“Boy, do you want to learn what lightning truly is?”
The words reverberated through Calron’s ears.
Without waiting for a response, the short racc.o.o.n single-handedly picked him up from the ground and left him standing there, while she began walking towards the center of the forest area where Avi was currently munching on her fruity treat.
Calron stood in a daze as he waited for the foreign lightning within his body to dissipate.
Calron felt a familiar sensation from the racc.o.o.n’s lightning, almost as if it was lightning that existed within nature and not the lightning formed with essence. Staring at the small creature’s back, Calron felt strange emotions welling up inside of him.
Admiration, confusion and suspicion.
Once the twitching of his body stopped, Calron slowly treaded to where the elderly racc.o.o.n was softly petting Avi’s head. A small trace of a smile lingered on her face while she gazed at the adorable pup’s antics.
“What did you mean when you said that I did not understand lightning?”
Calron quietly muttered, as he scratched his head.
“Eh? I did not hear what you were asking. Speak up! Come to my other side, as I’m deaf in my left ear.”
The racc.o.o.n conveyed with a wave of her claws.
Judging from the cheeky smile on her face, Calron could tell that this crazy beast was just playing with him and was not actually deaf.
Grumbling a string of curses under his breath, Calron dragged himself over to the other side of the racc.o.o.n.
Noticing the human boy, Avi quickly rushed over towards Calron and began rubbing her little head against his knee. Settling himself on the ground, Calron absentmindedly scratched the back of the pup’s ears while patiently waiting for the racc.o.o.n to begin speaking.
One minute.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
“Good, at least you have patience.”
The racc.o.o.n gave a sideways smirk, as she finally sat down and faced Calron.
Lifting a single claw into the air, the Elder began talking as bolts of lightning cracked around the tip of her nails.
“You seem to use lightning purely as a way to attack, and you use it without understanding what it really is. Is lightning simply a tool used to kill? No. It is much more than that. You need to change the way you think about lightning.”
Meanwhile, Avi proceeded to wriggle her body on Calron’s lap until she was comfortable, and then closed her eyes with a cute yawn.
“Lightning runs through your body, human. Not just yours, but through everyone who exists in this world. You think air keeps us alive? Wrong! Without air, you will die, but your soul remains intact. Without lightning, no one in this world would ever be able to move. Isn’t that a fate worse than death? To live but not be able to do anything. This is where the true power of lightning is.”
The racc.o.o.n emphasized her point by pressing the tip of her claw against Calron’s forehead.
“You want to know how I knew you were going to attack me from behind? It’s because I knew your thought before you even moved.”
Calron’s mind abruptly started to reel.
Wait, that is like the Divine Perception technique!
Not exactly, kid. It’s more like an ability to sense the flow of lightning within a person. It will allow you to ‘predict’ what your opponent will do, and the greater your skill in detecting the flow of lightning, the more accurate your predictions will be. However, the Divine Perception lets you ‘see’ exactly what the enemy is thinking.
Ezkael answered in a grave voice.
Teacher, you knew about this ability? Why didn’t you teach it to me before? I would rather use this than go through the pain of activating the Divine Perception.
Calron stated in a dejected tone, thinking back to all the agony he went through in order to triggering that brutal technique.
Kid… most of the techniques I know are for primordial beasts. Until you become one, my techniques will be useless to you. Even then, your bloodline is vastly different from mine, so it is better for you to properly inherit your memories and practice the abilities unique to your ancestry.
His Teacher stated with a sigh at the end.
Listen to her. What she is not telling you is that this is a technique that she created on her own, and to be able to do that, she must have a very strong affinity with lightning.
Ezkael abruptly stated before giving his student a chance to respond.
“You fight with only your muscles like a bird-brained idiot. You could have easily ended your battle with that ugly green thing within the first few minutes. First, sense the flow of lightning within his body. Next, concentrate your essence into your toes rather than your entire legs for the maximum burst of speed. Finally, send all your remaining essence into your fingertip and pierce through his skull in a single movement!”
The racc.o.o.n exclaimed while repeatedly smacking Calron on the nose with the back of her paw.
Dammit, why does she keep hitting me!?
Calron helplessly cried out within his mind but he didn’t dare to voice his protests to the insane creature. He was sure that he heard a snicker in the back of his mind.
“But that is impossible. If I concentrate my essence into my toes or fingertips, they will simply burst apart with the violent energy of lightning! Even with the body of a Vajra stage cultivator, the lightning will still destroy my fingers.”
Calron vehemently shook his head. Just the thought of forcing his entire essence into his fingertips made him shudder.
“Don’t interrupt me! Your human body might not be able to handle it, but what about your beast body?”
The racc.o.o.n stated with another whack on Calron’s nose.
It might actually be possible… the scales on my body are nearly indestructible…
Calron pondered, as he gingerly rubbed his swollen nose.
“What about the technique to sense the flow of lightning? You never told me how to do that.”
Calron asked, as a smile spread through his face.
His greatest weakness at this moment was that he did not know how to fight with his beast body, and if he could learn how to do that from this short racc.o.o.n, then he would gladly put up with her constant beating.
“Eh, what are you talking about? I don’t remember mentioning any flow of lightning?”
The elderly racc.o.o.n said innocently with a small tilt of her furry head.
I want to strangle her…
Calron only let out an awkward smile on the outside, but burned with irritation on the inside as he tightly clenched his fists. He could tell from the mischievous glint in her eyes that she was just playing him again.
From that point on, Calron began to hate all the racc.o.o.ns in the world.
“I think I might remember something if you gave me ride on your back. Flying in the open sky is also good for my smooth skin, bahaha!”
The crazy small beast laughed out loud, as she gave a sideways wink at Calron.
Looks like being a pigeon carrier is written within your destiny, Calron. You just can’t seem to shake that off, hahaha!
Ezkael chuckled with amus.e.m.e.nt.
Shut up…
Calron mumbled in resignation, as he hung his head.
His future seemed very bleak at this moment. Calron had a feeling that this old racc.o.o.n would soon squeeze everything out of him for her personal enjoyment.
“Alright, fine. Let’s get this over with.”
Standing up with Avi in his hands, Calron held out the little pup for the racc.o.o.n to carry.
Startling awake, Avi slowly turned her head back and forth, trying to understand what was going on.
*chi-chi-chi*
Soon, numerous golden scales shot across Calron’s skin while his body twisted and bent forwards until it took on the shape of a giant golden bird.
His golden metallic scales sparkled under the sunlight, eliciting even a look of wonder on the racc.o.o.n’s face.
Standing at a height of around ten feet tall, Calron exuded an aura of dominance and power as he glanced down at the two beasts on the ground.
*SCREEEEEE*
Raising his head to the sky, he let out an ear-splitting screech.
“Hehe, I like this new student of mine!”
The racc.o.o.n giggled with glee, as she nimbly climbed up on top of the large golden bird while Avi wrapped her soft paws around her.
“ruff…”
Letting out a quiet whine, Avi prepared herself once again for the sensation of flying in air.
After settling comfortably on Calron’s back, the racc.o.o.n placed the little pup in front of her and firmly held onto the golden scales.
“Gahaha, let’s fly little birdy!”
The racc.o.o.n howled with excitement.
*SCREEEEEE*
With an irritated cry, Calron leapt off into the sky while flapping his two powerful wings.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen teacher so happy… but why did she take take such an interest in him? Is it because he has the lightning element or something else?”
A figure stood hidden within the cl.u.s.ter of trees, as she glanced at the rapidly disappearing bird in the sky.
A soft smile was etched on her face when she talked about her teacher, however, her eyebrows soon turned into a frown.
“So, he is a human…”