“Your son, Rebran, was killed by the Dragon King.”
A sudden jolt of pain instantly burst through Xardoth’s heart the moment he heard those words.
*thump-thump*
*thump-thump*
His blood pressure started to rapidly rise, as his heart violently pounded against his chest.
It’s not true… it’s not true… IT’S NOT TRUE!
His mind started to shamble in pieces, as despairing thoughts of his wife came to his mind and how her life would crumble if she found out that her son was dead.
“You are lying. How can I believe what you just said?”
Xardoth asked in a cold voice, as his feathery fists tightly clenched together and the fur around his body began to distort into the shape of a griffin.
“Trust me or not, but you will see for yourself once you enter the city. I see that you have already called your little friends, so it is time for me to leave. Do what you wish…your highness…”
The cloaked figure mockingly laughed at the end, instantly vanishing from sight.
Just at that exact moment, Orpen and the other griffins burst into the tent with wild waves of essence spiraling around them.
“My King, where is the enemy?”
Orpen asked with fear in his voice. He could detect the rapid detoriation of Xardoth’s mind through their mental link, and the current emotions of the king greatly alarmed him.
“Wake the troops up. We will march through the night and attack the city tomorrow.”
Xardoth slowly raised his head to face the group of griffins, as veins of blood popped up and spread throughout his eyes.
“A pity… so gullible and yet so n.o.ble…”
A figure suddenly appeared in a flash within a distant mountain above the series of tents below.
Withdrawing back her hood, the figure’s bright red hair spilled out onto her shoulders. Compared to the darkness of the night, the bright red hair appeared to be drawing in the moonlight as it illuminated with a strange glow.
“If only I did not have to hide my ident.i.ty from the Emperor, I could have dealt with these two measly kings on my own. But then again, this game of cat and mouse is also fun in its own way.”
The red-haired woman murmured to herself, as she watched the chaos unfold in the camp below.
A blazing beacon of light shone within Calron’s mind the moment Tarnila released her essence.
Compared to his own lightning, it was clear that her’s was much more terrifying and he had to briefly compose himself, as the mere aura of her lightning was causing his breathing to constrict.
It was the same sensation that the guards had felt back in the Arena when she had activated her essence in front of the crowd.
“Let me decrease the potency of the lightning, so you can see it better.”
The racc.o.o.n calmly spoke, and gradually the blazing light within Calron’s mind started to dim a bit.
“Notice the path that my lightning is flowing in and try to glean my emotions or thoughts from that stream.”
Focusing his mental consciousness towards the racc.o.o.n, Calron furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to understand the pattern of the lightning and to detect Tarnila’s thoughts.
Droplets of sweat began forming on his forehead under the intense concentration.
“Gahh! I can’t even penetrate your barrier. Your lightning is stopping me from even coming close to your thoughts.”
Calron stated in frustration as he finally opened his eyes, and panted audibly.
“Hmm… this is my first time teaching this technique to someone else with a lightning element… how about trying it on one of them?”
The racc.o.o.n replied while turning her head to face the two little beasts on the side who still gorging themselves on food.
A look of panic immediately surfaced on Calron’s face, but it soon disappeared once he realized that this technique was different from his Divine Perception, in that he could not forcefully influence their minds, but only detect their thoughts and emotions.
“Alright, let me give it a shot.”
Very carefully, Calron spread his mental consciousness towards the unsuspecting beasts and started with Avi’s mind.
Unlike the thick torrents of lightning that existed in both him and the racc.o.o.n, the two little beasts each had very thin and fragmented paths where lightning pa.s.sed through. Bringing his mind closer to Avi, Calron started to get a few traces of random thoughts.
Food… biting…tasty…meat…hurry food… compet.i.tion… eat more…
Although the string of random phrases were all jumbled together, Calron could still gain a general understanding of what was going through Avi’s mind. Rather than comprehensible words, the information he got was more about her emotional state and what the pup was feeling right now.
Switching over to Rebran, the young lion had similar thought processes as Avi but there were hints of worry and concern layered beneath within them.
Tastes good…friend… home… family… miss…
Calron could tell that the thoughts of his family and concern for how he will return back to them was looming over the young lion’s head. It was probably his first time being away from them his whole life.
Feeling pity for the isolated beast, Calron stopped using his technique and opened his eyes to the sadly smiling racc.o.o.n.
She appeared to have noticed the white lion’s sadness as well. However, Calron did have to praise the little beast for his courage. Even with his mind in such duress, Rebran did not let it show on the outside.
“Looks like our time is up for today, birdy, we have a guest coming over. Quickly change back to your beast form.”
Tarnila said, as she glanced in a distant direction.
Curious as to who this new person was, Calron rapidly shape-shifted into the golden bird.
Standing at a height of over ten feet tall, he could now see that an armored figure was casually walking towards their location.
“Master, was the food to your liking?”
Laris asked politely with a smile when she saw piles of empty trays next to a bloated Avi and Rebran.
“Haha, it was satisfactory and I’m sure our two esteemed guests appreciated it.”
The racc.o.o.n chuckled, seeing the look of content on Avi’s face as she rolled around on the ground.
“Laris, you could have come later for the trays.”
Tarnila said while glancing at the nearby Calron.
Unbeknownst to Calron, Laris had already discovered that the golden bird was a human and Tarnila did not want any friction to occur because of this. Although she trusted her student whole-heartedly, Calron did not have the same level of trust towards Laris.
“Master, I have come for another reason.”
The blue-skinned female stated while shaking her head.
“There are people looking for him.”
Laris revealed, as she nodded her head towards Rebran’s direction.