Swish…

The Dawn Sky Crusher was retracting slowly. With each inch it drew closer to Sorah, the imprint it left in the dirt grew fainter, like a receding tide leaving behind only the memory of its terrifying presence. Gradually, its extended form shrunk until it became the familiar staff once more.

Sorah leaned heavily on the staff, feeling the tremors of exhaustion coursing through his aged body. The shimmering amber-white aura of ZenFlow Kana, which had cloaked him throughout the battle, was subsiding, leaving behind only tendrils of ethereal mist clinging to his skin.

This was Sorah's first experience utilizing ZenFlow Kana in actual combat, and the sheer exertion of maintaining such a heightened state of awareness and agility had taken its toll. Yet, a sense of exhilaration surged within him. He had faced a formidable opponent, a Vice-Marshal Commander no less, and held his own. The years of rigorous training, the countless hours spent honing his skills in the secluded dojo, had paid off.

"Master Sorah, are you alright?" The Rice Guru's voice, brittle as dried leaves, broke through his thoughts.

“Kyuu?” With its wings folded gracefully, Breeze Plume had lowered itself beside Sorah. Concern was filled in its large, luminous eyes.

"I'm... I'm fine," Sorah replied, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Just a bit weary, that's all."

“We better get lost before the Vice-Marshal wakes up!”

“Hurry!”

“Huh?” Sorah glanced around the chamber, noting the remaining Sand Devils scattering like frightened bees. Their Aether Sabres were deactivated, their armour dented and scratched from the brief but intense skirmish. They were racing, not towards Sorah and his companions, but towards any available exit with frantic and panicked movement.

"Odd," Sorah muttered as he watched their hasty retreat. "I would have thought they'd be more...resistant."

The Rice Guru, ever observant, narrowed his gaze. "Something is amiss, Master Sorah. They seem more afraid of their own Commander than of us."

Rumble!

A sudden tremor shook the chamber, and Sorah's gaze snapped towards the pile of rubble where Kahless had landed. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone floor, and debris blasted outwards as a figure rose from the wreckage.

Kahless’s face was contorted with rage. He stood amidst the dust cloud, radiating an aura of pure fury. Thick veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes burned with an emerald-white fire. The air around him crackled with potent Aether Steam, its intensity far surpassing anything Sorah had ever encountered.

"Now I'm really pissed off," Kahless roared, shaking the very foundations of the ancient temple.

Thud!

He flung his useless Aether Sabre aside with disdain that clattered harmlessly against the wall. Raising his right hand, which swirled with emerald-white Aether Steam, he bellowed, "Condense!"

Sorah and the Rice Guru exchanged a knowing glance. They recognized the command – the summoning of a Vayrukumer. A weapon forged from the user's very Titan Avatar’s essence - an extension of their will and power!

Whoosh!

The air around Kahless's right hand crackled and shimmered as the Aether Steam condensed and solidified. The earth beneath his feet shattered and buckled as a monstrous form began to take shape. A dragon slithered into existence, sculpted from rock and wood with earthy luminescence scales. Its possessed eyes burning with emerald fire just like its summoner. The dragon's head was situated at the tip of Kahless's hand, forming a fearsome gauntlet with gaping jaws ready to roar.

Sorah stared in awe at the spectacle. He was aware of Vayrukumers, of their immense power and the unique bond they shared with their wielders, but he never expected a mere Vice-Marshall Commander to possess one of such potent quality.

“Oh, he’s brought it out!”

Rhamus and Kratos, who had been about to flee the temple, now cowered behind a pillar as they watched their Commander's power unfold. They knew firsthand the devastating capabilities of Kahless's Vayrukumer and the consequences of being on the receiving end of his wrath.

Seconds later, Kahless let out a guttural roar. "Spit - Eden Ryuu!" He swung his arm and then the dragon head at its tip started unleashing a torrent of TerraFlow Kana that spread rapidly across the chamber.

Swoosh!

The air grew thick with the earthy energy, and small plants began sprouting from the cracks in the floor, their vines twisting and reaching outwards like grasping fingers.

“This is…” Sorah, sensing the danger, quickly hopped onto Breeze Plume's back along with the Rice Guru, soaring into the air to avoid the spreading fumes.

Kahless smirked with malice flaring from his eyes. "It's useless, old man. You cannot escape my Eden Ryuu's grasp. Earthly Dragons - GROW!"

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As if responding to his command, the plants grew at an alarming rate, their vines thickening and hardening and their leaves were transforming into sharp, jagged edges. The surrounding rocks fused with the plant life. They morphed and twisted their forms until they resembled mighty rock-wood dragons, each easily twenty meters in length.

“There it is!”

Rhamus and Kratos, along with the remaining Sand Devils, watched in terror as the chamber transformed into a writhing mass of vegetation and stone dragons.

"Scatter! Every man for himself!" Rhamus yelled, scrambling towards a crumbling archway that promised escape into the mountainside. "That maniac's lost it! He'll bury us all alive with this old temple!"

"But what about the Aerithran scums?" a young recruit stammered as he fumbled with his deactivated Aether Sabre.

"Forget them!" Kratos roared, shoving the recruit towards the exit. "They're the least of our worries right now. Kahless is going to unleash hell, and I don't intend to be here when it happens!"

"He's right!" another soldier chimed in, sounding fearful. "Remember what happened at Mangrove Hill? When he summoned his Vayrukumer and turned that entire battalion into fertilizer?"

The memory of that gruesome incident sent shivers down their spines. They had all seen the show of Kahless's wrath, of his ruthlessness in battle, and the devastating power of his Earth Dragon Fist.

"Move it, you maggots!" Kratos bellowed, pushing the remaining soldiers towards an opening. "The longer we stay here, the higher the chances of becoming part of his landscaping project!"

As they fled, one soldier glanced back at Sorah. "I'm sorry, old man," he mumbled under his breath. "You're a worthy opponent, but you're about to face something far worse than us."

…

Sorah and the Rice Guru watched in stunned silence as the chamber transformed into a chaotic jungle of writhing vines and towering rock-wood dragons. The air hung heavy with the scent of damp earth and the raw power of TerraFlow Kana. The dragons’ bodies were a fusion of bark, stone, and sharp crystalline formations. They thrashed their tails and snapped their jaws with a predatory hunger.

"Attack!" Kahless yelled louder than a thunderclap.

Whoosh! Swoosh!

With a surge of motion, the Earth Dragon Plants lunged towards Sorah and his companions with their massive forms crashing through the remaining pillars and arches, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

“Stay back.”

Sorah was determined to protect his companions. He leapt from Breeze Plume's back with his staff held firmly in both hands. He met the charge of the nearest dragon head-on. His ZenFlow Kana surged as he weaved through its snapping jaws and lashing tail.

"Hah!" Sorah shouted, channelling his Kana into a powerful kick that connected with the dragon's snout, sending a shockwave through its body and shattering a portion of its rocky hide.

Boom!

The dragon roared in pain, recoiling from the blow. But before it could recover, Sorah was upon it hammering its exposed flesh.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Sorah attacked the massive earth dragon with a flurry of strikes, each one infused with his potent Kana Flow. His Vayrukumer wove through the creature's snapping jaws and lashing tail, targeting its weak points with precision.

Bam!

The staff slammed into the dragon's flank, splintering its wooden scales and exposing the softer rock beneath. Sorah followed up with a spinning strike that cracked its armoured carapace, sending shards of stone flying.

The dragon reared back, roaring in pain, but Sorah was relentless. He planted his feet and poured his entire focus into a devastating overhead strike, bringing the staff down with earth-shaking force.

CRACK!

The staff connected with the dragon's head, the impact generating a shockwave that shattered the stone and wood into fragments. The creature's jaws went slack as its body began to disintegrate, its essence dissipating into a cloud of TerraFlow Kana.

“Hah..”

Sorah landed lightly on his feet. He was obviously overworked from that one dragon. But before he could catch his breath, more Earth Dragon Plants surged from the ground, larger and more menacing than the first wave.

"Give it up, old man," Kahless taunted from atop his makeshift throne of rubble. He still held the misconception that Sorah was a seasoned Air Elementalist, unaware of the recent awakening fuelled by the Sage Curse. "Unless you're going to bring out your Titan Avatar, you're as good as dead."

Sorah ignored the taunt and focus solely on the task at hand. He spun his staff and started deflecting the snapping jaws and lashing tails of the approaching dragons. The air ruptured with energy as he channelled his Kana into a series of rapid strikes, each blow precise and powerful.

Boom! Boom!

Sorah was a lone warrior amidst a storm of earth and wood. He moved with the fluidity of water as he parried and countered numerous devastating attacks.

“Sorah… he’s running out of steam.” Observed the Rice Guru from a safe distance. “He needs to finish this quickly before…”

"Damn you! Let's see how many Earth Dragons it takes to crush your old bones," Kahless sneered then released another burst of TerraFlow Kana from his Eden Ryuu Vayrukumer

Over a dozen Earth Dragon Plants erupted from the ground, towering and menacing. Kahless gestured with his gauntlet, and the dragons surged towards Sorah in a coordinated attack, with gaping and extending jaws!

Seeing the overwhelming assault, Sorah had to act decisively. He couldn't rely solely on his martial skills and the staff's limited enhancements. He needed to tap into the raw power of the Sage Curse, even if it meant risking further corruption.

With a deep breath, Sorah guided the curse's energy into the Dawn Sky Crusher. The staff thrummed with power and began glowing with an intense amber light. The glyphs etched along its length writhed and pulsed, their forms shifting and changing as if responding to Sorah's will.

“Here goes nothing!”

Moments later, Sorah slammed the staff onto the ground, and a shockwave of energy radiated outwards. The glyphs detached from the staff and swirled around him like a miniature storm. To his astonishment, and everyone else's, the glyphs extended outwards, wrapping themselves around the charging Earth Dragon Plants like ethereal chains, halting them mid-air.

“What the…” Kahless's eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed Sorah’s strange ability.

“Hmm?” Sorah, realizing what had transpired, instinctively yelled, "Explode!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The glyphs surrounding the dragons flared with an intense golden light before detonating in a series of deafening explosions. The earth dragons were torn apart, their forms shattering into countless fragments that dissolved into dust and dissipating TerraFlow Kana.

The glyphs then retracted, returning to Sorah's body and his staff. The surge of energy earlier dimmed and subsided.

“So that worked.” Sorah stared incredulously at evaporating dragons. He stood amidst the chaos with his staff held high. The power of the Sage Curse was visibly emanating from him.

This was no longer a simple fight against a Vice-Marshal Commander and his minions. Sorah had tapped into a force that could shake the very foundations of this ancient temple, and the battle had only just begun.