NOVEL WEB Chapter Thirty Three - Elsewhere
The vistas of Grenath were once considered a wonder of the world. Due to the particularly powerful storms of the planet Tempus, erosion is a simple fact of life across the world. Thanks to the specific interaction of the chemicals in the rain and the most populous rock of the country, Grenath, the land was more affected than most.
It was said that from any given point amongst the thin peaks of the Draynspire mountain range the view was so beautiful one would develop an understanding of the Dao without fail. Plateaus and valleys ran permanently with crystal clear waters from the mountains surrounding them. Whole ecosystems thrived in the various suspended rivers and waterfalls of the land.
Of course, the mountains were long flattened and the entire world covered in pockmarks which had long run dry. Grenath, along with all other countries of Tempus, had been desiccated millennia ago. The parched world was one of many such planets, sucked clean of magic and life by the insatiable hunger of the Storm Dragon. I looked out over the devastated world with duelling beasts in my heart.
Hatred and regret.
With a stamp, I left the world behind, shattering the dusty shell like a pebble. Stopping at Tempus had been the final indulgence before the battle. The step was a simple one, the same step I had taken countless times to get to this place. I burned through the cosmos, tearing reality apart with the speed of my ascent.
I had finally caught the slipstream of the demon. The rage of a thousand murdered worlds and the hopes of the millions more in need of protection swaddled my armour from the world-ending lightning strikes seeking to halt my advance. Thunder which would have shaken a planet’s life from it rumbled impossibly in the void of space, but I ignored it all.
There was no stopping me. The challenge I roared was not a single voice shouting into the tempest but a battle cry fueled by a trillion stolen lives. The zealotry which guided me through the storm was as much a part of me as the Dao which I used to fend off the dragon’s. My aim was true, my destiny aligned. The dragon appeared in my sight for the first time since it had set us on this path.
Fury guided my hands as the Dao bent to my will. “Now you notice me?” I asked the Storm Dragon. It’s mind was long lost to the power it supposedly contained in its body. The hurricane of apocalyptic energy swirling through space around me begged to differ on the definition of containment.
My skin was ruined long before my hand clenched around one of the dragon’s scales for purchase. The pain was blinding. My muscles tried to seize but my frenzied mana moved my body in spite of the lightning’s paralytic effects. Swinging my arms automatically, my blade finally drank the blood of my mortal enemy. With cataclysmic force and furious determination, the weapon swept through the beast. The glaive sliced through the tough hide easily and my resolve hardened.
I can do this, I reaffirmed. Fervent need for vengeance doesn’t require proof of possibility but the small part of my mind which contained my ego was satisfied. The insidious whispers which said I wasn’t ready were silenced by the scream of pain the lightning lizard loosed. A river of purple blood drained from the wound, each drop containing a typhoon’s worth of energy.
I had trained for centuries, planned for many more and done all I could to face the Storm Dragon in combat. Alone, I had chased and avoided the creature in equal measures over the centuries, gathering strength and deepening my understanding of the Dao. My glaive, a masterpiece worth more than most galaxies, sang with delight as the Dao of the Dying Star rippled along its blade.
A weapon created by someone as desperate for revenge as myself. A Dao born from the aftermath of the dragon’s actions. The final survivor of the planet the dragon first drained for power. A culmination of entropy cultivated entirely by myself and the Storm Dragon which I aimed to kill.
Locked in battle for thousands of years, the deadlock remained. The dragon could gain no more power with me harrying its every movement, occupying its every thought. I had long reached the peak of my potential, the only changes available to me were in technique. Once the dragon and I found equilibrium, determination was left to hold back dismay.
The answer had been obvious from the first impact with the creature. We were too evenly matched and both far too hard to kill. For each near-lethal wound the monster scored my form with, it received a brutal retaliation. Both would then recover to a healthy point and the clash would occur again. On and on, their battle would last until one of them gave up or, more likely, the universe collapsed on them.
The trance of my battle with the Storm Dragon was all-encompassing. The tiny sliver of ego which could form thought was happy with the deadlock. The potency of our attacks fell at the same rate as we both starved, neither of us able to mount the defence we had when the battle began. The cosmos at large nearly forgot the Storm Dragon ever plagued its skies.
A new iteration was added and everything changed. “Why?” I screamed. The rage inside me had all but been spent. I had been kindling the final embers for the last era, still needing fury to fuel my bones but for the first time in an eternity, something changed. The Storm Dragon laughed and fear found my soul for the second time I could remember.
Then it happened. “How?” The dragon didn’t reply. It simply redoubled its offence as a massive drain stole my strength. I became a plaything, smashed through the fabric of the universe to the dragon’s whim. The answer was clear, if impossible. “Another Stormborn?”
The flames of anger sputtered out and I knew they could never reignite. The fire had made charcoal of my soul and been one of my oldest companions. Rage was no longer necessary. The black and red shadows of hate were cast away by golden rays of hope. There is another!
I had been the last Stormborn for longer than the memory of most planets. I was an ancient force of will before the universe which had been stapled onto the rest was even born. The title granted by the System for my place as the final bastion for the Stormborn people was incredibly potent. Gaining it had been the penultimate step before I assaulted the beast itself. The most costly by far.
I laughed wildly, happily expending some strength to find out more about this fledgling member of my dead race. The cost was great, further upsetting the balance between myself and the dragon. I was already losing, and there was no purchase to find to stop the slide, so I might as well spoil myself a little. Oh, I see. How did this human become Stormborn? Is that the Dao of the Dragon? And this power within his core…
In spite of the endless agony the battle had been, I began to chuckle as I looked at the boy’s attributes, his achievements and his title. How had this maniac killed a dragon already? My own achievements paled in comparison by far, since you could only develop them before the evolution to grade 2. The pill he had swallowed! The Hurricane Heart itself! The dragon had stolen the pill so it could never be used against it, and maybe it had succeeded… but maybe not. The boy’s heart spoke of conquest. I erupted with laughter.
The howling of our battle had long quietened. The great Tree had shaken with its force at one point but the power of the pair had waned massively over time. They were just two old immortal shades in a forgotten corner of a lowly branch on the Tree. It would definitely be surprising to hear my joy ring out louder than the storm had been in aeons.
“So this is it!” I guffawed at my ancient nemesis. “A gamble? Good luck, primordial lizard of lightning.” I would give the boy as much time as I could. Creaking muscles and bones which should have long turned to dust roused themselves once more. My title had vanished as I was no longer the last of my race, but the desire to persevere almost made up the difference.
Almost.
“Train well, young Grant,” I whispered, loading my memories in a packet. The sliver of ego I had maintained was finally serving a true purpose as I fired it towards the sleeping boy. How much he would understand was up to a few factors, but it was mostly up to him. This would all appear as nothing more than a vivid dream to him, after all.
At least until he got the title. I would hold on as long as I could before that target landed on his back. He didn’t need it right now and the power it would force onto his shoulders was far too much for someone who hadn’t even created a Dao System yet. Hopefully the boy would reach Grade 2 by the time I died.
Gently, I let the memories cross the astral to Grant’s mind. No more thought in my body. I was a bonfire, all there was left to do was burn. The Dao of the Dying Star swelled in delight as I became a supernova. The Storm Dragon tried to flee but it was no longer facing a man, it was facing inevitability. I would inevitably die, and it would win.
Grant Kaeron would inevitably become too powerful for his newly-joined planet to contain and would take his first steps onto the boughs of the Tree. The Storm Dragon would hunt for him. I had no words of advice. It was a harder path than mine. I thought back to the mistakes and tribulations I had faced to reach this point, all the regrets and things I would do differently. He still had that ahead of him.
I was jealous.
———————————————————
I woke up to an alarm blaring. That had been some dream, but I shook it off quickly. Stupid dragon. In each corner of the room, indeed every room as I started towards the front door, lights were flickering. Red then green, the lights were joined by a siren. Naea flew into my chest at pace, screaming in both fear and anger. She had been sleeping, too.
“Never a dull moment,” I shouted, “I don't know how to get the alarm to stop!” Silence followed my words as though Home Base itself was telling me I’m stupid. It’s magic, idiot. “Okay, great. Still don’t know what triggered it, you ready for a fight?”
Honestly, I had never seen her more ready. Instead of the Chibizashi, Naea removed the Stunchucks from her inventory and began slowly spinning one end. “You just find the bastard that woke me up and I’ll show you what a fight looks like.” I smirked, but this was no laughing matter. The range for the defences had risen, but I could feel the barrier now it was under pressure.
Under pressure from all sides.