As Zach woke up all that went through his head was flashes of martial arts of all kinds. It wasn’t just martial arts though. Refining pills and elixirs, forging armor and weapons, taming beasts and integrating beast blood into the body as well as knowledge of many other things that he couldn’t quite grasp fluttered through his mind like a humming bird looking for nectar.
Zach’s body had gone through a complete change from the blood of Oliver. He no longer felt weak and useless. Now a tyrannical feeling of power coursed through him. He had been reborn.
Among the knowledge he had gained he also gained a perfect cultivation method that was very detailed. It consisted of this.
Way of the forsaken. By strengthening the body and opening the meridians the cultivator can start the process of overcoming the gods. The different levels to the cultivation art are segregated into the following levels with sublevels that will be identified after completing the previous level. Be glad I gave this to you Zach for you are the only one who can practice in such a way. Do not try any other method as you will destroy your body immediately if you do. The levels for the body strengthening stage are as follows. Muscle strengthening, bone and blood forging, skin thickening, organ hardening and meridian opening. Each section has different levels of success; it goes small, mid, large and perfect success. The normal cultivation methods do not have blood and bone forging Zach. This difference is like comparing the clouds to the dirt. Train hard and make me and your parents proud.
Overwhelmed with sudden death and destruction of all he knew as well as the information that was coursing through his head, Zach stumbled around trying to clear his mind.
“Rustle”
To his left he heard the bushes moving. Quickly taking note of his surroundings Zach hid behind a tree. The thought of death to beasts was still heavy on his mind as he hoped to just live a peaceful life and survive what was happening. His breath slowed down and a state of calmness took over him as his mind slowed down.
Out of the bush that was directly across from the tree he was behind emerged a strange and scaly creature. The creature was about the size of a large wolf with bright white scales that seemed to change colors as it moved, creating a myriad of colors. Zach peeked around the tree and recognized the creature immediately. It was a dragon. Now dragons had many different classes that, thanks to the knowledge that he obtained, he could identify.
This dragon was a true dragon of the prismatic kind. Two horns curved back and straight up on top of its head. Two wings with the same strange shifting color on its back. All four stout tree trunk like legs had five toes with claws that looked like small daggers on them held this creature up. A long sweeping tail slowly and sinuously drifted along behind it. A curious look on its face as it sniffed the air, obviously looking for Zach as it shuffled towards the tree.
With a sigh Zach stepped out, resigned to his assumed fate.
“Who you?” The dragon asked. True dragons can speak all languages, it was an intrinsic ability only for true dragons.
Zach of course knew this so he replied respectfully. “My name is Zach exalted one. I was sent here for reasons unknown and would like to live in peace. If you could grant this lowly one the ability to leave I would be forever grateful.” He naturally knew he was no match for this dragon and only hoped to leave without incident.
“Hmmm? No you come with me. Mama wants to meet you.” The dragon replied.
Zach’s first instinct was to run, which he naturally did. However he did not go far as he was quickly grabbed and found himself in the air flying towards a nearby mountain. All he could think about was how unlucky he was. He was too tired of the unjust ways of the world. Sure he would accept whatever he could not control, specifically this situation right now, but he would fight against everything else that he had the power to fight against!
Deep in Zach’s soul a light blossomed for a brief moment. This was the birth of his martial heart. A martial heart is almost as important as a normal heart to a martial artist. If the heart dies the person dies, if the martial heart dies then the martial arts fade away and the martial artist becomes a cripple.
As the dragon flew closer to the mountain Zach quietly went over the information in his head trying to figure out how to first start the muscle strengthening. As he pondered the dragon started to slowly descend.
He could faintly see a cave in the side of the mountain that grew and grew the closer they came. The dragon dropped Zach very roughly onto the ground in front of the cave.
“Human! Why are you here?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The voice echoed around shaking the ground he was standing on. Naturally he was scared silly. “I have no idea.” He timidly replied.
“Come into the cave human. Let me see you better.”
Slowly on unsteady legs Zach walked deeper into the cave. The light began to fade as he went deeper and deeper. After a couple minutes of walking he soon found himself in complete darkness. He came to a stop, since his legs were shaking so bad he was afraid of tripping over something and making an even bigger fool of himself.
“Let me shine some light so we can get better acquainted.”
Light flashed through the cave like a new born sun. In front of Zach a fairly large building surrounded by large boulders that formed a pentagram sat. Hesitantly he walked towards the front door and entered the house. The house seemed cozy from the outside, made from what seemed like simple wood and stone. It was roughly two stories tall and had a very large door in the front, which Zach noticed was for the ‘little’ dragon to enter.
Inside the house was just as plain as the outside. Bare walls with very few pieces of furniture were placed in no particular reason. One of the random chairs had a beautiful woman in it. Her hair was long and the same color of the young dragons, seeming to change to every color of the rainbow as it shifted slightly from her light breathing.
“Hello Zach.” Her voice fluttered by leaves in the wind. Quite different from the booming he endured earlier.
“Um… hi. How do you know my name?” He was fairly sure that he had never met someone as beautiful as this. Words couldn’t even describe her as she sat there.
“Hahaha!” Her laughter sounded like a thousand song birds twittering in the trees. “ I do suppose that would be of concern seeing as this is our first meeting.”
Not sure of how to respond Zach just stood there quietly.
“Sigh. Fine. You’re no fun you know that. That silly old god, um Oliver you called him? Yes him. He asked me to look after you since you inherited his last law. That’s how I know your name.”
Zach was stunned once again. Oliver? How the hell did that old man know this woman? Wait she said God! “God! He was a God? How? Who? Why?” He started to hyper ventilate. “I don’t understand anything that has happened to me. It’s all been too fast. I haven’t even mourned for my family!”
At this point he fell to his knees and cried uncontrollably. Quicker than eyes could follow the woman arrived at his side and comforted him while he cried. Eventually Zach drifted off into a deep and much needed sleep.
The woman picked him up and carried him to an empty bed in a very plain room, the room literally only had a bed in it. “Sweet dreams”. She whispered as she tucked him in.
Now she may have seemed like she was attached but that wasn’t true at this point in time. She merely felt sympathy for the situation he was thrust into.
“Daughter! Get over here now!” The woman shouted after she left the room.
The scuttling of claws sounded out as the little dragon ran over. “Yes mother?”
“You didn’t tell him anything?”
“Of course not. Not my place.”
“Fair. Well we are going to have to train him till he has passed the body strengthening realm. Otherwise the blood oath I was forced to swear will kill me. Ugh! That old man was such a prick!”
“I’m sorry mother. I do understand how much you hate humans but… well… I don’t think Zach is that bad. I mean sure I don’t know him at all but I just have this feeling mother.”
“Yea I know. But he stinks!”
“Um we do have a bath area mother.” The little dragon stated with a look of annoyance.
“Don’t you give me that look young lady, I’ll not have it today.”
“Yes mother.” She hung her head and started to leave and get things prepared for the boys training.
“Oh and Cora. Don’t get too attached.”
“Sigh. Yes mother.” Cora said as she went and set up the boulders for the training.
By the time Zach woke up the training arena was already set up and waiting for him thanks to Cora. With her sensitive hearing Cora found out about Zach waking up as soon as the blanket shuffled from him stirring. She was already waiting beside the door as he slowly opened it up.
Cora, like her mother, had the ability to shape shift into a human form, which she was in at this time. Zach was stunned when he noticed her. A 5 foot 10 beauty stared at him. She had dark green eyes with the same strange hair as he mother. She seemed like an angel that personally came to grace him. Long slender legs. Nice hips with a firm butt. Flat stomach with a slim waist. Large perky breasts, probably a solid D cup. She was totally his type!
Sadly our little Casanova had no idea of how to talk to a woman and froze on the spot. Of course Cora noticed how his eyes assed her current form, not irritated in the least, kind of flattered really. “Ahem!” She coughed loudly.
Jolting out of his stupor. “HiI’mZach.” He said in a hurry, making his words into one words.
“Um Yea I know. I’m Cora the dragon that flew you here. Now come on we have to go. I will teach you how to train properly. I know you have a cultivation method but you have no understanding on how to actually use it.” She said as she held his hand and led him to the center of the training arena.
“OK so what exactly am I to gain from this?” He asked.
“Life and Power.” She replied.