Xia was incredibly vast, in fact it was far bigger the Dragna Kingdom itself. It had countless mountains, hills, and valleys. There were several rivers and lakes, even a sea.
It was like its own country inside this world.
Miko was on the back of the Chinese Phoenix, Huan with Momo. He used his eyes to scan the vast land.
He then started to recall Nero's words. He said that this world and Logan's world were connected and it was possible to travel between them. If that's the case then it's possible that the worlds somewhat mirror each other. The size and races may be different, but it's undeniable that they influence each other. That would explain why this world emulates ancient china from the myths.
‘Then could there be similar places that emulate other mythical countries. For example Atlantis, the nine worlds of Norse Mythology, mythical Britain, Troy, Takamagahara, and Olympus?’
(……..)
‘Hey, answer me! Why have you been so silent since we came here?!’
(I'm not really in a talking mood.)
‘You? I find that hard to believe. What? Is it your time of the month or something?’
(Do you want to experience how terrifying divine punishment can be, boy?)
Miko could tell that Tiamat was upset about something, and he was curious as to know what that was.
‘Could it be that being here makes you uncomfortable?’
(…..It reminds me of the past.)
Miko then remembered something. According to history, Augustus was Tiamat's husband who she bore five children for. He didn't know the details but apparently Augustus and his five children died in a civil war, leaving Tiamat all alone.
Being here probably made memories of that time resurfaced in her mind.
“Hmmm.”
“What's wrong?”
Momo asked.
“Hey, do you know what happened 10,000 years ago when Augustus died?”
(Boy…)
Miko ignored Tiamat’s cold voice.
“I'm a little curious.”
Momo shook her head.
“I have no idea. Only thing I know is that millions died including a few Higher Beings.”
“Is that so?”
(Boy, stop trying to know what happened. It's far beyond you.)
Tiamat’s voice was firm, but Miko also picked up a hint of desperation in it.
‘Fine, I won't dig any further than necessary. But stop being so gloomy! You're pissing me off!’
(Alright, alright. I'll stop.)
Miko didn't know why Tiamat was so desperate to hide the events of 10,000 years ago from him, but her gloomy state was disadvantageous to him. So if he can pull her away from that state then finding out what happened was trivial. Besides if he really wanted to know he could just ask Nero. He's her grandson after all, so he should've been there.
“We're here.”
Hearing Momo's voice, Miko looked ahead of him.
He saw a canyon stretching for countless miles while being surrounded by ominous mist.
“This is Illusionary Beast Valley?”
Momo nodded and directed Huan to land near the edge.
They then got off Huan, and looked around.
“What exactly is this place?”
“It's a den filled with some of the world's most dangerous monsters. It's used as a training ground by the clan.”
“Training ground? You mean people go in there and fight those monsters to get stronger?”
Momo shook her head.
“Not quite. While it's true that you have to constantly fight monsters to leave, you also have overcome a lot of mental trials as well.”
She then pointed at the fog.
“This is a special type of fog that causes people to see illusions. These illusions are made from one's insecurities and traumas. They also can appear at anytime. For example, when you're about to kill a monster you're suddenly haunted by a dead lover who you felt guilty towards.”
“....Sounds like a pain the ass.”
Momo nodded.
“I agree. But this valley has helped countless people become not only physically but emotionally stronger.”
She then pointed at Miko.
“According to Gramps, you won't be able to learn Qigong without entering this valley. And I agree with him. For us who have azure hair, we need a strong stimulus before we're able to use our Qi. It's also proven that the quickest way to learn it is to be exposed to life threatening danger for a long period of time.”
“How long?”
“If quick, half a year. If long, a year.”
“You want me to fight constantly for at least six months? I'll die.”
“Hey, do you want to learn it or not?”
Momo frowned.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Just so you know, learning Qi will benefit you greatly. Because of your Class stats being all over the place, you have a limited amount of options to advance a [Class]. You either increase your physical abilities naturally, or wait until your stats catch up with each other, which would take a long time.”
Because of his odd stats, Miko was still considered a [C Class] even though he was far stronger. It was similar to Ace’s situation.
“Listen, your [Dragonite] is amazing but it has too much flaws. As long as someone buys enough time, it will run out and leave you defenseless. Not to mention that you can't use magic when using it. However if you learn Qigong and naturally increase your strength, you won't need to rely on it every time you run into a strong opponent. You'll be able to attack their soul directly and wield superior physical abilities.”
She continued.
“Also learning Qi will make [Dragonite] much more power.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. Your natural physical abilities are [C Class] but [Dragonite] increases it to the peak of [B Class]. So imagine how powerful it would be if you add Qi that naturally boosts your physical abilities to the mix. You'll become several times more dangerous.”
If Miko uses [Dragonite] with a natural physical ability of [B Class] he can easily take [Lower A Class] fighters with strength alone. If he adds Qigong on top of that, he can probably compete with anyone in [A Class].
“I see. It is very beneficial.”
“If you understand, come here.”
Miko walked up to Momo. A confused look came over his face when she placed her small palm on his chest.
“[Seal]!”
*Bam!*
Miko suddenly felt a strong force hit his chest.
He took a few steps back and glared at Momo.
“What did you do?!”
“I completely sealed off your magic. This way you have to rely on your own strength to survive.”
“Are you trying to get me killed?!”
“Don't worry. Even though it's one canyon, there are multiple dimensions inside it with different ranked monsters. Once you enter, the spell will automatically transfer you to a dimension where you and the monsters are equally matched in strength. However, they can still easily kill you with numbers do be careful of that.”
Momo then suddenly picked him up with one hand.
“Wha?!”
“You have six months to reach the end of this 10,000 miles long canyon. Which means that you'll need to fight through at least 55 miles worth of monsters a day.”
She hanged him over the edge and ignored his squirming. And then with an adorable smile-
“See you in six months, and good luck.”
She dropped him in the abyss like canyon.
She could hear Miko cursing as he fell downwards.
“Ah! I forgot to tell him that without magic [War Face] won't be activated ,as well as the curse……Well, he'll live.”
Saying so, Momo turned her back to the canyon and walked towards Huan.
Meanwhile Miko who was falling towards the bottom of the canyon, was in a panic state.
“That crazy bitch! How do you expect me to survive a fall like this without magic?!”
(Calm down. Your magic might be sealed but your dragon features haven't. A fall like this isn't enough to kill you.)
The moment Tiamat said that, Miko released his claws and used them to dig into the side of the canyon. His claws ripped through the rocks as his momentum decreased little by little before coming to a complete stop.
Miko sighed in relief, and then slowly climbed down the wall. After nearly fifteen minutes, he finally saw the bottom. He loosen his claws and landed on the ground.
“……”
He slowly looked around.
The place wasn't as dark as he expected. He could see everything fine. They were mostly rocks, and they weren't any signs of life.
“Wasn't this place suppose to be filled with monsters? I don't sense any.”
He took a step forward.
“?!”
The moment his foot touched the ground the scenery changed. He could see herds of monsters as far as his eye could.
There were small ones, big ones, long ones, ugly ones, enchanted ones, etcetera. He could also see caves, streams of water, and plant life. The sky was also purple.
“Grrr.”
A few of the monsters noticed his presence and eyed him down, which caused him to take a step back.
“?!”
The scenery returned to how it was a minute ago without the rocks.
“….I see. In order to truly reach the Illusionary Beast Valley you need to take a step forward. It sounds easy, but when you take the first step and see what awaits you, can you take the next step or will you take a step backwards?"
(The moment you enter this place, your courage is the first to be tested.)
Said Tiamat.
(So what are you going to do? Looks like you're already outnumbered.)
“What else? Fight my way to the end of this rift of course.”
Miko took off the coat he was wearing, and then cut his hair back to normal length. He did this to prevent the monsters from getting a hold of it while he fought.
He then started to stretch his body.
“It's a good thing I was able to memorize the position of all the monsters beforehand.”
Miko memory capabilities were far above average, it wasn't photographic but as long as he focuses he can recall most things he's seen, even if it's for a split second.
He took a note of the positions of all the monsters in his memory, and even predicted multiple actions they would take once he made his move. He also guessed a few of their potential hiding places from topography of the dimension. With all this, Miko was ready to fight his way through the valley.
“Even if they make moves outside my calculations, I just need to make adjustments as I move.”
Miko mentally prepared himself, and then took a step forward. He once again faced the monsters.
They all once again eyed him down as if watching what his decision will be.
Will he run or fight?
“I'm going to fight of course!”
Miko ran forward with a savage grin on his face. When the monsters say that, it was like they became excited.
Two giant centipedes rushed towards him.
Miko leaped and kicked one away. The other one attacked while he was still airborne.
It tried rip him apart with its pinchers. Miko put his hand in front of him and grabbed them.
The two pinchers were stopped by Miko's hands and were unable to close. The centipede then tried to crushed Miko against the wall. Miko swung his body like he was on a jungle gym, released the pinchers and landed on the centipedes head.
He jumped upwards and dodged the sneak attack from a giant bee.
The bee's stinger stabbed into the centipedes head and instantly killed it.
“So the stingers are filled with venom.”
Miko quickly approached the bee that had yet to detached its stinger from centipede’s head, and swung his leg.
*Bam!*
Miko's dragon scale covered foot behead the bee.
“Bzz!”
At that moment several more bees appeared around him.
Miko quickly destroyed the dead bee’s body and removed the stinger from the centipede’s head.
It was then the bees attacked.
“Bzz!”
They all tried to pierce him with their stingers.
Miko wield the giant stinger like a spear and met them head on.
A bee thrust its stinger at his chest. Miko jumped over it and thrust the stinger through the bee.
Another one attacked him from behind. He quickly removed the stinger and threw it into the bee. He then jumped, swung down his claws and ripped another bee that was attacking him into two.
Miko grabbed the bee’s severed lower half, and threw it.
A few bees easily dodged it and then rushed towards Miko.
“Roar?!”
But they stopped when they heard an agonizing roar behind them. They looked and saw an ape like monster dead on the ground with several other members of its race around it.
The apes removed the thing that killed their brethren, it was a bee stinger.
“Roar!”
They then went crazy and attacked the bees. They swung their claws and ripped the bees apart. The bees seeing that they're being attacked retaliated with their stingers.
At this moment, Miko hid under the centipede’s corpses and watched the slaughter.
“?!”
But he suddenly felt an odd vibration under him.
“Shit!”
He jumped back and distanced himself from the corpses.
*Boom!*
The earth burst open and a giant mouth devoured the centipede's corpses.
Miko could hear crunching sounds as centipede was eaten.
What did it was a hideous monster that looked like nothing more than a giant mouth with spider legs.
(Looks like this one hides underground until it gets the perfect chance to devour its prey. Kill it now, or it could become troublesome later.)
“You don't need to tell me that. I was going to kill it anyways.
Miko rushed towards the monster. It saw him and fired an incredibly long tongue from inside its mouth.
*Boom!*
Miko dodged the tongue with a jump to side, and it created a crater in the ground.
Miko ran to the monster's left. It continued to fire and retracted its tongue to catch Miko.
Miko reach the wall and ran along it before jumping towards the monster.
The tongue shot towards him while he was airborne. He moved out of the way and grabbed the tongue.
The monster retracted its tongue and dragged Miko towards it. Miko covered majority of his body in scales and was dragged into the monster's mouth.
Crushing sounds could be heard from inside the monster's mouth. And then-
*Bam!*
The monster's body jerked vigorously.
*Bam!*
It jerked again.
*Bam!*
“Open up, you freak!”
“Rawr?!”
The monster screamed out in agony as it vomited out fangs and blue blood.
Miko shot out while holding its tongue.
He used his claws and slashed it. The monster screamed some more.
Miko showed it no sympathy as he circled around it and used its tongue to tie its legs.
The monster helplessly fell over.
Miko stared down on it with a cruel smile.
“What sharp fangs you have.”
The apes and the bees battle was about to come to end. Both sides suffered severe casualties. Only a few of each remained.
The last of apes and bees rushed at each other.
“Let me join the fun!”
But just as they were going clash, Miko appeared holding two sharp fangs in his hands and several more sack on his back that he created using the monster's tongue.
Miko swung his left arm and severed an apes head from it body. He then thrust his right hand and destroyed a bees head.
Miko's suddenly arrival caused the monster to switch targets, as they all attacked Miko.
Miko grinned and rushed at them.
He kneed an ape and cut a bee in two. He was then slashed across the chest by the apes claws.
Miko thrust a fang through the ape’s skull.
A bee attacked him from behind. Miko threw a fang into it, and then grabbed it by the stinger and stabbed it into two apes that were perfectly aligned.
*Boom!*
It was then another giant centipede attack them. Miko jumped over the pinchers and threw a fang into its eye.
It wiggled around madly and crushed a few of the apes and bees with its gigantic body.
Miko jumped on one of the escaping bees and sat on its back.
“Onward!”
*Bam!*
He punched the bee with just enough force not to kill it. He punched it until the bee headed towards the rampaging centipede.
Miko stood on top of the bee and jumped. The bee crashed into the centipede, while Miko landed on its head.
He then stabbed a fang into its head.
“I saw this in a movie once.”
He then slid down its back while holding the fang. The fang ripped through the centipede’s back as Miko slid down.
It wiggle even more frantically and crushed all the remaining apes and bees with its body.
When Miko's feet touched the ground, the centipede fell over dead.
(Heads up.)
Miko looked and saw dozens more monsters surrounding him.
He pulled out two more fangs and rushed towards them.
“Hah~. Hah~. Hah~.”
Miko leaned on a monster corpse and breath heavily. His body was covered with wounds and his clothes were covered with multiple color blood.
“Tiamat, how much miles did I cover today?”
(23.)
“You gotta be kidding me. It's already 10 hours you know.”
Miko complained and got to his feet.
He walked away leaving the hundreds of corpses behind him.
After walking for nearly an hour, he arrived at a cliff.
“The fuck?!”
What he saw before him was a vast world filled with greenery and life. He could see rivers, mountains, forests.
They were countless creatures roaming about whether it be air or land. There were monsters that even looked like dinosaurs.
(The Illusionary Beast Valley is like a separate world by itself and is incredibly vast. You just left the entrance where the weakest monsters resides because they're too weak to survive here.)
He could hear Tiamat grin.
(Welcome to the real Illusionary Beast Valley.)
Miko remembered what Momo said before she dropped him in here.
“Don't worry. Even though it's one canyon, there are multiple dimensions inside it with different ranked monsters. Once you enter, the spell will automatically transfer you to a dimension where you and the monsters are equally matched in strength.”
He couldn't help but frown and shout.
“THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT!”