novelraw Chapter 553 - 552 - Earth Drake
Chapter 553 - 552 - Earth Drake
The stench of blood and viscera reached Lind's nose but he barely had time to identify as human before a massive golden scaled beast smashed over one of the towering trees nearby.
The trees around him were all in the Sky Realm so they should be sentient but they could do nothing as the aether beast rampaged in the direction the man fled. Lind quickly rolled to the side but the beast ignored him.
What had the man done?
He slowly got up and went to follow as he needed information and the beast seemed unlikely to give any as it was only in the World Realm. Even so, it felt immensely powerful. A Sky Realm at tier 5 did not feel as strong as that beast.
He also felt like he recognized that beast but only on an instinctual level.
"Some kind of dragon or variant of the bloodline?" Lind had no trouble following as the massive trail of snapped in half trees was easy to find. He noticed blood was trailing but it did not smell like the beast, but humans once more.
He also narrowed his eyes as it seemed to be fairly young humans too.
He wanted to keep following but assuming they were not swallowed, the person injured could be dying. Lind moved fast, his own feet shattering the branches and even stones as if it was a flat path.
He came upon a sight of carnage long after he smelled it.
There were parts of people everywhere yet they had fought back. He saw chaotic Qi from destroyed formation arrays as they were still dying down. Something else he noticed was the scent of that man left before the attack!
If he had not traveled the Wild Heart Isle for a decade, he would not have such a nuanced ability to tell the age of scents but he looked at the broken carriages and splattered gore.
The beast was not killing for food. It was looking for something.
A weak cough entered his ears and he narrowed in on it. He found a young boy, maybe 10 years old, barely alive in a reinforced compartment. If he was not a peak Soul Realm, he would have been dead long ago!
"Hold on!" Lind gently lifted the boy out and then summoned a few peak Heaven grade 2 elixirs. He did not even try to touch them as he worried he would shatter them. He let the boy weakly grasp them and then guided his hands as carefully as he dared.
The color returned and he realized it was not a tan on that other man's face as the boy was just as dark skinned. He was unfamiliar with their origin but it did not matter as left the boy to recover on his own.
He searched through the other 3 wreckages but other than finding the remains of some kind of strange horse, no one else was alive.
He came back to find the boy sleeping but Lind was afraid to try and move him. He had been able to restrict his strength but if he had to suddenly change direction or fight, he was worried he would hurt the boy anew.
The wind shifted and he felt his eyes narrow.
The beast was coming back!
No, it was another beast! It just had a similar scent! It also felt angry, very angry!
"It must be following the other one's trail." Lind mumbled aloud but began to move to where he thought it would come from. He made sure the boy was behind him and waited.
The rumble of the earth soon followed as a larger golden scaled beast came. He got a much better look at it and quickly recognized the draconic traits but it was no dragon.
"An earth drake." No wings but powerful limbs and a somewhat wide snout. It would not be wrong for people to mistake it as a dragon but Lind could feel that it was not on his level at all.
The beast's golden eyes narrowed at him but just when it was about to swipe a claw at him, Lind let his harmony flare!
It was almost comical as the beast stumbled and rolled to the side only to crash into a copse of several of the towering trees. He saw it was a Diamond Tier beast but again it felt far more powerful than any normal World Realm.
"Calm down and explain to me, what happened?" He knew it understood him as it got up and then immediately laid down in submission.
The clicks and roars afterward were a bit hard to follow but Lind became grim as he looked back at the caravan.
"Bastard." Lind knew the caravan members were victims as much as the earth drakes at that moment.
He patted the drake on its snout and only realized what he had done too late but the beast easily accepted his rough petting. The power of dragons was strong in its bloodline!
"I will get it back, but no more killing!" It lowered its head as Lind sighed at what he was about to do again. At least he had not changed robes yet.
He shot into the sky once more but in an arc as he was catching up to the first drake and that thief. The world blurred and he far overshot them in an instant!
Irritation was already rising in Lind but that just made him more angry. He slammed into the ground, making yet another crater. He mentally apologized to the forest as he shattered at least a dozen trees in that process.
He then moved fleet footed through the forest to his target.
He shattered root, stone, or dirt equally as he put too much power into his feet but he was slowly getting the hang of running at least.
He finally saw the man sprinting from the earth drake but then the man saw Lind and changed direction. He sneered at the attempt to escape.
His right foot shattered the forest floor as he shot forward like a bullet. The world blurred but he slammed his left foot down right in front of the fleeing man. The fool had no way to react and was sent flying backward but then a satchel he was carrying also went flying.
DAMN IT!
Lind pictured an egg in his mind and his air, water, and fire Qi quickly created a solid cloud that gently caught it. He had not pictured it without reason as a yellow egg flopped out but safely came back to the ground.
The man was horror struck as the drake was now looming over him but then it snatched up the egg.
It was about to leave when it felt a chill down its spine. It slowly turned to find Lind staring at it and it finally recognized what he was!
"Take your baby and go, I will deal with this man." A flash of gratitude went over its golden eyes before it ran off. Lind slowly turned and saw the man splayed out awkwardly as the shockwave had shattered his left leg bones.
"W-what are you?!" A repeat of the previous question but now with terror made Lind almost laugh.
"An ascender but that matters little. You took something you should not and got a lot of innocent people killed." His tone was ice but the man shook his head vehemently.
"I told them not to stop, that we had to keep going. We are in their territory but if we crossed the Spine of the Shadows, we would have been safe! It was their own fault!" Lind knelt down, his tattered state but lack of blood actually made him terrifying to look at.
"Did you tell them you stole an earth drake egg? Did you tell them you broke another one because you thought it would hide your theft?" Blood drained from the man's face.
"H-how do you know that?!" Lind sneered as the man admitted to his crime.
"There are fights for survival that I can hold no blame for if either side comes out victorious but stealing a child after killing another? No, I don't think even demons would let you live." Lind then transformed and the man wailed as he tried to escape. "I can almost guarantee this will hurt."
Sigils flew around him and LInd was stunned to find he had complete control of his weaving!
That gave him an idea! Sigils connected and flew to surround the man and ensnared him. If he was afraid before, the man now was petrified.
"I-I didn't know you were Soulmancer! I would never have crossed you if I knew!" Lind did not react but noted the name down. He then commanded the weaving to follow as he went back to the little boy.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
"It was definitely earth drakes, 2 of them." A man was examining the destruction of the caravan that had not shown up as expected at the checkpoint.
He had dark robes but his features were warm and inviting. His soft blonde hair complemented his light gray eyes. His eyes were angry as they took in the wreckage as it was clear it was not an attack but looking for something.
"Did they think they could take something from the drakes and live?" A black haired slimmer man tended to the healed boy. They knew someone had healed him but why did they leave, to lead off the other drake maybe?
"Probably a poacher or an idiot that was part of their members and thought he could bring something worthwhile back with them." It would not be the first time either of them had seen such stupidity.
"Still, a small miracle the boy lived." The slimmer man spoke and his partner agreed.
"It was no miracle. His parents put him in the reinforced compartment and hoped it would be enough. It barely was." Both men jumped and saw something shocking. The desolation made by the drakes now had a shirtless man standing proudly next to a floating member of the caravan.
They both recognized him instantly.
"Reeves! You did this?!" The man flinched but said nothing as he only whimpered. It was then they noticed what was holding Reeves up. Weaving!
"Senior Soulmancer, I was not aware you were in the Hinterlands." The bare chested man did not speak but moved Reeves forward before dropping him. The man yelped in pain which made the boy wake up.
He slowly looked around but then saw Reeves and tried to lunge at him.
"IT WAS YOU! You killed everyone! You bastard!" Any further evidence was not needed as the 2 men looked coldly at the pathetic Reeves.
"The drake egg was returned. They will not cause any further issues." Both men gulped as the felt the aura of a Moon Tier! Not only a Soulmancer but a Moon Tier elite!
"Thank you for your help, if you are in need of rest, there is a checkpoint up the road." The bare chested man bowed in thanks but then looked a little flustered.
"I only recently broke through and seem to be having some issues. Forgive me if I stay back a bit." Both men nodded in understanding. If he had broken through just recently, he would take time to adjust to the massive increase in strength the Moon Tier brought a cultivator.
"I am Gravis and this is Simon. We are part of the Imperial Watch for the empire." They both nodded and then the blonde Gravis restrained Reeves while Simon carried the boy. The men then moved out to the carriage of dark wood just up the road.
Lind followed behind and knew he could not set foot in that carriage. One sneeze and he would shatter the peak grade 5 item. The 2 soldiers were Sky Realms but they also confused him for whatever a Soulmancer was.
Lind could only hope to get some answers and hopefully find a tailor to get stronger clothes!