Chapter 9 - Immortal Parrot
- Logan Kerr
- Nov 7, 2015
- 11 min read
Authors Notes=================
This is the last chapter that will be posted on this website. Check this site for the new page! :)
Also, welcome to hype city with this chapter. Big thanks to everyone that has become a Patreon and made me continue to write chapters :)
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Book 4 – Chapter 9
Dale smiled as he left out the Taron Academy Eastern Gate.
He had woken up earlier in the morning cave light, grabbing his Storage Pack and preparing to leave his dorm. Before he left though, his room mate Theodore had asked him,
“Wait, you’re going on your Expedition now? Dale the Tourney Ball is tomorrow. If you go now you’ll miss it, and the entire tournament.” Theodore knew that Dale had wanted to participate in the tournament.
Dale shrugged,
“Recently, it’s become less interesting to me. I’m more interested in becoming stronger and figuring out my abilities.” Especially after his conversation with Peter, Dale desperately wanted to know more about his parents, and more about who he really was. To find that out, however, he needed strength. Therefore, he was currently obsessed with getting stronger. Things like competitions or showing off had faded more and more from Dale’s desires. He still enjoyed dancing, however.
Theodore shrugged and said,
“Well, good luck on your Expedition. You won’t see me going on one of those hah!” He turned over and fell back sleep. Dale shook his head and left the room, exiting the dorm.
He had already talked to his teachers and let them knew he would be gone.
A typical Expedition would last from six to twelve weeks long. In order to successfully pass an Expedition, a student had to explore the First Cave Stage and find five separate monument sites. Once one discovers a monument site, one had to copy down the symbols at each site. In total there were eight separate sites in the First Cave Stage. Graduates are forbidden from listing the codes at these sites on penalty of permanent expulsion and being struck from the records.
Dale didn’t know what a monument site was, but had been told he would recognize them when he saw them.
Some Expeditions lasted longer than twelve weeks, with the longest Expedition ever lasting 31 weeks. That one had been a group of stalwart students that had enjoyed freedom in the wilds for too long and only came back when one of their comrades was seriously injured after they tried to explore the Second Cave Stage. No student had ever explored the Third Cave Stage, not one that lived anyway.
Dale walked a few steps, looking over his shoulder at the massive Taron Academy.
Dale was currently outside the Eastern Gate to the Taron Academy. The Eastern Entrance was different than any of the other gates. The Eastern Gate was the gate that bordered the infamous Red Gate, and the rest of the Cave Stages. A gargantuan wall stretched from the southern side of the entrance all the way to the north side, blocking off the Red Gate. The only way past the Taron Academy was through the gate or over the wall.
Dale could see several guards and even a few teachers patrolling the Eastern Wall. All of them walked about in a strict manner, looking focused. Dale waved at a few and got no response. He shrugged, turning back around as he left the school.
Dale was currently wearing his suit of Growth Armor, the comfortable plate covering his body as he walked forward. He had his long claymore, Aarsasho, strapped on his back, a reassuring weight. He had his storage pack wrapped over his blade, filled with enough supplies to last Dale several weeks in the wild. He walked forward with a confident step.
Dale decided his plan would be to find his required monuments as soon as possible and spend the rest of the required six weeks exploring. He was eager to test his techniques against monsters. He had improved his strength a great deal since the last time he actually fought someone and was unsure how he would rank against the various beasts in the First Cave Stage.
Dale walked straight east for 30 minutes. The Taron Academy slowly faded from view behind him as he continued forward. He tapped into his Silver Core to make walking easier, exploring the area before him.
After another half hour of walking, Dale came upon what looked like the remains of a village. Burnt husks of stone houses covered the area, giving the city remains a desolated feel. He sniffed the air, not smelling smoke or anything burning. He had to remind himself that these ruins were probably decades and decades old, remnants of humanities desperate escape to the Under Cave.
Dale entered his Perfect Balance, spreading his senses to a large twenty-meter bubble. Everything within the circle of his aura he could sense. Feeling more confident, he walked into the ruined village.
The roads in the village were made of crumbling stone, well-worn walkways that showed clear signs of people having lived here. Several of the stone houses remained almost entirely upright. Dale climbed on top of a few, looking around.
Faintly, in the distance, Dale could hear the howls of what sounded like wolves. He dropped down from the house roof he was standing on, ducking inside the house to wait. He hopped on one of the upper floor windows and waited patiently, hoping to see the wolves pass by. While he was prepared to fight against the monsters he would fight, he didn’t want his first battle to be against a large number of them at once.
A few minutes later, the howls increased in volume and a pack of ferocious wolves barged in to the abandoned village. Dale got his first look at the monstrous beasts that lived in the First Cave Stage. He recognized the creatures, bringing their name up in his memory.
They were Silverback Wolves. Silverback Wolves are larger versions of regular wolves, but much more powerful. Each wolf is born as an Iron Core monster, and naturally grows into a Steel Core monstrous beast. The strongest among these monsters would grow into Silver Core beasts, powerful machines of destruction. The creatures also always hunted in packs, making them equivalent to a powerful Gold Core creature. The majority of monsters would flee if they encountered a Silverback pack, avoiding potential injuries and attacks.
As Dale watched the creatures pass by, he noticed that they were chasing something. A small creature was smashing off several stone buildings in the town, desperately moving away from the pack. It whipped past Dale, giving him a clear view of what it was.
Dale gaped in shock, genuinely surprised.
“Is that a baby parrot?” he whispered aloud.
A small grey blue colored parrot had whipped past Dale, ineffectually flapping its wounded wings as it tried to escape from the pursuing pack. Dale watched it crash into another house, limping away from the damaged site. It blasted off the ground upwards, trying to flee, when an enormous shape plunged into view, slapping the parrot downwards.
A huge Silverback wolf landed on the ground, a powerful Silver Aura covering it. Streaks of gold could be seen, warping around its Aura, indicating that it had almost reached the Gold Core level.
The great beast gave a loud howl, quickly calling the other wolves. The parrot squeaked weakly, wobbling back to its feet as it was surrounded. It gave off a very faint Aura, as if it had no Core.
Dale watched all of this, a concerned look on his face. He grew uncomfortable watching the baby parrot be surrounded. It didn’t feel fair to him.
The large Silverback Wolf that had slammed the parrot into the ground howled again, coming closer to the parrot. It was the leader of the pack, order its brethren around. With an almost casual movement, the Silverback leader slammed its paw against the parrot, smashing it into one of the nearby ruined stone houses.
With a weak screech the parrot crashed into the house, breaking through the stone wall and causing the house to collapse. With a weak squaw, the parrot surfaced from the rubble, crawling pathetically on the ground.
Dale eyed the wolf, his vision going red as anger filled his heart. Seeing something so innocent be so cruelly treated enraged Dale, pushing him to attack. However, before he could make a move, a tyrannical Gold Aura burst forth, smothering everything in the area.
A lace-clad figure appeared, quickly skipping over to where the parrot had landed. The man wore a well-made suit of lace and silk and had an aristocratic air about him. There was also something else Dale sensed about him, something off that he couldn’t quite describe.
The figure turned to the leader of the Silverback pack with a smile,
“Well done my children. You are to be rewarded.” The leader of the pack wagged its tail, kowtowing to the Gold level gentleman. The man picked up the parrot cruelly, dragging it into the air by its wings and said,
“My how the mighty have fallen, hmm?”
Dale could take no more. He had reached his limit, his anger at these torturers forcing him into action.
Dale was already in his Perfect Balance, and therefore was able to coordinate his movements and attacks perfectly. Dale felt confident that he could handle the entire Silverback Wolf pack on his own easily, given enough time. He felt that he could even handle a Gold Core cultivator, if not easily, at least without him risking any danger.
However, there was something about the lace-clad man that gave off an air of danger. He couldn’t quite place it, but he figured that he wouldn’t test it out and would rather grab the parrot and run.
Dale tapped into his Dragon Sea, flowing the Draconic power into his veins as he began his rescue. Dale’s Dragon Sea combined with his Silver Core to pump out an enormously powerful Aura, completely overwhelming all of the wolves, forcing them to the ground. His Aura slammed into the humanoid figure, forcing him backwards a step. The lace clad figure looked at Dale in surprise, taken off guard.
In the instant that the lace clad man started, completely off guard, Dale activated his Shatter Steps technique. He completely obliterating the house he stood on as he jumped forward through the air at the man holding the parrot.
The impact from when Dale kicked off the stone house had shattered it and the house behind him, caving in several others. Dale was sent flying forward at a ridiculous speed, completely crossing the distance between himself and the well-dressed man in less than a second.
Before the lace clad Gold Aura man could react Dale shot out his palm, slamming into him, while at the same time grabbing the parrot from the mans grasp. The man took a full blow from Dale’s Aura enhanced fist and was sent flying, while Dale successfully grabbed the parrot and turned around to retreat.
The lace-clad man suddenly smashed his leg into the ground, actually piercing the rocky floor to force himself to stop. The Aura around the man suddenly intensified, growing to a ridiculous extreme as it grew from a pure Gold Aura to an Aura riven with streaks of darkness. The figures Black Gold Aura burst forth, smothering everything anew.
The figure glared at Dale in rage and exploded into motion, instantly disappearing and reappearing in front of Dale, sparks of electricity showering off of the man. Before Dale could react and draw his claymore, he was sent flying through the air, crashing through several other ruined stone houses, as an enormous impact collided with his ribs. Dale felt his chest creak as he flew through the air, blood sputtering up from his lips. His Growth Armor stopped some of the impact, saving his ribs from outright breaking, but couldn’t block it all. He also felt several small shocks spread through his body, inhibiting his movement and stunning him. In an effort to protect the injured baby parrot in his hands, Dale covered the parrot with a huge amount of Aura, safeguarding it from harm at the expense of opening himself up.
Before Dale had even finished crashing through stone houses and landed the Black Gold warrior caught up to him and lashed out with a vicious kick, the air around him burning as electricity again formed at the moment he was hit.
Dale hit the ground and flipped over several times, bumping against several large stones. He felt bruises form all over his body, his bones starting to crack as he landed. Dale kicked out with is leg, using the energy in his Dragon Sea to fuel his Shatter Step as he stopped himself from flailing uncontrollably.
With a mighty kick, Dale slammed into the floor and came to a stop. Enormous ripples spread in the earth, shattering the ground near him and forming an enormous crater. Large spikes of earth broke around him, thrusting into the air as he came down. Dirt and rock exploded everywhere, showering the nearby floor. In the chaos of the earthen upheaval, Dale threw the parrot baby as hard as he could away from him, willing it to escape.
Dale grabbed his chest and sat down, straining his Perfect Balance to its zenith to detect the presence of the monster he was facing. He looked around woozily, bleeding heavily from several large fractures and cuts. Debris from the cracked earth wobbled and fell, silence coming to reign. He pulled out his powerful claymore, infusing it with Aura as he stood up.
A soft clapping broke the pause as the Black Gold Commander stepped forward from the distance, his Aura smothering Dale and nearly forcing him to his knees. Dale spat up blood, his chest heaving, as he watched the figure approach him. The man seemed as if he wanted to speak.
Before his enemy could say anything, Dale struck out. He had been concentrating his entire Aura into his blade, forcing the weapon to obey him and grow heavier and heavier. The sword now weighed more than two dozen good-sized men, the large weight moving along Dale’s body and causing small cracks to form in the already shattered earth he stood on. Dale compressed time around his body by what was left in his Core, causing the world around him to slow slightly.
At a blazing fast speed, Dale struck out in kata using his Fallen Gods Piercing Lance technique to focus all of his strength towards the suited figure in a desperate attack. This was Dale’s ultimate attack, one that was easily ten times as powerful as his previous attack had been. The air shook as the energy from his piercing blow shot forward, forming into a small ball as it moved at an insane pace.
Dale’s attacker noticed the air-warping ball of force and stood unmoving, as if to receive it. Then, with an impossibly slow but at the same time fast movement, the man stepped slightly to the left, dodging Dale’s trump attack. Dale’s blow crashed into the cave ground behind the man, forming an enormous furrow in the earth and cutting several tens of meters into the abandoned village area. Several stone houses fell to the ground, ruined even more as their foundation was cut out beneath them.
Dale fell to his knees, throwing up blood. The energy in his Dragon Sea ran dry, causing him to become much weaker. His entire body hurt. He felt as if his ribs were broken, his arms and legs severely damaged, and his internal organs badly wounded. His vision shimmered as he struggled to stay conscious.
The black gold commander continued walking forward and started talking, as if nothing had happened,
“Not bad young one, not bad. Which King sent you? I’ll tell you outright that I am an Emissary of King Tarrowdale. How about you?” He looked inquiringly at Dale, an inhuman smile covering his face. Filed teeth glinted in his smile, giving him a ghastly appearance.
Dale replied, wheezing blood between words,
“No one sent me. I came of my own will.”
“Oh? You are clearly not a human; I sensed the Draconic Aura you released then. Ah well, whatever. If you submit your soul to me now, I will spare you. Make your choice wyrmling.” The human shaped monster smiled at Dale again, waiting patiently for all the world as if he was a worried parent watching a beloved pet.
An angry light entered Dale’s eyes as he shouted out, his consciousness slowly fading,
“I will never submit to you, a freak who takes pleasure in the torment of animals.” He glared daggers at the Black Gold Commander, trying to will the man to death.
“Ah well, a pity.” The lace clad man suddenly shimmer and disappeared. Near instantly Dale felt a blow crash into his chest, lightning energy slamming into him over and over, wracking his body through his Growth Armor. As his consciousness faded and darkness overtook him, Dale smiled sadly, hoping the injured parrot had escaped while Dale had distracted this freak.
Dale fell unconscious.
Slayer awoke.
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