of meat sometime soon if Dakota keeps coming into the restaurant without rest. "You know how it is for me, I can''t handle any spices at all, just keep it nice a simple how you always have," Dakota answered before walking to a window seat and sitting down, she rested her arms on the table and stared out the window, her eyes followed the darting figures of people. Lachlan and Phoebe abruptly burst through the door, their eyes darting around the restaurant before landing on the motionless corpse on the ground. Lachlan stared at it, then at Valentina, then back at it, then back at Valentina. He pointed towards it and tilted his head. Valentina understood what Lachlan was gesturing at, she swiftly dashed over to explain to the two in a slightly quieter environment. Grabbing hold of both of their hands Valentina brought them into the kitchen before turning around and clasping her hands. "So yeah, there was a bit of a run-in with some new person wanting to get into the gang lifestyle. However, everything''s been sorted and settled, no one has been injured aside from the person wanting to start something." "Did you kill him?" Lachlan asked in a serious tone, he slightly leaned over, his face got closer to Valentina''s, his eyes stared straight through her. "And if you weren''t the one to kill him then who did? After all, when I walked in there certainly wasn''t anyone that stood out amongst the people as a strong individual." "No, no, no, I wasn''t the one to kill him, but rather, it was the work of a highly ranked explorer, someone Marie and I personally hired to work for us. She hunts down beasts to create the chorip¨¢n, in return, she gets a hefty paycheck as well as free food from Chorip¨¢n Reyes," Valentina answered as she waved her hands in front of her face. "Sounds like a somewhat alright deal, but have you made any specifics with the contract? For example, did you add a bit where she agrees to hunt a certain number of beasts per week? If you didn''t, she technically doesn''t have to supply you with as many beasts as you were thinking," Lachlan explained briefly. He had heard from Flynn that you always wanted to make a contract or trade fair if you aren''t able to tilt it more towards your own side. Valentina felt her mind pop listening to all of Lachlan''s questions before remembering what exactly was written on the contract. She shook her head nervously. "Nope, Marie and I only put that Dakota, the highly ranked explorer was the work for us in gathering ingredients from outside the city walls. We didn''t put any consequences, restrictions, or limitations." "Hai, it seems I''ll need to go and get Simon to mediate the matter over, he''s much more professional when it comes to stuff like this," Lachlan said while he scratched his head. ''Hopefully, Flynn is able to bring that contract out and make a few adjustments, it''ll be a pain in the arse if he can''t.'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Just as Lachlan was about to take a couple of steps back and leave the restaurant Valentina dashed behind him and shook her head vigorously. "No, I can''t allow you to do that. Since this is a problem created by Marie and me, the two of us are going to be the ones to fix it. This can be a valuable lesson, fixing it can be an even better lesson added on top." Lachlan and Phoebe were momentarily stunned by Valentina''s stubborn nature but chuckled slightly at her determination to fix her mistakes. The two nodded. "Alright, how about we do it this way, you have the rest of today to settle the problem with Dakota along with Marie before we step in. Don''t worry, the two of us will be nearby, we''ll make sure nothing interrupts your meeting." "Great, I''ll go and get Marie," Valentina said enthusiastically while making a mad dash towards a side door in the kitchen. The side door led to Marie''s building, it was full of people working around the clock dissecting the certain parts of the beast that are edible. "Oh Valentina, what are you doing here? Don''t you have someone over for an interview?" An old man asked from behind a workbench. Currently, the machines humanity possess aren''t able to accurately dissect the beasts. However, with the slight assistance of human hands, the problem was quickly resolved, or at least minimised. The old man was slightly hunched over his workbench, in front of him was an arm of a lizard, just its arm itself weighed a dozen kilograms. Then, once the limb was weight a conveyer belt dragged it along in a machine making a lot of noise. Since the evolution, the strength of muscles, bones, and even skin was increased severalfold, as such, humans had to respond similarly with their machines. Increasing the power behind their cuts. "Indeed, however, I currently have more pressing matters at hand, where''s Marie?" Valentina asked hurriedly. The old man nodded. "Hai, young ones are always in a rush nowadays. Anyway, Marie should currently be within her office; I don''t remember seeing her ever come out, but I also don''t see much going around in the building." The old man stopped talking and continued with his work, looking through with the operation since mistakes could happen at any second when it came to dissecting limbs. Valentina nodded before sprinting through the building and up some stairs at the very back of the entire building. At the top was a small room. In the meantime, Lachlan and Phoebe were just left inside the kitchen. They looked towards Elena and Pedro who both shrugged their shoulders and tilted their heads, they hadn''t been listening to anything going on, they were currently listening to some music as they danced around the kitchen. The two apprentices were doing the same, mainly before Elena and Pedro told them to. Seeing everything running smoothly Lachlan and Phoebe both nodded at the same time before walking out and sitting on a table by the window. It was only one table''s width away from Dakota, granted, the two didn''t know who Dakota was since Valentina only gave them her name, nothing else. "So, how about we order something and wait?" Lachlan asked, his arms resting on the table. They were currently just sitting there, which although was slightly fine with them in private, it was rather awkward in public. "Then, we can talk about the next location for our business and whether or not we should start recruiting some students here." Phoebe nodded and responded sweetly. "Alright, would you please pass over the menu?" Lachlan grinned and handed over the menu which was filled to the brim with a variety of different chorip¨¢ns, some spicy, some mild, some acidic, some salty. Just a wide variety of flavours, entirely decided on by what meat was used as well as the seasoning and additional ingredients. A waitress came walking over, the waitress was one of the apprentice''s close friend; hearing that her friend managed to get himself a job at Chorip¨¢n Reyes she immediately asked if he could help her get one as well. Standing by the tableside with a notepad in her hands she asked in a polite tone with a bright smile. "Hello and welcome to Chorip¨¢n Reyes, are you ready to order food as of now?" "No need to wait I suppose," Lachlan said with a slight shoulder shrug. "Alright, I''ll get the spicy chorip¨¢n with a side of fries and garlic bread." The restaurant had a much larger menu than the food trucks, most of the dishes were things that Elena and Pedro had ideas of creating before but just never got hold of the ingredients. However, now that they were in a major city of America, the ingredients were easy to come by. The restaurant also only had 3 sides: French fries, garlic bread, and onion rings. And, since the evolution, all the ingredients were slightly larger while being compacted with flavour. Lachlan almost knocked himself out from the flavour along of the three sides. Simon, Flynn, Chloe, and himself were the ones to come up with the sides. Mainly due to the large variety of ingredients available around the food district was also due to nostalgia. Getting that taste of garlic bread, something they would order along with pizza back before the Earth evolved, it was just something magical. "I''ll have the mild chorip¨¢n with garlic bread and onion rings," Phoebe ordered kindly. The waitress nodded her head and walked off, swiftly writing down the order in short abbreviations. At that point, Marie and Valentina burst through the kitchen door and dashed for the seat opposite of Dakota who had already been served her first plate. Dakota looked up to see two smallish girls staring at her eat, she knew both of them, however, they were currently being unusually weird. "Is there something wrong? I don''t have anything on my face, do I? If so, would you be able to get it off?" "No there''s nothing wrong with that, we''re just here to try and renegotiate the terms of the contract," Marie answered with closed eyes, her hands clasped as her elbows rested on the table. "Hopefully you would be able to cooperate with us in a professional manner an make this whole process many times faster." Dakota showed visible signs of panic. "What? You''re not firing me already, right? That shouldn''t be so, right? I didn''t do anything wrong did I?" Food was her weakness, her desire to eat was something she couldn''t stop, feeling that it was threatened her mind went into overdrive. 189 Danger in Midst the World Valentina hurriedly shook her hands while Marie vigorously shook her head. "No, no, no, of course we wouldn''t fire you so early. It''s more so about the contract, currently, the contract isn''t exactly fair, so we wish to add a few additional clauses. You should be alright with that, right? It isn''t going to limit the amount of food you can eat, nor reduce the amount of pay you get either." "That''s fine, as long as you don''t make me your slave, I''ll be alright with it," Dakota said while shoving her mouth with food, she could barely talk through the cluster of food in her mouth, it was a surprise that she had the ability to breathe still as well. Marie and Valentina nodded, they brought out another paper document, it was something they made up swiftly, almost instantaneous; fortunately, a majority of the contract was already written out, they weren''t changing any of the previous clauses, only adding a couple which only took a dozen or so seconds. The two clauses were rather simple and can easily be simplified. The first clause was to ensure that Dakota was to become a stable supplier of meat products and even fresh herbs, they would pay for whatever Dakota brings back, as long as it''s worth something. The second clause, one which focused more on the safety of the restaurant, was one that states that Dakota; when in the close proximity of the restaurant, should safeguard it if anything detrimental were to happen. The two informed Dakota of the changes, she didn''t mind, nor did she really care all that much either. She was originally going to protect the restaurant anyway, even before she was contracted entirely due to her obsession with the food. Not to mention that two of the other best restaurants in the food district were right next to it, Dakota wasn''t going to allow some thugs to ruin her favourite meals. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. With that settled so smoothly, Valentina and Marie both nodded before shaking Dakota''s hand and leaving back towards the kitchen. Even they themselves were thoroughly surprised by how smoothly the transition went; they expected a bit of resistance but more or less it seems like Dakota was going to follow those clauses anyway. Lachlan and Phoebe both oversaw the entire deal and nodded in approval, Marie and Valentina both managed to keep themselves composed throughout the entire contract renegotiation; granted, it was quite simple considering Dakota''s smooth cooperation that proved to provide little discouragement to Valentina and Marie. Turning back, Lachlan took a bite out of his meal, the meaty juices filled his mouth to the brim, the doughy bread seemed to follow straight after. The dough used the same ingredients, just a few different ratios considering the evolution. Especially since ingredients such as eggs grew to the size of a human''s head. The flavour inside each bite was concentrated, there was a tinge of sweetness in the breed by itself, likely from the butter which was harvested from an evolved cow. Fortunately, cows still remained rather docile, their intelligence also got a boost and seeing humans shelter it from the harm of other beasts it didn''t mind having its milk extracted from it. Farm animals although evolved and got stronger, they also got a major setback as well. Through the constant selective breeding and genetic modification, the genes inside the farm animals were rather unstable, thereby making the evolution slightly different as well. Certain breeds of cows began to excrete milk without being pregnant, some chickens would lay several dozen eggs every day without stopping, pigs turned slightly hostile; however, since pigs were mainly harvested for their meat the farmers didn''t mind treating the animal a bit harsher than the others. The more purebred farm animals immediately grew stronger and escaped the farms, granted, they still weren''t at the high end of the food chain and were swiftly slaughtered and eaten by the thousand other species of beasts that surrounded them. Though some cows and pigs managed to evolve into rather unique beasts, a few hundred cows evolved into a powerful type of bull while the pigs managed to grow into house-size boars. Just through size along they would be able to survive, however, when paired with their strength their ramming speed was a deadly combo. Lachlan took another bite; the rich refreshing flavour of the vegetables overwhelmed all the other flavours. Unlike most vegetables which all possess a unique taste even to each other, these vegetables tasted much sweeter and had a slight crunch to them when they bit into it. The finely diced tomatoes were pouring out their sweet savoury juices. Then, when almost everything seemed over a wave of heat filled Lachlan''s mouth. Lachlan had ordered the spicy dish, so, just like the name would imply, it possesses a lot of spice. The chillies were freshly grown in a nearby town, that town was heavily guarded by the Land Guardians since it was a central hub for farming. The largest farm in the city, Farming Ethiopia, was Atlanta''s and possibly America''s largest fresh produce supplier. Opening his eyes which were shut so he could experience the flavour some more he noticed Phoebe looking at him with a raised eyebrow and tilted head. Lachlan responded with a similar facial expression before wiping his thumb against the edge of his lip. Looking at it, Lachlan noticed it had a thin layer of sauce. Lachlan slightly chuckled before sticking out his tongue and licking the sauce off his face, any remaining sauce was wiped off using a clean napkin. "So, do you think we should start recruiting? They obviously won''t actually start training until all the facilities are finished, but recruiting should possibly take a week or two," Lachlan said while he took another bite, much smaller than the first to allow him to continue talking. "I don''t see why not, it isn''t as though it''ll create problems nor do any harm. Per example, we could also test out a couple of arena ideas, in these arenas, the students will be able to test their skills against one another and relieve some stress as well as settle any aggression between them," Phoebe nodded in agreement. She was also curious about a few other things, such as the fighting abilities of people nowadays. "Suppose that''s true, then when we get back to the island, I better get back to work with the terraforming, that is a surprisingly difficult job to do, especially since certain people happen to be extremely picky about the details. Granted, those extra details and additional aspects created a much more realistic battlefield," Lachlan responded while he sank back into the chair with his plate in his hand. Currently, the construction of the dormitories was undergoing fast progress and steady development with a few additional modifications here and there, especially whenever Christina was there, she wanted to add her creative flair to just about every process. Some of which, turned out a lot better than expected while others were complete flops. Lachlan was in charge of terraforming the training facilities to allow for a wider diversity of training environments. He was currently still in the process of completing the first facility ground, however, Christina seemed almost attached to Lachlan''s abilities and would also be close by. Christina also happens to be the individual that''s creating plenty of trouble with his progress, constantly wanting additional changes. "But, before we go back, I suppose I wouldn''t mind spending a bit of time in the city, maybe we should go and check out the Vietnamese restaurants next to our place," Lachlan said, taking another bite of his food before drinking a mouthful of water. Currently, they''ve been a dozen other restaurants but never to the restaurant right next to them. Don''t ask them why; they wouldn''t be able to answer it themselves. They just decided on not going and testing it out, they were more inclined to try other exotic foreign dishes such as Pakistani food or Indian food, both of which were incredibly delicious. They finished their meal in a hurry, the food filled their stomachs close to the brim, but they still had room for a bit more food. They paid for the meal, using their own money before walking out and going next door. The reason why they decided to pay for their meal was that they didn''t feel the need to create a scene, not to mention that the money was basically just going back to them anyway. They looked at the Vietnamese restaurant, nodded to each other before walking it. Taking a step in their noses were swiftly assaulted with the aroma of herbs and spices, they looked around and sat themselves down before looking at the menu. A majority of the dishes were noodle and rice-based; there was one thing that caught Lachlan''s attention immediately, it was the sweet and spicy fried chicken with stir-fried rice. Lachlan was curious as to how it would taste, especially since chicken is one of the rarer farm animals considering its nature underwent great change through the evolution. Although it was still somewhat docile, its eggs were basically its most precious things, it was incredibly protected of them. Not to mention, they can be incredibly protective of themselves as well; but that was known even before the evolution. In the end, Lachlan ordered the Spicy Fried Chicken with Stir-Fried Rice while Phoebe decided on getting the Port Noodle Soup. The Vietnamese restaurant had a variety of meats and dishes as their disposal, so it came at no surprise that they were such a well-known restaurant. Whenever they walked the streets, they would only hear the name of three restaurants: Their own restaurant, as well as Kawata''s Japanese restaurant along with the Vietnamese restaurant. It didn''t take long, roughly 10 -15 minutes before the waiter came out with both of Lachlan''s and Phoebe''s orders. He gracefully placed the meals in front of them before bowing and leaving them to eat. The aroma from the Soup was most prominent, second would be the Stir-Fried Rice while the Spicy Friend Chicken would be last. Granted, the aroma from the Spicy Friend Chicken could still fill the room easily, it''s just that the other dishes have a more piercing aroma. They swiftly went into an eating mode and finished the meal swiftly; the Spicy Friend Chicken was indeed spicy first and foremost, it then had a slight garlic taste before Lachlan''s mouth felt as though it was on fire. He sculled the water glass before placing the cup down and letting out a loud exhale. Lachlan then moved onto the Stir-Friend Rice; it wasn''t complicated, rather, it was quite simple with a few different vegetables: peas, carrots, corn, spinach, and capsicum. The rice was coated with a layer of a savoury soy sauce, something that would be more than likely paired with pork rather than chicken. Meanwhile, Phoebe was sitting across from him eating the noodle soup blissfully. The soup had a strong flavour that pierced her taste buds, it had the slightest bit of spice, but she could taste the flavour of pork stock more prominently. The thick slices of pork covering half the bowl were roasted before being slightly fried to get a nice crunchy skin. With such great tasting food, they weren''t surprised by how popular the restaurant was; currently, a line was building up outside the door due to it now being in the rush hours of lunchtime. Fortunately, they managed to get to the restaurant slightly beforehand. After finishing their meals they stretched their legs a bit more walking up to the register; a wonderfully dressed Vietnamese woman appeared in seconds to service them. They paid for the meal before leaving the restaurant; looking to the side the line was roughly 20 people long. The line at Kawata''s restaurant was roughly 30 ¨C 35 people long. Their restaurant, on the other hand, had a line stretching for at least 40 people minimum; the two grinned at the sight of success. Fortunately, all the effort that they put into getting here wasn''t wasted. Not to mention the construction of the dorms was going steadily as well, everything was going according to plan¡­ ¡­ In the far distance, thousands of kilometres away, hovering above the wide blue ocean was a dark figure cloaked in dark green. Black wings spread from its back; its eyes opened widely as it sniffed the air. In a deep booming and croaky voice, it said coldly, "I smell it, the scent of another half." 190 Beginning of Trials A few days blew by in what seemed like minutes, the group was constantly busy with matters to attend to that they didn''t take a second to think about the time. Finally, after a long few days, they had finished the dormitory as well as the training facilities. They would still take some time to create the food court, however, they already had two restaurants ready to deploy there. Pedro and Elena still needed to train their two apprentice chefs to a higher degree, high enough to where they should be able to cover then entire menu without trouble. There was also Valentina, she was currently in the midst of training her new assistant in the ways of business. In other words, she was just telling her assistant what Flynn told her. The Academy currently had the large dormitory with its thick walls created from the trees. The interior, although took a long time, was finally completed with each room having a similar but slightly different design. The higher one is in the dormitory the better and larger the rooms were; just to give the students an extra boost in morale for when they think they had enough training. The training facilities were terraformed with Lachlan''s strengths along with Christina''s creative eye; she made sure just about everything had a purpose in being there, whether that be uneven ground or dips to disbalance the students, or the hills and small trees which sprung from the ground all along the field to block the vision of students competing in combat. Everything was there for a specific reason to enable them to prepare for fighting in the wild. And today, they announced through both Researchers United as well as the Explorer''s Guild, that they were opening their Academy to the world. The first trial for entry was being held in Atlanta, it would be held in two days to allow for those in nearby cities or towns to make their way over. These two days were to allow for their group to prepare the necessary trials which the participants will have to complete. They were obviously going to do a few strength tests; however, that would be unfair to those that specialised more in elemental control. As such, they decided to split the trials into three: One was for those that specialise in physical strength, one that''s for people that specialise in elemental control, then those that specialise in both. As for the rankings that would decide their place in the dormitory, that would be held after they get the entrees that pass; there will be a maximum of 1000 ¨C 1500 participants that can pass during the trials. Once they were chosen, a tournament would be held on the island and the rankings would be decided from there. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. However, what the group wasn''t too certain of, was how they were going to test each of the participants. Strength was obvious enough, they can have a few tests which determine the physical strength of each participant. It was more so the people that specialise in elemental control that the group would have trouble assessing. Sure, Lachlan could just analyse them and be done with it by choosing who has the highest level of elemental control. However, when it came to combat, having a higher level wasn''t everything. It was also heavily dependent on how one uses their elements as well. For example, water could be used in a variety of ways. Should they use it correctly, water could be used for both defence and offence; with defence, one can either use it to change the directing through attacks or just straight up block it completely with a frontal defensive stance. Then with the offence; an individual could either send a water bullet towards their target or use it similarly to how Lachlan uses his ice, create a layer of water around a body part and attack with it. Granted, the latter would be more useful to those that already have plenty of physical strength while the former would be for those that have better control in their elements. That, however, would be determined during the tournament held after the students are chosen; there may be a few dark horses that decided to keep the maximum extent of their abilities a secret. As of this moment, Lachlan was standing in front of the training field that he spent the most time on. In his opinion it was probably the greatest training field there will ever be for combat within the wild. The area it covered was roughly a square 230x230m. It was certainly a behemoth of a training field. There was a variety of vegetation, whether it be thick or thin trees, short or long grass, they had it all. In some parts of the training field, there were vines as well as a manmade river. Created through the use of water stones; granted, it was a suggestion from Anne when she heard one of the requirements Christina wanted as during a meeting. Fortunately, due to some even more skilful terraforming nether Christina, nor any students will be able to see the source of the stream. Which is exactly what they wanted. Phoebe was in the middle of admiring another training facility, most commonly called the "Ocean''s Field" by anyone that sees it. Due to the training facility utilising both Water and Wind Stones, the group was able to create situations that usually only happen out in the wild, usually in the middle of the ocean. The training area covered a rough square of 300x300m; it slightly dug into the mountain roughly 1 kilometre into the island. There was a tall and thick wall surrounding the facility, the waters inside were incredibly rough, reaching a height of 20 metres. The wave smashed against the wall and spray upwards, creating a wall of water in front of Phoebe''s face before falling backwards returning to their little ocean. By Phoebe''s feet was the new turtle she claimed on that near that Death Island, respectively named Hope, the turtle which possesses the ability to sense dangers. Yesterday, during the late of night, Phoebe swiftly awakened everyone from their peaceful slumber with important information from Hope. It seems like there''s likely going to be a being of great power coming towards them; however, due to the current distance between it and the attacker, it wasn''t able to properly determine the specifics of the danger. Granted, if it was anything that could send Hope into a panic then it left little room for discussion on what it was. Three possibilities could occur; one, it''s an incredibly strong intelligent beast, that one is actually the most unlikely. Two, it''s a beast from another dimension that travelled through a spatial gate. And lastly, it could be another half-human, one that seems to have lost themselves to the other half allowing it to gain full reign over the body. Fortunately, it seems it''s ability in transportation was rather slow and wouldn''t be in America for another 5 - 6 days, let alone in Atlanta. Either it was slow, or it decided that it wouldn''t rush its journey over. Granted, Lachlan would be incredibly stunned if it was the latter, but at the same time, he wouldn''t be surprised if all other halves have unique personalities. ¡­ A couple of days passed by rather quickly, the group was currently split into three groups and were stationed at three points in the city. The testing grounds were in an area roughly the size of an average school oval, rather, that''s where one of the testing stations was at. Chloe, Flynn, and Brianna were on the school oval testing for elemental control. Lachlan, Phoebe, and Zhang were currently inside in the business district in a large open area testing for physical strength. Joe, Zoe, Georgia, and Simon were currently just stationed on the outer edges of the food district testing for individuals that possess great prowess in both physical strength and elemental control. Lachlan, Phoebe, and Zhang were all sitting on seats placed just outside the affected area. Since they were planning on testing physical strength it came to no surprise that they would use the gravity stones to test the participants. The participants were to complete a series of tasks to best showcase their strength. The three weren''t looking for anything insane; the gravity was currently set on 2 times Earth''s gravity. Which is slightly lighter in comparison to what the group could do now, but 2 times is still a lot of extra pressure. "Participant 00001 come to the testing area!" Lachlan shouted powerfully, his voice echoed through the crowd of people standing by the side of the road. Not many of them were there to test their physical strength, rather, they were just getting a glance to determine whether or not they have the capabilities to pass the test. Once Lachlan shouted out a masculine teenager walked out of the crowd, he was currently wearing a tank-top which allowed to showcase his muscles in a much better light. Lachlan decided to not analyse those that participate in the tests; after all, although it is a strength test, an individual''s willpower is also tested, and Lachlan didn''t want the numbers to affect his judgement. The teenager walked over to the gravity affected area and tilted his head in confusion, he tried to stare closed but with no luck of noticing anything dramatically different. The only item he could see was a statue in the centre of the affected area. The group decided on placing the gravity stone inside the statue to allow for it to remain hidden for the time being. "Step forward and complete the tasks," Lachlan said with his arms crossed, leaning back into the chair. He stared right into the participant''s eyes, not breaking eye contact for a second. The participant gulped before taking a step forward and reeling his leg back in shock; he almost looked insane with what he did next. He placed his foot back into the affected area before taking it back, then placed his arm within the affected area before taking it back and looking towards Lachlan in shock. "Step forward and complete the tasks," Lachlan repeated sternly. The participant nodded before walking into the affected area, allowing for his entire body to feel the overwhelming pressure. It felt as though there was another him standing on top of his shoulders, weighing him down extensively. Stretching and rolling his muscles he walked towards the first area; a simple test, one just needed to complete a squat. There was a variety of weights in that part of the field, even lifting up the first weight which weighed 15 kilograms was already passing. Because although it states 15 kilograms, under the pressure of 2 times Earth''s gravity, that 15 kilograms turned to 30. It was similar to a couple of the other tests; the participant''s test involved a squat, pull-up, bench-press, punch, plank, and 50-metre sprints. For the punch, it utilises a punching machine to determine the power behind a participant''s punch. They mucked around with it yesterday, figuring out what they would deem as a passing grade. Fortunately, with the help of some volunteers, namely Zhang and Flynn, they were able to determine a rough placement of where they wanted the participant to be. The participant only needed to complete each task once to pass. However, the group made sure for there to be unexpected difficulties. 192 Matters to Address So, I suppose I should''ve said this a while ago, but yes, I have dropped both novels. As for the reasons, well, at the start of my writing early January 2019, I fully enjoyed the experience and interacting with readers, taking in feedback and criticism and improving. I liked letting my imagination go wild and coming up with new ideas. However, at some point when I dropped, I started to lack the necessary motivation to write, I stopped enjoying writing and it felt like more of a chore than a hobby. But I persevered for a little while longer until I couldn''t. Exams were coming up, I needed to study and I couldn''t keep writing, especially if I no longer enjoy it anymore. And here''s the thing, the main reason I started to stop enjoying it was probably the reason why I started. The goddamn Status Screens, I wanted a write a novel but clearly didn''t know how exactly to portray the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters and other characters. But while reading many other novels, I realised I could just use status screens. I enjoyed writing the status screens in the beginning, making up all sorts of stats for both my novels, each having a slightly different status screens. But after a while, it began to feel tedious and rather repetitive. I tried to keep going but writing status screens day in and out made me feel like I was doing a Mathematics Investigation. I wasn''t finding any pleasure or enjoyment out of it. The only enjoyment I found was reading comments and reviews, interacting with a few of you and answering any doubts, but even then, that was only able to push me so far before I burnt out and couldn''t continue. So, as I''m sure the answer is obvious, no, I very likely won''t be going back to continue either series, which I''m sure is quite a disappointment to a lot of you and I''m sorry for that. On the other hand, my enjoyment for writing has sparked back up and I may write another series, quite different from the others that doesn''t rely on status screens. I do hope you can read that when it comes out. Not gonna say when cause I don''t want people to have any expectations. But I just hope you all understand the situation I''m in, I also thank you all for being with me throughout my writing journey, it was certainly a blast. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.