Chapter 13
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The lioness had completely transformed, from her previous beast like appearance to eldritch horror. Her tails seemed to be able to extend several metres long, whilst also holding the force of a bullet train (doesn't exist).
-Raaarrr
Her widened jaw lit up with a red glow, before discharging a large fireball. The entire cave lit up and a massive crater appeared against on of the walls, but the distorted figure seemed to be unaffected by the attack. He simply stood and watched as fireballs, spikes and claws penetrated his body with an amused expression on it's face.
The distorted figure flickered before appearing behind the lioness, raising one of his arms. A long black talon emerged from the arm and cleaved downward. Luckily, the lioness had fast reflexes and rolled aside just in time to come out unscathed.
Although neither party was injured, one could tell that from the start, the distorted man held the advantage. None of the lioness's attacks are able to hit yet his could, completely unfair! He even seemed to be toying with her slightly.
This back and forth went on for a long time, Draylen even managed to regain consciousness. This time, the colourless man attacked once more, directly from the front. A large black arm materialised in the air and flew downwards, causing wind to shoot outwards. The bodies of the dead cubs splattered messily against the harsh grey rock, making the scene even worse to look at.
Draylen expected the lioness to dodge, but contrary to his expectation, she showed no intention to evade, even moving forward to attack!
-Vooom!
Red fire gushed out from the lioness's jaws, scorching the materialised man's arm and the ground below him. He screamed silently in pain and leapt backwards, clutching the molten remains that used to be his arm. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into Draylen's nostrils.
'He can be killed!' The boy thought excitedly.
Now he knew that the lioness was winning the battle, one attack from her had severely limited the strange man's methods of attack greatly. Unfortunately for them, the man now seemed to show no intentions of delaying any longer.
A strange white gas wafted about, in an eerie manner. As it came closer, Draylen began to feel sleepy. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket next to a fireplace in winter, one could not help but fall asleep.
'No, I mustn't give in!'
Draylen forcibly began to circulate his mana through his body, the green mana which was originally repairing his wounds began to separate, one half continuing to fix his injuries whilst the other went towards his head to drive out the sleeping gas.
The lioness seemed to be resisting as well, shaking her head frantically, occasionally hitting the floor or the cave walls. The strange man grinned slightly and rushed forward. He had no intentions of actually lulling them to sleep, he only wanted to bring down the lioness's guard!
'No!'
Draylen frantically began to absorb earth mana from his surroundings, trying to bolster his recovery speed. If the pain could be described as ice, then it was melting very quickly, however, he needed to recover faster.
'I mustn't let her die too!'
He was a 5 year old boy and even though it was a cruel world, he hadn't been exposed to this much violence. It was already hard enough to tolerate, but the fact that he had formed an emotional attachment with the cubs made him want to curl up and weep.
'We must hold on until Arboria gets here!'
Dim green lights came from the cave walls and seeped into Draylen's back, entering his blood stream. The speed of his absorption and recovery was increased several times by sheer willpower. The gaping wound on his stomach closed up at the speed of a crawling ant, but it wasn't fast enough.
The colourless man got closer and closer to the lioness, time seemed to slow down as Draylen blocked out everything except from his emotions and his control over his mana. Even more mana was drawn in, almost solidifying from the sheer density. Finally, the itching feeling on his stomach disappeared and the wound closed up.
'Yes!'
He hurriedly activated the spell circles on his shoulders, releasing a puff of black smoke which shrouded his mended body. Unfortunately, it was too late. The man's body gained colour as he appeared in front of the drugged lioness, oversized talons emerge from his remaining arm and he swung it, at a speed which looked like teleportation.
-Squelch
The talon shredded through the lioness's tough fur like a hot knife through butter. Flesh and bone were cut in half and blood spilled onto the floor as the lioness's body was sliced in two.
Draylen, who had armed himself shook in rage, he charged up behind the man who had emerged from his veil of colourlessness and punched forward with all of his might.
-Puchi
The wrist blades shot forward, opening a ghastly wound on the man's side.
"Arrgh, die brat!" The man yelled in pain.
He swung out with his long leg, sending Draylen back into the wall that he came from. Luckily for Draylen, he had summoned his familiar armaments and the impact from both the kick and the wall were almost halved.
Still, he spat blood onto his visor.
"Yah got guts, kid. Unfortunately, you met me and I'm well known amongst the Fallen for my cruelty!" The man cackled, once more becoming colourless.
'Damn it!' Draylen cursed mentally, hurriedly getting back onto his feet.
"So that means that you are one of the fallen, why are you doing this?" He shouted.
The man just continued grinning and walking towards him. Draylen glanced at the dead cubs and a fire in his heart rekindled. Anger surged through his veins as he thought of how he had provided for the Lioberus family over the past week.
"You'll pay for what you did!" He cried out desperately, charging forward.
The man seemed to be unable to hear but laughed upon seeing the boy's frenzied expression. He slowly materialised and stood in a vulnerable position, as if taunting him. And as predicted, his move incensed Draylen further.
Just as Draylen was within punching range, the man swung outwards, trying to hit the boy in the head. This was his favourite tactic, anger them till they lose reason and then destroy them bit by bit.
Unfortunately for the man, Draylen retained his sanity even in this state of extreme rage. He had been observing the man fight the lioness and gleaned a little bit about his fighting style.
'When ever he punches, he shifts all of his weight onto the foot opposite his punch!'
Draylen dived to the floor as fast as possible, narrowly avoiding the man's attack. Even though he wasn't able to see the man's punch, only the indicators for his attack.
'I'll catch him off guard and hit him where it hurts!'
And he did so quite literally.
He kicked upwards, twisting his body with all of his strength. An unpleasant crunching sound echoed in the large cave, followed by the strange man stumbling backwards and clutching his 'crown jewels'.
Draylen, who was stunned that he managed to land a hit rushed forward once more. He punched forward, the four blades drawing bloody lines on the man's chest. The man, despite being injured twice, managed to jump backwards, his face scrunched up in both anger and pain.
"You- you- you worm!" He screamed.
"No more going easy, pipsqueak!" The man declared, before turning colourless again.
He rushed forward and kicked Draylen a second time, causing blood to shoot out of the boy's mouth. His chest caved in slightly, but a green glow could be seen rippling under his skin and the wounds healed almost instantly.
The man's remaining arm materialised and punched Draylen in the face, causing teeth to fly out. Injuries were followed by injuries, blood was followed by blood. But even after several minutes of being beaten, the boy was still standing.
Each time the man attacked, Draylen would attempt but fail to evade, resulting in lots of pain. Every time, he could tell an attack was coming, but unlike before, he didn't hold the element of surprise and couldn't avoid taking the hit.
"Bleh."
Blood poured from his red mouth, soaking the floor with the sticky liquid. Draylen's shoes had turned completely red and the only reason why he was still standing was to get revenge and also buy some time for Arboria to return and catch the colourless man in front of him.
"Stupid kid, die already!" The man yelled, frantically speeding up his attacks.
'Hah!, He's desperate, which means that he is aware of Arboria coming, I just need to hold on a little longer.'
However, the speed of the attacks increased and Draylen could no longer even tell which direction he was being hit from. His arm broke, a rib dislodged and his left leg was twisted slightly backwards, but suddenly, the pain felt nonexistent.
Strangely enough, although his body was failing to take the strain from the physical injuries and mana absorption, Draylen suddenly felt very light. The next moment, he was shrouded in a black cloud and floated straight through the colourless man.
The man was staring at the floating boy in confusion.
Similarly, Draylen's mind was in a complete muddle.
-Boom
The sound of the cave entrance collapsing broke the two out of their stupor. The man looked toward the entrance in horror.
"Shit!" He cried out and his figure began flickering as he ran along the side of the wall.
The entrance was both the way in and out, thus he had to go towards the source of the explosion in order to escape. They both knew what the cause was. A massive green dragon blocked the colourless man's escape.
"You dare make a mess of my territory?!" Arboria screamed furiously.
"Shut up!" The man replied, increasing the speed of his escape by several times.
"Foolish!"
A giant draconic claw raked through the ground and green lights shot everywhere. The man was hit by a few of these lights and flew back into the cave, splayed against the wall. Draylen, who had noticed his opportunity for revenge rushed over as fast as possible and stabbed his wrist blades directly into the man's heart.
There seemed to be some resistance at first, but then the blades pierced straight through the man's chest.
As soon as the man died, the scene turned quiet. Draylen sat down and began to cry silently, whilst Arboria summoned earth and began to bury the corpses.
Several minutes passed but neither Draylen or Arboria said anything.
Suddenly, there was movement in the rubble and a small black figure clambered out. A three headed black cub with 9 tails looked about curiously, as if the fight before had not happened at all. Draylen, who had just gone back on guard quickly moved over and scooped the cub up into his arms.
He comforted the cub which seemed to be unaware of it's situation. He then lifted it up to get a good look at it's face.
"We're both orphans, huh."
The cub just licked Draylen's cheek in response, causing the boy to laugh uncontrollably. Arboria slowly approached him, watching the two silently.
"Since you're both orphans, perhaps you should take care of him." She suggested slowly.
Draylen looked at her thoughtfully. They both knew that they were pretending the previous battle didn't happen, the slaughter of the cubs just hadn't sunk in properly yet and Arboria knew that it was something way too heavy for a child like Draylen to accept.
"That's a good idea, but I don't know how to create a contract or draw a summoning circle. Even if I did, I don't have any materials." He replied with a shaky voice.
"Well, I just happen to have a spare scroll here." She responded, pulling out a thick parchment from who knows where.
The black cub seemed to understand what had happened and climbed out of Draylen's arms, trotting toward the scroll.
-Rarr
It's body began to glow, a dim orange aura was emitted through it's fur. The orange glow covered the cub's entire body and then flew onto the scroll, turning into an orange spell circle. Arboria walked over to Draylen and put the scroll into his trembling hands.
Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overcame the boy.
"Why didn't you come sooner?" He asked, before falling asleep.
Light shone into the cave's ruins. The blood that had been shed was buried under a layer of rubble and the corpses had been buried in a layer of soft earth. A small boy lay on the ground, asleep and clutching a scroll whilst a green dragon watched over him with a sorrowful expression.
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The lioness had completely transformed, from her previous beast like appearance to eldritch horror. Her tails seemed to be able to extend several metres long, whilst also holding the force of a bullet train (doesn't exist).
-Raaarrr
Her widened jaw lit up with a red glow, before discharging a large fireball. The entire cave lit up and a massive crater appeared against on of the walls, but the distorted figure seemed to be unaffected by the attack. He simply stood and watched as fireballs, spikes and claws penetrated his body with an amused expression on it's face.
The distorted figure flickered before appearing behind the lioness, raising one of his arms. A long black talon emerged from the arm and cleaved downward. Luckily, the lioness had fast reflexes and rolled aside just in time to come out unscathed.
Although neither party was injured, one could tell that from the start, the distorted man held the advantage. None of the lioness's attacks are able to hit yet his could, completely unfair! He even seemed to be toying with her slightly.
This back and forth went on for a long time, Draylen even managed to regain consciousness. This time, the colourless man attacked once more, directly from the front. A large black arm materialised in the air and flew downwards, causing wind to shoot outwards. The bodies of the dead cubs splattered messily against the harsh grey rock, making the scene even worse to look at.
Draylen expected the lioness to dodge, but contrary to his expectation, she showed no intention to evade, even moving forward to attack!
-Vooom!
Red fire gushed out from the lioness's jaws, scorching the materialised man's arm and the ground below him. He screamed silently in pain and leapt backwards, clutching the molten remains that used to be his arm. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into Draylen's nostrils.
'He can be killed!' The boy thought excitedly.
Now he knew that the lioness was winning the battle, one attack from her had severely limited the strange man's methods of attack greatly. Unfortunately for them, the man now seemed to show no intentions of delaying any longer.
A strange white gas wafted about, in an eerie manner. As it came closer, Draylen began to feel sleepy. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket next to a fireplace in winter, one could not help but fall asleep.
'No, I mustn't give in!'
Draylen forcibly began to circulate his mana through his body, the green mana which was originally repairing his wounds began to separate, one half continuing to fix his injuries whilst the other went towards his head to drive out the sleeping gas.
The lioness seemed to be resisting as well, shaking her head frantically, occasionally hitting the floor or the cave walls. The strange man grinned slightly and rushed forward. He had no intentions of actually lulling them to sleep, he only wanted to bring down the lioness's guard!
'No!'
Draylen frantically began to absorb earth mana from his surroundings, trying to bolster his recovery speed. If the pain could be described as ice, then it was melting very quickly, however, he needed to recover faster.
'I mustn't let her die too!'
He was a 5 year old boy and even though it was a cruel world, he hadn't been exposed to this much violence. It was already hard enough to tolerate, but the fact that he had formed an emotional attachment with the cubs made him want to curl up and weep.
'We must hold on until Arboria gets here!'
Dim green lights came from the cave walls and seeped into Draylen's back, entering his blood stream. The speed of his absorption and recovery was increased several times by sheer willpower. The gaping wound on his stomach closed up at the speed of a crawling ant, but it wasn't fast enough.
The colourless man got closer and closer to the lioness, time seemed to slow down as Draylen blocked out everything except from his emotions and his control over his mana. Even more mana was drawn in, almost solidifying from the sheer density. Finally, the itching feeling on his stomach disappeared and the wound closed up.
'Yes!'
He hurriedly activated the spell circles on his shoulders, releasing a puff of black smoke which shrouded his mended body. Unfortunately, it was too late. The man's body gained colour as he appeared in front of the drugged lioness, oversized talons emerge from his remaining arm and he swung it, at a speed which looked like teleportation.
-Squelch
The talon shredded through the lioness's tough fur like a hot knife through butter. Flesh and bone were cut in half and blood spilled onto the floor as the lioness's body was sliced in two.
Draylen, who had armed himself shook in rage, he charged up behind the man who had emerged from his veil of colourlessness and punched forward with all of his might.
-Puchi
The wrist blades shot forward, opening a ghastly wound on the man's side.
"Arrgh, die brat!" The man yelled in pain.
He swung out with his long leg, sending Draylen back into the wall that he came from. Luckily for Draylen, he had summoned his familiar armaments and the impact from both the kick and the wall were almost halved.
Still, he spat blood onto his visor.
"Yah got guts, kid. Unfortunately, you met me and I'm well known amongst the Fallen for my cruelty!" The man cackled, once more becoming colourless.
'Damn it!' Draylen cursed mentally, hurriedly getting back onto his feet.
"So that means that you are one of the fallen, why are you doing this?" He shouted.
The man just continued grinning and walking towards him. Draylen glanced at the dead cubs and a fire in his heart rekindled. Anger surged through his veins as he thought of how he had provided for the Lioberus family over the past week.
"You'll pay for what you did!" He cried out desperately, charging forward.
The man seemed to be unable to hear but laughed upon seeing the boy's frenzied expression. He slowly materialised and stood in a vulnerable position, as if taunting him. And as predicted, his move incensed Draylen further.
Just as Draylen was within punching range, the man swung outwards, trying to hit the boy in the head. This was his favourite tactic, anger them till they lose reason and then destroy them bit by bit.
Unfortunately for the man, Draylen retained his sanity even in this state of extreme rage. He had been observing the man fight the lioness and gleaned a little bit about his fighting style.
'When ever he punches, he shifts all of his weight onto the foot opposite his punch!'
Draylen dived to the floor as fast as possible, narrowly avoiding the man's attack. Even though he wasn't able to see the man's punch, only the indicators for his attack.
'I'll catch him off guard and hit him where it hurts!'
And he did so quite literally.
He kicked upwards, twisting his body with all of his strength. An unpleasant crunching sound echoed in the large cave, followed by the strange man stumbling backwards and clutching his 'crown jewels'.
Draylen, who was stunned that he managed to land a hit rushed forward once more. He punched forward, the four blades drawing bloody lines on the man's chest. The man, despite being injured twice, managed to jump backwards, his face scrunched up in both anger and pain.
"You- you- you worm!" He screamed.
"No more going easy, pipsqueak!" The man declared, before turning colourless again.
He rushed forward and kicked Draylen a second time, causing blood to shoot out of the boy's mouth. His chest caved in slightly, but a green glow could be seen rippling under his skin and the wounds healed almost instantly.
The man's remaining arm materialised and punched Draylen in the face, causing teeth to fly out. Injuries were followed by injuries, blood was followed by blood. But even after several minutes of being beaten, the boy was still standing.
Each time the man attacked, Draylen would attempt but fail to evade, resulting in lots of pain. Every time, he could tell an attack was coming, but unlike before, he didn't hold the element of surprise and couldn't avoid taking the hit.
"Bleh."
Blood poured from his red mouth, soaking the floor with the sticky liquid. Draylen's shoes had turned completely red and the only reason why he was still standing was to get revenge and also buy some time for Arboria to return and catch the colourless man in front of him.
"Stupid kid, die already!" The man yelled, frantically speeding up his attacks.
'Hah!, He's desperate, which means that he is aware of Arboria coming, I just need to hold on a little longer.'
However, the speed of the attacks increased and Draylen could no longer even tell which direction he was being hit from. His arm broke, a rib dislodged and his left leg was twisted slightly backwards, but suddenly, the pain felt nonexistent.
Strangely enough, although his body was failing to take the strain from the physical injuries and mana absorption, Draylen suddenly felt very light. The next moment, he was shrouded in a black cloud and floated straight through the colourless man.
The man was staring at the floating boy in confusion.
Similarly, Draylen's mind was in a complete muddle.
-Boom
The sound of the cave entrance collapsing broke the two out of their stupor. The man looked toward the entrance in horror.
"Shit!" He cried out and his figure began flickering as he ran along the side of the wall.
The entrance was both the way in and out, thus he had to go towards the source of the explosion in order to escape. They both knew what the cause was. A massive green dragon blocked the colourless man's escape.
"You dare make a mess of my territory?!" Arboria screamed furiously.
"Shut up!" The man replied, increasing the speed of his escape by several times.
"Foolish!"
A giant draconic claw raked through the ground and green lights shot everywhere. The man was hit by a few of these lights and flew back into the cave, splayed against the wall. Draylen, who had noticed his opportunity for revenge rushed over as fast as possible and stabbed his wrist blades directly into the man's heart.
There seemed to be some resistance at first, but then the blades pierced straight through the man's chest.
As soon as the man died, the scene turned quiet. Draylen sat down and began to cry silently, whilst Arboria summoned earth and began to bury the corpses.
Several minutes passed but neither Draylen or Arboria said anything.
Suddenly, there was movement in the rubble and a small black figure clambered out. A three headed black cub with 9 tails looked about curiously, as if the fight before had not happened at all. Draylen, who had just gone back on guard quickly moved over and scooped the cub up into his arms.
He comforted the cub which seemed to be unaware of it's situation. He then lifted it up to get a good look at it's face.
"We're both orphans, huh."
The cub just licked Draylen's cheek in response, causing the boy to laugh uncontrollably. Arboria slowly approached him, watching the two silently.
"Since you're both orphans, perhaps you should take care of him." She suggested slowly.
Draylen looked at her thoughtfully. They both knew that they were pretending the previous battle didn't happen, the slaughter of the cubs just hadn't sunk in properly yet and Arboria knew that it was something way too heavy for a child like Draylen to accept.
"That's a good idea, but I don't know how to create a contract or draw a summoning circle. Even if I did, I don't have any materials." He replied with a shaky voice.
"Well, I just happen to have a spare scroll here." She responded, pulling out a thick parchment from who knows where.
The black cub seemed to understand what had happened and climbed out of Draylen's arms, trotting toward the scroll.
-Rarr
It's body began to glow, a dim orange aura was emitted through it's fur. The orange glow covered the cub's entire body and then flew onto the scroll, turning into an orange spell circle. Arboria walked over to Draylen and put the scroll into his trembling hands.
Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overcame the boy.
"Why didn't you come sooner?" He asked, before falling asleep.
Light shone into the cave's ruins. The blood that had been shed was buried under a layer of rubble and the corpses had been buried in a layer of soft earth. A small boy lay on the ground, asleep and clutching a scroll whilst a green dragon watched over him with a sorrowful expression.
The lioness had completely transformed, from her previous beast like appearance to eldritch horror. Her tails seemed to be able to extend several metres long, whilst also holding the force of a bullet train doesn't exist.-RaaarrrHer widened jaw lit up with a red glow, before discharging a large fireball. The entire cave lit up and a massive crater appeared against on of the walls, but the distorted figure seemed to be unaffected by the attack. He simply stood and watched as fireballs, spikes and claws penetrated his body with an amused expression on it's face.The distorted figure flickered before appearing behind the lioness, raising one of his arms. A long black talon emerged from the arm and cleaved downward. Luckily, the lioness had fast reflexes and rolled aside just in time to come out unscathed.Although neither party was injured, one could tell that from the start, the distorted man held the advantage. None of the lioness's attacks are able to hit yet his could, completely unfair! He even seemed to be toying with her slightly.This back and forth went on for a long time, Draylen even managed to regain consciousness. This time, the colourless man attacked once more, directly from the front. A large black arm materialised in the air and flew downwards, causing wind to shoot outwards. The bodies of the dead cubs splattered messily against the harsh grey rock, making the scene even worse to look at.Draylen expected the lioness to dodge, but contrary to his expectation, she showed no intention to evade, even moving forward to attack!-Vooom!Red fire gushed out from the lioness's jaws, scorching the materialised man's arm and the ground below him. He screamed silently in pain and leapt backwards, clutching the molten remains that used to be his arm. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into Draylen's nostrils.'He can be killed!' The boy thought excitedly.Now he knew that the lioness was winning the battle, one attack from her had severely limited the strange man's methods of attack greatly. Unfortunately for them, the man now seemed to show no intentions of delaying any longer.A strange white gas wafted about, in an eerie manner. As it came closer, Draylen began to feel sleepy. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket next to a fireplace in winter, one could not help but fall asleep.'No, I mustn't give in!'Draylen forcibly began to circulate his mana through his body, the green mana which was originally repairing his wounds began to separate, one half continuing to fix his injuries whilst the other went towards his head to drive out the sleeping gas.The lioness seemed to be resisting as well, shaking her head frantically, occasionally hitting the floor or the cave walls. The strange man grinned slightly and rushed forward. He had no intentions of actually lulling them to sleep, he only wanted to bring down the lioness's guard!'No!'Draylen frantically began to absorb earth mana from his surroundings, trying to bolster his recovery speed. If the pain could be described as ice, then it was melting very quickly, however, he needed to recover faster.'I mustn't let her die too!'He was a 5 year old boy and even though it was a cruel world, he hadn't been exposed to this much violence. It was already hard enough to tolerate, but the fact that he had formed an emotional attachment with the cubs made him want to curl up and weep.'We must hold on until Arboria gets here!'Dim green lights came from the cave walls and seeped into Draylen's back, entering his blood stream. The speed of his absorption and recovery was increased several times by sheer willpower. The gaping wound on his stomach closed up at the speed of a crawling ant, but it wasn't fast enough.The colourless man got closer and closer to the lioness, time seemed to slow down as Draylen blocked out everything except from his emotions and his control over his mana. Even more mana was drawn in, almost solidifying from the sheer density. Finally, the itching feeling on his stomach disappeared and the wound closed up.'Yes!'He hurriedly activated the spell circles on his shoulders, releasing a puff of black smoke which shrouded his mended body. Unfortunately, it was too late. The man's body gained colour as he appeared in front of the drugged lioness, oversized talons emerge from his remaining arm and he swung it, at a speed which looked like teleportation.-SquelchThe talon shredded through the lioness's tough fur like a hot knife through butter. Flesh and bone were cut in half and blood spilled onto the floor as the lioness's body was sliced in two.Draylen, who had armed himself shook in rage, he charged up behind the man who had emerged from his veil of colourlessness and punched forward with all of his might.-PuchiThe wrist blades shot forward, opening a ghastly wound on the man's side."Arrgh, die brat!" The man yelled in pain.He swung out with his long leg, sending Draylen back into the wall that he came from. Luckily for Draylen, he had summoned his familiar armaments and the impact from both the kick and the wall were almost halved.Still, he spat blood onto his visor."Yah got guts, kid. Unfortunately, you met me and I'm well known amongst the Fallen for my cruelty!" The man cackled, once more becoming colourless.'Damn it!' Draylen cursed mentally, hurriedly getting back onto his feet."So that means that you are one of the fallen, why are you doing this?" He shouted.The man just continued grinning and walking towards him. Draylen glanced at the dead cubs and a fire in his heart rekindled. Anger surged through his veins as he thought of how he had provided for the Lioberus family over the past week."You'll pay for what you did!" He cried out desperately, charging forward.The man seemed to be unable to hear but laughed upon seeing the boy's frenzied expression. He slowly materialised and stood in a vulnerable position, as if taunting him. And as predicted, his move incensed Draylen further.Just as Draylen was within punching range, the man swung outwards, trying to hit the boy in the head. This was his favourite tactic, anger them till they lose reason and then destroy them bit by bit.Unfortunately for the man, Draylen retained his sanity even in this state of extreme rage. He had been observing the man fight the lioness and gleaned a little bit about his fighting style.'When ever he punches, he shifts all of his weight onto the foot opposite his punch!'Draylen dived to the floor as fast as possible, narrowly avoiding the man's attack. Even though he wasn't able to see the man's punch, only the indicators for his attack.'I'll catch him off guard and hit him where it hurts!'And he did so quite literally.He kicked upwards, twisting his body with all of his strength. An unpleasant crunching sound echoed in the large cave, followed by the strange man stumbling backwards and clutching his 'crown jewels'.Draylen, who was stunned that he managed to land a hit rushed forward once more. He punched forward, the four blades drawing bloody lines on the man's chest. The man, despite being injured twice, managed to jump backwards, his face scrunched up in both anger and pain."You- you- you worm!" He screamed."No more going easy, pipsqueak!" The man declared, before turning colourless again.He rushed forward and kicked Draylen a second time, causing blood to shoot out of the boy's mouth. His chest caved in slightly, but a green glow could be seen rippling under his skin and the wounds healed almost instantly.The man's remaining arm materialised and punched Draylen in the face, causing teeth to fly out. Injuries were followed by injuries, blood was followed by blood. But even after several minutes of being beaten, the boy was still standing.Each time the man attacked, Draylen would attempt but fail to evade, resulting in lots of pain. Every time, he could tell an attack was coming, but unlike before, he didn't hold the element of surprise and couldn't avoid taking the hit."Bleh."Blood poured from his red mouth, soaking the floor with the sticky liquid. Draylen's shoes had turned completely red and the only reason why he was still standing was to get revenge and also buy some time for Arboria to return and catch the colourless man in front of him."Stupid kid, die already!" The man yelled, frantically speeding up his attacks.'Hah!, He's desperate, which means that he is aware of Arboria coming, I just need to hold on a little longer.'However, the speed of the attacks increased and Draylen could no longer even tell which direction he was being hit from. His arm broke, a rib dislodged and his left leg was twisted slightly backwards, but suddenly, the pain felt nonexistent.Strangely enough, although his body was failing to take the strain from the physical injuries and mana absorption, Draylen suddenly felt very light. The next moment, he was shrouded in a black cloud and floated straight through the colourless man.The man was staring at the floating boy in confusion.Similarly, Draylen's mind was in a complete muddle.-BoomThe sound of the cave entrance collapsing broke the two out of their stupor. The man looked toward the entrance in horror."Shit!" He cried out and his figure began flickering as he ran along the side of the wall.The entrance was both the way in and out, thus he had to go towards the source of the explosion in order to escape. They both knew what the cause was. A massive green dragon blocked the colourless man's escape."You dare make a mess of my territory?!" Arboria screamed furiously."Shut up!" The man replied, increasing the speed of his escape by several times."Foolish!"A giant draconic claw raked through the ground and green lights shot everywhere. The man was hit by a few of these lights and flew back into the cave, splayed against the wall. Draylen, who had noticed his opportunity for revenge rushed over as fast as possible and stabbed his wrist blades directly into the man's heart.There seemed to be some resistance at first, but then the blades pierced straight through the man's chest.As soon as the man died, the scene turned quiet. Draylen sat down and began to cry silently, whilst Arboria summoned earth and began to bury the corpses.Several minutes passed but neither Draylen or Arboria said anything.Suddenly, there was movement in the rubble and a small black figure clambered out. A three headed black cub with 9 tails looked about curiously, as if the fight before had not happened at all. Draylen, who had just gone back on guard quickly moved over and scooped the cub up into his arms.He comforted the cub which seemed to be unaware of it's situation. He then lifted it up to get a good look at it's face."We're both orphans, huh."The cub just licked Draylen's cheek in response, causing the boy to laugh uncontrollably. Arboria slowly approached him, watching the two silently."Since you're both orphans, perhaps you should take care of him." She suggested slowly.Draylen looked at her thoughtfully. They both knew that they were pretending the previous battle didn't happen, the slaughter of the cubs just hadn't sunk in properly yet and Arboria knew that it was something way too heavy for a child like Draylen to accept."That's a good idea, but I don't know how to create a contract or draw a summoning circle. Even if I did, I don't have any materials." He replied with a shaky voice."Well, I just happen to have a spare scroll here." She responded, pulling out a thick parchment from who knows where.The black cub seemed to understand what had happened and climbed out of Draylen's arms, trotting toward the scroll.-RarrIt's body began to glow, a dim orange aura was emitted through it's fur. The orange glow covered the cub's entire body and then flew onto the scroll, turning into an orange spell circle. Arboria walked over to Draylen and put the scroll into his trembling hands.Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overcame the boy."Why didn't you come sooner?" He asked, before falling asleep.Light shone into the cave's ruins. The blood that had been shed was buried under a layer of rubble and the corpses had been buried in a layer of soft earth. A small boy lay on the ground, asleep and clutching a scroll whilst a green dragon watched over him with a sorrowful expression.
