Explosions and the cries of Beasts rang throughout Talk Forest. A massive dust cloud was visible even through the towering canopy of the forest. It was as if a bomb had gone off and decimated the woods. At the epicenter of the destruction barren soil and upturned trees lay strewn. Chunks of wood and splinters covered the majority of the bare earth, where the trees had not landed.
Heavy breathing could be heard as two figures emerged from point zero at tremendous speeds. Heading in opposite directions the two forms released weary sighs as they landed on the ground.
“Pup you can't beat me then even more so now.” Came a taunting voice from the figure at the northern edge of the blast site
“You can't beat me either!” Snapped the southern one in rebuttal.
“Fine then let's get serious now.” Smirked the north figure before large black golden wings shot out from its back and fanned themselves out wide. Revealing the large over 6’0” wingspan the being possessed.
With two mighty flaps the being took off in the direction of its would be opponent. While it flew, it let out a savage roar as two bolts of golden light flew from it like missiles. Flying so fast that the average onlooker would only see, the missiles appearing like twin beams of golden light.
A powerful roar was let loose from the southern beast as the missiles arrived within a meter of it. The roar created a sound wave of black mist that instantly nullified the gold missiles, before it dispersed into the surroundings with its task complete.
As soon as the black wave dissipated the winged beast arrived. With a victorious roar the winged beast waved a muscular human like arm and solid four black blades appeared and shot out towards the other.
“Fuck.” Cursed the creature as the black blades shot at each of its joints in a that there was no way to escape the attack. Instantly two of the blades pierced the being’s body and pinned it to the ground.
With a blast of wind the winged beast landed next to it's nailed down for. And soon the figure of Lucifer became apparent as he finally stopped moving long enough to cease looking like a blur. He stood before a bleeding and immobilised Luna as he slowly knelt and began casting his [Mana Reconstruction] to heal her.
“So, how is the primal magic?” Lucifer smirked as he healed his companion. He was immensely proud of his magic and it's unparalleled power against other magics at the same level. Lucifer even had a premonition that even Jasmine's [Bastion of the Arctic] could barely withstand [Shadow Armoury]'s power.
“Absolutely perverted magic.” Luna scolded lowly as she twisted her head away from him. Pouting she continued. “But I bet your Mana is almost gone, right?”
“Well you're a Heaven Order Beast. A prestigious Shadow Queen Wolf. Now tell me is the fact that you as a Heaven Order; Rank 2 Beast, is unable to defeat a Yellow Initiate not odd?”
“...”
“And the fact is that I only used primal magic once and it destroyed even your Mana armour and broke through your fur, not amazing?”
“Anyways are you healed yet?”
“Mhm”
“Let's go. If the info we got from Lark City is to be trusted we can get through to Muselpine and take the academic exam in the capital. I want out of Bolstadt as soon as possible.”
“What's the rush brother?”
“The Trade. They have been trying to find out who killed Ethel and Lukas. Guess dropping their bodies off at the outpost was a bad idea. Oh well, we have to get to the Academy as soon as possible that way at least my mother's family can't attack me openly.”
“Fine but only after you have created your Beast Core can you enter the Academy. I can't leave your shadow while you are there. There are too many powerful people in that place and I could be discovered.”
“Alright well then hopefully I can do it while we travel to Az Citadel.” Let's get going.”
Weeks have passed since the two departed from southern end of Talk Forest and began their trek towards the great Muselpine capital of Az Citadel. By week two the duo had encountered many groups of warriors hunting and travelling in all directions. Most of the time though Lucifer would hide his presence and disappear without making contact with the warriors. Only twice did he allow himself to be seen and the result was disheartening for the boy.
“Look at that! A fucking royal draconian! Get it!”
Was the answer he received after he approached a group of warriors to ask for directions. With his Wrath threatening to take over, Lucifer drew his sword and casted [Elemental Spear]. Throwing the spell towards the group, he continued to saunter towards them with his blade drawn.
The spell exploded as it connected with the leading warrior of the group. Causing him to be blown backwards into his companions as the spell’s explosion tore apart his body. After his spell had destroyed their formation and confidence, Lucifer seized the opportunity to end them all. With a flap of his wings he sent himself hurtling at the men sprawled on the ground and with a graceful landing, he began to dance with his savage weapon. He sliced bodies apart in brutal sadistic ways. Arms were chopped off, legs crushed by the blade’s fearful weight, heads finally were all cut off as the weapon did it's signature: execution.
The second time Lucifer revealed himself was for his pride. He stood above the dead body of a man that had recently been murdered. Blood dripped from his fingers as he coldly looked at the man he had killed. He killed this man because he saw the man raping his own sister while they were out hunting for food. The brother and sister reminded him of Lukas and Ethel for some reason that made him want to follow the two. As he stalked them he saw that they lived in a small village not far from the Muselpine border. The two returned home with their hunt and gave it to their family for dinner. An act that brought a smile to Lucifer as he watched from the shadows, but then something struck him as odd. The brother had been holding his sister's backside the entire time they stood next to each other. Seeing this from the shadows Lucifer asked Luna via their telepathy if it was something normal. The answer she gave enraged Lucifer. The act of grabbing a backside for two-legs according to Luna means a prelude to mating. Lucifer knew of mating but he also knew that brother and sister two-legs could not mate. Only Beasts had the capability of incestual mating. After a short back and forth with Luna who came and joined him in the shadows, Lucifer realized that the brother was doing the number one thing that Eric had told him not to do: forcibly mate with a female. It was an immoral and shameful deed only the scum of Gaies commit.
So before the brother could enter his sister's room to rape her, Lucifer emerged from the shadows and thrust his clawed hand through the man’s heart. Disgust covered his face as he used his Mana to burn away the tainted blood. Lucifer then proceeded to knock on the door before slowly turning and walking into the darkness. As the door opened and the sister looked to see who had knocked; Lucifer turned his head, casting a glance at her as he merged into the shadows.
Lucifer travelled hundreds of miles before he came across the border of Bolstadt and Muselpine. A long chain of mountains created the natural border between the great kingdoms. With Ember's Hold and Zanigan; acting as the guardians of the two respective kingdoms, on either side of the mountains. The mountains were named the Anguis Chain for their long winding range, but mostly for the extreme abundance of snake and lizard familia Beasts in the mountains. Anguis Chain constituted of more than 80 great mountains, with the most common peak being around 3000 miles tall and the highest peak some have guessed being 8000 or more miles high. The tallest mountain was later dubbed Heaven’s Gate, as most scholars believed the Heavenly realm to reside above the clouds.
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Arriving at the northern range of Anguis Chain, Lucifer with Luna in his shadow stood beneath the massive mountain range. Nobody had managed to pave a trail through the mountains so all travellers would have to find their own way through, or rely on other’s maps. Even over the course of time, no one had managed to map out the entirety of Anguis Chain. The varying ups and downs made a distance of a mile turn into 6 miles of actual walking. Even the ever resourceful humans and dwarves had failed to find a way through the mountains. While there were many trails recorded, the most direct one's were all held by the Trade. And they made sure that anyone making duplicates knew of the consequences of such actions. With a monopoly on the trail maps, the Trade was able to dominate and virtually own all the trading done between east and west Farror.
Lucifer currently stood beneath one of the many paths into the notorious Anguis Chain. He had overheard from a drunk trader in Lark City brag about how he had just found a new direct route through the mountains. While others laughed off and teased his drunken ravings, Lucifer became intrigued and halted himself to hear more of the man's discovery. As any good drunk, the man spoke endlessly about how amazing the trail was even giving out key factors for finding it. With the new knowledge obtained, Lucifer immediately left the city and grabbed Luna. The two left at lightning speed to the locale of the path; halting only for Lucifer's bad encounters, they arrived at what could only be the assumed 'direct route through’ Anguis Chain.
“So you think the serpente familia will take us kindly or not?” Questioned Lucifer aloud to the empty air around him.
“Would you?” Answered Luna promptly with a slight giggle.
Signing and bracing himself for a long trek, Lucifer entered the pathway into the depths of Anguis Chain. Entering the massive cracks that spired into the clouds and housed the main household of the Serpente familia.
“Luna explain to me what the Serpente familia means? I understand it means snake family but why does the snake familia possess two names?” Questioned Lucifer as Luna told him of Anguis Chain's history and true purpose.
“Anguis means snake. That shows that there are only snakes here. No other familia is allowed to enter here without the Serpente’s permission. Even you two-legs are restricted from entering certain areas. The Anguis Chain would be better named snake den than a mountain range.” Explained Luna as her bloodline memories provided her much more detail then she let on. Her bloodline told her of safe passages through the mountains. But she reasoned that Lucifer would rather take the new path, regardless of what she said plus she still felt apprehensive of her blood’s memories. The memories showed the best tactical targets for the Serpente familia to be attacked more than anything. So she would rather not tell Lucifer of these 'targets’ unless absolutely necessary.
“So would it be fine for me to fly here?” Lucifer asked inquisitively as his wings flared and gave him a bit more balance, while he climbed the a rocky cliff face.
“That would be akin to declaring war against the Serpente familia. Would any snake like seeing a bird fly above their den? So it's up to you.” Luna chortled at the thought of Lucifer cluelessly starting a race war just for convenience sake.
“Sounds like fun, wanna do it?” Lucifer's blood turned hot at the prospect of fighting countless foes and causing untold bloodshed.
“Only if you create your Beast Core would I want to join in that massacre. Otherwise I'd be saving your ass all the time.” Luna quickly reasoned as she inwardly cursed herself for forgetting his insane bloodlust and savage disposition.
“Deal!” Lucifer instantly agreed with a vicious firm. “Let's get to a cave then I'll begin creating the Core!”
With perilously steep pathways and almost flat cliff faces to scale, Lucifer navigated through Anguis Chain’s outermost region. After an entire day he had only penetrated 3 miles into the mountain range, but strangely no Beasts appeared in his way. Whether it was due to being the Anguis Chain's perimeter or the harsh climate, Lucifer's trek was extremely dull. Monotonous climbing and boring hiking made the young boy very irritable. If Luna hadn't been constantly talking to him, Lucifer may have gone ahead and made enough disturbance to attract some less than savoury company for the duo.
“There! Finally a cave for you to rest the night.” Luna called out as she looked out from the shadow of Lucifer.
“Ugh. Better be already taken, cause I am itching for a fight.” Lucifer snarled as he pushed himself off the cliff and with a powerful flap of his wings, he rocketed towards the cliff cave.
“You're in luck then. One Beast already in here already.” Chuckled Luna as she leapt from the shadows and into the cave ahead of Lucifer.
“PERFECT!” Lucifer roared as he landed in the cave with his glaive already held and his two mystical eyes locked on the dark depths of the cave. His roar echoed through the cave and shook the loose rocks slightly.
Immediately a sinister hiss answered back Lucifer's roar. Deep and rhythmic the hiss seemed as if it was the sound of the earth resounding throughout the cave. Lucifer only grinned with his sharp fang teeth glistening in the dim light of evening as it shone behind him.
“Thank you Gaies for this, I'll offer the snake’s blood to honour you!” Lucifer whispered as he slowly narrowed his eyes and got into fighting stance. With his left leg leading his body, he positioned himself in a lunge with his glaive held in both hands. Left hand gripped the bottom of the long shaft while his right grabbed the middle, his hand positioning created a massive radius for the glaive to cleave through. With his wings tucked in and his tail flickering with excitement, Lucifer pushed his Mana through his legs. With the surge of powerful Yellow Mana coursing through his legs, Lucifer rushed into the darkness of the cave towards the sinister hissing.
“This two-leg is insane.” Luna muttered as she watched Lucifer enter the cave's depths. “At least he seems to have forgiven me.”
BOOM
SSSSSSSSSS
“HAHAHA”
RRRRAAAAAAARGGHH
Sounds of the battle rumbled the cave causing it to slowly collapse in on itself. Luna shook her head as her eyes watched Lucifer fight the caves owner. A massive snake, 40 feet long and about 3 feet thick, pale red leaf-shaped scales covered the snake's body, only a charcoal set of 3 horn adorned the snake's head. With a horn above both eyes and one at the end of its snout, the snake appeared very devilish befitting its name. Scaled Flamehorn Viper. A powerful Rank 3 Mid Order Beast. A snake well known to reside around volcanic veins of magma, the Scaled Flamehorn is practically fireproof. With its 5 inch thick scales and its heat absorbing horns, the Beast bathes in magma to grow stronger. The most powerful known Scaled Flamehorn Viper is recorded to be of the 8th Rank, shown by the number of horns crown its head.
Though capable of bathing in magma, the snakeskin of the Viper could not withstand the powerful blows of Lucifer's glaive. They cracked under his crushing strikes, if Lucifer hit the same spot twice they would shatter like glass. Lucifer rained down hundreds of blows with his mammoth weapon while he weaved around jets of fire the Scaled Flamehorn exhaled from its nostrils. This truly made Lucifer struggle to strike the same spot twice, since the snake would always shoot fire whenever he approached a vital area.
Fed up and angered by the battle Lucifer decided it was finally time to demonstrate his primal magic. Waiting till after a jet of fire ended, Lucifer leaped towards the Beast’s head. While he casted [Shadow Armoury] at the opened mouth of the snake attempting to swallow him whole, time seemed to slow down to an almost standstill. The Dark Element swirled infront of Lucifer's outstretched hand, forming into a trident of solid Darkness. As the Scaled Flamehorn's giant jaws came forward, the black trident burst through the air faster than even Lucifer's dragon eye could track. Flying into the open maw of the snake and tearing into the fleshy back of its throat, the trident eviscerated anything in its path. Breaking through the flesh and bone the spell tore straight into the Beast's cranium and destroyed it's brain before exiting the Beast entirely.
Without even a pause in his movements Lucifer flapped his right wing, causing him to barrel roll out of the incoming razor sharp fangs. Mid roll, Lucifer brought his glaive down on the snake's neckjoint. With savage power and momentum the glaive broke the snake's neck and cut through half of the 3 foot thick Beast.
“Whew, that felt good. Hey Luna, I'm done here!” Lucifer called towards the shining cave mouth where Luna's silhouette stood outlined.
“Only 3 minutes for a Mid Order. Not bad, brother. Though I bet once you form your Beast Core, you'll take 30 seconds to a minute to kill it again.” Lucifer evaluated as she sauntered over to Lucifer as he sat down on the skull of the Beast.
“Well we'll know soon enough now won't we?” Lucifer questioned with an arched brow. “I'm gonna eat before starting the Core formation.”
Luna only nodded as she began to chow down on the large chunk of snake meat Lucifer cut off for her with his sword.
After an hour's worth of snake meat feasting, Lucifer finally sat cross-legged and began to earnestly form his Beast Core. Luna seeing this only wryly smiled as she began look out and guard duty for her brother.
Lucifer began to ponder over his primal magics and the way they felt when he used them. [Gold Mail] and [Shadow Armoury]. The Light Element was always active and loved to move, so he had to use his own body as a basis for [Gold Mail] to stem from. He allowed the Light to bend around his body and circulate as if it was part of running rapids, the faster it moved the stronger the defense of the spell became. This was the base and theory of the Light magic, the appearance it had was completely unintended. But was totally acceptable, as it made Lucifer appear as God of War descending to wreak havoc on Gaies.
The Dark Element was static, still and peaceful. Lucifer could never get the Element to behave like it's counterpart, so he chose to use the inverse and behave like the Element. This elicited a much deeper and solid connection with the Element and allowed Lucifer to create [Shadow Armoury]. With [Shadow Armoury], Lucifer could create solid manifestations of the Dark Element and use them as his own weapons.
With these two inverse and opposite Elements and their respective natures in mind, Lucifer called out to them. Drawing them into himself, in equal and balanced proportions. The energetic and lively Light and the calm and stoic Dark, Lucifer allowed them to enter his mind. Feeling their innate uniqueness, he began to enter into a mystical state of mind. Excited and calm at the same time. Emotion and lack of emotion.
Lucifer felt as though something was missing, his emotions and nature befit his Sins. But Light and Dark did not give him any emotional connection. They felt beyond emotion, like they simply were and could not be denoted to any single emotion. With this single theory Lucifer tried to force his Sins to attach to the Elements.
As he pulled on his Sins, he felt a connection form between them and the Elements. His Wrath felt as if it was a child returning to a parent as it rushed into the Light Element that Lucifer had drawn inside himself. While his Pride felt the Dark truly understood it and that they were one and the same, as if only the Element could truly comprehend it and the true meaning of Pride.
Inside Lucifer, a swirl of golden light and black like revolved around his Mana Core. And as the swirl of gold and black grew in size it slowly permeated into Lucifer's Mana Core. Turning the once white crystal like Core, into a black golden gem of deep lustre and majesty. A Mana Core of two Elements had finally been formed, Light and Dark fused into one single Core. A new kind of Mana Core appeared inside of Lucifer. Slowly the vortex of gold and black gradually entered the new glorious Mana Core. As soon as the last bit of the vortex entered the Core it began to shine with a dark golden magnificence and slowly it grew in size, increasing in size by a third. The new bigger, black gold Core gave off wisps of black and gold haze as it sat within Lucifer.
Luna sat bored as she stared at Lucifer while gnawing on the now cleaned bones of the Scaled Flamehorn Viper. It had been 3 weeks since he had began forming his Beast Core, and Luna was desperate for a sign of change in him. Regardless of good or bad she only wished for confirmation he was okay. She refrained from checking his mental state through their connection as she wanted to give him privacy and also not disturb his training if he was at a crucial stage.