When they heard explosions, Gale immediately knew something went horribly wrong. They rushed in the direction of the sound as fast as they could, yet they still came late. People were dying, to Sleepers no less!
Those creatures were incredibly lethal, yet trivially easy to avoid. They were slow as hell and slept for most of their life. One had to be especially dumb to awaken one while standing right beside it. That was basically the only way to get eaten. And yet such a thing happened!
“Watch out!” Astarion suddenly shouted and Gale noticed a monstrosity sneaking up on Gerald. Those things might be slow, but their energy control was absolutely perfect. No better creature in the world could hide in plain sight better than they could. And clearly, Gerald failed to notice it in time.
Gale’s eyes widened as he realized they were too far and too slow to help. The man was doomed! The beast bit down on his unguarded shoulder and… nothing happened. What?
Gale then watched wide-eyed as Gerald flicked the creature and its head exploded. A Sleeper whose only advantages were its monstrous strength and an impenetrable defense. That’s why they were so small in the first place. Everything went into those two attributes. And he just flicked it… killing it.
Shaking his head to get his mind back in the game, Gale rushed towards the other group who was getting slaughtered. Gerald mentioned he was a Body Cultivator, but that was a still bit too much. Even he, a Spirit Realm Cultivator couldn’t replicate such a thing, not so casually at least.
In any case, he didn’t have time to think too deeply about it as every second was vital. Whoever decided it was time to let untrained kids into the valley deserved a stern talking to. But that would have to come later. They first had to save them and get them out of the swamp. All the ruckus they were making did nothing but worsen the situation. The Sleepers were waking up one after the other, adding to the potency of sleeping magic. Even he was getting drowsy and beginning to yawn.
As expected, Gerald was completely clueless about the beasts and kept shooting them with his magic, the loud booms not exactly helping the situation. Though Gale had to admit, his Mystic Arts were quite powerful. That was even more of a reason he was so surprised by his strength. Usually, a Cultivator would focus on one thing, such as attack or defense, not both. Especially not in both magic and body. There was simply not enough time to get good at everything.
But then came something he was hoping would never happen. The guardian beast, the mighty Sleeper the size of a small hill, awoke. Ground trembled as the beast moved, and then it yawned.
Anyone still conscious ceased to be a moment later. Even he, a mighty Cultivator at the Seventh Level succumbed to the magic. As Gale felt oblivion approaching, the Intent so strong and pure he could not hope to resist, he quickly pushed out some Qi, creating a small glowing sphere. Then his eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.
Moments later, the sphere exploded, hurting him, and shaking his mind from slumber. His groggy eyes scanned the land unfocused, but then he quickly remembered what was going on, and jumped on his feet.
With his pulse of Intent, the others awoke as well, similarly disorientated, barely managing to keep their eyes open.
“Get them out of here! Go!” Gale shouted, and the other three each grabbed a few younger Cultivators and escaped from the giant sloth monstrosity. Slothrosity.
As long as they got them out of reach of the weaker Sleepers, Gale knew they would be safe. The large guardian beast would not hurt them unless they attacked it first. And nobody would be stupid enough to fight a creature like that. Every moment you would be risking losing your mind and falling asleep thanks to the purest Intent anyone could produce. A single thought from the beast could bring down armies.
Still, preparing for the worst, Gale quickly put a circlet on his head, a magical relic that guarded the mind. It was nowhere near strong enough to completely counter the Slothrosity, but it should be enough to keep him on his feet.
“Gerald…” His eyes suddenly snapped wide open. He had completely forgotten about the man, and he was the only one without protection. It was bad!
He snapped his head around as he heard explosions, and somehow saw the buff mage standing his ground and shooting the monster with his staff. The blasts didn’t do much other than blast some dirt and grime from the beast’s fur.
[Sanctuary!] The man shouted, and Gale saw a dome barrier encase him. A moment later a large clawed hand broke through the conjured wall, grabbing the man inside.
Gale saw as the man screamed and flailed around, desperately trying to escape. But he couldn’t. Nobody could. Even he was lacking in comparison to the guardian beast. His mind went through all the possibilities until he came to a realization, that nothing he could do would help save the man. Even if he used his ultimate technique, the only thing it would do would be to hasten his demise.
[Aaaah! Help! I’m just a weak wizard! Heeeeelp! I don’t want to get eaten!]
Gale clenched his fists as he listened to those desperate screams. He was also too weak. The beast would ignore him as long as he stayed away, but, if he tried to save Gerald, he would enrage it, and then he would be one fighting for his life. It was suicide.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
As he hesitated, the Slothrosity brought the man to its mouth.
[Aaaaaaah!]
And bit down on him.
Gale winced and averted his gaze, not willing to witness the bloody murder. There was a crunch.
[Ow! You bastard. That really hurt!] Came an angry shout. [Just look at you, you even broke your own tooth, stupid animal! Biting my leg like a bloody idiot!]
Gale turned just in time to see the giant beast slam Gerald into the ground and then roar at the sky. Its front tooth was chipped and it seemed enraged. It opened its mouth wide and yawned.
Gale stumbled. The intent was so strong, that everything became irrelevant, insignificant. His eyelids became heavy and the only thought in his mind was finding something soft to lay on. A moment later a frigid pulse came from the circlet on his head, refreshing his mind. He was instantly on high alert.
He looked around to find Gerald’s remains, but then saw the man walking out of the crater, coated in mud and otherwise appearing just fine.
[My clothes… So that’s how it's going to be, huh? No more games? Fine, have it your way, you absolute-!] Out came what Gale could only guess was a string of curses, but for some reason, he couldn’t understand a single word. Like it was another language entirely.
[Heart of Frenzy!]
That he could understand and followed by a massive release of energy, he could guess what it did too. A boost to power by sacrificing rationality. His guess was on point, but what happened next left him in shock nonetheless.
Gerald roared, the Intent released like that of a rabid animal, the bloodlust of a thousand monsters, the Killing Intent of the god of death, and maybe even a smidgen of chaos.
Then he grew.
Gale watched in shock as the young wizard’s pale skin turned a deep shade of crimson and horns grew from his skull. Limbs elongated, expanding ten times in size, with rippling muscles visible even beneath the armor of black scales. Claws and fangs formed, with a thick, meaty tail pushing its way out from his lower back. The clothing, long since dirtied and damaged, finally ripped apart completely as he just grew, and grew… Reaching the height of ten meters before long, yet despite not being even half the size of the Slothrosity, in his presence, Gale trembled.
The crimson monster then sprouted wings of flames from its back and roared, its Intent clear. It wanted to fight. It wanted to rip and tear and devour its opponent.
“A Dragon…” Gale gasped. He almost wanted to laugh at the maddening thought. It wasn’t actually a Dragon, but it was close enough that it might as well be. He hadn’t felt one’s power, but he could guess it would have felt something similar. The sheer power and savagery it exuded made him want to run and never turn back.
“Gale!” He heard his friend’s shout. They were flying back after taking the youngsters to a safe place. “Is that… Is that it?!” Astarion shouted over the roaring wind that was created from the two beasts simply facing each other, displaying their Auras before the fight truly began.
The girls came a moment later, watching wide-eyed as the monsters were about to clash.
“No, that’s… That’s…” Gale shouted, but the words remained stuck in his throat. His eyes enlarged and he turned, watching the Dragon. “Oh, my…” He whispered.
The Slothrosity struck first. It lunged forward, surprisingly swift for its large, lumbering form. It tried to swipe a claw at its quarry but missed, and the Dragon spun beneath it and then exploded upward, landing an uppercut with a thunderous boom. It then roared and opened its mouth, blasting the giant with blazing flames. The fire split as it reached the dark brown fur, singing it, but not much else.
The stray flames, however, were like beams of death, punching through the land and carving gorges through the swamp, setting the centuries-old wetlands aflame.
“We need to help it!” Bai shouted, but Gale held her back.
“Don’t interfere! That’s Gerald! He’s the Dragon!”
“What?!” All three of them shouted at once. They stared in disbelief as the two creatures fought, their stray energy enough to obliterate other Sleepers in the vicinity. The creatures, though incredibly lazy, were actually running away as fast as they could, with no sleepiness present in their eyes.
“That’s Gerald?! How!?” Astarion exclaimed, unable to comprehend.
“He’s a shapeshifter!” Gale shouted over the sound of explosions and thunder. Lightning split the flames, sometimes shooting toward the sky, like a beacon of death.
Seeing that the two were about equally matched, the group of four fell silent. Their thoughts went back to the time when they first met when he triggered their warning arrays. Astarion wanted to facepalm in realization. How could a normal Body Cultivator possibly trigger one of his creations? He had set it up for powerful beasts, something at the power of a guardian beast at least. Yet he triggered them. He, the weak-looking mage.
That was a warning, a warning from the Heavens that something was wrong. Yet he ignored it completely!
Astarion loudly cursed and turned to Gale. “That’s the one, then? The monster we were looking for?”
The man didn’t answer and just somberly nodded. The rest of them remained silent as well.
A moment later a meteor fell from the sky. It was the Slothrosity. The creature squirmed as it tried to climb out of the ground. It was getting increasingly frustrated that its enemy was beating it without taking any damage itself.
“Fuck me… A Class VI Spirit Beast equally matched with a human? How?! Isn’t he still in the Golden Core?!”
Not bothering to reply to Astarion, Gale just watched, trying to commit the fight to memory. It was one of the most amazing things he had seen in his life. How was it possible for a Golden Core Cultivator to bully a Spirit Realm Beast? They were nearly a full Realm apart! Was he hiding his power? But the energy was unmistakable. It was Golden Qi. There was no mistaking it, it was, but even so, the energy was so… dense!
[Arcane Blaze!] Came the rumbling roar from the Dragon, though Gale felt like the words had nothing to do with what came after. They were just a warning, unnecessary for the execution of magic, something someone strong could do, announcing his attacks.
A torrent of energy spilled out from the Dragon’s eyes, concentrated into a thin beam, and just sliced through one of the Sleeper’s limbs. The mansion-sized hand fell, cracking the ground as it did so, and remained there, motionless.
The beast released a cry and stumbled back, before swiping its other hand through the air, drawing great blades of Qi that shot forward.
The Dragon flapped its wings once, instantly shifting position, and avoided the attack. Then there came another, which it avoided just as well. A third one was nearly invisible, the energy contained and hidden, and sharp as hell. It cut through the blackened scales and into the flesh beneath, yet it stopped there, unable to pierce through to the other side.
The wound flashed, burning with white flames, and then it was gone, healed completely in but an instant.
Desperate, the Slothrosity opened its mouth, energy building inside it.
“Brace!” Gale shouted, and he and his team prepared for the mental attack. They moved back, throwing up barriers and rare treasures, yet no distance seemed safe enough for what was to come.
The beast yawned, and the world... was ordered to sleep.