Normally, this type of terrain is horrible to cross because the canyons are basically a natural maze. However, thanks to Lizzy it is no problem at all for us to make our way through. We stop and set up camp at the edge of the area, we will enter it tomorrow.

The main reason is because we cannot just rush through since we have to find the mana beast. Since we have no idea what type of beast it is we are just going to have to wander around and hope we come across it. After traveling all day Ekard and Haku are full of energy, so we let them play for a while.

Then I suddenly get the feeling that something is wrong and start looking around. I quickly spot a huge bird diving towards Ekard and Haku and jump to my feet. With a thought my wings are out and I jump into the sky and fly towards the kids.

Ekard sees the danger and screams for me while Haku attempts to roar. His attempt fails, but it gives me an idea, so I take a deep breath and roar at the bird. To me the bird looks like a giant eagle with an extra set of wings, it has beautiful red and gold feathering.

When it hears my roar it stops and hovers, it looks both surprised and scared. Lizzy, with Windy on her back, rushes over and stands over the kids protectively. The bird looks confused when it sees Lizzy protecting the kids, but it doesn't fly away.

Instead it lets out a piercing shriek and soon a dozen more just like it fly over from within the canyons. They actually form a line when they join the first one and they all stare down at us. They are about three hundred feet up, while I am hovering about fifty feet above Lizzy.

They are just staring at us, now that the kids are safe I am willing to let this go. However, if they decide to attack I will kill them all and feed them to the kids. The birds just continue to hover and stare at us, it is as if they are waiting for something.

Then in the distance I see dark storm clouds covering the sky and they are moving this way. I could have sworn the sky was completely clear a minute ago, then I notice the wind. It is blowing away from us, so the clouds coming towards us are moving against the wind.

It is possible that the wind at higher altitude is different, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The clouds came out of nowhere, so I am guessing that something is creating them. That means that whatever is coming can control the weather, that's scary.

My first thought is a dragon, but this should still be the territory of the one I met. So it should be something else, but I can't be sure what it is until I see it. When the storm moves closer to us the birds notice it and react to it.

They scatter all around us, land, and cower, whatever is coming scares them. I land next to Lizzy and put my wings away, maybe I can use them for a surprise attack if we have to fight. As the storm gets closer I can see flickers of lightning striking a dot that is flying this way.

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It looks like whatever it is, is a lightning based creature, that should give me an advantage. As it gets closer and I can start to make it out I again think dragon, but then change it to drake. It is too small to be a dragon, but the shape is the same, but it doesn't look incomplete like a young dragon would.

If it is a drake then there is a chance I can talk to it and end this peacefully. Yet the way the birds are reacting to it has me a little worried, they are terrified. That doesn't bode well for its personality, or it could just indicate that it preys on and eats them.

The closer it gets the less sure I am, either it is a small type of dragon, or the biggest drake I have seen. It is moving fast, probably faster than I can fly, but the clouds are keeping up with it. Within a few minutes it is already coming in to land in front of us.

It is even bigger than I thought it was, its head is as big as a pickup truck and its wingspan is around two hundred feet. What surprises me is that it is blue, I would expect a blue drake to be water based not lightning. Yet as it lands I can see little arcs of lightning constantly crawling over its scales.

Its head lowers and turns to the side so that it can look at us directly, its eye is as big as I am. I can clearly see as the eye focuses on each of us one by one, including the kids. The last one to be inspected is Ekard and the drake looks at him far longer than the rest of us.

Drake says "Oh, a shadow drake? I've never eaten a shadow drake before! If you give him to me I will spare the rest of you."

"Over my dead body!"

Drake says "Fair enough!"

Then before I can react the drake breathes a stream of lightning at me. Before the lightning actually hits me I have time to dodge, but I decide not to. When it hits me it feels amazing, but instead of just flowing over me the lightning is sucked into my body.

*DING*

Core Upgrade Progress: 100%

Core Upgrade Completed!

Congratulations! You are now rank nine!

Rank Nine: HP +500, SP +500, +50 to all stats!

'The lightning helped me rank up?! How?!?'

"Ekard, take Haku into the shadow pocket! Lizzy, protect Windy!"

Ekard says "Kay!"

Lizzy says "Got it!"

Ekard and Haku vanish into the shadow pocket, as I draw Blitz and charge at the drake. Lizzy moves to circle around behind the drake while its attention is on me. When I reach the drake and take a swing, it tries to dodge but isn't quite fast enough.

The drake looks surprised when Blitz actually cuts through its scales but it still counters with its claws. Being in mid-swing I don't have a chance to dodge and get hit hard by the claws. My armor and my defense do nothing to stop the claws, my chest gets severely lacerated.

Luckily, at the same time the claws tear me open lightning from the claws hits me. So my wounds close almost as fast as they open, my armor and tabard aren't so lucky. The claw strike knocks me back so I cannot complete my swing so the drake only has a scratch on his neck.

The drake's counterattack came much faster than I thought it would, it caught me off guard. This thing isn't like the other drake I fought, it has combat experience. This is going to be a much harder battle than I was anticipating, it seems I got cocky again.