*thud*
A lifeless corpse slowly toppled onto the ground.
“This is the third one so far.”
Calron sighed as he grabbed the dead black alligator’s tail with one hand, and effortlessly flung its body over his shoulder.
“I think we should reach our destination within a few hours, kid.”
The Voice said cheerfully while materializing behind Calron.
For the past several days, both Calron and his Teacher had been journeying deeper and deeper into the inner range of the Desolate Mountains in order to locate the thunderstorm that Calron had seen through the Divine Perception.
The dark clouds were constantly on the move, so to catch up to them, Calron had been using the Blood Mist Step continuously throughout the journey. Fortunately, the thunderclouds travelled at a slow pace, so after a few days, Calron had almost caught up to them.
However, the deeper he went into the Desolate Mountains, the more frequently he encountered hostile beasts. So far he had not yet come into conflict with a beast in the Vajra stage, but seeing that the beasts he had recently encountered for the past few hours were all at the peak of the Spiritual stage, it seemed as if meeting a Vajra stage beast would only be a matter of time.
After months of restrictions placed on his essence and the Blood Legacy by his Teacher, Calron finally reveled in the feeling of the source energy coursing through his veins once again.
“Teacher, what do we do once we reach the location of the thunderstorm?”
Calron asked curiously while racing ahead using the Blood Mist Step.
“We’ll need to be careful when we reach there, kid. There will be many lightning attributed beasts there, and most will be either at the peak of the Spiritual stage or even at the Vajra stage. Just like you, some will be attempting to break through to the next rank, so do well to stay clear from them.”
The Voice calmly explained.
“I’m worried about absorbing a bolt of lightning, Teacher. Do you really think I will be able to safely ingest it?”
Calron conveyed his doubts to the Voice.
Although the mention of the beasts in the Vajra stage made Calron a bit nervous, the bolts of lightning were what really scared Calron. In the worst-case scenario, Calron could always run away from a Vajra stage beast, but there was no running away from a bolt of lightning.
Either Calron survived the strike, or he would never wake up again.
“Hmm, you’ll do fine, kid. Don’t worry about it and just concentrate on reaching that place.”
The Voice rea.s.sured its student and turned to secretly ponder within its own thoughts.
Unknown to the student-teacher pair, several yards away from them, a green bush slightly shook while traces of faint movements could be detected behind it.
“Chief! Chief! A human just entered our territory!”
A brown bear yelled excitedly as he charged into a ma.s.sive cave.
The young bear had a light brown coat of thick fur and bright intelligent eyes. It was not overly bulky like the common bears of the wild, but it was clear that it was a magical beast with an attributed element. With his sharp metallic claws raking against the ground, the young bear sped ahead.
However, just as the young brown bear was about to dart past into the cave, several larger bears quickly rushed to intercept him.
“Quiet down, you little punk! Chief is taking his afternoon nap right now.”
The largest bear of the group angrily opened its maw wide as it scolded the young beast.
The large bear was an impressive specimen of the bear race, with thick cords of muscle coiled around his body; the large black bear was unlike any other common bear.
The remaining bears had all various sizes and colors, but none could compare to the aura emitted by the black bear.
“Lort! I’m not lying, a human actually entered our mountain. I just saw him kill one of the alligator pests a mile out from our border!”
The young brown bear suddenly halted and frantically replied back. Without stopping to hear the response, the young bear then continued to wallop through into the cave.
“This brat better not be lying. Chief gets mad whenever someone disturbs his sleep. Follow me!”
Lort strictly commanded the other bears as he let out an irritated growl, and followed behind the young brown bear.
Deep within the cave, an enormous shadow ominously loomed in the back as a savage aura spiraled above it.
Hearing the clinking of several claws against the stony floor, the ma.s.sive shadow abruptly flashed open its eyes.
“What is it?”
A deep grating voice echoed out within the darkness, and a pair of bright green eyes intensely glowed while the new figures gradually approached the shadow.
“Chief!”
The sleuth of bears all pa.s.sionately exclaimed as they bowed their heads down.
“I thought I said not to disturb me, Lort.”
The Chief’s words coldly rumbled as he glared at the large black bear.
“It was my fault, Chief. I barged in, and Lort was only trying to stop me.”
The young brown bear guiltily confessed while shooting an apologetic glance at Lort.
“Enough! Karn, why did you come here? Your were put on station to guard the border of our territory.”
The enormous figure slowly grated out his words.
“I was there, Chief. But then I saw a human enter into our territory!”
The young bear quickly stated with a trace of excitement hidden within his voice.
“Humans… it’s been awhile since the last of them entered this deep into the Desolate Mountains… ”
The colossal shadow whispered to himself while slowly rising up from the ground.
Akin to a small mountain, the gigantic figure calmly stepped out from the shadows, to reveal an enormous red bear with long ivory fangs.
Continuing to prowl past the gathered bears, the Chief slowly turned his head as he gazed at them from the corner of his eye.
“What are you waiting for? Come, it is time to hunt!”
—After several hours—
“Teacher… ”
Calron silently whispered as he dumbfoundedly gazed at the scene in front of him.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
Flashes of lightning from above came crashing down to the ground with a ferocious intensity. The dark thunderclouds stretched for countless miles as they emitted an aura of violence and death.
The booming sound of thunder echoed within Calron’s ears and shook his very soul.
“Haha, we’re finally here!”
The Voice loudly exclaimed.