A large black dragon stood in the middle of the forest. The surroundings in devastation as every tree in the vicinity snapped or laid broken on the ground.
Dozens of bodies laid lifeless and scattered. One was more distinct than the rest, it too laid lifeless next to the dragon.
It was a pack of Hitas, its body was like that of a hyena, but its head was longer.
Every beast in the pack was around elite class D and low class C. Its leader was a medium class C. And yet Kiran still managed to take them all out. Though he did suffer some wounds, it was less of a worry as it did not affect his large body.
His sharp claws dug into the bodies of the Hitas, revealing a clear crystal. The leader revealed a white crystal. Every beasts who were of class C, had crystals in their body that stored their energy inside. Some beasts would have a clear crystal if they did not have an element. A white crystal would mean that he was of the air element.
The crystals were an effective way of absorbing energy. It was much faster than absorbing energy through nature. Kiran took to the crystals when his head and body turned incredibly fast in 180 degrees.
Just then he had sensed a killing intent, and his instincts told him that it was dangerous. And that could only mean one thing, that his opponent was stronger than him.
His body was low on the ground, his eyes stared into the forest, he stood unmoving. Soon a movement caught his sharp eyes, a shadow. It was quick and it too was watching him as it moved around Kiran.
Kiran’s body turned as the beast moved around him, never allowing his back to be open.
Soon the beast stepped into the sunlight, it was a Lyger. Half tiger half lion. A single horn protruded from its forehead and an extra eye sat right below it. The three eyes formed the shape of a triangle.
It must have heard the commotion of the battle that Kiran was just in. Its level was a medium class C.
Although it was the same level as the beast Kiran just killed, it was different. There were big differences in classes, not only through low to elite, but also within the subclasses itself.
For example, a recently advanced medium class, would be much weaker than someone who had been in the medium class for years.
The beast Kiran had killed was a beast who had just advanced not so long ago to medium class. But the beast in front of him now oozed power from every cell in his body. He was a medium class C bordering on high class C.
This would be a tough fight, Kiran thought as he gritted his teeth.
Seconds later, the Lyger advanced and it was fast. Before Kiran could react it had already left a mark on his side. It wasn’t deep, but blood trickled down his scales.
The Lyger made another attack as Kiran tried to retaliate with his claws but it was too fast. It added more claw marks to Kiran’s body.
As the beast walked around Kiran circling him, a faint brown aura flashed around Kiran and disappeared.
Throughout the years of fighting, he had now learnt and was able to draw out the chi elements to his uses. For any beast, it was much more difficult to control before advancing into Class C. But Kiran was different, though even with all his elements, he could only still use one at a time.
As soon as Kiran utilized the earth element to strengthen his body, the Lyger attacked again. Kiran’s failed attempt at dodging left another mark on his body. Only this time, it didn’t pierce through his scale. It left a dent on his side.
The Lyger circled once again, this time more cautious as Kiran tried to think of a way to attack.
The beast was too fast for him, he could ultilize the air element to increase his speed but he doubted he would be as fast as the Lyger. And his earth element would then be down allowing it to damage him further.
They circled each other as they traded more hits, each time Kiran tried to react but failed. More dents came through on his body. But it was not in vain.
Straight after the next attack from the Lyger, its body was still in mid air as Kiran saved time by not reacting to it. As it was just about to touch the ground, a jet of fire came from Kiran’s mouth towards it.
Just before the fire reached, the Lyger dashed to its side dodging it. But it was just what Kiran wanted as his tail already in swing straight away as the fire died down. Kiran never thought the fire would hit him, it was misdirection.
A full swing from a dragon tail imbued with the earth element could do a substantial damage. And it did exactly that.
The Lyger was quick in reacting Kiran’s plan and dodged slightly but was still nicked by Kiran’s tail. The force send him flying and crashing several trees behind him. Blood seeped out from his side and his mouth. Some of his internal organs had been damaged.
Of course, Kiran would not allow this chance to pass him by. He had to push the advantage before the Lyger could recover.
Kiran immediately charged him as he used his wings to propel him towards the Lyger, its jaws wide opened as it snapped at the beast.
The Lyger quickly leaped away as Kiran snapped at thin air, he backed off to gain some distance but Kiran would not allow that. His sharp dragon teeth snapping wherever the Lyger was, his claws swiping left to right and right to left.
Although the Lyger was fast, he was hurt and it hindered his speed a little. And though he managed to dodge all of Kiran’s attacks, he did not come out unscathed as Kiran had nicked him on several occasions. He was getting slower by the minute.
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After some further exchanges, the ground shook as Kiran used his earth magic to affect the area at the Lyger’s feet. Being injured now, the Lyger lost its balance for a second. But it was enough as Kiran’s jaws were on him.
It snapped shut as blood burst from his mouth, the Lyger’s body still struggled but Kiran crushed down even further. Soon, the lifeless body of the Lyger daggled off Kiran’s mouth.
He opened it as it slumped onto the floor, dead. Kiran let out a roar of victory across the forest. He picked up the body with its mouth and expanded his wings. He took flight for a safe location to settle his battle worn body.
Time passed as he recovered from his wounds and once again he set off, this time more powerful than before.
As he wondered deeper into the forest he was even more cautious even though he had not met another beast so far. When night fell, he like many beasts around the Isle, found a place to lie down and rest. Despite being able to see perfectly well in the dark, he could not get rid of his habit of when he was a human.
The moon was full tonight, it lit up the forest with a white glow. He admired the light it shone over the forest. At least there was one thing that wasn’t different, he thought whilst looking at the moon.
Suddenly a movement around him caught his sight, a shadow laid in behind the trees. Kiran’s keen eyes caught a look at the intruder hiding, its arms furry with black fur. A bear, Kiran thought.
He was not at all afraid as, he was a dragon. It was a bear. Enough said.
But when the figure walked out, or more accurately, rolled out from the shadows, Kiran’s eyes widened with shock.
The ‘bear’ rolled forward from the tree revealing its body. It was no bigger than a metre tall, its body covered with fur of white and black. It was a bloody panda.
Kiran stared at it like he had never stared before. A panda. A PANDA. A voice kept repeating in his head. A BLOODY PANDA.
And it was nearly identical as he could see the dumb look on the animals face. Its cluelessness at the world.
Kiran had a thought which was soon proved right. The panda hadn’t even seen him as he let out a sound from his nostrils which startled the panda. It looked at Kiran with its wide eyes as it fell back with shock.
It didn’t even look like he was trying to defend himself or run away. Kiran’s arm instinctively went to his face and covered his eye as he shook his head. A very human reaction.
‘The first thing that resembled earth… and its this stupid thing…’ Kiran sighed as he shook his head.
The panda got back up on its feet and to Kiran’s surprise, ignored him and starting fiddling with a large branch of a tree on the ground.
Kiran could literally eat him without the panda so much as knowing what hit him. Kiran could feel a headache coming on. A headache. On a dragon.
He felt a homely sense as he looked at the panda. Then his eyes widened again in shock, the freaking panda was a Class C beast!
How is that possible… and judging from its size, it was still merely a child.
Kiran took his eyes from the panda as he looked around the forest hoping to find signs of its parent. But there were no signs of anything.
Soon, Kiran decided to keep an eye on it, it was a nice reminder of earth and judging from its trait, it would be killed without it even knowing what happened.
He looked around as he found a small hill behind him and picked up the panda with his claws. Careful not to harm him. It struggled a little but gave up after a few tries. Another sigh came from Kiran. At least try harder… he murmured.
He placed the panda on the top of his hand and walked with it towards the hill. He dug his claws into the hill as it came apart like butter and used earth magic to strengthen the cave. The magic he could use right now was relatively simple, only the basics of the elements as he hadn’t really learnt enough.
The cave was too small for him, but it was more than enough for the panda. He slid the panda off his hand as it rolled like a ball into the cave. It sat in the cave, found a branch and began fiddling again.
Just as Kiran was thinking about what panda’s ate, his head whipped around him. Seconds later a large gust of wind blew his direction for at least a minute. It was powerful, luckily his large body could easily withstand the force. The panda however, flew back against the back of the cave.
If Kiran hadn’t stepped in front of him, he thought the panda might have been imbedded inside the hill.
Kiran was curious to see what the source of it was, but he looked back down at the panda. If he left, there was a good chance it would get lost or die. Kiran then sliced a large tree near him and placed it in front of the cave obscuring it. Hopefully it’d help, he thought as his wings came down and bought him mid-air and headed for the direction of the wind.
On his flight, several more gusts of wind flew by, the closer he got, the stronger the wind. Soon he landed as the wind got to an immense strength.
And in the moonlight, he saw it. A dark beast flying upright with long blade like arms, its head long with a wide jaw. Its wing at a brisk face to keep it afloat, its attention was drawn somewhere. A Balgi.
Kiran followed his sight, and soon saw what it was looking at. A creature with around 12 legs spread like a spider, four wings protruded from its back like a fly. A Sideri. Kiran couldn’t quite make out the colour in the dark, but it had white spots along its body.
The spider like creature opened its mouth balls of compressed air flew towards the beast in the sky. The beast deflected it causing ripples of air around them as it dispersed into the forest with quite some force.
Kiran knew their names from the lineage of his father, he could tell that both creatures were a class B. What subclass, he did not know. Fighting a medium class C was already difficult for Kiran, a class B beasts was the difference between the earth and the sky. He stood no chance.
Yet he stayed, he wanted to observe the fight. He knew that he could gain from watching powerful monsters and gain an insight into how to better utilize his strength.
Soon, the two monsters began battling as the Sideri shot multiple bursts of air at the Balgi and flew to meet him in aerial combat.
They tumbled in air as each tried to damage the other, but the Balgi had a better advantage as it had arms like a human.
A great cry came from the Sideri as it got harmed in the fight but not before she landed a point blank shot on the Balgi sending it to the ground. Its home turf.
Immediately it followed the Balgi’s fall and its twelve legs were upon him, its pointy end attempting to stab the fallen beast.
Two screeches followed as the Balgi sent two of the Sideri’s legs into mid-air and struggled to get itself from the legs.
A roar escaped the Balgi’s mouth as finally the Sideri managed to stab his legs. Another screech as the Balgi quickly dismembered the limb that was in his leg.
In a desperate cling to his life, he sacrificed his other leg to be stabbed in order to chop off a couple more of the Sideri’s leg.
The battle was bloody, and with more exchanges, both monsters were bleeding and weak. At last the Balgi laid on the ground, holes through his entire body but still breathing.
The Sideri on top of him slowly leaned down and opened its jaw. A circle of compress air gathered as it was getting ready for the finishing blow.
Right then, the Balgi’s eyes that was once filled fill death lit up with determination as it rammed its blade like arms into the stomach of the Sideri just as it released the air.
A great tremble and dust came off the ground from the impact of the shot. After a minute or two it settled, and Kiran could see what happened. The Balgi laid on the ground, lifeless. The Sideri stood on top of him, blood spewing from its stomach and arms. It too stood unmoving.
Kiran couldn’t quite tell if it was dead or not. But then a movement of its legs told Kiran otherwise.
Kiran stood afar as he observed the situation. His mind quickly forming the scenario. The Sideri was near death… maybe…
A spark lit up inside of Kiran as his wings took him to flight. He glided low along the top of the trees, his target, the Sideri.