The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (2 page)

*Grrrr*

A low growl suddenly sounded out behind him, and after hearing it, Calron immediately rushed to grab the roasted bird.

It appeared as if Calron already knew who this unknown beast was.

A fierce and terrifying battle was currently taking place between man and beast.

Droplets of sweat formed on Calron’s forehead, as he desperately tried to force back the persistent creature. With a furious expression etched onto his face, Calron angrily glared at the monster fighting him.

Under that intense scrutiny, the ferocious beast showed no signs of backing down and returned an equally fierce glare towards Calron.

It was clear that neither the boy nor the beast wanted to admit defeat!

“You damn monkey! Let go of my bird!”

Calron heatedly yelled, as he tugged the right leg of the roasted bird.

“Gagaga!”

A small baby monkey was on the opposite side of Calron, as it tightly gripped the wing of the roasted bird!

The tiny monkey was a common magical beast of the forest known as the Golden-Bellied Ape. A fully grown ape of that species had a coat of bright yellow fur and a protruded golden colored belly. Adult apes would only reach around two feet tall in their lifetime, so they were a relatively small-sized beast.

Although they were not overly strong, they were still part of the magical beasts and thus had an astonishing amount of physical strength.

This baby monkey had been pestering Calron for weeks since he had started living in the new cave, as it had once seen that the human boy cook some delicious meat.

A few weeks back, it had come up to Calron with its large cute eyes staring at him, as it pitifully pleaded the boy for some food.

Feeling bad for the baby monkey, Calron had generously given it a slice of the cooked boar that he had cooked back then. However, the little monkey had quickly gobbled it up, and turned its misty eyes once again towards the boy, as if requesting for more of that delicious meat.

Thinking that the baby monkey had probably been starving for days, Calron had gingerly handed it an entire leg of the cooked boar.

The little monkey had cheerfully grabbed the leg, and immediately darted away while excitedly yelling into the surroundings.

“Gagaga!”

Seeing that the baby monkey was so happy, Calron had sat down and enjoyed his own meal.

However, the little yellow monkey had returned the very next morning, boldly and struck out its hand, as if asking for more food from the human stranger.

Still groggy from sleep, Calron absentmindedly handed it a belly-cut of last night’s boar, but the little monkey rapidly shook its furry head while it gave a disdainful look at the cut of meat.

After a brief second, it excitedly pointed towards the last leg piece, as a trail of thin drool started to seep from the corner of its mouth.

“You little punk! That’s mine! Just eat this!”

Calron stated in an irritated voice, as he pushed the belly-cut meat in front of the baby monkey’s eyes.

Seeing that the large human was not giving it what it wanted, the baby monkey angrily stomped its tiny feet and suddenly rushed to snatch the last leg piece.

“Dammit!”

Realizing that his meal was about to be stolen, Calron had immediately activated the Blood Mist Step, while he grabbed the leg piece, and reappeared a few meters away.

“GAGA!”

The little monkey furiously screamed and glared at Calron, as if accusing him of cheating.

Feeling slightly ashamed of using the Blood Legacy to prevent a baby monkey from stealing his food, Calron softly sighed and dejectedly handed the leg piece over to the little monkey.

Seeing the human relinquish the prize, the little monkey cheerfully jumped up and down, as it quickly took the piece of meat and scurried away from Calron’s location.

After that incident, Calron had resigned himself to this unfortunate fate, and tried his best to prevent the little monkey from stealing his food again.

Calron did not mind sharing his food with the small beast, but it always seemed to insist on receiving the best cuts of everything, and refused to settle for anything less. If Calron refused its request, then it would simply try to steal it.

……………..

The struggle between the man and beast continued as they fought hard for the ownership of the delicious roasted bird.

Usually Calron would just give the monkey whatever cut it wanted, as he found that it was embarrassing for him to continuously bicker with a baby monkey, but this chicken-like bird was a rare find within the mountains, which was mostly inhabited by four-legged creatures.

Seeing that the big human was still not relinquishing the meat after this long, the baby monkey’s cheeks started to balloon up, as it mischievously glanced at Calron.

“Huh? What is it doing?”

Calron curiously muttered while still tightly gripping the roasted bird’s leg.

This was the first time he had seen the little monkey do this.

Suddenly without warning, the baby monkey spat into Calron’s eyes and violently tugged the bird free from his grip!

“Shit!”

Calron angrily cursed out, as he wiped the globule of saliva away off his eyes!

By the time he could see clearly again, the tiny monkey had already ran off with his roasted bird.

“I’m going to kill that little bastard!”

Calron furiously yelled as he shot a bolt of lightning into the cluster of trees in front of him.

“Relax, kid. It is exactly because you get so agitated, that the little monkey continues to pester you. Just go hunt another beast now, and besides, it’s good training for you!”

The Voice amusedly spoke within Calron’s mind, with hints of laughter in the background.

“Teacher, how long do we have to remain at the outer edge of the Desolate Mountains?”

Calron exasperatedly asked, as he started walking into the forest to hunt for some other beast.

The small mountain that Calron was currently residing in was mostly habited by lower ranked beasts, and the abandoned children of other beasts. Calron did not feel a sense of danger from these low-ranked beasts, and he wanted to test his real battle strength with the Blood Legacy!

Calron fervently wanted to enter the inner range of the Desolate Mountains, but his Teacher remained adamant in refusing to let him set foot into those mountains.

“Be patient, Calron. You are almost ready to start training in the third stage of the Thunder-Bird technique.”

The Voice calmly stated, as it tried to appease the restless boy.

“Wait…. Is that what I have been training for all this time? What is the third stage of that technique?”

Calron curiously inquired, as he abruptly stopped in his footsteps.

“Hahaha, did that suddenly spark your interest?”

“N-No! I’m not curious at all!”

Calron hurriedly replied in response to his Teacher’s question.

He knew that no matter how hard he would try to weasel any information out of his Teacher, the Voice would not reveal it him unless it wished to. So, Calron simply hid his curiosity and refused to be baited by the Voice.

*sha-sha*

Calron suddenly detected a trace of movement from the corner of his eye.

The aura around Calron abruptly changed, as he quickly crouched to the ground and intensely observed his surroundings.

It was finally time to hunt.

*shua*

Suddenly, a dark metallic bow appeared within Calron’s hand!

Feeling the heavy weight of the metallic bow in his hand, Calron strained the muscles in his arm in order to steadily position the bow in front of him.

The intricate symbols on the dark bow glowed with a faint golden luster as Calron started to imbue it with his lightning essence.

After escaping from the Red Boar School, Calron had completely forgotten about the mysterious black bow, and it was not until a few years ago when Calron had accidently summoned the bow out in the open.

His Teacher had immediately detected the presence of the dark bow, and frantically bellowed out within Calron’s mind as he inquired the boy about how he had discovered the bow.

Faced with the unusual outburst of the Voice, Calron had just stood there with a blank expression on his face, while his Teacher had suddenly materialized next to him.

Tenderly touching the bow with his smoky hands, an unusual trace of emotion flickered across the Voice’s face as he continued to softly brush his fingers against the metal of the bow.

“Take good care of it, Calron.”

His Teacher gently whispered, and then abruptly returned back into Calron’s body.

Calron was utterly puzzled as to why his Teacher had reacted this way, as the Voice rarely ever showed its true feelings, but it was obvious to Calron that it had something to do with the dark bow.

Recalling that yearning gaze he had seen on his Teacher’s face, Calron felt that there was a deep history behind the mysterious bow.

………………..

“I think I see it!”

Calron softly whispered to himself, as he sent more of his essence into the dark bow.

Slowly, a faint outline of a golden arrow started to coalesce at the bow’s nocking point.

“Hmm, I distinctly recall telling you that you were not allowed to use your essence during this training period.”

The Voice interrupted Calron in an amused tone, just as his student was about to unleash the elemental arrow.

“Eh? But it’s for food! Don’t tell me I have to fight to eat as well? I’ll just starve to death this way!”

Calron vigorously protested as he dissipated the essence around the metallic bow.

“Nothing is ever easy in life, boy, but if you want to achieve something, then you must relentlessly pursue that goal and never give up no matter what!”

The Voice passionately conveyed and tried to ignite the fire within Calron’s heart.

“Tch, but this is a goal you set, not me… ”

Calron disgruntledly muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

The Voice promptly inquired.

“Nothing! I was just saying what a terrific idea this is.”

Calron quickly replied and stood up from his crouching position. It no longer mattered whether he hid or not, as his Teacher had made it clear that he would have to confront the beast either way.

“I will beat that stupid monkey senseless the next time I see it!”

Calron annoyingly cursed as he realized that it was all due to the baby monkey’s fault that he had to fight another beast with his bare hands right now.

Only recently had the Voice implemented the bare-handed training with beasts, so the earlier roasted bird was something that Calron had killed a while ago with his bow.

Taking in a deep breath, Calron stepped out of the bushes and scrutinized his surroundings in order to search for the beast that he had detected earlier.

Just as Calron had finally located the targeted beast, he immediately felt goose bumps all over his body.

“Uhh… Teacher, I don’t think I’m that hungry… let’s just go back and I’ll lift some heavy rocks… ”

Calron nervously stated as he wiped away the drops of sweat that had formed on his forehead.

A few yards away from Calron was an enormous grey beast known as the Mountain Ash Bear.

The huge bear had a thick bulky frame and its skin was even harder than some metals! With fumes of smoke emitting from its nostrils, the beast slowly prowled through the forest.

This gigantic bear would stand over ten feet tall if it rose on its hind legs, and it was also a magical beast with the fire attribute. A Mountain Ash Bear could easily reach the seventh rank of the Spiritual stage as soon as it entered its adulthood.

Clearly, the bear in front of Calron was a fully grown adult.

Fortunately, the monstrous bear had not yet taken notice of the human boy a few yards away, and it slowly settled down next to a nearby tree for a quick afternoon nap.

Opening wide its horrific maw in a yawn, it gingerly set its snout on its front paws and blissfully closed its eyes.

Seeing that the bear had not even detected him, Calron desperately wanted to get away from that gigantic beast as quickly as possible! He could have easily taken care of it with either the Blood Legacy or the Azure Lightning, but fighting against that monstrosity with just his bare hands?

Impossible!

This grey bear was a beast at least in the seventh rank of the Spiritual stage, and it was not an opponent that Calron would like to fight solely with his physical strength.

“You need to experience danger, Calron. Without an unwavering heart, you will never be able to reach the heights of cultivation that you dream of! Pain is temporary kid, but if you can push through it, then you will enter the realm of true cultivation!”

Hearing his Teacher’s words, Calron unknowingly started to feel his heart race with excitement!

He had long ago vowed to seek strength and to avenge his family, so how could his heart waver when facing off against a beast merely in the Spiritual stage?

Power.

It had been ages since Calron had felt the thrill of battle, as within the past few years, he had gotten used to a life of peace and routine training.

The truth was that Calron had not yet met a worthy opponent in the mountains, which had caused his fighting spirit to dull and slowly fade away.

Deep within the depths of his soul, he had never really felt a sense of danger, as he knew that he could always rely on either the Blood Legacy or the Azure Lightning to completely suppress any beast within this small mountain.

It was just at this moment, that Calron suddenly realized why his Teacher had been forcing him to fight his battles without his essence or the legacy.

It was because his heart was starting to lose its fighting spirit!

“Fuck! How did I not realize this until now?”

Calron heatedly yelled into the forest, as he started boldly walking towards the Mountain Ash Bear!

Hearing the loud shout, the enormous bear abruptly awoke from its nap, and tried to locate the source of the sound that woke it from its peaceful slumber.

Sighting a human boy slowly walking towards it, the grey bear angrily rose from the ground as a vicious growl erupted from its throat. Thick dark smoke erupted from its nostrils, as traces of small embers started to form around the enormous beast.

Meanwhile, a sudden rush of hot blood surged through Calron’s veins, as his heart started to excitedly pound against his chest.

“I had forgotten this feeling… ”

Calron softly whispered to himself as he closed his eyes and felt the adrenaline coursing through his body.

“Embrace this moment, kid. Do not worry about whether or not you can win against the bear, and even if death stares right into your eyes, fight until the bitter end! This is the true heart of a warrior!”

The Voice solemnly spoke within Calron’s mind.

*step*    *step*

Calron continued to walk towards the beast as he reveled in the ethereal anticipation of the coming battle. The muscles on his naked upper body coiled with tension as Calron prepared to unleash his strength.

*ROOAARR*

Suddenly, the gigantic bear raised its head as it wildly bellowed into the sky, and just a second later, it immediately began to charge towards Calron!

“A warrior’s heart… ”

Calron’s eyes abruptly opened as a familiar bloodthirsty aura erupted around him.